"Waaaah! Waaaaaaah!"
It was concerning.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaaah!"
It truly was a concern to him-
Pat! Pat! Pat!
"There there. Shhhh. Shhhhh."
-how his inability to mind his own business could lead him to places most people wouldn't go with a blade.
"Waaa-awn!"
Case-in-point, the black-haired infant that he lightly bounced in his arms.
"There you go. There you go."
The tiny thing closed its eyes, and the lad listened closely as its breathing slowed and became steady.
Not 'it'. 'Her'.
He had figured that out when she had to be changed.
That was cloth that he could never get back.
It had been three days since he had found the infant abandoned on the road and the young soul had no idea what he was doing.
He had just been curious about the strange wailing he'd heard while walking down the street one day.
Then he found a baby, bundled on the street by itself.
Lone children weren't an uncommon sight in Inuzuri, but he couldn't remember ever seeing one so young left to themself.
When he saw the little one on her own, his body moved on its own, really.
Within moments, he had taken her up and brought her someone warm.
That 'someplace warm' being the little corner that he had found himself squatting in the week before.
How is this going to work?
Much like most of the residents in the 78th district, the lad was poor.
He could barely afford the freckles on his face, he didn't even know where to begin with keeping a child in his care.
Inuzuri simply wasn't the place for it.
Even so…
He looked down at the snoozing little'un in his arms and sighed.
He couldn't just leave her.
Just the thought of doing so made him sick.
Adjusting the bundled girl so that he could hold her with one arm, the lad reached up and ran a hand through his green hair.
His conscience was damnable, but he knew that if he acted against it, he would be filled with nothing but regret.
As it was, he had a new travelling companion.
It really was concerning.
"Oi, boy! What's that ya got on your chest there? Emergency food?"
"Not quite, mister."
The greenette shifted the sack of goods that he had assembled earlier that day.
The lass gurgled against his chest and squirmed slightly in the makeshift harness he made using her blanket.
"Heh. Picked up a runtling then?"
"I suppose you could say that."
He had barely slept a wink in the past few days.
The little one was incredibly high maintenance.
She was either hungry, tired, or hungry and tired.
He would spend the nights placating her and then spend the days rustling things for trade so that he could keep them both fed.
At the very least, despite all her fuss, she wasn't a picky eater.
"Guess I shoulda figured you for the type." He had no idea if that statement was meant as a slight or compliment, "Well, anyway, I've got scraps if you do. What'd ya bring me?"
The little one yawned from her spot and rubbed her face into his chest.
She was sleepy.
This was both good and bad.
If she slept during the day, she'd be quiet during the day.
The catch, however, would be that she'd absolutely refuse to go down after night rolled around, when he chose to sleep.
He had to choose between peace at that moment and peace after dark.
It was a dilemma, a truly great one.
The older man chuckled, "Careful now, you almost look like a father with that look on your face. Muttering like that too."
The greenette snapped out of his reverie immediately, a light blush on his face as he realized that he'd fallen back into an old habit of his.
The older man, grin on his face, handed the lad a small bundled wrap.
"A pleasure doing business with you, boy!"
"You as well, Banjo-san."
Words of parting said, the older man and young lad went their separate ways, the latter only noticing a moment later that his tiny companion had fallen asleep.
"You need a name."
The lad said this unprompted one night, about a week later, as he lightly rocked the little being in his arms.
She simply stared back at him through half-lidded eyes and grasped tightly onto the blanket that she had been wrapped in once more.
"I can't keep calling you 'little one', since you eventually won't be very little anymore, especially with the way you eat."
Had he been speaking to anyone else, the greenette would've expected a slap or something similar.
He lived a somewhat isolated existence in his little corner of the district, but he'd seen enough grown men slapped by an irate woman that they'd slighted not too long before.
As it was, the young'un simply thanked his lucky stars that the child in his arms likely had no idea what he was saying and moved on.
"So, I figured that I would talk this out with you. A name's an important thing after all."
She stared at him, soft breathing the only sound he heard from her.
He cleared his throat.
"So, I believe that maybe your name should be simple. Something that rolls off of the tongue easily. Something like… 'Rui'. How's that?"
To his surprise, the little one scrunched up her face like she had smelled something foul.
"O-oh, don't like that one? Well, alright then. I can think of something."
He racked his brain for a moment.
"Um, Eri?"
Further face scrunching.
"Kei?"
To the third degree.
"Jun?"
The lad was worried about the way that her face was contorting.
"Chō? Chie? Ema?"
This continued for quite some time.
Long enough for the lad to begin to become fatigued.
"Etsuko?"
The picky young lass let out a gurgle of what greenette assumed was discontent.
"Mika?"
Another disapproval.
You'll devour just about anything I feed you without question, yet this is where you become obstinate.
He sighed, thinking up a new name, expecting it to be rejected the moment it left his mouth.
"Rukia?"
His eyes slid closed as he awaited the sound of rejection from his companion.
When it didn't come, he cracked open an eye to see what was going on.
The girl stared back at him with her full attention.
"Rukia."
She blinked.
"Ru-ki-a."
He poked her tummy lightly as each syllable rolled off his tongue.
He received a giggle for his efforts.
She likes it.
Pulling her from the blanket, he hoisted her up above his head by her armpits.
"Rukia! Rukia! Ru-ki-a!"
Laughter, like a little bell, rang from above.
He had just mixed together the first and last names that he had said, he honestly hadn't expected her to take to it so well.
Though, if it works, it works.
Bringing her down and wrapping her back in the blanket, the lad began to rock the little ravenette once more.
"Alright then, from now on, your name is Rukia."
She was nodding off again.
As her eyes drifted shut, the young caregiver remembered something.
"Oh, that reminds me. I never told you my name, did I?"
Rukia yawned.
The greenette smiled.
"It's Izuku. Try to make it your first word. Okay?"
She did not respond, having slipped into the land of dreams seconds before.
But even so, Izuku smiled.
Because she had a name.
"Got scrap?"
"I do."
"Still got that runtling?"
"Mhm."
"Ga."
When she chimed into his conversations like that, Izuku often wondered when she would begin to speak properly.
Rukia had begun to crawl.
It wasn't a huge moment where a choir sang and a heavenly light shined upon the lass.
Nay, nothing quite so fanciful as that.
Izuku had simply woken up one morning to find a strange weight pressing itself against him.
As a relatively light sleeper, it caused his eyes to snap open and his gaze shot to the spot that he had his laid ward down for the night.
There was naught there but the blanket she had been wrapped in.
He felt sick.
"Rukia?!"
His breathing sped up and he could feel his constrict.
All of a sudden, he was no longer in his tiny corner of Inuzuri.
He was hidden.
Hidden in some little crevice that only rodents or small children could squeeze into.
His breathing was heavy, but he was covering his mouth, trying so hard to keep himself quiet.
The stench of blood hung in the air.
Off in the distance and sometimes closer to him, he could hear sounds.
Steel.
Steel hitting flesh.
Cries of pain.
Gotta stay hidden, gotta stay hidden, gotta-
"Ga?"
He looked down, big dark eyes stared back at him.
He took in a deep shuddering breath and gave the girl a smile.
"Good Morning, Rukia."
He received a smile in return.
"Ga!"
"You ever considered gettin' out of here, boy?"
"Not really."
His hair was getting too long, Rukia was pulling at it.
He gently unfurled the tiny fist that held his neck length locks in a death grip.
"Da!"
The owner of said hand was not happy.
Izuku tapped the little ravenette's nose.
"You know better. Now behave, we'll be home soon."
He was not obliged.
As a matter of fact, the light scolding seemed to incite the little lady to redouble her efforts, gripping onto Izuku's clothing with one hand and reaching fervently for more hair with the other.
Understanding that he had been ignored and accepting it, the freckled lad turned his attention back to Banjo, who seemed more than amused by the pair in front of him.
"What brought on the question?"
"Curiosity, I s'pose. Certain that you've never even thought about it?"
"Pretty certain. Where would I even go?"
"Well, Seireitei, for one."
The green-haired caregiver let out a strange sound that fell somewhere between a scoff and a snort.
"I'm not a Shinigami, Banjo-san."
"Six years at Shin'ō Academy could fix that."
Izuku stared at the bald man as though he'd just sprouted an extra head.
"Eh?"
"Ah, don't look at me like that. The academy's open to anyone who can pass the exam, s'how it's always been."
Izuku still felt skeptical.
Banjo made it sound so simple, but there were a lot of factors involved.
What if he failed the exam?
Could he take it again?
What if he failed again? Was that it?
What if it ended up being a huge waste of time for all involved?
What if the rules for entry changed, and there was a fee? He didn't have any money to pay a fee.
And even if he did, he'd rather spend it on food for Rukia and himself.
And to that point, even if he somehow made it in, what would happen to-
He felt a tug on his hair again.
"Rukia."
She was still a baby.
He verily doubted that whoever was in charge at the academy would allow him to bring her with him to classes and such.
Not that he would want to, either way.
He already felt nervous bringing her on his trips to the 80th district to find scraps to trade with Banjo.
If he were forced to choose between leaving her on the corner he found her on or keeping her on his back while he fought off a hollow, he'd rather not choose at all.
"If you're worried about the runtling, don't be. I wasn't telling you to run straight to Seireitei right now or anything. Ya don't know a thing about Reiatsu or Reiryoku so you'd likely fail out. But, if you were to get maybe a few years of… guidance, you'd be a sure fit for the first class. And the little'un, as I'm sure she'll still be with you then, will probably be able to take the exam with ya."
Banjo gave him a grin.
It was meant to comfort him, most likely, but in all honesty, it just made him feel conflicted.
He looked down at Rukia, who was still tugging at his hair, completely absorbed in her one task.
He looked back at Banjo.
"Can I think about it?"
"'Course, the offer won't expire or anythin', so feel free to think it over."
"It seems too good to be true, doesn't it? A way out of Inuzuri forever? And it just fell into our laps. I-I think Banjo-San actually meant it too, but I just… you know?"
"Ga."
"Mm. You're right, I guess I'm scared, but that's normal, I think."
"Ga."
"Well, yeah, things would be better if I got out of here, but this isn't all about me."
Tug!
"Ga?"
"Hand outta my hair. Anyway, no, it's not. You're my family. A couple of months ago, I said that I would make sure that you were taken care of. I want to keep doing that."
"Ga!"
"I know, I know. He said that we could take the test together if we took it in a few years, but still-"
Tug!
"Da!"
"I know, I know, just stop pulling my hair already."
The greenette sighed before offering his young ward a tired grin.
"Why don't we sleep on it first? We don't have to make a decision right now."
"Ga?"
"Yes, sleep. You haven't had a nap all day and I'm tired too."
Tug! Tug! Tug!
"Da!"
The little one began to scramble her way out of his lap.
She got maybe a centimeter away from her caretaker before he grabbed her sides and held her close to his chest as she tried to wriggle away.
"Da! Da!"
"Yes you are."
Izuku adjusted his hold on the discontented infant in his arms so that she was laid down with her arms pressed tightly against her side, while she struggled.
"Da! Da! Da!"
She wasn't going to go down without a fight.
Luckily, Izuku was prepared for this.
His hold still tight on Rukia, the greenette leaned back, closed his eyes and hummed.
It was light, his voice cracked a bit, but it caught the tiny ravenette's attention.
She went still and quiet, fascinated by the tune.
Good.
His throat was warmed up and Rukia was paying attention, all that was left were the actual words.
"Shizuka ni, shizuka ni, maku wa kiri otoshi. Kakusei no yoake ni aoi honou…"
He had been in Rukongai for as long as he could remember, but he still didn't remember where he'd learned the comforting little ditty that just seemed to come to him from time to time.
Rukia liked it well enough, it seemed, seeing as she never failed to fall asleep whenever she heard it.
This time was no exception.
He had barely reached the fifth line of the song before he heard her breathing even out.
She was long into the land of dreams by the time he finished.
He let her lay on his chest, reaching over, grabbing her blanket, and laying it over her.
And from there, all was quiet.
Izuku basked in the silence, the silence only broken by the quiet breathing on his chest.
He liked it.
He liked it a lot.
Eventually, it would end.
He didn't want that.
He wanted Rukia to grow up safe and happy.
But even so, how could he change that?
"Six years at Shin'ō Academy could fix that."
He took in another breath.
He looked at his feet, covered in dirt and dust.
He had lived in Inuzuri since he was a bit bigger than Rukia, he had been barefoot all that time.
As a matter of fact, outside of a few Shinigami that were passing through for some or another, he had never seen another person in the district wear shoes.
It took him a moment to realize, to understand, that the idea of Rukia growing up with feet like his… didn't sit right with him.
I want her to wear shoes.
And with that, Izuku Midoriya had a goal.
"Ah, hey there, boy! You're back early!"
"…"
"Awfully quiet today."
"… Is that offer still on the table?"
"… It is. I assume ya thought this over?"
Izuku nodded.
Banjo grinned.
Rukia… yawned.
"Alright then."
With those two words, a pact was established.
A pact between master and student.