Chapter 18
When Izuku appeared in his office with a startled small white-haired girl in his arms Nezu couldn't help but smile softly at his student
"So she must be the little girl you mentioned" Izuku nodded, the little girl seemed to tense and hugged Izuku tightly "Hello little miss my name is Nezu and I'm the principal of the UA Midoriya is my student… I'm kind of his boss" Eri shuddered at the word
"He is a hero Eri," Izuku said
"Like you?" Eri asked in a whisper
"Kind of, technically speaking I'm not a full hero" Izuku sent an apologetic smile towards Nezu "But he is! He gave me the mission that led me to save you" Eri nodded slowly
"Thank you for sending Hokage to save me" Eri whispered towards Nezu who chuckled a bit
"It wasn't his mission… but I'm really happy that it ended like that little miss," Nezu said smiling at the small girl "Now even if I'm happy with how it ended, I need a full report about how it happened in the first place, we have an hour at most before we get called by the Police to explain why they were sent to collect all those villains"
"Wait! The ones in the house, Nezu sensei you should-" Nezu raised a paw to stop Izuku
"I sent the officers to your last location just before you arrived" Izuku sighed in relief
"Before that can we have Recovery Girl have a quick check-up of Eri?"
"That would be for the best let me call her-" before he could finish, Izuku put his hand on his paw and teleported towards the infirmary
"So you have your seals all around the campus now?" Izuku nodded at him "Shuzenji will hit you with her cane when she finds where you put your seal" Nezu chuckled
"She hasn't found it! I'll deny everything!"
"What is all that noise!" an elderly voice said, and then the curtain in front of them moved to the side revealing a very cranky Recovery girl, she looked at Izuku "I will find your mark boy and then your shins will be mine!"
"I really don't know what you are talking about Recovery Girl" The small nurse narrowed her eyes at him "But let's move to important matters, can you do a quick check-up on this little girl"
Recovery girl's eyes trailed to the small girl trying to hide in Izuku's neck and raised an eyebrow
"It's a long story," Izuku said scratching the back of his head "Eri this is Recovery Girl she will give you a scan to see if you need something right now" Eri didn't move from her spot "Hey Eri what is going on"
"Will… Will she use needles?" Eri said in a whisper and Izuku felt her trembling. He looked at Recovery Girl whose face was now softer. The small nurse shook her head
"She won't use needles Eri, and I'll be here with you all the time!"
"I hate being the bad guy here but you need to explain everything to me and we're running out of time Izuku. And I don't think Shuzenji likes the idea of us here discussing your mission while she checks Eri" Nezu said and Eri started trembling
"Right… I can always leave a clone! Shadow Clone Jutsu" another Izuku appeared in a puff, Eri relaxed a bit after that "And Gamabu seemed to be fond of you Eri, she'll protect you" Eri looked at her shoulder where the small purple frog was.
"Gamabu and the other Hokage save me first… they'll protect me" Izuku smiled at her and nodded
"I'll come back in a few minutes okay, don't worry"
"Next time use the door!" Recovery girl said right before he teleported back towards Nezu's office
"Thank you for letting me take her to Recovery girl sensei" Nezu nodded at him "Now let me explain what exactly happened" Izuku retold the story of how his mission went from start to finish, Nezu didn't say anything until Izuku was done
"Why did you decide to engage?" was the only question Nezu asked
"He was about to kill Akumo, I couldn't let that happen that's why I engaged. I could teleport us away… maybe, there were a lot of people to teleport and I couldn't count on Overhaul just waiting there for a few seconds waiting for me to disappear…"
"That may have worked… but I could have lost Overhaul and that drug… that drug sensei was made to erase quirks! He said that right now it was unfinished but it could make it permanent I… I couldn't just let him leave… if he somehow escaped and get to Eri" Izuku's knuckles went white, Nezu nodded and sighed
"I can't exactly punish you for this… our communications were cut, it was probably Overhaul's doing, but the recordings are still there, I checked the first minutes of footage, you did wait for a while to follow Saotome's group and without my instructions to retreat, you had no other options but engage. You also waited until things seemed to be spiraling towards a bad situation" Nezu said mostly to himself "Okay I have an idea of how to proceed, we should go for Eri and leave for the station… do you perhaps have some seals close to the police station?"
"Yeah, I have the one in Akumo's forehead" Nezu raised an eyebrow "I told him to go straight to the police station... if he is not in the there he should be close… worst case scenario I'll have to drag him there" Nezu shook his head and chuckled
"Okay let's go then"
Principal and student appeared in Recovery girl clinic, Izuku was received with a cane on his chins
"AH! What?! Why?!" Izuku said while rubbing his legs, Recovery Girl merely showed him a tag with his seal on it "Wha- How- but" She pointed at Gamabu who was entertaining Eri and his clone, spitting water on the air and making figures with it. Izuku could see the glimmer on her small toad eyes, Izuku narrowed his eyes
"How is she Recovery Girl?" Nezu asked, the elderly heroin looked at them before sighing. She walked towards them and spoke in a low voice
"Anemic, scared, with signs of severe surgical interventions that leave her legs and arms scarred, if you hadn't left your clone and Gamabu here, I don't think I could be able to even approach her" They could hear the anger in her voice "Tell me that the monster who did this is in jail… or six feet under" he muttered the last part
"He has been apprehended and is on his way to Tartarus thanks to Midoriya here" Nezu pointed to Izuku, Recovery Girl looked at Izuku for a few seconds
"Did you beat his ass to the ground?" Izuku's eyes widened and Nezu make a choked noise
"I…I use the same attack I used on Bakugo at the sports festival… but I didn't stop it until the end" Recovery Girl nodded firmly at him
"Good, she'll need vitamins and therapy, to say the least. Now… there is another problem, when I asked her about her quirk she almost had a panic attack" Izuku frowned "I didn't press the issue but… it's worrying" Izuku and Nezu shared a worried look
"I'll try to talk with her later" The nurse nodded at him
"Good I took a hair from her and send it to the lab to check for her family, the results will be here in a few minutes and then I'll send them to the police station" Izuku felt his heart tug but nodded "Now go away I have to prepare the vitamins for Eri, I expect you to come back here after you're done with the police" She then proceeds to put his seal tag on her desk "Next time ask for permission, it's a good idea to have one of these here but I don't like when people modify my office without my permission" Izuku chuckled and walked towards Eri, his clone and Gamabu
"Hey guys it's time to go" Eri looked at him and her eyes shined "Are you ready Eri?" she nodded quickly and extended her arms, she seemed to hesitate for a second but Izuku quickly took her in his arms, Eri quickly wrapped her arms tightly around him Izuku grinned at her. His clone disappeared and Gamabu jumped on Eri's shoulder, a few seconds later the group disappeared leaving Recovery Girl with a small smile on her face
Akumo was sitting inside an interrogation room; he still couldn't believe that he actually went and surrendered himself to the police… but who can blame him that green-haired kid that appeared out of nowhere scared the hell out of him
So here he was waiting for the police and his lawyer to arrive just praying to the deities that he could get a good deal with the law if he gave away all the info he had
"And another quick prayer to never see that green-haired boy again" he muttered to himself
"Now that's just rude" a voice behind him made him jump off his seat "The green-haired boy has a name… which he won't tell you because giving my name to a criminal is a bad idea, you can call me Hokage" Akumo walked back towards a corner of the room
"What are you doing here?!" Akumo screeched
"Hey don't scream! You make Eri uncomfortable" Izuku said signaling the girl. Akumo finally took his eyes away from Hokage. On his left shoulder was a… rat? Maybe a Dog it was sitting there with a briefcase on its lap, on his right arm was-
"Is… Is that the little girl Overhaul was experimenting with?" Izuku nodded "That means… you defeated Overhaul right?"
"Yes I did, right now he must be on an anti-quirk cell somewhere or in a heavy transport towards Tartarus"
"That serves him right, that's the least he deserves" Akumo huffed nodding to himself. Suddenly he tensed again his face turned white as a sheet "That means you defeated Overhaul" He stated in a whisper
"And his allies on the warehouse" Nezu added cheerily
"And Mr. Chrono, Mr. Mimic, and Mr. Shin" Eri added whispering softly
Izuku, Nezu, and Eri leave the interrogation room in different states, Izuku saying that they shouldn't have added that, Nezu laughing, Eri confused with Akumo fainted in the corner of the interrogation room
Izuku, Nezu, and Eri waited in silence while the chief of the police station Tanaka walked from one wall to another in front of them, he has been doing that since entering the room, just stopping to look at them for a while and then resume his walking. Finally, after 5 minutes, he spoke
"You know that you're in serious trouble right? Vigilantism is severely punished, especially for heroes in training" Tanaka said
"Technically I didn't break any law, I was completing a mission under the orders of Principal Nezu, who is my supervisor for the week of internships" Izuku answered
"Sending a first-year student on a solo mission aside, your mission included engaging against an S-tier villain group?"
"To be fair I wasn't aware of the danger I was in until I was in combat" Izuku scratched his head "I did wait for instructions… for like five seconds" Izuku muttered the last part and Officer Tanaka turned to Nezu
"You gave him permission to engage with an S-tier Villain group?!" Officer Tanaka seemed agitated
"Due to external circumstances I couldn't reach Midoriya and I couldn't tell him to not engage-" Nezu was interrupted by the police officer
"So he did engage without permission"
"If you let me finish" Nezu hissed, Officer Tanaka, tensed for a second before frowning "His task for the week was supposed to be treated as an actual mission, if I had any objection to his actions I would contact him, the equipment he had included a way for me to do that and monitor his moves. If I didn't have an objection I would remain silent and he'll proceed"
"His mission of observing and detaining Saotome's group was going smoothly; I saw how the drug dealer group got into his van and Midoriya stopped for a while waiting for my instructions, I didn't see anything wrong in him going after them. Midoriya followed them for a couple of minutes and when he got close to the warehouse site the communications disconnected"
"Overhaul must have some way to interfere in that, I tried to communicate with him to no avail" Nezu sighed "I did call the station asking for assistance… of course, they were a little late since Midoriya has already defeated the Villains by the time they got there" Izuku saw Officer Tanaka's eyes narrow at Nezu's jab and turned to Izuku again
"So what in heaven's name made you decide to engage?" Tanaka practically growled at Izuku, who simply lifted Eri a bit
"She and the dangerous drugs Overhaul had"
"A little girl and some trigger was all that needed for you to break the law" The pressure in the room suddenly shifted, the air felt denser and everyone felt heavier, Officer Tanaka's knees buckled a little
"First I didn't break the law, second it wasn't just trigger it was something way worse than that, and if a little girl isn't enough to make YOU want to engage in combat against ANYONE, I think you should really re-evaluate if you're fit for your job" Izuku growled, a small whimper from Eri made him take a breath and relax a little, Tanaka seemed a little shaken but decided to keep pressing on
"Still, your mission was to capture Saotome's group, I can understand engaging against the group that was in the warehouse, but you actively hunted the other part of the group in their headquarters" Tanaka's words didn't feel as harsh as earlier but his demeanor was cocky as if he had Izuku on checkmate. Izuku looked down at Eri
"Overhaul was using her for his experiments… she has suffered enough I refused to let that go any longer… and if I could save her from being captive I would do it, a hundred times in a heartbeat" Izuku stood up and put Eri on the chair, then brought his hands in front of him
"If I see someone in danger and no one doing anything I will intervene, so if that is so wrong you should arrest me now, I won't stop helping anyone in need" Nezu smiled softly and Eri's eyes were wide in wonder
"That'll make you a vigilant, you'll be no better than a villain" Tanaka continued
"Call it whatever the hell you want, I'll call it being a decent human being" Nezu decided to intervene before Izuku's temper flared again
"That won't be necessary" Nezu opened his briefcase and took out a folder and a holoprojector from it "This here contains Midoriya's mission from start to finish, you'll see where he waited for my instructions and how and why he engaged in combat" Tanaka took the Holo projector and put it on the table "And this folder contains Midoriya's forms for his hero permit" Tanaka's and Izuku's eyes widened
"His Hero Permit?!" Tanaka Screeched "He is a first-year that's not possible!" Tanaka took the folder and tore it open, he took the forms out and started reading
"You gave me a hero permit?" Izuku whispered to Nezu who just chuckled
"If you failed your task I wouldn't have given it to you, but you exceeded my expectations, congratulations young man" Izuku beamed at him
"You really went out of your way and gave him this" Tanaka shook his head, he sounded defeated "This may give you the permission to act, but if you screw up you'll be punished harder, and not only you but the hero that gave you this permit. Your trust in your student can cost you a lot Nezu" If Tanaka tried to intimidate Nezu it didn't work, the principal just started cackling
"You do know, that to give a Hero Permit you need the approval of two heroes' right? You should check who is the other hero that approved him" Tanaka raised an eyebrow and took the ID from the folder. True to Nezu's words, on the back of the card was his signature. Officer Tanaka almost fainted when he saw the other signature on the ID
"A... A-A… All Might?!" Izuku's eyes widened and Nezu's laughed for a while looking at the bewildered Tanaka and the stunned Izuku, that continued when a ping on his phone made him stop
"Well it seems that our laughing session must be cut short, our guest has arrived and is on his way here" Nezu jumped on the table and took the ID from Tanaka who was catatonic, and gave it to Izuku "What he said it's true, every action you make will reflect on All Might and I… so please don't make us shine too much" Nezu smirked and Izuku almost wanted to cry, then he took it and gave it to Eri
"Hey you see this; it means that I can save more people!" Eri looked at the ID card and then at Izuku
"You didn't have permission to save me?" Izuku chuckled
"I didn't, but I don't regret it at all" Eri hugged him hard
"As beautiful as this is, you should take Eri for a small walk, we're about to review the video of your mission to let everything in order, we don't need her to see this" Izuku nodded and walked towards the door when he opened it Nezu's guest was there
In front of him was a really tall man, his hair was green and yellow, the eyes behind the glasses seemed serious and authoritative, and Izuku as an All Might fanboy recognized him instantly
"Sir Nighteye" Izuku whispered and moved to the side to let him in
"Thank you" was the only thing that All Might's ex-sidekick said to Izuku and entered the room; Izuku looked at him for a while in wonder until Nezu cleared his throat, then he left the room
Izuku walked with Eri towards the rooftop in silence, when they were outside Izuku enjoyed the soft breeze for a while and Eri seemed content to do the same. After a few minutes, Eri broke the silence
"That card… it means that you'll save more people right?" Izuku chuckled
"Yeah, it gives me permission to act if I see another cute small child in danger" Eri's face reddened, and hugged him by the neck
"That means… you will leave me?" Izuku raised an eyebrow
"Why do you say that?"
"If… if you need to go away to save more people… that means you will leave me" Izuku smiled softly at her and sit on the floor with Eri still perched on his neck
"Yes I will leave to save more people, but I want you to understand something. I will always come back Eri… you don't need to worry about me not coming back" Izuku didn't know what exactly will happen with Eri, the only thing that he was sure of was that he will fight tooth and nail to be part of her life. "No matter what happens… I'll be a flash away from you"
"A flash away?" Eri asked
"Ah! Let me show you" Izuku took a Kunai from his pocket and unwrapped the first layer of cloth of it revealing his Hiraishin seal "This here means hope, I use it to appear all over the place" He threw the kunai to the rooftop of the building crossing the street and both appeared on top of it after a second "Now that I think about it you didn't seem startled by this the first time we teleported into Nezu's sensei office"
"You were there with me… it was a little scary… but you were there" Izuku's heart clenched and just nodded, he took the kunai and threw it at the rooftop of the police station and teleported back
"Yeah, that was what I meant when I said I was a flash away. I just need to give you something with this symbol and I'll be by your side in a second" Izuku smiled at her "If I put the Hiraishin seal on her hand... or pretty much on any part of her I'm pretty sure Recovery Girl or Nezu will kill me" Eri was looking at the kunai on Izuku's hand
"Can… Can I have that?"
"You want the Kunai?" Eri nodded slowly, Izuku thought about it for a second "Okay I'll give it to you but you have to be very careful okay?" Izuku took a tag off his back pouch and put it on the blades of the kunai then he whispered "Sealing Tag Barrier" the cloth wrapped around the blades of the kunai making it somewhat safer "Okay now you won't cut your hands now… still you need to be careful with the tips okay" Eri nodded and took the kunai on her hands Izuku sighed "Recovery Girl is going to yell at me… at least you can stab a bitch if it's necessary" Izuku muttered the last part
"Stab what?" Eri asked softly
"Stab a bad person if necessary!" Izuku said sweating profusely.
Both kept silent for a while, Gamabu jumped towards Eri's hands and she seemed happy to play with her a little. Finally, after a while, they were called to the room again, when they entered they were received by a laughing Nezu, a scared Officer Tanaka, and a narrow-eyed Nighteye
"So are we done here?" Izuku asked, he saw officer Tanaka flinch
"Yeah… we're done here" Officer Tanaka walked towards the door and stopped in front of Izuku "I'm really sorry for being too hard on you young man but I do have to make people respect the law after all but... I'm glad that Nezu had the Hero permit for you" He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders "In name of this Police Department I thank you for your service and saving the young girl today… Hero" Izuku was a little shocked but managed to nod in the Officer's direction, the officer left the room after that
"So that happened…" Izuku muttered, "Do you want a ride to UA Nezu sensei?"
"Yes I do, but first we need to talk about the DNA results from Eri" Izuku felt his body tense after hearing that, "I forgot about that" Izuku thought "So there was no match on any database, no birth certificate, no anything"
"That means that…"
"There is no register of her existence," Izuku noticed how Nezu seemed to avoid saying that they didn't found her family "So I have to ask for your help to take care of Eri until-"
"Yes! I mean I need to inform mom but I'm pretty sure she'll be as happy as I am to have Eri in our home! Ah, I can tell her right now" Izuku instantly replied, he then created a shadow clone who teleported to his house. Nezu chuckled and Eri's eyes watered "Do you hear that Eri, you'll be with me for a while" Eri nodded slowly and cried into Izuku's neck
"Well… that solves that, I didn't even need to mention that she wouldn't be able to be anywhere away from you but I like the enthusiasm" the principal then sighed "Now our guest here wants to talk with you he insisted were necessary"
"Sir Nighteye wants to talk with me?" The hero stood up and walked towards Izuku
"First of all I have to begrudgingly thank you for stopping Overhaul… even if you ruined a two-year investigation" Izuku raised an eyebrow
"You're welcome?" The hero huffed and looked at Izuku for a while "Erm… is that all?"
"I wanted to talk to the person that All Might choose as his successor… even if you refused" Izuku's eyes widened and quickly covered Eri's ears "She won't understand what we're talking about don't worry"
"You don't know that!" Izuku said nervously
"What made you say no?" Sir Nighteye asked seriously… ignoring his protest. Izuku saw that it was important for the hero
"As I said to All Might, Villains are getting stronger every day… All Might managed to be the sole pillar of our nation... but he is just a man" Izuku saw Nighteye's eyes narrow "He will retire sooner or later but he will, and then we'll be left to carry the weight of the Nation without the main pillar!"
"I don't like to sound so full of myself but I know that I can be a pillar, maybe not at the same length of All Might, but a pillar with enough strength to balance the weight of the Nation with All Might's successor, it may sound arrogant but I haven't reached my limit… and two pillars are always better than one" Nighteye stared at Izuku for a few moments before answering
"You are right it sounds arrogant" Izuku chuckled sadly a little, Eri saw this and hugged him tighter "But you're not wrong, after seeing you destroy Shie Hassaikai, you're on your way to being a symbol for Japan I'm sure about that. And you're right saying that All Might is just a man and his successor-" Izuku noticed how he clenched his jaw at the word "will be just a man" Nighteye sighed
"I have a chosen successor for All Might you know" Izuku's eyes widened "He… hasn't refused but he asked us for time. I wanted to ask the one who refused the reason… I feel that he thinks as you do" Nighteye smiled fondly
"I guess you trained him… do you think he'll become a great hero without turning into All Might's successor?" Izuku asked and saw the fire igniting in Sir Nighteye's eyes
"Of course, I have no doubt that he will! He is called the one closer to being number one, I'm sure that as soon he is an official hero he'll be the heir of the title of symbol of peace" Izuku smiled at the hero whose eyes widened after his outburst
"So even if he refuses he'll become a pillar for this poor world, if you ask me the thought of three pillars holding Japan up sounds amazing" Sir Nighteye nodded slowly and smiled at Izuku
"You will be a great rival for Mirio in the future" Izuku grinned at the hero "I know it is early but I want to formally extend an invitation for your Hero Work studies in Nighteye Agency"
"I… Thank you" Izuku whispered surprised
"I'll send the forms to Nezu as soon as I get to my agency, you don't have to accept but I wanted to be the first to invite you" After that, he bowed goodbye and left a shocked Izuku and a smiling Nezu behind. Eri was just confused
"So you still up to give me a lift to UA?" Nezu said breaking Izuku out of his stunned state, a few seconds later, Izuku left Nezu in his office happy after being told that he has the next day off. Then he received the vitamins for Eri from Recovery Girl and finally, they reached his home
"Are you ready to meet my mom?" Eri seemed nervous "Don't worry Eri I'm sure she'll love you… she might cry"
"She is sad?" Izuku chuckled at the purity of Eri
"No, she cries when she is happy… or excited… or afraid… sometimes when she is hungry- well she cries a lot don't worry I'm pretty sure she'll cry of happiness and your cuteness this time" Eri blushed "So… are you ready?"
"Yes," She said in a whisper and he opened the door
Izuku wasn't wrong, that night Inko cried a lot but quickly accepted Eri, the little girl wasn't as open as she was with Izuku but she seemed to accept Inko as well, Inko gave them a light dinner not wanting to disturb Eri's stomach
After that it was time to take a bath, thankfully Eri accepted Izuku's petition to wait outside and just take Gamabu and her Kunai to accompany her, Izuku couldn't help but laugh when Eri asked every five seconds if he was still outside. Inko cried seeing the scene
When it was time for bed Izuku swiftly put Eri into his bed, taking the futon from the closet and preparing it on the floor of his room. Izuku slept with one arm up with Eri gripping his hand… a couple minutes later if Izuku noticed Eri climbing down from his bed and sleeping on top of his chest he decided to not mention it
Izuku spent the next day talking and playing with Eri inside his house, he sent a clone with his mom to get a new set of clothes for Eri, he planned for his shadow clone to go alone but his mom said something about Eri needing some small girl clothes not only clothes with All Might and weird words in it
So here they were, watching some random cartoon relaxing on the couch, Eri munching on an apple wearing one of his T-shirts that said "Elegant suit" with Gamabu sleeping on her head and Inko cooking something in the kitchen… while she cried because even if Eri wasn't using the small dress she bought for her she looked adorable with Izuku's t-shirt
Suddenly the TV changed
"We interrupt what you're watching to report an attack on Hosu district, several creatures are attacking the central area of the district please evacuate it quickly, heroes haven't been able to stop them because a big group of the city heroes along with the Number two hero was hunting the infamous Hero Killer Stain" Izuku's blood ran cold seeing the heroes of Hosu trying to repel the creatures that Izuku quickly recognized as Nomus, Izuku stood up frowning at the tv
"We have a reporter close to the heroes hunting stain" the image changed again, the image was weird, it seemed as if the camera was on the floor… Izuku quickly blocked Eri's vision when he recognized the bloody mangled arm in front of the camera, the image quickly changed again. The man in the news was white as paper no words came out of his mouth, the cartoon appeared again on the TV
Izuku's mind was working a hundred kilometers per second when a soft voice interrupted him
"I'll be waiting for you" He turned to see Eri holding his kunai tightly "There are people who need to be saved… like me… I'll be waiting for you" Izuku smiled widely at her
"Mom, please take care of Eri for a while, Gamabu take care of everyone for me" Both his mom and Gamabu nodded at him "Eri… I'll be back" The watery eyes of Eri just made Izuku's determination to come back grew stronger
A/N. When I started writing I never really considered all the... scenes, actions, and details that you need to put into it. Now that I kind of know about it, I can only thank all work the real writers put here and on other platforms. Thank you for your hard work. My brain melts more and more with each new chapter and I still screw up a lot.
This chapter was complicated because I wanted to take it easy... it ended with 5k words and me cutting a lot of it. But yeah hope you enjoy this one, I really appreciate all the comments and your support. The next chapter will be a little different, you'll see. Oh and sorry for the waiting I'm currently writing another Fanfiction, my masochism is growing every day apparently, but I have this idea and I need to write it before I lose it.
As always sorry for my grammar, still have no money for a good teacher or a good grammar program sorry.
Love you guys
Pd. Can you believe that I've been writing this for more than a year! It's my longest relationship!
