"Hey, Stendhal?"
"What is it?"
"You're not a real hero, are you."
It isn't a question. Chizome looks away from the television to where Izuku is sitting. The boy has crayons and an All Might coloring book in front of him, and is so focused on making sure he doesn't go outside of the lines that Chizome almost wonders if he imagined the kid speaking at all. He clears his throat.
"What makes you say that?" he asks, attention on Izuku even as his hands work mindlessly to clean the blade of his sword.
"Just a feeling," Izuku responds, tongue poking out just a little as he leans close to the paper and carefully fills in the yellow of All Might's hair.
Chizome knows the kid well enough to say with absolute certainty that Izuku's question did not come from "just a feeling". It came from hours of observation and context clues and deep thought. The boy was far too smart for his own good. It was likely that he had suspected the truth for a long time.
"How long have you had this...feeling?"
Izuku turned to look at him, green eyes sharp and mouth twisted in a way that told Chizome that he was already thoroughly done with him. It was almost impressive how quickly Izuku had become annoyed, considering Chizome had only gotten back from patrol 15 minutes ago.
"A few years now," he says, and it is refreshing how...not scared he is. Chizome is glad that the days of the kid cowering any time Chizome is around are behind them. It is much more fun this way.
He shrugs and pulls up a chair to sit at the table with the kid. Izuku frowns at the scraping noise the chair makes as it is dragged across the floor. He doesn't comment, though. He grabs a blue crayon and begins working on the number one hero's costume.
"I'm not a registered hero," Chizome says at last. Izuku's hand stills, but he does not look away from All Might's smiling cartoon visage.
Chizome waits a moment, giving Izuku time to talk if he wants. When the silence stretches on, he continues.
"Sometimes registered heroes can't do everything that needs to be done to keep people safe. Can you imagine All Might or Best Jeanist saving people in back alleys late at night?"
Izuku seems to seriously consider his question. Then he nods.
"They would do it. Heroes will go anywhere and do anything to help people."
Chizome hums and reaches for a crayon of his own. He gestures vaguely and Izuku gets the message. He hands one of the coloring books over to Chizome, who flips it open to a random page and begins to fill in the red of Endeavor's hair.
"There are some heroes who won't go to places like that, though. Some who are only interested in saving people during the day, when there are lots of people there to cheer for them. Good heroes, like All Might, can't be everywhere all the time. You know that, right?"
Izuku actually scoffs at that. His little mouth turns into a scowl and acidic green eyes dart up to steal a quick glance at Chizome's unmasked face. His gaze is full of quiet accusations. He knows that the kid must be thinking of the night he was taken, years ago.
"Of course I know that," Izuku says. "But that's what underground heroes are for."
"Yes," Chizome says, slowly. His red crayon has moved on to the flames that lick at Endeavor's face, hiding his features behind a mask of his own making. "But just like heroes that work in the daylight, underground heroes can't be everywhere at once, either. So that means that people like me, and people like you, are needed to help fill the gaps. We help people that not even the heroes can."
Izuku seems to consider this. The blue crayon is pressed hard into the paper, wrinkling the side of All Might's body like a wound.
"You don't always help people." Izuku's voice is quiet and quivering, like saying the words out loud hurts him. "Sometimes you come back all bloody. But it isn't your blood. I know you leave again when you think I'm asleep." He swallows hard and meets Chizome's eyes with a hard glare.
"You took me instead of taking me home to my mom."
"Yes, I did. And I do. But you know why I have to do the things I do, Izuku."
The glare dissolves almost immediately and Izuku's eyes fill with tears. He nods, small and shrinking into himself more every second.
"You're trying to make the world better," he says.
The words are robotic and rehearsed, nothing more than an echo. He hopes that, someday, the boy will see the truth of the matter and come to believe the words he speaks.
"Yes. Sometimes bad people can become heroes, and sometimes even the best heroes aren't enough. There are rules that society has in place, and registered heroes have to follow those rules, even if it means not helping people like they should. When I go out and help people, I'm making a difference in the world. To the people that I can save, I am a hero. It's the same for you, Izuku. To each and every person you save, you become their hero."
Izuku is openly sobbing, not bothering to wipe away his tears. His hand is clenched hard around his crayon, which has scored a mark across his perfect picture, going far outside the lines he had been so carefully following.
Chizome smiles, though it is a little sad. He waits while Izuku lets his emotions out, lets the darkness and anger bleed through his eyes and drip to the table below, soaking through All Might's smile and into the pages below. This happens every so often. Izuku just needs to cry himself out, and when he is done, the happy child Chizome knows so well is back.
Finally, the sobbing subsides. It is replaced by a few pathetic little hiccups while Izuku wipes at his eyes and nose with his sleeve. When he's done, he looks back to Chizome with puffy red eyes. In the background, the news drones on.
"How do you know if someone isn't a very good hero?" Izuku asks, sniffling.
"I'll teach you how to spot them when you're older," Chizome says, and his red crayon leaves a thin line across Endeavor's neck.
Happy really late birthday to my brother, who I once promised to write a BNHA fic for and never actually followed through. Please take this chapter as a humble offering.
As always, I'm just going with the flow and writing as ideas come, so if anyone wants to see any character or scenario please feel free to say so.
Thank you so much to everyone who reads, and a special thanks to those of you who leave reviews and bookmark/favorite this fic. It really does mean the world to me.