The rest of the questions weren't that bad, just clarifying some things with him and the woman whose daughter caused this, Izuku slipped the woman his number and introduced himself as a professional quirk counselor if she wasn't happy with her current one.
Once everything was said and done their parents were there waiting for them and both he and Katsuki were crushed in hugs by their respective mothers.
Once they got to the apartment dinner was ready and it went over better than he expected. Izuku and Katsuki didn't talk to each other directly and it had only occurred to him that Katsuki was avoiding talking to him afterwards because he was so wrapped up in catching up with everyone.
So once their parents were washing up Izuku grabbed Katsuki's hand and after Katsuki didn't yank his hand away, he led the boy into the living room and sat on the couch with him "Are you, okay?" Izuku asked slightly uneasy, he wasn't quite sure where the two of them stood and asking that might've been pushing.
Katsuki stared at him, his mouth opening a bit before he quickly snapped his jaw closed and turned away from Izuku with his teeth clenched.
Izuku was about to apologize for asking but cut himself off much like Katsuki had, instead he cleared his throat and once Katsuki's eyes slid back to him Izuku started signing 'Is, talking too much still?' Izuku asked.
Katsuki's eyes softened and he hesitantly brought his hands up 'Yeah, thought I was better, but I called you D-E-K-U again.' Katsuki shakily replied, the signs not perfect since Katsuki was only just learning.
'I see, want to use our phones instead? Faster.' Izuku offered wrestling down the overwhelming urge to comfort Katsuki and tell him progress wasn't linear, doing that would only disappoint Katsuki.
Katsuki mulled it over before he stood up and grabbed his phone and opened the Messenger to begin typing away, Izuku's phone chimed a minute later.
[( ﾛ )凸]
[Katsuki: No fucking clue why I called you that shit, hadn't had a problem with it for months now.]
"Well, let's call it even for now since I called you Kacchan in public, that sound good?" Izuku asked and Katsuki scoffed at him then turned back to his phone.
[( ﾛ )凸]
[Katsuki: Wanted to ask you but couldn't find a civil way of saying, but where the fuck get you get a backbone?]
Izuku snorted "Came with the territory, Auntie told you I was teaching in the South Side right?" Izuku replied and Katsuki sent him a gif of a hero with the captions 'Yyyyes... fuck off', perfectly getting his 'duh' across.
"Well the people there, and the kids especially needed someone tough to rely on so I became that person. Didn't even realize it was happening at first, it just... happened." Izuku answered.
[( ﾛ )凸]
[Katsuki: Excuse me but how did that lead to you threatening H-E-R-O-S.]
Izuku turned to Katsuki and said "You're excused." in deadpan, completely catching Katsuki off guard and the boy let out an unattractive snort, which made him chuckle "Seriously though since I've started working I've had, I dunno, a wakeup call? Working in the red-lights has really exposed me to how bad heroes are. Seriously Katsuki if you were there for what happened last week," Izuku went on to regale the blonde with how a rookie fumbled things.
Their conversation flowed from there, mostly Katsuki and him ranting about how stupid the heroes working the red-lights were, which lead to them talking about how his quirk notebooks were going and Izuku showed him one of the more innocent pages of Katsuki's new friends.
Explaining his thoughts on his mysterious friend's quirks after Katsuki hit him with a 'Do you speak English MF?' gif.
Izuku even made sure to slowly sign along so Katsuki could learn more, Katsuki's quirk was only supposed to be like a fire-cracker or flash bang and it was only made near nuclear from Katsuki's dedicated training of it, however this inherently defensive nature meant he didn't have quirk protected ears and was going to eventually go fully deaf over it.
Katsuki admitted that he started losing his hearing when they were eight, which was one of the reasons he was getting worse with his behavior. He knew some heroes were deaf but didn't want to make the two of them becoming heroes even more difficult than it was already going to be by being handicapped, there was also the idea that he'd be forced to stop because his quirk was "hurting" him.
Izuku huffed, whacked Katsuki upside the head for being stupid, shocking both of them and they both stared at each other wondering if that had just happened, then Katsuki's lips twitched up and he turned away covering his mouth.
"Shut up." Izuku told him knowing what was thinking.
'Didn't say shit.' Katsuki signed and Izuku poked his cheek with a finger.
"No but I can hear you thinking it, I'm much better about my health now. Do you have any idea how many times I've had to talk my students down from rioting when I seem upset over something?" Izuku countered.
'Good.' Katsuki signed back and Izuku groaned.
The years of damage weren't completely overturned in those few minutes, but the two of them had certainly made headway in closing the decade long gap that had formed between the two of them.
And things only got better when his friends arrived, Izuku made sure to give Katsuki a white-board and some markers so he could talk with them without Izuku relaying his responses to everyone else.
"Guys, this is Bakugou Katsuki, I've known him since I was born." Izuku happily introduced the blonde.
"Shoji Mezo." Mezo-Kun offered first.
"Uraraka Ochaco, but you can just call me Uki!" Ochaco-Chan exclaimed, having taken to Awa-Kun's nickname for her incredibly well.
"And I'm Yosetsu Awase, any friend of Zuri's here is a friend of mine." Awa-Kun finishing off the round of introductions.
Katsuki stared at them unimpressed and started writing on the white board, flipping it over to show it read: Hello extras.
"Katsuki no." Izuku groaned into his hands and glanced at his friends, Ochaco-Chan and Mezo-Kun were confused but Awa-Kun surprisingly snorted at it.
"Nice to meet you too Cat~." Awa-Kun replied and Izuku had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing when Katsuki made offended noises that sounded suspiciously like a certain orange kitten from a PQ Disney movie.
So wrapped up in his friends getting along Izuku didn't realize he had been outed until the next morning when he checked his messages and saw the dozens of links to a video of what happened with Roland yesterday on the news, and unfortunately that meant he was on the news being called and responding to Deku-Sensei.
*I am so dead; I have to find some way to get mom to move but where? The South Side would be the safest as the only place free of All For One but it would be a tough sell. He'd need to go to the Vespas for an appropriate safehouse, and body-guards. Lots, and lots of body-guards.* Izuku thought, everything inside of him feeling like lead as he went through the motions.
Izuku managed to not let it slip to mom that morning and only left because there were five different Vespas watching her every move and ten more patrolling the area for any sign of All For One's men.
The South Side was not as easily fooled since he was too worried trying to find something he could've overlooked to get himself a name out there to really try, the book wouldn't be ready for print even if he used his students' help and there wasn't much else he could do without running afoul of All For One's spies and or famous enough to not disappear in time.
Izuku had texted Kurogiri about it and Kurogiri informed him that All For One hadn't been informed of the news story just yet thanks to Tenko's intervention, Izuku wasn't sure how to take that news knowing that it likely meant that Tenko killed someone but so far it was a temporary grace period and likely the only one he'd get.
At most he'd get a month to do something and once he finished his rounds Izuku left for the company of his doubles to try and brainstorm, scrambling as they discussed publishing some of their quirk theories to come forward as multi-billionaire that owned multi-million properties.
They only stopped when they got a call from Shoji-San "Shoji-San?" Izuku tepidly said, scared of what she'd say in reply.
Shoji-San swallowed "T- There's a couple of detectives here to see you Sir." she told him and Izuku straighten up, cops? In the South Side?
"Did they give you their names?" Izuku asked.
"Um, detectives Tsukauchi and Tamakawa, one has a feline head but I'm not sure what the other's quirk is." Shoji-San relied knowing that Izuku would put more emphasis on quirks to remember people.
Izuku was confused at first, why them? Didn't he and Katsuki answer all of their questions yesterday? Izuku muted the phone and looked to his others for any answers they could possibly have.
They seemed as baffled as he was until Riya jolted with a gasp "The heroes are looking for Deku-Sensei!" he exclaimed with a grin "This is our ticket in! I overheard the Vespas talking about it and the heroes have been looking into us hard in the wrong places." Riya explained.
"But how does that help us? All For One would have an easier time disappearing us if we're criminals." Mido pointed out.
Riya grinned back wickedly "Because our little lie detector is very good friends with All Might according to the Vespas, and if we let it slip that All For One is out there still... " Riya told them trailing off, Mido and Izuku grinned back.
"We'll get protection as a valuable witness and a target, not to mention if we word ourselves just right, we can convince them we haven't committed any crimes and become a valuable ally." Mido finished.
Izuku quickly unmuted the call "I'll be there in a few seconds Shoji-San, everything will be just fine. It's probably just a follow up about yesterday with Roland-Kun, I'm sure Mezo-Kun told you." Izuku said.
"Right, right. Poor Roland." Shoji-San muttered on her end likely to convince herself before hanging up.
Izuku smiled up at his doubles "Wish me luck boys." he told them before texting Kurogiri and walking through the portal and into the South Side apartments entrance area, surprised to find it was not Shoji-San but Dabi there glaring the men down, no one there having noticed him arrive yet.
Izuku fixed himself up and walked over "Detective Tsukauchi! And Detective Tamakawa, what brings you both all the way out here to see me?" Izuku cheerfully asked and the three men's heads turned towards him, Izuku saddled up to Dabi's side and softly pat his arm, silently telling him he had this.
Dabi scowled back at him and merely leaned back against the welcome desk his arms crossed, knowingly putting his right on top since it was clearly freaking the detectives out.
"Apologizes for the intrusion, Midoriya-San." Tsukauchi said making a good effort to pull his eyes away from Dabi's imposing figure "There are some follow up questions that came up in our investigation, we called your home address to reach you and we were told you were here." Tsukauchi explained.
"I do like keeping an eye on my projects and visit them once a week, red-lights like this are dangerous places after all and I'd rather not learn something happened at them after the fact." Izuku replied and Tsukauchi nodded.
"Would it be possible for you to come down to the station to answer our questions Midoriya-San?" Tsukauchi inquired, likely unsettled to be in the South Side as a South Sider would be out of it.
Izuku was not the only one to have seen through the ruse for what it was and before Dabi could say anything Izuku answered first "Well you're in luck Detectives, normally I'm packed tight during the week but I've had a clearing in my schedule so it will be no problems to come with you right now if you'd like?" Izuku offered.
Dabi shot him a look and hissed "Twinkie you can't just-" but Izuku beamed up at him.
"Everything will be fine Dabi, just keep things in order while I'm out like always." Izuku told him.
Dabi's face remained pinched up with concern and fear for him, but he did reluctantly back off trusting Izuku to handle himself.
Izuku made sure to beam and look as unbothered as could be as he left the apartments with the detectives knowing everyone was watching and waiting for any form sign of distress, ready to intervene if necessary "I'd prefer to sit in the front of you don't mind detective, I doubt anyone here would take too kindly to it if I was seen in the back." Izuku advised, neither man argued given the hundreds of murderous faces watching them.
The ride wasn't all that bad, and Izuku used the time to think over how he was going to answer their questions, at the station Izuku had to hand over all his weapons so he didn't have his pistol, taser or three knives on him but that was hardly something to scoff at, he knew most people carried far more.
Detective Tsukauchi led him to an interrogation room and got everything put together, a pen and notepad but surprisingly there was a pillow on the second chair "So you have some more questions about yesterday?" Izuku inquired innocently as he sat down.
"Indeed, however, before we begin someone has requested to sit in on this interview and I'd like to ask if you'd be comfortable with that." Tsukauchi said and Izuku raised an eye.
"Who?" Izuku asked unsure.
"One Nezu, he is a Pro-hero and you've more than likely heard of him as the principal at U.A." Tsukauchi answered and Izuku's eyes widened.
"Of course, that would be quite alright detective." Izuku replied in disbelief things were lining up so well for him, it would be one thing to have the detective's help but Nezu's? Izuku was sure he could convince him to help Izuku with his little problem... well problems, but who'd be counting except for him.
Tsukauchi nodded towards the mirror and Nezu entered the room very much acting like a mascot hero with his entrance "Hello my name is Nezu! Am I a dog, a mouse, or a bear?" Nezu exclaimed with human cheer.
Izuku smiled, "You're a stoat sir, and it is a pleasure to meet you person Nezu-San." Izuku answered bowing his head to him.
Nezu blinked then grinned "Correct Midoriya-San, may I ask how you came to that conclusion?" Nezu inquired dialing back his energy by several factors as he sat himself in the chair beside Tsukauchi.
"Well, I was curious and it wasn't that hard to figure out once you take certain factors into account." Izuku replied with wave of the hand.
"Oh, what factors do you mean?" Nezu pressed his tail lazily swaying.
"Physically speaking you bear all the dominant traits of the animal, some of which are predominantly white furred like yourself. A majority of your abnormal appearance can easily be explained by the experimentation you endured. I can email you full list of my break down if you'd like, I'd rather not put off the questioning for much longer." Izuku explained, taking a glance at Tsukauchi.
"I'll look forward to it Midoriya-San." Nezu chirped turning to Tsukauchi, the man took that as his cue.
"Before I ask any questions Midoriya-San I must inform you my quirk let's me pick up any lies and that you have the right to legal counsel." Tsukauchi told him.
Izuku smiled and nodded "I understand, and I don't see any reason to get myself any form of council at the moment." Izuku replied.
"Midoriya-San, when we reviewed the footage collected by the media of the incident, it came to our attention that J'ohnn didn't call for you by name, but 'Deku-Sensei' correct?" Tsukauchi questioned and Izuku nodded.
"Yes, J'ohnn-Kun has always known me by that name." Izuku confirmed and the detective wrote something down while Nezu's ear twitched.
"May I know the reason why?" Tsukauchi inquired and the pair's eyes were firmly on him.
"Well as you saw when you came to pick me up detective, I work and own property in red-light districts, in fact most of my business is there. So, my clients and tenants usually have connections to the shadier element if not a part of it themselves, and I naturally wouldn't want my real name floating around the underworld." Izuku elaborated.
"So I've been using the name Deku-Sensei since, November of '71 I believe." Izuku added after thinking about it.
Nezu's tail paused then continued while Tsukauchi looked a touch more tense "Are you aware that the alias Deku-Sensei has been tied to multiple gangs, yakuza groups and other criminal organizations?" Tsukauchi questioned.
"Yes, I've worked for many people, and I don't have reservations about criminal backgrounds when it comes down to who I rent to, employ, or work for." Izuku responded off handedly.
Tsukauchi was quite tense now as he asked "And what work do you and your employees provide?"
Izuku's smile didn't waiver "Personally speaking I offer tutoring and quirk counseling, all legal of course as I have a license for both teaching and as a quirk counselor." Izuku answered surprising Tsukauchi but Nezu's grin was a touch wider.
"As for what my employees do, well I own quite a lot of property in the Red-Light districts all over Japan so most of my workforce take care of them, quite a few are apartment buildings like the one you picked me up from or old buildings I bought cheap to teach large groups of students at. I have a few small shops as well, and I can show you the business license I have as well." Izuku said pulling out his three licenses and passing them over to the pair.
"Oh and I have a farm over in Hokkaido that doubles as a rehab but we haven't started the rehab part yet. The only outliers would be Dabi, Robin, and Twice, I employ the three of them for different reasons. Dabi is security in the South Side to keep the gangs there from causing too much trouble while I'm gone, Robin is a former magician I have perform for the kids and Twice does supply and mail runs for the South Side. They are all under Quirk contacts legally to be able to use their quirks at my properties." Izuku commented.
"But I believe you want to know if criminals are using me as a head for shell companies or laundering money through me, yes?" Izuku guessed.
Tsukauchi pursed his lips "Are they?" the detective asked.
"No, I've provided you with my banking records and tax forms if you need something other than your quirk." Izuku replied off the bat.
"Have you performed any crimes for these individuals?" Tsukauchi pressed.
"No. I have never committed a single crime. Not for anyone." Izuku lied. Because by the letter of the law he had broken three for Dabi, Two for Twice, and god knows how many for the Vespas and Юрий-сан.
Tsukauchi blinked leaning back from shock and glanced at Nezu, who looked to contemplative of his response "If I may, I'd like to know how your work in the red-lights began Midoriya-San." Nezu requested and Izuku hummed.
"I wasn't anything big, I saw a tutoring ask on a community corkboard in some shop." Izuku said, fondly thinking back to the time where his biggest worry was about Masao-San's father pinning him to the wall.
"And it grew from there?" Nezu guessed and Izuku nodded.
"Basically, red-lights are very tight-knit communities so the longer I was around the more the people would turn to me. Kids, adults and everyone in between just started to go to my lessons." Izuku confirmed.
"How did that turn to owning land all over Japan?" Tsukauchi asked incredulously, and Izuku could understand his confusion on that front, looking back on it Izuku had taken his course of action rather far.
"It was about four months after I first started going to the South Side, do either of you know of the South Side Inferno of '72?" Izuku asked back, despite the confusion of Tsukauchi Nezu's ears perked.
"I've heard the name before, but I don't know the details or have found reference of the event myself." Nezu replied and Izuku figured that much, Masao-San did go to U.A. now.
"I'm not surprised, Endeavour's PR team didn't have to do much to cover it up." Izuku scoffed bitterly and startling both of them but didn't let them ask anything "Late January of 2372, Endeavour was chasing a fast moving villain by the South Side, the fight got out of hand and Endeavour managed to set five buildings on fire." Izuku explained.
Tsukauchi pursed his lips and Nezu's tail flicked in annoyance, Endeavour's destruction was hardly a secret.
"The fire lasted for eight hours as half the district went up in flames, twenty-six buildings were nothing but ash, sixty-eight people died and three hundred eighty-nine were injured. Of those people I personally knew two hundred that were affected by the inferno." Izuku told them, unable to keep his fists from balling up as he thought of it.
Shock and disbelief was clear on both of them "What?" Nezu questioned his smile dropping as he processed the info.
Izuku glared at them "I was there, and the only reason it got that bad was because there was no help from anyone to fight the fire aside from the civilians I could round up to help." Izuku flatly answered shaking the detective from his stupor.
"Define 'no help from anyone'?" Tsukauchi asked.
Izuku scoffed "I mean that at two in the afternoon you could see the fire raging from over three blocks away and there was no one but the panicking civilians on scene, and when I tried to call for help multiple times I was threatened with criminal charges if I continued to 'waste' emergency personal's resources." Izuku spat and he didn't stop there.
"So knowing help wasn't coming I had to take charge and get the civilians to fight the fire ourselves, we fought all eight hours completely alone and would have fought more if there wasn't a blizzard that day. I pulled out seven different people before their houses collapsed into fiery-heaps with nothing but the clothes off my back at twelve years old." Izuku coldly explained.
"Not once in those eight hours of hell did I see one fireman, not one member of police, and sure as hell not a single hero, no one showed up even in the two hours in the aftermath did we see anyone. Not one person." Izuku continued as rage and horror fought on the pair's faces.
"And you want to know the worst part?" Izuku asked, unconsciously standing up with his hands on the table, making the two across from him stiffen up as he leaned in closer.
"Endeavour never paid a cent in damages to anyone, not for the thousands in damage or to the families he tore apart. As far as the world was concerned it was just an accident caused by a gas leak or something, the commission's official response to me when I called them about it after all was and I quote 'who cares if the degenerate drugged out criminals of that rat's den died?'" Izuku spat overwhelmingly filled with hatred as he thought back to it.
"That's... " Tsukauchi couldn't even say anything more but his anger was very clear, Nezu's fur was standing on end and Izuku was sure the only reason he wasn't growling and hissing was Nezu's incredible self-restraint.
"Naturally, I couldn't let something like that go but knew there was nothing I could do about Endeavour or the commission as a quirkless child without any proof I focused my rage on protecting the people who had been so thoroughly wronged... I gave them the one thing society today seems fit to deny them and even myself." Izuku said sitting back down once he noticed he had stood up.
"What was that?" Nezu hesitantly inquired and Izuku locked eyes with him.
"A chance." Izuku answered simply "Since that night I have worked night and day to give those people a safe place to live, legal income opportunities, and an education. The only reason so many of those people turn to crime is because they are given no other choice, most of my students can't find legal work outside of me because their quirks are considered 'villainous', 'scary', or 'useless'." Izuku explained with a wave of the hand.
"I know I can't fix everything for them, but I will be damned if I don't at least give them a chance at a better life for themselves." Izuku added crossing his arms.
"That is very kind of you Midoriya-San." Nezu commented sincerely.
Izuku sighed "Someone has to, in all the time I've worked in the districts I can only count on my two hands of heroes who actively patrol them, and I still haven't heard of a single hero in the South Side." Izuku commented.
"Not even Underground heroes?" Nezu asked and Izuku shook his head.
"My students talk Nezu, and not one hero has stepped foot in the South Side in the forty years they've lived there, and the only time I've seen the police in the South Side proper was when you and your partner came to pick me up Tsukauchi-San." Izuku answered.
"Have you filed any reports of criminal neglect and abuse by these groups?" Tsukauchi inquired and Izuku scoffed.
"Of course, I did. But who would listen to some random quirkless kid? No one outside the districts. Didn't even bother hiding it when they threw out my reports or even take them if they saw my shoes in some cases." Izuku told the man, and if Izuku thought Tsukauchi was angry before, well it was nothing compared to now.
"Before we continue, can I ask the two of you a question?" Izuku inquired calming himself down as he remembered his reason for being here.
"Of course, Midoriya-San." Nezu replied.
"Given you were asking about my alias, I'm curious how I ended up on your radar considering my work is hardly illegal?" Izuku questioned and Tsukauchi shamefully ducked his head.
"Ah, you're aware of my quirk yes Midoriya-San?" Nezu asked back.
"High Speculation: The ability to take in thousands pieces of information and form the most likely situation from the statistics based on that information." Izuku listed off.
"Correct again, so when I noticed an odd change in the information I was getting from my sources it did catch my eye and I looked into things, and when your alias began floating around it there was quite a stir believing a new major figure was rising in the underworld given the talk about you. Some were even concerned you were a new and powerful crime lord that was staging a large scale takeover given the dip in crime rates." Nezu explained to him.
Izuku couldn't stop himself from snorting at that "I'm sorry to disappoint you then, a quirkless fourteen year old is far from being the next All For One." Izuku said with a chuckled at how outrageous the thought was, but the two across from him became incredibly tense.
"Midoriya-San how do you know that name?" Tsukauchi questioned lowly.
Izuku raised an eye "Well, as I'm sure you know I'm an important person to many underground communities in the red-light districts, that doesn't come without learning a lot of things about where you should and shouldn't go, and quirkless people like me have a tendency of 'disappearing' around All For One so I've heard a lot about him." Izuku patiently explained.
"Is that so? I was not aware of that particular detail of All For One." Nezu commented shooting Tsukauchi a look, the man's brow furrowed.
"I'm not surprised, the statistics about quirkless people are rare to find and most of the stuff out today is junk science by quirkists. But if you know the right places to look it's easy enough to see the incredibly disproportionately large number of cold cases, unexplainable disappearances, murders and straight up disappearances of quirkless bodies in Japan compared to quirked people." Izuku pointed out.
Tsukauchi was aghast by that one.
"And that's just the legal side of things, I have had hundreds of students warn me how quirkless people like me don't last long if we don't keep moving, heard horror stories from other quirkless people about why they have to keep moving, I've seen the evidence of what happens to people like me because of All For One and I know what will happen if he ever catches me." Izuku's stomach flipped as he remembered his nightmares.
Izuku glared at the two of them "And I will never put my mom through that, so I've made sure to stay clear of wherever he could've found me." Izuku said grimly recalling the stories Tenko had told him about what happened to the quirkless people All For One found, even if the boy tried to hide it was his beloved "Sensei's" doing it showed he was reaching Tenko in some way.
"I will personally look into this, but I believe the disappearances have stopped, yes?" Tsukauchi commented looking unsettled and Izuku scoffed.
"Do you think I went so far to hide my identity for laughs? Or do you really think that the fight with All Might from five years ago actually killed him?" Izuku questioned once again shocking the two of them.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me, you guys never found a body and there are dozens of illusion quirks out there that are realistic enough to fake it. You two honestly didn't think All Might killed a man who survived all three quirk wars and had decades worth of plans and quirks by punching him real hard, did you?" Izuku asked staring at the two incredulously.
Tsukauchi was ghostly pale while Nezu was processing "You've given me a lot to think about Midoriya-San." Nezu replied.
Izuku sighed pinching the bridge of his nose "I apologize, but I thought that the lack of turf wars and in group fighting after All For One's supposed 'death' it would've been obvious he was still alive." Izuku told them.
"It is a tad obvious in retrospect Midoriya-San." Nezu commented and Izuku couldn't help feeling crushingly disappointed.
If these guys couldn't tell if All For One was dead or not how could they be a help to him "Well when I suddenly disappear I won't have to worry about my mother being left without answers." Izuku commented under his breath.
Nezu's ears however picked up on that "I assure you Midoriya-San if such a thing were to happen I would investigate your disappearance personally, however I might have a solution to that problem." Nezu told him.
Izuku raised an eye and tilted his head to the side "Oh?" Izuku replied, Tsukauchi turned to Nezu curious what he was going to say.
"As I'm sure you noticed Midoriya-San, you've got a tail on you in Yaizu?" Nezu mentioned and Izuku flushed burying his face in his scarf.
Nezu had to be talking about Eraserhead's run-ins with him and despite the situation Izuku couldn't help being embarrassed over it, Eraserhead was his favorite hero for many reasons and for nearly a year he hadn't realized how close he was to the man, Elmo had to point it out to him and Izuku would never live down the shame.
"You mean Eraserhead?" Izuku said and Nezu nodded.
"Indeed, he had quite the interesting stories of how you got gangs and many other factions to stop fighting with their homework." Nezu told him, making Tsukauchi blink taken aback.
Izuku shrugged "I'm a rare commodity, I give them a lot, food, shelter, legal work, and education. And all I ask for in return is that they respect my rules, nothing more, nothing less." Izuku replied.
"What rules do you have Midoriya-San?" Nezu inquired, tilting his head.
"I only have three, my property is neutral space and anyone caught starting something will answer to me directly, anyone choosing to interact with me will not perform crime in my presence or I will cut ties with them depending on the circumstances, and any children in the districts are considered mine and under my care regardless of who they are or where they come from." Izuku answered with ease.
Nezu hummed "That is fewer than I'd thought you'd have." Nezu mused out loud.
Izuku shrugged "I'm not their parent, my rules are few, simple and hard to misinterpret. I expect the bare minimum from them, and they know I'll enforce whatever punishment I give them, which is usually enough to keep them from doing much." Izuku responded rolling his eyes.
Izuku knew his word carried a lot of weight and while he could enforce much stricter rules with no problems, he wasn't a dictator and he'd lose a lot of good-will with such a move, you couldn't force someone into being a different person and doing so would only make them resent him.
"Still Midoriya-San from what I've found on you in such short amount of time shows you are a highly skilled person." Nezu commented idly waving a paw.
Izuku scratched his cheek, bashfully avoiding his eyes.
"And college educated multiple times over, that is quite a feat and I am a touch curious where you studied." Nezu added.
"Ah, I enrolled in online courses when I was twelve, I have seven degrees like I said yesterday. Quirk Theory, Teaching, Science, Biology, Structural Engineering, JSL, and Law was my most recent one. I'm E.M.T. certified as well but I didn't go to college for that one." Izuku listed off counting on his fingers.
Nezu grinned again "Well with such an impressive background it would be remiss of me to not offer you a position at U.A. amongst my staff." Nezu said cheerful clap of his paws.
Izuku jolted in his seat "Eh?" He exclaimed staring at Nezu agape.
In case anyone is curious, Izuku is technically speaking a criminal.
Just for example, Izuku is fully aware that Dabi has killed at least five people and hasn't come forward about it and that is withholding evidence, plus he's 'hiding' Dabi from the authorities which is aiding and bedding.
While his crimes aren't as severe as murder, Izuku does need to be careful with his words to not be arrested as an accessory to a frankly large number of crimes, including but not limited to performing medicine illegally (before he had his E.M.T) and providing information to villains/criminals (his quirk analysis).
Edit: I have a character key up on Ao3 now and its connected to story on Ao3 so it won't be that hard to find, I'd crosspost it but as its a list it wouldn't follow posting rules here, https archive of our works 49419613 this should work to help you if you search it the search bar.