Hey this is going to be a short opening, more at that the end.
As always I do not own MY HERO ACADEMIA or any of their characters.
With that, let's start with a bang.
Despite his broken ribs and injured shoulder and the odd position he was sitting in the chair, Izuku somehow managed to sleep through the night. Whether it was good sleep was the real question, as Izuku yawned and used his right hand to rub his eyelids to wake up. He began to open his eyes only to be immediately blinded by a ray of sunlight that was coming through the cracked window blinds. Blinking around his momentary blindness, Izuku moved his head out of the sun and looked around the room. His eyes fell on Eri and he gave a small smile when he saw that she was still asleep.
Though Izuku must have been sleeping hard, because he noticed that the IV bag had been replaced again, a nurse must have done that in the middle of the night. Izuku stretched only his right arm, as when he tried to stretch his left it yelled in pain. Izuku yawned a bit as he stood up out of the chair and walked over to the sink and turned on the hot water.
After letting it warm up for a bit, Izuku cupped the warm water with his hand and then splashed it over his face to fully wake up. As Izuku cleaned his face, he sensed movement coming from the bed. He turned off the water and looked over at Eri, she was curled up at the top of the bed. She looked like she was trying to press her body into the pillow to hide, her eyes darted around the room a bit then fell on Izuku.
Izuku quickly dried his face and slowly walked over to the bed. He put some of his weight on the side and looked at Eri, "How did you sleep?"
"Enough." Eri said in a quiet voice that Izuku almost wasn't able to hear.
"Are you hungry?" Izuku asked and as Eri shook her head, her stomach growled. Izuku gave the brightest smile he could, as he reached over and grabbed the remote that controlled the bed, and the TV and had an intercom to the nurse's office.
Izuku pressed the button and a few seconds later the intercom clicked and a nurse said, "Good Morning Room 115, how did you sleep? How may I be of service today?"
Izuku smiled and said, "Good morning, we slept alright. I am wondering if the kitchen is open for breakfast?" He looked over at the clock on the wall and it was obviously broken as it wasn't early in the afternoon or early in the morning, despite it reading 2:15.
"Yes sir, the kitchen opened a little over half an hour ago. What would you like to order, I can have it sent to the kitchen and have it delivered to you as soon as possible." The nurse said, her voice sounding chipper, obviously, she was a morning person.
Izuku thought about it for a bit, he would like to order something Eri would like to and actually eat, but he hadn't the faintest idea of what she would like to eat. Izuku tried not to think about the food she had been forced to eat from the Shie Hassaikia, or more likely the lack of. Without any idea of what to say, Izuku switched mindsets and thought about what would be best to give Eri to help recovery.
"I would like to order Katsudon and some apple slices." Izuku said. What he had just got out of a firefight without dying, he deserved to treat himself and the apples would provide much need nurtient for Eri's body to physically recovery.
"I'll have that sent up as soon as possible." The nurse said. Izuku thanked the nurse and then turned off the intercom.
"How do apples sound, Eri?" IZuku asked, turning to the should be a white-haired girl.
"App-les," Eri said, sounding out the word as if it was the first time she had heard it. That made Izuku worry about Eri's education level, common sense said it was low. If it turned out that she didn't like apples, then Izuku would just go to the list of fruits and vegetables until he found one that Eri liked.
Izuku then noticed that Eri was more tightly curled up and she was trying to pull the blanket over herself. Something she was finding hard to do as Izuku's weight was holding it from moving. Izuku took his weight off the blanket and Eri quickly pulled it up, covering her body up to her chest. She then gripped the blanket tight as if she was expecting Izuku was going to pull it away.
Izuku sighed, putting some weight back on the bed. "Eri do you know where you are?" - Eri shook her head - "You're somewhere safe, you don't have to worry about anyone hurting you."
Eri shook her head again then asked, "Why did you take me away? The man doesn't like it when people try to take me away. He tells me that they are trying to corrupt me with a sickness. He kills anyone that tries to corrupt me and says I need to try harder to stay safe." Eri then noticed the bandages around Izuku's shoulder and midsection, they were just like her's, over her arms and legs "Did the man get you too?"
Izuku looked down at his wrappings, just now noticing that he was shirtless. He justified it by the fact that he didn't have a clean shirt and he was happy the wrapping always covered something that would make Eri even more worried.. Izuku smiled at Eri and said, "No, this man didn't get me and he's not going to get you either. These are to help with some choices I made to help someone." Izuku thought it was best not to tell Eri the pain he chose to receive to rescue her, as she would most likely she would blame herself, "Eri do you perhaps know the man's name, the one who hurt you."
Eri began shaking her head violently, then her entire body began to shake as if she was having a panic. attack. Her head dropped down to her knees and she began to scream, "No no, no I don't want to remember that! I'm not supposed to know! He doesn't like me knowing his name, he doesn't like it when I tell others!"
Izuku saw the heart monitor start to jump, so he rushed over to help Eri. He couldn't just knock her with a blue bullet, it wouldn't help her mental state. So Izuku did something that no one had ever done to Eri before. Despite his left arm's protest, Izuku told it to shut up and he wrapped Eri in a giant bear hug, squeezing all of his love into her.
Then he spoke in a soft and tender voice, "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. You don't have to think about that man any more. You don't have to tell me his name, I don't need to know it. You don't have to think about him."
Eri calmed down a bit as Izuku rubbed her back in a circular pattern. After a bit, Eri looked at Izuku with her tired and bloodshot eyes, "The man will find me, he'll do anything to find him." Eri spoke in such a defined tone that told Izuku that she was speaking from experience, then she added something that added a bit more to Izuku's information of what the Shie Hissaikia was doing with her, "He told me that I was important to saving the world."
Izuku tried not to show his confusion over that. They were using her blood to destroy Quirk, how was that saving the world? "And do you believe in him, that you're important to saving the world?" Obviously, this man Eri feared must have worked hard to destroy her belief in the world, to make it seem like only he could protect her. It would be hard to save Eri from that kind of world, and the first step to doing that was disproving the lies she had been forced to believe.
Eri didn't speak for a moment, just slowly shook her head then said, "He believes the world is sick, that people destroy everything to get anything they want."
"What do you believe?" Izuku asked but Eri didn't say anything. It was as if she was a blank slate, unable to form her own thoughts, only able to repeat what her captor told her, "Eri, do you believe that people want to destroy the world?"
"No, because it's so beautiful." - That gave Izuku so much needed confidence in being about to help Eri- "I've seen trees and the sky and don't understand why someone would want to destroy them." Eri said, in a small voice as if she was the first time she was responding as herself, "but the man says that people are evil and evil people can't be understood."
Izuku had to hold back a chuckle at the irony of Eri's statement. Crazy never knew it was crazy until proven otherwise. Suddenly a knock came from the door and Izuku walked over to it. He opened it and found a nurse on the other side holding out a tray that had Izuku's order on it. Izuku then looked further down the hallway and saw a man wearing a suit standing off to the side.
"Good Morning. Breakfast order for room 115." The nurse said, presenting the food tray.
Izuku smiled as he took the food tray and said, "Thank you." He stepped back and used his foot to close the door. Izuku turned around and walked back to the bed, resting the food tray on the foot of the bed. He opened the sliced apple, pulled a slice out and asked, "Hey Eri, I have something for you. They're called apple slices."
"Apple? Slices?" Eri said, tilting her head to the side. Izuku tried not to, but failed and slightly grimace at how often he was being reminded of how horrible Eri's life had been. He had seen a lot and heard a lot, but not having been able to enjoy childhood memories such as enjoying an apple seemed the worst of all.
"They are delicious and sweet, I think you're going to like them," Izuku said, setting the food tray on the bed, then climbing up and sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed. After opening the container, he held out an apple slice and Eri hesitantly reached forward and took it. She slowly raised it to her mouth and took a small bite. As she chewed on the apple, Izuku saw some light come back into her eyes, but her eyes were still quite dim. She quickly ate the rest of the apple slice and then looked at Izuku. Izuku smiled as he handed the rest of the slices to her.
As Eri ate her apple slices, Izuku opened his Katsudon and readied himself to eat. However, before he could eat, his phone rang. Pulling it out he saw that it was Henkito. Izuku answered the phone and said, "Hey Henkito, what do you got for me?"
"Hey Midoriya, before I can answer that question I need you to confirm the information Mr. Mareo gave to me last night. First name: Eri, no last name. Age 5 or 6. Hair: white with a small horn on her hairline. Quirk: Unknown but believed to be related to the previously mentioned horn." Henkito said.
Izuku looked at Eri as she ate her apple slices, yet she seemed to be intently listening to him, "Information confirmed."
Izuku heard some keys being clicked and Henkito cleared her throat as if she was about to give a lecture, "Alright, it took a bit of digging. Without a blood test from the hospital and with no last name it was difficult to get past square one. So I began looking at birth records of kids that were missing quirk registration. Longer list than you would think."
"How long was the list?" Izuku said, as that seemed like an odd place to begin, nevertheless it was a place to begin
"Longer than you think." Henkito said, then yawned.
Izuku sighed, Henkito never answered questions in a straightforward way. And what was with her yawning, had she just woken up? No this was Henkito, Izuku reminded himself. "Henkito, how much sleep did you get last night?" Izuku asked. Henkito had a horrible habit of forgetting how tired she was, meaning she wouldn't go to bed.
"I've been awake since Mr. Mareo called me at two in the morning. Why?" Henkito said, her normal energetic voice coming back, She had already forgotten how tired she was.
Izuku would have slapped his forehead if he was alone. While Henkito were funny as a kid, as Izuku grew up she began a bit annoying, but Henkito's personality and dedication easily made up for that, "Henkito I'm sure that whatever Mareo told you to find could have waited until you woke up in the morning."
"But it was the morning when he called." Henkito said, giving off a 'what did I do wrong?' tone with her statement. Why did she have to take everything so literal?
Izuku sighed then said, "Just Forget about it. Just tell me what you found."
Henkito cleared her throat again then said, "I found a few names. Few of interest but none of them matched the description completely. Then I figured with Eri being held by the Shie Hassaikai, she might have some kind of family connection. A lot of yakuza parents either don't have their child registered at a hospital or later on have their records destroyed. I went from there and I found something that I believe is the file we're looking for. Riki and Noriko Reina had a child five years ago that was born Eri Reina.
"Eri could be a common name so I did some further digging into the parents. Riki Reina died nearly two years ago, but Noriko Reina, the mother, seems to have dropped off the grid. Like completely. No social media, banking recording, insurance, housing, work, death certificate, nothing. She stopped existing a month after her husband's death." Henkito said as if revealing the last clue of a massive treasure hunt.
Izuku noticed that Henkito had only made one mention of ER, clearly focusing on the parents. Clearly, she wanted it to be a massive reveal so Izuku asked, "What about the daughter? Eri Reina."
"There's no mention of her after Riki's death. However, by digging into Noriko's past I found something interesting. Her father is the boss of the Shie Hassaikai and it seems that's where Eri Reina disappeared to." Henkito said, tapping her finger against her desk showing off her victory, "You have no idea how long it took me to find this information."
Izuku guessed at least since 2:30 in the morning, but kept his mouth shut about that, then lowered his voice to a whisper and said, "So If Eri is Eri Reina, then her own grandfather is experimenting with her blood." Talk about having a horrible family tree.
"Not quite, luckily it seems that despite all that he did as the boss of the Shie Hissaikia, Kanon Ohta was a family man. He was put into a medically induced coma over a year and a half ago. The first report of the quirk-destroying drug only popped out a little under six months ago." Henkito said.
"So someone else is experimenting with Eri's blood," Izuku said, remember the room that had an old man lying in a bed? Could that have been Kanon Ohta? Why was he put in a medically induced coma.
"As all roads lead to Roman, all the information present seems to point to the Shie Hassaikia's second in command. Kai Chisaki, quirk Overhaul. He seems known for his plague doctor mask and his large green coat with purple feathers around the collar." Henkito said.
Izuku's mind flashed back to the two men he saw walking out of the room he found Eri in. One of them had a green coat with purple feathers collar, "Henkito, Kai Chisaski, what could he do? I mean his quirk, Overhaul. What does it allow him to do?"
A few more keystrokes then Henkito said, "I'm looking at his criminal file and wow, there's a lot of science words I don't understand, but in layman terms. Overhaul gives Chisaki the ability to destroy and rearrange the molecules of any object he touches. His quirk is not limited to inanimate objects, as he can rearrange a people's body even down to the genetic level. This is why it's been so hard to tie him to any murder, as he can clean up and return a fight scene to its fixed state. Wow, sounds like he should have become a doctor, could have saved a lot of lives" Henkito said, reading off the criminal file on her computer.
Overhaul, able to destroy and rebuild anything. That sounded a lot like what Eri said the man did to it. It sounded like she was referring to Chisaki's quirk, destroy and rebuild within moments. Izuku cursed himself, he was so close to the man that was tormenting Eri for so long. Yet he had no clue, he didn't know what was going on and there was nothing he could do.
"Henkito, have you passed this information to Mareo yet?" Izuku asked. Mareo had promised that the Shie Hassaikia raid would be done within weeks, and Izuku tried not to think about that too much. Now he was wishing it could be done as soon as possible, to see Overhaul behind bars and never be able to hurt Eri ever again.
"He confirmed he received it, and then I immediately called you. He knows I'm calling you, so he'll have everything squared away when he talks with you next. With the evidence we have, we can easily get a warrant then with the evidence we find in the hideout. There's no court that won't find the Shie Hassaikai innocent." Henkito said.
"Thanks, Henkito," Izuku said, then felt a small pull on his sleeve. He looked over and saw Eri holding out the container that held her apple slices. Izuku smiled and then said, "Do you want more?"
Eri nodded. Izuku smiled as he turned off his phone grabbed the remote and told the nurse, "Can we get a few more apples for room 115." As they waited for a few minutes, Izuku took the time to eat his breakfast. Finishing up as more apples arrived, the nurse had a knife ready to cut the apple, but Izuku said he had it handled.
Walking back to the bed, Iuzku pulled the chair over and sat in it. Pulling out a six-inch knife from the back of his utility belt, Izuku showed Eri how to properly cut the apples and then out out the seed. After cutting the first apple, Izuku handed all the slices to Eri, then set about cutting the other four. Once that was down, Izuku cleaned his kinfe and then put it back its sheath and then sat back in his chair, grabbing the last, uncut, apple. Then as Eri slowly chewed on her slices, Izuku ate a whole apple, giving her a big smile the whole time.
Around noon time Eri went back to sleep, leaving Izuku alone in the room with nothing but his thoughts. He spent a few minutes using the hair dye from his utility belt to dye his hair and refill the shots he had used in the yakuza hideout, but that didn't take long. So as the morning turned into the afternoon, Izuku was starting to get a little antsy. While he could stay in one spot, without moving, waiting for the perfect point to take a shot, a skill any good sniper needed. He wasn't one who could stay in a room for very long with absolutely nothing to do. Yet he didn't want to leave Eri alone in the room, as he walked around the hospital. Luckily for him, the school was soon out, and hopefully, Bakugo would decide to visit.
In the end, it was Bakugo and Mitsuki who came by to visit. When the knock finally came from the door, Izuku felt like he was losing his mind. Before a second knock even had a chance to occur, Izuku was already out of his chair and had the door open. Mover then overjoyed for company, Izuku opened the door and regretted it. Upon Seeing her nephew, Mitsuki wrapped Izuku in a bear hug and squeezed, causing his shoulder and ribs to flare up in pain.
"Ah. Aunt Mitsuki, still healing." Izuku said in a pained voice. Mitsuku chuckled a bit then released Izuku. She stepped back and looked over Izuku, he looked well and seemed to be fairing alright all things considered.
"Your mother called me in the morning and told me what happened. You were so brave saving that little girl." Mitsuki said, then noticed Eri on the bed, "Oh is this her?"
Izuku heard a finger up to his lips, It would be hard for her, but Izuku knew Mitsuki could be quiet. "She's asleep, so be quiet. And be gentle, she's still worried she'll be found. She keeps telling me the Overhaul, the Shie Hassaikia's boss is going to find her and kill me."
"You were threatened? And you still took the girl?" Bakugo asked, staring at Izuku with a confused look. They had the same training and while Izuku called Bakugo a blockhead sometimes, if there was even a moment that Bakugo could return the favor it would be now.
"More like this hasn't been the first time she has been rescued. Apparently she's run off before, but Overhaul always finds her and kills the hero she is with." Izuku explained further. He walked back to his chair next to the bed and sat down, "The worst part is Overhaul was using her blood to create a new kind of drug that can temporarily erase quirks."
Mitsuki and Bakugo both flinched at that. "That's horrible, to treat a little girl for such a villainous goal." Mitsuki said.
"Tell me about it, as soon as I saw the physical state Eri was in I wanted to hunt down and make the leader of the Shie Hassaikai pay for everything." Izuku said, putting a hand on the bed. As if sensing his hand, Eri slowly reached over and gripped it. It was slow progress but she was opening up to Izuku.
"Well, you did the right thing nerd, getting her to safety," Bakugo said, giving Izuku a nod that spoke volumes of the respect he held for his friend.
Izuku looked at Bakugo and nodded, then said, "What no boasting how you could have done better. No swearing or rude nicknames?'
"There's a five year child in the room, just be glad I haven't flipped you off. I still think it's a stupid that you went in without backup and without a plan." Bakugo said. Mitsuki chuckled a bit and rubbed Bakugo's hair, Bakugo growling as he tried to get away.
Hearing Mitsuki's laugh, Eri began to wake up. After a few moments, Eri opened her eyes and looked at Mitsuki and Bakugo. She panicked and began to move towards Izuku, Mitsuki immediately stopped laughing and Bakugo stopped growling.
"Good morning Eri. You don't have to worry, this is Mitsuki and Katsuki Bakugo. Their friends of mine." Izuku said as Eri reached for him. Izuku pulled Eri off the bed and laid her on his lap. Izuku hugged her tightly as he rubbed her back. He guessed suddenly seeing two new people could be scary, especially when one was growling.
Eri looked up at Izuku with a confused face and asked, "What's a friend?" Izuku didn't fail to notice the dark look that overcame Mitsuki and Bakugo. It seems they didn't like the thought of a girl such as Eri not being able to live a normal childhood, either
"A friend is someone you're close to but isn't a family member. Someone you like spending time with, enjoy doing things with." Izuku said as he began to slowly brush Eri's hair. It was dry and stiff in his hand and was coating his hand in a small layer of dirt dust. He needed to get her into a bath soon before all the dirt began to affect her health if it wasn't already.
"Like what?" Eri said not to take her eyes off of Izuku.
That was a question Izuku never thought he would have to explain in his life. "Well Kacchan" - "Don't use that dumb nickname in front of her."- "and I are friends, we go to school together. We play games on the weekend, we ride our motorcycles together on long drives. We enjoy going down to the beach and playing in the water."
"Oh. If we did those things then we would be friends." Eri said. Her voice rose a bit in joy, though it was hard to hear. Izuku felt his heart rate increase a bit, out of anger or joy he wasn't sure. Izuku then promised himself that as soon as he and Eri were out of the hospital he would be anything she would ask to be friends.
"You would like to go to the beach and play in the water?" Izuku asked and Eri gave a small nod, "Then how about as soon as we're out of here, we go to the beach."
"How about Takoba beach, you boys had worked hard to clear up that beach. If anyone deserves to enjoy it, it's you two." Mitsuki suggested. Izuku looked at Mitsuki and nodded in appreciation for the suggestion.
Izuku then turned back to Eri and asked, "Does that sound like fun to you?"
Eri gave an empty nod with a no smile. Izuku sighed as he knew it was going to be a long progress until Eri could move on past the abuse and trauma she had experienced. But if anyone could always be there for her, to see her light grow it would be Izuku and Inko. They would always be there for Eri, no matter what.
"You know it's winter time right. You would have to wait another four months until it was warm enough to go to the beach." Bakugo said, causing Izuku to stick his tongue out at Bakugo.
Mitsuki and Bakugo stayed at the hospital until it was evening and they had to return for dinner. They filled the time with playing different card games, Izuku spent most of the time explaining the games to Eri. At some point Bakugo jokingly stated they should teach Eri how to play poker, earning him a smack upside the head from his mother and a glare from Izuku. Before they left Bakugo left Izuku his backpack filled with homework from school, something Izuku would work on once Eri went to bed.
Luckily Izuku and Eri weren't left alone for too long as Inko and Mareo showed up around dinner time. Once the knock came from the door, Izuku lifted Eri back onto the bed and walked to the door. Izuku could smell the food before he opened the door, his mouth drooling a bit. Hospital food wasn't too bad, but it was nothing compared to homemade meals. Once he opened the door Izuku was greeted by the sight of his mother carrying several servings of ramen and Mareo carrying a large cheesecake.
Izuku invited them in and introduced them to Eri. She was still shy but opened up a bit to Inko while staying scared of Mareo. Something Inko would hold over Mareo's head for a long time. They ate dinner together and enjoyed each other's company late into the evening, but it couldn't be sunshine and rainbows forever.
Once Eri fell asleep the conversation turned more to business.
"So with the information Henkito gathered it's going to be easy to get a warrant to search the Shie Hassaikai's hideout." Mareo pointed out, he and his team had been working all day to get ready for the raid, but there was one last detail left to get. An important detail as it was the linchpin to the whole operation, the secret entrance to the underground bunker, "Midoriya you haven't explained where the entrance was?"
Izuku thought back to the raven statue that hid the stairs well. "It's towards the back of the house, there's a small shelf with a raven standing on a branch statue on it. You have to press the title pattern down in order." Izuku asked for a piece of paper. After drawing the pattern of the shelf, he wrote numbers down in the order that title needed to be pressed, "Then a section of the wall will move back revealing a staircase."
"Thank you." Mareo said and Izuku handed him the drawing, "With that information and the warrant, the police and heroes will be able to find enough evidence to arrest any Shie Hassaikai member and put them in jail for a long time. Then there is the issue of what to do with Eri. That will be more of a civil case than a criminal case. The court and judge might lean towards trying to find Eri's mother, but with the clear abandonment and endangerment of her choices. We might not have to fight too hard on that." Mareo said as he cut himself another slice of the cheesecake.
"So then my mother and I would be free to adopt Eri into our family," Izuku said, his eyes and ears perking up with the statement. He noticed how weird that sounded and continued with, "You stated yesterday that Eri would imprint on me, free safe around me. Today it was slow but she began to open up to me. When Aunt Mitsuki and Kacchan visited earlier, she began to look towards me for comfort. She even sat on my lap for a bit." Izuku said, looking over at Eri.
"That is best case scenario, Eri is adopted into your family. However the hitch that could come with that is, she might not open up to your mother. Right now is a delicate time for Eri to heal. She feels safe around you, but you can't put your life on hold until she feels safe around other people. To make this work, Eri will need to feel safe around your mother or her mind might never heal." Mareo said, receiving a nod from Izuku and Inko.
"Tomorrow, maybe you two could go for a small walk around the hospital. It would do you some good to get some exercise, and it might help Eri start to feel comfortable with you in strange places." Inko said, as finished her slice of cheesecake. She stood and began walking to the door, "We'll let you go to sleep. And oh Zuzu, take a shower in the morning."
Inko then walked out of the room, causing Izuku and Mareo to look at each other and laugh. For the next few minutes, Izuku told Mareo more about the underground bunker and the different turns he took to get to Eri's old room. Mareo nodded at this, as it was an important room to keep the heroes out of. Best to keep any hint towards Eri's involvement as far away as possible. If any hero learned about her, they might ask too many questions and get the wrong kind of people involved.
With that decided, Mareo began to leave the room, but Izuku stopped him. "I just remembered, I there are several rooms filled with drugs and firearms. I marked each of the door ways with a small PV."
"That should help with the search. Thank Midoriya, now get some sleep."' Mareo said then left the room. Izuku took the advice and went to sleep as tomorrow going to be important.
Alright, it has been Izuku and Eri first day in the hospital and it seems Eri is starting to warm up to Izuku, but is still struggling to do so for others. I think I'm going to have some fun with Eri's interactions with Bakugo in the future, part of that is I think as a fandom of MHA, we've all kind of agreed that Bakugo doesn't curse in front of Eri. Why, multiple reasons. My head cannon is because he's afraid of what Mr. Aizawa, Mirio and let's add Izuku would do if he did.
Now I have a question for y'all as the readers. Once Izuku and Eri leave the hospital, I skip to the entrance exam as I don't have anything planned between those two points of the story. However as I edited this chapter and plans things out for the future, I wonder if I should write the Raid. It would be from Mareo's perspective, along with one of the heroes I would choose to take part in the raid. Who? let me know your suggestions
Aside from that Nexk week: Izuku and Eri take a walk around the hospital as Izuku learn more about Eri and who she is.
Next Time: A Walk In the Park (Author really learn how much he messed up with the timing of everything)
Review and tell me what you think.