Chapter 1: Puppets on an Open FireChapter TextEver since he could remember, dolls were something Izuku was fascinated by. He could never explain it, at least for the first five years of his life and no one else could until then. The way they reflected life as closely as possible, some in their appearance, some in their movements but what the child then loved most about them was how, at certain angles, you could almost tell they were alive.
Of course they never are. Just wood and plastic shells and even then there was nothing to fill them at least until he got his quirk.
Before then however, Izuku always wanted them and despite how weird she thought it was, Inko would give him what he wanted. After all it was harmless wasn't it? At least it should be harmless but ask Izuku's father, Hisashi, and you'd get a different answer.
He hated the dolls. Maybe it was because it was considered 'girly' or maybe it's because he thought it made the boy 'soft' but whether it was or not didn't excuse how violent he'd get when he'd find Izuku with one.
It wasn't as if Izuku was having tea parties or anything like that (though even then that shouldn't be a problem) he just enjoyed how he could shape them, mould them almost especially the more free jointed ones to look and pose like his favourite heroes.
Endeavour, Ectoplasm, Gang Orca, All Might. Any time one of those heroes made the news, especially All Might, he would pose his dolls like them, move like them as if he was fighting the same villains from their perspective. It was what every kid did and yes there were action figures but they never gave the fluidity of movement like a puppet or doll did. When he made them act like heroes, he wanted it to be exact and when they couldn't it was like he was restrained.
He enjoys watching heroes fight on his computer and making the puppets twist and turn just like them was something he loved, especially when he can mimic their fighting styles and moves perfectly.
This of course made Hisashi more annoyed. While he would bash tables and shout he'd never hit. Maybe it was because he didn't have the courage to hit his own child though in hindsight, it was likely because of the fear of any bruises Izuku got being used against him. There were times he came close though. A harsh grasp on his arm, dragging him out of his room down to Inko where the two would shout at each other for what felt like forever, the two parents practically pulling their child apart to get them out of the other's hands.
Izuku hated shouting. He hated arguing. He learned to just be quiet when Hisashi was around and that was often. He didn't want to say or do anything that might get his dolls taken away again or push the man to finally hit him so he learned to just hide it. But it wasn't just him he hid his favourite thing from.
Kacchan always made fun of him for liking dolls for the same reason Hisashi hated it. It was annoying; The jeering, the insults and especially when his precious friends get taken from him. He'd give them back but it wasn't out of kindness more due to Aunt Misuki forcing him to give them back.
Even then it seemed that the only person in Izuku's small world that didn't shout at him, hurt him or insult him for his interest was his mother.
Inko hadn't originally planned to love Izuku as much as she did, though she would never admit that. When she married Hisashi she knew who he was; the leader of an organised crime group called the Dragon's Roar. She knew how ruthless the man she fell in love with could be and when she became betrothed to him she knew that whatever child she had would follow in his footsteps.
She knew that whoever she was going to mother into this world would forever be the child of a mafia boss and all the pros and cons with it. She accepted it, she really did until she finally met that child and her whole world came apart.
He looked almost nothing like his father besides the freckles and the fluffy hair. It was almost unbelievable if it wasn't for the DNA test Hisashi insisted. Inko took it for him. She did a lot of questionable things for him and in retrospect that should've told her that you can't have a happy life with a man like that but what can she say? Love can turn people blind especially if you were estranged from a loveless family.
When she had Izuku and watched the boy grow up to be so kind, so gentle just like her she knew he couldn't follow in Hisashi's footsteps. The thought got worse when she watched what should be the time for a child to be, well, childish, instead be about tiptoeing around the house and never talking when it was anyone other than her, Mitsuki or Masaru. Even around her nephew, Izuku always kept quiet as a mouse.
And who could blame him? Hisashi had gotten scarier over the years and it was making her have second thoughts about everything. Except Izuku, never about Izuku. She didn't even know why he was upset. She knew he had old fashioned values but she thought he'd be able to change for his son.
And even then it wasn't as if it was only Izuku. It wasn't as if she couldn't have another child (even though she would likely get just as attached), so watching this change in Hisashi, the same Hisashi who was so charming and loving when they first met…
It all started to come to a head on that day.
Izuku was in his room, playing in silence with the newest doll Inko snuck past Hisashi. It was made of plastic and looked like a butler, suit and all. The boy had his computer on, showing him All Might's latest fight where he took down a villain whose quirk made him look like a giant bull.
He was pausing the video constantly, reposing the doll to match the hero's movements, frame by frame, when he got frustrated over a particular move that was too blurry to follow along with exactly.
"Is that a Texas Smash or a Nebraska Smash?" the boy whispered to himself. He reposed the doll for both and while they were mostly the same, the angle on the arm was different.
"It doesn't look like his arm is spinning but then there's still the wind blast…" he muttered more, getting annoyed when he couldn't figure out how to have the move mimicked exactly.
"If only you could move on your own…"
The boy's fingers clamped down on the arm of the figure once more and continued to pull the limb into the right place, always over or under calculating just how far it was. And just when he got it right…
"Izuku!" Hisashi shouted from the stairs as he climbed them. The child snapped out of his state of focus and hurried to hide the doll, straightening it out and running to put it away but he was too slow. Hisashi opened the door and looked in to see Izuku tucking the mini butler behind his dresser, earning the burning ire of his father.
"Give that here!" he yelled, storming over and grabbing Izuku's arm.
He yanked him to the side whilst he grasped for the doll, almost knocking over the dresser as he did. He had the poor doll in his hands, nearly crushing it.
Izuku almost crashed onto the floor but was held up only by Hisashi's painful grip on his forearm. As soon as the man got a look at the doll in his hands, his neck snapped to face his son, his face twisted in anger and frustration.
"What did I tell you about playing with these things?!" he pulled on his arm slightly, lifting Izuku up and no doubt leaving bruises that'd have to be hidden later.
Izuku said nothing, just looked down and fought violently the urge to cry out, a burning sensation in the back of his throat where the cry was caught. Hisashi glared down at the child, growing more angry with every second there was no response.
He dragged the child out of the room, stumbling but not allowed to stop even when he was bashing against the wooden railing down the stairs. Izuku kept deathly quiet, even through the stinging pain not wanting to upset him even more. Inko was at the foot of the steps and reached for her son to try and pull him away but this time Hisashi has had enough of this back and forth.
He punched her with the hand holding the doll, sending her stumbling, catching the wall with her hands to keep herself up. The yelp was even louder than his footsteps as Hisashi kept going until he reached the kitchen. There, still holding Izuku, he took out a hammer from the cabinet they kept their tools and pulled them both to the dinner table.
Izuku hated this. He really hated this. He just wanted this to stop. He always hated when Hisashi got angry and now he was twice as scared when he saw mama get hit. He was scared it would happen to him. How badly it would hurt if he used that hammer.
At the dinner table Hisashi threw the doll down and forced Izuku to watch as he, with fury and rage in his eyes, winded up to swing down on it.
"If I catch you with these things again Izuku, this is what'll happen to you!" and he swung, hard and fast, causing the boy to squeak and shut his eyes and desperately think about anything but right now.
He thought of All Might coming in and saving him and his mother. He thought of him beating Hisashi to a pulp. He thought of how he would do it, what moves he would need to do. Surely he would need to do a hundred Detroit Smashes to stop him.
The loud bang of a hammer came down again and again, surely crushing the doll to bits but the boy didn't want to look because of Hisashi's threat. He didn't want to imagine that doll being him or mama. Three bashes in, Hisashi sounded more and more frustrated before a confused sound wormed its way out of his mouth.
"What?" he uttered, then a yell as his grasp on Izuku fell. "Ah! Get off me!"
Izuku opened his eyes fast. Did All Might really come? He immediately turned to his father who was grasping at his face where the doll was now clinging onto, punching the bridge of his nose over and over again just like how Izuku would imagine All Might would.
Hisashi stumbled back, dropping the hammer and grabbing the doll to try and pry it off all the while Izuku watched in awe. After what felt like a minute of struggling the doll was finally off and was thrown to the floor.
The doll stood up, ready to keep fighting as it crouched down just like All Might and leapt up, its light body launching and delivering a perfect miniature Texas Smash to Hisashi's face, shattering the doll's arm and sending him stumbling back a couple steps to the floor.
The doll landed back on the floor, still in a fighting stance for a moment before collapsing to the ground. Inanimate and missing an arm a clear liquid leaking from its stump.
Izuku just stared at the doll, eyes still wide and mouth slightly open. Hisashi scrambled up, bruised nose and hands scraped from crashing on the floor. They both kept their eyes on the doll along with Inko who just now joined them. They were expecting it to come back up and fight more but it just laid there, silent.
The moment lasted for a couple seconds before the sounds of crashing was heard as both adults turned to see Izuku collapsing face first into the floor, his world spinning and dizzying, a painfully loud ringing in his ears that ended with him blacking out entirely.
- - -
Izuku slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a hospital room in the children's ward. It made him panic for a moment when he couldn't see anyone until his vision focused and could see Inko draped over his bed, eyes closed and sleeping. He had an IV drip in his arm as well as a monitor with numbers the boy could never guess what for.
Despite this though, he felt alright.
Inko stirred awake when Izuku shifted his legs and the mother burst into tears as she wrapped her arounds her son and looked him over to see how he was. All the while apologies spilled from her mouth.
"I'm sorry Izuku, I'm sorry baby!" she sobbed, "I'll make this right. I promise I'll make this right."
She was crying so much that Izuku cried too. Her face had a bandage where she was punched all because he couldn't keep quiet about what he wanted. He couldn't just listen to Hisashi and be obedient even when he really had nothing else he wanted to do besides watching hero fights all day.
"I'll leave him. I promise I'll leave him and we never have to worry about anything again." she vowed and he understood.
She's talking about not going back to Hisashi. But will they really be fine if they do this? Izuku's heard from other kids about something parents do called divorce and it didn't seem to end well most of the time, at least from what he heard.
But she seemed so sure and determined then it had to be a good thing, right? From what he heard, the problem with divorce is watching your parents come apart but Izuku is fine with that as long as he can stay with mama. As long as he's with her, and not Hisashi, he won't have to sneak around, behind his back, anymore.
"Excuse me? Mrs Midoriya?"
Both Izuku and Inko turned to see a doctor had come into the ward and stepped up to them, closing the curtains to get some privacy in the room. Inko brushed the tears out of her eyes but didn't leave Izuku's side, holding his hand tightly but in a good way to the boy.
"Doctor Hino, is Izuku alright?" Inko asked urgently.
The doctor in question was a tall and spindly woman with red skin that made her look really sunburnt. Her face had a neutral expression, clearly keeping professional so as not to concern or promise anything to them with a smile.
"Yes. For the most part he is fine. He had only experienced quirk exhaustion." she explained, still keeping the expressionless face she had before.
"Exhaustion?" Inko questioned.
"Yes. We've already informed your husband over the phone but it seems Izuku's quirk has manifested." she elaborated.
Hisashi had to leave because of some 'work' commitments but clearly wanted to stay both for what Inko had also assumed about Izuku's quirk manifesting but also the fear of the bruises on Izuku's arm being noticed. Fortunately for him on the latter, it wasn't.
"Izuku's quirk seems to allow him to control inanimate objects like they're puppets by injecting them with his spinal fluid through his fingers. We aren't sure of the limit but one limit we are sure of is the duration is the more fluid inside them, the longer he can control them." she explained more.
"When he uses his quirk it starts to drain his own spinal fluid, most likely in whatever use it is used for. This would normally be extremely detrimental but it appears that a mutation in Izuku's spine allows him to regenerate this fluid faster than normal."
Inko nodded along with the explanation whilst Izuku couldn't help but be enraptured by it. He has a quirk! And a powerful one, he thinks. After all he hurt Hisashi didn't he?
Izuku looked down at his hands, they had certainly changed slightly. It was hard to notice at first but there were tiny hairs on the tips of his fingers that seem to be where the fluid gets pumped out. Ideas began to run through him as he thought more about his new quirk but they were put on pause as the doctor revealed more.
The doctor continued to explain his quirk more from what he imagined was from another doctor with a quirk that reads other quirks. Apparently the puppeted object cannot act on its own and needs constant input from the user to work, input that can be done remotely. What that meant though needed to be explored. The more the doctor explained, the more excited Izuku got and the more scared Inko got.
Izuku could make his dolls move how he wanted without having to shift them bit by bit. He could just imagine what he wanted and they'd match what he thought. He could clearly make them fight as well and with this he could surely be a hero can't he? Maybe even one as good as Kacchan.
Inko was panicking in her mind. According to the quirk analysis, Izuku's limit was going to get stronger as he got older, allowing him more and more control. This quirk is powerful. Very powerful. And Hisashi has likely noticed it. A small doll was able to punch a grown man and send him stumbling back, imagine if something human sized did that? Or something even bigger.
He wasn't going to let Izuku go, even if she divorced him. He wasn't going to let him go and maybe even hurt her to get him. She's already seen him do that. He could easily make her disappear and take Izuku all for himself. All of her second guesses from before had become assurances that she needed to get them as far away from Hisashi as she could and fast too.
As if her greatest fear was realised, the doctor mentioned that Hisashi said he would arrive soon meaning she didn't have long to come up with a plan. Not only that but Izuku was apparently well enough to be discharged so there was no hiding in the hospital.
Once the doctor left, a nurse came in to help them remove the tubing and monitors. Inko then filed out the paperwork to take Izuku out of the hospital and rushed to the nearest hotel she could find to hide in. Once they got a hotel room, Inko left Izuku there whilst she used a payphone to call the police.
"Hello, Musutafu Police Department?" the voice on the other end asked.
"H-hello? I need to talk to a detective, any one. I need to…" she paused, rethinking whether or not she was really going to risk this. If she were to stay, the one with the biggest risk was Izuku but if she did this, Hisashi was going to want to kill her for going against him. The only way she can avoid that is if…
"Need what, ma'am?" the voice on the other end sounded.
"Um, yes, sorry. I need my son and I to be protected. I have information on the Dragon's Roar and we need protection from my husband." she continued, voice shaky but determined.
"Alright ma'am, we'll redirect you to a detective on that case." the connection stuttered for a few seconds before a different voice picked it up.
- - -
Tsukauchi had a pretty good day all things considered. Between having to deal with criminal gangs, villains and general emergencies he was normally swamped with work to the point he was tempted to have an IV drip filled with caffeine in him but right now things were calm.
He just wrapped up a case involving a drug bust and was still feeling the high of justice served when he got a call saying that there was someone reaching out to him about the Dragon's Roar needing witness protection.
The Dragon's Roar was one of the most massive criminal organisations in Tokyo, mostly due to the absurd amount of members and reach the organisation has. Taking them down was like fighting an actual dragon, or maybe more of a hydra given no matter how many operations they shut down, there's just more and more.
They mostly dealt with drugs, both the narcotic kind and Trigger. Their structure was very loose, and communication between the higher ups and the grunts was even looser, making any kind of progress on stopping them difficult. The only unifying factor between them all were the mandatory tattoos of a western dragon all members needed to get to show they are a part of them.
Naturally, the Dragon's Roar case has mostly been one where lucky breaks were needed to get any true progress outside of stomping out their latest expansion. This came mostly in informants or accidents where a higher up just so happened to be present during a bust. But no matter how many dragons they cut down, they've found nothing about the real upper crust in their organisation.
So naturally he took the call immediately, grabbing a notepad and pen to write down what he got.
"Hello?" he asked on the phone, "My name is Detective Tsukauchi, I was told you had some important information on the Dragon's Roar?"
"Yes." the voice on the other end said. It was the shaky voice of a woman, who was clearly nervous about talking. "I have crucial information on the Dragon's Roar but I need help."
"Of course. Are you in any immediate danger?" he questioned, keeping calm so as not to scare the caller.
"Yes, my husband, if he finds out I'm doing this…" she paused, "We need to be protected, I can't say more until we're safe."
"Okay. Can you at least tell me your name and who you are and who else is with you." he instructed.
"Inko Midoriya, I'm at the Fujikawa Hotel in Musutafu with my son. My husband is going to arrive here any minute." she explained but not before a moment of contemplation.
"Alright, Midoriya, we'll send someone there now. Are you staying in a room there?"
"Yes. Two zero six." she answered, sure of what he was implying with that question.
"Thank you. Please go to your room and stay there until someone reaches you." he instructed further, hearing Inko's voice get more relaxed but still stressed.
"Alright. He's really dangerous." she warned before hanging up the payphone.
Immediately Tsukauchi checked the time. It was almost ten, meaning that he would be starting work around now. After making sure everything was written down, he grabbed his own phone and called the hero who was likely closest to the hotel right now.
"Aizawa." Tsukauchi called.
"The night just started Tsukauchi. What is it?" the bland voice on the other end groaned.
"We have someone in need of witness protection, something about the Dragon's Roar. From what I can tell, it's urgent." the detective explained.
"Where is it?" Aizawa questioned, much more attentively now that the word 'urgent' was mentioned.
"Fujikawa Hotel. Room two zero six. I'm heading there myself." he answered, grabbing his beige coat and fedora and heading out the door.
"Do you think this has something to do with someone important in the Dragon's Roar?" Aizawa guessed.
"Yes. From what I can tell, they're a mother hiding from her husband with her kid. Husband is expected to be dangerous."
Tsukauchi drove in his car, siren's off, towards the hotel. Despite the lack of 'emergency' though, he still drove fast going over the speed limit once or twice. Thankfully it was late so the streets were more empty than usual.
Unfortunately it didn't matter. Once he arrived, the hotel was engulfed in flames.
As soon as the burning hotel came into view, Tsukauchi wasted no time at all calling emergency services. The fire seemed focused on the second floor where Inko and her child should be. Dread filled him as he looked around hoping to see someone with a child amongst the evacuated crowds but there were no children amongst them.
"Is anyone here Inko Midoriya?!" he shouted, catching everyone's attention but no one responded to his question, just making things more tense for the man.
The next thing Tsukauchi did was call Aizawa again, hoping they were with him. The call picked up quickly. "Tsukauchi."
"Have you reached the hotel?" he spoke loudly, the fire crackling like a storm.
"Yes. I'm inside but the fire's getting worse." he coughed, the smoke making it hard to breathe. "I found someone. A woman I think, burnt outside of two zero six."
Fear and stress poured through the phone, "Is she still alive?"
"I don't think so. I checked the room and couldn't find a child anywhere. I'm coming out now." he spoke in fragments, clearly being as succinct as possible so as he could hold his breath more.
Tsukauchi could see as the underground hero Eraserhead, climbed out of the side of the hotel, carrying a black charred body in his arms. The ambulances had just arrived and he hopped down to deliver her to them.
There was no way she was still alive. Her skin was practically charcoal and you couldn't even see her eyes. Indeed the paramedics on site confirmed her death and the sick feeling in Tsukauchi's gut got worse when he knew there had to be a child somewhere in there as well.
Another minute went by before some more heroes arrived. The Water Hoses were here and they both fought to put out the fires whilst everyone was moved away from the hotel. Eventually the flames were tamed but not before some parts of the building collapsed due to the damage.
Once it was declared safe, the building was checked. Every cupboard, every closet and every room but there was no sign of a child anywhere. Just ash and the smell of burnt flesh.
Tragically, it seemed they were too late.
"Where are we going mama?" Izuku asked, looking up at his mother who was gently pulling him along by his hand.
They just left the hospital and the whole time the boy was feeling both happy and scared. He just found out he had a quirk. One that seemed to be pretty strong from what he could guess but for some reason Mama didn't seem to think so. Her face kept smiling but Izuku wasn't stupid, he knew there was something wrong and it had to be because of Hisashi.
"We're going on a trip, Izuku." she answered, trying her best to not reveal how scared she really was.
"Where?" he asked innocently.
"Somewhere far away where we don't have to worry about your father anymore." she promised and it was a good promise.
Izuku's fear was pushed back. They were going to leave Hisashi forever? The boy quietly smiled at the idea even though he shouldn't. A child shouldn't be happy to learn they're getting away from their father but his father was Hisashi and surely that was a good excuse. Mama seemed alright with it so he should be too.
He was pulled along until they reached a small hotel with a few floors. Mama and him went up an elevator until they reached a room where Izuku was put in.
"Sweetie, stay here and don't open this door for anyone except for me okay?" she asked gently. He nodded along and watched Mama leave him alone in the room.
It was fun. There were two beds, a tv and a window (except Mama said not to open the curtains). He looked around and opened every drawer and cupboard to see what there was and found some bottles of water he drank from.
It seemed his quirk made him slightly more thirsty or maybe he didn't get enough of those fluids from that tube in the hospital. There were some snacks in a cupboard too but a sign said he needs to talk to the people downstairs about it so he'll wait for Mama to come back first.
Once he was fully settled, he sat down on the bed and thought about his quirk. How cool was it that he can puppet objects? It must be because of mama's telekinesis that lets her pull objects to her or at least a part of his quirk comes from there but thinking like that makes him sad because of the other side of the coin with Hisashi. But if Mama's promise comes true, he'll never have to think about him again, which he definitely wants.
Taking out a pen from mama's bag, Izuku found a pamphlet for the hotel and wrote down what the doctor said about his quirk. It had no name yet as it was just identified and needed to be registered so until then he thought of all kinds of cool names it could be.
Puppeteer was the obvious one but that felt a bit too manipulative for Izuku. Doll Creation sounded a bit misleading. He didn't create the dolls he controlled them but then calling it Doll Control felt like he could only control dolls which was further from the truth.
'So many names but they keep sounding like I control people or the wrong thing.'
Quirk names were exact and explained most of what the quirk was in one to three words. Like Explosion or Black Hole. But his quirk was so difficult to explain except of course using words like ''manipulate' or 'puppet'.
'Let's shelf the name for now and think about something else' is what the boy decided.
He then flipped the page and started writing down questions he had about his quirk and how it worked. He lost cer-ebro-spin-al flu-id was it? He doesn't know how to spell that so he tried his best to sound out the word in writing.
So he lost… that fluid but he could get more back fast? Does that mean people normally get theirs back slowly? Well that's important to know. What happens if he runs out of that fluid? Does he go to sleep like he did the first time or was that a coincidence? He needed to find out.
Izuku looked around the room for anything and picked up an empty water bottle and held it in his hands. Grasping it, he could feel the near invisible bristles on his fingers brush against the plastic and almost latch on. They didn't produce anything though, so Izuku closed his eyes and let whatever came to him come.
As soon as he did he opened his eyes to see a clear fluid be poured into the clear bottle from his hands. Is this the fluid in his spine? He stopped immediately and watched the liquid slosh around before it stretched out like a moss and covered the inside of the bottle.
"Wow." he whispered and set the bottle down and focused on making it move.
He imagined it rolling, the fluid forcing it along like someone doing a roll would. Heroes needed to do them when they jumped from very high so the boy focused on that motion overlapping with the bottle.
After trying for a moment, the bottle moved slightly and he could feel it shift on its own but he suddenly got dizzier. He stopped, not wanting to pass out again and watched the fluid stop coating the bottle and pool at its bottom, inactive. He was still dizzy though for some reason.
He felt he could still control it he feels but he could also sense that the rolling jostled the fluid a bit and now the connection was weaker. Maybe the fluid is a part of him and when it gets ruffled it gets hurt? The doll that punched Hisashi collapsed after its arm broke and fluids poured out of it, maybe it's like blood.
There were so many theories running through his little mind and he couldn't wait to find them all out but before he could he heard mama outside the room. He tucked the bottle away so as not to worry her and waited until she entered the room. But as he sat there, he heard Mama gasp and opened the door quickly to shut behind her.
Mama turned to him and shouted at Izuku to hide and he listened, immediately crawling under the bed because he knew there's only one reason he would need to hide. She stood by the door and held it before Hisashi started banging against it, shouting her name.
"Open the door Inko! Open it right fucking now!" he demanded, hitting the door hard enough to shake it and mama. "Open it or I'll burn it down!"
"No! I've called the police and they're almost here!" she yelled back.
"You little rat! Open this door right now!" he roared, not caring about who heard him.
The bangs had become kicks and the door was starting to crack at the handle. Mama kept holding it shut whilst Izuku curled up more under the bed. He hoped once more for someone to save them, for anyone to save them.
The kicking stopped and for a moment Izuku thought that maybe his wish came true again but it didn't. The door blew open with a burst of flames and filled the room with a wave of fire. Izuku sealed his eyes shut and held himself as the sounds of Inko screaming in pain filled the room as fire spread fast along her as she fell to the ground.
"I warned you." Hisashi growled and he stepped over his Mama, scanning the room for Izuku.
The boy forced his eyes open to see Mama on the floor, burning and flailing whilst Hisashi made his way around the room. He was scared, shaking and crying, a hand holding his mouth quiet like he did during hide and seek with Kacchan but this was scarier than that, far more scary.
Every part of him was sick and he felt like throwing up but he couldn't. Hisashi would find him and hurt him just like Mama. Izuku wanted to escape, wanted to get away but that would involve leaving behind his Mama and… leaving her to… die.
What can he do? Can he even save her? He wants to be a hero one day so why can't he save the most important person in his life? Izuku's eyes were trained on her and he saw through the burns a pair of eyes focus on him, pleading for him to run.
And so he did. He ran away.
Skittering out from under the bed he ran to the door and into the hallway sprinting as far and as fast as he could. He heard Hisashi shout his name behind him but he didn't look back but he did hear Mama scream gutturally behind him.
"Run Izuku! Run and hide!"
The roar of a fire boomed behind but it didn't matter, even when a scream came with it. He just ran. Just kept running until he was downstairs. The fire alarm blaring, making the whole world shake for Izuku but he just kept going until he found an exit, pushing through and out of the hotel into an alley.
There was no one around but it didn't matter, he just ran. Ran from everything. Ran from the world and hoped Hisashi couldn't find him. Run and hide where he can't find him. Where no one can find him.
He ran into the dark, hoping to never be found.
- - -
He didn't know how long it's been since he started. Even though the hotel is long gone and the sounds of cackling flames have long since faded, Izuku hasn't stopped dipping through alleyways and tumbling through trash cans. He thinks he's cut himself but he doesn't bother to check until he collapses onto the grimy floor of an alley.
Izuku heaved as he struggled to pull himself back up but his body didn't let him. Adrenaline was still there but with every second on the floor he could feel it fade fast and the cuts and scrapes started to weigh on him. After a minute of just breathing he finally looked around and could see that wherever he's ended up, it isn't pretty like where he lived.
The buildings around looked old and crumbling, there were no sounds of cars and even some of the street lights didn't work whilst others flickered. It was dark and he was alone, truly alone and he was terrified. He pulled himself up just barely and saw a hole in the wall of a building that he crawled through.
It was a warehouse. Empty, dusty and very dark. The only reason Izuku could see at all was because of the moon above shining down from skylights. He climbed up some steps just barely to what seemed to have once been an office. It had a window looking over the warehouse floor and into the alleyway he just was in but he didn't care to look. He just crawled under a barren desk and huddled into a ball.
He was so tired and just wanted to sleep. He didn't know what to do but it didn't matter right now because all he needed was to go to sleep. He forced his eyes shut, his damp green curls resting on his face as he gave in and slumbered, hoping this was all a nightmare.
- - -
"Inko Midoriya?" Shouta questioned.
"That was the name she gave me. We're still looking into her and hoping to get something soon." Tsukauchi answered.
The two were at the police station, going over the paperwork and the details of the burning hotel last night. In the end they weren't able to find out who caused the fire, nor did they find the child who was supposed to be there. Thankfully no one else was hurt but, it was still a failure all around and it was hitting the detective and hero hard.
"According to the receptionist, the two entered around nine, thirty minutes before Midoriya called me." Tsukauchi explained. "The fire was noticed around around quarter to ten so there was only about fifteen minutes between the call ending and whoever Miroriya's husband was attacking her."
"Is it confirmed it was him?" Shouta queried, wanting to make sure the facts were straight.
"No but the cameras caught a man in front of Midoriya's room, as well as the kid running from the hotel." the detective elaborated.
The footage they saw showed a fluffy haired man breathing fire to break the door down. He goes into the room for a few minutes before a boy comes rushing out with a face that makes Shouta's heart drop. The worst was when the man stepped out of the room ready to chase only for the burning Inko to grab onto his leg, giving the kid a chance to get away.
Of course the man turned around and finished the woman off with a blast of fire from his mouth turning her into that scorched husk the pro hero carried not too long ago.
"We don't know where the kid went?" Shouta asked, trying to not think too much about it.
"No. Nothing. Once he leaves the hotel, he dives into alleys so we have a few patrols out in the direction he ran hoping they find him." Tsukauchi replied.
'This kids going to need some serious therapy. Now he's out there all alone though' , Shouta thought.
Musutafu can be a dangerous place, especially in the direction he ran off to. He just hopes at least whoever the villain in the footage was hasn't already gotten to him. "Is that everything we've got?"
"No actually," Tsukauchi started, "we found this in the room. It was one of the few things to survive."
He showed an image of a water bottle with some water inside. It had some dirt and soot on it but besides that it appeared unremarkable. Shouta gave a look to the detective, clearly expecting him to explain further.
"It contains spinal fluid," he says frankly.
"Spinal fluid?" Shouta replied back.
"Yes. We're testing it now to see if we can find a match for anyone but that might take a while." Tsukauchi added.
"Any ideas where it could be from?" Shouta asked, pretty sure what the answers were going to be.
"None. Only thing it could be is the work of a quirk." Tsukauchi theorised.
Shouta slinked back in his chair, resting his eyes. There were many strange quirks out there. Ones that use skin, hair, blood and although Shouta hasn't been a full time underground hero for two years he hasn't heard of something using spinal fluid.
The paperwork was finished and the two left the case there until more information came. Right now Shouta needed to go home and collapse onto a warm bed with the cats. He didn't expect this night to take so long but with the search for who caused the fire, finding the kid and looking over the evidence…
Time just slipped away and it was morning now. The worst part is that Hizashi was probably already away to work and worried sick too. Shouta made sure to send a text saying he was going to be late getting back but neither were expecting this late.
The man made his way back to his apartment and climbed in to find their tuxedo cat called Dot and their ginger cat, Pepper, nuzzling up to him the second he arrived. After grabbing some breakfast made by Hizashi, he ate scrambled eggs and toast to the image of that terrified boy running down that hallway.
He couldn't imagine the fear in his heart, how terrified he felt and how far he must've ran. He looked tiny too. Just a tiny green bean terrified of everything with hopelessness in his eyes. Shouta just hopes they find him soon so they can get him the help he definitely needed and justice to whatever monster did this.
- - -
The light made its way into the room, shining over Izuku's closed eyelids. They fluttered awake, dull veridian peeping out to the realisation that yesterday wasn't a dream. The boy pulled himself up, his small body weary and aching from sleeping on the floor, and stood to look around the warehouse some more.
It was mostly sealed. All exits besides the hole he crawled through were either closed or sealed. Trying a few normal doors found them locked tight and doors that weren't were too rusted to open. All in all it was a box to hide in.
Hiding. The boy thought about what he was going to do. Between having no one to go back to and Hisashi still out there what could he do? Can he trust the police? Maybe but Izuku doesn't know how to talk to them or find them. He knows he needs a phone but he doesn't have one.
'Run Izuku! Run and hide!'
The final words of his mother ran through his mind. Maybe she meant not just Hisashi but everyone. Izuku once overheard Hisashi call someone about 'bribes'. He knew they were bad and it involved making the police or heroes do something illegal. What if Izuku goes to the police and they give him to Hisashi?
But that shouldn't be reason enough. Surely the odds that he came across someone like that was rare. But the more he thought about it the more he felt afraid of that possibility coming true. It wasn't just that though but what about after? What if the pro heroes don't catch Hisashi and he finds Izuku like he found Mama and him?
There were so many things that could go wrong. But here there were four walls, a roof and most of all, no one should know he's here. It makes sense to just hide and be on his own. It wasn't that different from before, though he would like somewhere softer to sleep. Maybe he could learn more about his quirk and become strong enough to stop Hisashi if he ever did come after Izuku.
Yes there are a lot of good things that can come by hiding here. First, however, he needs to find something to use his quirk on.
He crawled out of the warehouse and took in the dusty grimy alley around him. There were some dumpsters that weren't being missed. They did however have a lot of trash. It didn't smell though meaning it's been here for a while. He opened it up and with the help of a crate, fished through it. After a tear through he found an anatomical dummy.
The dummy was rotted and torn all over but it was the only thing that looked like it could move properly with his quirk. It had no arms or legs but it does have a neck and the missing limbs could help with one of Izuku's theories about his quirk. While there were no other 'dolls' there were some mannequin arms and legs so he grabbed those and dragged them back into the warehouse along with a small carving knife he spotted.
He set them down and started to shove the mannequin limbs into the dummy. It was simple to do with how the rubber was easy to pierce through. Once he was done, the thing laid there with two arms and two legs.
His first theory is to see if he could mix and match different objects to make one doll. He hopes that when he'd use his quirk, the whole body would move together instead of just the dummy.
He took his hand, set it on the doll's chest and felt as fluids sunk into the body. He watched the liquid pool inside the rubber and remain liquid. It looked like blood with how it focused around the rubber heart of the dummy.
"Ok." Izuku muttered to himself as he concentrated on moving the doll.
He watched in amazement as the fluid stretched out through the object and linked into the limbs through the plastic veins. Izuku then felt dizzy and weak at the knees as the head of the doll turned.
He paused and got used to the feeling. It was daunting but after a while he got more used to it. He imagined the doll standing up and watched it turn the arms and legs of the mannequin but they didn't bend, being one solid piece.
"Ok. It seems they need to be able to turn to work. Maybe if I cut them at the joints they could bend like normal." he theorised, taking the carving knife and cutting one arm off at the elbow.
He tried it again and this time he watched the liquid shape to act as a joint for the detached arm, turning it like an arm should. Izuku's eyes gleamed as he watched his creation move and immediately got to work with the other limbs, slicing them off and even the hands and feet for extra flexibility.
He commanded the doll once more to stand up and after some awkward twisting it stood shakily on two legs, spinal fluid dripping out of the joints and some tears in the dummy. He managed to move it a few steps before an arm loses too much of its fluid and falls off, causing liquid to gush from the stump and collapsing the doll.
Izuku however did not collapse, he was dizzy and his world was spinning but he did not fall unconscious. He stood up though and a rushing headache came over him, forcing him back down and waiting a few minutes before trying again. He stumbled over to the doll and moved the pieces back together.
'I need tape to cover those holes and the joints.' thought Izuku.
The liquid was like blood and every open part was a wound that would bleed. If he wanted to not get more headaches then he'd need to limit how much 'blood' was lost. Speaking of, it seemed that he got some more understanding on how his quirk works.
When he collapsed it wasn't because of control it was because of the recent loss of spinal fluid from activating his quirk. It seemed that it's fine if the liquid remained in the doll as long as he didn't give all of it.
'If I fully seal it up, I can minimize the loss of fluids so I don't have to refill it as much.'
The boy scrambled to find some duct tape from outside and used it to practically mummify the doll. Wrapping it over until it looked even more cobbled together than before. He then injected more fluid in, just a tad bit and suddenly he couldn't feel his legs anymore.
It was a terrifying sensation, one he could tell was probably temporary but nonetheless scary. Thankfully if he is right, then he doesn't need legs right now. He puppeted the doll to stand once more and this time no fluids leaked out. In fact it seemed the duct tape was being pulled like skin over the joints by the liquid underneath.
The doll stumbled over to Izuku like a newborn fawn and slowly picked the boy up at his command. Typically, children would be weirded and even scared of an anatomical dummy's face being right next to theirs but Izuku felt no fear. After all, it was just a doll. His doll.
He commanded said thing to go towards the office and watched it move towards the stairs. A stupid thing but Izuku was a child and while yes he was smart he wasn't a genius. As it climbed them, no liquid slipped out but Izuku could tell inside the doll, the bumps and knocks from moving were weakening the fluids meaning that eventually he'd need to dose it again.
The doll reached up the steps and Izuku had enough strength to stand on his own, using the wall as support. He glanced out a window looking into the alley he got the dummy from and came up with an idea. Watching from the office he directed the doll to walk down to the alleyway.
It was a mostly easy task. The main problem was discovering that it was hard to direct the doll if he couldn't see what they were seeing but once they made it through the hole, he watched it stumble into the alleyway. There the doll was ordered to tip the dumpster over so its contents could spill out and he could see what was inside.
The doll picked apart the junk and while most of it was useless there was one thing that caught Izuku's green eyes. A styrofoam mattress. Ratty and stained but still a mattress which was better than the cold wood floor he slept on last night. The dummy dragged over the object and barely stuffed it through the hole, getting it up into the office (now bedroom).
Izuku plopped down on it and it felt good. Despite how it looked from afar it was firm and the styrofoam still had some softness to it. Great! So he's covered sleeping, now he needed water because he was starting to get really thirsty.
He walked downstairs, the doll following and they found a break room with a sink. Water came out of it but Izuku knows that water shouldn't be that murky. Speaking of utilities, he found a circuit breaker. Not that the boy knew that but nonetheless he noticed some faded labels.
Using the doll to flick one on (he was too small), the warehouse lights switched on, shocking the boy as he rushed to flick on all of them. The building had power except he realised that having the lights on might not be good if he's trying to hide so he went around every room and turned the lights off with their own individual switches.
He noticed as well on the circuit breaker that one of them was connected to a water filter and so after a few minutes of it on, the water that came out of the tap was clear. He knew he shouldn't try it yet but he was getting really thirsty. It seemed his quirk does make him thirstier than normal so he took a drink and it tasted alright; would've been better with a cup though.
Now he only needed food. That was going to be harder than the other two as he won't just stumble onto them. With much reluctance and a couple raincoats he found in the dumpsters, he snuck out of the warehouse with the doll and him both wearing the green raincoats, hoods up and heads ducked down.
The two made their way and explored the neighbourhood they were in now that Izuku wasn't running anymore.
It was a very ugly place, with abandoned buildings and old cars. The place almost looked apocalyptic if it wasn't for the distant skyscrapers of the rest of Tokyo. He wandered for a while until he came across somewhere more populated, which scared Izuku at first until he took a deep breath and focused on finding food.
He eventually found a convenience store, where outside was a foodbank box where people left food for the unfortunate. Izuku was certainly in that category right now. He wandered over and took a few apples, bread and a cereal box before skittering away, the doll rushing behind him practically mimicking the boy's frantic sprint much to the confusion of passersby.
He kept running until he was safely back in the warehouse where he ate some slices of bread.
'Now we have food!' he thought to himself excitedly.
Yes now he had everything. Food, water and shelter, the three things needed to survive and now that he had all of this he was sure he could hide out here for a long time.