Chapter 19: The License
Inko was accustomed to her son returning home with one of his friends in tow. Usually it was Mashi, the redheaded girl charging into the apartment like it was her own home, and sometimes it was Katsuki, the two boys going back and forth over some idea or other. She suspected Izuku's newest friend, some boy with near-white hair that Izuku had told her about, would be showing up eventually, but… this boy was none of the above.
Outside in the courtyard Inko watches as her son leads a tall, purple-haired boy in through a side hall. The new boy is looking around like a nervous animal, a bike at his side, which explains why they were coming in from the back. Izuku is talking animatedly to the new boy, motioning multiple times to the bike, and the new boy nods every now and again, but is mostly focused on taking in his surroundings.
When they move to the side, just out of Inko's view, she finally jumps out of her surprise, and her chair, and rushes over. She opens the sliding door and steps out, looking around for her son and his new visitor, finding them by the wall between Aizawa and her own apartments.
They have placed the bike up against the wall and Izuku is crouched in front of it, just looking it over.
"What are you doing?" the boy asks him, standing behind him and watching.
"Taking measurements," Izuku responds, not looking away, but bringing up his hand to tap at his temple right beside his robotic eye, and Inko realizes with a jolt that Izuku is wearing his normal robotic arm and eye. Why was he wearing those? Had he not been concerned with keeping on his realistic prosthetics?
Inko was baffled. Had something happened? Izuku was bringing home a new kid and he didn't seem to concern himself with hiding his robotic parts. Inko was still curious, but now she mostly felt worried.
Standing around wasn't going to do her any good, however.
"Izuku?" she calls and both boys' heads flick up to look at her and something in her heart jerks at the startled, almost frightened look on the taller boy's face. It could just be that the boy was skittish, but Inko couldn't help but let it pull at her heartstrings.
"Hey, mom!" Izuku says, sitting up straighter, not yet standing up. He hesitates and bites his lip, glancing sideways at his friend, before smiling at his mother nervously. "This is one of my classmates, Shinsou Hitoshi. He joined our club! I thought, maybe, it'd be okay for him to hang out tonight?" Izuku bats his lashes at his mother and Inko can't help but smile at him. She might be a little biased but her son really was adorable.
Now, as for the other boy…
Inko looks up at the purple-haired boy – Shinsou Hitoshi – and gives him a once over. He was tall, especially for his age, with deep bags under his eyes and arms and legs lanky and awkward. He must have hit puberty a little early and had a sudden growth spurt, at least Inko hoped so, otherwise the thin limbs… well, they could mean a lot of things, but Inko's mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. Add on no child should ever have bags under their eyes like that.
Inko realizes, when she sees the new boy begin to squirm, that she's been silently staring too long, so she offers a kind smile. "It's so good to hear you've found your last member!" she says, because it wasgood, and she was so proud.
Izuku immediately brightens and nods. "Yeah! We're officially a club and we can get down to business!" he replies and Inko turns to smile at her son.
"That's wonderful, sweetie," she says softly, "I'm proud of you." Izuku looks away sheepishly, fiddling with a strand of his hair, a small smile on his face. Inko giggles at him, before looking back at Shinsou, who has been completely silent. He's looked away and Inko feels even more worried at how sad he looks. What was going on in that poor boy's head?
"You'll be staying for dinner, won't you?" she asks Shinsou, and he looks up, surprised again, before he's drawing in his face and carefully keeping it blank. "We need to put some meat on those bones," Inko smiles up at him.
Shinsou glances over at Izuku, and the smaller boy smiles as well, nodding as if encouraging him, and then he looks back at Inko. "If it's not too much trouble," he says softly and Inko's smile turns into a bright grin.
"No trouble at all! Do you like tonkatsu?"
Shinsou just nods, still looking skittish and out of place, but Inko had every intention now of making sure this lost boy felt comfortable and safe. "I'll go add some more, than," she says, reaching out to squeeze Shinsou's arm, and she doesn't miss the way he moves into the touch. It makes her heart hurt, her imagination making up scenarios that could cause this.
She lets go and looks to her son. She hadn't forgotten him, nor the fact he was wearing his normal prosthetics in front of a newcomer, but he had seemed at ease, not distressed, so she would ask him about it later rather than now.
She gives the boys a final smile and good luck on whatever they could be working on, before heading back inside to prepare a little more dinner than she had previously planned.
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"Your mom is… nice," Shinsou says softly, still staring at the now closed sliding doors where Midoriya Inko had retreated through.
"She's pretty awesome," Izuku agrees, back to observing the bike in front of him. He was reaching out, now, and physically looking over everything, trying to understand what might be causing any issues. "I may just end up making you a new bike, at this rate," he sighs, examining the damages.
"What?" Shinsou looks over, having forgotten what they had been doing previously, and quickly shakes his head out. "Oh," he mumbles, his brain back on track, and he steps closer, hand on his neck, looking over Izuku's shoulder at his bike. He didn't mean to be so spacey, but so much had happened in the span of a single day, it was beginning to get hard to keep up.
Izuku looks back at him, brows furrowed, and Shinsou tries hard not to follow the way the scars on his left side pull with the movement. "Would that be an issue?"
"I won't argue it," the purple-haired boy shrugs noncommittally. Honestly, it sounded a bit better that way. It meant he could keep hold of this bike while Izuku did his work. And how could he argue against a brand new one?
"Alright. Let me get a few more measurements of this one to work off of," the smaller boy says, turning back to the bike and scanning over it with his Eye doing heaven knows what.
"Yeah, no problem," Shinsou mumbles, mostly to himself, then steps back to look around. The courtyard in the center of Izuku's apartment complex was decently sized, if pretty bland. The grass was mostly dead, with a few trees along the edges, and… Shinsou's squints his eyes when he sees what look like scorch marks in the center. Well, Izuku did mention he did experiments here as well, Shinsou just had no idea what those experiments might entail.
Shinsou wasn't sure what to make of Izuku. The boy was smarter than any person he had ever heard of, and he was only twelve. Shinsou always thought that anyone with some kind of power in some kind of form, including intellect, would be cocky in some sense, like on television, or like Shinsou's own experiences, but Izuku wasn't. Perhaps it was the fact he had been through so much out of his control, but he was a humble and caring boy that Shinsou had not been prepared for.
His friends were loud and rude, but they weren't mean, so Shinsou didn't mind them, and now Izuku's mother was being kind and offering Shinsou a homemade meal he had never had. It was all so alien and stressful, if he was being honest. He felt more exhausted than he usually did.
His thoughts are cut off by a pressure against his leg and he looks down, curious. What he finds is the last thing he had been expecting.
A fat, orange munchkin cat is rubbing against his shins and staring up at him with big, blue eyes. It doesn't have a collar, but it couldn't be a stray, it's too clean, well fed, and eager to interact with him.
And it might also be one of the cutest things he's seen in a while.
His purple eyes widen and he crouches down, the cat not startling away, and holds his hand up for the little thing to smell. The cat hardly takes a second to sniff his fingers before it's bumping its head against his palm, begging for pets.
"Oh my god," he whispers to himself, watching as this blessing of an animal lets him rub over it.
"Looks like you met Pumpkin." Shinsou looks up and over at Izuku, who is sitting cross-legged on the ground, with multiple other cats weaving around him, and Shinsou thinks maybe he's gone to heaven. "It's feeding time soon, so they all came out. Pumpkin, there, is easiest to pet because… well, he isn't the brightest of the bunch…" Izuku explains and slowly Shinsou joins him sitting on the ground, letting Pumpkin flop ungracefully into his lap. A few of the other cats shimmy towards him, eying him uncertainly.
The purple-haired boy, in a bit of a daze at what is happening around him, reaches out his hand for the other cats to sniff, staring wide-eyed at all the felines. This was not a turn he had been expecting this visit to take.
"Whose are these?" he questions softly, although, from the looks of them, they appear to mostly be strays.
"They're nobodies," Izuku replies and Shinsou nods. He was right, then. "They're really friendly with most people, Pumpkin especially."
"Yeah… I noticed that," Shinsou mumbles, looking back down at the tabby in his lap, who has curled into a tight, little ball. "He must be owned by someone, right?" he questions, glancing back up at the green-haired boy for a moment.
"No, no, he's a stray too," Izuku says, looking a little exasperated at Pumpkin, lips twisted. "He's just… hm…"
"He's just really bad at it," comes a new voice and Shinsou looks up. Izuku is looking back towards the building, a big smile on his face, as a raggedy looking man in dark clothes, a long scarf, and greasy hair comes walking towards them. Shinsou immediately sits up straight, eyes widening at the sight, some stranger danger siren going off in his head.
"Nii-chan!" Izuku says brightly, throwing both his hands up in excited greeting, and the man has a moment where he looks just the tiniest bit flustered before it's gone and he's giving Izuku a bored look as he steps over to stand above him.
"Hey, kid," the man grunts, leaning down to scratch at one of the cats' head.
Shinsou stares between them with a slack jaw, purple eyes flicking back and forth and back again. This man was Izuku's sibling? He looked so different from Izuku though, so tired and downtrodden and tired. Although, that was just the mood… Shinsou tilts his head, squinting a little as he observes the two.
They… could be related? Maybe? They both had dark hair, though the man's was closer to black, and Izuku's was a lot curlier, but it was similar enough.
The man seemed to be a lot older, so it was a little hard to tell if their facial structures were similar – Izuku still had a lot of his baby fat – but Shinsou supposes he could see Izuku's face eventually thinning like the man's…
"So you… have an older brother, Midoriya?" Shinsou finally asks when he realizes he hasn't said anything and Izuku and the man are in their own little world, talking about what sounds like training. The man looks over, expression partially hidden by his hair and scarf, but definitely tired. Izuku jumps, startled, before growing flustered.
"O-oh! I guess I never mentioned… Well, uh, yes… and no? You see—"
"Yep. I'm his brother," the man cuts in bluntly and Shinsou looks up at him. The tone was sharp and simple and made Shinsou a little relieved. He liked it when people were straightforward like that; it made things easier for him.
Izuku, however, seems to grow even more flustered, face turning pink, his hands frantically moving around. "Yes! He is! Not by blood, though, so please don't get confused…" the boy's voice fades off at the end pathetically, ducking his head and wiggling a pointer finger at one of the cat's so they bat at it.
"You're not actually related…?" Shinsou questions, brows furrowed as he looks between the two. Now that he had looked for similarities between the two it was hard to miss. They looked like they could actually be related, but now he was being told they weren't.
"Nope," is all the man says before turning around and walking away. Shinsou blinks in surprise at the abrupt departure, but then watches as the man only goes over to the porch beside the Midoriya's own and picks up a bag of cat food. The hoard of cats surrounding Shinsou and Izuku quickly rush over, meowing eagerly at the prospect of being fed.
Izuku laughs nervously, scratching at his head and adjusting some of his hair. "Yeah, he's actually my next door neighbor… His name is Aizawa Shouta. We met years ago and he's just kind of been part of my life ever since," he explains, looking up at Shinsou through his hair, an apologetic smile on his face for the confusion.
The purple-haired boy doesn't mind and he watches thoughtfully as the man – Aizawa – feeds the cats, patting any that allow him, still looking tired and bored, but more at peace amongst the felines. There was an air about him, too. Like he was dangerous, but too done with life to be an immediate threat, and Shinsou felt like maybe he could relate a little.
"He's kind of… cool," the taller boy finally observes and Izuku sits up straight, his eyes widening in surprise, before immediately morphing into glee.
"I know, right?" Izuku whispers, scooting forward so he can get closer to Shinsou, just about vibrating as he speaks. "Nobody ever sees that at first, but he's one of the coolest people I know!"
Shinsou looks back to the boy in front of him, his tentative friend, and he realizes something. He's hardly known Midoriya Izuku for a day, but he already feels like he's one of the most trustworthy people Shinsou will ever meet. After everything he'd seen, and everything they'd said, his opinion of Izuku, while incomplete, was already pretty high, and if he thought that highly about Aizawa… that must mean this man deserved it.
"He actually knows self-defense," Izuku is continuing, and he actually is bouncing now, which is oddly endearing. "He's been teaching me since I was little! He—" Izuku cuts himself off, staring at the purple-haired boy in front of him in realization, and Shinsou isn't sure what that means.
With a snap that startles Shinsou into nearly falling backwards, Izuku turns to look back towards the apartments, where Aizawa is putting away the bag of food. "Aizawa-nii!!" he calls and at first the tired man doesn't respond, he just keeps doing what he's doing. Izuku doesn't seem to mind, just vibrating eagerly as he waits, and once the man is done with his clean up, he turns fully back to them, hands in his pockets.
"Hm?" is his only sign for Izuku to continue.
"This is Shinsou Hitoshi! He's our final member for our club at school, and he wants to be a hero too! Could he join us in our training today?"
Aizawa's eyes move slowly and suddenly Shinsou feels like he's being pinned down by the remarkably sharp gaze. Gone was the relaxed, leisurely atmosphere he had while talking to his designated "little brother," and now Shinsou felt like a criminal in a line up. Aizawa looks him over, silent and searching, and the tall boy, with every fiber of his courage and willpower, manages to sit up straight. He's sweating like crazy, but he doesn't flinch. He won't. He's hardly even processed what Izuku had asked of him, but Shinsou doesn't want to be looked down on or turned away.
As quickly as the mood had changed, it morphs back, the heaviness lifting as the man shrugs. "Yeah, sure," he says casually, turning back to Izuku. "Did you get your running in already?"
Izuku falters and begins to splutter, saying he'd forgotten but agreeing to run double tomorrow when Aizawa just stares hard at him. As they speak Shinsou feels a fog setting in over his mind as he thinks, blocking them out.
Shinsou doesn't fully know why he wants to earn this man-he-just-met's respect, but he realizes, as he's ushered back to standing for some self-defense training, that he does. He doesn't know why he wants any of these people to think highly of him, he hardly knows any of them, but they've already shown him more kindness than anyone, including his own parents, ever have.
The fog doesn't lift as he watches Aizawa put a hand on Izuku's head to stop him from bouncing in excitement, if anything it begins to thicken, before they get started. He thinks he should be excited and thankful for being included, for Izuku even thinking to include him, but he's suddenly very confused, tired, and emotionally exhausted.
It's draining and he realizes, when he blinks and he's in a stance he wasn't in before, that it has just now, finally, caught up with him. Everything is weighing on his mind in ways he isn't familiar with, mostly good, lovely things, but it's too much. Too much to process. Too much to handle.
He makes notes in the back of his mind as he watches his body move on autopilot. Izuku is more advanced, but not much. Despite having been learning from Aizawa for years now, he only recently has been able to train to his fullest thanks to his prosthetics.
Aizawa is clear about what he wants, but he isn't great at repeating himself. Shinsou, luckily, is able to pick up on the man's way of speaking and ordering rather quickly. He taught in a way that spoke well to Shinsou, clear and concise, not allowing for many mistakes, and despite not fully being mentally present Shinsou is able to work with it.. He isn't cruel, but he isn't scared to shove them off their feet when their stance is wrong, or thwack them where their blocks don't cover, or even counter an attack that isn't thrown properly.
Shinsou is covered in fresh bruises by the end, and he feels slightly grateful for that. They're something he can focus on as he distantly tries to work out all these new emotions.
Midoriya Inko calls to them for dinner and Shinsou looks over as Izuku begins walking, muttering about something that he can't hear. The purple-haired boy begins to follow as well, slumped forward, when a hand on his shoulder stops him.
He feels like what he assumes the people he hypnotizes feel like, like puppets or zombies, just following numbly.
He looks back at Aizawa, blinking up at him curiously as the man takes back his hand and puts both in his pockets. The man stares down at him, somehow both calculating and blank. Some part of Shinsou is aware that Izuku has stopped somewhere by his door and is looking back at them.
Nothing is said, Aizawa just keeps looking at him, before turning away and walking away a few paces. Some part of Shinsou tells him not to leave his spot, so he stands and waits, just staring as the exhausted man approaches some of the stray cats that have been watching them work out. A series of meows erupt upon his arrival and he bends down to pick up one of them before heading back.
In a blink Shinsou has an armful of an orange, fat cat that's mewling for no apparent reason. He stares down at Pumpkin, surprise registering somewhere in his brain, before looking back up at Aizawa for an explanation.
The man shrugs. "Looked like you may need him," is all he says before turning away and heading for the Midoriya's apartment, Inko calling out one more time for them to come in to eat.
Izuku scurries back over, looking at Shinsou and Pumpkin, obvious worry in his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asks softly. He gives the taller boy a slightly closer look, trying to understand, while Shinsou gives a small, weak shrug, looking back down at the lumpy, purring cat in his arms.
"Cats help," is all he can figure to answer and when he looks back up at Izuku he finds a thoughtful expression, which he;s seen on the boy's face plenty already, but also something Shinsou wasn't expecting. Understanding.
Shinsou doesn't know what Izuku has been through, doesn't know what the boy suffers from or has held onto all these years, but he suspects that he must be familiar with dissociating because of that look. Shinsou feels pity that anyone else has to deal with this. He's grown up with it all his life, suddenly separating from reality, watching through his eyes like he's watching a movie he can't control. It comes on either without warning or when too much has happened, like today. He thinks he should probably be used to it by now, be more familiar with the warning signs, but he hasn't. To a degree it feels nice. Like he's taking a break or escaping something painful.
That doesn't mean he wants other people to have to deal with it, and it's clear Izuku must.
"Yeah, they do," Izuku agrees, reaching out to scratch under Pumpkin's chin. The cat moves to follow the scratches, but forgets he's being held and nearly twists right out of the arms he's splayed out in. Shinsou scrambles to catch him, getting a better grip on him, and Pumpkin now lays on his back in his arms, looking nonplussed.
The two boys stare at the cat, brows raised, before looking to each other. Izuku laughs first, a quiet, somber sound for the atmosphere, but it's enough to get Shinsou smirking, his own shoulders shaking with his quiet laughter.
Yes, cats helped, but so did a good friend.
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Izuku's muttering fills his bedroom as he writes and sketches over pages and pages of notebooks and graph paper. He, Shinsou, Aizawa, and Inko had all eaten dinner together, Shinsou not saying much unless prompted, but at least still speaking some, Pumpkin curled around his feet.
Izuku recognized, now, that the taller boy wasn't entirely there, anymore. He wasn't sure when the dissociating started, but Izuku knew it could come on quickly. Obviously, the ever-observant Aizawa had noticed first, and had helped the issue quickly and quietly, and now Shinsou lay back in Izuku's bed, playing with Pumpkin while Izuku worked at his desk.
It had been a little awkward at first, the silence that set in around them, but once it became clear Shinsou didn't mind and Izuku got to planning, it became a lot more peaceful. The silence, besides the genius boy's muttering, didn't have a heaviness to it now, and Izuku felt that was a step in the right direction.
"What are you doing?" The question catches Izuku off guard and he looks back, voice cutting off, eyes wide. Shinsou is still leaning back, but his eyes are more alert now, looking over at him thoughtfully. It takes a second for Izuku to actually figure out that he should be answering him, and when he does he clears his throat and looks back at everything he's been jotting down.
"Oh, well… I had a few new ideas so I'm planning them out," he says as he lifts up one of the graph papers that has multiple sketches of robotic parts that probably mean nothing to most people. He still lifts it so Shinsou can see. "Science is a lot of plotting, planning, preparing, and writing," he explains, then smiles a bit brighter, "In the wise words of Adam Savage, 'The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.'"
Shinsou stares at him for a long moment and Izuku's smile turns anxious when he receives no immediate response. Mashi and Katsuki knew that quote, he'd dragged them along plenty of times to watch reruns of Mythbusters, but maybe Shinsou hadn't?
"Cool," the purple-haired boy finally says, voice bland, and Izuku lets out a breath. "What are you planning, then?"
Izuku looks again at all his notes and the mess he's made on his desk, a nervous chuckle escaping him. "Uh, well two things, actually. One is I'm trying to plot out some kind of AI that can help me with some of my stuff in my super computer. I need to be able to focus on certain things if I'm going to be a hero, so the assistance would be a big help. The other is a robot you inspired me to make, actually…"
"Me?" Shinsou's brows raise in surprise and he sits up on the bed, Pumpkin rolling onto his lap, not caring in the slightest, just settling in where he lands and meowing for more pets.
"Uh… yeah, you…" the green-haired boy spins in his chair to fully face Shinsou, but he keeps his head down, hair falling into his face like a protective curtain. "It wasn't anything big… Just, when you said 'cats help,' it gave me this idea of a robot cat that can go around with first-aid devices built into it. Help out people on the street with small injuries, or even help out recues during hero work…"
"Like a little nurse," Shinsou says with a small nod, looking thoughtful, and Izuku smiles up at him, happy he wasn't uncomfortable at him taking inspiration from just a small, simple line.
"Yeah! A neko nurse!" he laughs and Shinsou smirks, wiggling his fingers at Pumpkin to grab at.
"You should call them that."
"What? Neko Nurse?" Shinsou nods as way of answer and Izuku lifts up one of his pages of notes on this particular robot. It was a simple, cute name, but maybe that was exactly what it needed. This was something he wanted to have interacting with the public, having a name like Neko Nurse could help people like them and feel more comfortable. "Yeah… yeah! Neko Nurse! That's perfect!" he was getting excited anew, bouncing slightly in his chair as he turns around to get back to work on his notes. He'll realize later that he completely cut off his and Shinsou's conversation and apologize profusely, but for now he was too wrapped up in his writing, Shinsou quietly watching and listening to his muttering.
They'll continue like this for a while, Izuku isn't sure how long, until he'll yawn and realize how tired he is. When he turns back around, not certain what Shinsou may want to do now that it was getting late, he'll find the boy sound asleep, Pumpkin curled up beside his neck, looking content.
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"This is remarkable!" Inazumi exclaims not for the first time.
He and Izuku sit at a long table against the wall in one of Izuku's workshops, both of them working at their computers, Izuku at his homemade one, now with an All Might decal on the back, and Inazumi's a shiny, rose gold.
The smaller boy is leaned in close to his screen, his blue eyes sparkling as he looks over some of the coding Izuku had given him. It was a lot, and for a lot of different devices, but from the little Inazumi had looked over he was immediately impressed.
"You actually did all this all on your own?" the white-haired boy whispers in awe and Izuku looks over from his own work. He had some new code he was working on up on his screen. Only last night had Shinsou stayed over at his house –Izuku had been unable to will himself to wake him and had pulled out the futon for himself – but already he was working on possible programs for his AI systems.
"Yeah, I did," he replies honestly, looking over some of the codes Inazumi was currently looking over. "There was a lot of trial and error, though," he admits. He didn't want to make anyone think he was some kind of god when it came to his tech, like he could come up with anything with no issue, because he couldn't. He failed all the time. That was how science worked. Failure was everywhere, it was what led to the solutions.
Inazumi snorts and sits back in his chair, arms crossed. "That's coding in a nutshell," he agrees, nodding, and Izuku smiles a little bit.
"Trial and error? Yeah, no kidding," he chuckles in agreement.
"Google is a programmer's best friend," Inazumi huffs and Izuku snorts a little louder while the other boy smirks over at him, enjoying their jokes. It was so nice having someone around who understood these kinds of things with Izuku, even if it was just the coding aspect.
Before more can be said the loud booming of music echoes through the clubhouse's halls and Inazumi scowls deeply. Izuku was accustomed to this by now, Mashi or even Katsuki playing loud music when they worked. It used to be when they were training, plotting out attack moves and maneuvers, but nowadays it also included Mashi practicing her gunstaff builds in her own, personalized workshop.
From the sound of the music Izuku immediately recognized it to be Mashi's.
"When are you planning on getting doors in here?" Inazumi growls as the upbeat music plays, the redhead's loud voice joining in with the singer's occasionally. "You said the walls can be soundproof, but lot of help that does us without any doors!"
Izuku chuckles sheepishly and glances over at the empty doorframes. "Ah, well, I was hoping to hire a friend of mine to make those, actually. A sculptor named Hatsume Āto." He occasionally still saw the woman when he was at the Haganehato scrapyard and she dropped by, but it was so rare now, and he really did love her sculptures, so he'd asked if she would be able to make some doors. She'd laughed, saying of course she could, and if Izuku let her make them a little extra artsy than she'd even give him a discount, but that she would still need payment.
"How? You've said that you're poor as a brick," Inazumi questions, apparently reading the issue at hand immediately.
"You're not wrong…" Izuku sighs, turning back to his computer with a sad little frown. He clicks open his emails, which he could easily just pull up on his Eye, but he wants Inazumi to see. He opens a few choice messages and turns his computer towards the other boy, who leans closer to get a look. "I've been working really hard for a really long time now to get some licenses for Hera. Not many people have wanted to take me seriously, but with some help from some of my friends in the scientific community I've gotten a few people to listen, finally."
Izuku had published a series of his discoveries over his lifetime, but he'd always gone under the pseudonym Masamoto Isshin, which meant it was difficult to cite his works. With the help of the community and scientists that DID know about him and who he was, however, he had managed to get a few companies' attentions, which led to communication, which led to research and legal works.
Now he was just waiting, and it was driving him up a wall.
"Whoa…" Inazumi breathes, leaning away, then arching a brow as he looks over Izuku. "You're twelve and you're already getting paid? Hot diggity Doolittle…"
"I'm not getting paid yet… They're working out some legal stuff, doing some testing, seeing how everything can be applied…" Izuku explains, scratching at his head and pouting. It was a long, drawn out process, but it would be worth it in the end, he hoped. These were big companies, with all kinds of sponsors, so he hoped the percentage he would get would be worth all of this.
"Still…" Inazumi breathes, looking back and forth between their screens. He flinches when suddenly Mashi changes the song and ups the volume, scowling furiously before leaning back in his chair and yelling as loud as he can, "TURN THAT GARBAGE DOWN!!"
He certainly has a talent for reaching such a high volume, his shriek making Izuku's ears ache from how close he is, and he chuckles nervously when he hears Mashi scream back, "NOW I KNOW YOU DID NOT JUST CALL MY QUEEN OF BACCHANAL GARBAGE!"
"NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT THAT MEANS!" Katsuki's voice rises from somewhere in the clubhouse, probably his room, sounding furious and the music is finally turned down just so he and Mashi can have a screaming match across the building.
Izuku groans, leaning his elbows against the desk, and his face in his hands. "Look what you did," he groans towards Inazumi, who scowls and huffs.
"Not my fault we're surrounded by a bunch of barbarians," the boy scoffs, nose held high, and Izuku gives him a long, unimpressed look, the screaming continuing around him.
"Who's a barbarian?"
Inazumi yelps and jumps out of his seat, swinging around to stare wide-eyed at the speaker. Shinsou had entered quietly and undetected by either of them. Izuku looks back at him, trying to cover up his own surprise with a bright smile in greeting. "Hi, Shinsou-kun, where have you been?"
Inazumi is grumbling under his breath, clutching his chest, as he slides slowly back into his chair and turns to his computer, trying to recover from his momentary freak out. Shinsou looks blankly at the back of the smaller boy's head for a moment, then turns fully to Izuku.
"Outside. I practiced some of those moves your brother taught me, and I tended to some of the plants…" he says with a shrug. "Wasn't really sure what to do, now."
Izuku blinks in surprise, both grateful at Shinsou for helping with the exterior of the building, and confused by what he means about not knowing what to do, but then it hits him. The reason everyone was here was to practice and prepare for becoming heroes – as well as the best programmer the world had ever seen – but nothing was really set up for Shinsou to work on. Katsuki practiced his quirk outside, but Shinsou's quirk, and subsequent practice, required a partner, and if everyone was busy what was he supposed to do? Sure, he had the option to train his self-defense, which would be really important, but there needed to be more for him… but what?
"I'm sorry Shinsou-kun! This place has been built for really specific stuff so far, it isn't really set up for you, yet… It will be!" the boy quickly looks up at Shinsou, hands rising slightly. "It definitely will be! I just… hadn't realized that yet…"
"It's fine," the tall boy says, placing a hand on the back of his neck and looking around at the room they were in. It wasn't Izuku's largest workshop, but it still had a lot of inventions here and there. Izuku mostly used this room for computer work, though. It had a single window that got some of the best light. "I like just hanging out."
Izuku chews his lip. True, this was meant to be a hang out spot, too, but he hated that Shinsou just didn't have much to do…
"Midoriya, really, it's fine," Shinsou quickly cuts into his thoughts, staring at Izuku sharply, trying to stop the negative thoughts from forming in the smaller boy's head.
"I could… develop your devices for your hero suit? And you could train with those," the genius tries to offer, desperately thinking of what he could do. Maybe he could teach Shinsou how to build, too? Like he was teaching Mashi, but he wasn't sure what he would teach the purple-haired boy what to build.
Shinsou shrugs, however, seeming flippant about the offer, and says, voice still firm, "You'll get to that when you get to it. It's not your job to make everybody happy."
"But you—"
"Don't have anything to do? Yeah, that happens with me everywhere. I was going to ask if I could just sit and listen," Shinsou cuts him off and gestures over to a free chair over by another desk.
"Wouldn't that be a bit boring?" Inazumi questions, finally joining the conversation, turning around in his chair to look at Shinsou with furrowed brows, but the other boy shakes his head.
"I like sitting around people. Being forced to talk or DO something is exhausting and annoying. I like just… listening."
Izuku thinks back to the night before. Yes, Shinsou had been having issues with being fully present, but he still had seemed entirely content to just sit and listen to Izuku mutter and work. It wasn't an alien feeling. Sometimes Izuku liked to just listen to Mashi or Hizashi or both yammer about something, maybe this was the same?
"Oh… y-yeah, sure, we don't mind," the genius stutters and Shinsou nods before going and pulling up the third chair to sit on the opposite side of Izuku.
"Hope you don't mind TRASH MUSIC!" Inazumi screeches the last part, glaring again at the doorframe, timing his yell perfectly between Mashi's and Katsuki's.
"SOCA IS NOT TRASH MUSIC YOU DOUCHENOZZLE!"
"Oh dear…" Izuku mumbles as the screaming match turns to Inazumi and Mashi instead. It certainly doesn't help that Shinsou is smirking through it all, apparently enjoying the chaos, while Izuku loses his mind.
"At least it's not boring," Shinsou mumbles and Izuku turns a dirty look on him.
"Please don't encourage them…"
----------
Hizashi's eyes are intense, more intense than Aizawa has ever seen them. He stares, hard, over the top of his pink sunglasses, judging, measuring, planning. It's amazing, the kind of concentration on his face, a bead of sweat slowly running down the side of his face.
Through all their careers, fighting villains of all varieties, weaving through tricky media and rowdy students, Aizawa doesn't think he's ever seen his friend this drawn up and tense, brain taking turns it has never made before.
He moves his Rook three places forward.
"Checkmate," Izuku says blankly as he moves around the space Hizashi just made and sets up the perfect ambush on his King.
The blond yells into the air in anguish, falling backwards onto the ground, while Mashi lets out a string of obnoxious laughter, pointing at the miserable man on the floor of the Midoriya apartment.
It was a calm, Saturday evening, with Aizawa resting on the Midoriya's couch, Nemuri and Inko chatting about some book they and Mitsuki had all been reading, Hizashi and Mashi talking animatedly together on the floor, and Izuku working on his computer on the couch beside Aizawa. It had been Mashi's idea to pull out the plastic chess set, curious how good the genius in the room was when it came to the game.
"It's not the same as building machines," she had reasoned, and Izuku had actually agreed she had a point, and Aizawa found the look of surprise on the girl's face momentarily humorous.
They had put the board on the coffee table, and Nemuri and Inko had turned a pair of kitchen table chairs around so they could sit closer and watch. Izuku sat on the floor between the couch and the table, while Mashi sat on the floor on the other side.
Izuku won almost immediately and Mashi had just slowly lain down on the ground with her face buried in the carpet while Hizashi patted her back sympathetically, grinning the whole time.
Surprisingly it was Nemuri who wanted to go next, and while she lasted a bit longer, she too was quickly defeated. It was clear that, yes, Izuku's talents were different from chess, it didn't change the fact he could think plenty of moves ahead in plenty of different scenarios.
Then it was Hizashi, and he'd tried his hardest, actually taking his time, and Aizawa was honestly impressed by his friend, but he was soon defeated as well.
"Zuzu is the undefeated champion!" Mashi yells, throwing her fists into the air, not at all showing the same sympathy to Hizashi that he had shown her. Izuku didn't look too excited; actually he looked kind of bored.
"Can I go back to work, now?" he nearly whines.
"NO!" the redhead yells, and Aizawa really wishes she'd lower the volume. He'd left his POMs at his apartment by mistake… "Now Catman needs to try!" she points a dramatic finger at Aizawa, who stares blankly back at her.
"No."
"Aw…" It says something about how much this kind of interaction has gone down that Mashi knows she won't be able to convince Aizawa past this point.
He knows he's a clever man, he has to be, but he also knows full well his limits and that there is no way he'll be able to beat Izuku. Looking at chess like it was actual battle, and applying real world strategies to it, wasn't actually the most efficient method to work it out. People didn't think like chess pieces moved, after all.
Izuku also seems relieved he doesn't need to play anymore, moving back onto the couch so he can continuing working on some kind of code on his computer. Aizawa knew next to nothing about code, but he was pretty sure that was what that was, even if it wasn't green text on a black background.
With Izuku out Hizashi and Mashi decide to play each other, which takes a lot longer and is infinitely more entertaining because halfway through they begin narrating their pieces' lives. Aizawa doesn't react to it, but he does keep his eyes open to watch some.
Nemuri decides to keep sitting there on the floor, watching the game, and Inko goes to get them all something to drink. The tea is served as it always is, Izuku gets a strawberry smoothie, and Aizawa gets decaf coffee for now so that he can keep resting. Once all the drinks have been handed out Inko takes a seat beside her son, who wordlessly scoots closer so she can play with his hair while he types.
It's one of those evenings that Aizawa lives for, everyone at peace, not too crazy, and enjoying each other's company. He gets to rest before going off to work, Hizashi gets to rest too, since his evening radio show will be soon, and Nemuri, who was always scheduled for longer shifts so more people could see her, could recover from the long day.
At some point the chess game ends and somehow Hizashi ends up pulling out some of his hair products from his messenger bag and shows Mashi how he styles his hair for hero work. This quickly evolves into Mashi styling back her own hair, with Hizashi and Nemuri's help. She still had crazy, disobeying strands of hair, but now they're all slicked backwards and held in place and it's a surprisingly good look for her. Nemuri refuses to let them go near her hair.
"Oh, hey! Hizashi-san!" Izuku speaks up, looking up and seeing the scene. "That reminds me! I made something for you and your hero work. Actually… you all could use this," the boy mumbles the last part and sets his computer down on the table before springing up and rushing to his room.
"Is it a laser? I'd love a laser!" Hizashi calls, grinning, a few strands of hair falling free since he hadn't put full effort into styling it back for his demonstration.
"I want a laser too! After my motorcycle!" Mashi calls and Aizawa's brows furrow, silently watching.
"Motorcycle? Izuku, what is she talking about?" Inko calls, asking the question that had been on Aizawa's mind, and Izuku comes back looking a little irritable at his friend.
"I only said 'maybe when you're older,' I never actually agreed to it," he huffs. He's carrying what looks like a spray can in his robotic hand.
"MOTORCYCLE!" Mashi yells, not at all caring about the looks she was getting.
"Anyway…" Izuku sighs, deciding moving on was their best option, and he steps over to Hizashi and hands him the can. "I developed that for you."
"OH IZUKU!" Hizashi crows excitedly, taking the can, and though he doesn't know what it is, he certainly doesn't care. He's just excited to be getting a present. "What a LOVELY gesture!"
"Hey now, where's my gift?" Nemuri pouts and Izuku glances over at her, but it's Mashi who answers.
"I-I'm sure he made you something! He must have! You deserve everything in the world and—"
"It can be for everyone," Izuku cuts her off before she can embarrass herself, laying a hand on top of her spiky, frozen, yet somehow still soft hair. Aizawa knows it's still soft from experience, since Hizashi STILL liked to stick his cockatoo hair in his face to get him to touch it.
Mashi deflates, happy Izuku had stopped her, but still very much embarrassed by her inability to speak to women she found pretty or cute, which was most women…
"What is it?" Hizashi asks, turning the can this way and that, but there's no label on it.
"It's a fireproofing spray specifically for hair," Izuku replies and Hizashi's head flicks up at him, eyes widening comically, and mouth falling open. "Y-yeah, uh… I noticed one time the brand you used to style your hair was actually pretty flammable…"
"VERY flammable," Aizawa cuts in, voice blank, remembering the multiple times Hizashi had had to roll on the ground to put his hair out while on duty, or even one time needing another hero to stomp on his hair. That video had made it onto the internet, and then onto Aizawa's phone. He still made gifs of it and sent it to his friend at random times to irritate him.
"Oh," the green-haired boy blinks over at him, then turns back to Hizashi, saying, "Right, so I thought this would help, but anyone here could use it and…" He trails off when he sees Hizashi's lip quivering and big tears forming in his eyes as he clutches the can close to his chest. "Um…"
The blond is springing forward too fast to follow and wrapping his arms around Izuku's shoulders to hug him tight, rubbing his cheek against the top of the boy's curls, crying big, probably real, tears as he exclaims, "YOU'RE THE BEST KID IN THE WOOOOOOORLD!"
Izuku looks surprised where his face is visible in Hizashi's embrace and finally Aizawa stands and moves over, taking his friend by the back of his jacket, and dragging him off. "Alright, enough of that," he says in exasperation while Izuku takes a big, relieved breath and fixes his mussed up hair.
"But Shoutaaaaaa! I wanna keep him!" Hizashi cries, still clutching the can close.
"If you think you can wrestle him away from Midoriya-chan, go for it," Nemuri calls, a sly grin on her face, and everyone looks over at Inko, who is still sitting on the couch sipping her tea. All the woman does is smile back at them, just smile, but something about it is very out of place and Hizashi visibly shudders.
"NOPE! Sorry, not happening," he quickly says, scooting away.
"Wise idea," Inko says sweetly and this time everyone shudders. How could such a sweet woman be so terrifying?
"Right, so…" Hizashi shakily turns back to Izuku and tries to grin. "I wanna give this a shot!" he announces, the energy slowly coming back to the room and Aizawa moves to sit back on the couch, watching as Hizashi sprays a mist of the stuff into his hair.
"I'll get the matches!" Mashi exclaims, jumping to her feet.
"No." Aizawa says again, the redhead's shoulders falling and she plops back down with a pout, arms crossed. He actually felt a little proud of himself for being able to control the volatile girl like this. She hardly actually listened to anyone else…
"I got it!" Izuku announces, sitting down beside Hizashi on the floor and raising up his pinky finger on his right hand. With a click the tip of the finger opens and a small flame appears. Aizawa and Inko both already knew about the addition to his hand, he made sure to keep them updated on these things nowadays, but the others didn't.
Hizashi and Nemuri both jump in surprise while Mashi scurries forward, her emerald eyes sparkling. "Whoa whOA WHOA!" she exclaims gleefully and Izuku sits up a little straighter, a small blush to his cheeks for the praise, but still proud.
"Be careful with that, sweetie," Inko warns, sitting forward a little as Hizashi and Nemuri move closer to get a better look.
"Yes ma'am," Izuku replies but is still mostly focused on his rapt audience. Inko sighs and sits back and Aizawa watches as she fiddles worriedly with her teacup. She was trying hard to not hover as much as she used to, but she was still a mother and she still wanted to look after her son.
When Aizawa looks back to the group on the floor Hizashi is vibrating excitedly like a child while Izuku holds the flame up to his hair and nothing happens. Mashi is cheering off to the side, demanding more fire, while Nemuri nabs the can of spray to sprits some into her own hair and demand Izuku do the same to her. The woman's hair remain fire-free as well and the can is passed to Mashi, who coughs when she accidentally squirts the stuff into her face, but still gives a thumbs up for when she's ready.
Izuku is just about laughing as he's called over to hold the flame up to each of their hair do's, none of them getting tired of watching the flame flicker against the strands with no effect, when suddenly the boy stops, looking forward at nothing.
The room falls silent, the atmosphere dropping at the change, everyone looking to the green-haired boy in concern. Aizawa shifts in his seat, ready to get up, brows furrowing, when he sees the boy's eyes flicking back and forth likes he's reading. Immediately the underground hero is pretty sure he knows what is going on, but that doesn't change how jarring it actually is.
"Izuku?" Inko questions worriedly. She actually is standing, her teacup still in hand, and her son shakes out of his stupor. He looks back at her, then at all the others staring at him, and blushes deeply.
"I-I'm sorry! I just… I got an email I was waiting for…" he stutters, pointing at his robotic eye, and Aizawa nods. He'd been right. He'd spotted plenty of times when Izuku and he would just be relaxing the boy suddenly look up at some invisible thing like he was reading the air. After the first few times Izuku had explained it was his super computer and that he was looking at emails, or messages, or readings on some of his machines back at his mysterious clubhouse.
"An email?" Mashi questions, perking up suddenly, and Aizawa's eyes narrow. Was he missing something? Those two had been sure to share as much as possible with them and Mashi's mother, but that tone had sounded like she knew something they didn't. What kind of email would Izuku be waiting for, anyway?
"Y-yeah, just… give me one second," he says and closes his eyes. Aizawa also knew it was much easier for him to work his screens on the back of his eyelids, but it still looked a little odd, the boy just standing there, silent. No one else spoke, just stared, officially invested in whatever might be going on.
When Izuku makes a noise that sounds like it may be a sob of some kind Aizawa stiffens. The boy opens his eyes and quickly looks over to his mother, expression serious, but his lip is quivering. "H-hey mom?"
"Yes, sweetie, what is it? Are you okay? What do you need?" Inko quickly questions. She's still holding her tea and Aizawa suspects she's forgotten about it.
"Could you… could you look at your checking account real quick?"
The question seems to surprise everyone present, Hizashi looking over at Nemuri before they both look to Aizawa, wanting answers, but he shrugs. He's just as clueless as them. Mashi is still staring at Izuku, expectant, and Inko hesitantly turns and picks up her phone, setting he cup down finally.
"Sure, sweetie…" she says slowly, her brows furrowed. For a second she stares at her son, trying to understand, but eventually she looks down and begins tapping at her phone.
"I've, uh… I've been working on licensing my Hera material lately," Izuku begins to explain and Aizawa tilts his head. Hadn't he started doing that a long time ago? Was he still trying to even now? "I actually have been talking to… to two companies, recently. They've been curious and been testing it, applying it, talking with legal and their sponsors and…" Izuku looks down and scratches his head. He's shaking and Nemuri stands up, moving closer to lay both her hands on the boy's shoulders from behind, standing slightly to his left side.
Izuku hiccups but keeps going, his mother's tapping on her phone going quicker, wanting to understand what had her son so upset. Had these "companies" tricked Izuku and somehow gotten into his mother's account? That didn't sound right to Aizawa, the kid was too anal about his research, there would be no way someone could pull a fast one on him like that.
"O-o-one of them, they make sports gear, ah…" Izuku sniffs again and Hizashi is also reaching out, now, just holding out his hand until the boy takes it and holds it tight with his robotic one. "Th-they agreed and… and they want to use it…"
"That's great news, kiddo!" Hizashi says, but he still looks worried, and Aizawa couldn't blame him. This was great news, but Izuku didn't sound done.
"Y-yeah, but… that was a while ago, and I w-wanted to surprise y-you and…" Izuku takes in a deep breath, shaky and filled with emotion, "They just emailed me… their upfront p-payment just w-went through…"
It's almost like it's planned, but a moment after he says that Inko is letting out a cry and dropping her phone. She's soon to follow, collapsing to the floor on her knees and this time Aizawa is up and moving. Nemuri is close behind, while Hizashi stays with Izuku, and Aizawa crouches beside Inko, hand on her back, trying to lean into her line of sight.
"Are you okay?" he just about demands in his worry and he sees the woman's face already streaked with tears. She's shaking and both of her hands are to her mouth, but after a moment she nods at the question. Aizawa isn't sure what to do, but then he hears Nemuri gasp and he looks up. She had Inko's phone in her hands and her eyes are wide in shock.
"I-I don't have a b-bank account, so…" Izuku is saying, but he trails off as Nemuri turns to show the phone screen to Aizawa. He doesn't gasp, but he does sit up straight and his eyes widen.
Shown on the screen, on the very top, is a direct deposit to Midoriya Inko's account of a whopping 600,000 yen.
Aizawa stares at it, then over at Izuku, then back at the phone. That was… a lot. A lot of money, a lot to take in, a lot to process and…
Aizawa, for the first time ever, he thinks, is completely frozen, unsure what to even begin to do.
Izuku, the twelve-year-old genius, had gotten a license for one of his brilliant inventions, and apparently had another one on the way, and had just made him and his mother six hundred thousand yen just like that. Well… not "just like that," he'd been working incredibly hard, and apparently for a long time, to get this going, but already it was paying off.
"Th-that's the upfront p-payment," Izuku stutters, overrun by his own emotions, "I-I'm supposed to get 2% royalties e-every month." Aizawa shakes his head. This boy was still trying to explain himself. Was he afraid that they were upset he'd kept these last few steps a secret? It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities, the kid always worried about those things, but how could any of them be mad? They all knew how the Midoriya's struggled with money. This, depending on the royalties for both licenses, could very well mean Inko would never have to work another day in her life.
Inko makes a desperate noise and flaps her hands, unable to speak, and by some miracle Aizawa understands and motions at Izuku. "Come here," is all he says and Izuku hesitates, but ultimately knows to follow his orders. Hizashi squeezes his hand once more before letting him go and Nemuri steps back for the kid to move in.
When he's close enough his mother reaches out sharply and yanks him into a crushing hug. It's what breaks the dam, both mother and son weeping as they hold onto each other for dear life, unable to do anything else with all of this.
"My Izuku," Inko manages to croak, love and pride dripping from every word, "My genius, amazing, perfect boy." It manages to make Izuku cry harder, clinging desperately to his mother.
Aizawa feels suddenly out of place, crouching so close to them. The others are watching from a distance, they're fine, but he feels like he's intruding on something private and personal.
He shifts to get up and step away, but something is grabbing at his sleeve and yanking him back down with surprising force. Inko grasps at him, arm strong where it now wraps around his shoulders. She doesn't let up even when he's stiff as a board, eyes wide behind his curtain of messy hair.
She was hugging him. She was hugging him and including him in this moment that should just be for family.
He nearly startles out of his skin, feeling much like a spooked animal now, which he isn't a fan of, when Izuku's small hand grips the front of his shirt, helping keep him in place.
It happens all in the span of a few seconds, but Aizawa feels like it may have been a few minutes, or hours. Inko and Izuku are still crying, but now the woman is looking at him through her damp lashes, a strong, stubborn look that said he wasn't going anywhere, that this was where he belonged.
Slowly he raises one arm to lie across Inko's back, and he puts his opposite hand on Izuku's shaking back. He doesn't squeeze back much, but he gives enough for Inko to relax, certain he won't bolt.
They stay like that for an uncertain amount of time, Aizawa isn't sure, but slowly he begins to relax. He doesn't cry, if anything he just stares, but a peace settles into the air that feels like rejuvenation.
But it doesn't last, of course it couldn't, because suddenly Mashi and Hizashi are both screaming. Nemuri had stepped back and finally shown them Inko's account, it would seem, and those two weren't really ones to cry when they were overwhelmed. Instead they get a blur of red crashing into them, making them all fall over, as Mashi screams her joy, hugging the group as best she can. Her young arms are still too short to reach all the way around, but Hizashi's aren't, and he's soon falling on top of them, also eagerly yelling his joys, hugging the group properly.
Izuku begins laughing through his tears almost immediately, while Inko yelps in surprise, hesitates, but also begins to giggle. Aizawa groans and begins berating the two for being so loud, but then someone is lying against his back and Nemuri is covering his mouth and saying in his ear, "Let them have this." He manages to wiggle the giggling woman off with a scowl, and she moves over to lay on the other side of the group to pat Izuku's head and hug Inko and laugh with her.
Aizawa lets his head flop onto the ground, trying to appear irritated by all the sudden loud noises and people in his space, but when no one is looking he lets a small smile slide.
These were the evenings he lived for, after all.