Chapter Text
The weekend was finally here. Anyone could practically feel the relief floating around UA’s high school campus. The hero’s in training were looking forward to a well deserved break.
Izuku was in the common area of class 2A’s dorm complex with some of his friends. Ururaka, Iida, Denki, Mina, and Todoroki all sat around the TV, taking turns playing Mario Cart.
Midoriya thought back to the homework he had to do over the weekend, but pushed it out of his mind as a fuming Denki shoved the controller in his hand.
“Woo-Hoo!” Mina was cheering. Again. Because she had won. Again.
Midoriya gave Kaminari a comforting pat on his shoulder as he mentally prepared to be beaten for the 12th time this afternoon.
“Come on Deku! Beat her!” Ochako cheered him on.
“Please,” Denki begged him, “My ego can’t handle this anymore,”
“You ready green bean?” Mina gave a menacing smile as the next round started.
Izuku groaned as the game began counting down.
As soon as the counter hit one, his friends were cheering him on.
“You guys!” He fumbled at a turn, “Your distracting me!”
Mina cackled as her turtle shell hit him and his friends knew it was too late for him.
As Mina finished first place, he handed the controller to an intimidated looking Todoroki.
“Good luck,”
Izukus phone rang and he picked it up from the floor, eyeing the number. He was surprised to see ‘mom’ printed on the screen. They usually didn’t talk on the weekdays, and Izuku came home every other weekend, so there was no need to have in depth conversations, leading to them mostly texting.
Most likely the whole thing was a mistake, but it was his mom so Izuku picked it up and stepped outside to the back porch.
“Mom?”
“Izuku! Hi sweetheart,” The static on the other line told him she was in her car. She hadn’t called him ‘sweetheart’ since elementary school.
“Is everything ok?” The call wasn’t an accident.
“Hmm? Oh yes! Better then ok. I’m coming to pick you up now, I have a surprise!” His mother certainly sounded excited, but Izuku wasn’t ready to leave.
“What? But I’m not supposed to come until next weekend,” He knew his friends could hear him through the glass and lowered his voice a bit.
“I know sweetheart, but I promise you’ll thank me later, pack your things!” And then she hung up on him.
Izuku stared at his phone for a moment.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go with his mother, or that he wasn’t curious about the surprise. It’s just that he hadn’t… prepared himself. It would only take him a couple minutes to pack, but everything would be changing from what he expected for the weekend. He hated last minute things.
“Midoriya? Is everything alright?” Todoroki asked him when he came back in.
“Oh, yeah! My mom just wants me to be home this weekend,” His friends nodded, but didn’t question further, knowing not to pry.
“Have fun! Text us,” Mina waved as Izuku went to his room to go pack.
Izuku thought of his mother as he packed his things.
He loved her, he really did. But sometimes, (Oftentimes, everytime) he would come home from school before he went to UA with bruises and cuts and tears. He would come up with an excuse, and she would believe it. Every day.
He stopped coming up with excuses at some point.
And sometimes, (Oftentimes, every time) when he asked for dinner she would roll her eyes and tell him it was a fend for yourself night.
At some point, every night became a fend for yourself night.
And sometimes (Oftentimes, everytime) he would cry late at night when the bullies words hurt too much and he knew his mother could hear him because she would get home late from a work shift, and the walls were thin. And he knew she ignored it.
Eventually, he stopped crying because he knew it wouldn’t change anything.
And sometimes (Oftentimes, everytime) when Izuku was little and he would see she wasn’t busy and didn’t look tired, and he would ask to watch TV together or to play with him, and she would just shake her head and say no without an explanation.
Izuku stopped asking for things.
He shouldn’t think so poorly of his mother though, he tells himself. She fed him (sometimes) and kept a roof over his head and raised him (raised was a bit of a stretch) and supported him (“Izuku I’m so sorry”. Mom, that wasn’t what I needed to hear) and endured the pain of having a child like him, a child with no quirk, with no purpose.
He finished packing his bag and took a calming breath.
He walked down to the first floor to find Aizawa and knocked on his door. A moment later and the man answered.
“Midoriya,” for some reason the man’s presence made him breathe a little easier, “Your packed,” he observed.
“Yeah, I’m going home this weekend,” he gave his best smile, though he wasn’t sure if it was very convincing.
“You weren’t scheduled to, did something happen?”
“No, my mom just said she had a surprise for me,” he shrugged.
“You don’t like surprises” Aizawa said.
Izuku was surprised his teacher remembered that fact about him and then it hit him that his own Mother must have forgotten about it, or maybe she just didn’t care.
(Not like you ever told her)
(Not like she ever asked)
Izuku just shrugged.
Aizawa just tilted his head, “Well, thank you for letting me know, you have my contact information if you need it,” Izuku felt better knowing that fact, which was a… weird feeling. It wasn’t like his mother was abusive or anything, there was no reason to feel reassured by that.
“Yup! See you later Mr. Aizawa,” he shut down his line of thought and went to say a final goodbye to his friends before leaving for the UA parking lot.
“Please man, your the only one who’s gotten close to beating her,” Denki dramatically begged for Izuku to stay.
“Have fun with your Mom Deku! I know I have,” Mina giggled at her own joke.
“I don’t get it” Todoroki said.
“I believe that was a ‘your mom’ joke” Iida answered with all seriousness.
“Goodbye Deku! Don’t forget to text us,” Izuku promised the group to update them later, and then left the dorm room to find his moms car.
A bored security guard nodded to him as he exited and Izuku politely told him to have a good weekend as he scanned the parking lot.
Most of the cars were the teachers, a couple of third years were parked there too, but Midoriya spotted his moms little bright blue car quickly.
“Hey mom,” he greeted as he entered the passenger seat.
“Hey sweetie, how was your week?” She sounded unusually happy and it made Izuku nervous.
“Good, you mentioned a surprise?” He didn’t like surprises, he didn’t like change, he hated this.
His mother just smiled to herself, “You’ll see!”
Izuku fidgeted nervously in his seat as he wondered what it could be.
The apartment didn’t allow pets, and his mom had always hated them anyways so he ruled that out quickly. It’s possible she’d gotten a raise or a bonus, but that usually resulted in a text and a congratulatory dinner out, if anything at all.
As far as he could tell there wasn’t anything special about the date, and by the time they reached the front door he still hadn’t guessed it.
Izuku waited for his mom to pull out the keys for the apartment, but instead she knocked at the door.
“Uhm, mom?” He let out a chuckle at the odd mistake, but his mom just turned to smile at him.
It was then he noticed the door knob was turning.
From the inside.
A man appeared in the doorway.
He had brown eyes and black hair that looked identical in all but color to his own. It was like looking in a mirror that was wrong, but similar enough that it took you a moment to realize it. He was taller by quite a lot and seemed to hold himself high.
He had a cigarette in his mouth, a small flame hissed from between his teeth as he gave a crooked smile.
“Hey there son,”
Izuku did not like surprises.
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Aizawas coworkers often told him he was too protective of his students. And sure, maybe in the past his concern for their well being was unneeded, but now that he was this classes temporary gradian, he felt it was justified.
Besides, after everything the class has been through, they needed someone they could talk to about hero stuff. He quickly found himself spending lots of time in the dorms with his students even though it was unnecessary.
But Kaminari needed help with his homework, and Sato has set off the fire alarm more them once while cooking. And someone had to keep his problem children from fighting, and someone had to be there when Tokoyami had a panic attack.
So yes, maybe his concern for Midoriya was unwarranted, but what can he say? He’s… fond of his kids.
Midoriya didn’t like surprises. It was an ideal Aizawa would wholeheartedly agree with. Unexpected things happen when your a hero, and adults have to deal with changing plans all the time, but Aizawa tries to have his plans laid out for his students anyways because change isn’t something you can learn to love.
When Midoriya tells him his mother had a surprise for him, Aizawa was very confused. Midoriya was very adamant on not liking surprises. It’s a fact he isn’t afraid to admit and he lets people know.
That his own mother had a surprise for him was… concerning. But then again Aizawa didn’t know the situation. Maybe it would all turn out ok.
So Aizawa let it be for the weekend, promising himself to keep an eye on Midoriya when he gets back.
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Izuku didn’t know how to feel.
Here was a man who had done nothing wrong, not really-
(He left)
-and yet he’d never really done anything right. He didn’t have the chance too because he was gone. How was Izuku supposed to feel? He didn’t even know the man, who had left when he was four.
A lot of things changed the month he got his diagnosis. The teachers began to pity him, the children to exclude him, everything began to seem so out of reach.
He remembers lots more fights. He remembers yelling and slammed doors and packed bags.
(“Mama? Where’d daddy go?”
”J-Just go to your room Izuku” the voice wasn’t kind.
”What did I do wrong?”
”Everything! You ruined EVERYTHING! Just go to your fucking room!”)
The apartment smelled like smoke and Izuku wondered how long his… father…. Had been here.
It felt wrong to call a stranger his father. But then you wouldn’t call a stranger by their first name so Hisashi felt wrong too. Of course calling him Midoriya would would be even weirder-
“-saw you at the sports festival, that certainly surprised me” Hisashi (that felt the most appropriate) laughed.
They were eating dinner. He was surprised to find his mother had actually cooked because it’s been so long, that was a least a more pleasant surprise.
“Oh, yeah” Izukus mother nudged him, trying to encourage him to be more upbeat.
An awkward silence filled the dining room as they finished eating. Izuku got up to do his plates but Hisashi stopped him.
“I’ll get it,” Hisashi smiled with his teeth (not his eyes) and took his and his mothers plate to the kitchen to clean them up, leaving Izuku alone with his mom.
“Izuku?” She didn’t seem… upset. But not happy either.
“Sorry, it’s just - it’s a lot” he admitted. Hisashi hadn’t actually done anything bad, he’d been nice so far.
“I understand, but your being a little rude. Your fathers trying very hard to be present in your life and your brushing him aside!” Izuku shrunk as his mother continued to chastise him.
“Just promise me you’ll put in an effort as well,” And how could Izuku say no to that?
Maybe it bugged him how Hisashi smoked too much, making the entire house smell unsafe (unsafe? That was certainly the only way to describe it), and maybe it was obvious how fake the smiles were and maybe it hurt because he knew Hisashi had left when he was diagnosed as Quirkless and now all of a sudden he’s gotten a quirk and that can’t be a coincidence-
“I promise” he said before Hisashi came back and sat down.
“So, Izuku, what’s your favorite subject in school? Other then lunch” he laughed at his own joke.
“Uhm, heroics I guess? I sort of like history too,” He kept his eyes fixed behind his father instead of looking at him.
Izukus mother got up to use the bathroom.
“Any good teachers?” Hizashi kept the conversation going.
“Yeah, my home room teachers pretty good” Izuku felt strangely comforted being able to talk about him.
Hisashi nodded, “My eyes are over here you know,” he commented and Izuku blinked at the harshness in his tone.
“Sorry,” he whispered, because he had promised his mother he would try and maybe Hisashi thought he was zoning out.
“Any cute girls in your class?” The list of questions seemed to keep going.
“Girls? Oh, not really my type I guess,” Izuku had come out to everyone in his life, it was just so normal now he didn’t think twice about it.
Hisashis eyes immediately flashed with disgust, “Oh your one of them,” he said.
Anger boiled in Izuku, “What’s that supposed to mean?” his voice raised.
“You know what I mean, now lower your voice young man,” Hisashi stood to emphasize his point.
“No! You can’t just waltz back in to my life and be mean to me!” Izuku was shouting now.
A hand was being pulled back and before he knew it he was being smacked across the face. Tears welled in his eyes as he processed what had just happened.
He heard a sigh from the hallway, “Hisashi,” his mother didn’t sound very angry.
“Mom!” He yelled, waiting for his mother to do something, but she just stood there.
“Look Izuku, I know your mom had different methods of punishment, but that’s how I plan to discipline you. You were being disrespectful, and you needed to learn your place,” Hisashi ended on a louder note.
Izuku didn’t respond, he stood there for a moment, waiting, hoping his mother would say something.
She didn’t.
Izuku went to his room and locked the door, sliding down the wall he silently cried. It was stupid, because he knew that’s how some people did things.
Kachanns mom had hit him once. Well, it was more of a playful smack and they both smiled about it, but it was essentially the same thing.
Maybe it wasn’t normal for him before, but it could be a normal, it would have to be a normal.
Izuku could get used to it.
Besides, he had raised his voice at the man. He could have voiced his opinion another way. It was only a slap too, so it wasn’t abuse or anything.
That’s all it was.
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The weekend passed slowly. Izuku tried to keep himself busy texting his friends and watching movies and doing his homework, but he still found himself with nothing to do most of the time.
Usually when he was bored he would FaceTime someone, or make plans to meet, but he was too scared Hisashi would get mad, or that he wouldn’t be allowed to leave. Hisashi had hit him multiple more times over the weekend, and each time got harder.
That wasn’t all he did though. He grabbed Izukus wrist so hard it stared to bruise. He’d yelled for almost an hour when Izuku forgot to clean the frying pan. Multiple times he threatened to pull him out of UA, meaning Izuku was essentially stuck doing whatever he said because if he didn’t his whole life would fall apart.
But it was fine. Sure, he knew logically this type of behavior was damaging to a child, but he wasn’t really a child. Plus it wasn’t really abuse so it was perfectly legal. This type of behavior was normal in plenty of houses, Izuku just wasn’t used to it.
He convinced his mom to let him leave earlier then normal on Sunday night under the guise of having left homework at the dorms.
“Ok honey, but remember to come back next weekend. And try to be less… problematic… for your father. It seems like your just not trying,” Izuku shoved the anger down and nodded his head, just wanting to leave as soon as possible.
“Alright, text me” Izukus mother smiled (it’s been so long since she smiled, maybe he really was being dramatic if his mother was so happy).
“Sure,” and just like that, he finally left the apartment.
He’d forgotten how horrible the place smelled until he finally got a breath of fresh air. His lungs burned at the sudden change and he held back a cough.
He let himself relax a little on the bus ride to UA. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been all weekend, and the exhaustion of the constant adrenaline running through his veins the past few days was starting to catch up to him.
The bus came to a stop and Izuku put down his phone and got up, excited to finally be home at the dorms.
The security officer at the front gave him a lazy nod as Izuku swiped his card. Midoriya took the short walk to his classes dorm rooms and his steps seemed to get lighter as he approached the door.
“Deku!” Ururaka barreled into him when he entered the main area.
It wasn’t that late, and most of his classmates sat around the lounge area, or sat in the kitchen while Sato baked. Even Aizawa was sitting at the kitchen table grading papers. Izuku let himself forget his home troubles, and found himself being drawn into a lively conversation about pineapple on pizza.
As the clock moved closer to 10 people began to excuse themselves. Midoriya could feel the deep, aching tiredness in his bones, yet he didn’t want to leave, knowing if he was alone his mind would wander to places he didn’t want it to.
Eventually everyone but Aizawa Sensei had gone. The time was well past 10 but Izuku stayed on the couch, playing around with his phone.
“It’s getting late,” Aizawa noted from behind him, “You have class tomorrow,”
Izuku knew that, he also knew that he would be tired tomorrow no matter what. He also knew that if he were alone he would only think of of a situation he couldn’t change.
“You have class tomorrow too Sensei,” he said, letting a little snark into his tone of voice.
It drew a snort from Aizawa and he put down his pen, “You have me there. Let’s both go to bed yeah?” He waited for Izuku to respond.
And it wasn’t like he could just beg the man to stay, to not leave him alone because he felt so alone all weekend and at the same time he felt crowded. But with his friends, with his teacher, he didn’t feel alone, and he didn’t feel crowded.
So instead he smiled, “Alright,”
They walked to the end of the stairs together. Aizawa had his own apartment within the dorms on the first floor. There were teacher dorms too, but he told them that it would be wrong as their temporary guardian to leave them alone during the night because they might need him.
(It struck Izuku as odd at the time. His mother had no qualms leaving him home for days at at time when he was 8. Why would Aizawa, a teacher with no obligation to do so, think a bunch of teenagers needed him to watch over them?)
“Goodnight Sensei,” Aizawa just grunted as he opened his door.
“Don’t stay up too late Problem Child,” He began to close the door when Izuku remembered something.
“Oh! Aizawa?” Aizawa opened the door wider.
“I’m going home every weekend now, just so you know,” Aizawa frowned ever so slightly, his eyes squinting with concern.
“Alright,” he paused before adding, “if somethings going on, I’m always here to talk,” he waited a moment longer before it became obvious Izuku didn’t have anything to say.
(I’m not alright, I’m not ok Aizawa please-)
“Goodnight,” his voice was soft and Izuku tried not to think about how his mother hadn’t been that soft with him since he was four.
The door shut and Izuku was alone.
He walked to his own room, trying to think of a mundane thing. Todorokis birthday was coming up. He could gather a bunch of Endeavor merch and let him burn it, but he wanted to get something he could keep as well.
Maybe a hoodie? Something that would last him a while that was meaningful. He reached his room and plopped onto his bed, letting out a sigh as he pulled out his phone only too see two messages from an unknown number.
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Unknown Number
Its dad, mom gave me your number
you left early, stay later next time
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He shivered as he was reminded of his father. He couldn’t help but hate the way he refers to mom as “mom” as if they were all one big happy family.
It wasn’t a suggestion to stay later, it was a demand. Izuku quickly added Hisashi to his contacts (he didn’t put it under “dad” because that wasn’t a dad), and shut his phone off, not wanting the reminder.
He shut his eyes, and tried to sleep.
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Sleep did come eventually, but not before the tears, and not before many hours had passed. Izuku woke up to his alarm and immediately groaned at his pounding headache.
Still, heroism waited for no one.
He got out of bed and swallowed some advil, praying that it would lessen the pain. He changed into his uniform, struggling with the tie for the first time in months after Aizawa had shown him how to properly do it.
He let out a frustrated huff and let the tie be. It was still early, he has about twenty minutes until classes started so he went down to find something for breakfast.
Aizawa always spent evenings with his students, but he was usually gone in the mornings. Izuku shoved down the part of him that wished his teacher were present now because he was just a teacher and teachers were bad and Aizawa was just a good teacher but he was still a teacher so he couldn’t be that good but then again it was Aizawa-
He tried to shake his confusing line of thought as he entered the kitchen. It smelled of bacon and eggs and Izuku was pleasantly surprised to see Jiro making breakfast for the class, most of which had already left.
“Hey Deku, want some?” She gestured to a hot plate and Izuku accepted it gratefully before taking his seat next to Todoroki, the only other person there.
“How was your weekend Midoriya?” Todoroki was usually one to wait for conversation to be initiated, but he had made leaps and bounds with his social skills over the past two years.
“It was good!” He answered without even thinking, then shoved bacon in his mouth to hide his frown because his weekend was far from good.
“That’s good,” They ate in silence for a bit.
“Shit! Guys we got to go!” Jiro exclaimed, looking at the time on her phone. The two boys noticed the time as well. They all grabbed their bags and jumped out of their seats, running for the door.
They made it to class just as the bell rang, all three of them gasping for breath as they took their seats and class began.
The lesson was fine, it always was, but Izuku found himself having a hard time paying attention. His mind continued to wander.
By the end of the day Izuku knew he was nearing his limit. He felt ready to collapse and did just that when he got back to his room.
Tuesday was better, he felt much more well rested and wasn’t as on edge from his weekend. In the afternoon he and some friends actually went to the mall.
Izuku found the perfect hoodie to get Todoroki. It was red and white split down the middle, but on opposite sides compared to Todoroki.
Hiding it was a pain because he asked what Izuku had found when they met up again, but he was able to distract him with All Might popsicles.
By Wednesday he had mostly forgotten the coming weekend looming over him and he did well on the pop quiz Hizashi-Sensei gave them.
It was Thursday he got another text.
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Hisashi
Izuku
Christ are you deaf?
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Izuku just stared at the screen for a moment, confused. He was in his dorm room working on homework, trying to figure out a tricky math problem.
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Izuku
What?
Hisashi
oh look, it talks
why the fuck weren’t you answering me?
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By now, he was very confused. Why was his dad mad? He didn’t know the man was even expecting him to respond. He tried taking a calming breath before responding.
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Izuku
Sorry, I didn’t know you wanted me too
Hisashi
Read the room fag
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For some reason that name hurt more then anything else the man had done. They hurt more then the sting on his face or the yelling, they hurt more then knowing his father had left him for something he couldn’t control.
He threw his phone down on his bed and went downstairs, he needed a distraction.
The common rooms, as they’d dubbed it, was never lacking someone. Sato was constantly cooking, and the TV was almost always on.
Currently, Mina and Kaminari were getting help with the homework from Kirishima. Sato was baking with the help of Asui, and a few other students were watching the TV.
Midoriya sat himself down next to Todoroki and mindlessly started watching whatever was on.
Time passed and Izuku barley noticed. He had left his phone in his room so he couldn’t really check it if he wanted. Kirishima had left to get Aizawa to help Kaminari and Mina had moved on to the TV area and chose a show.
“Midoriya is there something you want to watch?” Todorokis voice startled him out of his trance.
“What? Oh, no anything’s fine with me!” He answered honestly and Todoroki nodded.
Todoroki nodded and selected some random movie. Izuku was starting to feel tired and felt himself relax next to Todoroki.
Aizawa came out, followed by Kirishima and he began to help Kaminari with his homework. The presence of his teacher made him relax even more and he found himself drifting to sleep.
“Midoryia,” he woke up to the gentile shake of his shoulders and he blearily opened his eyes.
It was darker outside and most people had left the room. He must have fallen asleep and he quickly sat up when he realized he had fallen asleep against Todoroki.
Aizawa was crouched in front of them, Todoroki was just waking up as his teacher shook him awake as well.
“S-Sorry Sensei, what time is it?”
“Close to 11, you two should get to bed now, I’ll be doing the same,” Aizawa added the last part looking straight at him and Izuku smiled at the reference to Monday night.
The three parted ways and Izuku went back to his room to see his phone still on his bed.
There weren’t any new messages, so it seemed Hisashi was fine for now. Still, the reminder that tomorrow was his last day here made him want to throw up.
Sleep was restless and Izuku found himself awake at odd times in the night. He tried convincing himself that this was fine, that it was irrational to fear his own house just because Hisashi had different views on discipline.
It was fine, everything was fine.
“Midoriya?” Izuku jumped at his teachers voice.
The day was over, he was in the dorm rooms with some other students. Usually on weekends he went home he would leave as soon as class was over to set up for the weekend, but now he wanted to stay as long as he could.
“Yes Sensei?” Aizawa was relaxed, hands in his pockets, capture weapon around his neck. He had the tired look on him like he always did.
“You told me earlier your going home every weekend. Did something change?”
“Oh, no I was just going to leave later then usual” Izuku checked the time and clenched his jaw when he saw he would have to go soon.
“I actually need to get going now to catch the bus, have a good weekend Aizawa-Sensei” He stood to leave.
“You too, problem child”
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Izuku Midoriya went to bed early.
Often he was the first to turn in for the night, so when two nights in a row he stayed up later then almost all his classmates, Aizawa got concerned.
Something was wrong with the problem child. He was jumpier then normal, and Aizawa thought he noticed a bruise on his wrist, but he was too far away to tell.
He seemed reluctant to be left alone and smiled a little less then normal. He spent class time daydreaming more then usual as well.
Shouta wasn’t stupid. This all started when Izuku came back from the surprise weekend, and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together and see something was happening at home.
But he knew Midoriya. Any confrontation would make him shut down immediately. As much as he hated it, he would have to wait for Midoriya to come to him if he wanted to do anything.
So he pursed his lips and allowed Midoriya to go home for the weekend.
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Izuku stood outside the door to his apartment for longer then he should have. It was nearing 8pm and he knew his parents (the word sounded strange on his tongue) would be upset.
Steeling himself, Izuku took out his key and opened the door.
The apartment looked… different.
There were beer bottles all around, and along with the stench of smoke and cigarettes the place smelled strongly of alcohol. He spotted multiple burns on the couch that weren’t there before, and the place looked overall like a mess.
Midoriya knew his mother worked a lot, she was probably working now, now that he thinks about it, and she never really had time to clean. Both of them could pick up after themselves just fine though, so it never really became a problem.
Hisashi, apparently, did not know how to clean up after himself.
He was watching TV currently. The volume was blasted up too much for Izukus liking. A cigarette hanged from his mouth and in his hand was a beer bottle.
He was facing away from the door, so Izuku quietly replaced his shoes with slippers and snuck on to his room.
He let out a breath when he found his room untouched. He hadn’t even realized he was nervous about that, but he was relieved none the less. Ignoring the stench, he pulled out his homework and got to work.
He left his room around 9 to get something to eat. Hisashi was still on the couch, but noticed Izuku this time.
Neither of them said anything as Izuku pulled out some Raman and began to cook it. When Izuku looked in the trash can he saw a concerning about of beer bottles, paired with the amount laying around.
He threw out the ones in the kitchen but didn’t go to the living room. Had Hisashi been drinking all week? Was he drunk now?
Izuku turned off the burner when his water reached a boil and pushed back his fear. He was a hero, he couldn’t be afraid of some beer bottles.
Izuku peeked out to the living room to get a good look at Hisashi. He was drinking another beer, but he didn’t seem drunk. Izuku had never seen anyone drunk past the videos they showed in school though, so he couldn’t completely trust his own judgement.
“Izuku,” Hisashi called out to him and Midoriya jumped.
Did he want something? Should he respond or did Hisashi want him to go? His voice wasn’t slurred so it was safe to assume he wasn’t drunk yet.
“Uhm, yes?”
“Come ‘ere,” Izuku wanted to be anywhere else then near him, but he knew if he kept him waiting or refused then Hisashi would just get upset and then hurt him.
So he walked into the living room and waited for Hisashi to say something else.
“Here,” he held out the beer bottle.
“Oh, uh, no thanks” he said backing away, but Hisashi stood up and loomed over him.
“Come on, your a man now, you can handle a bit of a drink,” he was pushing the can into Izukus hand, who kept backing further away.
“I don’t want it,” he let out a cry when Hisashi grabbed his hair and brought the bottle up to his lips.
Izuku determinately kept his mouth shut, but then Hisashi shifted his hand to plugging Izukus nose and blocking off his need for air.
He should have used his quirk to defend himself, but 14 years of not having one meant it was never an immediate reaction, only ever an afterthought.
So instead, he struggled against the man’s hold as he slowly lost oxygen, grabbing at his wrist and trying to escape until he had to open his mouth to breath.
Of course, instead of air reaching him, it was alcohol. He coughed as the liquid burned in his mouth and down his throat. Eventually the air did come, and Izuku gasped in as fast as he could.
Hisashi just stood above him, laughing, and he went back to sitting on the couch. Izuku ran to his room, collapsing on the floor next to his trash can as he threw up.
Tears poured down his face as he tried to get the awful taste from his mouth. When he had nothing left to puke out he continued to dry heave. His vision was blurry, whether from the tears, or from the strain on his body he couldn’t tell.
He eventually crawled into his bed and laid there, having forgot about the ramen.
His door opened suddenly, he had forgotten to lock it, and Hisashi stared in, unconcerned.
“Tell anyone, and I’m pulling you from UA” he said it nonchalantly before slamming the door shut, making Izuku flinch.
He sat in his bed for hours until he eventually fell asleep.
=
=
=
The next two weeks where similar. Hisashi continued to hit him, and yell at him. He made Izuku drunk beer again and Izuku just listened and took the smallest sip he could, his hands shaking the entire time.
Aizawa continued to encourage him to come to him. And he wanted to! He really did, but Hisashi hadn’t really done anything and sure, the drinking was abuse, but it was really only the one time, and the second time Izuku technically did it of his own violation. Sort of.
So Izuku tried to tell him everything was ok. He thinks Aizawa sort of believed him.
It took too long for Midoriya to work up the courage to leave his room the fifth weekend with Hisashi. He would spend the entire day in his room if he could, but he unfortunately needed to eat.
He nudged open his door, listening down the hall for Hisashi and he continued on when he heard a snore. Hisashi was asleep, or maybe unconscious, it didn’t matter to Izuku.
He found his cold ramen from last night and quickly disposed of it before grabbing some food. He made himself a sandwich because it didn’t look like Hisashi would be waking up any time soon, and then grabbed some food bars and chips so he wouldn’t need to leave his room again.
He went back to his room and locked his door. He pulled out his laptop and began doing some analysis as he ate.
His mother left around noon (she had come home late last night), meaning she wouldn’t be back until late this night if she doesn’t stay with a friend closer to the hospital. The rest of the day went without incident. Hisashi left at some point, but Izuku couldn’t be sure where he went to.
Midoriya ended up opening his window eventually, not caring about the cold as long as the smell of smoke would lessen. He wasn’t sure if he was just making it up, but it felt a little harder to breath.
Night came and went with a restless sleep and the next day was much the same.
He was able to skip breakfast the next day in favor of eating a food bar, though he was getting sick of them by this point. He put on his headphones and listened to music as he cleaned his room and lifted weights.
He was blasting a Mistki song on full volume, zoning out slightly, when his door slammed open. It seemed to move in slow motion, bits of the lock falling to floor with a clunk, the handle of the door denting the wall. Hisashi was yelling at him loudly but Izuku hadn’t heard over his music.
Izuku pushed his headphones off as Hisashi entered the room, anger clear on his face. The music faded and the man’s screams filled his ears instead.
“-dam ungrateful piece of shit!” He was advancing on Izuku now, clearly getting ready to hurt Izuku.
Izuku pushed himself against the wall on his bed.
“Don’t lock this fucking door! And answer me when I call for you!” Hisashi brought his fist back and before Izuku knew it a punch was landed on his face. Stars filled his vision as pain blossomed on his cheek, and he cried out in pain.
Distantly, he noticed blood leaking from his lip, but his mind was overwhelmed with thoughts. Away, get away, not safe not safe not safe-
He bought his hands up to protect his head, but Hisashi seemed content with one blow and sneered at him before leaving the room, pushing past a figure in the doorway.
Izuku looked to find his mother standing there. Just standing there. Watching.
“Izuku,” She said it with a disappointed look on her face, “You really should listen to your father,”
Izuku felt like he was going to pass out. His mother sighed and left and he ran to shut the door, cursing when he found the lock had been busted.
His body began to register the pain and he collapsed on his bed. Izuku gently brought his hand up to poke at his cheek and lip and found blood. It probably needed attention.
He curled up into and repeated one thing in his mind.
This is normal.
This is normal.
This is normal.
This is normal.
This is normal.
This is Normal.
This is Normal.
This is Normal.
This is fucking NORMAL.
THIS IS NORMAL.
=
=
=
“How did that happen?” Aizawa kept his voice cool, but after knowing the man for so long Izuku caught the hints of concern.
“Oh!” Izuku reached up to his face, hiding his wince as he poked at the bruise, “I was training,” he lied.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow. It was Sunday night and Izuku had walked into the dorm rooms with the fresh bruise on his face. He debated covering it with makeup, but it would ultimately lead to more chaos if it was wiped off.
Aizawa had immediately dropped his work when he saw his student injured and started asking questions.
“With who?”
“My neighbor,” Izuku answered easily, having come up with a lie on his way here.
(If it’s normal, why do you need an exuse?)
“Your neighbor? I didn’t know you trained with your neighbor,” Aizawa was looking more concerned.
“He was visiting from collage, we were good friends when I was young so he offered to help me with training” Aizawa didn’t look completely convinced, but he didn’t say anything else.
Izukus thoughts swirled around his head that night. He wanted to tell Aizawa, he didn’t want Hisashi to keep hurting him, but he could get pulled out of UA. Plus, if his father was arrested (which was unlikely considering Izuku just let it happen), his mother would surely kick him out, he would have no where to go.
He had made up his mind, he wouldn’t tell anyone.
Aizawa let him take a seat, and class began.
=
=
=
“Midoriya stay after class, the rest of you are dismissed” The class jumped up, ready for Monday classes to be over.
“We’ll wait for you, keiro,” Asui called out from next to Ururaka who nodded in agreement. Todoroki stood a bit apart from them but also looked content to wait.
Izuku nodded to them as they left and awkwardly stood in front of Aizawas desk. The teacher was currently grading papers, ignoring Izuku.
“Sensei?” He asked after a moment and Aizawa looked up at him.
Izuku was surprised by the open concern in his teachers face.
“Did you really get that training with your neighbor,”
Ah, he hadn’t been fooled of course.
(No, no it wasn’t my neighbor it was my father he Punched me Aizawa-)
(Teachers are bad, Teachers don’t help they hurt)
(but it’s Aizawa,)
“Of course! I promise everything’s fine Aizawa-Sensei, you don’t need to worry about me,” Midoriya knew he didn’t sound completely authentic, but hopefully his teacher would just accept it.
Aizawa clenched his jaw, “Izuku…” the use of his first name made him want to say something.
“Honest Aizawa! I’m alright,”
Aizawa sighed, “Ok, I believe you, but remember you can always come to me, no matter how unimportant or small it seems, promise me, problem child,”
Izuku gulped, knowing it was a promise he wouldn’t be keeping, “I promise, Sensei, thank you”
Aizawa nodded and Izuku walked for the door.
“Midoriya,” Izuku looked back, “Go see Recovery Girl”
Midoriya knew better to argue and simply nodded before exiting the classroom.
“What was that about Deku?” Ochako asked.
“Aizawa-Sensei just wanted me to go see Recovery is all” Izuku smiled to reassure his friend.
“We’ll go with you” Todoroki offered.
“Alright, thanks!”
=
=
=
=
Midoriyas mom would be working all weekend, and wouldn’t be home until Monday, so Izuku was alone with Hisashi all weekend. (Not that his mothers presence really changed anything.)
Izuku couldn’t hear anything from the hallway, so he hesitantly creaked open the door. No one was in the living room or kitchen, but Hisashis shoes were there so he had to be home. There were less beer bottles then last time he was here, so either his mom cleaned them up, or Hiashi did. He would only bet on the latter.
He got to his room without incident, only hearing some noise from his parents room. Izuku began to pull out his homework when he noticed his hands shaking. He tried to take a calming breath but it doesn’t work.
He starts to pull out his headphones then hesitates and puts them back. Music always helped him calm down, but he didn’t want to repeat the last incident with Hisashi. He’d just have to make do. Izuku had done work with shakey hands before, he would survive.
An hour later the door slammed and Hisashi left. Midoriya relaxed a little, but the place still reeked and he felt that at any moment his father would come back and get mad at him.
He jumped at every noise while he was making his dinner, and hurried back to his room to eat it even though he was sure Hisashi wouldn’t come back so soon.
He had a hard time sleeping again that night. Harder then usual anyways. He was up late on his phone and when he did get off it his mind just wandered and went back to it.
It was Saturday evening Hisashi came back.
Izuku was in his room luckily, so they didn’t need to see each other at all, but then he heard other voices. Maybe three or four other people (likely men) where all talking and laughing in the living room.
Izuku felt a burst of anger because Hisashi hadn’t even informed him before opening his house to other people. But he had to remind himself that it was technically Hisashis place more then it was his, even though he had left it for eleven years.
He tried his best to ignore it but it was hard to get anything done while they were yelling and he was too scared to put on his headphones.
So Midoriya lounged around for a bit, not really achieving anything, and time slowly started to pass.
Around dinner time his stomach started to rumble and he looked to his stash of food bars with disgust. He only had two left anyways, not really enough for a meal considering all the training he had to do.
He refused to be scared to walk around his own house. So what if Hisashi hits him? Izuku can move out soon, he’s almost 16 anyways. He won’t go hungry because of the man.
Determined, he opened his door and walked through the living room to the kitchen. He only glanced at the three men looking between him and Hisashi curiously. They were all big, two of them with a cigarette and all of them with drinks.
Midoriya set himself on making a sandwich, something that didn’t take too much time, but didn’t make him feel like he was rushing because he was scared. Because he wasn’t.
“Didn’t know you had a kid Midoriya,” one of them said, as if Izuku couldn’t hear him.
“More of a m’stake” Hisashis response was slurred, he was drunk.
The men let out a round of laughter and Izuku zoned out the rest of their conversation.
He washed his dishes and put his sandwich on a plate, grabbing a glass of water before turning around to leave, but startled when he saw Hisashi.
Hisashi stood in the doorway, a beer bottle in his hand and his usual cigarette gone from his mouth, instead little puffs of fire were coming out.
“That’s what you are, a dam mistake” Izuku jumped when he smashed the bottle against the wall, shards falling to the ground along with beer.
“Should’ve never been born, dam useless boy” Hisashi moved forward and Izuku backed up until he bumped into the counter.
Maybe if the man in front of him wasn’t his father, Izuku would have thought back to the lesson Aizawa gave on defusing drunk people. Maybe if Hisashi hadn’t been abusing him every weekend he would have thought to fight back, or to yell. Maybe if Izukus mother really cared for him he wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.
A sudden burst of energy had Hisashi running forward to Izuku. The bottle smashed against his head and in a horrific moment he felt blood dripping from his skull and pain burst through his head. He wanted to scream but he was too scared to.
A blow landed in his abdomen and he finally had the courage to yell, “Stop! Stop it!” He pushed himself back, trying to escape the never ending hits.
More people where coming in the room. Laughter filled the air again as Izuku blocked his fathers punches.
More and more fists came raining down on Izuku. He thinks most of them were from Hisashi, but at some point he lost track. He was feeling lightheaded, like he would pass out.
Eventually he broke through, the pain ebbing deeper as he struggled to stand and stumble his way to his room. The men must have gotten bored because they didn’t stop him as he left.
He shut his door, the loud voices of his father and his friends receding slightly. He collapsed in the far corner of his room between his desk and the wall, trying to hide from the world.
His phone knocked from his desk as he stumbled to the ground and he stared at it for a moment until he registered what it was.
He needed help.
His head wound must be deep, there could be glass in it as well. The bruises would probably heal alright as long as they didn’t cause internal bleeding, but his lightheadedness and confusion wasn’t a good sign.
He needed help.
He stared at his phone. Help, he needed help. He needed Aizawa.
”you have my contact information if you need it”
”let’s both go to bed yeah?”
Izuku opened his phone. Face recognition failed so he typed his password in.
”if somethings going on, I’m always here to talk,”
”problem child”
He scrolled through his contacts, finding Aizawa.
”How did that happen?”
”I believe you, but remember you can always come to me, no matter how unimportant or small it seems, promise me, problem child,”
He hit the call button, bringing the phone up to his ear with a shaky hand.
”I promise, Sensei”
One ring.
Two rin-
“Kid?” Relief suddenly flooded through Izuku. The feeling of warmth and safety surrounded him as he let out a breath. A moment passes where he said nothing, just savored the voice of his savior.
“Midoriya? Talk to me” A burst of laughter from the other room chased the feelings away.
“Aizawa” Was all he was able to get out before he was struggling to breath, so many emotions conflicting inside of him.
“Alright, take a breath” Izuku followed his teachers instructions, taking a deep inhale and a deep exhale before the man continued.
“Are you hurt?” Izuku had certainly had worse, or at least he thinks he has, head wound where hard to tell.
“Y-yes,”
“Ok, where are you” He could hear movement on Aizawas side.
“M-My house” Midoriyas breath hitched when he heard clinking from beer bottles.
“I’m on my way Midoriya, are you safe right now?” Izuku clung to the calmness in Aizawas voice and tried to ground himself with it.
“I- sort of? Maybe? I don’t-I don’t know” He wasn’t in any immediate danger, but the men were only a room away, and Hisashi might decide to beat him again at any moment.
“That’s ok, how did you get hurt?” Wind was blowing through the line as Aizawa jumped over rooftops.
“He- I don’t know he was- he was just mad I guess and drunk? And then- then they all just- I don’t know why, he just started-“ he choked on a sob as tears threatened to spill from his face.
“I’m coming Midoriya, hang on for me. Are you alone in your apartment?”
“N-no. Th-there’s four of them, all-all together” Izuku lowered his voice, realizing if Hisashi knew he had called someone he’d be upset.
“The ones who hurt you?” Aizawas voice was becoming less calm.
“Y-Yeah” he let out a whimper as his head began to hurt more.
“I’m almost there, just a little longer” Aizawa promised, “Are you in your room?”
“Mhm” Izuku hummed.
“Do you have your door locked?”
“No, it- it broke a while ago” Izuku admitted.
“Ok, just hang tight. Where are you hurt?” Izuku focused on his injury’s.
“My head, it-“ he stopped talking when he heard footsteps.
“Izuku?” His teacher questioned. Midoriya waited another moment for the footsteps to recede.
“My head hurts, I think there’s glass in it,” he whispered this time.
Izuku could hear faint cursing on the other line.
“Alright, ok, the people- are they still trying to hurt you?”
“No, not-not right now”
“I’m almost there Izuku just a few more minutes alright” Izuku curled in on himself, trying to ignore the voices through the thin walls.
“I’m scared,” he admitted, as if it were some dirty secret. He was a hero, he wasn’t supposed to be scared.
“I know, it’s ok to be scared, I’m so close, your doing so good. Do you know the people who hurt you?”
“It was my-“ he choked on the word, “father, and his- some of his friends- I- I didn’t- I didn’t even fight back I just- I dont- I just let it happen,”
“Hey, hey, none of this is your fault ok? Your a kid, a kid, you shouldn’t have been put in this situation in the first place. Has your father hurt you before?”
“Yeah- ever since he came back”
“I can see your apartment Izuku, your doing so good. How long ago did he come back?”
His teacher was close, he would be safe soon. Soon.
“Uhm, about a month and a half ago” Izuku paused to listen as footsepts, Hisashis footsteps, started moving toward his room.
“He’s coming,” he whispered to Aizawa, “I-I need to go” he hung up his phone despite Aizawas yells for him to stay on the line, and he quickly hid his phone underneath him.
The door turned open and Hisashi stood there, a new beer bottle in hand. He looked Izuku up and down in the corner and seemingly found what he was looking for because he turned around, leaving the door open.
Then he heard the front door being kicked down.
Midoriya shrank further and further into his corner as loud yells filled his ears. Hisashi left him alone at least and he could cover his ears and close his eyes in peace.
He stayed like that, in a ball with his hands curled over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut, for a couple minutes, though the time seemed to pass slowly.
He flinched violently when he felt a presence in front of him and finally opened his eyes.
Aizawa was crouched in front of him, concerned filled his face as he scanned the boy for his injuries. The yells had stopped and all that remained was the smell of alcohol and cigarettes.
Izuku just stared at his teacher for a moment before launching himself into his arms. Aizawa had barley enough time to catch him as he buried himself deep into the man, taking in the smell of home and safe.
Aizawas hand ran through his hair, searching for glass and wounds but bringing comfort at the same time. He was whispering something, Izuku didn’t pay attention to what because he was starting to feel the pain now that his adrenaline was worn off.
He finally let himself fully, truly relax for the first time in weeks, years really. He let himself be engulfed in protection and warmth and felt his limbs go loose, his muscles unknot, his eyelids shut.
“Your safe now Izuku, I promise, your safe,” Then the world went black.
=
=
=
Izuku woke up to a the steady beeping of a monitor. He kept his eyes closed for a moment as he remembered the events that had occurred.
When he finally did open his eyes, it was to the purple ceiling of Recovery Girls office.
He looked to his side and was startled to see his mother, looking at her phone annoyed. He felt a burst of anger wash over him, because his mother had done nothing each time Hisashi hit him and now she sat next to his hospital bed after that and had the nerve to look annoyed.
She noticed he was awake and her eyes filled with distain when they met his.
“Your fathers being held by the police” she glared at him as if it was his fault, which it was.
“Oh,” he whispered, not knowing what else to say. He was still feeling tired and weak.
She sighed, “You couldn’t just keep it together for one weekend? One weekend Izuku! And then you called a fucking teacher on him?”
Izuku shrank under her words, “Sorry”
She huffed, “Sorry doesn’t change anything.”
They sat in silence for a bit longer before his mother spoke again.
“You weren’t supposed to live this long,” She said it as an accusation, as if it was his fault he hadn’t jumped off a roof yet.
Oh and that was what made Izuku angry.
Mostly because it was true.
“You think I don’t know that mom? You think I didn’t see the pamphlet they gave you saying I would die before I graduated high school? You asked me if I wanted to be cremated when I was ten. I planned my own suicide more times then I can count! I know I’m not supposed to be here!”
“Yet here you are” Her eyes flickered to the morphine drip, just for a second.
“Mom?” His mother was standing now, approaching him with a determined look on her face.
Her hand reached for the morphine drip, and Izuku realized with horror that his mom was about to kill him. She twisted a knob and the drug began dripping faster and faster.
Izuku reached for the IV, ready to pull it out, but his mom held his arm back, the drugs were making him too weak to fight back.
“Stop!” He yelled, pulling away as his mother tried to move her other hand over his mouth.
“Aizawa!” He cried in a last attempt before his mouth was cut off.
He knew his teacher. The man worries himself sick every time one of his students gets hurt. He always stays with his kids when one of them is seriously hurt, and though he pretends not to, he cares very much that they have someone near them if they need help, emotionally or physically.
Izuku was honestly surprised Aizawa hadn’t been in the room when he woke up, but he had always been respectful of their privacy, and with Izukus mother present he might have felt she had much more right then him to be there.
Still, he wouldn’t have strayed far.
He saw the flash of black and grey as Aizawa ran into the room, eyes glaring daggers at whoever was trying to hurt his kid.
A moment later his mother was off him. His teachers capture weapon tied around her and holding her back. Izuku quickly ripped out his IV, ignoring the tears spilling from his eyes.
“I think it’s time you left Mrs. Midoriya” Aizawas voice was dangerous, his quirk activated solely for intimidation purposes.
Inko clenched her jaw as Aziawa loosened his hold on her and with one last look to her son, she stormed out of the room.
Aizawa turned to Izuku, his quirk going off and his eyes softening as he moved to the side of the bed.
“She won’t get far,” The teachers voice was gentile as he turned his head, scanning Izuku up and down.
Midoriya nodded. He didn’t know what to say, he still hadn’t quite processed that his own mother had tried to kill him. Sure, his father did the same but that was different.
Inko hadn’t been the most present in his life, but he had thought she loved him to some degree.
He supposes he was wrong.
“Are you alright?” Izuku could have nodded his head and it would have been dropped, but it would feel too much like lying.
So instead he shook his head. Because he wasn’t. His own mother had just tried to kill him, after his father had done the same thing just hours ago.
Izuku had spent the past six weeks terrified of his own home. He had been hit and abused and had alcohol forced down his throat from the man who was supposed to love him. All the while his mother had stood by and watched.
The past eleven years of his life Midoriyas mother had practically ignored him. He had been told to kill himself on the daily and had barrier after barrier put down in front of him for something he had no control over.
The past two years he’s been preparing for a fight he isn’t ready for, and likely won’t be ready for when the time comes. Izukus been trying to live up to a man he has idolized his entire life.
So he’s far from alright, he’s far from being even remotely ok at this point.
Silent tears fell from his face and Aizawa wasted no time engulfing him in a hug. Hands ran through his head, the worst of the wounds mostly gone now thanks to recovery girl. Izuku felt soothed in a way he never really has been before.
He felt like a child again. He felt like everything bad in the world was gone because his parent was here, he felt his defenses break down, his walls crumble, and before he knew it he was a sobbing mess in his teachers arms.
“I’m scared” he said the same words he had told Aizawa over the phone, but this time he knew that nothing could hurt him, that no bad guys would go near him because Aizawa was here and even if he was scared everything would be alright.
“I know, but it will all turn out ok, I promise”