Archive of Our Own ^beta

Staring at his budget, Izuku gave a relieved sigh at having, once again, covered all the bills and took the final remaining yen to the bargain bulk store and bought his usual, a twenty five kilo bag of rice, a thousand sheets of nori, a half-box of frozen diced chicken, six dozen eggs, and an extra large bargain box of veg with, as a treat, the largest bottle of soy sauce. He sadly put back the ten pound bag of sugar replacing it with a one pound bag instead because as nice as it was, he could do without if he had to.

What he bought might not be a huge selection, but he was skilled by now with making it both last and taste good so he was happy to have his kitchen once again stocked up.

Laughing and chatting with his mum later that day, hearing all about her month at work, all the way down in Sasebo, how they’d finally made it permanent after a years trial period, that she was now the ACTUAL secretary for a marine science lab, how sweet her little apartment, and how amazing for it to be a perk of the job the way it was, how beautiful it all was, how like a dream it still seemed, Izuku was as thrilled for her as if he too had landed, and managed to keep, the perfect job….

One where no one knew he was quirkless, just like her new place didn't even know he existed.

Swallowing that down with practiced ease, he asked about the health of the long term sea turtle patients, how the repairs on the main vessel were going, how they had all weathered the bad storms earlier in the month, how foot traffic through the aquarium area was holding up now the holiday season was coming to an end, and conversation rolled easily, two people with deep love between them simply enjoying time spent catching up.

The calls with his mum kept him going sometimes.

Pulling on his uniform, Izuku jogged to his own job later that night, the graveyard shift of his local shop-n-rob, and checked in, letting the poor soul on shift before him go home at last, and settled in with a sigh.

For an active brain like his it was semi-torture but he filled at least some of the empty hours on his phone, scrolling and writing notes and marking for later anything he thought he’d need for his hobby, interspersed with serving drunks, night owls, nocturnals and the odd - very odd but quite exciting when it happened - attempt to rob him.

Five times so far, five!

Three he managed to talk down, to convince to just go away, that the paltry sums he had on hand simply were NOT worth it!

The other two he’d hit the panic button, slamming the protective barrier down and waited for the heroes and cops to show up.

They say “Speak of a devil and it shall appear!” and, idly remembering the robbery attempts he looked over when the door chime rang and felt his blood freeze.

How anyone so normal looking could be setting of his immanent death warning system he wasn't sure but with a second look he spotted the almost violet lumps under their skin, saw how they were growing, darkening, beginning to flex and writhe, saw the lust, the hunger in their eyes, and instead of greeting the man or calling any attention to himself in any way, he dropped soundlessly to the floor, rolling under the shelving unit and tried to ignore the dust and dirt, praying to not sneeze, pressing his hands over his mouth, hardly breathing now as the man prowled right past him, feet only inches away.

Izuku was expecting the snarl of rage when no target presented itself because this wasn’t his first time being robbed, but the explosion of violence as the mans quirk ripped the shop apart was as unexpected as it was predictable because he’d guessed who the man was, had prayed he was wrong, that the man with the ultra baaaaad vibes was NOT the serial killer targeting shops just like the one he worked in.

The villain Izuku had convinced himself (and his mum) would never come to his store, that the odds were so insanely against it happening that he was totally safe, even if his job was provably the opposite.

The noise and fury went on for what felt like forever but was objectively only a very few minutes, the villain finally swearing as they escaped the wreckage, and the police arrived, even a hero, although Izuku didn't even bother to ask for an autograph, Unders didn’t do that sort of thing, and let the EMT's lead him to the ambulance.

Sitting in it not too much later, shock blanket around his shoulders, he’d given his statement and tried to give a description but was brushed off as soon as he handed his fucking ID over. Seeing the cops expression turn briskly dismissive, Izuku tried one final time to tell him he’d gotten a good look at the man, to just get the cop to listen and he’d shaken with a mix of impotent rage and lingering terror as the officer simply said thanks and walked away….

Relieved at least to be unharmed, he made his way home, to an empty apartment, an empty life, and shaken apart in the dark, alone, as always.

Once he’d stopped crying he’d washed his face, gone out despite how it was still pitch dark and run ten miles, the pounding of his feet the only sounds other than the wind in his ears and the harsh breathing when he’d switch to a sprint….

When he finally made his way home he’d luxuriated in a super hot shower, eaten a big meal of mostly rice, taken out his art pad and spent several hours drawing the nightmare of a man, the one they up until now only had vague descriptions of, considering he left no survivors it was hard indeed to get a good look at him because he also targeted the surveillance equipment in his sprees of destruction so, sitting back, Izuku studied what he’d produced and nodded.

It wasn't perfect, he adjusted a few lines, but it was better than nothing so he folded the three pages up, stuffed them into an envelope, and addressed it to his local precinct.

The brief note he added, how he’d seen the man before he’d torn his latest store apart but had run away was half true, and half lie, but it would get the information out there where it needed to be.

And who needed a reward anyway?

Jogging slowly in the gathering sunrise to his nearest post box he gave a tired sigh, maybe now he’d sleep.

*-*

Fired.

He was fired.

Oh, they were trying to use words like reconstruction and temporary leave and new owners and all the same old shit but it all led to one tiny word, fired.

Nodding he took his severance pay, noted it was nowhere near what he should be given but it might be enough to cover the bills for a little bit anyway, and trudged home.

Enjoying his call with his mum, he didn't tell her a single thing about how his life was suddenly a tsunami of shit with nowhere to get his head above the flood.

He was eighteen, a high school - online counted damn it - graduate, and independent young man, he could figure this out!

Nine days later he was staring at the only three positions-vacant offers that had replied to his reaching out - another shop-n-rob, a clothing goods store, and a hero agency.

Paperwork assistant needed, no previous experience required, enthusiastic and energetic personality, team player, bla bla bla

Hero agency!

Nightingale Inc.

Oh, they didn't say hero agency in their ad, but Izuku was a hero nerd extraordinaire, he knew every agency in his entire city, where they were located, their area of operation, their staff rosters, patrol times and cases solved and cases still being worked on and who teamed up with who and so much more!

Well, he had his phone and ten hours of nothing much at all to do at work to focus on his favorite pastime, heroes, so he had entire shelves full of analysis, sketch pads filled with drawings of heroes and villains and support item ideas and hero team match ups and so much more so of course he knew what Nightingale Inc. was.

The entire industry was yelling about them, after all, everyone and their grandmothers probably knew about them by now!

Paperwork assistant?

He agreed to the interview time - of fucking course he did - and then opened his first tab, what paperwork is usual in heroics and fell, deep and fast, into hell.

.

.

.

.

.

Numbly putting the day's rice on to cook after far too many hours of intense focus, he stumbled through dicing the remaining veg, it was on the edge of spoiling and needed being used up, frying it fast and hard.

Blinking dazed eyes he managed to only eat a small plateful of the veg along with a mountain of plain rice, resolutely putting the rest away for later, and fell into bed, nightmares of forms H-01 fighting H-001 for supremacy running non stop through his head.

He woke almost more tired than he’s started but managed to eat, stretch, and run and run and run. With no job to get to, he put a steady fifteen miles behind him and enjoyed every bit of it.

Returning hot, sweaty and mentally refreshed, he went down to the building's office with his final pay, all his savings and anything else he had remaining, and paid the rent in full for three months. That way he at least had somewhere to live during his job search because there was no way a hero agency was gonna hire HIM but at least this way he’d at least see inside of one before he died. And with the housing crisis the way it was, losing his apartment was a low grade, constant worry anyway, so doing this meant he wasn’t suddenly homeless with no way to get anywhere else to live, even if, no, WHEN he got another job, other than a cardboard box in an alley somewhere, that is.

The other two jobs had a full months lead up time before pay was handed over and the chances were good that they’d just let him go at the end of the trial month and leave him in the lurch so this way he might go hungry but not lose his home.

Looking at age faded fabrics, dingy walls, stained ceilings, dripping tap - he’d have to sort that out today, water cost money and should never be wasted - he smiled, it might be a bit rubbish but it was home.

Checking his supplies he now had rice, nori and about a kilo of chicken remaining.

Sighing, he hoped he had everything he needed to fix the tap cause the landlord sure wouldn't, and set to work.

*-*

Freshly washed, dressed in his best clothes, knee bouncing hard enough to power half the city, he surreptitiously studied the competition. Twenty other people, all ages, all seeming to be totally calm and collected so, to give him something to focus on other than his increasing panic, he used flickering glances to categorize them, sorting them into quirks, education, probable experience, age….

As a way to pass the time and distract himself it worked so well he almost jumped out of his skin when someone finally showed up to talk to them all!

Being welcomed by a new hero on the rankings chart he almost imploded because he knew them, knew so much about them and they were a solid favorite of his but he managed to hide it, mostly anyway, and focused on their speech.

********************

Being shoved into the room filled with hopeful people Hitoshi almost double backed in an instant but the door slammed shut behind him and he knew those fucking assholes would be holding it closed against him (damn that short straw!) so he reluctantly took a deep breath and said, “Welcome to Nightingale Inc, thank you for filling out the NDA attached to your application packet.”

“We will be skipping the usual interview process entirely because this is a practical application of a real world scenario and as such, you will be teamed with an individual Nightingale Inc. senior employee and given your assignment.”

“If you succeed then your assigned employer will decide if you’re a good fit for their needs and give you a more permanent position.”

“Any questions?”

Izuku let everyone ask their questions, and most of them were good questions and the answers gave him much needed information, watched three of the crowd get up and leave in a huff at how non-traditionally it was all being handled, and finally, reluctantly, raised his own hand.

Blank, it could only be the underground hero BLANK!!! Said, “Yes?” in a bored drawl, beautiful harmonics twining through the simple word like almost hidden golden notes and Izuku shivered, managing to say, “Is there a way we can meet everyone first?”

“I know you s-s-said random but if we meet everyone, and maybe get acquainted, it mmmight make it easier to get a good fit?”

He managed to force himself to say it all, to ignore his hated stutter, took his cue from how the the young man had shied away from the actual word HERO so avoided it too, and watched one of his favorite heroes blink at him, finally banging his fist on the door behind him, which opened a crack and a whispered “What?” could be heard to which Blank answered, head tilted to speak behind him while still facing the room, “They wanna meet first.”

“Fuck!”

Izuku almost lost it at that point, cause he felt the exact same way!

“Fine, bring them to meeting room A1, we’ll fucking meet them there.”

**********************

Meeting room 1A was empty of anything, not even chairs existed in the space, and two more people chose to leave, but Izuku didn't mind at all, he was suddenly facing fifteen of the new heroes taking the industry by storm! Fifteen of the infamous class 1A were just standing in a room, the same room he was in and how was that even possible, his life never had moments like this in it!!!

Totally trying to ignore how one of them was known to him, was a friend once, a long time ago, he knew Kacchan wouldn't recognize him, he was so different now with his hair slicked back, ponytail low on his neck, his best clothes on, nine years of growing and changing between them, his old friend leaned on the wall scowling and Izuku fought a smile, he looked just like he had when they were both eight and in trouble, sulky and worried and hiding it behind a grumpy face.

A pang of loneliness shot thought him but he ignored it, blinked his eyes to clear them, and forced a smile on his face, watching all the rest of the applicants easily moving through the room, only realizing he’d taken up a protected stance against the far wall when he caught lavender eyes studying him, and shit, how long had he been standing lost in his head like an idiot?

Because everyone else seemed to be in pairs now, it was just Blank moving in his direction and Izuku felt his face flame because how stupid could he be, how brainless and then the hero was standing close enough to touch and saying “Looks like it’s you and me, you okay with that?”

Knowing exactly how this one's quirk worked, Izuku was expecting it when his answered “Yes!” came with a shivering touch deep in his brain, like a ghost, a moment's timeless time spent floating, totally at peace, and he smiled when it ended cause he’d been RIGHT!

Blank's quirk felt fantastic but he also knew how the world worked so he could see the buried fear - the hero was the same age he was, Izuku could spot so many many tells in that carefully neutral face - and was expecting the harsh, “How about now?”

Looking up at where the hero was now looming, face hard and mouth a grim line, Izuku did something totally unexpected. He reached out and patted the wire tense arm and smiled even wider. “If you're still okay wi-wi-with me then I’m g-g-good with it. I might be absolute rrrrubbish at whatever it is you need me to do but I’ll try just about anything, rreally, and I looked up some of the paperwork heroes have to do and oh my gods it's insane and no wonder you all need someone to h-h-help with that, you’d never get anything else done if you had to focus on all of that plus eve-everything you do every d-d-day and when your agency got involved in that huge attack this month and you’ve only actually been open for three weeks and ooooooh, of course, that's why you need us,” he gestured vaguely around the room, not even noticing the eyes on him, “that fight spanned at least five city blocks, and there was oh shit, how many shrines and trees listed buildings and wasn't it near the embassy district and how many structures were damaged and it wasn't your fault but you still hav….. “

Suddenly hearing the silence he looked up, and every eye in the room was on him, he shut his mouth so fast his jaws clacked, and managed to whisper, “I’ll shut up now.”

His one time friend, now a forgotten piece of his past finished the job of reducing Izuku to shame filled vapor by saying, as he led his pick from the room, “Hey Eyebags, figures you’d get the chatterbox, good luck with that!”

*-*

Leading his new “Paperwork Assistant” to his own office - like the building, still almost empty - and said as he lifted a solid five inches of reports stacked one on the other, “This is the paperwork that you’ll be dealing with, you’re right, it was that big attack, its a fucking nightmare, all of us have tried but with everything else we’re doing as heroes and starting up the agency and all, there just isn’t time and if it isn’t done in six weeks or less then all of this,” he waved around a bit wildly, “is finished cause we’ll lose our license for the agency to be open and fuck!”

Harshly scrubbing his fingers through his hair he forced out, “If you can do this, just get it done, then you’ll have a place here for life!”

“Now, I set up a chair for you,” he pointed at the rickety card table and even shakier chair, both shoved into a corner and looking salvaged from the side of the road, “and you can have a look at the stack and if you run screaming I’ll understand.  Oh, and the pay is crap, sorry, it’s only just above minimum wage, I’d give more if I could but…..”

He shrugged and sat down, burying himself in his own paperwork to blot out his deepening embarrassment. At least the case was fairly urgent, one easily half of them were involved in, the catalyst in fact for trying to hire the cluster fuck paperwork mountain being done for them, lives were on the line and they needed to focus on it, not on something that didn’t fucking matter, like form H-whatthehellever!

Falling deeper into the case file, he resolutely ignored the occasional sound of movement from the corner of his room.

Lunging up, hours later, he bolted from the room because, buried in the words transcribed from the low level villain taken in a week ago, he’d found a clue, a lead, yelling “DENKI!” he got properly busy at last!

****

A bit above minimum wage?

As he was a quarter below it in the job he’d just lost, it was more money than he’d ever expected, and for it to be offered with shame he wanted to just hug the hero and tell them it was okay but he’d controlled the impulse and taken the weighty packet and sat down - job for life job for life job for life don’t fuck up the job for life!!! galloping through his brain - starting on page one he read.....

And read

And read

And read

Leaning back as he finished the final page he blinked, suddenly feeling his body again and reached slowly for the bag he’d tucked between his feet, pulling out his bento, and practically unhinged his jaws he ate it so fast, gulping his water just as fast, and tried to stand.

Failed.

Winced and tried again.

Managing it finally he stood, did a few easy stretches because his chair was more limber than he was at that moment and staggered out to find the loo!

Filling his water bottle from the sink he drank it dry again, filling it a second time and capping it for later.  He wanted to take the paperwork home but didn't know if he’d be allowed yet, surely there were security checks and things first?

Sighing he made his way back to the tiny office, neatened it all up, and wondered what to do, everything was so quiet, full dark outside the window so he sighed again and headed home, perhaps if he got in really early he’d get more done.

He HAD TO GET THIS JOB!!!

Standing on the road in front of the nondescript building he’d spent however many hours sitting and reading in, he did a full series of stretches and set off, his phone hooked up to his earpiece, following the route directions pinging in his ear, it was only five miles and he was needing it after focusing so hard for so long.

Smiling at the free feeling wind in his face gave him, he kept an eye on his surroundings and took it up a notch speed wise, there wasn't much to eat at home but damn, he was looking forward to it!

**********************

Hitoshi was dead on his feet as he dragged in at ass o'clock of the morning, the rising sun not even a rumor yet but they’d found his lead, gotten their teeth deeper in the case, and he was thrilled and so fucking tired and he almost screamed when, out of a room that should be dark and empty and silent, he instead got an impossibly chirpy question aimed at him - “Can I take the paperwork home with me or do you want it to be in-house only?”

And then it went on....

“I understand if you want it to stay in the building but I was looking into it and I’ll have to be taking the actual forms with me as I get them signed off on and notarized and everything so the security isn't that much different….”

And on!

“....for me to just work on it at home as well as here and it's a bit tight space wise in here, not that it's impossible but I can spread out more at home or maybe you have an empty room here I can use oh that would work really well and cover both bases so it all stays here and I can still spread out….”

And on!

“....so can you point me to a space or would it be okay if I just look around? I didn't want to do anything without asking first cause of privacy and stuff but you look really tired and….”

It ended.

Finally able to hear his own thoughts Hitoshi said the only thing he could think of, “It’s four hundred in the morning, why are you here?”

Impossibly bright eyes blinked and a tentative voice said, “Cause I was up?”

And then Hitoshi's morning got even worse when the voice started up again.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry! I didn't realize I shouldn't start until a certain time, we never really covered that yesterday and I get up really early anyway and it’s a good distance for jogging so I just combined the two and shit, I‘m wearing my running clothes that's so unprofessional of me gods how could I be so stupid I’m really sorry please don’t fire me I’ll go change, just tell me what time you want me to start and I’ll be gone, just please don’t fire me.”

Hearing such a happy sounding person work themselves into shame filled begging not to be fired hit Hitoshi right in the gut, and he blessed his ability to hide his own reactions and said firmly, “Not firing you!” Because it seemed to be the most important thing to get out there, followed by, “And you can come and go however you like, all of us do, and bring….” His eyes hardened with hatred as they landed on the neat pile of papers, “that shit and come with me, I know where you can spread out.”

Leading the kid, (How old was Midoriya anyway? Was he supposed to ask? Did he have to do anything else?) to one of the conference rooms he said as he opened the door, “I’m sorry it's so empty, we haven't had a chance to do anything in here yet.”

Bare was an understatement, the walls hadn't even been painted yet, and the floor was gritty underfoot, windows dusty and facing a blank wall, so early only blackness showing, and his new hire said with what sounded like relieved pleasure, “Oh, perfect!” as he clutched the stack to his chest, a bag tucked under his arm, and smiled.

“Rrrright,” choosing to ignore an insane reaction to a dirty empty room, Hitoshi went on, “okay, we passed the break room on the way down, don't touch ANYONE’S food in there, seriously, rabid dogs are safer, but you can put your own food in the fridge if you need and it’ll be safe as houses.”

“Take breaks when you need, you can bring your table and chair down here and, ummmm, yeah, I’ll leave you to it.”

Once again filled with embarrassment for no known reason, Hitoshi fled.  It was too early for this shit!

****************

Standing in a blank, dirty, empty room, easily big enough to drop his entire apartment into with a bit of room left over, Izuku felt like he’d won the jackpot! The blank walls were just screaming out for maps and pins and red string!

Laughing to himself he set his armful down and went back for his table, he had work to do!

A quick trip got them into his space, then he jogged the straightest route home to get his maps and supplies, and hurried back, sun now above the horizon.

It took him a bit to set the space up, he even ran back for the broken legged table he’d spotted thrown away, a struggle indeed to get it back but he managed, finally tying a length of wood he’d found at the same time to the broken leg to keep it upright, wiped it all down, and stepped back. 

Perfection!

His maps were old and routinely updated by himself with a red fine-liner to show the changes but they did the job just fine, so he firmly tacked them to the wall, then set up his own laptop, double checking the firewalls before logging onto the agency network, huffing a frustrated sigh and setting off again, this time for the wifi code.

By noon he was devouring his onigiri, chuguluging water, and laying out each stack of reports in chronological order….

Then he had to jog home again for his printer because the agency didn’t have a spare and he once again couldn't find anyone to ask if he could use the one he did find, and by late afternoon he’d printed out every form he thought he might need, and as darkness once again claimed his windows, he was ready to tackle each departments requirements AS WELL AS reading all their reviews to find out what they actually wanted, rather than what they SAID they wanted.

Those two things were always wildly different!

By then he was almost dizzy with hunger so he set out to track down his boss, figuring it was only polite to tell the man he was going home only to find him in his office, mug of fragrant coffee in hand, along with, Izuku screeched to a halt with a wheeeze when he saw who was sitting so casually across from Shinso-kun, took a few shuddering breaths to control himself, and said, voice a strangled gasp, “Eraserhead?”

Feeling the weight of that gaze hit him he’s knees almost buckled but he ignored it, reaching back to his pocket, almost floating with awe and tugged his autograph book free, holding it at full stretch so as to not be rude by getting too close, and asked, voice a humble whisper, “May I have your autograph, please?”

The entire world froze for a moment, and just when he was going to admit defeat and take his book back, calloused hands took it from him. Izuku’s eyes tracked the pattern of roughness, linking it to the weapon coiled around the man's neck, estimating grip strength, the coarse texture of the material, how wide the hands had to spread to cast, to pull, how long it took to build the depth of protective skin layers on the man's hands and finally fighting that line of thought back with a mental club to get his brain to shut the hell up and watched a name scrawl into existence in his book and sighed in relief as he had it tossed back to him, a casual question, “How’d you know me, kid?” 

“Ooooh, that's easy, I live in Tsekasha ward, you patrol there sometimes, I jog at night all the time so I see you sometimes, you have almost no presence online as Eraserhead but as a teacher at UA it’s easier to find things about you online, although even that's really hard to get a hold of and tends to disappear pretty quick so you have a really good scrubber team and oh, sorry,” his face heated up even hotter, “you two must be working, I was just going to say I was headed home.”

“Home?”

Wondering why Shinso-kun's question sounded so strangled, he said, “Ummmm, yeah, you did say I could come and go, I’m sorry, did I get it wrong, I’ll stay later if you need something? I can make coffee, you both look really tired and shit, that was rude, pretend I never said that but I really can make coffee or go get you food or something…..”

A short sharp whistle broke his frantic speech off and he looked in shock at Eraserhead, standing up even straighter and braced for whatever the hero was about to say, only to be shocked speechless at, “If Shinso said you can come and go he meant it, now, go home.”

Spinning in a combined bow and dash, he sprinted out the door, bouncing off the edge as he misjudged the gap, stumbling and not looking back as he frantically rubbed the ache in his arm from the collision, only realizing when he was halfway home, choosing to sprint the uphill in a burst of mortified, embarrassment-fueled speed, that his lightheadedness might be due to not eating in so long rather than having met one of his all time heroes.

The last of his frozen chicken went into dinner that night, and he sadly counted his final few sheets of Nori, casting a grateful glance at his remaining slightly more than half a sack of rice, glad to have it but wishing like stink he had more.

It might be boring, but at least as long as it lasted he wouldn't starve.

********************

“Explain.”

The word was said as his dad stared at the door blankly after the now vanished figure, and Hitoshi had hoped to avoid this, to NEVER have to speak of it ever, ever, ever.

Planting his face in his hands he said, “You know last month?”

“Yes.” was drawled at him, dripping in amusement, and Hitoshi was sure of it now, his dad was an absolute bastard!

“Well,” and he stalled, not sure where to go from there when his Dad took pity on him and said, “Paperwork?”

“Fuck yeah, we knew it was gonna be bad but shit, oh my fucking gods Dad its almost a foot deep, EVERYONE has it, and its all different for everyone cause we were all in different places and we finally just said, “Fuck it, lets hire someone to do it!” but one person can't do it all and it's due in six weeks and we could lose our agency license if it's not done in time but then the latest Umamai attacks happened and now we have a link to the Bliss pipeline as well and….”

“Kiddo, breathe for me, that's it, good. Now, come on, when did you last eat and if I don’t bring you home after all that Pops is gonna kill us both!”

It was worth it to be laughed at by two semi retired pro heroes if it came with tons of home cooked food and equal amounts of love and advice on how to manage his new job.

**************

Reverently cutting the autograph free of his book, Izuku drew a quick sketch of the man's face, the eyes dark and seeming to study him from the page, and slid both of them into a freestanding display case and stood back, swaying gently with happiness.

That rarest of all rare things, an Eraserhead autograph now sat beside his Present Mic one, gotten when he was only eleven.  Knowing they were together IRL he smiled, nudging them closer, wondering if he could ask for Blank's scribble to make a proper family set.

Figuring it might be a bit weird to ask his new boss for his autograph, he devoured a mountain of rice when the cooker dinged, and fell into bed to sleep a grand total of five hours.

Whining in frustration he gave up and got up an hour later, sleep was a fucking tease and he hated her so much!

Well, if he couldn't sleep he could work, so he gathered a few more things from home, shoved them into a duffel bag and set out for work, his bag nicely hot from the large container of rice he’d cooked and packed while getting ready.

Sliding into the building he got a few odd looks from the three heroes he saw chatting in the unfinished lobby but he simply waved and pretended he belonged and made it to his safe haven without having to talk to anyone. Happily setting out his supplies, including a pillow and blanket because he’d probably crash in a few hours and he was really tired of jogging home by now, he smiled at how good it all looked.

Shinso-kun hadn’t said no sleeping on the job and he had no set hours so as long as he kept quiet about it, surely it would be okay? Maybe on his next round trip he'd bring a sheet to lay over the table and hide him sleeping under it? Something to think about anyway?

Stacking the bedding in a pile out of his way, opening his rice and laptop at the same time, he fell into finding out what each and every department wanted from the heroes submitting paperwork.

Food long gone, two naps taken, a couple of sneak attacks on the break room coffee machine for a quarter cup stealthily poured into his water bottle, flavoring his water nicely, it kept him going and going and going.

Until he found the first magic key - form As-00 - permission to submit forms and declarations on behalf of a hero!

Form printed out, he set off to find his hero.

Tracking him down to Blast's office he knocked on the door, going in reluctantly at the barked “ENTER!” he asked as soon as he was fully in the room, desperation to get this done and out of the room as fast as possible making his words slightly breathless, “Shinso-kun will you please sign and seal and date this please? Sorry, I stopped by your office to get your seal, here, you might wanna put fresh ink in the pad later." Handing the box over he said, "Oh, and Blast, would you please sign here as a witness that you saw it signed and sealed, yes, right there, and here, on this one, that you actually are you, sorry, it’s stupid but, don't worry, I filled in all the details, all I need is, sign there, and date there, that's great, and your own seal, perfect, super, thank you both!”

He would have fled but he was frozen in his tracks at the words almost snarled at him, “What the FUCK is all this?”

“Ooooh, ummm, it's the right to act on behalf of a hero forms? I need them to even start the process of getting all of it filed so,” - his voice trailed off as they continued to stare blankly at him, “it’s really simple?”

“If it’s simple, why are you the first one to bring it up?”

“Oh,” Izuku smiled in relief, “I’m sure more will be headed your way soon!” and fled at last.

Slamming his door behind him, he panted in frantic gasping breaths, how on earth was he first with this?

Calming himself down with the promise of a run, he managed to put everything to order, turned off his light, and headed home, it may still be full daylight but he was again out of food, seemed to have worked about twenty nine hours straight, and needed rice, and sleep!

Eight hours later, only six hours of it sleeping - nightmares plagued him now, as they had all his life - and a veritable mountain of plain rice behind him, he was once again in his room at the agency, printing out some of the last of his blank paper into the forty-one forms he needed to have properly signed, dated, notarized, sealed, and delivered to the holiest of holies, the Hero Records Bureau. 

Laying them all out in order, mapping out his route through the area downtown where all the legal workings of the city took place, laughed at how the back and forth from various buildings produced a wonky looking star made of red string pinned to his biggest map, and finally gathered the ones he needed signed by his own employer first.

Blinking in shock at how dark and quiet it all was he peaked into Shinso-kuns office only to blink at Eraserhead staring back at him, no Shinso-kun in sight.

“Planning on coming in any time soon?”

The droll voice from the near darkness made him jump, “Oh, sorry, I needed some things signed but if you're here I’ll jus” - “Kid, stop, Shinso just went to get coffee, he’ll be back in about thirty seconds, you can come in, you work here.”

“Ohhhh, yeah, okay, um,” shuffling farther into the room Izuku blushed as he felt eyes raking across him, wishing he’d put his makeup on, or brushed his hair, or even had fresh clothes on but the man didn't say anything so with relief Izuku lept upon his bosses return and got his twenty one signatures and dates and stamps and official Nightingale Inc. seal on each page, fleeing as soon as he was finished.

Next, he’d jog home, the long way this time, eat, pray to get some decent sleep, and then some time tomorrow he’d polish it all up again cause it was a holiday and all the offices would be closed but he’d take that time and make sure he hadn’t missed anything, anything at all, and then take the rest of the day off.

Leaving the building at last, he did his stretches first and then set off at an easy pace, he wouldn't be pushing too hard because the lack of food other than rice was starting to really affect him, but he’d hold out, hold out as long as it took to get this job done and get paid.

And then, omg indeed, he was taking himself out to eat!

Feeling eyes on him almost the entire time as he jogged the dark and quiet streets, he tried to spot where it was coming from while still keeping an eye out around him so he was already on high alert when someone stepped from a dark corner and said "HEY!”

Izuku was sprinting before the word was even finished, in a flat out run because he’d learned that staying to hear what anyone yelling at him at night wanted to say was a one way ticket to an emergency room!

Counting in his head he hit three - the usual number of seconds someone with a casting type quirk took to throw, three to five - and dodged sharply to the side, not slowing down at all as the quirk effect hit right where he’d just been, and gave a mental cry of relief that he’d guess right about what was against him and started counting again, this time hitting ten, the most usual cool down period of a first hit quirk effect as he again jinked to the side, a huge splash of iridescent webbing hitting right where he’d just been and he laughed out loud as he finally skidded around a corner, and ran on, the high of his escape helping him text and run.

A mile later his full out sprint had slowed to a gentle jog and he was almost home.

*-*

“Your paperwork gremlin’s lost weight.”

“Huh?”

Looking at the deer in the headlights look his son was giving him, Shouta added, “When did you pay him?”

“What?”

“Pay?” rolling his eyes Shouta said, “You know? It’s the thing you do for people who work for you? And is he on a wage or hourly? Cause if it’s hourly you’re going bankrupt with the hours he seems to be putting in.”

“Ummmmm, I’m not actually sure? About the pay thing? I was gonna do that when the jobs…. done?”

Seeing the disappointment in his dads eyes he hurried on, “I did tell him he has a job for life if he manages to do it, and he seems to be working hard, but I’ve only actually seen him in person three times, maybe four when he tracks me down for signing things and shit shit shit," suddenly seeing the situation from Midoriya's side of the equation, he said in sudden despair, "I’m a terrible employer! How can I be this bad? I’m a shit hero, shit boss, shit at running an agency shit shit shit he walks home, he already told me that but does he walk home because he can't afford transportation? He fucking walks home and its miles, I checked his paperwork when he first handed it in, no wonder he’s lost weight, it's miles and I haven't paid him and how many hours has he spent here already?” 

Looking up at the totally unimpressed eyes on him, he said, “Aaand I’m fucked!”

Having banged his head onto his desk cause he knew how his parents felt about self depreciation, and mental health, and job safety, and all the rest, he lay there, limp and feeling so guilty he could hardly breathe.

The person he’d hired had lost not just weight, but had looked dirty, ragged, worn, and frightened as well as too fucking thin and Hitoshi’d hired him and not paid him, had just thought it was a by the job sort of thing but now…..

He heard, “Pops is on the way, call him right now, talk about it with him, tell him all about how you were talking about yourself too and I’ll know if you don’t, hear me?” Hitoshi managed a mumbled affirmative, “Good, I’m gonna to follow your kid home and make sure he gets there, then we’ll talk about background checks tomorrow because I’m guessing you haven't done that either so, head home when Zashi gets here, I'll meet you both there later.”

“All of you are gonna be fucked indeed if that guess about background checks is true!” And his dad was out the door, leaving Hitoshi to confess it all to his Pops.

Shit, if Hitoshi was in this boat, the entire class was in it too and it was his fault they were all on a one way ticket to being neck deep in shit creek.

Hearing the happy voice answer his call, knowing with both dread and relief that his pops was on his way, weeks and weeks of far too much stress hit him like a ton of bricks and Hitoshi burst into tears.

***************

Shouta caught up with the kid easily, having gotten his address already he knew the direction to head, but when the kid turned off the straight line about a half mile of his following the jogging figure, heading diagonally away from home, he felt his gut sink, please let this kid not be a plant, or a villain, or a mole.

Whatever he was, the kid could run, an easy pace and his eyes on the move, eventually he cut through a park, running almost soundless on the dirt path, eventually jumping the fence to get back on the street and laughing as he messed up the landing, rolling to his feet and not breaking stride.

Shouta rolled his eyes, fucking kids, too much energy, not enough sense!

But at least it seemed the kid was just adding distance to his route, and was turning for home again at last which is when shit hit the fan and someone was stepping from shadow, the kid bolting without pause, jinking sideways to avoid the recognizable sticky webbing of a serial sex offender that had an all heroes bulletin out on them, the kid dodged the second attack too without even looking, and then he was gone and out of danger and Shouta hit the bastard like a ton of bricks, calling it in after he got cuffs on the limp body only to find an anonymous tip already had police on their way.

Anonymous.

Why had the kid called in an anonymous tip and not taken credit for it instead? The reward for any information on the bastard now starting to groan back to consciousness at Shouta’s feet was huge, and the kid looked like they needed money badly.

Nothing was adding up and Shouta hated that!

********************

Standing in the big room he'd given to his, what the hell ever Midoriya was to him, new hire maybe? Hitoshi boggled at it, a mended table that came from gods only knew where, an absolute wall of chaos that he had no hope of deciphering, pages and pages and pages all annotated with notes and scribbles and so many pictures and lists and maps and his eyes were trying to cross at it all so he looked around the room instead and saw folded bedding and a pillow in a corner, and where had a printer come from? And paper? An empty packet anyway and all the paper on the walls had to come from somewhere. The official printer had a lock on the paper drawer so no one could use it without clearance cause it all got used up the first week - thank you Denki's ass copied about a thousand times - and cost half the office supplies budget to replace it!

His person seemed to have brought it all in from outside - and after his Pops pre-lecture - and promise of more to come - on security risks? Hitoshi wanted to bang his head on the wall cause he should have been checking on the kid, not just hired him, thrown a mountain of paperwork at him, and then left him to his own devices!

Pops was right, he did deserve a strong reminder on rules and procedures if he fucked it all up this bad!

Watching the man himself studying the wall of weirdness closely, frowning as he hummed, finger tracing through the air from one point to the other, Hitoshi had a single comforting thought....

At least he wasn't alone up shit creek, the entire agency was in on this one cause they all hired someone the same time he hired Midoriya!

********************************

Later that night, after a long discussion on how much they loved him, trusted and believed in him, his parents offered him the chance to move back home, to move back into his room which was still just the way he'd left it, because, "Doing it all at once is hard kiddo, we know you can but it might be easier for you to not have to worry about bills and shit while setting up an agency." and "YEAH, it's like super lonely too Toshi, I'm hating cooking for just two people and I dig that you're all grown up and a really big eighteen-and-a-half-year-old but I'd feel so MUCH better having you home again, even if it's just for a year or two, we can try the whole apartment thing again in a while, yeah?"

And they'd both looked so hopeful, even his Dad, that all of Hitoshi's bravado evaporated in an instant and instead of insisting he could do it, that he was enjoying having his own place, the lie stuck in his throat and, along with fresh tears, the truth leaked out of him too, about how hard it was, how lonely, how much he missed them, how much he wanted to be home and.....

Wrapped in a hug pile he'd laughed a shaky laugh and agreed that maybe he'd wait until the agency was solidly afloat to move out again.

Settling into his proper bed, having been tucked in for the first time in three months, the sounds of UA woods resident owls soothing his ears, the weight of the world seemed to have fallen off his shoulders and he slept properly at last.

Moving might be even more to add to his plate but being home again, even with the hour commute in the morning to get to the agency, was sweet relief!

*********************************

Getting home, Izuku slept like the dead for twenty hours, and so missed the epic lecture the entire agency received on how to be employers, what to look for in their employees appearance and manners and behaviors to make sure they were safe and happy, the importance of BACKGROUND checks, and that while it was a good idea to hire help with paperwork if they needed it, you had to PAY PEOPLE WHILE THEY WERE WORKING, not just when the job was done!!!

By the end of it, half the room was in tears and the rest looked not too far from joining them, so Present Mic - Shouta had sicked him on the kids cause he was a devastating lecturer - gave big hugs and got promises from everyone to do better and they all figured out as a team how to fix it all because even if half of them didn't plan on keeping their helpers past the one job, and most of the ones hired had left already, everyone still there needed paying for what they’d done so far so out came budget books and the long complicated job of figuring out where the money was coming from started.

By the time Izuku slid into the building, three hundred of the clock, almost everyone was home and the building was mostly empty so no one saw him.

He never even noticed anyone had been in his space……

Humming happily to himself he laid it all out, checked it a few dozen times, and set it all in order into a divided messenger bag, got dressed in the washroom upstairs cause it had a nice big mirror and smiled at his reflection -

Green hair slicked back into almost blackness, ponytail low on his neck, glasses he’d found after a villain attack a few years ago, prescription so low he never had figured out why anyone would bother having them made at all but he could wear them for hours before he got a headache and they’d come in handy a few times so he'd hung onto them. His one suit, bought for a funeral by his mum so he’d look respectable was a dusty, slightly faded dark green, hanging off him with his recent weight loss, shoes scuffed and worn….. Smiling at his reflection again, he nodded because he looked perfect!

Perfectly boring that is!

Touching up the concealer under his eyes cause one long sleep made almost no difference to the bags under them, making sure not a hair was out of place, he scooted back to his room, grabbed the bag, checked the contents a final time and was out the door.

It was an hour's slow walk to get where he was going and he didn't want to be sweaty when he got there so he ambled his way to the embassy quarter and was first at the door. He was good at waiting so he settled in, it was only three hours until the doors opened and he was ready.

Hardly a nerve in sight, he watched the sun come up, not willing to use his phone to pass the time, it had to keep a charge all day, just in case!

*-*

Handing the first, all important H-01 over, he watched the clerk check all twelve pages, one line at a time, and felt no impatience at all.

Smiling when they looked up to query a line, he answered the question, taking out the required secondary pieces of paper, knowing full well you NEVER give them anything before they demanded it. Then, half an hour later, he handed over the triple signed right to actually do the job, and they were all stamped and signed and sealed (Izuku ignored the slightly huffy attitude of the one serving him, their attitude mattered not a jot as long as they did what he need them to do!) and he was off to the next in his list of places to hit.

An hour in line there and he was finally sitting at desk number eleven, it was the only desk out of fifteen actually with someone working at it, and he didn't make the mistake of complaining once he got there, only sat and quietly handed over the packet, once again watching it be combed through, handing over the secondary right to provide witnessed document when it was demanded….

'Why do they never just ask nicely for things?' he'd wondered but would never in a million years ask!

Leaving that building behind he made it to the third right before they closed for a three hour lunch, knowing it was a risk because to be last in line before they got to take a break made anyone cross so he bowed an apology for delaying them - although it was their job after all, and it was their own timing not his - and handed it all over again, this time someone finally demanding his own ID so he handed it over with a sigh, but other than a scowl it simply got photocopied and he signed the page, the clerk did as well, and it was set into its own section with a witnessed cover letter, and joined the packet and he was of to the next place in the maze.

This one he was worried about, it was the Protection of Parks and Historical Artifacts department and the people staffing it were notoriously FILLED with hate!

It took three hours in total but he managed, soaked in fear sweat, to maneuver those frightening halls and angry people.

Taking his own break at last in the form of eating as he walked to the final to last place on his map, he drank all of his water, got not a single grain of rice on his suit, and slotted into last place in line, adding another hero in civilian clothing to his list of Heroes spotted today!”

He hadn't even thought about it but it was the perfect way to see them, and he hid his shake of head as the one at a desk being seen too ahead of Izuku totally blew up, raging as they stormed out, clearly failing to have the required paperwork in some way shape or form.

“Amateur!’ Izuku laughed to himself, ‘Never let them see how you feel, save it all for the review you get to give on their web-page. How much vitriol could be packed in word form in a thousand words or less onto a review site?

Line moving slowly Izuku composed and rejected dozens of reviews until his turn at the guarded gate came and, providing the proper spells in the right order, incanting them all clearly and calmly, he was passed to the inner sanctum to where he got the final seal of approval set to the weighty tome his paperwork had morphed into and finally fled with his terror well hidden, on his way to the most high and holy, Hero Records and Documents, the hall of.

He watched the timer counting down as he stood in the final line, and watched as one by one heroes and ordinary people alike were turned away in their quests, fuming or raging or sobbing or begging and then it was his time to reach for the sword in the stone….

Shaking off his fancy he drew it all out once again, handing it over, and watched, looking so totally boring that he could see the clerk relaxing by degrees as, page by page, they worked through it all.

Then the man waved and a supervisor came over, and together they did it again.

A third person was called over, and all three of them spent even more time pouring over the pages before, with almost reluctance, the entire packet was wrapped in gold ribbon, a blood red seal affixed, it was carried reverently away, and he was given a receipt.

Stepping free of the building at last, Izuku resolutely resisted the urge to give a howl of victory!

He’d DONE IT!!!

The mystic token tucked carefully into his inner chest pocket, he carried the now empty carrier bag as a bluff and wasn't disappointed when, five minutes and seven seconds later, it was snatched from his hands and the snatcher ran like hell, pursued by several frustrated heroes.

Shaking his head as he grinned, this too was in the reviews, so much so that he'd kept a death grip on his bag the entire rest of the day. Rabid fans were always trying to snatch anything they could because some of the bits of paper could sell for thousands!

Patting his chest pocket, Izuku ambled home, he’d bring it to Shinsou-kun in the morning, for now he’d reward himself with more rice and the last of his tea, sleep the sleep of the just, and bask in his success.

******************

His new hire wasn't at work, and no one had seen him!

Hitoshi had called and called and called and even gone to the kid's house but no one answered the door.

Near frantic he’d picked the lock, had a very careful look round the tiny place, and was deeply relieved to find no dead bodies, which, with what he’d learned from Katsuki, was a relief indeed.

_________~_______~_______~_________

Watching the kid escape from the room Kats said, voice strange and tight, “Tell me his name.”

“What?”

“Name, fucking NAME, Eyebags!!!”

“Midoriya, Midoriya Izuku….”

Realizing Kats had said the name the same time as he had, he frowned, “What?”

“I know him, loooong time ago now, we were kids, thought he looked familiar, but faces,” he shrugged, and Hitoshi nodded cause they all knew his problems with faces and names, “his mother took him out of school, the place was horrible, and then my folks and I moved.”

“You know he’s quirkless, right?”

______~______~________~________

Hitoshi had not known that, he’d been even more lax than he’d thought cause he’d never even looked at the kids ID, never spotted the QL on the corner.

Now he knew though and so many clues came together with how his person acted and he’d been half certain he’d be finding a suicide victim or something equally awful but instead, the apartment looked worn but loved, and his.... assistant? Was that a better word for him? Well, whatever he was, he wasn’t thin enough to be starved to death yet even though there was no fucking food in the place, like, at ALL!

And Dad and Pops were both searching for him, so they’d find him, and Hitoshi would crawl for forgiveness for being such a crap employer, would promise to be better, and maybe the kid would stay?

Cause for as little as Hitoshi had actually interacted with him, he really liked them so with luck, with so much luck….

He could dream anyway.

Or maybe just pray, cause he knew the statistics!

****

They found him!

Late that night, Pops gave a crow of victory and pulled up an incident report, a bag snatched from the penultimate door in the nightmare inducing quarter of the city, and they all watched as Midoriya Izuku calmly had his bag snatched, watch the ensuing chase, give a tiny repressed smile, pat his chest and stroll away, tiredness dragging at every baggy line of his too big suit and Pops said it for them all, “Did he do it?”

Dad said, “No fuckin way, he’s been working on it, how long, seven days?” 

“Yeah,” Hitoshi breathed, freezing the screen shot on that tiny hidden smile, his own lips ticking up at the corners, “seven days.”

He never saw the matching smiles that met over his head, and the tiny sign of, *At least it's not a loud blond!* that sparked a squawk and brief yet vicious spar, ending with his dad pinned and begging for help as Pops ruthlessly tickled the shit out of him.

Ignoring it all, Hitoshi just prayed Midoriya came to work tomorrow.

********************************

Rising at his usual - when he slept anyway - five hundred of the clock, the very last of his rice was cooked and eaten, he showered and dressed and was at work by seven. His jog was leisurely and fun and he’d managed to double the distance by going all the way to the river before looping back around, enjoying the way mist curled in streamers above the silver water, the greater distance giving him a solid work out to help balance his brain.

Izuku was working hard at his goal: keep fit, keep healthy, keep strong, stay alive!

His mother had made him promise, years ago now, to LIVE!

And running helped that, it made him happy, helped him feel free, so he ran, with or without food he ran, without or without most things people take so much for granted, he ran.

His new job had a big sink in the wash room so he used it, wiping the run away, frowning as he counted his ribs, he hadn't been this thin in a while, and dressed for the day in slightly better clothes, the all important bit of paper in a secure, clear, everything resistant display case.

He’d even taken out All Might's signature for the day, it would be safe enough in his apartment and this was so much more important than an admittedly almost worthless autograph. All Might signed anything and everything that wasn't nailed down for the length of his entire career, there were hundreds of thousands of the things out there! 

Giving a laugh at his younger self who’d spent every penny he had to buy the ultimate safe display autograph holder, he picked it up and went to drop his stuff in his room and find his hopefully forever and ever boss.

It had taken him so long, seven entire working days, shame at his slowness clawed at the accomplished feeling but he ignored it. Yes, all the others probably finished last week but he wasn't late.

Not too late anyway, he hoped.

Walking into Blank’s office Izuku froze, he wasn't late but he might be in trouble cause not only Shinsou-kun but Eraserhead AND Present Mic were in the room, all three spinning when he walked in, and a frozen moment almost had Izuku dying from stress when he remembered and raised the clear acrylic holding the receipt, and said, “I’m sssory it took m-m-me so long, b-b-but I have it?”

*****

Hizashi thought his heart might break for the kid when he watched all color drain from his face, watched him brace to run, then hold up something it usually took six to eight weeks of mind wrecking effort to get, apologize for taking so long, and offer it like it was the only thing that mattered.

When what mattered was their son making this right!

*-*

Nezu had been called in last week, and had given a large part of the lecture that had reduced the entire, brand new agency, to tears.

And a curriculum change was now in order at UA as soon as possible because while they SHOULD have used their brains, it was true that no one had covered this particular material with any of them because until now, all graduating heroes went into separate agencies scattered across Japan but this class, fifteen of them anyway, had decided to try starting their own agency right off the bat, and with ground so new, it was only to be expected that mistakes would be made so, Hizashi smiled and said, “Heeeey there Little Listener, you must be Midoriya, right?”

The entire agency was booked for remedial classes to test out the new material, and it was a fact that not a single one of the people hired to be paperwork heroes still remained in the agency, the last of them having fled not long ago, but this at least was salvageable!

“Ummm hi Present Mic,” a shy grin was quickly hidden and the kid turned to their own kid, and his brat of a husband snickered at the smitten look carefully hidden in violet eyes and they both watched as Hitoshi said, “Oh my GODS, Midoriya I am so fucking sorry! I didn't mean you had to live here!”

“How many hours did you do, and fuck I didn’t know you didn’t have, didn’t realize, shit, no, that’s not right, but I hired you and didn’t pay you! I’m fucking sorry and now,” he took the thing now being insistently shoved at his hands, examining it wonderingly, “now you did this?”

“NO, don't say sorry!” ruthlessly cutting the green kid off at the pass, Hitoshi said reverently, “Holy fuck, you did this in only seven DAYS? It takes WEEKS to get these, and you, this,” he shook his hands with the light glinting off the case, “it's here, you got it, I get to keep my license!” 

The terror he’d been hiding, even from himself crashed into him at those words. “I get to stay a hero and you did it, you saved me, I’d never have gotten it without you, now all the assholes here are gonna wanna steal you!” he gave a watery laugh and said, “Ummmm, sorry, but, we haven't eaten yet” - a lie - “would you like to come with us and tell us all about how you did it?”

*****

Walking out of the building, his boss beside him, his two favorite heroes leading the way, Izuku got to watch the chaos spread when Shinso-kun handed the still protected receipt to Uraraka-san who screamed like a banshee at the sight of it, bringing in heroes from all over the building, and he would have stayed to watch but Eraserhead ('Oh my gods, he touched me, my favorite hero just touched me!' ) placed a firm hand to the middle of his back, saying, “Keep going kid, this place is always like this and they’ll still be waiting when we get back!”

The food was heavenly, the company better than he’d ever in his wildest dreams imagined, and his totally unacknowledged crush deepened into dangerous waters as he laughed at the totally droll and dryly hilarious Hitoshi, never even noticing how the older two heroes faded into the background to let their son shine.

*******

A celebratory lunch did turn into every single member of Hitoshi’s agency trying to poach Izuku as soon as they walked back into the lobby, which was sharply brought a halt to by (“Call me Hizashi kid, I think I’m gonna be see’n lots of you!”) Hizashi, who LOUDLY called a joint meeting of all of them, and once they all sat down - on the floor because they still didn't have enough chairs for everyone - proposed that Izuku head a department, train a staff of “How many people do you need to do what you did, within SANE working hours!” 

The older hero’s eyes were far sterner than Izuku ever expected to have aimed at him so he gulped and rapidly calculated if a normal person was doing it and then doubled the numbers and then panicked and halved them and then gave up and guessed wildly, “Five?”

“Right, that’s a lot less than you all tried to do it with so we'll start with five and see how it goes.”

“Jiro pet, set up the ad but this time run it past me first, ya dig?”

She shot finger guns back at him and set to work drafting it, and the discussion went from there, including things like paper for copiers, a brand new copier for Izuku’s brand new department but he called a line at that, saying his old one would do for now, they could upgrade later if it all worked….

As a group they compromised with this, and worked through that, and by the end of the day the ad was up, his room was now kitted out as a proper office and he was scheduled to have five days off, his first paycheck and bonus in his hand - he'd tried to argue against the bonus but was shot down by seventeen people at once so he gave up and just said thank you instead - a dinner date with his boss written into his diary, one of his bosses anyway, his favorite (but he was trying to totally ignore how much he liked the young man already) and Izuku was trying to jog home yet instead was being hustled into a car and being calmly lectured the entire way about safe training schedules and healthy eating and ('Oh my gods Eraserhead told me to call him Shouta I’m going to DIE!) “Seriously, kid, I know the agency is new but there’s food on hand all the time and a full working kitchen so….”

Having his immediate future mapped out for him by a surprisingly dad-shaped hero, including but not limited to physical training, therapy - “All members of the Nightingale agency attend mandatory therapy, no exceptions!” - medical and dental and support and meetings to integrate into the team more thoroughly and….

Izuku practically staggered his way up to his apartment, called his mum, and burst into tears.

It took time and once she’d calmed down and finished laughing at him and the heart attack he’d just given her, they talked for hours.

He’d grown out of wanting to be a hero so many years before but he passionately wanted to do something about the discrimination faced by people like him in society, and now, with an agency backing him, he could see a future where he could do that, and where he could help heroes, HIS heroes, be so much less stressed, to just help them all do a better job in the world.

It was all he’d ever wanted.

___________________________________________

Two years later, his friends cheering him on, he stormed his way to the top in the provisional licensing exam, becoming  a hero in his own right, because when you had friends and family like his agency, even the impossible was easy!