Chapter Text
He was out getting groceries for Fuyumi when he found her.
There hadn’t been much to get. She’d only really needed bottle of milk and some soba, and probably could have gotten it herself. But Endeavor came home early, and he already had been exhausted in the school’s training that day, so she had sent him out in a hurry to spare him the brunt of the man’s violence.
It’s things like this which make him a little glad she’d decided stayed behind in the house to help him, despite the fact she can leave at any time.
It’s things like this, that almost make him feel lucky to be part of her family.
He turns the corner, walking slowly down the empty street. The shop he went to was quite far away from the house, and since the old man is there, he’s not really in any rush to get home. It should take around and hour and a half to get back, perhaps more if he decides to make a detour at the cat café he saw earlier.
It’s unfortunate, but he doesn’t get to make that detour.
A strange crash to his left make him turn his head. And he gets a second to react before something small barrels into him and grabs a hold of his leg.
He kicks back the instinct to scramble away and shove whatever grabbed him to the ground, almost falling over at the sudden impact and only just managing to keep his balance.
It trembles, gripping him tight, and he looks down in confusion to see a ball of white.
It takes him a few seconds, but he realises the thing is in fact a small child.
Specifically, a girl with white hair and red eyes, a single horn on her head and, horrifyingly, bandages covering every inch of her arms and legs.
It’s a child, who, when she looks up into his eyes, he knows that she has been through the unimaginable.
The scar on his face burns, and her eyes look so much like Fuyumi’s.
“H-help” The child whispers as she trembles, her voice barely loud enough for him to hear.
“I d-don’t want to go back to him.”
“…Who’s him?” He whispers back, unsure of what else to say, what else to do.
The girl has clearly been abused, and he can only assumed that him is the bastard who did it. And god does he just want to pick her up and take her to anywhere but here, take her to somewhere safe, but can he even do anything?
He hasn’t got his provisional license, and he knows from experience that even when doing good, breaking the law results in dire consequences. There’s also the very slim chance he might of misunderstood the situation, though he doubts that.
Either way, it means that if he does the wrong thing, he may be stopped before he can actually help her.
A sudden pair of footsteps bring him out of his thoughts, and the girl clings onto him tighter, shaking harder.
“Ah, I see you’ve found my…daughter.”
Fuck.
Shoto backs away as the newcomer advances, hoisting the girl into his arms and narrowing his eyes.
He’s not one to place bets, but he would bet his life to say that this is him.
The man is in a black suit, gloves covering his hands and a strange beak mask over his face. There’s a disgustingly coloured jacket with a purple fur trim thrown over his shoulders, and everything about him practically screams wrong.
From the way he holds himself, to the small bloodstain on his jacket and his malicious aura, it’s easy to tell that the man is dangerous.
“I’m sorry for the trouble she’s caused, she’s just in her rebellious phase right now.”
Shoto sucks a breath in at that damned word, brain going into a slightly panicked overdrive.
He can’t fight, that runs the risk of being taken out and the girl taken back, and he doesn’t have the hands to call for backup.
He has to play smart, civilised, unknowing, or it could all go wrong.
“If you would give her back to me, then we could be on our way.”
(He can practically hear Aizawa’s mutter of ‘problem children’ before launching into a lecture on how to handle pseudo-hostage situations.)
1.Investigate intentions and reasoning.
“Does this happen often?” He tests the waters, making sure his tone is as neutral as possible.
“No, this is the first time. She’s usually more cooperative.” The man replies.
“She must be quite clumsy, that is a lot of bandages.”
The man narrows his eyes. First strike.
“Yes, she gets into a lot of accidents.”
‘She’s usually more cooperative.’ He’s trying to make her do something, whether that be for his or someone else’s benefit. And accidents can only mean that it has gone wrong several times. This time must have been the push too far, leading the girl to resort to running, even with harsh injuries.
2.Weigh your advantages, your options.
Shoto’s not in uniform, but his hair and face are too recognisable for the man not to know who he is. He, on the other hand, cannot fully identify the man’s face nor quirk. So he’s basically going into this blind. And by the look of the man’s twitching eye, he also has a timer until the guy runs out of patience and resorts to violence, which can’t be afforded with the girl in danger.
Overall, it’s not good, and definitely not tilted in his favour.
The man’s hand twitches, and Shoto realises he’s been silent for too long.
Second Strike.
3.Try to reach a deal if possible.
“A quick check up would be a good idea, then. To make sure she hasn’t hurt herself too bad.” He tries to say as politely as he can whilst still being firm.
“Are you saying I’m irresponsible?” The man snaps, and Shoto winces. Well, he’s never been too good at smooth talking his way out of things.
“You know what? I’ll forget about your insult if you just give me my daughter back..” He continues, voice colder, more dangerous now.
“We can just pretend that this never happened.”
Shoto, against all reason, doesn’t let go, even when the girl tugs at him to put her down, her frame shaking softly.
“Only after she gets a check up.” He persists.
And shit, Third Strike.
The timer empties, and the man runs out of patient for him. Roaring, he slams his hand down on the ground, and suddenly, Shoto finds jagged spears of rock hurling towards him where ground once was.
He grimaces as he dodges to the best of his ability with a child in his arms, letting his quirk come to life as frost forming on all surfaces. Never mind getting into trouble now, fuck the law. He’s not leaving the girl with this dangerous bastard.
He backs out of the alleyway, slamming his foot down to create a giant ice barrier between his attacker and him.
He turns, and does the best thing he can do for a situation like this.
He just prays that the man isn’t fast.
4.If negotiations fail and you cannot fight, flee.
“And so, instead of going to the police station and dropping Eri off, you came here?”
Shoto doesn’t respond, simply holding onto Eri tighter as he stares down Aizawa.
That should have been an obvious answer from the get-go, with them standing outside the UA dorms.
They hadn’t needed to run all the way, with Shoto blocking off the alleyway with ice and dashing into a crowded street. So they had spent a good few minutes talking. Or rather, Shoto asked a few questions and Eri had responded shyly with one to two word answers.
He’d learnt her name was Eri, and she didn’t know what a favourite colour was, nor had she seen stars before.
So with that revelation, he couldn’t have just left her at a police station. He’s pretty sure it would have been considered a cosmic sin if he did so.
He’d relayed this to Aizawa, and the man just sighed, looking as if he’s just aged about ten years.
He’d then proceeded to lecture Shoto for about ten minutes.
Apparently, before he’d arrived at UA, Aizawa had just been on a call about an urgent case with a hero named Sir Nighteye, who Midoriya was doing a work study with. The case they had been taking about, coincidentally, concerned a man named Overhaul, who perfectly matched Shoto’s description of the man in the alleyway. Which meant that Shoto had just rescued a Yakuza boss’ daughter and possibly jeopardised the entire case.
Shoto had frowned at that. If rescuing a girl who was being abused meant jeopardising a case, then he would absolutely do it again. Leaving her there was just not an option, no matter what.
He thinks he saw Aizawa soften a little bit when he mentioned this, but only by enough to make him stop looking as if death had just washed over him.
“You’re not going to let her go, are you kid?” His teacher asks tiredly once he’s done with his lecture.
Shoto thinks for a bit, before looking down at Eri, who only clings tighter to him, shaking her head.
(Her horn is quite pointy he notes, as it digs a little into his chest. But strangely, he doesn’t really mind it.)
“No.” He says, looking back up at Aizawa.
The man sighs again, before downing the fifth coffee he’s had since he first caught sight of Shoto.
“Get her checked up with Recovery girl then, I’ll work on setting up a room and talk to Nighteye. Hopefully he’ll act civil and not blow up on me entirely.”
He blinks in surprise.
“…Really?” He asks sceptically, and he can feel Eri move in surprise as well, “Just like that?”
Aizawa only glares at him half heartedly.
“Ask again and I won’t be doing anything.” He mutters, but there’s no heat in his voice. “Now go, before I decide it’s too much effort.”
And with the confirmation, Shoto speeds off to Recovery girl, a small grin on his face and Eri tapping a rhythm on his shoulder (he’s pretty sure that’s a sign she’s happy, as whilst she doesn’t smile, he can still see the small sparkles in her eyes).
Little does he know, this was the start to how he slowly became a big brother.
Shoto must be taking a really long route to get home, Fuyumi muses, nursing a cup of green tea.
It’s been at least a couple of hours, and the sun is starting to set. If she’s honest, she’s starting to get a little worried for her brother. Long periods of absence usually mean that something has gone wrong, and that’s especially true for Shoto and his class getting attacked by villains every two months.
Just then, her phone buzzes, and she puts down her tea to look at the new messages.
Only to burst into giggles at it’s randomness.
——
This gene pool needs a life guard
Shoto
Sorry, I won’t be coming back home. I have found a small
girl named Eri and am now involved in a police investigation. 6:52pm
The disappointment
Shoto w h a t. 6:53pm
——
Well then, perhaps she doesn’t need to worry so much. It’s just Shoto managing to get himself in another peculiar situation.
Though now, she is slightly annoyed that he didn’t get her the groceries.