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Naomasa fights the urge to grin as he enters the hospital room, Aizawa striding in alongside him.
Sure, these aren't the circumstances that Naomasa would've preffered, but its been ages since he's seen Toshi's boy. Midoriya Izuku.
Even before Toshinori introduced the pair, Naomasa had known of the kid. He'd seen the kid in the aftermath of several hero fights, and even now Naomasa remembers Midoriya as the boy who ran at a dangerous villain to save his friend. Hell, if Toshi hadn't already called dibs on the kid, and if Midoriya wasn't so dead-set on being a hero, Naomasa might've tried to snatch the kid for his department down at the station. Based off of Toshi's weekly reports, the kid has one hell of a mind.
Naomasa is brought back into the present when Aizawa taps his arm in annoyance. Namosa glances at him apologetically before he turns to Toshi's boy.
Even wrapped up in hospital bedsheets, Midoriya looks well, which fits with what the doctors had told him. He's well, but we're keeping him overnight in case any nasty surprises pop up.
Naomasa can tell that Midoriya is restless; his hands are clenching and unclenching around a bunched up section of blanket. Clearly the kid hates being in hospitals.
Honestly, every time Naomasa looks at Midoriya, he looks more like Toshinori. Not in appearance, nessecarily, but in demeanor.
"Hey, kiddo," Naomasa greets Midoriya with a tired smile. He pulls up the chair closest to Midoriya's bedside, while Aizawa sits off to the side.
Midoriya perks up as if he's only just now noticed Naomasa and Aizawa, and the kid peers past Naomasa and says, "Aizawa-Sensei!" Aizawa gives the kid a stiff nod, and Midoriya promptly turns to Naomasa. He's just taken a sip of his lukewarm coffee and he nearly does a spit-take when Midoriya greets him with, "And you're True Man, right?"
"True Man?" Aizawa questions, a hint of curiosity in his dry tone. Naomasa would've asked the kid himself, but he's too busy trying not to hack up a lung. No one's called him True Man since his early days in the force. No one except... Toshinori. If Naomasa thinks back to when Toshinori introduced him to Midoriya during the Sports Festival, he can vaguely remember Toshinori introducing him as True Man; without any mention of Naomasa's actual name.
"Yeah!" True. Midoriya answers Aizawa's question easily. "That's what All- someone introduced me as," Midoriya stammers out. True. Naomasa can see why Toshinori chose the kid to be his succesor; he's very endearing. Aizawa looks unimpressed at the answer but ultimately does't say anytimng to the kid about it. Instead, he shoots Naomasa a look that promises questions later. Naomasa nods, their unspoken pact sealed.
"Well, Midoriya, you can call me Detective Tsukauchi," Naomasa provides his real name easily. The kid blushes deep red, and Naomasa smiles reassuringly. "So, Midoriya, I'm sure you're wondering why me and Eraserhead are here today."
"Probably to ask about the raid?" Midoriya ventures uncertainly.
"In a way," Aizawa cuts in. "You'll have to give your official report later, though." True. Midoriya looks confused, so Naomasa takes the opportunity to step in.
"We're here to ask about the end of the raid. Even after Eri used her quirk on you, you still have your quirk. Why didn't you lose it?" Midoriya winces at the question. Naomasa wonders why for a second before he belatedly remebers Toshinori telling him the kid used to be quirkless. The thought of losing One for All probably scares him.
Midoriya hesitates a few more seconds, thinking it over, before he sheepishly murmurs something unintelligible that Naomasa's quirk registers as true.
"Sorry, kiddo, we couldn't hear what you said. Would you mind repeating it?" Naomasa asks politely. He can hear Aizawa's tired sigh behind him and internally sympathizes with the man.
"Oh! Sorry," Midoriya apologizes truthfully. Naomasa waves it off and gestures again for him to repeat himself. Midoriya appears to brace himself, then blurts, "You guys don't actually know what Eri-chan's quirk does!" True.
"What?" Naomasa and Aizawa exclaim at the same time, Naomasa out of incredulity and Aizawa out of disbelieving shock.
Midoriya nervously launches into a ramble. "Eri's quirk doesn't erase quirks, it rewinds them! During the raid she told me about her father, and thats how I figured out what I needed to do to survive her quirk!" True. The kid opens his mouth to continue, but Aizawa cuts him off.
"Hang on, Problem Child. What was that about Eri's father?"
"She… umm… rewound him out of existance…?" Midoriya stammers out. A warbled True flits through his mind, letting Naomasa know that the kid is telling the truth. Not that Naomasa expects anything different from Toshi's boy, but with a tale this horrific, Naomasa almost wishes the kid would have lied.
"What." Aizawa deadpans the question when it's clear that Midoriya isn't planning to continue and Naomasa isn't going to ask him to.
"It's her quirk!" Midoriya exclaims. "She said that her quirk first activated when her dad was holding her, and after a few seconds he just…" Midoriya grasps at air, "wasn't there anymore." True. Naomasa gasps in horor at this sad tale, and even Aizawa lets out a sympathetic sigh.
"We'll expand more on that during the official debriefng," Naomasa declares decisively through his shock. "Right now, though, there's just one more question we have for you, and then we'll be off."
Midoriya nods, "Of course, Detective! I'm all ears." Naomasa smiles at the kid's honesty; it's been refreshing that he hasn't lied once.
"If Eri's quirk rewound her father out of existance in mere secnds, how did you survive for so long?" Naomasa winces as he asks the question. It comes off as clinical and uncaring, but Naomasa has to ask. "Bystanders noted that your quirk was active, but no one really knows what happened."
Once Midoriya takes a moment to think through his answer, he rolls his shoulders back and sighs, looking sheepish all of a sudden. Naomasa is struck with the uncomfortable feeling that he may not like this answer; however honest it may be.
"Well," Midoriya hedges, "I was using my quirk at 100% throughout my entire body." True.
If the way Aizawa gasps -gasps!- is any indication, this isn't a good thing. Naomasa suddenly remembers how much power Toshinori had at the peak of his time as All Might. That amount of strength was sure to do at least a little damage to Midoriya (and judgng by how many twisted scars Naomasa sees when he glances at the kids arms, One for All has already taken a toll).
"I survived by continuously breaking my bones so Eri-chan's quirk would focus on rewinding the injuries instead of, well, me," Midoriya continues to admit hesitantly. True, Naomasa's quirk whispers tauntingly in his ear.
"Kid, how…?" Naomasa stutters out, his normally put-together self whisked away in the aftermath of Midoriya's revalation.
Aizawa sighs, almost as if he had expected this turn of events deep down. "You can't keep doing this, Midoriya." True.
"I know," Midoriya agrees, "but Eri needed me. And no one else was going to help." True. The kid really believes that. As Aizawa opens his mouth to refute the claim again, Naomosa sighs.
Midoriya really is just like Toshinori after all.