Chapter Text
Izuku was quirkless. He knew this, his mother knew this, and it honestly felt like everyone in Japan knew. Weak, defenseless, destined to be the victim of someone or something. It had almost happened already, if not for Japan's number-one hero. He was kind but told Izuku to get a grip on his reality. "Try for the police forces, or detective work-" The hero offered, handing him back his bookbag. The man's smile was blinding as he patted Izuku on the head, tussling pure white locks. "You got a good brain in there, just find somewhere safer to use it okay?" The hero had been so kind, even when crushing his dreams.
But, Izuku still applied. Still went to the hero of hero schools and went through their tests. He worked hard on the written test, going as far as he could with what he knew. He tried even harder at the practical test... But was it enough?
-_-
Izuku screamed in pain as a machine tossed a rock at him. He fell to his feet, but crawled as fast as he could under some rubble. His breath still smelled of his toothpaste, he couldn't help but chuckle pathetically at the thought of dying with mint in his nose. It was a far better smell than some probably died with. He winced as he crawled deeper into the rubble, he could hear the tank treads on the robot at the entrance of his refuge. It was pacing, clearly set on defeating him. He crawled into the dark, uncaring of the rocks stabbing at his knees and palms. What a pathetic way to die... At a test most found only mildly challenging AND hiding in a hole.
He sniffled a little, cursing under his breath as he felt tears fall onto his hands. Great, he was crying now too. He came to a stop, trying to catch his breath and dry his tears. His sleeves were rough and torn, only scratching at his face as he tried to wipe away his tears. "Crybaby..." He hissed at himself.
He flinched as the rubble around him shuddered, he could hear people screaming as something massive move. He could hear it all so loud, was the rubble directing the sound to him? No, it should be muffled right? Or, was it just that loud? He held up his head, trying to catch the sound better. Cracking, glass raining down, and the earthshaking sensation of tank treads but so much stronger.
A zero pointer... They were told to run!
Izuku scrambled, bending in half to turn inside the small tunnel he'd gotten into. He started toward the light at the other end, noticing the small robot had gone. It must have seen someone else- He watched in horror as the tunnel began to crunch. The light was only getting in as thin streams, going out and on as the rubble crumbled further. He could feel his body shaking with what felt like an earthquake.
He felt himself choke on fear, the taste of bile in his throat as he spun back around. He wasn't crawling anymore, he was all but running on all fours like a wild animal. He ran blindly forward, his only goal to get away. He felt like a rabbit running in a rose bush, the wreckage around him cutting at his skin and ripping open his clothes. As fast as he had started he was forced to stop. He rammed into something solid, the end of the path. He scratched dull nails against the obstruction, unable to see from not only the darkness but the river of tears coming from his eyes. He didn't want to die! Not like this! Not like a rat getting crushed under a car!
He screamed, all too aware of the sound of crushing getting closer. He was hopeless, but he kept trying anyway. He kept slamming himself against the thing in his path, beating himself to blood and bruises at just a chance. Then, it stopped.
He panted, blinking at the dark, listening.
The machine above had stopped, he could hear its engine slowly powering down. Soon it only hissed with heat, settling in place. He looked up despite still being underground, he could hear voices. Not what they were saying, but he could hear them. He sighed, they must have heard him and realized he was trapped. The energy he'd spent running was now gone, leaving him drained and tired. He fell limp inside the tunnel, eyes blurry from tears as he panted into the dusty air. He just began tapping, using his foot he tapped on the rubble with as steady of a beat as he could manage. He prayed it would be enough to find him. Izuku began slipping in and out of sleep. His waking moment were full of wishing and tapping. His sleeping ones scared and cold.
-_-
Nedzu had crawled into yet another discovered path. He followed the bloody handprints under his paws deeper yet deeper. His nose twitched at a foul smell, but he could tell it was fresher. Fresh blood ment they were close. He was getting closer to the lost kid. He stopped, fiddling with the light and camera on his chest, he pressed a button on it and spoke into it.
"Nothing yet, but I'm sure I'm on the right path now." He had been looking for the trail for hours, repeatedly going into empty dead ends. It had been hours- He flicked his ears. He unpressed the button, listening. Knocking? No, it was more of a tap...After a second the device beeped as someone went to answer. He quickly cut them off.
"Shush, I hear something." He scolded into the device. The people on the other side held back their comments.
thwap...thwap...thwap...
It was coming from deeper down. Down, how had he gotten so deep? Nedzu ground his teeth, mentally recalling the distance again. It was just almost a mile at this point, and on hands and knees? He was stuck crouching, at a foot tall! The kid had to be at least three or four feet... was it even possible to fit on hands and knees for the kid? Or did he just scramble forward on his toe tips and hands? This wasn't a straight path either, it was more of just lucky air pockets dipping and raising at random points.
Nedzu started forward again. He ended up going on all fours himself, the tightness around him seemed too tight for a boy of high school age. A runt of a kid then... that just made this more unimaginable.
"Sir?" The men on the other side of the radio chimed in.
"Yes?" He asked, not wanting to waste time. Crawling deeper he settled for a one-word response.
"We checked the cameras, we believe it's Izuku Midoriya."
"Thank you." He sucked in a breath, about to call out the kid's name.
"He's quirkless, sir."
His breath escaped him, he froze in place. his mind raced before he took the radio into his paws. "Did you say quirkless?" He stared at the radio, looking into the camera, they could probably see his confusion.
"Yes Sir."
Nedzu looked up into the darkness ahead.
thwap...thwap...thwap...
Quirkless, tiny, and utterly alone.
thwap... thwap...thwap...
"Midoriya?" He asked the darkness. He breathed as quietly as he could, seeing only more dark tunnels and drying blood ahead of him. There was silence, then-
Thwap!Thwap!
Two fast beats, the kid heard him.
-_-_-_-
Nedzu watched the boy silently, not wanting to wake him. Instead of blood-soaked darkness and tight quarters... They were in the Nurse's office. White sterile walls, near-blinding lighting, and the smell of cleaner. Even with the curtain drawn, cutting them off from the rest of the room, it was spacious.
The boy was breathing deep and slow, but he was breathing. Nedzu could only stare at the boy dumbfounded. While it had only been half a mile as the crow flies... the distance inside the constant turns and dips of the tunnel was actually over a mile. Granted, that was messured by a tracking Nedzu, the boy's path migt have been slightly shorter. Even then over doubled, all crawled desperately with bleeding hands.
Nedzu's gaze shifted to the boy's face. The thick bandages made the memory of a blood-soaked wall crash in his mind. The surface had been scratched at, hard enough to break nails and leave it dripping with blood. Then, were the marks of impact. The shape of a body clearly marked out in red. It had looked like the scene of a murder.
He couldn't help but remember the boy's relieved smile though. The breathy and tired laugh filled that tiny space. His smile had been bright enough to light the entire tunnel it had seemed. He didn't even ask about grading or even some sort of compensation for his pain. He had just beamed at the sight of UA's principle in the flesh. He was just happy to see someone.
He shocked himself as he spooked at the curtain being pulled open. He put a paw over his heart and breathed as he looked at the visitor.
Aizawa of all people had entered, he even was tidied up a little. Recovery Girl probably demanded he be 'sanitary' before getting anywhere close to the kid. The man gave him a curt nod before looking at the kid's sleeping form.
Nedzu eyed the teacher, who seemed unsure of something. He watched the man go to the end of the kid's bed, lifting and reading the medical chart there. The way Aizawa dropped it back into place told Nedzu all he needed.
"Hard to believe he did that, huh?" Nedzu spoke, looking back to the child. "Under fifteen minutes too-"
"Thirteen minutes and fifty-seven seconds." Aizawa corrected him, voice muffled by his scarf. The teacher's eyes didn't stray from the kid's face as he walked up to the bedside. He stopped by the head of the bed, only sparing a moment to glance at a machine monitoring Midoriya's heart rate.
Nedzu smirked as Aizawa stared down at the kid, looking for what Nedzu had. "They did a blood draw and everything, not an ounce of quirk factor in him."
The man sighed, a little heavier than normal. He left the boy's side in favor of a chair beside the mammal. Nedzu lifted a furry brow to the teacher, but Aizawa just avoided his gaze. "You plan on inviting him to your class... aren't you?"
"Shut up."
"No? A date then?" Nedzu teased.
Honestly, Nedzu should have seen the chair getting yanked out from under him coming. He absolutely didn't though and got a face full of sparky clean tiles.