Chapter Text
“i’m home,” the king of villains called out from the genkan of the penthouse. izuku thought it felt laughably normal for the king of villains.
“welcome home~” an eerily familiar voice rang through the space.
“oh? hello there, lil man. and who might you be?” the blonde man asked, toxic green eyes peered at him over the rim of his tinted glasses and izuku froze as realization hit. he was face to face with the notorious screech. the villain infamous for the most destructive of cases, his collateral destruction spanning over a tragic expanse. izuku felt ill.
“oh! a baby!” a feminine voice exclaimed, delighted and izuku almost keeled over when he recognized another villain. midnight; known for her gruesome crimes with her usual victims being unfaithful men, always leaving behind the sweet scent of her quirk.
“am not!” izuku blurted in retaliation, seeming to bristle, genuinely offended at the suggestion. shouta had to suppress his laugh at that. “i’m 10!”
“what, no way!” another voice chimed in, guiding izuku’s attention to a tall, lanky boy with wild lavender hair and tired violet eyes. izuku quietly thanked the gods he didn’t need to add another villain to the tally of being within a 3 meter radius of him or else he might have an aneurysm.
“oh, looks like you’re the same age, huh, toshi?” shouta mused thoughtfully. that was a good thing, right? they could be play mates or something. he’s pretty sure that it was good for kids to socialize… right?? oh, god, he needed to do some research into how to care for a kid.
“but you’re tiny,” ‘toshi’ protested skeptically still and izuku felt his hackled raise.
“alright, alright, that’s enough,” shouta placated before a izuku blew a fuse. “why don’t the two of you introduce yourselves to each other?”
the purple haired kid blinked at the fuming shorter boy, head tilting to one side like a confused kitten. “i’m yamada hitoshi. hitoshi is fine though.”
“midoriya izuku,” the green haired boy mumbled, deflating a little, the fight draining out of him.
“my son,” shouta added, causing the other occupants of the room to screech in surprise. flinched and izuku huddled behind the man just slightly. he watched a red glow flicked to life when the man activated the quirk, effectively shutting them up.
“he’s skittish so behave,” he gritted out, voice low, stern and no-nonsense. he put emphasis on the last word and the three nodded wordlessly. only then, did shouta blink, his quirk flickering off. the man glanced back at izuku and nudged him forward. “they’re a bit loud but they’re harmless. if they get too much, just say so,” he said, the tone of his voice noticeably softer and he pointedly ignored the other three balking at the sight of him being soft. he had a kid now, sue him. izuku only nodded wordlessly.
“this yamada hizashi,” shouta sighed, continuing with the introductions, gesturing his head to the the man in question who was staring at the entire interaction like the most precious thing he had ever laid his eyes on. “also known as-“
“screech,” izuku cut in, his voice quiet. his eyes flicked over to the adult in the room. “and you’re midnight.”
“oh~~ you’ve got a good eye, listener!” hizashi gushed and shouta grinned proudly, startling the boy with a head pat.
“very impressive,” midnight agreed, similarly offering him a wide smile, all teeth. “my name’s kayama nemuri by the way. auntie nem works just fine. i gotta run actually, but hizashi’s just about to start dinner. see you around, greenie!”
just like that, the little gathering dispersed; nemuri slipping out, hizashi and shouta headed to the kitchen to fix dinner. izuku ended up following after the man if only so that he wasn’t left alone just yet. as is, shouta was the only person in the house he trusted and he resolved to stick close to him. hitoshi came along too, unconcerned by izuku’s apprehension.
"i guess you might already know, since you recognized them,” hitoshi started, smiling lazily at izuku as he moved to flop down at the table, resting a cheek on his palm. “pops is a little crazy," hitoshi continued, entirely unbothered, as though there was nothing wrong with what he just said or the fact that he said it out loud in front of the man himself. in fact, hizashi only rolled his eyes fondly. "but don't worry about him. we're on the same side aren't we?”
"not really,” izuku replied quietly, shifting to hide himself a little more behind eraser, suddenly nervous, fidgeting when he felt hitoshi’s curious and confused gaze on him. he glanced up uncertainly at the villain, who nodded approvingly with an encouraging squeeze of his shoulder.. "um- i'm going to be a hero..?” izuku whispered, hiding his face into eraser’s side, watching for the other boy’s reaction.
"what? why?" shinsou cries out, sounding betrayed and appalled, as if the sheer idea of it was absurd.
“inside voice, toshi,” eraser chided from where he started chopping vegetables, not bothered by izuku’s clinging. hitoshi seemed to stare at izuku for a moment, accepting that he wasn’t getting a response from how spooked the other boy looked before asking. "do you know why we're villains?"
izuku frowned at the question and the use of ‘we’ by the boy who couldn’t be more than a few years older than him at most if he had to guess. he shook his head no.
"because the system is fucked. because people like deatharms and endeavour are allowed to be heroes. because being a hero is no longer about helping people. to too many of them than it is about fame and fortune. the HSPC encourages that. heroes used to be glorified law enforcement- which, is already stupid. now, they’re closer to outright celebrities.”
"its not worth being a hero in this time and age is what he means, problem child," aizawa said in a incredibly uncharacteristic gentle tone that gave the other villains whiplash. that really needed some getting used to.
shouta expected some sort of anger, maybe something defensive but izuku looked at him with those analytical green eyes that made him feel seen in an almost uncomfortable way, even though he didn’t outwardly react.
"you were a hero," the boy said, not quite a question. the villain smiled something proud at his deduction and izuku blushed.
"i was. for a bit," he answered easily. "it gave me a glimpse of what it was like.”
“what was your hero name?”
“eraserhead.”
izuku blinked.
“erasure hero: eraserhead. debuted as the first gen ed student to get into the hero course by winning the sports festival at UA. went bad 2 years later,” he muttered under his breath, the words rushed, only just audible. “it was after you were involved with a villain fight gone wrong. they said you cracked under the pressure and went insane.”
shouta couldn’t help but smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “i lost a friend during that attack,” he revealed easily, his scarred heart still squeezing painfully at the memory. he saw hizashi stiffen at the corner of his eye but carried on. “he was just a kid and he was put in the front line because of the broken system. failed by the heroes that were supposed to keep us safe.”
izuku met the man’s eyes for a moment before it got too heavy and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “i’m sorry for your loss.”
“thank you,” shouta said easily and went back to the carrots. they let the silence settle, letting the somber moment pass before izuku spoke up again.
"you agreed to help me become a hero though?" the boy questioned, not accusatory or suspicious, simply curious.
"i did. i would've definitely warned you about the implications of being a hero under the HSPC. the system is corrupted but there are still admittedly good people in the line of work. they may be the shrinking minority, but they are there.”
”why does it matter to you though?”
”there will always be people who need saving,” shouta said, his dark eyes glancing over to his uncharacteristically quiet friend for a split second. “we once worked towards that goal too. we still are, in a way, just in a way that doesn’t align with the law and morality of the general public. if the means we use to achieve our goals make us ‘villains’, so be it. but as far as we’re concerned, we’re simply fighting for what we believe as right. just like heroes.”
“the HSPC doesn’t align with how we or even heroes should operate,” hizashi finally spoke up, his voice low and his tone was one of distaste. “they are so obsessed about showing how safe they keep the people, they fail at doing just that. so focused on making a performance of villain fights, making sure the public sees how ‘reliable’ they are, giving them a false sense of security and yet, the people that truly need saving are left in the dust,” he finished, looking at izuku knowingly and he blushed, turning away.
“people still need heroes,” shouta stated with a resigned air of finality. “the kind that you intend to be.”
”how do you know i’m going to be that kind of hero?” izuku asked, somewhat affronted.
“call it father’s intuition.”
“you have not adopted me.”
”yet. i’m pretty sure i could get the paperwork done in 2 hours tops,” the villain grinned conspiratorially before waving a hand as though batting the thought away. “not the point though.”
his hand came up to push back his curly green bangs. izuku was proud to say he did not flinch this time as he looked up into dark hooded eyes. “you’ll be a hero the world doesn’t deserve.”