Chapter Text
The warehouse is cold and empty when Inko arrives. She’s begun to have a hard time walking, and she has to rely on the grip of the man escorting her lest she fall. Her free hand cradles her stomach, the faint sensation of a kick under her touch.
Even if Inko Midoriya was able to escape her husband, she knows her pregnancy is too far along for it. She faintly recalls the name of the man helping her, Hisashi had introduced him as Kurogiri.
Inko grimaces. No, she didn’t want to think about Hizashi right now. The man she thought she loved was gone, replaced by a killer.
Kurogiri helps her sit down into a chair, and Inko mumbles a quiet thank you out of habit. The man hasn’t said a word since Inko had met him, and she doesn’t really want him to.
Truly, she had given up. Inko didn’t have many friends in the first place, really just Mitsuki and some of the neighbors. Her parents hadn’t spoken to her in years and her husband had made up the majority of Inko’s support system. With almost no one to miss her and no job, Inko had figured staying where she was would be the safest for her baby.
A wet sound bubbles from the nearest corner, a slick black oil manifesting on the wall. A man comes out, dressed in a casual suit with messy white hair. Unlike the cold, sterile feeling of the warehouse, the man has a sunny smile on his freckled face.
“Dear! How has Kurogiri been treating you?” He walks forward and kneels in front of Inko, gently taking her hand. “How are you feeling?” Inko doesn’t look at him, staring silently away.
His smile fades slightly at the dismissal. “Inko, why won’t you talk to me?” She finally turns to look at him, contempt in her eyes.
“You know why, Hisashi.” He frowns, letting go of her hand.
“I’m still the same man you married. I only kept it a secret because I knew you would react like this. I still love you, Inko.” She clenches her hand against her stomach.
“Hisashi, did you really think your identity as a criminal mastermind wouldn’t affect how I felt about you? You’ve hurt people, killed people! The thought of someone like you raising my son makes me sick.” She glares at him, although a small part of her is terrified. Inko knows he’s the only reason she’s not dead.
A flash of anger crosses Hisashi’s eyes before he takes a deep breath. He calmly rises to his feet, the oil slick reappearing under his feet. As he begins to sink, he gives Inko one last soft smile.
“I’ll be back later, love. Please, feel better.” He quirks his head and waves goodbye before disappearing.
Inko does not wave back.
~~~~
Inko screams, hand clenched tightly around Hisashi’s as she pushes. The doctor between her legs repeats soft assurances as she works. Inko’s hand warms as her body numbs just slightly, Hisashi using a quirk to lessen her pain.
Sweat drips from Inko’s forehead as she gives one last heaving push and the doctor shouts for the nurse. Inko tenses at the silence, the doctor moving frantically to the other side of the room with a bundle in her arms.
Hisashi stands up, about to march over to the doctor before Inko grips his hand tightly. “This isn’t how I imagined giving birth, in a villain’s hideout, but I’ll be damned if you leave me alone now.” Her icy glare silences him, and he sits back down.
A piercing shriek comes from the bundle in the doctor’s arms, the woman walking over to Inko. “Here, let him lay on your chest.” Inko’s eyes fill with tears as the yelling infant is placed on her chest, a tuft of green hair tickling her chin.
Hisashi leans over, letting the small grasping fist of the boy clench his finger. The baby slowly calms down, gumming at his freehand.
“Izuku,” Inko whispers. “He’s my little Izuku.”
~~~~
“I don’t particularly care to know where you go.” Inko says, Izuku cradled in her arms. “Please just leave us alone. I need to feed Izuku.” She turns away and walks into the small kitchenette that had been installed into the warehouse. Hisashi scoffs.
“You’ll learn to love me again.” He waves along Kurogiri. “Kurogiri will be coming with me, so I’ll be doubling the security outside. Don’t try anything.”
Kurogiri expands into a smoky portal, and just before walking through turns to look at Izuku. “Bye-bye, Izu-chan!” He says with a small wave and blows a kiss.
Inko rolls her eyes and finishes warming up the bottle for Izuku as the portal closes. Gently nudging the nipple of the bottle into Izuku’s mouth, Inko pads over to the armchair in the main area. She sits down and positions Izuku onto his back, letting the boy eat to his heart’s content.
Inko smiles, but she can’t help but think. Was she really going to let Izuku grow up in this environment? Surrounded by villains and a father who would so readily ignore the feelings of his wife. What kind of person would Izuku become?
Then and there, Inko promised herself. She would do everything in her power to reunite Izuku with polite society, even at the risk of her own life.
As if summoned by her thoughts, the warehouse shakes. Inko stands up, the bottle falling forgotten to the floor. Izuku, stunned by the sudden movement, stares up at his mother before beginning to wail. Inko can hear a thud against the padlocked door as something slams into it. Inko frantically shushes Izuku, rocking him until he begins to quiet down.
Inko panics, and runs to the bedroom. Swaddling Izuku in layers of blankets and laundry, Inko tucks Izuku’s now sleeping body underneath the bed. She can only hope this is some sort of false alarm.
WIth one last kiss to Izuku’s forehead, Inko runs to hide in the kitchen. Slotting her body into a cabinet, she slowly eases the door closed.
There’s a pregnant pause before a small creak echoes throughout the warehouse. Peeking through the crack between the doors, Inko sees a lithe looking man and a woman with a bug head enter the building, along with an entourage of heavy built villains.
“Oh Mrs. Villain! Where are you!” The man yells for Inko, the heavy set villains spreading out to scout the building. The bug-headed woman sprouts a set of insect wings and flies to inspect the ceiling.
Inko gasps as the villains begin to inch closer to the bed. She gropes around in the darkness looking for anything that can help. One of the villains quirks their head and zeroes in on Inko's hiding spot, bounding over quicker than Inko could move. She rips open the cabinet and attempts to run, but the villain grabs her by her face before she can escape.
“Ah! There you are.” The man struts over to the kitchen and inspects Inko as she scrabbles against the huge fist holding her in the air.
“I’m pretty sure this is the boss’s girl, but if she isn’t I suppose we’ll just have to kill her just in case.” Inko’s eyes widen in fear as the man extends his hand over to her.
“This is going to hurt you more than me, Mrs. Villain.”
~~~~
Shouta is the one who finds the baby. The presumed mother had been found curled around a pile of sheets and blankets, her body horribly mangled. The child inside had slept soundly through it all.
He had woken up when Shouta had decided to disturb the evidence and pick him up, holding him awkwardly in his arms. Tsukauchi sidles up next to him and takes one look at the baby and groans.
“This is starting to look like a complicated crime. The only door in and out was busted inwards, but had been padlocked from the outside.” He extends a finger to the baby and softly smiles as the boy grabs his finger and laughs. “Which can only mean that this child and his mother were locked in here.”
Aizawa nods. “And judging by how lived in it is, they’ve been here for a while.” The two men back away as forensics gathers around the body and begins collecting evidence.
Tsukauchi takes out his phone and dials a number. “I’m going to start by finding somewhere to send him while we figure out who he is and get him set up with foster care.”
Maybe it’s naivety or some other sort of illogical emotion but Shouta doesn’t really think before he says, “It’s okay, I can take care of him.” Tsukauchi looks at him incredulously, and Shouta can understand that.
“Uh, are you sure, Eraserhead?” He asks. Shouta nods, morose but committed.
“Yeah, he looks old enough to eat solids so he should sleep through the night. I’ll have Hizashi to help me, and my hero’s license means I can skip the wellness check.” Tsukauchi hums before nodding in agreement.
“Alright. Well, if you’re going to do this, why don’t you pack up whatever supplies are here and head home early. I can take care of the preliminary investigation for now.” Aizawa nods and looks down at the baby.
He’s sleeping now, one of his fist’s clenching the edge of Aizawa’s capture weapon. Aizawa pointedly does not think about how cute he is, and walks off to gather supplies.
Hizashi does not take it nearly as casually as Aizawa had thought he would.
“YOU WH—!” Aizawa activates his quirk before he can get in another word, but not before the baby wakes up.
“You woke him up, idiot!” Aizawa hisses, Hizashi looking properly ashamed. Aizawa finishes removing his shoes and walks into the living room. He plops the bag of things onto the couch and lays the boy on his back.
“His mother was killed tonight, and I volunteered to watch him during the investigation. Now come on, help me look for a name in these baby clothes.” Hizashi nods and sits down next to the baby, pulling out a few onesies and inspecting the collars.
After a minute, Aizawa pipes up. “The name Izuku is embroidered into quite a few of these, it seems like his mother had a lot of spare time.” Hizashi coos, fingers brushing through Izuku’s curls.
“Izuku. What a cute name for a cute little listener!” Izuku giggles and tries to pull at the man's long hair as it dangles above him.
Hizashi looks up at Shouta as he plays with Izuku, a sly grin on his face. “I know we’ve been discussing adoption for a while. Is this your way of testing the waters?” Aizawa looks away with a furious flush, hiding his face in his capture weapon.
“No, this is just for an investigation.” Hizashi hums and gathers Izuku into his arms.
“You’re lucky I had so many younger siblings. Anyway I don’t know when he was last fed, so I’m going to start on those bottles you brought.” Hizashi walks out of the living room and into their small kitchen to heat up the bottle.
~~~~
When Tsukauchi gets back to him a few weeks later, he doesn’t have much news.
“We don’t have any missing children’s cases, and without a last name we can’t figure out who Izuku is. His mother is pretty unidentifiable, and the warehouse was being rented to a fake name.”
There’s some rustling over the phone as Tsukauchi messes with something. “On the other hand, since he doesn’t have an identity, it’ll make finding a foster family for him a little easier. I think I could take him off your hands in a day or two.”
“About that, Tsukauchi.” Aizawa looks over at Hizashi. The man has Izuku sitting on his stomach as the baby tries to grab his fingers, Hizashi deftly pulling them away at the last second. “Hizashi and I have been thinking about adopting him.”
“Oh? Well, I don’t see any issue with that. But Eraserhead, you know you’ll have to go through a wellness check if you do this.” Shouta knows this, and he and Hizashi had discussed moving into a new apartment if the adoption managed to go through.
Tsukauchi chuckles over the phone. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect this from you. You act so broody all the time.” Shouta scoffs.
“Yeah, yeah. Send me any papers I’ll need for the adoption process. I’ll be in contact.” Shouta hangs up and sits next to Hizashi, little Izuku crawling over to Shouta’s lap to tug on the hair framing his face.
“I think I love him, Shouta.” Hizashi leans his head against Shouta’s shoulder, one of his hands propping up Izuku as he sits in Shouta’s lap.
“Yeah, me too.”
~~~~
“Daddy!” Tiny footsteps echo down the single hallway of the apartment as Shouta takes off his shoes. Izuku wasn’t often allowed to stay up so late to see Shouta after a patrol, but tonight seemed to be an exception. The four year-old flings himself into Shouta’s arms, Shouta smiling and propping him onto his hip. Hizashi comes from the kitchen grinning fondly, wiping his hands on a rag.
“Oh look who’s finally home! Could it be the love of my life, young listener?” He directs the question at Izuku, who laughs and points at Shouta’s face.
“Yeah! Daddy’s home, Papa!” Shouta rolls his eyes and loosens his grip on Izuku.
“Don’t make me drop you, problem child.” Izuku laughs and wraps his arms around Shouta’s neck.
“You wouldn’t.” Shouta wouldn’t. He gives Hizashi a peck on the lips before moving to the kitchen, grabbing one of those protein packets that Hizashi hates so much.
“I wish you would stop drinking those. They don’t count as a meal.” Izuku looks at him sternly.
“Yeah, Daddy. They don’t count as a meal.” Shouta sits Izuku down on the counter to eat and looks at his husband.
“Wow, you’re both ganging up on me now? You’re lucky my years as a pro hero have hardened my heart to such matters.” Izuku pats Shouta’s elbow and Shouta picks him up again, Izuku fingering Shouta’s hair.
Shouta has honestly stopped paying attention to this particular habit of Izuku’s, and just lets him do it. Hizashi laughs, loudly, and stands next to Shouta and Izuku.
“Alright, let’s get Izuku to sleep.” Izuku began to whine but Hizashi shook his head. “No, little listener. I told you I would let you stay up to see Daddy if you would go to sleep directly afterwards.”
Izuku huffs, but acquiesces. Shouta tucks Izuku into his Present Mic sheets and kisses his forehead. Hizashi stands next to Shouta and gets his kiss in. Izuku tugs Shouta’s sleeve.
“Hey, Daddy? Can you stay in here until I go to sleep?” Izuku looks suddenly very sad. Concerned, Shouta smooths his hair back.
“What’s wrong, Izuku?” Hizashi sits on the bed next to Shouta, taking Izuku’s hand.
“I know you’re super cool and all, but I kind of get scared when you go to work. Like, what if you get hurt or something!” Izuku starts to work himself up and Shouta is quick to soothe him.
“Hey, baby. It’s okay. You won’t need to worry about that.” Shouta knows he’s lying, but Izuku doesn’t need to know that. “How about you come sleep with Hizashi and I?” Izuku nods.
Tucked in for the second time, Izuku falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. The two parents chuckle and get into bed.
~~~~
Izuku wakes up to a terrible noise. His Daddy is holding him tight, and Izuku is afraid moving will wake him up. Regardless, he quickly discovers the source of the noise is Papa’s quirk enhanced snores.
Satisfied, Izuku snuggles in the hopes of more sleep, but Papa’s snores only become more and more grating. Annoyed, Izuku can only look at him and wish he would stop. Suddenly, the snores stop and Izuku’s eyes feel like they’re burning. He blinks in surprise and the snores rise in volume once again.
Izuku is not stupid, and he immediately sits up and shakes his Daddy awake.
“What—what’s wrong, Izuku?” Daddy startles and sits up, ready to fight. But when he sees Izuku’s bright grin, he deactivates his quirk.
“I got my quirk, Daddy! I’m just like you!” Shouta blinks before shaking Hizashi awake.
“Wake up, you lovable lug!” Hizashi snorts awake, blinking blearily at his family. Shouta turns to Izuku. “What happened?”
Izuku recounts what happens, and Hizashi flushes. Shouta only snorts. “I guess I’ve grown used to them. But what are the odds that you would develop a quirk so similar to my own?” As excited as Izuku was, his eyes still began to droop. “Okay, problem child. We can look into it in the morning. Goodnight.”
The family goes back to sleep, Izuku wiggling in excitement.