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Language:
English
Series:
Part 2 of Two Sides of the Same Coin
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Published:
2020-05-28
Updated:
2024-06-04
Words:
377,302
Chapters:
86/?
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4,150
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7,313
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318,538

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Summary:

Izuku is orphaned at the age of four and is sent into the Japanese Foster Care System. After multiple failed attempts at finding a forever home and some unfortunate circumstance, he ends up on the streets. Eventually, the vigilante, Deku appears. Eraserhead must gain his trust to bring Deku back to the right side of the law. If he he does, however, the untrustful but pure-hearted boy may just be a bit more than Aizawa Shota can handle.

Notes:

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this story. I will give you fair warning that my writing style is long winded and will only get worse as the story goes on.

Please read the warnings in the tags. There are graphic examples of blood and gore in this chapter and there will be other triggering subjects in future chapters such as detailed descriptions of child abuse, panic attacks, and more. I will do my best to give adequate warning but as most of the story had been written for a while, I may forget some.

I apologize if you don't like this. I started writing this for fun and now have about 100 pages written. I will update as I edit but please let me know if you see something that needs to be fixed. Also, I suck at tags so if you think I should add one, let me know. I hope you enjoy!

-Nez

Chapter 1: When Angels Burn

Notes:

If you have read part 1 of the series, go ahead and skip to chapter 21! Of course, feel free to reread the same story for chapter 1-20 if you want to as well!

-Nez

Chapter Text

 

The windows exploded from the heat of the fire. Each lick of the flames rising higher as the destructive force grew. 

 

The screams of the woman who had been stuck in the home resounded in the hero’s ears. Eleven minutes. It took Eleven minutes for support to arrive. The woman might have been pretty at the start of the day. Her wide green eyes and softly rounded face the only clues to what once could have been a person. Soot covered most of her body now. Charred flash was still cooking even as healers attempted to put out the embers residing in her flesh. No… not flesh anymore. What could be seen under the soot was an angry red. Blood seeped out of every pore and a white film was attempting to form on some of the areas that the healers had finally managed to put out. Who knew that fire could continue burning even without visible flames. 

 

What was most painful for the detective wasn’t the sight of the woman or the smell of her burning skin - not even the screams of agony that pierced the air at certain intervals. No, it was the pleading. 

 

“My son. Please, my son. Izuku! He was in his room. You have to get him. I locked him in to protect him. Please. Izuku, my son!” Her plea’s sounded desperate, guilty. They were broken up only by the short but intense screams that rattled her body when the healers touched some part of her that miraculously still maintained nerve function. 

 

The three heroes on scene cringed at her cries. They couldn’t do anything. The fire was too volatile. Any attempt at nearing the flames would only lead to further causality. They needed to wait for someone better suited for this job. Someone with stronger water-based quirks. At this point, however - if there really was a child in that building - he was probably already dead.

 

The cause of the destruction was being led away, handcuffed and muzzled for the protection of the officers transporting the fire-breather. He had no mark on him - immune to his own flame. His face beyond the muzzle seemed shocked. Awed at the destruction he had caused. Most domestic abusers never actually meant to cause such devastation, after all. They only acted out for control. To maintain and monopolize on their power in the home. If they went overboard, well… look at where the fire-breather was now. Locked in chains and headed to a secure facility to await trial. All control lost in a single instance of overzealous rage. 

 

Mama was going to be upset at him if he didn’t get back soon. He had been away for too long. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the park bench. Really, he hadn’t. 

 

Daddy was just yelling so loud and no matter how hard he covered his ears, the screams still bled into his mind. He just wanted to escape for a little bit. Mama’s cries were so hard to hear and he couldn’t help her until the morning anyway. 

 

Getting out of his room wasn’t hard. It hadn’t been for a while. The tree near his window had been climbed many times by now. Kacchan had helped him to learn to climb trees before everything started to get bad… 

 

Turning the corner, the bright light of the burning building came into view.

 

What was happening? Mama was in there! Daddy was in there! Why was the house burning so much? The fire trucks that surrounded the home weren’t doing anything. In fact, the fire just seemed to get bigger with each of the small boys steps. 

 

“Mama! Mama!” the wide eyed child cried out as he neared the line of police cars. 

 

An arm snaked around his stomach, immediately stopping the child from going closer to the danger area. 

 

“Whoa kid! How the hell?” The man seemed to be at a loss for words. His dark eyes wide as he took in the child that was now in his arms. 

 

“Mama! My mama! I want my mama!” The child wailed. The little body squirmed and tried his best to be set free but the detective tightened his hold and refused to let the kid down. 

 

“Kid! Kid! Are you Izuku?” The detective asked urgently. 

 

The kid stopped struggling for a moment and turned back toward the man that wouldn’t allow his escape. His wide green eyes shone with tears and snot ran down from his nose. An All-Might onesie draped loosely over his petite form. The child nodded slightly.

 

Detective Tsukauchi breathed a sigh of relief at the confirmation before focusing on calming the small child. He had almost succeeded when another scream tore from the woman still being triaged.

 

“My son! Please!”

 

The little boy began squirming again and this time, the detective could not keep his grip on the child. Tsukauchi raced after the little form but was unable to keep him from seeing the sight of his half-dead mother. Honestly, Tsukauchi wasn’t even sure if the kid would recognize her. 

 

The world did not exist anymore. Only pain and anxiety permeated reality. She knew she was screaming. She knew she was begging for her son but no one seemed to answer her. Her ears were ringing. Maybe she just couldn’t hear them?

 

A cold and small ‘something’ touched her arm. It hurt. It hurt so much. But it was familiar. Even with her body screaming, she knew that touch. 

 

Inko hadn’t realized her eyes were closed until she had to force them open. Swirling lights and color blurred her vision but Inko finally found him. He was safe. He wasn’t hurt. Her son. Her Izuku. 

 

“Baby… I’m so glad you are okay.” She cooed weakly. The fight left her body for the first time since her husband had first hit her that night. “I’m so sorry, Izuku. I’m so sorry.” 

 

Deja Vu permeated her less than together mind. How many times had she said that to her son in the last two weeks? How many times had she apologized as she watched her child cry over his shattered dreams. She couldn’t let that be the last thing he heard from her. She had to tell him - even if she didn’t see how it was possible. 

 

“Izu….” It was hard to breathe. “Izuku…” Everything hurt. “You can, baby.” Why was he crying? Was he hurt? "I lied before.” The world wasn’t hurting so much anymore. Everything was fading to black. “You can be a hero.” She wasn’t really sure if the last words even came out.

 

“His name is Midoriya Izuku. Four years old.” Detective Tsukauchi whispered to the older woman standing in front of him. 

 

Her hair was tied back in a tight bun and she scribbled on a clipboard as he spoke. They both stood near the door of the hospital room, as far from the bed as they could get without leaving the room. The small boy did not stir as he slept on the hospital gurney.

 

“We were lucky to find him after a domestic violence incident ended in a major fire. His mother died at the scene. His father is awaiting his prison sentence.” The detective gave her a moment to write down the information and only continued speaking when she glanced up at him. “We assume that he escaped through his bedroom window earlier that night via the tree in his yard. Probably to get away from the fighting”

 

“You assume?” the woman spoke softly. Her voice was gentle but firm. 

 

“Ah, yes. He hasn’t spoken since… He…” Tsukauchi took a breath before continuing, “He hasn’t spoken since watching his mother die at the scene.”

 

The woman sighed but continued writing on her clipboard. She had probably seen plenty of similar cases and no longer reacted in the same way the detective did. 

 

“Any signs of obvious physical abuse on the boy?”

 

“Yes. The child has healed burn marks along his back and shoulders. The doctors took some x-rays and there are multiple signs of old fractures and breaks in his arms, legs, and ribs. It does not appear to have been treated by medical personnel. Currently, he only has slight bruising to his abdomen and wrists...”

 

“Are there any records at the police station for domestic violence situations with this family?”

 

“Yes, there are four previous calls to emergency services in reference to domestic violence. Two made by concerned neighbors. One from a family friend. And one from Midoriya Inko - the boy’s mother. It seems she only called because her son had come up missing after a particularly harsh beating. He apparently left the home often when his parents fought.”

 

“Was the child removed from the home at that time?”

 

“No. Midoriya Hisashi - the boy’s father - had left the home. Inko-san told detectives that it would be the last time. She was apparently very good to her child. He didn’t have any marks on him and, after a visit to a child psychiatrist, was deemed to have never received any physical abuse. It was decided that he would be safe with his mom.”

 

“Obviously not.”

 

“No… obviously not.” Tsukauchi rubbed the bag of his neck.

 

“You said the child was four? Are there any signs of a quirk or has it not developed yet?”

 

“No. No signs of a quirk. In fact, his medical records have him listed as ‘diagnosed quirkless’ as of two weeks ago.” 

 

The woman faltered for the first time since their conversation started. She glanced over at the small, pale, sleeping child in the hospital bed. “Are you sure?” She asked.

 

Tsukauchi nodded, handing her the small folder containing Izuku’s medical records. 

 

“That is rare for nowadays… it will be much more difficult to have him adopted now.” The woman shook her head sadly before looking back up at the detective. “Either way, he is no longer the responsibility of the police department. Thank you for watching over him Detective. I have him now.” 

 

Both parties nodded to one another before Detective Tsukauchi made his leave.