Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

But he couldn’t. There was nothing he could do for the problem child as the court date came around and he had nothing new to building on. No new attacks or anything. 

Everything he tried to find to help the boy out, came out futile. Nothing. He looked into Midoriya’s school record to only find report upon report of him cheating and lying. 

None of this could help him. It would only dig his grave even deeper. Midoriya wasn’t let free. He was sentenced. He would be sent to Tartarus as soon as he turned 18. 

Aizawa was ashamed at the fact that he failed Midoriya and couldn’t bring himself to visit the kid. 

As Midoriya sat in his cell, a solitary cell, he was called from outside.” Get up traitor, you’ve got visitors,” he said,” Your mom and All Might.”

Midoriya got up, his mother! All Might! They’d still trust him, they wouldn’t believe that he’s actually a traitor. 

As he was led to the interrogation room where his mentor sat, he was met with a cold silver table. He sat down, being cuffed to the table before the large silver door swung open. 

All Might stepped in, he looked upset, but he couldn’t pinpoint the emotion. He sat across from him. It was quiet until All Might looked up at him and said,” I need One for All back.”

Midoriya’s world fell, what gave him importance was being stripped away from him. His head screamed. 

“Don’t take us away from NINE!”
“EIGHT leave the child alone!”
“He’s a better holder than you ever were.”
“Don’t let him take us, NINE!”
“Find Tomura, NINE. He’ll care for you!”
“EIGHT is such a fucking idiot!”
“Why’s he believing them! NINE obviously isn’t the traitor!”

Midoriya looked up at All Might with dead eyes. Nothing, not even the light reflected in them. He was empty. The different voices in his head shouting at him. 

He bowed his head to his former mentor, the piece of hair was taken and All Might left, not saying another word.

Midoriya sat in the chair, limp. His head rested on the cold table as he felt his body go cold. He felt the power he used to have left. He felt vulnerable. 

The door opened again, his “mom” walked in. She looked mad and upset. He looked up at her slightly and with one look he almost whimpered. 

His “mother” didn’t believe him.

“JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BORN A FUCKING USELESS, QUIRKLESS, BRAT DOESN”T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO RUIN MY LIFE!”he looked at her as his body shook in fear,”I WISH WE NEVER LET YOU INTO OUR HOUSE! FUCKING WAIST OF SPACE!”she yelled before leaving the room. 

Tears rolled down his face as the guards led him back to his room. He was let go, and sat in the empty cell. 

He sat against the far wall looking at the door. He didn’t move for three days. He was silent and his eyes never moved. He just looked at the door with a glazed over look. He didn’t take any of the food placed into the room, no he was broken.

His way of being important, having meaning, not being a useless waste of space was taken from him. His power, that he was told he deserved and was his, was stripped from him. 

The voices stayed though. The voices that appeared at the threat of the quirk leaving didn’t go with it. They called each other by a number, he was nine. 

They told him that they liked him. That they would understand why he wouldn’t want to be a hero anymore. That they understood the fact that he hated everyone. But they would not take his self-loathing thoughts. 

They even told him, if he ever got out of the cell, that they would understand him becoming a villain and that they supported him in anything he did.

Weeks passed. He made small moves, and the guards started to force food down his throat. At one point he tried to hang himself but it failed as the guards came in right away. He didn’t try again after that. 

Months passed and he was given dull pencils and paper, he didn’t write anything, just drew scribbles. 

A year later, he was moved to a different lower security cell. He could hear the guards as they talked about him. 

He started to draw the voices, showing their numbers next to them. He drew symbols in patterns to show their personalities. The only thing connecting all of them was a cross at the end. 

As he slept the papers were taken. They examined the papers after photocopying them. They returned the originals before leaving. 

They studied the pictures, tried to decode the symbols, they found nothing but numbers from 1 to 7 then 9. 8 was nowhere to be found. 

Detective Naomasa came every few months to see if Midoriya would speak but it always came out futile. He had to always leave and go back to Aizawa and tell him that the kid still wouldn’t speak. 

So today when he went to visit the kid, he didn’t expect anything different. He sat down with the normal manilla folder that he always had. He placed the recorder on the table before the guards brought the boy in. 

He uncuffed him when he asked the questions, giving the boy a few small updates about the outside world.

He always hoped to see some emotion when he mentions small things that would have brought so much joy to the boy before, now he sat emotionlessly in that metal chair, not responding to anything said. 

Naomasa looked at him and sighed,” Kid please, just say a simple yes or no, that’s all we need,”he said with a slight huff but other than that, was completely calm. 

Midoriya looked up from the table and looked him in the eyes before mouthing something, he didn’t figure it out though. He gapped at the boy, wait...wait...wait. Did he mouth Goodbye?

Midoriya knocked on the medal table, the guards chained him back up before pushing him from the room. Naomasa sat for a few minutes. What? What did that mean? 

He stood up and met with the warden. They told him about the pictures, they gave him copies to take with him and analyze them. He placed them in the folder before leaving.

He was going to UA next, for a short meeting with Aizawa and Present Mic. He’d give them the same run down as always, that the boy didn’t speak a work, just looked at the table before leaving. 

His car arrived and picked him up. He sat in the back and took the papers out, maybe Aizawa could help with them. He scanned over them, finding a difficult puzzle. 

He tried to figure it out as he was driven back to UA but all he could figure out was they were all dead people, from the crosses next to each name. Then what did the rest mean? Why was there no number 8? He thought about the shapes of the scribbles; they were like humans, but why were they made of scribbles? Midoriya could draw people he’s seen for short periods of time quite well. Has he never seen these people before then? Then what do the symbols mean if he’s never met them. 

Swirl, Cloud, Heart, was that the symbol for females? Smile. Circle. Hand? Glove? Cross.

Three upside-down lightning bolts? Two jagged lines? Water Drop? Tear? Flame? Star? A dove? Yin and Yang? 

What did it all mean? Did they all mean something together? Who were the people?

The car stopped. He got out and rushed to the teacher’s lounge. Aizawa laid on the couch with his head on Present Mic’s lap. They looked up at him and Aizawa rushed up.

“The kid still won’t speak,” he was cut off by Present Mic who was mad.

“No wonder, you’ve seen the recording of his interrogation. They didn’t let him speak and when he did they screamed that he was lying. They made him feel like he didn’t have a voice so he’s not speaking, because if he does, no one is going to listen.” he scoffed. 

“But they got this from his cell,” he said and handed the folder to them. Aizawa sat up and took it,” They copied them, they're all he’s drawn since they gave him paper and pencils.”

Aizawa looked them over before pulling his phone out,” I’m calling Toshinori.” he left the room before coming back huffing. 

“It has to be about that quirk he gave Midoriya, he told me about it, eight holders before him, he’s the ninth. Toshinori might be able to help,” he said sitting back down and leaning against Mic. 

They waited, making coffee and tea as they waited for the Number One Hero to make an entrance. 

The door opened and the small form of All Might walked in. He looked worse than usual. He sat down across from Mic and Aizawa as the two glared at him. 

“Uhm, so what do you need me to look at,” he asked nervously. 

“These, I’m guessing they're about your quirk,” Aizawa said sharply, pushing the papers across the table.

All Might took the papers and looked at the seventh one. Then flipping through the other papers. 

“Why does nine have a cross too, if this is about your fucking quirk, All Might, why does it say Midoriya is dead too hmm?”

“This is my master, Nana Shumira, the seventh holder. I’m the eighth, where is that sheet? Did you miss it?”

“There is no sheet for Eight. Only the ones we’ve given you. Now since Seven was your master, you must know about them, what do you think the symbols mean?”

“Swirl; Her power was float, she could fly or y’know float, that might be what the clouds were for too. Heart, uhm she was really kind and caring and loving. She was female, I’m almost certain the only female holder. She always smiled and tried her hardest. The Tree, Circle, and Hand are all linked, uhm, I’m not sure. The Cross, she’s deceased.” he said and continued to look at the scribble.

“Tree, a family tree, who was her family,” Detective Naomasa asked.

“The Shimura’s,” he said flatly, sitting up straighter.

“You know more. Who’s her family that alive now” Present Mic asked.

“Tomura Shigaraki,” he mumbled under his breath

“Speak louder Shit Might, what did you say!” Aizawa hissed.

“Tomura Shigaraki” he yelled standing up.

“Tree. Circle. Hand. Her family is only him, there’s no more alive, he killed them all with his quirk.”

“You told Midoriya this when you gave him the quirk,” Naomasa questioned.

“No! I never told him. I’ve never told anyone! He didn’t need to know that. I don’t know how he knows that.” All Might shouted. 

“Then how does he know!”

“She- I don’t know! He’s the traitor, isn’t he? Maybe Decay Freak  told him!”

***Midoriya***

He sat in his room, he looked at his pictures, he drew the eight scribbles together and drew a speaker with lines next to it. 

“Nine. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One”

He drew a picture frame with a home in it. He drew hallows around all of them. He dropped his pencil and sat still before standing. No Guards. No Rescue. Traitor. Traitor. TRAITOR!

He wrapped his fabric on the ceiling of the cell. He wrapped it around his neck as he stood on the bed, he stepped off and the fabric tightened. He didn’t struggle. 

His vision was blurry and in front of him, he saw his family. The first holder held out his hand to him. He reached out to it as well as he could but didn’t make it by the time he passed out. 

Guards ran down the halls, sirens blared. They barged into the traitor's cell. They cut him loose before running him to the infirmary. He blinked in and out as they put an oxygen mask on him and he could see the holders again. 

Number Seven and Number One sat on his bed playing with his hair as he started to breathe again. He closed his eyes as they calmed him down, welcoming him back. Told him it was okay. 

News traveled to UA fast. As Mic and Aizawa drilled into All Might, Naomasa’s phone rang and as he answered the call he was greeted by the head of the prison Midoriya was at. 

“There’s been an incident. The Traitor tried to hand himself in his cell again. We will be transferring him out of our hands soon, the commission has already signed off on it.”

He rushed in, Mic and Aizawa looking at him,”It’s Midoriya. He’s attempted again. They’re transferring him to a different place.”he said rushed. 

“I’m going to see my problem child. I don’t care if my job is taken, I’m visiting him.”Aizawa stated before rushing out of the room at a speed Naomasa only sees him use while on patrol. 

Mic raced after him, sending All Might a final glare before leaving the room. Naomasa rushed after them, leaving All Might alone in the school building. 

They didn’t know that Midoriya was quirkless again.