"You can't keep doing this".
Izuku winced, freezing on the spot, as he recognised the voice behind him, and he didn't need to turn around and look, already able to imagine what would be the clear expression of mixed disappointment and concern that was already on his face.
His mind could conjure it up without much prompting.
"Officer Tsukauchi", Izuku did his best to put on a smile as he turned around, finding his favourite police officer standing behind him, one eyebrow already raised in a 'go on' gesture, daring him to tell him whatever story he had concocted, "good morning, sir. How are you?"
"I'm good kid, now, why aren't you at home?"
"Don't have one", he responded glibly, "used to, though, but then there was this whole thing: dead father, unjustly convicted mother. You know, I'm pretty sure I've told you this story before. There's a character in it that looks and sounds a lot like you, you know, except for the fact that he's younger and prettier".
"Uh huh, I bet there is", the first time he'd tried this, Tsukauchi had flinched, freezing with something akin to shame, and it had been enough to allow Izuku to get away for almost another two days before he was able to track him down for the second time, but now, on his eighth attempt, the man was largely unfazed by his words, and it showed with the unamused lines on his face, as he gestured to the patrol car that was parked just a few metres behind him, "now, how about we have a little chat".
"I'm kinda busy".
"That's a shame. Get in the car".
=== === === === ===
"You could've at least let me sit up in front".
Tsukauchi grinned, showing off his teeth in his rear-view mirror, "And miss out on the sight of you in the back of my patrol car? Perish the thought, or did you just want to turn the lights and siren on?"
"I'm not joking".
"Neither am I. I was being serious when I said that you can't keep doing this", he shook his head, giving him the patented look of disappointment that Izuku was used to seeing, "this is the fifth group home you've tried to leave in the last eighteen months. They'll just send you back and then they'll try putting you in another one".
"Oh no", he replied, his tone as flat as any that Naomasa had ever heard, "say it isn't so".
"Izuku", he warned, "this is serious. Every time you go to a new home it leads to a drop in your grades. If you're serious about really making something of yourself one day, then staying in school's the best way to get it done".
"Oh, please, they were going to send me back anyway", Izuku rolled his eyes, "I just thought that I'd save them the trouble of having to come up with an excuse that wasn't, 'despite what we said when we took him in, we're actually Quirkist assholes, so can you take him back please?' I mean", he gave a little shrug, "if anything, you think they'd be thanking me".
"You don't know-"
"I heard them discussing it two nights ago", he said, cutting him off, "you might like to ignore it, but I hate to break it to you, there's a lot of people out there who think that people like me are carrying a disease that might infect them and destroy their Quirks, despite the fact that", he felt his jaw clench, "we're actually the normal ones. Quirks are a result of an extreme mutation found within various parts of the human genome. The Quirkless man is the baseline for every other man on the planet. Just because the mutated Quirk factor DNA that you inherited is dominant, doesn't make it any less weird".
Tsukauchi sighed, having heard this particular argument before. Not only was Izuku technically right about Quirks, but his Quirk hadn't pinged in the presence of a lie, which meant that he was also telling the truth about his new foster family wanting to send him back to the orphanage.
Which was just… damn it all.
Izuku didn't deserve this.
Well, he supposed no child did, but still, this one bothered him more than most.
Izuku was a good kid. He was strong and smart, and unless his Quirk was failing, or they'd both found a way to get around its effects before they ever knew what it was, Izuku and his mother were both telling the truth about what had happened on the night of Hisashi Midoriya's murder.
But that wasn't enough.
The courts couldn't just take him at his word and accept it as evidence, and without any physical evidence proving that there had been a fourth man inside of the Midoriya apartment that night, then the case couldn't and wouldn't be reopened for examination. Tsukauchi had tried; he'd called in what few favours a beat cop like him had, by asking the forensic scientists to go over the apartment one more time with the finest of their fine-toothed combs, but despite that, no one had been able to find anything that indicated a fourth presence in the Midoriya Apartment that night.
Not a single damn thing.
"Just…", Naomasa found himself talking without thinking about what he was trying to say, "just try and keep your nose clean for a few days, please? I'll see if I can figure something out with CSS, maybe we can sort you out with a permanent room in a decent place?"
"Not likely".
"Izuku, please. I'm just trying-"
"To help, I know", Izuku was remarkably intelligent for his age, but Naomasa couldn't help but be reminded but that doesn't change things. Once you hit twelve, the potential for adoption drops instantly, pretty much every group home they've ever put me in finds a way to get rid of me once they find out I'm Quirkless. Honestly, I'd rather the orphanage just kept me on until I can get into college. It's not the nicest place, but at least it's consistent. I get a room, a bed-"
"Look, just-"
"-they serve two square meals a day-"
"-Kid-"
"-there's plenty of space to exercise-"
"-Midoriya-"
"-and if you think about that way, my life wouldn't actually be too different from Mom's-"
"-Izuku!"
"Oh, I'm sorry Officer, did you say something?"
He stopped the car, as he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to help calm himself, "Can you just-", he blew out his breath, willing himself to calm down, "just let me help. I'll figure something out".
Izuku looked at him through his rearview mirror, and if he hadn't known better, he would've said that his expression was pitying, "I'll try and keep my nose clean Naomasa, but I can promise you, it won't help".
"We'll see kid… we'll see".
=== === === === ===
"We'll see? That's actually what you said? That's the best you could come up with?"
He frowned, "What else could I say?"
"Well… oh, I don't know", Makoto threw her hands up in frustration, "but surely anything was better than that!"
It was the end of a rare day off for both of the Tsukauchi siblings, and as if to celebrate, Naomasa had brought home takeout ramen for dinner. Normally, he would be far too busy trying to pick up as many extra shifts as possible, as he prepared to take his advancement exams, and if he managed to pass them, then he'd finally have been on the force long enough to earn a promotion to Inspector, which would mean realising his dream. Even then, when he had free time and wasn't trying to find another shift he could cover, Makoto was usually too busy for them to spend any real amount of time together.
As the General Manager of the Captain Celebrity Corporation, Makoto was usually busy dealing with one problem or another, usually relating to whatever mess the American-born Japanese Pro Hero had managed to get himself into, (usually related to whoever he was sleeping with). She was often overworked and run ragged, forced to deal with mess after mess, but thankfully, ever since his wife had revealed to him that she was pregnant, the man himself seemed to have settled down. He'd taken a step back from hero work, as he planned to return to America, taking his new sidekick with him, and Makoto was preparing to move as well.
Despite the fact that he knew he'd miss her when the time came, their parents having both passed on, (separately), a few years ago, Naomasa was incredibly proud of the work she was doing. He didn't have a high opinion of the man himself, but he knew Makoto considered Captain Celebrity to be an incredibly impressive Pro Hero, and also that she considered her attempts at rehabilitating his image to be vital to helping keep Japan, (and soon, once their move was complete, the United States of America), safe.
He just wished that it wasn't taking her all the way to the opposite side of the world.
He'd never give her the satisfaction of saying it to her face, but…
He was going to miss her.
"I didn't know what else I could say", he confessed, "I didn't want to leave him with nothing, but at the same time-"
"You didn't want to lie to him", she finished for him, reading him as easily as she could everyone else.
"I know that it might sound silly, especially coming from me, but Izuku's been dealt a bad hand. His father was killed and his mother went to prison for his murder. Add being Quirkless to that, and he's already had to deal with a lot of crap - more than most adults - I just-"
"You just didn't want to add to it", she finished for him once again, a soft smile sitting on her lips, "it's not silly, it's kind. You want to help him".
"Yeah", he responded, despite it not having been a question, "yeah, I do", he shrugged, "I just don't know how".
She shook her head, smiling, for all the world, as though she knew something that he didn't.
"What?"
She shook her head again, "Do I really need to spell it out for you?"
"Spell what out for me?"
She sighed, "Mas, we both live here, right? In this house?"
He nodded, "We do".
"Which we inherited from our parents, paid off, with no mortgage or rent".
"We did and no".
"And we both live here".
"We do".
"Except", she pointed out, "I'm moving next week".
"You are".
"Overseas".
"Yes?"
She groaned, "Are you sure you want to be an inspector?"
"What does-"
"So, all that means, that in this nice, spacious house, starting from next week, you'll find that you have plenty of space and an empty bedroom".
"I will…", he trailed off, finally picking up on where she was leading him, "you can't be serious".
She shrugged, "Why not? You've got the means; you're about to have the space and you obviously care about this kid. Why not help him out? Can you honestly say that you haven't once considered it?"
She had him there.
Ever since Inko Midoriya had been imprisoned, Naomasa had found himself going over every detail of that case. His Quirk wasn't considered admissible in a court of law, and there was no evidence of Izuku's 'Man in the Lightning' ever being in their home.
He'd looked up every Quirk he could find that involved lightning, electricity, speed, perception or time, but he'd found nothing. He'd even spread his search out to involve the weather, visions and even basic confusion, and then moved from those who might have an issue with the Midoriya Family to just people who could have been in the general area on the day, but in the end, the only lead he'd been able to find that day was a young woman with a power generation Quirk, but she'd been alibied out by virtue of working the night shift, with cameras present throughout.
He had no other suspects.
All of the evidence pointed to Izuku having a bad memory, or trauma damaging his recollection, and Inko Midoriya being the one who killed her husband.
But he didn't believe that.
It would've been easier, yes - smarter too - but Izuku's recollection of that night was too consistent for it to be the result of trauma. Trauma made things hazy in the head, but Izuku's recollection was as sharp as it was precise. The boy had a real knack for detail, and it showed in his story, as he listed out everything that happened that night, never once making a mistake in each subsequent retelling that he had him subjected to.
As a cop, it was his duty to follow the facts that came from the evidence, but as far as he was concerned, Izuku's testimony was the most important piece of evidence they had.
Inko Midoriya was innocent.
And Naomasa had been the one to arrest her.
She was locked away now, and unless something changed, she would remain that way for the rest of her son's childhood. That time together, and the memories that should've come with it had been stolen from both of them, and despite the resulting conviction being the result of a trial carried out in a court of law, it didn't change the fact that he had been the one to place the cuffs on her to begin with.
In a way, he felt as though the entire thing was his fault.
He'd built up a solid rapport and relationship with Izuku in the years since his mother had been incarcerated, and he'd watched as Izuku bounced from foster home to foster home, until the time came when he found himself picking the boy up once again, after he ditched the place, and he'd be lying if a not-so small part of him had seriously considered just taking Izuku home with him one day and looking after him directly.
He just hadn't expected Makoto to point it out to him as bluntly as she did.
It wasn't just that Izuku was smart, or that he was talented; it was that he also deserved a chance to reach for more than what little the orphanage was able to offer him. Izuku had managed to cobble together bits and pieces of an education, pieced together from every new school district that he'd transferred in and out of, and then jammed them together, grabbing every scrap of schooling he could manage, before he aged out of the system.
It was as impressive to see as it was depressing.
Moving about as much as he did, Izuku didn't get to keep many personal items without losing them, but Naomasa had managed to see some of the books that Izuku had tucked away over the years, padding them bottom of his bag with them, and he had noticed that more and more of the books were either crime stories, or more technical manuals for studying criminology and police work.
Naomasa wasn't so blind as to the direction Izuku was trying to head in, and he had to admit, he felt that it was a perfect fit.
Like he'd said, Izuku was smart, but he was also driven, determined to do good, and in another life, he couldn't help but feel that he would've made an excellent Pro Hero. In another life, Izuku might've inherited a version of his mother's Minikinesis Quirk, or his father's Blaze Breath, or maybe a pyrokinetic combination of both. Instead, he'd been born without a Quirk of his own, but that same drive to do good, which blazed at the heart of every great Pro Hero, burned within his chest.
He just needed to channel it into something worthwhile, and he had apparently set his course on forensics.
Naomasa couldn't think of a better path. He was smart, driven and held an immense ability for precision work. If he reached his goal, no villain would be safe from his mind.
And if he could help a kid - this kid - in any way, then surely it would be worth it.
"I think I need to talk to him", he finally said aloud.
Makoto rolled her eyes, swiftly stealing the last two eggrolls from under the police officer's nose, while he was suitably distracted by her genius, "You think?"
=== === === === ===
"So, just to be clear-"
"Yes?"
"You want me?"
"Yes".
"To go and live… with you?"
"That is what I said".
"Okay".
"Okay?"
"Why?"
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Tsukauchi chuckled, "What do you mean, 'why?'"
"I mean", Izuku's shoulders hunched in on himself, and his gaze dropped from meeting his eyes, to staring down at his feet, which were dangling over the edge of their shared park bench, still just a few centimetres short of touching the floor, "why do you want to take me in? You're always taking me back to the other places".
"I take you back to those other places, because that's where you're supposed to be", he shrugged, "it's literally my job to do that, and if I don't have to keep running around after you, then I can spend more time on patrol trying to stop the city's very real criminals from committing their very real crimes. If my arrest record goes up, my chances at getting promoted might go up too".
"So… it's about your job?"
He huffed, and after a moment's pause, stood up, before turning around and taking a knee in front of Izuku, resting his hands there, so that they were finally looking at each other, face-to-face.
"Izuku", he told him, waiting for the younger man to react and meet his gaze, only speaking again once he'd made eye contact with the small boy, "the day we met, was probably the worst day of your life", he ignored the boy's scoff, "and ever since your mom went to prison-"
"She's innocent!"
"-I know… believe me, I know… but ever since your mom went to prison, I've done my best to keep an eye on you. I've seen you move around from place to place, and I'm so proud of the way you've never let it get you down. You try every place they send you for as long as you can. You get good grades at your schools. I've seen the way you help the people you come across in the street. I've seen you carry groceries, find lost pets and help people cross the street", he reached up, resting his hands on the boy's shoulders, "you are a brilliant young man, Izuku Midoriya, and I think you could have a very bright future ahead of you. I'd just like to help".
He was able to see, as well as hear Izuku swallow, "Okay".
"Okay?"
He nodded, "Okay".
"Oh".
Izuku frowned, "Is that okay?"
He felt his eyes widen, "Yes! Of course, it's just…"
"What?"
"I thought that you'd need more convincing".
"Oh…"
"Yeah".
"You thought I need convincing to live with someone I already know, who isn't a closet bigot and is a good person?"
"Well, when you put it like that…"
"Do I get my own room?"
He blinked, surprised by the change in topic, "Your own room?"
"Yeah", Izuku nodded, "at your apartment. Will I get my own room?"
"I have a house, actually", he smiled when he saw the surprise on the boy's face, "and yes, Izuku, you'll be able to have your own room".
"Cool…", he murmured, "I haven't had my own room since…", he trailed off, and Naomasa was painfully aware of just exactly where their conversation had returned to, "I mean", Izuku smiled, but it was clearly fake, not remotely reaching his eyes, "it'll be nice to have somewhere to keep my books".
=== === === === ===
Of all the things that Naomasa had thought he would have to get used to, when he took in his teenaged ward, the sheer abundance of textbooks wasn't one of them.
He'd known that Izuku was protective of the books he had, but what he hadn't realised in his naïve little mind, was that having a safe space of his own would lead to Izuku acquiring more of them.
A lot more of them.
And it was far too early in the day for him to be seeing technical manuals and science studies everywhere. He'd already found 'Applications of Forensic Chemistry' tucked in beneath the bathroom mirror. 'Quirk Use and Modern Man' was stood up beside the coffee pot, while 'Science of the Unknown' had been left open on the breakfast table.
He could've ignored that last one, had Izuku not appeared in the room, already wearing his school uniform, with his copy of 'Fundamentals of Forensic Investigation' under his nose, and his copy of 'Essential Quirkology' clearly at the top of his backpack.
"Nice book?"
Izuku's eyes snapped up, blinking rapidly, as if only just realising he was there, "Oh, good morning, Uncle".
He huffed, "Good morning, Izuku… now, about these books-"
"Sorry", he groaned, rushing to move the one on the breakfast table out of the way, "I had to switch between them for a reference, and then there was this bit about how certain hybrid Quirks can-"
"Izuku", he warned, trying not to laugh, "no textbooks at the table".
"Right", he agreed with a nod of his head, before setting about clearing his stuff away, "sorry, Uncle".
He felt his lips twitch, and given that Izuku was cleaning up, did his best to hide his smile, not wanting Izuku to think that he was mocking him for needing to do chores. Some of the group homes that he'd been sent to had used chores as punishments, and he wanted to make sure that Izuku didn't think that was the case.
No, he was smiling for a different reason.
Izuku was calling him 'Uncle'.
They weren't biologically related, of course, not directly, or through his sister, but Izuku already considered him family, and respected enough to call him as such. There was little in the way of praise that he would consider higher, and none he cared enough to hear.
They'd been living together for barely more than a week when the word had first slipped out of Izuku's mouth. He'd squeaked in the immediate aftermath, blushing bright enough that his freckled face and green hair had combined to make him look like a particularly tall strawberry.
A strawberry with an intelligence Quirk, maybe?
Either way, Izuku had felt embarrassed, and then left the room as quickly as he could, while doing his best to not be seen running away.
Naomasa had felt similarly embarrassed, but after Izuku had left, he'd found himself smiling at the thought of being called 'Uncle'. It was an honour to be so, and so, he'd strived to live up to that ideal of Izuku being more than just his legal ward.
That they could be family too.
Still, they had a ways to go, but Naomasa had faith that - eventually - they'd get there.
But for the moment, he felt as though they were doing okay.
He took a minute to finish his coffee, wondering if he should say anything to Izuku in warning, before the boy's gaze snapped up to look at the clock hanging on the wall.
"CRAP! I've gotta go", he snagged the last peace of toast, leaping to his feet, "bye!"
With that rushed goodbye, Izuku raced from the room, snatching up his bright yellow backpack and slinging it over his shoulder as he went, wasting not a single second as he darted out of the house, having realised that he was now running late for school.
He shook his head.
For someone as brilliant as he was, Izuku seemed to never be able to keep track of the time.
He'd been worried about it, in the beginning, but there'd been no need for it. He'd thought that chronic tardiness was a bad trait, but one day, after ensuring that Izuku left well ahead of when he was expected at his new school, he'd still found himself receiving a notice that Izuku had arrived late, so he'd decided to follow him.
He'd have been on time more often, if he didn't keep stopping on his journey.
Helping the elderly cross the street, or carry their bags, or even to find a lost pet was a nice thing to do; genuine kindness was a rarity, after all, but it made Izuku seem rude to his teachers when Naomasa knew that was the furthest thing from the truth. The boy loved learning, far more than anyone else that he knew; he just failed to give that impression to some of his teachers, and if he wanted recommendations from them when it came time to apply to a good university, (and Izuku's heart was set of Yuuei - the finest (and most expensive) university in all of Asia), then he needed to start making a good impression.
That was what had led to their little wager.
If Izuku got his tardiness under control before the end of the school year, then Naomasa would use what influence he had to help Izuku get an internship in one of their forensic labs.
And based on the dust clouds he'd left behind, as he no doubt ran all the way to school, then he was guessing that Izuku was taking him seriously.
Still, there was one other trick that he had hidden up his sleeve.
From its place on the table, his phone beeped with a reminder for his appointment, and rising to his feet, he drained the last dregs of his coffee mug, and began to start his own day, with a meeting at Ranpato Women's Prison.
It was time for him and Inko Midoriya to talk.
=== === === === ===
Author's Notes:
So here we are with Part One of Volume One!
We're starting slow, (pun intended), with a look at the relationship between Izuku and Naomasa, and we'll remain here for a short while, before racing into Izuku getting his powers, so with that said, let's go!
The story is titled 'Born to Run' and named for the Flash story of the same name, so go check it out if you're interested. It's a retelling of the origin story of Wallace Rudolph 'Wally' West, who went onto not only become the first Kid Flash and the third Flash, but also become the fastest speedster in all of DC Comics and is considered the fastest person that has ever existed, having been able to move faster than the speed of instant teleportation, run so fast that he broke the chronal (time) barrier and having also literally outran Death itself.
(And yes, that's Death with a capital 'D' by the way).
The name of the Volume, 'The Fastest Man Alive', should be self-explanatory and is a common nickname for speedster characters in Flash media, and was particularly prevalent throughout the length of the recent 2014 TV series.
The Part is titled 'Chosen' and if you don't know why, then I won't spoil the surprise, but to fans of The Flash comic books, shows and movies, I think it'll be obvious.
The title of the chapter is a reference to Naomasa and Izuku's relationship, as well as a piece of common Asian culture. Naomasa has taken Izuku in as his legal ward, making them akin to family. You'll find that in many Asian countries, including Japan, China and Korea, it is considered polite to refer to older gentlemen and friends within the family circle as 'Uncle', as a show of respect for them and the position they hold, (women would also be referred to as 'Aunties'). You'll also see this in a lot of fan works, (including some of my own), where Izuku and Bakugo use the terms to refer to each other's parents, ('Auntie Inko', 'Aunt Mitsuki' and 'Uncle Masaru').
Both Naomasa and Makoto Tsukauchi appear here, and while Naomasa has no given Quirk in canon, Makoto's is called Polygraph, which allows her to determine if someone is lying, by reading their physiological signs through the medium of touch. I've given Naomasa his widely assumed fanon Quirk of Lie Detector, which works through sight, sound and smell, but has similar drawbacks.
The name of the institute currently holding Inko is Ranpato Women's Prison. Ranpato is the Japanese translation for the name, "Lampert", as this particular prison is named for Harry Lampert, one of the co-creators of Jason 'Jay' Garrick, better known as the first Flash, who appeared in the Golden Age and served on the Justice Society of America (JSA).