If Izuku wanted to get through to this girl, or get her to open up, he needed to find the right words.
He was convinced of that, and he'd never been more aware of the fact that he needed to choose his words carefully more in his life. He, Mina, and the Pussycat were running out of non-direct options. They were dealing with someone who, by all legal definitions, didn't even exist, so there was barely anything they could do when it came to finding out more about her without asking her directly. Given she didn't speak…
…What would be done to coerce her if she didn't speak of her own accord to them?
"Seriously Izu, what d'you think they're gonna do." Mina asked him, her eyes half closed in mild exasperation. They followed him as he walked. "Tie her town to a chair and strap a lie detector to her head or something?"
"No, no…" Izuku shook his head. He looked at her, his eyebrows curled upwards slightly as he did. "I just… We don't know. That's what concerns me."
For the last three hours, Izuku had been pacing back and forth, trying to mentally construct a few sentences together for what he was going to say to the girl upstairs. Nothing he put together felt right, or seemed to make any sort of sense, or was too overly eloquent for a child who couldn't be older than six to understand.
Knowing nothing concrete about her made finding out what to say harder. It wasn't like it was when he had spoken to Kota. He at least had an idea of what to say to him, since he knew what the situation was with him. Why he hated Heroes. Why he hated everyone from Yuuei. It was something that Izuku could relate to – At least, to a certain, minor extent. It was hard not to feel a certain degree of resentment when he had grown up how he did, even if it was irrational now. He understood where Kota was coming from, if nothing else.
It wasn't all that likely he could relate to this girl – He could try, but he doubted he'd be able to. That much was all but confirmed by now. But he could listen – If only she spoke. Which he was trying to make her do.
"You managed this with Kota." Mina pointed out. "I mean granted, you got punched in the crotch for it, but you didn't pace like this."
"I… If I never got through to Kota, the worst that would have happened was he would have had to stay with the Pussycats." Izuku explained to her, his hand now resting on his chin as he nibbled into the skin of his thumb. "He would have still been angry, but… It's not like anything too horrible would have happened there." His bit harder. "This is… A lot more serious."
Failing here meant more, he felt. Kota was bitter. He had a broken heart. He was angry at the world…. But anger subsided. Anger dulled.
Trauma didn't. Not always. Trauma was trickier.
Sometimes it stayed. Sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it came back. And sometimes you'd think it was gone, only for it to come back at the worst time possible.
And this girl was traumatized – He'd put any amount of money on that. But she was also legally non-extant. And there was only so much that the police could do with someone that didn't even exist. And even if they did care just as much, or even more than he did, the Pussycats where Heroes. If they couldn't make any progress, they were legally obligated to report that to the police, and who knew what would carry on from there.
The police weren't bad people – So many reforms over the centuries had made sure that they couldn't abuse positions of power that they had in the past – but Izuku worried about the way they would treat her. It wouldn't be intentionally hard on her, of course not.
But he couldn't help but wonder what they might inadvertently do. What they might say to get her to talk. If they felt like what she knew was important for whatever reason, they might try to be more forceful than they were being. They might not step on the eggshells the Heroes were. And who knew what that affect that might have on someone with this level of trauma? It could make her situation… So much worse.
Maybe he was just being paranoid. It wouldn't be the first time in his life he'd been irrational. Certainly not the first time in the last year that he'd overthought things to the point of self-defeatism – He glanced towards Mina again and remembered that whole mess- But he couldn't help it.
There had to be something he could do, something he could say – That would get through to this girl. Something that would assure her, make her comfortable, make her talk – give them something they could use to put together what they needed to protect her from, or help her with or –
The green-eyed teen sighed, and felt his arms flop by his sides. His head tilted backwards, and he found himself staring up at the roof. A headache had begun to make itself known in his forehead, and his eyes stung. How long had he gone without sleep again? It felt like a lot longer than the seventeen hours he had mentally counted in his head. He'd made nearly no real progress in the last three hours. He could have said anything to this girl in the meantime, and he hadn't figured out anything to say.
"You know I'm worried about this kid too, Izu." Mina said with a sigh, pushing herself off from against the wall she had been leaning on. "But I don't think either of us are gonna make any progress while we're like this. Especially not you." She put on a small Ashido grin. "I've seen you try and study when you're sleep deprived. And seen you text when tired."
That comment alone made Izuku chuckle automatically, even though he didn't even mean, or even want to right now. "You're still not going to let me forget about that?"
"Hey, we were talking about old Hero shows." Mina folded her arms and smirked, remembering the times they texted into the night, before they had even begun to date. "I'm not the one who talked about London being in Africa."
Another smirk made its way onto Izuku's lips, and a chuckle escaped once more. "It was in the League of the First, you knew I was talking about that."
"Yeah, but it is much funnier to me to imagine you meant the literal city of London."
Even after everything, Mina had that ability to make him laugh practically on cue. Especially when he was tired. It was almost like a second Quirk. He'd normally feel bad about laughing with all of this on his mind, but Mina had a way of just making him… Not. He brought his head back forward, and scratched at his forehead. Maybe she was right. Maybe if he just got some rest, he'd feel a lot better in the morning. Still, he felt bad about it. "I – I don't know, Mina… I just… I feel like I need to work on this, you know?"
"I mean I know." Mina said, standing behind him and resting her chin on his left shoulder. Her right arm reached over his shoulders and poked his respective cheek "I get that. Buuuut, I also know you'll make about as much progress in an hour with sleep as you will if you keep this up all night."
"…You really know how to make good points when you want to, huh."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" She asked, faux offense in her voice.
"Nothing." Izuku chuckled. He then let out another sigh, and felt his shoulders relax. His right arm crossed over and patted Mina's left shoulder. "Alright…. Okay, you win."
Doing nothing always bugged Izuku – He found it kind of hard to relax when there was always something more productive that he could be doing. It that had come to a head when he nearly broke his body during his All Might training. Since then he had gotten much better, but in a situation like this, those old tendencies were bubbling back.
But… Mina was reminding him why that was a bad idea.
Not doing anything would bug him, but Mina's argument made more sense. It took him a fair amount of logic-leaping around the emotional appeals his head threw his way, but he came to side with Mina in this case. He would be better at this with rest – Everyone functioned better with rest. He wasn't an exception to this rule in the least. His eyes were already heavy enough as is, and them getting heavier wasn't going to help him focus on the here and now.
"Pretty sure the Pussycat's won't mind if we crash here tonight." Mina told him gently. More like she was giving permission for him to bring up what he was already thinking. She knew what he was like. "S'not like they're short on space."
"…Thanks, Mina." He let out a small breath he'd been holding without realizing it.
"Don't worry 'bout it, Izu. You know I'm worried about her too. Plus, Team A-E, right?" She held up her left fist up just gently in front of the pair of them, waiting for him to return said gesture.
Izuku glanced at her with his pupils, and smiled. "Right," He said, as he moved his own fist up, and tapped gently on the underside of her fist.
The pair of them separated, and turned around to look for Mandalay, and ask if they could stay in one of the spare rooms in the building for tonight.
They were stopped however, by – Well, not so much stopped by, and more they themselves stopped dead in their tracks when they noticed - a small figure that was trying to sneak away unnoticed. Whomever it was had clearly come into the room a fair bit, before fully realizing what and who was in the room, and then attempting to sneak out unnoticed, and failing quite magnificently.
A red hat, black hair, and about half the size of the two teenagers in the room – Inconspicuous at they tried to be, it wasn't difficult to figure out who it was, very quickly at that.
"Kota?"
Said figure seemed to freeze in place for a moment, awkwardly turning around to look at the two people he'd been trying to sneak away from. It was Kota.
For a moment, he seemed to hesitate like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure how to react and respond now that he had been spotted. The only ting he really did in response was move his hand slightly, in a very small waving manner, and said quietly, "H…Hey."
On the other hand, Izuku didn't freeze up in the least. A smile struck itself across his lips rapidly, and he quickly and happily approached Kota. "Kota! It's been a while!" He grabbed hold of the child's hands, and began to shake them enthusiastically, like he was greeting an old friend for the first time in a long time. To a certain extent, that was the case. "I've been meaning to come and find you! There's just been a lot of things happening and I haven't had the chance."
Between all the work that he'd put into helping the girl they'd found, schoolwork and everything else – The internship had only been on for a few days, but already he was so swarmed with things to do, and his and Kota's timetables hadn't lined up, it had just been impossible. Ten at night probably wasn't the best time to try and meet with a four-year-old kid who still had to do classes of his own the next day.
"It… It's fine. I get it." Kota replied. He seemed to awkwardly look away as Izuku shook his hands.
For someone who had as… Clear a presence as Kota had had the last time Izuku had seen him, the way he was acting now was far more noticeable.
Kota had given a very strong impression on people when they first arrived at the Forest Lodge – He hated Heroes, he seemed to hold everyone from the Hero course in disdain, and most painfully, had physically struck Izuku below the waist. Any change from that was noticeable.
Saving someone's life was bound to have an effect on how one was going to perceive their saviour, and for a moment, Izuku wondered if that was what was going on here. He seemed…. Calmer. And a little more awkward – Like he wasn't entirely sure how to act around Izuku now. Like he was caught between his dislike of Heroes, and this person who had saved him.
"Pft." Behind him, Izuku heard Mina snicker. "Hey Izu, check his boots."
"Eh?" Pausing his handshake for a moment, Izuku glanced down to see the footwear Kota had on.
He was wearing a set of red boots – Just like Izuku wore. They were almost identical shades of red, and almost the same make for that matter. Too similar to just be a coincidence.
They had to have picked out very specifically.
"It was important - They had to be red." A fourth voice joined in the conversation. From behind the same corner Kota had been trying to sneak behind, Mandalay revealed herself, and approached the three of them, a smirk on her face that only a guardian could have. "He was very clear that they had to be red."
"D-Don't tell them that!..." Kota embarrassedly hissed, wanting to protest his aunt's revelations without Izuku or Mina hearing. If anything though, it made it more obvious than normal.
Izuku couldn't help but smile. "Looks like we match, Kota."
Still embarrassed, but seemingly a bit more comfortable and happier, Kota gave him an awkward smile back.
"Uh… Sorry, were you just… Standing behind there the entire time?" Mina asked Mandalay, with a raised eyebrow.
"Just for a little." Mandalay explained. "You're welcome to stay here for the night, by the way." Her hand fell on top of Kota's head, and ruffled his hair gently. "Kota wanted to see Midoriya, so I helped him find you." Kota seemed to give her a glare, but she ignored him, and ruffled his hair more in response. "I told him to speak to you on his own though. I thought he might not want me around when he spoke to you, but that idea's gone out the window."
"It… Sounded like you were talking about something important." Kota defended himself. "I… Didn't want to interrupt you."
That explained why he was trying to back away, Izuku noted. Kneeling down so he was on Kota's level, he smiled gently. "Thanks for thinking about us, but we're fine now. Did you have something you wanted to say to us?"
In all fairness, Izuku wasn't sure what he was doing. He wanted to put Kota at ease and seem approachable, but he didn't want to come across as condescending either. For his age, Kota was incredibly mature, and held strong feelings on Heroism and the subjects and people around it because of the hand in life he'd been dealt. He wanted to be fair, but he also wanted Kota to feel comfortable speaking to him. That was a hard balance to strike, he quickly found.
For his part though, Kota seemed to respond well enough – In that he didn't seem offended that he was being spoken to like that. His eyes awkwardly glanced around the room again, as he remembered what it was that he wanted to say.
"I uh…" He seemed to go slightly red. "I just… I wanted to say thank you for… Saving me. And sorry for uh… You know… Punching you in the crotch." He gulped. From red, he seemed to go a light blue, like he was about to be sick. "I… I wanted to say something when we got back to the lodge… I – I wrote you a letter when I thought you were at the hospital but…"
….But he hadn't been there. He'd been captured.
Izuku almost felt guilty, all of a sudden. It wasn't like his plan had been to be captured, but that was how it had gone down. When he had been the prisoner of the league, he had thought about Mina, but about Kota? He hadn't even considered that. To be honest, he'd barely even considered Kota in the least once he was caught. And now he did feel bad about that.
Until now, he hadn't really had any real concept on how Kota felt about him after that whole incident with Muscular, so he'd just… Not thought about it. He'd had so much else to think about… It made him feel selfish for not thinking about Kota throughout all of that.
'He was crying all night when he found out you'd been captured.' In his head, Mandalay's telepathy spoke to him. Looking at her, the grown woman had her eyes fixed on the child in her care. Her hands ruffled through his hair once more, this time more sombrely. 'It was impossible to get him to sleep. He thought he was responsible somehow for what happened…'
…Muscular had gotten his parents killed. Izuku had saved Kota from him, at great cost to himself. To hear he was captured after that…
No wonder Kota had started blaming himself for that. Of course he would have. Had he been in that position himself, and the roles were reversed, Izuku had absolutely no doubt he would have been doing that himself. What else could he have thought? Especially after he'd seen the battle between the Villain and Hero in training.
As if running into his parents' killer wasn't traumatic enough…
"I…. Thank you for thinking about me after that." Izuku said, smiling, trying to reassure Kota. "I'm alright though. After my… Incident."
"Stupid stunt." Mina corrected, half grinning, half glaring.
"Right. A-Anyway, that was my own mess I got myself into, but I'm alright now…" When Kota glanced back at him, Izuku smiled a bit wider. "I'd love to read that letter you wrote, if that's alright. I-It won't be the same as reading it in the hospital but still, I'd like to see it."
"I'm…. Pretty sure I've got it in my room somewhere. I'll get it for you before you go tomorrow."
"Thanks, Kota. I'm looking forward to it." For a moment, Izuku considered his words carefully. "I… I hope that I… I hope that I got you justice for Team Water Hose."
For a second, Izuku wondered if he had crossed a line with that. Kota's expression looked surprised, and it was hard to tell if it was surprise Izuku had brought them up, or offense for the same reason.
It was only a second though. Kota quickly recovered, and nodded. His eyes seemed…. Brighter, almost.
Right now, it was too early to tell what path Kota would go down. Maybe now he understood and respected Heroes. Or maybe he still didn't trust them, but had come to understand why they were needed. Or maybe he hadn't shifted his overall beliefs on Heroism at all, but he was able to put them aside on a person by person basis. Izuku couldn't tell.
He could tell that Kota seemed happier though. Or at the very least, more at peace with himself. Whatever came next, he'd be able to do with a clear head.
…And preferably without punching more people where it hurt the most – Literally speaking.
Mandalay smiled at the pair of them. No doubt whatever parental concern she might have had about this conversation had vanished. She patted her nephews head, and nodded at Izuku, silently thanking him for his words. "Now that that's off your chests, I hate to bring the mood down, but I'm wondering, have you made any progress with what you want to say to the girl?"
"Well," Mina said, knocking Izuku's arm with her elbow gently. "This one wanted to stay up all night figuring out what to say before I talked him out of it."
The adult folded her arms. "Unless I'm mistaken, last time it was Midoriya who had to stop you from making foolish choices."
"And as established, this one decided to jump into a portal and let a bunch of Villains capture him." Mina smirked, and rested her elbow on his shoulder. "He doesn't get the monopoly on that anymore."
It was hard not to laugh at that, for everyone, Izuku included. There was truth in it – Mina had taken a far more serious role in their team dynamic. Maybe subconsciously she had been deferring to his judgement because that was their dynamic – Him, focused and de-facto leader, and her, light-hearted, and able to follow his plans to the letter. But since the training had begun this term, she'd taken a more proactive role. Like the kidnapping had really kickstarted her into taking this Hero Team seriously.
Now she could laugh about it – At least to an extent. But Izuku knew how much it had hurt her. He'd heard the stories people told him, of how she had practically taken charge of the operation to rescue him and Bakugou. It made him, for lack of a better word, proud of her.
And that made it easier to laugh along with her now. She joked, but she meant it all the same.
She wasn't the same person she was just a few months ago.
"Hero Teams tend to require a leader." Mandalay said, nodding. "Two, three people tend to follow one other for coordination and delegation. But Hero duos like the pair of you need to work as complete equals – Keeping each other in check, keeping each other safe, and working as one. And you both look like you've got that sorted."
Izuku grinned. "We're serious about this. We want to be the best Hero Team we can possibly be."
Maybe there was something poetic about them being here like this too. Team Water Hose had been a Hero duo, related to one of the best-known Hero Teams in the country, who were now teaching them after saving the orphaned son of the Water duo.
Of course, that was just a coincidence. Izuku didn't believe in destiny. Maybe he did once, but not anymore. But the coincidence amused him nevertheless.
The feeling of optimism from the pair of them just oozed right out. It felt weird to be borderline thankful for the attack on the Summer Lodge - It had pumped and propelled them to give everything their all.
"What about that girl in my room?" Kota asked. "Do you know what you're doing with her yet?"
And almost immediately, that optimism eroded away. Both Izuku and Mina went slightly blue in the face and dropped their heads slightly.
Somehow the question had been easier to deflect when it was Mandalay asking. Maybe because of the heart-to-heart conversation they had just had, or because Kota was asking in such a way that it related directly to him – He had been the one to offer his room to the girl, Izuku recalled. It was fair that he wanted to know what was going on there.
Plus, his question was more… General. Mandalay only asked what they were going to say to her. Kota was asking what they planned to do with her generally speaking.
"…I'm not sure." Izuku admitted. "It's harder when no one knows the first thing about her, and she won't speak to anyone."
"Didn't you speak to her, Kota?" Mina asked. "I remember Mandalay saying something about trying to get her to talk to someone her age."
"Uh… Once or twice." Kota answered.
"Gonna guess it didn't go much better for you."
Kota shook his head, indicating Mina was correct. "I didn't know what to say to her either…"
"Don't worry about it." Izuku reassured him. "It's not been easy for anyone to figure out what to say to her."
They only had so long though. The situation with this girl was already unusual, even by the standards of Heroism. There was only so long that the higher-ups would allow this situation before they tried to use their own methods to figure out what was going on with the girl. It was the unknown of those methods that worried Izuku.
Or maybe that was just his own feelings seeping into the matter.
"I'm… Not sure I get it." Kota said, raising an eyebrow. "When you spoke to me, you didn't think like this about what you said."
"I didn't really have time to." Izuku answered.
"Yeah you did." Kota argued. "Like at my secret hiding spot. You could have thought about what you wanted to say more then. You could have left when I told you to and thought about it more. You didn't though."
He had a point, Izuku supposed, blinking twice. "I…. Suppose not."
"Why didn't you do that then?"
"Uh…"
Izuku paused.
Why... Hadn't he done that, actually?
It wasn't like he could have possibly known that the Villains were going to attack them the next day. It wasn't like he was on a clock that had just prompted him to speak. It wasn't like there was… Even a reason to bother with Kota in the first place. Heck, one could argue Izuku had the least reason to speak to Kota of everyone there.
Maybe it was the ideological difference? How much of himself he saw in Kota? Maybe it was because the situation wasn't as… Real, to him? This girl was a different ballpark to Kota – There could be real legal issues here. But it wasn't like the law had ever stopped him from reaching out to people who needed it before – Iida when he needed help with Stain and Bakugou with the Slime Villain both sprung to mind.
He'd just… Spoken to him. Honestly – Well, as honestly as he could be when he had to hide the fact he was Quirkless beforehand, anyway. Up front about what he thought and felt, and had just….
….Tried. No motive. No plan. Just… Honesty.
"I don't get why you didn't do this whole planning thing with me, but are with her." Kota carried on, oblivious to the thoughts going on inside Izuku's head.
"…I don't either."
Suddenly, Izuku stood upright. He quickly glanced around the room as he regained his bearings, and then he looked down at Kota. He gave the child a smile. Thinking back, he remembered Todoroki once telling him that it was rare for people to be spurred to action just by words, and that actions played a much lager role than just words. He'd told him that in regards to Kota, knowingly or not.
And here Kota was, spurring him to action with just words. Words he really needed to hear. The irony wasn't lost on him. In fact, it made him smile all the more.
"I know that look." Mina observed. "You've got an idea, don't you?"
"Yeah. I think so."
"What this time, Izu?"
The girl had always been something of an oddity for Izuku. He'd never really, properly known how to react around her, or what to say to her. Like there was something that made her more difficult to talk to. At first, he had thought that it was something on her end – Not saying a word to anyone for days now would make anyone think that the issue laid with the one not saying anything. No one would really look at themselves in the equation.
Maybe that was where the issue resided though.
While he was honest about wanting to ensure that the girl was alright, he wasn't just being honest – He did have ulterior motives when he spoke to her. Find out things about her, figure out where she's from, what her name is…. Anything about her.
They were honest, yes… But they were never just honest.
Kids weren't stupid – Not by default. What children usually lack was experience, and that didn't apply here - If the working theory that this girl was from a troubled background was in fact true, she was bound to be more perceptive than most her age. Able to detect ulterior motives, by necessity. Maybe that was why she didn't trust anyone enough to speak.
It was probably a longshot, but it was all Izuku had come up with all night.
"I'm going to be honest with her."
Opening the door to the room that the girl was staying in always felt odd. Like it had its own atmosphere. For some reason, it reminded Izuku of one of the horror movies Mina had shown him, where the protagonist had to enter a room with a big monster, and tiptoe his way around it without waking it up.
Granted, this child was no monster, but the feel of the room felt the same. Probably because of the mystery that surrounded her.
She was there, as usual, just sitting on the side of the bed, staring at the wall. What went on in her head, Izuku wondered. What did she even think about when she sat here like this for hours, like she was terrified to do anything other than that? When she noticed someone enter the room, she sat up slightly and looked at them, with eyes that told the incomer that she was unsure how to react.
Izuku stepped into the room. Just one step. He left the door open behind him as he did so. Mina was right behind him after all, curious to see where exactly he was going with this. She stayed a few steps behind him though. Mina and the girl had bonded ever so slightly earlier today, but she wasn't sure to what extent that was yet. It didn't seem to be to the extent she seemed to trust Izuku, for whatever reason.
For a moment, Izuku just stood in the dark. He glanced around the room – Oddly, he noticed how tidy it was. It made sense, given this girl literally didn't seem to move from the one spot she stayed in all the time, but there was still something disconcerting about it.
A kid… Should not be this tidy, right?
Like, there was something about it that was just eerie to him. Even as organized as he was even as a kid, it didn't take long for his room to end up in a state, just out of sheer factor of him being a kid – Like the room itself just unpacked and threw everything aside because a six-year-old was present.
That just stood out to him for some reason. It made him shudder. Even when the room was furnished and decorated with various things that belonged to Kota, it just made the place feel….
…Sterile.
"…Are you okay?"
It wasn't much of a conversation starter, and honestly, Izuku both didn't expect, and knew that he wasn't going to get an answer. But it was all he could think to say to open this up. He wasn't sure what else he expected.
Like so many times before, after looking at him, she responded with the minimum. A barely motionable shrug. Even in spite of the – Izuku wasn't sure what to call it. Imprinting? Taking to? Sense of security? – the girl had demonstrated to him, it was abundantly obvious that she was still intensely uncomfortable with everyone around her, and that did still include him, even if it wasn't as pronounced as it was for everyone else in the building.
That slight shrug made him pause for a moment. He second guessed himself suddenly. Before he had been unequivocally certain. Absolutely sure in himself. Now he wasn't.
Was this the best way of dealing with issues? He didn't even know what issues they were dealing with – This approach never felt like it worked when he was growing up. The situations were different, but he still gulped. Was this right?
Before those thoughts could infest themselves into his head and refuse to let them go, Mina and Kota both poked their heads through the door and caught his attention – Where Kota had come from, Izuku had no idea.
Mina gave him a thumbs up. Kota nodded. Somehow that made him feel more relaxed.
He took a deep breath.
There had to be a certain level of detachment between Izuku and this girl. That was part of the internship. Heroes had to have at least a slight sense of detachment from the work they did. They couldn't admit or say what Izuku was about to. That emotional distance needed to be closed. That was the only way they were going to make any progress. Izuku believed that.
So he spoke.
"…We don't have a clue who you are." He admitted, with a heavy sigh. "We…. Really don't have the first idea. We've spent the last couple of days trying to find… Anything on you…. But it's like you don't even exist."
Somehow, he got the feeling that the girl already knew this. She didn't move.
"….It… Makes us not sure how to help you." Izuku carried on. "It makes it hard to do anything to help you. And I…"
Again, she didn't move.
"…I get it."
Now, she did move.
She looked at him. Turned her head slightly to look towards him. The majority of movement was done by her eyes though.
"I… Get what it's like to not want to talk about something. What it's like to just want to… Lock yourself away. Pretend like nothing that happened… Really did happen. Like you can just pretend that you're somewhere better, or that things will change on their own, or that you could do something or that fate will throw you a bone or…"
Memories of the many days he'd spent crying in his room alone when he was younger, ostracized for being Quirkless, flooded back into Izuku's mind. Even now, they still made him shudder and feel small. He shook his head, refusing to get lost in that sea of torment again.
At this point, the girl was looking at him with slightly more interest. Her head had turned to look at him more directly. More movement than before – Had he been right before? That this girl was more perceptive to honesty that other people her age would be? Had she been seeing through all the veils that they had put between them and her before, and just played along until now?
"…We think you've had a rough time of it." Izuku told her. "It's not something we can say with certainty, but… We think it's likely. If it's true, I…" He paused briefly, looking for what to say next. "…There are… There are limits to what Heroes can do, in this sort of situation."
The girls head tilted slightly. Mina and Kota's expressions changed slightly also. It sounded like he was changing the subject, jumping from one point to the next. He wasn't though.
"We've been able to get special custody of the situation because you were an odd case from the minute we rescued you." Izuku elaborated. His words were careful, and very deliberate at this point. What he was saying now wasn't… Exactly something Heroes should say to someone in their care. But somehow, he had a feeling if he didn't say this, the girl would see straight through him and it would be a waste of effort. "…We can't keep that up. Not forever. The police want to talk to you themselves soon. And I…"
He trailed off. Then he looked at her.
"I can't claim to know what exactly it is you've gone through. I don't know what your family situation is, where you're from, what you've been through… I can't even guess your age. There's so much I don't know about you. I don't even know your name. But…"
He knelt down in front of her, and he took hold of her hands, and placed them in between his own, making sure to be gentle with her. The gesture was supposed to make her feel secure and safe. He had no idea if it worked. He looked at her, and spoke as honestly as he could.
And he smiled.
"…I'm not going to let the police take you if you don't want that."
In the girl's eyes, something… Changed. Sparkled, almost.
"I mean it." Izuku repeated, firmly. "I don't know why you're afraid of people outside this group, but we're not going to let anyone take you away. Not the police. Not another Hero. Not even the League of Villains, if they want to try and take you. I'll protect you… Because that's what a Hero is supposed to do. I don't know what it is that I've done to earn your trust, or whatever it is that you have towards me, but I'm not going to let it be misplaced. I don't know if you aren't talking because you're scared of me, or someone else, or anything else, and it doesn't matter. Everyone in this building – Everyone in this Team – We're your friends. We'll look after you. I promise."
Turning his own head, he nodded at Mina and Kota – Both of them were caught out by this – Both had somewhat assumed that staying hidden would have been for the better right now.
"What the – "
"Izu, what're you – "
"Mina cares about you. She calls you her horn buddy. Pretty sure she'll start calling Kota that too. And this room is Kota's. He offered it so you didn't have to stay in one of the boring guest rooms."
"You don't need to tell her that…" Kota muttered, seemingly embarrassed that his good heart was on display for once. Mina laughed gently, and gave Izuku another reassuring smile. He was doing well, as far as she was concerned.
"I'm not saying this to make you feel like you owe us something." Izuku said, not looking at the girl as he spoke. "I'm… I'm saying it because I want you to understand we do care about what happens to you. And I know I've been wordy about it and it's probably been a bit heavy for a kid your age but – "
A hug. He was enwrapped in a hug before he finished his sentence.
The girl seemed to have gotten the message. She had pretty much thrown herself at him, and Izuku could swear that he felt tears running from her eyes and onto his neck where her head rested. She was crying. Like she hadn't ever heard anyone speak to her like this before.
Like she could feel what Izuku did, and understood his intentions and fears for her. Like that was new, and overwhelming to her.
Like she couldn't believe what was being said to her…
Like…. Like how Izuku had felt when All Might told him he could be a Hero.
"He-Hey… You're okay…" Izuku said, repeating what he had first said when they first met this girl and she had hugged him then like her life depended on it. He gently returned the hug, remembering how his mother hugged him when he was upset at this age. "You're okay… You're okay…"
It was tears… But that was something. More than anything they had gotten these last few days. And from personal experience, Izuku knew, it was better to cry than to let those feelings fester inside. What Izuku had said here wasn't… Exactly how Heroes would normally deal with this sort of situation… But it worked, it seemed. At least a little.
Behind him, Mina and Kota both entered the room. Kota stood there, awkwardly not being certain what so do other than to just be there for some sort of moral support. Being used to dealing with younger children though, Mina approached the girl, and gently stroked her hair, and offered the smile she gave her siblings when they were upset. She didn't need to say anything. Izuku had already said everything she would have said, without even a second's hesitation.
That was all that was needed right now. That and to just let this poor girl cry everything out of her system.
She wished they'd done this the day they'd met her. Izuku wished they done this the day they met her. Maybe It made sense in hindsight, but it wasn't until now that everything fell into place.
At least it had been said now. There wasn't more they could ask for.
"…Eri."
Izuku blinked. Had he just heard that?
"M-My name…" He had. The girl was… Actually speaking. How fragile she sounded… It almost hurt. "Is…. E-Eri…"
A small gasp escaped Mina's lips in surprise. She bent down slightly, to get a better look at the crying girls face. Tears still fell down her cheeks, but the actual crying seemed to have stopped. Now it was more like… She was just letting the tears fall.
Slowly, Izuku let go of the girl – Eri – And looked at her face for himself. It actually took effort for him to not let tears run down his own cheeks, in sheer relief and joy that the girl – Eri. That was going to take a bit of getting used to – had managed to find her voice. He gave her a genuine smile that made it even harder to not burst into tears himself. "T… That's a really nice name. I-It's good to meet you, Eri. I-I'm Deku. My first name is Izuku, though."
"I-I'm s-sorry I've…" The girl's speech was wavery. Like she didn't know what to say now.
"You don't need to apologize for anything." Izuku assured her. He gave her the best 'it's okay' smile he could muster. "It was an ordeal, the way we found you."
Eri hugged Izuku again. This time she said something that…. Wasn't as relieving.
"T…They're going to find me again…"
The smile fell. "W… Who is? E-Eri?"
Then Eri said it The name of the person who had caused her so much grief – and was only going to cause more grief if he found out where she was now.
"Chi…. Chisaki… Overhaul…"