Chapter Text
Izuku knew there was a community center a few city blocks away from Aldera Middle with some pretty strong anti-discrimination policies, but it just… he knew by now those policies never lasted long. It didn’t mean he couldn’t still enjoy what they had while it lasted! If he ever got the time to swing by he really wanted to! But with Kacchan and school and Mom starting a new job he just never got around to it—
“Get back here you stupid Deku!”
Izuku skidded out of the alleyway seconds before the explosions burst behind him and he scrambled to get back to his feet. The heat from the blasts actually helped him run away this time! Crazy right?
“Stupid bitch! Get back here!”
“No thanks!” He screeched with a manic grin on his face, already calculating the quickest way out from the back of his school. It would really suck if he got lost! He finally popped out on the main street he usually took home — the light at the end of his tunnel!
“DEKU!”
On second thought maybe he should go a different way today. He took off in the opposite direction and even though the sounds of the blasts had gotten quieter, he didn’t stop until he’d ducked into the chain link fence of… Oh hey! That’s the new community center! Awesome!
“Oi deku! Where the fuck did you go!”
“Eep!” Izuku ran from the yard to the entrance, thankful to find a receptionist there, as well as a couple other people he didn’t recognize — great! They wouldn’t know he was quirkless.
“Good afternoon! How can I help you?”
Oh I’m just here to explore—
“I’m running away from my bully!”
He stopped in his tracks. That is very much not what he meant to say!
“I’m running…” for fun. “—away from—” Kacchan! “—the person who bullies me.” He opened his mouth again but had a feeling it was useless to try. “Wow. Okay, not what I meant to say.”
The receptionist sighed wearily. “Yeah I know. That’s my quirk, sorry kiddo.”
Izuku lit up. “Ohmygosh, really?!? That is such a cool quirk! How does it work? Is it an area if effect or just someone you focus on or does it only effect people that are lying to you specifically or in general and have you ever used it against someone that was trying to hurt you? I bet that would be amazing to use in hero work or at the very least in the police force—”
“Another fanboy huh?” The receptionist — a really tired middle aged lady with librarian glasses — pushed her glasses up and stood. “Quick summary: I have an area of effect quirk that makes people speak the truth about their situation or intent no matter their willingness. No it would not work well with law enforcement since everyone bluffs and yes I have used it to protect myself. Let’s get you hidden somewhere safe, ‘kay?”
Izuku nodded, satisfied with the information he’d gotten — and without getting told off for rambling! Awesome!
“Wait, how do I know you can trust you?”
Outside he heard screaming and explosions so he really shouldn’t be pushing away any chance of escape — but his mom had told him not to go anywhere with a stranger he didn’t know.
The librarian receptionist lady sighed again. “Because I’m being— worried— shit I hate this quirk.” She backpedaled. “Okay, I can’t do any of this comforting stuff the right way because my stupid ass quirk won’t let me give placating lies. Kid, your sleeve is burning, you’ve got a black eye that makes your eyebags even worse than I hope they are, I’m pretty sure that’s blood leaking out your ear, and there’s obviously someone searching for you outside. I’m worried alright? And I just told you my quirk doesn’t fucking let me lie.”
Fair enough. “Still don’t trust you.”
“You can just hide behind my desk if that’s better.”
Outside the screams got louder. Turning around showed flickering lights not too far away.
“Fucking Deku GET BACK HERE!”
Turning back around, Izuku smiled brightly. “Okay! I’ll follow the weird stranger lady and hope nothing goes wrong!”
She groaned. “Just because you can’t lie doesn’t mean you have to be brutally honest.” Still she let him duck behind the desk she was still standing behind and started typing away at her computer. Izuku had the hardest time trying not to laugh when he saw her playing Geometry Dash on her computer but he managed somehow.
Or maybe it was just hearing Kacchan’s voice that made him freeze up that made him not laugh.
“Oi! Librarian Lady! You seen a wimp come through here?!”
Shit shit shit she can’t lie—
“Only wimp I’ve seen is you kid,” the lady said without missing a beat on her game. “Unless you’re talking about the landlord, in which case I should tell you that yes he is cheating on his wife and he’s too fucking scared of both his wife and the mistress to do shit about it.”
He could hear Kacchan sputter from the emotional whiplash of those completely incorrect truths! Well, Izuku didn’t know about the landlord but still! Kacchan wasn’t a wimp!
He almost said that too, but then Kacchan said something crazy.
(Crazy? I was crazy once—)
“Fine! Have you seen a stick figured kid that’s too fucking smart for his own good?”
The lady paused her game to put a hand on Izuku’s head, which was crazy because how did she know he was about to bolt before he did?! He needed to see Kacchan’s face! Was he shocked about that truth — no, no way, that was a lie! — or was he begrudgingly reluctant of it?! He wanted to see!!! He was gonna go crazy if he didn’t see!
(—they locked me in a room, a rubber room—)
“I’ve seen lots of skinny kids walk through here since it is a community outreach center. Why do you want to see this kid so badly?”
“I’m gonna fuck him up—” Kacchan made a strangled sound. “What the fuck.”
“Ah yup. Gonna need you to leave kid. We don’t allow fighting indoors.”
(—a rubber room with rats. And rats make me crazy!)
“That’s crazy! I ain’t gonna fight him—” Kacchan made that weird noise again. “—because he never fights back— okay what the fuck is going on here?!”
“Quirk use. Please leave.”
“You— You can’t use quirks on someone without their permission!”
“In a private residence I sure can. Get out please.”
“Fuck you!”
Izuku was shocked to hear the doors slam shut just a few moments later. He stared up at the lady, slack-jawed, as she just went back to her Geometry Dash level. This lady was a hero!
“You can come out now. I think he’s gone.” She glanced down at him with an almost blank look that still seemed a little worried. “You can stay if you want though. There might be some snacks in the bottom drawer over there.”
Izuku nodded quietly but didn’t move to get a snack. Now that he was kinda sorta almost safe, he was starting to hear a ringing in his right ear and wow, yeah, his sleeve did look kind of scorched. He thought he got rid of that at lunchtime though? Oh wow, flashing lights? That’s cool.
He didn’t really notice that his head was drooping forward until the lady appeared and helped him sit back up. “Hey kid. Stay awake here. Can you give me a guardian’s number? Mom or dad? Grandpa? Weird wine aunt?”
“Mom’s number… oh yeah…” He pulled out his phone, whined when he saw the cracked screen — aw darn, he’d already had to pay for repairs twice that week! — and managed to pull up his mom’s contact info.
“Kid? Hey kid! Stay…”
“Izu…”
“…at the center…”
His head was really hurting, but he didn’t think he could keep running too long though, not after already having to deal with Kacchan at lunch! He dove out a window — what the heck, since when did he defenestrate himself? — and there was this really weird music track playing while he was running through a back alley.
In the eyes of a teenage crystallized
Oh, the prettiest of lights
The alley got darker and darker the longer he ran, jumping over random trash in the alleyway until he was suddenly running through the halls of Aldera all over again. No matter where he ran, how fast he ran, he was stuck stuck stuck—
They hang the hallways of the home
And the cries from the strangers out at night
The explosions were getting bigger. The lights were brighter and the heat was all-encompassing. There was laughter everywhere, echoing and screeching and cackling and pointing at him because he was a stupid fucking loser
They don’t keep us up at night
We have the curtains drawn and closed
He tripped. He put his hands out to catch himself and—
He jerked awake but managed to keep himself quiet. He hated it when he accidentally screamed and his mom had to come in and help him get back to sleep.
We all are living in a dream
But life ain’t what it seems
Oh, everything’s a mess
Oh, someone was singing. That made so much more sense actually. Izuku had never heard the song before so he thought it was weird that his brain would make it up just for a silly nightmare.
And all these sorrows I have seen
They lead me to believe
That everything’s a mess
But I wanna dream
I wanna dream
Leave me to dream
“Your voice is pretty.”
He heard some shuffling somewhere to his right and he looked over to realize there was a curtain there. Huh. Interesting.
Wait, where was he?? He was warm because he was wrapped in cushy blankets, not because Kacchan was chasing him. And yeah, it was kind of dark here but it was only because the little lamp on the corner was at a nice dim glow. It looked a little weird for a room that was mostly barren and white — oh, was this a nurse’s office? — but it did make it seem warmer.
“Fuck off,” the nice voice muttered.
“No, I mean it! Except for the fact it got into my dream somehow it was pretty awesome! Like, your voice is kinda cracky because I’m guessing you’re a teenager — me too actually! — but like, sometimes you sang kinda higher pitched and it made the song seem more stressed like you needed to get it out but then it’d get really deep and it was like listen to this, you’ll feel better and—I dunno, that’s pretty cool I guess.”
Ahhhh shoot. Why did he keep rambling today? Normally he knew better and kept his mouth shut!
“S-Sorry. You probably didn’t want to hear that whole… mess.”
Behind the curtain, someone rustled what sounded like paper. “…thanks. For the compliment.”
“Hey, uh, where am I?”
“Dunno. Haven’t really explored this place yet.” A chair scraped across the floor and Izuku guessed the person was standing. “Bye.”
“Uh, bye?”
A door shut and Izuku was left — presumably — alone. He was kinda sad but oh well. He should probably get home soon anyways.
He sat up only to see dark spots swimming in his vision and he promptly collapsed again with a groan. Aw shoot. This sucked.
“Izuku?”
He grimaced. “Hey Mom.”
“Oh dear! How long have you been awake, sweetheart?” His mom appeared over him and started fretting with the bandage over his eyes — eye, no, ear — with dried tears and a worried expression. “Kayako-san told me you came in all bruised up and running away from someone before you collapsed. She said she tried keeping you awake but asked you for my number. I came as soon as you — she? — called but you were already asleep at that point. She told me I’m supposed to wake you every few hours just to keep you safe but, oh, you looked so hurt I just— I couldn’t wake you up so soon.”
Izuku managed to shift over enough that his mom could sit beside him, and tried to push down the smile that threatened every time she ran a hand through his hair. He was a teenager! He wasn’t supposed to still like his mom doing that!
“I’m sorry, but I think I fell asleep too. How long have you been awake?”
He closed his eyes as she kept tugging softly on his curls. “Just a few minutes. Someone was singing I think.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Kayako-san told me there’s a music room next door and that they have a few students that come in and out. I’m sorry I missed it.”
“It’s fine! I think he was a little embarrassed when I said I liked his voice.”
She giggled. “Did you give him an analysis of his singing?”
“Maybe.” His face heated up but he refused to stick to the conversation. “What time is it?”
“A little after seven.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
Her hand paused. “Why would you be sorry?”
“You don’t get off work until eight or ten most days and you just got your job! I’m sorry you had to leave early for me.”
“Aw, Izuku dear, I don’t mind at all! I’m really just shuffling papers around so it’s really no problem. I’d much rather spend time with you.” She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Izuku couldn’t help but feel better at that. “Now, I have one really important question for you.”
His stomach dropped. “Yeah?”
“Was… Who was chasing you today?”
“Oh, just some—” kids at school. He sighed. Kayako-san — he was guessing that was the cool librarian receptionist lady — wasn’t around so he could probably lie if he wanted to. He always did. So why did he suddenly not want to? “Promise you won’t be mad?”
His mom’s eyebrows lowered, but she nodded.
“Kacchan’s been… He hits me sometimes. I think today was a bad day for him.”
Her hand froze and Izuku wished he could melt into the couch and blankets beneath him.
“Bakugou. Katsuki?” Her voice was oddly strained, which really just made the sinking feeling in him worse.
“…yeah?”
His mom smiled sweetly. “I know his parents. This should be fixed really soon, ‘kay Izu?”
He nodded. What the heck. Why are my ‘panic’ senses going off? She’s perfectly safe?!?!
“And one more thing, Izu?” She leaned down and gave him another peck before whispering venomously, “Next time, punch him in the nuts.”
“What the heck Mom!”