Detective Midoriya

Chapter 26

Izuku's hands gripped the binder tightly as he waited in Nezu's office with Makoto next to him. Nerves twisted his stomach in knots. This would end well - it had to.

When the door opened he was sure he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. Nezu strolled in with a cold Todoroki in tow. It hurt Izuku to see the guarded look back in his eyes, but when the boy saw Izuku, the look flickered from wariness to confusion. "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"

"If you'll all follow me, there's a private conference room that may be a more appropriate setting for this discussion," Nezu said pleasantly. The group wordlessly followed, staying silent until the principal left.

"So what's going on, Midoriya? Who's this?"

"This is Tsukauchi Makoto, she's a friend," Izuku said quickly. "I brought you here because... because you don't deserve to suffer anymore, Todoroki. And I have a way out for you."

"A way out?" His voice was flat like he couldn't bring himself to consider, to hope.

"Do you know what emancipation is? Basically, you are able to be your own guardian and make your own decisions. If you were emancipated, you would get to choose how involved your father is in your life. U.A. offers scholarships for exemplary students, and you would be able to live in the dorms. We're already having an officer monitor the treatment of your mother, and your older siblings are adults and they have the means to protect themselves," Izuku said. Nerves were eating at him as the heterochromatic boy just stared at Izuku. He'd kept some semblance of calm until this point, but the words seemed to catch on one another when he said, "And if you needed or wanted, you could come live with me and my mom. We have extra rooms..."

He couldn't help but shift uncomfortably in his chair as Todoroki just stared at him, face frozen in an emotionless mask. He didn't know what more to say, but Makoto stepped in.

"This is a lot to deal with all at once, isn't it?" She spoke more gently than Izuku had ever heard, eyes less intense than usual. "If you'd like, we'll explain the whole procedure to you, and answer any questions you might have. This is going to go whatever way you decide. If you want us to, we'll destroy this evidence and pretend today never happened."

Todoroki intently listened to every word that they spoke, hints of emotions flickering through his eyes. Once they finished explaining, he stared at the table for a few tense moments before raising his eyes to stare down at Izuku. "You're sure this will work?"

"Not a hundred percent, but I really believe it's the best chance we've got. You deserve to be free, Todoroki."

He stared at Izuku with those mismatched eyes just a moment longer before saying, "I'm trusting you, Midoriya. If we go down, we go down together."Hearing this, Izuku smiled impossibly brightly. "No, you mean we're on our way to a healthier, happier life. I didn't know how messed up my life was until I escaped it, so now it's your turn."

Makoto narrowed her eyes. The longer she spent around Little Midoriya, the more questions she had. Someone had hurt him, and one day she would get answers one way or another. Heaven helps the fool that hurt that child - but that was if the knowledge was revealed to Naomasa and the rest of the station. Makoto was going to find out, and she was going to subtly and systematically destroy whatever public persona those people possessed. Once she was finished with Endeavor, naturally.

At that very moment, Nezu popped into the room. "Endeavor is on his way over to discuss his son's schooling. Up to this point, he didn't allow young Todoroki to live in the dorms, so I insinuated that I wished to discuss the issue with him in person. Prepare yourselves."

"I thought you only told Makoto," Todoroki said, somewhere between panicking and accusing.

"I did! I just asked Nezu if I could see you, and he was the one that did all of this. I actually wasn't sure how I was going to contact Endeavor, I was maybe going to visit his agency tomorrow," Izuku said, holding his hands up. "No matter what I do, there are some things that Nezu just knows."