Not powerless

chapter 11:nezu

With his new Sight, there wasn’t many people who could sneak up on Izuku. Emphasis on the word ‘people’. As soon as he heard the words spoken, Izuku whipped around. Bright disks of magic formed as shields around his hands as he stared into the beady black eyes of Nezu.

Izuku remembered his father talking about the odd principal of UA. He was an animal with a quirk which made him one of the smartest beings on the planet. Toshinori often shivered at the thought of conversations with Nezu, lamenting how he always felt like the principal was unintentionally bragging about how much smarter he was.

And somehow he found himself in Izuku’s clearing.

Nezu didn’t react to his display of aggression, but Izuku knew that he wouldn’t. As smart as he was, Nezu was still an animal, and so didn’t express emotions the same way humans did. He stood there, tail swinging idly behind him, as he took in the scene before him. When he stepped forward, Izuku reacted.

Energy shot towards Nezu, lifting him off the ground and encasing him in a thin lattice of orange magic. Again, there was no reaction beyond a slight widening of the eyes. Not in fear, but of interest.

“It seems that I’ve startled you,” Nezu said, “I’m sorry. That was not my intention.”

Izuku approached. His magic bubbled just beneath the surface as he stretched his Sight as far as it would go. There was no way Nezu would come here alone.

“How did you find me?” Izuku demanded.

Before Nezu could respond, Red sauntered out from the bushes into the clearing. Blue swooped in and landed on her branch-antlers. Both saw Nezu in the glowing cage and shot Izuku disapproving looks.

“Some of my students spread rumours about strange animals in the woods near UA. My curiosity got the better of me so I went to have a look myself, where I met these wonderful beings. It took a couple of weeks, but they asked me to follow after them, and they led me here.”

This clearing was close to UA? At least close enough that the principal could get here on foot. He would chew the animals out about this later. Right now, he needed to focus on how to get out of this situation.

While UA was his plan, being discovered before he got into the hero course was a problem. For any other hero, it would be manageable. They’d never be able to find him again, and likely they wouldn’t even know who he was, but Nezu was different. This was the kind of thing that Nezu excelled at, and once he caught a whiff of his scent, he would dig his claws in until he uncovered the mystery.

“I never thought I’d run into a person here, so I once again apologise for startling you,” Nezu said.

“And what are you going to do now that you’ve found me?”

“Why nothing!” Nezu said cheerily, “from what I can tell, the only law you’re violating is squatting, but that can easily be overlooked. You’re not harming anyone I hope, so I see no reason to report this.”

“Cut the crap Nezu. Don’t insult me,” Izuku said sharply, “you know who I am.”

The carefully practised smile fell from Nezu’s face.

“I know who you are on paper, but I never had the pleasure of knowing Izuku Midoriya in the flesh,” Nezu said, “and I wasn’t lying. I’m not going to report you.”

“I’m the son of the number one hero, so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Izuku said.

“The case regarding your disappearance hasn’t been brought by All Might, since the hero has no official ties to the Midoriya family.”