Happy Birthday Night-eye!
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Just great. JUST GREAT.
He was now packing up his things once more and fleeing. Damn it, why were there people here? Wasn't this far into the woods?
Izuku finished his packing and jerked his head. "Come on, Mamoru, Asuka," he said and he started to climb one of the nearby trees. Mamoru waited under the tree while Asuka flew around Izuku.
"Ready?" Izuku said and murmured. Asuka chirped in confirmation. "Let's go."
Izuku swung and jumped from tree to tree like a monkey. He had picked this up a while ago. It was faster this way.
And the faster he could move, the further away he could get away. The easier it would be to hide.
It didn't matter where Izuku was. The only thing that mattered was that he was the only human there.
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Okay flip this, Izuku regretted his decision. The only thing that mattered was that he was the only human there and that there were no HOSTILE PREDATORS.
He was now running away from an angry black bear that Mamoru had somehow angered. Izuku didn't know what the hell was happening, but he'd rather take his chances with the adults than with the bears, thank you very much.
He looked down at Mamoru a little ahead of him and mentally sighed, 'At least Mamoru is fast and Asuka can fly'. Izuku shuddered at the thought of leaving Mamoru behind.
They had almost reached the large boulder from before when an overgrown root had somehow found its way in front of Izuku's foot, effectively tripping him.
Izuku tried to scramble up and away but the bear was already right above him. He closed his eyes.
Just then, a black-wearing man with a gray scarf kicked him away. The scarf somehow wrapped around the bear, scaring it off. Izuku opened his eyes and stared at the hobo-like man.
"You okay?" he said and Izuku nodded in relief.
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Earlier...
Nezu had given permission for Aizawa to look around the forest behind UA. Aizawa knew that Midoriya probably already left, but he checked for any signs. Clenching one fist when he ran, Aizawa cursed at the situation. He had to somehow gain the trust of someone who didn't like adults and lived on his own for twelve years?
If only they had something of his. But it would be twelve years old and Aizawa knew that it would be hard for Hound Dog to even figure out which scent was which.
Looking around, he heard a growl and turned towards the sound. "What the," he murmured as the sound of loud running and crunching leaves came closer and closer. Running over, he saw the kid.
Midoriya.
Midoriya was underneath a rather annoyed-looking bear. Aizawa grit his teeth as he went as fast as he could towards the bear. He wouldn't get a child hurt. Not on his watch.
He kicked it as hard as he could and wrapped his capture scarf around it. He must have scared it away because the bear went back from where it came from.
Looking back at Midoriya, Aizawa asked, "You okay?"
He smiled slightly in relief when Midoriya nodded. The kid stood up and Aizawa noticed the small dog-like animal and bird around him. The bird landed on Midoriya's shoulder and the dog wrapped around Midoriya's legs. Were these animals Midoriya's friends?
"You know the two animals?" he said and Midoriya seemed to jump back. After a moment of hesitation, Midoriya nodded.
"What are their names?" Aizawa said and Midoriya bit his lip before saying something quietly.
"What did you say? I couldn't hear," he said and Midoriya said, "Mamoru and Asuka."
Huh. Mamoru must be the dog and Asuka was probably the bird, considering that Mamoru meant defend, protect.
"Mamoru's the dog, right?"
"Mamoru's a coyote."
Well, this was progress. At least the kid would talk to him.
"Well, where do you live?"
The kid flinched and Aizawa wanted to facepalm himself. Of course the kid would be insecure about it.
"I - I live under some sticks."
"Do you want to show me where?"
The kid contemplated this for a while before hesitantly nodding and the kid waved Aizawa over.
The two walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence. Aizawa was just glad that Midoriya wasn't running away from him like with so many others before him.
They got to a small cliff of rocks and Aizawa noticed the sticks laid on it on an angle. He nodded mentally. The kid's got a great survival instinct. Then again, he'd have to have one if Midoriya could survive this long from society.
"Well, erm, here it is," Midoriya mumbled and Aizawa nodded.
"A-are you going to t-take me away now?" Midoriya asked and his heart stilled.
"No," Aizawa said and he could visibly see Midoriya's shoulders drop in relief. "Just tell me when you're in trouble, okay kid?"
The kid's eyes went wide as he thought about Aizawa's words. Clearly, whatever Midoriya thought he was going to say was much different than what Aizawa did say.
"Alright," he finally said and Aizawa silently sighed in relief. Midoriya needed to slowly get used to having another person in his life. He didn't need to get stuffed into an unfamiliar place and panic.
"My name's Aizawa. I'll be by the rock tomorrow at noon if you wanna talk some more. I'll bring some lunch as well," Aizawa continued and Midoriya nodded at his words. "See you tomorrow, Problem Child," he said and left. He smiled. At least Midoriya trusted him. And when he finally opened up to Aizawa,
Aizawa would make sure nothing would hurt him again.
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Izuku didn't know what to expect when he saw this man.
First, he didn't seem to chase him around.
Second, he didn't touch Izuku and talked to Mamoru and Asuka and didn't ATTACK them.
Third, the man didn't go 'Oh, you're living in a pile of sticks? Come the fuck with me kid' on him.
Fourth, he was going to come back with lunch.
Izuku knew that he shouldn't have trusted him. But the man saved him. What was Izuku going to do, blow him off? So that was how Izuku, Mamoru, and Asuka found themselves waiting by the rock for Aizawa to come back. After a few minutes, the hobo man finally appeared with two brown paper bags.
"Hello, Problem Child," Aizawa said. Izuku liked his nickname. It was better than Midoriya and it meant that he wasn't just some random kid. He was Problem Child.
Izuku waved at Aizawa. That was another thing. Aizawa didn't force Izuku to talk. He let him do whatever Izuku felt was comfortable. Not the other way around.
"Choose a bag," Aizawa said and Izuku reached for the one in his left hand before cautiously opening it. Inside was a wrapped sandwich, a carton of chocolate milk, a pastry of some sort, and some fruits.
Izuku looked up only to find Aizawa sitting down next to him. Izuku scooted a bit further away. Aizawa didn't seem to care. Another point for him.
"Oh yeah, here's some bird seed and an apple for Mamoru," Aizawa said, tossing a bag and an apple towards Izuku. He caught it and handed it towards the two animals.
The two ate in comfortable silence. Izuku smiled as he ate. When was the last time he ate a proper meal? Taking out the carton, he fumbled at it.
Aizawa seemed to notice because he took out his own carton and showed Izuku what to do. Soon, Izuku was gulping down the milk. It was a long time since he drank something like that.
Aizawa looked at something he pulled out of his pocket and held out his paper bag. "Trash?" he asked and Izuku put in his carton, plastic wrap, the Ziploc bags, and his own paper bag. "See you again, Problem Child?" Aizawa asked and Izuku nodded.
Izuku knew perfectly well that Aizawa could just be sugarcoating this so that he could take him away. But it was nice to know someone cared. It was nice to know someone didn't want to know about his quirk. It was nice to think, 'finally. An honest adult'.
An adult who he could trust..