...
"I'm more than certain as he's dead. "
"He's dead...?"
"Yep
Now, how old are you? You look pretty young but you're able to speak decently well. "
"I'm 6, turning 7 later this year...
But I don't know when my birthday is. "
"Is it important that you know?"
Eri hesitated before she answered,"er...
It's not too important...
It's okay"
"I wanna know...
But I don't think he'd be very happy with me annoying him"
"Ill figure it out.
And stop worrying about being annoying, I've already decided that you'd be living here.
And while I don't have time to give you attention or take care of you, I can still give you the things you want. "
Midoriya said, hearing her thoughts.
She looked up at him, her eyes shining brightly.
She sat there, her mouth slightly agape, as she held her hands together in awe of this new person.
"now.
Because you don't have the means of controlling your quirk, I want you to wear this bracelet until you're taught."
Midoriya said, pulling out a quirk canceller.
"Okay!"
She said, letting Midoriya put it on her wrist.
"You'll be staying in this room for the time being.
Let me know if there is anything that is discomforting so I can change it.
You'll have some assistants coming in later, they'll be providing you with some close with fitted measurements.
They won't be there to hurt you.
The clothes will be pretty and comfortable.
Now if there is nothing else, I have work to get to"
Midoriya said, heading towards the door.
"wait...!"
She called out, startling even herself.
Midoriya paused, "yes?"
"...what do I call you...?"
Midoriya took a deep breath in and sighed, "Midoriya.
But if that's too long for you to remember, Optic works too"
"...will I ever see you again..?"
"If you need me I am down the hall in the room with the silver door.
I can't guarantee I will always be available especially as of recently, but you can always try"
Midoriya replied, glancing back at her while exiting the room.
He was slightly surprised by the sight.
Eri was joyous, it was written all over her face but no smile exactly formed.
He shut the door and went back to his office, "what was that about"
_______________________________________
The assistants later came to Eri.
She had sat in the room all day. She didn't know what to do and didn't want to be a bother either.
That came to an end when the assistants arrived, it was time to get some new clothes.
They arrived with many tools in many bags.
"Hello young lady, We're here to help you today.
I hope we can get along"
An older woman said, holding out her hand for a handshake.
She had beautiful green snake-like eyes, and neon yellow hair paired with them.
Her canines were longer than average and evidently sharp.
Additionally, her forearms arms had scale patches.
Despite her snakey appearance, she was quite friendly.
"I also hope we can get along"
A much younger woman said. She had long black hair, it was so dark that it was as if light couldn't pierce through it.
Her eyes were completely white, as if she lacked an Iris or pupils. Though, she could actually see just like anyone else.
The duo radiated a great warmth to the child, which was a side no one had ever seen of the two considering they were middle rank villains of the HKO.
Both of them had killed hundreds of heroes in numerous ways.
But aside from being villains, they were excellent tailors.
That was because of the fact that they were tailors during the day.
They only committed their crimes at night so no one knew of their identities.
That was the case for many members of the HKO.
"I hope we can get along too..."
Eri said, a bit shy.
"alrighty!
I do want to ask, are you okay with me taking your measurements?
It does require some contact of my hands on your skin and you may not be comfortable with that"
She asked, pulling out some measurement tools.
She had heard her story from Midoriya and didn't want to do anything that could possibly trigger some bad memories or a melt down.
"it's okay. You aren't going to hurt me right?"
"no of course not!
Who would dare hurt a little angel like you.
You just tell me, and I'll give them a piece of my mind"
Eri's eyes gleamed with happiness as her measurements were quickly taken and written down.
After that was done, they pulled out several shirts, pants, and dresses that would fit her.
They made sure before they arrived to select an array of clothes that would potentially fit, selecting clothes that would be 2 sizes too small up to 2 sizes too big to find the perfect size just in the middle.
Only small adjustments were made to each before they were all given to her.
"There you go dear!
Now you have a bunch of outfits!
We organized the clothes on what would best go together, anything that's close to each other can be put together and will look great.
I'd recommend avoiding picking clothes that are put far apart from one another but you have the choice of creative expression so if you think something will look nice- go for it!"
"yep!
We have to get going now, have fun!"
"...thank you"
Eri peeped from under her breath, though she didn't know if they had heard her.
"you're very welcome"
They said in unison before disappearing out the door.
Eri stared at the clothes that were neatly organized in the closet of the room.
She picked out a dress that struck her eyes and put it on.
It was a long sleeved dress with a poofy bottom half.
It was a pretty light blue decorated with lace at the openings.
She looked in the mirror, her eyes gleaming.
It was the first time she ever dressed up.
"I have to go thank Mr. Midoriya"
She thought to herself, mustering up the courage to exit the room.
She stood by the door, hesitant to open it.
She shook her head, "if I don't show my gratitude, he might kick me out..."
She stood on her tippy toes and opened the door.
She exited her room and went straight down the hall like Midoriya had told her to if she ever needed him.
She knocked on his door, "hello... Mr. Midoriya...? Are you there?"
She asked, her voice quite quiet.
"Come in"
He said from within the room.
Her eyes lit up as she opened up the door and entered.
Midoriya lifted up his head momentarily from his several computers and papers he had around.
"Yes?"
He asked, not intending to sound sharp tongued.
"...I wanted to say thank you...
Uhm...
Thanks for everything..."
She said, looking down at her hands unable to hold eye contact. His tone was colder than she had personally anticipated
"Please don't kick me out..."
She thought to herself.
Midoriya let out a soft sigh, "you're welcome and don't worry about it.
You're going to be staying here a long time, so you should get comfortable. "
He said, easing her thoughts.
"...Really?"
She said, surprise filling her voice.
"Yes"
"...this reminds me of the past at the orphanage"
He thought to himself, shaking his head.
"By the way, I've figured out your birthday"
He stood up and walked over to her holding a sheet of paper.
It was a paper full of information about her, he had found it after an hour of searching through files of several hospitals.
Eri looked up at him, surprised.
"Your birthday is December 21st."
He said, handing her the piece of paper.
Joy struck Eri's system, so much so that she really forgot to control herself.
She threw herself at Midoriya and hugged his legs tight, words weren't really enough to describe the happiness she had been feeling.
Midoriya stood there a bit shocked himself, "I understood it mattered to her, but to this degree?
Was I like this as a child?"
He paused and thought back to his youth.
"Hm.
Before mom was slapped into a coma, I guess I was kind of like this."
He thought to himself, remembering how he ran out of class after seeing what happened to his mom with his quirk.
Eri froze after realizing what she had done, she stepped back and looked up in terror.
"I-im.. I'm..
S-sorry-"
She stammered, her eyes stinging a bit with tears of fear.
"You're fine.
Don't worry about it.
You haven't done anything upsetting"
He said, patting her head with his gloved hand.
She flinched a bit before relaxing, "...i'm really not in danger here...
This guy won't hurt me"
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, but didn't actually get to form.
Midoriya walked back over to his desk and pulled out an odd item from his drawer.
It was odd as Eri had never seen it before.
"Here.
It's a lollipop.
Common child joy.
You take off the wrapper and eat everything but the plastic in the middle."
He explained, handing it over to her before sitting down at his desk to get back to work.
"Thank you mister!"
She cheered, skipping out of the room and returning to her own.
"I can't let her get close.
It only puts her and myself in danger.
If i have something that I care about, it'll only be used as a weakness and in the end taken away from me painfully.
This has applied to everything in my life so far, and nothing has been the exception.
No matter how strong I get, how hard I work, I'll have it taken away.
These emotions are useless to me and in the end will only lead me to my demise. "
Midoriya thought to himself, shaking his head and getting back to work.
That case was sadly true for Midoriya on most accounts.
It all started with his mom, and it only ever spiraled since.
He tried to care for his friends, but they were taken away from him after it was found out that he was "quirkless".
While at the orphanage, he tried to care for little animals, but they were killed by either bigger animals or his fellow orphans.
It had happened far too many times for him to even try to open up his heart again.
...but the heart was something difficult to control, even for the most logical, cold, and calculative person.
Sapphire was the prime example of his unintentional empathy.
_________________________________________
As time progressed, Eri began to stop by his office everyday.
And for every day she visited, she would spend a longer duration there.
It wasn't very sudden either, it would progress by minutes.
She went from spending 2 minutes there to 3 minutes there the next day and so on and so forth.
She'd just express her gratitude and speak of what she had done.
After a couple visits, Midoriya realized she needed some more things.
And some more...
And some more...
Up until he realized he was quite literally giving her everything, things she herself didn't even realize she needed.
It didn't start like that.
Originally, he only gave her some of his candy stash and let her talk about her mundane things.
But as time progressed, he found himself starting to do more and more things for her.
All unintentional.
_________________________________________
"Have you ever tried doodling?
It'd be fun for a child like you"
Midoriya said, pulling out a sketchbook from his desk and handing it to her alongside with a bunch of utensils.
"Woah, how do I doodle?"
She asked, it was the first time she had really ever heard of it.
"Just draw whatever comes to mind on that paper using these"
He said, showing her how.
"Woah"
She took the sketchbook and ran off to her room, having spent 20 minutes there already.
"Hm.
She likes standing in this spot in particular, I guess the couches would be pretty far for a small person like her.
I'll get her a personal sofa chair, it'll be put in this spot.
That way,she won't have to stand for so long while she's here.
I also liked reading when I was her age, I should get her some books next"
Midoriya thought to himself.
He had already gotten her several toys, given her several pieces of candy, and today he had got her the sketchbook.
But he was only thinking of how he could give her more.
"Now that I think about it, she also needs to get an education if she's going to read.
But not outside, definitely not outside.
That's too dangerous, and with all her scars, I doubt kids are going to be nice or teachers would let that go unnoticed.
Hm.
Who could teach her though..?
I need someone smart, someone able to cover all subjects fluently.
Someone that'll additionally teach her useful skills like how to control her quirk and how to fight.
Who would know how to do all of that well?
Well, I guess there's no teacher out there that would be better than me. "