Over the span of the coming days, Izuku and Shouto worked themselves into a nice and comfortable routine that allowed them to get to know each others' in's and out's as well as making them inseparable.
They spend one more day alone to ensure that they were used to each other, after that they were introduced to the other kids of the ward.
It was shocking how many of them were there because of their Quirk.
May it be in cases like Izuku's, where they couldn't save themselves because of their missing, lacking, or very weak Quirk, or because they had a Quirk so strong that it hurt them.
One girl, as an example, had a variation of a fire-breath-Quirk, like Izuku's father, that was slowly cooking her internals and overheating her body.
And there was another quirkless boy, he was eight and he only had one arm. He was very… bitter. And even when the two newbies tried to talk to him (in case of the greenette because out of admiration and in Shouto's case because his angel was talking to this bitter boy) he remained cold.
And the reasons went on and on like this.
Midoriya noticed the pattern.
Of course, he noticed the pattern.
And he told his mother about it.
Just like he told her everything each evening once the Todoroki siblings left.
Because another part of their daily routine were the visits from Fuyumi and Natsuo.
They never talked with the Babysitter, or Nanny, or whatever the woman preferred to call her job, but the smallest out of all the kids always strived to be polite to her – that he greeted her and asked how she was and said goodbye.
Shouto mentioned all the time that the Lady was paid so that they could be mean to her, but of course, this thought burned on the pure soul of the curlyhead in an unpleasant way and he tried to make up for everyone else's bad behaviour.
Fuyumi was very calm and thoughtful, a bit too soft and anxious for Izuku to be comfortable if he was being honest because they pushed each other's worst traits into spiraling out of control, but it fit her Quirk rather well, it allowed her to create snow and to lower temperatures a bit, it is easy to talk to her and she had a knack for literature, just like Shouto.
Natsuo was rough around the edges, hot-headed, and had a bit of a temper, which didn't exactly fit his Quirk – it allowed him to cool down small masses of water until they freeze.
He had a strong sense of what is just and did not let himself be stopped to let others know when they acted double-wide.
A lot of people perceived him as impolite and saw his behaviour as delinquents because of that but Izuku was glad that he acted so honest and crude. The way how the boy with the white hair was fighting tooth and nail all the time even if it was a lost battle encouraged to quirkless boy and gifted him with a sliver of hope that his own fight which he was batteling for his own sake would turn out to be worthwhile.
Shouto seems to prefer his sister and to avoid his brother, Midoriya couldn't really understand it but he guessed that the two-toned boy didn't feel all this well when confronted with a strong urge to fight when he was forced to fight by his father all the time.
Izuku noticed how the other kids were counting the days until Endeavor returned and their peaceful life would crash like a house of cards.
He did not even notice how he started to do the same and dreaded the day the Devil would appear to tear through Paradise, he tried to make every second something precious and wonderful; something that was worth to be remembered.
Inko observed her son in worry as he started to create wilder and wilder plans about how to save his best friend from the Monster and how he prepared for a terrible catastrophe that had been declared lost by him a while ago.
But she promised to help.
And helping she did.
Inko Midoriya found out where Rei Todoroki was kept and offered to become the woman's private-nurse – it took three hours until Endeavor approved that somebody took over the job.
Shouto did not know that his self declared aunt knew his mother and was taking care of her.
None of the Todoroki kids knew anything about Rei.
But Izuku knew everything.
Only five years old and he stood in the middle of a political mess and family affair and held all of the strings in his hands.
It would be his plans, his words, his choices that could destroy a whole general worldview, a basic system, and lives.
He didn't know which out of all the options war the worst and longed for a peaceful solution that would not end with one of the strongest heroes of history in jail; one without three children without mother or father on a silver platter for the press; one where it wouldn't end with a whole system being torn apart by society – because that was exactly what would happen once this scandal came to light: the forced-marriage, the spousal-abuse, the child-abuse; then it would end with every single hero being scanned for crimes like those and every little flaw and every found offense would become a part of this avalanche that would end up burying the government and the hero-system.
A revolution would begin, an overthrow, a total collapse which was something they couldn't afford. (It was something that could never be afforded…)
It was the fourth day in the hospital when Shouto visited the psychiatrist the first time and asked if he could take his roommate with him – they allowed them to go together.
The man appeared rather young and lanky, had thin, greasy-looking and pale-brown hair, and wore thick, round glasses over wise-looking, olive-grey eyes.
His smile was thin and sharp and hinted at the enormous intelligence of the man, but his handshake was warm and solid and conveyed a feeling of stability.
“Hello, Shouto-chan and Izuku-chan. My name is Doctor Flin and I'm going to work with the both of you on what exactly happened when you got injured and how you can handle what happened.
But before we start with that I'd like to get to know you a bit better, but I also think you should learn some things about me so that we all can meet on the same level, how does that sound?”
After exchanging some hesitant looks the both of them nodded and Izuku gave the man a tentative smile.
The doctor nodded approvingly and leaned back in his seat whilst correcting his glasses.
“So, you know my name already… hmm… I'm 32 years old, my Quirk allows me to write mental notes, which obviously is very useful for shopping.”
– Shouto smiled a bit and Izuku giggled at the notion –
“I specialized in child-psychology because I thought that all those little rascals still have their whole life to live and a chance to become good people when you help them a bit and some of my former patients are admirable policemen, doctors, judges, politicians, and heroes by now.”
The green-eyed boy stared at the man with stars in his eyes and an excited grin stretching his lips, his healthy hand was clutched around one of the candycane's arms next to him and he was shaking it.
“How exactly do you do Pis- Psi - Psicholgy?”
“Psy-cho-lo-gy.”, explained the therapist with a soft smile and tapped his chin in thoughts.
“If I were to describe it then I'd say… hmmm… the brain is a bit like a city - every little part has some kind of task, but sometimes things happen that cause the city to not function like it should – stuff like earthquakes, floods, fires, villains and the like - and that is where I enter, I try help to contain the destruction, or give others the necessary tools to repair what has been destroyed.”
Big emeralds glistened admiration.
"You're like a head-hero, Flin-Hakase!”
The Doctor nodded and held his pointer in front of his lips with a quiet ‘shhh’ and a playful wink which made the smaller of the two boys giggle once more while the other smile turned a bit broader and more relaxed.
“Well? What do you want to tell me about you?”
After some more exchanged glances, the younger one answered.
“My name is Shouto Todoroki, my Mama's name's Rei and my... father is Endeavor. My Quirk is ‘Ice & Fire’ and… I have three older siblings, but Touya's been away.”
“And I am Izuku Midoriya, my friends call me Deku but I don't like that nickname because they say it means ‘useless’. My Mum's name's Inko and although I don't know my Dad, I do know that his name is Hisashi. I wanna be a hero when I'm grown up – just like All Might!”
The man nodded with a smile.
“The two of you seem to be good friends.”
“The bestest!”, cried the curlyhead excitedly and hugged Shouto who froze in his seat and blushed a very prominent red while smoke rose from the crimson side of his hair.
The psychiatrist chuckled and shook his head about the kids' behaviour.
Children never hesitated to love, it always was filled with innocence, enthusiasm but still was so very gentle.
He continued to talk in a calm voice to get Shouto to come out of his shell a bit more but the more he tried to learn about the boy's background and his family, the more he clammed up until he sat on his chair all mute and stiff, his eyes fixated at some point in the void.
Izuku examined his friend with a worried expression before he shuffled from his chair to Shoutos to hug him again.
“We should get going.”, told the grenette solemnly,
“Would it be possible for me to test my IQ? I've heard the kids from the teen-station talk about it and it sounds interesting.”
The man thought for a short while before he nodded.
“The test isn't necessary for kids your age but I think it won't do any harm.
Tomorrow two of my colleagues will pick you up for testing.”
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
“Thank you so much for showing up at such short notice. We didn't want to scare you but this is important.”, explained the psychiatrist to Inko as she jogged after him to keep up, one hand over her heart.
They had called her suddenly this morning that Izuku had wanted to do some kind of test and that the results were baffling.
She hasn't been told anything more and she was so terribly scared that her baby had some kind of illness but that did not seem to be the case.
The nice doctor opened the door to the room her son was living in for the while and she was surprised to see two kids with white hair and another grown-up woman with blue hair.
That has to be the Nanny Izuku told me about., was her thought as she bowed shallowly into the group's direction and as her greeting was returned.
“The news I'm about to tell you may be a bit much but none the less good ones.”,
told the psychiatrist and placed two envelopes on the table,
“There are the IQ-Tests that Izuku asked about during our conversation yesterday.
They are for free should that be of any concern.
Usually, we just do these tests with the teens and adults to determine how we have to interact with them during therapy, but in this case, it probably was the best idea Izuku could have had…
Anyways. First, Shouto-chan. You've got an IQ of 121, which means that you are gifted and are quite a lot above the average, which is centered around an IQ of 100.”
The Todoroki-kids stared at each other in shock with big eyes while Izuku beamed at them – happy, that his friend got such amazing results.
“And now the reason why this test actually was important.
Izuku-Chan, you have an IQ of 164. You are one of the five-hundred most intelligent beings on our planet and that purely by nature.”
Inko simply stared, just like her son, at the man. The Todorokis' were rigid as well, even the appeared mildly amazed.
"Following this result I'd like to do an EQ-test with Izuku-chan as well, since people with a high IQ tend to be empathetic-underdeveloped. It doesn't seem to be like that but it also is something that can develop with time or intensify the older he grows and with the right actions we might even be able to prevent that his EQ drops into an undesirable zone."
The mother-son-duo nodded silently, still astonished.
"Besides that, I'd suggest that he starts with proper education as soon as possible. Things will probably soon be boring for him if they aren't already and this way we'd be able to keep boredom at bay.
If you'd please follow me to discuss things in-depth and detail."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
As it turned out, any worry about Izuku's empathy was unwarranted as his EQ was higher than average as well.
It was exactly that, that helped Izuku to mediate for Shouto who was a bit stunted in this particular department.
When they played with the other kids it happened more than once that the two-toned boy hurt or insulted somebody without even meaning to do that, and it always was Izuku who placed himself between his friend and the others to explain what exactly had been said and why a fight was unnecessary.
A lot of them liked Izuku.
Only a few could stand Shouto.
The nurses were forced to remove one of the boys from the bed of the other one each night only to find them asleep in the same bed the next day.
Physical contact actually was something that was forbidden between the kids in psychiatric-treatment but the two of them simply didn't want to follow the rules and no matter what they were told, they didn't listen.
It ended up with them being threatened that they would be moved to separate rooms but Shouto stopped any further discussion before the debate could actually start by playing out his most trusted ace and the card he hated the most – his father.
The screws were removed from Izuku's arm three days before Endeavor's return, instead he got a brace which he would have to wear for four more days before physiotherapy could begin.
One day after the other flowed past the families and Inko got infected by the fright of the Todorokis' as well, whilst Izuku became calmer and calmer until he vanished for some time on the evening of the last day, returning a bit before bedtime with a thick folder under his arm.
The room wasn't creepy at night anymore and when laid together in the same bed to protect each other it couldn't possibly be threatening.
"Izu? Are you still awake?"
"Mhm..."
"I'm scared of tomorrow."
The smaller one hugged his friend a bit tighter and cuddled closer to him.
"I'm going to protect you, Shou. So sleep. Everything will be alright."
Neither of them fell asleep in the end. They simply laid awake and every time Shouto spiraled into fear and panic Izuku would be right there, lying half on top of him and half next to him, and was able to talk him down with whispered nonsense and promises.
Inko wasn't quite surprised when she arrived the next morning and found both children with irritated, red, and small eyes and deep eyebags, sitting in their clothes and with combed hair on an already made bed.
They looked like they were about to drop and fall asleep at any given moment.
How cruel could a human, a father, be to frighten Children like that?!
"Today's the big day.", said the mother quietly and sat down next to Shouto and puöled him with one arm against her side.
The boy with the two-colored-hair stared straight ahead and nodded curtly.
"You don't have to be afraid. Izuku and I will be here the whole time and make sure nothing happens."
"But what about Fuyu-nee and Natsu-nii? Nobody will be there to protect them."
Izuku hugged his friend and Inko placed a kiss on the top of the kid's head.
He was right. They only were a two-person-family from the middle class. They didn't have the money nor the means to fight against someone like Endeavor, but they'd be damned if they weren't even to try it with all their might!
They sat silently next to each other for a long time until they could hear steps; or, well, different steps then the typical hasty ones of doctors, or the rushing of the nurses or the usually weak ones of the other patients and the hesitant ones of the visitors.
When the man arrived they could hear it immediately.
He was stomping more than he was walking. And each meter he came closer brought more heat and made the falling of his feet louder.
Izuku knew that the man wasn't allowed to use his Quirk in a hospital but it still felt like lava was slowly rolling toward their little room and threatening to swallow it whole.
His breath turned faster and so shallow, to the point that he had dark spots dancing and flickering in front of his eyes and he felt like he was about to pass out.
His mother ran her shaking fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm him before she reached around Shouto to pull both kids close to her.
This man would not hurt her children!
And if she has to rip out all his teeth and nails to ensure that then she'd do it gladly!
The room became as hot as a desert and just as dry.
The door was opened and next to a petite, now tiny appearing, nurse stood nobody else than the devil himself.
The woman bowed shortly and hurried away, closing the door on her way out.
"What is going on?!"
Inko swallowed and stood up to face the giant.
With a smile, she bowed towards the pro hero (Villain! He was a damn villain) and offered him her hand after straightening herself.
Her hand vanished completely in the gigantic hand of the man. His skin was heated and rough and covered in calluses.
It was the hand of a child and wife-beater. She'd have to wash her hands thoroughly after this.
"Hello, you'd have to be Shouto's father? I'm the mother of his roommate. Inko Midoriya and this is my son Izuku Midoriya.", she made a gesture in Izuku's direction and he bowed a bit from his position next to Shouto towards the hero.
"Yes, that's me."
Blue eyes lit up with irritated energy when the woman smiled after his answer and returned back to the bed and the kids' side.
"Shouto had a really bad nightmare tonight. But he has his Quirk under control by now and my Izuku was here to help with the aftermath. They've become really good friends over these past two weeks and soon they'll be allowed to leave again, then they can meet up with each other for some playdates, maybe a sleepover…"
Enji Todoroki didn't appear very thrilled about the idea and watched with furrowed eyebrows how his son was pulled into an embrace.
Everything inside him urged him to drag the boy out of the room and to show him how a future hero had to behave but he couldn't do it in front of the woman.
Especially not when she was mothering his wimpy son like that.
He grumbled as he sat down on the other bed, considering that the chairs were too small for him.
"He'll become a strong hero someday with enough training. He can't allow himself to get distracted by trivialities."
"Shouchan is going to be a good hero.", intervened the woman's brag which made Enji even angrier.
"I just said that!"
The brat blinked at him with big eyes.
"You said he'd become a strong hero. And whilst I do not doubt that, considering Shouchan's Quirk and bodybuild, I still think he'll be a good Hero because of his calm demeanor, his IQs, and his strategic abilities."
The hero blinked, stunned.
He did not expect an answer like this from a… what was this tykes age? Five?... a five-year-old.
"And… you have some kind of intellect-Quirk? Analysis? Premonition?"
The boy gave him a grin – it was almost threatening.
"I'm simply a quirkless boy with an eminently high IQ, Sir. And with the heartfelt wish to become a hero."
"What?!? Does my Masterpiece have to share his room with a Quirkless?!? I won't accept that my son has to suffer the presence of an Invalid!"
The boy's mother threw a look between anger and horror at him but the child's grin only stretched further.
"I can assure you that genetic mutations are not contagious, the same goes for mental illnesses, by the way. And neither am I handicapped nor is your son in any danger of infection.
I am a fully functioning human being. I can dress myself, eat, drink, and get through my day to day life just like any other person as well.
Besides that, next to a Quirn my intellect would have lost its meaning and worth and with an intellect- heightening Quirk my IQ would be a lot less impressive."
"You take him away from me and I'm gone.",
rang Shouto's voice from the background and made his father freeze,
"I'll run away, just like Tou-nii."
And after these words, the devil lowered his head with a growl and accepted the constant presence of the wolf in the sheep-fleece for now.
But he would get rid of the green-haired menace somehow.