Detective Midoriya

Chapter 32

The next day was the first time Izuku deviated from his routine since coming to the Shie Hassaikai. He got up at the same time, but he cut his training time in half, spending his excess time getting breakfast ready. It was early enough that no one else was anywhere near the kitchen, so he had time to make pancakes and clean up any evidence of such an activity.

A part of him felt like making pancakes in a yakuza compound was fundamentally wrong. Before he had been assigned to this undercover mission, Izuku had never given much thought to what yakuza ate. He supposed he pictured them living off of crime and spite.

Topping the pancakes with berries, Izuku ventured through the compound to Eri's room. He had picked the most manageably sized games and toys to bring with him today.

He didn't know what to expect from Eri. His experience with kids was pretty limited to Kimiko and Kota, and he doubted Eri would be anything like either of them. The long-term trauma she had to carry was unimaginable. His talk with Detective Kimura was helpful, but he still felt like he was going in blind.

Eri apparently woke up fairly early - Chronostasis had given him a rough schedule of what Eri's days were like with the previous few caretakers.

They hadn't done crap for her. She hadn't had any sort of schooling for a while, and they wouldn't play with her, they just shoved more toys at her. Just thinking about it made Izuku's blood boil.

Luckily he had memorized the path to her bedroom, using the secret passageway. If he'd had to interact with any of those dirtbags today, he'd be hard-pressed not to strangle one of them for what they'd done to Eri. The pancakes seemed like an incredibly poor offering, but it was the only thing Izuku could think of. It would have to do.

Eri was already awake, and her scarlet eyes watched him with trepidation. As he stepped in, she hunched in on herself, making herself as small as possible.

Taking her reactions to heart, Izuku paused., carefully setting down the plate of pancakes. He deliberated a moment before slowly reaching up and taking off his medical mask. His acting coach would have yelled at him, the mask was supposed to be a central part of "Deku." But he couldn't be Deku with this little girl, at least not completely.

"My name is Deku, I'm here to be your new caretaker," Izuku said slowly, making sure to smile at her. "Your name is Eri, right? It's nice to meet you. Are you hungry? I made pancakes."

She definitely looked interested, but she looked more confused than anything. "You bought me pancakes?"

"No, I made them for you. And me too, we both need to eat, right?" Izuku looked around the room, spotting a child-sized table that was likely used for coloring or something of the like. "Are you okay with that?"

Slowly Eri nodded. She followed him to the table, but she looked shocked when he sat down across from her, his knees towering above the tabletop.

"What are you doing?" she asked, voice quavering slightly.

"We're having breakfast together, it would be rude not to eat at the same table. I may be stuck in this chair, though."

Eri couldn't help but stare, and Izuku did his best to carry on like this was what it was supposed to be like, because... well, it was what things were supposed to be like. He remembered every meal with his mom, the warmth shared between them even though there were only two of them. He tried to mimic that, to give Eri the same feeling of completeness.

She was quiet, but her enthusiasm for the food was evident. Eri was almost scared to talk, but she was slowly growing more curious about him. Throughout breakfast, she hadn't said much of anything, but when he stood to go wash the dishes, she said, "Thank you for the pancakes, Mr. Deku."