Chapter 5: (totally not creepy) Observations

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Izuku's mother greets him at the door with a tearful smile and exclamations about how long it's been since he last visited.

(It's only been two weeks, mom. It's fine.)

The evening passes with second helpings of dinner and enough dessert to make up for the time spent apart before they find themselves lounging side-by-side on the squashy couch with cups of tea. The only thing that matters in their lives right now (besides one another) is the work work work, but they both enjoy what they do (albeit for very different reasons) so catching up on their jobs is a must.

Her stories are a little bland, but her daily life is exactly how she likes it, so Izuku smiles and nods and periodically refreshes her cup of tea.

(His mother is the most vibrant when everything goes according to plan.)

He tells her about how well his actual job has been going, and her eyes light up in surprise and delight at some of the obscure details he can slip into his narrative.

(Izuku is the most vibrant when he has injustices to fix with the power of the written word.)

Then his joy fades at the edges as he tells her about the progress he's made while working his cover job. Her lips thin a little, too, with clear worry and outrage at what he's uncovered.


Izuku's current cover job is with one of the shadiest businesses he's had the (dis)pleasure of working for, and the only reason he's stuck around as long as he has is to collect sufficient evidence to turn in (a.k.a. absolutely destroy) the management for fraud, employee discrimination, and horrendous safety violations. (There's more, but he doesn't tell his mother.)

He's given odd hours so he rarely sees others in the company's employ, but he knows that his fellow employees are worked to the bone in questionable conditions and paid a pittance. His paychecks (and at least a few others) are paid in cash under the table, and based on what he's seen while he (rather mindlessly) handles their document processing, he's pretty sure they don't report his hours (or existence) to the employment board.

Their disaster recovery clean-up crews are forced to cut so many corners he's surprised their little headquarters building on the outskirts of the harbor district hasn't yet turned into a sphere.

The management is rolling in funds from city grants, but they haven't been very clever at disguising where the money is actually being spent.

(They won't ever know how big they've messed up by hiring a quirkless nobody to clean up the mess of their filing system.)


He may be mad at their audacity, but he's enjoying the process of plotting their downfall.

He knows his mom is worried about the job and its location in a rough part of town, but he doesn't expect to be there much longer than another two weeks. The last piece of evidence he's hoping to come home with involves a visit from the company owner that's scheduled at the end of the month.

His report of the management's activities is lengthy and will be impossible to sweep under a rug, and he cannot wait to throw their entire operation to the media vultures before handing the accumulated evidence over to the police.

When he shoots a vicious little smile into his mug with the thoughts of his imminent victory, his mother bursts into laughter and ruffles his hair.


His visit runs longer than he expects, so she offers him the guest room for the night and he curls up in well-worn sheets and revels in the familiar scents of home.

the cute guy next door (might be a villain) // ShinZukuWhere stories live. Discover now