A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 39

Detective Tsukauchi is just as plain as Izuku remembers from his interview after the USJ incident. Unassuming face. Dark brown hair and eyes. Simple, if nice, clothes. The man was obviously more focused on his work than his looks.

Izuku was settled on the couch, Aizawa at the other end giving him space. The detective had pulled one of the armchairs over from near the windows to sit in front of the teen. Hitoshi had been sent back up to his room by his foster father, which Izuku was thankful for, this was stressful enough without the added worry about his friend's reaction to whatever they end up talking about.

The detective pulled out a little recording device once again and went through the whole introduced speil that Izuku was starting to become uncomfortably familiar with. "OK. Midoriya-kun are you ready to start now? We can give it a few minutes if you need, or if you prefer to do it tomorrow instead, that is still an option." But the boy shook his head, what was left of his green curls bouncing with the movement. "I-it's ok d-detective. I'm good w-with doing this n-now."

"OK. Let's start off easy. Over the last month how many times have you physically seen your mother at home?"

Izuku tilted his head back a bit to think. "D-does last night c-count?"

"Sure."

"Th-then um… twice I think? Sh-shes usually home when I'm at school I thi-think so I don't get to see her face to f-face often…" The detective nodded, his face not really giving away his thoughts on the matter though the greenette saw Aizawa frown a bit from the corner of his eye.

"OK. On a day to day basis how much food is normally kept in the house?" Izuku winced a little bit knowing his eating habits weren't going to look the best. "Uh uhm. Not much, usually just some small snacks. B-but that's on me! I don't eat there much! M-mom leaves me a weekly food bu-budget! And I m-mostly spend it on sc-school lunches."

"I see… how much does she usually leave you?"

"A-about 3500 yen usually? Sometimes a bi-bit more or less depending on her checks." Aizawa was looking downright concerned at that. "Midoriya. That's not enough to pay for full meals at UA for a full week."

"Ah well. I uh. I usually just get a b-bowl of rice or something ch-cheap from the vending machines every oth-other day… but it's ok! I eat dinner w-with the Hatsumes. Hatsume-san always makes s-sure I have enough to eat!" The pro looked unimpressed. "Uhuh. And what did you do before you met Hatsume-san?"

"Ah well… I uh I ate a lot of instant Ramen? And I uhm I didn't usually eat at sc-school because Aldera was… yeah… and it was better to not go to th-the lunchroom." The two men exchanged a look the teen couldn't quite decipher before the detective took over again. "Alright. And when did your mother start leaving money instead of buying groceries?"

Once again the boy paused to think, finger lightly tapping his lip. "Uhm… around th-the first year of m-middle school? I think? M-maybe the break be-between primary and middle?"

"So when you were around ten to eleven?"

"Next question. Would you say your mother has met your emotional needs?" That one really threw the boy off. Uncertainty written boldly across his face. "Like… how? What kind of e-emotional needs? Sh-she makes sure to t-talk on the ph-phone at least once a w-week? D-does that count?"