Underneath His Mask

Chapter 11

~time skip, 3 weeks~
~Izuku's pov~

I've been here for three weeks now, and my birthday is tomorrow. I've been beaten and shocked plenty of times, I don't think I'll ever get used to being shocked, it causes my entire body to seize up, it exhausts all my muscles and hurts like hell.

My birthday is tomorrow, more importantly, it's the anniversary of my mom's death... I've been trying to keep distracted, but it's failed miserably, I've been having reoccurring dreams of that night, and it's been taking over my thoughts the past few days, thankfully, caring for the kids has helped me cope a bit, I'm glad I'm here to take care of them, it's obvious that Ms. Frey isn't capable, and shouldn't be in charge of an orphanage, no matter how small.

I just finished my morning duties, and after playing with the kids for a bit I started getting ready for work. Just after I finished dressing Ms. Frey walked in.

"Hey brat, pack your stuff, you're getting adopted." She smirked at me, giving me a bad feeling.
"Okay ma'am..." I hadn't even met them, I don't think that's how adoption works. Either way, I wasn't about to get shocked again, so I packed my small amount of items in my bag, then walked out. On my way to the entrance, I made a pit stop to the kids room.

I knocked, and the door swung open, revealing 5 kids whose eyes were overflowing with tears.
"Oh dear..." I knew exactly why they were crying.

"Please don't leave us here Izuku!" Rue shouted.
"Y-you have to take care of us!" Sue added.
"Please don't make us stay here, let us come with you! Please!" Jane wailed through a cracked voice.
"I-Izuku, who will take care of use without you! W-we need you! We love you!" Petunia was sobbing.
"Big brother, so much for not getting attached..." Olive was trying to be strong, but immediately broke down after meeting my eyes.

"Hey littles, it's okay, I'm not gonna let you guys stay here, no, you can't come with me, but I promise you all I will get you all taken care of, okay? I'm not gonna just leave you all here to starve and live in filth..." I said, I was hugging all of the sobbing children, comforting them and reassuring them.
"Big brother, how can you do that?" Olive was being skeptical, rightfully so.
"I know some pro hero's, so I'll send them here to help you all find nice families or go to a much better orphanage, where there's more kids, and a lot better food," I heard them giggle at my last remark.
Suddenly, I heard my name being called, I could tell it was Ms. Frey, so I slowly stood up and wiped all there tears. "Just hold on for a day or two, I'll get you guys out of here, I promise, I said I'd take care of you, and I will. Bye for now..." I ruffled each of their heads and made my way to the entrance.

"There you are, this is the man who adopted you, you will behave, I've informed him of your collar, and he has the remote now, have fun~" There, standing in front of me, was the man who had given me the weird vibes at the cafe, that, and the information I was just given gave clear red signs that this wasn't gonna end well.

"Ah, dear Izuku, let's go on now, I see you're in your uniform so we'll head there and I'll take you home after your shift," he was creeping me out, from what I know his name Walter Grey, I'm not aware of anything else about him.

"Okay..." I slowly followed him out to his car he opened the passenger door for me, I hesitated to get in, which he clearly didn't like, he got out the shock remote and covered his thumb over it. I decided to play it safe and got in the car.

The ride was silent, and very nerve racking, it wasn't like riding with Shota. When we reached the cafe, I quickly tried to get out of the car, only to realize the door wouldn't open.
"Sorry about that Izu~, the doors only open from the outside... let me get it for you," things couldn't get any more creepy, why did he say my name like that?

He opened the car door, and made me take his hand to be pulled up, he held my hand a bit too long for comfort. I brushed it off, said thank you, and quickly made my way inside. I saw him drive away, secretly relieved he left. I made Shota's coffee and croissant then got to work taking orders. It's still a bit awkward because of my changes, but it's slowly going back to normal. My favorite pro came in and made his way to his seat, and I decided to tell him as soon as possible.

"Shota, I need your help." He looked at me, my seriousness was evident on my face, which helped quicken things.
"What do you need?"
"I need you and Hizashi to shut down Bellworth Orphanage, and arrest the head of it."
"W-what!?!" He almost choked on his coffee.

"Shota, the living conditions there are horrible, she doesn't feed them, she can't keep clean, she abused me, and she threatened to abuse them, they need to be removed from her care as soon as possible." I watched him as he processed everything I said.

"I'll make sure it's closed down... what do you mean she abused you?" His tone was serious, I could tell he was mad, he was just trying to keep his temper.
"Ah, I was hoping you'd miss that part, but it's better I just show you..." as I said that I made my way to the bathroom, he got the hint and followed me.

"This is what I meant," I undressed, and took off all the bandages showing him the hundreds of gashes, dark bruises, and whip marks that were covering me. "I would've told you, but she threatened to hurt the kids if I told anyone. I was just adopted, so I can't care for them anymore, so I want to make sure you get them to someone who can."

"Kid..." Shota looked at my with sympathy.
"I'm fine Shota, this is nothing compared to my father, just promise me you'll save them, and soon," nothing I said was technically a lie, I didn't tell him about the shock collar, so it's not included in the 'this' I spoke of.

"I promise, but kid, you need to go to a hospital," he's so worried for no reason, these will barely leave scars.
"I'm fine Shota, this is nothing, I swear it, plus the person who adopted me is expecting me here later, so I can't," I was being blunt, I had finished putting my clothes back on, and I made my way to the door. "Just save those kids," that was the last thing said before I walked out, leaving him there.

~time skip, end of his shift~

Carina decided to help me close today, which I'm grateful for, since it's been quite busy. Just after we closed I heard the bell on the door ring. "Sorry, we just clos-" I saw it was Grey, and figured he was just here to get me.
"Hello Izu~," I hate how he says that, "is Ms.Carina here? I have to tell her something!" He's too cheerful...

"Yes sir... I'll go get her," I quickly got her, and walked back (what could he need to tell her?)

"Hello Ms.Carina! I just wanted to let you know that Izuku here won't be in for the next two weeks, it's his birthday and I have some special plans for him! Oh, I adopted him by the way, I wanted to make sure he had a good home, and I know I can give him that!" He grabbed me by the waist as he said that, I tensed immediately to the touch. (There's something wrong with him)

His Cheshire smile only seemed to be obviously fake to me, because Carina looked overjoyed. "Oh that's wonderful! I'm sure having a familiar face will be nice, and I didn't know tomorrow was his birthday!! I'll have to get a cake ready for when he's back!" There's a reason I didn't tell her, I don't like celebrating the day my mom died...

"Of course! Im sure he'll love that! Now let's go Izuku, time to see your new home," he squeezed my waist as he pulled me out the door, he didn't let go until he had opened my door and had me get in. "Let's go home now, my Izu~."

To say I was worried would be an understatement.