The Light Within The Dark

3- Finding Refuge

Izuku slowly opened his eyes and rolled to the side to look at the small clock that sat on the nightstand. It read 6:27. When he comprehended the time he shot up and started to quickly get ready as he cursed himself for not setting his usual alarm for 5. He had no clue what the rules of this house were, so he decided he would stick to his usual routine. He fixed his hair best he could without a mirror, hoping that he would look presentable enough. His heart pounded with anxiety at any punishment he might receive for being late, but nonetheless, he headed out the bedroom door. The house was dark and still, which relieved him.

He entered the living area and decided on an empty spot on the wall opposite the couch. He stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets and waited like he had done many times before. Patiently, he stood there until Aizawa finally came out at around 8:40. "The hell are you doing?" He asked with genuine confusion. "Waiting." Izuku said with his eyes fixed in front of him. "For?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you need me for." He shrugged. "Well, I don't know what the hell this is, but I don't need anything from you. You can go back to bed." Aizawa reassured. The teen finally met his eyes. He was shocked. "You- you don't need anything from me?" He cocked his head. "Why in the world would I need something from a 14 year old kid?" Aizawa retaliated. "I don't know. There's gotta be something. I'm usually used as a punching bag, I can also make coffee, or I can just stand here and listen to orders." Izuku rambled on. Aizawa scrunched his face up in disgust at the things the League made this boy do. He didn't know how to respond. He decided the best course of action would be to just drop the topic.

"Well, since you're up... I'll make some breakfast." Aizawa sighed for no particular reason and started towards the kitchen. "I can make it for you." Izuku took a step away from his position against the wall. "There's no need for that. Just sit down at the table." Without another word, Izuku complied and took a seat at one of the 4 wooden chairs. "You can relax, kid. There's no need to be so uptight." The man said as he opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs. Izuku didn't respond and kept his eyes glued to the table. "Could I ask you something?" Aizawa tried to spark a conversation. "Sure." Izuku said as he played with his hands. "What was your role in the League?" Aizawa asked as he cracked an egg onto a pan. "Whatever they told me to. They ran experiments, made me do chores, and made me be a decoy, hence how I got caught. If I refused to do something Master would beat the shit out of me, so I did basically everything. Not that I mind." He rattled off. Aizawa flipped the egg in the pan and turned to look at the boy. "One more question. Why are you acting so different compared to how you were in the interrogation room?" He looked at Izuku's curly green hair. He didn't want to dig too deep, but he was still curious. "I don't know the rules here. I'm kind of winging it so I won't get my ass beat." Izuku admitted. The glare the hero gave him dug into his skull, but he ignored it. "Well, the rules here are way different than the League's. You can do basically anything just as long as you don't hurt anyone or make a big mess. Before you ask, no, you do not have to wake up early just to stand in the living room and wait for me to get up. Sleep in, be a kid." Aizawa reassured as he dumped four egg semi-circles onto four different plates.

Wait, why are there four? I thought it was only me, Eraserhead, and Present Mic?

"Zashi! Hitoshi! Breakfast!" Aizawa yelled across the house. Soon after, a tired looking purple haired boy walked in. He looked around the same age as Izuku, but he was much taller. The boy, who Izuku assumed was Hitoshi, yawned and sat down next to Izuku. He turned and looked the freckled boy up and down. "Who are you?" He said, tiredness still evident in his voice. "That's Izuku. He'll be living with us from now on. He's part of a new Villain Rehabilitation program Nezu is starting." Aizawa informed as he placed a plate in front of the two boys. Hitoshi picked up his fork and cut into his omelet. "Really?" He shoved the piece in his mouth. "You look my age, and you're a villain?" Hitoshi noted as he stuffed another piece into his mouth. Izuku looked down at his omelet. He stared at the semi-circle like glaring at it would take away the embarrassment he felt. "Go ahead, Izuku. Eat." Aizawa said as he leaned out into the hallway looking for Hizashi. "What is this?" Izuku asked as he poked his food with his fork. "You seriously don't know what an omelet is?" Hitoshi asked. Izuku sunk deeper into himself and shook his head. "Well, it's like a flattened egg with seasonings and cheese. You'll like it. Try some." The purple haired boy assured. Izuku took up his fork and cut the corner off, and hesitantly put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, and once he swallowed, he immediately went in for more. Hitoshi laughed. "See, I told you you'd like it." Izuku decided right then that he liked Hitoshi. Hitoshi rambled on about random things and slowly pulled Izuku out of his shell. Eventually, Hizashi and Aizawa joined them at the table. Izuku liked this. It felt like the family that he desperately wished he had.

"So, Izuku. Do you know who your parents are? Maybe we can get you back to them. Or, at the very least, you can visit them." Aizawa chimed in at an awkward silent moment. At his remark, Izuku froze and dropped his fork on his plate. He clutched his shirt in his fists and stared at his lap as his breathing quickened. "Please don't take me back to her." He choked out. His leg bounced rapidly due to the anxiety that the topic brought up. Aizawa's eyes softened. He had unknowingly touched a nerve. He set his fork down and leaned closer to the boy. "Izuku, nobody is going to make you talk to her, but it couldn't hurt to try." Nezu clearly hadn't shown him the file, or he would've known what his mother had done. "But it can hurt. It has hurt." Izuku whispered. "What do you mean?" Aizawa pushed. Without a response, Izuku lifted up his shirt, revealing several scars. Some of them had been from Shigaraki, but most were from his mom. They ranged from burns to old stab wounds. "Alright, you don't have to see her, but about your dad? I'm sure he's worried." Aizawa grasped for possibilities. It hurt him to see a boy so close in age to his son having experienced this much pain. "I can't." He stammered. Tears threatened to leave his green eyes. "Dad died when I was five." He whispered. "The same day that mom sold me to the League." His voice cracked. His fists gripped his shirt so hard that his knuckles turned white. A tear fell from his eyes as he tried to collect himself desperately. "I- I don't remember their names or what they looked like." He sniffled as he forcefully stopped the tears. "It's alright. You don't have to worry. We're your family now." Hizashi assured.

A family? One that won't punish me if I break down or mess up. Do I really deserve this being the awful person I am?

"Let's get off that topic. What else could we talk about?" Hizashi said as he tried to lighten the mood. "Oh, I forgot to mention this. Izuku, you and Hitoshi here have really similar quirks." Aizawa tried to assist his husband in redirecting the conversation. "Wait, really?" Hitoshi and Izuku said at the same time. "You have a manipulation quirk, too?" The purple hair teen asked excitedly. "I do." Izuku smiled weakly as he started to forget the previous conversation. "What's yours?" Hitoshi pried. Neither of the two men had seen him that excited for something before. Hitoshi has always hated his quirk. He and other kids thought it was villainous, so he refrained from talking about it. Now he has someone who is just like him in terms of quirk. "Mine's called Hands of Fate. If I get close enough to a person, I can move them around like a puppet. But it depends on my physical and mental state as well as the distance. " Izuku smiled at the taller boy. Hitoshi smiled back. "Mine's, almost the same! Mine's called Brainwashing. If I ask someone a direct question and they respond, I can control them. Even the drawbacks are pretty similar. That's so cool!" Izuku flashed him another genuine smile. "Y'know, Izuku. I think we're going to get along pretty well."

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Yippie, another chapter! Stray Kids fueled me to keep writing, so here we are. Hope you enjoy it so far.