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It’s during a class outing that Izuku meets her.
Mina suggested a trip to the pop-up market that had been set up just in time for fall. She said it was a chance to distract everyone from the upcoming test Aizawa-sensei’s been hinting at, and it worked miraculously. Izuku doesn’t think he’s seen Kaminari so relieved in weeks.
Ochako grabs Izuku’s hand with a bright smile. “I heard there’s a live band getting set up towards the centre of the market,” She says. “Let’s watch them play a song before it gets too crowded!”
“Alright!” Izuku agrees, grinning. He’s been smiling all afternoon. His cheeks hurt, but he wouldn’t trade for the world. Ochako somehow brightens further and starts dragging him towards the band.
Izuku stumbles at the sudden pull, and he bumps into a young girl in his haste to correct his footing. The girl yelps, falling to her knees. Ochako doesn’t seem to have noticed, running off to see the band without him. Izuku shakes his head fondly at her excitement, then he leans forward to help the girl get back on her feet, muttering apologies.
“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, are you alright?” He asks. The girl’s standing again, but she’s frozen in place, head tilted to the ground. He notices with a start that she’s staring at his shoes.
Her hands ball into fists at her sides, shaking. “Are-” She whispers, barely audible over the sound of the band testing their instruments. “Are you like me?”
Izuku knows exactly what she’s talking about, and in an instant, he’s staring at her shoes with a stolen breath.
Red and clunky, with black laces. “I-” Time freezes for a moment.
Izuku has met a total of four quirkless people in his entire life. One was Natsuo, Shouto’s older brother, who he’d met at the family dinner he was invited to recently. They shared a couple of words that were mostly pleasantries, but Izuku saw when all of the pieces fell into place in Natsuo’s brain as the white-haired man stared at Izuku’s high tops. The other three were strangers, people that he just happened to be staring at the shoes of when they passed each other. Those people were nice, all elderly.
This girl would make five.
“I guess I am,” Izuku whispers back just as quietly. It feels like speaking any louder would crack the thin glass bubble surrounding them.
“Oh.” She sounds speechless. Izuku feels speechless. “I’m Mizuki,” She says. “I’m ten.”
“Izuku. I’m sixteen.”
She smiles a little tentatively at that. Izuku notices her missing front tooth, making her look a lot younger than she was. He wonders how badly she had to have been treated up until now to make her so relieved at the idea of meeting Izuku.
“So, Mizuki-chan,” He says, a million questions running through his head. “Are you alright? I bumped into you pretty hard.”
“I’m okay,” She replies. “I’m lost.”
He figured. “Do you want help looking for a guardian?”
Mizuki gets wide-eyed and she shoves herself against Izuku’s side. “Please don’t,” She warbles. “I don’t want to go back.”
“Okay,” Izuku says, mostly to himself. That confirms one of his fears, that she’s not safe. “Can I carry you?”
Mizuki peeks up at him through her choppy red bangs, big pink eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I’m too big.”
Izuku huffs. “I’ve carried a man as big as All Might, Mizuki-chan. You’re not too big.” Mizuki furrows her brows.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did! I have photo evidence!” Mizuki giggles wetly at Izuku’s affronted tone. “I pulled him with a big rope while he sat on top of a fridge.”
“What?!” She shrieks. “No, you didn’t! You’re not strong enough to do that!”
Izuku grabs her under the armpits, filing the terrified gasp and subsequent flinch away for later, and he lifts her over his head like she’s the weight of a grape. In a way, she is. Mizuki is all gangly limbs and too big clothes. Her whole body is drowned in the yellow fabric of her sweater.
“See?” Izuku comments with a smug grin, bringing her back down to a more comfortable hold in his arms. “I could pick up All Might easily.” Mizuki clings to the back of his blue jacket, shaking a little.
“That was…” She whispers against his shirt collar. “...awesome. Can you teach me how to do that?”
Izuku laughs. “Maybe. It’ll take a lot of practice. Is that something you’re ready for?”
Mizuki nods rapidly. “Please?”
“Sure, Mizuki-chan.”
Mizuki pulls back from hiding under his chin to give him a watery smile, showing off her missing teeth. “Thank you, Izuku-san!” She cheers. It’s the loudest she’s been so far. Izuku cheers along with her.
—
Eventually, Izuku convinces her to let him buy her cotton candy and take her to watch the band. She picks pink, the same shade as her eyes, and as she nibbles at the sugar, Izuku gets distracted by a booth selling keychains and stickers.
“Mom would love this one…” He mumbles to himself, holding the little cake-shaped trinket in his hands. “What do you think, Mizuki-chan?” Mizuki shifts in his arms to look at it.
“It’s a chocolate cake.” She replies simply.
Izuku flashes her a little smile. “Mom’s favourite flavour. Do you think I should get it for her?”
Mizuki shrugs the best she can. “I don’t like chocolate.”
“What?” Izuku yelps. “Why not? Chocolate is the best!”
Mizuki sticks her tongue out and wrinkles her nose. “It’s yucky.”
Before Izuku can defend the best cake flavour in existence, the booth owner steps over to greet them. His large, dusty-yellow fox ears flick sharply.
“Hey there,” He announces. “You see anything in particular you like?”
Izuku dangles the cake trinket between his fingers. “I like this one, but I have to convince her that chocolate tastes good before I get it.”
“It doesn’t taste good, though,” Mizuki mumbles. “It’s gross.”
The booth owner fakes a pained face, clutching at his shirt dramatically. “How could you say something like that, kid? Chocolate is my favourite flavour!”
Izuku and the booth owner laugh at Mizuki’s grossed-out face. They debate it for a minute longer, and then Izuku finally asks, “How much is the trinket?”
He purchases it without trouble, and as they step away to head toward the band, the booth owner says, “Hey, kiddo, even if you don’t like chocolate, you should hear your big brother out, okay? He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.” He winks, and then his attention is taken by a new customer.
Mizuki and Izuku share a mischievous smile at the words ‘big brother’. “I don’t have any siblings,” She says conspiratorially.
Izuku laughs. “Neither do I. Looks like we’ll have to be siblings now, huh, Mizuki-chan?”
“Okay, Izuku-nii.” The honorific sends a warm feeling throughout Izuku’s chest. He wishes he had met a nii-san who helped him when he was Mizuki’s age.
—
The band is loud, but the music they play is really nice. Mizuki’s been covering her ears his her hands the whole time, but she hasn’t stopped smiling since they started playing. “What type of music is this, Izuku-nii?” She half-yells over the sound of the drums.
“I have no clue!” Izuku replies. “But I know who to ask. Let me know if you see a girl with short purple hair and cords sticking out of her ears.” Mizuki nods sharply and turns towards the crowd to look for Jirou, Izuku following her lead shortly after.
A hand lands on his shoulder. Izuku jumps, making Mizuki yelp in surprise. He spins around to see who touched him and is met with Shinsou’s raised eyebrow and lazy grin.
“Did I scare you?” He comments, looking way too smug for Izuku’s liking.
Izuku shrugs, ignoring how that earns him a sharp bark of laughter. “So,” Shinsou says. “Who’s the kid?”
“Shinsou, this is Mizuki. Mizuki-chan, this is my friend Shinsou-kun.” Mizuki peeks at Shinsou through her bangs, something Izuku is finding out that she does a lot. She waves meekly at him.
Shinsou waves back lazily. “Hey, Mizuki.” He gives Izuku a look. “Midoriya, you do remember the last time you found a lost kid you accidentally started a raid to overturn a yakuza, right?”
Izuku purses his lips in annoyance as Mizuki shrieks. “You did what?!” She hollers.
“It was an accident, really,” He says. Neither Mizuki nor Shinsou look impressed. “Oh, Shinsou, I was wondering,” Izuku quickly changes the subject. “Do you know the genre of the music this band is playing?”
“Folk rock,” Is Shinsou’s quick reply. “I don’t listen to it, but it’s pretty easy to pick out. Why?”
“Mizuki-chan was wondering, is all.”
Shinsou hums, turning to his phone to text someone. “Anyways, I’m here to get you because you haven’t answered your phone in twenty minutes and everyone’s freaking out thinking you died or something.”
Izuku swallows thickly. “My phone died.”
“I am well aware,” Shinsou replies. “And that’s what I told everyone, too, but for some reason, they’re all convinced you actually prepare for these sorts of things.”
“What sorts of things?” Mizuki asks.
Shinsou clicks his tongue. “Getting lost, running into criminals, finding lost children, et cetera. Midoriya here is terrible at keeping his phone charged when he leaves the dorms.”
“Dorms? Do you go to school together?”
“Yeah, we’re in the same class.” Shinsou says right as Izuku nods an affirmative. Shinsou spins on his heels and starts walking towards the entrance of the market. “You coming?” He asks.
“Right!” Izuku responds. His class was worried about him. He hopes nobody was too stressed out by his disappearance. Mizuki doesn’t let go of his jacket the entire walk back. She asks a couple of questions to Shinsou (“Why is your hair floating like that?” “What’s your favourite colour?” “Do you like chocolate cake?”) which he thankfully answers, but the trip is otherwise silent.
“Oh, there they are!” Ojiro shouts once they make eye contact. The rest of the class’s heads shoot up at the sound, and Ochako immediately rushes forward to trap Izuku in a hug.
“I’m so sorry, Deku-kun!” She wails. “I totally let go of you and lost you in the crowd! I thought you got hurt or something!”
“I’m okay!” Izuku reassures her, smiling. “I just got a little caught up with something, is all.”
“Oh no,” Sero blurts. “It’s never good when you say that.”
Kaminari and Mina nod in agreement.
Izuku snorts. “Nothing bad, I promise. I just ran into this girl and we got a little distracted. Everyone, this is Mizuki-chan!”
“Hello, Mizuki-chan!” The class shouts in tandem.
Iida marches up to Mizuki with a stern look. “Hello, Mizuki-chan,” He says, bowing sharply. Mizuki giggles at his mannerisms. “I am Iida Tenya of class 1-A at U.A Academy! It’s a pleasure to meet you, although I am wondering where your parents are!”
Mizuki cringes at the mention of parents. Izuku lowers her to the ground, silently grateful for the break on his arms. “Hey, Mizuki-chan,” He says, getting her attention. “Satou-kun over there is a baker. You should go tell him about your dislike of chocolate cake. I think he might change your mind.”
Mizuki frowns but still nervously makes her way over to Satou, argument on the tip of her tongue. Izuku turns to Iida, lowering his voice.
“I think Mizuki-chan is being abused by her guardians. We should involve Aizawa-sensei in this.”
Iida nods sharply and takes his phone out, presumably to contact Aizawa. Izuku checks in with Shouto, Aoyama, and Momo, who were all worried about him, and then joins Mizuki, who’s angrily defending her opinion from Satou’s relentless arguments.
“No, it’s really bad! I don’t like it!” She howls. “Izu-nii, tell him why I don’t like it!”
If the rest of the class notices the nickname, they don’t comment on it, but it still brings a warm smile to Izuku’s face. He laughs, gathering Mizuki into his arms again. “I don’t know, Mizuki-chan,” He says. “I really like chocolate cake.”
---
ART!!! by me!!! lmk if something is messed up and you can't see it, I've never added art to a fic before :D