That morning, when Shouta had stepped into Izuku's hospital room, he did not expect to see Kizu, Black Wolf's wolf, sitting across the boy's lap and Hatsume Mei sitting beside the boy's bed. Izuku looked up at him from his conversation with Hatsume as he entered and smirked. That brat.
Not knowing how to start the conversation, Shouta stood there awkwardly, glancing from Kizu to Izuku to Hatsume, then back to Kizu.
"Not going to say anything old man?" Izuku teased. He heard Hatsume snicker beside the greenette, not even trying to hide it.
Shouta huffed in slight annoyance and fondness in lieu of responding.
"Awwwee are you scared of lil ol' Kizu?" Izuku's tone was condescending but playful.
Kizu looked up at the call of her name and Shouta noticed the look of thankfulness and relaxation in her eyes. It was like she knew something about Shouta that he didn't.
"No. I am not scared of Kizu." Shouta grumbled, making his way to a chair on the side of the bed closest to the door. Izuku watched him with an emotion in his eyes that Shouta couldn't decipher.
"Hold out your hand. Let her sniff you. Granted she doesn't really need to because she already knows you and she trusts you to some extent." Izuku explained.
Shouta did as told and instantly Kizu nudged his hand. He started scratching between her ears, feeling the soft fur brushing against his fingers. It feels as though he's running his fingers through a cloud.
"Well this isn't how my identity reveal was supposed to go." The kid laughed awkwardly, absentmindedly running his own hands through fur. Hatsume sent a glance to the other before meeting Shouta's eyes.
"So how did you think it was going to go?" Shouta asked, a little bit curious.
"I don't know but I know for sure it wasn't going to be during a villain attack." He rubbed the back of his neck and Hatsume rolled her eyes fondly. "Well I guess I'll answer some questions you have. However, I reserve the right to deny answering questions that are too personal."
Shouta nodded. The terms sounded fair and all Shouta really wants to know is what the kid's quirk is and why he isn't in the hero course. He supposes he'll start with the former.
"Ok, um I really only have two questions because I trust you'll tell me more information in your own time." Izuku nodded so Shouta took that as confirmation to continue, "First I want to know your quirk and how it works because the police force and all the Underground Heroes you've run into think it has something to do with knives."
Izuku giggled and Hatsume smirked. They both loved testing out the more complex parts of his quirk after all and to think they confused the whole Police and Underground Hero network was a feat in and of itself.
"I guess you could say it's related to knives but really it's more of a mix of a transformation quirk and accumulation quirk I guess you could say. See I'm able to summon things to me. Whether it be a grain of sandㄧ" he held out his hand, palm up and grains of sand endlessly appeared and flowed onto the hospital bed, "ㄧor it be a mythical beingㄧ" he motioned towards Kizu, "I can summon it. So yes I guess you could say knives are a part of my quirk. I can summon deities as well, but that takes a lot of energy so I only do it when I'm stuck and there's no other choice. So to sum it all up, anything with matter, whether organic or not, I am able to summon. There's a lot of complex details that I don't have the energy to go into right now though."
Shouta nodded, trying to wrap his head around all the information. It was a lot to take in, and it would take a while, but he would come to terms that such a powerful quirk existed. He looked over at Hatsume and noticed the look of excitement on her face. He assumed she already knew about the greenette's quirk and was just excited to test it out.
"Ok. That's going to take a little while to wrap my head around, but I'm curious; why didn't you join the hero course with a quirk like yours?" Shouta tried easing into the question, but he wasn't one with words so it came out a little blunt.
"I manifested late," Izuku looked down at Kizu when the wolf nudged his cheek. "My mo- Inko wasn't very nice about the fact that her son was quirkless. And before you ask; she doesn't know I have a quirk, because her whole attitude would take a 180 the moment she learned I do, in fact, have a quirk, and a powerful one at that."
Shouta took note of the way the kid referred to his mother by her given name and the way Hatsume looked at Izuku like it pained her to hear this. Before he could ask if the kid was ok at home, Izuku continued.
"I wanted to be a hero when I was younger. I don't think it's for me anymore. Not because of my quirk or previous lack thereof, but because I feel more confident knowing that just because I have this powerful quirk, I'm choosing to be in a course that I, myself chose. And the support course makes me happy." He turned to Shouta with the most manic look in his eyes. "I get to blow stuff up for science!"
"SCIENCE!" Hatsume shouted in excitement, pumping her fist in the air and forgetting they were in the hospital. Izuku laughed and Shouta looked on fondly. He finally found his kid. And oh Kami wasn't that something. He could finally bring his son home to their apartment with his husband.
Kizu glanced up at Izuku and he looked down at her gratefully. She was so proud of him for telling someone other than Aki-san or Mei. He needed someone other than her, Bedelia or the other mythical beings to fully understand his situation. And the human he chose himself had the kindest soul she had ever seen. It made her feel happy. Yes Shouta had his own bits of hatred in his soul, every human did, but that hatred was always directed at those who deserved it. Never at her pup.
Her pup would be safe with Shouta and she felt a sense of sadness wash over her. Izuku didn't need her protection anymore, he hasn't for a while, but she would always be here for her pup. It was a mother's duty to watch over their pups after all. No matter how old they got or if they left the den. Izuku would always be her pup in her eyes.
Shouta nodded as Izuku finished his rant. Kizu was looking at him in the eyes and it felt like she could see his soul. It wasn't a pleasant feeling to have, but he couldn't just tell the sentient wolf to stop. He had a feeling at what she was looking for and realized that Kizu (and most likely the phoenix that had saved him) had been the only ones to truly look after the boy. He wondered if there were other sentient beings the kid summoned or other people that looked after him like Kizu did. He knew it was too sudden to touch on the topic, but he felt like if he didn't do it now, he wouldn't get another chance.
"So um kid...I got an offer for you. You don't have to accept it so don't feel obligated to, but umㄧ" Shouta mindlessly ran his fingers through Kizu's tail fur. "If you don't have a place to stay, you can come live with me and Hizashi - Present Mic."
Izuku looked at Shouta, and the man felt anxious.
"I do have a place to stayㄧ" Shouta held back the urge to slump in his chair in disappointment. "ㄧit's not a permanent place though. I've been staying with MeiMei and her mom for the past year or so, give or take a few months. But they can't adopt me because they aren't able to. So if it's not a bother, I'd really appreciate being able to live with you and Hizashi."
Izuku's smile lit up the already bright room. Mei was ecstatic that Izuku had most likely found a permanent place to stay and a potential family. Kizu nudged Izuku's hand and they seemed to have a conversation with their eyes. Mei couldn't wait until they could get back to school and test more things with Izuku's quirk. Like what if he could summon things from comic books! Or things that don't exactly exist! Kizu doesn't count, she's basically a multicolored and sentient dire wolf in Mei's eyes. And maybe she is. Oh! Then Izuku could bring back extinct species!
Mei was getting excited. She had so much planned for her friend when he was discharged.