A child Part 2
Well shit.
Midoriya Izuku was not ready to be any sort of father or older brother figure for anyone. So what does he do when he suddenly has to take care of a random little girl he just rescued?
Stare at her and contemplate where his life went wrong of course! Isn't that what you're supposed to do with children? Speaking of children, the little girl was still holding onto Izuku like if she let go he would disappear.
"Hey, I don't think I ever asked you your name kiddo." Izuku's heart cracked a little at the sight of her teary eyes as she looked up at him.
"E-Eri. My n-name's Eri." he offered a warm smile and began to pry her off of his side. Damn she was light for a kid her age, too light.
"Well, Eri, let's see what we can do about your outfit. Then, if you want, you can take a shower and we can watch a movie okay?" she nodded and Izuku set her down on the floor.
"Let's see...I'll get you one of my shirts to change into so you have clean clothes once you're out of the shower alright?" her eyes widened, at what Izuku had no idea, but his best guess was she wasn't used to people showing her genuine kindness.
"The showers just behind that door there, I'll be right out here so just call if you need me." he gestured to said bathroom and she hesitated for a moment.
"It's okay Eri, I won't let anyone get you....do you want me to stand outside the door?" she gave an embarrassed nod. "Alright kiddo, let me get you something warm to change into and I'll come to turn it on for you" Izuku went to grab one of his clean hoodies and a pair of gym shorts. They would both be giant on her but they would be the most comfortable.
Letting Eri grab his hand he went into his small bathroom and turned on the shower. "Okay kiddo, the green bottle has shampoo in it and the black bottle has conditioner. I will be right outside the door and your clothes are right here on the toilet." once he got a nod he ruffled her hair the tiniest bit, not entirely sure if she was okay with it, before withdrawing and closing the bathroom door behind him.
"What. the. shit. am I supposed to do with a child?" he mumbled, his hands raking through his hair. "Oh! I know! I can call Kiko-sama and ask her how to take care of a little girl!" so, that's exactly what's did. The squeal that came from Kiko-sama when Izuku admitted to having a new roommate could rival one of Present Mic's attacks.
"Awh! I can't wait to meet her! How about we all go to the mall tomorrow to get her some clothes and things! You won't have to worry about a thing, I'll pay for it all!"Izuku spluttered his protests but Kiko wouldn't have any of it and insisted that it was no problem.
"How did I score such an amazing boss?"
"How did I score such an amazing assistant? Seriously my office was a mess before you came." She laughed in return. He had only been working for her for a short time but she wouldn't stop commenting about how much more organized her office was.
"Meet you around ten tomorrow?" a hum of conformation came from the other end and Izuku said his goodbyes as soon as they had a time and a meeting place. Well, that went better than expected.
Surveying his tiny studio apartment his eyes froze on his cork board wall. Oh, right. He's a vigilante. Not exactly the best role model for a child. Wait, where'd that come from? Was he seriously thinking about keeping her around? With a drawn out sigh he massaged his temples, this was happening way too fast for his liking.
He'll have to skip patrol for a couple of nights to get Eri settled in. Even then she might be too scared to stay by herself for so long, and how would he explain the wall exactly? He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear Eri finish up her shower and exit the bathroom.
"Mister?" her voice, which came out of nowhere in Izuku's opinion, called out. "I-I need to be bandaged back up."
Sure enough, when Izuku went to look he found a couple of newly scabbed over cuts on her arm. How did those happen he wondered briefly to himself before nodding a her request.
"Alright, let me get my first aid kit and we'll get you all fixed up." He wandered back to his kitchenette and dug through the cabinets. He kept a couple of first aid kits in his kitchenette because it was much easier to patch himself up in there.
"They're ugly aren't they." Eri's words were barely mumbled loud enough for him to hear which caused Izuku to look back at her in confusion.
"Hm? What do you mean?" she looked at him, her head tilted.
"My scars. They're ugly aren't they." She looked so certain that Izuku would agree it was heartbreaking. He hadn't even really focused on her scars, too worried about the scabs to notice the already healed wounds.
"Of course not kid. I've got some nasty scars as well so it wouldn't be fair to call yours ugly." He finally found the kit and pulled it out of it place. He started to make his way back over to her.
"Really?" Her eyes widened in surprise at his statement. "Can I, um, see them?" Maybe it was the way she ducked her head out of embarrassment, or the way she fidgeted like Izuku used to when he was younger that made up his mind.
"Promise not to ask too many questions okay?" Once she nodded Izuku slipped off his shirts to reveal his very scarred chest and arms. Eri gasped in surprise. Izuku hummed and rolled up her sleeve to start wrapping her arm.
His body was quite the sight with everything ranging from stab scars, hand prints left by Shigaraki, deep gashes that probably could've led to him bleeding out if that hadn't wanted him alive, and little nicks from smaller things.
"What do you want to watch? We can watch whatever movie you want." Eri stared at her newly bandaged arm for a while as Izuku moved onto her other arm to give it the same treatment.
"Can we watch the little mermaid?"
"Ooh, you like those American classics hmm?" Izuku couldn't even remember the last time he had seen the little mermaid, "Who's your favorite character?"
"Flounder! He's funny!" Eri was almost beaming. She wasn't smiling but instead her eyes her features had just lit up with joy. If she was any other kid she probably would've giggled.
"You think so? Well I like Sebastian the most, his musical numbers are my favorites." Izuku whispered as he started on her legs. The only thing he really remembered from the film was the song 'Under the Sea'.
"Hey Mister, what am I supposed to call you?" She suddenly asked as he finished up her first leg.
"Well that depends, are you planning on staying with me or do you want me to hand you over to the pro heroes?"
Eri looked hurt he would even consider handing her over to the pros. "I wanna stay with you!"
A soft smile graced Izuku's features. "Well then you can call me Izu, but not in public okay? Nobody can know my real name." When his tone suddenly turned serious Eri made sure to remember his words so she wouldn't slip up. She didn't want to disappoint him after all.
"Okay Izu-nii"
Izuku's world seemed to stop. He was speechless. This little girl he barely knew already gave him the title of older brother. It's official, he would die for this kid. Or maybe die because of this kid.
"Do you want something to eat kid? I've only really got ramen tonight but tommorow we'll have a better dinner." He offered up, if he was going be her big brother he would have to get more serious about meals.
Once he got a confirmation from Eri he made some instant ramen for the both of them. Humming as he twirled through his small kitchenette Eri watched with her newly bandaged knees drawn to her chest.
When the ramen was finished he gave her her cup and set his on the tiny coffee table he had in his possession. He ducked in the bathroom to grab his hair brush, the poor girls hair was a mess.
"You mind if I do your hair kid?" She shook her head and Izuku got to work after starting the movie on his computer.
That's how Eri spent her first night in the apartment of Midoriya Izuku. Watching classic American cartoons and getting her hair played with. They both fell asleep in each other's arms that night. Izuku providing a stable comfort for the scared child.