Just a quick note. This is a side fic. Don't expect regular updates or even a lot of updates. It's just something I do for fun.

This chapter is much, much longer than I intended it to be. All the other chapters will probably be much shorter.

Don't ask for updates, you'll get them when you get them.

To say Izuku was depressed, wouldn't be fully true.

Ever since All Might crushed his dreams, he'd been in an emotionless haze. Going through the day like an automated robot.

However, as time went on he began to do less and less. First, it started with minor things, he stopped taking care of his hair completely, letting it grow longer and disheveled. Then he started putting on the same ruffled up uniform over and over again.

And then he stopped going to school completely. And almost stopped leaving the house entirely. Rarely even leaving him room.

Inko didn't force him to go. She knew something was wrong with her son and she wanted to help him rather than forcing him back out into the world and pretending like everything was fine.

Unfortunately, work had other ideas. She had been promoted recently, and her new job required her to travel out of the country.

Of course, she didn't want to but she had already accepted the job prior to Izuku's breakdown and if she backed out now she risked losing her job.

All she could do was pack her bags and ask Mitsuki to check up on Izuku and send him money to live on.

So now, Izuku was alone. Aimless and without purpose.

He sat alone in his living room. Not really feeling like staying in his All Might covered bedroom at the moment, he flipped through the T.V. channels.

"Breaking News All Might-"

"New Hero-"

"Edgeshot-"

"Mt-"

His face was twisted in annoyance. For once he just didn't want to hear about heroes.

All his life he had dreamed of being a hero. All his life that was the only thing he had ever wanted!

Now...without that dream...he had nothing. Nothing to strive towards, nothing to hope for. Nothing to live for. And still, all he could hear about all he could see was heroes.

He turned off the T.V. and put his head in his hands.

"What do I do now?" Izuku asked himself.

A few moments later, there was a loud knocking on his door.

And then another. And another.

It quickly became a panicked, rapid knocking, as someone's fist pounded on his door.

Curious, Izuku ran to his door and looked through the peephole.

Outside was a very scared little girl.

Izuku immediately opened the door.

The girl looked at him, surprised at first that he opened the door. But that surprise quickly turned into desperation.

"Please! Don't let them get me!" She begged.

Without another word, Izuku ushered her inside and closed the door.

"What's going on? Who's after you?" Izuku asked her.

"Bad men! Villains!" The girl cried. "We have to hide!"

BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Suddenly there was a louder, much louder knocking on his door, from what Izuku could only assume was the villain's chasing this girl.

Izuku quickly looked through the peephole and saw the shadiest looking man he had ever seen. Now while Izuku wasn't one to judge someone for their appearance, if this man was innocent the plague mask wasn't exactly projecting that message.

Immediately Izuku went in high alert mode. Ok, the lights are off. Maybe I can pretend like I'm not home. I need to move quickly and quietly.

With that Izuku grabbed the girl, who was startled by this action but didn't protest, and moved as quickly as he could without making a sound.

He went into his room and locked the door. As he looked around for places he could hide.

If I go in the closet they'll definitely find us! I need something else! Izuku looked around his room until his eyes landed on his hamper. It was overflowing with dirty laundry, as Izuku hasn't really been in the mood to do...anything, much less laundry. That's it!

Izuku set the girl down next to the hamper. "Ok. I'm going to dump these clothes on you so they can't see you. It's going to smell gross but hopefully, that just makes them more likely to just look over it. I promise everything is going to be alright. Just don't make any noise, and don't move."

CRACK!

Izuku and the girl both jumped as they heard the front door get broken down.

The girl nodded quickly, and Izuku wasted no time pushing the hamper over, letting the clothes fall all over her and removing her from sight.

They probably won't do a complete search. They should know the neighbors will report them breaking the door, and with that many clothes, it would take them too much time to search just that one pile. Izuku reassured himself, before realizing something. Wait...what about me.

Izuku could hear the men walking through his house, and started sweating bullets. If they know that I know about them breaking into my house they may try to silence the witness! I could pretend to be asleep! But wait, almost any sleeping person would wake up if they're door was broken down, they might know I'm faking!

Izuku looked around his room, hoping to find something to help him when his eyes landed on his headphones and his phone. And Izuku got an idea. Actually two ideas.

First, he grabbed his phone and turned on the record-setting. Making sure it would record anything that happened in front of it.

Then he swiftly hid it in his bookbag, putting it in the front pocket that was facing the room. This way it wouldn't seem strange.

Then, he quickly grabbed the headphones and put them on his head, before quietly laying down on the bed, pulling the covers over himself, and closing his eyes.

It was terrifying. Knowing that villains were inside his home. He faintly heard them in the living room, but couldn't make out any of what they were saying.

After about two minutes he started hearing footsteps coming towards his room.

They didn't go into his room immediately, probably searching the bathroom and his mother's room first, but after a while, he heard them jiggle the doorknob.

When the door didn't open, the villains immediately broke it down.

Izuku had to try his hardest not to flinch, while also maintaining regular breathing.

He heard the villain's come in. After presumably looking around for a few seconds, they started talking.

"Damn it she's not here!" Said one of them.

"Quite. We're lucky that the kid's asleep otherwise we'd have to cover up a murder. Probably a few." Said one of them. His voice was muffled(More muffled than the other guys that were seeing as Izuku was wearing headphones) so Izuku assumed this was the masked villain.

"Nah, I've seen those headphones. He ain't gonna hear shit!" One of them said.

"Then maybe, he won't hear you scream." The masked villain threatened.

"Uh, boss?" One of the other villains gulped.

"You two had one job. Keep her from escaping." The masked villain was angry. Izuku could imagine the fear running through the two lackeys. Izuku himself had to use all his will power to keep up his fake sleeping.

"Without that girl, the Yakuza will never rise back into their former glory!" The masked villain continued.

Izuku flinched a bit, but luckily they didn't notice. These guys are Yakuza!?

"You two lost. My property." The masked villain growled. "The only reason you two are still alive is because killing you here would be an inconvenience. We're going to leave. Put everything back where you found it. And once we're done, we're going to search for Eri. If she's not found by the end of the day. You two are dead. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" The two other villains said before running out of the room.

The masked villain started walking out of the room, Izuku heard a strange sound. It was like the door breaking...but in reverse?

"This room disgusts me." The masked villain said before Izuku heard the door close.

Wait, didn't he break down my door? Izuku wanted to see what just happened, but he knew better than to move until he was sure the villains were gone.

He heard the villains move around in the house for about a minute longer before he heard the sound of the front door closing.

Izuku still didn't move for a few minutes. He wanted to be absolutely sure they were gone.

After a few minutes, he heard nothing.

Izuku jumped out of bed and ran towards the pile of clothes. After half a minute of throwing his clothes everywhere, he found Eri.

She was stiff still. Tears flowing out of her eyes. She held one of his socks in her death grip and used to muffle any noises coming out of her mouth.

She had been paralyzed with fear.

Izuku wasted no time kneeling down and embracing her.

The girl dropped the sock and wrapped her arms around him, before sobbing into his chest.

"It's ok." Izuku soothed her. "They're gone now. It's over."

Sometime later

The police arrived not too long after.

Izuku gave the police a full description of what happened. As well as giving them the video from his phone. After seeing the video they told him to stay put and said they needed to call someone in.

They tried to take Eri, so they could return her to her parents. But Eri refused to leave his side. Saying that she didn't have any parents. So they just left her with him.

Izuku sat on the couch, with Eri clinging to his arm as tightly as she could.

"Th-Thank you," Eri whispered to him.

Izuku smiled gently at her. "You don't have to thank me. I'm just doing what anyone would do."

Eri shook her head. "People didn't help me...only you...only you-"

Eri buried herself in his arms. Trying to keep herself from crying.

Izuku started petting her head to comfort her.

"Izuku Midoriya?"

Izuku looked up and saw a man in a detective coat.

"My name is detective Naomasa." The man introduced himself.

"Oh, uh. Hi." Izuku said.

"I'll cut to the chase. The people who were chasing that girl were part of the Yakuza." Naomasa said. "And this man-"

Naomasa pulled out Izuku's phone, which zoomed in on the masked villain. "Is Kai Chisaki, Aka Overhaul. Leader the Yakuza."

"The leader of Yakuza?!" Izuku repeated in fear and amazement. He knew the Yakuza was much, much weaker than it was a long time ago, but they were still a sizable crime gang. "Why would the leader of the Yakuza come here? What would they want Eri for?"

"I don't know. We haven't found any record of Eri or anyone like her so far." Naomasa explained. "I think the only person who can tell us what he wanted, is her."

They both looked at Eri, who shied away further into Izuku's arm.

"Eri. It's ok. We need you to tell us what Overhaul wanted you for." Izuku said.

"We've been looking for a way to put Overhaul away for a long time," Naomasa said. "But he's got people on the inside. The video you gave us should be enough for us to arrest him and put him in under interrogation, but we'll need a bit more if we want to get a search warrant then we'll need a bit more to go on."

"You hear that Eri. If you tell him what he wanted you for, they'll be able to put Overhaul in jail. And he'll never be able to hurt you again." Izuku encouraged her.

Eri looked up into his eyes, hopeful. "You...promise?"

Izuku nodded. "I promise."

Eri turned towards Naomasa, her eyes filled with hesitance and distrust. "You'll...believe me?"

Naomasa gave her the kindest smile he could. "I have a lie-detecting quirk. So long as you're telling the truth, I'll know."

Eri seemed hesitant. But with some more encouragement from Izuku, she eventually talked.

Half an hour later.

Izuku wanted to vomit.

Naomasa had to try his hardest to keep in composure throughout the whole story. Throughout his entire career, he had never heard something so horrible happen to a child. It was a miracle she was as sane as she seemed to be.

"Well. That will definitely put him behind bars, forever." Naomasa spoke directly to Eri. "You've been very brave, and very strong. We'll make sure he never hurts anyone like he's hurt you, ever again."

Naomasa then turned to Izuku. "We'd like to put both you and her into witness protection until the Yakuza is dealt with. We'll contact your guardian immediately to notify her and ask her permission. Thank you...for saving her, and for helping us put a stop to them once and for all."

"It's...I'm just glad everything worked out." Izuku sighed, a worried expression on his face. "But Eri...what's going to happen to her?"

Naomasa frowned. "For now we've decided to leave her with you for the duration of the witness protection. After that...we'll figure it out from there."

Izuku nodded. He didn't want to leave Eri. Not after what he just heard. And it seemed like she didn't want to be away from him either.

He'd be with her. And protect her. For as long as he was able.

A few hours later

After a panicked call from Inko and being moved to a new location, Izuku laid down on the bed of where he would be staying for the foreseeable future.

Eri was still clinging to his waist. Refusing to let go.

"Eri?" Izuku said. "Are you ok?"

"Why?" Eri asked.

"Huh?" Izuku was confused by the response.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Eri asked, tears starting to roll down her eyes. "I'm a monster, I'm cursed I-"

Eri gasped when she felt Izuku full her off of him and hold her up to eye level.

"Don't ever say that," Izuku told her. "Everything Overhaul told you, was a lie. You're not a monster. And your quirk is not a curse."

"But-" Eri protested.

"Eri, who do you trust more? Me, or Overhaul?" Izuku asked.

"Y-You," Eri responded.

"Then trust that what I'm saying is true." Izuku hugged her tightly. "You deserve to be saved."

"I-I-I-" Eri broke down, crying. Letting out everything she had bottled up inside.

"It's ok. You're safe now." Izuku reassured her.

A week and a half later.

Overhaul had been arrested. Apparently, he had let himself get arrested willingly, thinking that they had nothing on him and that his lawyers would get him out of trouble.

He was wrong. And despite his powerful quirk and clever lies, it didn't matter much thanks to Naomasa and Eraserhead.

The heroes had been giving the go-ahead to search the Yakuza's base and had taken down the rest of the criminal group.

Izuku had been elated once he heard the news, and was glad to hear that he would be out of witness protection by the end of the month.

Izuku was glad he would be going home but he would miss getting to meet the new heroes that would be guarding him. He'd met Kamui Woods, Edgeshot, and even Best Jeanist! And he got all their autographs!

But the thing that concerned him the most. What concerned him most is what would happen to Eri.

He didn't want to leave her. And she definitely didn't want to leave him. (Evidenced by the fact she didn't let go of him for a moment.) So Izuku was concerned that they might be torn apart. Especially because of how dangerous Eri's quirk was.

Izuku shook his head. He wouldn't worry about that right now. He couldn't affect what would happen then, now. And worrying would only make Eri unhappy.

Right now he would keep himself distracted by making apple pie and wondering what hero would be watching them this week.

Eri watched with intense interest, and a watering mouth, as Izuku took the pie out of the oven.

"Now Eri, whenever you take something out of the oven you always have to use oven mitts," Izuku instructed her as he picked up the pie. "Otherwise you'll-"

"I AM HERE!" Suddenly All Might barged through the door.

Izuku almost dropped the pie, but imagining Eri's disappointed face if he dropped it he found the strength to keep his grip.

"ALL MIGHT!?" Izuku gasped. "Wha-how-why huh?"

"Haha! We meet again, young Midoriya!" All Might said. "And hello to you too young Eri!"

Eri hid behind Izuku's leg.

All Might turned to Izuku, smiling brightly at him. "It seems I was wrong about you not being a hero! For you to have proved me wrong so quickly is rather astounding!"

"Wha-wha-wha-me?! A hero?!" Izuku was having a mental breakdown, his hands were shaking but he still held onto that pie. "I'm not a hero I...I just did what was right."

"As a hero should!" All Might said. "There are many people who wouldn't have done what you did, and many others who wouldn't have succeeded! You saved this little girl, and helped take down one of the most notorious villain groups in the city! If that isn't heroism I don't know what is!"

"I-I-I-I-I-" Izuku wasn't able to respond, his mind overheating had left him gaping like a fish.

"Being a hero isn't just getting a hero license and becoming a pro. Being a hero is about helping people, and doing the right thing." All Might knelt down and looked at Eri. "Young Eri, do you think young Midoriya is a hero?"

"Yes!" Eri answered, with the most determined look Izuku had ever seen on her face. "Izuku is my hero!"

"E-Eri." Izuku was so touched hearing her say that. Tears had started running down his face and his knees were shaking. He had never felt such a swell of positive emotions in his life. It was overwhelming.

"You...you said heroes save people." Eri reminded him. "So that means you're a hero right?"

"Your right young Eri!" All Might added. "Young Midoriya, even if you're not a pro hero. You're her hero."

Izuku fell to his knees, All Might caught the pie before it fell to the floor.

"There, there young Midoriya, dry those tears! And let us celebrate! With apple pie!" All Might shouted.

After Izuku stopped crying, the three of them sat down and enjoyed the apple pie.

"Hey, All Might?" Izuku whispered to his hero.

"Yes, young Midoriya?" All Might responded.

"You signed up to protect us for the week right?" Izuku asked, receiving a head nod as confirmation. "Um, how are you going to keep your other form a secret from Eri?"

"...Crap." All Might said, just before his time ran out.

Weeks later

Izuku nervously twiddled his thumbs as he sat in the blank room.

After the witness protection had ended, someone who was apparently with the government had asked Izuku to speak with them. Alone.

Eri was, of course, absolutely adamant about not leaving his side no matter what.

It took a lot of convincing, and promises of apple-based candy, to get Eri to stay in the room next to Izuku.

The door opened and in walked a woman in a suit. She looks like she hadn't slept in days at that she would much rather be anywhere else but here

"Hello, Izuku Midoriya. My name is Taidana Namae." The woman said. "I represent the O.P.C.C. C branch of the government."

Izuku gave her a confused look. "The...what?"

"The overly powerful children care and containment branch." Namae sighed. "Haven't heard of us, not surprised. We've basically had our balls chopped off when it comes to our capabilities, in comparison to what we used to be able to do. We don't actually get to do all that much nowadays."

"Oh. So...this is about Eri right?" Izuku guessed.

"Yup. You want her?" Namae asked.

"Huh?" Izuku was confused by her bluntness.

"Eri, you want her? She doesn't have any parents so you want to take her?" Namae asked again.

"O-Of course!" Izuku answered quickly.

"Ok," Namae said, as she started looking through her bag.

"Wait what?" Izuku's eyes were wide.

"I said ok You can keep her," Namae repeated, not looking up from her bag.

"It's...it's that easy?" Izuku asked in disbelief.

"Listen, kid, do you know how hard our job usually is?" Namae asked. "First we have to find these kids, then since we can't take them to an orphanage due to their overly powerful quirk, we have to look all over Japan for people who are willing to risk their lives or well being taking in these kids. Do you have any idea how hard that is? You wanting to take her saves us sooo much time and effort."

"Oh," Izuku said. "I feel like there should be some more steps here."

"Well, you thought wrong. Ah, here it is." Namae finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out a contract and put it in front of Izuku. "Just sign here and we're done."

"Wait shouldn't my mom be signing this?" Izuku asked as he was handed a pen.

"She'll be signing something similar but since she's away and seemingly will be away quite often, you'll be taking care of her the most so you'll be signing this," Namae explained.

"Oh." This whole situation had not played out as Izuku expected. But if it meant he got to take care of Eri he would take it.

He read through the contract. Most of it was just making it clear that he would be risking his life. It said that he would receive special equipment to help protect himself. As well as…

Izuku's eyes widened. "That's a lot of money. And does this say you'll be giving this to me, Monthly!?"

"Of course it is." Namae rolled her eyes. "Like I said we have to convince people to take these kids in. So of course we have to cover the cost of taking care of the child, as well as giving them compensation for assisting us. After all, if you take care of a child well then there is less of a chance that the child will become a villain in the future. And I don't think I need to tell you why the government is interested in keeping children with overly powerful quirks from becoming villains."

Izuku nodded. While he didn't like the idea of people thinking Eri could become a villain, he understood where she was coming from.

Well, the contract was basically nothing but beneficial to him and Eri, so he had no reason to refuse.

And after signing, the Midoriya family gained a new member.