Meaning of Neighborly

Who Are You?

"Hey, dad?" A young Izuku asks, watching as his mom starts stitching Hisashi's wounds. "Why don't you take all those program's hero offers? I mean, wouldn't that mean you would get healed at a hospital?"

Inko frowns a little, but understands her son's question. It's the same question she asked her own husband when she first learned about his little secret.

Hisashi chuckles. "Well, Izuku, that's because as a hero I wouldn't be stuck in one location like I want." The man looks out the window out of their apartment, smiling at the lights of the city in the night. "I've been in Musutafu since I was a kid, watched as it's grown, seen the people become who they are, and watched as heroes come and go. Never get me wrong, there are amazing people out there being heroes, but they all move around. Even local heroes get called out of town on business. So, who's left to protect the city if no one's around?"

Izuku nods, looking down at his All Might plush.

Hisashi sighs. "Izuku, I do what I do because All Might inspired me to help others. I'm sure he wouldn't agree on my methods, but that's besides the point." The boy looks up at his father. "You want to be a hero like him, right? I'm proud of you for that. But, he's not gonna be around forever, neither will I. So, while we're here, we'll do what we can. Whether if it's for the world as a whole..."

"...Or the one person in danger that we can save."

The smell of fire was one Izuku associated with his father, so the late night smells of smoke would wake him up in excitement. But now?

Now they woke him with fear.

Izuku woke up with a start, pain shooting through his entire body. His vision was blurry and filled with small patches of static, indicating that his mask eyes had been cracked. Slowly standing back up, he checked the rest of his body for damage.

His web shooters were a bit dented, but luckily not enough to damage anything important, so he could still use them. His bones all seemed to be in place, and luckily not really aching as much as they would if they were broken. It didn't seem like he was concussed either. All good news so far.

And then the bad news was that he was inside a hallway currently on fire, his targets escaped, and his jacket and pants were now burnt to a crisp. Right now, Izuku is thanking his lucky stars that his undersuit was flame proof.

"I'm not dead, and not super hurt. Healing should take care of that no problem. For now, I should just get out of here." He says to himself, slowly beginning to walk.

He headed for the exit of the hall, kicking the door down as he left. Outside of the apartment, Izuku found himself in an alleyway, sirens ringing nearby, as smoke pillows off the building. "Guess there were other tenants... They should all be okay, but I'll take a look around the side to make sure."

Slowly, Izuku made his way around the side, turning the corner to find the scene of Firefighters combating the flames. Families were all littered together, and single tenants were calling people, so it seemed all was good.

"Mom?!" Or not.

Izuku watched as a young boy, elementary age, was trying to get past the small crowd. "Mom?!" He shouted, looking around the area.

One of the firefighters approached the boy, revealing to Izuku that it wasn't a firefighter at all, but Pro Hero Backdraft.

"Hey kid, what's wrong?" The hero asks, crouching down to speak with the boy.

"M-my mom isn't out here! We were inside together, and then the blast happened, a-and now I can't find her!" The boy says, crying.

"Can you tell me what she looks like? What's her quirk?" Backdraft asks, the boy nodding.