Rooftop Observations

Chapter 1

Izuku took up people-watching shortly after his mum died. He also stopped going to school around the same time. If he didn't, he would likely be dead now. At least then he would be with his Mum.

He started living on the streets at age 12 after his mum was killed (died) in the crossfire of a villain attack. Endeavour was fighting some lowlife villain outside, and their apartment complex got hit by his fire. The fire started in his apartment and quickly spread;

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Izuku was sitting on the couch watching the news, analyzing a new hero's quirk like always, when a crash from the kitchen made him look up. A stray fireball from Endeavor's fight outside had gone through the kitchen window and hit the counter. His mum rushed to try and put it out, but the fire quickly spread, and before Izuku knew it, the whole kitchen was on fire and his Mum was pushing him out of the way of a falling beam. Izuku later learned that it was faulty and was well overdue to be replaced. But the landlord was a cheapskate and said it would be fine. But now his mum was under it. By the loud crunch as it landed on her, he could tell she was dead.

He held in his sobs while he ran to his room to try to pack what he could. The fire was still spreading fast and by his estimates, would have spread to the whole apartment in only a few minutes, and he wanted to get his notebooks. If he couldn't have his mother, you could damn well know he was having his notebooks. He made it to his room and grabbed the first bag he could find and put all ten notebooks into it, plus the spares and a couple pencils. He tossed in some clothes and some blankets. He found another bag and grabbed his stash of money he was saving up and put that in the bag. He stuffed some Hero merch in the bag as well. If he got desperate, he could sell them. He grabbed his phone off his desk and stuffed that in there too.

He saw the fire at his door, and with a final sob, he grabbed his two bags and climbed out the window and ran. He kept running until he had a stitch in his side, and then he kept running. Only once his legs felt like they were going to fall off did he stop. He ducked into an alleyway and sunk onto the ground and cried.

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Izuku looked around the rooftop he claimed. He liked it as the building had been abandoned ages ago, and so the likelihood that he would be found was low. He had set up his blankets in a corner, so he would be protected on two sides and sheltered from winds. His one Hero figurine he was yet to sell sat next to his 'bed'. His bags were being used as pillows, though he was currently wearing one. Izuku nodded as everything was how he left it.

Izuku pulled the bag off his back, grinning as he pulled his latest find out of it. A dinged-up radio that he found at the trash beach that still worked. Sure, it was crackly, no matter what channel he found, but it was a radio, and it would provide some background noise for his nightly expeditions.

Izuku settled on the roof edge and turned on the radio to 'Put Your Hands Up Radio'. Cheery music filled the air as Izuku reached into his bag again and pulled out a notebook to jot down his findings of the night. He then settled down for what would hopefully be a peaceful night. He hated when something happened, and he couldn't do anything about it. His phone got broken at school, and now wouldn't turn on, so he couldn't even call the heroes. He just had to sit there, unless he wanted to start doing vigilantism. Which he didn't. Because that's illegal and he wants to be a hero. U.A wouldn't accept him if he had a criminal record. He smiled as someone familiar walked down the road. He liked this person, seeming so happy constantly even at 11 pm. Izuku opened his notebook to this person's page and started watching.

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Izuku was shocked it took as long as it did for someone to see him on the rooftop. It's not like he was hiding up there. If anyone looked up, they could clearly see him with his feet dangling off the edge. But he got through almost 3 years without someone noticing. And then one night, someone did.