Iron Deku

Chapter Six - The Aftermath

Stretching his limbs out, a pained and strenuous sigh left Midoriya's mouth; his eyes, though heavy, opening to revel in the bare, grey walls of whatever room he was in. Looking down to his arms, it was clear that they had been severely damaged; bandages were wrapped tightly around both of them, with a mixture of what looked to be dry and fresh blood decorating them.

"When did I do that... wait... when did I fall asleep?" Midoriya mumbled, bringing one of his hands up towards his face to rub his temple, only for his hand to be obstructed by another set of bandages.

"Jarvis, buddy, you there?" The boy called out, his voice seeming much more withdrawn than he was used to hearing- much to his own surprise. What didn't surprise him however, was the fact that he got no response from his AI companion.

He sighed again.

He had been hoping that that whole ordeal was some form of dream, but the lack of response from Jarvis dashed that hope away almost as quick as it had came. Ever since the boy had built him, Midoriya never left his lab without at least one way of speaking to him; the sliding of his hands across his trouser pockets only confirmed that he didn't have his phone on him. It was probably destroyed when him and Mei...

"MEI?!" Midoriya called out, his voice back to its usual tone- if not a little bit horse.

"Don't worry, she's safe; it's nice to see that you're finally awake; are you feeling okay?" The speed at which Midoriya span around was enough to send the chair he had initially been sat in flying into one of the walls, as he put his fists up into a rudimentary fighting stance.

After the past few days, he had been expecting to come face to face with almost anybody except a police officer- but then again, he had also expected the door that the man came through to have made a noise when he opened it, so the weirdness was, in part, excused.

"Hey, look- don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you..." With a calmness to his voice, the officer placed his hands in the air as if to show he had no weapons on him. It took a few seconds, but Midoriya eventually dropped his guard; the officer bringing his hands down as well.

"Who are you, and where am I?"

"I'll be happy to answer all of your questions, but first, please, take a seat- we've a lot to talk about..." With that, Midoriya gave one last sigh, before quickly walking over to his downed chair and standing it back upright in front of the table, where it originally was; and sitting.

"Oh, and my name is Tsukauchi; Detective Tsukauchi," The man smiled, walking around to the other side of the table, and taking his own seat.

There was no clock in the room, so Midoriya wasn't able to see how much time had passed; but he did know they were talking for quite some time as he asked and answered questions; going back and forth with detective Tsukauchi, the latter always doing his best to make Izuku comfortable.

"Well, I must say Midoriya; you are one of the most interesting people I've met in a while; I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of this- but I'm afraid I'm going to have to bring up what might be less-than-savoury memories for you, in order to continue..." The detective admitted; the air around the two noticeably shifting.

"It was your current carer, Jarvis, that contacted us originally about your disappearance, however he also disclosed that he wasn't... human... could you please tell us about him?" Midoriya's eyes widened slightly; it had been quite some time since anyone had taken an interest in Jarvis- even Kacchan had gotten over him pretty quickly when he'd initially introduced the two.

"He's an Artificial Intelligence; I built him to look after me after... after my mother died..." The detective gave a knowing nod as he watched the boy. It looked like Midoriya was trying to fight back tears, although he couldn't quite tell. Tsukauchi had been using his quirk ever since he had entered the room with the boy, and it was yet to say that the boy was lying- meaning he really had built an artificial intelligence.

"So, am I to be correct in saying you... have no father?" Midoriya's eyes darted to the floor, a chill washing over him.

"I've never known anything about my father... his name... what he looked like... what happened to him... all of that information died with my mother... all I've ever known is that he's dead..." The boy croaked out, a single tear managing to break free of the hold he had on them. Nodding his head, Tsukauchi pulled a handkerchief from the inside pocket of his coat, and handed it to the boy.

"Well, I'm not sure how to say this to you Midoriya, but... we can't allow this 'Jarvis' to continue looking after you, no matter how capable he is. Once you're released, you'll be allowed to go home to collect you belongings, but after that... To be completely honest, I'm not sure how you managed to live alone unnoticed for so long..." The detective trailed off, allowing the boy some time to recompose himself.

"L-let me guess; I'm gonna be p-put in an orphanage?" The boy stuttered, wiping away the tears that had followed the first in falling down his face. Tsukauchi leaned back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"That was the... original plan, however we've had a rather unorthodox opportunity arise. The girl you escaped with, Hatsume Mei; she said that she would let you stay with her family, in her 'lab'. If her parents agree to it, we would be willing to let you stay with them." Slowly, Midoriya nodded his head, before handing the detective back his handkerchief.

"Well, thank you for being so cooperative with us Midoriya; since all of your injuries have been tended to, you can leave whenever you want; we'll be in touch," The detective smiled, standing from his chair, and outstretching his arm over the table. Standing himself, Midoriya reached and shook the man's hand; he was glad the whole ordeal was over.

It had to be nearly midnight by the time Midoriya arrived back at his old apartment complex, and for the first time in day, the boy felt something akin to peace. The streets were silent; not a car in sight, and the bird that seemed to never stop screaming, had stopped. The cool air blowing against his skin, and playing with his hair bought a smile to his face; lit up by the lights of those inside the building, who had chosen to stay awake at such an ungodly hour.

Walking over to the complex, Midoriya began to quickly jog up the stairs; the closer he got to his door, the faster he seemed to move. Up the first flight of stairs, and then the second, and then the third. Finally, reaching his door, it opened with no hesitation. He never had gotten the chance to lock it; he wasn't supposed to be gone for more than a few minutes anyway.

"Hey, Jarvis?" The boy called out, only to have the lights of his apartment-turned-lab instantly flicker on; a blue hue taking over the previous yellow one being cast onto his face by his neighbours windows.

"Yes Sir?" Though he had no physical body, the smile that hung to Jarvis's voice was crystal clear. Closing the door behind himself, Midoriya let out a breath of anticipation that he wasn't even aware he was holding in.

"I have a lot to catch you up on!" Izuku chuckled, walking further into his apartment and flinging his jacket over one of his many workbenches.