Chapter Text
"…zu…run…find a hero…tell your father…love you."
Zu woke with a start, the edges of his memories draining away with the last bit of sleep. Glancing down at his sleeping buddy, he smiled softly as Kota kneaded his chest before gently waking the kid up. "Kota, hey kiddo, time to wake up." He said as he shook the sleeping 4 year old. The boy woke slowly, rubbing his eyes with his fists. "Morning Zu. Are we gonna find auntie today?" Zu sighed, "I don't know but we can try right?" Kota nodded before getting out of their small nest of ragged blankets and found pillows. Zu took a look around his hidden space. It wasn't much but he had called it home for nearly 9 years. He had awoken curled up against a wall when he was 5 with no real memories and a severe distrust of adults. A few years later, he had gotten hit in the head during a fight with some thug and a few memories seeped back in. But it wasn't really anything to go by since all he really knew was that his mom was probably dead, and that Zu was either his name or a nickname.
Kota jumped in front of him, jerking him back to awareness. "Ready to go kiddo?" Zu asked. Kota nodded, "Yup! Time to go find my auntie!" Zu nodded, "Don't worry, I know a few people we can ask but we have to be careful, ok? I don't know who is after you or even if they still are since its been a few days." Kota nodded seriously as he picked up his worn-out backpack. Helping him put it on, Zu thought back to when he found the small, scared 4 year running around the back alleys.
Zu looked down at the bundled form that had bumped into his legs, shocked to find a small boy shaking with terror. "Hey kid. You ok? Are you lost?" He asked softly, bending down to reach eye level. He smiled softly as the black-haired kid looked him in his eyes before nodding. Zu picked up the kid, holding him securely in his arms. "Well, why don't we find your parents huh?" He moved to turn around, freezing as a voice echoed from down the nearest alley. The kid froze before vibrating harshly. "He hurted momma and daddy." the kid whispered.
Zu frowned, "Don't worry kiddo, he won't hurt you too. Let's go before he finds us." Zu offered before turning and running down the street, dipping into another alley and around a few corners. It was lucky that he wasn't so far from home when he found the kid, able to make it back to the hideout before they were found out. "Hey kiddo? Are you hungry? We can go tomorrow to find a policeman, I'm sure someone in your family is looking for you." The kid sniffled, holding back tears. "Momma wanted me to find my auntie. She's a hero too." Zu paused, "Your parents were heroes?" He asked. The kid nodded, "Theys a hero team. We was buying food when that man attacked some other people. Momma and Daddy had to stop him but he hurted them so momma told me to find my Auntie Shino." Zu nodded, pulling the small boy close. "Don't worry kiddo. I'm sure we can find her. Until then, you will stay with me and I will keep you safe." He smiled softly, "By the way, my name is Zu. What's yours?"
The kid grinned, "I'm Kota!"
Zu put on his own backpack, empty and ready for any food or supplies they might find. While it wasn't his prerogative to find anything, living on the streets for so long had taught him to always be prepared. Holding Kota's hand, the pair left the rundown apartment and walked silently into town, unknowing of the sets of eyes following their movements.
Kota was silent, allowing Zu to talk to his few contacts who knew of a female hero looking for her missing nephew. Mandalay of the Wild, Wild Pussycats had been searching for Kota since his parents' bodies were found, asking everyone she came across if they had seen the small boy. Most hadn't but a few who had seen him with Zu had admitted to such, knowing full well that Zu was protective and a good person. Zu wasn't mad that someone had spilled to the heroine that her nephew was in safe hands, in fact, it made his job easier and made her less likely to attack him out of fear.
After a few hours of searching, though, Zu and Kota still hadn't found the heroine, deciding to go back home and try again the next day. Tired, they returned to their hideout, not noticing the shadows that followed them. Zu opened the door to his apartment, allowing Kota to race inside before closing the door. He made quick work of unloading his finds for the day, thankful that most of it was food that wouldn't spoil. As he put away the canned goods, he didn't hear his front door creak open.
"ZU!" Kota screeched. Zu ran into the living room placing himself in between Kota and the threat. The group hovering in his doorway each held up their hands in surrender. "We don't mean any harm. We are heroes and we've been helping Mandalay search for Kota."
Zu frowned, squinting his eyes at the heroes. He knew who they were but he still didn't trust them. "That means nothing to me. You could be working with Muscular as well." The female, pro-hero Midnight, tilted her head. "What do you mean as well?" Zu sighed, "I tried taking Kota to the police station and on our way there we saw Muscular talking with a policeman in an alley right by the station. Muscular was looking for Kota and the cop was telling him that no one had seen Kota yet but he would let Muscular know when someone did. That’s when we started looking directly for Mandalay."
One of the men, Vlad King, nodded. "Makes sense. Would it make you feel better if we called Mandalay here? That way you can be sure it really is her?" Zu thought it over. He would have to move afterwards but it wasn't like he had much anyways. He nodded, "That is fine."
The third hero, who Zu recognized as Ectoplasm, left the room, probably to make the call. Midnight stepped forward. "So, who are you kiddo and how did you meet Kota?" Zu tensed. "Zu. I live here. Found Kota running from Muscular and saved him." Short, simple and to the point. Midnight nodded, "How long have you been here? This place has been abandoned for years." Zu nodded, "I know. I've been here since I was 5." He didn't miss the shocked looks on the pro's faces. "Did you- I mean, do you know where your parents are?" Zu frowned, thinking over everything he knew about himself. The memories he did have told him to find the pro heroes who would help him find his father, but it had been so long, would these heroes even know? "Honestly, Midnight, I don't know. I only have one memory of anything before I woke up in this room and it was my mother telling me to run and find heroes, that they would help me find my father."
Vlad Kind startled, "Why didn't you come find any pro heroes then?" Zu shrugged, his hand rubbing circles on Kota's back. "I didn't remember that until I got a concussion in a fight with some street thug a few years ago. I was 10 at that time." Midnight and Vlad King exchanged looks. Zu jumped as the door opened again, allowing Ectoplasm to come in with some more people. Zu didn't recognize them but apparently Kota did. "AUNTIE!!!" He yelled, racing over to the new group and jumping into the arms of one of the girls. "Kota! Oh, Kota! I'm so glad I've found you! I was so scared." She looked the small boy over before smiling at Zu, "I'm told I have you to thank for my nephew being safe?" Zu nodded, "Yes ma'am. We've been trying to find you for a few days now. I'm sorry it took so long."
She tutted, "None of that kiddo. You kept him safe and that's all I can ask. And call me Shino." Zu smiled, nodding. "Of course. As long as you allow me to see Kota sometimes. He's been the best roommate I could ever ask for." Shino grinned wide, about to say something when she paused. "You live here don't you?" At Zu's nod, she frowned, "Do you want to come with us?" Zu shook his head, "Honestly, as much as I would like to say yes to that offer, I am going to have to say no. I really need to-"
He jumped forward, jerking the woman and kid farther into the room just as the front door exploded inward. Cursing, Zu attacked the newcomers, recognizing a few of them as criminals who have attacked him in the past. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than to attack me!" He yelled as a punch landed in the face of one of them. "Come on kid! Don't make this difficult. Our boss simply wants to speak to you about your father." Zu kicked at the speaker, knocking him back. He could hear signs of the pros fighting more of the criminals, but he didn't dare look. "I don't even know who my father is! I am no help to your boss." Zu stated as he kicked the man. "It doesn't matter that you don't know who he is, only that he's a hero and he pissed off my boss." The man grinned. "Why else would he order an attack on you and your mother that day?"
Zu froze, "My dad's a pro?" The man stalked closer, "Why don't you come with me and find out?" Zu bit his lip, looking away and seeing Vlad King trying to keep a few of the villains away from Kota and Mandalay. Shaking his head, he faced the man. "Sorry. No can do. You should leave though before you get your ass whooped by a 14-year-old." The man growled, "You will regret not coming willingly." He leapt forward, his hands erupting in flames. Zu grinned and activated his quirk, easily extinguishing the man and taking his fire for his own. "How did you know I was getting a bit chilly?"
The villain looked confused, "How did you do that?" Zu laughed, "Should have known what you were up against before threatening me huh?" He sped forward, throwing a round of fireballs at the man before kicking him back out the open door. "You should tell your boss that I wasn't interested in his vendetta against my father at first, but now, now I will be coming for him. And I will destroy him." The villain grimaced with pain before seeing the smile on Zu's face. "Better yet, why don't I just take care of you and then tell him myself?"
He was only teasing of course, he knew that by making the villain think he was telling the truth, Zu would knock the man off his game. In the end, the man simply tried to run, not making it very far before Zu knocked him out cold. Midnight had finished tying up the rest of the group, so adding one more to the bunch was no issue. "I've already called the police; they will come get these men and question them." She looked him over, "He didn't hurt you did he?" She asked. Zu shook his head. "Naw, didn't get the chance. Once he used his quirk, it was all over for him." Midnight looked confused, "What do you mean?" Zu shrugged, "My quirk allows me to both stop and take control of any kind of emitter quirks once they are activated. If it is a transformation or mental type quirk, I can only stop it." Midnight nodded, "And mutation quirks?" Zu shook his head, "Can't do jack shit with those. Probably because they are always active and can't be stopped."
Midnight understood that logic. "Let me ask you something. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to but I couldn't help but overhear what that villain was saying to you. If you had the ability to know who your dad was, would you want to know?" Zu bit his lip, "I mean, yeah, I guess. I've always wanted to know who I was and where I came from. I would have come find a hero once I remembered a little tidbit about my mom but its only her voice, I have no idea who she was, or where I last saw her. I don't know what she looked like or even if Zu is my name or just part of my name. There's nothing I could give to the police or a hero that would help and honestly, I didn't want to take a chance of being put in foster care if my father was no longer alive or didn't want me at all."
Midnight frowned, "That's understandable. So that leads me to my next question. Want to find out? I can take you back to U.A. and get Recovery Girl to do some bloodwork if that’s what you want. Since your father is a pro hero, even if he's dead, he should be in the database for us to match it to." Zu nodded, "That sounds nice. But what if he doesn't want me anymore?" Midnight smiled, "Then I shall take you in myself." Both Midnight and Zu jumped as Mandalay spoke from next to them, "Or you can come live with us Pussycats. We would be glad to take you in." Midnight nodded in agreement, "Or that. Whatever makes you comfortable. Just know that you will never have to live alone and on the streets again."
Zu smiled. "Sounds nice."