Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku was born with his quirk. He’s seen the photos and listened to his mom and auntie go on and on about how absolutely adorable he was, with little ears and a long tail, but honestly, he disagrees. 

Cats are born with fur, but humans definitely aren't. His head had looked wrong, normal human ears replaced with unsettling patches of skin, and instead, two cat ears were placed on top. His tail looked even worse. A cat's tail is an extension of its spine, and a long growth stretching out from behind him, hairless and bony, was horrifying. Not cute.

Izuku really would have preferred it stayed that way.

When people thought he was cute, or anything of the sort, it was like he lost all rights as a human. People got up in his face, touched him without permission, and cooed over the softness of his fur or the ‘toe beans’ on his fingertips, pressing into his palm pads. They babied him, because ‘Oh, he’s just such a cute wittle kitty, surely he couldn’t mind!’ Ha. As if.

He remembers a time when he and Katsuki were friends. Days when going to visit aunt Mitsuki and uncle Masaru weren’t days he dreaded. Times when the two boys could play heroes for hours on end, weaving through the legs of their parents as they ran on their fantastical adventures. The hours upon hours of laughter. Days when Katsuki wasn’t just Katsuki, but Kacchan. Sometimes he would find himself stumbling over the boy's name in his head, having to correct himself with a hiss. Though he’s never made that mistake out loud, thank the gods for that. No, the distinction between the Kacchan from his mind and Bakugou Katsuki wasn’t hard to make. Kacchan protected those weaker than himself, built them up and encouraged them to get stronger. Katsuki might as well have been a villain. 

He can’t remember when exactly it happened. Couldn't pinpoint that cutoff where Kacchan had become Katsuki. He believed it happened around when the blonde got his own quirk. That was about the time the adults and other kids began to see him as something small, cute, and to be protected. Kacchan started to be more interested in proving his strength than helping others.

He began to act like Izuku was a pet cat who would follow him through hell and back.

Something to be protected.

Something that was his.

At first, Izuku took it as his friend just being a bit more protective. He let the explosive boy pet his ears. He let him insist on walking in front of him. He let him tell the other children to stay away from “ his Izukun”.

But he had to stop when Katsuki tried to tell him he wasn’t allowed to be a hero. 

They had been at Katsuki's house, playing Super Hero Smash when the boy had said it, nonchalantly as if he hadn’t just said something so utterly revolting, so absolutely heartbreaking to the boy beside him. “What the hell?” Izuku had responded, his ears pressed flat against his head and his tail raised high, flicking slowly side to side, “What the fuck do you mean, allowed to be a hero?”

“It’s no big deal, Izu,” The blonde just tilted his head and narrowed his eyes as if Izuku had just said something stupid, “You just have to wait for me at home and cheer me on. I’ll be able to protect you easier if you aren’t risking you’re fuckin’ life twenty-four-seven.”

Izuku put down his controller.

“...Wait for you?” Izuku’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Katsuki looked confused but then grinned as if he had realized why Izuku was upset. "What, is it about the money? Don’t worry, you just have to move in with me when I go pro. Obviously, I'm gonna show off my cool ass cat when I’m a hero, so you get the fame too, an' all you gotta do is hang out!”

Izuku narrowed his eyes and hissed. “What the fuck? no! I'm not your- your pet, or something! I don’t need your permission, I’m not going to be your fucking house cat!” Izuku stood up, his tail puffed up and he had moved his feet to a wider, defensive stance. Everything that Katsuki had been saying was wrong. So, so wrong. Who the hell did Katsuki think he was? How long had he been planning to tell him this, to tell him that he had to be his perfect fucking pet?

“Fuck, Zuku! Don’t you get it? You are weak! If everyone knows your fuckin MINE, no one can take you away! They won’t hurt you! So sit the fuck back down, I’ll get you some catnip and you can sleep here tonight. Just calm down.” Maybe Izuku wouldn’t have been so upset if he had sounded angry. But no, Katsuki hadn’t sounded angry. He hadn’t yelled like he normally would, hadn’t even popped explosions in his palms to convince him to sit. 

He had seemed concerned. Worried. As if he genuinely believed Izuku was fragile.

He believed Izuku was weak.

He believed Izuku was a right of his. Something cute to own. like a pet.

Izuku hadn’t answered after that. He hissed at the boy, extending his claws and slowly backed away, before breaking into a sprint and leaving the house.

That day really, really fucked with him.

He wasn’t the same after that.

No. Present-day Izuku was a lot more guarded. That interaction with Katsuki had happened in their last year of elementary school, and going forward from it he had decided to prove the blonde wrong. Izuku was NOT weak. 

He was a lot more guarded on the inside.

The outside? 

Well, Izuku Midoriya had just found out how being cute makes people underestimate you.

It makes them less wary, it makes them want to spoil you.

So, he took advantage of that.

He took his already cutesy interests and hobbies and played them up to create a persona for himself, one that let him slide under others' radars while he made himself stronger, and got ready to prove to everyone that cute did not mean weak.

In reality, he had become cold. He got what he wanted. All he had to do was ask, and it was given. And he was so. Fucking. Tired. Of. It.

When he was a hero, he was going to prove to everyone how you look doesn’t matter.

That you can’t underestimate people because they appear weak.

That Izuku Midoriya doesn’t belong to anyone.

It was late. Or, maybe early, depending on what kind of person you are. It didn’t matter. Izuku's ears twitched, and his tail held stiff behind him, raised high. He was lucky his eyes were made to see in the dark, or else navigating his home in the pitch black would have been more difficult than it was currently proving. See, he needed to get out of the house to start his training, cleaning Dagobah beach, but his mom tends to be a bit overprotective. She slipped into the mindset of “small little kitty” far too easily for Izuku's liking. She didn’t like the idea of him becoming a hero and liked him staying out even less. No, the only way for Izuku to continue his training before going to UA was to sneak out when she was sleeping.

And, as she’s a nurse who checks on him whenever her shift ends…

You get the idea.

So, keeping his ears held high, Izuku sneaks through the house as quietly as he can. He tries to keep his steps soft, gliding across the floor, tempted to crouch and run on all four of his limbs.

But, he knows how to wait.

Ah, he’s gotten to the hard part. 

The door.

Slowly, he turns the handle and cringes as it squeaks. He makes sure to hold in a hiss as he continues to push open the door. Even gentler than when he opened it, he shuts it and tries to stop it from making a sound. His mom is a light sleeper, and the slightest noise could awaken her, not at all helped by the fact she sleeps with her door wide open to ‘Make sure he’s safe if anything happens.' Might seem sweet, but oh so incredibly inconvenient. 

Not that IZUKU finds it very sweet. 

Izuku grins once the door has opened ‘Fuck yeah!’ 

He still tries to be quiet as he runs down the stairs of the apartment, bursting onto the empty street in the dark. Glancing around to confirm that no one’s around to see (not that anyone could even see him without some kind of night vision as part of their quirk as he has), and he leaps forward onto his hands. Feeling the cold of the pavement with the pads on his palms his grin widens. He had made sure to wear his best workout clothes, some stretchy leggings and a tight but flexible top. He wanted to make sure he could practice his flexibility and agility with his quirk without being limited by the fabric of his clothing. Izuku shook out his hair and stretched, before breaking into a run. Jumping forwards and landed back on his hands, feet brought up close to them. He was able to run faster with this method, most likely due to his quirk allowing him to move in ways most humans can’t. 

He has an entire notebook dedicated to his very own quirk. His joints are looser than most people's, and his arms and legs were built for shock absorption. He had realized this the first night he tried to run like the cats he had seen on the internet. He had tried the run, only to be shortly stopped by his mother fretting over his wrists. According to her, most would have broken their wrists bouncing around as he had been. 

Izuku laughs as he smiles at the memories, and joy from a simpler time. He spots the beach and slows his running, deciding to show off to no one as he reaches his training grounds. Once he’s satisfied with the distance to the sand, he pushes his hands towards the ground, but instead of bringing his feet to meet his hands, he throws them upwards. Letting them follow through, he waits until he hits the sand with his feet and stands up, reaching a hand forward to balance himself. 

Once Izuku is standing, he begins to walk normally across the beach. His training was rather unique, to help him develop a style that accentuated the power of his quirk. He leaped upwards, using his hands to guide him, and settled on the fridge that had been sitting in front of him. Cats can jump up to 6 times their body length, after all. Not that Izuku can jump that far, yet.

He doesn’t really care about being a hero anymore. He lost his motivation and drive to save and protect the people on this earth as time went on. No one took him seriously. No one supported his childhood dreams. No one. It wasn’t until he learned to lean into the stereotypes and expectations people placed upon him that he was somewhat accepted, and somewhat loved.

He doesn’t want their shitty, shallow as fuck love.

So, instead of going to U.A for a noble reason, to become a hero who will save the world, Izuku is going out of spite. He’s going to prove to all the others who make it in that he can be just as good as them with his cutesy and weak quirk. Because he was just as good as them. He was better.

He could be a hero, but it doesn't sound fun. He'll figure something out, though.

Izuku knows that his mother probably won't check on him before leaving for fear of waking him up so early and having him not be able to sleep, so he should be fine to keep at his training until right before school. So, he begins, running across the tops of appliances, leaping, flipping and spinning. He makes sure to practice his landings, twisting in the air to make sure he lands on his feet, dropping into a roll, and bracing for impact. He hauls garbage towards the road in piles, so he can call someone to haul away the easy-to-grab trash later.

Izuku has been doing this version of his training for about a month, and he had already noticed a significant increase in his strength. He was able to push the large appliances, such as the refrigerators, uphill in the sand without too much trouble. His quirk helped mainly with agility and flexibility, but he was also quite strong due to his muscle density being higher.

He dragged appliances uphill to the roadside and leaped around through the early morning, praying he would get an email telling him school was cancelled for the day. Of course, he knew it would never work, but he still manages to be annoyed when that email doesn’t come, and he has to make his way to Aldera.

Ick.  

Chapter Text

Izuku knows better than to run in his own style during the day. He knew people would dislike that more cat-like feature. He thinks thats stupid. They preen and and aw at the traits that they like, but shun and sneer when he does anything that isn’t ‘normal’ or ‘cute’. He basks in sunbeam, or purrs contentedly, and everyone loves him. He hisses in annoyance or catches a mouse, they complain or call him gross. His run to Aldera from the beach isn’t very long but he knows he could get there faster if he could just run the way he likes.

Ah, he really can’t wait to see at least half of his current classmates amount to nothing at all. Maybe he’s escaped their wrath, but he knows if he wasn’t as smart as he was then there would be no way they wouldn’t come after him as he has seen them do countless others. He doesn’t like people very much, and he probably wouldn’t give a shit, but it had to do with quirk discrimination. He HATES quirk discrimination. People shouldn’t look down on others for shit like what kind of quirk they have. Do that for a better reason, for their annoying personalities or the ugly ass way they dress like he does.

...not that he dresses much better some days. 

Izuku scoffs at his inner monologue. There isn’t much time left before the bell was meant to ring, so he dashes to the nearest washroom as soon as possible.

After changing into his uniform he digs through his bag for some clips to hold back his hair. He desperately needs it cut, but the idea of sitting still and letting someone do it for him... he loathe the thought. He opens a pocket on his bag and pulls out the headphones modified to fit his ears. Unlike normal headphones, they resembled a cat ear headband more than anything. The ‘ears’ actually fit against his own and played music. He was sure he could get something better, as these headphones are kind of iffy if his ears move, but they’re the best he has at the moment. Sensei had never seemed to mind if he listened to music in class, so he put them on.

Throwing his bag back onto his shoulder, he makes his way to his classroom.

Izuku genuinely thinks he could become a successful actor at this point, if people with mutation quirks weren’t so discriminated against in that field. He plays his part with his entire body, completely melting into it. He walks with a bit more energy, bouncing on his heels. He makes sure his ears relax and swivels them on occasion, his tail sways behind him. He makes sure his eyes stay wide, and keeps his mouth upturned as if content on where he is.

So gross.

Izuku really wouldn’t mind being able to relax his tail and ears if he wasn’t so fucking uncomfortable. He’s seen these people torment and attack people who did so much as to look at them funny. He’s seen them shun people they considered friends because of things like weak quirks or unrealistic dreams. He feels like he has the right to want to raise his ears to alert, to keep his eyes sharp, to hold his tail for balance while he slashes into these quirkest pieces of shit.

But he can’t.

Not yet. Not yet, not while he’s waiting to do so much worse. Not when he’s so close, so close to freedom from this hell of an existence. All he has to do is wait. It shouldn’t be so hard. He knows he can act however he wants at U.A. He knows that acting how he wants there won’t ruin his chances of revenge as it would here. The teachers there won’t ruin his grades or his chances for success just because he’s a little on guard. They couldn't. they won’t. He knows it, he knows it he KNOWS-

He knows he should probably open the door to his classroom before he starts weirding people out by standing in front of it for so long. So, Izuku pushes open the door and continues his bounce-walk into his seat. He drops his facade for a split second when he walks past Katsuki, and flicks his tail towards his desk. His smile comes back as soon as he hears the blonde’s pen hit the floor.

Yeah, Izuku doesn’t really give a fuck if he seems like a bully when it comes to Kacch-

FUCK!

God damn it, it’s fucking KATSUKI.

He really needs to get better at that.

“Pssssssssst! Midori-kun!” Izuku turned at the sound of Kawakami whisper, “Wanna come over to my place with shiraishi-chan after school? Mom said we could test food dye in my hair.” Izuku blinked and eyed the girl's hair, or more accurately, water, floated and swirled around her shoulders. The prospect of watching dye disperse through it all was interesting, but…

“Sorry, kawakami-san! My mom wants to have a day together today.” The girl herself was oh so incredibly boring. Really, if it wasn’t obvious she either wanted something or was just interested in how he looked, he might have gone.

Possibly.

Maybe.

Well, probably not, but still. There would have been at least a possibility that was ruined by her own dullness.

He shot her an apologetic smile, and she giggled with a shake of her head. She gave him a thumbs up as if to tell him that was okay, so Izuku turned back to the lesson and cranked up his headphones higher to drown out any other annoying distractions.

Katsuki was so pissed.

Izuku was still mad at him for his suggestion YEARS ago. How was he supposed to know that would make him so angry? And now Izuku won’t even talk to him. It’s even worse than that, because he seems to have let everyone know that he doesn’t like him. Now no-one, not even that fucker Tsubasa, even tries to interact with him. As fuckin if thats right! He should have these extras grovelin’ at his god damn feet because he’s so much better, But instead they all follow after HIS Izuku like kittens to their mom! They don’t understand that Izu just needs some time, that when he doesn’t get into U.A he’ll come running back to Katsuki.

And Katsuki’ll be waiting with open arms.

One day Izuku will realize he only needs Katsuki. That he doesn’t need to chase those dreams of his because Katsuki’s are so much better for him.

His Izuku is just stubborn. Its annoying how he doesn't know his rightful place, following behind Katsuki. He’ll realize his mistake, and one day he’ll laugh with Katsuki about the times where he tried so hard to be mean to him. But Katsuki knows he doesn’t mean it. He knows that Izuku is just being stubborn, that really he wants to go back to Katsuki. He knows.

So, Katsuki stares at the pen by his shoe, and carefully lifts it from the ground. He spins it between his fingers and scoffs, leaning on his hand. 

He pockets the pen.

Chapter Text

As Izuku twirled his pen between his fingers, he reveled in the rhythm of it. Drop, swoosh, up, repeat. School always sucked, but this day in particular had been especially annoying for the boy. He had made dinner plans with his mom for later, and he wanted to ask her if they could pack a picnic basket to bring to Dagobah beach tomorrow. It’ll be her day off, and he was sure he can convince her that he’s been okay at the beach if she sees him working on it. Unfortunately that means his classes have been especially unbearable. 

It didn’t help that the winged asshole keeps following him around spouting nonsense in his ears.

“Midori, Midori!” Izuku stifled a hiss as he heard the boy calling him for the fifth time that day, using that stupid nickname. 

He spun on his heel and leaned forward to respond to the boy, trying to keep an innocent look on his face as his patience began to crumble.

He only had one week left. One week before middle school was over and he could finally be where people can't judge him.

“Ah! Tsubasa! I almost missed you there, what's up?” Izuku smiled as sweetly as he possibly could, considering the annoyance the stupid bat was causing him.

“Well, Me and some of the guys wanted to know if you could ask Kawakami and the rest of your friends if they wanted to come to the arcade after school with us.”

Ahhhh. He understood. Izuku usually attracted the girls to his side, as they found him cute, and during his years of middle school, he seemed to have given people the impression they were his friends. So Izuku tilted his head and waited for Bat-boy to continue his little rant.

“And, um, there's- there's this party Handa is throwing, since we all finish middle school soon…” the flying rat looked at him to wait for his response. He seemed nervous. Was Izuku really that well known for saying no?

Well, that didn't really matter, huh.

“Oh! Well, I can definitely text Kawakami and ask her to invite everyone else! but, um…” Izuku presses his ears downwards and looks up at the sorry excuse for a mammal and fidgets with his hands, “I have plans with my mom tonight, and I’m pretty busy for the next week or so with stuff outside of school. I’m sorry, Tsubasa! I really am!” 

He feels gross. This isn't him, this isn't who he wants to be. But he can picture what would happen if he was more... himself.

Images of mutation-related violence from the news flood his mind. Better to be small, complacent, and exactly what the world wants of him.

Luckily Tsubasa seemed to only be slightly upset about his partial refusal.

“Oh! Well, I get it! family first and all that, right? As long as you ask the girls it should be fine. Try and think about it though, eh? clear your schedule?” With that, Izuku's greatest annoyance of the day waves and makes his way to his locker.

Thank god, that conversation felt like it stretched on forever. Really, was that all he’s good for? Getting a couple cute girls to go to a stupid party? He’s his own fuckin’ person. He makes his own decisions. And his decision was to NOT ask Kawakami shit. He was going to fucking RUN as fast as possible home. He wasn’t exactly planning on interacting much with his classmates for the last week. Who the fuck did they think they were? They played god, demanding others listen to them or else face consequences. He wasn’t dealing with this today. It was always “Oh, Midori, can you do this?” or, “Ahh, Midori! Will you ask for this?”

He hated it. He hated them, he hated them, he HATED them. They were the ones who WANTED to be heroes. They wanted to protect the people, they’ve told him how much they want to protect HIM. they haven’t protected him. No, no, nononono-

“Hey, Izu? Calm down, I’m right here to talk if you need me.” Izuku sighed as he heard the tip-tap of feet too small for the words he could already hear them saying.

“Yeah, I’m fine. We really don’t need to do this right now.” He didn’t dare to turn around. If he did, he knew all that would happen would be him feeling even worse than he did already.

“I know you’re lyyyinng, Zuzu. You never respond when you’re fine.” 

“ Stop. ” Izuku gritted his teeth. 

“ Come on, Izuku. If you really wanted that, I wouldn’t still be talking, right?”  

“ STOP. ”

“ Just talk to me, talk to me Zuku!”

“...please”

“ Well? Have you forgotten what you were so upset about yet?”

“Just… ah, you're not real, fuck off.”

“That's pretty rude zuzu. Aunty Inko wouldn't like you swearing at me, huh? But i'm glad you stopped thinking about what was upsetting you.”

As if he would forget so easily.

“Fine. Bye, Kacchan.”

“ Bye bye, zuzu.”

“Izuku, honey? Are you alright, who are you talking to?” His mom called from her room as he opened the door. Izuku lets out a huff and responds in a monotone voice.

“No one, mom. Just talking to myself.”

He wasn't going to deal with another talk about therapy.

He didn't need therapy.

He needed his head to shut the fuck up.

Fortunately he knew how to do that, because now that he had made it home he could convince his mom to go to the beach with him. He couldn't wait to show her what he had been doing, show her how strong he really was. He had even finished his design for his own signature weapons!

He had been collecting some of the scrap on the beach to create his very own weaponized yo-yos. Yeah, yo-yos. not the most intimidating weapons, but the prototypes he has right now work none the less. he planned to have better ones developed by a support company once he was in UA, ones that worked as a capture weapon as well as the swinging and cutting that it could do right now. 


Or... maybe try and improve them on his own.

The best part about yo-yos is that they're inconspicous. He won't be in trouble if he's caught with them.

The strings were barbed, allowing them to slice through softer materials like some woods or human skin (Ouch.) They were very long and VERY tough as well, and he had tried and failed a couple times before he finally figured out how to wrap the strings around streetlights and railings to swing himself around.

They make him feel like that one pre-quirk superhero, Spiderman. They're amazing.

He was so excited to show his mom. Now all they had to do was talk about it over a nice supper! What could go wrong, right?

Chapter Text

It did not, in fact, go fine. He knew his mom worried, knew she was clingy and scared for him, but this? This was way too far. He had brought up the beach, his training, and his UA application at supper, and instead of being 'just a bit worried'? she flipped out. and he means really, really flipped out.

She yelled, told him he wasn't going to the beach again. told him she would get his things to finish out the school year and he would not be applying to UA. She locked him in his room while she left, leaving him shaking in confusion and anger at his sweet mother.

He had been so confused. Why was she doing this? Did she really… did she really think he was that weak? His heart had been pounding in his chest, his entire body shook. He hated this. He had to leave. He couldn't stay with her anymore. 

The fur on his ears stood up, and he was so... afraid. He felt... gross. Like a possession, rather than a son. A toy, a pet. Not a child to be loved, cherished and supported. He felt like property.

Of course she had apologized for yelling when she came back. Told him he had scared her, that he wasn't to joke like that again. But she didn't go back on her word.

She kept him caged up in his room, fretting and complaining whenever he asked so much as to go to the bathroom. He wasn't allowed to leave the apartment, she had confiscated any weapons that weren't concealed, and stole his half finished application…

But, worst of all…

She took his notebooks.

She took them, all but the most recent one he had hidden in his pillowcase. She told him he wouldn't need them. That since he was just going to stay with her, why would he need them? Her baby, pouring over those stupid books, why won't that just ruin his sleep?

He had wanted to SCREAM.

So he had wept as he fell asleep that night. He mourned the woman he loved as his mother, knowing that with this she was dead to him. He could never see her in the same light. She would never see him as a person, only ever as her defenseless baby. He would hold a funeral for who he thought she was, one day. Once he left who she was now.

that had led to now, led to what he was doing now while his mother had been called to the hospital. With tears in his eyes he sat at his desk writing a letter. He had a plan. The plan was hurting his heart, the plan was going to ruin the one person he had.

But he had to do it.

So, he wrote his letter, letting his pen write out the words…

Dear mom.

While you read this I won't be here. I love you but I can't handle this. Your refusal to accept my dreams and your smothering is breaking me. I know you love me. I wish that was enough. Don't try to send the police out looking for me, because by the time you read this letter you won't have any right to me. I’ve found someone who can remove your legal claim over me, and this should be done in the databases of the government before I leave.

Please know that I love you.

-Izuku

Yeah, it's choppy. It’s to the point, it's informative, robotic. But it's all he can manage at this point. The part about him being legally free is true, too. At some point before he was born, Japan had adopted some of the emancipation laws of other countries. If it was in a minor's best interest and they were over 14 years of age, they could file for emancipation. He was lucky he didn't need his mother's permission for it. While he technically didn't go the legal route, if any judge, school, or job sees the emancipation on his file like it will be he won't be questioned on it.

He’s lucky the hero commission basically squashed the government as it is right now. If the government actually had enough funding and time to care about one random kid emancipating himself? He would have no shot. 


He looked for days to find someone to help him. eventually he was lead to a weapons and information dealer, Giran. By getting in contact, he was connected with someone to do the job he needed.

His letter is done. Izuku grimaces and wipes his tears, checking his email for a message from the man who he paid to get the whole thing through. It was done. Izuku Midoriya was now legally just Izuku.

Ah. He probably needed to figure out a last name, huh? 

He shakes his head and walks over to his window. Once again he purses his lips. He hates all of this. Just yesterday he planned to finish the year, to take his mom and show her his training.

But she ruined it.

So now, with all his money, a change of clothes, his laptop and his notebook shoved into his old school bag, he stands and stares at the window. 

his hands grip the chair he has in them, his knuckles turn white as he lifts…

The sound of glass smashing echoes in his mind as he jumps. He’s numb to the cuts that begin to litter his arms and face, he barely feels the pain as he hits the ground with a thud, in a crouch.

Izuku's breath is heavy. He looks upwards at the 4th floor window he's thrown himself from and tears begin to form in his eyes. “God I love my quirk…”

And he runs. He runs as fast as he can in the night, on all fours as animalistic as he can get. The city seems silent.

Eventually he's far enough away from the apartment that it feels safe to slow his pace. Izuku stands and tilts his head at the alley he's ended up in.

“Hello..?” He needs to test the waters. He won’t be staying if it's already occupied by some other homeless person. “Seriously, is someone here? I’ll leave if someone is.”

Maybe it was actually empty?

“mew?” at the soft sound Izuku almost jumped out of his own skin.

A small cat appeared from behind the dumpster and stared at him with a tilted head. It had the same inky black fur as his own, the same bright green eyes as his. He smiled.

He stepped forward slowly and kneeled down, reaching a hand to the kitten expecting the stray to be wary of him. he was fully prepared to leave the al-

The cat ran towards him and up his arm, nuzzling into his cheek.

ah.

Now, this may be a shock to many, but izuku is rarely ever around cats. like, ever. any time he has been it's been at some kind of cat café where he knew the cats were friendly. It seems that this kitten, that he was incredibly sure was a feral stray, seemed incredibly content to purr and press into him on his shoulder. 

Now that was cool.

And the PERFECT distraction from the shit that was happening in his life right now.

He walked over and sat beside the (mostly) empty dumpster so he was hidden from the view from anyone who passed by the little alley and pulled out his notebook. There were only two pages filled, all about him. the first, a sketch of his ideal costume and support items, the second, a quick explanation of everything he planned to be. Underground or limelight, persona, the works.

He flipped the page and started a new one. a section that would probably take him a while to complete. Quirk analysis and applications. 

So, he allows the kitten whom he had named Nyx to get comfortable in his lap and writes about himself.

He writes about how his muscles were dense and strong, even though he seemed small. He writes about his joints, the extreme flexibility and the shock absorption that they give him. He writes about Nyx and how she shows he may attract cats to himself.

He writes and writes until his wrist is aching.

He writes, and he writes, and he writes.

He finally closes his book as the sun begins to rise, tucks it into his bag, and lifts Nyx from his lap to get comfortable on the ground. She gives a hiss in annoyance when her rest is disturbed but seems to be fine with lying on his back to continue her sleep.

God, he really needed this.

After all the crazy shit that's happened in such a short amount of time he was somewhat relieved to have a day to himself so he could sleep. He’d head to an internet café later to do as much school work as he could so he wouldn't have to deal with the absences on his record. 

and so he sleeps, ready to take on the world alone when he awakes

Chapter Text

“mmHm…” Izuku groans as the sun begins to rise. His well deserved rest, always interrupted too soon for his liking. Shifting from his position he hears a sound from his back, remembering the cat that had been resting there. 

“Ah! Nonono Nyx I’m so sorry-” He waves his hands around as he stares at the cat on the ground, who is currently shooting him an annoyed look. “Oh, come on Nyxie…” He sighed as he stood and scooped up the cat in his arms. Even if she was obviously annoyed at him, he wasn’t abandoning her in the alley when he probably likes her more than any human he had ever met.

He begins to leave the alley and set off for the first café he can find, before immediately turning back and grabbing his bag after a hit in the face from Nyx. “Smarter than me, aren’t you? Yeah, I totally would have forgotten and gotten us robbed.” Izuku laughed at the cat's exasperated expression. She looked as if she thought he was the stupidest kitten she had ever met. 

He's beginning to think she's the smartest cat he's seen, though.

“Hmm… Think we should go shopping for a better bag before we find somewhere to eat? Bet we could get something comfortable for you to ride in.” Well, also, he really needed something a bit better than a ratty old backpack if he was going to keep literally everything he owns in it. He wouldn’t trust this thing to last a week without a strap snapping in the state it’s in right now. A change of clothes would be nice, too. Something he likes, that he can buy himself instead of something bought by his mom.

He vaguely remembers the path to the mall and begins his walk in that direction. Eventually, Nyx drifts back to sleep in his arms, just as he finally finds the mall. He cringes as he realizes he’s going to have to come up with an excuse for having a cat inside. After settling on telling people she’s his little sister, who just got her quirk and can’t control it yet, (which is hopefully made more believable by the very obvious cat quirk he has himself,) he starts searching for a good bag. 

After a while of searching through different stores and peering in windows, He comes across a blue duffle bag. At first, he thought it would be an impractical bag to carry around. It would end up being too much weight on one of his shoulders, and be more of a hindrance than an asset despite its size. At least, that was what he thought until he discovered one feature of the bag.

It could be worn as a backpack.

Instantly the bag was redeemed in his mind and he bought it immediately.

Transferring his belongings from his backpack to his new bag is a struggle with only one free arm not occupied by a sleeping cat, but he manages to get it all in. After putting the backpack in on top of everything else, he zips it a quarter of the way and puts Nyx inside before lifting the strap over his head and letting it settle on his shoulder. 

“Excuse me! You, with the cat!” Izuku turns his head at this sudden voice calling out to him. He sighs as he sees a much taller boy wearing glasses striding towards him.

“What.” Izuku narrows his eyes at this random kid. Why is he being interrupted? He hasn't done anything wrong, yet. 

“I do not think animals are permitted in the mall!” The tall asshole had the audacity to scold him, waving his arms as if he was intimidating him or something.

“Do you always run up to strangers you know nothing about to tell them off?” Izuku stares at the blue haired boy like he’s an idiot. What is this dude thinking? Like, Izuku expected for a store employee or some random old person to try and tell him off. That's what his plan was for. But this? This was some kid his age trying to show off how superior his amazing morals are. That’s stupid, and he isn’t going to even try and be polite.

The boy in front of him sputters a bit at being called out. Izuku takes it as a chance to continue. “And, seriously, before you charged up to me, did you not take the time to think, ‘Hm. That boy has a VERY OBVIOUS cat mutation. MAYBE, just maybe, that has something to do with the CAT he’s carrying around.’” Izuku hisses at the boy who is starting to look more offended than surprised.

“Well, I-” The boy starts but is promptly cut off by a hiss from Izuku.

“No. I don’t expect you to say anything smart, as dumb as you obviously are, so I’ll explain and get on with my day, got it?" The skyscraper kid is glaring at him now. Must not like being called out like that. “This isn’t a cat. My little sister just got her quirk and she doesn’t really know how to control it yet. She pops between being a cat and being a kid at random.” Izuku glares at the boy in front of him. His excuse is absolute bullshit but it’s pretty believable all things considered.

He probably shouldn't lie. But, well, this dude is pissing him off. Who starts scolding people they've never met? he's not a child. 

Honestly, even if he was, it's just plain rude and entitled.

“I see. I apologize for my rudeness, however-” And oh god he was going to try and tell Izuku off again for being rude. Nope. Not happening. No fucking way. So, as the boy began what was surely supposed to be a long winded speech on manners, Izuku held his bag tightly so as to not disturb the cat sleeping inside, and bolted. He heard a yell of “ Hey!” from the stuck up rich kid he had been talking to just moments before and giggles. 

As he slows down, that giggle grows into full fledged laughter. He notices some people slow down and stare. He watched people whisper to their friends and redirect their kids. He doesn’t care. A break. That was what that was. He finally was able to relax. To have fun, to tell off an annoying hero wannabe. Oh, god, he was so relieved.

“Zukun…”

Ah, shit.

“I think you're scaring people.”

Izuku sighed as his laughter was cut short by the stupid voice of a boy he knows he’ll never see. That was short lived, huh.

“Oh, is that Nyx? She’s cute.” 

Kacchans voice was so clear. Izuku ignored it and started walking to look for the next store he wanted to visit. He was excited to buy something cute, and he wasn’t going to let some stupid voice ruin his fun.

“Awe, come on Izu. I missed you! Don’t you miss me?” 

The dresses in that window are cute. He wonders if they have any in red.

“You can talk to me about everything that's happened, Zuzu!” 

Hm… would they be able to make quirk modifications for his tail? It could get uncomfortable if he had to just hold it still under the dress all day.

“Come ooooon… the silent treatment, really? Sensei told us it was rude to ignore each other.” 

Oh, they have a sign about quirk mods…

“That dress is cute! Are you going to buy it? Is it expensive?”

 Nice! They have different versions in the back for animal mutations! And it’s cheap, too! He should still have enough for a couple light meals!

“Fine, fine, I’ll go.” The voice of his old friend grumbles as it finally decides to admit defeat. 

Nice.

Izuku hums as he wastes a bit of his precious money. He knows he should be saving these funds, buying only what's necessary, not frilly red dresses, but he couldn’t help himself. 

He needed to do something by himself. 

Buy something comfortable, that wouldn’t always fit slightly off. Something that he felt nice about. 

Something that he wasn’t given by his mother. 

Maybe he should buy some flowers, to make a grave for who she was.

“Hello! How can we help you today?” The girl at the counter smiles at him brightly, “Ah, that’s a nice choice! Are you buying a dress for your girlfriend?” Izuku cringes. It’s about to get reeeeaaaally awkward.

“Ha…haha… um… would you be able to grab me this size, with quirk accommodations for a tail…” Izuku awkwardly smile at the girl, who had gone completely pale.

“OH. Ye-yes, of…of course, I am SO sorry, let me go get that now, I-I’ll… I’ll be right back!” Izuku sighs as the girl bows repeatedly while backing towards the door. At least she was polite about it. He felt kind of bad for her. She seems to be absolutvly mortified right now.

Not even a minute later she rushed out holding the modified version. “Here you go, sir, again, I… I apologize!” He smiled at her slightly and allowed her to bag the dress before leaving.

Nyx was finally starting to wake up by the time they left the mall. She sat up in the bag and looked around for a bit before jumping to Izuku's shoulders for the walk to find a cafe. 

“Oh, morning Nyx!” Izuku reached up to scratch her under the chin, “You slept the entire time, we’re going to go find a cafe and get some food. They should have something you can eat, too… maybe we can find a cat cafe?” 

Nyx mews in response, leaning into the pets. Izuku smiles a bit and searches for a place to eat. He finally finds a store that Nyx is able to get in without much discourse. A small cat cafe hidden away on the corner across from the park (in which he would probably be sleeping in tonight,) that seems to sell some cat-friendly foods as well as something he could eat. 

Izuku immediately went to the counter. A girl with pink hair and skin was leaning against it on her phone. “Hello.” Izuku waved at the girl and watched her jump and drop her phone against the counter in surprise.

“Oh! Sorry, no ones come in today, guess I got kinda distracted!” Izuku just blinks as she checks her phone for any cracks.

“It’s fine. Can I just get something safe for cats, and a blueberry muffin?” Izuku was too tired to deal with more bullshit today. He wasn’t even going to pretend he cared about her excuse. What would it matter to him that she was on her phone? He probably would be, too.

“Of course!” She grabbed a muffin from behind the glass and reached up for a can of wet cat food on a shelf behind her. Izuku thanked her and paid before sitting down at a table with his laptop to start working on his U.A application. He plugged his phone into an outlet beside him as he did to make sure it wouldn’t die on him sometime important. He needed to update some things on his application, like his address. He switches it to a P.O box he got set up for himself at the same time as the emancipation, and prays that should be enough for the school. 

“Pfft…” He looks up to see the cashier girl holding her mouth and trying not to laugh in confusion, before realizing what was happening.

Oh.

Nyx was sitting eating her food normally, but even she seemed amused at the sight before her.

It was like every cat in the place wanted to be as close to Izuku as possible.

He had been ignoring it as he worked, but a cat had climbed up to his shoulder, one was sitting directly on his head, and another was stretched across his lap. Two others were walking around and rubbing against his legs.

“Seems like you’re popular, huh?” The girl got out that little quip before bursting into laughter at the display before her. Izuku began to turn bright red. 

“It’s a part of my quirk! It’s not my fault!” He tries to defend himself to no avail as the girl just continues to laugh.

“What? Oh my god, she’s literally on your head-! whatever you say, kitty cat...”

“Oh my god -” 

“It’s like you're covered in catnip or something-”

“Don’t you DARE bring out catnip-”

“This is the best thing I’ve seen all day. I'm going to cry.” She was keeled over and holding her stomach at this point. Izuku was trying, unsuccessfully, to try and get the cat on his head off.

“You should come back sometime. They really look like they like you.” The girl was calming down now, wiping a tear from her eye as she talked, “actually… we ARE hiring… if you write an application right now you’d probably get hired as soon as the owner reads it. He’s not exactly picky about his employees and he pays pretty damn well.” Izuku considers it for a moment. Does he want to work with the girl who just spent so much time laughing her ass off at his suffering? But… he can get his middle school done in the night since he’s not actually going, meaning he could work full time… and if it pays well maybe he can even get an apartment for himself instead of having to put a P.O box as his address. 

Izuku sighs in defeat as he gives up on his attempts to get the cat off, “My name's ... well, it's Izuku. Just Izuku. Want to help me type up a resume?”

The girl beams at him as if he had just told her he was going to pay her tuition. She seems... overly happy. 

Usually, Izuku would be wary of someone like this. But with just one look at her, his worries are quelled slightly. She's a mutant, just like him, but even more noticably. Izuku's always been a bit more at ease around mutants like him.

“Ashido Mina! If you’re Izuku, you should call me Mina. I’d love to help.”

The rest of his day was spent making a resume and chatting about their shared plans to go to UA starting the next school year. 

This might just be the best day he’s had in a while.

Chapter Text

Izuku had gotten the job. And Mina hadn’t been lying about the pay, either. Izuku was sitting on 1,850 yen hourly while working full time. He hadn’t been working at The Cat Station for long, about two weeks at this point, and he had been able to secure an apartment just a few buildings down from the cafe after spending wisely. Him and Mina were planning on going there after work to get him settled in for his first night, as the girl had insisted on helping.

He had noticed it was only ever him or Mina on the schedule by his third shift, and had asked her about it. Apparently that was why the owner was so desperate for someone new- he had needed to fire the only other employee about a week before Izuku had started, and Mina could only work after school.

All that had led to the two hanging out whenever the store was empty (which tended to be anytime after lunch had passed, as they were popular for breakfast and a nice place to hit for lunch, but they had no supper options.) This empty store is what caused the current situation.

“Izuku, no.” Mina looks at the boy in horror as he stares proudly at the first person he’s considered a friend in a while, “That’s- oh my god Izu that’s so gross!”

Izuku was crouched down like a cat proudly, sitting in the doorway with a mouse between his teeth. He had leapt over the counter and out the door after seeing it scurry past the window, and had gotten to it just in time.

“Ith a gifth for the caths.” He grins at her as he finally stands up and spits it out into his hand. “Unless you want it, of course” He holds it out to her as she stares at him in disgust.

“No, no no! Groooossssss, put it outsideeeee!!” Mina rushes up to him, before turning him around and beginning to push him outside while he places a hand on his heart.

He fake gasps dramatically “Mina, how could you do this to me! To face such discrimination, how awful!” He grins as he goes limp against her pushing.

“Ikun it's a health violation!!” She finally manages to get the boy out the door. “Now drop it! eugggghhh, grosssss!”

“Fine, fine, I will resign myself to eating human food in the future.” Izuku says as dramatically as he possibly can. "Nooooot."

“Don’t make me force feed you cat food, Zuku. Because I will. Now come on and wash your mouth out, that was a god damn MOUSE from the streets! Who knows what kind of diseases that thing had!” Mina grabs his arm and begins to drag him towards the employee washroom. "Gross, I'm going to have to call the owner..."

“Nahh, I’m MADE to stomach that kind of stuff. Been catching mice since I was a kid!”

“That does not make it any less GROSS!”

“Ah, my queen, your words hurt me soooo!” 

“Oh, you drama cat.” Mina shoved him into the washroom, “I’m going to watch the counter! Feed the cats when you finish.”

“Fine. My talents and skill go unapprecitated here, I see.”

Izuku washes his mouth out as Mina demands and then goes to grab the bag of food for the cats. As he pours it out into their bowls he spots someone walking up to their door.

And holy shit did he look tired.

And… familiar.

“Mina! I’m going back into the kitchen to make a new pot of coffee!” He calls out as he makes his way behind the counter.

“Huh? Why would yo- oh.” She gives him a thumbs up when she hears the bell ring and sees the tired looking man walk in.

“Welcome! You came in at the right time, my coworker just went to brew some fresh coffee, if you’d like some.” Mina gives the stranger a smile. He looked as if he had been up all night, and was slightly scary looking, but they were used to a whole lot of interesting customers because of their location,

“Yes, please. Three large to-go cups and one cup to sit in.” the man gave a huff. He seemed like he'd been working for hours.

“Of course!” Mina grabs the to-go cups from the shelf after taking his money and disappears into the kitchen with Izuku, emerging quickly with the coffee. Izuku followed her out.

“I just fed the cats, but if you give ‘em anything to eat you’ll be their best friend.” Izuku smiles, customer service worthy. he has a feeling this guy likes cats. The mans eyes flicker from Izuku's ears, back to his eyes.

The familiar man grunts in response and Izuku raises his eyebrows. Odd response.

“Who’s the one on the display case?” THe man points over at Nyx.

“Ah, she’s mine. She doesn’t really like most people, but she comes with me everywhere and my boss doesn’t care.” Izuku looks at the man somewhat wearily. People usually don’t ask about Nyx, content to play with the other, friendlier cats. “She’s pretty smart. She has some kind of intelligence quirk.” Nyx nods her head at him in agreement. 

“Hm.” the man just goes back to his coffee and petting Midnight, who had jumped up onto her lap.

“What’r their names?” His voice was monotone and freaking Izuku out.

“The one you’re petting is Miss Midnight, she’s the friendliest, and that one by the window is Mic, he showed up yesterday and kinda just stuck around. The others were named by Mina and the owner, so they aren’t really hero themed, but that one's Disco and he’s Milk.” Izuku points out the last two cats to the man. 

“I see. Who named Miss Midnight and Mic, then?”

“Oh! I named Mic, we had Present Mic's show on for background noise when he showed up. Miss Midnight got her name because the actual Midnight shows up here pretty often, I guess… It's pretty cool.”

The man seems amused by that little fact. “God damn it Nem, keeping the good coffee from me…” He mumbles quietly to himself. Izuku and Mina give each other a look. Crazy person, or just weird? Izuku shrugs. At least he seems fine enough.

The man seemed like he was done with the conversation, so Izuku stepped back behind the counter with Mina, who had begun scrolling on her phone.

“Hey.” The customer walked up to him and Mina after 5 minutes had passed. “Would you be able to put a pot on around this time for the next couple of days?”

“Oh, sure! Thank you for coming, mister…” Mina looked up at him for a second, searching his eyes and trying to remember if he already gave a name.

“Eraserhead.” 

Izuku went pale and drops the cat toy he was holding, Milk immediately pouncing on it.

Shit. 

How had he not recognized the man? 

He’s had multiple interactions with him before, when training in the night. The pro had caught him jumping rooftops. He hadn’t ever seen the man in the daylight, and had only ever seen him with his goggles and capture weapon around his neck. even with his ability to see in darker places, the man looked a lot different to him now.

“Eraser…head…” Izuku muttered to himself.

“Haven’t seen you running on rooftops the last couple days. Was getting worried.” Eraser nodded towards him as he left the shop. "Careful, kid. Workin' in a shop like this is a lot safer than what you were doing before.

Mina just stared at him with the most confused and amazed look on her face.

“You are going to tell me everything. ” 

“I thought you would say that.” He grumbles. this is going to be a long night.

Nyx sits on Mina’s shoulder as Izuku locks up the store, staring at Izuku as if disappointed he hadn’t mentioned his chance meetings with the underground hero beforehand.

“LETS GO, LETS GO! Come on Izu, come on, come on, come on! We go eat, and then you take me for this training!” Mina squeals in excitement, pumping her fist in the air. "PLUS ULTRA!" She's basically vibration.

“Mina… I’m going to tell you this now. My training is heavily based on my quirk. Some of it might help you, but a lot won’t, so if you’re going to train with me, we’re going to have to make you your own regimen.” Izuku looks at Mina with a serious expression before softening. “And… please- please don't…”

“Ikun.” Izuku looks up at her, just realizing his eyes had met the floor, “I won’t think any less of you for anything that you do during your training.”

“How-” Izuku starts, hesitant to ask.

“Izuku, I'm not stupid.  I’ve seen the way you tense up when anyone mentions your quirk in a certain tone. I heard you hiss under your breath when that customer from the other day called you cu-” She’s quickly cut off by a low growl beginning to come from Izuku. “That helps prove my point. Look, I’ve had to suffer through discrimination myself. I mean, how often do you see a girl with pink hair and skin, with yellow irises and black sclera? AND horns? Mutant discrimination sucks. No matter how that discrimination is displayed, it sucks. I don’t care about your quirk, Izu. You don’t have to worry.”

The two stare at each other for what feels like hours.

And then, Izuku breaks into tears, right there outside the store.

He falls into her arms and sobs, more than he has since he closed off his heart all those years ago. Mina, the one who understands. Even if her experiences are completely different, opposite from his own, she understands.

Right here, right now, is when he realizes that he is free. 

There will be no persona around this girl.

There will be no lies to this girl.

She is his. He is hers. 

She's the first person to fully get it. To understand. Not even his own mother could do that. She's... family.

“If you find mice on your doorway, just know you signed up for it, dumbass…” Izuku finally muttered into her shoulder, the sound muffled,

“Awe, come on man. Maybe if I take it back, I will definitely judge the mice.” Her nose crinkles.

“Too late, cat adoptions are forever and you can’t back out, unless you're a little coward." He teases, still muffled by tears and her shoulder. 

“Well, shit.” She sounds more fond then upset.

“This is awesome! How the hell did you convince your parents to let you move out so early?” Mina asks as she flops backwards onto one of the beanbags Izuku had bought to use as a replacement for a couch. "Mine would freak."

“Mi, I have no furniture except for two beanbags and a kotatsu I blew a bunch of money on. Like, I don’t even have a bed, or any real dishes. Not awesome.” Izuku raises an eyebrow at the girl's statement, ignoring the question about his parents.

“Deniiiiiieed! Still awesome, we’re barely 15. Still didn’t answer my question, though.”

“No parents to convince.” Mina freezes. 

“Oh, god, Zuku I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Ah, no no no, it’s fine! I don’t remember my dad at all. He left when I was just a baby, because… you know, the ears. He was pretty sure my mom cheated... jury's still out on that one.” Izuku smiles, “And I kind of… disowned my mom?”

“First of all, your dad was shit, second of all… How the fuck do you disown a parent?” Mina pokes him in the nose, her face scrunched up in confusion.

“My mom… was like the rest. I managed to get myself emancipated, so basically I'm an adult in the eyes of the law, when it comes to providing for myself at least.” He says, awkward.

“Oh.” And that was all he needed to say.

“Wait.”

Oh, shit,

“Izuku.”

She’s figured it out.

“Where the FUCK did you stay before you got the apartment?!” She points accusingly, eyes wide.

Izuku blinked at her and pressed his ears down against his head. “If I jump out of the window can I escape this?” His tail lashes a few times. He was hoping to avoid this question.

“I will melt your precious kotatsu, Nyazuku.” Mina’s eyes narrowed at the boy and she slammed her hands down on his most prized possession as if to give her threat more merit.

“You. Wouldn’t. Dare.”

Mina’s forearms began to slowly start producing acid.

“I FOLD, YOU WIN, SPARE MY MAKESHIFT BED!” Izuku ran to his kitchen and threw the tea towel Mina had gifted him at her head. He was so, so, SO glad she brought him acid-proof gifts.

“One day you’ll learn, Mister Mewdoriya, that I always win.” Mina grins in victory as she wipes the acid off of her arms. She carefully folds the towel so no acid is on the outside, and places it in the laundry basket Izuku had appropriately labeled the ‘Acid accidents and more’ basket, so Izuku knows to wash it separately from his nice clothing.

“I may or not have met you the day after I completed my emancipation runaway”

“Ikun…” Minas eyes narrow once more.

“And I may have slept in an alleyway behind a dumpster.” Nyx mewed while nodding from her spot on top of the minifridge Izuku bought as a placeholder for a regular one.

“After that?”

“The park across from the cafe. Or sometimes the roof.”

“Holy shit.”

There was a long pause.

“Hey… you know, you live closer to U.A than I do…” Mina slowly gets out.

“Yeah…” Izuku’s incredibly confused.

“And you have three bedrooms…” She looks him in the eyes without blinking.

“You mean…”

“If we both get in, and my parents say yes…” She says, staring. 

Izuku begins to grin along with her. “You know, cutting the rent in half and being able to buy some furniture sounds pretty fuckin’ nice…”

Minas smile widened “So do we have a deal?”

“I think we do! ...That is, if my mom and dad don't faint when I ask..."

…

They continue to sit comfortably in their now (hopefully) shared apartment when Mina comes to a realization. “Hey, Zuku… why’d you rent such a nice apartment? How the hell do you afford this?” Anyone could probably point out how absurd Izuku's apartment is for his situation. Three bedrooms? He’s fifteen!

“Mina, this isn’t exactly the prettiest place in town. I mean, it's closer to U.A than your place but it’s also crawling with villain activity. We have a literal crowbar behind the counter in The Cat Station.” He deadpanned

“Oh. Yeah, actually, that makes sense.” 

“Are you ready to change and get going?” Izuku stands up from his beanbag and stretches his arms. 

“Mhm! I can check out my future room, too!” Mina follows suit, shooting upwards.

“How confident.” Izuku grabs his fr- no, not enough- His sister's hand and takes her to the first room in the small hallway of his apartment.

Izuku feels a bit giddy. He always wanted a sibling, always being told about how they'd take on the world with you. How they'd understand.

“None of the rooms are very big, and I kind of want the one at the end, but they’re pretty nice!” Izuku waves his free hand around as he talks outside of the door.

“Why do you want the one at the end? I’m fine with any, that’s just a weird choice. That one has no closet, right?" She frowns.

Izuku grins. “The window. Theres a bay window in there and looks out at a fire escape on the next building. Makes it pretty easy to lay in the windowsill or get onto the building roof.” 

“Okay, yeah, that tracks. I'll knock on your door when I’m ready.”

“Got it!

Chapter Text

“What the hell do you mean you can’t make him come home!?” Inko slammed her hands onto the desk of the detective in front of her.

“Ma’am, I apologize, but if you look here, he’s legally emancipated. You have no legal grounds to put out a search warrant.” Tsukauchi sighs at the woman. She hadn’t stopped bothering him for days. The worst part is how everything she says appears to be true. Especially that which he really would rather be a lie.

“Oh, you don’t understand! He’s my baby! He’s mine! He can’t protect himself all alone out there!” She wails, crying like she’s been shot in the heart.

True.

Most of the time, this would motivate the detective to open a search for the missing person, and put his damned all into it... But this isn’t most of the time. While his quirk may mark the woman's words as true, he knew they weren’t. 

She genuinely believed her son belonged to her, like a possession. She believed he was weak. The words marked as true, because in her mind they were. She was so set in stone, she really, really thinks that her boy is some useless thing she must care for.

Tsukauchi, however, knew the boy was doing just fine.

He had seen the boy, went to find and check on him after Midoriya-san first came to file a report in tears, despite his inability to really do anything. He was doing better than fine. 

Tsukauchi was served by the child himself in the place he worked. He saw him laughing and joking with a girl he referred to as his sister when questioned. He learnt through his investigation he had rented his own apartment. He finished all of his leftover classes with top grades on each assignment, and he seemed to be doing perfectly, graduating middle school early and all. 

Better than perfect, the kid seemed happy. Safe. He looked like he ate well, had the appropriate clothing… he seemed good.

The woman was completely and utterly wrong.

If anything, he can see why the kid left her. She seems like she doesn’t have her head on right, wailing and sobbing like the boy is a lost toddler rather than a teenager.

And Tsukauchi really, really wanted her to get out of his office.

“CATCH UP, MICHAN!!” Izuku yells out, jumping from place to place on his hands and feet across the roofs of the city with Mina tailing him close behind.

“Get back here, you silly cat!” Mina called out to him while laughing.

Izuku had made sure they were both in dark clothing, so they could hide better if needed. He had also made Mina put on a visor made for hero work to help give more protection to her identity if they were seen by villains or heroes.  He could see out, but others were unable to see in. Her pink hair and skin may have been recognizable, but her eyes are what really set her apart.

Izuku himself had put on the gas mask he bought himself to add to his hero costume to do the same. His hair colour was definitely something that was hard to hide, but not something that made him too recognizable.

In the age of quirks, some green really wasn’t much.

“Hey, Mi, we aren’t really doing anything like vigilantism…” Izuku slowly stops his run and stands still by the edge of the roof. He wanted to test the waters. He needed to know how she would react. If he would have to take back his promise to his heart, to rescind his statements and fall back on his lies once more, “Well… technically… we could be.”

“...”

He glances back at her.

He can’t see her eyes.

“Ikun… I wouldn’t stop you.”

What..?

“I don’t think I could do it. But I wouldn't ever, like, stop you from doing anything.” She says, slowly. 

Izuku just blinked.

“Mi, you would be arrested so fucking quick if someone heard you.” Izuku broke out into giggles.

“Wh- Hey! You’re the one who asked! What the fuck!” Mina leans forward with a finger pointing out at the laughing boy. “You’re the one who would be arrested!”

“Mina, come sit down for a bit. We’ve been running forever.” 

“Yeah.” Mina pauses as she sits, kicking her legs over the edge of the tall building, “Well… Ikun, if you want to become a hero and get into UA, why entertain vigilantism? Won’t you get to do all that anyway, when we graduate?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know if the hero course is really what I want. I don’t really care about being a hero. I just want to prove them all wrong.” Izuku responds slowly as he stares into the stars. He knows Mina understands who he means by them. “If I just get into UA at all, I’ll feel like I’ve won, just a bit. But as a vigilante? I can show them in person. I don’t have to follow the stupid rules set out or heroes. I can win.”

“Hm.” She looks down at the street below.

And for a while that’s it. The two sat in silence thinking of what to say next.

“Well, I guess I’ll just have to represent us mutants in the hero field, huh?” She grinned at him and flexed an arm. “What’re you gonna go into, general studies? Business?” On board like nothing ever changed. That's his sister, for you.

Izuku smiled back.

“I think I might apply for the support course. I mean, have you seen my yo-yos?” Izuku winked with a grin but then froze. “Oh god, you haven’t seen my yo-yos.”

“Yo-yos?” Mina seems properly confused. That just won’t do.

The rest of the night was spent swinging through the alleys with Mina on his back.

And a couple stops for first aid and troubleshooting.

Hey, he never said they were perfect.

Eraserhead sits on top of a building, watching as his one roof-runner seems to have gained a pair. He sighs, seeing the way the girl's pink skin speaks out at her neck, and how the boy puts no effort into hiding his tail as it lashes behind him, moving to give him balance.

He ALMOST steps in when they jump, but as he sees a sort of string wrap around a streetlamp and swing them, he stills.

“...Damn problem children.” He grumbles to himself, sighing. He glances at them one last time. “...Should talk to Nedzu. Get her put in my class.”

Tonight, if you were looking, you’d be treated to a rare sight.

 Eraserhead smiles.

Chapter Text

“IZUKU! Hurry up! We have our meeting with mister Adachi in 20 minutes!” Mina rushed around their little apartment trying to gather up everything they needed. The owner of The Cat Station wanted to discuss leaving the store in Izuku and Mina’s hands as he was retiring soon. Of course, he had his doubts about leaving his beloved shop to two teenagers, which is why they had set up a meeting with the man.

“I’m coming! I'm sorry, I’m sorry, really!” Izuku pulled on his dress and ran out of his room, “I was working on my submissions for the entrance exam all night! Only a couple weeks left, you know!” Izuku opened the clasp and let his tail through the hole underneath it, quickly clipping it back in its place. 

“Well, I told you to go to sleep on time, Ikun! Come on, hurry!” Mina latched onto his arm and pulled him out into the hallway.

Neither of the two could drive but luckily the store wasn't too far. They ran as fast as possible to make it on time. 

“Ikun, maybe don't run that way today! I’m sorry, but I can’t keep uuuup!” She struggled to keep up, panting and running as Izuku kept in front of her. Too fast….

“Aw, finnne!” Izuku allowed himself to flip over onto his feet, not stopping in the progress. He smirked, “But, Mina… what makes’cha think you can keep up with me normally, either?”

“Why you…” Mina turned purple in the cheeks and sped up her pace to catch up with her friend. “Get back here, you mangy alley cat!”

Startled people moved out of the way while they bounded by. 

“Oh my! Such lively children, aren't they?” An old woman chuckled as the two passed, patting her granddaughter on the shoulder lightly. “You never know, Ochaco, they may just be your friends in the future! Such fun…”

Ochaco smiled at her grandmother. “Ah, Oba-chan, I’ll probably never see them again at all!” she shook her head. her grandma had a habit of predicting Ochaco’s future for her.

Strangely enough, though, she hadn't been wrong yet.

“Say, Oba-chan… you sure you don't have some kind of secret future telling quirk?” She asks, slightly suspiciously.

her dear grandmother just smiled and shook her head with a small laugh.

“So sorry! So sorry, Adachi, sir! SOMEONE woke up late!” Mina held Izuku's head down in a bow as the boy grumbled.

“Mi~naa!” Izuku pushed at her in protest. He still wasn't much for others, so he was pretty uncomfortable being so open around the store owner. He’s… wary.

The old man waved his hands happily. “Ah, no, no, it's fine! Actually you’re right on time!” Now, to discuss the sale…” 

“Ah, actually sir, if you don't mind me asking… Why do you want to leave the station to us?” Mina asked warily. She knew the man had kids, and the two he was talking to were still only teenagers.

“Ah. Well, you two seem to be doing a really good job running this place already, and I know you're both off to UA in two weeks, but I’m sure you would do a better job than my son.”

Izuku held back a laugh as Mina jabbed him in the side.

“Please continue then, sir.” Izuku has to resist the urge to stick out his tongue at her tone.

The two spent the next couple hours negotiating terms.

After the negotiations were finished, Izuku and Mina signed their names on the contract presented to them. Of course, Izuku read it over at least four times, and Mina made sure to bug him about it later. (“You never know!” He’d protest many times that night.)

And with that, The Cat Station was now officially the property of Ashido Mina and Izuku. He still has to figure out a last name, but for now, he’d had to write down Midoriya.

They immediately began the search for more employees. They planned to be at the Cafe as much as they possibly could, but UA was a tough school to attend and they knew they wouldn't be nearly as available as they currently were. Izuku decided what to do while they waited for applications to start coming in.

“C’mon, help me with my project!” Izuku dragged Mina into his room to have her help hold pieces of his project as he worked. To attend UAs support course, you need to present a working prototype for support type gear to be judged. Izuku had designed support gear and armor for people with similar quirks to his. It wasn’t the fanciest but it had a set purpose. 

Izuku wanted to focus on creating support gear for civilians, but for UA he was meant to have something combat focused as well. So he combined them.

He put on his tightest black shirt to help keep any fabrics away from the armor while he put it on. This model was made specifically for him. Mina helped him fasten the linked armor around his tail, and around his elbows. He put it around his knees himself. The goal was to enhance the natural shock absorption of his joints and slightly weaponize his tail.

The plating around his tail helped to weaponize it. His fur was brushed down to avoid getting in the way of the metal. The plating had been cut with small razor-like incisions, allowing him to do minor damage with his tail as well as protecting it from slashes and such during a fight.

The braces on his knees and elbows made sure to leave room so he could bend and move them with full mobility. The insides were lined with a special rubber to absorb shock and the outsides had thin metal coating for added protection. Again, they were simple, but only part of what he had prepared. 

“Grab the thing from the place.” Izuku waves a hand behind him.

“How descriptive.” Mina deadpans.

Mina seemed to understand him anyway, and got up to grab the ‘thing’ from the ‘place’.

The thing was a large belt-like strap that izuku slung over one shoulder before tightening it so it fit snugly across his body. The utility belt had many notches, each holding reinforced plastic bottles. Every other bottle appeared to be empty.

“Ok, now fill these with your acid.” Izuku unloaded each empty bottle onto the table and glanced up at her, “Please.” He adds, not wanting her to argue with his lack of formality.

Mina blinked in confusion.

“But..?” 

“Please? Remember when I borrowed that bottle from you last time? I think I have the formula’s down…” Mina just looked at him and began to fill each bottle with her acid.

“Thank you! I made these for you, so when you use it you won’t need the acid bottles, but I need them for my demonstration.”

“For me? Thank you, but… what are they?”

“Oh! Yes, yes come on! We gotta get to the beach and you can test them for me!” Mina can’t help but note he still hasn’t explained it to her.

Izuku grabs two wrist braces that seem to have slots for the bottles to be inserted.

“Ikun.. are these what I think they are?”

Izuku just grins at her.

“Takoba beach!” Izuku happily exclaimed as Mina cringed at the piles of trash, “Now, Mina, these braces are modified versions for people who aren’t, well, you, so you’re going to need to use the acid bottles. Eventually the acid brace should be able to refill with acid as you release it. For example, you start producing acid above the entrance and it’ll collect and store it.”

“Yeah, yeah, just let me break stuff!” While Mina may not have been a fan of the icky trash piles and smell, she was super excited! Izuku grumbled something about how she has ‘no appreciation’ for the inner workings of his ‘beautiful creations’, but she scoffed and held out both wrists.

Izuku worked to fit the wrist braces on her, mumbling about sizing and how he’ll adjust later.

“Okay, so this bit here goes around your middle finger to help keep it stable, but it also controls the mechanism for shooting the chemicals. If you press down twice quickly, it should shoot out.” Izuku explained as he grabbed one of each different type of bottle. “Acid on your left, and chemical on your right. It doesn’t actually matter which goes where, but you’ll have a limited amount of chemicals so you’ll want to be as accurate with it as possible, which is why it’s on your dominant hand.

Mina nodded along as he talked. She was still really flattered he had thought of her when making his devices. She… well, barely understands any of it, but Izuku seems excited, so she’s listening intently.

“This is really important. I’m going to label the bottle lids too, but right now they aren’t…” Izuku held up three different bottles, each containing a different colour liquid. “Pink is for capture, purple is for distraction, and blue… well, blue… blue blows up.”

Mina grinned. Now THAT she understands!

“Shoot it at that fridge over there. The chemicals should be harmless by themselves, they only really do anything when they react with your acid, so it doesn’t matter if you shoot one at a time. Probably better to do that at first and start trying to shoot them at the same time later.” Izuku was practically bouncing in place now. You could tell he was really excited to see if his invention worked.

So, Mina took a deep breath in, and shot.

Acid flew outwards, hitting the fridge and starting to sizzle and melt. Silently praying for her aim, she let out a blast of the chemicals with her other hand. Pink splatters against the acid.

All of a sudden, the bottom of the fridge exploded into a puffy pink cloud. 

Izuku squealed and ran up to the fridge. He pulled out the box cutter he had stashed in his pant pockets, and sliced at the puffy substance. The substance just pushed inwards and bounced back. “Yes!”

“How do we… get rid of it..?” Izuku smiled even wider.

“Put some more of your acid on it. If I got the ratio right, it shouldn't react further and just dissolve.” Mina shot the bubble with more acid, to get more of a feel for it, and watched the puff begin to dissolve.

“Ah, yeah! Each bottle has three shots. The explosive stuff is harder to make, so you won’t have as many of those. And the purple ones just cause mild skin or eye irritation because they dilute your acid a whole lot. So these capture capsules’ll be your best friend!” 

Mina smiled as her friend babbled on about all the ways she could use this to her advantage. Immobilizing villains, blocking exits, making safe landing spots…

She couldn’t wait for them to get into UA together.

“My own personal support crew, huh?” She teased as he went on and on.

Izuku just grins, “Don’t you know it! I might keep this pair to use for myself, too, ah, your quirk is so cool… sooo awesome…” He mumbles, going to work on the braces.

Mina shakes her head. Of course he’s being dramatic.

Izuku stares down from the window. Two stories.

He checks his braces one by one, then stares down again. He has to test them, obviously. He can jump from one story and be fine without them, so doubling it can’t be too ambitious, right?

He really, really wants to try. So he braces himself with a deep breath and jumps.

It's fun. Izuku can’t help but grin as he plummets. He gets ready, twisting his body to keep himself upright and…

He lands. There's a slight thud and some pain in his wrists and ankles as he sits in a spiderman style crouch, but…

“YES!” He cheers. No cracking of his bones, the pain just minor soreness he’s sure he can train out of himself. He stands up and cheers to the empty alley.

He’s so proud.

Chapter Text

“Okay, okay, remember, you won’t have your blasters during the exam!” Izuku fretted over Mina as they got ready to leave the apartment. Nyx sat on his shoulder and nodded along to his worries as Mina sighed. “Me and Nyx will be in the building! I swear, if you need us just come find us! I’ll kick a hero’s ass, no qualms about it if you need-”

“I’m fine! I’ve trained without my blasters too!” She held up her hands as Izuku continued to bounce around adjusting parts of her outfit. He had forced her to put on a jacket for the walk ‘just in case!’ and had made her change at least three times trying to give her something comfortable to fight in. “Are you sure you’ll be able to bring Nyx in? I don’t think UA usually allows pets, Ikun.” Mina poked him in the cheek, laughing as his ears and tail stood up straight.

He hissed and she just laughed harder.

“Stop that!” He pushed her hand away, “And I’m sure I can figure it out! I’ll just tell them it’s because of my quirk or something. I don’t think Nezu would kick out another animal with an intelligence quirk, either.” Nyx jumped from Izuku’s shoulder and curled up on his bag. The randoseru was big enough to carry most of his creations, and Nyx seemed to approve of the flat top she could ride on.

Izuku WOULD be embarrassed about using a childrens bag, but… honestly, randoseru rock, and his one from when he was little still works.

“You’re probably right.” Mina nodded. “Ah, shit, we should probably go now!” She glanced at the clock. Izuku seemed to have a knack for showing up late, and she wasn’t being dragged down with him, if she could help it.

“Michan, remember, I’m going to come find you for lunch when we finish the written exams... oh, I hope you do good! I have sandwiches, and I packed a couple extra if you find a friend…” Izuku held Mina's hand, dragging her along as he mumbled his plans for the day.

“Jeeez, Ikun! People’ll think you’re my mom or something!” In reality, Mina was incredibly grateful for the boy in front of her. Sure, he gets carried away, maybe he acts just a little bit more cat than human sometimes, and he has a tendency to be late for anything and everything, but…

He was her brother. He was her brother, and she loved him.

And, also, he made damn good sandwiches. 

“BYE, IKUN!!! GOOD LUCK!!!” Izuku smiled as Mina waved across the hall of the large building, both on their way to separate exams. He heard some whispers and they got some weird stares, but he hit them with a glare to shut them up.

As he walked, he began to get more and more nervous. What if he failed? What if he was underprepared, what if he got kicked out because of bringing Nyx, what if-

“Izuku?”

Izuku felt his heat freeze.

What if he saw him.

He hadn’t heard Kacchans voice all summer. He hadn’t heard the tap of small feet behind him, not since he met Mina.

But now she wasn’t with him.

“Woah, UA! Are you gonna see me here, Zuku? We can be heroes together!, like we planned!” 

“Shut up.” Izuku was shaking. See Kac- Katsuki? Everything would fall apart. His mom would find him. He might be forced to go back. He would have to hide again. He doesn’t want to hide again, no no nononononono….

His lungs feel like they’re burning. His hands shake, and his head is suddenly pounding.

Nyx hit him with her paw. Izuku realized he had stopped walking, and shook his head. No. he would be fine. If he saw Katsuki, he would be able to deal with it. He couldn't be sent back. He had made sure of it.

The door to the exam room was absurdly large. Was it meant to accommodate people with giant quirks? How interesting… He finds himself mumbling about it.

Izuku checked the number he had been given at the door and headed to his seat. He was just in time, as almost immediately after he sat down, he heard the voice of the school's principal over loudspeakers. He hopes Mina’s exam goes perfectly. He knows she has it in her.

“Examinees, you may start your test. Please bring your papers to the staff member overseeing your room once you finish. Good luck!” Izuku paid full attention to his exam. Nyx jumped down to his lap, lying peacefully while the kitten above her scribbled away. She didn’t want someone accusing him of cheating somehow, and she had a feeling she might be pointed out if she watched the others’ exams.

Izuku was sure something was wrong. These questions were way too easy! It couldn’t be right. Izuku made his way through each question much too quickly. 

Everything on this exam was something he and Mina had tackled during their study  sessions. The end of the exam had a section labeled ‘course specific assessment’. 

Izuku started purring lightly when he saw the question. Quirk analysis and recommended support gear! His task was to write about the pro hero Mirko and give suggestions for support gear. 

He ended up writing about how her rabbit quirk probably left her with incredibly high muscle density. He suggested some shock absorption leg braces like the ones he had made himself, to enhance what her quirk naturally gave her.

“Nyx, c’mon…” Izuku whispered as he stood and set her on his bag once more. He grabbed his test and made his way to the back of the room to hand it to the staff member overseeing his room.

 He heard gasps and saw people turn and look at him with wide eyes as he walked. It was… uncomfortable. He didn’t like to be stared at.

“Hound dog-sensei?” Izuku looked at the man in front of him. A real pro hero, and he was just sitting in a test room! 

“Oh, hello. Do you have a question?” Hound dog looked at him expectantly.

“No, sensei, I just needed to hand this in.” Hound dog just stared at him with wide eyes.

“What? Are you sure you answered everything? It’s only been… 90 minutes. This is usually a three hour exam.” The hero looked over Izuku’s test with an eyebrow raise. 

“Ah, yeah… I’m done.” Nyx looked at the counsellor with a wary look. Izuku knew why, he could feel it too. 

The man's quirk. Izuku knew that a lot of cats were just fine being around dogs, but they had always scared him. Almost everything in him told him to run, but he was just… stuck here.

“Well then, you can go. Don’t disrupt the other exam rooms, and be back here for your practical if you’re applying to any course other than general.” Hound dog nodded to the door and Izuku was on his way.

Ryo stared at the door as the boy left. He finished in half the time that was allotted to the exam! He had never seen anything like it. And also, he had something sitting on his bag.

“Was that… a cat?”

He frowns.

“...Nedzu is going to have a field day with this one … ”

Chapter Text

“BYE, IKUN!!! GOOD LUCK!!!” Mina yelled across the hall to Izuku as they walked to opposite ends of the school. She waved with a stupid grin on her face and watched him smile back. 

And then she was alone.

Mina frowned. She really, really hated being somewhere new by herself. Even in a place as famous as UA, there was always the odd person who would call her out. 

She didn’t exactly look normal , so she guessed that it was to be expected.

And she was right. As she walked to the exam room,  she could hear the whispers. The quiet giggles and the pointing. She hated it. Mina knew she wouldn’t be noticing all of it if she wasn’t alone. Actually, she hadn’t felt their eyes on her since she met Izuku.

But now Izuku wasn’t with her.

So awful.

“Hey, Ashido!” Mina whipped her head around at the sound of her name. Who knows her?! Why does someone know her?! A boy with red spiky hair ran up to her excitedly.

“Do I… know you..?” Mina took a step back. This was weird. Like, super weird. “You look familiar, but…” She trailed off. She hoped he didn’t think she was being rude.

“Oh, yeah! Kirishima Eijirou, we went to middle school together. Changed my look a lot, right?” He pointed at his hair and Mina widened her eyes.

“Oh, Kirishima! I’m so sorry, I didn’ recognize you!” Oh no. No no no. Someone from her middle school. She didn’t want to see anyone from her middle school. She thought she was done with that place. That means he knows.

He knows how people treated her.

He knows. He knows, and he was one of the people who stood by and did nothing. Not that she can blame him; NOBODY did anything. But it still… hurts.

She felt like crying.

“Yeah! Betcha didn’t expect to see me here! But I didn't think I’d see you, either. I mean, after all that happened it's super manly-” She knew he didn’t mean to upset her. 

But what the fuck? You don’t just… casually bring up someone's past if you know it wasn’t good.

“YEAH, HAHA. GOTTA GO NOW-” Mina laughed loudly and robotically, before turning and running towards her exam room. Jeez, now even more people were staring at her. She hated it. How could he? Was he an idiot? 

“Michan, remember, I’m going to come find you for lunch when we finish the written exam!” 

Mina sighed. Izuku would be with her, as soon as she finished her test. A test that’s meant to be difficult, so no one would be whispering about her.

She opened the door to her Exam room with a frown. What kind of hero would she even be? She wants to be in the spotlight, to be an inspiration for kids like her, but she breaks down at the slightest whisper.

She shook her head and made her way to the desk she was assigned.

“Examinees, you may start your test. Please bring your papers to the staff member overseeing your room once you finish. Good luck!” 

What was she even thinking, trying to get into UA of all places. She’s too stupid for this. Izuku’s going to be so disappointed in her, she would never pass the written-

…

What? 

Izuku had gone over this with her. Like, the first question was almost exactly the same as that one question on the mock exam they did together.

That second one, too!

 Mina squinted at her page. She hurriedly flipped through and glanced at the questions. They had looked at one kind of similar to #12 when Izuku was trying to figure out another formula for her blasters. That one over there they had solved when she was wondering how corrosive her acid was!

Mina flipped back to the front and grinned. She knew the answers! She could do the questions, without struggling! She knew they had studied a lot more than the average examinees, but this was insane. This was meant to be one of the hardest entrance exams in the country? Hell, the world!? 

Mina almost threw her arms up and cheered. What sort of god had sent Izuku to her? Because that boy must be an angel. 

The more questions she answered, the more she was grateful for him. All of the questions on this exam would have been downright impossible for her if he hadn’t studied with her!

Izuku really is amazing. It’s not like she could ever be this smart on her own.

Soon, she reached the last question.

‘Course specific assessment’ 

This was it. This is what was going to stump her. They hadn’t looked at anything course specific together, so-

Oh.

An essay on quirk discrimination, and how heroes play a part in it.

This question…

Mina began to tear up. She knew UA cared about making the world a better place with its students, but this was… specific, to her. Important. It made it so they could gauge the opinions of their students when it came to quirks. It even told them how the students think about the hero community! Mina knew most would probably bullshit something stupid about heroes setting examples, but she had an idea.

She wrote about how heroes weren’t actually always a good influence when dealing with quirk discrimination. She wrote about mutant hate, about how little care is given to those who look different, and she wrote about how she planned to help.

Mina got up quickly. She grabbed her exam and practically ran to the proctors desk and slammed down the test on the table.

“Hello, Midnight-sensei!” Mina was glowing. That was the best test she’d ever taken.

“Hello, hello! Do you need something, cutie? And remember, I’m not your sensei yet!” Midnight smiled at her. She liked the girl's enthusiasm.

“You will be soon. I’m all done.” Mina grins. She likes acting this way. Confident, knowing. She’s strong, and she’s got this.

At least, that's what she wants the world to think. 

“You're… done? Are you sure, hun? there's still an hour left…” Midnight looked surprised at the girl's declaration.

“There- what!? There's no way! It has to have been longer than that!” Mina was taken aback. she finished in just two hours? that was impossible. She knew studying with Izuku had helped, but this was absurd!

“That's why I was asking, kid. But it does look like you finished…” Midnight shrugged. Nezu was gonna love this. “I guess you can go. Make sure to be back for your practical this afternoon, if you're going for something other than general.”

All that she could think was that this was, decidedly, the weirdest day of Mina's life. Finishing the UA entrance exams written test in two hours, not having to scramble to finish the long leaflet with ten minutes to spare? That was a dream before she met Izuku. hell, that should have stayed a dream. How smart was her friend? There was no way he was anything less than a genius!

And then Mina thought about it a bit longer.

If she finished that quickly, even if it was because of Izuku’s help…didn't that mean she was pretty smart, too?

She remembered everything he had helped teach her. 

and then it hit her.

The reason she had done so well wasn't only because of Izuku, it was because of how they learned. They didn't sit for hours to study one type of problem. They did things, they tried it out themselves or made the questions into something fun.

Okay, okay, she was going to cry again.

She wasn't stupid. she wasn't dumb, she was just doing it wrong.

one less thing for people to point and whisper, to laugh about. 

Mina was going to tackle that boy as soon as she found him.

Chapter Text

Izuku was walking towards Mina’s exam room so he could wait outside until she finished, but then the door to it swung open. 

“Gotta find him, gotta find- IKUN!” Mina’s skip turned into a run, which turned into a leap.

“Micha- oof!” Mina collided with him and Izuku stumbled backward. Nyx hissed quietly and his fur and hair stood on end. “Mina, you scared me, I-”

“An angel! You’re so awesome! Amazing! Izuku-sugoi!” She shook him back and forth excitedly. “I finished so early!”

Izuku smoothed his hair and fur down as flat as he could and tried to keep himself from hissing along with Nyx. It was just Mina, after all. He didn't hate her being this close to him, but it was hard to curb the instinct.

“tssk… Mina, please-” He finally managed to sputter out. He didn't like people close to him. not so suddenly, not for so long. If it wasn't a surprise, he'd probably be fine; just because it's her.

“OH. Oh Kami, I'm so sorry Ikun! Shit, I didn't mean to upset you I just-” Mina practically threw herself back. Izuku cut off her rambling with a pat on her head.

“You're okay, Michan. Just, maybe don't jump on me without warning?” Izuku smiled at her as she nodded quickly, and roughly, before shooting a hand to her neck. 

“Ah, that huuurt… let me tell you about why you're such a good kitty while we eat. and maybe get me an ice pack.”

Izuku just smiled and nodded. Everything was better with Mina around. Kacchan's voice wasn't so... loud.

“If he shows up, punch him in the face for me.” Izuku held her shoulder while he led her to the spot that he had chosen to eat earlier.

“wha- who am I punching?” Mina was very confused. but also very much open to the suggestion. She looked to Nyx for clarification but was met with a shake of her head.

“You’ll know him when you see him.”

Mina just shook her head and decided to listen to her brother's odd requests. But hey, if Izuku said he deserved to be punched, he probably-

ah, well, actually…

Okay, there was a chance he wouldn't deserve to be punched. It was Izuku, after all. He would probably punch someone for saying his hair was cute. 

That didn't mean she wouldn't punch them for him, though.

Izuku was shocked at Mina's praise. To him, it sounded like he really did nothing but show her his way of learning.  

"If Nyx wasn't always sleeping, she would agree with me!" Mina pouted as Izuku shot down her compliments.

“Didn't you learn it all yourself, technically? I think you should be praising yourself, not me, Mina.” Izuku took a bite of his fish and tilted his head at her. What was she talking about, an angel? He was more like… an alley cat picked up and turned into some kind of reluctant house cat. one that won’t stay off the counters and brings in dead-

“ WAIT- ” Izuku lunged forward and grabbed the small container Mina had been reaching for from her lunchbox. she raised an eyebrow at him and narrowed her eyes.

“Izuku. Don't you dare tell me that there's something dead inside there.”

Izuku panicked.

and popped off the lid of the container, tipping the bird into his mouth.

“OH MY GOD! IZUKU, DON’T-”

He swallowed.

“Ashido Izuku. You did not just eat a dead bird. Actually, wait, did you just…” Mina stared blankly at him. “Did you just eat a dead bird that you put in my lunch box? ” She sighed and put her face in her hands.

“I feel the fact you just called me ‘Ashido Izuku’ overshadows my bird eating tendencies.” Izuku had turned bright red as soon as she said it. Ashido Izuku? Does that mean it’s not just him..? Mina thinks of him like family, just like he thinks of her?

She raised her head and tilted it to the side. “What? Of course I did. I thought that was like, a given? My parents literally told you that you were basically their son..?” 

“We definitely need to work on our communication, Michan.”

“And your habit of eating mice and birds.”

“...Communication.”

Mina groaned. She didn’t think Izuku would stop anytime soon.

“But, hey… if I’m basically an Ashido already, do you think I could…” Izuku’s tail swished back and forth. She had said it was a given, so… “Change my name? Or um… maybe talk to your parents about… adoption?” Izuku had enjoyed being on his own. Really! He loved the freedom he had, legally! But he missed being a part of a family. He missed having that connection to a surname, one that made him feel proud.

Mina made him feel proud.

And he would love to be closer to her.

Mina’s grin seemed to stretch wider than he had ever seen it, “Yes! Yes yes yes! I’ll text them or something! You won’t have to hear your last name from our sensei!” Mina was doing that thing again. Izuku noticed it a while ago. When Mina gets excited, happy, or impressed, she just… bounces. Izuku was almost so distracted he forgot to say anything. 

“Mina, maybe we wait until after we finish one of the most important days of our lives?” Izuku reached over and ruffled her hair.

“...Oh. Yeah, that probably makes more sense.” Mina pushed away his arm and returned to her lunch. “Hey, Zuku, I just realized this the other day, buuuut…” 

Oh no. His secrets. She’s figured them out.

“You can’t cook anything at all, can you?” 

Izuku laughed nervously, “Whaaaat? Pff, nooo, of course I can cook. I made katsudon last week and-”

“Izuku. For the entire time I have lived with you, we have eaten sandwiches and katsudon.” Mina smirked as if she had won something, “For someone who told me he would take over the kitchen work, you suck at it.”

“Oh, no! My greatest secret! Exposed!” Izuku gasped loudly and made his ears flop downwards. “How may I ever recover!”

“Buy a cookbook.”

“Too much work.”

“I will full-name you again, Zuku.”

“Jokes on you that would make me incredibly happy.”

Mina began to say 'Ashido Izuku is a bad cook!" louder and louder, avoiding the now awake, and very annoyed, Nyx swiping at her ankles.

The rest of their lunch break was spent with Mina chasing Izuku around, shouting “Ashido Izukuu!” and poking at him teasingly while Nyx jumped behind reluctantly.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Mina walked together to the support exam rooms. Mina’s exam took place after the support courses were done. 

According to the website, they wanted to have hero course teachers observe the support exams due to the two courses working closely together. Izuku himself thought it was because the support course at UA actually had a good track record for pumping out support based heroes itself.

The people in it had a really easy time acquiring a hero licence without the help of a hero course. They almost never broke into high rankings, but they were respectable nonetheless. 

“Michan, you can’t come in, really I’m fine-” Izuku whined as Mina pulled him behind her.

“Now, I just need to make sure they call you by the right name! Can’t make my baby brother uncomfortable.” Mina grinned.

Izuku scoffed in return, “Mi, I am OLDER than you!”

Mina just stuck out her tongue.

“Helllooo, Examiners!” Mina smiled at the teachers in the room, who looked (rightfully so) very confused. “I’ll leave in just a sec, once you promise me something.

Izuku gaped at her, looking between Mina and the fucking principal of UA-

“Well, do continue, miss Ashido.” Izuku felt like he was going to faint. The principal of UA, just… listening to Mina’s demands. Quite happily, too.

“Perfect! So, my genius little brother here-” 

“ Older brother.” Cuts in, rolling his eyes and burying his face in his hands.

“My little brother here has the wrong name written on his forms. Not legally wrong, but it will be soon! So if you would be so kind as to refer to him as Ashido-kun, instead of whatever his surname is written as, it would be highly appreciated!” Mina said in what Izuku believed to be her attempt at a professional tone.

“You really don’t need to-” Nedzu quickly cut him off.

“Quite a reasonable request.” 

Izuku felt his fur stand on end. The principal was like an idol of his. Someone who wasn’t human, and didn’t look human, so highly revered and respected, but…

God, he looked like something Izuku would hunt on the street.

“Well, miss Ashido, I do have to ask you to leave so we can continue with your brother's examination.”

Mina just bowed low and scurried out, not saying another word.

“I didn’t know she could be polite like that.” Izuku’s tail swished behind him. 

“Well, aren’t you going to start your presentation, Ashido-kun?” A woman he quickly Identified as Midnight asked him. He narrowed his eyes at her. He didn’t trust her, not at all. How could he? Her calling him Ashido didn’t help it.

He still felt uncomfortable talking to people who looked…

Normal.

Eraserhead was his only exception, and that was because he was sure to have faced some awful quirk discrimination himself. Izuku just knew it. 

Izuku looked around at the three in his room. Nedzu, Powerloader, and Midnight.

Izuku focuses his attention on Nedzu. Midnight visits the cafe, so he knows she isn’t all bad, but… that doesn’t stop him.

“I guess.” Izuku drew out. Mina was gone. He had no need to be polite. “These braces, on my joints and around my middle were made specifically for me.” He made sure to twist around and stretch out his arms to demonstrate. “The braces are meant to help absorb shock for people whose bodies are already partially made too. I’ve tested it out, and without the braces the highest i can safely jump from is about twenty five feet-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Powerloader held up his hands. “Did you just say you tested them by jumping from twenty five feet!?” 

“No? I said I jumped from twenty five feet without the braces. That’s not even that high? Normal cats can jump up to six times their length! I should be getting to thirty three feet safely, eventually. If I jump from all fours, at least.” Izuku stared at him. This was common knowledge, wasn’t it?

“Ashido… you realize being a cat and being a person with a catlike quirk are very different? You’re still human.” Midnight seemed worried about him. 

So stupid.

“Am I really? Anyway-” Izuku turned back to his presentation. “I can safely fall from thirty eight feet with these! That's an 18% difference!”

“I feel like we should talk about how you got these numbers-”

“This armor on my tail is equipped with small razor incisions!” Izuku turned and moved his tail to emphasize the movability of it. “It can’t do much apart from small distractions, but it should be able to do enough damage so a person could redirect or escape from a stronger opponent.” He’s tired of being interrupted, and there's a fire in his eyes.

“Ashido-” Powerloader started

Nedzu shook his head. “Let him finish. We can get rid of his… less than ideal testing methods if he becomes a student here.” Powerloader almost cut in to argue, but Midnight placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. 

“ Look at their eyes… ” She whispered.

The support teacher raised his eyebrows until he looked between the two.

Oh.

Nedzu seemed to be extremely excited. Now that he thought about it, this kid must be one of the kids who finished the exam early. 

The kid himself looked angry . His eyes were narrowed and Poweloader was sure he heard some kind of growl.

Ah, fuck. He was going to have a mini Nedzu in his class, wasn’t he?

“Ahem. I do apologize for my rude behavior, but I do not take kindly to being ignored during an exam that is meant to be specifically focused on me.” Izuku spat out while he pulled Mina’s blasters onto his hands and adjusted them as best he could.

“Please continue, Ashido.” Nedzu was masking his glee well, in the grand scheme of things. In the rat's defense, he had just found out that the two he had been so excited to see in the practicals knew each other closely! 

 “Well, then. Let me show you the blasters I’ve made for my sister. They aren’t made for me, and I haven’t trained with them as much as her, so my aim may be off. I would advise you to look out.” 

Izuku rummaged through his bag and pulled out a chunk of ballistic gel he had bought for his tests.

Then, he threw it in the air.

Quickly, he aimed his arms at the falling blob and let out a blast of capture fluid, quickly following with a shot of acid. The goo produced from the reaction enveloped the gel and stuck it to the ground.

Powerloader looked shocked. “That's very impressive. How did you manage to get that reaction?”

“Mina’s quirk lets her produce acid. I wanted to give her a more precise and long range option than just slapping acid on people, which is where the left blaster comes in. On her, I’ve got it rigged so it can collect acid from her skin rather than the bottle I used.”

He quickly demonstrates how elastic the result is, before he began pouring acid from one of his bottles to melt the goo on the dummy used.

 “The reactions… I just messed with different stuff until I was satisfied. That was a capture one. I have a chemical that causes explosions and one that causes skin and eye irritation without permanent damage as well.”

“Thank you for your demonstration Ashido. You are free to leave.” Nedzu nodded at him.

Izuku tensed up. Yeah, he should go. If he stayed for too much longer, he was sure he would end up attacking the principal or chewing out his future teachers.

At least he could relax once Mina finished her exams today. 

Izuku left the room, after pointedly bowing only to Nedzu. 

After Izuku was gone, Midnight turned to Nedzu with a sour look on her face.

“Nedzu, what the hell? That kid seemed so… angry.” She furrowed her eyebrows. Her boss was… eccentric. But he was never this willfully ignorant to a child's self destructive behaviour. “Did you hear how he tested his gear? By the sound of it, he knows the limit way too well. He could have gotten himself killed!”

“Honestly Nedzu you should have stopped him. Let him into gen ed until he gets cleared by a therapist or something!” Powerloader was worried. He had already seen one mad scientist that he knew would end up with him. He didn’t need two! Especially not one that had access to acid and would go to any lengths so he could test his creations! 

“Hm. Is that what you think, Kayama? You too, Majima…” Nedzu seemed displeased with their reactions. “I think he’ll do just fine.”

And that was it, because it was over as soon as Nedzu showed any interest.

Powerloader sighs.

“...I guess they’ll keep each other busy, then…” He grumbles. Nedzu nods, a smile creeping onto his face.

Chapter Text

Mina sat outside the door of Izukus exam room with a frown. She watched as nyx paced back and forth in wait for her owner, and couldn’t help but compare herself with the anxious cat. Izuku was in there all alone! With two people who wouldn’t understand his… prickly exterior.

 She knew for a fact Ikun wouldn’t be respectful to the two non-mutant teachers observing his demonstration. He was going to be so mad. Like, she couldn’t even count the amount of times she had needed to force Izuku into the kitchen at the cafe! As long as someone with minor or no visual mutations came in, it was Mina doing the customer service. 

She had needed to start that after she got complaints about hissing and glaring. 

She couldn’t blame him, really! She understood why he would feel so guarded! But… To her, it just felt like he was angry. He wasn’t trying to avenge his old self, he wasn’t trying to make them feel a certain way about mutants, he just hated them. He had such a strong resentment for people with no mutations and people who hadn’t worked for their places. Even the nicest people got caught up in his anger. 

She just knew he was going to get himself into some sort of trouble. 

So she sat, and she stared down into her hands. If Izuku was so hostile, so angry, what did that make her? 

She didn’t want to accept what she knew was the truth. She was a coward.

Had she been in that room, alone in front of two people with such regular quirks, she would be scared shitless. She would fall into her energetic and extroverted facade, she would laugh and spin, throw around her hands and cheer… 

And it would be so hard not to fall down crying.

She wished she were like him. Maybe if she had that anger in her she wouldn’t need to hide every feeling she felt. She could have an outlet. She wouldn't be so stressed.

She wouldn’t still be so scared of them.

Just as Mina began to tear up, Izuku threw open the door. Nyx mewed with delight and jumped up onto his shoulder, purring and rubbing her head against his cheek. She seemed unbothered by the whole ‘if someone even looks at me wrong, I’ll kill them’ look that he was wearing.

“Mina, come on. We’re going to your exam.” Mina furrowed her eyebrows. She was right. She hated that she was right. 

She didn’t bother to ask how his practical had gone. He didn’t seem like he was in the mood for a conversation. She decided to ask him later, after she had finished her own exam.

She tread closely behind him, actually grateful for his angry stance in the moment. He shot away any stolen glances or hushed whispers with a glare and a hiss in an instant.

No one was looking at her. 

But they were looking at him.

She could never get what she wanted just right, could she?

“Hey, Ikun.” Mina placed a hand on his free shoulder and watched his fur stand on end. “I won’t let them look down on you.”

Izuku seemed to melt. His stance relaxed and he leaned back into Mina.

“If you promise.”

She smiled.

“I’ll kick their asses, Ikun.” She grinned and flexed an arm when he turned to her.

“Pfft-” He pushed her hand off his shoulder with a laugh. “Well, better pass your exam first before going all protective big sis on me.”

“HA! You admit it, I AM your big sister!” 

Izuku paled and he waved his hand in denial.

“WAIT! No, no, I- Michan I’m still older than you!”

Mina stuck out her tongue. Quickly realizing her mistake, she bolted towards the gymnasium to learn what the exam would be. Didn’t stop her from hearing Izuku yell out to her, though. 

“JUST YOU WAIT! YOU’RE GOING TO BE FINDING MICE FOR DAYS! ” 

Aw, damn it…

Maybe if she passes, he’ll go easy on her?

No, she knows he won’t go easy on her. 

“ What’s up UA Candidates, thanks for tuning in! Come on and let me hear you say HEY!!”

Mina was surprised by the silence in the room. At first, she considered calling back to the man to make him feel better, but quickly discarded that plan after realizing two points. One, everyone would look at her, and two, she saw the girl in front of her grasping at her ears. She seemed to have a bat mutation, so the loud yelling was probably torture for her…

“Keeping it mellow, huh?” the girl flinched and Minas frown deepened.

“Hey… do you want help moving to the back of the room, so you’re farther from the noise..?” Mina whispered and moved her hand in front of the girl, so she could see the question was directed at her. 

The girl turned to her with wide eyes. 

“ That's fine!” 

Until the sound made her squeeze them shut.

“Um… yes, please… if that’s okay with you…” Mina nodded and grabbed her hand, leading her back and quietly apologizing to the people she pushed past.

“I’ll skip straight to the main show!” Mina grimaced as the hand she was holding squeezed tightly. She knew that it wasn’t UAs fault, that they couldn’t be accommodating to everyone but this girl looked like she was in so much pain. “ Now, pay attention listeners!”

Safely in the back behind everyone, Mina spent the rest of Present Mics' explanation half listening and half covering the girls ears and whispering bits of his speech to her.

She was so glad Izuku wasn’t there. She would love it if he became a hero with her, don’t get her wrong! But he would probably yell at Present Mic, or annoy other examinees trying to help the girl.

Or the yelling would be awful for him, too…

Once the teacher was done with his spiel, some dude speaks up.

Mina raises an eyebrow at the boy as he digs into UA for a ‘mistake.’ What a dummy. Obviously they would tell them if there was something they meant to say.

Mina finished translating to the girl and let go of her hand. 

“Thank you…” The girl whispered with a light smile. Mina grinned.

“It’s what any hero would do.” She nodded and turned to go to her exam grounds.

The walk was … less than ideal, being jostled around by others rushing to their destination.

“‘S not like you get a reward for being there first…” She mumbles to herself. She’s noticed lately she’s picked that habit up from Izuku.

She shakes her head. No need to pick up his resentment with the habit. She loves him, but she doesn’t need that negativity. All it’ll do is add to their whispers.

Mina stood with the others, waiting for the go ahead to start getting points. She had a plan that she and Izuku had carefully crafted, and went over it in her head.

There was no way the exam was all about defeating fake villains. So Mina's goal was to protect as many fellow examinees as she could, while still gaining points in the meantime. Her quirk alone was so much more suited to the offensive, so even if the rescues did nothing for her score, they gave her practice in a field she wasn’t as comfortable in.

“GO!” Mina didn’t wait for anything else. As the people around her stood and looked at each other, seemingly confused, she rushed forwards. 

“COME ON, LISTENERS! THERE'S NO COUNTDOWNS IN HEROICS!” The rest of the kids rushed forwards in turn.

As Mina ran, she prepared herself to make sure she was at peak performance. She kicked off her shoes and switched from running to sliding on acid that began to pour from her skin. She skated, collecting acid in her palms and holding them together.

Mina grinned. What was she thinking before? All of the doubt she had felt like it was leaving her in floods! She loved it. Using her quirk to its full potential felt so freeing! She slid up behind a two pointer that was cornering a boy.

 She threw apart her hands with a laugh before leaping forwards and pushing them against the back of the robot. She tightly shut her eyes when the bot began to turn, but pushed more acid through anyway.

The robot sputtered and fell to the floor. She opened up an eye, and saw the hole that was growing on the robot.

“Watch your back! Sorry for the steal, but try not to get cornered again, kay?” Mina didn’t even see if the boy was a mutant like her or Izuku. For once, she didn’t care. It wasn’t so scary when she was fighting. 

She gives him a wink and a peace sign. Act the part you want, eh?

She spun on her acid and laughed. This was so fun! The more bots she took down, the more she found herself falling into a routine. 

She would sneak up behind a villain, open up her hands, and place them on the bot's neck or back in an attempt to find their control panels or wiring. Then, she would finish off what the acid that had been collecting between villains started, either by creating some more acid, or stuffing her hand in and yanking at the wires.

As she skated around, she found people who were cornered or injured and took out the villains targeting them. After a while, she lost track of her points and she frowned.

“Ah, shit. How many points is a lot? How many do I even have?” Mina shook her head. She had been having too much fun. Can’t get distracted now.

She wishes she had her blasters, but she’s having the time of her life coming up with new, natural ways to use her acid.

Mina heard the Zero Pointer take its first step. Only ten minutes, already?  She had to spin on one foot to turn fast enough, and she watched as it rose.

“Holy shit.” She heard a girl behind her take a step back and suddenly she felt it again. She had to move. If she wasn’t moving, wasn’t fighting and getting points, she was just some freaky looking creep with a villainous quirk, wasn’t she?

Mina decided right then and there what she was going to do. She already had at least thirty points, and from what she saw she was so sure that was enough, so there wasn’t much risk, right?

Mina skated at full speed towards the Zero Pointer. There were sure to be examinees stuck in its path, or trapped in the debris it left behind. She could help them!

When she got close enough, she saw a boy with spiky blonde hair trapped with a leg under a large piece of concrete. She moved closer and began to pour acid onto the rock.

“OI! What the fuck are you even doing, hah!?” The boy let explosions pop from his hands when Mina had begun to melt the rock. 

“Ah! No, please don’t do that! My acid is explosive, so it would be bad if you-” Another explosion went off close to her face. She cringes. What kind of idiot just starts slinging glorified bomb hands? Well, she can’t blame him, he’s afraid-

“I don’t need your fuckin’ help, you damn extra! Beat it!” Mina’s face fell. “I ‘specially don’t need anythin’ from some alien looking raccoon eyes!”

Raccoon eyes? Alien? Did he just…

Not again. She was doing so well. No one had said anything, let alone… that.

Then some times at the table with Izuku came back to her.

“Yeah, I used to know a guy who thought he was better than everyone. Called anyone that wasn’t him an extra…” 

“Remember that guy with the superiority complex? He used to nickname people after their traits like that dude in the show.”

“Explosions would be such a useful quirk… if only… ah, whatever.”

“Best Jeanists hair reminds me of someone I knew before. His hair was more… spiky.”

“If he shows up, punch him in the face for me.”

Mina was almost sure. 

“Hey, spike face.” The boy looked like he was about to kill her. “Do you know anyone named Izuku?” 

“HAH? HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME, EXTRA!?” And then he looked panicked. He looked confused. He looked excited. Gross.

“Thanks for the confirmation, blasty!” Mina smiled wide. Not a happy, idol worthy smile like she had when dancing around destroying robots. A sickly sweet promise.

She coated her fist in acid, trying to lower the corrosivity. Her and Izuku had practiced controlling how potent her acid was…

And she punched him hard.

Before he could react, she finished melting the stone on his leg and slid away as fast as she could. She was still trying to be a hero, of course. 

Ugh, that walking bomb took up way too much of her time. She had what, five minutes left?

She tried to forget the encounter by helping out as many people as possible until the time ended.

“Come on, let’s get you to Recovery Girl.” Mina held a boy's arm draped around her shoulder and winced when she caught sight of his leg. The Zero Pointer had knocked a large piece of concrete onto it, slicing a large gash in the skin. According to the boy, his quirk had to do with wind channeling through his legs, so after he had been cut he was basically done for.

Mina led him in silence to the exit of their zone. They were told Recovery Girl would be waiting to help any injured examinees, so she hoped she wouldn’t need to stay with the boy for long.

Of course, it was nothing against him! But she had kind of outed her connection to Izuku to a guy from his old life, and she was pretty sure she needed to find him and get the fuck out of UA. 

Also, she had punched a guy in the face during a test heavily monitored by pro heroes.

Izuku was either going to kill her or hug her so tight, and she wasn’t sure which would be worse.

She smiles. She hopes its both.

Chapter Text

“He what. ” Izuku was livid. Bakugo Katsuki was such a piece of shit. That was well known. But he called Mina racoon eyes . He didn’t even care that Katsuki knew he and Mina knew 

each other! He knew it was going to happen eventually! But he called Izuku’s sister an extra. He made her so angry . He had made her sad.

“I’ll kill him. Ane, I’m going to fucking kill him.” Izuku was fuming. How could he? Had he learnt nothing? 

“Ikun calm down. Let's just leave, okay?” Mina was mad. Not as angry as Izuku, no, not even close, but it was obvious she wasn’t pleased someone had made her brother so mad. What had he done? “Hey… Ikun, you know… we get to go to my parents place. And we get to ask them to be your parents now.”

Izuku visibly softened. His ears then began to droop, and he looked at Mina with a worried look, “Michan are you sure that they won’t say no..? I mean, maybe we shouldn’t-”

Mina clapped loudly and Izuku jumped.

“LALALA, I CAN’T HEEEEAAAR YOUU!” Mina ran forwards to the door with her hands clasped dramatically over her ears, “They love you, Ikun. They’re practically begging to keep you and never letcha go, kitty cat.” Izuku pressed his ears back in worry. He trusted Mina. really, truly! 

He just didn’t want to cause any issues.

Inko was surely still looking for him, and he didn’t want to know just how she’d react.

“Mina! Hello!” Mina’s mother, Ashido Yuko, ran to meet them at the door. “Oh, Izuku! It’s so lovely to see you! Come in, come in, we got your text.”

Izuku’s tail swished side to side, and he let himself be pulled along by the two. Mina and her mother looked similar, to a degree, but there were definitely a couple noticeable differences.

 For one, her skin. Where Mina was pink all over, and in turn could produce acid anywhere, her mothers skin was only pink from her elbows down and in patches on her legs. Mina had told him her mom’s acid could only come from those patches and that all the rest of her skin wasn’t acid proof.

That little mutation certainly helped to calm his mood, at least. 

Mina’s father, Ashido Hiroshi, was placing food on the table while the two girls talked away. Mina excitedly recounted her time in the exam. Izuku, however, was focused on her dad.

He had met Mina's father before, when she was moving into the house. He had the same eyes as his daughter, with the horns on his head to match. He had explained to Izuku that his quirk itself was just plain night vision, and the mutations had come from his parents. Izuku also knew that Mina’s eyes were a big source of insults and discrimination. He wondered if it was the same for him, to an extent.

“So, Izuku, Mina said that you two wanted to ask us something?” Mina’s father finally sat down at the table and smiled at Izuku. 

Izuku felt rude, but he kept his eyes fixed on his bowl of Katsudon.

Damn it, Michan, telling them his favorite food…

“Ikun…” Mina frowned at him “Aw, you’re going to make me ask for you, aren’t you?”

Izuku hit her leg with his tail. She sighed.

“Mom, dad… how do you feel about making my honorary brother my actual brother?” Mina’s father basically threw himself upwards and ran to a room off into the hallway.

Izuku paled, and almost began a string of apologies, but…

“Hun, do you think we could fit my desk in our room? The guest bedroom gets used pretty often, but my office doesn’t need so much room!” 

Mina’s mother was beaming, mumbling under her breath, “Oh, a son! I’ve always wanted a son… I wonder, maybe a loft bed… cats like high places, right? Oh but I don’t want to assume he would just because of his quirk…”

And that finished him. Izuku started bawling . Mina laughed and pulled him into a hug, as Izuku's ears pushed down on his head.

“OH! Hun, come in here!” Yuko called to her husband frantically. 

“Huh? Oh. OH.” Once again the whole family was at the table, staring at Izuku.

“Izuku, hey…” Hiroshi set a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “You were scared, weren’t you?”

Izuku nodded.

Yuko smiled at him with a sad look in her eyes. “You know, we would have said yes no matter what. Mina’s told us so much about you, and has already accepted you as family. Of course we’ll do the same.”

Izuku tried. He really did. He wiped his tears, he shook his head and lifted his ears, but… 

As soon as he looked up he was met with the most loving looks from his new family and… 

The tears just kept coming. 

Naomasa was having a shitty day. It got worse when the woman who had been pestering him for the last couple of months.

It was always the same, with her.

“Miss, I get it, but once again, he’s legally independe-” Naomasa was sifting through his file for the boy for what had to have been the hundredth time, and stared at the new addition. He remembered someone saying that they had added something. He also remembered that they had tried to tell him what those new additions were. 

He had blown them off, too busy to deal with it.

But he sure as hell hadn’t expected those to be adoption and name change papers.

Well, it meant one thing. This lady definitely had no rights over this kid anymore.

Finally,

“Well, miss, I’ll have to ask you to leave.” He straightened his papers and looked the seething woman in the eyes.

“ Excuse me? You’ve done nothing! NOTHING! Why won’t you just help me find my son?”

He felt bad for the kid. Like, really bad. But this woman was getting in the way of him solving actual cases…

 “I’m sorry, but Midoriya Izuku isn’t present in my records, here. Now, get out of here, and please don’t come back without an actual emergency.”

She shrieks at him like a banshee, but eventually leaves. 

Well, maybe she’d leave him alone. 

He held out hope for the kid and his family once she found her way to them.

Chapter Text

Inko had been so worried. For months, she had been so upset. She searched and searched, had so many people helping her, scoured her son's room for clues. The note he left just couldn’t be real. He was hers. Someone had to have made him write it, it wasn’t real!

The police were useless! They didn't help her at all, said her baby wasn’t hers, that she had no right, and look where that got him.

Gone. Her poor baby, her only son, gone!

And so she cried and cried, she went to Mitsuki in her tears and sobbed…

She didn’t even realize Katsuki was standing in the hallway, listening to her woes with wide eyes.

She did, however, hear his door slam shut and the explosions that followed.

Katsuki felt like he was going to scream. His pillows suffered, scorch marks and sizzling embers being doused with water soon after they appeared. He knew he was being loud. He knew he wasn’t meant to hear that. But none of it mattered anymore.

Izuku was dead .

He never got to see Izuku realize his mistakes. The last memory of his Izuku was what, a stupid pen and a sneer? 

Katsuki hated it. Izuku was supposed to figure out why he was wrong. He was supposed to come back to Katsuki, grovelling and praising him like when they were little…

He was supposed to be Katsukis biggest fan. 

But how the fuck could he do that if he was already dead? 

Katsuki could still remember all the times they would sit and play heroes. Is that what this was all about? Izuku had left, to play hero all on his own, and wound up dead. Just like Katsuki had known would happen.

“Katsuki?” Masaru knocks on his door. Katsuki wants to scream. He’s so angry. “Katsuki, I know you’re upset… listen, if you need some time alone that's okay. But if you want, I’ll get you some sessions scheduled with a therapist to talk about him. Come see me when you’re ready.”

Katsuki frowned deeper than he already was.

This was not a good day.

If Masaru had actually seen his face, he’d be even more concerned. Katsuki was not crying.

He just looked so, so angry.

Izuku tugged on his mask. It clung tight to his face, helping to keep his features hidden, but fuck was it uncomfortable. His ears twitched in annoyance at the feeling, and decided he’d need to make something better later. For now, he had a mission.

Well, kind of.

Mina was talking to her…she was talking to their mom about taking over for them at the cafe when they were at school. Apparently she had been a housewife her whole life, and now that Mina was out of the house, taking care of the cafe would be “just a lovely passtime!”  

Izuku needed some kind of distraction from thinking about his UA results. Nyx wasn’t helping much when he was at home, just meowing and begging for treats and food after sleeping through the most nerve-wracking conversation of his life, and he wasn’t exactly the best person to have around customers at the cafe. He was getting worse at his act, the less he had to put it on, so interacting with emitter types was… a struggle.

What better distraction than finally taking up vigilantism, just like he’d said?

He had taken precautions to hide his identity, while still showing off his quirk. The mask was paired with yellow contacts, and a large cloak covered him completely. Holes for his ears had been cut to let him hear better, and the inside was full of pockets and slots for small weapons and projectiles. For this trip, he had stocked up on bottles of minas acid. 

Not any of the chemicals, of course, he didn’t want to connect himself to Mina, and not in throwable bottles, but they would be helpful to melt himself out of a pinch nonetheless. Other than those and a few rolls of bandages, Izuku’s pockets were empty.

Izuku crouched down low on the edge of the roof, before jumping forwards onto the next. He had decided that he might as well use this time to help train his quirk up. 

Izuku hopped from building to building, increasing how far he jumped each time, until he saw something happening below.

A girl was staggering through the alley, clearly out of it. Izuku normally would have left it, but when he looked a bit more, he could make out a man lurking in the shadows, following the woman around.

Izuku almost scowled at the thought of speaking to her. No visible mutations, a schoolgirl outfit, probably an emitter… he shook his head and tried to get rid of his bias. If he saved people just based on how they looked, he would be just as bad as everyone else.

With a sigh, Izuku stood and jumped from the roof. He landed in a crouch once more, noting the slight sting. “Might have been a bit far… gotta practice that…”  

Cat’s were stealthy hunters. Izuku would like to think he reflected that. He stalked behind the man, watching and waiting. There was a chance nothing would go wrong, and he could walk away from this without speaking to either party. 

And then the man lunged for the girl.

Izuku acted fast, flexing his hands and praying his quirk would help him out with this. His nails were naturally sharper and stronger than most peoples, so…

Izuku swiped at the man's neck, Instinctively, the man reached up to grab at the wound. Before he could fully react however, his legs were swept out by a kick.

“What the fuck?!” The girl turned around when he yelled out, and Izuku was surprised. Her expression was deadly . Her eyes were wide, bright yellow and seemed to glow. Somehow, this made Izuku feel more at ease.

Quickly, he pulled out one of the bandage rolls he stashed in his cloak and tied the man's arms, as well as wrapping some around his mouth. Of course, he struggled, and Izuku made a split second decision. 

“What? Cat got your tongue, mister?” a new persona. Something to let him forget about who he was, for a bit. It would help separate Izuku from… whoever he was as a vigilante. 

The girl staggered towards Izuku, and he stared at her in return. 

Hopefully his years of analysis could help him.

Izuku watched as she took her time, slowly stepping forwards, silent, her mouth hanging slightly open as if she hadn’t the energy to keep it closed…

Fangs. He could see them clear as day. His eyes lit up. Glowing eyes, fangs, pale skin…

Even if she wasn’t a mutant, he could tell she wasn’t treated very well. He knew.

After all, people aren’t very kind to those who need to drink people's blood.

“Hey, hey, I’ll come to you.” He didn’t think she could hear him. He didn’t really mind, so he just took a couple steps to her and held out his arm.

She stared at him a bit more, and leapt forwards.

Izuku and Toga sat up on the roof of an old apartment building. Toga kicked her legs and hummed in happiness as she licked Izuku’s blood off of her fingers.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She practically squealed, looking at Izuku with wide eyes. “I don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t get that blood! I probably would have attacked someone who wasn’t cute at all!”

Izuku raised an eyebrow.

“Or I would have died from starvation.” She says with a meek smile, a bit embarrassed that her first priority was not attacking anyone ugly.

Izuku laughed a little bit. “So, Toga, what are you doing for the rest of the night? Do you have a place to go?”

Toga grinned, showing off her blood stained teeth, “A place to go? Well, of course I have a place to go. An absolute cutie is going to give me somewhere to sleep, you know?”

“Somewhere to sleep?” Izuku looked surprised. “Where’s that, you silly bat?”

“Well, that depends.” She stretches. “Where are you taking me?”

Chapter Text

Izuku had Toga watch him work from the rooftops. He didn’t exactly want her getting in the way, and her identity wasn’t protected at all. As the night went on, him and Toga talked and talked, barely letting any silence cut in between fights.

Well, Toga talked. Izuku mainly just sat there and let her ramble on.

Eventually, she insisted he call her Himiko. Well, Himichan, actually, but while he wasn’t one to ignore someone's chosen name, he also wasn’t about to abandon all of his manners when talking to someone he respected.

Not yet, anyway.

“Ah, Himiko,” Izuku started, not acknowledging her shout of ‘No, Himichan!’ “I’m done for the night, so do you have somewhere to go sleep, for now?”

“Oh.” Himiko just stared down at her feet. Izuku tilted his head at her, squinting. Her reaction was so confusing…

Oh. 

“Himiko, you can’t really go home, can you?”

“...They’ll try to hide me away, and at me again, …” Izuku scowled.

Stupid.

He sighed loudly and grabbed her hand.

“Hurry up, Himi-” he stared at her. She looked so sad… awe, fuck it. “Chan.”

He watched as her face lit up and made his way to the fire escape.

“Well, let's go. Mina and Nyx are waiting.”

Izuku laughed as he dashed down the fire escape, listening to Himiko explode with questions and excited squeals.

“Ikun…” Mina looked at him with a hand on her cheek. Well, actually, she was looking at the girl hiding behind him. Nyx seemed equally as confused, weaving around her ankles and staring up at Izuku like he was crazy. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Izukus judgement, but bringing an emitter type into their safe space like this was a bit…

“Himichan, open your mouth.” Himiko happily obliged, showing off her teeth to the girl in front of her.

At first Mina was just more confused than she already had been.

And then she saw it.

The fangs!

Mina visually relaxed. The girl wasn’t just any non-mutant. A blood quirk, or something similar. She could see it so clearly after seeing the fangs. The pale skin, the slitted eyes, the way she seemed so tired now that the sun was on its way up…

“Oh. Okay. Yes, I understand now!” Mina nodded. 

Izuku smiled at her and mouthed the words ‘They wouldn’t let her eat before.’ 

Mina froze.

This girl wasn’t just a little bit like them, was she? She was the same. Mistreated, judged, unloved by the people she felt like she needed. Mina wondered if school was as bad for this girl as it had been for her.

“What’s your name?” 

Himiko was so happy! So happy, so happy! She met two of the cutest people she had ever met, and they were so nice! They weren’t calling her weird, calling her creepy or telling her to smile with a closed mouth. They even fed her. They FED her! These people didn’t let her starve. They accepted her! They let her call them by fun nicknames, like Neko-chan, and Michan, or Ikun! They even called her Himichan, just like she wanted! It was so cute, so wonderful.

They gave her a room for herself, one of the three that were there. Only three, and they gave one to her! They just met her, just met her and they know her quirk, and they still trust her like this? 

Himiko made a decision. She would never, never betray the trust of these two.

How could she?

Himiko was laying out the sleeping bag she had been given on the ground, and noticed a small silhouette in the doorframe. 

“Oh, hello chibi-chan!” The cat in the door tilted her head before she made her way into the room, sitting at the edge of her sleeping bag.

Himiko smiled.

The cat didn’t even seem bothered.

Nyx was very confused, but not upset. Well, mainly she was mildly annoyed that she now had another kitten to watch over, but what could she do? The first one she chose had a habit of finding others that needed him.

This one was interesting. She wasn’t pink like Mina, she didn’t have a tail like herself or Izuku, but she still felt the same. Just like Mina and Izuku, she was hurt. She needed help, love, and care, but she had never properly received it from those around her. In that way, she was the same as her Izuku.

She built up her very own fake reality with an act. 

Nyx was sure of it. This girl was an actress like Izuku was, but wasn’t as bitter.

She was like Mina, too.

All the words really got to her. The actions, the hiding who she was, the pain…

But she wasn’t angry. She was just scared, sad, worried for her future.

Nyx decided the best way to deal with that was to take this one in just like the others. She didn’t have much of a choice, now, did she?

One thing was for certain though. 

This one was going to stay here when Izuku and Mina had to leave! 

Izuku woke up in the morning with a big stretch. He looked around his room and smiled, taking in everything he’d built for himself. Mina's parents had insisted on buying them beds and actual furniture, so his room was a lot more decked out than the sleeping bag on the ground it had been before.

 He had a hammock hanging from the roof that he could only reach by leaping from his bed, a loft that gave him more space to work on the ground. He had a desk under the loft with his laptop and papers, giving him a space for analysis and important work.

But his other desk was his favourite. 

The desk took up the whole wall, and was sectioned off into two for his work. It had spaces for his tools, a section for a sewing machine, and a big cork board holding blueprints for so many plans.

Izuku went to climb down his ladder before Mina burst into the room with a squeal.

“NYASHIDO IZUKU. GET UP, HURRY, COME ON!!!” Izuku fell from his ladder, twisting to land on his feet with a hiss. She really needed to stop yelling to wake him up…

And then he realized the day.

UA RESULTS! 

Himiko sitting on the counter mixing something in a large bowl Izuku didn’t remember buying when he walked into the living room. It had been two days since he picked her up, and according to her, that might as well have been signing a contract to keep her forever. 

He wasn’t complaining.

“Himichan, what are you doing?” Izuku tilted his head at her, pointedly ignoring Mina at the kotatsu. Mina was practically vibrating, and he thought making her wait just a little longer was pretty funny.

“Celebratory cookies!” Himiko hummed. Izuku smiled at that, but his eyes scrunched up when he saw three different bowls set to the side.

“What’re those for, then?” 

 “Well, I’m planning to put a bit of the blood Mina gave me earlier in mine, and some catnip in yours, and apparently Mina isn’t up to trying either.

“If it’ll make Izu hurry up, I’d eat just about anything right now!”  Mina grumbled from her place and Izuku laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, Michan.” Izuku sat beside her and she shoved a letter into his hands. Nyx meowed at him, scratching at the letter in encouragement. “Both of you are impatient as shit.” 

“Mines heavy. What the hell is in here?”  Mina handed him her own letter to show him what she meant. There was a circular piece in her letter, and Izuku narrowed his eyes at it. 

He checked the letter over four times before handing it back.

It was definitely an official letter from UA, as everything from the seal to the address to the type of envelope matched what he knew about UAs practices, but really, did it need to be so suspicious?

“Okay, are you ready?” Himiko leapt over the back of the couch at Mina’s words. The cookies were in the oven, special ingredients all added in, and she was ready to watch her friends open their letters.

“One, two…” Started Himiko. Both Mina and Izuku ripped open their letters, whispering ‘one’ in unison.

Izuku pulled out a handwritten letter on tea stained paper.

A circular device fell from Minas and made a thud as it hit against the kotatsu.

Izuku set his own letter to the side when a hologram materialized from Mina’s ‘ letter’.

“I AM HERE, AS A PROJECTION!” The booming voice of All Might filled the apartment and the three teenagers looked at it with their eyebrows knitted together.

Not that any of them had anything against All Might personally, but…

Well, non-mutants and people with heroic quirks tended to rub them the wrong way. Izuku can’t help but wonder how he would have reacted to this as a little kid, before everything.

“I’ve come to this city to teach at UA!” Hologram Might continued, “You’ve passed the written exam with flying colours! Not only that, but you showed yourself to be incredibly heroic! Your outstanding score of 40 villain points alone would have been enough, but you showed such heroism with your actions in saving your fellow examinees and scored 45 rescue points!” Mina squealed. She knew it! But 85 points!? That was way too many, she couldn’t believe it!

“Unfortunately, 10 of said rescue points were deducted from your overall score.” Mina paled. She hadn’t told Izuku what she did. “You showed heroism in attempting to rescue a trapped examinee. However, after said heroism, your behaviour made us decide those points were unable to be counted.

Izuku stared at her, with a confused look. Himiko beamed, seeming to think this was incredibly entertaining, and Nyx? Well, Nyx knew exactly what happened, and was very proud of Mina. 

“That being said, you were still the top scorer of this years first year candidates! Welcome, Ashido Mina, to your hero academia!”

Mina felt like crying. 

She got in. She got in, with the highest score in the exam!

She looked down at her letter and saw all of the paperwork that had been included in her letter. They’d look over it later, right now…

“Michan, what the hell did you do to get points deducted?” Izuku was grinning. Apparently her getting ten points deducted while still being first was very amusing.

“ ᴵ ᵏᶦⁿᵈ ᵒᶠ ᵖᵘⁿᶜʰᵉᵈ ᵃ ᵈᵘᵈᵉ ᶦⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᵃᶜᵉ…” Mina mumbled.

“...What?” Himiko asked.

“I kind of, well… punched a stupid blonde in the face?” She squeaked.

“Stupid… blonde…” Izuku’s eyes went wide. “Spiky hair? Explosive? Superiority complex mixed with an inferiority complex?”

“Mhm…” Mina hummed.

“YOU PUNCHED KATSUKI IN THE FACE?” Izuku was grinning now. 

Mina sighed deeply in relief, “Oh thank fuck, I was worried I had the wrong blonde.”

Izuku laughed, and Himiko clapped her hands. She had no idea what was happening, but boy was it entertaining, “Now, read yours!” Himiko was bouncing in place. She had never been very interested in hero school, but if her friends were, she was going to support them all the way.

Izuku’s letter is much simpler. No loud hologram with All might, at least.

Izuku nodded and cleared his throat, preparing for a dramatic reading, “Hello, Ashido Izuku. It is with our pleasure to inform you that you have passed. We were very impressed with your scores! You had the highest mark on your written exam, and I myself was very interested. You have scored highly on your practical as well! So, we would like to invite you to attend UA as a member of class 1-H this year. Welcome, Ashido Izuku, to your support academia!” He reads, grinning, “Signed… holy shit. With excitement, Nedzu.”

Everyone was silent.

And then it broke. 

“IKUN, WE’RE AMAZING!” Mina cheered, hugging him tightly. Himiko was laughing and hugging Nyx as Izuku and Mina cried tears of joy together. 

They both got in. With the highest scores that year in the practical and written exams!

One thing was for sure. They were ready for UA, and no one was going to slow them down.

Chapter Text

Eijirou was very, very confused. He had run into Ashido at the entrance exams! That was awesome for her, after those girls had done such a horrible thing, she still wanted to be a hero! But… she didn’t look very happy to see him. She looked almost… afraid? It really confused him. He thought Ashido especially would be glad to see a familiar face. He was!

But no.

And she ran from him so quickly.

Eijirou frowned at the mirror.

Why did she run? Why did she look so scared? 

He didn’t think that he had done anything too upsetting to her in middle school, but here he was wracking his brain, trying too-

Oh.

Eijirou wondered if that was it. He really, really hoped not. If it was, well, he’d just have to make it better in the future when he got into UA!

He… he would be able to make it better, right?

He has to be able to. Ashido looked really, really upset. He couldn’t bear being the reason for something like that.

What he did wasn’t even that bad, though, was it?

Remembering Mina’s first year in middle school, during lunch

Mina was sitting in the courtyard eating her lunch, across from a couple girls from the year above her. 

It would have been fine, if she didn’t think she was safe in school. If she just listened to her mother and fathers teachings, and applied them to school the way she did on the street, she would have never gone through what she did.

But no, Mina was too focused on making friends to remember where she was safe. Alone. She was safe by herself.Safe with her parents. Safe with people who were like her, people who knew the rules.

Not people like them. 

But no, Mina was not thinking that day.

Holding her bag to her chest, Mina walked towards the two girls chatting away happily and cleared her throat.

“Ah, hello! I was just wondering if, um… if maybe we could eat lunch together? I really like your bag…” Mina pointed to the sailor moon charm on the taller girl's bag.

“...” The two stared at her, like she was from some foreign planet. 

“You want to sit with us?” The shorter one giggled and whispered to her friend,  “You know what? Yeah, sure, come sit with us. What was your name again? Ashido, right?” 

Mina felt like something was wrong. But she couldn’t help herself. Friends! She was making friends, just like she’d wanted for so long!

Mina found her heart pounding the more she talked to the taller of the two she had reached out too.

And, she couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but it seemed like Kirishima Seiki was just as happy to be talking to her, too.

Eijirou watched from afar, as the girl he’d watched walk alone in the hallways talked to his cousin. 

He hoped she was making friends, she looked so lonely whenever he saw her. 

He hoped Seiki wasn’t planning anything, either.

Mina and Seiki got along so well! She squealed and giggled in her room, kicking her feet as they texted. Such a pretty girl, and they’re friends…


She wonders if Seiki’s heart thumps like this around her, too. She’s so cool, and tall.


Mina got up to go to school, not knowing that Seiki doesn’t feel it.


That instead, Mina won’t be able to go outside without fear anymore.


That instead, Mina will be terrified of loving someone like this.

Mina stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if one day she could give up the act she put on around other people. If she could tell the world when she was scared once more, like she had tried to before her world came crashing down on her. 

‘You really, really don’t deserve me, you know. You’re lucky I don’t run and hide like everyone else, so you should make sure you don’t make me angry, okay?’

The voice of Seiki rang through her head, echoing like a bell hit in a hollow cavern. 

She could remember the way the girl had ruffled her hair, held her hand through the hallways, whispered in her ear…

It was hard, sometimes, to remember all of that was fake.

It was hard to remember that every time that she had held Mina’s hand, she had rushed to the bathroom to scrub them clean while laughing with her friends.

That every whisper back and forth had been broadcasted to school, spreading fast as wildfire.

That every time Seiki did anything, it was with a purpose. 

Mina wondered if she would ever be able to trust someone in the same way she had trusted Seiki. 

She wondered if she could ever love someone again, the way she had loved Seiki.

She shook her head. She knew that she could love again.

Of course she could. She hadn’t thought that she could love anybody the way she loved Izuku again, either. She hadn’t believed she could go outside without keeping her guard up at all times again. Nothing anyone said would have changed her mind.

But now look at her.

She could go outside without wondering who would be the next to sneer at her, to whisper, to scream, to run, anything. No, that wasn’t what she thought about anymore. 

Now she wondered if any of the people she saw would be the next one Izuku pulled into her little family. If that girl with the giant smile would get along with Himiko, if that boy staring at a dress in a store’s window wanted someone to talk too.

She was happy.

The only issue is those thoughts really only applied to people like her, Izuku, and Himiko. Outcasts, people that look different, people who feel wrong in their places.

Eijirou was still, eyes wide and hands gripping his bag as he watches the scene in front of him.

Ashido is crying. She’s really, really crying. Her hair, which had been long, fluffy, and curly the last time he saw her, in tatters, patchily cut with bad scissors.

Seiki and her friends stand above her, laughing.

“Freak. You really thought you had friends, huh?” Seiki teases. “So disgusting! I wanted to vomit every time I touched you. I thought I’d get sick!”

Eijirou wants to reach out he wants t o help, he…

“Eiji! Take a picture for me, kaaayy?” Seiki grins at him when she sees him and tosses him her phone. Eijirou feels like he may be sick.

Seiki takes a grasp of Ashido hair, violent, rough. She yanks up the girls head, showing her face. Ashido’s lip is bloody, and tears blur her eyes. Strands of her pink hair have fallen against her shoulders and into her lap. She looks… afraid.

Eijirou wants to help. He wants to run. He…

He lifts the phone.

He snaps a photo.

She left the bathroom and got back to what she had been working on.

A mask and cloak. The cloak was meant to be built around a mask that was built into the rest of the cape. She wanted to give it a floaty, almost ghostly look, so Izuku could use the way it moved as something to incorporate into a new quirk of its own for the vigilante of himself.

 She didn’t really know much about sewing, but when she had asked Himiko if she could get some help, the blonde had taken to the craft like a fish to water. She was amazing at it, too! So quickly Mina’s attempts to build Izuku a better mask became a joint effort, with Mina trying out shapes and sizing with cardboard models and making designs for Himichan to start building. 

She had one more design she wanted to try and build with cardboard and wire before Himichan began to put it together.

 It was deliberately cutesy. 

Izuku had told her about the whole persona he was building as a vigilante, how he wanted to make himself seem outgoing, quippy, and relatable. According to him, it was the easiest way to separate that part of his life from his main identity.

Mina thought it would be a good break from being a broody asshole in public, too.

Chapter Text

Izuku sat in front of UAs gates. Just… sitting criss crossed on the ground. Mina was propped up against his shoulder, headphones in and fully engrossed in the game she had brought along with her. Himiko laid on the ground with her head in Mina’s lap, dead to the world. Izuku had kept her up on the rooftops with him all night trying to teach her subtlety, since it's far from her strong suit. Nyx seemed happy at least, sitting content on Izukus shoulder, licking at his ears in an attempt to clean him before the big day.

“Hey, Ikun… you know we didn’t need to be here this early, right?” Mina tilted her head up to meet his eyes. She’s giving him a grumpy, deadpan stare. Izuku had torn them all out of bed first thing for this.

“I wanted to be here earlier than Katsuki. He won’t be late, but the site said UA will be open early for the orientation, and he definitely won’t be this early.” Izuku sighed. He hated letting Katsuki run his life like that. 

It felt demeaning, like he had done nothing in the months he had been away. Nyx swatted at his cheek. She could tell he was thinking something that she wouldn’t approve of. He hissed lightly.

They swatted at each other, bickering in their own way, until they were interrupted by a beep from the school gates. 

Izuku nudged Mina and nodded. He thought they could probably get inside now that the gates had made a noise. Mina shook Himiko awake and whispered to her.

Izuku didn’t think he would have heard if it wasn’t for his quirk.

“ Himiko, wake up. Can you get home alright? Or do you want us to call our mom to give you a ride? ”

Himiko shook her head. “I can get home, Mina. Don’t call Yuko so early in the morning.” The blonde grinned and elbowed Izuku as she sat up. “I’ll use the rooftop path our stray showed me, I’ll be safe!”

Izuku hissed, not strongly but definitely out of annoyance, and Himiko giggled. 

“See, ya, Nyazuku! Michan, bye bye!” Mina sighed when the girl ran off.

“DON’T GET YOURSELF KILLED!” Izuku called, ears pinned back as he hissed again. Nyx meowed quietly and headbutted him. He was definitely on edge this morning.

 He just knew Katsuki got in. How? Because Katsuki isn’t stupid. Izuku wished he was, though. ugh.

He knew he couldn’t keep up his separate life for much longer before it mixed with the one he had before. Mina would meet Katsuki, his m-

…

Inko. 

…

 Ms. Inko..?

…

Ms. Midoriya. 

Ms. Midoriya would find him and try to take him back. He knew she couldn’t, that she had no right to him anymore, but… he didn’t think he could handle it. He knew he wanted to stay with Yuko and Hiroshi. Mom and dad?

Izuku felt his heartbeat. Mom and dad. A mom that cared about him as a person, as a living child instead of a possession. A dad. He had a dad, one that stayed and loved him. 

He had parents, and he didn’t need to be scared anymore.

He felt a lot better after that.

Mina poked at his shoulder. 

“We just gonna sit here forever, or are we going in? People are starting to get here.” She pointed behind her with her thumb. Sure enough, Izuku saw other people in the UA uniform chatting between themselves as they walked up to the school.

Izuku moved an arm in front of his chest to catch Nyx as she jumped down from his shoulder. She knew what was coming, all right.

Izuku took his free hand and grabbed Mina’s arm. He then bolted forwards. “MINAAA, DON'T LET ME GET SO CAUGHT UP IN MY THOUGHTS NEXT TIME!” Izuku is panicked. 

“Next time? Izuku, how many entrance ceremonies are you trying to attend?” She scoffs as she’s dragged, stumbling to keep up.

Izuku almost laughed.

Almost.

Izuku dropped Mina off at classroom 1A, and told her to make sure she made a good first impression. 

“Hey, Zuku… is it just me or did you see Erasers sleeping bag in that room over there?”

Izuku searched for his classroom. He set Nyx down so she could help him out, but…

Nyx looked up at him as if he was an idiot.

Izuku deflated. What a helpful stray he had picked up, right?

They walked around for a while as the halls filled with students. Nyx stayed close, almost tripping him multiple times, as to not get lost.

Izuku hissed at a boy who was staring at him and Nyx. What the hell was that kid doing? He was just standing still looking. “Hey, eyebags! Move along and leave me and my cat alone!” Izuku spat out with his ears pinned back and his tail standing high, scooping up Nyx to hold her to his chest protectively. The purple haired boy blushed bright red and seemed embarrassed. Izuku wasn’t upset about embarrassing him, though, because he didn’t take kindly to being stared at.

Well…

Maybe he felt a little bad, because the boy seemed like he was staring more at Nyx , but…

But nothing. Nope! He did not feel bad at all . Not at all! He didn’t care that someone was stupid enough to stare at-

Ah.

Yeah, actually, he would probably stare if there was a random animal in an elite school following around some random kid, too.

Nyx looked at him like he was stupid. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry. But maybe he should learn to mind his own fuckin’ business.” Izuku made a tsk noise and finally stopped in front of his classroom.

The door was open, and a girl with pink hair seemed to be happily, and chaotically, exploring her bench. Izuku found the workbench with his nameplate and noted that there were only six in total. That was a small class, especially for UA! When Izuku saw they only accepted 18 support students, he thought that meant one class! 

Izuku let Nyx get comfy on the stool, and pulled out his laptop to go to UAs website. Clicking through the support course section. Izuku paled at what he saw.

SIX INVENTION TRACK STUDENTS?

Apparently the other two support classes were analysis and design tracks. Truthfully, Izuku thought those would all share a room, and that each ‘track’ would do all three specialties while working to perfect a specific one.

Meaning Izuku is one of only six students going to make hero support items, and, well… 

He only planned to make civilian supports.

 Unless you count things for Mina. While he planned to make support items for her and possibly other mutants in the hero courses, if they were his friend, he didn’t give a shit about most heroics anymore. 

So basically, he took up a spot at UA for nothing! What would his teachers say?!

Izuku gulped as the rest of his class filled the room. Shooting him and Nyx looks.

He was screwed.

Chapter Text

As the rest of the class began to trickle in, Izuku got some weird looks. He chose to ignore them for the time being, instead focused on his stool. Nyx seemed content to lay on it, but he wasn’t exactly pleased with it. A bench would be better, he was sure of it. There was no room for him on the stupid stool anyway, he jumped up to sit on the workbench. The workbench, which he was hoping he could make some major revisions too… It was so simple. Not at all like his own beautiful, lovely, outstanding bench back ho-

“Hey, greenie!” Izuku felt his hair and fur stand up, and he bared his teeth with a hiss at the girl who had run up behind him, watching as Nyx yelped and jumped up onto his lap, “Why do you have a cat? Does she help with your babies? What about y-” Izuku narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why does it matter to you? You’re scaring her.” Izuku kept his teeth showing, trying to be as intimidating as possible. “Go away.” Izuku almost felt like he should be less harsh, but…

He looked at the girl. She still stood with a stupid smile, seemingly unfazed by his own harsh words. His frown deepened. No physical mutations, apart from her pupils looking like crosshairs and pink hair… he should find out her quirk soon, at introductions, if they do that at UA in the same way they do at other schools.

 Izuku hissed at the girl again, and she just grinned wider. 

“Go. Away.” Izuku turned his head and looked back towards the front of the room, hoping that would make her leave.

It didn’t. 

Until Power Loader finally came into the room, the pink haired girl spent her time flitting between him and the other four students. She was dead set interrogating them about their “babies” and their methods, about their motives, and about what they wanted to do with their inventions in the future. 

When she was asked her name by a dark haired girl who she had been bothering, the girl announced something about Hatsume Industries and continued her loud ranting.

Well, she didn’t really stop when their teacher arrived. Power Loader had to basically yell over her to get her to stop bouncing around and sit down. After that, he cleared his throat and kept a keen eye on her. Izuku noted with much displeasure that the only time the teacher's eyes left her, they focused on him. Just lovely .

“Ah, well, now that we are all… settled, I thought we would start up with some introductions before we head to the orientation assembly. “Any volunteers to go fi-”

The pink haired girl once again leapt out of her seat, rushing from her seat behind Izuku and Nyx to stand up next to the teacher. “Hello! My name is Hatsume Mei, future CEO and founder of Hatsume industries! I’m sure we’ll all get along great! My quirk is called Zoom, and lets me zoom in on things I can see! If I try hard enough, I can see things up to five kilometers away!”

Ah. Loud, but quick and to the point… Izuku was impressed she hadn’t-

“I’m so excited to be here, I’m going to make so many babies, and you could all be future employees of my industry! Now, Greenie, tell me why you have a-”

“ Ahem. ” Power Loader placed a hand on the girls shoulder and raised an eyebrow at her. Hatsume shot him two thumbs up and bounded back to her seat. Izuku couldn’t help but wonder if that girl ever just walked, or if she was always bouncing like that in one way or another.

She reminds him a bit of Mina. More bubbly, but… similar. 

Next up was the girl who had originally asked Hatsume her name. 

“Hello everyone. Uh, My name is Furasu Maina, and, um… my- my quirk is called quantity control. It, well… I can increase or decrease the amount of a fluid or gas, but it uses energy, and if I overuse it I end up in an almost comatose state for up to- up to a week!”

Power Loader gave the stuttering girl a smile and a nod when she turned her head to him. He mouthed the words ‘And your inventions…’ before continuing his encouraging smile.

“Ah! Yeah, my inventions! I, ah, work mainly with things like engines, because I can use my quirk to give myself a basically infinite supply of- of… oil and gas.”

Before Power Loader could encourage her to continue, she hurried to her seat. Izuku felt bad for her. It seemed like she was really shy, and even Izuku could acknowledge that what she did there was brave.

Izuku paused. There were eyes on him all around the room, and he realized what had just happened. The two people behind him in his row had already gone, so…

Izuku gave a heavy sigh and allowed Nyx to hop up onto his shoulder as he stood. Izuku barely left his workbench, and just made sure he could see everybody pretty clearly. 

“Hi. My name’s Ashido Izuku, and my quirk’s pretty obvious. This is Nyx. I plan to make civilian support items.” With that simple explanation, he sat back down. What, did anyone really expect more than that? 

Power Loader seemed to. The man made a ‘Come on, a little more!’ gesture, but Izuku just whipped his head to the side and let his teacher call up the next person with a sigh. 

Izuku sat through the introductions, amusing himself by thinking about their quirks. 

A girl with a mist manipulation quirk, with hair like the sky, a boy who could bend metal at will, another who could see in the dark and underwater with ease, and one more who could apparently teleport, but only if no one was looking. Izuku thought that last one was a weird concept, and at first the class didn’t seem to believe him, but the boy proved it to them by having everyone close their eyes. Then, he told Power Loader to stand in front of the door. The class accepted the truth when merely a second later, he knocked on the door without ever leaving through the door.

Though, Izuku’s ears twitched during the whole thing. He’s sure he heard something shuffling.

Izuku also thought it was interesting that the class was more or less balanced. Three girls, three boys. The only issue Izuku had was that he was the only one with a mutation type quirk. He wished he wasn’t so on guard, but when you’re in a room full of people who look relatively normal and you look completely different, you end up pretty on edge. 

The only people he was starting to be okay with were his teacher and the girl whose hair was a bright blue, fading into clouds at the end. A mutation accompanying an emitter quirk. It did annoy Izuku that her hair being a bit different probably wasn’t peoples main focus when meeting her. 

He was jealous. 

He wished he was the main focus instead of his quirk like her. 

Izuku shook his head and followed his class out the door as they made their way to the gym for orientation. He wondered how Mina was doing…

Chapter Text

Mina stared at the door, choosing to wait for their teacher rather than interact with her classmates who began to fill the room shortly after her. Some of the people she saw made her feel like screaming with joy, and she really didn't think she could hold all that in if she tried to speak. A boy with multiple arms, a boy whose head pointed up like a rock, a girl who looked quite like a frog, and another who was quite literally invisible. She wished Izuku could be there to see it. People like them in heroics. The frog girl specifically seemed like she would make Ikun happy. The green hair matched well… 

But, she shudders thinking of the way Izu chases frogs around the yard whenever they visit their parents. Maybe not. 

‘Oh. oh. Shit, nope, no no no…’   

Mina changed her mind. No, she did NOT wish Izuku was there, not when the explosive blondie she punched in the face walked in. Also, couldn’t he fix his uniform? Was he wearing it like that to be cool or something? Didn’t work, in her opinion. Ignoring the affront to UA that was Bakugos uniform, she jumped up from her seat and ducked behind the tall octopus boy (She really hoped that wasn’t a rude thing to say. She would probably ask him later.) and looked up at him with a finger to her lips, making a “SHHH!” sound as quietly yet frantically as she could. The boy nodded and moved to hide her better. 

Good dude. Mina would have to mention him to Izu, too - his quirk looks really cool.

Unfortunately, her success in hiding was short-lived. Which, in hindsight, probably wouldn’t have lasted very long anyway. Mina went stiff as a board when Kirishima walked in and spotted her signature pink from behind her lovely cover. 

“Ashido! You got in? That’s so cool!” Kirishima waved greatly and she cringed. A loveable boy, really, but god was he an idiot. “Why are you hiding behind that dude?” 

Mina sighed and stepped out from her hiding spot. Shooting the boy she hid behind a grateful look, she waved at the redhead. Ah, when he wasn’t bringing up her traumatic past, he was easier to deal with. She felt kind of bad for thinking all the stuff she had about him before. Even if he was an idiot about to get her killed. 

Bakugo spotted her quickly and narrowed his eyes. “ You.”  

Mina was a lot less confident then she had been when she punched him back in the entrance exams. 

“How the fuck do you know Izuku!?” Mina blinked. That was what he was asking? No yelling about getting punched, no calling her an extra, just… asking about Ikun.

Weirdo. She should clock him again.

“Well, I’d hope I knew my own brother!” Mina gave a lopsided grin. It was funny that he cared so much. He had no right to ask her that, and yet he was so confident! She decided she could mess with him.

“Your brother? Ha, that fucker didn’t have a sister. Try again, raccoon eyes!” He sneered and Mina caught explosions popping in his hands. Mina forced her eyes wide and raised her hands. Raccoon eyes? RACCOON EYES? Oh, this piece of shit. Mina wants to burn his damn face.

“Woah, really? Oh my god, does that mean I punched the wrong person? I’m soooo sorry! I can’t believe it, that’s such a coincidence!” Mina pressed her hands to her cheeks and feigned horror. “My brother's name is Izuku, and when you knew it combined with your quirk, I was so sure you were this dude who was picking on him at our cafe!”

Bakugo’s eyebrows are knitted together. “What the fuck are you-” Mina heard something at the door and rushed to her seat, throwing octo-boy another shushing motion, giving him a thumbs up when he nodded and sat down in his seat. Good. If she’s right, the teacher coming in won’t like them being noisy this early.

Mina watched, eyebrows raised in amusement, as a yellow sleeping bag creeped its way into the classroom. She knew she had seen Aizawa-san… Aizawa-sensei?? Anyway, she knew she had seen him the day of the entrance exams. 

Wait, wait, no… Aizawa. Eraserhead. No, no, no. As her teacher. Mina paled. This school year was going to be even harder than she thought it would be, wouldn’t it?

Maybe if she ups the caffeine in his coffee, and helps him get closer with Nyx, he’ll be a bit more forgiving… but, well, probably not.

“Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends.” The muffled voice of the underground hero shook the classroom, and all the chattering in the room ceased quickly. Not quickly enough for Aizawa, it seemed. “This is the hero course, not some daycare. It took eight seconds before you were quiet. Time is limited, you kids aren’t rational.” He met eyes with Mina and she raised an eyebrow with a grin. The man sighed, as if realizing his year was going to be a lot more difficult than he expected.

She rested her head on her hand and listened to the whispers in the room.

“A teacher?”

“So that means, that person is a pro hero?”

“But…”

Mina tuned them out after that. Being a pro had nothing to do with looks, and she hated that they went to that right away. Obviously their teacher was a tad bit… worn out, but that had nothing to do with his skill.

She knows it. Eraser can do some awesome things, when he’s awake enough to do them.

“Bit sudden, but put these on and get out to the field.”

“But, sir-!” The tall Ingenium mini-me started, but was cut off by Mina shooting him a glare. This was UA, did he think he’d get anywhere at all arguing with their literal hero teachers? Idiot. Dumb, so stupid. He reminds her of a robot.

Mina sighed. This was going to be a looong year…

Chapter Text

Toga Himiko has never been one to sit idle. She gets bored far too easily. So, while both of her people are out on their first day of school… Well, she doesn’t have much to do. 

She proooomised Izuku she’d mind the cafe while they were out - and she was, at first. Then, as the breakfast customers got slow, she turned to playing with the kitties instead. Disco has always been her favourite, he’s a good boy.

She’s giggling at the cats when the bell rings and someone stumbles inside. She looks up, blinking, when she sees a man covered in burns and stitches, panting, and… bleeding. She sucks in a breath. 

She has blood bags in the back. She can’t jump a random injured customer. Besides, he’s not even cute!

Himiko stands up and sighs, grabbing the man and letting him lean on her shoulders.

“Ehh, you’re making a mess.” She whines at him. Having been on the streets for so long… she’s no stranger to messy, bloody people. She drags the coughing man over to a booth hidden from the window, and half hazardly drops him into it. She walks over, flips the sign on the door to closed, and clicks it locked.

She walks back to the booth, hands on her hips. “You got my sweater all bloody, and I’m gonna have to mop.” She’s pouty. Everyone looks prettier all bloody, but Izuku has told her how unsanitary it is to have all over herself and the cafe.

The man coughs and looks up at her, unamused, “S… sorry that I couldn’t bleed internally, then.” he deadpans, the best he can manage before delving back into a coughing fit.

Himiko grins. Today had been so boring, but it seems to be turning around now. Oh, she wonders how Izuku and Mina are doing at school…

Probably not having nearly as much fun as her!

Himiko dabs at the stab wound with a cloth from the back, humming happily. She had been adamantly turned down when she asked about bringing him to a hospital - she didn’t really try and push.

“Your roots are growing out.” She says, idly, as she cleans the wounds.

He stills, looking immediately even more guarded than he already was, and that's saying something. “That’s-”

“I’ll grab hair dye from the corner store when I'm done this and I can fix it for you!” She says happily. She loves making friends, this is so fun! The man deflates a bit, and sighs.

“Yeah, you do that, kid. Ain’t gonna ask any questions?” He says, gruff.

? 

Himiko looks confused. “Why would I?” She doesn’t really see anything odd happening here.

The man grins at her, “You’re fuckin’ insane, aren’t you?”

It’s Himiko’s turn to look offended. “I’m not! You take that back, or I’ll dig this cloth into one of these holes!” And he laughs, hearty, before coughing and sputtering as the movement irritates his stab wounds.

Himiko feels her heart swell. Her first friend, other than Izuku and Mina! She sucks in a breath at the blood soaked cloth.

When she leaves to get hair dye and bandages, she's sipping on a blood bag. No drinking her new friend's blood without asking, she repeats in her head over and over again.

As she shoves a shower cap on Dabi’s head to prevent making a mess while the black hair dye sits in his hair, she tries to think of a solution to the fact he’s very shirtless right now.

“You could borrow one of my sweaters?”

“You bloodsucker, how could I fit in any of yours?” He huffs, amused at the suggestion. Himiko pouts.

“Mm.. maybe an apron, for now… I need to reopen, and you’ll scare off customers.”

He scoffs. “What, because of the burns? Damn, mosquito, I didn’t know you’d do me like that.”

Himiko rolls her eyes. “Ehhh? No, no, because you aren’t wearing CLOTHES! Dummy…”

She throws one of their aprons at him, “It’ll cover you a bit.”

He rolls his own eyes, but is still smiliing until he looks at the apron properly, face scrunching.

“Pet the cook?” He deadpans, looking at the frilly blue apron, covered in cat decal.

Himiko shrugs but snickers behind her hand. “Oh, nooooo, that's our only apron. How saaad.”

He gives her a look, “I can see a plain black one right behind the counter.”

Himiko hits that one off the hook and kicks it under the stool. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, you bat.”

“Ah, shut up, staples.”

They both smile. Himiko then slides him a plate with a crepe, chocolatey, with banana.

“You’re paying for that next time you’re here.” She warns him. Izuku would kill her if she started giving away all their food for free.

“Next time?” He says with mirth, “who said I’d come back?”

“Ah, you’ll come back, or your next stabbing will be from me.” Himiko huffs, rolling her eyes. He bellows with laughter.

When Himiko reopens the cafe, they aren’t that busy. Everytime someone comes in, they stare at Dabi and his crepe before asking to take their pastries to go. Himiko huffs. Good riddance, she doesn’t want anyone around if they can’t handle a few scars and a tall man in a frilly apron.

She’s still giggling every time she looks at him and his stupid apron. He flips her off multiple times.

After the average lunch rush, she sits on the counter. A friend… She bets Izuku and Mina have already made new friends, too.

…well, she bets Mina has. Izuku has probably, like, bitten someone by now.

“You remind me of my brother.” She tells Dabi, matter of fact. “You’re grumpy.”

“I’m not grumpy, bat.” Dabi scoffs. “I am… sufficiently hardened.”

“Heh, sufficiently hard…” Himiko snickers. Dabi glares.

“HARDENED. Harden ed, not hard, you dummy!” he protests the giggle.

Himiko cackles.

“Shouldn’t you be in school, you brat bat?” He huffs at her, drinking the coffee she had made him, another hit to his new tab.

She gives him a blank look and gestures to all of her. “Do I look like I stayed in school?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Well… yeah, kind of.”

She blinks and then laughs a bit.

“Ah… I’m kind of wanted by the cops. Probably best to… well, not, go back. Can’t even officially be on payroll here, but Izu pays me anyway.”

He sits and stares at her then delves into a belly laugh.

“You? On the run? You look like a damn shoujo manga character!”

She suddenly feels quite offended. “Ehhh!? Well, then, you’re straight out of a horror manga!”

They bicker back and forth for a while, ending with both of them laughing at each other's plight.

“Two fugitives, eh?” Dabi eventually says with a laugh.

Himiko beams.

“My friends are in UA right now, you know.” She brags, proud. He raises an eyebrow at her as he helps her do the dishes.

“Your friends? The ones who are harbouring a fugitive right now?” He gives her a look, passing her a plate to dry.

She dries the plate meticulously.

“Well… only one of them is going to be a hero, so it’s okay, I think.” She waves a hand at him.

He lets out a gruff laugh. “What kind of hero keeps a vampire bat?”

She waves the cloth at him. “Oh, shuddup, what kind of adult needs a bat to patch him up? What kind of villain downs a choco-banana crepe that fast?” she glares.

He holds up his hands in defeat.

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. But, UA, huh… do you know who any of their classmates are yet?” He says, idly. He seems to be thinking of something, as he washes a cup.

“No, it’s just the first day. I’m sure they’ll tell me when they’re back, why?” Himiko is quite curious. He seems to have been thinking of someone.

“...It’s nothing.” He shakes his head as if clearing his thoughts. “Only one’s going to be a hero, huh? What about the other? Are they gen-ed?”

“Nah. Izu is in the support course! He wants to make items for civilians, like you and me.” She beams. “Maybe he’ll be able to help you with your quirk a bit.”

Dabi doesn’t respond, but nods slightly. 

Himiko takes that as a sign to drop the subject. She’s never been the most observant, but this time it feels pretty clear.

“You know… I’m glad you came into the cafe bleeding all over the place.” She says, cheery.

He laughs at her, “What?”

“I said what I said!” She’s quite proud of herself.

“You’re insane.” He rolls his eyes. “You’re a weirdo.”

“I’m not a weirdo! I’m serious.” She huffs, flicking bubbles at him.

He sputters then grins, eyes gleaming. “Oh, you started it.”

Himiko bursts into giggles as water splashes over her. “Hey! Don’t make a mess!”

Chapter Text

Izuku's tail sways, and his ears swivel. He taps his pen in boredom as Power Loader talks on and on about the lab rules. He should probably be listening, but… well, the room was pretty loud. His ears are sensitive, and he can hear every little sound. Furasu tapping her foot, the rustling of papers while the teleporter looks through his plans, Hatsume cracking her knuckles and impatiently mumbling…

Izuku bites his lip. He can’t fault her for being impatient, really. He’s just as impatient. UA’s labs are sure to have much better technology than he has at home, and he’s so ready to make Mina more tech. At the moment he doesn’t have much plans for civilian items, so he’ll get Mina all decked out first…

“Does everyone understand?” Izuku’s ears perk up when he hears Power Loader finish. His tail flicks, and he nods. He hears the others agree, and reaches out to lazily pet Nyx under her chin.

Power Loader nods, “You can start checking out the tools you have at your work benches. There’s more here, but you’ll have to specially request the material if you don’t already have i-” And with that, the room is alive again. Hatsume squeals in delight as she looks at everything. Izuku himself can’t help but hum in appreciation for the tools and supplies he has access to. 

“I wonder if I can make Mina better bottles for her chemicals…” He mumbles to himself. “Or maybe…” Izuku's tail sways as he looks everything over, happily checking out what he can use and trying to come up with plans for Mina’s gear. 

After a bit of time, the bell rings and reluctantly, Izuku and his small group need to join up with the business class to start regular classes. They have English with Present Mic, it seems…

The rest of the morning classes fly by, and Izuku finds himself in the cafeteria looking for Mina. He lights up when he sees her talking to a tall boy with multiple arms and a frog-like girl. 

“Mina!” He grins when he makes his way over to her. Nyx purrs and quickly jumps to her shoulder, causing the other two to look at her. They don’t question why Izuku has a cat, however, “How have your classes been? Is everyone being nice?” He immediately starts to fret over her, looking her up and down as if expecting to find some sort of injury. He grabs her face and turns it side to side.

“Ikun, I’m fine.” She sighs, grabbing Izuku’s wrists to bring them away from her face, but it's light. It’s obvious she expected this. “This is Shoji, and this is Asui-”

The frog girl interrupts. “Just call me Tsu.” Izuku nods. He understands that, having gone by his given name for so long. 

“Tsu, got it.” He looks at her appreciatively. Green with an animal quirk. They’re similar.

Shoji waves with one of his many arms. “It's nice to meet you.” 

Izuku is so relieved. So relieved that Mina’s not alone, and that it seems like he won’t be, either. 

“Is this your brother that Bakugo said he knew?” When Tsuyu says that, all the relief crumbles. Bakugo’s here. Bakugo knows that Izuku knows Mina. No, no… this isn’t good.

Mina cringes, “Ah, Tsu… you could tell I was lying, couldn’t you?” Mina sighs when Tsu nods. 

Shoji shrugs as well. “You weren’t very convincing.” 

Izuku pales, ears pinning back. “He… he knows I’m here. He’s… Mina, he’s going to tell her that I’m here.” His voice is uncharacteristically quiet. He’s not afraid of Katsuki himself, clearly, but afraid of what it might mean for him. 

Katsuki knows his mother. Katsuki could tell her where he is.

Mina immediately puts a hand on his shoulder. “Zuku, it’ll be okay. She can’t do anything anyway!”

Even Tsu nods. “If you really don’t want to speak to him, we’ll make sure to keep him away. It’s-” She’s interrupted when Hatsume runs up and barrels into Izuku.

“Greenie! Come sit with our class, come on!” Hatsume bounces in place, excitedly. Izuku glares. 

“Don’t do that!” He scolds, but surprises himself when it comes out softer than expected. Izuku sighs when he starts to realize Hatsume really has no ill intentions, and it’s becoming a bit tedious to try and hate her. Doesn’t mean he won’t be a bit snarky, however. “Fine.” He grits out, turning to Mina with an apologetic expression. She, however, looks ecstatic. 

“Ikun, you made friends!” She beams at him, clearly surprised and happy. “This is great! Go, eat with them, we’ll meet up again to go home!” She encourages. Izuku realizes she won’t be happy if he denies it, so he nods a bit and lets Hatsume drag Izuku off to a nearby table.

Shoji watches Izuku leave and then looks over at Mina. “...You two are twins? ” He asks with an eyebrow raised. Mina laughs.

“Would you believe me if I said it’s because we’re fraternal?” She grins, being met with an eyebrow raise from Tsu. “He’s adopted. We count ourselves as twins, though. If anyone ever asks either of you what he looks like, say that we’re basically identical. Makes it funnier.” 

Tsuyu laughs as well now, letting out a little ribbit at the beginning. 

Ochako sits down at the table class 1-B had claimed for themselves. She’s pretty happy to be able to sit with everyone and speak, but when she turns her head her eyes flicker over to Ashido, and her eyes widen. She recognizes her! That's one of the kids who runs the cafe that her Obachan likes! 

Monoma catches her staring and scoffs. “Uraraka, why are you staring at one of those class 1-A idiots?” Kendo promptly hits him over the head.

“Don’t listen to him, Uraraka. But, ah… you are staring. Do you know her? You could go sit with her, if you want-” Kendo smiles at her.

Ochako turns red. “Staring? I’m not staring, I-” She waves her hands around trying to explain herself, and doesn't notice as she starts to float. “I’m not staring at all! Just, um, looking over at- uh, at the other tables! Yeah! Th- the competition! Yeah! I’m not-”

Kodai puts a hand on her arm. “Uraraka.” Ochako gasps in realization and deactivates her quirk, falling back to her seat. 

“Sorry.” She mumbles, embarrassed. Kodai pats her arm lightly. The two had been happy when they found out their quirks deactivated in the same way earlier, and they’re becoming friends, it seems. 

Monoma rubs the back of his head, grumbling, and Ochako glances back at Ashido. Her cheeks tinge red again, and she looks away quickly. Her classmates don’t seem to have noticed, going back to conversing amongst themselves.

Why did she have to be so cute…

Izuku glares, standing with his hands on the table, “That would never work! It would overload the system!”

“But, if I can just get a good enough power source-” Hatsume is grinning like this is the most fun conversation she's had all week.

“You can’t!” Izuku snaps back, a glare on his face. But if you looked closer, you’d see a relaxed tail, ears pointed upwards and not pinned back, his teeth not bared.

Him and Hatsume bicker back and forth like they’ve been doing this for decades. Their classmates sit and watch with amusement. As pissed off as Izuku looks, he’s enjoying himself.

It’s always nice to talk to someone who really understands what you’re talking about. As hard as Himiko and Mina try, they really don’t have a clue what he means while he rants about his inventions.

The rest of the class talks rather amicably. They chat about what they plan to make through the school year, where they plan to go. Furasu refills Amemiya, the mist girl's drink, about six times before she’s down for the count.

Izuku scolds the girl for asking the other to do so much with her quirk when she's obviously unable to say no due to how shy she seems.

Mina smiles from her table as she looks over at them all. She sends a text to Himiko quietly.

“Izuku’s making friends.”

Chapter Text

Izuku is pacing. Their first class project is to help create the hero course students hero costumes, based on their own designs. Mina’s, he has down. He had fought hard to make sure he was making hers. But, he also has to make two more. One, for an invisible girl, and one for a girl who can make things float.

He had already turned down a suggestion with disgust. The company UA is working with to get materials for the costumes suggested he just give the invisible girl nothing at all. He has no idea why on earth they thought that Idea would be ok, when there's so many instances of costumes made to work with their wearers quirk. One of the hero course upperclassmen has a suit that can go through walls with him. Izuku plans to talk to the people who made that suit for her, so all should go well.

The girl who floats things… her design is cute. Izuku saw one of his classmates designing the froggy girls suit and noticed it became a lot more skin tight, and quickly decided he wouldn’t do that to this girl. She had even specified in the notes that she would prefer a looser outfit. He has to sketch up some things, and change a bit to make it fit, but he has a pretty good idea. 

He's gnawing on the back of his pencil when Hatsume slaps her hands onto his shoulders. Loudly, he hisses, before turning to glare at her.

“Don't touch me,” he spits out, “I told you not to touch me.”

Hatsume takes a dramatic stumble back, hands up in above her head as high as she can get them. “Right! hands off the kitty!” She's still beaming. “I want your help on one of my babies!” She says, sounding quite excited.

Izuku rubs his temple.

“What?”

“So, he wants these grenade doohickeys on his-”

Izuku freezes. and then he hisses, LOUD. Most of the class stops sketching to give him a look, and even Power Loader looks confused.

Izuku has half the mind to be annoyed that people are looking at him but instead just sighs and lets his tail lash. “I won’t help you with that costume.”

“Eh? You won’t?” Hatsume looks slightly dejected, an emotion he didn’t think he’d see on the girl.

“I can’t, ” Izuku decides to rephrase, “I hate him. I would rather die than help him get stronger.”

Hatsume pauses. Stares at him. Then bounds over to Power Loader and sets that assignment down. “I don’t want this one.

Izuku blinks. Power Loader blinks. Hatsume just stares on, wide eyed and beaming.

“...why not?” Power Loader eventually prompts when he realizes the girl isn’t going to speak on it more.

“Midoriya says this guy sucks. He’d mistreat my babies, I’m sure…” Hatsume huffs, chewing her thumb. She looks pissed at even the idea that something she worked hard on wouldn’t be appreciated.

Power Loader turns to give Izuku a look. Izuku rubs the back of his neck and shrugs, “He really, really DOES suck. I don’t see the point in sugar coating it.”

Power Loader just sighs and rests his head in his hands on his desk.

“...Fine. I’ll send this back to the company we’re working with and tell them to have free range. Everyone else has too many to work on as is…” 

Hatsume beams and goes back to her table to work.

Izuku settles back in his own spot. He gets to refining his sketches for the gravity-girls costume. She seems to like pink… Izuku wonders if Mina has met her yet.

Maybe not - Gravity girl’s in class 1-B, so not the same as Mina.

He bets they’d like each other. Mina loves cute things, and the girl’s preference in colour would probably excite her as well. 

He erases some things, biting his pencil. Nyx lounges next to the notebook, batting at him periodically when he stops for too long.

“Ah, Nyx, I’m just thinking…” He grumbles at her. She bats at him again. “Such a strict cat.” Izuku huffs.

He puts aside the gravity girl costume and flips to a new page for the invisible girl. He wonders how her quirk works, how he can help her have a costume that she can really use.

Izuku makes a note to ask Power Loader about that upperclassmens suit. 

He starts to create a design for the suit anyway, even if it won’t be visible when she wears it. That just means Izuku can pack as much function into it as possible, since there’s no need for flashy, huge elements.

Anemiya taps his shoulder. He jumps and looks at her with a glare. 

“Shh…” She shushes him and nods her head towards Hatsume’s bench, where she is writing furiously in a notebook, the fluid she had been developing to put in Bakugo’s blasters abandoned, forgotten about… and bubbling away, getting more and more aggressive with the popping.

Anemiya gives Izuku a look that very much says ‘See what I mean?’ before she jerks a thumb towards the door, where Nakamura, the teleporter, is ushering a worried Furasu out of the room. 

Izuku takes the hint and he grabs his notebook, reluctantly allowing Anemiya to scoop up Nyx before quietly following them out. Power Loader looks up just as Anemiya is shutting the door.

“Where are you kids going?” He looks confused. “This class isn’t out for at least another half hour-”

“Sorry sir,” Anemiya sounds genuine. “But you were too far from my desk to warn in time.” She quickly shuts the door and backs up.

“What? What are you talking about, warn about wh-” They hear Power Loader start, sounding incredibly suspicious…

He doesn’t finish before a load BOOM fills everyone's ears, Izuku hissing at the noise, and the door breaks off its hinges and drops, Hatsume sitting on it with singed hair and wide eyes. Izuku gives Anemiya an approving look when he sees she covered Nyx’s ears instead of her own.

Everyone stares. Power Loader looks mortified, rushing over; He’s got soot on his face and clothes.

“Oh my gosh- Hatsume, are you okay?! What-!” He’s panicked. 

Izuku cuts him off by snickering. Hatsume’s face and hair… they’re covered in soot! He can’t help but giggle about it. She doesn’t seem hurt, so he’s sure it’s fine.

Everyone looks at him, wide eyed…

But then Hatsume cackles, laughing louder than Izuku had been. “Amazing! Did you see that? It worked! Hah! I’m sure I can reuse that somewhere else- Boooom!” She makes pow noises with her mouth, miming an explosion before falling onto her back and laughing harder.

Power Loader stops talking before sighing, sounding quite defeated.

“...Furasu, bring Hatsume to the nurse. I… have to go tell Nedzu we need a new door…”

Anemiya shakes her head with an amused scoff, and Furasu seems to be fretting over Hatsume, who is just going on and on about what she just did.

Izuku can’t help but smile slightly. Maybe his classmates aren’t so bad. 

This might be a lot of fun.

Chapter Text

As soon as the day ends, Izuku meets back up with Mina. He listens to her rant about her day as they walk home.

“He’s so annoying, Izu! He’s loud, but not a fun loud, a rude and obnoxious and- ugh!” She groans, face buried in her hands. Izuku has a hand on her arm to pull her out of the path of obstacles and other people. She isn’t quite paying attention.

Izuku is really, really trying to be the best brother he can be. You know, listen, relate. But, well… his day was kind of nice. His class seems more focused on technology and creating than quirks; none of them really cared about his quirk. They cared about his inventions. His ears twitch.

He wants to go out tonight. 

It seems he said that out loud, because Mina pauses her rant.

“...Eat first.” She says, but she’s smiling. She pushes him through the doors of the cafe where Himiko is… hitting a man with an oven mitt?

“What the- I didn’t even take that many!” The man defends himself, arms up to try and block the mitt.

“Any is too many!” Himiko is pouting, trying to get him with the mitt. Beside her is a tray of cookies. There’s ten. Usually, that wouldn’t seem weird, except all the recipes Izuku keeps around bake a dozen. 

Mina and Izuku stand in the doorway, both with a puzzled expression.

Izuku whispers to Mina, “...Who’s that?” He’s quite confused.

“No idea.” She whispers back. “...Is he shirtless?” Her eyebrows furrow. Izuku raises one of his.

“...yes.” He’s even more confused. His second impression is the scars. Not a mutant, but scarred enough he’s probably treated like one. His lips purse and he sighs, walking up to the counter. “Let him have the cookies, Himiko. I’ll go buy a sweatshirt in his size, if he’s staying.”

The man jumps at the sudden realization that Izuku and Mina are in the room. Himiko seems like she noticed as soon as they showed up.                   

“He’s had too many already!” She defends her attack. The man quickly switches from surprise to indignation.

“Have not!” He frowns, arguing.

Mina snorts and goes to the register to grab some cash. “You eat something then, uh…” She glances at the man with hesitation, “...get ready. I’ll go get him a shirt.”

Izuku nods and gives her an appreciative smile and heads up the stairs.

He takes his minute to shake off, relax a bit. His shoulders slump, not bothering to keep his posture perfect. His ears relax, he sighs, and he grabs his vigilante gear, grabbing his yo-yo’s and sliding out his window to the fire escape. He settles his mask onto his face as he climbs onto the rail… and he leaps.

Izuku cheers and laughs as he runs across the rooftops, hands hitting the pavement and helping him really leap across the gaps. He’s dramatic with it. Cartwheels, flips, a back handspring. He needed this. He needed a run, he needed to just… relax.

He always feels the best when he’s alone. He loves Mina, loves Himiko. He loves talking to them, loves being around them. But to be alone… There’s not even that pressure to speak and to relate and to be kind. He can be mean. He can think mean thoughts, can fight dirty, can be rude and rash.

He has a lot of fun getting his yo-yo wrapped around things, swinging. He has fun testing his enhancements, jumping as high as possible, landing from heights a normal person would hurt themselves from.

He practices his balance, walking on his hands, seeing if he can stay upright with only one hand on the ground.

He does the splits, he does a back bend, he touches his toes.

He grabs a fallen piece of metal bar from a fire escape and sees how hard he can swing it, tests what metal would feel like in his hands.

He spins and hums. He flips and jumps and runs. Anything he can do, really.

Izuku isn’t a guy who usually plays. He doesn’t usually let himself decompress like this, can’t just exist with zero pressure. He’s too focused on how he appears, how he’s perceived, how others may speak to him.

But when he’s alone, he can just exist. He can play, he can run, he can relax. So he has fun with it.

Izuku relishes in that feeling. Until a slight change makes him pause.

 He comes to a stop, standing on the edge of a tall building, letting his tail sway and ears twitch. His eyes close for a minute, and he listens.

Because he’s not alone. Not truly, not fully. His ears pick up quiet breaths, fabric being blown slightly by the wind. Shuffling feet, the feel of eyes on his back.

“Stop following me. I haven’t done anything wrong, yet, have I?” He hums, voice slightly distorted by his mask. He’s annoyed at the interruption, and a bit embarrassed at the state he’s been caught in.

Eraserhead raises an eyebrow at him, walking up to stand beside him. “I think endangering yourself by hopping buildings could be considered wrong.”

Izuku rolls his eyes. “Have you even seen me trip? I’m fine. Nothing illegal.”

Eraserhead snorts but seems quite amused. “Yet.” He shakes his head. He seems calm. “I’m not here to arrest you. But, I AM here to say, stick to this area of the city. Underground heroes and vigilantes tend to get along. You help us, we help you. Above ground heroes won’t give you the same courtesy.”

Izuku rolls his eyes but nods. “...I knew that.” His tail lashes, but his eyes dart to the side. He appreciates the man talking to him. But obviously he can’t let Eraserhead know that.

“Your sister’s a promising student.” Eraserhead comments before leaving.

“Wh-!” Izukus eyes widen and he whips his head around to look at the man, but he’s already gone. Izuku groans. 

“...of course he knows. Damn it. Of course.” He sighs and unravels his yo-yo, wrapping it onto the railing of a fire escape, swinging down into the alleys. He needs to fight someone. Something. Anything, really.

Tomura hisses when a rock falls onto his shoulder and looks up to see something leap from building to building, kicking dust and rocks down as it does. “Annoying…” He grumbles, brushing the debris off of him. He looks down at the person cowering beneath him.

“I’m going to ask again. Why are you here?” His eyes are narrowed, his voice deliberately careful.

“I told you.” The boy doesn’t seem afraid, but he won’t look Tomura in the eye. “I didn’t want to be at home, and no one would look for me here. That’s it. ”

Tomura looks him over. It’s clear from his body language, from his appearance, from everything about him, that he’s not some plain civilian. This is a boy who has been training, perhaps for a long time. He purses his lips.

“Well, do you drink?” He asks.

The boy’s eyebrows furrow, and he scoffs. “No. Do I look like I’m an adult?”

Tomura rolls his eyes. “Obviously not. But you should come in for one anyway.”

He walks into the bar.

The boy stands up, and stares at the door as it's held open for him. He tilts his head, considering, thinking.

It’s somewhere warm to hang out while he avoids going home.

It’s somewhere nobody would ever look.

It's somewhere he’d be in so, so much trouble for entering.

Shoto walks inside. 

The door closes behind him.

Chapter Text

Shoto makes a face when he first sips the whiskey he’d been given. So gross.

“This is disgusting.” He says rather bluntly. “You drink this for fun? You like this?

Shigiraki snorts, seemingly amused by Shoto’s confused disgust.

“Most people don’t drink it for the taste. Give it here, if you’re going to waste it.” He goes to snatch the drink but Shoto picks it up and holds it almost protectively.

He frowns. “No, it’s mine.”

Shigiraki raises an eyebrow, but he’s certainly amused, “You aren’t going to drink it, though?”

Shoto hesitates. It’s true. He won’t drink it. But he never gets to just… have something of his own. His clothes aren’t his own, they’re chosen for him. The way his hair is styled, it’s not his. The school he goes to, it wasn’t his choice. The job he’ll have one day, it won’t be his.

Even his quirk, it’s not really his.

So if he has something, he wants to really have it. He wants it to be his until he decides it isn’t.

Shigiraki doesn’t push. He waits. 

Shoto can tell he want s to push. Can see his fingers twitch, clad in artists gloves drumming against the counter. Can see how his lips purse, how his eyes focus on the drink. He’s clearly not used to being refused, or hearing no.

He’s a little amused by the way Shigiraki so clearly wants to just snatch the glass, if only to possess it for himself.

But he waits. He taps his foot and he stares and he frowns but despite it all, he waits.

Shoto isn’t really used to people waiting, and listening.

He lets the silence go on for another minute, taking in the fact that he GETS to wait, before he slides the drink towards Shigiraki. 

“You can have it now.” He decides, having kept it for long enough. He knows he’s being stupid. He’s testing how stupid he’s allowed to be.

Shigiraki seems annoyed that he had to wait at all but he takes it and takes a sip, “Took you long enough. What do you actually want to drink, then?”

Shoto frowns and cards through options in his mind. What DOES he want? What does he like?

“...I don’t know. Water.” He ends up saying, but he’s still frowning. He really doesn’t know. He probably should, shouldn’t he?

Shigiraki gestures to Kurogiri. “Water.” He says bluntly. Kurogiri gets the water but doesn’t place it down, waiting. 

Shigiraki stares up at him. Kurogiri stares back. 

Shoto feels like he’s intruding on something. He looks between the two, previously under the impression that Kurogiri works for Shigiraki.

“...please.” Shigiraki eventually mutters. The glass is set down then slid over to Shoto.

He quickly changes his mind. It seems Kurogiri’s the real boss here.

Shoto looks around the bar. Dingy, small, dark. He probably shouldn’t feel very safe.

…He feels very safe.

They chat, for a while, with long pauses of silence that would usually feel awkward between strangers, but here, they don’t. They feel calm. Eventually though, the subject floats around to heroes.

“I hate them.” Shigiraki is steadfast, dramatic as he leans back in his chair and throws his hands up, speaking with them. “They’re the glue in a system made to reject others! They hurt their own people to save strangers. Disgusting. The reason for weakness in this society.”

Shoto blinks then looks down at his half empty cup. “You hate… ALL heroes?” He asks with a small frown. Shoto doesn’t hate heroes. He doesn’t think most of them deserve to be hated. Maybe a few, maybe more than he knows, but not all.

“Of course I do.” Shigiraki huffs, slumping back into his seat. He seems stubborn on this fact, like it’s just as certain as the air you breathe.

Shoto hesitates. He runs a thumb over the rim of the glass, bites his lip…

“I hate… one, hero. Just one.” He brings himself to admit. Because he does. He hates him, he hates him more than he’s ever hated anyone else. He hates that he’s his, and that he cannot be his own. His hatred is what keeps him breathing, keeps his blood flowing through his veins.

But this is the first time he’s ever managed to say it.

Shigiraki pauses and looks at him, considering. He nods.

“Thats a good enough start, then.” Shigiraki decides, before looking away and falling into conversation with Kurogiri.

Shoto doesn’t really get it, but he feels warm. He liked admitting that. He’s allowed to hate, he’s allowed to like, he’s allowed to choose, here. He smiles a bit. He likes being allowed to choose. “You’re not mad that I only hate one? I- I’m- I could be a hero fanboy, for all you know.” He blurts out after thinking, interrupting a conversation between the other two. Both pause.

Shigiraki shrugs. “We can’t tell you what to do. I’m sure you’ll come to hate the rest on your own if you stick around.” He then makes a face. “...I’d hope you weren’t a fanboy. That would make the whole reason I brought you in here nothing.

Kurogiri nods as well, seemingly unbothered. “It’s not our job to tell you how to think.”

Shoto’s heart swells and he just stares for a minute. He lets a bit of hope fill his arteries and make its way through him, pushing a bit of that all consuming hate down and away.. “...yeah, okay. Okay.” He says, voice small, quiet, happy.

He knows he shouldn’t be here. He knows his father would kill him if he ever found out - hell, even his sister, or his teachers, would be horrified that he stepped foot in this place. He knows that this isn’t safe. This is a villain's hideout. He knew that as soon as Shigiraki pushed him down and threatened to disintegrate his face. There hasn’t been one second where he’s thought otherwise.

But he feels safer than he ever has in a hero's society. He feels like he can relax.

“...What other drinks do you have here?” Shoto’s sure he can find something he likes. Something he’ll choose for himself.

A week into his visits with Shigiraki, and Shoto is sitting incredibly unimpressed behind the bar as the villain argues with a very dramatic masked man in a top hat about how “underutilized” he is in Shigiraki’s plan. 

Shoto sips his milkshake. He pauses. “Kurogiri, let's put this one on the ‘okay’ list.” He nods. It’s not bad, but not his favourite, yet. There’s about four drinks, all non-alcoholic, on his list so far. The other side of the list is too long to count.

“Shoto!” Shigiraki turns to him and points, all the dramatic flare of a man raised on television and crime, “YOU like my plans, don’t you?”

Shoto blinks and takes a long sip of his milkshake, “I already told you, I’m not getting involved with those. Plausible deniability.” Shigiraki just groans but goes back to his argument, knowing there’s no help that will come from pushing the topic.

Shoto still hasn’t told them his surname. He knows they probably found out a while ago. He knows it’s not hard to learn. But, they’ve respected him - they’ve only called him his given name, they haven’t mentioned anything about his quirk. That simple bit of respect makes him feel fuzzy inside. Makes him feel warm.

He got in a lot of trouble the first time his father caught him sneaking out in the afternoon, on only his third visit. So, he’s switched. He goes early in the morning now, before he has classes. It works okay. His father is under the impression that he’s going out early to train then making his way to class.

Speaking of class…

“I’ve got to go. I’ve got class.” He grabs his bag which houses his uniform. He hasn’t gained the confidence to wear it anywhere near the bar, so he changes in a cafe restroom before heading to UA. Even if he was fully transparent about going to UA and being a prospective hero, he thinks wearing the uniform around these parts would be a bad idea anyway.

Kurogiri hums from beside him. “...we know what's in the bag. You don’t need to shove it under the counter where no one can get to it every day.”

Shoto hesitates. He knows they know. He’s KNOWN they’ve known.

“...Yeah, I know. Sorry for… being secretive.”

Kurogiri is hard to read, but Shoto is pretty sure he’d be smiling. “Well. As long as you know we don’t mind.” He stares at him. “...You deserve to have people who care about you, Shoto.

Shoto stares back. 

He nods, and leaves the bar. His heart feels fuzzy again.

Shoto slips into the cafe he’s been changing in. The girl at the register is one of his classmates, and they’ve taken to walking to school near each other. Not together. She always walks with her brother. But near. Close enough he can sometimes hear them bicker and laugh and just chat.

He kind of likes the green boy's voice. It scratches his brain.

When he comes out of the restroom, she tosses him a bag of cat food. 

“...whats this?” He asks, a bit caught off guard. 

“You’re here every day, lately. Help out a bit before we go to school, won’t you? I’ll make it worth your time, I promise.” She’s smiling at him like it’s not really about getting help. It reminds him of when he first showed up in the bar with Kurogiri and Shigiraki, where it wasn’t really about getting a drink.

He takes the bag and uses the scoop inside to fill the cat bowls. He’s surprised when one of the cats, a fluffy white one with the greenest eyes he’s ever seen, rubs against his arm. It flops on the ground, rolling onto its back, purring at him.

He glances at Ashido, “Ah..?” He doesn’t really know what to do.

“You can pet her.” Ashido urges, smiling bigger at him. “She’s real friendly, I promise she’ll like you.”

Shoto looks back at the cat and hesitantly lowers his hand, petting her way gentler than he probably needs to. Pets are a distraction; he’s never had any. 

His eyes practically sparkle, “She…. She’s really soft.” His voice deviates from its blank, serious default, full with a bit of awe.”

Ashido seems pleased.

Shoto stands and walks over to return the cat food to its place behind the counter. He notices a third lunchbox next to the girl. “Hm?”

She’s stretching and looks over at him from her spot sitting on the counter, “It’s just something sweet for you to have later. I don’t know where you are in the morning before you show up here, but I don’t want you to go hungry.”

Shoto pauses. They’ve never really spoken when he’s come for the past week. She tried, the first day, but he ignored her. “...I eat breakfast.” He informs, but grabs the box and puts it into his bag. There’s chocolate croissants; he can’t bring himself to pass that up.

She smiles. “That's good. …do you want to walk with me and Izuku today? I mean, you usually trail behind us. Might as well actually come with us, right?”

Shoto stares. He considers. He thinks about what Kurogiri told him this morning.

These people seem nice enough.

And when this ‘Izuku’ walks down the stairs, he has to retract his earlier statement. That cats eyes weren’t the greenest he’s ever seen. They’ve been quickly beaten out, now that he’s looked directly into his.  

“Yeah.” He nods slightly. “Sure.” 

Izuku glances at Ashido and raises an eyebrow, to which she just shrugs. He seems to accept that as good enough. He gestures for both to walk with him, and Ashido grabs his arm to pull Shoto along.

Dabi chokes on his own spit when he sees who’s leaving the cafe with Mina and Izuku. His eyebrows furrow and he stares as the door swings shut.

Himiko raises an eyebrow at her friend. Dabi’s been a frequent guest lately, coming to hang out with Himiko and help her while the others are at school. But he’s never been there in the morning.

Never seen Shoto inside.

“You okay?” She asks him, thinking he’s being dumb. “Pfft, you look like a gasping fish…”

“Uh…” Dabi stares at the door. “...yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

Maybe he’ll come in the morning more often.