The Pied Piper of Musutafu

Choice.

Soon enough, dinner was over, and everyone started moving towards either the fire or their sleep areas.

Amahiko excused himself and vanished through the entrance.

"He feeds some adults too." Aoi explained. "No adults who weren't Hamlin kids or a Rat allowed in here."
Hitoshi made the effort to ask a question, even as fear gripped his face. "Hamlin kid? Rat?"

Aoi grinned. "Yeah. Amahiko is the Pied Piper. So all the kids he whisks away are Children of Hamlin. Like the fairy tale! And Rats are the older kids who agreed to stay and help. Dabi and Ren are Rats."

"Only the police call him the Pied Piper." Mari said softly, black blindfold replaced with a white one. "We just call him NIi-san or Amahiko-sama."

"He's not a villain." Aoi assured, seeing the hesitant look on Hitoshi's face. "He's technically a vigilante but only because he and the Rats throw hands with anyone who tries to hurt a Hamlin kid. Actually, just kids in general.  Pretty sure trafficking is non-existent in this city because all the traffickers are scared shitless of him."

"He saved me." Mari said softly. "Just kicked down the door, picked me up and carried me out."

"Villains took her for her quirk." Aoi explained. "A couple kids here are like that. Hamlin kids either have desirable quirks, so-called villainous quirks, no quirk at all, abusive parents or like the same gender or don't like their gender or some combination." She grinned. "I'm a villainous quirk slash abusive parents kid. They fucking muzzled me."
Hitoshi flinched.

"Shit." Aoi said. "You too?"

Hitoshi nodded slowly.

"Fuck em." Aoi said. "I don't give a shit. And neither does anyone here."

"I make people live their worst nightmares when they look in my eyes." Mari said softly. "The people who took me were using me as a torture device."

"I got super speed and strength but only if I've drank human blood recently. I'm basically a vampire." Daiske said, baring his teeth so Hitoshi could see the two elongated incisors. "I lose it a bit when I don't get enough. I nearly killed my classmate when it first manifested because I didn't know what was up. I became a Hamlin kid 9 years ago. I don't actually remember coming here the first time. I was pretty out of it from hunger."

He was the same age as Hitoshi when he came here then.

"I'm pretty new." Mari said wrapping her arms around herself and not looking at anyone. "Amahiko found me a month ago."

"I tried to steal Ren's wallet, " Aoi grinned. "She dragged me here 2 years ago."

Daisuke laughed. "We all heard you howling before you hit the first door."
"I was in distress." Aoi growled, snapping her fangs.

Daisuke didn't even flinch. "Cool thing is. Amahiko still looks exactly the same as he did when he found me in a dumpster."

"Really?" Mari asked.

"Really. I asked Ren since she's been here the longest and she says that her great-grandpa was running from quirk collectors 200 years ago and Amahiko hid him here and taught him control. That's how Ren knew how to find him when she got kicked out."

"Whoa." Aoi said. "What's his quirk then. I thought it was some sort of creation quirk since he can make food and blankets and anything else we need but he doesn't age?!"

"It's energy manipulation."

Aoi yelped and the boy behind her laughed, sitting down. Hitoshi recognized him from his bright yellow hair as one of the fighters from before dinner. "Hey. It's Hitoshi right? I'm Kenji. I made stuff blow up with my mind and had shit control when I 'moved out' of my parents. You can guess what happened."

"He has to wear a blindfold to bed because he's shit at control before he gets his coffee." Daiske growled.

"I said I was sorry." Kenji grinned before turning back to Hitoshi. "So kid? Got a story yet?"

Hitoshi bit his lip. "I'm a villainous quirk, abusive parents kid."

Kenji whispered. "That'll do it. If you need help learning control about half the people here will help. Pretty much all of us have been there. Even if that help is being test dummies. Amahiko will help too. Hes super durable but mental quirks dont work on him because his brain isn't standard because of his quirk. Its super cool."
Hitoshi nodded.

"Go to bed you fucking brats!" Dabi suddenly yelled, slamming the door to his private room.

"And thats that." Kenji said, standing up quickly. "Dabi's a good person, kid. Hes just grouchy most of the time. I'm off to bed. Got school in the morning."

"You go to school? Where?" Hitoshi asked, eyes widening before he managed to slap a hand on his mouth.

The group pretended not to notice.

"I'm in the Hero Course at U.A." Kenji grinned. "Keep your nose clean kid. We'll take care of you."
Hitoshi nodded. "Okay.