Post Vitam

Chapter 26

Izuku had barely closed the door and turned around and almost walked straight into another boy. "Oof, sorry. I should've looked were I was going" Izuku shook his head focusing on who he bumped into. 

He remembered him as the boy he had berated for breaking his nose. Jamal. Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, he was nervous as he promised himself he would apologize properly to him for reacting so harshly.

"Ah Jamal right?"

"Yes" Without the noise of a soccer game in the background and being in a relatively quiet part of the house Izuku heard Jamal clearly for the first time. He had a deep voice that if it wasn't for his boyish face Izuku could swear Jamal was an adult man. Izuku felt the pressure to speak in such a way to not make it look like he thinks Jamal is slow for being neurodivergent.

"Okay. Jamal I need to apologize to you for how harshly I reacted to being hurt. Viktor explained to me why you reacted to me like that. I was upset over things that had happened and shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you. I'm in no way angry with you. I am sorry and if you can forgive me I'd like to be your friend."

"You would like to be friends with me? Why?"

Izuku paused at the question. Why did he want to be friends with Jamal. Did he really or was it just a platitude to make himself feel better for being a jerk before...

"It's ok if you say no Jamal. It's just in my life i've had very few people I can call actual friends. I would like to change that." Izuku shifted his weight to ease his nerves before carrying on.

"Also if I'm honest which I'm sure you would appreciate, in my head it's also a way to feel better about being mean to you for no reason when we met." Izuku waited for his response feeling even more nervous now that he might've overstepped somewhere.

"No. I have enough friends. Thank you" He said plainly. Jamal was about to walk away when he stopped and turned around. "Thank you for apologizing and not talking to me like I'm dumb." He then left for real this time. Izuku wasn't sure how to feel, he understood why he was rejected but he still felt sad about it, but also relieved he didn't make a complete idiot of himself talking to Jamal.

As izuku was walking back upstairs to his room he noticed the wall of the staircase was filled with photos of boys. He saw photos of those he met today and even those he saw around the house but hadn't met personally yet. 

What interested him however was a photo of a pink haired boy he recognized as Mikki Inei. He didn't know Mikki was from a group home... did he get adopted or something? It felt like a lifetime ago when he met him and his obnoxious boyfriend Lucas. Remembering them also brought back memories of that day Izuku wished never happened.

Filled with memories and regret he got back to his room to see the twins playing with toy cars, though there was only two of them. He wondered if these were the copies or the originals. Izuku plopped down on his bed and sighed earning the attention of the twins. He saw them looking at him and decided to strike up a conversation to pass the time.

"So Robby called you guys Kuiga is that like your name or a nickname or what?" The boy on the left turned around and spoke "Well that's kind of our hero name so everyone just calls us that coz nobody cares who is who or bothers to learn"

Izuku frowned to himself, none of the boys he's met so far seemed to be mean but the house is big and there were a lot more he hasn't met... "Well that's silly. A hero name is for when you guys are out and about on patrol or saving people. I'm sorry nobody seems to care about who is who. The guys i've met seem nice, I think maybe they don't know it bothers you guys?" he offered

The other boy turned around this time. "You're such a weirdo Midoriya. Who are you? How come you're not creeped out by us? Everyone is even if they hide it." Izuku got off the bed feeling rude having such a serious conversation so far apart. He sat across the boys but left them plenty of room so they wouldn't feel like he was threatening them. 

"Okay, ouch that one hurt... But it's true though. I'm a weirdo because I know what it's like for everyone to know one thing about you, then letting it determine everything about you. How you're treated or looked at. Until a while ago I was quirkless."

"Oh wow, you're like the oldest quirkless we've had here!" the boys exclaimed in unison. 

"I was quirkless guys. At least I lived like I was. If medicine was were it was now they would've caught the blocker on my DNA way earlier and I could've lived a normal life..." Izuku sounded bitter and the twins picked up on shifting slightly back. 

"Ah sorry guys, I get upset if I think about it too much. So are you gonna tell me then?" The twins tilted their heads at the same time making Izuku smile at how adorable they are. "Your names guys... Also did you cancel your quirk or are they hiding somewhere to scare me?"

"H-how'd you know?" They asked together completely shocked that Izuku figured it out before they even had a chance to spring the trap.

"Honestly?"

They nodded....

Izuku giggled. "I didn't until you just confirmed it."

The twin on the right pouted. "No fair, you tricked us"

The twin on the left laughed however. "Come on Kaito you got to admit he's good."

"You used my name you idiot!" Kaito pushed his brother softly who only giggled. It's fine besides Mikki he's the only one who's actually talked to us you know. He sighed... "Fine. Whatever I guess it's fine."

"That's better, Well as you just heard that's Kaito and I'm Kenji. The Yamada twins."  Izuku nodded along listening to Kenji speak. When he remembered something Kaito just said.

"Kaito just mentioned Mikki?" The twins looked at each other clearly wondering why Izuku was asking about him. From behind Izuku one of the twins quirk copies spoke. "Why do you know about our former roommate?"

Izuku spun around to pay attention to the one who spoke. "Do you guys have names too?" Kaito gave an audible gasp. "Okay Midoriya-kun you have officially gone into way too weird to be considered weird" He half laughed saying that. The quirk clones spoke together "Habiki" Izuku nodded.

"Well it's nice to meet all of you guys. Kenji, Kaito and Habiki. As for why I know Miki it's just a coincidence. I met him the day I got my quirk. It was also the day my life fell apart and became even more of a trainwreck" Izuku sighed heavily turning his head to the ceiling. This earned him curious looks from the twins he didn't notice.