Hizashi had Shouta wrapped in his arms as planted sweet kisses onto his neck as their two boys passed them and headed up the stairs.
"Are they getting along already?" Asked Hizashi between two pecks.
"Not at all. Katsuki's technically running away from Hitoshi." Shouta answered with closed eyes as merged into his husband's touch.
"That's more like it." Hizashi commented.
Shouta scoffed and spoke up again: "Remember when we thought they would get along?"
"Yeah..." Hitoshi glanced the pile of papers on the kitchen table and furrowed his brows in confusion as noticed they looked like some tests. "What the hell are you grading?"
"Katsuki took last year's entrance test for UA." Shouta said with a full on smile and Hizashi let him out of his embrace with mere disbelief on his face.
"You seriously made him take a test on his first day being around you?"
"I didn't make him, he was more than eager to do it. It's more like he made me grade it." Shouta answered as directed his husband to the table before sat down to finish grading the second half of the exam.
"I can't believe you. At least you could've given him a test he can pass." Hizashi said, clearly doubting Katsuki was just as insane as Shouta. He reheated some curry for himself and turned the TV on while Shouta graded the test. Once he was done, he accosted his husband who was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV while eating.
"Seventy four percent."
"Baby, you make no sense. How much did you sleep?" Hizashi answered with his mouth full, not tearing his gaze from the TV screen.
"Maybe four hours or so." Shouta answered as walked to his husband and showed him the last page of the test. "He passed with seventy four percent."
"There's no fucking way." Hizashi stated.
"He told me he could do it, he didn't lie." Shouta said with a smirk as his chest swelled with pride. He really underestimated the kid, even though he had no clue if he was some natural born genius or was just too well taught for his age. Either way, the more he got to know about the kid, the less he fit his reputation in the orphanage. Seeing him being able to produce a fine score on the test simply didn't fit into the picture of Katsuki's ragged past.
Shouta checked if Hitoshi was still upstairs, not fearing Katsuki coming around, knowing very well he was most likely hiding from Hitoshi and wouldn't in his right mind want to spend time with them. When the coast seemed clear, he whispered: I've got the files."
Hizashi's disbelief about the test was replaced by concern at the mentioning of the case files. Shouta knew he wasn't happy about it and he also knew it was only going to get worse. He went outside to get the files from his car and took them to his husband, who hesitated to open them up.
"How bad is it?" Hizashi asked.
"As bad as it can be." Shouta answered honestly.
"Worse than Hitoshi's?"
"I think it's equally as bad but... this one's more graphic." Shouta said and Hizashi opened the files. A few dead quiet minutes passed as he read them through while Shouta waited next to him, not even touching him, just letting him soak all the information in.
Hizashi closed the second folder and stared at it's plain outside as spoke up: "What did you make out of it?"
"There's rarely any defense wounds. He didn't fight back." Shouta started softly, already had his answer prepared. "There's no statement from him that was used in court regarding the happenings, which could mean he denied the abuse, just like in front of his teacher, even after being hospitalized. It's a bit of a stretch but it's just been bugging me."
"Why would he do that?" Hizashi whispered.
"Either out of fear or... love."
"He wanted to protect them." Hizashi finished his sentence on a sorrowful tone as tossed the folders aside and leaned back on the couch with a heavy sigh.
"I think this was a bad idea."
"You wanted to know it, too."
"I know, I thought— I'm not so sure anymore." Hizashi said softly and reached for his hand to hold it tightly before added a soft grunt. "I'm bad at this."
"At what?" Shouta gave his hand a squeeze.
"I made quite a first impression on Katsuki yesterday and... He was terrified of me and knowing he expects us to treat him the same way his parents did..." Hizashi's tear filled eyes found his as he paused for a moment. "I don't know if I—"
Hizashi's words died as he glanced behind Shouta. Before he could ask what was wrong, he was wrapped in an embrace. He looked down to see Hitoshi nuzzling his face into his side with a happy hum.
"Why are you so sad?" He asked before went to sit on Hizashi's lap and scooted as close as it was physically possible.
"We aren't sad, honey. We were just talking about adult stuff." Hizashi spoke with a forced smile that slowly turned real as he embraced their boy.
Looking at his son and husband, Shouta realized Hitoshi and Katsuki were the two sides of the same coin. Hitoshi has been yearning for love from the beginning. He knew what he was missing and wasn't afraid to ask for it. He craved attention and physical affection, which he has been cruelly disowned from until they took him in four years ago. Hitoshi was much younger when his life changed, therefore he had the chance to build social skills and emotional maturity.
Most people would say it's too late for a kid in Katsuki's age. He was so unused to being treated with kindness, he didn't even know he lacked it. It became obvious to Shouta when he complimented him during the day that Katsuki didn't understand kindness. He either couldn't react or simply mistook it as an insult and that exactly was the part where people gave up on him. For Hizashi and Shouta knowing that was the part where they decided to adopt him. When Ito told them about the kid who has been entitled the devil of the orphanage, the kid nobody would come for, they immediately wanted to go and get him, take him home and show him how to love.
Hitoshi was getting better, he learnt to smile again, he rarely had any nightmares, therapy was working out, he even started making friends at school. He changed so much, yet somehow whenever Shouta looked at him, he still saw the shadows of the abandoned little boy he stumbled upon on the luckiest day of his life.
Shouta dashed across the top of a building, chasing the villain that got away after a bank robbery. The villain was running on the pathway, glancing over his shoulder to check if he was being followed, not knowing Shouta was going to attack from above. Shouta used his capture weapon to lower himself on the side of the building and wrapped the villain up in his capture weapon easily, then tossed him on the ground. He picked his phone from his pocket and dialed Ito's number to have him send someone for the villain. After he ended the call, he wanted to sit down to wait for the police car to arrive, but a rattle caught his attention from a dark blind alley.
Something moved over there just a moment ago and Shouta could only guess it was a cat he was more than eager to find. He walked closer to the dumpster he thought the sound came from, hoping to see what exactly was hiding in the shadows.
"I know you're in there, come out now, I'm not here to hurt you." He cooed and bent down a bit to rest his hands above his knees.
He hoped for a cat, but wouldn't really be surprised if it was just a rat or something, his relatively open minded prediction could in no way prepare him for the sight of a child stepping forwards from between the brick wall and the dumpster. He froze completely from the realization he was actually staring at a fucking child. Behind a dumpster. Alone in a dark ally in the middle of the night.
What the fuck?
The little figure stepped closer to him silently and as if it wasn't obvious, Shouta's guts twisted from the thought that something was really wrong.
"What are you doing back there, kid?" He asked but gained no answer. It was too dark to even see more than the thiny frame of the child standing a few feet away from him.
"Are you hurt? Can you come out of there?" He spoke again to no answer from the child once more, but a moment later, the small silhouette stepped closer to him, just enough for the streetlights to reflect on his skin and make him visible for the pro hero.
The boy was bare feet, only wearing a pair of gray shorts and dirty white T-shirt, shivering with either fear or the fact he was underdressed. He was embracing himself tightly, hiding one arm under the other. He was skin and bone, clearly starved. His messy, purplish hair was covering half of his face, barely letting those sunk in eyes see through. The kid looked beaten and terrified, yet for some reason he came close to Shouta.
"Hi, my name is Eraserhead. I'm a pro hero, you have nothing to be afraid of." Shouta said as crouched down to be on the same level with the kid. "Can you tell me your name?"
The boy opened his mouth to answer, but quickly shoved his hands across his own mouth to stop himself and shook his head violently. Only then did Shouta notice one of the kid's forearms were swollen and bruised.
"Who hurt you?" He asked only to be greeted by another head shake.
"You can't tell me?"
Another shake.
"But you can speak, right?"
The boy nodded.
"Do you know where your parents are?"
Tears started rolling down on the boy's face before he tilted his head down, his hands kept on his mouth still, but didn't offer a head gesture to answer the question, not like he really needed to as Shouta already had his suspicions. He got his phone out of his pocket and called Ito again as studied the crying boy in front of him.
"Hey, can you send an ambulance and another officer to the same adress? I found an abandoned child, he's injured but won't say a word, so I don't know much more... thanks."
Shouta took off the top of his uniform and offered it to the boy carefully not to scare him away. The boy stared at him cluelessly for a few moments, not moving to take the offered warmth, keeping his hands on his mouth so strictly it looked almost painful. The kid obviously wanted to talk so badly yet stopped himself.
"Can I wrap this around you to keep you warm?" He asked and instead of a head gesture, the boy stared at him in awe for a long moment before stepped closer. Shouta's movements were followed by the boy's gaze as he wrapped his top around him slowly, covering the his bust and thighs. After Shouta backed away, the kid finally let go of his face and slowly put his arms through the sleeves that were way too long, but at least warm.
"Can you show me on your hands how old you are?"
The boy's shaky hands peaked out of his long sleeves as he showed nine fingers up. He was awfully small of a nine year old. Well... rather awfully skinny, his height seemed average. Shouta didn't want to believe the kid was nine year old. Hundreds of scenarios were already swirling inside his head about how exactly did that kid end up where he was now as he pulled his phone out of his pocket once again, opened his notes and handed the phone to the child.
"Can you write down what you can't say out loud? Let's start with your name."
The boy took the phone and wrote down his name using only one hand while the other, which was injured, was only used to keep the phone in place. He gave the phone back and Shouta read what he wrote.
"Hitoshi? You have a beautiful name, Hitoshi. Can you write down why you can't talk?" He asked and soon enough received an answer written into his notes:
My quirk is bad. I can control people I talk to.
"You mean you can brainwash people?" Asked Shouta as doubted a kid so innocent would make the decision he had a bad quirk on his own.
Hitoshi nodded as another loose tear rolled down on his cheek.
"My quirk can erase others'. Will you talk to me if I erase yours for the time being?" He asked and Hitoshi hesitated for a moment, but nodded again. Shouta erased his quirk in a split second. "You can talk now without activating your quirk. Are you unable to control it on your own?"
"I-I can control it." Hitoshi whispered, he sounded so utterly broken Shouta wanted to start crying, too.
"Then why wouldn't you speak up?" He asked.
"I'm not allowed to." The boy answered.
"Who told you that? Your parents?"
Hitoshi nodded looking down as started crying even harder.
"Where are your parents?" Shouta asked and Hitoshi's tears started pouring like waterfalls.
"I don't know." Hitoshi sobbed and for Shouta it was confirmed the kid was most likely kicked out. He was enraged but needed to keep his cool for the kid in front of him. He took a deep breath and tried to keep an even voice as asked his next question:
"Were they the ones who hurt you?"
The boy nodded with barely any hesitation as blue and red lights filled the alleyway, reflecting on both of them, making the boy's injuries barely even noticeable, but they already caved themselves into Shouta's mind. He stood up and led the fragile boy towards the ambulance car as said: "These people are here to make sure no one will hurt you again."
He watched two police cars pull up behind the ambulance and walk towards them. It was time to say goodbye to the kid, who was grasping into the fabric of his trousers and nuzzled himself closer to him as the paramedics approached them.
"Be a good boy and let them help you." He added as one of the paramedics crouched down to Hitoshi's level.
"But I can't talk if you leave." Hitoshi whispered to hims instead of looking at the paramedic in front of him.
"Yes, you can. I believe you are strong and can control your quirk on your own. Now go with them, alright?" Shouta said and gently pushed Hitoshi forward to let the paramedics lead him to the back of the ambulance car without telling him he stopped erasing his quirk in the moment he admitted he can control it. He watched the back of the van close and hoped the kid would be alright, knowing he will most likely never see him again.
At least, that's what he thought back then.
Katsuki was staring at the bags of clothes from the corner where he was sitting and couldn't figure out why he had to go out and watch the quiet adult buy them, all he knew was this was bad. He was taking up space. Way more than he should. If his parents saw that, they would surely get mad at him.
He tried to keep his mind as blank as it used to be but wherever he glanced, an unwanted memory welcomed him. He didn't understand what was wrong with that house or why exactly he had to be there and none of the three clueless idiots he was locked in with seemed to have the intention to tell him, and he wasn't going to ask.
He got his book out of his backpack, but before he could find which page he left off at, he heard soft knocking on the door before it opened. He couldn't directly see who stepped in from the wardrobe, but at least he was just as hidden from the person at the door. Hizashi happened to be the one to walk in with a big, overjoyed smile on his face. He had his long, blond hair pulled up into a half up half down style and played with the loose parts as walked closer, holding a white gift bag in his other hand.
"Hey, kiddo! How are you doing?" He cheered like something great was happening even though he was only staring at Katsuki, who couldn't work up an answer to the unexpected question. He supposed he was fine until the idiot walked in.
"Did you have fun with Shouta today?" Hizashi asked, unfazed by the fact Katsuki didn't bother to answer his first question.
"Was I supposed to?" Katsuki asked bluntly and apparently caught the adult off guard, but his smile didn't even quiver as he quickly changed the subject instead of slapping him around.
"Uh, I guess. Anyway this is yours." Hizashi sat down in front of him and placed the gift bag onto his lap, then went back to playing with his hair. They stared at each other for a while before Katsuki looked down at the bag and saw that there was a white box in it, even though he was certain he didn't leave anything downstairs.
"It's not." He pointed out simply.
"Yes, it is. Open it." Hizashi pushed, unnerving Katsuki even more and he wanted to throw that damn bag away, but didn't want to break the weird, happy act Hizashi was putting on for some unknown reason. He reached for the box slowly and lifted it's top off without taking it out of the bag. It was a brand new phone.
"I noticed you're not really comfortable getting things from us, but if it's any help you could look at it as something necessary for you to have so you can reach us. I wrote everyone's numbers on a note and put it inside the bag, make sure to save them. You don't have to open it now if you don't want to, but please use it." Hizashi said and Katsuki put the bag aside and looked down.
There he went with his stupid 'please' again. Katsuki hated this guy with that confusing ass, always present smile on his face. Hizashi had no fucking reason to pretend to be so happy all the time, especially when he was around him. The least thing Katsuki ever did was make those around him happy, this lunatic wasn't going to achieve anything with his foolish act, unless if his goal was to creep Katsuki out. In that case, he was doing a marvelous job.
"Also, uhm, you can still have another room, in case you don't like this one." Hizashi changed the subject when Katsuki once again couldn't find the right words to say.
"I'm fine here." Katsuki said, glancing at the adult's hands in his lap instead of trying to keep eye contact, watching him carefully just in case he decided he had enough of Katsuki's bitching.
"You didn't even touch the bed or basically anything in this room. I really don't think sleeping on the ground is best for you." Hizashi said and Katsuki narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
For him? What did he mean? Was that trying to be an insult? Did he look fragile or something? Compared to their annoying kid, who looked sick and was weak enough to lose balance by the most powerless push Katsuki ever gave to someone, he considered himself to have the stamina of a pro hero.
"Are you deaf or something?" Katsuki barked back in frustration.
"Just a little." Hizashi answered with an ever so wide smile instead of getting mad at Katsuki for being an asshole. "You must have a reason not to want to sleep on the bed."
Yeah, he had. He simply didn't feel like letting Hizashi know he had a personal vendetta against the nightstand that resembled the one he had at home and he refused to get close to it. He was aware it was ridiculous and he was overreacting and didn't need the adult to tell him that, too. He just wanted to be left alone and read his damn book but Hizashi seemed way too comfortable sitting in front of him and there was no sign of him planning to leave soon.
Staying quiet didn't really do the trick with that man, it became obvious quite quickly. It seemed like Hizashi had a great time having one sided conversations while Katsuki begged for everything out there to be left alone. He needed to at least evade the topic of the nightstand, but had no intention on starting a long lasting conversation.
"Is my test graded?" He asked eventually.
Even though Katsuki was convinced it was impossible, Hizashi's smile grew even wider as he exclaimed: "You passed and we are incredibly proud of you."
That didn't even sound sarcastic, yet Katsuki was sure they weren't fucking proud.
"You had seventy four or six percent or something, I'm not sure." Hizashi added when Katsuki failed to mask his frustration.
Seventy four was damn average. Katsuki technically failed, they were just looking down on him at a rate that they never even thought he could pass. He didn't understand why it bothered him so much. He didn't care about what people thought of him. Everyone grew to hate him in the end. He had two years until he actually had to pass that test and the practical exam would surely bring his scores up. He could be the best when it really counted and that was all that mattered.
"Aren't you happy?" Came the question that completely confused Katsuki. "About your scores?"
"I could've done better." Katsuki grunted and turned to the side only to notice fucking Eyebags standing a few feet away from them with a shy smile that barely curved the edges of his lips.
"Dad needs you downstairs." He told the loud adult, who got up and technically ran to help the quiet one as if there was an emergency.
Hitoshi stayed in the room though, so they ended up staring at each other rather awkwardly until the overgrown idiot pointed out the fucking obvious with his question. "You like to read?"
"Not when an idiot is staring at me." Katsuki answered bluntly, looking Hitoshi dead in the eye. For his surprise, instead of a snap back, Hitoshi rolled his eyes in annoyance —almost impressively— and walked out of the room wordlessly and closed it behind him.
Katsuki turned back to his book and stared at the same page for about an hour with short breaks when he found himself either zoning out or his eyes wondering back to that damn nightstand. He realized he didn't even read a single sentence, then closed his book with a frustrated growl before got the phone out of the gift bag. A pair of earphones came with the phone, so after Katsuki set up the bare minimum of settings, he didn't bother saving the list of phone numbers Hizashi asked him to save, just put some music on and took a few deep breaths.
It's been months since he got to listen to music like so. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the melodies, tuning out the real word in order to chase a false sense of peace he's been dying to grasp even if it lasted only for a moment.