Izuku dragged Shinsou with him to the part of the stadium his dad bought up, wanting to introduce him to his family of misfits.
"Izu-kun~!" Himiko exclaimed, hugging the green head on sight.
"Oh? Who's your friend?"
"Shouldn't you be with the rest of your class? The tournament isn't over yet" Masutado pointed out.
He was about their age and his quirk was called Gas. It made him able to control and disperse gas all around him. He entered the house for a few months due to family issues, but he already moved out by now. That didn't mean Izuku didn't have contact with him anymore though.
"This is Shinsou! The boy I fought a little bit ago" Izuku smiled.
"Shinsou, meet Toga and Masutado"
"Uh, hi..?" Shinsou said, a little unsure about all this. Midoriya dragged him here with little to no explanation and he didn't actually know what was happening.
"Wait... This is the booth that's been making all that noise, isn't it?"
"Ah, yeah, they're just happy to cheer me on, really..." Izuku chuckled.
"Oi"
They turned around, coming face to face with Tenko and Dabi.
"What are you doing here? You should be with your classmates" Tenko stated.
"Shinsou, meet my older brother, Midoriya Tenko" Izuku smiled, introducing him.
"And that's Dabi, his boyfriend"
"You didn't tell us why you're here" Dabi said.
"I'd like to know what's happening as well" Shinsou groaned.
"Oh, Shinsou's quirk is brainwashing! Pretty cool, right?" Izuku beamed, not giving them a direct answer. Yet they all got the general idea. Tenko dug into his pocket, holding out a card to the purple head. Hitoshi slowly took the card while Toga and Izuku happily discussed the brainwash aspect of his quirk. Shinsou glanced down at the card, his eyes widening a little.
Midoriya's home for troubled children & teens
They gave therapy, training, all sorts of activities and even offered housing... Shinsou glanced back up at the green head, who was happily talking to all kinds of figures. They were all congratulating him and messing around with him in a sibling kind of way. Were all these people making use of these services..? What did this even mean? House for troubled children and teens?
Hitoshi saw Midoriya being hugged and praised by who he could only assume were his parents. They seemed like a nice little family...
"Feel free to stop by, the address is on the card" Tenko stated, making Shinsou jump up a bit.
"Oh, uh, I'm not...troubled, or anything"
"Bullshit" Dabi said, earning a slap from Tenko, who gave his boyfriend a small glare.
"You don't need to get stuck on the name, it's just how society calls it" Tenko shrugged.
"Truth is, we help people who have difficulties with their quirks. You know, having a quirk that's hard to live with or that makes you stand out. A quirk that isn't normally all that accepted in this society"
"...Oh" Shinsou breathed, looking down at the card again. So that's it huh..? He glanced back up at Izuku, seeing him interact with everyone around here. Maybe he judged him too soon? Maybe he did know the struggle of not having a powerful quirk... So this is what he meant with help, huh?
"Also, brainwashing is an awesome quirk if you ask me" Dabi added.
"Yeah, a lot better than Decay" Tenko snorted, earning an eye roll from Dabi.
"Oh shut up, everything is better than your shitty quirk and you know it"
"Hey!"
Decay..? Hm, it did sound like a villainous quirk... Shinsou's head snapped towards Izuku as the green head gasped loudly, instantly on the front row.
"It's Kacchan's turn to fight!"
Kacchan? Shinsou walked up to Izuku, seeing the freckled boy excitedly watch the next fight. Bakugou Katsuki against Uraraka Ochako, both from class 1-A of the hero course. Was Kacchan a nickname for that explosive asshole? Guess Midoriya was friends with him since they teamed up during the cavalry battle...
"Ah, so Katsuki is up huh?" someone commented.
"I hope we get to face off during the final" Izuku muttered, a bright glimmer in his eyes as he watched with amazement.
"You want to fight him?" Hitoshi asked, a little surprised, raising a brow. He thought the two of them were close friends..? Besides, have you seen this monster at work? An explosion sounded through the stadium as Uraraka was blown away once again, making Shinsou flinch a bit.
"Of course!" Izuku giggled, smiling as he looked at the purple head.
"In my head, Kacchan is the image of victory! He never loses once he sets his mind to something! That's why I wanna beat him!"
That conviction, the determination in his eyes... It did something to Shinsou... It gave him hope somehow. Hope that maybe one day he'll be a hero too...
...
Before long it was time for Izuku to face off against his next opponent, Todoroki Shoto. He'd seen the guy go off against Sero earlier and well... They had to take a break just to clear the ice from the field so... Izuku took a deep breath as he walked up on the field, coming face to face with the halfa. He knew his opening move, but that didn't make it any easier to dodge. He'll have to move straight away because Shoto won't give him the time to think.
"Let the fight...begin!" Midnight exclaimed, lowering her hand. Shoto didn't hesitate, like Izuku expected. So the green head instantly made himself fly with his telekinesis and shot up into the air the moment the giant ice shard was created. He landed on top once it was fully formed, running down the slope towards Todoroki.
"You really thought I'd fall for the same trick you used before?!" Izuku yelled as he jumped, the force breaking off some pieces of the ice. Izuku used telekinesis on those shards, making them fly towards Shoto at high speed. Todoroki made an ice wall to defend himself, the pieces nearly piercing that barrier. Izuku landed on top of it, using it to gain more momentum as he dove down to Shoto, tackling him onto the ground.
"You won't beat me with half your power! I won't stand for it!" Izuku yelled. Shoto groaned and glared at him as he pushed Izuku off, but since Izuku stayed on his left, he wasn't able to attack him again and they kept dancing around each other.
"Come on Todoroki! Use it! Use your flames!" Izuku shouted.
"Why are you holding back against me?! How can you say you'll win with only half your power?! You haven't put a scratch on me yet!"
Izuku grinned, standing still, using his telekinesis on several pieces of ice that flew up all around him.
"I won't use my father's flames!" Todoroki hissed as he put his right foot down, shooting another ice wall up.
"I refuse to acknowledge his power!"
"But it's not his quirk, is it?! It's your power Todoroki!" Izuku yelled, jumping on top of the wall as he fired the ice pieces towards him. Shoto's eyes widened. His ice would come too late and he wouldn't be able to dodge all of the pieces... Midoriya only left him one option... A second later, flames blazed from his left side. Izuku smiled, feeling the warmth even when he hid behind one of the ice walls.
Yes! He actually did it! This was the first step in saving him from whatever trauma Endeavor had caused him. Once the flames calmed down a little, Izuku peeked around the corner, seeing Shoto grinning at him with only half of his shirt remaining. Oh you've done it now, Izuku... A blaze of flames was fired his way, making Izuku back off. The ice melted soon enough though and Izuku ran out of places to run to.
Shoto chased him out of bounds before long, using Izuku's fear to get burned against him. The fact Izuku couldn't use his telekinesis on the flames also played to his disadvantage. It was only natural for him to lose at that point...
"Winner is Todoroki Shoto!" Midnight exclaimed, earning yelling and protests from the part of the stadium that was rooting for Izuku. Shoto looked a little out of it, confused, like after the cavalry battle. It was then that Izuku heard Endeavor yell from the stands. Ugh...
"Congrats Todoroki-kun" Izuku smiled, reaching out his hand towards the halfa, pulling him out of trance.
"This was fun! Let's spar sometime, okay?"
"...Y-yeah" Shoto mumbled, taking his hand. He still seemed a little lost, but progress was being made! At least Izuku was happy with the outcome of their fight! Unlike a certain ash blonde...
"DEKU!"
Izuku yelped and tried to hide behind Kirishima when he entered the stands, trying to avoid the wrath of his best friend.
"YOU FUCKING LOST!"
"Please don't kill me Kacchan!" the green head pleaded, being pulled away from behind Kirishima.
"How the hell am I supposed to fight you now huh?! You fucking idiot! Why the hell did you get yourself eliminated like that!" Katsuki yelled, threatening him with explosions.
"Come on man, no need to be so harsh! Todoroki is super strong!" Kirishima tried to reason.
"Shut up!" Katsuki yelled. Izuku chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his head as he watched the scene play out.
"Well I think you did great Deku-kun!" Uraraka smiled.
"You got further than I did"
"Only one round though" Izuku shrugged.
"Besides, Kacchan is a really tough opponent..."
They chatted for a little bit while the next fight was starting. Uraraka really was a nice girl, quite the opposite of Kacchan. A nice change of pace... Just as Izuku turned to watch the next fight, the door to their booth slammed open.
"IZU-KUN!"
Suddenly Himiko jumped on him, almost making him stumble down towards the ground. Shinsou walked in behind her, sighing as he dragged a hand down over his face. Why was this girl so damn chaotic..?
"You are not authorized to be here! Please leave immediately!" Iida stated as Izuku tried to pry the girl off of him.
"No! I'm not leaving!" Toga yelled, clinging onto the green head.
"Himiko, please, it's fine. I know I lost but it's not the end of the world-" Izuku groaned, making her gasp.
"Not the end of the world?! But you deserve to win, Izu-kun!" she exclaimed. Izuku groaned, giving up on pushing her off and glancing aside at Shinsou.
"Look, I don't know what to say... She asked where you were after your fight and you did kinda leave me there"
"Yeah, sorry about that" Izuku sighed, giving him a small smile before looking down at Toga.
"Himiko, let go"
"Not gonna" she pouted, still clinging onto Izuku.
"Say, who is this girl Deku-kun? I don't believe we've been introduced" Uraraka asked, her smile a bit strained.
"Oh, uh, right, meet Toga Himiko! She's basically like a sister to me" Izuku answered, patting said girl's head. She was a year older than them, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the way she acted.
"Oh? Did the two of you grow up together?" Asui asked curiously.
"Wait, does that mean Bakugou also knows her?"
Kacchan wasn't here right now, he was downstairs to prepare for his next fight. If he was here, Himiko wouldn't be able to cling onto him like this... He'd drag her out of here immediately.
"Yep! I've been living with Izu-kun for 6 years now! Almost 7!" Toga giggled. This confused and surprised some people. Living with Midoriya? Is that what he meant with the fact she's like a sister to him? Was she adopted perhaps? A lot of questions arose, questions Izuku knew would pop up sooner rather than later.
"Ah, well, you see, there uh, there are-"
"Here" Shinsou provided, handing the girls the card he was handed not so long ago.
"Midoriya's home for troubled children and teens..?" Uraraka read out loud, a confused tone evident in her voice.
"It's my dad's job" Izuku smiled.
"We take in underaged people who have difficulties with their quirk! That's why Toga-san is living with me a-and they, uh, they are also the people who've been rooting for me so uhm loudly this whole time..."
Ooh's escaped the mouths of his classmates. That did explain a lot...
"That's an admirable profession!" Iida stated, making Izuku smile. He was glad they saw it that way!