Chapter Text
Some like to ask us how we got along so well, as you can probably guess it wasn't always like that.
I, like always, was staying out of their way, tending to my crows and trying not to cause too great of a distraction. Of course I remembered shi Hitoshi, the first person who treated me like I was worth something, but he most likely didn't remember me. We were fortunate, I guess, that this church was one with a kitchen and that Neito knew how to cook, I guess we all had to pick up some skills in order to survive... like how Mei and Hitoshi stole so easily, using Hitoshi's quirk to their advantage... Or like how I knew hand-to-hand combat and how to run as I avoided the bullies at my school.
I flinched as the crows took off, they rarely did that, and I flinched even harder as someone put a hand on my shoulder. I spun around, ready to fight, when I saw that it was just Hitoshi, relaxing just a little bit as he immediately removed his hand.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, Neito just wanted me to tell you that food's ready..." Hitoshi mumbled, his purple eyes scanning my green ones "If you want to talk, about anything really, we're here, we may not completely understand, but we can listen." With that Hitoshi walked away, knowing that I wasn't likely to respond unless absolutely necessary.
"Yea, right, as if anyone of them want to hear the insane ramblings of a quirkless, useless, deku." I mumbled under my breath, glaring at Hitoshi's back before following him inside, better to do as they want now so that I still have a place to stay.
I couldn't help my mouth watering as I saw the food, it looked so good and smelled even better. Neito and Mei were standing a respectful distance away from eachother, neither too willing to trust eachother, not that I blame them. The room was silent as we all took our places, Mei staring at me with that calculating grin until I finally took a bite a few minutes after the food was served, she gave me a curt nod before continuing to devour her food. None of us asked for seconds, not that there were seconds to be had; if we didn't eat the food then it'd go bad, I got up to walk away.
"...I'm heading out... I'll be back" I mumbled before grabbing the torn up jacket that Hitoshi had got me a few weeks prior and heading out, it was cold out here, but it wasn't much different from inside the church.
A rough and calloused hand landed on my shoulder, causing me to flinch, it was too big to be any of the others' hands, which meant danger. "What are you doing out here, kid? Hell, where are your parents? You are much too young to be out here alone." A masculine voice gritted out, I spun around to look him in the eyes, I won't let him get the jump on me if I need to fight.
"Doesn't matter..." I mumbled, staring into the man's eyes, they were a blood red and he looked to be mid twenties; I wanted to run, to escape "So... leave me alone..." I tried to sound strong, but my voice came out more like a whisper and I didn't want to think about how scared my eyes looked.
"Kid, it does matter. Your parents should be more responsible than this, letting you go off alone." He insisted, eyes softening as his grip did.
I shook my head, breaking eye contact "They... aren't here, so it doesn't matter." I mumbled, curling up into myself as the man's look turned more concerned.
"So, they abandoned you? They abandoned a kid? Where have you been staying? Do you need a place to stay? I live close by if you would like to stay there for a while." The man's voice turned concerned, as he let go of my shoulder, finally.
"N-no... I... I don't need a place to crash, I won't leave them..." I backed up a bit, eyes wide, I won't leave the 3... even if they don't want me there as I don't help much...
"Leave who, kid?" The man's voice turned concerned, but he let me back up.
I couldn't handle this, not right now. I turned and bolted, I could hear footsteps following me, but I didn't care, not right now; I needed to get back, get home.
I never really understood how they didn't get tired of me, even after how closed off I was.
They were worried, mainly about Izuku as he had never talked, especially not to us, not that any of us did, Mei tried to, hell, she was the one who talked the most, Hitoshi talked the second most, but it was nowhere near how much Mei talked and he seemed more uncomfortable with it. I talked when spoken to, but Izuku... he rarely talked, he ate how much we gave him, we all did, but that was because food would perish if we didn't.
"Neito, you know my pile of metals? Can you get some of those for me?" Mei pierced through my thoughts.
I simply nodded as I went to grab some of the scraps, grabbing whatever seemed usable, before heading over. Mei seemed to be engineering... something, right now there just seemed to be a bunch of wires.
Mei took the scraps with a brief "Thank you" and immediately went back to work, not really noticing that I was watching over her shoulder.
I sighed before walking off towards my space, sitting down comfortably; alone, where I liked it, where I belong, I liked hearing the noises, the usual stuff. I looked up as Izuku ran in, an adult following behind him, I immediately made myself smaller, out of sight out of mind.
Mei looked up, glaring at the adult before standing up "Who are you?" Mei demanded, venom in her voice as she walked over and stood between Izuku and the adult.
"Someone here to help. What are you kids doing here alone? Where are your parents?" The adult had that concerned sound in his voice like the one teachers used when speaking with a kid that I accidentally brushed shoulders with.
Mei huffed, not buying that answer, but before Mei continued, Hitoshi spoke up "Left us, decided kids with 'villainous', 'useless', or hell, no quirks at all were too much of a hassle. Like everyone else did." Hitoshi's voice was also filled with venom, but less directed at the adult.
The adult huffed, clearly not happy with the answer "I'm guessing you four don't want to live in my house, so this is what I'll do; I'll bring you guys food, teach you guys how to defend yourselves, buy anything you all may need such as clothes, or what you kids may want." The adult started, we were all waiting for the 'but' "In return, you four have to promise to stay safe, don't go into any stranger's house, don't go off on your own." That seemed far too good to be true...
I always knew that they were my boys, even if I didn't know in which way.
I felt... concerned when I saw Izuku walk out; sure, he preferred to be alone but... he never just left, especially not during the night. I just wanted the 3 to be okay, they have been through a lot; we all have, but those 3 were all I have, all I want to have... all I want to protect. I headed over to my work bench, away from the sleeping areas as I started fiddling with the wires. I needed to make something for Izuku, I just didn't know what.
I sighed, gazing out the window as I saw a crow fly back, the idea striking me, a stroke of genius, I could make him a mechanical crow that could fly and maybe communicate so that even when he didn't want to talk then we still had a way of communication! I began fiddling with the wires, shaping them into the correct shape, I just needed my scraps...
I looked up before asking Neito to grab me some scraps, which he did, and then went immediately back to work.
I sighed, stepping away from the crow, it was done and looked perfect. I looked over as I heard 2 sets of footsteps charge in; Izuku, chased by an adult. Neito curled in on himself while Hitoshi glared at the adult, I was with Hitoshi on this one; the adult better not touch my boys.
"Who are you?" I demanded, not bothering to conceal the venom my voice as I stalked over and stood between Izuku and the adult.
"Someone here to help. What are you kids doing here alone? Where are your parents?" The adult tried to placate me, I was not going to have him lie to us like this. Help us? Yeah, right, he only wants to fix what he perceived as broken, well we weren't broken.
"Left us, decided kids with 'villainous', 'useless', or hell, no quirks at all were too much of a hassle. Like everyone else did." Hitoshi also sounded fed up with this adult, just like I was. None of us ever had a good history with adults.
"I'm guessing you four don't want to live in my house, so this is what I'll do; I'll bring you guys food, teach you guys how to defend yourselves, buy anything you all may need such as clothes, or what you kids may want." The adult started, at least he got the first part right, but what gave him the idea that we wanted his help? We didn't need it, don't ask for it either. Before I could but in he continued, "In return, you four have to promise to stay safe, don't go into any stranger's house, don't go off on your own." Like we owed this adult anything, before I could scoff at him or reject his help, he turned and left, that asshole.
I looked over at Izuku, he looked so scared, shaking like a leaf. My eyes softened before I walked back over to my work bench, handing Izuku my creation and explaining its uses. I also went on to describe my process, which he listened enthusiastically to, nodding and giving his own suggestions based off his analysis of my quirk.
When I looked over at Neito and Hitoshi, my heart warmed as I saw them sleeping, curled up with each other. I wandered over to my own area, settling on my pallet, Izuku following.
"Mei... can... can I cuddle with you?" Izuku asked, stuttering, I smiled, moving over far enough to give him room.
"Of course, Izuku." He layed down, curling up with me as we both drifted off to sleep.
was shocked, first when they actually responded to my questions, but when Mei actually spoke to me first.
We decided to accept, but when the adult left Mei and Neito didn't seem too happy about it. I was just... confused, why did the adult want to help us out especially when I made it clear that all of us had less than desirable quirks, or were quirkless. Not that it made any of us less than, especially not Izuku, I would never say that any of them were worth less than someone with a better quirk.
Mei walked over to Izuku, the sound of pebbles rolling across the floor grabbing my attention "Hey... I made this for you, it's to protect you mainly, but also it can communicate, so if you need to tell us something but don't want to talk, then you can use this!" Mei brandished a mechanical bird, it looked advanced, especially for our ages... cool.
"O-oh... thank you." Izuku mumbled, taking the bird gently, Mei reached over to flip the on switch, it immediately whirled to life, chirping and turning to Izuku.
I let out a fond sigh, I remembered Izuku, of course I did... who wouldn't, and it made me happy to see someone caring about him other than myself. I wouldn't voice it, wouldn't let them know I saw the interaction, they didn't need to know how much I cared, if I care then it hurts when they leave, and they will leave, everyone leaves. I slid down the wall, sitting down... don't panic Hitoshi, stop panicking, don't think back on ma'am...
A weight pressed against my side, it was comforting. I looked over to see Monoma, he wasn't engaging in any more physical contact, just sitting beside me, leaning a bit on me. "Does this help?" Monoma asked briskly, fiddling with his sleeves.
"Yea, yes, thank you." I responded immediately, relaxing into the contact, my breathing slowing down into a more natural pace.
There wasn't a response from Neito, but he did lean a bit more onto me, resting his head on my chest. I looked over and saw that he had fallen asleep, I chuckled softly but leaned my head against the wall as I watched Mei talking excitedly to Izuku who was listening intently, who was I kidding; they aren't going to leave me, I'm stuck with them.