Chapter Text
Over the next days, the kids became settled. Izuku’s injuries began to heal properly, and Katsuki got rid of his fever. They were safe, warm and got to eat.
Katsuki slowly, very slowly allowed himself to relax. Maybe this was good. Maybe they finally had found some place to stay. He didn’t dare to think of it as a home. The men could change their mind any moment, reagardless of what they said or promsied, and then he and Izuku would be on their own again. And it was much easier to say goodbye to a place than to a home.
Izuku was thinking the same, but Katsuki could tell, that it hurt him more. Izuku wished for a home so, so much. A real again home with warmth and love and people, who didn’t hate him.
The adults kept their promises. So far. They didn’t try to separate them, and they didn’t hurt them. And most importantly: They didn’t try to force Izuku to speak. They knew Izuku wasn’t mute, they heard Izuku speaking to Katsuki. And that was the problem. The adults always thought Izuku didn’t want to speak to them, because he didn’t respect them or some shit. But Izuku was just afraid.
Katsuki hated that he didn’t know, what Izuku had gone through during their month of separation. He hated it because the reason was his own failure. It was his job to protect Izuku. And he had failed. They had taken him away and he came back hurt. Frustration and anger bubbled up inside him, quickly overshadowed by an overwhelming feeling of defeat.
Katsuki let out a quiet, frustrated sigh and rolled around on the bed. They were currently in the guestroom. Katsuki was now lying on his back, letting his head hang over the edge of the bed, watching Izuku upside down. The green-haired had flopped down on the ground, eagerly scribbling something in the notebook. It was something, he hadn’t done in a long time. At the orphanage, he had tried to, but the adults took his notebooks away and he got punished for being creepy or annoying. So, he stopped, even though it hurt him. The mumbling habit had stayed longer, but it riled up the adults, too and since that month, Izuku had never mumble again. Katsuki missed his theories and comments about Heroes, Quirks, and everything. The nerd was fucking smart, but no adult ever recognized that. Now, he was feeling safe enough to pick up the notebooks again, even though he kept them hidden from the adults. Katsuki sighed. They needed to know, how long this would be. It would be easier for Izuku to be prepared when this would end.
“Oi, Deku,” Katsuki spoke up, causing Izuku to stop scribbling and look at him.
“I’m going to talk with the adults,” Katsuki began, “You stay here, alright?”
Izuku hesitated briefly, but then gave a tiny nod and returned to his notebook.
Katsuki rolled around another time and finally sat up and get up from the bed. Carefully, he opened the door and peeked into the hallway. It was deserted. This time of day, the adults were in the living room or in the kitchen to make dinner. Quietly, he made his way down the hallway. The smell coming from the kitchen told him, that at least one of the adults must be there, cooking dinner.
Not only one, but both men were currently in the kitchen. The blond one was stirring something, that smelled good, making Katsuki looking forward for dinner. The black-haired one was sitting at the table, seemingly bored by a mug of coffee and his phone. Katsuki knew their names, but refused to refer to them by name, because when this was over, it wouldn’t matter.
“Katsuki, what can I do for you?” The black-haired had noticed him and now dark, calm eyes were looking at him.
Katsuki clenched his fists and couldn’t held the gaze, making him abruptly look away.
“I…how…” Fuck! He hated, how he was looking for words. But they needed to know. But at the same time, asking the question was hard. Because if they got the answer, they needed to stop pretending, that this was forever. Even though they wished so much for it to be.
He groaned frustrated, before basically spitting the question out.
“I need to know how long this is!”
The answer were two very puzzled looks. The blond had stopped stirring and tilted his head slightly, the other raised an questioning eyebrow.
“Don’t look so stupid! We need to know! Deku, he… we need to be prepared…” He had tried to sound angry, confident, but in the end his voice broke a bit, and he couldn’t help, but sniff.
“Little Listener, I’m afraid, we don’t understand, what do you need to know?”
Katsuki glared at them with tears dwelling in his eyes. Shit, he didn’t want to cry!
“Don’t shit me!” He snapped back. “I know this isn’t permanent! We’re not stupid! Just tell me how long we can stay!”
It dawned on the adults. Katsuki watched a ranged of expressions flashed over their faces. Most of them made no sense, like sadness.
“Katsuki,” the black-haired finally began in a calm voice, “we wanted to give you some more time, before we talk with you about that, but I guess now is as good as ever.”
Katsuki glared at him. Now it was coming. A few days? A week? Maybe two?
“It would be better, if Izuku were here, too.”
“No, it’s fine, I can tell the nerd, I need to comfort him anyway,” Katsuki hissed.
The blond had turned off the oven and joined the tired one, putting an hand on his shoulder. They exchanged one last glance, before facing Katsuki again.
“Katsuki, we wanted to ask you and Izuku, if you want to live with us,” the black-haired one said gently, “we would like to adopt you.”
Katsuki felt like losing ground. What? What kind of cruel joke was that?
“W-what?” He stammered out, trying to understand what they were saying.
“Only, if you want to, of course,” the blond man smiled.
“N-no, you’re lying, you’ll hurt us, and you’ll force Deku to speak!”
“Katsuki, we definitely won’t do that. We want you to have a safe and lovely home and we would be very happy, if we could be the ones, who provide you that.”
They sounded so, so genuine.
“You-you really want that?” Katsuki’s voice was small now, he had lost the battle against the tears, that were now silently streaming down his face. “What about Deku? You-you know my Quirk, but Deku, he’s… and he doesn’t want to talk to you…” he trailed off, the adults must know that Izuku was quirkless, after all, they had their names and probably looked them up in some shitty database and they had found the orphanage.
“Izuku is just as welcome as you, Katsuki, there’s nothing wrong with him, like I already said, not talking is perfectly fine, we’ll not force you or him to do anything against your will.”
Katsuki didn’t know what to say. So far, they hadn’t lied and kept all the promises. And they seemed honest. They were so much different from all the other adults.
“You-you really mean all that?”
“Of course, if that’s okay for both of you,” black hair said and smiled.
No, this couldn’t be! After their parents died, everyone always said, that Izuku and he were no good. They hated Katsuki because he was too loud, too angry and Izuku because he was too quiet, too weird. They said, they would never become heroes, because Katsuki was already half a villain and Izuku was useless and weak. They had said that nobody would ever want them. Nobody would ever love them.
“But-but… we’re terrible!” He finally broke, now crying freely. “I’m a bad child! I don’t have manners! And I’m too violent and I’ll never become a Hero because I’m a villain! I don’t even deserve food! And Deku’s defect! He’s weak and useless and he needs to be fixed! And he doesn’t talk because he defiant and he needs to be punished for it! And I couldn’t protect him! I failed him! Nobody loves us because we’re broken and don’t deserve it!”
Katsuki hadn’t realized that he had slumped down on the kitchen floor, where he was now sitting and crying.
The sight was gut-wrenching. Nothing of what Katsuki just said was his own. It was, what the kids had been told. Inculcated in them. Over and over again. To the point, where they had started to believe it. Deeply rooted and fueling the mistrust against the world.
Shota had jumped and kneeled in front of the crying boy, Hizashi next to him.
“Katsuki, hey, everything’s fine,” Shota spoke in a low voice, calming, but still loud enough for the child to hear him above his heartbreaking sobbing. “I know, it’s not easy for you to believe us, but what they had told you was wrong, what they did to you was wrong. You’re not a bad child or even a villain. You did your best to protect Izuku and now he’s here, safe and sound, that means you did a good job, Kiddo. And none of you is broken or needs to be fixed or punished.”
“But-but…”
“Little Listener, both of you deserve all love in the world.” Hizashi added. Causing Katsuki to sob even louder.
“Can I hug you, kiddo?”
Katsuki couldn’t think straight, but he managed a shaking nod. Carefully and gentle, Shota pulled the crying child into a warm hug. Katsuki grabbed his shirt and buried his face in it, crying even more now. Hizashi softly put his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder.
“K-Kacchan.”
It was a miracle, that they all heard the tiny whisper. Izuku stood in the doorframe of the kitchen, he was crying, too.
“Deku,” Katsuki sniffed and released himself from Aizawa enough to whip his head around to look at Izuku but didn’t break out from the hug. He gave a wobbly smile.
“Deku, w-we stay, they-they promised.”
Izuku started to cry harder but was much quieter than Katsuki.
“Izuku, do you want a hug, too?” Hizashi asked and flashed a reassuring a smile.
Izuku didn’t hesitated, he rushed over and pressed himself against Katsuki and Shota, grabbing a fistful of Hizashi’s sleeve in the process.
What followed was a chaotic group hug on the floor of their kitchen. Messy and tearful, but at the same time one of the best things, that ever happened. Shota and Hizashi basically felt how much tension, fear, and insecurity the kids finally let drop. They cried for a long time, to the point where the heroes seriously started to worry about dehydration.
After some time, both children had cried themselves to sleep. Carefully, Hizashi and Shota carried them to the sofa in the living room, letting them finally getting some real rest in their new home.