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Neito taps his foot. Why the hell is he here? How did he get here? They said it was a meeting, whoever the disembodied voice in his ear was. So if it’s a meeting, where is everyone else? The door creaks open, and a tall man with white hair and a bedjewelled headdress steps in. “Hello? Is this.. Is this the ‘meeting’ that I was sent to go to?” he asks, voice too loud to be a whisper but too quiet to be just talking. Neito looks up, chewing on one of his nails. “I’d guess so. I was sent here for a mysterious ‘meeting’ as well.” he brushes dust off of his hero costume, nose crinkling slightly. Why was he instructed to wear this of all things? A hand reaches out from behind the white-haired man, tugging at his shirt. “Lord Uzui? Where are we?” a voice cracks out from the person connecting to the hand as they peek out from behind him. A kid, about Neito’s age, dark skin, full lips, yellow-orange hair. “I don’t know, Zenitsu. Absolutely no idea.” the tall man, decidedly Lord Uzui, answers them, gently patting the child’s hair. A loud thud echoes as a person is dropped next to Neito, straight on to the floor. “Ow!” he cries, hunching up. Neito reaches down, poking the boy’s long, blonde hair. “Kaminari, isn’t it? Were you summoned here as well?” he asks, crouching down next to the boy on the floor. Kaminari nods, looking up. “They made me wear this.. I don’t.. I can’t wear this without flashbacks..” he whimpers, eyes watering. The other child, Zenitsu, pipes up. “Well.. should we all introduce ourselves..? Or.. something like that?” they murmur, finishing their sentence just before another person appears. They’re standing this time, but they stumble. Long black hair, school uniform, wide eyes. “Where.. Where am I?” their voice cracks. Kaminari’s head snaps up at the voice. “Kiri!” he whispers, reaching up. “Kirishima!” he calls out again as the person grabs his hand, pulling him up. “Stand up, man. Come on.” Kirishima says, voice slightly hoarse as if they’ve been crying. Kaminari pulls Kirishima into a hug, both children’s fingers curling into each other’s shirts. “You had to wear the clothes it happened in too..?” Kirishima murmurs into Kaminari’s shoulder, tears welling up as the boy nods. “That what exactly happened in?” Neito stands again as he asks, hand on his hip. Kirishima looks at him. They shake their head. “Don’t.” they whisper. A door across the room creaks open, blinding golden light spilling through. “Go along, my children. You will be transformed to your original earthly form when you pass through.” a soft, almost ethereal voice passes through the air. “Thank you, Speaker.” a quiet but determined voice says in reply. A smaller, lispy voice pipes up. “We’ll miss you until we get back.” the door closes, the blinding light subsiding. Two kids, one carrying the other. “Down you go.” the taller one says, setting down the child he’s carrying. The smaller child looks ahead at everyone, face lighting up as he sees Kaminari. “Denki!” he calls, running over to hug Kaminari’s leg. Kaminari breaks away from his hug with Kirishima. “Mineta!” he crouches down to eye height with the smaller boy, pulling him in for a proper hug. The other boy, the one who was carrying Mineta, straightens his glasses, smiling warmly at everyone. “Well. i- introductions?” Zenitsu whispers, barely audible as he clings to Uzui’s side. “I suppose we ought to.” says the boy with the glasses. “My name is Tenya Iida. I use he/they pronouns.” He pushes his glasses up his face once more. He seems to be sweating, probably nervous. “Zenitsu Agatsuma. They/them.” Zenitsu murmurs, looking nervously at their feet.
“Lord Tengen Uzui. He/it.”
“Eijiro Kirishima. I really don’t care what pronouns you use for me.”
“Denki Kaminari. He/they.”
“Minoru Mineta. He/him.”
“Neito Monoma. He/him.” Everyone has sat down by the end. Minoru is in Denki’s lap. “Do any of you have an idea of why we could have possibly been called here together?” Tengen says, voice booming despite his best attempt to stay quiet. Denki looks at the people beside him. Tenya and Eijiro. He knows what happened to them. Happened to him too. And Minoru. “Well.. I have a vague idea, but you and Zenitsu need to confirm my suspicions first. Have you ever been.. Has anything sexual ever happened between you and someone else without your consent..?” Denki mumbles, looking down at his hands. Zenitsu freezes in the middle of tugging their skirt down. They nod silently, eyes starting to water. Tengen’s unresponsive. He just sits there, shoulders slumped. His lip trembles. “I’m.. assuming that’s a yes from youuu.. Uh.. Neito, have you-” Denki is cut off as Neito snaps at him. “SHUT UP.” the boy hisses, pulling his knees up to his chest. Denki whimpers. “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. Neito looks away. “I’m sorry too. I’d talk about it if Tetsu was here to hold my hand.” he murmurs, gripping his own sleeve tight with one hand. Eijiro stares up at the ceiling. “I’d talk if Katsuki were with me..” the soft happiness at the thought of their boyfriend comes through the words. Denki smiles at nothing. He’d be more comfortable if Fumikage was there. But he isn’t there. So he’s gotta be brave. Tengen cocks his head to one side. “I’d be happy to talk if Kyojuro was here.. I miss him..” he murmurs, the tears audible. “Is he dead?” Minoru mumbles. “No, just.. I don’t see him often. Work and stuff.” Tengen sighs, leaning back against the wall behind him. “I love that man. The wives don’t get what I see in him.” he lifts one leg, crossing it over the other. Neito looks up at him. “You have a wife and a boyfriend?” he asks, concern crossing his face. Tengen grins, opening one eye. “Three wives, and Kyojuro is my husband.” he says, as though it was obvious. Neito blinks. He turns away. “Denki, Eijiro, what was that about your clothes earlier? Did.. did.. Whoever they were.. Do that stuff to you in those clothes?” Denki nods. “I think it’s the deal for all of us. It happened to me in these clothes twice.” he mumbles, eyes glazed over. Neito blinks. “Huh. i.. Don’t recall it ever happening to me in this, but.. Then again, I was probably under the influence of his quirk..” Eijiro fiddles with their school uniform sleeves. They stretch one arm up above their head, sighing. “Remember mine clear as day.” they mutter. “She kept me after class. I have a recording, but I'm really not comfortable with sharing.” They stretch so hard they fall backwards. “Ow.” Tenya has his school uniform on too. He shares his recount. Same as Eijiro’s, though he never had proof. He ended up taking his own life from the trauma. There’s a heartbeat of silence, the only movement being Zenitsu tugging their skirt down further and further. Minoru crawls over to hug Tenya instead of Denki. Denki shares about how it happened first when he was eight. He didn’t know how bad it was, she had given him a lollipop and told him not to tell anyone. It happened again some time later, by the same person, on a school trip. Then again, with his classmate. She had a knife to his throat. Minoru murmurs about the same classmate doing similar things to him, then immediately shuts up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make it about me I just-” Denki cuts him off. “You did nothing wrong.” Tengen tells the rest about his wife, Suma, who viewed Kyojuro’s marriage into the family as him ‘cheating’, even though she and both of the other wives had agreed for a fifth member, and cornered him in his bedroom. Neito pats him on the shoulder. Zenitsu tugs their skirt down as they whisper, barely audible, voice cracking every word, about someone they had looked up to taking them by the wrist into a dark room. They never say who, but it seems like Tengen knows, as he puts his arm over their shoulder to comfort them.