Blood is thinner than water
Shopping was the next thing on the agenda.
Yamada didn’t know how much longer he could stand seeing the kids wearing the bloody clothes that they had on. He wanted to give them new clothes the previous night, but they definitely didn’t have anything that would fit them, and even if he did there would hardly be enough.
However, no matter how he looked at it, bringing 20 troubled children into a small store would surely end up in disaster. So they decided on a small tester group.
“Are you kiddos ready to go?”
A stampede of tiny footsteps turned the corner, consisting of Tenya, Ochako, Momo, Bakugou, and Izuku, followed by his husband. Yamada was secretly proud of memorizing the majority of their names. It may not be much, but it did make him feel like he knew the kids a bit better.
“Yes sir! We are all accounted for!” Tenya shouted while chopping his arms, presenting Yamada with a proud grin.
“Everyone has eaten too, you’re good to go.” Behind Tenya was Aizawa, rubbing his neck.
Yamada’s heart panged while looking at him. Not only had he cooked for everyone, but now he has to watch the rest of the kids. His husband seemed exhausted. “Are you sure you will be okay to watch the rest of them by yourself? We could cancel, or call Nemuri, or-”
“You’re rambling, dear,” Yamada felt his face flush red as Aizawa laughed at him, “We’ll be perfectly fine here. Go have some fun.”
Leaning in for a quick kiss, Yamada and the kids headed out the door and into the driveway. The store that they were going to wasn’t that far away, maybe only a ten-minute walk, but the snowy winter would end up being treacherous, so he decided on taking one of the cars.
It was more of a van, so to speak, big enough to seat all five kids. They all clambered into the back and buckled their seatbelts as Yamada sat in the front.
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Izuku had never been to a mall before.
Mr. Hizashi explained that it was a big building with a lot of tinier shops in it, each full of its own unique things. He was pretty sure that he had seen some in movies before.
Looking around he could see his siblings grouped together, heads swiveling as they took in the crowd. He could see them getting nervous, but luckily Mr. Hizashi stepped in.
“Alright, little listeners, we’re here to get decorations for your rooms! Make sure you’re thinking about what you want as we walk there.”
Izuku felt like everything was made of jelly as he walked through the large space. There were people talking loudly, stores with blaring music, and crowds everywhere they went. In the back of his mind, he was worried about losing his siblings in the swarm, but all he could do right now was walk. How did he even get here?
Eventually, they all stopped in front of a store called “Furnitures R Us” and Mr. Hizashi gestured them all in.
Looking up to the bright lights, he snapped back from his daze. There were large displays of bedrooms and kitchens, with bedsheets and lamps spread across the room. He turned his head, taking this all in when his eyes found the back of the store. All Might plastered on posters as big as the wall, tables with Endeavor’s flames painted across them, Uwabami snake plushies wrapped around Midnight lamps. It was all hero stuff.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of it when Mr. Hizashi spoke, “Go ahead and check out anything you’d like! Just make sure not to leave the store without me knowing, I’m gonna hit the bathroom.”
His siblings all scattered, leaving Izuku alone to wander slowly to the hero aisle. His hand patted a pillow with the texture of Thirteen’s costume. He used to love this stuff, seeing commercials for it all the time, but now he couldn’t feel more out of place.
That’s when a kid appeared before him. He looked no older than 10, maybe 11, with stark white hair and cracked skin. His red eyes gleamed as he smiled.
“Well, what do we have here! Looking at the hero section I see?”
Izuku’s back was against the wall as the kid moved closer. He couldn’t explain why, but there was something off about him. His heart sank as the other boy spoke.
“You know, I don’t like heroes. In fact, they’re probably my least favorite thing in the whole world. So why the hell would you be in this aisle?”
Izuku gulped as the kid moved towards him, his voice shaking, “Be-Because heroes help people! I want to help people too!”
The older kid stopped in front of him, letting out a small chuckle. He put boney fingers onto Izuku’s shoulder, lifting only his pinky, “Let’s talk a walk, shall we?”
Izuku didn’t dare move against him. Was this really a villain? They walked slowly up to the entrance of the store, and Izuku gulped as he spoke.
“If anyone makes a move towards me, I’ll kill this kid. Any takers?”
He laughed at his own joke as Izuku looked around the room. Mr. Hizashi was still in the bathroom, no one else was in the store but his siblings and the cashier, who was cowering behind her desk.
Kacchan was to the left of him, staring with wide eyes at the scene. Izuku could see his fist clenching as he watched, but stood unmoving.
“Look around you kid, all of these people and none of them helping you. There are no true heroes in this world.”
Izuku glanced around the room, his siblings all on edge, but not sure how to help, only to see that Bakugou was no longer in front of him.
“This is the reality! No one helps anyone! Only villains are the ones who take action. That’s why I’m going to show everyone what I’m made of!”
He slowly brought his pinky down, mear millimeters away from his skin when a voice shouted from behind.
“LET HIM GO YOU NERD!”
The pinky stopped as a flash of flight erupted, followed by a rattling boom. He closed his eyes as he fell to the ground, feeling the hand fall off of his shoulder as he passed out.
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Izuku woke up on a couch and heard voices around him.
“He won’t come out of his room and won’t listen to anything that I say. How the hell do we get through to this kid?”
He sat up, rubbing his eyes, “Who won’t come out of their room?”
The voices were Mr. Hizashi and Mr. Aizawa, now both staring at him.
“You’re awake! How are you feeling, are you hurt? I’m so sorry that I had to pee, we checked for injuries and couldn’t find any but you never know-”
“I’m-I’m okay. Is everyone else okay?” He couldn’t help but worry about his siblings who were also in the store. What if there were more villains that he didn’t know about?
“Kid, everyone is fine. We’re more worried about you. Do you remember what happened?”
Mr. Aizawa was the one to speak this time, staring at him with a blank expression, but Izuku could hear the concern in his voice.
“Y-yeah, there was another kid and he had his hands on me. He was talking about how horrible heroes are.” Izuku thought for a second, remembering the explosion. “Hey wait, where’s Kacchan? Is he alright?”
He stood up abruptly as the two adults glanced at one another, “He won’t come out of his room,” Mr. Hizashi spoke, “We think it’s because he used his quirk to knock out the villain, and in the process you as well.”
“Can I go talk to him?”
The two adults exchanged a silent conversation, before leading him to the other boy’s door.
“It’s locked and he won’t come out. He won’t listen to anything I say,” Mr. Hizashi looked down at Izuku and sighed, “I’ll leave you two alone, yell if you need us.”
As he walked down the stairs Izuku quietly spoke, “Kacchan? Are you in there? It’s me.”
“Deku? No! Go away! You don’t get it! I-I used my quirk, I hurt you! I didn’t- I can’t”
Sobs erupted from the other side of the wall. Izuku sighed and slid down the door, leaning his back against it, listening to Kacchan’s cries.
This wasn’t the first time that they’ve been in this situation. He thought back to before the orphanage, right after his mother had killed herself and he was shoved into a foster family, where he first met Kacchan.
Shivers went down his spine as he thought about it, how much that family hated him for being quirkless. He still has scars from the abuse of their quirks against him. The only reason he wasn’t dead was because of Kacchan. Even though he hated using his quirk, even though he felt like a villain, he would always protect him no matter what.
“You didn’t hurt me, I’m okay, I was just knocked out.”
“Yeah, because of me!” Kacchan exclaimed from the other side of the door.
“Because of you, I wasn’t killed by that villain. If you hadn't slipped behind him when he wasn’t looking this could have been a lot worse. I should be thanking you.” Izuku hoped that he could get through to him. He was never sure what to say to Kacchan.
The cries behind the door went silent, “You don’t have to thank me,” He sniffled, “It’s not the first time I’ve saved your ass.”
Izuku couldn’t help but laugh, he couldn’t deny that it was true. He rested his head against the door and closed his eyes as he heard the other boy settle down. Kacchan doesn’t like people seeing him cry, so he decided to just wait outside.
He thought back to the kid villain that grabbed him. He wasn’t that much bigger than him. Izuku couldn’t help but see the same pain that his siblings have in his eyes. As he dazed off, he wondered what happened to that kid. Hopefully, the adults were nice to him.