Vocalized

“There is no way that…that…that THING got into UA!” my mother yelled from the kitchen as I listened from my room.

“Well, according to this letter, he did,” my father said, slamming my acceptance letter down on the table, “This has to be a mistake! He has to have cheated!”

“Probably,” my mother scoffed.

I tried not to sob as I heard my father’s footsteps approach my room. I was ready for the beating I had coming. I’d been dealing with it for years. My door slammed open, and I stood up with my face facing the floor. He grabbed a clump of my hair–I didn’t make a sound–and threw me out of my room and into the wall of the hallway of the house.

“Outside!” he commanded, and I made my way to the door. I opened it and stepped outside. “Nature is your room tonight. You don’t deserve a bed when you cheated on the entrance exam!” After that, he slammed the door in my face.

I sighed. It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. He could’ve hurt me worse, and I could be sleeping in the snow right now–I did that once–but I’m not. It’s not super cold out, but it’s not warm by any means. I made my way out of the yard and walked a few houses down. I felt my head to check for blood as I stood in front of the door to a house just a few doors down from my parents. When I felt no blood, I knocked.

The door was opened by a tall man with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of me. “Izuku. It’s late. What are you doing here?” Masaru asked, concern in his eyes.

“My parents had an emergency that held them up at work, so they’re staying at a hotel tonight, and I kind of locked myself out of the house. Would it be ok if I crashed here tonight?” I signed, scratching the back of my neck.

Masaru smiled. “Of course you can,” he said, moving out of the door frame, so I could walk inside. I smiled and signed a thank you as I walked in. “Katsuki,” Masaru asked, peeking his head into the living room–it was only seven, so Kacchan wasn’t asleep yet.

“What?” Kacchan asked, and I knew he was reading a book since I heard a slam of the book closing.

“Would it be ok with you if Izuku slept in your room tonight?” he asked, and Kacchan just raised an eyebrow, so I moved to stand next to Masaru, “He locked himself out of the house, and his parents won’t be home tonight. Plus, the guest room is a mess right now, and you have the futon in your room.”

“We threw the futon out because Zuku found bed bugs in it,” Kacchan said, standing up and walking towards us as Masaru face-palmed and cursed under his breath.

“It’s fine, just forget it. I’ll–”

“He can still sleep in my room,” Kacchan cut off Masaru, “We can share the bed. I mean it’s big enough. Plus, we’ve known each other our whole lives, so it’s not weird.”

Masaru smiled. “Thank you, Katsuki,” he said before moving forward and kissing Kacchan on the forehead.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Kacchan said, swatting at his dad, “Come on, Zuku. You look tired and you need to change out of your uniform.” I just nodded and started walking towards the stairs.

We went into Kacchan’s room, and he rummaged through a couple of his drawers before he found some clothes that would fit me well enough since he was a bit bulkier than me. I quickly changed while Kacchan threw my clothes in the laundry. By the time he came back, I was done changing.

“Do you want to go to bed now, or would you rather watch a movie?” Kacchan asked, leaning against his door frame.

“I’m tired, but I don’t think I could fall asleep right now, and a movie sounds nice,” I signed, smiling slightly. Kacchan just nodded.

“I’m gonna go get my book from downstairs. Can you get my laptop set up?” Kacchan asked, I nodded before he added, “Ok, and you can choose the movie.”

He made his way downstairs after saying that. I walked over to his desk and grabbed his laptop bag. Once I had the laptop, I sat on the bed. I knew his password, so I didn’t have to hack into it. I started looking through his Netflix account. I found a movie right as he walked into the room.

“D’ya find a movie?” Kacchan asked as he made his way to the bed and sat next to me. I nodded and pointed to the screen where the movie–”To All the Boys I Loved Before”--was displayed. Kacchan nodded. “Ok,” he said, clicking the play button before turning off his lamp, so the room went into total darkness.

Kacchan fell asleep after Margot left for college, and I fell asleep after Lara Jean kissed Peter on the track. Auntie came in sometime after that and moved Kacchan’s laptop from the bed.

I slept the best that night because I felt safe.

The next morning, I stayed for breakfast–it was delicious as always. Talking with Kacchan and his family felt really nice. They were so kind to me, and they made me feel like I was a part of their family.

After breakfast, I told–signed–them that I was going to go to my house, and I asked Kacchan if he wanted to hang out later. His response was a grunt, which meant yes. Now, I didn’t go inside the house the way you’d expect me to. I didn’t just walk through the door or anything. Instead of that, I climbed in through my window.

Once I was inside, I grabbed a bunch of my shit because there was no way I was staying with my parents this week. Maybe later in the week but definitely not right now. I packed my backpack, grabbed a couple of different outfits, and took some money from my savings jar in my closet.

Once I had what I needed, I climbed back out through the window, and I made sure to close the window, so no one tried to break in–not like they would. I was still wearing Kacchan’s clothes, and he’d thrown one of his hoodies at me before I left. He told me to put it on cause it was chilly out, and that I could give it back when we hung out later.

I pulled up the hood and smiled. Kacchan was the best.

I made my way out of the neighborhood and to a hotel in the city. Once I got to one, I went inside. There weren’t a bunch of people, but there were a few. I walked to the desk and signed, “Hello.”

The woman seemed to understand as she signed back saying, “Are you deaf or something else?”

I nodded. “I can’t talk, but I can hear, so you don’t have to sign. I just didn’t know if you knew JSL,” I signed.

She nodded before speaking, “Everyone who works here learns JSL. Now, how can I help you, Young Man.”

I was about to sign something when a familiar voice said, “Hey, I recognize that black hair.” I turned my head slightly to see All Might–in his skinny form–standing behind me. I turned back towards the lady and signed–asking for a room.

“Of course, will it be a room for one?” she asked, and I nodded. Once I was told how much I had to pay, I handed her the payment in cash. She just smiled and gave me my room key.

I started walking towards the elevator when All Might stopped me. “My boy,” he said, blocking my way, “we need to talk.” I shook my head and pushed past him. He clamped his hand down on my shoulder. “We really do,” he said, a serious look in his eyes.

I glared at him. Then, I signed to him even though I knew it was useless since he didn’t know JSL. Once I finished signing, I was going to turn and head to the elevator, but a new voice caught my attention. “Since you seem to not know what he just said, I’ll translate,” a male voice said, and I looked to see where it was coming from just to see a boy–probably my age–with purple hair and eyes. He continued speaking, “He said, ‘We have nothing to talk about. I don’t care what you want to say now because you didn’t care what I had to say then.’ Damn, man. You must’ve really fucked up.”

“I-I,” All Might stuttered. While he was trying to come up with what to say, I signed a ‘Thank you’ to the boy.

He signed back saying, “No problem. What’s your name?”

“Izuku Midoriya,” I finger spelled, “but my sign-name is Brocoli.”

The boy smiled before signing back, “My name is Hitoshi Shinsou, but my sign-name is Purple Cat.”

I smiled and nodded at him right when All Might found what he wanted to say. “I’m sorry, young man, but this conversation is none of your business.”

“You’re in public. It’s kind of hard to keep a conversation completely private,” Shinsou deadpanned.

I signed to Shinsou, “Please tell him that I don’t want to talk to him right now, but we’ll see each other in a few days anyways, so we can talk then.”

Shinsou nodded before speaking, “He wants me to tell you that he doesn’t want to talk right now, but you guys will see each other in a few days anyways, so he’s willing to talk then.”

All Might looked at me and smiled slightly. “Ok, then, I’ll see you in a few days, my boy,” All Might said, bowing slightly before leaving.

I signed to Shinsou for him to follow me, and he did. We went to the elevator where he asked me how I knew All Might–he said All Might. I blinked at him. The elevator door opened, and I pulled him inside, making sure no one else would ride with us. Then, I signed to Shinsou, “You know about All Might’s skinny form? God, how many people has he told that to?”

“Well,” Shinsou said, drawing my attention, “he’s told the whole UA staff since he works there now, and he’s told at least one detective. I don't know how many other people, though. How do you know?”

“He’s an idiot, and he told me,” I signed. Shinsou snorted. I continued, “I mean, I got attacked by this villain, and he saved me. Then, I wanted to ask him a question, but he was about to leave, so I jumped on his leg. He landed on a roof and lectured me, and when I signed my question–which was me asking if I could be a hero without a quirk–he said no, but I don’t think he even knew what I asked. Then, he deflated and told me about his skinny form. In conclusion, All Might is a stupid bonehead.” I finished signing right as the elevator dinged on my floor.

We stepped off the elevator. “He sounds like a fucking asshole,” Shinsou said as we walked towards my room, “I mean, who responds to a question when they don’t know what the question is? You’re right; he is a bonehead.” We made it to my room, and I let Shinsou go in first. “Do you always trust strangers, or am I a special case?” he asked, sitting down on the bed.

I shook my head with a smile. “You’re special. I’m not that stupid, and normally, I’m not this trusting,” I signed, “I think the only reason I’m trusting you is because you stood up to All Might, and you knew that you were. It’s not like you found out he was All Might after the fact.”

Shinsou just nodded, and as I unpacked, we threw insults about All Might around the room. It was very fun, but we stopped eventually. The next topic was why we were staying in the hotel. Apparently, he’d just been adopted recently, and his parents were having the house renovated, so he could have his own room, and apparently, they wanted to add a few extra rooms anyway.

I told him that I lived in town, but I didn’t feel like going to my house. He understood that better than I thought he would. Maybe that’s because he has a quirk that’s labeled as villainous. He told me his quirk, and I thought it was amazing! Brainwashing is such a cool and useful quirk.

When he told me he was going to UA, I realized I'd seen him in the entrance exam. We'd been fighting robots next to each other, and while he was catching his breath, a robot was sneaking up behind him, so I signed to him. He saw it, and quickly, he picked up a piece of debris and hit the robot. He thanked me and ran off.

I was really happy to hear he got in! And he got into class 1A like me. We were both really excited to start our training at UA.

Honestly, I don’t know how long it’d been when Shinsou’s phone rang. He answered, and I could hear the person on the other line. “Hey, Hitoshi. You ok?” they asked. It was a familiar male voice.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Shinsou asked while signing to me to tell me it was his papa.

“Well, you said you were just stepping out to feed the strays, and it’s been over an hour, so I just wanted to make sure you were ok,” his papa said.

“Oh, yeah,” Shinsou said, smiling at me, “I met someone.”

“Oh, you finally made a friend?” another familiar voice said on the line.

“Ok, that wasn’t necessary, but yes, I did,” Shinsou said. He signed to me that the new voice was his dad’s.

“What’s their name?” his papa asked excitedly.

“His name’s Izuku,” Shinsou said, keeping his eyes locked on mine.

“Can we talk to him?” his dad asked.

“No,” Shinsou said before backtracking, “well, I mean, in person, yeah, but not over the phone.”

“Why not over the phone?” he asked, suspicious.

“He can’t talk, but he knows JSL,” Shinsou said, expressionless.

“Oh, that makes more sense,” his papa said, “Is he staying at the hotel?”

“Yeah, we actually met in the lobby when Yagi was trying to talk to him,” Shinsou said, waving for me to follow him as he got up from my bed and made his way to the door.

“Yagi? Why was he talking to Yagi?” his dad asked as we left the room to go to Shinsou’s.

“I don’t know the full story, but the short version of the one I got was that he saved Izuku from a villain, and then, Izuku did something stupid, and he and Yagi landed on a roof. Then, Izuku asked a question in JSL, and Yagi said no even though he didn’t know what Izuku asked. Then, Izuku was left on the roof,” Shinsou explained, “Now, Yagi wants to talk to him.”

There was silence on the other line as we stepped into the elevator. “Fucking boneheaded bitch,” his dad said finally.

“That’s what we said,” Shinsou said as the elevator reached his floor, “Hey, we’re heading to the room, so we can just finish this conversation there.”

“Ok, we’re excited to meet your new friend,” his papa said, excitedly.

“Yeah, yeah. Love you, bye,” Shinsou said before hanging up. We stopped at the door to a room, and Shinsou opened the door. We stepped inside and took off our shoes.

When I looked up again, I tripped and fell on my ass because–HOLY SHIT! Shinsou’s adoptive parents were Eraserhead–the famous underground hero–and Present Mic–the loudest hero of all time. The point is that Shinsou’s parents are two of my favorite heroes, and I knew they were together! I just didn’t know they were Shinsou’s parents. It makes sense now why their voices sounded familiar.

I quickly stood up as I got concerned looks from them all. I turned on Shinsou and signed, “You are an asshole! You didn’t even warn me that your parents were pro heroes! Two of my favorites at that!”

Shinsou shrugged. “Wasn’t relevant,” he said, shrugging. I smacked his arm.

Present Mic seemed as if he were about to say something, but my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. It was my father. I looked up at the ceiling and said a silent prayer to any god that may’ve been out there. Then, I answered the call.

“Where the hell are you!?” he screamed, “We’ve been looking for you for hours! You were supposed to be outside! Where did you go?” I hung up, turned off my notifications, and pocketed my phone.

Then, I signed, “Did I mention that my father is the asshole hero, Dragon?” Shinsou’s eyes went comically wide.

“See you can’t even be mad at me now,” he said, blinking fast, “Your father is the number three hero, Dragon? Also, why’d you call him an asshole?”

“Yeah, and I called him an asshole because he is one,” I signed, “He’s like Endeavor. The only difference is that my father puts up a front for the media; Endeavor doesn’t give two fucks about what people think about him. He only seeks validation through the numbers on the chart. My father seeks validation from the HPSC.”

“I don’t want to unpack all of that,” Shinsou said, looking at me with a blank expression, “The one thing I’ve learned today is that the top three heroes of Japan are assholes.”

“That’s the best way to sum it up,” I signed, smiling.

“You look familiar,” Eraserhead said, and I looked up to meet his gaze, “You remind me of someone I met a long time ago. I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Shimura?” I finger spelled, and his eyes went wide. I continued before he could ask, “That was me, Izuku Shimura. I hate going by my family name, so sometimes I go by my grandma’s last name. She was a hero before she died, so I feel strong when I use her last name, but anyways. Yeah, we’ve met. You were actually the first person to really know I was mute–outside of my family. I met you the day after my incident. Also, I think you’re the only reason Kacchan even talks to me like a normal person, so thank you for that.”

“Is Kacchan that kid with spiky blonde hair and anger issues?” Eraser asked.

I laughed before nodding. “Yeah, he took everything you said that day to heart, and he even repeats your words sometimes.”

Eraser nodded. “What?” Present Mic asked, clearly confused.

“Basically, I met…Shimura–yeah, I’m gonna call you Shimura because of everything you just said–a few years back. He didn’t know JSL yet, so he was just writing in a notebook to talk to me. My hero career had just started, so at the time, I would just sit down at a park and drink some coffee. He sat next to me, and that’s how we met. He had this friend who he called Kacchan. I don’t know his real name, but he was this kid with spiky blonde hair and a sharp temper. He started being mean to Shimura, and I told him off. According to Shimura, he still remembers my words, which is surprising because I sure as hell don’t.”

“You said, ‘If you want to be a hero, you can’t bully other people. Being a bully can be just as bad as being a villain in some cases. It doesn’t matter how strong your will is. If you continuously hurt someone for something they can’t control or for no reason at all, then you will never be a true hero. Lucky for you, you’re still a kid which means you can still redeem yourself. So if you want to be a true hero, kid, be respectful to others. I’m not saying be a kissass, and do everything for them. Just don’t go out of your way to be mean. If they’re rude to you, just roll your eyes and tell them to fuck off.’”

“Is that word for word what he said?” Shinsou asked, staring at me blankly. I nodded. “Can you message me that? I want to randomly quote that when he’s being rude.”

I giggled and nodded, signing a quick, ‘Later’ Shinsou just nodded. Eraserhead groaned.

Present Mic patted Eraser’s shoulder half-heartedly. “So, Shimura, what high school are you going to be going to?” he asked, smiling.

“UA,” I signed, and Aizawa sighed.

“Which class?” Eraser asked.

“1A,” I signed.

“I’m going to suffer,” Eraser said, leaning against the wall, “I’ll have to deal with you two in the same class.”

“And Kacchan,” I added.

“That’s even worse,” he deadpanned–I could tell he was joking, so I smiled.

I stayed with Shinsou, Mic, and Eraser for a while. We talked and got to know each other, but eventually, I had to leave, so I could hang out with Kacchan like I promised. Eraser had insisted on walking me down to the lobby to see me off. I agreed without any hesitation. Shinsou seemed defeated–he was scared that Eraser was going to share stories about him–as we left.

We had just stepped out of the elevator in the lobby when I felt something was wrong. I stopped and put my arm out to stop Eraser. Then, I saw someone trying to jump us from the side. I grabbed their wrist and threw them to the ground. I was kneeling next to them just as they hit the ground. I grabbed them by the collar and inspected their face–one of my father’s lackey’s faces. I punched him in the jaw, stood up, and kicked his side.

“Fucking hell, Izuku,” he wailed, curling into himself, “You don’t have to fucking kick my ass. I just wanted to give you a hug, god!” I raised a questioning eyebrow at that. “A hug with this knife in your back!” he yelled, pulling out a knife and trying to stab me. I stepped on his hand. He dropped the knife. I picked it up and placed it under his chin.

“No…no…no!” he yelled as I pushed the knife against his throat a bit more, “Now, I’m gonna get killed because of you! If I don’t kill you, I die. Do you get it? I have to kill you! You don’t want me to die, do you, Izuku?”

“I do,” I mouthed before moving the knife and kicking him in the head. He fell limply to the ground. He was out cold.

I inspected the knife, I’d taken from him, for any blood. There was none. I pocketed the knife. I looked up from my pocket to see everyone staring at me. I shrugged. “Shimura,” Eraser said, setting his hand on my shoulder, “are you ok?” I nodded. “Good, then, we need to get this guy to the police station, so they can identify him.”

I waved him off before signing, “His name is Sama Taguyana. His quirk is called freeze touch. It gives him really cold hands, and if he makes direct contact with someone’s skin, he can freeze them for up to three hours. When the person comes out of that state, they always have frostbite. He’s a small-time villain, but he works with big guys in the underground. He’s one of All For One’s lackeys who’s been sent to kill me.”

“Why does All For One want to kill you?” Eraser signed back.

I shrugged. “He wants to kill a lot of people, but he wants to kill me because I hurt his successor or whatever,” I signed, “Literally, all I did was kick the guy in the gut because I didn’t want to talk to him.”

Eraser just nodded. “Well, how about you go and hang out with your friend, and I’ll take care of everything here and call you if we need you?” I nodded and waved before leaving the hotel.

Kacchan had messaged me to meet him at the park, so I headed there. I stopped dead in my tracks a few feet from the park. Kacchan wasn’t there. My father was, though. I messaged Kacchan, “Where are you? I’m here.”

He responded with, “What? I’m still at my house waiting for you, and you’re not here.”

“Sorry, I thought we were meeting at the park. Give me a second,” I responded before pocketing my phone and walking into the park.

My father saw me and yelled, “Ah, Izuku! There you are!” I glared at him. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you! Where have you been?” he asked, a fake smile plastered on his face.

“Fighting Sama,” I signed, and his expression dropped, “I just want to hang out with Kacchan and take a break from you. Breaks are healthy. Maybe you and Inko should try one.” I started walking away.

“Do not talk about your mother like that!” he yelled. I flipped him the bird as I continued to walk away.

Surprisingly enough, my father didn’t follow me. When I got to Kacchan’s house, Auntie let me in. I went right to Kacchan’s room.

“There you are,” he said as I walked in the room, “Why did you think we were meeting at the park?”

I handed him my phone with it open to our messages, so he could see it as I closed the door behind me. Kacchan looked at my phone confused. “But I never sent you that message,” he said, looking at me for an answer.

“My father is a good hacker,” I signed, and Kacchan was even more confused, “He was waiting for me when I got to the park. That’s how I know it was him.”

“Oh,” Kacchan said, handing me my phone back, “How about we talk about something else?”

“Ok,” I signed, lying down on his bed, “You know that guy you call Hobozawa?”

“That hobo guy from when we were five?” Kacchan asked, and I nodded, “Of course, I do. What about him?”

“I met him today,” I signed, and Kacchan looked at me surprised.

“Really?” he asked. I nodded. “What happened? How did you two meet again?”

“Well, I actually met his son, and we’re friends now. He wanted me to meet his parents, so he took me to his house, which for now is a hotel room because they’re renovating their house. There I saw him. He remembered us,” I signed.

“He has a son? Wasn’t he like twenty when we met him?” he asked, incredulous.

“Adoption exists, Kacchan,” I signed, and Kacchan seemed to realize that, too.

“Well, that’s a better outcome than teen pregnancy like I thought,” he said, and I just sighed.

“He’s going to be our homeroom teacher at UA,” I signed.

“What?” Kacchan asked, blinking rapidly, “Hobozawa works at UA?”

“Yeah, did you forget?” I signed, and Kacchan still looked confused, so I continued, “I told you that he was an underground hero after he left us to our own devices at the park. Eraserhead. That’s his hero name.”

“Wait, that was real? I thought you made that up,” Kacchan said, shaking his head.

I let my mouth hang open in shock. “You thought I was lying?” I signed, offended.

“Yes,” Kacchan signed back.

We bantered back and fort

h for a while after that. It was nice. I felt like I was home.