Midoriya found that Ryuto was shedding a few of his feathers. The small, fluffier, downy ones, to be precise. He was also growing out longer, more sturdy ones. Clearing them wasn't too bad; for some reason, Ryuto liked to sweep his fallen feathers into small piles, which made it a lot easier to clean up.

He was also starting to develop the habit of randomly jumping off things; the cabinet, the kitchen counter, the table, all sorts of places. Midoriya had no idea how many times he nearly had a heart attack and rush to save the bird because he was afraid that Ryuto would injure himself.

He knew that Ryuto was growing out his flight feathers, falling down or out of trees was a natural process for birds to learn how to fly, but he couldn't help but get worried whenever he threw himself off something. There were a few times where he had stretched his wings fully, but it only lasted for a few seconds before he pulled his wings back in and fell.

Midoriya was seriously going to teach his baby bird how to fly. He was going to start with the basics of gliding, getting Ryuto used to stretching his wings out, before moving on to flying once he grew his first set of flight feathers.

He wasn't sure how to do it, though. Maybe he should give Ryuto a demonstration,thought he had no idea how he would go about doing it.

Midoriya flopped down on the sofa in the common room, Ryuto nestled comfortably in his arms. Reiko was sitting on his lap, napping.

Midoriya looked down at the bird, "Ryuto."

The hawk turned up to look at him, and chirped. Midoriya lifted him up to eye level, "Listen to me, Ryu. No more jumping off things randomly, okay? It's dangerous. I know you want to fly, but you can't do that if you have a broken wing."

Ryuto chirped again, before using one of his talons to scratch at Midoriya's arm.

Midoriya narrowed his eyes slightly in exasperation, "Come on, Ryu. Focus. I'll help you fly, okay? Just... stop jumping off stuff, okay?"

Ryuto turned his attention back to the green haired boy, giving a happy sounding trill, before nibbling on one of Midoriya's fingers.

Midoriya gently shifted his position to wrap his arms around the bird. He held Ryuto on one hand, and picked up Reiko with his other, pulling both of them in for a hug.

Reiko and Ryuto both snuggled up to the boy, and Midoriya could feel their breathes against his neck. He bit his lip, and closed his eyes, as Ryuto rubbed his head against Midoriya's chin and Reiko nuzzled him.

"Something on your mind, Mina?" Kirishima asked, looking up from his math homework. Ashido was aimlessly twirling her pen, staring into space.

Kaminari and Sero looked up from their worksheets.

"You know, I can't stop thinking about that time... when I grabbed Midoriya's arm." Ashido admitted, "I know you kind of called me cool in middle school, Kiri, but... I wasn't always so outgoing and friendly."

"What do you mean?" Kaminari asked.

"I look weird." Ashido stated, "Pink skin, horns, I don't look human. When I was in elementary school... I was very insecure about my appearance. People matured in middle school, but in elementary school -"

"You were bullied." Sero finished for her.

"I was trying to avoid using that word, but yeah." Ashido sheepishly laughed, before she turned serious, "I was never well liked in elementary school. I was pushed around, beaten up every now and then... I eventually told the teachers and they stopped."

"That's good. I've never been bullied before." Kaminari pipped up, "Made fun of, yes... but it was just funny that I had a powerful quirk that I couldn't control."

"I got called names, but that's about it." Sero shrugged, "Some names are pretty funny."

"Things got a lot better in middle school. I would say that I kind of understand what Midoriya went through... but he probably had it so much worse than me that it isn't even comparable." Ashido sighed.

"Hey... don't worry about it." Kirishima pat her on the shoulder, "We don't hate you over your appearance, and we don't hate Midoriya for being quirkless either. Shinsou, Iida, even Aizawa-sensei said that he'll need some time to adjust. Don't sweat it, okay?"

"I know." Ashido sighed, "I just feel bad, okay?"

"Well... " Kaminari offered, "If you want, we can all hang out at my place later? I just got that new game that we all wanted to play? It would take your mind off things."

"Sure, Kami." Ashido replied, picking her pen up, "We should finish our work first, or Iida would just go Dad-mode on us and nag about our homework."

Tokoyami mindlessly scribbled down whatever Yamada was writing on the board. Dark Shadow hadn't been annoying him as much as he used to; usually, the quirk would be peeking over his shoulder, trying to see what he was writing, or making screeching sounds that only Tokoyami could hear, or nibbling his pencils. Tokoyami had to buy a lot of replacement pencils for the ones that Dark Shadow had eaten.

He seemed to have taken a liking to Ryuto, but Tokoyami suppose that it was because they were both birds; or at least, Ryuto was a bird, and Dark Shadow was a bird-like creature.

They were currently having a staring contest, and Tokoyami was glad for the distraction; he could actually concentrate in lessons for once.

Dark Shadow also seemed to take a liking to Midoriya, and oddly enough, Midoriya didn't seem to mind the quirk as much as he did the others. Dark Shadow liked to perch on Midoriya's head often enough, watching him work, but Midoriya didn't seem to care that he was there, just continuing to write like nothing was going on.

Midoriya did give Dark Shadow head scratches occasionally, and he seemed to like it. Maybe Tokoyami should ask Midoriya how he did it.

"Tokoyami, Lunch?" Shoji asked, pointing towards the door. Kaminari, Sero, Ashido and Kirishima was leaving for lunch.

"I would like to ask Midoriya something. You can go first?" Tokoyami replied, neatly stacking his notebooks under his table. Shoji shrugged, leaving the classroom, "Sure. I'll save you a seat."

Tokoyami made his way over to Midoriya's seat, where Shinsou, Uraraka, Iida, Koda, and Asui were standing. Ryuto was nestled in Midoriya's hair, and Reiko was being held by the green haired boy. Dark Shadow was currently perched on Midoriya's shoulder, and Todoroki looked at him curiously from the back of the classroom as he finished tidying up his notes.

Dark Shadow looked back towards Tokoyami, before patting Midoriya on the shoulder and pointing in his direction, alerting Midoriya to his presence.

"Midoriya." Tokoyami started, and Midoriya nodded in acknowledgement, "I realised that Dark Shadow really likes it when you scratch his head... I was wondering... if you could show me how you do it?"

Dark Shadow immediately perked up at the mention of "head scratches", and Midoriya stared at Tokoyami, seemingly in confusion, before turning to Dark Shadow. Dark Shadow looked back at Midoriya, before the green haired boy scooped the quirk up and deposited him in Tokoyami's arms.

Midoriya reached out to grab Tokoyami's hand hesitantly, and Tokoyami stuck his hand out, letting Midoriya know that it was okay to do so. Midoriya took Tokoyami's hand, and guided him slowly, until his hand was hovering over Dark Shadow's head. Midoriya pushed Tokoyami's hand gently onto Dark Shadow's feathers, and Dark Shadow let out a purr as Tokoyami gently scratched his shadowy feathers.

Tokoyami shot Midoriya a small smile, "Thanks, Midoriya."

Midoriya merely looked at the bird-headed boy in confusion, and Reiko rubbed her head against Midoriya's neck.

"There's something that I feel that I should tell you, Izuku. The rest of the staff thinks it's better for you if I didn't tell you, but you deserve to know what's going on." Nezu started, and Midoriya looked at the principal, waiting patiently for him to continue. Reiko and Ryuto were currently with Inui and Koda, and Midoriya was just assuming at Koda felt more comfortable talking to the counselor with them.

"After that… unfortunate incident with the League… Recovery Girl came to know of your quirk." Nezu continued, "Now, the rest of your teachers, and Power Loader, are aware of your quirk. And she also made some other... speculations about your past actions."

Midoriya narrowed his eyes warily. They knew that he wasn't quirkless, that he had lied about his quirkless status, and he was probably in trouble and -

"Izuku, calm down." Nezu reached out, patting Midoriya's leg gently, "You're not in any trouble at all. They all agreed that a quirk like this should not be made public. It's too dangerous; if other people came to know of it, who knows how they might react to it. Plus, it's a quirk that should never come up; you should never have gotten into a situation where your life is at stake, at least... not at this point. Your status as quirkless still remains. We just need to know some details in order to help you."

Midoriya's shoulders sagged.

"Izuku, I need you to be honest with me." Nezu spoke up, "I know this may bring up bad memories... but have you... even thought about committing suicide?"

Midoriya bit his lip, and the boy sank into the couch, staring at his feet, before nodding.

"Have you ever acted on those thoughts? Like -"

Before Nezu had even finished, Midoriya nodded again.

"Have people... suicide-baited you before?"

Midoriya looked away from Nezu guiltily, before nodding.

"And... you listened?"

Another nod.

Nezu gulped nervously; he was coming to the question where he didn't want the answer the most,"How... how many times?"

Midoriya shook his head, "A lot... I... don't remember..."

He reached up to rub his neck, "I know... I jumped... a few times... and cut... and tried to overdose... I tried to hang myself once..."

Midoriya paused. He knew that admitting a weakness like that, telling Nezu that he had tried so many times to kill himself, could get him into trouble, or even expelled, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to Nezu. Nezu deserved to know the truth; he deserved to know that Midoriya was broken to the point where he couldn't be fixed, and that it was a waste of time to even care about him and to even think that he could be helped and -

Nezu reached his paws out, and much to Midoriya surprise and shock, wrapped his stubby little arms around Midoriya's waist.

"I'm so sorry, Izuku."

Midoriya was still trying to comprehend why Nezu was apologising to him when the principal continued, "None of this was ever your fault. Society failed you, Izuku, and no one ever gave you any help."

Even if Nezu believed so, Midoriya thought differently. He was useless, he couldn't do anything right, the only thing he was capable of doing was fucking up and messing things up.

Nezu looked up at Midoriya's blank gaze. While Midoriya never spoke, he was ridiculously easy to read through his body language and his eyes.

"This was never your fault. People mistreated you to the point where you think that you're always in the wrong, where you're useless and unwanted, but all that is wrong. People do care about you, Izuku. Society is messed up, and that's the fault of the pro heroes. Our jobs aren't just to defeat villains and act like super-powered police officers; our job is to make sure society runs smoothly and properly, to give faith to those who need it, and to keep everyone safe. We are the ones that failed you, Izuku, so please, never think that it's ever your fault -"

"It's not anyone's fault." Midoriya bit his lip, interrupting Nezu, "I'm weak, I'm quirkless, I'm useless, I don't deserve to be here. It's no one's job to care. People are just like that. They hate what's different, and -"

"That's no reason to condone suicide-baiting." Nezu stated, "There will never be a reason to condone it. It's just wrong on so many levels. No one deserves treatment like that, and especially not you."

Nezu sighed, "Can you just... promise me one thing, Izuku? Please... don't do it again. Please, stop hurting yourself, okay?"

As much as Midoriya knew that he should agree, he knew that he couldn't uphold a promise like that.

And Midoriya had sworn never to make a promise that he couldn't keep. He couldn't afford to break any more promises.

"I'll try."

"Okay. Ryuto. Stand there. Don't do anything yet." Midoriya ordered, pulling his chair over to his bed and placing Ryuto on the backrest. He climbed up onto his bed, and grabbed his pillow, propping it against the wall; at least, if Ryuto overshot, he wouldn't smack into the wall.

"Now, spread your wings." Midoriya reached out, gently pulling at Ryuto wings so the bird knew what he was talking about. Midoriya removed his hands, and Ryuto just stood there, looking at Midoriya, his wings still outstretched, waiting for the next instruction.

"Keep your wings up, and just... glide."

Midoriya had already given him a demonstration on how to land; he had spent the afternoon jumping out of trees so Ryuto would get an idea of what to do. He knew he looked stupid, but he would do anything for Reiko and Ryuto; looking stupid was included.

"Give it a try."

Ryuto gave a small squawk, readying himself, before leaping off the backrest, wobbly gliding down onto the bed. He stretched out his talons in an attempt to land, but tripped and ended up smacking into the bed. He stood up immediately, shaking his head, before trying to make his way back up the backrest to try again.

It took a few tries for Ryuto to get it right, and Ryuto looked up at Midoriya proudly. Reiko had already given him a meow of approval, he was just waiting for Midoriya's approval.

Midoriya scratched Ryuto's head, eliciting a content purr from the hawk, "That was great. Try it a few more times and we'll practice more tomorrow, got it?"

"Alright, your midterm exams are coming soon, in about two weeks, and there's a practical and a written test, so we're just going to be doing training." Aizawa stated, as the students gathered in one of the facilities. "Just practice or something. I'll come around to check on you individually later. You can work in groups or on your own, I don't care. Just do something productive. Midoriya, don't push yourself. We don't want anyone getting any more injuries, especially at such a crucial time."

Midoriya stood at a corner of the room. He wasn't sure what to practise; unlike most of the others, he actually needed something or someone to fight against, and even then, Midoriya wasn't sure what else to do. Ryuto was pretty good at gliding already, and he had finally grown out all of his flight feathers, so he was ready to start learning to fly. Midoriya wasn't sure how to teach Ryuto how to fly; just by showing him bird videos? He knew the concept of flying, but humans couldn't fly; it wasn't like Midoriya could give him a demonstration of that.

He also wanted to wait a few days for Ryuto to get used to his new feathers.

He watched as Uraraka got into a fighting stance, with Iida and Shinsou watching, and attempted a punch. Iida scratched his head, "Sadly... I do not excel in punching. I usually kick opponents, so I do not know how to help you with your stance. What about you, Shinsou?"

"I know how to throw a punch, sure, but coaching is out of my league." Shinsou shook his head, "I'm not even sure if my own posture is right."

Midoriya thought about the time where Uraraka had asked him to coach her in hand to hand combat. She hadn't bugged him since then; in fact, Midoriya wasn't even sure that she had remembered asking him about it at all. He was grateful for that; he never liked people bugging him. In fact, he really, really disliked human interaction. Shinsou, Uraraka and Iida changed the way they interacted with him, making him more comfortable and at ease, and stopped others before it reached the point where it got uncomfortable. Koda and Todoroki were more quiet, and kept to themselves, but Midoriya could also see that they were trying to make an effort to interact with him.

Reiko tapped Midoriya's leg, and nudged him in their direction.

Midoriya bit his lip. He wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but he moved towards the trio of students. He owed them that much, at the very least.

Midoriya eyed Uraraka's stance, and mentally sighed. Her feet were pointing in the wrong direction, her fists were clenched wrongly, her knees weren't bent enough; Midoriya could see so many problems with her posture.

"Sup, Midoriya." Uraraka grinned, throwing a rather sloppy punch at a punching bag, in Midoriya's opinion. It was decent, and would do enough damage against an amateur, but it wasn't very powerful and would be easily stopped. The punching bag barely moved.

"Ow." Uraraka shook her hand, before getting back into a fighting stance, "I thought that would do more."

Midoriya hesitantly moved his hand to sign something, before he stopped. He took a deep breath, and clenched his fists, looking towards the ground, "Point your front foot ... a bit more to the right."

Shinsou had always been translating his signing, and Uraraka and Iida were even trying to learn sign language themselves to understand him.

It was only fair.

Uraraka stared at him in shock, and Midoriya reached out with his foot, nudging Uraraka's foot, and she shifted her stance.

"You... spoke."

"I..." Midoriya tensed up, and forced himself to continue, "You put in so much effort... to try and understand... my signing... I just... thought... it was only fair... to make it easier... sorry -"

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Uraraka smiled at him, "Thank you for trying."

Midoriya's shoulders relaxed.

They weren't mad at him.

Don't get your hopes up.

Midoriya looked away again, before he softly continued, "When you punch... bend your knees. Use your body weight... it makes the punch stronger... and uses less energy. Also... angle your hand downwards... Hit with your knuckles... not your fingers. They hurt more."

He hesitantly fixed up Uraraka's posture, and she tried again. This time, the punching bag moved by a significant amount, and Uraraka's face lit up, "Yes! Thank you so much!"

Midoriya nodded slightly, and he turned to face Iida and Shinsou. Shinsou had gotten into his own fighting stance, and was adjusting his posture based on what Midoriya had told Uraraka, while Iida was just smiling at him brightly.

Koda carefully made his way over to Midoriya, and signed something, before pointing upwards, to a railing on the second floor.

Midoriya turned, and almost blanched when he saw Ryuto perched on the railing, flapping his wings experimentally. Ryuto had glided from trees before, not from the second floor. He wasn't even sure how Ryuto had gotten there; he must have hopped up the stairs while Midoriya had been distracted with Uraraka and her friends.

He could only hope that Ryuto remembered to glide.

Ryuto spotted him, giving a happy screech, before jumping off, his wings tucked against his body. Midoriya's heart clenched as Ryuto dive-bombed towards the ground, accelerating, before Ryuto stretched out his wings, slowing his decent. He caught a small updraft, and rode it, rising upwards, before gliding steadily towards Midoriya.

Midoriya relaxed when he saw that Ryuto was fine, and reached out his arm for Ryuto to land on. Midoriya poked Ryuto in the chest, and shook his head.

Ryuto gave a squeak, and rubbed his head against Midoriya's nose, before flapping his wings. Midoriya inwardly sighed, before shaking his head again.

"When did he learn to fly?" Iida asked, and Ryuto perked up, screeching four times.

"Uh... days?" Iida frowned, and Ryuto moved his head, mimicking a nod.

"Four days?" Iida asked, confirming and Ryuto nodded again.

Koda signed something, and Shinsou translated, "Er... it's more of gliding rather than flying... but close enough."

Midoriya scratched Ryuto's head, and the avian purred, before hopping onto Midoriya's shoulder, nuzzling his cheek.

Uraraka smiled.

He spoke. Midoriya had actually spoken. He actually trusted them enough to use his voice.

It was a small step, but it was a step nonetheless.