Waking up that first morning was like surfacing from a very long dream. Izuku wasn't certain what had happened yesterday to be honest. It was like the bone deep exhaustion had simply overwhelmed most of his ability to react to the strange situation he had been placed in. Getting out of bed, he stood considering the door for a few moments. His clothes from yesterday were filthy so it wasn't as if he could simply rewear them, but it wasn't as if he had anything else. Father had always impressed upon him the importance of being properly attired, so leaving the room clad in pajamas was less than optimal. His stomach growled and he recalled quite suddenly that he hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning.

Was he supposed to wait until Tama-san brought him a change of clothes? Would he be punished for leaving him room without them? Would he be punished for staying in his room too long?

That had happened before.

Izuku woke up one morning - six A.M.- showered, got dressed, and went to open his door.

The handle wouldn't turn. He was going to be late. Shaking the handle wildly doesn't work, and neither does the half wild banging he tries next. He eventually resorts to calling for a servant, but that does even less than nothing.

At seven A.M. sharp, Izuku can hear the distinct impressions of his father's footsteps from where he sits huddled up against it.

"Open the door, Consume."

"Father, I can't." He is nearly pleading at this point because - you don't disobey a direct order. That's been branded into the very core of his being and there is near panic pushing at the back of his throat, he wants to vomit but he can't do that either, and-

"Locking yourself in your room is ridiculous, come out right now. Why would you do something like this? You know how much I do for you. Do you like making me punish you?"

Punished- Punished- he is going to be punished - oh god, oh god- Father sounds mad-

"Father, I can't open the door. Please, it locks from the outside." His voice is half crazed with panic, but it doesn't matter because he knows that when Father gets like this nothing in the world can keep him safe.

Please- no, no, he hasn't done anything wrong, don't say it- he doesn't want it- let him out- No! No! This isn't right-

"Consume, there are no locks on this door. You know that. Take down whatever you used to brace the door closed right this minute or you will regret it."

He is quiet for a moment and his mind goes blank. "I can't." He settles on finally. It makes his stomach twist and his eyes water, but he says it with as much strength as he can. His mind is blank. Blissfully blank.

Empty, like a voided shell.

"Fine," his father's voice goes cold. "You can come out when you want to. Expect to be punished for your disobedience."

Punished. Punished. He is going to be punished- which kind is it? Father loves to punish him-

The brief double knock against his bedroom door jolts him soundly out of his morbid thoughts. For nearly a moment, he is ready to start begging to be let out. The words get caught in his throat just long enough for him to remember where he is.

"Come in." he manages the words easily enough, manages to force down the bitter hot panic rushing-rushing-rushing against his stomach, and the nausea associated with the punishment that followed his father's expression of his temper; he manages, somehow because he isn't entirely certain how, to shove down every shred of emotion bleeding across his face, but for some reason he can't quiet mask the audible tremble that embeds itself in his voice.

Tama-san's face, tanned and dark against the white wall, poked inside his room. She grinned at him, her golden curls bouncing against her face and her sharp white teeth gleaming. "Good morning. I could hear you walking around from Suki's room next door-" She stopped mid sentence and came the rest of the way into his temporary bedroom.. "Oh, honey… Is everything alright?"

Izuku can't quite manage to meet her eyes, and how ridiculous is that? "I'm fine, Hoga-san."

"Tama-san, honey, and you look like someone in need of a hug and a good cry. It's okay if you want to tell me about it." She sits down on the bed and pats the bed gently beside her. "Come, sit. Tell me what's on your mind."

Izuku looks at her a bit startled, "That's okay?"

She returns his gaze with an affronted look. "Of course it's okay. Ayumi and I won't have you for very long, but while you are here, we want to make certain you are as comfortable as possible. The best way for us to do something like that is for you to tell us when something is wrong."

He hesitates. Izuku can't quite help it since he's been told to keep his mouth shut since he was basically conceived, but the offer is so tempting, and the issue so minor that he can't see a reason not to express it, especially when Tama-san is being so nice to him. No one is nice to him, not even his father's servants.

"I- I got scared." he manages.

"What about?"

"I forgot that I was here and the door was closed when I woke up."

"The door?" Tama-san reaches forward and rests her hand against his shoulder. It nearly startles him at first contact, but after a few seconds he is leaning heavily into the feeling. Her hand is incredibly warm.

"It was closed. It reminded me of the times I got locked in my room." He can feel her hand tightening against his shoulder, but she doesn't say anything, merely humming in acknowledgement. "I remembered a bad day." He whispers.

She moves forwards slightly and, suddenly, Izuku is being embraced and he's never been held like this before. It startles him so badly that he stops breathing for a second simply to process the fact that someone is holding him. It's strange and warm and unlike anything else that he has ever experienced, but at the same time it's so perfect that the only thing he can do is relax his taut muscles - when had he tensed up? - and snuggle deeper into the embrace.

Eventually, Tama-san releases him. She looks at him with an expression he can't identify before continuing on, "If you ever need anything while you are here Izuku, feel free to ask. You don't need to keep secret the things that scare you. The best way for Ayumi and I to help is if you tell us so we can reduce the discomfort you feel. If you get scared when the door is closed, you can sleep with it open at night. If you have a bad dream feel free to wake me up. Anyway, I brought you a change of clothes since most of everything in here is too small for you. Most of the foster children we receive are either a bit younger than you or a bit older."

"Thank you, Tama-san."

"It's not a problem. Do you need any help changing?"

"I can do it by myself."

"When you finish, go ahead and head downstairs for breakfast. You can meet Suki and Ayumi as well." She ruffles his hair lightly and stands up heading towards his door. "I hope you're hungry, Ayumi made some miso and natto."

Izuku nods at her, waiting for her to leave before he started changing into the tshirt and jeans she had brought for him. After he is dressed, he heads downstairs.

Meeting Hoga Ayumi startles him more than anything else. Where Tama-san is all blonde hair and tanned skin, large energetic smiles and brown eyes, Ayumi-san is fierce. He stares at her, blinking his surprise away because he recognizes her. That isn't a good thing. Her hair is red. Red like spider lilies. Red like blood. It rolls down her back, cascades really, and Izuku can't help but wonder how she avoids getting it stuck in the armoured plates that make up her skin.

Her name was Oniyuri. Well. Her hero name was.

His stomach drops when the name comes to him, because he knows- knows in a way that makes him miserable, that he has trained in at least three different methods to murder this woman and others like her. That thought is dangerously close to forcing him to remember lessons-

It is scared.

There are thirty seats exactly in its classroom. It knows like all the rest what to do. Its seat is No. 21, just like it. It sits and allows its father's servants to bolt him into the ankle latches. Then it waits for the other units.

It jumps slightly when suddenly the room is full. Teacher is here too, facing the board writing today's lesson. It looks around wildly before realizing it has to catch up, but it looks down and sees its notes are flawless.

"No. 19, please explain the reason why problem number one must be solved in the manner that we discussed in the last lesson."

"It doesn't know, Teacher." No. 19 responds promptly and without hesitation.

"Pity. It seems something has been neglecting its studies. Remove it from the room for a remedial lesson. I'll file a report. No. 21?"

"It doesn't know either, Teacher."

"Remedial lessons for No. 21 as well."

Suddenly, Assistant Teacher is in front of it. "Is it neglecting its studies?"

"No," it insists, "It promises, it is not! It answered its question!"

"I do not believe it is studying properly. Hands."

It extends its hands. The thick pointing stick Teacher uses raps hard against its knuckles, hard,- once, twice, three times. It blinks away a few tears

"Answer question three."

"Quirk suppressants." It guesses wildly.

"Wrong. Hands."

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

"Question four."

- lessons he has buried because he refuses to think about them, from before he was named. Unfortunately, unlike his thoughts, Izuku is not capable of simply shoving the woman in front of him to the back of his head where he would never have to think of her again. Instead, Oniyuri is dancing in a pair of spats and a tank top around the kitchen serenading a very tiny looking girl in a high chair.

"Hello." It's about all Izuku can manage at this point, but it is enough to startle the woman in front of him.

"Oh, hello!" Ayumi grins at him, "Hello! Tama told me this morning that we had a guest! I heard that you got here late last night. Bet you've got an appetite worked up! Oh, where are my manners. My name is Ayumi, and this little munchkin," she said gesturing at the little girl sitting in the high chair, "is Suki. Say hello Suki-baby!"

"Hello, mister! I'm Suki!" the little girl offered him a large grin, "I'm three years old! How old are you!"

Izuku gave her a look of confusion, "You have a name?"

"Course I got a name! Everybodies got a name!"

Izuku looked towards Ayumi trying to determine whether or not the small girl was lying to him, but instead of seeing a disapproving look pointing toward the toddler on the off-duty hero's face, Izuku found a frown pointing towards himself instead. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Ah, no. You're fine. Here, grab a plate and have something to eat."

"Thanks." Izuku turned back to the little girl in the high chair after retrieving his food. "Just so you know, I am seven."

She blew a raspberry at him in response. "Three is better than seven."

"So are Ayumi and Tama your parents?" Izuku asked interested.

"Yup, yup, yup! I got ado-ado-"

"Adopted," Ayumi interjected.

"-yeah, that, a looooooong time ago." The little girl continued.

"She means last winter." Ayumi said smiling as she sipped her drink. "This will be the first Christmas we are all together as a family since it was just after the new year that Suki was given to us."

"When is Christmas?" Izuku asked. He had been wondering more and more about the holiday since it seemed nearly everyone was bringing it up.

"Hmm… well, today is the seventeenth. Christmas lands on the twenty-fifth. You probably will have been moved to a more permanent foster family before then."

"When will that be?"

"I believe Ito-san will be getting back in contact with us tomorrow. She's looking for a foster placement without a direct connection to heroes."

"She is?" Izuku said surprised.

"Of course she is. From what Ito-san told Tama, you seemed pretty freaked out by the idea of living with a pro."

"My father doesn't like heroes."

"That's fine. Not everybody does. It does make your placement position a bit harder though. Ito-san may end up having to transfer you to another social worker. Most people this close to U.A who are registered as foster families are heroes. "

"Is there a reason for that?"

"Outside of wanting to help people? Not necessarily. I know a few heroes myself who had trouble at home growing up, and just wanted to offer a safe space for kids in need. It's a bit hard for heroes to apply to be foster parents, but a large number of us just want to give back."

"Why would it be harder?"

"Perks of being a hero." She grimaced at him. "Heroes are at a higher likelihood of dying while in the line of duty. There is also a non-negligible chance of kids in their care getting abducted as a hostage, kidnapped for ransom, or murdered. Supposedly, the increased difficulty is supposed to prevent that from happening, but what it really does is make some of the most likely to assist individuals refrain from getting involved."

"So, do heroes have to do extra stuff?"

"Yeah. Extra classes on safety, restrictions on popularity polls. Heroes are also required to have a non-hero partner in order to be able to reduce the likelihood of dying on the kid and basically abandoning them again."

"That seems ineffective."

"It isn't a big deal to be honest, and some of the restrictions do make sense."

Izuku took a big bite of his food as he thought about what she had said.