Originally, I had made Izuku's little pity-party last a lot longer with a lot more stuff said, but I realized I wanted to save the stuff he said for someone to hear (I live for the angst), hence why you have him say like, 5 words and then cry for an hour and a half.

(Written quite some time later:) GUESS WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT?! PARAGRAPHS! :DD

Summer had come and gone, Izuku had spent it on vacation with his father in Paris (where his father got the money for that, he had no idea), the love city of the world, where his father had done unspeakable things to him nearly every other night or day. But, there were no beatings, so that was a… plus?

They had just gotten back from their trip yesterday, and now Izuku lay in his bed, wide awake, as he always was at three o'clock in the morning (he rarely ever got more than three hours of sleep a night), most nights he awoke in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of his lungs and shaking frightfully (thank God that wasn't the case the night he spent with Todoroki). On the trip, he had slept during the day, while his father was out doing… whatever the hell it was he was doing, drinking he suspected by the way his breath stank and mouth tasted of whiskey and cheap beer. But, Here, in his home, he couldn't count the number of times his father was either dead-drunk or at whatever barely minimum-wage job he had at the time when he'd awake screaming. On the rare occasion his father heard anything enough from the room above his to wake him, he simply shouted at Izuku to 'shut the hell up' and usually beat him at some point during the next day, depending on when he was home or awake, he must really value his sleep.

But this morning, it wasn't out of fear of waking his father or simply the insomnia that plagued him every night, nor was it the fear of the nightmares themselves. It was the fact that he started at a new school tomorrow, well, technically today, and at the famous Yuuei nonetheless. The thought of going to such a prestigious school scared him, but he had already confirmed with Shouto they'd be in the same class, as Shouto had gotten in on a baseball scholarship (which Izuku knew nothing about), and even Natsuo and Fuyumi got into the 11th and 12th grade there. He still remembered the entrance exams like they were yesterday, despite the fact that they were months prior. He specifically remembered falling flat on his face in front of this cute, round-faced girl. God, how embarrassing… he hoped he wouldn't be seeing her anytime soon. He also knew Katsuki had gotten into Yuuei, and though he hadn't really seen the boy since the changing room incident (besides classes of course), the looming fear of being placed in the same class as him for another school year lingered in his mind annoyingly. The good news however, was that Katsuki's goons weren't near smart enough to get into Yuuei. ...Small victories he guessed.

He turned on his side and tried shutting his eyes.

'Don't think, Don't think, Don't think.' he repeated in his head over and over, trying to turn his brain off. The image of the round-faced girl's mortified expression flashed in his mind, her constant 'are you alright?s' playing in his mind. "God!" He whisper-shouted, sitting up in his bed. Why was he thinking about that now? He tried to picture something, anything else, and the face of his mother came into his mind's eye. He fell back into his bed, his head hitting his pillow softly. He imagined his mother's soft smile in his head. "Mom…" He whispered, "I miss you… so much…" He lifted his right hand and began scratching at the cuts on his left arm.

"Do you ever miss me?…" He said, tears beginning to stream down the sides of his face horizontally.

"You never loved me in the first place… I know you didn't…"

He muttered as sobs began to wrack through his rail-thin body.

Morning rolled around quicker than Izuku would have liked, he hadn't slept a wink due to crying and wallowing in his own self-pity until 5:00 in the morning, repeating to himself his failures and other things he had said to his mothers spirit in heaven (did self-murderers go to heaven?) a thousand times before. at which point he decided to get up and shower for 30 minutes (which his father would have killed him for had he have been there), and then he simply laid in his bed with the lights on until 7:45, too tired to do anything, but too stressed to sleep, at which point he got up (already in his clean clothes from showering) and went to the fridge to get some leftover Tarako, which must have been from a few days ago based on the dry look of the noodles and the equally as dry look as the sauce it was coated in. He promised to walk to school with Shoto, Fuyumi, and Natsuo, as it was only a 20 minute walk from their houses and Shoto said they could all use the exercise- before clarifying that Izuku might not, but Izuku had told them he would be walking every morning, so they decided to join him.

Izuku scarfed down the food like a person who hadn't eaten in weeks (which, with the amount of food he consumed on a daily basis in Paris, was fair), then grabbed his bag and headed out, walking to the Todoroki household.

He knocked on the door and Toya opened the door with a tired expression on his face. He caught a look at Izuku, and looked… concerned?

"Come on in, Midoriya." He said and smiled in what looked to be a sympathetic way as he slowly and made his way inside.

"Midoriya! Hey!" Shoto grinned when he caught sight of him, as he was genuinely excited to see him, though it looked like he might have lost more weight, judging by how much more prominent his cheekbones were (Which wasn't much, but it was still more than before- and God knows he can't afford to lose much more weight), and there were dark bags under his eyes. He was just coming down the stairs after a quick shower, and at the sight of him he pulled him into a tight hug. Which, to Izuku's surprise, he didn't totally hate (tensed up or not), even as he heard Shouto's small sputtering inhale when he could feel every bone in Izuku's body. At least, Izuku assumed that was why (Which he was right to think).

"H-Hi." He muttered, looking at the ground.

"How have you been? How was your trip to Paris? Was it awesome?" Shoto asked excitedly as Toya made his way back to the living room..

Izuku tried his best to put on a smile, but when he saw Shoto's own smile falter slightly, he knew it looked more like a grimace.

"I-It was great… I guess?" He said and Shoto opened his mouth to say something before Natsuo came barreling down the stairs

"Hey, Midoriya! It's been- like- forever! Are you excited for today!?" Natsuo shouted, his loud voice causing Izuku to flinch.

"A-Actually, I'm a b-bit… a bit nervous if I'm going to be honest with you."

Natsuo reached the bottom of the stairs, now standing beside Shoto and in front of Izuku.

"Is that why you're so stutter-y?" He asked and Izuku began to fiddle with his sleeve, his face turning a bright shade of red as Shoto elbowed Natsuo in the ribs, which went unnoticed by the smaller boy as he stared at the ground.

"M… Maybe" He tried not to his best not to stutter, failing. God, why was he such an embarrassment?

"Well," Natsuo said, looking at Shoto's unimpressed face, "I'm sure it happens to loads of people. Tons, I bet, in fact!" He tried, and a small smile graced Izuku's features, knowing Natsuo was trying his hardest to be nice, however mediocre his attempt was.

"Uh yeah… well, should we get going?" Izuku asked and Shoto nodded his head.

"You're not going to have breakfast?" Fuyumi questioned, who was already walking down the hall to where her shoes and backpack were.

"Uh, does it look like I have time?" Natsuo said sarcastically.

"Well, at least brush your teeth and that wild head of hair of yours, I'll go put some cereal in a bag for you to eat on the way there." Fuyumi said in a very motherly manner, "Is it okay if I put your guys's bentos in your bags?"

"Go for it." Natsuo grumbled, walking down the hallway a bit to the bathroom.

"Izuku!" She smiled kindly, opening the bags in front of her and placing the bentos inside gently, as not to disorganize anything inside the bags. "It's been a while, how are you?"

"I- uhm- I'm great." He said, his voice straining with the effort to sound even slightly happy.

"That's good! I'm glad to hear it!" She said, walking over to him with one last bento in her hands.

She reached her hands out and Izuku stared at it in confusion.

"I-Is that for me?" He Asked, stunned.

"Of course! I don't know why you never have lunch, as it's never really come up, but starting this school year, you get the Todoroki special!" She beamed.

Izuku stared at the box in her hand in shock, and slowly his face scrunched up and tears filled his eyes.

"Uh… did I do something wrong?" She asked in concern.

Izuku shook his head vigorously and wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

"Thank you, Todoroki-chan!" Izuku said, a big smile stretching across his face, and a twinkle in his eyes Shouto had never seen, though it could have just been the wetness to them.

"Y-you're welcome." Fuyumi smiled, tears of her own forming in her eyes. Clearly this boy had been shown no such kindness from anyone in a long time, maybe not even his own father, which she didn't want to believe, but the thought was still there in the back of her mind.

Natsuo came out of the bathroom just in time to see the tears and snot being wiped away from Izuku's face by Fuyumi's sleeved hand and he stilled "Uhm… guys? What's… what happened while I was in there?"

"Nothing really." Shoto muttered, and Fuyumi turned away from Izuku to face them.

"Seriously? No one's gonna tell me what's going on?"

"I-It's really nothing Todoroki- I just- Fuyumi gave a bento box, and I got a little emotional."

Natsuo stared at all three of them for a few seconds before squinting at Izuku.

"Whatever… don't tell me then." Natsuo Said calculatingly, as if there was something going on (as if he'd be smart enough to figure it out if there was).

"Natsuo, really, that's all that happened. Get a grip." Fuyumi sighed, putting on her boots then walking down the hall and into the kitchen/dining area.

Izuku took a seat on the bench in their hallway, looking sullenly to the floor, avoiding Natsuo's gaze.

"Don't be sad, Midoriya, I believe you." Natsuo said, staring at Izuku expectantly, waiting for his head to rise up and for Izuku to look at him, but no such thing happened.

After the two siblings put their shoes on, they stood (and sat) in awkward silence before Fuyumi came back down the hall, the promised bag of cereal in her hand. She noticed the tension, which was really only from her two brothers, Izuku was still just reeling from the fact that someone was being so nice to him after being treated so nastily almost every waking hour of the day for two months without pause.

"Natsuo, what did you do?" Fuyumi scolded, glaring at him.

"Nothing!" He yelled back, Fuyumi looking at him disbelievingly.

"Well, why else would everyone be looking so awkward If you didn't say something stupid?" She scowled, flinging her arm out towards him, effectively making Natsuo jump as she handed him his cereal.

"Guys, it's fine, let's just go. Well be late." Shouto said, looking bored with his siblings' antics. "Come on, walk and talk." He said, and Izuku stood up as Shoto passed him and swayed uneasily. Shoto instantly grabbed hold of his arm to steady him as Izuku shrugged him off, putting a hand over his eyes and trying to stay up right. Shoto noted that he didn't even flinch when he touched him, so there must have been something terribly wrong.

"Oh my God, Midoriya? Are you okay?" Fuyumi said urgently, rushing over to where Izuku was standing. Shoto just stood there, a bit shocked as he noted his rapidly beating heart. For a second there he had thought Izuku was about to pass out. God, was he being fed at all?

Shoto instantly felt concern build in his chest as he stared at Izuku's bent-over form.

"Izuku, has your father been feeding you?" Shouto asked.

"What...? Of course… ." Izuku said distantly, looking up at him with glazed-over eyes.

"Izuku, sit down." Fuyumi said in a concerned tone, putting a hand on Izuku's shoulder as she gently pushed him down. Again, no flinch.

"I'm fine." Izuku said defiantly, suddenly coming back to his senses.

"You looked on the verge of collapsing, Izuku. I wouldn't exactly call that fine." Shoto said, sitting down beside him.

"Maybe you should go home…" Natsuo suggested, and Izuku's eyes grew wide and his limbs failed uselessly.

"No!" He shouted, "I… I can't miss the first day of school." He recovered, staring at the ground once again.

"Well, I don't think it would be a good idea to walk." Fuyumi said sternly, putting a hand up to stop Izuku before he could interject.

"No arguing, I'll get Toya to drive us." She said, turning to get Toya.

"Toya!" Fuyumi called, and Toya looked up from where he was sitting on the couch to see Fuyumi standing with her hands on her hips. "I'm borrowing your car." She said, and immediately Toya began to argue.

"No Fucking way Are you-." He started, before Fuyumi growled at him, yes, growled.

"First of all, watch your mouth, second of all, Izuku nearly passed out, so yes, we are taking your car. No way Is he walking on my watch."

"Why can't he stay the hell home?"

"Toya! Did you listen to anything I just said?" She asked, and though she never got angry with her family (aside from teasing of course), she looked a little miffed that Toya was giving her a hard time.

Toya stared at her for another second, before crumbling like an old concrete sidewalk.

"I'll drive you. How does that sound?" He questioned, gulping audibly when Fuyumi glared at him.

"Fine," she said, "but you might be doing this every morning." She said and Toya's mouth dropped open as he groaned.

"But, Fuyumi-."

"Do you care at all about that poor boy? Have you seen him? Seen the way his ribs poke out through his shirts, the ones that don't look five years old and are super baggy, the way his knee joints jut out from his skin when he wears pants that are the same?! Do you see how small his wrists are when his sleeves roll up slightly on those too large long sleeved shirts of his?! It's probably why he's wearing his winter uniform in the summer! And you want him to walk?! To lose more weight?! God, Toya- he already looks to be on the verge of death! Just frigging drive us!" She shouted, her voice had progressively gotten louder and louder as she rambled, her voice carrying into the hall where Izuku sat red-faced with his head in his hands and tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Is that why Fuyumi was so nice to him? Because she pitied him?

He tried his best not to let out a sob as he choked on his tears, but failed miserably when he coughed, sounding heart-broken.

Shoto placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Izuku to flinch harshly, and when he heard Shoto sigh he really did let out a sob, and another, and another. Natsuo simply sat there in horror as Izuku violently cried, pulling at his hair and managing to rip out a few strands in the process.

"Midoriya…" Fuyumi said as she entered the walkway, looking appalled. She didn't even think about Izuku as she yelled.

Shoto put a hand up to where he was ripping at his hair, pulling them away from Izuku's scalp.

"Do you want to stay here instead of going to school?" Shoto asked quietly, as not to scare the fragile boy. Izuku shook his head, wiping away his snot and tears for the third time that day.

"Let's just go." He said sadly, avoiding all of their gazes.

"Okay…" Fuyumi said, all four siblings looking nervously at the younger boy. Izuku grabbed the bento box and handed it back to Fuyumi, who simply replaced her sympathetic features with a determined one. "No, you keep it izuku, I meant what I said, you're too thin, and I'm not going to let you starve yourself any longer." She said almost gently, despite what she was saying.

"I don't starve myself!" Izuku cried out, nearly breaking down again.

"Then who does?" She asked, and all of the boys in the room looked at her, including Izuku, with a look of shock on their face at what she was implying.

"I-..." Izuku began, but couldn't think of a good explanation. He could use the medical condition excuse, but he'd already done that once with Todoroki, so… what? "No one. I'm not starved." Izuku finished, and Fuyumi just held her tongue and nodded as they quietly made their way out the door.

The five of them drove to school in complete silence, no one daring to speak about what had happened mere minutes ago, and they reached Yuuei without issue.

Natsuo cleared his throat as they rolled up to the gates and Toya simply looked back at him from the rear-view mirror.

"Have a good day at school, guys." Toya said, but no one so much as glanced back. He sighed as the last door shut and drove off.

They walked into their new school and down the hall in quiet awkwardness, until they reached the spot where they'd need to separate.

"So…" Natsuo said, looking around at the three other people in the group, his eyes lingering longer on Izuku than anyone else. "See you guys at lunch?" He tried, looking at Izuku worriedly.

"Yeah…" Izuku sniffed.

"Okay. See ya." Fuyumi said sullenly as they all split off into separate directions, leaving Shoto and Izuku to walk side-by-side.

"Are you good?" Shoto asked, tensing when izuku's face scrunched up like he was about to cry again.

"Yeah," Izuku said, breathing a sigh. "I'm fine."

Shoto continued to chance worried glances at Izuku the whole way to their class, trying not to be seen, knowing how Izuku hated the attention.

"We're here." Shoto said, looking at the big '1-A' sign above the door.

'Please don't be in Kacchan's class, please don't be in Kacchan's class, please-' he repeated the mantra in his head, until Shoto slid the door open revealing their class, which of course had "Ka-Kacchan." He muttered, feeling desperate to get away from there as fast as possible. He turned to leave before Shoto grabbed his bag gently.

"I won't let him hurt you," Shoto whispered so no one else could hear but Izuku. "If he lays a hand on you, I'll kill him." And he looked on the verge of really doing just that when the explosive blond twisted his head around to glare at whomever had just entered the room, ignoring the blue-haired boy's pleas to get his feet off the table as he swung his arm around in a chopping manner.

"Shut up." he grumbled, getting out of his chair and making his way over to Izuku.

"Back off, Bakugo." Shoto growled and Bakugo actually had the nerve to look surprised that someone would speak to him that way.

"Deku, call off your bodyguard." He chortled, looking past the youngest Todoroki who had stepped in front of Izuku protectively.

"H-he's not my bodyguard, Kacchan." Izuku mumbled, and Katsuki rolled his eyes.

"Listen, nerd, I'm trying to be nice to you, so…" Katsuki confessed, examining Izuku carefully, gaze lingering on his left arm for a second before bringing it back up to his too thin face.

"'S-so'...?" Izuku asked, glaring at the floor like it personally offended him.

"So, let me." Katsuki concluded, trying his best not to roll his eyes.

"Listen," Shoto said, "I think it's great you're trying to get on Midoriya's good side and all, but you've been a right bastard to him for nearly his entire life, so kindly fuck off." Shoto bit out venomously, near growling.

"Woah, cool down there Icyhot." Katsuki growled himself, and Shoto actually had the audacity to laugh.

"Icyhot?" He questioned, looking very amused and confused at the same time.

"Yeah, because your personality is either super fucking cold-hearted, or goddamn hot-headed. And your stupid, red and white hair. Thus, 'Icyhot.'" Katsuki glowered at him.

"Call me what you want, just get out of our way and leave us alone while doing so." Shoto said, shoving past him after making sure Izuku was still behind him and hadn't rushed off.

They sat down beside each other, and Shoto watched as Katsuki stormed to a seat across the room and sat down, fuming.

The blue-haired boy who had been scolding Katsuki came up to both Shoto and Izuku and watched them carefully.

"Do you know that rude boy?" The boy asked, and Izuku looked up from the floor.

"Only all my life." He said, and one of the blue-haired boy's eyebrows raised.

"You don't seem too happy about that." He stated and Shoto snorted.

"Trust me when I say he's not." Shoto rolled his eyes. The blue-haired boy cleared his throat and reached out a hand to Shouto, who was sitting closest to the standing boy.

"The name is Iida, and you are?" He asked as Shoto took the hand and shook it.

"It's Todoroki, nice to meet you." Shoto said, and tensed when Iida put a hand out to Izuku a little too quickly, causing the small boy to flinch. This did little to deter Iida, though, and he simply held his hand out farther to Izuku.

"Uh-uhm, Midoriya, …Midoriya Izuku." Izuku said, lightly shaking Iida's hand.

"Well, I hope we can become friends this year, Midoriya, Todoroki." Iida then turned and took a seat beside Shoto, and Izuku went red in the face as the girl he had fallen in front of walked into the room from the door. He immediately put his head down and hurried his face in his hands.

"Izuku?" Shoto whispered. "Are you okay?" He inquired after Izuku.

"Yeah- just-"

"Oh my gosh! Deku!" A voice squealed from across the room, drawing everyone's attention to the girl who did it. She looked around at the now quiet room and blushed a brilliant shade of red, then smiled nervously, "U-uh, sorry, go back to whatever it was you were doing…" she laughed a little as the room slowly filled back up with noise. "Hey," she said, looming directly at Izuku's embarrassed face.

"I thought I recognized that tuff or green curls, Deku!" She grinned, racing over to Izuku. "You're the cute boy who fell in front of the school at the entrance exams!" She bubbled. And for some reason a jealous feeling rose in Shotos throat when she said 'cute boy,' though Shoto chose to ignore it.

"Yeah…" Izuku said, hoping she wouldn't mention the other thing.

"You're also the one who saved me from those boys who were trying to cheat off me in the actual exam!"

"What is she talking about?" Shoto asked inquisitively, noting the deep shade of red that was Izuku's face.

"W-well, it was nothing really, she noticed these two boys looking at her exam papers, and when she told them to stop they threatened to rip up her paper, then... um… what's your name again?" Izuku questioned and the girl smiled shyly at him.

"Uraraka."

"Right, then Uraraka threatened them right back, saying she'd tell a teacher, but they said they'd beat her up if she did that, to which I said if they didn't stop then I'D tell a teacher, and when they threatened to do the same thing to me as they did Uraraka I said I wouldn't care, they stopped, moved to a new seat and everything." Izuku said rather quickly, leaving out the part where they snatched up the neck of his shirt and spat in his face. Where he got the courage to do such a thing, he had no clue. Sometimes he was more protective over other people than he ever would be of himself. It was then that a boy with red hair smacked his hand down onto a near-by desk, causing Izuku and Ochako to jump, which he was grateful for, as it made his jumpiness look normal.

"So manly." The redhead said, standing up from the chair he had previously been sitting in. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your story, and wow, you're a real brave guy." He expressed, making Izuku's face turn even redder, if that was possible.

"I-it… I-... I don't know about that." Izuku stuttered, and the red-haired boy laughed.

"Of course you know! Stop being modest, it was brave! A boy of your stature, going up against two boys who must have had at least fifty pounds on you… you're a real man." Kirishima said and Izuku frowned.

"How do you know they must have had at least 50 pounds on me? You don't know what they looked like." Izuku speculated, examining the redhead.

"Dude, no offence or anything, but you look most people would have at least fifty pounds on you." He elaborated, and if Izuku wasn't so afraid of being backhanded for his actions, he would have scoffed. But, because it had been drilled into him from a young age to be as respectful as possible when it came to other people, he didn't. But that didn't stop Shoto from doing it instead when he saw the hurt expression on Izuku's face.

"Why is it that people think they can say whatever offensive thing they want as long as they say 'no offence' First? Because obviously, It's still offensive." Shoto spat at him, and Izuku felt a weird feeling in his gut at being defended for the first time in… years probably. It made him want to cry, but he didn't let the tears that welled up in his eyes fall, as he had already done enough of that today.

"Todoroki… it's fine." Izuku whispered, and Shoto's expression softened when he glanced at Izuku. Shoto cleared his throat and looked back to the redheaded boy.

"Sorry," he said, "I got a little angry." Shoto resisted the urge to reach out and grab Izuku's hand, as he hadn't missed the tears in Izuku's eyes, which he had already discretely rubbed away.

"Dude, that's totally fine, it's pretty manly of you to stand up for your friend! Please forgive me, I can be a bit ignorant sometimes, but, you know what they say… it's a bliss." He laughed, then reached his hand out for Shoto to shake. "The name's Kirishima."

"Todoroki." Shoto said, as Kirishima vigorously shook his hand for a few seconds too long.

"Nice to meet ya, Todoroki. What about you, greenette?" He asked, bowing at the waist, which caused Izuku to blush for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"It's M-Midoriya." Izuku sputtered, and Ochako looked at him in a confused manner.

"I thought Your name was 'Deku'? Is Deku your first name or something?" Ochako asked, and Izuku looked at the ground nervously, not missing the way Todoroki froze.

"Where did you hear that name?" Shoto asked, almost angrily.

"O-oh… I heard that blond boy call him that on the day of the entrance exams… is it not his name then?" She sounded a bit worried she'd done something wrong.

"It's a cruel nickname made by that BULLY OF A DICKHEAD." Shoto yelled the last part, staring directly at Katsuki as he did so, earning a glare.

"It means useless." Izuku prided himself in the fact that he didn't stutter or look at the ground when he said this, but couldn't take the expression of sympathy he got from her a second later, and looked at Shoto instead, who was staring at him with a blank face.

"Oh!" Ochako cried, then groaned. "God, I'm so sorry, I had no idea! I thought it was a play on the word 'Dekiru,' which means 'you can do it.'" Ochako said, and Izuku nearly laughed at that. Him? Being able to do anything? Pfft, what a joke.

"Well, if… if that's what you think it means… I-I wouldn't mind you calling me that…'' Izuku said shyly while Ochako's face split into a bright smile.

"Okay, Deku!" She all but shouted excitedly, and Iida and Ochako shared their names again, while they chatted for a while longer before the bell rang. It was a few minutes more of chatting after the bell before they began to wonder where their teacher was… when suddenly a yellow caterpillar-looking creature scooted into the room, and a shocked silence fell over the class.

The caterpillar split open, revealing a tired, ragged looking man, who looked as if he would rather be anywhere but there.

"Good morning, class. And welcome to your first day at Yuuei. Try not to give me a reason to expel you all this year."