Chapter 7

The child service worker assigned to Kaori worked diligently in getting her placement with Aizawa and Yamada approved, and the papers were finalized a day before she was set to be discharged from the hospital.

Kaori was certainly no expert on the foster care system, but she doubted if things usually worked this fast. She was certain the status of Aizawa and Yamada helped things moved along more smoothly, heroes were revered here, after all. The fact that they were worried the person responsible for the incident would be coming for her was probably the other factor. Kaori herself wasn't too sure of the validity of the concern. The nature of the attack hadn't felt targeted — her family hadn't been a famous one, nor any of the other victims — though perhaps the villain would want to finish her off before she handed any information over to the police. The idea of that sent shivers down her spine. The sheer memory of the attack still plagued her dreams; she couldn't handle going through another one. It hadn't been anything like the villain attacks she had loved watching on the TV, both here and the shows she had watched back home. There was no happy ending here, no white knight swooping in to save the day. Just her and her quirkless self.

Kaori shook her head. There was no need in thinking about the attack anymore when another obstacle was right in front of her. Namely, moving in with Aizawa and Yamada.

As much as Kaori respected Aizawa and Yamada, and appreciated what they were doing for her, living with them still felt off, uncomfortable even. Permanence had always been something important to her. Kaori never saw the point in cultivating a relationship if it had an expiration date. This had probably caused her to miss out on many valuable friendships, but she didn't care.

It wasn't as if Kaori wanted or needed new parental figures — she had had enough, thank you very much. She would just be opening herself to potential hurt. For now, she just needed to remain cordial and distant, without acting like the world's strangest four-year-old. Her parents may have gotten used to her oddities, but they sure hadn't. She hoped they would give her space and time to cope. She couldn't imagine that they were overbearing, but the thought of them trying to parent her like she was a baby was repulsive.

Kaori yawned, standing up to stretch. She was glad to have changed out of the scratchy hospital gown she had been forced to wear.

There was a soft knock and Kaori went to open the door. It was Aizawa.

"Ready to go, problem child?" he asked. "Hizashi is waiting in the car."

Kaori scowled. She couldn't help but feel like Aizawa had something against her, given the way he had talked to her the other day. Her hopes of making a good impression on the man were diminishing the more time she spent with him, much to her regret.

"Yeah, let's go." Kaori's eyes swept the room for any belongings forgotten out of habit, despite not having anything with her anyway. Four-year-olds weren't trusted with much, unfortunately.

The walk out of the hospital was silent and tense, at least to Kaori. She fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt the entire time, her gaze landing on everything except for Aizawa. His presence set her on edge still, despite Kaori's familiarity with his character. Gruff, yet caring, was what she had remembered. However, she saw no signs of his softer side. None whatsoever.

Kaori glanced at him and immediately recoiled at his stony expression.

"Problem?" he asked, looking down at her.

"N-no," she squeaked, tearing her eyes away from him. Her heart skipped a beat, and was that a twinge of fear she had just felt?

She heard a sigh, and cautiously, she dared to give him another glance.

"Look, you don't have to be so afraid. If you have a problem, just say it."

There was no chance in hell she was going to tell him she thought he was rude, she could only imagine how he would react. "No problem at all," she said quickly. "Just um… nothing."

Kaori could feel his stare bearing a hole into her uncomfortably, but he said nothing otherwise. The remaining walk to the car felt long and arduous, and when they finally stepped out the sliding doors and into the scorching heat, she felt a dull relief.

Yamada had greeted her with as much enthusiasm as a golden retriever, and the car ride was a lot less awkward than it could've been if it had just been Aizawa and Kaori. He was fantastic at filling in the silence with his easy banter and charisma, allowing Kaori to relax in the backseat of the car.

It washed away the loneliness ever so slightly.

Aizawa and Yamada lived in an apartment complex, on the tenth floor. Aizawa fumbled with his pockets before pulling out a keychain and unlocking the door.

"Before we go in, you don't have any allergies to cats, do you? Can't believe I forgot to check," Yamada said sheepishly, scratching his neck.

Kaori shook her head.

"Good, because we have a cat! I hope you don't mind." Kaori smiled a little at that, somehow not surprised in the least.

Aizawa pushed open the door and they entered. Kaori left her shoes by the door neatly next to the other pairs.

The apartment was quaint and cozy. The living room was filled with knick-knacks and personal items, giving it a homey feel. There was a small flat-screen television in front of a worn-out looking couch. A low hanging light above the square dining table cast a dim glow all over the apartment, making Kaori squint a little to make out the smaller details.

"Welcome, Kaori-chan," Yamada said. "This is our living room and dining area. Sorry it's a bit messy." He picked up a can lying on the table and tossed it in the trash can cleanly.

"Nope, it's great," she said, giving him a small smile before walking in further. She had never liked it when houses were immaculate, it made her distrust the owners somehow; she liked seeing small hints of people's personalities through their decor. She loved plastering everything she liked all over the walls of her own room, it's what made it her home.

"Shiro, come here boy," Aizawa called, facing the direction of the darkened hallway. Kaori peeked in curiously.

A black cat strode out in the open with his tail up high, looking very proud. Aizawa scratched his head and he responded with a purr. Kaori cooed at it internally, he was utterly adorable. All cats were, really.

"Your cat isn't white," Kaori said, crouching down next to the cat and admiring his fluffy fur. She resisted the strong urge to press her face up against it.

"Hizashi thought it'd be funny," Aizawa said flatly, not agreeing apparently.

Cautiously, Kaori tentatively reached out and petted his head. Shiro didn't bite her immediately, so she took that as a good sign and continued giving him pets. His soft fur felt nice and warm; she could already feel her mood lifting.

"He likes you," Yamada noted. "Though he's quite friendly normally."

Kaori nodded in acknowledgment and smiled fondly. When was the last time she had gotten to pet cats? Despite her mom's quirk, her family had never gotten a cat, much to her confusion. They would never get a chance to have a pet cat together, now that they were— Kaori clenched her fist, unwilling to complete that thought.

A short while later, Shiro had had enough of her furious petting and walked away from them, curling up on a large fluffy pet bed tucked in the corner.

"Hey Kaori-chan, why don't you help me out with lunch?" Yamada asked as Kaori stood back up.

"Sure," she said, eager to do something other than lying on a bed for once.

They meandered over to the kitchen, with Kaori following closely behind.

"We usually get takeout, but I thought we'd have something homemade today." Yamada looked happy with himself. "How do you feel about mac and cheese with broccoli? Very healthy, yeah?"

"Sounds fantastic." It had been a while since she had some good old mac and cheese. Her parents had been health nuts and they rarely got junk food. She missed the days in her previous life, where she would eat microwaved mac and cheese with chicken nuggets in front of the TV, watching cartoon reruns. Life was simpler back then.

"Right, let's see," Yamada mumbled as he looked through the fridge. "We have … milk and butter. What else do we need?"

Kaori had never made any mac and cheese outside of the boxed kraft's ones, so she was unable to contribute.

"Oh right! Flour and cheese." He hurriedly grabbed said ingredients and set them on the counter, along with some measuring cups. "Hm… what was the recipe again?"

Kaori watched on quietly, wanting to help yet unable to say anything that was of use. This was why she stuck to microwavable foods or instant noodles when she had to cook for herself. Anything with more than two steps was beyond her.

"Aha!" Yamada exclaimed, reading over the recipe on his phone. "I believe we're supposed to cook the noodles first, let's see…" Returning to the cabinets, he rummaged through them for a bit before looking over at Kaori, a sheepish grin on his face.

"I forgot to buy noodles. This is the last bit of pasta we have." He rattled a bag of penne up in front of her, a few pathetic pieces at the bottom clanging against each other. "You think ramen noodles could work?"

Kaori blinked at him. "I don't-"

"We can chop them up into pieces! It'll be perfect." He looked so proud of his idea that even Kaori was beginning to think it might work. Cheesy ramen was a thing, wasn't it?

He pulled out a chopping board and placed a fist full of raw ramen noodles on there. When he and began to hack away at it with a cleaver, Kaori backed up in alarm.

"Remember Kaori-chan, knives are dangerous! Don't try to use them without the two of us being with you, okay?"

Kaori could only stare at him incredulously.

After the noodles were cooked and strained, Yamada plonked Kaori on the counter and instructed her to stir the sauce while he added the ingredients. Kaori enjoyed the repetitive motion and watched the sauce slowly came together with satisfaction. She was starting to understand why people liked to cook, aside from it being a necessity. She'd take it up as a hobby if she wasn't so prone to burning everything she touched.

After the final ingredient, a metric ton of cheese, was added, Kaori hopped off the counter. Yamada dumped the bits of ramen noodles and the leftover penne into the pan, and they were finished. Kaori felt extremely proud of both herself and Yamada - she had been certain this session was going to end with the house being burnt down.

Yamada placed down the pan in the center of the dining table and shook awake Aizawa, who had been snoozing on the couch. The "Mac and Cheese" looked off to Kaori's eyes, even disregarding the wrong noodle type. The ratio of the noodles and cheese skewed so largely toward cheese that it was essentially just cheese sauce with a side of noodles.

"Aw crap, we forgot the broccoli," Yamada said, throwing his hands up in annoyance as if that was the main problem with the meal. "Don't worry Kaori-chan, we'll have something healthier tomorrow."

For some reason, Kaori didn't believe him.

"I knew we should've just gotten takeout," Aizawa said as soon as he walked into the dining room. "What even am I looking at?"

"It's mac and cheese!" Yamada said, feigning annoyance. "We tried our best alright?"

Aizawa sighed and sat down. "There isn't a single piece of macaroni in here, but fine. I'm starving."

"That's the spirit," Yamada said cheerily.

"Let's eat," they said, before digging in.

It tasted about as good as Kaori had expected. The dish would've tasted the same, if not better without the chopped ramen; they were so small they basically melted with the sauce. The few rare bits of penne tasted somewhat normal though, and she was grateful for that at least. From her peripheral vision, she could see Aizawa making a face at his portion while Yamada inhaled it with gusto.

"So, Kaori-chan," Yamada said. "How are you liking our home so far?"

"It's nice," she said, staring at the pool of cheese sauce on her plate.

"I know it's not as great as your own home, but I hope you'll feel at ease here. If you like, we could swing by your house tomorrow to pick up some of your belongings."

Kaori shrugged, her eyes still glued to her plate. She wasn't sure if she could stomach walking through her house again. It felt wrong, her house without her parents there. Like cookies without chocolate chips or cake without frosting.

"We can go another time if you aren't up for it. It's totally fine. For now, we'll see if we can find some spare clothes in your size lying around. What do you think, Shouta?"

"Midnight might have something for her or know where to look."

"Perfect! I'll give her a call later," he said. "Also, how do you feel about going back to school? Though, before we figure out if the attack was targeted or not, it might be unsafe for you to go."

"I'd rather not." If she had to learn how to do addition after what had gone down, she was going to scream in the teacher's face. It would be a welcome distraction though, she had to admit.

"No worries. I could probably teach you for a bit. How hard could the pre-school curriculum be?"

"Don't teach her anything weird Hizashi, I still remember the answers you put for the essay portion of the Japanese test back in UA." He gave Yamada a meaningful glance.

"Good thing preschoolers don't need to learn how to write essays now, isn't it?"

Aizawa looked at Yamada with a suspicious glint in his eyes. "I think it might be better if I taught her. You can't be trusted to do anything. God, I have to do everything around here."

Kaori would honestly prefer if he didn't. She didn't want to have him yelling at her for her failure to learn Japanese, he scared her enough as it was.

"I thought you hated teaching?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "I don't. I just don't like it when students," — he paused, looking straight at Yamada — "don't pay attention."

Yamada rolled his eyes. "I was a fantastic student. You on the other hand…"

Their easy banter made Kaori feel nostalgic. She missed talking with her friends from high school. She hadn't had anyone to talk to at an equal level for so long she had forgotten what it felt like. She'd give anything for a chance to talk with her friends right now, there was so much she wanted to say. The emotions brewing inside her were threatening to surface and she needed someone to just listen. Yamada and Aizawa were useless in this regard. She didn't feel comfortable sharing with them, who were essentially strangers. Besides, she was certain she would only receive more pity. So, Instead, she pushed her anger and sadness back down further.

"That aside," Yamada said, sobering up. "I hate to be a downer, but there are some rules that we'd like you to follow while you're here. I'm sure you understand."

Kaori nodded. That made sense. She wondered what kind of rules they could've come up with - they didn't seem like the most responsible and prepared type.

"There are only two rules, so please remember well," Aizawa said, pushing his empty plate away. "First, curfew is at nine pm. Second, keep your own room tidy."

"That's all?"

"Yep. We might add some more as we go, but since we are also quite new, we thought it'd be easier to just see how it goes. You seem like a nice kid, I'm sure we won't have a lot of problems," Yamada chimed in.

Kaori considered that for a second, pleasantly surprised at how flexible they were being.

"Yeah, those rules seem fair," she said.

"Great! Now, let us show you your room," he said, then looked pointedly at her unfinished food. "Unless you want to finish that first."

Kaori pushed the plate away from her, feeling nauseous. The cheese sauce had congealed forming a cold, unappetizing lump.

"No, I'm good I think," she said, standing up, wanting to put as much distance as she could between her and the food. Yamada led the way with Aizawa lagging behind the two.

They walked through a narrow hallway with paintings hung on the sides, passing by several closed doors. Kaori counted five in total in the entire hallway.

Yamada pointed at one of the doors. "This is the master bedroom, if you ever need us, feel free to knock or holler."

He opened another door, revealing a bathroom. "That's just the bathroom, and the door at the end of the hallway is a small storage closet."

Yamada opened the door next to the one at the end of the hallway. "And this is the room we prepared for you! We didn't have enough time to decorate it or anything, but we could definitely do a bit of that later if you feel up to it."

The room was tidy and spotless, a contrast with the somewhat messy and homey rest of the apartment. The walls were a pristine white, and the floor was polished wood. It reminded her of a hotel room, but even more spartan.

"There's a bathroom at the back of the room there," Yamada said, pointing at the door. "I know it's a bit sparse, and again, we can go shop for some essentials later."

"It's perfect, thank you."

"I'm glad. We'll leave you to settle in for a bit then. Come back out whenever you're ready."

And they were gone. Kaori let out a sigh of relief. Socialization was tiring, even more so with important characters from the show. She was constantly afraid of saying something weird or accidentally blabbing out the entire plot of the show. It'd take the weight off her a bit, but she doubted if they'd believe her.

She began to inspect the room closer. There was nothing inherently wrong with the room, it was nice and clean, but Kaori missed her own room. She missed the starry paint job on the ceiling and the sky-blue walls. Heck, she wished she had the stuffed panda that for some reason she had kept.

There was a twin-sized bed tucked in the corner of the room, with gray covers and a soft-looking pillow. The only other furniture was a small wardrobe and a desk with a swivel chair.

She flung herself onto the bed, feeling it sink under her weight.

If she had been home, she'd probably be watching TV with her dad or helping out with the chores. Or maybe they'd be at the zoo, trying to talk to lions. Kaori trembled. Her parents were gone, for good. She'd never taste her mom's homemade bento, nor feel the warmth of her dad's embrace again. Gone, forever. The feeling was so alien and painful that she had to repeat it to herself a few times before it fully registered.

Why had it all gone so wrong? This wasn't supposed to happen to her — it was something you'd see on TV and feel bad for those involved. She had already died once, wasn't that punishment enough? She felt like she deserved a nice peaceful life as recompense. It felt like this life was already ruined no matter what she does now. Things looked so bleak and desolate from her point of view. She was an orphan who still hadn't developed a quirk yet. It'd be a miracle if anyone wanted to take her in permanently.

Kaori burrowed her face further into the pillow, searching for the smallest amount of comfort.

The sound of silence had never been so grating. At least the cat had been welcoming.

A/N: Kaori goes to Aizawa and Hizashi's house :D How could I not add a cat haha. I know them making mac and cheese probably isn't the most likely of scenarios, but it's one of the only things I know how to make. And I guess I could kinda see Present Mic liking American culture and food, considering he taught English and all.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews :D My country has started a semi-lockdown recently, so I'm just writing like mad every day lol. Expect the next chapter in a week.