It's like he's been caught in a whirlwind.
Quite frankly, he has no idea what's going on. After he finished eating breakfast, Ayumi-san had brought him and Suki over to the television.
He remembered that word at least from the mass of memories of last night.
From the way Suki was running around barefoot in the living room squealing nonsense about cartoons, this is something normal. She doesn't seem confused about missing a lesson. Neither does she seem immediately worried about much of anything, as she continues running around the room on her chubby legs.
Ayumi-san sits beside him, the large wide plates that make up her skin shifting slightly against each other. He can't help but stare at them, fascinated by her mutation quirk rather than the television.
"You can touch them if you want." She smiles at him from where she is comfortably perched on the couch. He feels his face grow hot, realizing that he had been caught staring.
"That's okay." He doesn't want to overstep. He doesn't want to make these people mad. What if they punish him like his father? No, he has to prevent that no matter what.
She makes a face at him anyway and before he can do something- before he can stop her, she has reached out and taken his left wrist with the softest grip Izuku can remember feeling. Holding tight, she runs his hand against the opposite arm.
"It's made of chitin. Technically speaking, these are my bones. They are really pink aren't they?"
He blinks at her. "Your bones?!"
She nods. "It's a variation of a beetle mutation. I inherited the bulk of my appearance from my father and the ability to secrete acid from my mother. I'm technically an emitter and not a mutant since I inherited my appearance. It's why I'm pink and not red, at least according to the quirk doctor I saw when I was younger." She looks over her shoulder to check on her rambunctious three year old who had fallen suspiciously quiet.
"Suki, come watch your show or I'm going to switch it. I doubt Izuku is desperate to learn about Paw Patrol."
"Nooooo, mommy!" The little girl squealed all of the sudden, perking up from behind the couch across from them. Izuku stared at her, taken aback by her enthusiasm.
Instead of coming around the couch, Suki decided to launch her tiny body over the top of the couch. Landing face-first into the cushions, all Izuku could hear from her were torrents of giggles as she eventually flipped head first over the couch.
From behind the small girl, Izuku saw Tama-san descend the stairs two at a time. The blonde grinned at him, raising a single finger to her lips in a shushing motion when she reached the last step before reaching across the back of the couch to grab the small girl.
"I'm gonna get this little munchkin," Tama-san growled tickling Suki as the little girl started squealing loudly.
"No! No tickling, mommy!"
"Alright, alright!" Ayumi-san intervened after a few moments of frantic tickling. "Come watch your show, Suki."
"Paw patrol again?" Tama-san groaned loudly upon seeing the television. "Can't we try a Disney movie or something? We can't just bore Izuku. That wouldn't be fair."
"Paw Patrol is the bestest!" Suki declared from the floor.
"We aren't doing anything?" Izuku asked confused.
"Not today. It's Saturday, so Ayumi and I have most of the day off. I have to log in to my work remotely later today for a meeting, but I can do that from home." Tama answered him. "Besides, even if this is going to be a temporary placement for you, we try not to do too much immediately after a foster child arrives. It's mostly to help you settle in a bit. Besides, you won't be staying with us long enough for us to justify enrolling you in school, even if it wasn't the holidays."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Izuku asked nearly stunned. He had never in his life been given this degree of autonomy. Was he just supposed to sit and do nothing?
Tama-san caught the look of dismay on his face. "Well, we have some toys you could play with or some books you could read. If you want to wait for a little while, Ayumi typically goes on a jog in maybe half an hour or so. If you want you could go with her. There are also some art supplies upstairs in the playroom if you're partial to drawing. I'd offer the tv, but it looks like it will be occupied for a little bit." She nodded towards the little girl who was now staring intently at the television screen.
He considered this, his face scrunching up. Ayumi-san unnerved him quite a bit so he wasn't quite willing to spend a large amount of time with her, neither did the offer of toys or art supplies encourage him. He had never had those things before, and Izuku wasn't exactly certain what he would do with them if he did suddenly have access to them. The offer of books at least sounded familiar.
"Reading sounds okay." He finally decides.
Tama-san grins down at him from where she had perched herself against the back of the couch. "Do you want to sit through some Paw Patrol first?"
He glanced at the television. "I'm alright."
She grinned at him, chuckling lightly to herself. "I figured, but I had to ask. The books will be in the playroom."
Izuku ended up following the woman to a small room off of the kitchen. Izuku supposed once upon a time it would have been a bedroom of some sort, but for now, it looked like a toy explosion had occurred. Tama wrinkled her nose at the mess.
"You can tell that Suki's the main one in here, huh kid?" She chortled.
"It is a bit messy."
Tama-san snorted, shaking her head, "Kid, it looks like a bomb went off in here. I didn't think it was this messy. Anyway, here are the books."
There was a small shelf sitting there with hardback books covering it resting against the wall. Izuku was actually a bit surprised at the number of books that had been shoved onto the shelves. It almost seemed as though the entire thing might collapse at any moment.
"Here." Tama-san reached forward and plucked a book off the shelf. "It's probably for a bit of an older audience, but you will enjoy it if you give it a chance… Like I said, most of the children we have as emergency cases are a bit younger than you so I am afraid that a lot of this is for their age group." She gestured towards a copy of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.
"It's fine." Izuku grasped the book she had handed him close to his chest."I can read this one."
She hummed down at him. "You are welcome to read in the bedroom you are staying in, or in the living room. I'll have Ayumi call you when lunch is ready."
"Thank you."
"Not a problem." She smiled at him before leaving him alone.
Izuku glanced around the room once more, considering staying in there for the time being. Although it was rather messy, he eventually decided not to on account of there not being anywhere to sit rather than the plush toy-covered floor. He left the room soon after, taking care to carry the book he had selected with him through the kitchen and living room and up the stairs to the bedroom he had slept in the night before.
He collapsed into the bed once again before giving the book Tama-san had selected an honest look. Its name was written in bold letters across the front with a picture of a small boy underneath.
He frowned at it.
Izuku had experiences, though they were very very few, with books like these. Most of the books he was allowed to look at and read while living with his father were textbooks. A lot of it was on quirk theory, math, and science. His father was rigorous when something concerning his education had come up, so even when he had had access, Izuku often simply hadn't had time to luxuriate with a fiction book.
But suddenly, like magic he did.
Most of the rest of his morning was spent laying in the bed he had been given, off adventuring with an orphan named Oliver Twist. Izuku had never been more content.
Dinner was more important than lunch. Lunch had been light and airy with tepid but warm conversation between Tama and Ayumi. Nothing about Izuku felt strange or out of place at lunch. Nothing felt unwanted in the slightest, and while Izuku was taken aback at the affection shared by the two, he had managed to slot himself quite nicely into the dynamic of the household.
But dinner brought the call from Ito-san, where Tama- san's lip curled in annoyance, and her eyes scowled in agreement.
"Ito-san has found a placement for you, Izuku."
His stomach twisted something fierce. He almost wanted to frown because, yes, even if Ito-san hadn't found a permanent placement for him, it wasn't as if he would be able to stay with the Hoga family forever, so why did the thought of leaving make him feel small?
Ayumi-san wrinkled her nose. "That was fast. Is he at least staying in the city?"
"Yes, but he will be transferring out of her jurisdiction."
"Jurisdiction?" Izuku asked from his side of the dinner table.
"You'll have a new social worker, honey. But, at least you won't be moved out of Musutafu."
"Oh. Did she say anything about where I am being placed?"
"No." She frowned, "She will be picking you up in the morning, apparently it's a good hour away, considering traffic."
"And I'll be staying there, permanently?" Izuku asked.
"Should be," Tama-san grinned at him. "Ito-san will be picking you up in the morning pretty early, so you better get ready."
"Get ready?"
"Oh," She paused before briefly looking at Ayumi, "He doesn't have any clothes or things to pack."
They frowned at each other before Tama stood up sighing loudly before pushing her chair in. "Let me check the garage. He'll need at least a change of clothes or two to take with him."
Tama manages to find him three outfits worth of clothes in the garage. Most of it is old, probably second or third hand, but it is functional and Izuku feels a bit better knowing he won't have to leave the house with absolutely nothing. Even if nothing he has fits quite right, it's better than nothing.
Before Izuku can realize it though, he's somehow gone to bed, and woken up bright and early the next morning.
He takes the stairs two at a time as he heads for the smell of food. Apparently. Tama had gotten up early enough to start breakfast for him. He hesitates for a moment at the entryway of the kitchen. She sees him anyway, offering up a plate of food, only stopping when she notices the book he has clutched in his fingers.
He swallows. His mouth feels a bit dry, but he pushes past the twisting feeling in his guts and offers the book to her in exchange for the plate.
The blonde women's face falls a bit, and she crouches down to eye level with Izuku.
"Didja finish?"
He shakes his head, running his fingers over the spine of the book. He doesn't want to give it back yet.
She smiles at him, but Izuku can tell the expression is a bit forced. "Why don't you keep it. Take it with you to the new foster family. "
"I can have it?"
"Yup!" She pops the 'p' at the end of the word, "We packed your things from the garage, and I washed the outfit you wore yesterday so you would have some changes of clothes. I'll put this in with the rest so go ahead and eat before Ito-san gets here."
"Okay." He manages, "thank you."
"No problem, kid."
Thirty minutes later, he had finished eating and been packed into Ito-san's tiny car. All his worldly belongings - three of the four outfits he had received from the Hoga's, the clothes he had been wearing when father had forgotten him, and his book - had been packed into a black trash bag.
Izuku had watched when Ito had slipped it into her car trunk.
After they finally set out, Izuku had pressed his face firmly against the window. Driving in a car during the daylight hours was a new experience for him, and he was enchanted watching the vehicle pass other cars on the interstate.
Ito-san cleared her throat, dragging his attention away from the window.
"I made a lot of calls- I want you to realize this, Izuku, and I was able to find a placement with the Kibonoshi family. They are a wonderful couple, though they are a bit older. Unfortunately, that means I'll be transferring you to a new social worker."
"Oh." He stared out the window, thinking of the Hoga family.
"His name is Akui-san. Really, he was able to find you a place with one of the foster parents within his jurisdiction, fortunately. The family is very nice, according to him, and they already have a couple foster children staying with them."
"How many?"
"I didn't ask, since everything regarding your placement will be handled by Akui-San but hopefully, you'll have someone you can be friends with while living there. Unfortunately, we still haven't had a police report and no one has reported you missing, so you may be staying with this family permanently."
"I already told you, my father will find me when he is ready," Izuku glared at her. He was tired of everything he said being brushed over for some reason.
"It's been long enough after you have been placed in the system without a report that he may have difficulties getting you back… I just want you to be aware that you may not be going back to your father in the future."
Izuku snorted at her quietly before affixing his attention once again out the window. There wasn't anything he could say to Ito-san that would convince her that his father simply wouldn't care what difficulties there would be in reacquiring him once he made up his mind to. Unless being abandoned at the hospital was a true abandonment, and not simply a servant forgetting to retrieve him, or perhaps something going horribly, terribly wrong with his father's criminal empire, at some point he would be retrieved.
Besides, Izuku remembers the numerus. If Father had simply gotten tired of him, Izuku is certain that avoiding that fate is outside of his abilities.
The rest of the drive to his new 'permanent' home, Izuku stared out the window half-listening to Ito-san tell him about his new social worker, and the little she had learned about the Kibonoshi family.
Their arrival was different from the Hoga household. It was early when they arrived, the car winding around the twisting driveway to the property set against the woods. While the Kibonoshi technically lived in Mustuafu, it was at the very perimeter of the city. Apparently, that meant that most of the property was surrounded in its entirety with trees that towered high, high above the car.
Izuku stared at them, nearly in wonder at being so close to something his father would likely deem dirty. His hands itched with the desire to touch one of the multitudes.
The house they finally parked in front of was far larger than Izuku had expected. Though likely much smaller than his Father's compound, the building was two stories tall and sprawled across a significant portion of the property.
When he glanced at Ito-san's face, she seemed distinctly unhappy, a thin frown wrapping across her face as she tucked her green hair behind her ear, although the small boy couldn't figure out why.
After they finally parked, Ito-san popped the trunk of her car. Izuku was quick to get out of the car and grab the trash bag containing all of his possessions.
Ito-san rested her hand against his shoulder, the frown deepening as her hand gripped him tighter. They walked quietly to the front door where a large sign hung beside the door.
It read in big bold letters:
Kibonoshi Estate
No Solicitations Welcome
Underneath the sign was a large door knocker. It was big and brass and Izuku watched as Ito-san's shaking fingertips as she reached out to it. The sound it made was near resolute in its finality. Izuku could almost feel himself holding his breath even though he wasn't quite certain why.
They stood there for a moment before the door creaked open.
It was a small older woman with greying hair who greeted them with a terse expression on her face wearing a heavily pressed uniform. "Did you miss the sign ma'am, or did you have business with Kibonoshi-sama?"
Ito-san had an intense grimace cover her face. "I do, in fact, have business with Kibonoshi-san. May we come in?" She nodded at Izuku, still seemingly reluctant to release his shoulder.
The woman grinned suddenly when she finally noticed Izuku. "Oh, is this another placement? Kibonoshi-sama normally informs me before they happen so I am more prepared to receive guests- please, come in, come in." She opened the door wider to allow the two of them access to the building.
The Kibonoshi estate was gorgeous.
Everything was decorated in dark oak and red carpeting, accented with incredibly nice antique furniture Izuku's head swam with it as he lugged his trash bag full of clothes through the richly decorated foyer and through a hallway into a sitting room.
When they finally managed to be seated, the woman who had led them to the room grinned, her expression wide. " I apologize again for not being prepared to greet you."
"It is alright. The placement for Izuku was incredibly last minute. Most of the arrangements should have gone through Fuhai Akui-"
"Ah! Of course, of course! Most of the children we receive come through him. He is such a delightful man."
There was an awkward lull in the conversation.
"This Kibonoshi-" Ito-san started, "He wouldn't be Kibonoshi Yami, would he?"
The grin on the woman's face became a bit tighter. "I see you are aware of the recent controversy surrounding the good doctor. Please be aware that the rumors surrounding Kibonoshi-sama are completely false. Most of the management of the children is done by me and some of the other estate staff."
Ito-san bit her lip firmly, "I have heard some things about the living situation-"
"The children who live here want for nothing, Ma'am." She interrupted again, her voice suddenly chilly. "Kibonoshi-sama is an incredibly kind man who has decided to dedicate a large amount of his own private funds to help children in need. While -" she looked to Izuku who was sitting uncomfortably on the couch beside Ito-san.
"Izuku" he supplied helpfully.
"-Izuku," she continued as if she had not paused, "will not be living in a normal two-parent household, we find that a large number of the children do incredibly well living here. A number of them even work part-time for the estate. Besides that, ma'am, I do believe that Kibonoshi-sama's policy is to provide housing for those children who have difficulty finding homes elsewhere. To be frank, are you trying to turn down the position he has already acquired thanks to Fuhai-sama?"
"No, no, of course not! I was just shocked to realize that the Kibonoshi family wasn't a family that happened to share the doctor's name." She coughed lightly, "Let's move on to some o the placement questions I have then… I suppose the most pertinent question would be your name."
"Oh!" The woman had the grace to blush slightly when she realized she had forgotten to introduce herself. "My name is Kato Rin. The children like to call me Old Lady K or Kato typically."
"How many children do you have living here currently?"
"We have three currently. Our eldest resident recently aged out of the system and so was discharged last November, and one boy ran away in October - the first we have had in quite a while mind you. He was close to aging out of the system, unfortunately, so it's likely nothing much was done to find him after he left. Izuku will be the fourth. Fortunately, one of the boys is his age."
"There is a boy my age?" Izuku perked up. He hadn't been around other children his age since his days before being named, and obviously, none of those were good memories.
"Indeed. I don't know how much time he will be willing to spend with you, of course. The poor thing has some behavioral issues that need to be worked on, but I suppose you never know with these things."
"The other children?"
"Ah - yes, yes, my apologies - we also have a fifteen-year-old girl and a seventeen-year-old boy. They both also have some behavioral issues, but I don't expect the boy to spend an excessive amount of time with them."
"Are there any issues with their quirks?"
Kato pursed her lips, making it quite obvious that she did not appreciate the question much, "Not anymore. As I said, a number of the children placed here have behavioral issues. Those resulting from quirk usage are disciplined appropriately."
His social worker nodded firmly. "Will any of the children have an issue with someone quirkless?"
The other woman gaped. "Quirkless? In this day and age? No wonder you're having trouble-" She cut herself off abruptly, pretending to have a coughing fit. "No, no. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."
Ito-san nodded, seemingly having expected the reaction. "Very well. Will you leave me with Izuku for a moment. I have a few things I want to speak with him about before I leave him in your care."
"Not a problem." Kato grinned as she stood, extending her hand to the other woman, to which Ito-san gripped it firmly and smiled back. After the woman left, Ito had Izuku sit back down on the couch beside her.
"What did you mean when you asked her about rumors?" Izuku asked, his voice suspicious as he stared into her brown eyes, hoping to get a straight answer.
The woman hesitated for a moment before she decided to answer his question. "There are a lot of unsavory rumors about Kibonoshi-sama. None of them have ever been true of course, but people think it's strange when wealthy people are 'too charitable', and they like to say bad things about them." She bit her lip. "My husband has a similar issue, of course. He works in business, and whenever an issue occurs that affects the business as a whole, he is the first one people blame it on."
"So, do you think something bad is happening here?"
"No." She met his eyes, firmly. " I want to make sure that you know that I do not think anything bad is happening. I think people just like to gossip. Still, I want you to be careful. Don't go out of your way to find trouble. Most of your contact with the state will be through Akui-san from this point on, so make sure to take care of yourself." She leaned forward and gave him a very tight hug.
When she finally pulled away, Izuku could almost feel tears forming at the corners of his eyes."So this is goodbye? I won't see you anymore?"
"Yeah. But you will be okay. Here." She pulled out a thin business card from her pocket. "If you need some help. Don't use it excessively, okay?"
"Yes ma'am." He tucked it away without looking at it.
She paused one more time. "I do have one more question or you though."
He looked up at her in confusion, "A question, Ito-san?"
"Yeah… Are you actually quirk-" She paused, before shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. Take care of yourself, Izuku."
"I will."