Chapter 8: Hiro's Secret
A/N: Trigger Warning: Self-Harm
"Hey Iida." Midoriya asked between mouthfuls of rice, another bite already in his chopsticks.
"Yes Midoriya?" Iida responded, he had already finished his lunch and was studying one of his books.
"Have you heard back from UA yet?" Izuku asked. "We should've heard from the UA by now. It's been a week." This caused Iida to fold the corner of his book as he marked the spot where he was.
"I was thinking the exact same thing last night." Tenya responded. "It is out of the ordinary for a school as prestigious as UA to be behind on something like this." They both sat and discussed how they felt they did in the written exam, but then they were approached by a teacher.
"Is there something you need Mr. Suzuki?" Iida asked the elderly gentleman.
"Yes, both you Iida and Midoriya are being summoned to the principal's office." Mr. Suzuki responded and this caused states of fear to instantly spring up upon both teenagers. Slowly they got up and proceeded behind the teacher in states of terror. They were guided inside the office and told to have a seat and wait for the principal to arrive. The two teens sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, the principal arrived. Both teens sprung up from their seats and bowed respectfully to their sensei and only resumed their seats when they were told to do so. The principal chuckled and smiled at the behavior his two greatest students were giving him.
"Now." He said, "No need to be alarmed. Neither of you are in trouble, quite the opposite in fact."
With that they both had completely different expressions as they instantly relaxed, and then straighten up as to not be slouching in front of their principal. "It so happens that I have your results from your UA entrance exam right here in the administration building. You may have wondered why they haven't arrived in the mail at your homes instead."
"Yes sensei." Tenya responded bowing his head. "Midoriya and I were discussing that very fact during our lunch break before we were brought to you sir."
"Well UA decided to implement a new form of notifying their prospective students if they were accepted or not after an incident from last year." Their principal explained. "Last year there was an incident where a student who had been accepted to their business course who was in a household where there parents were well… not parenting material." With a pang Izuku thought of Hiro.
"The parents had hid the kid's acceptance letter from him. By the time UA found out what was going on when the parents were arrested for crimes I will not go into detail, but they had already passed that child's designated spot to the runner up. Given the child had already skipped a year in high school, they decided to wait a year before inviting him back without any entrance tests, but let him practice his craft instead, all while spending time healing. It was at that moment they decided to change things for the next year to notify their prospective students at the school in the security of their principal's office." It was at that moment the principal paused, not noticing that both of his students were sweating greatly from an outbreak of nerves. "Now it so happens that when it comes to the pair of you, you are even more special." It was at this moment they heard a knock at the door, and the principal called for the knocker to enter.
"YOUNG MIDORIYA! IS HERE!" All Might called out, entering the room in his trademark yellow pinstriped suite, and Iida freaked out while trying to remain professional and Izuku fell out of his chair out of shock.
"Now All Might, I believe you have the results for my two students?" The principal asked, and All Might jerked a bit out of being embarrassed.
"Ah yes sir I do!" he called out taking a couple letters from his breast pocket. "Normally we would drop off the recordings of us in addition to a few forms, but you two are special!" All Might began. "Now, when it comes to the written exam, both of you passed with flying colors!" This caused their principal to beam with pride. It was at that moment that both teens tensed up, All Might was sure to cover the combat test next.
"Now when it comes to the practical exam." All Might began to explain. "As you know you were graded for what robots you took care of. Young Iida!" Iida then seemed to give All Might more attention if that was even at all possible,
"You scored 52 total combat points." All Might then turned to Izuku. "Young Midoriya, you took out more robots than anyone who took the exam, and that includes all past exams, you scored 112 Combat Points! A whole new record!"
Izuku turned red while trying to control his emotions, no doubt now he got into UA and had gotten the full ride scholarship now. If only he could give it to Hiro. However he thought his score was off.
"Ummm… All Might sir…." Izuku asked looking nervous and uneasy.
"Yes Young Midoriya! What is it?" All Might asked,
"Are you sure my score is correct? I made sure to count all my points as I collected them and I swore I got 85 points before I took down the zero pointer. Where did the extra 27 points come from? Where there secret points for taking down the zero pointer and you weren't telling the whole truth about it being worth zero points?"
"Of course not!" All Might barked out in a laugh, "You did indeed have 85 points before destroying the towering behemoth! But what you didn't notice is that it fell back down and crushed a bunch of other robots before the klaxon sounded, also the points that Present Mic awarded you in the auditorium were genuine. However, you aren't wrong about us not telling you everything we were scoring you on!"
This caused Izuku and Tenya to jump, "There was more!?" they both thought in unison
"You weren't just judged by your combat abilities. Not all heroes are built for combat, take our own staff member the Space Hero Thirteen! They specialize in rescue operations, and that is why we also awarded rescue points!"
It was at this point both boys backs were literally at ninety degree angles, it wasn't possible for them to be sitting up straighter. "Now Young Iida, you happened to score nine total rescue points. You spent more of your time fighting robots than helping and assisting your fellow applicants." It was at this moment Iida held his head in shame.
"No need to look so down young man. You happened to score Sixth out of all the applicants who took the exam." It was at that moment that Iida cheered up.
"Now Young Midoriya." All Might said turning again to Izuku. "Not only did you manage to score more combat points than anyone else who had taken the exam, but you also have more rescue points than anyone else as well with 80 points! You now have the record for the highest score in UA's history for the practical exam Young Midoriya with a total of 192 points! Now both of you." Both teens turned to All Might with clear looks of joy on their faces. "Welcome to YOUR Hero Academia."
It was as they were exiting the principal's office that Izuku remembered something. "I forgot to ask All Might if I could give away my scholarship!"
He rushed off to chase after All Might before he had time to jump off to resume his skinny form in private. Of course this caused Iida to chase after him telling him not to run in the halls.
"All Might!" Izuku called out as they crossed the grounds and reached the main entrance gate.
"Midoriya hold up!" He heard Iida call as he rushed to catch up to him.
"Yes Young Midoriya what can I help you with?" All Might asked him.
"Would it be possible for me to give some of my points, or perhaps my entire UA Scholarship away to another student? His name is Hiro Fuji! He goes to Aldera Junior High, and-" Izuku began to stammer.
"Ah yes." All Might said putting his hand to his chin. "I am very familiar with his situation. Now I know for sure you have no need for worry or concern. In fact right now our Principal Nezu is at his school speaking to him right now."
Meanwhile at Aldera Junior High
Both Bakugo and Hiro were sitting in the principal's office. Hiro's heart was racing.
"Surely I did something really bad to wind up here. The Head Matron is going to beat me within an inch of my life when they find out. Why is Bakugo here though? Not like they ever care about punishing him."
Both teens sat in silence, Bakugo in fury at the unknown person who ratted him out, and Hiro in abject terror. A moment later their principal came in, but to both boy's shock, Principal Nezu followed him inside.
"Hello Young Fuji and Young Bakugo. It is a pleasure to see both of you again." Nezu responded in his trademark cheerful voice. A moment later the principal pulled up a chair for Nezu and placed a couple books on it so he could see above his desk.
"Now, as you well know that in years past we have sent acceptance letters through the mail to our esteemed students." Nezu began. "However, because of actions taken by the parents of a prospective student of our business course last year, acceptance letters are delivered at the applicants school now instead."
"But then why are you here then?" Bakugo asked. "Sir…" he added on quickly, just saying the word seemed to cause him pain.
"Well, we'll get to that in a moment Bakugo." Nezu replied. "But first let me hand you these letters," he then reached into his bag and pulled two letters out which Hiro and Bakugo took. "Now, before you open them, let me go the points you earned in the practical exam. Both of you passed the written exam by the way. Hiro you had the 4th highest score and Bakugo had the 8th highest score."
He took a sip of tea before continuing on. "Now, Bakugo, you scored a total of 78 combat points while young Hiro Fuji scored a total of 42, but those weren't the only points that we decided to handout, because being a hero isn't all about fighting which is why we factored in rescue points."
With that both Bakugo and Hiro stared at Nezu with looks of surprise on their faces. "Now Bakugo, you failed to score any rescue points, the lowest out of any applicants. All the other applicants, even all those that failed the exam, managed to score at least one rescue point, and as a result of scoring zero rescue points you have incurred an automatic 50% penalty that was applied to your combat points."
Hiro then looked over to Bakugo to see he looked absolutely struck with a mixture of shock and terror. "As a result your final score for the practical exam has been dropped to 39 points, placing you 36th place overall. Not only does this mean that you got into the hero course by the skin of your teeth by coming in last place of those accepted, but you have also lost your free ride scholarship."
With the mention of scholarship, a pang of dread hit over Hiro, but then Nezu started speaking again. "Now Mr. Fuji, you scored a total of 60 rescue points! You were always trying to help your fellow applicants at every opportunity that presented itself. That means your final score for the practical exam is 102 points! You have the second highest score out of all our applicants! In addition with your excellent score on the written exam, it is my honor and privilege to present to you a full ride scholarship to UA!"
Hiro couldn't speak, his emotional walls had crumbled. He bent over and placed his head between his knees. Tears overcame him. He had never cried out of happiness before. His principal reached into a drawer and pulled out a packet of tissues and handed them to Hiro. It was several minutes before he managed to stop crying and was able to compose himself.
"Now I suggest both of you head back to your remaining classes," Nezu then said as both students got up, "However I would like to speak to Hiro Fuji alone for a moment if you don't mind." The Aldera principal raised no objection and led Bakugo out leaving the two of them alone.
"Now Fuji." Nezu started with an uncharacteristic serious expression and tone of voice, "I understand you are currently living in a quirk orphanage is that right?" To which Hiro nodded out of shame.
"Since the dorm system is new this year, we had written a policy in place to send our students home from the dorms on the weekends at least once a month so they could still spend time with their families." Nezu explained, "However, your situation is quite different from our average student."
"This is why I have a few letters I want you to give to the staff at your orphanage when you head back there after school. I've already taken the initiative to personally write a letter to the owner of your orphanage to let them know you'll be attending UA and be living in the dorms. It will be determined at a later date whether or not you may be required to return to the orphanage a once a month or not for mandatory family visits. But like I said earlier your situation is unordinary."
With that, Hiro was dismissed, and he headed back to class with his tardy note. He spent the rest of the day in a mixture of jubilation about going to UA with a full ride scholarship, and fear at the idea of being forced to return to the orphanage every two weeks were he'd be the object of jealously of every child who roamed its halls. By the end of the day as he was exiting the gates he found himself dragged off into an alley by Bakugo.
"Bakugo must be furious with me!"
"How come a weakling like you got into UA?!" Bakugo shouted, "How come someone weak and pathetic like you did better than me?! Why did you have to go and show me up!? How did a shitty orphan like you pull that off?!"
"I swear I didn't try to show you up Bakugo." Hiro stuttered with clear fear in his voice. "Please let me down."
"And why should I let you go unscathed!?" Bakugo growled. "You made me look like a complete idiot!"
However a voice from behind him shouted at the user's max volume. "YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT YOURSELF!"
Bakugo turned around and saw Izuku and another extra standing right behind him wearing the same ostentatious uniform as Deku.
"LET! HIM! GO!" Izuku roared as he strode toward his old rival with clear fury in his eyes and embers of dark green flames emitting from him. Bakugo simply stared back at him, not relinquishing his grip on Hiro.
"You won't make me look like a fool Deku!" Bakugo lashed back with clear venom.
"Your villainous behavior has already done that!" Izuku spat back. "Now let my friend go before I MAKE you." With that Izuku glared straight into his old rival's eyes with his body shaking with rage he could barely control.
If Bakugo wouldn't let his friend go, he'd have to force him to let him go with his quirk. However, Bakugo deciding not to take the chance released Hiro as he collapsed to the ground panting in fear.
"I suggest you run Bakugo." Izuku scathed. "Actually, run Kaachan. Run. Run because you have no choice. Run. Run because you are outnumbered three to one now. Run. Run before I decide to send the video of you tormenting my friend to your mother."
"Why are you calling me that nickname again!?" Bakugo shouted.
"You call me Deku because it is the name of someone who can't do anything." Izuku responded. "I call you Kaachan because that is the name of someone who through vile and disgusting behavior brings people down because that is the only way they can bring themselves up. Kaachan is the name of someone who if they don't have a radical change of attitude, will without a doubt never become a hero. Now runaway Kaachan. Runaway as fast as your legs will carry you because you've pissed me the fuck off and I'm not to be tested right now. Kaachan, is a villain's name."
Bakugo who had never seen such rage in Izuku before decided to leave and run home. It was after several minutes of silence in which Izuku had slumped against a wall and was constantly taking deep breaths.
"Are you okay Midoriya?" Iida asked with clear fear in his voice, he had never seen Midoriya behave like that. Heck he had never seen anyone that angry before. "I'd never thought I hear you talk like that!"
"Yeah I'm okay Iida." Izuku let out after a final deep breath and getting back to his feet. "I just lost control of myself after seeing him pin one of my best friends to a wall. I'd say under the circumstances I managed all right, and that's because it took everything in me not to attack him. Are you okay Hiro?"
Hiro who hadn't left the spot where Bakugo left him finally stirred at finally being addressed. "Yeah Midoriya. I'm alright."
"I heard you won the scholarship Hiro!" Izuku cried out with cheer in his voice and this caused Iida to clear up at the sight of his friend being cheerful rather than down right scary. "That means we'll be going to UA together; I hope we are in the same class so we share a dorm!"
"How did you know I won the scholarship?" Hiro asked looking up at his friend curiously.
"All Might told me!" Izuku cheered, "He came to our school to let us know we had been accepted into UA and to let me know I won the scholarship, apparently they are sending teachers to only the people who won the scholarship and All Might told us that Principal Nezu was going to offer you one after I asked to give my scholarship to you instead."
Hiro felt his eyes well up. "You were going to try and give me your scholarship?"
"Of course!" Izuku cried out also getting teary eyed. "When my dad died, he had a large life insurance policy laid out for him. It got paid out and a lot of it was set aside for a trust fund to pay for my education because he knew I wanted to be a hero."
"Your father died?" Hiro asked, a look of surprise on his face. Even Iida looked surprised for Izuku had never mentioned his father.
"Yeah, he died during an experimental medical procedure to address his fire quirk destroying his body." Izuku explaining while slipping down against the wall to sit next to Hiro. Meanwhile Iida slid down to sit on Izuku's other side as people walked by the opening of the alley and stared at them before continuing on.
"His fire quirk was different from mine," Izuku explained, "He could breathe fire, I can't do that. However a downside of that meant that his quirk was destroying his lungs. He was working in America, but he had to come back because he was fired because of his medical condition."
"That's abhorrent!" Iida protested, "To fire someone for a medical diagnosis they couldn't help!"
"That's America for you." Izuku responded, "I hear healthcare has been a joke for centuries over there. Anyways a university hospital in Tokyo found out about my dad's condition and offered to do a free experimental procedure on his body to help fix him. However because the procedure was the first human trial, they offered a massive life insurance policy in case he died during the procedure and that is what ended up happening."
Izuku then had to pause for a moment and Iida and Hiro both placed their arms on him, and he took a deep breath. "That's why I grew up with a single mom. She told me she thought about adopting me a sibling. She even went through all the governmental paperwork in order to get licensed to foster in order to adopt," He noticed Hiro's grip around his arms tighten for a fraction of a second. "However, I was causing so much stress for her to handle that she didn't know how'd she would cope with dealing with another child."
Izuku took another moment to breathe because he started to cry again, "But sometimes I selfishly wish she did it. It was lonely a lot growing up without another kid my age at home. I know she couldn't have dealt with the stress of dealing with another kid, but I just wish…" Izuku couldn't continue. His voice had stopped working and he was full on sobbing now.
Both Iida and Hiro did their best to comfort him as he cried and moaned at the top of his lungs into Iida's shoulder. By the time his tear ducts ran dry and his throat was sore, he looked back up at the sky. His eyes red from the crying. Hiro just stared at him; his thoughts private but both boys could tell they were racing.
"I…. I understand you Izuku." He eventually stuttered out. "I understand the desire to want to live and grow up with a complete family…" and Izuku stared at his friend.
"I.. I… I…" Hiro stammered out, tears flowing freely from his amethyst eyes and down his cheeks as he tried to choke the words out. It was at that moment that Izuku put his arms around him and pulled him so now it was his shoulder that was getting cried into this time.
"It's okay Hiro…" Izuku croaked, "If you want to talk we are here to listen." He began to pat his friend's back as his body shook.
After a couple more minutes of sobbing, Hiro finally managed to whisper the words that shook Tenya and Izuku to their core. "I… I… I… live… in a quirk orphanage…"
Izuku reached into his pocket and set his phone to record the entire conversation, and Hiro thought he heard a bleep while he was crying but didn't mention it. Izuku did not like the idea of recording this without Hiro's knowledge or consent, but as soon as he heard the first details, he knew he had to get whatever Hiro was about to say on record just in case.
Hiro then went on to explain what life was like at the orphanage. How the food was the same day in and out. Essentially natto for breakfast and a bowl of white rice along with Spam for dinner every day. He spoke of how they did not have doors on their toilets. He spoke on how half the tile was chipped and broken in their bathroom. How he doesn't know what it is like to take a hot shower. How half of the showers themselves were broken and as a result having to share a shower head with two other boys this morning. How they didn't bother to provide pajamas to them. How someone last night in Hiro's room was caught sleeping nude and punished as a result. How the current state of the room he slept in was in, from the broken floorboards that would give them splinters, to moldy walls, to the holes in the ceiling that would leak, to the broken drafty window and how he had to cope with it with only a thin blanket. It was when he talked about only having third and fourth hand clothes that he couldn't speak anymore.
It was about fifteen minutes that the trio sat in silence. Tenya and Izuku where too shocked to speak. Izuku could feel Tenya next to him. He was shaking not of sadness he knew, but with rage because he was full of rage himself.
"Thank you for telling us this Hiro…" Izuku finally whispered. "Now we can help you."
"What do you mean?" Hiro croaked, "You can't stop them, they are a licensed facility…"
"Watch me," Tenya growled and they both looked at him, "Listen Hiro, my brother happens to be the pro hero Ingenium and I'm going to go to him right when he comes home from patrol and asking for his help."
"But I told you that-"
"That doesn't matter!" Tenya shot back. "The law is blind, it applies to everyone, justice should be served!" After that, Izuku decided once he got home he was going to call All Might and ask him to help Ingenium in any way possible, send them both the recording.
"Anyways, we should celebrate right now" Izuku finally chipped in.
"Celebrate after hearing this?" Iida gasped.
"We all got into UA!" Izuku responded forcing a smile, "Two of us got in on full ride scholarships, we need to celebrate."
"But I don't have any money…" Hiro objected looking down again.
"That's okay, we'll cover you!" Tenya added on.
"But I have no way of paying you back…" Hiro moped. To which Izuku forced him up by the elbow dragging him to his feet. "We got you." With that the trio headed off to the train and went downtown to get some food. Tenya and Izuku made sure to let their families know they would be home late.
"Shouldn't we invite your new friend?" Iida asked Izuku.
"Yanagi?" Izuku said tilting his head. "Sure I don't see why not?"
He shot her a quick text and she told them that she also got into UA as well, but she was celebrating with her family. Their first stop was a creperie and they got chocolate hazelnut crepes completely covered in powdered sugar. Hiro was completely fascinated by the treat, never having anything like it before. However after a few bites he looked to be wearing his first genuine smile in years, and his eyes seemed to be sparkling with a joy that was never there before.
After that they went to an arcade and spent a couple hours playing the games for a good while drinking sodas. However Iida refused to drink any of it, saying it damaged his teeth and that he preferred to drink Orange Juice as a result because in his eyes it was much healthier and functioned as unmatched fuel for his engine quirk. To which Izuku told him that his soda wasn't much worse for him that his Orange Juice, that the acidity of his orange juice damaged his teeth and to compare the sugar content on the labels. Once Iida did this he was horrified, and that gave Izuku a laugh.
Hiro was fascinated with his soda, he'd never had to punch a marble out with a fancy contraption. He had to ask Izuku for help, and the carbonation was a whole new experience for him. He really never drank anything other than tap water his whole life except for the one or two few occasions he managed to drink juice.
After the arcade they went to a conveyor belt sushi joint after finding out Hiro had never had sushi in his life. Since each piece was only 100 Yen each it was in their budget, and it turned out sushi became Hiro's favorite food having twelve pieces before tapping out. As they sat around the table after eating their food, they started to talk about what life would be like at UA.
"The thing I'm most excited about UA is having All Might as a teacher! I hope he teaches Home Room!" Izuku said to the table, still playing the role of not knowing that All Might is actually teaching heroics.
"I doubt he'd be our homeroom teacher Izuku." Hiro responded, rubbing his stomach.
"Why do you say that Hiro?" Izuku asked, his smile slipping.
"I doubt they waste the amount of money they'd have to spend to have someone like All Might on their staff to be homeroom. They probably have him in a specialty position. He still has to be free to do hero duties to keep his spot as the number one hero."
"And now my bubble is busted…" Izuku replied dramatically, even sinking in his seat, already knowing his mentor took the place of heroics teacher, but he was playing up his ignorance.
"Calm down Midoriya." Iida said reassuringly, patting his shoulder, "Don't worry. We are still being taught by All Might. I doubt he'd be teaching us something as boring as English."
"I hope so!" Izuku fussed, "I'm already extremely fluent in English."
"What?!" Iida gasped, "I didn't know that?! Why are you fluent to such a degree anyways?"
"My mom taught me English since birth because my dad was working in America at the time." Izuku explained, "There was always the possibility that we might move over there. Even after he died, she kept teaching me because she knew it would be on the school curriculums and would look good on a resume."
"And you never once offered to help me with English homework?!" Iida asked, 'slightly' angry.
"Hey, it's your fault you never asked." Izuku defended himself, sticking his tongue out at Iida. Being friends made Izuku way more confident than he used to be. Something he was aware of and grateful for. "So what are you excited about going to UA for Iida?"
"Well I'm excited to have access to their legendary library…" Iida began, but was cut off when both Hiro and Izuku replied with. "Nerd…"
"So what!?" Iida blasted back, "I'm a nerd and proud of it! It is not like you have much of a leg to stand on in terms of a defense Midoriya with all those hero notebooks of yours."
"Hey!" Izuku shouted back in protest, "At least when I'm asked what I'm most excited about UA. I didn't say: A library!"
"So Hiro." Iida was clearly trying to deflect the conversation off of him. "What are you excited most about for at UA?"
"Well having my own room of course." Hiro replied very quickly, "Also having access to a bathroom that has hot water, even if it is shared. I won't have to wait long to figure out what it is like to take a hot shower."
The caused Izuku to stare at him with a certain look of understanding while he went and took a bite of sushi. He couldn't help but have another piece that passed by on the belt, it looked just too tasty to pass up.
"Yeah," Iida responded, "I hear the bathrooms in the new dorms this year are designed to be like that of traditional sentos." To which Izuku turned a bright shade of red and began to choke very violently on his sushi to which for the second time in his life he had a Heimlich maneuver pulled on him, this time by Iida.
"Midoriya?" Iida asked, the whole restaurant was staring at them now, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Izuku responded, "Physically at least." He paused for a few moments before continuing, "Iida are you sure they are designed to be like traditional Japanese bath houses?"
"Yeah," Iida responded nonchalantly , "My brother told me he has a friend of his who happened to work in designing the dorms. Apparently UA wanted a traditional look for the bathrooms."
This caused Izuku to stare at Iida with what he thought was a neutral expression, but it was actually an expression of fear that fooled no one at the table. Hiro stared at him with confusion, but then he started to look a bit concerned.
"Have you never been to an onsen or a sento before Midoriya?" Iida asked, figuring out what was going on. "Scared "stiff" about the bathrooms at UA?" Iida clearly was getting back at Izuku for all the teasing he endured the past week.
"No… of course not… I'm not scared…"
This was a lie that fooled absolutely no one at the table given that Izuku was visibly shaking, and soon he noticed that no one was fooled with his lie. "Yeah, I haven't been to one of those places before because I was raised by a single mom! There was no way she would let me go in alone as a kid. Cut me a break guys! I don't like to be seen… well… you know…"
"Well then I say we should have an introductory visit for you tonight." Iida responded, pushing his glasses up as they flashed with pure menace from Izuku's perspective.
"I don't think that's really necessary Iida." Izuku stammered, not knowing how he was going to get out of this.
"I don't think it is a good idea either Iida." Hiro responded in his really soft voice, "You shouldn't really push Izuku if he doesn't want to go." However Hiro had an ulterior motive as for why he didn't want to go to a bathhouse tonight. He wasn't fully honest about what went on in the orphanage. He could keep his secret hidden in the locker room while changing in and out of his gym clothes. However, he couldn't keep it much of a secret if he was to be without his undergarments in front of his friends, or in front of his future classmates at the dorms.
"I have to think of an excuse quickly!" Hiro thought internally as he panicked.
"This night is the perfect night for Izuku's initiation." Iida insisted with his arm chopping invisible wood, "What other night is more perfect? Besides, at this time it is near closing for them so there won't really be other people around. Izuku could have an easier time as a result. He would be among friends rather than strangers which should make this dive less mentally taxing for him."
Hiro was then starting to get scared when Izuku seemed to agree with this logic. "I guess, if I'm going to have no choice at UA, I might as well get used to it. Even though I really can't stand people seeing my well… you know…" He mumbled out placing his arms on the table forming a nest and resting his head in the middle. When Izuku said this, Hiro could feel a pang of dread go through him.
"No! No! We shouldn't force this on Izuku!" He stammered out, unable to keep a bit of fear out of his voice. This caused Izuku and Tenya to stare at him with concern.
"I can't keep on being insecure about my body Hiro if we are going to be without our clothes together at least once a day." Izuku responded, a mixture of fear and concern on his face.
"I don't like the idea of it at all. I hate being unclothed at the doctors as it is, but I'm going to have to get over and face my fears if I'm going to have to deal with this particular fear on a daily occurrence. But why are you afraid? I thought you… well…" Izuku didn't know how to approach the subject so he lowered his voice to a whisper given that they were still in the sushi restaurant , "were used to being…" he gulped "… in front of other boys?"
Hiro paused because he wanted to choose his words carefully as to not arouse suspicion. "I am… I'm just used to them." He lied.
"Well then," Iida began, "You have the same reason to go as Midoriya then."
"Yeah," Izuku added, "help me face my fear, eliminate it together." But Hiro was still unsure and then something clicked with Iida's mind as he figured it out, but he hoped he was wrong.
"Hiro…" He began, "You were fully honest with us in the alley? You didn't purposely omit anything?"
It was the expression that Hiro gave that was the answer to Iida's question immediately and Izuku noticed it too. It was from the looks his two friends gave him Hiro knew he had played his cards poorly. Knowing what he did of these two boys, they wouldn't rest until they got to the bottom of his secret.
"It's best if I just show you at the bathhouse…" He said softly, which was amazing given how soft his voice was naturally. This caused Izuku and Tenya to stare at one another for a few seconds before nodding their heads.
They paid their bill and walked a few streets down to the nearest bathhouse. They went and paid their fee. Luckily they were the only boys there so they'd have the place to themselves. Tenya was comforting Izuku as they got ready to head into the bathing room because Izuku was still shaky and nervous.
"Holy All Might Midoriya!" Iida yelled once the two friends had locked their stuff away in the lockers, and he saw a full frontal view of a completely naked Izuku.
"Iida! Please don't!" Izuku squeaked out as he quickly went to grab his courtesy towel in an attempt to cover himself up.
The two boys looked around for their other friend but he was hidden by a set of lockers. He didn't seem to want to change on the same side as the other two boys.
"Hiro… We are ready…" Izuku stuttered, still literally 'scared stiff' with the whole situation he was in.
"I'm… I'm… ready too…" Hiro stammered out, clear fear in his voice, "Just please… don't make a big deal with what you see…"
"I don't see what you are going about Hiro," Iida responded in a kind voice, "We should all look the same given that we are all boys."
Hiro took a minute to respond but he finally did with his soft fearful trembling voice, "Just… don't judge. Please..." With that Hiro came around the corner and Iida did the impossible and actually let a few curses fly under his breath and Izuku put a hand over his mouth, dropping his courtesy towel out of shock.
Hiro looked just like any other 18 year old boy sans clothing, except when it came to the area normally covered by his undergarments… there were raised welts and scars on his upper inner thighs, all close to or near his privates. Tears were coming to Hiro's eyes at the side of his friends reactions.
"Hiro…" Iida said in a whisper that carried in the silent locker room. "Did you give these injuries to yourself?"
Upon hearing this, Hiro began to lose control over all of his mental faculties again and began to collapse to the floor, but Izuku ran over, all thoughts of embarrassment about his nudity forgotten, and grabbed him before he violently fell to the ground. While bawling, Hiro nodded.
"I've been doing it since I was seven…" He sobbed, "I was taught how to do it by the other boys at the orphanage. Everyone there does it. It's rare for boys not to get past the age of nine without their first… The staff knows about it, and they have even left razor blades out on occasion."
Izuku held Hiro in his arms as he took a closer look at Hiro's injuries. There were a lot of cuts, too many to count. He thought about using his healing quirk, but for it to work more properly he'd actually have to be touching the affected area, and that was something he wouldn't do without permission given the area of the injuries.
"Hiro?" Izuku asked, Hiro nodded silently to signal he was listening, he couldn't get any actual words out because he was still choked up. "I want to try and use my healing quirk on your injuries, but in order for me to do that I have to touch the injured area, and that means putting my hands down there near your... you know... are you okay if I do that?"
Hiro nodded, and Izuku slowly reached his hand out feeling extremely uncomfortable and disgusted with himself even though he had permission to do so, placed his hand on Hiro's left upper inner thigh right where it connected with his Pelvis.
"Even though I'm doing this for good reasons, this still feels wrong. Now concentrate Izuku…"
Izuku closed his eyes and let his love and friendship for Hiro flow through him, his love for him as a true friend, his love for him as a pseudo brother. He let it flow through him as never before. He then thought of giving his own energy to help Hiro through the pain. As soon as he did that, something happened with his healing quirk that had never occurred before. He felt his energy go through his hand like he normally did, however for the first time he felt it throughout his entire body rather than just his hand. The aura wasn't gold this time either, but rather a bright green. Also the aura didn't just concentrate around the area being healed, but rather enveloped both boys. In addition to the unusually powerful aura, ribbons of green energy came from numerous parts of Izuku's body, sparkling like emeralds were dancing inside of them. They floated in a dancing motion as they circled around the pair of them and eventually concluded their terminuses onto Hiro, as a peaceful humming noise filled the air.
Iida watched this in amazement as the entire room was filled with this compassionate energy that seemed to put all three of them into a state of pure serenity. Iida stared down at Hiro, the young man's body was all of a sudden itself glowing with a green aura, vibrantly, and then blindingly. This forced Iida to squint in order to keep the pair in his sight. Eventually Hiro's body stopped glowing, and the ribbons faded away, and then the green aura went away in a twinkling of emerald sparkles along with the humming noise. Izuku and Hiro then opened their eyes and looked down. All of Hiro's injuries were gone. His skin showed no sign of self-harm. The welts, cuts, and bruises had simply vanished.
"How?" Hiro whispered.
"I don't know." Izuku whispered appearing exhausted. "I've never tried to heal permanent injuries before, but it appears I can do it. But I'm really exhausted right now. Like pass out exhausted, and every part of my body feels like it was hit with a truck." He then helped both of them get back on their feet before continuing, "This must have been a different process with different effects; I've never tired myself out from healing one injury and I've never lost energy or stamina from healing another; I rely on their stamina alone like Recovery Girl's quirk. But this puts me out of commission for the rest of the day." Eventually Izuku had a mumbling phase that Iida snapped him out of eventually.
Tenya stared at his two friends with a conclusion coming into his head, "That must have been your healing quirk's super move Midoriya. The ability to heal permanent injuries,"
The trio stared at one another before Izuku broke the silence, "I couldn't think of a better time to take a hot bath and relax…" To this they all chuckled and proceeded into the bathing area, Izuku walking like an old man with mobility issues due to his exhaustion, having to have Iida hold onto his elbow as they made their way from the changing room to the rows of showers and helping Izuku sit down on his stool. They sat down and showered before entering the tub of hot water. Tenya and Izuku laughed at Hiro's first reaction to hot water because he flinched about a mile when it came at him from his shower head making him fall off his little stool in shock from the heat. However Hiro gave them a look that made them guilty for laughing at him. He also had a hard time getting in the massive hot tub. He'd put one toe in and then instantly take it out. Eventually Izuku and Tenya grabbed one of his feet each and pulled him in.
"Is this seriously normal for you two?!" He protested as he slammed his eyes shut as he was immersed up to his neck.
"Yes, it is in fact very relaxing." Tenya added with his eyes closed and a peaceful look on his face. "Midoriya, just make sure not to fall asleep in the water. I know you are exhausted from your first super move… Midoriya?" However Izuku had already fallen asleep in the spa.
This necessitated uncomfortable prod to the ribs from his friend which caused Izuku to wake up flailing and splashing water everywhere. This attracted the attention of the attendant who came from the front desk and told them off for splashing. Not wanting to land in further 'hot water', Izuku curled up into a ball, not sure whether or not the redness in his face was from the heat, the embarrassment of being told off, or the embarrassment of being in a gigantic glorified bathtub and completely naked with two of his friends who were also naked.
They sat in the tub for another ten minutes before deciding to get out and dry off before being yelled at again, this time for staying beyond closing time. They made sure to walk Hiro back to his orphanage in case they tried to make trouble for him coming back at a late hour. When they got there they were disgusted by the façade of the place. It was clearly in disrepair and in need of a total overhaul. They were greeted by a surly looking woman.
"We are most sorry ma'am," Tenya said as they walked up, "It is our fault Hiro was out so late. The three of us were celebrating together since all three of us got into UA High School. My two friends, Hiro included were accepted on Full Ride Scholarships." This caused the woman's eyebrows to perk up.
"How exactly do you know Mr. Fuji here?" the woman asked in a stern and cold voice. Clearly she was not used to being challenged by anyone.
"We met after school once," Izuku began to explain, "And we started talking about how it was our goal to get into UA and so we formed a study group to pass the written exam." Izuku made sure not to mention that he had personally helped Hiro train his quirk because the woman would not take kindly to that.
"You sure you got accepted into UA?" The woman asked in a mockingly disbelieving voice. "He never received any mail from that school."
"Yes," Hiro responded staring back at the woman, "Principal Nezu of UA himself came to Aldera to personally congratulate me and hand me my acceptance letter in person. They were sending the teachers to the schools of those who won the scholarship."
"That's right madam," Tenya added on. "All Might himself came to our school to hand our acceptance letters to us because Izuku had the highest score out of all the applicants who took the exam." This caused the woman to stare at Izuku with what looked like worry, "All Might told us at UA they stopped mailing letters to the residences of the applicants because they wanted to have them delivered and read at their schools instead."
"Why would they do that?" the woman asked, "Does UA not trust children's guardians when it comes to their mail?"
"Apparently so ma'am," Izuku responded, and this caused the woman's eyebrows to raise. They decided on the truth rather than a lie or a half-lie on their walk over because the staff at the orphanage would find out the true reason with a little bit of investigating.
"When Iida and I inquired as to why they weren't sent to our homes, All Might told us that there was an incident last year where a kid was in an abusive household and the parents held the letter from their child." At these words the woman's eyes narrowed, "They gave his spot in the business course up, but after the police raided their home and found the child they informed UA. However, it was too late because that child's spot was given to the runner up. He's attending this year though as a first year business course student. They simply didn't want to take the chance of that happening again, even if all their new students are currently living in healthy environments. At least, that is what All Might told us."
"I see…" The woman mused. "I take it this means Mr. Fuji here will be attending UA for the one of the General Studies courses or Business course?"
"No ma'am." Hiro responded and this had the effect of raising the woman's eyebrows really high, her heavily wrinkled face put into a state of confusion. "I was accepted into the Hero course along with my friends Tenya and Izuku."
The elderly woman at this point would look beyond flabbergasted if she was not as good as she was at hiding her true emotions, but it still showed to a degree. "How is that possible? Young Mr. Fuji here is not allowed to train his quirk at the orphanage because we cannot afford possible property damage and it is illegal to use quirks without a license outside of private property?"
This is when Iida knew his part was to take over from their practice on the way over. "UA decided to hand out Rescue Points in addition to Combat Points. They didn't advertise this or tell anyone until they told of us of our acceptance. To award points based on combat alone wasn't fair given there are quirks that are suited to rescuing victims rather than fighting villains. The main reason they didn't tell us at orientation was to see how we would react when we knew we weren't being given points to helping those who were in need."
This seemed to appease the elderly woman. "Very well, come inside Mr. Fuji and head straight to bed, it is very late." With that Hiro was led inside and Izuku and Iida made sure to be heard saying they'd see him tomorrow after school to get a head start on hero laws.
"I hope they don't hurt him for coming back late," Tenya said as the two walked away towards the train station.
"Me too," Izuku said. "Luckily, I already have a plan on helping get Hiro out of there." With that Izuku showed Iida that he had recorded Hiro's entire confession on his phone.
"Midoriya!" Iida protested, "That was highly unethical of you to record him at a vulnerable moment without his consent!"
"You don't think I know that?!" Izuku snarled back at Iida, "I did it because I had no choice! We have no way bringing that Hell House down if we don't have a confession. We need to convince the heroes that this place is a nightmare that must be ended. And to do that we need evidence of abuse happening in the first place. Your brother wouldn't be able to start an investigation without something to go on Tenya!"
Iida stared at his friend with disapproval but he finally relented, "Very well Midoriya, send me the recording so I can get it to my brother." With that they parted ways and headed home. Hiro was watched as he stripped into his underwear and climbed into his bed as Izuku rode the train back home, his mind constantly on his friend. By the time he reached his stop he made his decision, but first he went through his contacts and found a "Auntie Mitsuki" and send that contact a video.
As soon as he turned the key and opened the door he heard a call from his mother. "Wow you weren't kidding when you said you'd be out late. It's nearly midnight baby."
"Hey mom, can I have a serious conversation with you?" Izuku asked, and this caused Inko to stare at her son, they have had a lot of serious conversations in the past few weeks.
"Sure son. What do you want to talk about?"
"You remember you said you kept everything up to date on those foster to adopt papers…"
Meanwhile at the Bakugo Household…
"KATSUKI! YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
