Chapter 27: Insecurities

Izuku and Hiro quickly found out that preparing for a major trial was no easy feat. The day after Sakura's psychological torture session, they were woken up by their mother at seven in the morning to be told that their teachers were waiting to give them their first private lecture. Sure enough, downstairs were non other than Kaito's teacher, Tosui-Kan, and their own homeroom teacher Vlad King.

They had been told by Kaito that his teacher was quite the character… That turned out to be a major understatement. It was no surprise to the rest of the teens why his hero name was Euphoria. He just had so much positive energy in the morning and sounded way too happy when discussing morbid topics such as what legally qualifies as child abuse, which in fairness encompasses almost everything the orphanage did to the boys who grew up there. Admittedly what Izuku needed was a lot less than what Hiro needed to learn, but that didn't stop him from being forced to learn it all.

"There's no point in trying to argue that you don't need to learn this stuff!" Euphoria piped up, steam coming out of his ears. "You normally would've learned this material down the road, so there is no point arguing."

"But I'm not arguing!" Izuku groaned, "I was comparing this to how cramming before exams never works."

"Well unfortunately we don't have much of a choice Midoriya." Kan grumbled, "Normally this same material would take months to go over in class, and again, we don't have that luxury."

"Okay I understand why Izuku, Hiro, Yanagi, and Alex have to sit through this lecture since they were destined to learn this stuff, but why do Sky and I have to suffer with them?! Were in the support course! Were we ever meant to learn this stuff? What's the point!?" Felix complained.

"To stand in solidarity and support your friends." Euphoria said in his overly happy voice. "Also, since you were supposed to be in school, we would be negligent in our roles as teachers to let your minds stagnate and turn into mush. Support Course or not."

"Also, Midoriya's mother and All Might gave us permissions to give you all detentions in the form of extra chores if this complaining keeps up." Kan said in his usual gravelly tone.

"Sure did!" called Inko from the kitchen.

"Just accept that this is your fate and price for your room and board for the week." Hiro said softly.

After his meltdown yesterday, Hiro was surprisingly calm during the day's session of homeschool. The only indication that he gave that he was uneasy about what was being discussed was during the lunch break when while everyone else was chatting, he was silent. When called upon to answer a question, it was clear from his cadence and tone of voice that he was uncomfortable.

It wasn't like Izuku could blame him though. Hiro was about to come face to face one final time with the people who made his entire life till he began living with him a living nightmare. If he was honest, he was surprised that he wasn't having a panic attack 24/7. As much as Izuku wanted to hold his brother's hand through the entire process, he knew that by the end of the day, this was something that Hiro needed to get through on his own because he wasn't going to be allowed to take his place when he inevitably gets interrogated by the Zu'Kuvma lawyers.

"Well, I say we should call it a day." Euphoria cheerfully said, much to the relief of the assembled teenagers. "We should be all good to pick up where we left off first thing tomorrow morning." That caused the teens to groan.

"Again, we don't have the luxury of time." Vlad grumbled, "I assure you we find it stressful to prepare for the trial as well. I myself will be required to testify since I took part in the raid. Most heroes would agree that this is the second worst part of being a hero."

"Kan-Sensei." Reiko asked, raising her hand. "If this is the second worst part of being a hero, what is more worse than this?"

"The mountains of never-ending paperwork." Kan shivered, "It just never ends or goes away."

"The only pro I've ever known who enjoyed all the paperwork was my old sidekick Sir Nighteye, "Toshi said as he walked into the room, "I even thought sometimes that filling out paperwork with some sort of fetish for him."

"He is an oddball." Euphoria commented, "for someone obsessed with humor and comedy, he always seems to act like he has a kilometer long stick shaft up his ass."

"Euphoria!" Vlad scolded, "We are in the company of students!"

"Meh." Euphoria, "they'll hear a lot worse when they become pros, heck even after they get there are provisional licenses."

"But still as teachers we should be setting an example." Vlad hissed back.

"I think it may be a bit late for Midoriya." All Might chuckled, "I've heard him let off a few strings of swears that would make a sailor blush."

"And you were the one who taught me it was okay for heroes to swear." Izuku shot back, causing Vlad to stare daggers at his colleague while Euphoria and the teens struggled to control and hide their laughter. "I think it was the day your old mentor gave me a concussion."

"Hold on!" Inko's voice called from the kitchen. "My baby boy only started having a potty mouth after your old mentor kicked him in the head?!"

"Yeah, but you were the one who taught me how to curse properly!" Izuku shot back, "don't you act like you have the moral high ground! I still remember you and Bakugou's mom letting words fly that would set the most infamous of potty mouths to shame."

"Fair enough." Inko's voice called back, "Just remember our deal, just don't let me catch you!"

"Your mom knows Bakugo's mom?" Reiko asked curiously, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah." Izuku shrugged. "Bakugo's mom and my mom were best buds since they were in elementary together, so naturally Bakugo and I spent a lot of time together as friends when we were really little. That all changed when he developed his quirk before I did though. Right after his quirk developed his personality instantly became far more aggressive and hostile overnight and it also probably didn't help that he was constantly getting praised, and he was hardly ever reprimanded by the staff at the school we were going to at the time. It was after I developed my quirks that I decided I had enough, and my mother finally agreed. Soon after that was when my father died in an operation related to fixing a fatal condition caused by his quirk. Since the procedure was experimental, there was a large life insurance payout, and that is how we were able to afford to move away. Plus, it was also how I was able to live in the best parts of town and go to the best private schools all the way up to Soumei. Even if I didn't win the scholarship through thanks to my performance in the entrance exam, we still would have been able to easily afford to send me to UA, which as we all know is one of the most expensive high schools in all of Japan."

"Hold on Midoriya." Euphoria asked Izuku after he had finished speaking, "You are saying that Bakugo's personality changed the day after he had developed his quirk?"

"Well yeah." Izuku shrugged, and all the teachers shared a look before Sky spoke up.

"Hold on Euphoria-Sensei, are you saying that Bakugo's crap personality is a direct result of his quirk?

"That is exactly what we are thinking." Euphoria confirmed in his rare serious voice. "It has been well documented that quirks can have an effect on their holder's personality, depending on how the quirk affects the body that is. For instancy my own quirk, Euphoric Tentacles, affects my brain, hormones, and all sorts of other medical mumbo jumbo. In short, my quirk is the reason for my overly positive attitude and behavior. I actually care depressant pills on me in case my personality gets too joyful in a serious situation. I could take them regularly if I wanted an ordinary personality, but I enjoy being constantly happy."

"Normally the school will notify the parents if they notice a drastic change in personality after a child develops their quirk." Vlad continued, "They would then give a list of quirk specialists who further specialize in how quirks affect people's personality."

"Mitsuki took her son to a doctor who is also a licensed quirk specialist not long after Izuku and I moved away." Inko chimed in after coming into the living room after hearing her son talk about his father, "She recommended that same doctor to me, but I didn't go because he gave off creepy vibes and we've been seeing Doctor Yamato since. According to her, the doctor was adamantly insistent that Katsuki's quirk didn't have an effect on his personality. Eventually she gave in because he had the degree, and she didn't. In the end she just assumed that her son inherited the worst part of her personality that she wasn't proud of, just magnified."

"Do you recall the name of the quirk specialist she took her son to?" Vlad asked her.

"Doctor Ujiko I think his name was." Inko answered, "He was the same doctor who diagnosed Izuku when he was little. We stopped seeing him when we moved after Hishashi died."

"That explains a great many things." Vlad growled, "There is an open warrant out for his arrest. He is accused of a lewd of things ranging from bribery, malpractice, and all the way to secretly filming children he was examining and posting videos to various websites on the dark web."

"Are you saying that I almost let a pedo examine my baby boy?!" Inko shrilled out while Izuku squirmed as he all of a sudden felt extremely dirty and excused himself to take a shower.

"So basically, what this comes down to I could've possibly escaped years of Bakugo's tormenting if he was taken to a proper and reputable doctor?" Hiro asked after Izuku had gone up the stairs, his mind blown away at the recent revelations.

"It is possible." All Might said as he nodded in Hiro's direction, "But I think we should hold off on this conversation given the party in question is not present. It is not polite to discuss such things about him in his absence. UA will have more tests done to confirm this theory, and if it is indeed true, then Young Bakugo will finally get the treatment that he has needed for a quite a long time."

With that their teachers finally headed towards the door, but Euphoria turned around after he had put his shoes on. "Young Fuji, I'd like to let you know that I happen to know someone your age who has gone through a similar ordeal that we are preparing you for. Would you like me to reach out to them and ask if they would want to help you through this?"

"Okay." Hiro answered softly after a moment of consideration, "I'll accept their help."

"Very well then!" Euphoria euphorically said, "I'm sure they will be more than willing to help you more once I reveal your identity as the one who needs help."

"What was that supposed to mean?" Alex asked later in the kitchen when all the teens, sans Izuku who had yet to come down from the shower, were peeling vegetables or other prep work to get dinner ready as soon as possible. Inko had pulled Reiko aside to show her step by step how to cook properly after learning about the disastrous lack of cooking knowledge in the girls' dorm. "What did he mean by: they'll be eager to help you when they hear of your identity?"

"Could it be someone we know?" Felix proposed right before the potato he was peeling slipped out of his hands and fell to the floor, his brother gave him a condescending look for his clumsiness.

"I doubt it." Sky sighed as he handed his brother a new potato, "Euphoria has been in the hero business a long time. He has most assuredly encountered someone who was in a similar situation as Hiro."

"I'm right here you know." Hiro grumbled, causing the brothers and Alex to turn red with embarrassment. "I don't mind you talking about it. It's just I don't like it when you three were talking like I wasn't here."

"Sorry, Hiro."

"That being said. I think Sky has the right idea." Hiro finally said after letting the awkwardness linger for a time.

"Told you!" Sky taunted his brother, sticking his tongue out at him, but only to have a head of cabbage chucked at his head by Alex. However, what he had said was lost due to the wailing of one Izuku Midoriya who had just at the moment reemerged from upstairs as he bemoaned the loss of one of his precious cabbages. Needless to say, the boys soon learned to never play around with Izuku's beloved cabbages.

Dinner like last night was a more subdued affair. After going over such a depressing topic all day, none of the teens were in a happy mood, and the adults once again failed spectacularly in their efforts to brighten up the room.

"Izuku, can I have a word?" Reiko asked her boyfriend after they all had finished cleaning up the dishes. Izuku for his part felt nervous at the part of hearing the world alone.

"Sure thing Reiko." Izuku said, sounding braver than he felt as he followed her upstairs to the rooftop pool. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You."

"Me?"

"I'm not blind Izuku." Reiko sighed, "I' saw how the possible revelation about yours and Bakugo's former doctor affected you. Especially the fact that he was wanted for pedophilia. You were worried that if your mother took you to see him instead of Yamato, there would likely have been images or videos of you floating around the internet weren't you? That's why you excused yourself wasn't it?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Partially…"

"Partially?"

"Well, I'm unsure… no." Izuku explained, "You see, even with Dr. Yamato, my mother was always there with me in the room for every exam. There was no way she would leave me alone in the room when I would've had those types of exams done. But the idea that I could've secretly been filmed if things turned out differently still creeps me out and it made me feel all dirty you know? It was only when I turned eleven that she agreed with my own requests for privacy to leave the room just for those tests, and that was despite being a close and personal friends with her. Then when I turned thirteen and only then she started letting me go in by myself, and as long as I was fine and healthy, she didn't get involved. But that's not it, I also felt violated at the idea of him possibly secretly filming me for a different reason, and extremely uncomfortable because…" However, Izuku never finished that sentence and fell silent.

"Because what Izuku?" Reiko asked after it was clear her boyfriend had lost interest in talking but was still clearly uncomfortable.

"It's stupid."

"What's stupid?"

"It's just stupid."

"Well, I don't know whether or not to agree with you or not if you don't tell me what it is."

"Well, it is really embarrassing." Izuku deflected, face turning even more red. His face was so flush that he was starting to sweat from nerves. Not to mention the rest of his body began to feel uncomfortably hot, and that he was beginning to stutter.

"Does anyone else know about this embarrassing thing?" Reiko asked as Izuku stepped from side to side before he nodded. "Who?"

"Hiro… Tenya… My mom… Dr. Yamato… and…"

"And?"

"And…"

"And who else Izuku?"

"And the rest of the boys in the dorm could probably guess…"

"So, it's actually not a secret then…" Reiko deadpanned.

"It's still embarrassing to talk about!" Izuku retorted, his entire body red with sweat.

"But essentially I'm your only friend that doesn't know this secret." Reiko asked, starting to get frustrated.

"That's not true!" Izuku shot back, "Alex, Skyler, Felix, and Kaito have no idea! Besides it's harder for me to tell you! Besides, nobody knows the full reasons why except me!" He shouted the last bit and was then shocked at the anger in his voice. Guilt flooded through him and he deflated and moved to head back downstairs till Reiko grabbed his arm and yanked him back towards her.

"Wah!"

"Izuku I'm—"

"You shouldn't be sorry."

"I should. I shouldn't have pushed."

"No, you were right. You were upset at being one of the few who were out of the loop. It's just harder to talk with you about this."

"Because I'm your girlfriend?"

"Essentially." Izuku nodded, still awkwardly embarrassed. "And the only reason the boys know about it is because they've been in situations where I've faced this… thing."

"So why have you never told anyone the full story?" Reiko asked him, guiding him to a pair of chaise lounges while holding his hand. "Did you talk about it with Sakura-Sensei or Dr. Maruki?"

"No." Izuku sighed as he stared at their joined hands. He felt a calming feeling as she rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand. "We had more important things to discuss."

"I know." Reiko said understandingly, "But this is clearly important too given how much it is obviously negatively affecting you."

"It's just really embarrassing Reiko." Izuku stated once again as another shiver ran throughout his body.

"Izuku." Reiko said, her voice calm and reassuring. "If we are going to be dating for a long time, then we are going to have some embarrassing and uncomfortable conversations. I just guess this could be our first one. Now do you see this issue of yours having a negative effect on our relationship?"

Izuku thought to himself and an image of him arguing with an improperly dressed Reiko popped into his head, which immediately had an effect on his body.

"Yeah…" Izuku said softly, hoping that Reiko would not notice the ever-increasing bulge in his pants that was a direct result of the images of Reiko that were still stuck in his head, "It could… complicate… make tings… more difficult…"

"Okay…" Reiko said slowly, "Then this sounds like something we should talk about before it becomes a problem. If not now, soon given that it'll impact our relationship."

"Okay then." Izuku squeaked, then another moment of silence, "You promise you won't laugh?"

"Only if it is something you shouldn't be an idiot about and have blown way out of proportion."

"Okay… Well, you see." Izuku gulped and began to stutter, "No matter how much I workout and all. I … I… I… I've just… just… never liked how I've looked. No matter how much muscle I gain and fat I lose, no matter how much I tone my body, I'm just never satisfied with my appearance. I just see myself as ugly all the time. If I were to even simply look at my hands I could find four things I hate about them, my feet eight things, my face twelve things, and the moments where it has affected me the most and the absolute worst were those times… Well… When…"

"When you were without clothing." Reiko finished for him. Now it was her face that was turning red to match her boyfriend's as her body began reacting in other certain ways that she was grateful weren't plainly visible. "That's how the rest of the boys in your dorm had a hint of what was going on because the bathing areas in the dorms are communal with no privacy. And my dad's girlfriend would know because she has been your doctor for years. Sky, Felix, Alex, and Kaito wouldn't know because they don't share a dorm with you. Is that it?"

Izuku slowly nodded his head as Reiko took a deep breath in a mature attempt to know get her raging hormones on the control. She then gave him a shove.

"What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot!" Reiko laughed, but then stopped immediately as she saw Izuku's hurt expression as she remembered her earlier promise moments ago. "Listen, would you think I would have ever had a crush on you if I didn't find you the least bit attractive? "That stumped Izuku as Reiko then asked him more questions. "Did you know that the girls are all in general agreement that you are one of the top three most attractive boys in our year? Did you know that I thought your eyes were the most beautiful part of your body when I first laid eyes on you at the UA Entrance Exam? That it was your cute and adorable face mixed in with your muscles that I felt as I helped you back on your feet after using my quirk on you that started that same crush? All before I knew we has similar quirks?"

"Really?" Izuku asked, his chest feeling a thousand pounds lighter as tears began to glisten at the edges of his eyes, "Do you mean it?"

"Of course, you idiot." Reiko chuckled. "Do you think I would make that stuff up?"

"Of course, not—"

"Then be quiet and don't dig yourself into a hole you can't climb out of." Reiko joked without actually joking.

"Okay then..." Izuku quietly said, "It's just when I look at myself in the mirror… I've always thought I could look better, and they're certain parts of my body that I've never liked and have always felt extra sensitive about."

"What parts of your body do you hate in particular? I bet I disagree with you." Reiko said in an encouraging voice.

"Well… I've always hated how my hair can never be tamed, no matter how I cut it, or whatever else I try to do with it." Izuku started off but Reiko cut him off.

"But I like it like that." Reiko giggled as she started playing with tufts of it. "Please don't change it! I think in this adorable mess you are cuter."

"Are you serious?" Izuku asked, surprise over his face as pleasurable chills trembled throughout him with gentle touch to his head.

"No I'm Reiko." She said in a serious tone but with a grin on her face, "But yeah, I like it a lot."

"Thanks."

"Any other part of you that you can't stand?"

Izuku gulped as he thought about how he hated how… ahem… proportioned he was in… sensitive areas, and he began to flush with nerves as wondered exactly HOW on the spot he was going to tell her without dying of embarrassment. He of course didn't want to lie or deny anything to his girlfriend, but he couldn't exactly figure out the most diplomatic words in his head.

"Well, you see Reiko." Izuku spluttered, "You haven't well… exactly seen the other part of my body that I'm actually most uncomfortable with."

It took Reiko a few moments to understand exactly what Izuku had just said, but when it did, it did. Her face turned as bright red as it possibly could go and her already overly active hormones went to an intensity level a hundred times higher than they were previously.

"You… You don't mean."

"Yeah." Izuku squeaked, his face as red as his hormones were just as active as his girlfriend's.

"Is everything okay down there?" Reiko asked, her voice trying to be quiet, but still coming out squeaky.

"Fully functional."

Words failed Reiko as her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. Unsure of what exactly she should say. Her imagination was going into overdrive, painting worst, okay, and unrealistic scenarios in her head of Izuku well…

"I now understand why you were very reluctant about opening up about it to me Izuku." Reiko heartly apologized, "I shouldn't have forced you to talk about such… personal things."

"It's okay!" Izuku spluttered, face sweating from nerves, heart beating at 130 BPMs, and feeling like his pants were about to burst open. "We would've had this conversation eventually just like you said!"

"But still…" Reiko spluttered as she tried to think of a way to say something to get herself out of this very awkward situation, but failing miserably because she could only think of one thing against her will, "I… umm… well… are you fully straight?"

"Yeah…" Izuku said slowly, caught off guard by the question, "Where are you getting at?"

"Then I guess naturally you wouldn't… find those types… of well… body parts… very appealing… despite well… most people just liking their own…" Reiko tried to explain, hoping this would get them out of this hole she had guided them both into.

"None of the other guys in the dorm had a problem with how theirs looks though." Izuku sighed, now sounding more upset than embarrassed, "They were all poking fun at me. Saying stuff... well I'm too nervous to say what Testsutetsu and Kirishima said when they saw a glimpse of me as I came around the corner. Even Tenya had a moment where he said something that made me feel uncomfortable when he dragged Hiro and I to a sento that night you couldn't join us when we got our UA Entrance Exam results."

"Ummm… Well, I think you are beautiful and handsome Izuku." Reiko said slowly, but reassuringly, "But when the time comes that I see that part of you, I'll give you my opinion, but I think I'll like it no matter what."

"Okay then." Izuku squeaked as they then sat in silence for a bit holding hands for a while watching the sun set before they headed back downstairs.

Back inside of the penthouse everyone was keeping themselves busy. Skyler and Felix were in the game room right in the middle of a fierce game of air hockey with no victor in sight. Meanwhile Hiro and Alex were watching a pre-quirk era movie where a guy dressed up with Tokoyami's dress sense was fighting someone dressed up as a clown. Izuku's mom and All Might were nowhere to be found so Izuku thought they must be back in their bedroom.

"So, this is your bedroom Izuku?" Reiko asked as they came upon a door, noticing that it had Izuku's name on it.

"Yeah." Izuku muttered, seeing where this was going.

"Do you think you could give me a tour?" Once again, Izuku's heart started beating as he nodded and opened the door, allowing Reiko to go in before him.

Once inside, Reiko took in all the signed hero figurines on the wall of all the Top 100 heroes in their display cases to all the limited edition and signed All Might and other hero posters on the other wall. Her eyes then fell upon Izuku's bed and was immediately drawn toward the bottle green bed set that it was dressed in. Upon seeing the color, she immediately thought of Izuku despite the fact that he was nervously standing right next to her. Her eyes then next were drawn to the Edison Bulbs all lit up in block letters hanging above his bed, spelling Izuku's name in kanji and English. It was then when she looked towards the windows and the balcony beyond showcasing Tokyo, Chiba, and Tokyo Bay all lit up at night. In front of the balcony and a part of the windows was a two-way gas fireplace and in front of the fireplace resting upon a large circular rug decorated with the UA logo was…

"Izuku…" Reiko laughed, "Did you beg All Might to go out and buy massage chairs like the one I had after trying out the one in my dorm room?"

"No..." Izuku shallow whispered, "But I think it may have come up in conversation once."

Reiko kept laughing as she walked into the bathroom and she fell silent as her mouth fell open. She blinked a couple times and then proceeded to close the door before opening it up once again immediately right afterwards, expecting a different result.

"Izuku your bathroom is bigger than your old bedroom! Bigger than our dorm rooms! Bigger than my room back home! Even the veins in the stonework match all the other green in the other room!"

"Umm. So do you like it?" Izuku asked, only for when his words left his mouth did he realize he asked a stupid question.

"Izuku!" Reiko all but shouted, both her blue eyes visible and as wide as possible, "I thought my dad's bathroom was the most over the top I've seen! I'm so jealous that you have this! I mean the guest room that was made available to me downstairs has a nice bathroom, but this! This is amazing!"

"I like it too." Izuku agreed till he remembered something, "Unless you have a brother who has a quirk who can change the shower's water to be as hot as a volcano one second to as cold as Aomori in the winter that is."

"Did Hiro actually do that?!" Reiko asked busting up in laughter.

"Yes, and it wasn't funny at all! You try and enjoy a relaxing shower only for the temperature to change from one extreme to another in a matter of seconds!"

"Okay okay! I'll let it go!" Reiko laughed as she relaxed herself in one of the massage chairs and started to play with the features. She wound up being jealous because the massage chairs that Izuku had in his room were fancier than the on she had. She actually got so relaxed that she wound up falling asleep in the chair which left Izuku with no idea what to do. He wound up deciding to just to let her sleep and change in the closet before climbing into his own bed. He sooooo did not enjoy all the humor his mother gave him about having a girl sleep in his room the next morning.


"Are you ready to head back to the dorms Hiro?" Izuku asked his brother as he was in his room watching Hiro zip up his suitcase. "Are you ready to tell everyone."

Hiro added the luggage lock to his suitcase as he then stood it on its wheels as he sighed, "It's not like I have much of a choice you know. Our teachers said everyone at school will know of it because of the role I will have to play during the trial with all the joint classes with the business course and all. I just wish I had more time to process the fact that I didn't get to open up to everyone at my own pace."

Over the past week while Euphoria and Vlad had been coming to their home everyday to give them home school lessons for thirteen hours at a time with only a couple weeks left till the trial started, even Class D's (UA's pre-law course) homeroom teacher had managed to come in a couple time when he finally found time out of his busy and hectic schedule. The trial was planned to last about a week from start to finish for the parts that Izuku and Hiro needed to be there for. That was by design for their convenience by The Ministry of Justice given how big the UA Sports Festival was.

"I was just shocked that my other friends found out about it on their own so quickly." Hiro said to himself as he went around his bedroom, opening drawers, coming in and out of his bathroom and closet, double checking that he wasn't leaving anything important behind. "Over the past few days, I've started wonder how obvious it was. Was it because I was introduced as your foster brother, or was it because of, oh well, I don't know."

"I think you have been overthinking things." Izuku laughed which got him an incredulous look from Hiro.

"Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. Who are you of all people to accuse people overthinkers?" Hiro said with a straight face and caused Izuku to chuckle for a time before they heard their mother call them downstairs through the intercom than ran throughout the apartment to the front door.

Sighing and hoping that he had packed everything, he extended the handle out of his suitcase as he followed Izuku out of his bedroom and down the stairs where everyone was waiting for them. Waiting for them to put their shoes on so they could go were Alex, Felix, and Skyler who were already packed. Sighing with the inevitable dread of becoming the unwanted center of attention, he put his shoes on and got on the elevator to proceed downstairs to the car waiting for them.

Waiting down in the porte-cochere was a large van with one of Ectoplasm's clones behind the wheel waiting for them as they walked up and loaded their luggage before heading back to the UA Campus. Hiro sat the entire journey in silence while everyone else in the car tried to encourage him that everything was going to be okay. Eventually they pulled into the brand-new vehicle checkpoint at UA where things looked completely different from when they moved into the dorms.

Instead of a simple security hut where a security guard would be, was now a small bunker that was most likely built by Cementoss and inside was a local minor hero that looked like they had just graduated from a hero school. The van then had to go to into a box and a large robot arm went around the vehicle before it was allowed to go through the gate which was about ten feet thick. Knowing UA, what they just saw they knew it wasn't just security theater.

Eventually after dropping Alex, Felix, and Skyler at their dorms the van pulled into the lot behind the boys' dorms where they moved in not too long ago. Sighing, Hiro got out of the van right after his brother and grabbed his luggage before slowly trundling next to him along the outside of the building to the front doors. Once he placed his new handprint after swiping his keycard like he was instructed to, another new security change, he opened the door as it clicked unlocked as he followed behind Izuku. He looked around the dark and deserted common room which came as a surprise, he expected it to be crowded, but then…

"SURPRISE!"

Hiro jumped about a mile as the lights turned on as everyone from Class 1-A and 1-B popped out from their hiding holes. His heart was beating rapidly as everyone approached them. What startled him more was that Izuku didn't seem to be surprised at all, as though he was expecting it.

"Did we miss it?!" called a familiar voice and Kaito, Alex, Felix, and Skyler came sprinting towards the front door and Izuku let them in.

"Looks like it Sky" Felix panted clutching a stich in his side, the boys had all clearly come at a run from their dorms far away.

"You all knew about this?" Hiro asked, "Why did you organize a huge surprise for just me?"

"Because Fuji." Kendo said, Yaoyorozu, the class president for 1-A right next to her, "We all found out about what you are going through and about to go through these next couple weeks."

"…"

"How? How did you find out? Did any of you who knew tell anyone?" Hiro asked as he looked at his friends that were scattered about the room.

"No, we didn't." Shoji said in his usual calm voice, "Yours and Midoriya's names got leaked by the media this morning when a lawyer for the defense… let slip that both of you would be likely testifying. Saying that the prosecution depended on the words of… teenagers who wannabe heroes. Their words not mine."

"I found out this morning and contacted my Vice Rep, that is Midoriya, to confirm whether or not it was true." Kendo went on to explain, "When he confirmed everything and that Vlad-Sensei and Euphoria-Sensei had been at your home everyday to help prepare you for everything, and I thought well none of us can help teach you, but we can all support you."

"That's when Kendo contacted me as one Class Rep to another." Momo went on, taking on where Kendo had left off. "When it came apparent what you went through, we let everyone in our respective classes know what was going on so we could all be prepared to greet you here."

"But why though?" Hiro finally asked the big question that was confusing him.

"We all wanted to show you that we are on your side and none of us care that you grew up in a quirk orphanage." Tenya explained, "We are all here to support you, and are here to help motivate you to throw those monsters behind bars forever."

They all stayed down there in the common area for about an hour before heading to the onsen to bathe before bed. When Hiro got to his room, he found Kaito behind him.

"What is it Kaito?" Hiro asked as he opened his door.

"Do you mind if I have a quick word in private with you?" The grey-haired boy asked, and Hiro nodded gesturing his friend to go inside where he sat on Hiro's bed looking nervous. "You know how Euphoria-Sensei asked you if he could contact someone he knew who went through something similar? I'm that person and I want to help you. All I ask is that you don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you about my past to anyone without my express permission."

Slowly, Hiro sat back down into his chair, this was going to be a long night.