The next few days were unbearably tense. Mrs. Bead was incredibly cheery and nice. She complained about my leaving, about how she'd miss me and how good I was at helping out. I paid her no mind. A few of the youngest cried when they found out, but distracting them was easy enough. Nate's face went white when he heard.

"Are you serious?!" He'd never raised his voice, as long as I'd known him, so I was startled by the shout.

"I assume you don't approve."

"After all this time, you sneak away to an entrance exam in the city, then suddenly tell us you're leaving? What's gotten into you?"

"I'm not asking for any of you guys to help me out here, so I don't see why I'd need to give more than a heads-up." I told him bluntly.

"Who's going to look after the kids on weekends?" Nate demanded, fists clenched, "Patch up their clothes when they get ripped?"

"I can teach y'all to sew if that's what you're asking."

He didn't find that comment funny.

"What about him?" Nate suddenly jabbed a finger at Moe, who'd been quietly making some of the beds. Moe ignored him completely. "You're going to ditch him along with all your other brothers and sisters?" Well, there went the last of my patience.

"Nathan." I said coldly, "Him? What's so scary about his name, hm? Moe is coming with me. I would never abandon my family. But you're not my family." He blinked, clearly taken aback. I never thought I'd have the guts to say this, but I considered it obvious, "I'm not trying to be rude here, but come on. We're coworkers at best. You and I are expected to work with no regard for ourselves, always have been. No pay, either."

"Are you serious?" Nate's voice was low and furious, "Pay? You grew up in this orphanage and you expect pay?"

"No." I said gently, "But I was never the youngest here, which means no one ever took care of me. I looked after my own colds, and it was never okay for me to take a day off because I wasn't 100%. I was never here as a family member. I'm grateful for being given a place here, I am. It gave me somewhere to put myself together, but make no mistake, I was the one assembling the pieces. I don't hold any resentment for that. It's just a fact." I walked over to help Moe finish making the beds, "But I won't apologize for finally doing something for myself." It had taken a whole lot of effort too.

"You realize what the others will think when they realize you're playing favorites?"

"When's that been a secret?" I grinned and scooped Moe into my arms, "Tell me, would you have the gall to call Moe your brother?"

Nate didn't answer.

"Did you know I cried myself to sleep every night for the first three years I was here?"

No answer.

"I'll remember you fondly, I will." I said, ruffling Moe's hair and setting him down, "But I'll never forgive any of you for shunning Moe. I honestly thought you knew that already."

.

The day of our departure, we went through all the expected motions: smiling and waving, hugging and lying about keeping in touch.

Then Moe and I rolled our tiny suitcases to the train station and we left for the city.

Once we were on the train, I turned and grinned at him for real.

"Are you excited? I'm excited!" He nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, straight to UA to unpack, then we hit up the local stores for anything we're missing. Sound good?"

As if the fates themselves were trying to tell me I was making the right choice, a familiar and friendly face was waiting when we finally finished our walk up the slanted city, to the school grounds.

"Juniper?" I waved as Midorya jogged over to us from his place by the gate. A plump and smiling woman I assumed was his mother stood behind him.

"Hey, Midorya." I greeted, "This is Moe, my little brother. Moe? This is a friend from the entrance exam." Midorya crouched down and smiled at Moe.

"Nice to meet you!" He glanced up at me, "I'm glad you found him. Last I saw you, you were sprinting into the practical portion thinking he might be in there."

"Ah, yikes, you've had to live with the suspense." His mother, having waited the polite amount of time for us to say hi, walked over curiously.

"Oh, this is my mom. Mom, this is Juniper and Moe."

"I met your son at the test." I explained, greeting her while Moe hid behind my legs, "He was incredibly kind from the start. I'm not surprised he got in." Midorya turned red, but his mother smiled.

"Oh, that sounds like my Izuku."

"Mom!"

"Should I be congratulating you too?" She asked tentatively.

"No need!" I offered a sheepish smile, "But yes, I passed as well."

"Your parents couldn't help you move in?" She asked with a frown. I kept my smile, not particularly bothered. It was a warm feeling, seeing what a honest-to-goodness-mom was like.

"No, ma'am, but we don't have too much, so it's no problem."

"Well let me know if you need anything at all. I'm sure Izuku could help too."

"Of course!" Midorya sputtered, "We should be in the same building."

"Great! Then I'll see you tomorrow for sure! Moe and I are going to go on ahead. It was nice to meet you, Midorya's mom!"

"You as well dear."

.

The room.

Oh, the room.

Moe and I just stared at it for a few minutes. It wasn't obscenely big or anything like that, but it felt like an entire apartment; it had a chest of drawers, a tall wardrobe, a vanity, two desks, two beds, a little coffee table… and still there was enough room left over to lay on the ground. The beds sat on opposite sides of the room, facing the door. On the back wall was a big window.

Best of all, it was ours. No hiding stuff under the mattress or arguing about which bed was best or being unable to sleep from the multiple late night conversations going on. Our four walls.

The two sides of the room were almost identical, except that the wardrobe was on the left and the drawers on the right. Both our desks were in front of the window, so beside the beds. In the end, we had Moe on the left side, so he could pin things up on the side of the wardrobe to look at from his bed, and I had the right, so I could put a few extra items on top of the chest of drawers.

We quietly unpacked our clothes and what little possessions we had. Our uniforms were ready waiting for us in the wardrobe. I'd swiped a bunch of toiletries and cleaning supplies on our way out of the orphanage, so we were set in that department, plus the beds already had sheets on them. We'd only really need some blankets on top.

Chipper as a pair on bumblebees in spring, Moe and I locked our room behind us, glancing once more at our names on the door, and just about skipped to the nearby store.

Moe got a comforter that had the top twenty heroes printed on them, while I kept it simple to a white one with blue flowers. I got Moe an extra pillow. Some snacks for late-night cravings. Some notebooks and pens for class, plus an empty one for each of us, just in case. I got us each a new backpack from the clearance section; his all brown, mine all yellow. We picked out the softest rug we could find, it was green. A chair that was dirt cheap because of a crack it had on one of the arm, we got it for reading, and some extra blankets to stay warm at night, and…

Moe and I sat on the floor in front of the plushies aisle. This would take a minute.

.

I'd always wanted to get myself a stuffed animal.

First, I got attached to one at the orphanage when I first arrived, a floppy rabbit that had its fair share or wear and tear, but was told I had to share it. Well, I admittedly wasn't a fan of sharing back then, so I ditched the toy altogether.

Then, one year for my birthday, Moe got me a little teddy bear he'd won at the town carnival. I treasured it until Mrs. Bead used it to cheer up one of the babies… who vomited on it… and then it was thrown out, all without my knowledge. I searched for it for weeks.

Now though… this was something I wanted for myself. Really badly.

About half an hour passed.

"Have you narrowed it down?" I asked, not turning away from the rows of stuffed animals and hero plushies. I did shift my eyes enough to catch Moe shake his head. "Haven't ruled anything out?" Nope. "Yeah, me neither."

Another five minutes passed.

"Okay, buddy, we'll be here all day, and we still haven't eaten. How about this?" I turned to him and he reciprocated, clearly dubious. "You pick one out for me, and I pick one out for you. That way they're even more special. Not to mention you've proved you know me better than I know myself." His face brightened and he nodded jerkily, hopping to his feet. I followed in suit.

I scoured the shelves. If I knew Moe, and I'd like to think I did, I knew what he'd like most would be something that would bring him comfort. He was less about the abstract, more down to earth.

My eyes brushed passed the All Might push, and the Endeavor one, and I knew exactly what I wanted.

Counting to three, we revealed what he had behind our backs. Moe didn't have to explain his, it was a plump panda-shaped panda, with a round head, soulful eyes, and incredibly soft fake fur. It was just the right hugging size too.

"Wow, you're good!" I took it in my arms, "Nice and hefty, super soft, not to mention pandas are cute and sleep all day, the best animal. Thanks, you nailed it!" He made no effort to conceal his pride, but his eyes followed my choice.

"Ah." I handed the plush of Hawks to him. It was pretty cartoonish and not as soft as the alternatives, since it had a lot of detail; from his costume, to his messy hair, to a pair of wings that moved. That said, it was still squishy and huggable.

"Well, Mr. Hawks was very nice when we met him, don't you think? I thought you guys vibed pretty well. Most importantly, though, I want you to have him close so you know that no matter how lost you may feel, you will always be found, okay?"

Moe leapt into my arms.

Paying was the least fun part of the excursion. I had really done my best to pick cheaper options and limit unnecessary purchases, but the total still came up to nearly half of all the money I had saved. Were things just more expensive in the city? I double checked the bill and sullenly realized that the plushies weren't even on there.

"…um, you forgot to mark these up." I told the man, reluctantly gesturing to the figures. He seemed almost appalled.

"Are you kidding me?" He asked, "After watching the odyssey it was for you two to pick them, I wouldn't dream of making you pay. Good choices, both of you." I blinked, despair fading a bit.

"Wait… are you sure?" I sputtered. These were easily some of the most expensive things we'd picked, since we were going all out.

"So sure. I know you'll make good use of them, and you made my day already, so why not make yours a little better?" I felt the warmth of an act of kindness rush through me and gave a big, happy smile.

"Thank you sir!"

After lugging our new things to the room, we made the beds, set up the chair, hid the snacks, and soon it was home. Our home. I sat on my desk chair and looked out the window to the dimming clouds. Moe climbed onto my lap. We sat there for a long while, looking out at a new sky.