"Eiko?" the name caused Eijirou's stomach to roll with distaste. He frowned, looking up from his homework and at his foster mother. She had her long brown hair tied up in a tight ponytail that pulled her face to make it look like she was always scowling.
"Yes?" he asked, making sure his voice was high and feminine, which only caused the nausea in his stomach to grow.
"I just got a letter from your school," she said, pulling the papers out. Eijirou felt his heartbeat speed up rapidly. "Care to explain to me why you have a male uniform?"
"Uh, oh shit," he swore, running a hand through his hair that was currently devoid of gel.
"Language," her foster mother growled, narrowing her eyes. "Now tell me why the Hell my foster daughter has a male hero costume!"
"Because I'm a boy!" he shrieked, standing up from his chair, which caused it to fall back.
"No you're not!" the woman screamed back at him, taking a step forward. "I'm fostering a girl, not some sort of freak!"
"I'm trans, not a freak!" Eijirou could feel tears of panic welling up in his eyes.
"You're leaving tonight," the woman shouted, her face contorted in anger. She whirled around, slamming the door behind her so that it shook the walls if Eijirou's room.
The boy sunk down onto the floor, tears now rushing down his face at breakneck speeds. He pulled his legs into him, burying his face into the soft fabric of his pajama pants as he allowed himself to sob. He had just gotten used to living in the house and what boundaries the people had, and now he was going to be moved back to the awful social worker's house and to another foster home.
His heart ached as he thought 'why?' Why had his parents decided that he would've been too much trouble? Why did they give him into this life of hate and unauthorized, uncontrollable change? Why couldn't he have been a normal kid, with normal parents who loved and supported him?
The thoughts only brought further tears down his face, successfully soaking his sweatpants and causing him to convulse forward every so often. He could hear the shrill, hysterical shrieking of the woman who had been fostering him for half the year downstairs. He pulled back from the ball that he had pressed himself into, sniffing and wiping the tear streaks off his face.
The sound of heavy, angry footsteps was quickly moving to his room, stomping up the flight of stairs. He could feel panic rise in his heart unlike it had in a long, long time. He scrambled up off the floor, wiping at his face again and moving to stand as close to the wall as he could. He had learned the tactic when he was seven, and he had been put into a foster home with one too many aggressive older brothers.
"Listen here girl," his now ex-foster father growled as he walked into the room. "You are a fucking disgrace. I don't ever want you to tell anyone that you were fostered by us, or we'll tell everyone how the well-mannered little Eiko is a fucking tranny. We'll see how your petty hero school likes you when they find out that you're a girl!"
"P-please don't hurt me," Eijirou whimpered, feeling bile rise in the back of his throat as a panic attack hit him hard and fast. His breathing had sped up while he had been crying, and now it seemed like it was going a mile a minute. His heart was pounding in his ears and going nearly as fast as his panicked breaths. He felt like he was drowning like all the air had been sucked out of the room, leaving him struggling to find the vital oxygen his body desired.
He balled his hands up in tight fists, which caused his nails to bite into his palm and leave minuscule cuts as his Quirk activated. He quickly shut his eyes tight and allowed another stream to tears to fall down his now stone hard face.
"Just pack your things, Eiko," the man spat, turning and stopping out of the room. He paused just before he shut the door, turning around and shouting at him again, "If you want to be a man you should act like it instead of this abused bitch act you have."
Eijirou choked on vomit as the last words left his foster father's mouth. He rushed over to the trash can underneath his desk, allowing the liquid that had built in the back of his throat to spill out of his mouth in a grotesque imitation of a fountain. He began to shake harshly, his entire body shaking like he was an earthquake sent to break apart of the continents.
"Y-you have to be manly, Eijirou," he told himself, his quirk activating again as he stood up from his spot on the ground. He ignored the smell of the vomit and bile in his garbage can as he rushed to his closet, pulling out his two large suitcases. He grabbed all of his clothes out from the drawers they had been stuffed into and placed them as quickly as he could into one of the suitcases. He sat on it to zip it up, then moved onto packing everything else that he owned into the other suitcase. He puffed out his chest, digging around underneath his bed for the last thing that he owned. He quickly shed his shirt, slipping on the binder to flatten his chest like he had done so many times before. He put the shirt back on and then picked up both of the suitcases. He quickly made his way down the stairs, avoiding the glares that were coming from the transphobic couple that he had been living with.
He took in a deep breath as he walked out of the house, the cold night air hitting him like one of the robots he had had to fight during the entrance exams. He shivered and realized that he wasn't wearing shoes, socks or a jacket for that matter. He frowned, setting his suitcases down on the porch before he sat down next to them, pulling his legs up to his chest.
His phone buzzed annoyingly in his pocket, telling him exactly who was texting him. He pulled it out, opening the message.
Kaminari to Kirishima
Hey
We should make a group chat
The red-haired boy laughed, which felt like heaven in his chest after the traumatic experience he had just been forced to endure. A pair of headlights shone down the street that was still damp from rain, which made the nerves that Eijirou had forced down to come back for a split second of a moment. He turned back to his phone, responding to his friend and ignoring the car for a moment.
Kirishima to Kaminari
Yeah, bro! That would be so cool!
He got a message back almost immediately and just had time to read it before the car pulled to a stop outside the house.
Kaminari to Kirishima
Sweet
I'll start it right now
"Are you Kirishima Eiko?" a sweet, kind voice asked. Eijirou looked up, blinking for a moment, he was almost too confused to speak for a moment
"You're not my normal social worker," he blurted.
"Nope! She got fired," the woman said a little too cheerfully. "I'm Ito Aika, and you'll be coming to stay with me tonight until we find you a suitable foster home!"
"O-okay," Eijirou nodded, still a little stunned that the awful, slightly abusive Social Worker that he had had to put up with since he was a little kid a quit. He stood up, picking up his bags, but Ito took one of them from him, and he noted that it was the obviously heavier one.
"Do you need to get some shoes and a jacket out of your suitcase? We have some time before I really have to get you back to a house," she offered as she popped the trunk of her car.
Eijirou blushed, having forgotten about his poor choice of clothing. "That would be nice, thank you," he offered her a small smile.
"It's no problem," she smiled back at him as she set the suitcase in the trunk and then unzipped it, pulling out a pair of his school shoes and handing them to him. He took them gratefully, dropping them down onto the street so he could slip them on. "So due to the state of this hasty packing and your clothes I take it this was a recent decision?" she asked, her voice changing from the happy, go-lucky tone that it had been before to a tender, caring tone.
"Uh, yeah," he nodded, taking the jacket she had offered him.
"Do you mind if I ask why?" she asked, shutting the trunk after putting his second suitcase next to the newly zipped first one.
He paused for a moment as he slipped his jacket on, frowning and staring down at his feet. "I'm just not their type of kid."
Ito frowned, placing a hand on his arm comfortingly. "Well, I can already tell that they missed out," she smiled at him. "You look like you had a rough night. You want a hug?"
"Yes please," Eijirou nodded so hard that he thought he might have given himself whiplash. The woman in front of him opened her arms and walked forward, encasing him in a way that none of his other foster parents had. He hugged her back tightly, almost tearing up and beginning to cry again before the words that his ex-foster father had shouted at him came back. He pulled away after a moment, clearing his throat with a small cough.
"Okay, let's get you home," Ito smiled at him again, patting his arm in a motherly manner as she walked around the other side of the car. Eijirou stood there for a moment as he collected himself, then turned and walked to the passenger side of the car. He opened it and got in, trying to calm the panic that was rising in his chest as he began to remember what had happened the last time he had been in a car. He ran a hand through his unstyled hair and let out a wet chuckle, his life really was a typhoon of misfortune and misery.
Ito glanced up at him from her phone, where she was scrolled through hundreds of songs. "What kind of music do you want to listen to?" she asked sweetly.
"Uh, I like metal," he offered, unsure about what he was supposed to answer. No one had ever asked him what kind of music he wanted to listen to, they always just played what they wanted.
"I have a couple of American metal bands if that's okay," Ito chuckled, picking a song that was somewhere in between heavy metal and classical.
"That sounds great," Eijirou breathed out, feeling like a weight was being lifted off of his shoulders as they drove away from the house.
They sat in silence for a moment as she navigated her way out to the main road, with a few cusses that were followed by immediate apologies. "So, Eiko," she began once they were finally on a familiar street. "What school do you go to again?"
"Isn't this all on my case file?" Eijirou asked, wincing at being called his deadname.
"Yes, but I prefer to talk to the kids I help as opposed to just reading up about them. I feel like it gets them to trust me," Ito explained.
"Oh. That makes sense," Eijirou nodded. "I go to UA High."
"Woah," she grinned, looking over at him. "So does that mean you want to be a hero when you graduate?"
"Yeah, if I can," he grinned back at her, feeling lighter and altogether happier.
"That's so cool," she chuckled as she merged with another lane of cars. "What class did you get into?"
"I got into the Hero Course, class 1-A," he felt his chest swell with pride at his great accomplishment.
"That must have taken a lot of work," she smiled at him with proud, parental eyes.
"It did," he agreed. They both fell into a comfortable silence as the song switched into something a little heavier than the first one. Eijirou sunk down in his seat, finally feeling the tired emptiness that always came after he had a panic attack as he had just had. His brain felt like the fog outside had somehow gotten into his skull and clouded his thoughts, making them slow and slothish.
It was a good ten minutes before he remembered that he had a text from Kaminari and as he pulled out he saw that he had about twenty more that he figured were from the group chat.
Kaminari to Kirishima
Do you think I should add Bakugou too
I'm kinda worried that he only gave us his number so that we would leave him alone…
Kirishima to Kaminari
Do it anyway! If he's gonna give his number out to people he should expect them to use it.
Kaminari to Kirishima
Dude, where did you go
It's been like twenty minutes since I made the group chat
Kirishima to Kaminari
I had some stuff I had to take care of.
Kaminari to Kirishima
Oh
Okay
That's cool man
Come talk to us now
Eijirou snorted at his friend, but couldn't ignore the happy feeling inside of his heart as he was called 'man' and 'dude.' He pressed out of his conversation with Kaminari, moving to the group chat that they had started. He quickly scrolled to the top of the chat, reading the twenty messages they had sent to each other so far.
Ashido to Group Chat
YAY! GROUP CHAT
Sero to Group Chat
Geez Ashido, I can practically hear your squealing through text XD
Ashido to Group Chat
Aww, Sero, that's mean!
Kaminari to Group Chat
We should name the chat
Ideas
Sero to Group Chat
Well, who's on here?
Kaminari to Group Chat
Ashido, you, me and Kirishima
Ashido to Group Chat
Kiri's here too?!
THE only person we're missing iiiiiiiiiis
BAKUGOU
Kaminari to Group Chat
I asked him if I should add Bakugou
But he hasn't gotten back to me
Sero to Group Chat
Do it anyway! XD
We're risk takers now
Ashido to Group Chat
That's what we should name the chat!
Sero to Group Chat
That doesn't make any sense Ashido
Ashido to Group Chat
Like
We should name it the Bakusquad!
Kaminari to Group Chat
I love it
It's brilliant!
Kirishima to Group Chat
We should totally name the chat that
You're a genius Ashido
Ashido renamed Group Chat to Bakusquad
Kaminari added Bakugou to Bakusquad
Bakugou to Bakusquad
What the actual fuck is this
Kirishima to Bakusquad
That timing was perfect
Now I gotta go
Bai everyone
Eijirou looked up from his phone, chuckling lightly as he saw the panic that his friends were currently spamming the chat with. "Something funny happening?" Ito asked the teenager with a bemused smile.
"Yeah," he nodded, the smile on his face not fading in the slightest.
"Care to share?" she questioned as she turned into a quaint neighborhood.
"My friends have really funny timing," he explained, shaking his head.
"I see," she smiled, pulling into the driveway of a cheerful, happy house. "Well, we're here," she smiled, stopping the car. "Just head inside, I can get your bags from the back of the car."
"Are you sure?" Eijirou asked, biting his lip as he thought about how much work it had taken to lift the suitcases and how awkward it would be to walk into someone else's house.
"If you want to bring in some of your stuff, you can," she offered, getting out of the car and walking around to the already opened trunk. Eijirou followed after her, picking up the heavier suitcase and following her into the house.
"Aika?" a feminine voice shouted from a little way down the hall. "Is that you, my love?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you about Chihiro," Ito cursed again. "Oops, sorry," she apologized as her cheeks turned a rosy pink color. She turned back to the direction of the voice. "Yeah, it's me!"
A woman emerged from down the hall, her long red hair falling over her shoulders in pretty ringlets. Her eyes were bright and happy, much like Ito's were. "Is this the kid that's going to be staying with us tonight?" she asked, her voice like honey in tea.
"Yeah," Ito nodded. "Eiko, this is Chihiro, my wife!"
Eijirou felt his heart skip a beat as he replayed what she had said over and over again in his head. "I-it's nice to meet you," he finally stuttered out as he finally got his tongue free of the knots it had been tied in.
"It's nice to meet you too, did I hear Aiko right? Your name is Eiko?" the woman asked as she walked forward. Eijirou almost shook his head, but the horrible reaction he had gotten from his recent foster family decided to nod instead.
"Yes ma'am," he answered.
"Oh, none of that sweetheart," she chided. "You can call me Chihiro."
"Oh, yeah, how forgetful of me, you don't have to call me Ito, you can call me Aiko! After all, we share the same last name," Aiko grinned.
"What am I doing? We shouldn't overwhelm the girl!" Chihiro sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Would you like to see the room I've prepared for you?"
"Yes please," Eijirou nodded again, remembering how exhausted he was. Chihiro smiled at him, guiding him down the hall silently.
"Just so you know, you might be staying with us as your new foster family! I've been trying to convince Aiko for a long time that we should have one of the poor kids passing through living with us for a while instead! Would you be alright with that?" she rambled.
"Uh, yeah, you guys seem really nice," Eijirou mumbled, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep that plagued them.
"Aw, you're such a sweetie," the woman cooed as she opened the door for him. "Feel free to use anything in there. One of the doors goes to a closet, the other to a bathroom! There are charges on the desk if you don't already have your own."
"Thank you so much," Eijirou smiled, tears flooding to his eyes. He quickly pressed them back down again, remembering that it was unmanly to cry.
"It's no trouble!" she chirped, saying the same thing as Aiko had earlier when he first met her. "Aiko and I are in the room down the hall if you need us!"
"Okay," he nodded, lugging his suitcase into the small room. Aiko walked down the hall after him, coming into the room to set his other suitcase down.
"Don't let Chihiro scare you too much, she's just excited to have another kid staying with us for a little while," she smiled tightly.
"Are you actually considering fostering me?" he blurted. He could feel the embarrassment rising in his cheeks, but pushed it down as blushing was far too feminine for a man to do.
"Oh, uh yeah," she nodded. "I just wanted you to settle down and have a good night's sleep before I talked to you about it. How do you feel about staying here?"
"I'd really, really like to," Eijirou mumbled. "You guys are really nice and this place is way friendlier already than my last home."
"I can take you to get the paperwork signed after you get home from school tomorrow, then," Aiko grinned.
"Thank you," Eijirou grinned like an idiot as he embraced the Social Worker. She paused for a moment before hugging him back just as hard.
"You're welcome, now get some sleep Eiko," she smiled, completely unaware at how much pain hearing this new family that he loved so much call him by his deadname.
"Goodnight," he waved her off as she walked back down to her and Chihiro's room. He shut the door, locking it tightly and turning to his things. The exhaustion hit him three times as hard as he thought it would, and all he could do was take off his jacket and shows, plug his charger and phone in and then crash into bed.