"You have to do this," Eijirou told himself as he looked into the mirror. His skin was paler than normal due to the small panic attack that he was currently shoving out of his mind. "If they're going to adopt you, they should adopt all of you and not just Eiko. You can do this. You're manly!"
He puffed out his chest and gave the mirror a big grin before he turned and sprinted out of his bedroom, going into the kitchen where he knew both of his soon-to-be mothers would be.
As he suspected, Chihiro was bustling around the kitchen as she made breakfast, talking with her wife as she cooked. "You should get me some more bacon to cook with when you go to the store after you pick Eiko up from school."
"She said that she would rather walk home than be picked up," Aiko mumbled as she brought her cup of coffee down from her lips, trying to keep her eyes open and the sleep away.
"That's right! She walks home with her crush!" Chihiro giggled as she began to plate the food she had been cooking. Eijirou felt his heartbeat pick up faster and faster as he walked into the kitchen, and listening to his foster mothers refer to him as a girl (even if they didn't know that he wasn't).
"Hey Moms," the red-haired teenager grinned as he walked into the kitchen, trying to push down the negative emotions as much as he could.
"There's our girl!" Aiko grinned as best she could despite the fact that she was still exhausted.
"Uh," he stuttered, his mind screaming at him to do it then, to finally come out to his wonderful family. "Are either of you going to watch the sports festival today?"
"Oh, I almost forgot that was today," Chihiro chuckled. "But I will try my best to watch in between hearings!"
"Thanks," Eijirou grinned a sharp-toothed smile, sitting down at his normal spot at the kitchen table. His mom placed down a plate of food in front of him that looks a lot less appetizing now that there were a couple thoughts of worthlessness going through his mind.
You're not a man with how you're acting.
You should be manly enough to come out to them if you really are a man.
You're so feminine. You deserve that fucking body of yours.
He picked up his fork, pushing some of the food around his plate for a moment before he glanced at the clock and saw that he only had ten minutes before he needed to leave for school. He let out a strained voice as he began to shove food into his mouth. "Careful sweetie, we don't want you choking before your moment of fame at school," Chihiro chuckled as she leaned down, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"Don't worry, I won't," he responded through a mouthful of food. "Oh, would you guys mind putting off the adoption until maybe next week?"
"We can do that," Aiko nodded. "I had forgotten to schedule the appointment anyway."
"Aiko!" Chihiro chided as she sat down at the table with her own food. "I reminded you three times!"
The other woman sunk down into her chair, muttering something that sounded like 'I love you' into her coffee cup. Her wife just rolled her eye as she began to eat, glancing at the clock. She looked over to her foster son and said, "We'll see you tonight! Do your best in the sports festival and get your name out there!"
"Yeah, break a leg and have some fun, but please don't actually get hurt," Aiko kissed his cheek and he stood up and put his plate in the sink.
"I'll try my best," Eijirou replied as he gave them both a quick hug before he rushed outside with his backpack hanging off of his shoulder. He felt his stomach roll with nerves as he thought about the things that the Sports Festival would entail. A sudden thought occurred to him as he caught sight of Bakugou, and it made him want to go hide in his room and then never go outside again.
He had asked his mother's to watch the broadcast of him at the Sports Festival of U.A. Where he was called Eijirou, instead of Eiko and referred to as 'he.' And this morning he had chickened out of coming out to his Foster Mothers. He frowned to himself, using his sharp teeth to make the already chapped skin of his lip, even more, busted up.
"You should really stop doing that," Bakugou said as Eijirou caught up with him without even realizing it.
"Huh?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts and looking at his friend. Bakugou looked at him with angry red eyes, his expression nearly screaming exasperation. Eijirou offered him a large, sharp-toothed grin as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Sorry, bro."
"Tch," Bakugou rolled his eyes, mimicking the other boy and shoving his hands into his pockets as well. "Whatever, Shitty Hair."
They walked in silence for a while before the red-haired boy tried to make another attempt at conversation. "You excited for the Sports Festival today?"
"Hell fucking no," he spat. "This isn't some normal Sports Festival. This is us getting our names out there so that we can become Pro Heroes."
Eijirou flinched back when the other boy shouted his words, remembering a couple things that had happened with him and some of his supposed friends back when he was in Middle School. "Yeah, I guess so. I bet you're going to do great though! You have such a powerful and memorable Quirk."
"You do too," Bakugou mumbled, a faint, barely noticeable blush on his cheeks. "I mean, how many other hard-headed shark kids are there in the world?"
Eijirou laughed at the jab, a fluttering feeling erupting in his chest as he heard the playful insult fall from the ash-blonde haired teenager's lips. "Thanks, bro."
"Whatever," Bakugou said again as if it had become his new favorite word. They both fell silent, leaving the only sounds as they walked the whirring of cars next to them and the sounds of birds in the trees, chirping at them. Across the seat, he could see another one of their classmates walking to school. He smiled, reaching his arms above his head and waving while calling out to the other man, "Hey! Midoriya!"
The green-haired boy jumped and turned to look at the other two, waving back as well, but not making any move to go over to the due to the look that Bakugou was shooting him.
"Fucking Deku," he growled, hunching his shoulders and looking away from the other boy.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Eijirou asked curiously, looking forward again. He nearly jumped as he saw the gates of their school approaching quickly.
"None of your goddamn business," he replied, clamping his teeth shut menacingly, reminding the other boy of a feral dog. The redhead quieted down after that, giving the other boy some space as they swiped their ID cards and getting into their school.
"Kirishima! Bro," Denki called out, quickly running over to the two boys. "And Bakugou too!"
"Hey bro," Eijirou greeted, holding his hand out and letting the other boy take it. They brought each other in for a hug, slapping each other's backs like the men that they were. "You excited for today?"
"Yeah! This is gonna be so cool," he grinned widely. "How pumped are you?"
"Oh I'm so pumped!" the red-haired boy threw his fist up in the air excitedly. "This is my chance to prove to the world how manly I am!"
"Yeah," Kaminari held his hand up, getting a high-five from his friend.
"C'mon you three, let's get to class," Sero said, walking behind Kaminari with a small smile on his face. Bakugou scoffed, walking away from them and to the building.
"Aw, Sero, you're no fun," the electric blond boy pouted, folding his arms grumpily over his chest.
"The faster we get to class the faster we can start doing things for the Sports Festival," Sero said, always the voice of reason for the small group when it wasn't Bakugou screaming at them. Both boys looked at each other for a moment before looking back to the tallest of the trio.
"Race ya!" Eijirou shouted loudly as he took off to the building, Kaminari following after him. Sero stood there for a moment, processing what had just happened before he took off with them, using his tape Quirk to pull himself faster using the lampposts.
"Not fair!" Kaminari shouted when he pulled past the two of them, which only drove Eijirou to run faster. He could feel his chest bouncing up and down, making him feel uncomfortable but at the same time, he was relieved to have worn a bra instead of his binder.
By the time the group had made it to their classroom, they were all laughing and out of breath. "I beat you both and I got a late start!" Sero laughed, leaning over and taking in deep breaths.
"You used your Quirk! It doesn't count!" Kaminari insisted, holding his arms over his heaving chest just as he had done before.
"What? How does that not count?" Sero grumbled, standing up straight and shoving Kaminari's shoulder playfully. "Kirishima, C'mon, back me up here!"
"Naw, I gotta side with Kaminari," Eijirou shook his head, moving to stand next to his friend.
"What's going on here?" Ashido asked, walking over to her friends with her hands on her hips, which was getting quite a few unwanted looks from their class menace.
"Sero cheated in a race to the-" Kaminari was cut off by Iida standing up, calling out over the class.
"Everyone, class is about to start, please take your seats!" Everyone did as they were asked, moving to their desks and sitting down even though the nervous, excited chatter stayed very lively.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Ashido squealed as she and Eijirou sat down next to each other.
"I know, and to think that we're finally going to get our names out there," he grinned, holding up his arm and flexing his muscles. "This is so manly!"
Before Ashido had a chance to respond, the door swung open uncharacteristically early as their homeroom teacher shuffled in. The bags underneath his eyes seemed a little darker than usual, but they were all honestly just happy to see that he was no longer in the hospital after the attack. "Iida, have you taken roll?" he asked, his voice muffled by some of the bandages wrapped around his head.
"Yessir," the blue-haired boy answered immediately, standing up and walking to the teacher with the roll in his hand.
"Great, now I want all of you to go get dressed in your PE uniforms and then come back and wait for further instruction," the tired man said, his voice monotone as always. The class eagerly stood and shoved their way out of the classroom, heading as quickly as they could to their locker rooms. There were only a couple of other classes in the changing rooms with them due to the fact that if they had all the classes in there at the same time no one would be able to move.
Eijirou did what he always did, grabbing his uniform and rushing to the bathroom stalls at the very back. He walked in, closing the door securely before he began to strip. He hated the feeling of how tight his gym uniform was against his chest and he began to worry his lip in between his razor-sharp teeth as he thought about what would happen if he was found out by the school due to it.
He didn't have much time to think before someone came over to his stall door and began to bang on it loudly. "C'mon Kirishima, hurry up!" Kaminari grumbled.
"I'm almost done, geez," he teased back, finishing adjusting his uniform so that it looked like he didn't have breasts all together unless someone was really looking for it. He swung the door open, his clothes gathered underneath one of his arms as he walked back to where his locker was, stuffing some of the clothing into it with no real care.
"Let's get going," Sero grinned wickedly as he threw an arm over his friend's shoulders, pulling them both into him. Kaminari easily leaned into the touch, which Eijirou couldn't help but notice.
Eijirou loved the feeling of the wind rushing through his highly gelled hair, making a few strands pull free and fall down into his face when he had to pause to move around someone. The adrenaline in his veins was almost addictive with how powerful and energetic it made him feel. It was almost like he was on cloud nine, the most powerful person there even if in truth he was probably one of the least powerful people in his class. And even though he hadn't come anywhere near the first couple places, he had still done really well in his eyes. It was kind of scary how quickly some of the other people had taken off, using their Quirks to push them quickly forward and past those who could not use their Quirks to accelerate them into going any faster.
"Bro, you made it too," Eijirou grinned as he walked up to Kaminari, who had also made it into the forty-two students that had passed onto the second round.
"Yeah, the entire Bakusquad made it," Kaminari grinned, giving his friend a 'bro-hug' like they had done that morning.
"Stop calling it that," Bakugou growled as he walked up next to the two of them, Ashido and Sero walking behind him and up to the other two males. "You're going to make everyone think I came up with the idea."
"Oh come on, Bakubro, you know you love it," the long-haired blond laughed, the nickname falling from his lips before he knew what was happening.
"What did you just call me?" he asked, stopping from the tirade he was about to go on when he heard the nickname.
"Uh, oh shit," Kaminari blushed, putting both of his hands over his face to cover up the red tone of his skin. "Nothing! I said nothing!"
"Aw, Kaminari is blushing," Ashido giggled, slinging an arm over his shoulder with a laugh.
"No, I'm not," the bright-haired boy shook his head, trying to force the blush to go away so that his friends would stop teasing him.
"I can't believe that you just called Blasty McSpoldes 'Bakubro," Sero threw his arm around the other side of his friend's shoulders, ignoring the fact that he used another nickname for the ash-blond haired boy.
"Stop," Kaminari whined, leaning into the black-haired male a bit more than he had last time, enough to Ashido also noticed. She removed her arm from around his shoulders, slapping her hand over her mouth to suppress a squeal.
She quickly walked over to her red-haired friend, leaning her chin onto his shoulder with a small giggle. She turned a bit to speak to him in a hushed whisper, "I think Kami has a crush on Sero!"
"Yeah, looks like it, huh?" Eijirou chuckled back to her, his heart fluttering a bit as he realized that Ashido had just referred to two men dating like it was completely normal (which of course it was). "Maybe we can play matchmaker."
"Yeah!" she squealed, pulling back with a large laugh. She moved to go talk to someone else for a moment, leaving him looking at Kaminari and Sero talk to each other, which quickly got boring. He began to worry his lip in between his razor-sharp teeth and felt anxiety begin to take over his mind. He quickly made his way away from everyone and into the closest bathroom, he could find.
Thankfully, the bathroom was completely empty. He walked all the way down to the handicapped stall, locking it behind him before he sunk down the wall, holding his legs up to his chest. He leaned his head on his knees, taking in a deep breath and holding it for as long as he could before he let it out slowly. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, it was going a mile a minute before the breath and he could feel it skip a beat before it returned to the normal, slow and steady pace.
He stayed in the bathroom for a little longer, bouncing his leg nervously as he tried to get rid of the adrenaline that was still flowing through him from the panic that he may have not made it through to the next round. The fear of being found out by his foster mothers returned for a moment before someone walked into the bathroom, swinging the door open so hard that it might've cracked the wall.
"Shitty Hair! I know you're in here!" Bakugou called out, walking to the only locked stall. "The next round is going to happen soon, so you have to come out of the bathroom."
"Okay, I'll be out in a minute," Eijirou called out back to him, even though he was just outside of his stall door. He waited for a moment to hear footsteps that would let him know that the other boy had left the bathroom, but after thirty seconds the sound hadn't come.
He stood up, opening the door and walking out of the stall, trying to keep the shame away from his face as it would have been too feminine for him to show that kind of emotion. "Hey, sorry for making you find me."
"Tch," Bakugou scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever, let's just get going."
He's going to feel your bra.
He's going to feel that you're a girl.
He's going to know and hate your guts.
The thoughts coursed through Eijirou's brain at a mile a minute, causing his footing to become slightly off as they ran around, collecting headbands. Someone came just too close to them for comfort, bringing him back to the situation that he was in as he began to be a lot more careful. His sprinted, making sharp turned and narrowly avoiding people as the other people on his team told him to.
Before he really had any idea of what was happening, everything was over and he was being guided to the edge of the arena by Ashido. They were both breathing hard, but more due to adrenaline than actually being out of breath. He could hear Present Mic say his name as he read out the teams and how many points they all had, but he was far too exhausted to actually care much. Ashido wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder, making them turn to face where the majority of the crowd was, pumping her fist in the air with a bright smile on her face. Eijirou soon did the same, pumping his fist in the air to mirror what she was doing.
The crowd loved it, almost every person cheering for them. Eijirou felt a happy, fluttery feeling in his chest as he heard everyone cheering for them, but it was soon replaced by exhaustion when his body remembered how much sprinting he had just done.
"Let's go get some Gatorade," Ashido said as she turned and steered them further into the building and out of the view of the cameras. "I don't know about you, but I am so tired."
"It's such a rush," he breathed, running a hand through his no longer gelled hair to get it out of his eyes. "Especially when we're doing anything with Bakugou."
"Oh?" she asked, turning to look at him from the side of her eyes. "Does somebody have a crush?" she asked with a small giggle.
"Wha- no! Ashido!" he cawed, moving away from her as a blush took over his face.
"You have a crush on Bakugou!" she giggled, flinging her arms around him in a hug as she nearly bounced up and down. "If you and him start dating and Sero and Kami start dating then almost all of my OTP's will be complete!"
"OTP's?" he asked, trying to derail the conversation.
"One True Pairing, it's a shipping thing," she answered, holding a finger to her lips as she began to think. She clapped her hands together once they had gotten into one of the prep rooms. "Kiri, I want you to call me Mina."
"That's kind of an odd segway, but okay," he nodded, grabbing some of the Gatorade that they had out for some of the students. "I guess you can call me Eijirou then."
Mina gasped, wavering her hands up and down excitedly as she began to bounce up and down. "Can I call you Ei-chan?"
"Uh, sure. I've never really had anyone refer to me by that before," he mused. Even though that had been the first syllable of his deadname, no one had ever used the nickname in referral to him. If they had, he probably wouldn't have as much of an issue with people calling him Eiko.
"Yay!" she grinned, hopping up on the table and grabbing a bottle of the electrolyte and vitamin filled beverage. "Are either of your parents tuning in today?"
Eijirou got up on the table with her, taking a long drink before answering. "Well, my mama said that she would try and tune in between hearings, so I'm not sure." The name fell so easily from his lips that he wasn't sure that he had said it before he thought about it for a few minutes.
"And your Dad?" Mina asked curiously, trying to get to know her friend better.
Eijirou paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not he should tell her, but her comments earlier told him that she could be trusted. "I don't have one. My other mom is working all day though. She said that she would watch it when she got the chance on YouTube."
"You have two moms?" Mina lit up, turning to face her friend. "That's super cool! I have two dads!"
"Really? No way!" Eijirou grinned as he turned to her. He held up his hand and soon received a high five from his friend. "I can't believe that we both have same-sex parents."
"I know, right? What are the chances of that?" she giggled, kicking her legs back and forth. "My Dads said that they would be tuning in today if their agency would give them any time to. I know they get busy a lot."
"Your parents are pro heroes?" he asked, his eyebrows raised curiously.
"Well, they're sidekicks that always work together. Their Quirks really really work well together," she replied, downing the rest of the Gatorade in her hands. Eijirou followed in her example, taking a minute to chug the rest of the liquid. "Okay, we should probably stop by the bathroom and then get back out there before the next round starts. After all, we did make it!" she cheered happily.
"Yeah, we did!" Eijirou responded, giving her another high five before he followed her down to the restrooms.
He walked away from his fight with the teenager that almost exactly matched his Quirk with an aching shoulder. He rolled it, placing his hand on the top of it to message the twitching muscle. He had just barely made it to one of the waiting rooms where he would be until it was time for the tiebreaker between the two of them when he heard someone calling to him from down the hall.
"Hey, Kirishima!" Tetsutetsu said as he ran down the hall, waving one of his hands in the air. "That is your name, right?"
"Yeah," Eijirou nodded, dropping his arm down from his shoulder. "You're Tetsutetsu, right?"
"Yeah man," he nodded. "I just wanted to tell you that you did an awesome job in the fight back there and I can't wait to see who wins cause it would be totally manly to lose to you!" Tetsu moved closer to him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. Normally, Eijirou wouldn't question the movement, but since he was wearing a bra instead of a binder, he knew that the other man would very easily be able to feel it.
He pulled his hand back once he felt the bra strap, a shocked expression taking over his face. "Hey, did I misgender you? If I did I am so, so sorry and that was so unmanly of me!"
Eijirou paused for a minute, trying to process what the other boy had just said. "Oh, no! I'm trans," he grinned a sharp-toothed smile and rubbed the back of his head. "FtM. It's just not safe to do the kind of things we're doing in a binder, so I had to wear a bra today."
"Oh," Testu grinned back at him, his teeth just as sharp. "That's cool, bro. I am too."
Eijirou's face dropped, his mouth actually hanging open. "No way, really?"
"Yeah!" the silver-haired male said. "I just found out myself, but fortunately my name is gender neutral enough that I didn't have to change it!"
"I had to change mine," Eijirou said, grinning at the other man. "Which sucks, cause I'm worried my Moms are gonna find me out and I'm worried that they might get mad."
"Aw, why?" Testu frowned, shoving his hands into the pockets of his gym uniform.
"My last set of foster parents were super transphobic," he answered, looking down at the floor sheepishly.
"You're too manly for that," Tetsu replied, beginning to walk with the other teenager into the waiting room.
"Have you come out to your parents yet?" Eijirou asked.
"No, I was planning on doing it later this week," he replied, shrugging a bit. The red-haired boy nodded in understanding as they continued to talk with each other until they had to be called out for their rematch.
"You won!" Mina shrieked as she flung her arms around Eijirou's shoulders, enveloping him in a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks, Mina," he smiled, leaning down and hugging her a little tighter.
"That other guy is so similar to you! I can't believe it!" she said once they had broken the hug. "Are you sure you guys aren't related?" she asked, a teasing yet curious tone filling her voice.
"Pretty sure," Eijirou chuckled, nodding a bit. "After all, our hair color is completely different."
"Hair color doesn't matter," she grumbled, placing her hand on her hips with a huff.
"Whatever you say, Mina," he chuckled, guiding them back up to the student viewing area so that they could hang around with Kaminari and Sero until Eijirou's next match.
"Hey bro," Kaminari greeted with a wide grin as he stood up and walked over to his friend, giving him a tight, yet masculine hug. Sero only greeted him with a smile and a high five, still watching the very intense match that was happening down in the arena. "Your match was so cool and I can't believe you won! Not to be rude or anything, I just thought it was gonna be another stalemate!"
"Yeah, well I won! Cause I'm super manly!" he cheered, flexing both of his arms and activating a small bit of his Quirk to add to the effect.
"Yeah!" Kaminari grinned, giving his friend a high-five before he collapsed down into the chair next to Sero, who looked at him for a moment before turning away, his face oddly sullen.
Mina looked at the two for a moment before she turned back to Eijirou, folding her arms over her chest as she fell into deep thought. The red-haired teenager just rolled his eyes as she sat down in the chair next to his other two friends, content to watch whatever was happening.
"I can't believe our Bakubro won," Kaminari pumped his fist in the air as they all walked back to the locker rooms with the other classes.
"Stop calling me that," the boy in question growled, having finally calmed down enough form the rage that he had been feeling to be let out of his restraints.
"Why?" Kaminari pouted, leaning a bit closer to Sero, who moved away with a frown. Eijirou's eyebrows knit together as he saw his friends look at each other awkwardly for a moment before pulling away from one another.
"Because it's fucking annoying, Pikachu," Bakugou answered, obviously still upset.
"Hey, let's not get upset, okay?" Eijirou introjected, walking in between the two of them in hopes of deflecting some of the tension. The ash-blond just looked away with a sneer, shoving both of his hands in his pockets. As they walked, the noise in the hall got louder and louder, and the red-haired teenager noticed the other boy wincing a bit as someone shouted.
"Bakugou?" he asked, but the other boy either seemed to have not noticed or didn't care. Eijirou shrugged it off as the other still being angry from not winning 'fairly.' The group made their way into the respective locker rooms, and he grabbed his clothes and went to his normal stall, though he smirked as he saw that another one of the stalls was closed and his intuition told him that it was his new friend.
After he was changed, he made his way back to his classroom where they had to stay until everyone that had been in the stands was gone before they were released just so that they wouldn't get trampled or attacked by over-excited fans. Their exhausted teacher walked into the classroom almost ten minutes after the rest of them did, Present Mic close behind him.
"I ship it," Mina giggled at him, making him snort with laughter.
"You all did well, I guess," Aizawa-sensei said as he slammed some of the paper in his still bandaged hands down onto the podium in the front of the room. "I would've liked to see some of you do a little bit better, but for now, this will do."
The class was ecstatic after that, this having been the highest praise they had ever gotten from their monotone-voiced teacher. They all began to chatter quietly amongst themselves before the bone-shattering voice of Present Mic shouted at them to be silent.
"Thank you, Present Mic," Aizawa-sensei grumbled. "You're all free to go to your parents or go home now. Try not to get killed before school tomorrow."
The students erupted out of their seats, grabbing backpacks and rushing out of the door. Mina waited a bit with Eijirou, both of them just idly chatting with each other for a bit until the hallways were no longer a stampede before they began to walk outside with each other. "Can I meet your Moms?" she asked out of the blue when the conversation had petered out a bit.
"Uh, sure! But only if I can meet your Dads," he shot back, giving her a grin.
"Deal," she smiled, holding a pink hand out for him to shake.
He took it, parroting the word back at her. "Deal."