Deku quietly watched the three Bakugou's follow Aizawa out of the room, the two blonds looking like they were on the verge of exploding.

Once they were gone, Natsuo crept closer, a crooked smile on his face as he looked Todoroki over.

"Looks like they're taking good care of you here, Sho," Natsuo said carefully.

Todoroki nodded. "Yes, the teachers are. Hitoshi and Deku help too."

Natsuo glanced at the other pair of teens, who were clamoring up off the floor. "Which is which?"

Shinsou put his hand out for Natsuo to shake. "I'm Hitoshi Shinsou. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Call me Natsuo. And I'm guessing you're Deku then, huh, shortstack?"

Deku nodded. "Yeah, that's me. I apologize if my being friends with Todoroki has caused any trouble."

"What? Because Endev-whore didn't like you?" Natsuo laughed. "I consider that a win. I'm sorry that the asshole burnt you."

"It wasn't a big deal."

"It was to me," Todoroki said, reaching out and brushing a finger across the scar on Deku's arm; the one shaped like a large hand.

"Well," Shinsou said, clapping his hands together and breaking the tension. "This day has already gone to shit and I need coffee to deal with anything else that gets thrown at us. Come on, let's go to the kitchen."

In the kitchen, they found Kirishima being fussed over by Mina, Kaminari, and Sero.

"It'll be alright," Mina said to a watery eyed Kirishima. "Aizawa-sensei will handle it."

"But she was yelling him! She called him weak!"

"Are you talking about Bakugou?" Deku asked, slipping past them to grab some mugs while Shinsou started up the coffee pot. "His mom is always like that. They work it out every time."

"What do you mean she's always like that?"

"I mean, she's always shouty. Sometimes, if he's getting really wild, she'd smack the back of his head, but it wasn't hard enough to hurt or bruise. It was just to startle him."

Sero frowned. "That doesn't make it okay."

"Yeah, but, if they are trying to adopt me, that means they have to take parenting classes and stuff, so they'll learn. I mean, she didn't smack him just now, so she's already learning."

"About that whole adoption thing," Shinsou cut in. "How are you feeling about it?"

Deku gave a shrug. "I don't know. I guess I understand why they want to do it. They want to honor my mom's memory and her final wishes. But I just don't really see the point of being adopted by them. Most of the year, I'll be at UA. And it'll probably be a while before it's safe for me to stay off campus overnight for any length of time, so I'll be here on breaks too. Really, the only benefit of getting adopted by them would be that they would have a say over my medical care and education. Might be nice to have someone on my side."

"We're on your side," Todoroki said, sending Deku a small smile.

Deku returned it, a blush creeping across his cheeks. "Thanks, Todoroki. I appreciate it."

"I'm still worried about Katsuki," Kirishima said, rubbing his eyes. "I don't like that she treats him like that."

"It'll be okay, bro," Kaminari said, putting an arm around Kirishima's shoulders and giving him a squeeze. "Mina's right. Aizawa will take care of it."

"Exactly, kid. He's been helping Shoto and I with our dad, so he'll be sure to help your friend," Natsuo said, trying to comfort the children.

What none of them saw was that standing just outside the doorway, Mic pressed his back into the wall, his stomach plummeting as he thought over what Deku had said.

He really hoped he didn't end up in a custody battle against the Bakugou's for Midoriya.

--

"You shouldn't try to adopt Deku!" Bakugou said, snarling at his parents. His mother was standing, glaring right back at him while Aizawa and Masaru tried to calm them both.

"Katsuki, you are being selfish! We are practically his family and he needs a home!"

"He needs a home that he feels safe in! He'll never feel safe with us!"

"Mitsuki, maybe we should listen…"

"Quiet, Masaru."

"I think you all need to be quiet and sit," Aizawa snapped, his eyes flashing red for a moment, catching their attention. "From what I have seen today, I can honestly say I feel uncomfortable with the idea of Midoriya going to stay with you. Tell me, do you often belittle your child like this?"

Mitsuki huffed, folding her arms. "It's tough love. It's how I was raised, and I turned out fine."

"From what I have heard, Midoriya and Bakugou have had a difficult relationship. One could say that Bakugou bullied Midoriya."

"It was boys being boys!"

"No, it wasn't, mom," Bakugou said, his voice quieter than normal. "I was cruel to him. I hurt him… bad. That's why… I want to start going to therapy. Regularly. That's why I asked you guys to come early today. I wanted to talk to you guys about getting a therapist. I want to learn to be better. I thought I was doing good, but obviously I'm not, if I'm still shitty enough to knock Deku around. Eijirou has been trying to help me, but it's not fair to him to have to act like my shrink when he's supposed to be my boyfriend."

Aizawa's eyes widened a fraction, surprised that Bakugou of all people would openly talk about wanting to attend therapy. It was mature, exceptionally so, that Bakugou recognized that he not only needed help, but that it wasn't right to put that responsibility on his peers. Aizawa glanced over at Bakugou's parents and found that Mitsuki also looked surprised, while Masaru looked pleased.

"I think that is a wonderful idea, Katsuki," Masaru said, stepping up beside his son and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I think it would be good for you. I actually think it would be good for all of us. I can do some research and I will find a therapist that can do one-on-one sessions with you and family sessions with all of us. We can file for custody of Izuku while we attend therapy, and show him how serious we are about wanting to do what is right and best for him. How does that sound?"

"You really think we need therapy?" Mitsuki asked.

Masaru nodded. "I think it would be good for us to all learn how to communicate better. And once Izuku lives with us, we can also bring him to the family sessions so he has a safe and open environment to talk to us about how he feels and how we can do better as parents for him."

Mitsuki sighed, not looking fully pleased, but she nodded her agreement. Masaru turned back to Bakugou, smiling again. "I'm proud of you, Katsuki. This just goes to show how strong and brave you are."

"How? I'm obviously weak if I have to go to a fucking therapist because of my shitty personality."

"That's not true," Aizawa said, cutting into the family moment. "Most pro heroes have attended therapy at some point in their lives. Some go on a regular basis while some go after tragic events. Nearly every hero goes for psych evals after large scale villain attacks. Going to therapy isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Masaru seemed to use Aizawa's words as a jumping off point to continue to persuade his family into going to group therapy. All the while, Aizawa had one thought running through his head.

It was going to be an uphill battle to adopt Midoriya.

--

"And then we thought we heard someone coming, and Touya just panicked," Natuso said with a laugh. "So he basically chucked Shoto out the window and then jumped after him. I caught Shoto real easy but didn't have time to set him down and catch Touya. Luckily, Touya landed on the bushes and only got a few scraps and cuts. And then all four of us were booking it out of there. It was so much fun though. We spent the whole day in town. We played at the park for a few hours and Touya bought us all ice cream too. We got in so much trouble when we finally came home but man, was it worth it."

Deku and Shinsou were laughing along with Natsuo while Todoroki smiled shyly. "I can kinda remember that day. It was a lot of fun."

"Now, you said Touya was your oldest brother, right?" Shinsou asked. "Shouldn't he have been the one outside catching each of you?"

Natsuo shook his head. "Nah, I was bigger than him. He never had the best health and Endeavor started training him when he was little, before Shoto was born. Kept him on a strict diet because some piece of shit doctor said it would help Touya control his quirk. All it did was practically starve him and leave him malnourished and undersized. Since Fuyumi and I were considered the rejects, mom and the house staff were left to look over us and they fed us like normal kids. I guess I kinda take after Endeavor when it comes to my body type so I got big fast."

Todoroki nodded. "Touya used to get mistaken as being younger than you and Fuyumi."

"Yeah, it would make him so mad," Natsuo laughed. "I know he wasn't the best big brother, and I know you didn't know him very well, but he and I were fairly close. Deep down, I think he just wanted to be loved, you know? I thought that I could be enough, but he needed more. I wasn't even that surprised when Endeavor came home and said that Touya had burnt himself to death when trying to train his quirk."

"He had a flame quirk, right? One that burned hotter than Endeavor's?" Deku asked, cocking his head curiously and furrowing his brow.

Natsuo nodded. "It would burn him when he used it. Fuyumi and mom would try to ice the burns when they got bad, and after he pushed them away, I would do it for him."

"Why did he push your mom and sister away?"

"Oh, he was mad at them for not standing up to Endeavor. Like, Touya knew that what Endeavor was doing was abuse, but he also desperately craved Endeavor's approval and love. It was this cycle of hatred and love that sorta made him a little crazy."

"Endeavor drove all of us crazy in some way," Todoroki said darkly. Shinsou reached over and took Todoroki's hand, lacing their fingers together. On Todoroki's other side, Deku leaned his shoulder against Todoroki's, offering his own form of hesitant comfort.

Before anything else could be said, a noise from the doorway of the kitchen caught their attention.

Uraraka had poked her head in, a sweet smile on her face. "Hey Shinsou! You're mom just got here. I told her I'd come get you. She's talking with Aizawa-sensei right now."

Shinsou was on his feet in seconds. "Oh shit, I don't want those two talking." He grabbed Deku and Todoroki's hands and dragged them from the kitchen, Natsuo and Uraraka trailing behind, both laughing.

"Stop grabbing me!" Deku complained, trying to will away his blush.

Standing by the front door with Aizawa was a tall and slim woman with thick, vibrant, purple hair. It was slightly wavy, falling just past her shoulders. It was evident that Shinsou took after his mother, the pair having identical eyes, down to the eye bags. They had the same thin lips and narrow, pointed noses. It seemed their only differences were their actual face shapes. Shinsou's mother had a soft, heart shaped face with a gently sloped jaw line, while Shinsou had a sharper, more angled face, with high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Her smile was soft and sweet, where Shinsou's was harsh and sardonic, only highlighting their slight differences.

As the three approached, they caught the tail end of what Aizawa was saying.

"-excellent student, when he's not getting in trouble."

"I never get in trouble, don't know what you're talking about, Sensei. Hi mom! How about we come over this way, as far from him as we can get?" Shinsou said in a rush, trying to shoulder Aizawa away from his mom while still clutching onto Deku and Todoroki.

"Hitoshi, be polite," his mother said, laughing. "Aizawa-sensei has kept me up to date on all your antics, so don't even try to lie and say you don't get into trouble sometimes. I'm just glad you have good friends and a good teacher to help you get back out of trouble."

"That's my fault, ma'am," Deku said, still trying to yank his hand out of Shinsou's. "I'm sort of a troublemaker. I try not to pull him and Todoroki into it but -"

"Hush, Problem Child. These two would get in trouble with or without your help. Come to think of it, the one time they truly got into actual trouble, it was them that started it and they dragged you along for the ride."

"It was Bakugou's idea," Todoroki said in a bland, matter of fact voice.

Shinsou's mom laughed, reaching over to smooth Shinsou's wild hair. "These must be the boys you told me about. Are you going to introduce me?"

Sighing, Shinsou finally dropped his grip on the two boys and gave his mother a hug. He then turned to his friends and pointed to the each of them in turn.

"This is Shoto Todoroki and this is Deku. Don't let their sweet faces fool you, they are ferocious. Guys, this is my mom."

"It's nice to meet you both! You can call me Yuko. Hitoshi has told me so much about you two!"

"Mom…" Shinsou whined, ducking his head to hide his blush.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of! It seems we are missing the other half of your little group though," Yuko Shinsou said, looking around the room expectantly. "Where are Monoma and Toga?"

"They're at the 1-B dorm. If you would like, I can take you all there later if you would like to meet them," Aizawa offered.

Yuko smiled and nodded. "Yes, please! I would love to meet my son's new friends!"

"Let me know when you guys want to go. I need to go check in with Eri and Mic. Talk to you all later," Aizawa said with a wave. As he walked past Deku, he paused to ruffle the boy's hair. Deku swatted at Aizawa's hand, grumbling angrily.

"Why is everyone touching my hair today?" he huffed.

"Probably because it's getting so long," Shinsou said, tugging at one of the curls and watching it spring back when he let go. "You need a haircut, Deku."

"As soon as they trust Toga with a pair of scissors, I will."

"Oh!" Yuko perked up. "I'm a hairstylist! If you would like, I could cut your hair while I'm here!"

Deku's eyes narrowed for a second and glanced over at Shinsou, silently asking if it was safe to let her have something so sharp next to his head.

Shinsou nodded, easily understanding why Deku was hesitating. "She always cut my hair growing up. Hell, she is probably planning to cut my hair while she is here."

"You would be correct," Yuko said, pinching Shinsou's cheek and making him grimace. "I brought my shears and everything. Now, how would you like me to cut your hair, Dek…. You know what, no. No, I'm not calling him that."

"Mom…"

"No, I know you told me that's what everyone in the class, including his friends, calls him, but I will not call a child useless. It's wrong." Yuko turned her attention on Deku, whose green eyes had gone round in shock. "What would you like me to call you, dear?"

"I… I… Shinsou is right, everyone calls me Deku."

"Yes, but do you want to be called Deku? What about your family? What do… did they call you?"

"My… My mom called me Izuku. Aizawa-sensei and Mic-Sensei are my guardians right now and they call me Midoriya."

"Which do you prefer? I am fine calling you either."

Deku thought for a moment, biting at his bottom lip as he shuffled from foot to foot. "Being called Midoriya makes me a little sad sometimes, because it makes me think of my shitty dad, but it also reminds me of my mom, who I love and miss. But Toga called me Izuku before I became Deku, which was nice, so I'm not sure."

"How about we call you Izuku?" Todoroki suggested, reaching out and linking his pinky with Deku's. "You can call me Shoto, since I don't like my last name either. Our teachers can call you Midoriya, like they call all of us by our last names, but your friends and people who care about you can call you Izuku."

Shinsou nodded. "And you can call me Hitoshi!"

Tears welled in Deku's large eyes, threatening to spill down his cheeks. "Really?"

"Yeah! We're friends, after all!"

"Izuku is a nice name," Yuko said sweetly. "If you don't mind, I think I will call you that as well."

"Yeah… yeah, I think I'd like that."

Natsuo, who had been watching the exchange, leaned in and tossed an arm over Izuku's shoulder. "I think I'll call you Green Bean. I think that suits you."

Shoto knocked Natsuo's arm off Izuku. "No, only Hitoshi and I can call him Green Bean."

"That's not fair."

"Sucks to suck," Hitoshi said with a grin, earning himself a scowl from his mother.

"Oh, stop bickering, boys. Now, who wants their hair cut first?"

--

"Mother, Father, this is Himiko Toga. She is my best friend and she is going to be a great hero one day and you will not be able to change my mind on the matter," Monoma said sternly to the couple that stood before him. Toga, who was hiding behind him, stared at the back of his head in shock.

Monoma's parents, both blond and conventionally attractive like their son, simply smiled.

"Of course she will," Monoma's mother said, her blue eyes shifting to look at Toga. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You may call me Michi. This is my husband, Hideaki."

"Have you thought about what line of hero work you plan to go into?" Monoma's father, Hideaki, asked. "And have you started considering what image you would like to cultivate? That is very important for a hero, especially one with a non-traditional quirk."

Monoma stuttered. "You… you guys are okay with me being friends with her?"

"Yes, of course. Vlad King called and let us know as soon as you two began spending time with each other, just to keep us aware. Which was kind of him, but rather unnecessary. Now, Toga, would you like Hideaki to help you with planning your hero persona? He works in PR and is rather good at this sort of thing. We've been helping Neito to design his own persona since he was very young."

The four sat down, discussing not only how Toga wanted to brand herself as a hero, but also about school, and their other friends.

"Deku-kun is like my brother or something!" Toga said excitedly. "I taught him how to fight and how to run from people so we got really close. And when he came to live with the League, we didn't have enough space and it probably wouldn't really have been safe for him to sleep on the couch, since people came and went from there a lot, and so he shared my room with me and it was so much fun! I kinda miss that sometimes, actually."

Michi frowned slightly. "Wasn't it uncomfortable sharing a room with a boy?"

"Not really. I mean, I'm not exactly a girl and Deku is gay anyways and we have never been interested in each other that way so it wasn't weird. We would just turn our backs to change clothes. Neither of us slept much, especially Deku, so we just took turns using the bed. That or we would make a pile of pillows on the floor. If it got really cold in the hideout, we'd share the bed so we wouldn't freeze or anything."

"What do you mean, not exactly a girl?" Hideaki asked, raising a perfectly shaped brow.

Toga paled, glancing at Monoma before looking back at his parents. "Well… uh… I'm a shapeshifter, so gender doesn't really mean the same to me as it does everyone else. So like, I'm a girl, but not really. I'm fine being called a girl or by female terms, but I don't feel a connection to any gender, really. Is… is that okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Monoma demanded. "I have no issue with it. You basically told all of us straight up when you first got here. I've never thought of you as a girl or a boy. I just thought of you as Toga."

"Even though I like girly stuff?"

"Plenty of people like girly stuff."

"That's true," Michi said. "Neito loved painting his nails and doing makeup when he was young."

"I still like it but I just don't get a chance to do it right now."

Toga squealed excitedly. "Maybe we can ask Vlad to pick up some nail polish for me and we can paint each other's nails some time!"

Monoma gave her a gentle smile, one that he reserved only for her. "Sure. That would be fun."

"Toga! Monoma!" a voice called, catching their attention. Turning, they saw Izuku dashing across the room towards them excitedly. "Look at my new haircut!"

"It looks so good!" Toga shrieked, jumping up to get a closer look. She ran her hands over the shortly shaved sides and back and then ruffled the curls on top of his head. "Who cut your hair?"

Aizawa, along with Yuko, Hitoshi, Shoto, and Natsuo made their way through the crowd. The two teens were laughing at Izuku's antics, both sporting new haircuts. Hitoshi's hair had been freshly trimmed, keeping to the same style. Shoto, on the other hand, had gotten an undercut, similar to Izuku's. His straight hair had been tousled, the white now flipping over the red and creating a streaked pattern on one side of his head.

"My mom did it," Hitoshi explained. "She planned to cut my hair so she did it for these two idiots as well."

Toga's attention shifted to Yuko Shinsou, who was smiling at the girl. "You must be Shinsou's mom! You two look so much alike!"

"It's nice to meet you, dear. Hitoshi has told me a lot about you. And Izuku here tells me you recently had a change in your quirk. That must have been very exciting!"

With a frown, Toga glanced back to green-haired friend. "She calls you Izuku?"

"Oh, uh… yeah. She didn't feel right calling me Deku. So she asked to call me Izuku. Hitoshi and Shoto also decided to call me that now and asked me to call them by their first names."

"What would you like to be called?" Yuko asked, looking at Toga expectantly.

Toga's frown deepened. "Well, everyone always calls me Toga."

"We can call you Himiko," Monoma said, standing from his seat, his parents doing the same. "If you want, that is."

"Neito, are these your other friends?" his mother asked.

"Yes, this is Shinsou, Todoroki, and… Midoriya, I guess."

"You can call me Izuku if you want."

"Izuku, then. And you can call me Neito."

Izuku smiled, bright and cheery, something he hadn't done in a very long time. Toga smiled with him, her heart warming to see her friend smiling like this again.

"What about it, Toga?" Monoma asked, turning to look at her. "What do you want to be called?"

"Well, I always had people call me Toga because I knew that it would make my parents mad if they found out. But it sorta feels weird to do, now that they're… you know…"

Izuku put an arm around her shoulder, tucking her into his side. "Then we'll call you Himiko. You can call me Izu-kun again, like you used to, and I can call you Himi-kun!"

"Really?! You'd do that?!"

"Of course! We're best friends, aren't we?"

Himiko gave an excited squeal and hugged Izuku tightly. "You're the best, Izu-kun!"