Chapter 9- Deku Age 6
Izuku sits in his new room writing in his analysis notebook. They saw a new hero today and he has to document it before he forgets. Kacchan is showing Shochan a new game on his gamepad on the bed.
When they first moved in, a week after the incident and two days after Natsuo woke up, they fought over how their room would be decorated. Well, Kacchan and himself did, Shouto said that he never decorated a room before since his father only let him have the basics, They decided to let Shouto decorate. Although they helped by pointing out neat things it kind of ended up being a mismatch of all three of them.
All the kids are amazed at how big the house is. Six bedrooms, a huge open-floor kitchen and living room, and two offices for his parents while Kacchans parents get the basement for their business. They even have a playroom with games and toys and their backyard is ginormous. His mom said it used to be owned by this old wealthy family who trained horses for a living.
"I'm getting a drink," Kacchan says.
"Oh, get me a water bottle," Shouto says.
"Hm. How 'bout you, nerd?"
"Nothing"
"Come on, not healthy to not drink something. Aren't we going to be heroes? Gotta take care of ourselves first."
"I drank a whole water bottle earlier and I'm not thirsty."
Rolling his eyes He leaves the room and the two go back to what they were doing.
A few seconds later Izuku''s vision of his desk gets replaced by the hall to the kitchen. Kacchan must be leaning against the wall at the entrance. He hears Auntie and Uncle talking to themselves, probably thinking they're alone.
"-I don't think we should."
"You're probably right. They're too young to know."
"I wish I could have been more helpful. We have the means to have helped but of course, Hisashi was already taking care of it before I could think to deploy anyone." Uncle sighs and the sound of the oven opening is heard through a brief moment of silence.
"Well, it's over now and the boys are alright. I still think he should have also killed the girls, but them living without quirks is fine too I guess. At least Izu was happy receiving all their quirks."
"At least tomorrow the boys will come home and things will be getting back to normal. As normal as it can be really. And with all of them starting at their new school next week they will have a lot on their minds and forget the incident."
"You're probably right. We just need to watch them and see. Maybe we should suggest putting them all in therapy? You know that psychiatrist that owes us for forging his medical doctorate and papers? He could see the kids. They all will do better talking their problems out."
"Your right we can bring it up tonight with Inks and Hisa. Hana needs it the most I think. Her tantrums have escalated since moving in and I don't think we're cut out for it. She seems to shut down and fight us the more we try to reach out. I'm worried for her. She should realize she's a part of this family by now and that we want her. But I don't think she understands-no I don't think she wants to acknowledge that fact. She's so used to getting her way and everything else falling to the wayside that I don't think she knows how to be a sibling or how to deal with rules or responsibilities."
There are more sounds of cooking and cleaning then Uncle Masaru continues, "Not to mention Ten has self-confidence issues and a lack of morals. He just follows what others think is right or wrong. Which isn't a bad thing but if he gets caught in the wrong crowd… I worry about him. Then the Todoroki kids. They all have issues because of that piece of garbage. And Kat and Izu too could benefit. Hell, even we could. Family counseling or something."
There's more quiet which is really weird since Auntie and Kacchan are the two loudest people Izu knows. But when nothing is heard for awhile Kacchan decides to go in and get the drinks.
"Hey, kiddo, dinner is almost ready. You hungry?" Kacchans mom says to him with a tight smile.
"Not right now. We're just thirsty." He grabs three bottles and turns to leave. Once out the door, Izuku's vision becomes his own. He turns to Shouto who is sitting up and clutching his All Might stuffie in his arms. A moment later the door opens and Kacchan comes in with the bottles. It's quiet as he passes the waters out.
"That… was a lot." Shouto breaks the silence. "What do you guys think?"
"I'm glad that Nat and Ten are coming home tomorrow. But I think asking them to go to therapy this soon after the event might be too harsh." Izuku says.
"We all are going apparently. Maybe you two need it but I don't need it. I'm perfect the way I am."
"Of course you are Kacchan you're amazing!"
"I think I need it but I don't want to do it alone."
"You'll have us there silly and everyone will be doing it too so even if they separate us we'll all be going through the same experience," Izuku explains as he jumps on the bed next to Sho and hugs him with all his might.
"We are getting good at our abilities. We should practice some more." Izuku encourages. They have been working on it every day. They finally unlocked the ability to see what the other is seeing a few weeks ago when they were waiting for Nat to wake up. His father used his healing quirk while Hana used her restore quirk on him causing him to get better in a spectacular amount of time.
"Fine. Let's try sending thoughts without needing to touch again." Kacchan says sitting on the floor. Izuku moves away from Shochan and they start.
The next week brought them to their new school and with that came the gossip and the teasing. Their bond seems to be already known to the students and staff and thus already talked about when they arrived.
admittedly, Izuku knew how bad people can be; Throughout that year thinking himself quirkless, to having a quirk he can't talk about, and soulmates too early with a soulbond that's not like normal people, he learned to not trust others. The other kids are relentless at school and even the staff and other adults who followed their family's media scandal have a thing or two to say to them with looks that speak volumes.
Kacchan stood up to all of them. He made sure no one messed with them. Which made them stand out more but now everyone is afraid of them. Two months into school and these older kids decided it would be funny to throw all their bags into the nearby lake. Yumi saw this and being at the same school, she just so happened to notice walking by these kids' lockers that the contents were on fire because of cigarettes. The bullies got suspended and some were sent to reform school since they were on their last warning. Yumi tells this story while waving her lit fingers around making the younger ones grin.
With school and counseling sessions life got a bit busy for their family. But Izuku loves Sundays. That day is father-son bonding time. Since he found his quirk and that incident at the groceries, he's found his quirk is quite different than his dad's and is ever evolving. So they would go from town to town to 'volunteer' at elderly living facilities. This is the best way to collect them since they won't need them anymore with their impending death.
they're making their rounds now. The volunteer director gave him the room numbers to visit today to help them and give them someone to talk to. He loves doing that. He even has several notebooks dedicated to their stories. After talking he tells them of his quirk and asks if he could take them saying it's a way for them to live longer and keep their memories alive. They all agree. How could they not with how nice and kind and cute the little one is?
As he goes from room to room he concentrates and sees and feels every quirk in the building. He is now able to see different color lights on the body part that their quirk emits from. Which is blindingly bright when it is their entire body. The color he has discovered is based on their quirk or personality. His own hands are green while Kacchans are orange and Shochans are blue and white.
He also figured out that he doesn't have to be in extreme emotions or have his quirk hunger take over to take quirks without touch. He can go up to a hundred meters and pull them in. The holes in his hands act like black holes and suck them in but when he pulls them in it feels more like a drain, the quirks just slide to him and fit in him instead of being slammed into him. The downside of pulling them is that it is any quirks in his radius. Meaning that if he doesn't want to take someone's quirk he can't use this method. But he still has touch, though it takes longer and someone would probably figure it out before he can take all of them.
Once done they go get ice cream. On days when Kacchan and Shochan come along, they go to the park after. It is so much fun. The reason he loves these days the most is because he gets to make his dad proud. He loves spending time with him of course as he does with his mom but the look of pride on his dad's face when he unlocks more of his quirk or more of his bond feels amazing. But before they can sit to eat their ice cream, for some unknown reason the cold hole in his chest he gets when not with his soulmates at night is present and he knows it'll get worse if they don't go home now.
When they make it home he knows exactly where in the house his soulmates are. Shochan has become close to Tenko surprisingly, and thus closer to Natsuo, they tend to spend time in their library on the upper floor or in the theatre debating movie plots and character developments and coming up with theories for each. When they pull out the video games though he leaves since he is not good at that type of thing. But at this moment they are in the kitchen where he knows Kacchan is.
A moment later he gets a confirmation of this when Kacchans loud voice rings out through the house and Hana's voice answers back. They both like to try to see who can get on the other's nerves the most. Both their big personalities clash and some entertaining arguments have come about these past few months.
They make their way into the kitchen to see what the problem is. Shochan is sitting at the table with his head down napping as Nat sits on the center counter and Ten leans against him watching with amused eyes and grins. Yumi is probably still at school since she's her class's student rep. As for the two troublemakers, they seem to be arguing about whatever they are cooking.
"Where's Mitsuki?" His dad asks instead of getting control of the situation.
"Took a call." Ten says, turning to face his uncle and explaining what happened, "Sho, Nat, and I were in the library when we heard Kats explosions. We went to see what they were up to and found them bickering about how to cook. Apparently, since Uncle Masaru is the only one between all of us, besides Auntie Inko, that knows how to cook, Auntie Mitsuki thought it would be alright to put our lives in these two's hands and have them cook dinner while she makes some calls."
"Ah. I see. I feel like I should be taking offense at the jab to my cooking skill but I suppose your right. As for whether your stomachs are safe in their hands seems to remain. I guess we'll see when it's done. I'm going to go check on Mit, don't burn the place down please." He leaves the room and it's quiet for half a second before Hana and Kacchan start up their fight again.
Resigned, Izuku goes to his napping Shochan, sitting right next to him he cards his hands through his locks that have become unparted from a restless sleep. That's the thing about naps, they aren't restful unless all three are there and touching and as time goes by without the contact it turns painful. He watches as the face in front of him goes soft and a sigh escapes the boy.
"Kacchan, Shochan, and I are tired. How about we let Hana do the cooking today and go lay down."
"I ain't doing that Deku, she has to do it right-"
"She helped her aunt and mother cook since she was little Kacchan, she can cook one meal for us. Please. I'm tired and Shochan is already out. You know taking so many quirks makes me really sleepy. I don't want nightmares again. I'm afraid to sleep without you."
"...You two could sleep without me."
"No. I need both of you. Please." He gives his best puppy eyes, "I could fall asleep standing if I don't take a nap. You wouldn't want that."
"Your sitting, just put your head down like Halfie."
"But I want to lay down in our bed. Plus as you stated before sleeping at the table isn't good for our backs."
"Tch. Fine." He sets his spatula down and flicks a bit more spice into the pot before going to the faucet to wash his hands. Hana, who was quiet this whole time nods to Izuku before turning back to finish. Seeing as the fun is over the two older boys run off to play games.
"Hey Shochan, wake up, let's go to bed." Izuku rubs their noses together until the other wakes. After a big yawn and stretch the three make their way to their room for a much needed nap.
After school the next day, the three kids come home to what looks to be an important conversation between the adults. They watch from a distance to not interrupt and to see what the commotion is for. They don't get to listen for long before Izuku's dad notices them.
"Go to your room, we'll tell you once everyone's here."
They flee and once the door shuts Shouto asks, "What do you think that was about?"
"No clue but they seem excited but nervous." Kacchan sits on the beanbag chair in the corner, grabbing a manga from the shelf next to it.
"Maybe something good happened." Izuku ponders flopping face-first onto the bed and wiggles his feet in the air with a sudden jolt of energy yet not enough to turn around.
"Then why be nervous?" Shouto gently sits next to him clutching his All Might plush and tugging at his hair.
Izuku reaches up and stops the other's nervous habit. He doesn't let go but pulls the boy down with him. They snuggle together and it's a comfort. Shouto has become more open and less jumpy since they took him in but if something seems off like tonight, he resorts back to his defensive personality.
Izuku can understand this but wishes he can finally feel comfortable here and know that he isn't going anywhere unless they all agree. They are as stuck together as their brothers are.
They remain like this for some time, Izuku playing with Shouto's hair as he naps and Kacchan reads in the corner. Contentment feels his chest as he too dozes off. But he doesn't get to nap. There is a knock on the door and Auntie calls them downstairs.
Once down they go to the living room where everyone is gathered. Tenko and Natsuo are on one side of their giant couch; Ten curls into himself and watches everyone while Natsuo who is always full of energy is bouncing up and down in his seat next to Ten. Yumi is beside Nat and tries to calm him down unsuccessfully. Hana is on the loveseat to the right of the couch. She's not clingy to her soulmate like all the boys are. Izuku wonders if it's because she doesn't have to be unlike them or it could also be her not feeling like she fits in here with their family. Which saddens him to think, he just wants his family to be together and happy.
The adults stand in front of the big screen as the three sit next to Yumi. His father looks each child in the eyes before starting, "We have been relentlessly trying to find a way for Touya to come home to us. A few days ago we found a way."
"What?"
"Yes!"
"You mean it?"
"Finally!"
"When is he coming home?"
They all speak at once drowning eachother out. "That's the thing… he's not."
They all go quiet with this revelation. Why wouldn't he want to come home?
"You kids know that in order to gain custody through the soulmate law you or your soulmate have to be related to that family? We found out a few days ago after researching both the Todoroki line and Touya's soulmate's family line that his soulmate is a distant relative of my brothers. To be precise he is his five times great grandson. Which makes him family. The law doesn't say immediate family specifically so we were going to use that to our advantage but…"
Inko puts a hand on her husband's shoulder and proceeds to explain, "We got in contact with Touya last night. Since he stole a phone to use, he has to be very careful given the no phones rule and the consequences for disobedience. So we couldn't get in contact sooner. But when we did he told us what has happened in the last few months since he was able to contact us. It was… nothing good to say the least. He decided he wants to follow in our footsteps and take down the commission from the inside so he decided to remain there. We will be filing the papers to get both of them into our family but he is set on remaining."
"What happened?" Fuyumi whispers, though with the quiet it is louder than expected.
"He doesn't want us to tell you. He doesn't want to worry you kids but assures that he is alright. We'll get everything in order here so that when he graduates they have a place to go. They are our family after all, but our destinies sometimes are uncontrollable. We just need to be there for each other. That's what matters." Uncle Masaru says as he pulls the two crying Todoroki children into his arms.
"But-but no one is there for him right now," Nat says through teary eyes as he holds onto his uncle's shirt.
"He has his soulmate with him. He wants to be home but he believes this is the right course for him. This is his decision, trust in him. He'll be alright. And if he isn't he'll find a way to tell us or to get home to us." Masaru says as he rubs Nats back methodically and holds the silently crying girl to his chest.
Inko rushes over too and wraps even more children in her arms, telling them it is alright and how this is what Touya wants. But looking at the three Todoroki children, two crying and his own soulmate staring at nothing, he wonders if it's true.
A/N: 6/30/23
This took way too long to write. I didn't like it and changed it a few times. It's the best I can do, sorry nothing big happened. But I mapped out the rest of the book more and so it should be smoother sailing from here. Maybe even a double chapter? We'll see. Next up is Touya's POV and what exactly happened in the events of the end of this chapter. If you guys have any guesses I would love to hear. I have been waiting to write this chapter since Touya's last chapter. From there I'll age up the characters by two years and then the real fun begins. Alright! That should be all, any questions, comments, or love is always appreciated and is a very big motivator. See you next chapter! -Fwgaltx
