AN: I just wanted to write some foster family fluff 'cause it's always shown as some evil, especially with Shinsou. Work inspired by hanatatami's ShinDeku art and beta'ed by Boston_Cream.

"Um hey, can we talk?" Izuku whipped his head around to see Hitoshi leaning on the wall just outside of the classroom. The boy looked distraught, usual deadpan switched out for a more open expression. The fact that he wasn't looking at Izuku but past him wasn't helping the case.

Well, you see, in Izuku's limited experience with relationships 'can we talk' usually signals break ups or deaths so excuse him for worrying himself into a muttering storm.

"It's, it's nothing bad, I promise," Hitoshi rushed his words, tripping over them. And there goes another warning siren in Izuku's head. Hitoshi simply did not do that. He was always calm and collected with his words even if his whole body was betraying him. Izuku has seen it in action whenever they had heroing exercises together or Shigaraki decided to pay their class a surprise visit.

And if Hitoshi could stare down Gigantomachia and tell him to go to sleep without breaking a sweat and a single waver of his voice then... What did it mean for this situation?

"Yeah, sure, right now? Or—" Well, whatever it was he had to stay strong. Running himself to anxiety attack won't help him, or anyone.

"Uh, you could drop by my room when you'll put your things away..?" The purple insomniac rubbed his neck with one hand, looking as uncomfortable as it gets. He bit on his already chapped lip and— Was he bleeding? Oh yeah, definitely.

"Yeah sure, but Toshi, stop biting your lip, you're bleeding." The boy looked at him startled and relaxed his jaw after a second. Clearly he wasn't paying enough attention to his own actions... What could have happened?
Izuku made a quick work of finding a tissue and passing it to his apprehensive boyfriend. Hitoshi thanked him and went away with a shaky wave.

Anxious thoughts accompanied Izuku all the way to dorms. Well, he couldn't really do much but go and talk to Hitoshi.

So he went and did it.

"You're moving away?" Izuku couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "But— why?"

"I— Look, it's a bit complicated—"

"Are you dropping out of UA?"

"Wha— No!" It sounded sincere. Good. "It's not like that, I— Listen, it's not even that far, just two prefectures away... The distance... That's not exactly the issue." He licked his lips nervously, looking away. "I— Remember when I told you that I'm in foster care?" Izuku nodded and he continued. "Well, my current— actually previous now, foster family wasn't... ideal." His haunted eyes said it was understatement. "Apparently the school of one of the other kids got involved and started making house visits. Yamamotos slipped up, the teachers discovered the closet—" He had to stop and take a few deep breaths. Izuku reached out with a hand on pure instinct, and he squeezed it almost painfully.

"Long story short their licenses are getting revoked and I have to move to another family," the boy finished with a sigh. "And that means moving and all that little things. I'll have to take a break from school and move my shit."

"Oh, well," that was turning out way less dramatic than all the bullshit Izuku's brain threw at him. No one was dying and they weren't breaking up. Perfect! "I hope this family will be better?" Hitoshi huffed a laugh at that.

"Not like I'll be seeing them a lot. I mean, I'm 17. They might throw me out as soon as I am not considered a child and therefore stop generating income for them." Ah. "And honestly, they might be worse. I pretty much changed families once, twice a year since I landed in the system, Yamamotos weren't even the worst."

Izuku didn't quite know how to comment on that so he just squeezed their intertwined hands and gave him a hopeful smile.
He expected Hitoshi to return it, not to avert his gaze with guilt seeping through his posture.

"That... That brings me to another issue." Did he jinx it? He totally jinxed it. "People are generally a lot more accepting but there are still... you know, homophobes, out there. And that means that I'll probably have to hide our relationship from this new family until I am sure they aren't like that."

Izuku sighed with relief, feeling tears trickle down his cheeks. That was a scare!

"Izuku?" Hitoshi sounded alarmed. Oh, right, he was crying.

"Ah, that's nothing. I just thought you wanted to break up with me and that's why you were acting so nervous!" he breathed out, not really caring how weird it sounded.

Hitoshi, to his credit, didn't comment on that, just huffed out a laugh and hugged him.

They were gonna be okay.

Hitoshi wasn't okay. He really really wasn't. Anxiety was gnawing at him since his case worker contacted him about the move but now that he actually stood with the laughably small box of his belongings from the previous house in his hands in front of Kuroo family door? It felt way way worse.

He had to take a few deep breaths before pressing the doorbell. The woman who opened the door smiled at him warmly. It didn't even resemble the fake grin he saw so many times. It didn't quite calm his nerves but there was a flicked of hope trying to spread somewhere at the back on his mind.

"Welcome! You must be Hitoshi. I'm Itsuka! Come in, come in dearie. Is that box all you have? Oh I guess most of your things must be in UA Dorms—" Oh. Oh no. She was a chatterbox. He followed after her numbly.

Well, could be worse...

Kuroos were... nice. A lot, but nice. He was staying with them over the weekend to acclimate and settle in properly, which was preferable to rushing the move in the middle of the week.

The atmosphere was okay, Tatsuneko-san, his foster father cornered him on Friday evening and assured him they don't care about his quirk. It was... a nice gesture to be honest. Definitely made him less skittish. And Itsuka-san bugged him at least seven times about his poor eating habits which in turn made him actually eat something despite his anxiety eating at him. Day one, or rather night one, was a success.

The next day, Saturday, started out good, even if he barely got any sleep. He finally started unpacking the damn box. On the top lied a frame with a photo of his parents. The anniversary of the incident was coming... Hopefully Kuroos wouldn't mind him going to the cemetery alone.

He put the frame on the shelf over his new desk. It was a nice photo, from their wedding. He still wasn't sure how he had it in his possession yet there wasn't a single photo where they were with him, but he wasn't complaining. The next few things in the box were his stuffed animals. Sue him, those cats were the best. They quickly found their place on his bed.

Another thing he took off was his micro-album of photo strips he made on holidays. He and Izuku went to a few different amusement parks and took a photo in every single booth they could find. He opened the album with a fond smile, wanting to look it over before putting it away, probably somewhere at the bottom of the wardrobe. There were too many incriminating photos in there to treat it any other way. Like the one he was looking at at the moment. Izuku was pressing a kiss on his cheek, and they both were smiling brightly. Hitoshi recalled his face hurting after smiling so much. But he would do it again. And again. A million times over.

Izuku's smiles were beautiful after all and worth anything.

"Is that your ex-boyfriend? Or current one?" Itsuka-san's voice rang over him.
Oh no.
He forgot to close the door after coming back from breakfast didn't he?
Of course he did.
And now she would scream at him, about how much of an abomination he was, or tell him that he's crazy and—

"Hello, earth to Hitoshi~" she sing-sang, waving a hand in front of his face. "You don't have to answer if that brings up some bad memories, but judging from the smile that was on your face it wasn't all that bad and—"

"You don't mind?" It probably wasn't the wisest option to cut the woman off like that, but he was too spooked to think clearly.

"Of course I don't! Hun, what kind of human would I be if I treated people like pieces of shit because of who they like?" Itsuka-san laughed warmly. "So no, we don't mind. Bring that boy over sometime, I would like to meet him." With that she turned around and left.

Oh.

Hitoshi didn't notice he was crying until a singe tear fell on the photo. He reached for his phone to call Izuku, he deserved the good news.

They would be fine.