Chapter 18: The Kids Aren't Alright, But They Will Be
They were gathered in front of the bus taking them to camp and waiting for the last few classmates to join them when Shinso stomped up holding his new boots by the laces. Shaking them in Katsuki's face he shouted, "I read online that you have to break in new hiking boots for at least two weeks before using them! You wasted all that money and I can't even wear them."
Katsuki wore an unimpressed look as he pushed the boots out of his face. "This brand uses quirks so they mold to your feet. No breaking in needed."
Shinso let his arm drop with a quiet oh and Kaminari snickered. "You really think Bakugo is going to let his boyfriend walk around with sore feet? He looooves you too much Shinso."
Aizawa watched Katsuki chase Kaminari around with exploding hands over the rim of his travel mug. The tired man looked like he needed more than just coffee in that cup for the bus ride. Shinso chuckled at his boyfriend's antics and slid over to Izuku's side. Holding out a card to his green haired friend with a grin, "So I'm having a party next month."
Izuku looked down at the invitation Shinso had given him and screamed. Everyone froze and turned to watch the two as the shorter boy threw his arms around Shinso and yelled, "You're getting adopted? That's amazing!"
Shinso was smiling wider than he'd ever seen when Katsuki stormed over (after dropping a singed Kaminari on the ground) to pull Izuku off Shinso by the back of his shirt. "Yeah, yeah it's amazing. Doesn't mean you can fucking make out with my boyfriend."
"I was hugging him! Friends can hug, Kacchan, and it's not like I would make out with someone who isn't my boyfriend, especially since he's right there!"
Izuku pointed at Shouto who'd been watching the scene with amusement. Seeing his chance to rile up Bakugo (one of his favorite pastimes) he shrugged. "I wouldn't mind seeing the two of you make out." Of course that set off another round of screaming and fighting. Aizawa watched it all go down while quietly trying to drown himself in his coffee mug.
The Wild Wild Pussycats thankfully didn't notice Shinso' wide eyed stare at them. (He could deny it all he wanted, but Izuku and Katsuki knew they were his favorite hero group). The class made it through the woods much quicker than their chaperones expected so they sat around and chatted with the students of 1B. Monoma managed to somehow throw very intimidating trash talk at Katsuki while curled up in his boyfriend, Tetsutetsu's lap like a cat. Of course their rivalry now extended into who had the better boyfriend. It was honestly very entertaining for everyone else to listen to how Tetsu could bench press Monoma and how that didn't mean anything because Hitoshi was mastering a capture weapon. Tetsu had more energy and Hitoshi gave better cuddles. Izuku had never seen two people sound so angry while saying such loving things about their partner.
When a small food fight (that Izuku did not start thank you very much) broke out during dinner Aizawa looked ready to murder them all and bury their bodies in the woods. The chatter during their baths was friendly and Izuku would have enjoyed it more if he weren't so preoccupied with the interaction he'd had with Kota. The boy had called heroes stupid which was a competley valid opinion, but trying to nail Izuku in the balls was a bit uncalled for.
After hearing his story from his aunt, Izuku wanted to help the kid. He just didn't have any clue how. It was a thought buzzing at the back of his mind all night and the next day. He trained with everything he had, sparring with the Pussycats and throwing out suggestions for improvement to his classmates, but still turning over ideas on how to help a kid who'd lost his parents for what he felt was a stupid reason. It was dinner on the second night that provided him the opportunity he needed.
Following Kota up to his spot on the cliff with the dinner he'd left behind, Izuku still didn't know what he was going to say, but he had to try something. He couldn't leave a kid alone in so much pain. So he settled a few feet away from where the boy was sitting at the edge of the cliff and set the plate he'd brought between them. "You shouldn't skip a meal just because you don't like that we want to be heroes."
Kota scoffed, "Stop trying to use me to feel like a hero. Just go back to your dumb camp."
"Sometimes I hate heroes too." Izuku ran his fingers through his curls. "Growing up quirkless I never knew if a hero would help me or hurt me more. I loved quirks and heroes so I watched all the fights and interviews and I noticed every time they said anything even remotely negative about 'weak' quirks and I knew they would turn away from me if I needed them"
Izuku was trying to inch the plate closer to the boy, "But that isn't your problem with heroes is it? Your aunt told me what happened to your parents, I can't say I know what it's like to lose people like that, but I can't imagine they would want you to be this angry at them."
Kota shoved the plate back at Izuku, "Why should I care what they wanted? They're dead. They're dead because they didn't love me enough to stick around instead of trying to save a bunch of people they'd never even met!"
"That isn't true. I may not have known them, but I know how much I love my friends and family and I know that I want to go out and make the world safer for them. I want to save people so they can be there for the people they love. I might die doing it, but that doesn't mean I don't love my family any less. You can be angry about losing them and you can be mad at them if you want, but don't think they didn't love you" He saw the tears on the boy's face and decided he'd done all he could for now. So he left Kota there with his dinner and went back to his friends hoping he'd said something that could help.
The rest of camp went by quickly. They trained, studied, laughed, and had fun even though their bodies were being worked to the limit. Kota had been eating, not with them but nearby and seemed less closed off with his aunt so maybe Izuku had done something right. Before they knew it, camp was over and they were on the bus home. Kaminari managed to harass Aizawa into letting them stop at a convenience store at the edge of the city for a bathroom break.
There was a boy of about thirteen stocking the shelves near the register that greeted them as the students lined up for the bathroom or browsed the aisles for snacks. Izuku noticed the shoes and the z pin immediately, he casually picked up the bag of chips next to the boy pretending to examine the nutrition facts. "I like your shoes though I think a white pin would look better."
The boy glanced down at Izuku's own white z pin and quickly turned his eyes back to his work. "Yeah, but my mom likes the black better."
He nodded, "She work here too, your mom?"
The boy was stiff. But Izuku knew it wasn't because of him when he answered, "She owns the place, she's in the back with my siblings."
Without moving his head, Izuku examined their surroundings, Aizawa was standing nearby clearly having caught the body language of his student and the store worker. "She must really trust you to run the front by yourself."
"Well she checks in now and again, but she knows I can handle the place." Izuku followed the boy's eyes to the baby monitor on the counter and nodded.
His examination of the store had shown no cameras, so he was confident with sending a text to Aizawa who texted back immediately while Izuku asked the boy about a brand of chips he didn't see on the display. Showing the question from his teacher to the boy, Izuku handed over his phone so he could give Aizawa the answers he needed. The boy typed out a response while telling Izuku they had a kind close to what he was looking for. Aizawa made his way through the door at the back of the store, signaling to the few students watching to be quiet, while they continued their conversation.
A few moments later the underground hero emerged from the room with a handcuffed woman who was raging about being unlawfully arrested. Aizawa ignored her, looking at the boy. "Are there any others in the building?"
"No, the rest of them won't come by for a pick up until next week." The teacher nodded and told Izuku to accompany the boy to the basement while he called the police. His classmates were clearly confused about what was happening, but Katsuki and Shouto followed them to the basement, not wanting to let Izuku out of their sight in an unknown situation.
The small group came into a dark basement to find four children under the age of ten all locked in small cages with quirk suppressing collars around their necks. They set about freeing the kids from their cages and assuring them they would help them get back to their families. Leading four scared, dirty children still wearing collars out of the basement had the rest of their class feeling helpless when Shouto held up a hand as they tried to come forward to help. Unfortunately, they had to bring the kids close to their captor as her thumbprint was the only way to remove the collars, but after they were off they brought the kids outside to sit with them until paramedics and police arrived.
Thankfully, the detective with the truth quirk had the day off so Izuku was able to convince the one interviewing him that he'd noticed that the boy, whose name he found out was Hiroto, seemed scared and that was why he'd approached him. They managed to keep the fact that Izuku knew he was quirkless out of it, they didn't want a police report with the details of their pin system out there for anyone to read. The only one who'd heard the conversation they'd had was Aizawa so they were able to twist it to keep quirklessness out of it.
Hiroto was actually the woman's son, but he had an aunt that he was sure would take him in that had no idea the woman was part of a child trafficking ring. The kids were all taken for their quirks, dropped off here to wait until the next auction where they would be sold to whoever had a use for them. Hiroto had tried to go to the cops once, but the punishment he got from his mother when she found him trying to sneak out had him quietly accepting his fate. He did keep track of the nicknames and appearances of everyone he knew was involved in the ring, so the officers were confident they could find enough of them to lead them to more.
In the end the students got back onto the bus after the kids were taken to the hospital to be examined and reunited with their families, everyone singing Izuku's praises. He didn't care about the compliments though, he was just happy that he'd been able to help not only another Zero, but four other kids as well. This kind of thing was the entire reason he'd wanted to be a hero in the first place.