The next morning came quickly. Those that failed were already lamenting that they wouldn't be going to the summer training camp. Well, most of them. Bakugou was sitting quietly at his desk while Aoyama was forcing himself to smile with his usual sparkle at his own. Eijirou, Ashido, Satou, and Kaminari though looked resigned to their fate of summer school hell.

"Please don't be so sad," Izuku tried to comfort them. "Maybe there will be a last-minute twist and they'll let you go anyway! This is Aizawa-sensei we're dealing with!"

Kaminari had looked like he was about to snap at him for being so hopeful. However, the mention of their teacher's name made him pause in his plans to poke Izuku in the eye. A second later they heard the rattling of the door as it was about to opened and everyone ran to their seats.

"Once the bell rings, I expect you to be in your…," Aizawa said as he slammed the door open only to see them all seated already. "…seats. I see you're learning. Good."

He walked to the front podium, placed down his papers, and then stared out at his students looking tired as ever.

"Morning," he began. "As some of you are aware, there were unfortunately a number of you who did not pass your final exams. Therefore, pertaining to the training camp…"

The six that lost stared glumly at their desks, but Izuku watched Aizawa just waiting for the bait and switch. His suspicions of an unexpected twist were confirmed by the tired man's scheming Totoro smile.

"…everyone will be going!"

The cheerful tone did not suit him at all. Both Hitoshi and Izuku rolled their eyes at his dramatics while the others cheered at the news.

"Yeah yeah, you get to go," Aizawa affirmed, back to his bored expression. Yeah, much better. "The good news is that no one failed the written exam. However, six did fail the practical."

The mentioned six received sympathetic looks from their peers. Even Bakugou who was sitting as silent and still as a statue. Not reacting to anything but there was a spark of fire slowly returning to his eyes now knowing he was still going to camp with the rest. No longer feeling a bout of isolation from the class. His suspension and temporary self-isolation were bad enough.

"Allow me to explain," the tired man continued. "For each of your practical battles, the teachers made sure to leave a way for you students to win against them. Or else you wouldn't have stood a chance. Our interest was in observing how you approached the task and worked together to deal with it."

"But didn't you say that the teachers wouldn't be holding back?" Ojiro asked near the front.

"That was all to put you on edge," Aizawa explained, ignoring the snort from the back unintentionally using one of his student's Hero names. Problem child. "Besides, when it comes to the training camp, we'll be focusing on building your strengths. Those of you who failed will need those lessons the most. We had no intention of separating you from the start. It was merely a logical deception to push you."

The Totoro smile was back at that last sentence, just as creepy as before. Aizawa sure did love a logical ruse. Such a drama queen. And he complained about Yamada all the time according to Hitoshi. Once again, the two brothers rolled their eyes as the others openly complained about being tricked yet again by their homeroom teacher. Especially Tenya who shot up from his seat to voice his ire.

"This is the second time you've lied to us, Aizawa-sensei!" the class president barked, one arm shoved stiffly into the air. "Aren't you worried about us losing faith in you as our teacher?"

Blunt but a good point. Aizawa promised to consider it at the very least though Izuku highly doubted they would ever be rid of his logical ruses.

"I may have lied about that but I didn't lie about everything," Aizawa announced, taking back control of his class and specifically eyeing the ones that didn't pass. "Failure is failure. For the six of you, we've prepared extra lessons. Ones that will be far tougher than what you would have faced at summer school."

That announcement put a dampener on the happy mood of knowing they would all be going to camp together. Extra lessons did not sound fun but at least they would be together, right? After that, their teacher called for a dismissal and left information packets for them before he left. Tenya, still rumbling over yet another deception from their teacher, dutifully helped pass out the papers.

There was nothing about where the training camp would be or what they would be doing, but judging by the packing list they could be going anywhere or doing anything. The only hint was the mention of the woods Aizawa made weeks ago. Those around Izuku started discussing the list noting what they would need to get to be prepared. Izuku had a few things missing as well but most he would be able to find at home. Though considering they would be gone a week, he might need a bigger suitcase.

"Since exams are over and we have the rest of today and tomorrow off," Hagakure said with an assumed skip in her step. "Why don't we do a class trip to the mall?"

The idea was met with enthusiasm as they had never hung out as a class outside of school before. Though they did decide to move it until tomorrow so they could have all day rather than just an afternoon. Plus, they could meet up in casual clothes instead of their uniforms.

Not everyone could go but a good number of them could. Eijirou, bless his heart, did try to get Bakugou to join them, but the typically explosive blonde quietly left without a word. Shouto couldn't come either already having plans to see his mother, but that was okay. There was always next time, right? They all parted ways to their respective homes eager for their plans tomorrow.

...

Hitoshi walked the now familiar path to his foster home. Living with Aizawa and Yamada was definitely the best placing he's ever had. Caring and never scared of him using his Quirk on them. Each passing day he grew more hopeful that this might be it. His family. There was still a seed of doubt just in case, he's been hurt way too many times before not to, but the hope continued to grow as time passed.

"I'm home," Hitoshi called out as he entered their apartment and took off his shoes.

"Welcome home, Toshi!" Yamada called out from down the hall. "Go and get changed out of your uniform and meet us in the living room, yeah?"

The nickname had spawned randomly over the last few weeks and seemed to stick. Not that Hitoshi was complaining or anything. It was just…different. A good different.

"Uh, sure," he replied before going to his room.

It was a lot more put together now that he had lived with them for a month. There was the desk from before as well as the cabinet holding Yamada's Eraserhead collection. The blonde had offered to move it somewhere else in the apartment but Hitoshi didn't mind. He liked looking through it from time to time and it was fun to see how much Yamada was dedicated to showing his appreciation of his husband's work.

Along with those, he now had a bed with a table next to it and a dresser for his socks and undergarments among other things. He also had a laptop for his homework and personal use. That addition had been a shock and he tried to get them to return it, but Yamada wasn't having it insisting he keep it.

The loud man also set him up with a kind of mini sound studio. Speakers, stereo system, sound board. The works. Also, really comfy headphones with cat ears on top. All because Hitoshi had mentioned his like of music never expecting this, but he endured the setup since it was nice to listen to music again. It was also helping him work on his mimicry and impressions, recording himself talking and replaying it back to practice and make changes. And he may have dabbled a little with putting some sounds together just for the heck of it. Nobody needed to know about that.

The walls weren't as bare anymore either. There were a few posters of cats and one badass one of Eraserhead crouched on the edge of a roof. How Yamada managed to get that no one knew and it was kind of weird having a poster of his teacher on his wall while living with the man. But Eraserhead had become his favorite Hero and his inspiration. Made it less embarrassing waking up to it every day.

There were also other pictures on the wall. They did get his second-place medal framed with advice from Inko. Nothing too flashy but enough to present it as something special. Something of Hitoshi's and it wasn't the only one. His guardians had actually started hanging pictures of him mixed among the others they had up around the apartment. Further including the purple-haired teen into their home and personal lives.

There was the picture Yamada snuck of Izuku and him surrounded by cats on the last day of the internships. Embarrassing but nice. Then there were others. Such as various shots of Hitoshi interacting with the cats or random candid shots while they were out and about. There was also one of Aizawa and Hitoshi leaning on each other passed out on the couch. More embarrassing than the others but still nice.

As for his room, it was still a work in progress but was way more personalized than he had in a long time. Purple eyes looked at his things in sincere appreciation, still not thinking he deserved all this. The teen let out a happy little huff as he entered his room. The walls were painted a dark purple and the curtains on the window were a close match. When drawn it shrouded the room in darkness which was kind of helping with his insomnia a bit.

At the moment the curtains were cracked enough to let in some light. The line of light stretched across the floor over to his bed. The bedspread was also a dark purple with a pattern of black paw prints. His sheets and pillows were simply black so he almost missed it. However, trained cat seeking eyes managed to spot the ball of black fur curled up on one of his pillows.

Hitoshi let out an amused huff as he very quietly placed his bag down. On socked feet he silently walked over to his bed towards the napping cat. Sashimi had warmed up to him over the last few weeks. Still hesitant like the shadow cat that she is but seemed to enjoy spending time in Hitoshi's room. Something that Aizawa was totally not at all jealous of as she used to spend pretty much all her time in their bedroom.

More than once, Hitoshi had woken up in the middle of the night to find her crawling onto his bed. He would watch quietly as she settled into a ball much like now on his chest. It was absolutely adorable and he loved every moment spent with the shy cat who was currently existing as a round void into the abyss on his pillow. The teen smiled as he reached out and gently pet the cat. Suddenly the void was looking back at him through yellow eyes floating like miniatured twinned suns.

"Hey, Sashimi," Hitoshi whispered, carefully smoothing the soft black fur. "I'm home."

The shadow cat gave out a quiet meow in greeting before closing her eyes again. He chuckled and gave her a few more pets before going to change his clothes. His closet was full of clothes now instead of him switching between the few outfits he had kept in his backpack. It was still weird to have so many but also kind of nice to have options. It had been so long that he had more of a choice in clothing that it was sort of fun to mix and match more. Play around with fashion as Yamada says.

But today wasn't anything special. Sure, he had learned he passed his first final in the Hero Course though probably just barely for the practical with the trick they pulled. But other than that, it was like any other day or to him at least. Tomorrow would be more fun with their meet up at that mall. Oh yeah, he needed to mention that to his guardians.

Not caring much what he wore today, Hitoshi took off his uniform and slipped into comfier clothes. He put on loose light purple t-shirt and dark grey sweatpants keeping his socks on from earlier. A simple outfit for a simple day. No need for any extra frills when he planned to relax at home for the rest of today. After pocketing his phone and one last pet for Sashimi, Hitoshi headed for the living room.

What he did not expect walking in was having confetti thrown at his face. With new trained instincts, the brainwasher fell into a defensive stance until the rain of confetti fell. He was met with an odd sight. There were balloons and streamers along with the confetti on the floor. For some reason Yamada and even Aizawa were wearing party hats.

What?

Purple eyes searched for clues as to what the hell was going on. The ones already gathered were confusing other than indicating they were celebrating something. But what? A banner on the wall reading 'Congrats On Passing!' answered his question.

Ah, right. The exams.

But then he saw another banner that confused him again. As well as bring up very mixed emotions at the same time. It read 'Happy Birthday, Hitoshi!' in bright red letters.

…huh.

It had been so long since he celebrated his birthday. At least big like this. For some of his good past placements he might have gotten at most a cupcake with a candle but that was it. At others it had gone ignored altogether which was fine. Those homes it was better not to be noticed at all.

But not here.

Here he was noticed. Here he was included and cared for. Treated like a human being, not a Villain in the making. Given his own space and so much more without any worry of the cost. Ever since he entered the YamaZawa home, Hitoshi had always been welcomed. It was almost overwhelming.

The teen gulped as he pushed his feelings down. He relaxed his stance as he asked, "What's going on?"

"A celebration!" Yamada cheered, popping another party popper launching more confetti. "A two-in-one for you passing the exams and also your birthday!"

"You're cleaning this up, Zashi," Aizawa interjected as he stared sternly at the confetti littering the floor while DJ played with it spreading it around further.

"Oh hush," the blonde retorted while sticking out his tongue before turning to their charge. "I know your birthday was in the middle of the exams so I thought it would be better to wait to celebrate until after. And now we have more to celebrate about so it's double the fun!"

Another popper was fired and the tired man tried to swipe the others out of the loud man's hands. But the blonde kept them away with his one-inch height advantage. He also distracted his husband by giving him a swift kiss on the lips causing the black-haired man to jerk back in embarrassment. They had gotten more open with their PDA over the weeks but Aizawa still didn't like to show affection in front of anyone. Not that Hitoshi minded all that much. He had to deal with the pining idiots he called friends. Their fluttering around each other was a lot more frequent and becoming quite irritating to those watching despite the cuteness of it all.

The two men were still squabbling over the confetti, but Hitoshi wasn't paying attention to them right now anyway. He was still trying to process what was going on. They put this all together for him? For passing the exams and his birthday? But why? Okay, he knew why but a part of him still couldn't believe that they cared this much. Maybe Inko would as she considered him her son, but what about them? What was Hitoshi to them?

As if to overwhelm him even more, Yamada pulled out a big present. It was oddly shaped and wrapped in gaudy paper with a big bow on top. Hitoshi could easily guess what it was but didn't want to believe it until ripping the paper off after the loud man's prodding. It was a bicycle. A real two wheels, handlebars, pedals, frame, and seat of a bicycle.

"Is this…for me?" the purple-haired teen whispered, reaching out but afraid to touch it in case he was wrong.

"YUP!" Yamada confirmed with a hint of his Quirk. Too quick for Aizawa to erase. "You said you liked cycling so we got you a bike! That way you don't have to walk everywhere and can cycle instead."

The blonde beamed at him as Hitoshi stared wide eyed at the bicycle that was apparently his. Aizawa watched him figuring he was trying to process the gift knowing all too well how overwhelming his husband's gift giving could be. He tried his best to hold him back but there were times he couldn't or didn't want to. This situation was the latter. The tired man wanted their kid to be happy.

Purple eyes blinked as if getting out of a stupor before looking up confused into lime green as he asked, "Why?"

"It's your birthday present, silly," Yamada replied, still smiling but growing concerned inside. "Don't you like it?"

"I…I do, but…" Hitoshi said, taking a moment to clear his throat. "…why me?"

"Why you what?" Aizawa inquired, having an idea but wanting to be sure.

"Why give it to me?" the teen asked, staring longingly at the bicycle but still not touching it. "Why waste money on me? Why do any of this for me? Just…why?"

Hitoshi didn't know his emotions were showing through until he felt a slow stream of tears running down his cheeks. He rubbed at the weird sensation to find his hand was wet. Huh. Guess Izuku was rubbing off on him with all his crying. Must be contagious or was it because he was unofficially a Midoriya now? Who knew?

"Hitoshi," a voice called out. He turned to see it was Yamada. "Can I hug you?"

Purple eyes stared at the held out open arms of his foster parent. That was something else he hadn't experienced in a long time. Before Izuku and subsequently Inko, Hitoshi hadn't shared hugs or other affectionate touches with anyone once he was in the system. Others kept him at a distance just in case his brainwashing extended beyond just talking to him. Which would have made his Quirk easier to use but probably would have made his life a lot more difficult at the same time.

But Yamada was asking to hug him. To be close without fear. It was…nice. Not really able to speak at the moment, the boy simply nodded in reply. The loud man smiled warmly as he calmly approached the teen. Hitoshi could feel the man's arms wrap around him in a comforting way that he hadn't felt in a long time besides Inko. The embrace of a parent.

But this was different from her hugs. Inko was larger than life despite her small stature. Hers were the hugs of a mother, soft yet firm. But this was from a man. Taller, sturdier, stronger. More solid against a toned torso. It was the hug of a father. Hitoshi still wasn't sure he deserved this, still doubted why he was here. But he shakily wrapped his arms around his guardian who started to run his slim fingers through his purple hair.

Another hand started touching him, rubbing soothing circles on his back. The younger one turned to see it was Aizawa giving his own form of comfort. He wasn't much for touchy feely stuff but felt compelled to do at least that. For Hitoshi it was more than enough.

"Because we want to," Yamada said after a while once their kid calmed down. "We want to help you. Take care of you. Give you a home and a family."

Being so close to each other, no one missed the flinch at those words. To Hitoshi they still felt taboo, something not meant for him. And yet he found himself here being comforted by two father figures right here while having a surrogate mother across the city. What did he do to deserve two families like this?

The two men shared a glance holding a silent conversation. Discussing a topic they had planned on bringing up eventually but not necessarily in this moment. However, it might give the boy in their charge comfort and assure him that they wanted them here. They both nodded in agreement shortly after as Aizawa moved his hand to the boy's shoulder.

"We were going to wait to bring this up," the tired man said, gaining the teen's attention. "I know it hasn't been very long since we started fostering you, but we already know we want you in our family. Officially."

Purple eyes glistened with tears staring at him in disbelief.

"But we also know that this is your decision too," Aizawa continued, giving the boy's shoulder a squeeze. "We want you with us but we also want you to want to be with us. We want you to be happy and if that isn't with us then so be it."

The kid let out a shaky breath before saying, "Inko says she would take me in if you didn't want me. That she would fight you for me even though you're Pro Heroes."

The Underground Hero snorted as he said, "I wouldn't put it past her. Inko is not someone you mess with when it comes to her kids."

He gave the kid's hair a ruffle in appreciation for lifting the mood a little.

"Is that what you want, Toshi?" Yamada asked, drawing both of their attentions. He was still smiling but there was a hint worry in his eyes. "Would you rather live with Inko? If you do that's fine. We'll understand. But I hope you would stay with us."

They had pulled away from each other a little so there was some space between them. Enough for Hitoshi to study the blonde loosely still holding him. Yamada was still his teacher and a Hero, but he was more than that now. He was his guardian, his fos…his parent. Both of them were even though Hitoshi was in no way ready to say so out loud. Not after only a month of domestic bliss.

"N-no, I, uh," Hitoshi said, reaching up to nervously rub his neck. "I'd like to stay here…if you want me to. I, uh, I like it…here."

At his words, the loud blonde squealed and pulled their kid into another hug. This time was way more embarrassing than the first even though he still liked it to some degree. Hitoshi made a show of resisting before pushing the man away. While Aizawa huffed at his husband's antics even though he was used to it after all these years.

"So, want to go for a test drive?" Yamada asked with an excited smile.

The kid looked longingly at the bike again only this time he reached out and touched it as he said, "Sure."

Together, they walked the bicycle out of the building to the garage down below. Not the most refreshing of places in comparison to a park or out on the streets, but it would do for now and allow Hitoshi to ride his first bike in years. It took him a few tries to get his bearings but as the saying goes, it was like riding a bike. It was as he remembered.

The wind in his hair. The increase in speed going faster than just walking. The feeling of using muscles in a way he had almost forgotten and yet never had. It was thrilling and exhilarating as all those times before even if they were few and far between. Hitoshi couldn't help the grin spreading on his face or the happy cackled that escaped his lips. He was riding a bike, his bike, and he never felt freer. All while his guardians watched him endearingly, pleased to see him so happy. Also snapping some pictures to capture the moment of course.

They let him ride around for a while before calling him back inside. They had dinner to eat and a birthday to celebrate with a cake afterwards. Aizawa produced a bike lock out of his scarf he practically lived in even off duty and they secured Hitoshi's present to the bike rack. He then handed the key to his kid who stared at it in awe as they walked inside.

After dinner and cake, they watched a movie together each with an accompanying cat in their laps. DJ with Yamada, Esp with Aizawa, and even Sashimi curled up tight with Hitoshi. It felt right, safe, home. This was where the boy belonged. He only wished it hadn't taken so long for them to find each other, but the past was the past. Now they had the future to look forward to.

"Thanks," Hitoshi said suddenly, drawing his guardians' attention while he kept his focus on the shadow cat. "For everything. I really appreciate all you've done for me."

"No problem, kiddo," Yamada replied with a pat to his purple mess of hair. "We're happy to have you here."

"You're stuck with us," Aizawa added in an almost playful tone making the kid snort.

"Anyway, thanks…Hizashi," the teen said, earning a cut off squeak from the blonde as purple eyes looked into green before turning to black. "You too, Shouta. Thank you for fostering me."

"No worries, kid," Shouta said as he reached over to ruffle his kid's hair. "You're welcome here for as long as you like."

And if that was forever then so be it. They had already mentally adopted him and could wait to make it official since they wanted to give him some time. To grow more comfortable with each other and become a real family. Because that's what they were even without the proper paperwork. A family. Found for now and hopefully officially in the future.

"Oh, um, tomorrow 1-A is meeting at the mall to get stuff for the camp," Hitoshi brought up before he forgot. "Is it okay if I go?"

"Of course, you can," Hizashi said with a smile. "Would you like one of us to drop you off?"

"Nah, I got a ride," the teen smirked, looking forward to riding his bicycle again.

"Very true," the blonde chuckled. "Well, we can at least give you some cash for whatever you end up buying. Though I'm sure we have most of what you'll need already."

"You don't have to but I know you'll insist anyway," Hitoshi replied already accepting his fate.

"You're learning," Shouta commented earning a tongue being stuck out at him by an overgrown cockatoo.

The brainwasher snorted himself before saying, "Cool. Thanks."

They turned their attention back to the movie until the end and finally they all went off to bed. Only this time Hitoshi felt more assured that this was his and no one else's. He actually managed to fall asleep that night with a smile on his face. Waking up the next morning surrounded by all three of the cats brought it back instantly.

Yeah, I could get used to this, Hitoshi thought as he snoozed for a few more minutes.

...

(A/N: Hitoshi's birthday is July 1st in case you didn't know! I think the exams happen around early July so he would have been too busy to celebrate it. :) )

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