Shouta had been exhausted after the rat's surprise staff meeting. It had taken four hours to discuss the homework timetable for the upcoming year of hell — sorry, school.

Izuku hadn't been there when Shouta got back but had arrived pretty soon after. He was sweating and panting and his hair was sticking up in all directions. Upon further inspection, Shouta discovered that Izuku had met some old man who had helped to train him with his new quirk. At least Izuku would have better control over his new quirk by the time the quirk assessment test came around. As biased as it might be, Shouta didn't want his brother kicked out and prevented from achieving his childhood dream. Then again, he would become a student of Nedzu so he supposed it wouldn't be too bad…

…but it still wouldn't be ideal.

Izuku had been on the verge of collapsing but was still energetic enough to analyse the heroes that had been on the TV that day. They had sat on the sofa for a few hours just relaxing while Shouta drafted up his first few weeks of lessons. Teaching both his homeroom and Hero Law and Ethics class was going to be torture. Eventually, Izuku had changed into his pyjamas and, after a mug of hot chocolate, had gone to get ready for bed.

Shouta had left to start his patrol at ten just after Izuku had drifted off.

So that led him to where he was now; sitting on a department store roof, waiting for something interesting to happen. It was just after midnight: the time that criminals and low-time villains were most active. Yet, strangely, it was rather quiet for Musutafu.

The streetlights shone through the dark of the night and illuminated the people wandering slowly along the roadside. Neon lights of the few shops and cafes still open lit up the sides of the buildings opposite. Despite the time of night, cars streamed along the streets, making a constant buzzing sound that reverberated throughout the city. A low hum of chatter was ever present too with adults standing outside drinking and friends having a party. Bare trees stood like skeletons against the black sky and the taller evergreens were dwarfed by the skyscrapers and looked more like overgrown bushes. The parks in Musutafu were few and far between with the majority of the city being brick and concrete. Save for the few offices that still had workers inside, the buildings felt strangely empty with their lights off.

Musutafu at night was beautiful and Shouta was glad that being an underground hero allowed him to experience it almost every night.

Shouta sat there silently for another half an hour before he heard the tell-tale sounds of a fight coming from a few blocks away. He slipped his goggles down over his eyes and jumped.

After parkouring over a few rooftops, he dropped down into an alleyway with his capture scarf at the ready.

In front of him stood Dabi who was grinning sadistically down at the thugs unconscious by his feet. The bags of trash around the villain were on fire, as was one of his hands. The other hand was clutching what looked suspiciously like a Cadbury's cream egg. Dabi looked up when he heard Shouta sigh and backed away so quickly he fell on his bottom. Shouta snickered quietly and Dabi glared at him as he stood up quickly.

"Shut up, Shou-nii."

"Sure," the hero drawled.

Dabi's hand lit up again. "I mean it!" He growled.

Shouta rolled his eyes and left the alleyway, throwing a few jelly packs over his shoulder.

He heard a faint "fuck off" as he turned the corner.

Hitoshi's day had been terrible.

And terrible was an understatement.

He had woken up to his foster parents screaming at him to make food for everyone. On the way to school he'd been attacked, lost his lunch money and had to go hungry. His teacher had failed him in his last test because of his 'villainous quirk' and had given him a week of detention. After school he had been attacked again though this time by his bullies. The beating had left him bruised all over and exhausted. Hitoshi had done his best to cover the marks when he got back to the foster home but they clearly weren't enough as the woman running the house had slapped him a few times for being weak before muzzling him (as per usual) and sending him to the shared bedroom.

Hitoshi wasn't stupid. He knew why he was the only one in that room in the afternoons. His foster parents gave the younger kids a nice dinner and time on the TV. They simply didn't want a villain sharing the same as their 'little angels'.

A few hours later, he was kicked out of the house so that the kids could go to sleep easily. He was told the same thing every time: if he gets exercise, he won't be tempted to use his quirk on the children.

He wasn't going to complain, though. At least he got some time by himself.

So he'd visited the local park and sat on a swing with his phone for a while. When he got bored, he'd gone to sit at the top of his favourite building.

It was abandoned years ago and had an amazing view of the city at night. Tall enough that Hitoshi could see over the other buildings and yet short enough that the skyscrapers could make the view even more impressive.

Hitoshi had been sitting by the railing quietly for about two hours when he heard a thunk from behind him. He spun around quickly and gasped in surprise when he saw that Eraserhead – his favourite hero – was standing behind him with an odd sort of hurt look on his face.

"Kid…" the hero trailed off uncomfortably.

Hitoshi winced as he realised what Eraserhead was thinking. "I wasn't going to jump!" he said, maybe a bit too quickly because the hero just frowns.

"Right… well, could you step away from the edge please?"

The purple-haired teen gulped but moved a few steps back and sat on an old bench. Eraserhead hesitated before sitting down next to him.

"Are you alright, kid?"

A small pause is enough for the hero to continue. "Are things alright at home?"

Hitoshi couldn't bring himself to speak so he shook his head.

"Can you tell me about it?"

The teen tensed but quickly realised that Eraserhead might be able to do something about it. At most, he would be moved to another foster home.

'My foster parents don't like me,' he signed slowly. 'I have a villainous quirk.'

Eraserhead's scowl deepened. "There is no such thing as a villainous quirk," he said, signing along with his words. "Please tell me they don't hurt you."

Hitoshi couldn't stop the flinch. Fuck. No one was supposed to find out. His foster parents would kill him.

Eraserhead whipped his phone out and dialled up a number after signing a quick, 'wait a minute', and stepping far enough away that Hitoshi knew he wouldn't be able to hear anything.

The hero spoke only for about thirty seconds before he hung up, put his phone away and moved to kneel down in front of Hitoshi.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked softly.

"Shinsou Hitoshi," the teen mumbled.

Eraserhead sighed. "Look, Shinsou, your parents clearly shouldn't be fostering kids if they abuse you. I've spoken to my detective friend and he's on his way to arrest them. You won't be able to stay there once they're in prison and I know that similar things will probably happen in other places. Would you like to come home with me?"

Hitoshi's eyes widened. He was expecting to move to another foster home, not move in with his favourite hero. "Really?" he breathed.

Eraserhead nodded with a small smile. "Come on, let's get down from here."

Hitoshi sat in the back of Eraserhead's car quietly.

After getting to see the hero apprehend his foster parents, a detective had asked for Hitoshi's statement. He had frozen up, not sure what to say but to his relief, Eraserhead had suggested that he could give his statement another day when he felt more comfortable talking about it.

Then, Eraserhead had led Hitoshi to a car that apparently belonged to the detective and had been offered so that the hero could take him to his home.

So he sat, unsure, and didn't say anything.

The silence was broken a few minutes later.

"Kid?" Eraserhead called.

Hitoshi looked up from his lap.

The hero carried on. "I have a younger brother living with me at the moment. His name is Izuku and he's about your age. He probably won't ask about why you're going to stay with us but he will ask about your quirk. You don't have to say anything if you don't feel comfortable talking about it and Izuku won't pry. I want to make sure you're okay with that, alright?"

The teen nodded slowly but didn't say anything more.

This was going to be a long night.

After the drive back to his mum's apartment, Shouta walked slowly with Shinsou up the stairs to allow the kid time to think.

Just as they reached the apartment door, the kid spoke.

"Thank you, sir."

It was barely audible but Shouta smiled nonetheless.

"Don't worry about it kid," he responded while he turned the key in the lock. The handle turned and Shouta swung the door open. "Come on inside," he said quietly.

Shinsou hesitated before walking through the doorway, taking his shoes off and replacing them with a pair of guest slippers.

Shouta took a moment to unlace his boots but once he had, he looked up to see Shinsou still stood there waiting for him.

"You can head on in if you want, kid," he said softly, keeping his voice down so that Izuku wouldn't wake.

Turns out there was no point in controlling his volume because Izuku was standing at the kitchen counter holding a mug of coffee.

"Hey, hobo." Izuku called out tiredly, not raising his eyes from his drink.

Shouta raised an eyebrow. His brother had no filter when he was sleepy.

"Brat, why are you still up?" The hero responded, amused.

"Couldn't sleep," Izuku shrugged. "Nightmares."

And then he looked up at Shouta.

Shinsou, who had frozen at the sight of the boy, reared back quickly to stand by the door.

Izuku gasped loudly as his eyes flitted between the two for a moment

When he opened his mouth to speak, Shinsou flinched violently.

"Aha! I knew you were holding out on me," Izuku cried, running towards his older brother. "When did you adopt him? What's his name? How old is he? What's his quirk? Is his hair natural? Howdidyoufind-" he dissolved into a mutter storm.

Shouta shook his head fondly and turned to the teen cowering by the door. "Sorry, I didn't expect him to be up. Do you want me to show you your room?"

Shinsou hesitantly lifted his hands. 'Would it be alright if I stayed up? I don't think I'll be able to sleep.'

Shouta smiled softly. "You can stay up as long as you like. I'm going to make some coffee. Would you like a drink?"

'Could I have coffee too?'

"Sure kid, give me a minute," Shouta replied, moving towards the kitchen.

Izuku was still stood muttering to himself so Shouta tapped him on the shoulder lightly. The younger boy stilled and flushed bright red. "Sorry," he muttered.

'That's alright,' Shinsou signed slowly.

Izuku lifted his hands quickly. 'You know sign too? Shou-nii is one of the only people I know who uses sign too.'

Shinsou brightened. 'Yeah. I don't like talking much so I learnt to sign instead.'

'That's so cool! Do you want to come sit in the living room?'

'Sure.'

Shouta smiled as they walked away, signing rapidly to each other. They were getting on so far; that was good.

When he walked into the living room a few minutes later, the two were still signing quickly. He placed two mugs on the table and sat down next to his brother, holding his own mug in his hands.

Shouta fell asleep shortly after finishing his coffee.

The other two stayed awake long into the night.