By the time Shouta woke up the next morning, Izuku already knew almost everything about Shinsou.

Everything except his quirk.

Shinsou hadn't seemed to want to share that yet and, considering what he'd been through himself, Izuku couldn't blame him. So he didn't push for details and settled for trying to gather clues to any things the teen hadn't mentioned.

His hair was purple and stuck up in all directions. It looked so cool! He had tired eyes and heavy bags beneath them so he clearly had insomnia. That made three of them. He was slightly taller than Izuku — unfair in his opinion; why was everyone taller than him? — and yet he was pretty skinny. Had he not done any sort of fitness training before the UA entrance exams?

Which led him onto his next point.

If Shinsou hadn't done any fitness or martial arts before and was accepted into the General Education department, he must have a mental quirk. If he had a physical one, he probably would've made it into the Hero Course.

It was such a pity that the practical exam was so biased towards physical quirks at first glance. Barely anyone would even consider that helping others might gain them points. Heck, even he hadn't thought of that.

On top of that, Shinsou's voice was deep and lulling (from what Izuku had heard of it).

So, if he had to guess, Shinsou probably had a voice-activated quirk that others considered villainous and therefore, he had been bullied and maybe even abused…

Well…that would explain why he was living with them now.

Despite his burning curiosity, Izuku didn't make any move to bring the subject of quirks up during their talk. Instead, he focused on getting Shinsou to open up to him. If he was right about the bullying, the other boy probably hadn't had a friend in years and Izuku was determined to fill that place.

If Shinsou would let him, that is.

He seemed to be opening up to Izuku, at least. At some point, he had started to speak. It was occasional and he never used more than a few words at a time, but it was progress nonetheless.

After Shouta had dragged himself off the sofa and started to prepare breakfast, Shinsou looked up at Izuku's face and said a very quiet, "Thank you."

The greenette paused. "For what?" He questioned, signing along.

The other teen grimaced. 'For helping me.'

"Don't worry about it. You're safe here!"

Oh fuck, he probably shouldn't have said that.

Shinsou looked horrified. 'How did you know?'

Izuku winced. "I'm sorry. I guessed…"

There was a pause before Shinsou stood abruptly and started backing away. 'I'll go. I'm so sorry for bringing my quirk here.'

Izuku jumped up and grabbed his arm. "Please don't go."

The purple-haired teen relaxed his arm and pulled it free slowly. 'But I have a villainous quirk.'

Izuku stood up to face him. "Have you ever done something really bad with it?" After a confused look from Shinsou, he continued, "Have you ever killed someone or stolen with your quirk?"

Shinsou shook his head slowly.

"Then it's not a villainous quirk."

'But-'

"But nothing," Izuku interrupted firmly. "I don't care what your quirk is, neither does Shouta. There's no such thing as a villainous quirk. What you do with your quirk is what counts."

A few quiet tears fell from Shinsou's eyes and Izuku pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry that no one told you that before, Shinsou-kun."

"Hitoshi," a quiet whisper came from Izuku's shoulder.

"Sorry?"

Shinsou pulled away. "Please call me Hitoshi."

Izuku giggled softly. Shinsou – no, Hitoshi – looked so happy, even with the tear tracks staining his cheeks. "Only if you call me Izuku… and drop the honorific."

"Alright. Thank you Izuku."

Izuku beamed and hugged the boy again.

Not a moment later, they heard Shouta's voice coming from the kitchen telling them breakfast was ready. Izuku grabbed Hitoshi's arm excitedly and pulled him gently towards the table.

Three steaming plates of french toast had been placed at the table; next to them, three empty mugs.

Izuku picked up two of the mugs and handed one to Hitoshi. "What drink would you like? We have, uh…" he paused to think quickly, "Coffee and tea, water, milk and juice."

"Coffee," Hitoshi mumbled quietly.

Izuku smiled brightly and led him over to the coffee machine. Once they had both sat down again, they said the thanks before starting to eat.

Once they were full to the brim, they moved back to the living room and settled on the couch for a few hours. Shouta slept while the other two talked.

Contrary to last time, the teens both used words instead of sign. The few times that Shouta woke up, Izuku noticed a small smile at hearing the hushed undertones before the blanket of sleep washed over him once more.

Before too long, it was time for lunch. This time, Izuku cooked. The miso soup was hot, calming and bursting with flavour, and yet Izuku couldn't help but think of how much better it would've been if it were Mum who had made it.

They sat at the table in a comfortable silence while they ate. A recording of Hizashi's radio show was on in the living room and they could hear it faintly in the background. That evening was one of Izuku's favourites because Shouta had been complaining about a child knocking him over for hours; so when someone asked if he was dating anyone, Hizashi told them a wonderful story about a tall, dark haired man who had fallen on his bottom in the ice cream store earlier that day.

Hizashi had slept on the couch that night and Shouta liked to replay that evening's show every now and again to remind his husband. After a while, it simply became habit for Izuku to have it on when Shouta came over.

After Hitoshi had swallowed his last bite and put his chopsticks down, he lowered his head and seemed to stare at his lap. It took Izuku a few moments to realise that he was crying. He jumped up and gently placed his hand on the other boy's arm.

"What's wrong?"

Hitoshi sniffled and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I just…" he paused before continuing quietly. "I haven't had this much food in a while."

Izuku could only stare in horror.

Shouta sighed heavily and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "Kid, please tell us when you're hungry. Your foster parents were wrong to deny you access to basic human rights and that's why they're currently in jail. If you need food, it's important that you let us know so that we can feed you. You're clearly underweight at the moment anyway."

Hitoshi nodded resolutely and folded his hands in his lap, staring down at his empty bowl.

Another sigh. "Do you want seconds, kid?"

"I'm allowed seconds?!"

Izuku blinked a few times before picking up both his plate and his new nephew's and shuffling slowly into the kitchen, not saying a word.

He'd leave this to Shouta.

They stayed in the apartment for another few days to help Hitoshi settle. He was improving. It was slow but definitely happening nonetheless. Hitoshi had been rather quiet and withdrawn for the first day, only speaking when it was necessary and signing the rest of the time.

Mum's funeral was the day after.

It was a quiet event; only a few people turned up, namely a few of Inko's work friends, and the other Midoriyas — Hitoshi included.

Hisashi, as he was supposed to be working abroad in America, wasn't able to go to the service, though he visited the grave after everyone else had departed. Asuka stayed with him but Shouta, Hitoshi and Izuku had to head home. They were packing up the apartment so that they could move in with Shouta and Hizashi in a few days.

The first order of business was the kitchen. They didn't need all the cutlery and crockery anymore so that could go. The appliances too. Which, surprisingly, didn't leave much. The kitchen had always felt a pleasant sort of cramped but it was weird to know that there wasn't actually much there. Izuku supposed it had only felt full because it was only him and Mum and their love.

Okay, that sounded really cheesy.

The rest of the rooms passed in a similar fashion; little objects, appliances, furniture: sold. Pictures and mementos: packed into boxes to be moved to Shouta and Hizashi's apartment.

Izuku's items and clothes were packed last. Shouta's few clothes that had stayed at the apartment were put in the same box but didn't really take up any space. All of Asuka's 'rot', as she liked to put it, was either in her university dorm or at Dad's apartment. Hitoshi had been in Izuku's clothes for the last few days as he hadn't had anything bought for him since his biological parents died – something that annoyed Izuku to no end. Izuku made sure to promise his nephew (and boy did he love saying it) that they would go shopping after the move. Hizashi would be all too happy to help them.

By the next day, Mum's apartment was empty. The three of them stood in the doorway, holding the few boxes full of things to be kept.

Everything looked, for lack of a better word, naked. Floors and walls bare and then… it didn't seem like home anymore.

Izuku held back the tears as they closed the door behind them one final time. He held them back as they climbed into Mum's old car. He held them back as they walked up the stairs to Shouta and Hizashi's flat, boxes in hand.

Shouta stopped him outside the flat door and placed a rough hand on his arm and Izuku broke down.

He clung to his older brother as they walked into the flat, Hitoshi following behind. They took off their shoes by the doorway; Hitoshi and Shouta sliding on slippers, Izuku remaining in his socks as tears continued to pour down his cheeks silently.

A loud squeal reached his ears and he looked up to Hizashi standing in front of the three of them, grinning like a madman at Hitoshi.

"Who's this, Sho?" he chirped.

Shouta smiled faintly. "Shinsou Hitoshi. I adopted him."

"Oh. My. GOSH!" Hizashi squealed. "Shoutaaaa, you need to tell me this kind of stuff. We have a SON." He turned an excited grin towards his husband who rolled his eyes in response.

"Yes we have a son. Now shoo and get to know him or something." And Shouta turned to the sofa, lifting Izuku off his feet and placing him down on the cushions. Hizashi beamed at the purple-haired teen as Shouta sat down next to Izuku.

"Come on, Listener, I'm going to show you your new bedroom!"

Hitoshi froze. "Oh my fucking god," he muttered. "Eraserhead's married to Present Mic."

Hizashi's smile grew even bigger. "You recognised me! I love you already."

And with that Hitoshi was dragged away to be toured around the flat, though not before Hizashi had sent a small but understanding smile at the two on the sofa.

Izuku buried his face into the familiar feeling of his brother's capture scarf and let out a few muffled sobs. A hand started to run itself through his hair and Izuku relaxed into the feeling, slipping into the familiar feeling of his own mind.

They had pancakes for breakfast the next morning. Hizashi was ecstatic to have a family to make breakfast for and made an overly large batch 'just in case'.

Hizashi then rushed them out of the flat as soon as they were dressed. "Mall trips," he had said, "Are something that you have to do as soon as possible. No waiting around." Izuku didn't argue. A new Present Mic figurine had come out recently and he was determined to get his hands on one before they sold out.

As soon as they were through the large set of double doors at the entrance, they split; Shouta and Izuku were going to the Hero shops while the other two set off towards the clothing stores.

A few hours later, they met up in a small cafe for lunch. Hizashi had somehow managed to buy five huge bags of things for Hitoshi – clothes, room decorations and anything he might need for the upcoming year of school – despite the boy's insistence that they didn't need to buy this much for him. Hizashi gave him a hug and ignored that statement in favour of browsing another rack of t-shirts.

Izuku had found both the Present Mic figurine he wanted and a lot of other hero merch he hadn't managed to get his hands on yet.

Shouta and Hizashi weren't at all worried about the large expense as being pro-heroes on top of their jobs at UA and the radio shop gave plenty of extra money to spend on things like this.

After lunch, they headed back to the flat and set up Hitoshi's room: painting the walls, putting up a few posters and paintings, arranging books on the shelves and putting away the new clothes. Shouta had to use his quirk to erase the screams whenever Hizashi got too excited but received an enthusiastic kiss immediately after. He was left to duck his blushing face into his capture scarf several times before the decorating was over.

Nemuri came round later that evening to meet her honorary nephew and Hitoshi was told to call her 'Auntie Nem' as she squished his face in her hands, cooing over his fluffy hair. She was left to look after them when Hizashi left for his radio show and Shouta went on his nightly patrol.

The next few days passed in a similar fashion. The four of them spent time together during the day and Nemuri babysat them most evenings.

Before they knew it, it was the night before the first day of UA. It just so happened to be on one of the days that Hizashi's show wasn't on and Shouta's patrol didn't start until later. They curled up on the sofa with a pre-quirk era movie called Frozen and a large bowl of popcorn made by Hizashi.

Izuku and Hitoshi fell asleep before the movie was over, curled up together next to Hizashi who was also snoring lightly. If Shouta took a photo and saved it to his family album before slipping off into the night, no one could blame him.