As many families know… too well, siblings fight… a lot.
These fights can range from simple squabbles over a shared toy to quirked fights to the death in one of the most secure locations in the country.
Speaking of which, Tomura and Shouta were still 'sparring' in the plaza, the hulking figure of the BBBM in the background.
Izuku paled as Tomura's uncovered hand missed Shouta's face by a couple of millimetres.
'Now would probably be a good time to step in,' he thought, already moving forward. Izuku ducked behind one of the larger bushes, just a few metres from the fight, where he could hear most of what his brothers were saying.
"I'm so much better, Eraserhead!" Tomura gloated, manic laugh spilling from his lips.
"At least you have the sense to use my hero name," Shouta grunted. "Would be a bit suspish if you shouted 'hi, Shou-nii' after invading UA."
Izuku had to slap a hand over his mouth to stop the snicker that would've escaped him at Shouta's falsetto impression of Tomura.
"Yeah, because I sound like that, 'Shou-nii,' Tomura snapped sarcastically.
"I will ground you," Shouta threatened, winding the capture scarf around Tomura's arm, who disintegrated the end of it.
"Sure you can."
Shouta growled. "Just because Dad's not here doesn't mean you'll get off easy. You've attacked a class full of innocent kids with less than a week of training. Half of them can't even use their quirks right." He grabbed Tomura's arm and wrapped him in the capture scarf. "I thought you weren't going to harm kids?"
Tomura snarled at him. "And I haven't. I just teleported them with a couple thugs to keep them away from…" he trailed off, face draining of colour. "Oh fuck. I teleported your class to random places with a bunch of thugs willing to kill them."
"And it took you that long to realise that?" Shouta rolled his eyes angrily. "Tomura, you need to take your villains and get the fuck out of-"
He was cut off by the doors slamming open and a shout of, "I AM HERE!"
Tomura froze. "But-"
A low growl made its way out of Shouta's throat. "I won't say this twice. All Might doesn't know about… this. He won't hold back. Get out of here."
"Fine," Tomura grumbled. He pointed a finger in the No. 1 Hero's general direction, "Noumu. Kill All Might."
A small portal opened up and he stepped through it, though not before sending a small, apologetic smile to Shouta.
"Hey, Midoriya-san," came a whisper next to his ear, and Izuku jumped.
"Asui-san?" He replied, eyes not leaving his older brother.
"It's me," she responded. "I've got Aoyama-san too."
"Alright," he replied absently. "Careful the big black monster thing doesn't notice you. I have a feeling it won't care who you are when it's been told to kill."
Asui remained silent, even as she crouched beside him.
Izuku spared a glance at her and immediately noticed her pale face. Aoyama was shaking. He returned his gaze to the plaza and froze.
When Tomura had pointed towards All Might, he hadn't taken into account that Shouta was in the way.
The monster was looming above Izuku's brother, beak open and eyes narrowed.
Shouta moved forward. The monster stretched out an arm.
With a sickening, cracking sound, Shouta's head was pressed into the ground, blood beginning to pool around the splay of dark hair visible from under the monster's hand.
Izuku felt like he was going to throw up.
If Tomura had ordered the monster to kill All Might, what were the chances Shouta would die?
He could feel tears gathering in his eyes as his stomach rolled. Izuku couldn't move to wipe them away, fear overtaking the need to see his brother.
Make sure he was still alive.
'Stop,' Izuku told himself. 'Shouta has to be fine. I can't lose him too.'
Asui choked on a sob beside him, Aoyama did throw up.
All Might, being the saviour he was, rushed in and began to punch the monster.
Izuku stood shakily, stumbling and tripping his way over to Shouta, who lay motionless to the side of the fighting. He dropped to his knees, picked up Shouta's wrist, feeling for a pulse.
It was there. Faint, but there.
Izuku almost collapsed in relief.
A loud huff came from behind him, followed by a loud crash; the shattering of glass.
Once again, the doors slammed open. This time, a crowd of teachers and heroes massed towards them, Hizashi taking up the lead, Nedzu on his shoulder.
"Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku nodded faintly, even as he slumped over, the world going dark.
Hitoshi had been feeling… off all day.
A strange feeling, somewhere between dread and confusion, and indeed, it was confusing.
But why?
Well, he didn't know. Only that he school, regardless of his head or heart (whatever it was) having a mind of its own.
Yamada's homeroom had been boring. Loud, yes, but boring; simple. 1-C was the 'Hero Course rejects' class. Of course, only Hitoshi and one or two of his classmates had actually applied for the Hero Course. The rejection was a big myth, other classes thinking they were better. In fact, the Gen-Ed classes were just a higher level of regular education than the rest of the country, and so those who didn't want to go into heroics chose UA's Gen-Ed course as just a better option than a normal high-school.
That didn't deter Hitoshi.
He was there for the Hero Course, and the Hero Course alone.
Aizawa had been training him since he moved in with the hero. Hitoshi even got to learn how to use a capture scarf!
Yamada taught him general subjects in the apartment: maths, science, and languages. Aunty Nem, art.
It was extremely annoying having to remember that she was Midnight-sensei at school, when she was exclusively Aunty Nem outside of UA. Any other name, she cried. She fucking cried!
Thank god Yamada and Aizawa weren't as fussy. Hitoshi had been given the option to call them by their given names, but that felt weird. He'd never called his guardian by their given name; who did that?
But it was still awkward to say 'Present Mic-sensei'.
There was a rather big difference between the man who wore his hair in a man bun and made stupid jokes about old disney cartoons and the cockatoo-looking-boom-box who couldn't speak without shouting.
Fortunately, he was relaxed during English lessons, preferring to speak slowly – he refused to speak in Japanese in the lessons – and was much quieter.
Hitoshi had made sure to learn quite a bit of English, even before he met Yamada, so he was almost fluent.
Yamada was nice enough to give him some hard work. Hitoshi tuned out everyone else as he worked.
Meaning he got the shock of his life when the alarm, yes the very same one from the day before, went off, ringing through the corridors, followed by one of the most fear-inducing messages Hitoshi had ever heard.
"Level 4 security breach. All staff to the USJ immediately."
Level 3 was an intruder. An intruder that hasn't attacked.
Level 4 was an attack then.
And it was at the USJ. Aizawa and Izuku were at the USJ.
Oh no.
Yamada turned to the class. "Stay put. Do not move. I will be back as soon as I possibly can."
As 1-C dissolved into panic, Yamada spoke once again. "The speakers will let you know when you're safe. Please do not leave this room. If you're attacked, you have full permission to defend yourselves; quirks, whatever."
And he was gone.
The class stood in silence for another minute before anyone spoke.
"We should probably all have something to defend ourselves with if our quirks are passive." It was the class president.
Hitoshi grabbed his heavy metal water bottle. He didn't know if he'd be able to use Brainwashing if it came to it.
Better safe than sorry.
Izuku blinked, bright lights coming into view in a startling burst of white.
Not today, thank you.
He shut his eyes and turned his head away.
"Midoriya-san?"
Izuku hummed, too exhausted to say anything else.
"Alright. You're currently in a medical van."
His eyes shot open. "What?"
The nurse — as she was the only person in his view and therefore the one who must have spoken — stepped forward, clipboard in hand.
"You were attacked inside the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. Do you feel alright?"
His head felt full of mud and his arms were heavy. "I feel like shit," he answered honestly.
The nurse chuckled. "I should think so. You passed out after suffering quite a large shock… but you'll be fine. There wasn't any physical damage done."
"And Sh- uh, Aizawa-sensei? Is he okay?" Izuku asked desperately, sitting up straight.
The nurse grimaced. "He didn't look too good but I'm not sure. You'll have to ask someone else."
Izuku threw the covers off his body and jumped to his feet. "Can I go then?"
"Sure," the nurse nods. "Just be careful, yeah? Your body's still tired."
Izuku only half hears her as he climbs out of the back.
Outside the ambulance is… chaos.
Class 1-A are spread out, most sitting with teachers. They're all either sobbing or silent. Izuku has no doubt he'd be the same if he didn't have something more important on his mind.
Hizashi stood alone next to another ambulance.
"Present Mic-sensei?"
The hero startled. "Midoriya?"
Izuku jogged up to him. "Where's Aizawa-sensei?"
Hizashi's eyes softened. "Over there," he said, motioning at yet another ambulance away from everyone else. This one, however, is bustling, people in blue scrubs and white coats crowding around it.
Izuku's heart stopped for a second. "Is- Is he okay?" he just managed to force out.
Hizashi sighed. "He's alive. They're working on keeping him stable right now."
He wished he could give the man a hug. "I'm going to see my classmates."
"You do that, kiddo."
Izuku walked slowly over to Tenya and Uraraka who sat apart from the others. "Hey guys."
"Izuku!" Tenya cried, rushing forward.
Izuku embraced his friend. "Hi Tenya."
Tenya moved his head so his mouth rested by Izuku's ear. "Is Uncle Shouta alright?"
"I don't know," he replied.
"I hope he will be," Tenya muttered, pulling away.
"Yeah, me too."
Uraraka stepped closer. "Midoriya-san, have you been healed?"
Izuku reached up to rub at the back of his neck. "Erm… I wasn't actually injured. I just passed out."
"Oh," she nodded before giving him a quick hug. "That's good."
He hummed, "What are we doing now?"
Tenya shrugged. "I'm pretty sure our families have been told to come pick us up. Ten-nii should be here pretty soon; he's off patrol today."
"In that case, my mum is probably on her way," Uraraka chimed in.
Shouta was in the ambulance and Hizashi was already there. Who was going to pick up Hitoshi? "I don't know who's picking me up," Izuku told them.
Tenya sent him a confused glance but Uraraka wasn't phased. "Let's go to the others. They might want some comfort!"
Izuku gave her a nod as they began to walk towards Class 1-A, at which point he caught sight of something behind the trees outside of the USJ. Something big… and black.
Izuku motioned for the other two to follow him and ran towards… yes, the monster.
"Is that…" Uraraka whispered.
A blinding, white-hot rage filled Izuku's mind and he reached out and slapped the monster, right across the face.
Something disgustingly cold and slimy-feeling rushed up his arm, making Izuku recoil. What…? A familiar weight settled in his chest.
Quirks?
His gloves were off – his palms touched the monster.
Izuku had stolen its quirks.
The monster melted away before their eyes as they stared in shock.
"Izuku?" Tenya asked.
Uraraka stood, silent for just a moment. Then she screamed.
Izuku sat in the hospital corridor, face buried into Hitoshi's shoulder, sobs wracking his throat. Hizashi was on his other side, fingers buried comfortingly in Izuku's hair.
'Everything is so wrong,' Hitoshi thought, running a hand across Izuku's back.
He didn't know quite what had happened, other than the attack, but whatever it was had clearly upset Izuku a lot.
"Aizawa Shouta's family?"
Hitoshi looked up. A nurse had just walked out of Aizawa's room.
Hizashi stood, "That's us."
"Right," The nurse nodded, mouth set in a thin line. "Aizawa-san is currently in a coma. He's been fixed up… but things are still rough. He will be awake within the next 48 hours."
"Thank you," Hizashi bowed, and then gently took Izuku's hand in his own. "Let's go, listeners."
Hitoshi got slowly to his feet and grabbed Izuku's other hand. "C'mon Izu." Izuku sniffled, but stood up anyway. The nurse smiled and led them into the room.
Aizawa looked eerily calm, asleep and bandaged on the hospital bed. Most of his body was covered in casts, and his hair spread, framing his face.
Hizashi faltered in his steps, Izuku choked on another sob and Hitoshi… could only stare.
"He looks so wrong like that," Izuku murmured.
Hizashi nodded, moving over to the bed to place a hand on his husband's arm. "You're gonna be okay, Shou."
Izuku slipped his hand out of Hitoshi's, sat down in one of the chairs by the door, and dropped his head into his hands.
Hitoshi reached forward to replace the greenette's hand with his father's.
"Please wake up," he whispered. "Yamada-san needs you, Izuku needs you; fuck- I need you. Please… wake up Dad."
A pause.
"Zashi'll 'ave to b' Pops, 'en."
The words were slurred and barely audible, Hitoshi whipped his head up.
Shouta's eyes were open just a crack, the corners of his mouth turned ever-so-slightly up.
Hizashi leaned down and kissed Shouta's lips, to which both teens winced and looked away.
"Shouta!"
"'m alive," Shouta deadpanned.
"I'm glad you're awake, Shou-nii," Izuku sniffed.
"Me too, Izu. Tenko will be getting grounded."
"And Uncle 'Boro?" Izuku giggled
"And Oboro," Shouta affirmed.
"Oboro?" Hizashi interrupted, face pale.
Shouta blinked. "Oh fuck, I forgot."
There was a staff meeting the next day, in which the pro heroes who taught at UA were informed that dorms were being constructed and that the students would be moving into them the following week.
Shouta was discharged that morning, and allowed to go home, on the conditions that there was to be no patrol or excessive movement until he had enough energy for Recovery Girl to heal him properly in a few days.
Hizashi was told that he could see Oboro soon, but not before Izuku had let his anger out on his family.
Hitoshi was just glad that he finally had someone he could call Dad and another person he could call Pops.
Izuku got back to the apartment, threw his coat and bag down, and faced his family.
"Tenko will regret the day he was born," Izuku said, before he was gone in a flash of green light.
Somewhere in Kamino Ward, a certain blue-haired man sneezed.