"What is the meaning of this?!" The round man screamed running into the room.
"We were just playing." Katsuki muttered as the man grabbed Hiromi's head and threw her to the ground. She landed hard on her face but didn't dare make a noise or try to move. Katsuki wanted to pick her up but understood doing so were just land her in more trouble.
Mrs. Midoriya looked at her sons and then the pretty young girl on the floor and instantly became angry that the little tramp dared to look her precious children as playmates, clearly, she didn't understand her place in life.
"Is this how you run your establishment here?" She yelled, her round face getting red with angry indignation.
The shrewd woman finally saw an opening to gain the upper hand in price negotiations. When the family called the market for their chance to secure a homestead servant of their own, they were unprepared for the costs of purchasing a human. Sure, they could afford one of the older models, but they weren't going to last as long, and it would be hard to show off something useless to the other housewives Mrs. Midoriya spent her days showing off to. The slaves in their teens weren't even an option for them and the adults would empty their bank accounts and she wasn't ready to give up on any of the other luxuries she was getting used to having.
Here was a chance to spin the situation in her favor. "I have half a mind to leave now, the last thing we need is to buy a slave that thinks it's part of our family since clearly you lack control of your own stock."
Katsuki cringed as the man stepped on Hiromi's back in anger but was also impressed by the girl's ability to not react to the humiliation. He respected her need to let the horrid treatment stand or else risk making the punishment far worse. Katsuki had only seen a few servants in his short life, but on those occasions, he knew to act out of make a mistake in etiquette was to invite harsh beatings or in his opinion, even worse, harsh ridicule. He did his best to control his breathing and stay calm.
"I can assure you; this never has never happened here." the man explained, rubbing his hands together harshly. "I don't know what has gotten into this one, she is normally well behaved beyond her years, the most promising child we've received in years in fact."
Katsuki's father snorted.
Izuku wasn't a heartless child, he was actually quite kind, but his spoiled tantrums were often the only way he could peel his parents' attention away from his twin. Their looks and mannerisms were the only difference between the boys as their methods for success were often quite different as well. Katsuki was the talented boy who could get his way by being more mature than the adults in the room and manipulating them with his skills. For the quirk-less sibling the best way for him to win over the adults was simply to cry until they couldn't take it anymore and pacified him with whatever he wanted.
And so, the boy threw himself down and screamed. "Why can't I play with her!?" he wailed "you said I could have one and it would do whatever I told it to! I told this one to play with me and now you're saying I can't!" Fake tears came to Izuku's eyes and flooded out onto the carpeted floor. He began pounding his tiny fists on the ground and kicking for effect.
Mrs. Midoriya seeing her chance at lowering costs fly away quickly jumped in to quiet her screaming son. "Hush now Izuku, this servant did wrong by thinking she was allowed to play with boys she doesn't belong with."
Izuku sniffed and hiccupped. "Does that mean she should've disobeyed me and said 'no'?" Izuku never was known for being an intelligent child, just a spoiled one. Nobody in the room suspected the question was more than innocent wondering from a child, but the boy knew he had them stuck with only one answer.
"Of course, she should have done what you asked," Mrs. Midoriya struggled to answer "It's just, well, it's inappropriate..."
"Yay!" exclaimed Izuku, "then we're gonna keep playing then!" He ran over and began pulling the girl out from under the flabbergasted man's foot.
Katsuki didn't like it when Izuku got his way, but he was just happy in the moment that Hiromi was no longer being pinned to the floor because of his own carelessness. He wanted to grab onto her other arm but recognized that unlike Izuku, if he continued to show the girl any attention it would only further anger his mother. He kept quiet and tried to look like he didn't care about the happenings of the adults in the room.
"Why don't we put this nastiness behind us and settle down here to choose the servant best suited for your household?" The man was said trying to get the focus back onto his sale. So few people came in to buy a product from him anymore. Most countries around the world no longer wanted to keep homestead slaves, as the practice was being consider primitive and cruel internationally. In Japan, the owning of a homestead slave was less about practical use and more of status symbol, since a household required quite of bit of money to procure one. Most upper-class families would not be caught without one of their own, but unfortunately for the man, the law forbidding more than one servant meant he had to wait for the ones already purchased to die off or for the family to pay to trade in an older model for a younger more useful one.
In addition to the rarity of new buyers procuring the children and babies to raise up and train was getting more and more difficult as well. All sorts of new restrictions were popping up, such as the newest rule that certain quirks were no longer allowed to present themselves in potential slaves as they could be considered dangerous. As a result, most of the slaves in his market had to be born with no presenting quirks or virtually useless ones, which in turn made them a less valuable product to buyers.
It was obvious to the man that this family had just recently came into their money, the mother's tacky jewelry and last season's fashions told him everything he needed to know about them. The look on their faces as he told them the prices of his best pieces out in the main hall clued him into the fact that most of stock was beyond what they could afford. He wasn't about to let his best pieces sell for less than they were worth, but he had played this game many times and knew how to get one of his older products or returns out of the door before they weren't worth selling anymore.
He allowed young Hiromi to keep the young troublesome boy occupied while he put his own skills to work explaining to the parents why they should give him their money for a servant that would only last a few years at most.
Katsuki watched his brother poke, prod and play with the girl and she stood passively by and smiled her gentle smile at him. Society had taught him that these servants were not people just possessions, just like everyone else he never gave them a second glance or thought. Here was another homestead slave quietly blending into the background as she had been taught, but Katsuki knew now that behind her quiet demeanor there was a girl brimming with life with a smile that he wanted desperately to see again.
'Would she ever smile like that again' he wondered. She got in so much trouble just for interacting with him and his brother, he doubted she was ever allowed to run free like they were doing earlier.
He sat at large wooden table with the adults listening to them talk about ups and downs of each of the people for sale in the market. "Sewing isn't the kind of special skill we were hoping for, we wanted something a bit flashier." his father was saying.
A thought popped into his head, and he blurted in out without thinking "What is her special skill?" he asked, referring to Hiromi.
The rounded man sighed at being interrupted "She is in our song and dance program, she's quite a natural in fact." he answered without turning away from Katsuki's father.
Katsuki liked the idea of seeing Hiromi dance. "How much does she cost?"
A small growl escaped the man. He turned slowly towards the boy "She is too young to be for sale. You see, our slaves go through a very careful training process over many years before they are ready to be sent to their new masters."
Katsuki was becoming more aware that very soon they would be leaving the market and he would never see the pretty girl who played with him again. She would stay here in the mansion getting beaten down and her smile would go away until she looked like one of the dead-eyed women who followed the jiggling man everywhere he went. Fear crept into his tiny heart; his mind raced trying to think of a way to help her escape. Nothing came to him; they were just children after all, and the world belonged to annoying adults and their silly ways. She would be better off with him and his family.
"Couldn't we buy her anyway?"
This time everyone in the room turned to him. Aware that everyone was listening, and one wrong word would have his mother furious at his suggestion, he spoke carefully and deliberately. "I don't want an old slave that can't keep up with me, I have very important training. Wouldn't it be better to get a servant that can grow with us?"
His mother didn't seem fooled by his words. "Don't be taken in by her looks dear, she is untrained and useless. I don't want her getting any strange ideas with my beautiful sons."
Izuku perked up seeing his chance to jump into the conversation. "Couldn't she finish her training while still working for us? I like her!" He paused at his mother's narrowed eyes, he realized that his words were having the opposite effect, so he quickly amended his words "She's the best toy I've ever played with!" Dehumanizing the young girl felt mean to Izuku, but his mother was no longer on guard. Hiromi continued to stand and smile sweetly as if she were completely unaware that her life was being bartered on.
At first the fat man was upset by the boys' continued interruptions to his sales pitch, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that this family just would not take an older servant and by selling Hiromi he could make a better profit. The training and raising costs of a new slave were pretty high, it would be many years before she was talented enough to sell and if he played the game right, he could potentially charge the naive family for training their own slave. He never planned on selling Hiromi from the start. She was devilishly pretty for her age, and he often kept the prettiest girls for his own amusement and play, then sell them once they older and less becoming.
Profit always overweighed his own amusement though, so he chimed in as well. "I suppose we could part with dear Hiromi here for the price of a used servant. Of course, to maximize her usefulness, she would need to come back and train in her downtime, for an added fee I'm sure we could work something out."
"You don't believe we'll pay for an unfinished product do you sir? We were not born yesterday." Katsuki's father said with disgust.
"Well, I often don't allow special exceptions for a such a young servant, after all, you would get many, many, many years of servitude from her. That is quite the value for the price, especially when you factor her in special skill, which is among the most sought-after talents."
The man noticed the parents no longer looked upset at the proposition and more curious. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but a younger slave is priced so highly due to their fresh training, and we could work out a payment plan for hers that may ease your budget a bit."
"Please Mother" Izuku jumped in, dragging Hiromi along with him by the hand. "This one is so much fun!"
The Midoriya's sat in contemplation. Katsuki could barely breathe, he wanted so badly to beg like Izuku, but he knew if he asked childish then his mother would think of the girl as a bad influence on him. Every second that passed in silence weighed heavier on him. He had to add something to tip the scales in his direction. The only thing his parents wanted from him was to be a successful hero, so what could he offer them to make them say yes.
"We only get one chance at picking the right homestead slave, I was hoping that we could get a younger one that could keep up with me and my training. An old one will just get in my way and hold me back; this one would be able to clean after me and aid me, I mean, if the only downside is we have to bring her back here for schooling, that seems like a good deal to me." He tried to best to look uninterested and put his head in hand and yawned.
The fat man knew what the children were up to and decided to try a different tactic. "On second thought, perhaps I am underestimating her value. She is quite the beauty and someday she may become a great product and money maker for me. Yes, I've decided not to sell her early, I'll be losing out on too much here."
"Now, now" the boy's mother said. She could see clearly that despite their increased wealth they were beyond purchasing a top tier slave, but she refused to leave empty handed. Maybe the skinny little girl wasn't worth much in the moment, even she could tell someday the would be a homestead servant worth showing off. "I don't think it would hurt to talk prices as long as she's able to do basic chores for us now, I'm sure she's not completely worthless."
The family spent the next hour working out payments and choosing which days their new slave would be returning for further training. Izuku skipped around merrily, laughed and played. Katsuki sat tall proud of himself for saving the girl. The man made sure he made a larger profit than a girl barely a few years into her training was worth and tacked on many fees to be made over time. Mr. and Mrs. Midoriya prided themselves on tricking the fat man into selling them a young slave that they would years of use out of.
Nobody thought of how little Hiromi felt over being sold as a toy for the young boys and a washing machine for the parents. She was careful not to react to anything as she was taught to do, lest she ruined her chance to go home with the boys she just met.
She liked the blonde-haired boy; he didn't treat her like an object. Even the dark-haired boy was nice, even if he was a bit much at first, he did save her from her master's boys were the same size as she was, so she assumed they were roughly the same in age.
She didn't know how old she was, but she knew she had lived in the mansion for two years now. She was just too young to remember her time before she came to the facility, so all she knew was the life of a homestead slave. Her mornings started before the sun came up; she would join the other servants in cleaning the mansion and landscaping the large yard. After everyone would attend skill training classes. It was determined pretty quickly that she would join the singing and dancing classes, it was the smallest of all the groups, but it was the only time she enjoyed in life. Once skill classes were over everyone would meet back up for etiquette training. This, they were told, was the most important thing they could learn as servants. They were taught to quietly obey, do not stand out, do not talk out of place. Her life was a series of "do nots".
These boys told her to play, told her to laugh, told her to smile and have fun. She wanted to go with them so bad she thought she may cry. She learned to hide her emotions well and put those skills to use. The scary mother kept glancing her way with a sneer of contempt written clear across her face. Hiromi did her best to keep her eyes averted respectfully, she would not ruin her chance to go with the boys.
She dared to glance up and sneak a peek at the blonde boy and felt her cheeks flush right away. He sat with hands folded in front of his mouth, eyes locked firmly on her. His gaze was hard to escape from and it took a lot of effort to pull herself away. She was afraid someone would see him staring so intently in her direction, but only one other being in the room caught the look between them.
Izuku saw the way his brother looked at the girl and was immediately jealous. Katsuki got everything he ever wanted because he was blessed with such a good quirk. Izuku wanted to have something his brother didn't have. He grabbed Hiromi's hand knowing that Katsuki would never be allowed to hold her hand the same way because he was too gifted to play with a slave. To his credit, the short-fused Katsuki didn't react other than to furrow his brows. Izuku pulled the girl all over the room laughing and taunting his brother all the while.
After a while, paperwork was signed, and a check was handed over. The adults all stood up and shook hands. The deal was done. The Midoriya's had bought Hiromi.