Three weeks had passed, three very long weeks for Katsuki. No word had come from the doctor who took away Hiromi, at least no word he was privy to. His parents had been cold to him. Their tempers were already flared from having to make their own beds and meals; they had gotten quite used to being pampered by the girl they had left to suffer. If Katsuki or Izuku so much as spoke Hiromi's name their parents would fly off the handle in a rage. According to them, she was a slave and not worth being concerned over. Constantly mentioning the girl that they had spent a fortune on only for her to reclaimed because she hid her quirk was not proper behavior for boys of their standing.
Katsuki wanted to think that his parent's tempers stemmed from guilt over abandoning the girl in their charge, but he in his heart he knew it wasn't true. In addition to the disappointment he felt for his parents he had his anger at his brother gnawing at him. Izuku hadn't come out of his room much in the last few weeks which had the adults fussing over him constantly. Katsuki wanted to throttle his twin for his careless attitude because maybe if they both had been miserable at the beach they could've come home sooner. Maybe Hiromi wouldn't have suffered alone. Who was he kidding? He knew deep down that this was all his fault. The doctor was right, if he really cared for her, then he would've been more careful with his feelings. Hiromi was his closest confidant, but society would never allow such a friendship to exist.
He had always thought someday he would save her from her fate. He would be Japan's number one hero and make a ton of money. He would buy Hiromi from his parents and let her have her freedom. Now though, she had a quirk, would he ever even see her again? Katsuki didn't know much about how homestead slaves came to be or what happened to them when they were "retired", but he was a sharp kid and could tell from the way the adults danced around the answer without saying anything concrete that it wasn't good.
He was laying on his bed planning out an assault on the facility where Hiromi went for her lessons when the doorbell rang.
...
Three weeks had passed, the three saddest weeks that young Izuku had ever known. His brother hated him, his parents were aliens to him and the only person who seemed to like him for who he was gone, maybe even dead.
Izuku was coddled by his parents since his earliest memories, although it always seemed out of pity for being quirkless. He could never tell if they were trying to convince him or themselves that it was okay to be without powers. They never spoke of his future like it mattered, just that he would inherit their wealth and therefore it didn't matter what he wanted to do with life. He was an afterthought. His brother was their prize, he was never treated warmly like Izuku, he was a product that would bring them fame and fortune, but his future mattered, he mattered. Izuku wanted so badly to be bragged about, to be invested in, but that was not his position in the family. Until Hiromi.
She was the only member of the household who truly knew him. She knew his dreams and aspirations. Every day she asked about his grades and progress in his classes. She didn't look at him with pity in her eyes and seemed to genuinely believe Izuku could be a hero. He thought they were one in the same, quirkless in a world full of powerful beings, but that didn't seem to be the case at all. He wondered if she knew the whole time, looked down on him like his brother and parents did. No, he didn't actually believe that. She was genuine in her affections. The wide smile and eyes at his stories of his planned future of greatness were real, nobody could fake that level of wonder and joy.
Now she was gone. Nobody was left to care for Izuku, and maybe it was all his fault. No, he thought, it was definitely his fault. He was too greedy, he wanted a caretaker, a friend, a parent and a cheerleader all rolled into one girl. He asked so much of her and then took her for granted. He enjoyed a vacation naively assuming she was getting a break from the family but if he had paid attention to her plight like his brother, he would have noticed something was off.
He sat alone in the backyard when the doorbell went off. He rose slowly to his feet and made his way inside, just in case.
...
Three weeks had passed, the loneliest three weeks Hiromi had known. The first few days at the facility she was taken too were marred with pain. She was in a hospital bed, but not at a hospital. Her arm needed to be rebroken so it could heal correctly. The doctor taking care of her spent very little time with her, he seemed to be a very busy man, always rushing away somewhere. Once a day someone would come, check the machines she was hooked to, gave her food, and helped her to a bathroom and back. Then she was left alone.
Hiromi had never known true boredom, as she spent every minute of her day taking care of the Midoriya's or at her lessons. There never seemed to be enough time in a day to get to all of her responsibilities so boredom wasn't an issue. Her time healing was a different story altogether. She laid still because she was too weak to move, plus it was pretty painful. Her room was small and undecorated, there wasn't even a window to help her tell if it was day or night. There was no noise outside of her machines that beeped around the clock. She began to look forward to the small amount of time she got with the doctor or his helpers, not that they spoke much to her or answered her questions.
She tried to sleep as much as possible to escape her maddening isolation, but dreams were almost nightmares. Katsuki's voice distantly yelling her name. Izuku reaching out for her with tears rimming his eyes. She would wake up screaming their names, but they couldn't answer her back.
After what felt like an eternity, two women arrived in very important looking clothes. They asked Hiromi a seemingly endless string of questions about what she had done to the Doctor's aide the night she was taken to their care facility. Hiromi was so excited to be around people again she answered every question earnestly and without hesitation, unaware that the wrong answers would see her locked up for the rest of her life. The taller woman of the two had extremely long fingers, that reminded Hiromi of Katsuki's alien comics. She kept touching Hiromi's hand after each question with those long fingers and nodding to the other woman.
After an hour or so the taller woman stood up "It seems to me that you're either a very late bloomer or you just haven't had a reason to use your quirk before now, but there doesn't seem to any ill intent on your part."
"Yes ma'am" Hiromi said dutifully, still not quite understanding the situation.
"We'll need to have an evaluator come and see the extent of your quirk to make sure you're not a danger to the public. Then, if all goes well, you'll get your quirk registered and sent home." Hiromi perked up at the mention of going home but kept her silence. The women offered no other information and bid Hiromi a quick farewell before taking their leave.
She was alone again, but at least had hope that it would be over soon, and she could return to Izuku and Katsuki. Unfortunately for her, first she had to wait for another week in silence then spend a day getting poked and prodded by another set of important looking people. She had to try to use her quirk over and over again under a multitude of different conditions. The Doctor was there writing many notes but sharing none of them with the young girl. After a full day of tiring exercises, she was once again sent to her new room.
After a few more days of agonizing silence and isolation the Doctor once again returned to her room and sat down next to the bed looking exhausted. Hiromi politely waited for him to speak first, but the older man just sighed and looked down.
"Hello sir, is there something I can do for you?" she asked.
"You are about the same age as my two daughters. They never ask what they can do for me. It is their right as children, to be selfish, their gift. As adults, we must hold onto our selfishness."
Hiromi was confused how to respond to the unexpected and seemingly random response. "Sir?"
The doctor looked sadly at poor child. "I suppose you do not have that right. You do not have anyone you can be selfish around. You live only to give and never to receive. I had secretly hoped you would pass away that night, to save you from that life. If you want, I can still make that happen, I can make sure you won't feel pain"
"You're wrong" Hiromi said before she could stop herself. The doctor's head snapped up and the realization that she spoke out hit her and she scrambled onto the floor bowing low in a submissive gesture. She dared not utter another word and quietly waited for some sort of punishment.
The doctor chuckled. "Oh? Please sit back down, enlighten me if you would. Are you perhaps a volunteer? Happy to serve the family who left you to bleed out for 3 days? Are you excited for a long life of beatings and endless work"
Hiromi nervously peeked up, but the doctor didn't move to harm her but seemed liked he actually wanted an answer. She considering lying, as the boys always instructed her to, but she safe telling the man her secrets. She sat back on the bed and obliged "Master Katsuki and Master Izuku give me things all of the time. If there's a dessert I want to try, Master Izuku will cry and scream that he doesn't want it until I test it first so that I can have some too. If there's a show on the TV I like to watch, Master Katsuki will pretend that's what he wants to watch so that I can enjoy in while I clean the living area. They share their dreams with me, and their dreams for me even though they don't share those things with anyone else in the world. Oh, and they didn't leave me to bleed, they wouldn't do that. They're both going to be heroes someday."
The doctor sat quietly and considered her words. Eventually the doctor stood up and spoke "Normally, I would think you naive, but I remember how those boys fought to help you. Perhaps they do care for you, but you are all so young, and I have seen how the world treats mere slaves such as yourself. I believe they will outgrow whatever secret friendship you have, because they must, their station demands it."
Hiromi stood as well "That's okay. I know they can't do any of the things they promise, not really, but Master Izuku isn't allowed to train and Master Katsuki isn't allowed to stop. If they are going to help me be happy, I have to help them too, no matter what.
"Okay then little one, I believe that someday you will come to regret this decision, but I hope I am wrong. Since you won't be experiencing any sudden heart complications, then I will give you the green light to return to your owners today." He turned to leave the room, but turned back before closing the door. "For your own sake, never repeat anything you have said to me today. If the world ever finds out those boys have the smallest sympathies for you then you will never see them again. I would hate to see you be made an example of" and with those final dire words he shut the door behind him.
Hiromi spent the rest of her day thinking hard about the man's words. It was the first time an adult ever talked to her like that and she intended heed every word he uttered. She didn't see the doctor again, in fact, it would be many years until she saw him again, but she committed his advice to memory and thought of it often in the years to come.
A few of the people who had run tests on her earlier that week came to retrieve her that night and drove her back to the Midoriya's estate. She found herself both excited but oddly nervous to see the family again, but before she could fully get her feelings together, one of her handlers rang the doorbell.