Izuku couldn't believe Masao-San would hide that he was trying out for U.A. from him but he'd forgive him since he was away a lot for his work, setting up a place for Masao-San was easy enough as he was already in the finishing steps of obtaining a complex in Yaizu, it would only take a couple of days to fix up and Masao-San could stay at the hotel Yuri-San had "gifted" him until he could move in.
Izuku had to help them get Masao-San set up as no one in the family of four had any idea how to fill out all the papers, he had spent a couple of hours explaining and helping them fill it all out, there were few papers Izuku didn't understand what to put.
He had left the costume pages blank since Izuku didn't want to force his ideas of what the boy's outfit "should" be on him, he did offer Masao-San some tips when the reptilian boy asked, using what he'd learned from Auntie Mitsuchan and Uncle Masachan to advise Masao-San on what to avoid or materials to consider.
But Izuku unfortunately had to leave it at that because he still had things to do tomorrow and couldn't stay up all night helping them, Mezo-Kun was also a victim of Masao-San's decision because Izuku might have ranted to his friend about it, Izuku was more cautious about keeping Mezo-Kun up this time though.
The next morning Izuku got to enjoy some time with Mezo-Kun since they didn't have to rush around as much as they did last week, Izuku and Mezo-San still had to part ways at Sekiya station since the train Mezo-Kun took to Shiritsu was part of a different line.
Things in Hokkaido were looking up as he checked on the progress of his farm and was quite happy to see that the first of three barns were almost finished, one of the people he'd hired to work there had arrived early to help with the construction and with their quirk things were going much faster since their multiple arms could hold the walls and things in place for the construction crews.
If work kept up like this Izuku could get his first sheep as early as before summer and that had him overjoyed, because that was way faster than Izuku thought it'd be, his students had picked up on his elation and he had a hard time not telling them everything, he didn't want to let too much slip about his plans and just told them that some things were going well for him.
Getting to Heiwa Izuku was almost expecting it when he was tackled by a blur of green and gray as soon as he left the train, Kaoru-Kun had recently taken it upon himself to seek out Izuku when he arrived to help him with his quirk, Kaoru-Kun had wanted to get better at navigation since his quirk warped the world so terribly even in his eyes and Kaoru-Kun chose finding which station he arrived at as his first goal.
Izuku laughed as Kaoru-Kun began to climb and crawl all over him like a squirrel, the boy far too lost in his joy at finding him to realize what he was doing, much less care about social norms and despite not wanting to rain on Kaoru-Kun's parade Izuku did have to put a stop to the boy before he accidently shredded his coat, so when Kaoru-Kun came back around to his front Izuku grabbed him under the arms and held him up like one would a cat.
"I made it all the way here on my own today Deku-Sensei!" Kaoru-Kun cheered with his tail swishing underneath him from his glee, Izuku huffed good-naturedly "I can see that Kaoru-Kun, you've gotten better since last week." Izuku replied, bringing Kaoru-Kun into a hug and the boy instantly wrapped his arms around Izuku's neck giggling. "Yep! I only needed mama to show me a couple of times Deku-Sensei before I could find you myself!" Kaoru-Kun proclaimed as he nuzzled Izuku's neck and Izuku had to keep himself from laughing given how Kaoru-Kun's hair tickled him.
One of the first things Izuku had learned in the first two weeks of helping Kaoru-Kun was how quickly the boy got attached to someone and that he utterly adored any physical affection he could get from people, Izuku didn't mind at all even if it meant he almost always carried the boy around either in his arms or on his shoulders, Izuku also enjoyed giving the boy so much attention mainly because he liked the affection he got in return.
"Are you going to be helping me with my work today too Kaoru-Kun?" Izuku asked as he walked out of the station "Yes! You're going to teach here this time, right? That means I can help you hand out papers and carry coats with you?" Kaoru-Kun quickly agreed with stars in his eyes and Izuku grinned back at him "Yeah, and I might even let you help me serve food this time if you can hold the ladle alright." He told the boy, though it was all mundane tasks, Kaoru-Kun was practically bouncing in Izuku's arms.
It was quite adorable and the way most people reacted to Kaoru-Kun helping him made him think everyone else agreed with him in that statement, Izuku made sure to text Kaoru-Kun's mom that her son was with him so she wouldn't worry, it wasn't often but sometimes Kaoru-Kun would forget to tell his mom in his excitement to meet up with him.
He got a text back thanking him for checking in and she gave him permission to take Kaoru-Kun with him today, with this conformation Izuku happily brought Kaoru-Kun with him to work in the district before heading to the bomb shelter by the Ruchishiunai River.
It was in good condition considering it had been built back during the first Quirk war in the 21st century and it had been repurposed twenty years ago by a group of people that would allow anyone that didn't have anywhere else to go, a home amongst them.
Izuku only knew about them because one of the kids living there asked him for help with their baby sister as she was having problems with her quirk which was a relatively easy thing to help her with, given the only thing Izuku had to do for little Aoi was to find something that would take a while for her to chew through, having beaver teeth was quite the hassle when they're made of metal.
The people living there weren't that bad, so Izuku felt comfortable bringing Kaoru-Kun along with him to see them, Kaoru-Kun had managed to make some friends there as well, so Izuku knew he'd have a good time there while he was busy working.
Izuku taught there like he would anywhere else and brought them supplies to make things easier on the older members of the group, occasionally he'd have to help patch someone up when they got injured given most of them wouldn't or couldn't go to a hospital, Izuku thankfully didn't have to do that often as the "working" members of the group rarely required his help as they are admittedly quite skilled in their self-appointed roles.
Arriving at the little camp he let Kaoru-Kun down and the boy ran off to greet some of the people sitting outside the bunker, Izuku just waved as he passed the two men and went on to set up his lessons for the day, he'd mostly work on the kids spelling and general stuff for the adults, no one there had much use for anything like history so he didn't bother teaching those subjects understanding that it wouldn't be helpful to them in their day to day.
Kaoru-Kun came in after a couple minutes and Izuku gave the boy pens, pencils and papers "Could you pass these around Kaoru-Kun?" he requested, and the boy nodded rapidly happily taking as much as he could and struggling not to drop anything as he walked around the bunker handing everyone something to write with and some paper.
Lessons went over well and when everything was done Izuku had the boy collect the papers, Izuku spoke a bit with the adults about when he'd come by next then scooped Kaoru-Kun up and let him crawl up onto his shoulders before leaving the bomb shelter.
Regular work done for the day Izuku brought Kaoru-Kun to the small Quirk center at the edge of the district and they both waved to the horned woman behind the counter, Kaoru-Kun knew the woman's son and his mom had told the horned woman about Izuku when he started helping Kaoru-Kun. This fact was likely why Izuku was allowed into the center when normally he wouldn't, Izuku didn't linger on the thought and just led Kaoru-Kun away to a room made for mental quirks like his.
The inside of the room was decorated like a playroom with toys, playsets, plushies, and the walls were in soft pastel colors to help young kids like Kaoru-Kun feel more at ease while they learned to use their quirks.
Izuku stood still so Kaoru-Kun could climb down but he wasn't as keen this time around and instead clung to Izuku's leg once his feet were on the ground, Kaoru-Kun despite all the work he's put in was still uncomfortable with his quirk, Izuku couldn't blame him since Kaoru-Kun was just as affected by his quirk and it could get scary fast depending on his mental state.
But Kaoru-Kun wasn't this uneasy even when they first started so Izuku was concerned about him, so he gently took Kaoru-Kun's hand and led him over to the little table in the corner and sat down with Kaoru-Kun automatically crawling into his lap "Feeling nervous?" he asked gently taking both of Kaoru-Kun's hands in to his, knowing it helped to calm the boy "S-sorry Deku-Sensei." He muttered ducking his head.
"It's okay Kaoru-Kun, can you tell me why you're feeling so uneasy today?" Izuku softly inquired, Kaoru-Kun's hands tightened cutting parts of Izuku's hands "It's stupid." Kaoru-Kun mumbled causing Izuku to hum back "If it's affecting you like this then it isn't stupid." Izuku told him, Kaoru-Kun's shoulders slumped, and he reluctantly explained: "A girl in my class has been calling me a "b-bee-man" and she said that monsters like me should just stay in the closet where I belong." Struggling to say the word as he wasn't as fluent in English.
Izuku however knew exactly what Kaoru-Kun meant to say, and he couldn't help feeling a resurgence of an emotion he was slowly but surely becoming ever more familiar with as he kept finding his students in situations like this, Izuku forcefully swallowed back his anger knowing it would only upset Kaoru-Kun more and instead he'd did what he was supposed to do as the adult in this situation "I see… And what she has been saying is upsetting you." Izuku said, hardly needing to guess.
"Deku-Sensei, why do evil quirks like mine exist?" Kaoru-Kun asked as he began tearing up, shocking Izuku "Kaoru-Kun your quirk isn't evil!" Izuku quickly told the boy, but it didn't help as the walls began to tremble in Izuku's vision, that along with a slight hum ringing in his ears forewarned Izuku that Kaoru-Kun was close accidentally activating his quirk.
"But my q-quirk is evil! All it does is s-scare people and make them sick! How could my q-quirk be anything but evil!?" Kaoru-Kun shouted back, ripping his hands from Izuku's so he could bury his face in them as his tail wrapped around himself, Kaoru-Kun just curled in on himself clearly truly feeling awful judging from how the colors on the wall were bleeding into each other.
Realizing how bad this could get Izuku's mind raced with something to say that could defuse the situation "Kaoru-Kun do you think snakes are evil?" Izuku asked distracting the boy and the walls' colors stopped bleeding "W-Wha? N-no… ?" Kaoru-Kun whimpered hesitantly peeking up at him "Even if they make venom?" Izuku pressed, seeing that he had the boy's attention "Well, no… " the boy muttered as he uncomfortably squirmed where he sat.
"Do you remember why they're not evil?" Izuku questioned and Kaoru-Kun frowned "B-because they only use their venom when they n-need to?" Kaoru-Kun said uncertainly "That's right, because their venom is just a tool they use to survive." Izuku explained tentatively with Kaoru-Kun looking up at him, gently he ruffled Kaoru-Kun's hair "And your quirk is just like that Kaoru-Kun, it's just a tool meant to protect you." Izuku told him, Kaoru-Kun bit his lip "R-really?" Kaoru-Kun timidly asked.
"Yes Kaoru-Kun. Your quirk is just a safeguard meant to keep you safe, one that can be scary because it's supposed to make the bigger and scarier people leave you alone." Izuku confirmed "And your quirk can do just as much good if you learn to use it and train well, like Midnight or Gang Orca. They don't have mental quirks, but they can immobilize a lot of people in a general area with their quirks just like you can with yours, Kaoru-Kun." He further elaborated, wiping away the tears that had built in Kaoru-Kun's eyes.
Kaoru-Kun sniffed and leaned into Izuku's hand "D-do you really think it's n-not evil?" he questioned making Izuku playfully huff "Even if it makes you want to do very bad things, like purposely hurt others, your quirk will never be evil Kaoru-Kun. It's just another part of you, like your hands. Nothing more, nothing less." Izuku assured, going so far as to put his face in Kaoru-Kun's clawed hands.
Kaoru-Kun got misty eyed then launched himself at Izuku hugging him tightly, Izuku just smiled sadly as he wrapped his arms back around the boy letting him get it all out, it only took a few minutes for Kaoru-Kun to run though all his tears and he pulled away sniffling "Feeling better?" Izuku asked, ruffling his hair, Kaoru-Kun nodded nuzzling Izuku's neck.
"Think you're up to training your quirk? If not, we can just go to the gym, and you can play on the monkey bars. Whatever makes you feel comfortable okay." Izuku inquired softly stroking Kaoru-Kun's back "I… I think I can, Deku-Sensei." Kaoru-Kun answered, Izuku stared at the boy for a good minute before he accepted it "Okay, let's start with turning your quirk on and off Kaoru-Kun." Izuku prompted "Right, 1, 2, 3-" Kaoru-Kun replied, closing his eyes and began counting like Izuku had taught him.
Around fifteen Kaoru-Kun's stripes began glowing slightly and his quirk fully activated and began warping and twisting everything in Izuku's sight except the boy, the other symptoms were quick to follow but Izuku felt like he was getting better at handling them, Izuku hadn't collapsed like the first few times and the ringing wasn't that bad.
So, despite how badly his guts were twisted by Kaoru-Kun's quirk, Izuku made sure to grin at the boy "Perfect Kaoru-Kun." He praised and the smile he got in return made dealing with feeling like his heart was going to explode in his chest was worth it.
Considering how well the kids can use their quirks and how ingrained quirks are in the world of bnha it only makes logical sense that things like Quirk centers exist, after all not every kid in class 1-A is rich like Momo and Iida so they can't have used private resources at home.
Quirk centers would have multiple rooms for different types of quirk with privately owned quirk centers having more expansive opinions due to the money from their customers, and they'd work like any kind of recreational center with walk-ins being accepted most of the time though you could book a specific room at a certain time if you wished to guarantee your ability to use the room you need.