New Normal (II)

He needed to get to sleep quickly, today was another long day, his first day of regular instruction under Ms. Ryu, or he should say Izuki's first day. Izuki was the name given to his better half, she didn't look much different, but just looking at her gave him a headache, a side effect of Mr. Koto's quirk. The mental exhaustion of living the day twice was incredibly harsh. Izuku spent the entire day working on the farm with Shiro and Mr. Koto, while Daichi and Ren went into town for a part time job. Izuki, along with the female versions of the other boys spent the day in class with Ms. Ryu.

Ms. Ryu's teaching style was completely different from anything he had previously experienced, having the older kids help him and Aia (who was shocked to find she was smarter than Izuki). The day ended around 5 pm with the boy's reuniting with their Better Halves and making dinner.

Ren was a wizard in the kitchen, cutting with his quirk and using the flat sides of his blades like tiny plates to pick up and move ingredients. Izuku did his best to help, but was most useful moving plates to the table at the end of the process. Mr. Koto was very specific with how much food he gave to each person ensuring their needs from the big day were met.

Izuku ate the chicken stir fry hungrily.

"So how was your first real day Izu?" asked Katsujou, 'no she is Kacchan,' Izuku reminded himself. He was still getting used to his big sister and the dynamics of the foster home.

"Tiring… "Izuku said slowly. He knew that working a farm was hard but he never expected it to be that strenuous. He spent the latter half of the day with his shirt off after being drenched with sweat, the drinks that Mr. Koto provided was enough to keep him going but he still was overwhelmingly sore.

"You still have our lesson after we finish cleaning up, don't forget," Daichi added. His lessons were hard, either making Izuku write and breakdown quirks in a short amount of time or teaching him how to hack. It was time consuming, and mentally draining.

"Hmm, so long as it doesn't keep him up too late. The boy needs sleep to grow," Mr. Koto allowed his wards a degree of freedom so long as it didn't hurt one another.

"Midoriya, do your chores with me today," Wada spoke, sending all the eyes to the typically tired boy.

Izuku hummed a sound of agreement, stuffing his face with yet more rice. He had to eat quickly if he wanted to finish the meal at the same time as the others, his portions were massive in comparison. Where Shiro would eat a single filet of fish, Izuku was expected to eat 3 in addition to his veggies and rice. Where Katsujou, Kacchan, would eat 2 eggs at breakfast, Izuku would be served 5 and an extra piece of toast. If it weren't for the workout he had today, he was sure it was going to make him fat. 'Then again everyone else looks really fit, maybe Mr. Koto knows what he's doing,' Izuku thought before vindictively adding, 'sure shows you doctor.'

"Ahem," Katsujou, Kacchan, coughed. "Daichi, what are you teaching my little brother? I hope it's not anything creepy, 'cause if it is," cracking her knuckles to punctuate her point, before muttering under her breath, "ow, that hurts," and continuing, "there will be hell to pay." Izuku couldn't help but smile at her antics, she put on such a good show of being strong and fierce, but really she was a massive softy who had more than once stolen Izuku to serve as her stuffed animal for the night, which was impressive considering he'd only been at the house for 5 days.

"Kacchan, it's okay, Daichi's just helping me get better at analysis. He's helping me become a hero," Izuku said pleadingly to his older sister.

"Correct, he will make a superb hero. He is lucky to have been brought to me, otherwise he might have ended up another clown," Daichi supported without inflection or noticeable intention.

"Why the fuck do you wanna be a hero, ya little fuck? No one would take someone like us," Ren added an angry frown on his face, eyes twitching like he was ready to be attacked right back.

"Ren, shut the fuck up. Midoriya you don't have to answer," Mr. Koto added, giving Ren a stern look.

"Yeah Ren! Shut up! Just cause you don't want to be a hero doesn't mean Izuku can't try!" Shiro added, heating up the room slightly before having a piece of chicken thrown in his face by a tired Mr. Koto.

"I-I'd like to know too… "the soft voice of Aia filled the room, eyes turning to the little lavender child. "P-please?" She added after a moment.

"I wanted to be a hero just to save people, but now I think I have more reasons…" Izuku didn't know where he was going with this train of thought, so he paused thinking to himself. "Mr. Koto said that if you get caught using your quirk illegally after 14 your life is over, I think I want to help people like that, like us."

"You'll never be a hero though. Heroes don't kill," Ren retorted. His words were ice, freezing Izuku in his seat.

'How could I be so stupid! Of course, I can't! I've killed someone!' Izuku thought, it was the most obvious thing, heroes aren't killers.

"He killed a villain in defense of himself and his mother, and off the top of my head I could list 23 heroes in the top 50 with body counts in excess of 100," Daichi pointedly noted. "Izuku has already started down the path of a good hero, he removed evil from the world, killer or not, he fits my definition of a hero."

"Daichi… "Izuku started, suddenly overcome with a desire to hug his mentor. Tears formed in his eyes; he was going to cry.

"How the hell would you know!?"

"Ren, I've told you before to read the news whenever someone arrives. The media is a cruel and cutthroat source of endless information," Daichi rebutted. Turning to Izuku, "the media reported on the death the day after you arrived, you weren't explicitly mentioned, though your family name was, you may need to change it when it comes time to go to a hero school."

'There's the Daichi I know, always thinking 3 steps ahead without concern for those he steps on. Thank god he's on my side,' Izuku thought sobering up at the reminded that, yes, Daichi was scary.

"Thank you Daichi, well moderated. I take it your regular studies are going well then?" Mr. Koto asked, redirecting the conversation.

"Yes sir, I'll be more than ready to take the exams in August at the current rate."

From there dinner progressed much more normally without any incident aside from the seemingly nightly contest between Ren and Shiro over who could interrupt the most.

Izuku's chores for the night had him cleaning up the kitchen with Wada. Izuku hadn't interacted much with the grey haired, tired eyed mythos fanatic, from what little he had interacted he'd managed to find out that he often forwent sleep in order to read more and shirked responsibilities as frequently as possible.

"I want to see your tattoo," was all the boy said handing Izuku another plate.

"Uhm, why?"

"I think I recognized the design while you were in the field today."

"O-oh! Are you interested in tattoos too? Like Ren?"

"No, it reminded me of an epic poem."

"Epic as in really cool?"

"As in long," Wada was clearly losing his patience. "stand still, I'll just…" Wada reached out and tapped Izuku's shirt, instantly it began to rip itself apart. Izuku panicked, igniting his heart in the flames of his quirk. Dashing back and taking up a stance, Izuku watched Wada with angry eyes. "As I thought! Turn around please!" It seemed to Izuku that the boy didn't even notice the animosity that was being leveled at him. Releasing the quirk, he felt the fires turn back, wrapping themselves around his heart. With a sigh, he turned around.

"Happy now Wada?"

"Yes! It's Aegishjalmur! They symbol of victory and protection! And the markings on your arms are reminiscent of the Mjolnir! The lightening, the crush! So cool!"

"What's going on here boys. Midoriya why is your shirt in shreds?" Mr. Koto materialized and immediately started grilling the boys on whatever happened to cause Izuku's shirt to be destroyed. He also asked why Izuku's quirk was active. Wada being the standup guy he is, owned up to him using his quirk. He was punished with a week of no computer and having to help Izuku and Shiro with field work.

With a fresh shirt, Izuku arrived before Daichi's door, the lesson that followed was one of how to use the media to gleam information about hero activities.

"See how they disappear for a few days before some big event? It's an easy to spot tell. With the preamble over let us begin."

Begin they certainly did, for 3 hours Daichi instructed Izuku how to read the news, instead of just read the news. At first it didn't make sense, it was incredibly subtle, but before Izuku knew it he was picking up hints of what Daichi wanted him to see. All the while Daichi fiddled about online, finding more articles for Izuku to study.

As Izuku left Daichi's room it was already quite late, around 10:30 pm. He was beyond exhausted from the day, and tomorrow would be worse in all likelihood. Healing quirk or not, there was no replacement for sleep. Yawning, Izuku made his way to his room and changed into his sleeping clothes. They were a set of All Might pants that Mr. Koto had begrudgingly gotten him, it was weird being the only person in the house who wanted to be a hero, back at school everyone wanted to be a hero.

Aia was too young to care, and had already resigned herself to never using her quirk, something which saddened Izuku greatly since it was such a cool quirk. It really was! It had so much potential! She could be an amazing hero if she used her quirk to fight.

Wada didn't seem interested in the modern world at all, instead living through mythologies and if tonight's events were any indicator, he'd end up a historian.

Shiro seemed like he would want to be a hero, but his words at dinner struck Izuku, it wasn't his dream. Izuku couldn't really find fault with that, if he didn't want to be a hero that was his choice.

Ren clearly hated heroes and the reason was obvious, they're the reason he's not still riding with the Bosozoku in Tokyo.

Katsujou, Kacchan, was supposedly better at teaching and didn't think she could make it as a hero even though she could overcome any issue she was faced with due to her quirk. Izuku didn't fully understand her, that much was clear. Everyone else was much more set in their personality, so why did Katsujou put up a front of being confident?

Daichi clearly had no interests in being a hero, he was studying to be a lawyer after all. He wanted to end up working in the Hero Commission directing heroes around like pieces on a board. He had made this clear to Izuku that heroes were tools for the Hero Commission, and that if he wanted to be the best hero, he would need to stay in control. The number 1 spot was not something to lust after, it was something to fear. It brought attention, it brought expectations, it made it harder to be an effective hero. That's probably why Daichi liked underground heroes and Endeavor the most, they did whatever was necessary with undying conviction.

Shaking his head, Izuku climbed into bed and got comfortable. It was a big bed compared to the one at the apartment. He strained his ears, hopping to hear if Katsujou was going to swipe him again for the night. He didn't mind per say, but it was always weird for him to wake up in her bed, surrounded by stuffed animals.

Katsujou didn't like sleeping alone, she never did, that's why she filled her room with stuffed animals, she was lonely. For the longest time she had been the only person in Mr. Koto's home who had killed someone. It was a painful mark, it kept others from getting close with her, they didn't want to be with someone who was a killer. Ren made it obvious at dinner that the rest of the kids should think of Izu the same way, except Daichi, but he had already decided to make a project out of her little brother. It might not be a good thing, but it was better than forcing him to be alone too.

Katsujou knew the feelings of loneliness better than most, after killing her father's mistress, she was sent away with the marks and wounds still visible. She didn't know who she hated at the time more, the woman who hurt her, or herself for killing her. For 5 long years Katsujou barely spoke a word, putting up the front she thought was most appropriate, strong, determined, willing and able to do whatever she needed to attain her goals. She was trying to be her dad. She was being an asshole.

So, people pushed her away, just like she wanted. They left her alone. Mr. Koto was a blessing sure, he didn't mind her objections and forced her to participate in family meals, but he couldn't help her in the way she needed to be helped. It took her until she was 13 and had a friend to start opening up again, she began helping the others train, she collected stuffed animals, she was getting better.

Now with Izu here, she felt like she was really healing, she had a little brother, and she could take care of him, she wouldn't let him be stuck like she had been, filled with self-hatred and loathing, putting up a front of indifference to make everyone else go away.

So, when Katsujou woke from her dream, realized she had been crying again, she didn't just wait for it to pass. No, now she had someone she could trust, who knew what it was like to take a life. How terrible and painful the whole process is to experience.

She grabbed her favorite stuffed animal, a big penguin named Pen2, and made her way to Izu's room. Not knocking she opened the door like she had 3 times in the last 5 days, but stopped when she heard her little brother crying. Rushing forward she saw the boy, tears falling down his face, whimpering like a baby. Not saying a word, she put Pen2 down, and climbed onto the bed, pulling him into her arms and running her fingers through his hair. Seemed like she wasn't the only one with nightmares that night. Pulling her little brother closer, she gently kissed his head like her mother once did.

"it's okay Izu, Kacchan's here," she whispered.

She slept in his room that night, holding on to him just as much as he held onto her.