Chapter Text
Soft humming made its way through the darkness of Izuku’s mind. The aching pain that he felt throughout his body faded as the tune made itself known. He couldn’t help but think that it sounded familiar—sounded like home. He wracked his brain for where he knew the song from. It wasn’t from the radio. Maybe a lullaby?
Either way, he remembered the words, as strange as it was.
She’s talking to angels,
counting the stars
Making a wish on a passing car
She’s dancing with strangers,
falling apart
Waiting for the Church Grim to pick her up…
Izuku relaxed at the song’s words, letting himself fall back into a deep sleep.
Hitoshi was sitting in the UA infirmary with his dads. It wasn’t necessarily that he wanted to be there—he didn’t. But pops didn’t want to make dad walk home and dad couldn’t leave until Midoriya woke up, so he was stuck here.
Hitoshi glanced at the sleeping UA student and mentally rolled his eyes. It’s always the Golden Boy, isn’t it? He sighed, sending a message to one of his online friends, Zuzu. They’d been friends since Hitoshi was nine and accidentally stumbled upon a chatroom for those with villainous, useless, or no quirks. They’d become fast friends. Zuzu was shy until you made it past his walls, then he was down right chatty. Plus he never cared about Hitoshi’s quirk, even if all Hitoshi said was that he had a type of mind control quirk. Zuzu had a field day with that and all the ways he could be a hero with a quirk like that. He’d never admitted it, but Zuzu was the only reason he’d never given up on heroics.
He looked up, just a bit, when he heard what he assumed was Midoriya’s phone ding. Of course the Golden Boy is getting texts.
Zuzu was a lot like Hitoshi. Well, similar yet so different. While Hitoshi had grown up in the foster system, before he was adopted by his dads just a year ago, Zuzu had a mom that was neglectful at best. Personally, Hitoshi had bets that she was abusive, Zuzu had the habit of downplaying when people hurt him, but he’d never managed to confirm that theory. He wasn’t stupid enough to suggest Zuzu report her though. Because Zuzu was quirkless and everyone knew that quirkless kids barely lasted a week in the foster system.
Though, Hitoshi supposed, that might be less of a problem now. He still remembered getting home after the entrance exam and opening up the chat site to find a message from Zuzu saying, “Toshi! Toshi! Toshi! I just got a fucking quirk! A quirk! Toshi I have a quirk!”
It was strange to find out that Zuzu wasn’t quirkless, but a false negative. He knew Zuzu was having trouble controlling his quirk. “It’d be worse if I didn’t enjoy quirk analysis!” Apparently, the quirk was strong, typical of a false negative quirk, and he couldn’t use it without hurting himself. Even if he seemed to figure it out in a month or two.
Hitoshi had never told his parents about Zuzu. On one hand, Zuzu was his brother in all but blood and he so very much wished his dads could adopt him. On the other hand, he couldn’t just ask them to adopt a random child. Even if Zuzu sometimes called him Toshi-nii as a joke after they figured out Hitoshi was older by two weeks.
Hitoshi began humming. It was a song he only learned through Zuzu. Being Zuzu’s honorary brother, Zuzu invited him to a couple quirkless funerals and memorial services. He’d even been invited to the yearly underground quirkless new years party a couple of times. For protection, everyone in attendance wore masks and used temporary hair dye or other disguises. Quirk supremacists sometimes attended quirkless funerals in order to find new quirkless targets and no one wanted to take a chance if one of them managed to find and sneak into a new years party. As a quirkless person’s honorary family, Hitoshi had been invited to these events. It was an honor Hitoshi had cried at the first time Zuzu asked. The trust Zuzu had in him in order to invite him…
Yeah, Zuzu was his brother. And yeah, he’d lied to his dads once or twice about where he was going in order to go to some of the services after they adopted him. He never saw Zuzu in person at the events, too much risk associated with it, but just knowing that they were both there was always enough.
Hitoshi barely noticed as Midoriya shifted on the bed, too caught up in the song. The song was a big part of quirkless culture. Every quirkless person or honorary family member knew it. They sang it at funerals out of respect and during new years as a way to remember the dead. Zuzu once told him that quirkless parents would sing it to quirkless children as a lullabye as well.
The song became a comfort song to Hitoshi, purely because of its connection to Zuzu.
She’s talking to angels,
Hitoshi looked up. What?
counting stars. Midoriya mumbled from the bed.
Did, did Midoriya know this song? Hitoshi sat up straight, leaning forward as Midoriya mumbled the next line. He ignored how his dads looked at him with concern.
Hitoshi hummed louder, emotions swirling as Midoriya mumbled, she’s dancing with strangers, falling apart.
Hitoshi softly sang the next line with him, “Waiting for the Church Grim to pick her up…”
Midoriya seemed to relax back into the bed, as Hitoshi stopped humming, too shocked. Somehow, Midoriya knew the song of the quirkless. Did he have a family member? Or was he an honorary family member as well? Suddenly, 1-A’s Golden Boy didn’t seem like the arrogant, perfect child Hitoshi had always made him out to be.
He quickly typed out another message to Zuzu, I just found a heroic-quirked kid who knows the song at UA.
“Hitoshi,” his dad said, “what was that song.”
Hitoshi just shook his head. “Nothing… just, not something I would’ve expected Midoriya to know.”
He dodged the rest of his parents’ questions, now impatient for Midoriya to wake up for a completely different reason. He needed to know how Midoriya knew that song.
Midoriya woke up an hour later. Recovery Girl checked over him, telling him to take it easy. Hitoshi couldn’t help but note how Midoriya shrunk back at her glare. How did Midoriya get hurt anyways?
“Problem Child.” Did Midoriya just flinch?
“Yes, Aizawa sensei?”
“What happened?” Hitoshi didn’t like the way Midoriya shrunk in on himself.
“Oh, you know Kacchan, he just… got angry. Again.” Midoriya smiled weakly.
Kacchan? Did he mean Bakugou? Did Bakugou put Midoriya in Recovery Girl’s office? And why did he say angry? Was this not an in-class spar?
“So you two fought again.” His dad looked annoyed, but that didn’t sound like what Midoriya just suggested… “I’ve already given Bakugou three days of detention. Seeing how he started the fight, I suppose I’ll let you off with two.”
“Wait.” Hitoshi found himself interrupting. “Was this a fight or an attack?”
All three of them blinked at him. Midoriya looked shocked that someone was suggesting he may not be at fault for this.
“Because Midoriya just said Bakugou got angry. Like this is normal. Did you fight him or did he attack you?”
“I-I annoyed him. He doesn’t like it when I mumble and I got distracted, so—”
“Wait. You mean to tell me Bakugou attacked you for mumbling?” Hitoshi asked, incredulous.
“Uh, well. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.” And fucking hell, if that didn’t remind him of Zuzu.
“He attacked you for mumbling. That’s what I’m hearing. You mumbled and instead of being a big boy, Bakugou exploded you.”
“I, well,” Midoriya stuttered, not giving him a real answer.
He turned to his dad. “And you’re going to give Midoriya detention for Bakugou attacking him? I thought you said they were rivals?”
His dad’s eyes were narrowed. “From what I’ve heard, they fight all the time in class. Midoriya, did you fight back at all?”
“I dodged…”
Dad shook his head. “Never mind, forget the detention. I need to talk to Bakugou about randomly attacking people.” He sighed. “We called your mother earlier, she can’t get off work, so we’ll be taking you home.”
Midoriya waved his hands around. “I’m fine! I can walk!”
“Prob—”
“You were just passed out.” Hitoshi interrupted. “On what planet would you be allowed to walk home after this?”
Midoriya looked confused, if he was honest. “Umm.”
His dad just sighed. “Come on.”
Midoriya was quiet as they walked to the car. Hitoshi didn’t mind, though he was a bit confused by Midoriya. Why didn’t he stand up for himself? Why was he so nervous? Why did he know that song?
As they pulled out of the UA parking lot, his pops spoke up. “Say, what was that song you guys were singing earlier? I haven’t heard it before.”
Midoriya tilted his head. “What song?”
“Hito started humming and then you started mumbling lyrics. It was a cool song! Hito, sing it for Midoriya!”
Midoriya looked at him. Hitoshi glanced at his parents, he didn’t particularly want to ask in front of them, but… “She’s watching the taxi driver, he pulls away.”
Midoriya stiffened as he looked at Hitoshi. “She’s been locked up inside her apartment a hundred days.”
“She says, ‘Yeah, he’s still coming, just a little bit late,’” Midoriya sang slowly.
“He got stuck at the laundromat washing his cape,” they sang together.
“She’s just watching the clouds roll by and they spell her name like Lois Lane.” Midoriya looked like he’s re-evaluating Hitoshi.
“And she smiles, oh the way she smiles.”
“She’s talking to angels, counting the stars.”
“Making a wish on a passing car.”
“She’s dancing with strangers, falling apart.” How does he know this?
“Waiting for the Church Grim to pick her up.”
“In his arms yeah, in his arms yeah.”
In the front seat, Hitoshi’s dads were silent as they look between the two of them. His pops looked thrilled at the idea of them being friends, or something, because of this, while his dad just looked confused.
“How do you know that song?” Midoriya asked, strangely serious.
“I’m more curious how you know it. I think out of the two of us, I’m far more likely to have ended up hearing it.” His pops’s smile shifted into a frown.
“Bullshit.” And holy hell did Midoriya just curse? “The only way for you to know that is if you’re an honorary…”
Hitoshi paused. “That makes it sound like you’re not.”
Midoriya was staring at him now, gaze calculating. His lack of answer was off-putting though. The only way for him to not be an honorary would be if…
“...mind control type,” he heard Midoriya mutter as his eyes widen in surprise and his hands flew up to his face, “Toshi?”
Hitoshi froze for a second. The only person who calls him that is… “Zuzu?!”
Midoriya, no, Zuzu looked like he’s about to cry as he nods. Hitoshi could feel his own eyes begin to burn. “Fucking hell.”
“Oh my god.” Hitoshi whispered.
Then louder. “Oh my god, Zuzu! You got a quirk that breaks your bones?! Why didn’t you tell me that it breaks your bones?!”
Zuzu put his hands up in surrender. “You would've freaked out!”
“No shit! It breaks your bones!”
“Oh my god,” Hitoshi said to himself as Zuzu stuttered, “Dad’s been complaining about your lack of quirk control this entire time. He doesn’t know. Do any of your teachers know?!”
Zuzu winced. “Uh, well, Nezu does! And he sent All Might to help me! He’s not a great teacher, but… uh. And it should be in my files! I think.”
“I can’t even blame you for this.” Hitoshi said in disbelief. “I can’t even blame you for not telling dad or another teacher because I know about your past teachers.”
“Uh—” Pops tried to interrupt.
“Fucking shit.” Hitoshi said. “If you downplayed how badly your quirk hurts you, because, oh, it’s not that bad, when that bad is breaking your bones than how fucking bad is Inko?!”
Hitoshi barely noticed as his dads froze up in the front seat.
“I— not that bad.”
Hitoshi grabbed Zuzu by the shoulders and forced him to look Hitoshi in the eyes. “Izuku. You tell me right now, does she hit you?”
“Um…”
“Izuku.” He said sternly.
“Only on particularly bad days! I only see her a couple times a month!”
“And how many of those couple times a month are bad days?”
“Uh, well…”
“Fuck, Zuzu.” Hitoshi unbuckled his seat belt and slid into the middle seat, fixing the middle seat belt before pulling Zuzu into a hug, tilting his head to rest on the top of Zuzu’s.
Zuzu just grabbed onto him, melting into the hug. And fuck if Hitoshi didn’t hate this. He just found his brother, his brother whose quirk breaks his bones and has been abused by his mother. And fuck, Hitoshi's heart hurts because this is his brother. He’s found his brother.
“Dad, Pops.” Hitoshi began. He never thought he’d tell them this, never thought he’d ever get the chance or courage, but this is Zuzu, his brother, and he wants to bring his brother home. He peeks at the front seat. Pops was glancing in the rearview mirror while trying to pay attention to the road, but Dad had turned in his seat, watching them with concern.
“This is Zuzu,” he tightened his grip, “my brother.”
His dads’ jaws dropped and he felt Zuzu’s breath stutter. “I stumbled across a forum when I was nine. It was for people with villainous, useless, or no quirks. That’s where I became friends with Zuzu. At the time, Zuzu was quirkless.” His brother hid his face in his neck, grip tightening, and oh how much he hates that he’s scared.
Dad’s eyes widened. “When we were eleven Zuzu started inviting me to quirkless events. Funerals, memorial services, the underground quirkless new years, stuff like that. Everyone wears disguises for protection, so we’ve never actually met each other in person before, but it was enough to know that we were both there. Inviting me… it made me an honorary family member. The song I hum when I’m stressed or sad or what not, it’s a song sung at quirkless gatherings.”
Zuzu started to tremble slightly. “The day of the entrance exam, when I got home, I got a message from him saying that he’d finally gotten his quirk.” His dad inhaled sharply at the revelation and he knows his pops isn’t doing much better.
“He’s a false negative. And an idiot who told me that his quirk wasn’t hurting him ‘that badly.’” Hitoshi sent his brother a side glare. “But he’s my brother. Whose mother is also neglectful. And abusive.”
His dad sighed. “Okay, that’s a lot to unpack, but I’m glad you told us. Mido—Izuku, we’ll stop by your apartment to grab the essentials and then you’ll come home with us. I’ll call Tsukauchi to start an investigation into Inko.”
“...thank you.” Izuku whispered into his neck. Hitoshi just began to hum their song and pulled him closer. He’d keep his brother safe.