10 Chapter 10: It Hides The Tears

The next day Kota felt a lot better. All that top of the line medicine, soup, and lots of bed rest had done their job properly, and while Kota wasn't fully healthy again, he did feel well enough to move.

Izuku still made him stay in bed for the most part, and unfortunately, there wasn't a lot for him to do while bedridden.

And so that's what led to where he is right now, watching Izuku and Eri do Eri's quirk training.

"Just remember that video of that river I showed you," Izuku told her. "Just imagine a slow stream."

Kota watched in silence, confused as to why Izuku was handing her an apple core.

Eri clutched the apple core tightly and took a deep breath.

Her horn grew, and energy started cascading over her.

The apple core slowly started regrowing the eaten parts of the apple it once was.

"Ahhh. Mmmm Rrr." Eri tried as hard as she could to tame her quirk, trying to keep it from running rampant and going out of control. She imagined that river Izuku showed her on the computer, she tried to slow the stream.

Kota watched in awe as the apple slowly but surely, put the apple back together.

Once the apple was mostly restored however, Eri's grip on her quirk started to slip.

Once Izuku noticed her horn growing, even more, he saw the apple coming back faster.

He took a metal ruler and slapped the apple out of her hand.

"ahhh! I can't. Control it!" Eri said as she started to completely lose control.

Kota's eyes widened as Eri's energy started growing and getting more wild and erratic. He inched back on the bed, sliding further away from her.

"Eri you can stop now! Imagine a damn! Imagine the river stopping!" Izuku told her.

Eri tried her best, her horn started shrinking a little, but almost immediately it started growing again.

It kept shrinking and growing for a while, but it was clear that Eri was fighting a losing battle.

With an upset look on his face, Izuku grabbed the tranq gun that was in his pocket, took it out, and aimed it at Eri.

Wait is he going to shoot her!? Kota thought in alarmed confusion.

And indeed he did, Izuku shot Eri's arm with the gun, and the dart embedded itself into her arm.

A few seconds later Eri's eyes started to droop, her horn stopped emitting energy and began sinking back into her, and in another few seconds, Eri's quirk completely deactivated and she started falling over.

Izuku caught her just before she fell, and lifted her into his arms.

"You shot her," Kota stated. He was dumbfounded, clueless as to what just happened or why.

"It's a dart gun," Izuku explained, pulling the dart out of Eri's arm and showing it to Kota. "It's not meant to hurt someone like a real gun, it shoots out these needle things called darts, they're filled with something that makes you go to sleep for a while. Don't worry she'll be fine when she wakes up."

"Oh." Things made slightly more sense knowing Izuku hadn't shot her with a real gun, but Kota was still really confused about the rest of the situation. "Why did you shoot her?"

"Well, Eri's quirk is…" Izuku stopped talking as he put Eri onto a futon he had set up beforehand.

After he finished putting Eri to sleep on the futon, he got up, moved his chair over to the bed, sat down, and faced Kota.

"What do you think of quirk bias Kota?" Izuku asked him.

"I don't know what that is," Kota answered simply.

"Oh, right sorry." Izuku blushed with embarrassment. "Quirk bias is when someone judges someone else because of their quirks. Some people think people are bad if they have scary quirks or they think someone is better than others because they have a strong quirk."

"Oh, that." Kota's tone was bitter and his eyes gave away his disdain for the concept. "It's stupid. Quirks are all stupid but quirk bais or whatever is even dumber."

Izuku sighed with relief. He had gotten the answer he hoped for. Now he could tell him.

"Ok, Eri's quirk is...it's complicated. As long as it's a living thing like a human, plant, or animal, she can return it back to how it used to be." Izuku tried to explain it in the simplest way possible. "Like if someone bit an apple she can make the apple whole again or if someone is hurt she can make them healthy again. Eri has a hard time holding back her quirk. And if she touches someone while her quirk is at full power...they go back to before they existed."

"What does that mean?" Kota didn't quite understand what he meant.

"They die, Kota," Izuku explained simply. "If a person touches her while her quirk's at full power, they die."

Kota's eyes became the size of dinner plates. "Wait, die? Like they're dead?"

"Yes Kota, they die," Izuku told him. He didn't like telling people about Eri's quirk, but if Kota was going to be with them for a while he deserved and needed to know about the danger of Eri's quirk.

"That's...really dangerous!" Kota freaked out slightly at the thought that he could have died if he'd been just a few feet closer to Eri.

"Yes, it is." Izuku nodded. "So we have to be very careful when we're doing her quirk training."

"Why are you training her quirk? Shouldn't she not use her quirk at all? Unless…" Kota made a bitter face as a thought crossed his mind. "Does she wanna be a hero too?"

"Eri? No. I don't think so anyway. I think she wants to be a doctor or nurse or something." Izuku told him. "But sometimes Eri's quirk turns on by itself. If she gets really stressed or panics too much it'll turn on and she can't control it. So we do the quirk training so she can control it one day, and no one will have to be afraid of her quirk anymore."

That...made sense to Kota...kind of. He still thought it would be better if she just never used her quirk. A quirk that dangerous was scary.

And then another thought came to his mind.

Izuku apparently adopted all these kids. That would include Eri. So apparently Izuku had signed himself up for taking care of a girl that could kill him with a touch.

And so naturally the question that came to his mind was.

"Why?" Kota asked him.

"Why?" Izuku repeated.

"Why did you adopt Eri?" Kota asked. "And what happened to her real parents."

Izuku sighed. "Eri...Eri's story is a very sad one. And once you're not ready to hear. But it goes like this. When Eri's quirk manifested, her parents were scared of it. So they gave her away to a bad man, who hurt her a lot. She ran away from him and that's when I found her. I hid her, and I called the heroes, and they arrested the bad man. But Eri's parents still didn't want her. And even if they did they couldn't just take her back after abandoning her. And Eri's quirk was scary, very scary, so a lot of people didn't want to adopt her. But I did."

"Why?" Kota asked. It's not like he hated Eri, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't afraid of her quirk. Did the others know? Why weren't they afraid?

"She had nowhere to go, because of her quirk, something she couldn't control, her life was almost ruined. Nobody wanted to be near her and it wasn't because of anything she did." Izuku explained. "And I know how painful that is. They all do."

"They all do? Does everyone here have dangerous quirks?" Kota asked

"All the kids do," Izuku told him. "I don't. I don't have a quirk at all." Izuku said.

Kota's eyes were starting to hurt from the constant widening. This was a lot for him to process. Since when could people not have quirks?

"The world has a very limited view of what quirks are ok, and what quirks are not," Izuku explained. "And if you fall into the second category, then the world will hurt and shun you."

Kota thought about that. He knew the world was cruel. It had taken his parents from him after all. But his parents made the choice to leave him behind, these people didn't have any choice.

That just made the world seem a little bit darker.

"What do you think of heroes Kota?" Izuku asked him.

Kota's face almost instantly tightened into a scowl. "I think they're stupid! Heroes and villains all show off their flashy quirks and kill each other for no reason!"

Izuku frowned. I guess from his point of view. With such a limited view of the world, it does seem like all that violence is happening for no reason. Maybe if I can explain it just right.

After a bit of thought, Izuku spoke. "Kota, why do you think villains exist?"

"To fight heroes," Kota answered.

Izuku shook his head. "That's not why. Villains exist because there are bad people. Bad people who want to hurt others."

"Why?" Kota asked.

"Well sometimes they want to steal things from them for money, or sometimes they just want to hurt people because they like hurting people." It wasn't a completely accurate explanation, but he would learn the nuisance as he got older. "Heroes exist to protect people from those villains. Without heroes, those people would be free to hurt people all they want. They'd kill a lot more people. And no one could stop them."

"Why don't people just use their quirks to stop them?!" Kota asked.

Izuku shook his head again. "If people could only use their quirks to defend themselves, then that would make quirks even more important. The world would completely revolve around quirks, and people with weak quirks or quirkless people would suffer even more."

Kota frowned as he imagined the world Izuku was describing. The world was already obsessed with quirks. All he heard was quirk this, quirk that. If the world became even more obsessed with quirks…

"Do see why heroes are necessary now?" Izuku asked Kota.

Kota didn't answer. He couldn't find an argument to counter what Izuku said. It all made sense, at least more than before.

But he just couldn't let go of his outlook. He wasn't ready to.

Izuku took a deep breath, he was about to approach a sensitive topic, and one he himself probably shouldn't get involved in. But now seemed like a better time than ever.

"Kota, your parents didn't die for no reason. And they didn't abandon you." Izuku told him. "They died so a dozen other little boys and girls didn't lose their parents."

Kota remained silent, looking away from Izuku.

The two sat in silence for a while, until-

CRASH!

The sound of something breaking the living room reached their ears.

Izuku facepalmed. "Oh please don't be Kiba again. Kota, just...rest. And t-try to think about what I told you. Please."

With that Izuku ran to the living room, leaving Kota to his thoughts.

Later that night.

"Hey." Kota was woken from his sleep by someone's voice.

"Mmmm." Kota groaned. He didn't want to wake up. Turning out thinking was tiring if you did it a lot.

"Wake up." The voice whispered.

Kota felt whoever it was calling him shake him a little.

"Go away," Kota told them.

"Grrr! Wake up or I'll make you think you're a plant." The voice whispered angrily.

Kota thought about that for a moment. It sounded ridiculous, but if all the other kids here had powerful quirks like Izuku said they did, then they probably could do something like that.

Deciding he'd rather not be a plant, Kota opened his eyes.

Turns out the one waking him up was Kioku. And she did not look pleased. Although to be fair Kota only ever saw her frowning so apparently she just really didn't like him.

"Come with me." Kioku told him.

Kota didn't really want to follow her. He was tired and wanted to go back to bed. Plus this girl was mean and he didn't feel like going anywhere with her.

But on the other hand, she could make him think he's a plant.

Kota decided to get up and follow her, leaving the room and entering the living room.

Sansan and Fu were watching T.V. Sansan was copying the heroes on T.V. while Fu was writing things down in a notebook.

Fu looked at them for a moment with his constantly neutral expression. "Why are you two up?"

"Why are you up?" Kota asked in return. The Pussy Cats, Izuku, and back when they were alive, his parents had all stressed how important it was that he sleep at night. And it seemed like Izuku had a similar mentality towards all the other children so why were these two up?

"Our bodies are weird so we don't need sleep," Fu explained. "We can sleep but Izuku doesn't force us to. But you guys definitely do need sleep. So why are you up?"

"We're just gonna talk for a few minutes, and then we'll go back to bed. I promise." Kioku told Fu.

Fu squinted at Kioku trying to decide whether or not he believed them. Izuku typically trusted him as the reasonable one to keep everyone else in line. But still, if it was just a little bit.

"Don't take too long, or I'll tell Izuku." With that warning given, Fu turned back to the T.V. and to his notes.

With that Kioku led Kota into the kitchen, where she finally stopped.

She turned to him and gave him a very serious look, that most adults would have found more cute than anything else.

"I don't like you." Kioku told him.

"I know." Kota crossed his arms, trying to look tough.

"You're rude to daddy even after he saved you! You would have died if he didn't do that you know." Kioku pointed out.

Kota's expression actually turned a bit sheepish. He knew he had been in bad shape, but he didn't know his life was in danger. He already felt kind of bad after seeing how nice Izuku was, but now he felt really bad about how mean he was.

"And he gave you food, let you sleep in the bed, and treated you nicely!" Kioku told him

"Ok, I get it!" Kota lashed out.

"But." Kioku said, her tone suddenly changing to a slightly more patient one. "I looked through your memories, and...I'm sorry I was mean to you too."

"Read my memories?" Kota asked, ignoring the apology in favor of the more interesting and possibly frightening part of that sentence.

"Yes, my quirk let me see and change memories." Kioku explained. "So I know about your parents."

"Yeah. S-so what?" Kota put back on his tough-guy persona, the mention of his parents snapping him out of his guilt trip.

"So I'm sorry. It must have hurt losing them. If I lost Izuku…" Kioku didn't finish that sentence. She wiped away a few tears forming in her eyes at the thought of losing Izuku after finding him. "But I can help you."

"Help me?" Kota repeated, not sure where she was going with this. "I don't need help!"

"Yes, you do!" Kioku shouted. "You're so mean because you're angry, so maybe if you're not angry, you'll be nice!"

"And how are you gonna do that?" Kota pouted.

"Well, you're angry because your parents died. So you'll stop being angry if you can't remember your parents." Kioku explained.

Kota's expression fell, as she slowly realized what Kioku was suggesting.

"I'll erase all the memories of your parents, then you can live here and Izuku can be your parent." Kioku laid out her plan, of course not seeing the several issues with it.

But to Kota, the plan sounded solid. All the pain and sadness he felt, the betrayal, the confusing complicated thoughts. All of it would be gone. And things could kind of go back to how they used to be. Izuku was a nice person and he clearly cared for these kids as his parents cared for him. It could work. If not for one problem.

He really, really hated that idea.

The thought of all the memories of his parents, disappearing. His parents just completely disappearing from his mind. He hated it.

"No," Kota said in a low voice.

"W-what?" Kioku was taken aback. She clearly was not expecting that answer.

"I said no," Kota said, louder. "I don't want to forget my parents."

"Why?!" Kioku asked him mad that her perfect plan hit a snag. "You kept saying that they abandoned you, that they left you, and that you hated them!"

That was another thing about Kota that made her angry. She had to look and work to find a family that loved her, and he was just born with one. He was born with a family that loved him and after they were gone he became ungrateful of what he had.

Sure Izuku told her he was angry and confused about his parents dying, but even if Izuku died while she would be extremely angry and sad, she would never say anything bad about him.

"Y-yeah well I-I-" Kota felt what he wanted to say, it was stuck in his throat, but he just couldn't say it.

"What! Why don't you want to forget people you hate so much!? Kioku asked.

"Because...because I don't hate them!" Kota shouted, tears sliding down his face. "I don't hate them! I was wrong! I miss them! I don't want to forget! I want them back!"

Kota started crying.

All his pent up sadness which he'd been coving with anger, was now rushing out like water coming from a broken damn.

"I-I want them back!" Kota cried.

Kioku looked at Kota crying his eyes out, and her anger was replaced by sympathy, regret, and discomfort.

Before either of them could do anything however, Kota suddenly felt a hand patting his head.

The two children looked up and saw Izuku standing behind the two of them.

"Daddy!" Kioku panicked, her and a crying Kota did not look good for her. "I-I can explain!"

"It's ok," Izuku said in the most soothing voice he could. "I heard most of it. You two were very loud. You woke up basically everyone...except Kiba."

"O-oh." Kioku blushed with embarrassment. She thought she was being sneaky, but her emotional side got the best of her.

"I'm not mad, but we will be talking about this tomorrow, ok," Izuku said. "For now Kioku, please go to bed, I'll deal with Kota."

"O-Ok." Kioku said quietly, before making her way out of the kitchen.

With that Izuku put all his attention towards Kota. "It's ok, let it all out. It's always safe to cry here."

That was all Kota needed to hear. He cried and cried and cried while Izuku kneeled down and patted him on the back to try and comfort him.

After a few minutes had passed, Kota's crying began to slow.

"I...I miss them." Kota admitted.

"I know," Izuku told him.

"I said all those bad things about them...I didn't…"

"I know," Izuku said. "We all say stupid things when we're angry. It's ok. No one is mad at you."

The crying and comforting continued for quite some time, until Kota was quite frankly too physically and emotionally exhausted to keep going on.

Once Kota tuckered himself out, Izuku took him and laid him in bed.

The next morning.

When Kota woke up, he was immediately met with warmth.

Something or someone was next to him.

He opened his eyes and was immediately met by the visor of Kei.

"You're awake!" Kei exclaimed excitedly.

"Uh?" Kota was confused by her sudden closeness.

"We were worried about you! You cried a whole lot and we were worried, and so we watched you to make sure you were ok!" Kei explained almost too quickly for Kota to understand her.

"W-we?" Kota asked.

Kei nodded and moved out of the way, revealing that Izuku was sleeping in his chair behind her, with Eri and Kioku on his lap.

"And Sansan's on the ceiling." Kei pointed up.

Sansan came down and formed her face right in front of Kota's face.

"I!" Sansan greeted him.

Kota sat still, stunned for a moment. He was kind of a mess emotionally, and so he couldn't help but feel thankful for these people, who he had only met a few days ago, were so concerned for his safety.

"T-thanks," Kota said, blushing in embarrassment for crying in front of a bunch of people.

"Your welcome!" Kei said, smiling brightly.

All the noise in front of him quickly roused Izuku from his slumber.

"Huh? Oh! Kota, you're awake!" Izuku quickly jolted awake, waking up to two sleeping children on his knees.

"Daddy?" Kioku slowly opened her eyes.

"Izuku?" Eri did the same.

"Oh, it looks like everyone's awake now," Izuku said. "Could you guys please check on Kiba and Fu, make sure Kiba didn't break anything in her sleep again or that Fu didn't get blood anywhere besides the sheets? Oh and then after that could you set the table so I can cook breakfast? I'm thinking American style pancakes!"

The children nodded, and some quirkier than others moved out of the room to do their assigned task. Leaving Izuku alone with Kota.

"Are you ok?" Izuku asked him Gentilly. "Sorry if they overwhelmed you, they were really worried about it. Kei especially."

"It's fine. I'm ok." Kota muttered quietly.

There was a moment of silence between them, as Izuku didn't quite know what to say next with how Kota was right now.

"Thank you." Kota unexpectedly apologized.

"For what?" Izuku looked at him in confusion.

"For...all the stuff you did. And said." Kota explained to him. "And for letting me cry like that."

"Oh, it's fine." Izuku smiled at him. "My job is to help kids in need. And, you need help, so I helped you."

Kota just nodded.

RING RING! RING RING!

Izuku looked at his desk, and his phone was vibrating along its surface.

He moved out of his chair and picked it up.

"Hello?" Izuku answered.

Kota watched as Izuku talked with an unknown person on the phone for a while.

"Oh! Ok...In a few hours? Alright. I'll make some breakfast for him then. Uh...do you want any?... Oh, that's ok! He'll be ready by the time you get here...ok. No, it was no issue, he's a very nice boy, he was just a bit confused...some things happened, everything is ok...alright. Bye." Izuku hung up the phone.

He turned to Kota. "That was Mandalay, she and the pussy cats are coming in a few hours to pick you up."

Kota's mood immediately worsened. "Oh."

Izuku walked up to him and rustled his hair and gave him an encouraging smile. "You're always welcome here. If you want to see us just ask the Pussy Cats."

Kota nodded, seemingly slightly less upset than before.

"Ok, why don't you sit down with the other kids and I'll make breakfast?" Izuku asked.

The boy nodded immediately, if the rest of his cooking was as good as the soup he made, then he would be in for a treat.

A few hours later.

Izuku, Kota, and the kids stood outside of the apartment building, while the Pussy Cat's van(Which they refused to call the Pussy Mobile.) rolled up in front of them.

And then the pussy cats came out.

"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!"

"We've come to lend a paw and help!"

"Coming out of nowhere."

"Stingingly cute and catlike!"

"Wild, Wild Pussy Cats!"

All the Pussy Cats shouted their signature motto while doing their signature poses, despite being in their civilian clothes.

And the reactions...varied.

Izuku, Kiba, and Sansan all had stars in their eyes.

"Oh wow! The Wild Wild Pussy Cats signature motto! Right in front of me!" Izuku geeked out.

"That motto! Those poses! I must come up with some of my own!" Kiba said.

"Gooo!" Sansan was always a fan of flashing and energetic movements, so this was right up her alley.

Kioku and Fu were overall less amused.

Great, I know what Kiba's going to make me practice for the next week. He groaned internally.

These are pro heroes? Kioku expected them to be a bit more serious.

Eri didn't know what to think about that, she was just confused.

Kota was in the same camp Fu and Kioku were in, that despite having several changes in opinion and changes in the way he looked at the world, that still seemed just as lame as ever.

However before he could show his embarrassment, Mandalay broke formation and wrapped him up in a hug.

"Kota I can't believe you did that! We were so worried about you!" The heroine embraced the child, nearly smothering him.

"I know, I know I'm sorry!" Kota apologized while trying his best to push her away from him.

This surprised Mandalay slightly. Ever since Kota had come to them had been stubborn and difficult. This was the first time she had ever heard him apologize for anything.

After thoroughly checking to make sure Kota was completely unharmed, Mandalay moved on, allowing the other Pussy Cats to fuss over the boy, much to his chagrin.

Mandalay walked up to Izuku and gave a grateful bow. "Thank you for finding and taking care of him. If he had died before we found him I would have never been able to forgive myself."

"No-no it's fine! I just did the right thing! He was very well behaved!" Izuku said, trying to keep his composure and failing.

"Really?" Asked Mandalay, not buying that Kota had been well behaved for a bunch of strangers he'd just met.

"W-well...he was a little…" Izuku tried to find a way to phrase it.

"Mean?" Kioku said.

"Stubborn?" Fu added.

"Difficult." Izuku finished. "But that was just because of...well you know. He's had a rough time but he's a good kid. I hope you don't punish him too harshly."

"Well I think almost dying in the rain is enough punishment for the moment." Mandalay decided.

Kota breathed a sigh of relief.

"But don't think you're not going to get a very stern talking to when we get home!" Mandalay shouted out loud.

Kota made a loud groan.

Mandalay turned her attention back to Izuku. "By the way, I never asked for your names."

"Oh right!" Izuku blushed at forgetting something so simple. "My name is Izuku Midoriya."

"Kiba Midoriya!" Kiba said proudly.

"Fu Midoriya," Fu said in his typical monotone.

"Sansan Midoreya!" Sansan said while she constantly moved around and looked at the Pussy Cats.

"Kei Midoriya! Nice to meet nya!" Kei snickered at her own pun.

"Kioku Midoriya." Kioku said from behind Izuku's leg.

"Eri Midoriya." Eri introduced herself. "H-hi."

"Aww well aren't these just the cutest little kittens!" Pixiebob said.

"Are these all your younger siblings?" Mandalay asked Izuku.

Izuku laughed nervously. "Well, you see-"

"He's our dad!" Kei explained.

"Huh?" All the Pussy Cat's went wide-eyed and looked at Izuku in confusion. Hoping for an explanation to that very strange claim.

"It's...a very bizarre, complicated and long story that I will probably have to keep explaining to people for the rest of my life." Izuku sighed. He was going to need to find a better way to explain all this. "But let's just say I adopted them all due to some rather strange circumstances."

"Ah! I get it!" Ragdoll said.

"I still have a lot of questions but I'll hold my tongue for now." Pixie Bob said.

"Mandalay, we have to go, we still have to report for work within the hour." Tiger reminded them.

"Right." Mandalay frowned. Unfortunately due to their job they didn't always have time to watch Kota, which is how he managed to run away in the first place.

She looked at Izuku, and then suddenly she got an Idea.

"Midoriya, I know you've already done so much for us already, but can I ask you something?" Mandalay asked him.

"O-Of course! I'd be honored!" Izuku jittered.

"We're rather busy sometimes, and we don't always have time to look after Kota. Would you mind babysitting him from time to time?" Mandalay pleaded. "You seem to be a good influence, and he could use some friends."

Izuku smiled. "Y-Yes! I'd be more than happy to! He's more than welcome here. A-although we are moving soon but it's not too far away from the city. Actually, I think it might be closer to you than here."

"Thank you. I am really grateful." Mandalay said sincerely. "Kota! It looks like you'll be staying here for a little bit longer."

"Yay, we get to see Kota more!" Kei cheered, Sansan joining in her celebration.

"Well, it seems we shall be friends from this point on! Consider it an honor!" Kiba told Kota.

"Welcome to the damaged children club," Fu told him.

"Is he going to be our friend?" Eri asked, receiving a nod from izuku. "O-Oh. Ok."

All the kids looked at Kioku, the one who had the biggest problem with outsiders.

"Hmph. It's fine as long as he stops being mean." Kioku turned her head away.

"I promise, and thanks." Kota also looked away trying to keep people from seeing his blush.

Izuku smiled genuinely at the scene in front of him. It seems all well that ends well.

And he didn't even have to adopt this one.