Dad For One

Chapter 18 - Home

Shinsou sighed as he stared at the building in front of him, glancing down at the card one last time to make sure the address was correct. Midoriya's house for troubled children and teens... It was now or never, seeing as his foster parents were out of town for the day and would be home very late. That way they couldn't punish him for being home late after school. So if he was going to check this place out, it had to be today. Hopefully none of the other kids snitched on him...

Alright, here goes nothing. He walked up to the impressive looking front door and rang the bell. Shinsou heard some movement before the door opened, revealing a small woman who resembled Midoriya perfectly. She must be his mother. He vaguely remembered seeing her at the sportsfestival...
"Hello, can I help you?" she asked.

"Oh, uh... I uhm... I got this card and-" Shinsou explained, showing it to her. Inko's eyes widened, interrupting the purple haired male as he stumbled over his words.
"Oh, of course! Please, come in" Inko smiled, opening the door a bit further.
"My name is Midoriya Inko, my husband and I are the main caretakers of this house. What can I help you with?"

"Uhm, I just wanted to have a look around and learn more about, uh, what you do here exactly?" Shinsou said in a questioning tone, not sure if he was intruding or not. He didn't want to interrupt her if she was busy. He was sure there was always something to do in a place like this.
"Of course! Follow me" she smiled, gesturing down the hall as she started walking.

"Our main objective is to shelter vulnerable minors. We specialize in people who have difficult quirks, things that aren't easy to handle or that society doesn't accept, but also minors who have a difficult home situation. We give quirk counseling and help them fit in in a way they can still be themselves, fully independent and without fear"

Shinsou hummed, looking at the countless pictures on the wall as they walked by. There were group pictures, some larger than others. They all had years written underneath it, but that didn't mean they were in chronological order.
"Here we have the cafeteria! Well, it's not really a cafeteria but we call it that anyway" Inko chuckled as they arrived in a large room with a giant table.

"We all eat together here. At least, if everyone's schedules allow it. Some of the people living here are in college or go to uni or even have a job, you see. They aren't exactly minors anymore but we don't have the heart to kick them out... People who moved out of the house also often come over to eat with us, certainly when they've just left"

Shinsou's eyes widened at that. This wasn't the first time he was getting this kind of tour. He's been through several foster families claiming to be family friendly and open and showing him all the rooms and all the things they did. But when push came to shove, they were all the same. All afraid of his quirk, all reacting with violence and punishment and wanting to be in control at all cost. It wasn't only Shinsou though. No, he always shared foster homes with others. Kids from various ages, personalities, quirks...

But it was always all the same. Suffer until you're 18 and you can escape. That or get married before that so another family can take over the responsibility. Yet here...people actually stayed after they were officially an adult..? Not only were they allowed, but they did so willingly too. It was crazy to think about, weird and impossible for Shinsou to even consider. So what was the catch here..?

"Upstairs are the bedrooms, girls on the left and boys on the right. We try to give everyone their own little space, even if it's not all that big..." Inko continued with a small smile.

"Downstairs is the training area, which is accessible to anyone who wants to train their quirk in order to gain more control or to test out new things. Oh, and my husband's office is right there around the corner. People go there if there are problems or if something broke so we can replace it. Counselling sessions mostly happen in the rooms over there and, uh, am I forgetting something..."