A Silent Kind of Strength

Chapter 8

The next few months passed Izuku by in a blur of ecstasy and agony. Things at school were worse than ever. With high-school entrance exams coming up quickly the kids were anxious and frustrated. And a small green child apparently made a great punching bag. But when he was free from the grasp of institutionalized torture he had his friends.

His weeks took on a new pattern quickly. Monday-Friday he drug himself from his bed (usually dislodging a book he had been studying when he fell asleep), got ready for school (patching the worst of the holes in his uniform while he scarfed a granola bar and brushed his teeth, multitasking was magic), went to school (got beat up before class, during breaks, and after class), ran home to patch himself up and change (Luckily his mom had started leaving more money so he could do the shopping since she was too busy. It meant he could skimp a bit on food and buy more first aid stuff and she would never notice.), run to his self defense classes (he was getting better at dodging hits to the face so he didn't have to give so many excuses for his bruises and burns as the weeks went on thank god), then jog to Hatsume-san's shop.

From there his evening varied a bit. He and Mei would delve into one project or another, chattering away, Izuku usually with a textbook and notebook open near him so he could at least attempt to multitask. Hitoshi would join at some point, he said he couldn't get away without making sure all of his siblings were in bed for the night. Hatsume-san would order takeout in bulk at about 7ish and they would just shove it into the fridge in the corner of the rest area to munch on throughout the evening.

The woman herself was usually to be found in the office, designing things on a computer, organizing orders for parts or gear, or napping. But was often on the other side of the work area tinkering and secretly laughing at the kid's antics. The older Hatsume quickly updated a small section of the shop to add in a couch and some bean bags when she caught Shinso napping under a work table on the dirty floor. She also fixed up the old shower in the bathroom, and put in some cubbies with some basic changes of clothes that she hoped were about the kids' sizes. She seemed to jump at any chance she could find to make the kids more comfortable. It made Izuku a bit uneasy but he pushed the feelings away and focused on the fact that he was learning needed skills much faster thanks to the redhead.

When there was a pause in his project, whether he had to wait for a machine to process something or his brain needed to rethink something, the emerald eyed imp had taken to pulling Hitoshi into the testing room (it was bomb proof. When Mei showed it to him the first time they had spent the rest of the day trying to destroy it.) to spar. It was the only open space in the whole building (that wasn't designated a chaos free nap zone) and there was no way he was letting the taller teen try to be a hero when he couldn't even block a punch.

And when Shinso hit a growth spurt it helped him learn the new dimensions to his limbs quicker. And no, Izuku wasn't jealous of the 8 inch height difference between them. Thank you very much. (He wasn't jealous of Mei being 2 inches taller either. You can't prove it.)

On Saturdays he and Shinso spent the morning doing a thorough work out while they grilled each other on problem subjects for school. Quizzing each other in-between sit ups and squats. Then at about noon they retreated back to the Hatsumes'. Snagging a bento from a combini on the way. Hatsume-san then tutored Izuku on coding while Mei and Shinso either joined in or did their own things.

Sundays were the biggest change up to his week. After he had timidly asked Kuma-chan if she could give him some pointers on using weapons she had dragged an explanation of his plans for the support course out of him. She had promptly bullied him into taking a private lesson slot with her dad, saying she would keep a tally of money owed and he could pay them back when he was a famous inventor. So now, every Sunday, bright and early, he spends an hour going over the basics of whatever weaponry his terrifying sensei pulls out of his personal supplies. And then an hour with knives since his sensei said it was the easiest weapon to get ahold of in Japan and therefore the one he should know the best. (He loved the challenge of the throwing knives) And then another hour working on any weapon he wanted more of an in depth look at.