Don't blame it on the kids

Part 1

The door slammed shut and I was trapped in darkness again. I gave myself a moment to calm my breathing and adjust my eyes to the dark. I could make out the shadowy outlines of the attic. The children crawled out of the corner, helping me up and to one of the discarded mattresses that I had the pleasure of calling my bed. "Are you ok Denki?" asked Kogi the oldest of the little kids. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit sore." His eyes widened. He knew that when I said I was a bit sore it was bad. "Mido, go get the first aid." He said. The boy with silvery blue hair scurried over to the other side of the room, bringing back a small tub of medical supplies.

"You can't do this in the dark." Said Ash, getting a candle. She positioned it so that Kogi should see the wound but she wouldn't get in his way. I lay there in the dark room while the kids around me bandaged the wound on my leg and gave me some painkillers for the rest. It had gotten one of the worst scores in the class on a test and Mr. Alan (A/N Sorry I am terrible at names you can rename him if you want.) wasn't happy about it. He beat me until I couldn't walk. I try and make sure the kid's don't get hurt though. I would do anything to protect those sweet innocent kids.

After Kogi had bound up my leg I took out my phone and called my work. I was meant to have gone there for a shift but because of the test score I was a little bit preoccupied trying to grasp onto the last threads of consciousness. "Hello?" said the woman at the other end of the line. "Hey Maggi." I said, trying to make my voice sound cheerful. "Oh my god! Denki? Where are you? Your shift started over an hour ago!" she screeched through the phone. My face clouded, I had no idea it was that late. I hadn't checked the time on my phone and there were no other clocks in the attic. I chucked lightly "Sorry. There was a family emergency and I couldn't find my phone to call in." I lied. I saw Lato, the youngest out of the twins, look at me with an expression of sadness and a level of understanding that no five year old should have.

The next morning I went down stairs to make breakfast for the kids. It wasn't much but at least they still got to eat something before school. We never had much food around the house but I manages to find three old pieces of bread. I was out of date but that wasn't anything new.

You should be doing more. They should be having more than half a piece of toast for breakfast. They deserve someone better than you. They deserve a better home. Not like this place even is a home. You can do better so why aren't you. You're worthless if you can't look after them, look at you. You can't even look after yourself.

I just sucked it up and made them breakfast, ignoring when my stomach made a protest for food. The kids came rushing down the stairs, ready for school. They didn't have breakfast yesterday so they seemed excited for it, even if it was only half a piece of toast. I finished making them some small lunch-y snacks and I took them to school. Lato didn't want me to leave, like always but his brother managed to get him off my leg so I wasn't late for school.

I got into class just before the bell went. "I'M HERE. I AM HERE. I AM ON TIME!" I shouted hurdling through the door with a huge fake smile plastered on my face. Mr. Aizawa just glared at me and told me to sit down. I made my way sheepishly to my desk catching a few of my snickering classmates' eyes.

I made it through the day without anyone picking up on slight limp or when my smile wavered for a second when thinking about the kids. After school I was just about to go pick the kids up when Sero caught up to me. He invited me to his house to play video games and it sounded like fun but I couldn't. I had to work a double shift tonight and hopefully drop the kids off with Ms. Sylvie. I count leave them alone with him in that house. Never again.

I rang up Mr. Alan and told him that the kid's would be staying at a "friend's" tonight and that I would be back late. His words were slurred and I could tell he was drunk. He didn't care that the kids weren't going to be there. He wouldn't have cared if he was sober either.

Once I had picked the kids up from school they all rambled on about their days; Koji had stopped a fight. Ash had made a friend. Uri had learnt a song. The twins (Mido and Lato) had been making up a secret language and Keli had found a new book to read. (A/N I did the list in age order.) When I told them they might be staying at Ms. Sylvie's house they all cheered even though I told them not to get their hopes up.

Once we had got to the old woman's house she welcomed us in. I didn't go in but the kids did. After explaining the situation she agreed to look after them. "I'll pay you back soon Ms. Sylvie I promised. Bye guys." I called. The kids said their good byes and I kissed the kind woman on the cheek, making her scold me and shoo me out of the house. "You don't need to pay me back Denki. It's my pleasure." I looked at her uncertainly.

"Well... give the kids this." I said pulling out a container that had my free school lunch in. I had managed to get a double lunch for them. I put a few notes on top of the container and pushed it towards her. "They can have it for dinner and then use the money to get some more food if they're still hungry afterwards which they probably still will be. I'll try and get some stuff for their breakfasts tomorrow so that you don't have to feed them," I had started rambling without realising, a trait I picked up from Midoriya.

"Woah, Denki. Calm down." She said sternly. Stopping me in my tracks. "I'll give them dinner. Don't worry about it. I'm practically their grandmother already so please just accept that I will want to do stuff for them as well. Plus you look like you haven't eaten for a while. You keep the food. You need the energy. You always worry about those kids for too much for your own good." She scolded. "Now shoo. Off you go, I now that I don't approve of you having a job so young but I'm not going to make you late." She said, making a shooing motion with her hands. "Bye Denki. Don't work too hard." She called from the porch.

I gave the food to a homeless man.