Hitoshi stood by the vending machine on his own, inserting a couple quarters into the open slot for coins, and clicking the right buttons to make his favourite drink and chocolate bar fall down the chute. He quickly grabbed them and sat down near the machine to eat them, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the wooden table in front of him, thoughts of his future unable to escape his head. He was surrounded by friends... and yet he felt so... alone.

"Hey... are you okay?"

"Huh?"

Hitoshi turned his head away from his junk-food meal (Hizashi would be so disappointed), to look over at the worried expression of Izuku's support class friend: Melissa Shield. She smiled softly as he looked at her, and she quietly sat down next to him.

"Aizawa, is something wrong...?"

Looking at him with such a concerned expression, made Hitoshi not want to turn her away. But... he also didn't want to talk about it.

"... call me Hitoshi..." he simply muttered under his breath, looking away from her, towards his food. They sat together in silence for another minute, before he spoke up again, continuing to look away from her. "... and I'm fine... just... dealing with some things."

"... I see..." She reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, but hesitated, and quickly retracted it. Hitoshi watched her do this out of the corner of his eye, and while he found the motion endearing, he made no attempt to show that he appreciated it, keeping himself slightly closed off.

Noticing this, Melissa tried again.

"I... can sympathise with you, a little. I mean, I don't know what you're going through, or how you're feeling... but I know the feeling of having the world turn against me." It was now her turn to look away from Hitoshi's questioning eyes, as she looked down at the table she had recently sat down at. "I..."

She took a deep breath and looked up.

"I'm quirkless."

Hitoshi couldn't believe it. Just last school year, while researching UA, he knew that no quirkless person had ever been accepted into the courses there – and he assumed Izuku was the only one to get in this year – the first quirkless student to ever get in. And yet... Melissa made it in too?? He was partially shocked, but also in awe. Most quirkless children... don't last very long in society.

"That... must be hard for you..."

Melissa saw Hitoshi's wide eyes and smiled again. "Must be shocked, huh? My father pulled a few strings to get me here. He's an amazing inventor..." She pulled out a picture from her purse of her and her dad together in a lab of some sort. She looked a lot younger, and the heartwarming sight made Hitoshi smile. She smiled too as she put it back in her purse. "I learned everything from him..."

"Why didn't you stay with him?" He asked, curiously tilting his head. "Wouldn't you learn better with a famous inventor?"

"Hmm... probably." She responded, clearly pondering the question. "That's why father always wanted me to stay with him, and why I didn't really go to any schools after I started getting bullied. But I'm not fragile! I'm strong! And I wanna learn more about the world." Her eyes were shining, sparkling in a way that almost took Hitoshi aback. He's never seen someone as determined as Melissa before...

No, there's one person that Melissa reminds him of – Izuku. His determined-ness, it was something Hitoshi has always admired about him – and now he can see it in Melissa too.

He smiled back at her. "I'm sure you will."

There's a moment of silence between the two of them, before Melissa speaks up again, looking at Hitoshi both curiously and apprehensively. "Your brother... Izuku... he's quirkless too, right...? He never outright told us, but..."

Hitoshi paused. If it was a few years ago, he'd have lied, or would've asked Izuku what he would want Hitoshi to say. However now, he knows Izuku doesn't mind people knowing about his quirklessness. It was something he didn't hide anymore.

"... yeah. He is."

He waited for Melissa – even knowing she herself is quirkless – to start to say the usual things, to insult both his brother and himself, to accuse them of cheating or bribery for even getting in UA to begin with, to-

"That must be really hard for you."

"... huh...?" He confusedly turned his head back so he could see her clearly. She seemed genuine, but... it's not like he was quirkless. It must be harder for her and Izuku, obviously. She must be lying, right...? "Hard... for 'me'...?"

She nodded. "Well, yes. You would've had to constantly be there, stand up for your brother, help him mentally. I'm sure you had your own struggles too, but you seem like the protective type. You've probably focused more on your brother than on yourself..."

"I..." He found himself speechless. How was she able to just completely understand him like that...? Honestly, yeah, the way she described him was completely exact. He loves Izuku yes, but – especially when they were younger – he focused more on his brother than on himself... what does that mean for him now? Now Izuku was fine on his own... maybe now, he should focus on himself-

Beep! Beep!

And as Hitoshi finally reached that realisation, his phone buzzed, as Izuku sent him a message.

Izuwu: Hito! I'm at the library with Sho! Where are you??

Eyebags4Days: Ah- sorry Izuku! On my way now!

He turned his phone off and smiled at Melissa. "Thank you for the chat, but I have to go now. Maybe I'll see you around?"

She smiled back at him. "I'm sure you will."

---Time Skip---

"... and yeah, that's what happened." Hitoshi finished explaining, sitting cross-legged on his bed. He was fiddling with the bottom of his shirt, as Izuku was sitting on Hitoshi's desk chair, listening quietly to him. "Maybe she's right... and I should focus on myself a little bit more...?"

Izuku nods, a kind smile on his face. "Yeah, I think so too. I really appreciate all the support and love you've given me, but you need to focus a little more on yourself, okay?" And now the serious part of the conversation was mostly over, Izuku's smile turned into a teasing smirk. "So... you and Melissa, huh?"

"I- Izuku! I'm gay, remember??" Hitoshi looked away from Izuku's questioning gaze, staring instead at the floor. "I told you all I'm gay a few years ago... so... I'm gay."

Izuku frowned. The way Hitoshi was talking about being gay felt... somewhat forceful. "You were much younger back then Hito... I'm not denying or being unaccepting of who you are, trust me, I'm gay too. I'm just also saying it's okay to change your mind. Just because I'm gay and our dads are gay, doesn't mean you have to date a guy. You can be into boys, sure! – but you could also be into girls too. You could be gay, or straight, or bisexual, or anything really. Ah- and I'm not just talking about Melissa right now, I just mean in general. Don't be afraid to be who you are."

"Don't be afraid to be... who I am...?"

Izuku nods. "Now, how about we watch a movie? I know you and Dad like to watch 'True Crime Mysteries'..."

"And you and Papa watch Disney movies. I'm up for anything really..." During this time, Luna had entered the room, and had jumped up onto the bed. Hitoshi scratched the back of her ears, which she seemed to like.

"Movie Marathon time!!" Izuku cheered with delight, before grabbing Hitoshi's wrist and pulling him downstairs to watch several types of movies. Shouta and Hizashi would eventually come downstairs to scold them for watching TV past midnight and waking them up, but would eventually join them on the marathon, before all five of them (Luna resting on Izuku's lap) fell asleep together on the couch.

Heya! This chapter seems to be a bit longer, so uh, I hope you all like it! I'm feeling a bit sick right now, but I seem to have got a bit of writing done, since this chapter is finished XD

If the chapter is bad, blame me being sick XD

I don't have much else to say? Thank you guys for your support! I'm trying to write as many of these before August as possible, so that when it finally gets to August I'll be able to keep a regular uploading schedule, like I did before this whole thing

See you guys soon!

But for now...

Peachy out! 😊