Content warning:

Anxious shinso, worried and knowing Inko, repressed izuku, mention of injuries.
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Midoriya was the first to wake. Sleepily lifting his head, he registered noises in the kitchen, his alarm going off, and the fact that he was sleeping on Shinso.

'Sleeping on Shinso?' His brain took a moment to process. 'SLEEPING ON SHINSO!'

He scrambled off of Shinso and ran to turn off his alarm. Izuku walked to his room and got ready for school. Once he was ready, he entered the kitchen where his mom was finishing breakfast.

"Have a good night?" Inko said, dishing out a plate for him, "You seemed very comfortable."

Izuku groaned, "Don't remind me. It's so embarrassing." Inko hummed as she handed him his plate and sat down. "I'm glad you found another friend. You look happy."

Izuku, in a moment of sudden realization, found that he, in fact, was. He also found he hadn't felt like this in a while. "I am."

It was then that Shinso entered the kitchen, Gucci eyebags only slightly lighter than normal. "Hello."

"Hello, Shinso! Breakfast is on the counter." Mrs. Midoriya greeted.

Shinso teetered awkwardly, hesitating, before picking up his plate and joining them at the table.

"So, Shinso, is someone picking you up or will you be walking home? You're welcome to stay here, of course."

Shinso took a moment to decide before giving an indirect answer. "I would need to get my laptop from home. I'm currently in an online course."

"Alright, then. Izuku" Mrs. Midoriya said, directing her attention to her son.

"Yes?" Izuku said after swallowing.

"Don't you have to go?"

Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about. He scrambled out of his seat to run to his room. "Oh, shoot! I got to go!"

He grabbed his bag and ran out the door. Shinso and Inko finished their breakfast in growing silence. After Shinso got ready to go he paused at the door. "Thank you for the food and letting me stay the night Mrs. Midoriya!"

Mrs. Midoriya waved him off. "Oh, please. Call me Inko. None of the Mrs. Ma'am business."

Shinso nodded, "Thanks Inko!" He took quick aprehensive steps out of the home towards his own house.

----

He came back with a bag containing his laptop, a change of clothes, and some snacks. He really didn't want to intrude on their space, but if they let him use their shower, he was going to take it.

Inko let him be for the most part, giving him snacks every now and then. She forced him to take a break around lunch time to eat.

She was even nicer than Izuku said she was or what Shinso had imagined. She didn't question why he didn't stay home, or why he was doing an online course, or anything about his appearance. Shinso was greatful, but still had that lingering doubt. He wasn't going to tell her what his quirk was unless Izuku was there.

Around noon, Inko settled in a chair across from him with her laptop. They worked together in silence, until Inko spoke. "He trusts you, y'know."

Shinso, startled by the sudden remark, said, "How."

Inko snickered, "I haven't seen him so enraptured by someone since kindergarten. He is willing to take your secrets to the ends of the earth if it means being your friend."

Shinso thought about this constantly until Izuku came home. 'He trusts me?'

At that, Shinso realized that he, too, trusted Midoriya despite just meeting him.

----

Late in the afternoon, Izuku came back looking throughly disheveled. There were leaves in his hair. When he opened the door, Shinso laughed. "What's up mother nature?"

Izuku shot him a look as he entered the house.

"Welcome back, honey!"

"Hi, Mom!" Izuku answered.

Once Izuku dropped his bag of in his room, he turned to Shinso. 'can you help me with my back again?' He said using sign.

Izuku had asked Shinso if he knew sign language over text earlier in the day so they could still speak when he was feeling nonverbal.

"Yeah. Do you have a kit in here or do we need to pull it out of the bathroom?"

'Here.' Izuku crawled onto the floor and dug a box out from underneath his bed. It wasn't big, but it was fully prepared to treat burns. It had bandages of various sizes, burn cream, ointment, sticker stitches, and pain meds. They got to work.

Shinso pulled the larger bandages off Izuku's back, trying not to react to the vicious marks. "These look like they are going to scar."

Izuku's hands were shaking as he signed. 'I thought so.'

Shinso finished replacing the bandages. "What do I do with the old ones?"

'Trashcan. I throw it out myself.'

Once Shinso disposed of the old bandages in the trash, Izuku asked, 'Can you help me look at schools?'

"Sure."

They both grabbed their laptops and sat on the bed.

'I got some notifications from the shop. I got some offers.'

"Really? What for?"

'Some posters and a figurine.'

"Nice. Do you know what type of school you want to apply for?" Shinso said as he pulled up some he knew.

'Something self-paced and has a lot of optional teacher contact.'

Shinso hummed. He didn't have many on his list that fit that description, opting for full independence.

Izuku thought for a moment. 'Do you think UA has an online branch?'

"Maybe, I didn't think to check."

Izuku pulled up the site. It was chock full of different tabs and links to all sorts of information. 'you should probably pull it up on yours too'

Shinso nodded and copied Izuku's search.

Both boys searched the million tabs of UA's website, until Izuku found something.

Quickly motioning with his hands with excitement, Izuku signed. 'Found it!'

"You did? Where?"

Izuku tilted his screen so Shinso could see. 'Under optional classes. It says it's open to anyone eleven and up.'

"Do you have to pass an entrance test to get in?"

'Yeah, but mostly so they know what level you're at.'

"Well, its going at the top of the list then."

As it turns out, not very many hero schools had online courses, which is stupid. The other sites looked like ancient relics that might crumble to dust with a single click. No wonder UA was the top hero school.

UA's course clearly looked newer than the rest of the hero schools, and the most comprehensive. Though, it disguised the fact that it was one of the oldest.

Thus sparked Izuku's internal debate. 'Should I apply?'

Shinso nudged him. "Wouldn't you need to tell your mom about your quirk first?"

Izuku curled in on himself, fear sinking into his stomach. 'yeah... Do you think I should?'

"Yes. You could get in serious trouble for having incorrect files. I don't think she would be mad at you either."said Shinso reassuringly.

'But, how would I explain? I never told her about anything that happens at school! I'm not ready for that!'

Shinso decided to break the figurative wall. "When will you be?" Izuku looked up at him, apprehension clear on his face. "Probably never, right? Might as well dump it all at once."

Izuku remained crunched for a little while longer before detangling himself. 'you'll help right? I have a hard time speaking about it at all. I might... choke.'

Shinso nodded and held out his hand. Izuku stared at it for a second before firmly grasping like it was a lifeline.

He took a deep breath.

"Let's go."
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AN:
Thanks for reading chapter 14!

Sorry I didn't update last weekend! I'm still having phone issues, and a new phone is possibly months into the future.

I'll still update on weekends when it is possible to, so no worries!