Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its anything! It all belongs to Kōhei Horikoshi!

Chapter 2

"I'm sc-scared, Papa..!"

"Everything's going to be okay, sn-snowflake, don't you worry. Alright, you got to stay quiet now."

"D-Dammit! No! Go away you monster! G-Go! Mph! Mmmmm! Mmmmm! Mm-"

'PAPAAAAA!'

The loud crack of thunder woke little Eri up from her nightmare that took on the form of her memory of the previous night, her trembling red eyes shooting wide open as she sharply gasped before her upper body swiftly rose to sit up. Her face had a light patch of sweat drenching it due to the dreadful reliving of her.. her Papa's death.

That didn't take long at all to strike her as she immediately started to snivel while tears formed at her eyes. "P... P-Papa.. W-Why did you.. leave me th-there..?!" She cried quietly to herself as her whole tiny frame began to quiver and she faced down to her legs that were covered by a warm, soft blanket that she failed to notice right away. Her hands came up to her face to shield her eyes as she began to emit suppressed, heartbroken sobs.

She was unaware that the sleeping Izuku was sharing the single's bed that they were on with her.

Izuku's eyes slowly blinked open as the girl's cries had woken him up from his own slumber. He gazed up at the ceiling tiredly for a second before his eyes turned to look at Eri beside him. He blinked a few times as he processed that she was crying.

Being too lost in her sorrow, Eri didn't hear the shuffling of the bed when Izuku sat up.

"Are you okay?" Izuku felt compelled to ask; sounding worried.

Eri gasped and snapped out of it when she heard the boy's voice, her head quickly turning to face him in a stunned manner as she pulled her hands slightly away from her watery eyes.

When getting a good look at the girl's face, Izuku took his turn to gasp in shock as he was sure that he had seen this girl before.. around his home village.. Their home village.. Then it dawned on him, he wasn't the only one to have survived the attack. If he remembered correctly, she was always with a man who looked to be her.. oh no..

Not answering him, Eri only continued to cry out her overwhelming grief.

Now, Izuku is not one to just sit by and watch as someone was sad and in pain. He wishes that he could say that about his poor Mama.. but, he could not. Anyway, just like how someone was there to comfort him when he had lost his mother.. Someone now needed to be there for Eri in her time of need..

Taking a deep breath, Izuku's face went from shocked to gentle as he leaned forward and gently pulled the white haired girl into him so he can give her a warm and caring embrace.

Without even thinking about it, not that she could, Eri quickly latched herself onto Izuku and buried her face into his chest before her sobs had suddenly became slightly louder and hysterical. Thankfully, they were not too loud as they were muffled by his shirt.

Izuku did not stop her as, just as Mirio had done to him, he brought his left hand to the back of her head and his right hand to her upper back. "Ssh.. It's okay.. You can cry for as much as you need to.. and for as long as you need to.." He assured her softly, wanting to be her shoulder to cry on. Eri did just that as she tightened her hold on him.

"M-M-M-My P-Pap-paaaa!" Eri wailed as she rubbed her face into his shirt. Izuku bit his lip as his suspicions were confirmed.. "Th-The monsters..! Th.. They t-t-took him! a-away from meeee!" She squealed as her hands grabbed tightly onto the back of his top; squeezing with so much strength that they shook violently.

"I.. I am sorry.." Izuku sniffed as his own pain nearly resurfaced. However, he managed to hold those feelings back for now as he remembered that he had a promise to fulfill.. and that was that he had to be brave. He.. He had to stay strong.. "The monsters.. they took my M-Mama away from me too.. S-So I know how you f-feel.. and you are not alone.." It was truly hard for him to admit that to her.. and to himself.

A few minutes had gone by before Eri was able to say something again. "I-I-I r-r-r-rememb-ber.. you..!" She whimpered as she managed to cease her sobs but was still distraught to the point where her speech uncontrollably stammered. Her head raising from his chest just enough to look up at his face.

"Mm.. I remember you too.. Back at the village.. Our home.. I would see you walking around.. w-with your Papa.." Izuku uttered as he managed a small smile. "My name is Izuku. What is your name?" He inquired while meeting her eye.

The girl sniveled for a few more moments before giving him a somewhat properly spoken answer. "E-Eri.. My name.. i-is Eri.."

"Eri.." Izuku didn't know what it was, but something about saying her name gave his tongue a rather pleasant feeling. "I like how your name sounds.. It sounds pretty.." he said honestly with a weak grin flashing on his lips. "It's nice to meet you, Eri.." He said kindly as his hand on her head began to gently pat down on her.

"Y-You too.. I-Izuku.." That was all Eri responded with as she faintly blushed at his comment and started to feel just a tad bit more relaxed due to his comforting pettings.

It was not uncommon of her to feel relaxed from pettings as it was actually something that always worked on getting her to sleep whenever her father would put her to bed. She is really going to miss those days.. However, she did not think she would mind if Izuku was the one to do it from now on as it surprisingly felt much better when he petted her. Just something about his touch was especially soothing compared to her father's. To the point that it worked on settling down her heavy heart somewhat and taking some of the emotional weight off of it. Even though she thinks all this, she was not trying to disrespect her Father. Also, she didn't feel alone.. just like the boy said she wasn't.

"Stay strong, Eri.."

The girl was rendered surprised once again when she heard Izuku suddenly speak to her with a bit of an intense look on his face. "H-Huh?" Was all she could being herself to say to acknowledge him.

"No matter what happens now.. Let's stay strong together, okay?"

Eri blinked in bewilderment.

Izuku's expression softened as he looked at the confused girl in concern. "I know we just met.. b-but before my Mama was taken.. I promised her that I would stay strong for her and be brave.. no matter what.. Wouldn't your Papa want you to do the same thing for him?" He questioned.

"I.. I don't know.." She responded as she lowered her head and frowned. Unlike Izuku, her father was not allowed to live long enough to say such an encouraging thing to her. So she was at a loss on what to say or think on the matter, and her emotions were certainly no help on clearing her confused young mind.

"I think he would."

Eri looked back to Izuku when he heard him speak again. "How do you know..?" She questioned.

"Because he's your Papa, silly.." Izuku smiled once more. "Our parents would want us to stay strong for them. Especially when they went through the trouble of hiding us from the monsters.. It.. only makes sense, I think.."

"I... U-Um.." Still, she struggled to comprehend the thought.

Before she could utter some sort of a proper answer, the sound of a creaking door caught their attention, much to their surprise. When hearing the sound, Eri emitted a startled yelp as she hastily clung onto Izuku, moving to hide behind him. Izuku grunted nervously as he didn't hesitate to shield the girl from whoever was trying to enter the room. He then looked to the door that was steadily opening at the other side of the mostly dark room, some light on the outside, as it was being revealed, offering more visibility to the children.

"Wh-Who's there?" Izuku nervously called out as he could see the silhouette of a tall and muscular man standing at the doorway, looking to be holding something in his hands in front of him.

"Ah, you two are finally awake. I am glad to see that." Said the masculine voice that went along with the figure.

The children tensed and Eri whimpered as the man walked into the room slowly, the girl shakily peeking over Izuku's shoulder while holding onto his back.

"There is no need to be alarmed. I am not here to harm or frighten either of you." The man said reassuringly, his appearance being revealed to the young ones once the visibility had cleared up for them. It was Mirio's Father. In his hands was a black platter with two plates lying on top of it. Then on top of said plates were meals that consisted simply of small loafs of bread and a single cooked slab of beef. Beside each of the plates were a set of forks and butter knives, and a cup of warm milk.

"I understand that you are confused, and I cannot blame you for feeling that way or being on your guard." The man said as he stopped when he came up to the side of the bed. The children were unable to prevent themselves from scooting away a bit due to their wariness of the man. "But, I promise that you are in a safe place." He smiled at the children as he leaned forward enough to place the tray of food on the bed before standing straight again. "I figured you would be hungry after having had such a long sleep." He chuckled.

His assumption was not that far off as the children were indeed a tad bit famished. However, their curiosity was stronger than their hunger at the present time.

"Who are you..? Where's Mr. Mirio..?" Izuku asked of the man, continuing to stare up at him both nervously and cautiously.

"Oh, how rude of me to forget introductions." The man scoffed bashfully as he rubbed at his head. Composing himself, he proceeded to answer the green-haired child's questions after clearing his throat. "My name is Toshinori, Toshinori Yagi. I am Mirio's Father." Izuku's eyes widened at that.

'Mirio's.. Father..' He thought.

"Now, as for where Mirio is, I am afraid he is currently busy in a nearby town. So he will not be joining us for quite awhile. But do not fret, I am sure that he is moving as fast as he can manage to go to get back to you." Toshinori concluded his answers as he grinned this time around. "Your name is Izuku Midoriya if I remember Mirio telling me, correct?" He inquired as he quirked a brow while looking to Izuku.

"I-I am.." Izuku nodded as he eased up seeing as how Toshinori was being friendly to him and his new little friend. The girl herself even relieved a bit of the tension in her small figure as well, but still remained behind the boy. If he was indeed Mirio's father.. Izuku felt that he could trust him too.

"Well then, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, young Midoriya." Toshinori acknowledged as he extended a hand out towards Izuku for a greeting shake.

Hesitating for only a moment, Izuku ultimately returned the gesture as the two shook hands gently. "Nice to meet you.." The boy responded, their hands letting go after a couple of seconds.

Now that the introduction between him and the boy were over, Toshinori glanced at the littler one peering over Izuku's shoulder. "Now, what is your name, little one?" He asked kindly of Eri as he cocked his head while his welcoming smile remained.

Due to feeling shy and a tad bit afraid, Eri lowered her head enough behind Izuku that only her face from the eyes up was visible to him. The white-haired girl gulped before answering him. "E-Eri.. Eri.. Ts-Tsukato.." Izuku looked at the girl in slight surprise to hear her reveal her full name, something that she didn't do when introducing herself to him.. Then again, he did only give her his first name as well.

"That is quite the beautiful name for a beautiful girl such as yourself you got there, little Tsukato." He complimented softly as he nodded in approval.

Eri's face became flushed at his comment as she couldn't help but smile smally thanks to it. She had always been called things like cute and adorable, but never beautiful. So to be described as beautiful for the first time ever, it gave her being another nice feeling to look forward to. "Th-Thank you.." She acknowledged the comment bashfully as she looked to the back of Izuku's neck.

Now that all of the introductions were out of the way, Izuku was still intent on satiating the rest of his curiosity. "Um.. M-Mr. Yagi..?" Izuku called out to Toshinori, immediately gaining his attention as the man hummed and looked back at him.

"What is it, young man?" He acknowledged.

Gathering a bit more of his bearings, the boy replied. "If you don't mind me asking.. I-Is this your home that you brought us to?" He questioned as he was looking around at the room for a few seconds before looking back to Toshi.

"Indeed it is." He nodded in affirmation as he brought his hands to his hips. "After Mirio found you and you fell asleep on him back over.." He bit his lip for a moment as he was anxious to say this last part out of worrying that he would upset the children. So instead of being direct about it, he opted to instead say.. "there.." While the children did frown at the word as they knew the location that he was referring to, it thankfully didn't cause them to become too distraught. "and I found you, little Eri." He smiled while glancing at the flustered girl. "We brought you both here so you would be safe." Said Toshinori reassuringly.

"I see.." Said Izuku as he looked down to his lap and gulped, another worrisome thought coming to his mind right after that. It was a thought that shouldn't even be coming to a six year old child like himself to begin with. But, it was the next question that made him wonder about things more.. "Was there.. a-anyone else.. who made it..?" He asked as his hands clenched at his thighs and his hair casted shadows over his eyes. His lips pursing as he fought back against the urge for them to quiver out of the fear for the possible dreadful answer he was bound to receive..

This was where the room's atmosphere turned grim for Toshinori as he looked to Izuku with a mixture of shock and sorrow on his face. 'Bold kid..' He thought. Being the honest man that he was, he reluctantly said.. "I am afraid not, my boy.." He deeply sighed. "Even when me and Mirio did a full and thorough search of the place.. We have not been able to find anyone else but you two.. If we did, I believe you would have met them by now."

Eri lightly sniveled at his answer as that only made her think about her Papa's horrid fate again, her hands squeezing tightly onto the back of Izuku's shirt as she nuzzled her face gently into it to wipe away the saddening liquid that was accumulating at her tear ducts. She was then heard lightly sobbing behind Izuku.

Meanwhile, Izuku was gripping tightly onto his baggy pants now, his teeth lightly gritting as tears started to flow down his freckled cheeks.

Toshinori sighed again as he moved to the corner of the room and pulled up a wooden foot stool that was placed there, bringing it to where he was previously standing before sitting down on it. "I do wish I had something better to tell you two.. and I am sure that would not have appreciated me if I ended up lying to you.. So I was not about to go and do that.." He stated as he watched the children in depression. 'There is no way I can possibly tell them of the horrible things we saw back at the village.. So it is best that I spare them of those details.' He commented to himself.

As much as it pained Izuku to admit it, that was what he needed to hear in order to truly accept what had happened to his dear, loving mother. He can be a smart one for his age, so as much as he wanted Inko to come back to him.. He was aware that no amount of praying or begging was going to bring her back from the dead.. She gave up her own life to protect him.. and he had to learn to live with that for the remainder of his life. As did Eri with her father.. She will come to understand given time.

"Th-Thank you.. f-for being honest, s-sir.." He thanked, his voice almost breaking, as tears continued to travel down his face, but he dared not to let a sob escape him.

"You are welcome.." Toshinori lowly acknowledged as he exhaled deeply through his nose.

'I think Mirio would do a much better job at comforting them better than I am right now..' He thought in a troubled tone.

The young green-haired boy managed to somewhat compose himself a minute later as he took a rather shaky breath before looking up at Toshinori. "W-What are you going to do with us now, Mr. Yagi? I.. I-I don't think we have anywhere else to go.. My Mama was the o-only family I had.. So I don't h-have anyone else.." The boy spoke with a frown as he sniffed and rubbed gently at his eyes to rid of the tears. He didn't know about Eri, but he knew that he was on his own unless they came up with a solution to the problem.

The blonde man smiled as he felt that this was where he can bring the children some comforting news. "You do not need to worry about that, young Midoriya. If you two having no one to go to truly is the case, I do not mind one bit if you want me to take you both into my home. Nor does Mirio mind, I assure you." He softly chuckled as he planted his forearms on his lap.

Izuku softly gasped as he heard the man and looked at him for a moment with blinking eyes. Eri doing the same thing as her sadness was, for the moment, replaced with hope. Did they hear him correctly..?

"R-Really..?" Izuku responded as he gazed at the beefcake of a man with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

Without hesitation. Toshinori hummed as he cocked his head in confirmation. "That is right. But again, that is if you want me to take you in, as I will not have you do it against your will. If you do end up choosing to decline, I have a good friend who lives in the nearby town that I mentioned earlier who I believe would be willing to take you in. He has a daughter of his own. So you would not be the only children to live within his household. Now, the choice is ultimately yours to make.. So, what shall it be?" He gave them the question as his lips were now displaying a small smirk.

Still dumbfounded for a few more seconds, the young Midoriya escaped his stupor first with a light shake of his head before looking to the white haired girl peering over his shoulder. "W-What do you say, Eri?" He asked the girl as he was curious to what she thought.

Red met green as Eri locked eyes with the boy and looked a bit dubious as she first needed him to assure her of something. "W-Will you stay with me if I do, Izuku..?" She asked as she looked at the boy with a pleading look, her hands gripping his shirt a bit tightly once more as she feared that he would leave her upon asking the question.

Giving her the same heartwarming smile he had presented to her earlier, Izuku nodded with a hum as he wouldn't dare say what he was going to speak next without looking her directly in the soul windows. "Of course, I will. I did say that we should be strong together. So that means we should stay together in order for us to do that, right?" He nearly grinned as he waited for her to reply.

That was where Eri's own sense of hope completely took over. This time around, she was now shedding tears of joy instead of tears of despair. Her lips curving into a trembling smile as she nodded. "O-Okay.. I-I will stay.." She made her decision as she loosened her hold on the greenette, knowing that she didn't have to worry about him departing from her life from this point onwards. She sees that they were in this together as of now, and she believed in him for that to always be so.. till the bitter end.

"Great!" Izuku said with suppressed excitement as they both then looked back at the man. Feeling that he did not need to say a word and not even considering their second option, Izuku nodded while giving Toshinori a stare of certainty.

"Hmph.. And that is your final decision?" He questioned with a grin.

He was absolutely sure that his son was going to be ecstatic upon discovering the path that they have chosen to take together... Just as he was..

And there's the next chapter! I hope you at least somewhat enjoyed it as this where things really start to pick up! and I hope you'll look forward to it! Apologies for the length of time it took to update, really getting back into the writing game again and getting back into my groove. XD About damn time.

Now, onto zeh updated harem! This is the last time, I swear. Lol Plus, I'm sure that you all won't really mind this change, right? (;

The Harem!

- Momo Yaoyorozu

- Eri

- Melissa Shield

- Nemuri Kayama ( Midnight )

- Himiko Toga

- Ochaco Uraraka

- Mina Ashido

- Itsuka Kendo

- Tsuyu Asui

- Nejire Hadō

- Mei Hatsume

- Pony Tsunotori

- Reiko Yanagi

- Yui Kodai

- Yu Takeyama ( Mt. Lady )

- Ryuko Tatsuma ( Ryukyu )

- Camie Utsushimi

- Ibara Shiozaki

- Rumi Usagiyama ( Miruko )

- Shino Sosaki ( Mandalay )

- Ryuko Tsuchikawa ( Pixie-Bob )

- Tomoko Shiretoko ( Ragdoll )

Hehehehe! The idea of neko sisters really gets me all giddy~ ... o-o I mean.. What? Ya heard nothing!

Follow, Favourite and Review if you would be so kind! It always greatly appreciated to know what you guys think!

Until next chapter, deuces!