Chapter Text
Day Zero:
Night
Kurogiri searched through the dirty cabinets where they stored their supplies, reminding himself to clean once he had the chance. He needed something, anything for the nausea.
Magne also searched through some boxes, sighing, "you're telling me we forgot the meds at the last shithole?"
"Looks that way." He responded with a frown, "if it's some sort of nausea quirk it's affects should not last long."
She shrugged, "who knows, I sure hope not. The kids seem pretty messed up in there. Himiko is dehydrated, Dabi's staples are tearing whenever he throws up, and Shig can't even keep down water. We need to do something."
"Ask Sako to go to the store soon and bring back any medicine that may help."
She nodded, standing up, "sure thing, hon."
Tomura, Dabi, Shuichi, Jin, and Himiko had all gone out for a meeting with another underground gang they were looking to consider recruiting, but all came back under the effects of some quirk. Apparently it had gone badly and though they were not injured other than some scratches and bumps, but they were all weakened, vomiting, shaky, and confused. It was distressing for Kurogiri, Magne, and Sako.
He went back out as his partner was leaving, kissing Magne farewell.
"How are they?" He questioned his girlfriend as she mopped up vomit from the floor.
"Well, Jin isn't throwing up anymore, but he's exhausted, Dabi passed out, Himiko is able to drink but she's in and out of it, and Tomura's still throwing up. Spinner seems to be the only one beginning to come out of it." She explained, "maybe talk to him, see if he can tell you exactly what happened."
Kurogiri nodded, headed towards the room where Spinner, Dabi, and Twice slept in. Dabi was unconscious in bed as Magne told him, Jin was curled up on his side whining in the bed with him, and Shuichi was sitting up, playing on his switch and looking miserable.
"So how are you doing?" He asked, pulling a chair up to sit.
"I think it's passing. I'mma die, Misty! Not so bad anymore. This is hell!" Jin exclaimed, his alter and him seemingly on different pages.
"Still feels awful, but it's… not as bad. Muscles ache." Spinner said, pausing his game to look up with exhausted eyes, "dabi just collapsed, his body couldn't seem to take it anymore. Tomura was here for a bit, said he was gonna try to sleep."
Kurogiri nodded, "What exactly happened?"
He groaned, dragging his talons across his face, "got outnumbered, underground heroes. We managed to get them to retreat, but one of them hit us with some kind of quirk, sounded like a sound wave or some shit… got us all dazed for a second, gave them the chance to dip. Then we just started puking. Barely made it back to the hideout…"
"Well, give me the clearest descriptions of these heroes, and I'll look into it. Sako went to the store for some medicine, shouldn't be much longer. Keep an eye on Dabi, make sure he's still breathing and all. I'll check on Tomura and Himiko after."
…
Day One:
Morning
Sako stood in front of the sink, filling a cup with tap water. He was exhausted but restless, worry for the others keeping him the entire night. It was near five in the morning, and sleep didn't seem to be coming anytime soon for him.
His ears caught the sound of soft, small footsteps across the floor behind him. Then, a soft, young voice, babbling. He whipped around quick, eyes wide at the sight of a big eyed, blond haired toddler dressed in a oddly familiar tee shirt looking at him. Her eyes were a familiar shade of golden, too.
"Dada?" The child tilted her head, looking at him curiously.
"Where'd you come from?!" He choked, rubbing his eyes thinking he was seeing things from the sleep deprivation. The little girl was still there, just… staring at him.
This made no sense, why was a child there? How did a small child even get into their hide out? Where were her parents? He tried to calm down, stop panicking as he quickly walked over, looking around to see if someone else was there. His breath caught in his throat when he looked in the living room - oh god, there was another!
This one was older, maybe around four or five? With black hair and blood red eyes, also a oversized tee shirt, he looked terrified.
"Um… hi, uh… how did the two of you get in here?" Sako asked, taking the little girl by the hand and leading her into the common room. "Is this your sister?"
"No." The boy answered simply, "where is my mom? Im not allowed to talk to strangers."
"I don't know where your parents are, son, but I… I'll help you find them." He told the boy, looking around the room. Windows closed and locked as always, the front door as well. "how did you get in here?" He asked again.
The boy turned, pointing into the dark hallway, "I woke up in a very messy room, over there."
Sako froze, staring into the hallway, suddenly a terrible thought came into his mind, a sneaking suspection. He looked at the little boy, the red eyes and the dry skin around his face. Then the little girl, the blond hair and big smile. "Himiko? Tomura? Is that… is that you?"
"No." The boy looked more nervous, "mommy says not to tell strangers my name."
Quickly, Sako started down the hall, opening the first bedroom, Toga's, it was empty. As he walked back into the hall, there was another two children. One was undeniably Shuichi, but small. The other had white hair and bright blue eyes. He quickly looked into Spinner, Dabi, and Twice's room, finding teenager, a fifth child, asleep in the bed. "Shit.." Sako cussed under his breath, turning back to the children in the hall. The small Spinner began crying.
"What's going on?! Is there a kid out there?!" Magne's voice was heard from their bedroom before the door opened, her and a confused looking Kurogiri in the doorway, "where did all these kids come from!"
"That one looks like Shuichi…" Kurogiri commented, "don't cry. You aren't in any danger. Sako, who are these kids?"
"Everyone's gone!" He exclaimed, "all of them, they're gone and these kids… they're wearing their clothes!"
Magne quickly moved to bend down and try to calm the small scaled boy, while the white haired boy stared up blankly at Sako. Kurogiri looked around, eyes falling on the black haired child.
"It… must be the quirk, I believe." Kurogiri said, coming over to rest a hand on Sakos shoulder, "calm down, darling."
"Calm down? More than half of the league, including our leader, are children!" Sako doesn't do well with children. He hadn't felt comfortable around children since his own many years back. The panic resurfaced, the worry of what ifs.
"I have dealt with child Tomura since as long as I can remember, I think we can manage." Kurogiri assured him, "besides, it shouldn't be permanent… at least I hope it is."
…
Magne sighed as she wrapped the little boys arms in bandages, her stomach turning in the sight of large bruises and burns littering his skin. The boy just stared at her, didn't even flinch as she wrapped up his injuries.
"I think this one's Dabi." She told her boyfriends, glancing over as Kurogiri placed the hard boiled eggs and toast on the paper plates.
He nodded in agreement with her, "yes, I think so as well, because of the burns. Jin is likely the teenager still sleeping. The black haired boy is Tomura, he'll answer to Tenko. That leaves the toddler as Toga, and the other little boy as Shuichi."
"Yeah, are you Dabi? Is that your name?" She asked the child, he continued to stare at her, "you're pretty tough, doesn't this hurt? Where did you get all these burns and bruises, sweetie?" He still didn't answer her, just waited until she finished bandaging him then walked off without a word.
She glanced over at Sako, who was cutting up the eggs very small for Toga. "He's a bit concerning…. You see all the bruises on him?"
He nodded, "Tomura, or Tenko, did you say it was? He has some bruises too, I noticed. Unsafe homes, likely. Makes sense, given how they act as adults." He said, glancing around at the children, "Shuichi seems very, very nervous."
"Yeah, I noticed that too." She said, watching Toga crawl around on the floor playing with one of the plushies from her room, "himiko is adorable. How old do you think they all are?"
"If I had to guess?" Sako hummed, eyeing the kids, "Toga must be about two. Shuichi looks seven or eight, I think? Dabi's probably… four or five?"
"Jin seemed to be in his early teens, from what I could see when I looked at him, and Tomura doesn't recognize me, or have white hair… so five or less." Kurogiri explained, "maybe we can talk Jin into helping us, this will likely be a handful."
Magne chuckled, "If Jin's a teenager, good luck."
They didn't have much food, hoped the kids weren't picky. Sako had ran out to grab diapers for Toga, and underwear for the other kids. They left them in their adult tee shirts, hoping they convert back soon, couldn't last longer than a day.
Magne was unsurprisingly good at caring for the children, and Sako seemed to know an awful lot about parenting. Kurogiri had taken care of Tomura for the past fourteen years, so he has some experience
"Come eat, everyone." Kurogiri said, directing the children over to the table.
"Should I go wake up Jin?" Magne asked.
"No need." Someone said from the hall, sounding grumpy, "who the hell are all of you? Where am I? I know I didn't fall to sleep here last night."
Jin looked very similar as a teen as he looked as an adult, only a bit thinner, and didn't have the scar on his forehead. He looked on edge, confused.
"It's a bit hard to explain, but we will try. Come sit." Kurogiri told him.
Jin eyes the man cautiously before shaking his head, "nah, I'm good. You can explain while I'm standing. Better yet, where's the door? 'cause this is hella shady, not gonna lie, chief."
"As I said, we can explain. I understand it might be confusing for you-" Sako started but Jin cut him off quick.
"Ya think?! I don't know you creeps and there's a buncha little ass kids here too! You fuckin' kidnap us? Where the hell are we?!" The teen shouted.
Tenko's eyes went wide, shrinking into himself while Spinner began whimpering again, and Dabi noticeably flinched.
"Please do not shout, there are children here." Kurogiri scolded him.
"The fuck you think you are, huh? I'll do whatever I-" Jin paused, staring down at tiny Toga crawling her way over to his feet.
She blinked, then raised her arms, "uppy."
Jin gave a forced laugh, "what? No! You don't know me kid, don't ask strangers to-"
"Uppy! Up! Up! Up!" The toddler screamed and Jin sighed picking the mini sized Himiko up from the ground. "Y'all better get to explaining this mess.
Day One:
Afternoon
They explained the best they could to the others, the younger the kids were the easier they were to convince their parents had let them babysit. Jin was older, and his parents were dead, so they told him the truth. He didn't believe them at first but once they provided enough evidence it has been fifteen years and they did in fact know him as an adult, he came around and helped out the best he could.
"Can't believe you got her to take a nap." Magne noted, watching Toga sleep in Sakos arms.
"Yes, I… had a daughter this age many years ago…" he said quietly.
"You had a family?" Kurogiri asked, "I had no idea. Where are they now?"
The magician swallowed hard, his eyes sliding shut with a deep breath, "I don't like talking about it."
Magne looked at Kurogiri, who's golden eyes showed sadness.
"I'm sorry, love, I didn't intend to bring up any bad memories." He said.
"No, no, dear. It's fine… it's just a sore subject."
Magne looked towards the children, "I always wanted kids of my own…"
Tenko walked up to Shuichi, who was sitting in the corner, picking at his scales. The pink haired boy squeaked when Tenko approached, startled by the other boy.
"Hi," Tenko gave a warm smile, "do you like video games? That messy room I woke up in had them. Do you wanna play with me? We can be friends."
Shuichi tilted his head, unused to warmth from other children, "you wanna be friends… with me? Why?"
"Why not! Because of your skin? That's okay, see!" The dark haired boy pointed to his cracked, dry skin on his face, "my skin is different too, so I don't mind!" He then turned to the adults, "can we play with the video games in that yucky room? Would the person mind?"
Kurogiri blinked, well those were Tomura's video games, in his 'yucky' room. "Yes, that's fine. Bring them out here though, please."
The two boys ran off to the hall, giggling as they did.
"Shigaraki is unexpectedly a well behaved child." Sako noted, "I expected him to be a hellspawn."
"Well, we're quite lucky it's fifteen years, rather than ten." Kurogiri said with a shiver.
"Was he difficult as he was older?" Magne asked.
"Very. As a teen, even moreso." Kurogiri confirmed, watching the boys come back out a minute later, their hands full of as many video games as they could carry.
"Sir," Sako turned at the feeling of someone pull at his coat, seeing the snowy haired boy looking up at him, nervous, "I need to go home now."
"I told you, Dabi, your parents are letting us watch you for the day." He explained.
"I know that's a lie, cause that isn't even my name. I need to go home, or I'll be late for training and Father will be angry with me and you will get me in trouble." The boy told him, narrowing his eyes.
"Um, training? What do you mean training? Training what?" Sako asked.
"My quirk, Father says I must train every day to be a hero, and if I don't I'll be punished. Take me home."
Tenko paused his game, "you're training to be a hero? Lucky! I want to be a hero when I grow up! I want to be like All Might! My Dad hates heroes, though."
The three adults froze, eyes wide. Magne turned to Kurogiri, her voice hushed, "Tomura wanted to be a hero? Like all might? "
"Can I come to your house and your Dad can train me too?" The dark haired boy asked, eyes bright with excitement.
"My Father says I'm not allowed to have friends, they're a distraction to my training." The other boy told him, "I'm not allowed to even play with my little siblings."
"What kinda fuckin Father won't let their kid play with their own siblings?" Jin asked.
"Language." Kurogiri scolded him. "What training? How does your father train you? You can't be older than five."
"I'm seven, " Dabi hissed, "and I've been training since I was four. We start in an hour, until sun down or until I can't move anymore."
Kurogiri shook his head, glancing over at Sako who looked furious.
"Who's your father? That's abuse. Who's your Father?" Sako demanded.
"See! I knew you were lying! you don't know my parents!"
They had to calm the situation down, and fast because the other children were staring and Toga was starting to stir in Sako's arms. Shu looked like he was going to start crying.
"I'll talk to him." Magne said, getting up from her chair.
"Im not going anywhere alone with any of you, take me home! You're going to get me punished! Take me home!" Blue flames began to sprout from under the bandages, burst up on his shoulders and arms. The smell of burnt flesh filling the room, "my father is the number two hero! You do not want to make him angry!"
"Your Father is Endeavor?" Tenko asked quietly, "... endeavor is scary."
Magne looked over at her boyfriends in shock, "Dabi's father is Endeavor?"
"I am going to kill Endeavor with my own two hands." Sako said through clenched teeth, "Right now."
"Sako, love, do not do anything rash." Kurogiri urged.
"I am going to kill him."
"You can't kill him! He's too strong! You're going to get me punished, please send me home!" Dabi was starting to cry now, shaking with fear.
"Honey, honey, sweetie, it's okay. Calm down, okay? You're burning yourself... It's all right." Magne said, walking over and crouching to his level, "your father, did he give you all these bruises and burns? Did he do this you?"
"I'm not allowed to talk about it."
"Honey, it's okay, you can talk about it to me-"
"I'm not allowed to talk about it!"
Kurogiri sighed, looking over at his lover who still looked to be fuming. "Well… this is unexpected."
Day One:
Night
Dabi, or Touya they learned his name was, did calm down but it took awhile and the boy was still nervous all day. Just like as adults, Shuichi and Tenko had quickly become friends, and Tenko tried to get Touya to play games with them too. Jin, though begrudgingly, helped out how he could. The day had been a handful and stressful as can be for them, and all Sako, Magne, and Kurogiri could do was tell themselves in the morning the effects of the quirk would hopefully wear off and things would be back to normal.
Getting the kids to sleep was difficult. Jin helped get Toga to bed, kurogiri tucked in Shuichi and Tenko, and Magne managed to get Touya to bed after much struggle, and was still getting him to sleep?
Now Sako and Kurogiri sat in the small kitchen while Jin watched TV on the sofa and drifted off to sleep.
"They'll be normal in the morning, right?" Sako asked, "do you think they'll remember it?"
"Hard to say," Kurogiri admitted, "I did some research and it really depends on the quirk, Deaging quirks work differently, sometimes the effects wear off quickly, sometimes it's permanent. Sometimes the people affected remember being deaged, sometimes they have amnesia."
"Do we tell them? If they don't remember?"
"Considering what we learned about Dabi, and Tomura's history of wanting to be a hero as well… perhaps it's better we don't tell any of them if they don't remember."
Sako nodded, "makes sense…"
"Also, Sako, again… about earlier, I apologize for asking about your family." Kurogiri said, "you had never spoken about having children, so it surprised me."
He sighed, "it was a very, very long time ago… and still a sore subject... perhaps I will be able to tell you one day. Besides, these kids here are my children as well. And now they're literally children, so the… prior experience, though ended badly, came in handy afterall…"
Day Two:
Morning
"Baby, baby, um- we have a problem!" Magne shook both Sako and Kurogiri awake, they looked at her with tired eyes, waiting for her to answer. "They're older."
"Oh that is a relief." Kurogiri sighed, sitting up. "What's the problem?"
"No, no, they aren't adults! They're still kids, just… just older kids!"
Sako groaned, "dammit."