Chapter Text
Almost five years. That’s how long Izuku Midoriya has been on the planet, and for a year he’s been hassled and teased about not getting his Quirk yet. Bakugo refuses to acknowledge him, calls him Deku and beats him down anytime he feels it’s ‘necessary’. Most kids go so far to say he’s definitely Quirkless, the teachers have started to think it too…kids don’t usually develop Quirks after the age of four, though it can happen as a rarity.
Inko’s phone rang in her pocket, the caller was Naomi, her nurse colleague and friend who intended to visit the family to talk about her Quirklessness and the options around it in the case that Izuku was Quirkless himself. “Sorry Inko, there’s been a villain attack down the road I’m on. I’m going to be late by a few hours, I think.” Naomi said.
“Oh dear. I hope those involved are alright! Just take your time and come by safely.” Inko replied worriedly.
“Always the worrywart, Inko, I’ll be fine. The heroes are already on the scene and have apprehended the villains, it’s just that we’re being diverted down a much longer, congested road because of the damage and the location.” Naomi sighed. “Give little Izuku my apologies too!”
“I will, see you later Naomi.”
“See you soon, Inko.”
All it took was a metaphorical flap of a butterfly’s wings, one decision from a criminal to turn down the wrong road and get into a fight in a much different area. All it took was Izuku meeting Naomi a little later than planned to throw this timeline into a whole different path than that of Genome’s.
“Izuku Honey, my friend is going to be late, a villain closed the roads so she has to go the long way.” Inko said with a strained smile.
Izuku barrelled into his mom to hug her leg. “Awww.” Izuku pouted. “I wanted to see her noooow .”
Inko ruffled Izuku’s hair, “How about we play a few games to pass the time instead then?”
“Yay!” Izuku cheered. “Games. Games!”
Inko chuckled. “How about a classic game oooof rescue the civilian? You can be Mighty Boy and I’ll be the scared lady who needs your help.”
“Okay!” Izuku ran to his room and stripped out of his shirt and shorts, quickly replacing them with his All Might onesie. His mom had already ‘hidden’ herself in her bedroom.
Izuku scoured the house and pulled up to her bedroom, pushing the door open and spotted her. “I AM HERE!” Izuku’s confident cheer burst into the room and Inko smiled brightly. “Mighty Boy! Please save me!” She said dramatically.
Izuku grabbed her arm and hugged her. “Don’t worry, I’ll save you.”
“Thank you, Mighty Boy. You’re my hero!” Inko chuckled. “Does Mighty Boy want to watch some All Might shows?”
Izuku nodded excitedly. “Yes please, mom!”
“Okay Honey, I’m going to start dinner. You get comfy.” Inko said.
Izuku nodded and went to the sofa, flicking the TV on with the remote he instantly pressed the buttons for the kids channel. He was quickly engrossed in the show as All Might turned up to save the day, as he does in those shows. He was almost asleep by the time Inko called him for dinner.
“Is daddy not coming back today?” Izuku asked sadly, his father had been really busy lately.
Inko sighed. “He’s a busy man. I’m sorry Izuku.” She knew something was going on with Hisashi, his eyes, tone and actions, whilst they conveyed mostly love, affection and care toward herself and Izuku, when he complained about others those emotions disappeared and only darkness remained in cold, experienced eyes. Those same eyes glared at all of Izuku’s hero merchandise too, which didn’t settle well with her. She’d like to discard that thought though, if it meant that she could keep the loving husband and caring father in their lives…maybe she could even help him. Izuku’s scraping of a chair brought her out of her thoughts and she smiled. Izuku was really the biggest light in her life after all.
Izuku was quickly placated by the fact that his dinner was katsudon. His favourite meal always managed to cheer him up alongside his mother’s touch. She gently stroked her son’s hand to help him cheer up, but it was weird this time around as Izuku shuddered at her touch. “Izuku? Are you okay?” She was worried what that reaction could have meant.
Izuku felt weird after his mom touched him. She had held him, hugged him, ruffled his hair many times, some of them being today…why was this different and why could he feel an urge to use his mom’s Quirk. He thought about it, it felt right to feel his mom’s Quirk build up inside him. “I feel weird mama.”
Inko was worried, what kind of weird was he feeling? Was he ill? Was he hurt by something? Was it possibly even his Quirk? Inko watched Izuku raise his hand before a spoon floated over to him. “Oh.” Well, wasn't that familiar? “Oh Honey I think you’ve got my Quirk.”
Izuku nodded. “I felt weird…like something made me want to make and use your Quirk.”
“What does that mean Izuku?” Inko asked curiously.
Izuku shrugged. “I felt like I wanted to make your Quirk and then I did and used it.”
“Hmm, well, we have your Quirk test tomorrow since we had to make sure if you had a Quirk or not.” Inko said. “For now, how about we call your father and see if he’s excited.”
Izuku shook his head. “No! I wanna show him when he comes home!”
Inko laughed. “Alright, I can see how happy it would make you, so I’ll let you show him when he’s back.”
Izuku was bouncing around pulling things towards him a bit too much. It turned out trying to keep a very hyper and excited kid from pulling dangerous objects was hard when he was accidentally pulling things. Naomi ended up turning up after dinner and was laughing at the coincidence that Izuku managed to get his Quirk in between the morning and the afternoon. She had still explained her experiences as a Quirkless person though and it made Izuku sad, Izuku’s mind was more determined to help her and people like her now.
~~~~~~~~
The doctor Inko had taken Izuku to was Hisashi’s personal doctor, Doctor Tsubasa. She didn’t know if she should trust him that much considering Hisashi’s own shadiness. His reputation at the clinic was the only reason she went along with the visit, but she wished she hadn’t accidentally gone along with things too early. The doctor had gone through the normal paediatric exam stuff first which distracted her, but then Izuku said something shocking.
“Wow, how old are you, mister?” Izuku asked.
Inko sputtered. “Izuku, you can’t ask a person their age like that, it’s rude.”
Izuku slapped his hands over his mouth. “I’m sorry sir!”
The doctor chuckled. “I’ve had weirder questions asked, but I’m interested in why I was asked that after I had examined him.”
“Oh, it’s because I can tell you have a Quirk that makes you age slower! But it also makes you lazier.” Izuku explained.
“I’m so sorry doctor, we went into a normal checkup routine and I forgot to mention his Quirk came in…I thought it was mine though.” Inko frowned.
“I don’t want to use his Quirk anyway, I don’t want to have less energy!” Izuku pouted.
“Use his Quirk…” The doctor hummed. “Maybe he has a copy Quirk of some kind?”
“A copy…but that shouldn’t be possible right? My Quirk is object attraction and my husband’s is Fire Breath.” Inko said in response.
“It’s quite rare, but just like how genetics can mutate in animals on very rare occasions, causing them to have different visual or biological features, extreme mutations can occur with a child’s Quirk when they’re born too. That can make their Quirk unrelated to their parents’.” The man explained before handing over a small leaflet. “Now that I remember the statistics, I think I will also need to do the Quirked body test anyway.”
“Why? He has a Quirk after all.” Inko said with caution.
The doctor looked into her eyes, causing her some discomfort. “This is another rarity, but since he is a late bloomer, it would be safer to check for the appendix and double pinky toe joints Quirkless children usually have. It's a very, and I mean one in a million, rare chance for those with a primordial body to get a Quirk. The number of kids with the second pinky joins could be more common, because we can’t exactly take into account those who received their Quirks without needing to be checked, but we estimate it’s inconsequential numbers. So, for your son’s safety we should check so that I know if I need to inform you of the medical precautions that come with a primordial body.” He explained seriously.
Inko was a little concerned by what that meant, so she relented. “Alright. Izuku Honey, you’re going to have to have a few more tests done to check a few things, you need to behave alright?”
Izuku nodded with a massive smile. “I’ll be good mama, I promise.”
“I know you will.” She patted Izuku’s head.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku was buzzing, he had a Quirk…it allowed him to make his mom’s Quirk and the doctor’s. The doctor’s Quirk wouldn’t help him be a hero though, it’d just make him lazy as he said. He stayed as calm as possible through what the doctor said were ex…rays and an M R I, whatever those were. The doctor said it was so he could see organs in his body and the x-ray was for his toe bones.
He was cuddled into his mom’s side in no time after he was done, it was uncomfortable going through those tests. The doctor made a noise that sounded like he was fed up or something. He listened to the man attentively, “Well, it seems young Midoriya here is a lucky boy, he has a primordial body, but still has a Quirk.”
His mom held him tightly and he snuggled deeper into her side. “What does that mean in basic terms then?”
“Hmm. When humans evolved to harbour Quirks, our bodies evolved to remove unnecessary things too. It removed the necessity for the wisdom teeth, got rid of the appendix and the double pinky toe joint. The toe joint doesn’t change much and in fact, some Quirks do keep that, but the appendix is…” The doctor sighed as he pulled out an information packet and looked tired. “Yes, I know the title is ‘taking care of your Quirkless child’, but it contains the same information I’m going to tell you. The appendix is quite a useless organ. It does contribute to helping other organs, but it’s not exactly needed to live. When we got Quirks, we evolved past the necessity for whatever things it did as other organs evolved to take over for it. However, Izuku has that organ and well, there are a few illnesses attributed to it. One common one is appendicitis, which can happen at an age really, but is most common around the ages of 10 - 30. The symptoms are a pain in the tummy area, it can be on and off pain. Then it’d move to the lower right.” The man pulled out a ruler and gently poked it by the side of his tummy. “It’d be constant and pretty bad by then, if you pressed onto that area it would cause the pain to feel worse, which although harsh and painful, is a decent test. Other symptoms are feeling sick, being sick, losing one’s appetite, constipation or diarrhoea and a high temperature and flushed face.”
“That…is really good to know.” His mom said as she stroked through his hair. “What about the wisdom teeth?”
“They could come through in time, but it could be one tooth, two, three or all four, or if he’s lucky, there won’t be any anyway since not everyone gets them. They come in around adulthood anyway, so it’d be better to look into that later. If they come in, a dentist will help with those issues. The guidance is in the information booklets.” The moustached doctor said. “Now kiddo, enjoy your time with your Quirk, but be careful with what you copy or say out loud, some people don’t like their Quirks being said out loud and some Quirks are dangerous to talk about.”
“Okay!” He nodded, understanding what the man meant.
“Thank you for helping us, Dr. Tsubasa.” Mom gripped onto his hand. “C’mon Izuku, we’re getting take out katsudon tonight and your dad should be back soon.”
“Yay, katsudon!” He smiled brightly as he hugged her. He really loved his mama.
“Aw. Thank you Izuku.” Mom smiled back before turning to leave. “Oh, and doctor, my son wants to keep his Quirk a surprise to Hisashi. I know you would probably relay it to him otherwise since we usually have you relay our medical stuff.”
“I can do that, have a good day you two.” The doctor said on the way out.
~
Garaki sat down on his chair and started thinking out loud. “A copy Quirk…not the most applicable Quirk for All For One’s son to have, but it’s not the worst. Must be because of All For One’s Quirk causing genetic malleability.” He got up and locked his door before sitting back down and picking up his phone. He scrolls to Mr. Midoriya and calls the contact. “Maybe the generation one Quirk Master has has also given his boy a primordial body, there obviously isn’t much research in that area though, so who knows.” He muttered before All For One picked up.
“Doctor, I assume you finished my son’s Quirk test. What’s the verdict?” All For One asked.
“Hmm. I can tell you that he does have a Quirk.” He said. “However, he does have a primordial body.”
“And?” The man asked impatiently, of course he didn’t mind about his son’s primordial body since his body would also be one due to being a generation one Quirk user.
“It came in last night it seems, but your wife asked me to keep it a secret. Your son will show or tell you tonight though, Master. He seemed excited to show you after all.” He said, hoping All For One would accept that, he didn’t want to disappoint the young master or All For One’s wife either.
“What a development. Yes, perhaps don’t ruin the surprise.” All For One said with what must have been a smile.
Garaki was relieved that he didn’t have to stress over revealing Quirks. Only for the family would he even think of withholding harmless information from his boss.
~~~~~~~~
Dinner was yummy, but Izuku couldn’t wait for daddy to come back. He needed to show him his Quirk, maybe he could get Fire Breath too! Then he’d have both mama and daddy’s Quirks.
With the jingling of keys and the opening of the front door, “I’m home!” his dad’s voice announced.
“Daddy!” Izuku ran towards his dad, the white haired man scooped him up and hugged him.
“Hello my little Prince. How have you been then?” His dad chuckled.
“I got my Quirk daddy!” He nuzzled into his dad, the brushing of his hair against his dad’s chin was enough to sense his dad’s quirk. It wasn’t Fire Breath…why did it feel like the ability to take, keep or give Quirks?
“What a surprise! What is it, Izuku?” Dad asked.
“I can Copy Quirks! That’s what the doctor said, but I think I can make ‘em! Look!” Izuku made his dad’s quirk and displayed it on his hands. “I don’t why-”
His father’s eyes widened. “I need you to not use my Quirk, Izuku.” He whispered. “It’s dangerous for people to know about that one, that’s why I use Fire Breath.”
Izuku stared into his dad’s unique red eyes. They would always be so cool, they were like clear mirrors. “D-does mama know?”
“No she doesn’t. I don’t like not telling her the truth, but people like us could be harmed for our Quirks.” Daddy said. “People think mine belongs to a villain, like the Quirk Boogeyman who could do what I can, so I want to be safe.”
“B-but mama would understand.” Izuku said.
Dad kissed his forehead and placed him down onto the ground. “Maybe at some point, but not now, okay?”
“Okay…” Izuku pouted.
“I’m in the kitchen ‘Sashi!” Mama shouted from the kitchen.
Izuku rushed to follow his dad into the kitchen so he could hear his talk with his mama. His mom was tall, but his daddy was a giant! Daddy leaned down and kissed his mama. “Thanks for cooking, Princess.”
“Ew.” Izuku giggled.
“I’ll show you ‘ew’ young man.” Daddy walked over and scooped Izuku back up again and started peppering his face with kisses.
“Stop. I’m sorry!” Izuku giggled all the way through it as he lightly pushed against his dad. “Stahp!”
His dad relented and put him down on the sofa. “Learned your lesson young man?”
Izuku nodded, though he’d do it again at some point. “Okay, your mom and I, we need to talk about your Quirk now that we think we know what it is.”
Mama brought the food out and placed it on the table. “Hisashi, Izuku. Foods ready, can you get the plates out please!”
Him and his dad made their way over and quickly laid the table. When all three of them were seated, his dad spoke. “So about our little Prince’s Quirk…we obviously can’t say he’s Quirkless and have him pretend he is the whole time. Quirk accidents happen, whether in anger, sadness, forgetfulness or extreme rage.”
“‘Sashi, I don’t believe Izuku has rage in him.” Mama chuckled.
Dad nodded. “I know, he’s a hero fanatic through and through.” Izuku felt the pain in his dad’s voice, was he disappointed in that fact? “However, we can’t have his full potential written down. I despise heroes, you know that, and it’s mainly because of how society is handled.”
“Why can’t people know about my Quirk.” Izuku asked curiously.
Mama sighed. “It’s just a regular copy Quirk. So I need to know this too, I know I’ve allowed you to keep those things private, but-but I want to know too.”
Daddy smiled, but it wasn’t as wide as usual and his eyes seemed even blanker than usual. “The HPSC isn’t ‘clean’, and that’s in a few ways. They buy kids off of parents at best and take them at worst. I also know about a few heroes they’ve had do their…dirty business. Izuku’s too young to know the details.” Daddy said they take people…heroes wouldn’t do that. And what is dirty business? Washing clothes? Washing dishes?
Mama seemed a little worried. “I see. Anything else.”
“Heroes are too relied upon. Heroes like All Might create a false sense of security for everyone, when in reality someone could come along and attempt to ruin your life and if you retaliate with your Quirk you’re also in the wrong.” Daddy said, that’s not true though, All Might is amazing! He’d save everyone!
“There are heroes everywhere daddy, someone would be around to save people.” Izuku said.
Dad shook his head. “Izuku, I’m sorry. There are people out there right now who are stealing food and water just to be able to survive, to be able to supply their family that they love and support. There are people who have been hurt so much that they lash out and well, obviously there are just people who are villains.”
“Oh…” Izuku started tearing up. “T-then-then I wanna be a hero that will help those people!”
“I’m sure you would be such a great hero with those people in mind Izuku.” Daddy laughed.
~
“I have a personal trainer that would love to train you, and they would be trustworthy enough to know about your Quirk.” Hisashi said. “Give me some time to set you up with them. Inko, we’ll need to record his Quirk down as a copy Quirk that just copies a Quirk for a certain amount of hours anyways. But I trust Izuku with his instincts, that he makes your Quirk and not exactly ‘copies’. That implies that he’ll be able to use the Quirk permanently and remake it whenever he wants. Thus, I believe he should copy your Quirk for outside use as schools can be cruel and well, object attraction can be useful even if it doesn’t seem powerful. Fire Breath…well you could guess how that may go.” He explained, he may be sociopathic and bordering psychopathic, but he does care about his family. If anyone says otherwise, they can fight him, though they’d always lose.
“Yes…right, that’s fair. Oh, god, Honey, please don’t use Fire Breath until we can find a safe place for you!” Inko panicked. His wife was always worried in multiple ways, it was quite valid when Izuku hadn’t developed a Quirk for nearly a year, though he is sure both of them would love Izuku regardless. Hell, Izuku was just about guaranteed to be Quirkless since Hisashi was a generation one Quirk user and Inko was generation four.
“I won’t use daddy’s Quirk, I promise!” Izuku said loudly.
Hisashi smiled as Izuku was being truthful, since that was him also declaring not to use All For One. His Prince…he was headstrong into being a hero, nothing less than seeing a hero fail or well, just not doing their job would probably open his eyes to the heroes’ disgusting world. Even that might not be enough, nothing short of either him, Inko or Hisashi himself being injured or killed would probably cause him to snap and even then, he’d probably become a vigilante instead. Hisashi has Quirks capable of brainwashing someone, but…no, he can’t do that to Izuku or Inko. He used it on that Shimura kid because he needs him for his cause (and maybe for a younger body to avoid Erasure’s dangers since they missed the boat on getting that Quirk), but even then, after Izuku came along and warmed his heart further…no- he needs Tomura Shigaraki. One For All threatens him so much at this point, its power is so much greater than his own and one wrong move…
“Daddy?” Izuku was peering into his eyes.
“Sorry Izuku, I was lost in thought.” He smiled. “I’ll approach my trainer, he should be able to start tutoring you in self defence in the next few days.”
“Okay!” Izuku’s smile crept back as he dug into his food.
Hisashi played with his own food and ate bits and pieces. The only thing he could think of was messing with the Bakugo brat. Somehow though, Izuku cared to follow the kid around, even if it resulted in being teased or getting hurt. Bullied is the main word to describe it all, but perhaps that will change with a little encouragement, whether that’s from Izuku or himself, the boy needs to change his attitude.
After their meals were finished, Izuku was almost out like a light. “Izuku, do you remember what you need to do tomorrow?”
“Mmm…say I can copy Quirks and that I can use for a long time, but I’m only using mama’s unless I copy someone else’s.” Izuku cutely smiled with barely open eyelids.
Hisashi chuckled. “Exactly.” He ruffled Izuku’s hair before gently picking him up and carried him to his room. He placed him in bed, tucked him in and gave him a gentle kiss to the forehead. “Goodnight, my little Prince.”
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed and I can't wait to post more of this, eventually. Remember, it's gonna be slow updates!
See you later!
Chapter 2: School Day
Summary:
Izuku goes to school and shows of his Quirk a little and everyone seems to be acting much nicer. Hisashi knows what to do immediately after learning that.
Notes:
Hi! It's been about three weeks and that's kind of the length of time I was going for before posting a new chapter (though I was gonna give it a month), once one of my other fics are done I may ramp this one up on writing and production.
Also, if you've seen the MHA manga leaks for 419...pain is all I can say and I know those who have seen them might relate to that...so here's a nice chapter hopefully to offset that a little. I do ask not to discuss the content of the leaks though, even if I've brought it up vaguely, some people want to be spoiler free!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was going to school today and he could show off his Quirk! Mama had already left for work so his daddy was taking him in today. He was currently in his dad’s lap and nuzzling into his dad’s chest. He just wanted to get to school now so he can show his Quirk to Kacchan!
“My Little Prince, do you want to have Fire Breath?” Daddy asked. Though Izuku thought he wasn’t allowed that one yet.
Izuku nodded excitedly anyway. He wanted to breathe fire! “Please!”
“Okay, but you’ve got to promise not to use it right away and you have to let me give it to you and then take it back.” Daddy said seriously before placing his hand in Izuku’s hair. The red light is flashy and-oh…he felt that Quirk, it feels like something he’d make. He can feel how it works as his throat feels more thick? He can breathe fire!
“I have it!” Izuku smiled brightly.
His father smiled. “Okay, I’ll take it back now, just make sure you’re willing to give it back.”
Izuku nodded ecstatically. “I can make it, it’s okay to take it back now!” The Quirk stayed though.
“It seems, much like your late uncle, your Quirk is untouchable to me.” Daddy hummed. “How about you make my Quirk, the secret one.” He smiled.
Izuku thought about giving and taking Quirks and built the Quirk. The little holes on his hands meant he’d made it. “You want me to give Fire Breath back?”
“You’re a smart bunny, my Little Prince. Yes please.” Izuku smiled as he placed his hand on daddy’s hand and pushed out what was Fire Breath. His light was green instead of red!
“There you go!” Daddy cheered. “Well done. Now, how about we get you to school. I bet your classmates will love your Quirk.” He smiled as he picked Izuku up and placed him onto the floor. School was gonna be great!
~~~~~~~~
Izuku was finally at school and he had a Quirk he could show off now! Kacchan still looked at him like he was annoyed…but he has a Quirk now, so it should be fine! They can be heroes together again and that’s all he wants. He entered the classroom more bubbly than ever and hung his bag up with a massive smile.
“Why are you so happy Deku?” Kacchan almost sounded like he growled.
“I got my Quirk!” Izuku said with a wide smile.
“Wait, really?” Kacchan’s emotions shifted in an instant, he seemed a little more excited and happy. “I thought you weren’t gonna get one, it’s really late.”
Izuku nodded. “It’s late ‘cuz I have a weird body and my Quirk isn’t like mama and daddy’s. I was told I should be Quirkless, but I got very lucky! I have a copy Quirk Kacchan, I can copy someone’s Quirk for a while. I don’t know for how long yet.” He lied.
“Tch. Maybe you could be my sidekick then.” Kacchan said as he calmed back down. Did he not like the copy Quirk as much? And why did his eyes look at everyone else? “As long as you don’t look down on me.”
Izuku pouted. “I will be a hero! Not just a sidekick! And-and I’d never look down on you! You’re always amazing, Kacchan!”
Kacchan seemed a little annoyed but then seemed to get angrier as he looked around the room again. “Sidekicks need their Hero and you need someone for your Quirk, so you have to be a fuckin’ sidekick.” Kacchan glared at him with small crackles coming from his hands.
“Eep.” Izuku shrank slightly. “I-I’ll prove I can be a hero!”
“Midoriya stop provoking Bakugo.” The teacher walked in acting like a meanie as usual.
“Oi. Deku said he got his damn Quirk.” Kacchan said with a scowl.
“Are you lying, Midoriya?” Mrs. Funaki asked.
Izuku huffed, now that he has a Quirk, he’s annoyed she’s not believing him. “I have a copy Quirk, I can prove it!”
“Go on then, copy Bakugo’s Quirk.” She seemed unhappy.
“Can I Kacchan?” Izuku asked.
Kacchan sighed and held out his hand. “Teach said so, so go ahead.”
Izuku shook Kacchan’s hand and shuddered. Kacchan looked confused. “That happens when I copy a Quirk.” He whispered to Kacchan. The feeling of an explosive liquid seeping out of his palms, warm running blood to heat his hands, heat resistant body and more compact muscles was recognised as he built up Kacchan’s Quirk. “I’ve copied it.”
“I don’t see it, Midoriya.” The tone was harsh, Izuku wished she’d calm down.
“Please wait! I need sweat to use it, just wait a few more seconds!” Izuku begged. He got the time he needed and let his hands warm up and put his palms up, small firecracker sounds accompanied the small pops of explosions. “See!”
“Oh. Okay you can stop now, Midoriya.” He did as asked and finally Ms. Funaki perked up a bit. “Have your parents registered your Quirk yet?”
“They’re doing it today.” Izuku smiled.
“Okay Midoriya. Class, don’t treat him badly, got it?” The teacher said firmly. It was that easy to make them stop being mean?
Class went by quickly until it came to lunch time. Kacchan grabbed him and dragged him away from everyone. “So you didn’t break our promise, Deku.”
Izuku smiled. “I never broke it, I’ve always wanted to be Kacchan’s hero partner.”
“You’d be dead weight without a Quirk.” Kacchan grit his teeth. “That doesn’t fuckin’ matter anyway, you got your Quirk.”
“You said I’d be a sidekick, you’re mean Kacchan.” Izuku commented with a pout.
“I only said because there were damn extras around, you best train your damn hardest to be a hero or else.” Kacchan glared at him, seriously telling him to train.
Izuku nodded enthusiastically. “My daddy told me he’d find someone to help train me. I’ll start soon I promise!”
“Good, Deku.” Kacchan seemed to relax a bit.
“Why am I still Deku?” Izuku whined and pouted a little.
Kacchan shrugged. “Because…because you’re Deku! And you call me Kacchan you bastard.” Izuku supposed that made some sense.
“Okay…” Izuku smiled. “So I can still call you Kacchan?”
“Only if you keep the shitty nickname, Deku.” Kacchan said.
Izuku nodded. “Okay Kacchan, but can we make it mean something different?”
Kacchan hummed and then nodded. “Deku sounds like Dekiru, meaning ‘You can do it’?”
Izuku’s wide smile came back as he nodded. “It’s perfect!”
~~
Lunch came around quickly and Izuku was excited, Kacchan had said Heroes vs Villains today was gonna be different! Kacchan promptly pulled Izuku to their group. “Deku is on the Heroes team this time, Wings, you’re the villain.”
“Huh? But Deku’s always the villain!” Tsubasa disagreed with Kacchan this time.
Kacchan started growling like an angry dog. “I make the rules. Deku’s my partner.”
“Whatever.” Tsubasa almost seemed to be pouting.
“Let’s go Deku!” Kacchan grinned.
Izuku and Kacchan ran around trying to chase Tsubasa, his wings giving them a disadvantage since they can’t use their explosive Quirks outside. When both Izuku and Kacchan caught Tsubasa, Izuku shuddered and felt like he could grow some strong wings. He couldn’t actually do that though because he’d break his shirt.
“Why’d you shake like that, Nerd?” Kacchan had noticed.
“I…uh, it happened because I copied his Quirk.” Izuku replied.
Kacchan frowned, looking like he wanted to say something. “Why haven’t you grown wings then?”
“Because I can choose when to activate them!” Izuku smiled. “I can’t activate them right now because my clothes would rip and mama and daddy wouldn’t be happy if I did that.”
“Right.” Kacchan frowned. “How many Quirks can you copy?”
“Uhhh…I haven’t copied so many before.” Izuku was wondering what Kacchan was thinking, but his dad had told him to say he can only use five at once.
“Oi, Fingers, let him copy your Quirk.” Kacchan demanded.
“I-It’s okay if you don’t wanna!” Izuku rapidly added.
“Eh. Just get it over with.” The boy seemed to be fed up as he held out his hand. Izuku took it and shook it, the feeling of his fingers growing in length was prominent so that’s what he recreated.
Izuku pushed out the feeling of using it and his fingers slowly grew longer. He also popped his hands, the explosions coming out from under the area of the extended fingers using Kacchan’s Quirk. “Oh. I can use both at the same time!”
“That seems so useful Deku!” Kacchan grinned. “How long can you use them for?”
Izuku was told to play it off as half of the day too so he used his mom’s Quirk to pull a little branch up to him. “I still have mom’s Quirk from this morning.”
“Damn.” Kacchan’s grin widened. “If you’re paired with someone you could learn to use their Quirk or many people’s Quirks and then beat the bad guys easily!” The silent agreement was ‘you’re gonna be paired with me, so you’re using my fucking Quirk, Nerd.’ That’s what Kacchan would say, he would never say the bad words! He apologises mentally for even thinking about them.
“Yeah!” Izuku cheered.
“Lunch is over kids! Come back inside now!” One of the teachers shouted.
The kids scrambled back inside with the teachers definitely looking at Izuku more, but Izuku didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing…he may have to tell his dad they're being weird. Mama would get worried, but daddy’s always calm.
The classroom seemed less…heavy? now that Izuku had a Quirk. The lessons were fun, there weren't any complaints or anything about his work! Even him speaking out loud about certain maths problems was ignored, or at least they just quietly mentioned that he was actually talking.
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi was at the school gates waiting for his son. Sue him for being distrustful of every single person other than himself- and Inko of course. He may be Japan’s most powerful supervillain, but he was still a loving husband and father! He loved all of his family after all…Yoichi’s death…that was an accident, he thought he held back after all.
“Daddy!” He knew that high pitched voice anywhere. His son was running towards him, thankfully voiding Hisashi’s previous thoughts. “Bunny. You seem excited, did something good happen today?”
“I got to show off my Quirk a little! The teachers were nicer and-and they weren’t mean about my muttering today and most of the kids weren’t looking at me weirdly and calling me Deku and…” Hisashi was still stuck on ‘the teachers were nicer’...so that’s how the school was then. And okay, his contingency for if Izuku was Quirkless was to leave him to the world’s cruelness, but Hisashi was still going to have eyes on Izuku at all times to be ready to catch him and support him! His thoughts were cut out by “Kacchan’s being nice too! He’s still gonna call me Deku since I call him Kacchan, but he’s making it mean Dekiru now!”
Hisashi picked his son up and placed him on his shoulders to give him a piggyback ride. “I’m glad your friend is being kinder. However, your teachers were always supposed to be nice to you and gently correct you if you’re doing anything wrong. One example is that they should have stopped the kids calling you that bad nickname to begin with.” He felt his Quirks throbbing under his skin, he wanted to destroy those teachers with his bare hands.
One of the teachers approached him with a smile slapped on her face. “I assume you’re Hisashi Midoriya. Your son has a pretty strong Quirk, he’s gonna make quite the hero.”
“That’s funny. From my son’s thoughtful praises of your behaviour today, it seems you only started to care about my son after he developed a Quirk.” Hisashi chuckled coldly as he let his eyes pierce through the woman who was now deadly silent. He knew the appearance of his eyes was creepy enough to unnerve her. “Hmm…I wonder how well you and my associates would get along.” His grin became deadly, he knew where all these people lived since, because he knew he possibly needed to make sure his kid was safe with some blackmail. “You have a lovely house by the way. That cream walled, brown roofed house with a lovely new conservatory and a very decent and recent dark blue BMW. Say hi to the kids and husband too.”
The woman’s face paled, good. He did mean business after all. “R-right. I-I’m sorry for-”
Hisashi raised a hand, motioning her to stop talking. “I have to stop you right there. You’re sorry for nothing. I know your type of people, you’re sorry that you were caught and you’re now scared of the consequences of your actions. Don’t worry though, you have one more chance.” Hisashi kept smiling, he was being generous keeping these people alive, but in all honesty he couldn’t cause suspicion around Aldera...not yet anyway. Plus, his son was smart and would figure it out, causing him to be upset. He couldn’t upset Izuku… “Do tell me if they stop being nice to you Bunny, or if they let other kids be mean to you.” He said towards his son.
“Okay daddy! Can we go home now, I wanna see mama!” Izuku definitely pouted. To be young and ignorant, those were the days. Which didn’t last long for him back in his day because of his Quirk .
“Okay my Little Prince, I’ll grant you your wish.” Hisashi made to leave. “Oh, and Mrs Funaki, make sure all the staff know to keep my Little Prince happy too. I wouldn’t want them to make me and Izuku unhappy either.”
Funaki nodded and then scarpered away. “Daddy, why did you make Mrs Funaki run away?”
“Oh. I’m sorry Izuku, I got caught up in what I was talking about. I acted scary for a bit, because sometimes acting scary stops unwanted problems. I did that to make sure you were actually going to be happy here. I’d hate to have to pull you from the school after all.” Hisashi grabbed one of his son’s hands that were holding onto his hair.
“Please don’t! I wanna be here with Kacchan!” His son begged. The Bakugos were deeply connected to them at this point. Mitsuki Bakugo has been Inko’s best friend since college and Katsuki Bakugo has…well it seems he’s not been too friendly, but he has apparently changed his tune. As Quirkist as that may be for a five year old…he was five years old, he’ll hopefully learn to not be like that.
“I won’t make you leave. However, we’ll have to talk about this with your mother, young man. I don’t like that you didn’t tell us about how the kids and teachers were treating you before now.” Hisashi said sternly. “You need to be more honest with us with how the teachers and kids act with you, okay? If they’re not being nice, you tell us.”
Izuku teared up a little. “Sorry for not telling you and mama, daddy. You work a lot so I didn’t want to worry you and mom…”
‘She always worries…Izuku’s way too caring.’ “I understand Bunny, but you deserve to be happy too and not hiding when you’re hurt.” Hisashi replied.
“I’ll try.” Izuku cried. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright, Bunny.” Hisashi smiled. “You understand what was wrong now, so you can learn from that and do better.” He hummed. “How about we go out later to get you some training clothes? I’m sure you’ll need them.”
“I can wear my All Might onesie!”
“That isn’t suitable for training! You need thinner clothes!” Hisashi chuckled, even though he detested that damn All Might. “C’mon you little demon, we’re getting those clothes while your mother is at work.”
“Okay!” Izuku sounded excited, but Hisashi knew this was an opportunity to introduce him to Tomura and Kurogiri and get him used to them and them used to him. He can educate him in how the world actually treats people that fit certain boxes and try to push him down a different path. It was unlikely to work though, so at least his son will be taught about the greys of society instead of the black and white all of the idiots out there will paint it to be. In the meantime, perhaps he’ll dig deeper on the Izuku’s school’s staff. They might need to be backed into a corner as much as possible, so he’ll make sure they’re under his thumb if need be.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!
Note for people wondering why AFO is nicer in this fic: If people are reading this as a standalone or just need a refresher from the original fic, I mentioned Hisashi was split on deciding around his family. In the other dimension, the reason he cares for them in general instead of being totally heartless is that I had him hit with an amnesia Quirk in this universe and the feelings remained even when he regained his memories. Most of his niceness (right now anyway) is softness towards Izuku.
Anyway, I'll see you in a month or less.
Chapter 3: Training Time!
Summary:
Izuku starts training towards being a hero and meets someone unexpected in the process.
Notes:
Hi! I meant to post a couple weeks ago, but I've both been focused on my other fics and been trying to motivate myself to write/post.
Warning(s):
Brief mentions of (canonical) deaths
Small hints/spoilers from the manga
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Days started to pass and Izuku was happier than ever, no one was picking on him anymore and his teachers were being so nice! He could make all of his classes Quirks now too! He wanted to use them all, but daddy and mama told him not to. Well, not unless they touched him recently.
Mama and daddy were sitting down with him now as he was pulled into a talk about training. “Princess, he needs to learn to protect himself.”
“I know you two talked about it, but he’s five and I’m still not sure he needs that right now.” Mama said.
“I disagree, children learn better and faster. Plus, with his Quirk it’d be advisable for him to be able to defend himself in case people figure it out.” Daddy said.
“I said to Kacchan I would start training! Please mama, let me train!” Izuku pleaded.
“I don’t like this though, I-I get a bad vibe from this, from you when you get like this.” Mama cried.
Daddy let out a sad(?) breath. “I’m sorry, Inko. I am. I need you to trust me with this though, he’ll need this at some point and he wants it right now.”
Mama seemed to think about it. “I’ll allow it, as long as I know that he’s being safe and that I can go watch him!” She said.
“Okay. I’ll have to notify the trainer about that as he does have clients that usually have reservations with strangers. I’m an exception, but don’t be surprised if he does one on one sessions with Izuku when you’re there.” Daddy said.
“Alright.” Mama sighed.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku’s training made him feel sweaty and icky, but Kacchan wouldn’t ever back down so he won’t either! He was getting the hang of it session after session though. The man training him seemed to be daddy’s friend since they were talking and laughing. Mama wasn’t too happy though, at least, she wasn’t at the start of the sessions, but as Izuku got more confident and they were going well she was leaving him with daddy more.
His teacher is strict and tires him out, but he’s so cool and knows how to help him fight! His Quirk wasn’t something unexpected, but it wasn’t usual either as it allowed the man to change energy into power. He was eating a lot before they’d finished their session and the place closed for the night.
One session was weird though as the kid they brought in seemed angry. “Hi! Are you here for Mr. Araki’s sessions too?”
The boy was scratching his neck a lot and it worried Izuku. “Who is this NPC?” The boy growled. “I’m the only one who’s supposed to be here right now!”
“Shigaraki. It is a joint session today.” Mr. Araki answered and also gave Izuku the boy’s name…half of it at least.
“Hi Shigaraki, I’m Izuku Midoriya!” Izuku cheered.
“Grrr. Master said I could destroy whatever I hate! I hate you being here!” He lunged with his hand out but a portal opened up between them and Shigaraki was then held by his father.
“Now now, Tomura, please refrain from attacking my little Prince.” Daddy said. “If you attempt that again I may have to withhold your Quirk from you.”
“Your Prince? But I’m your-”
“This is my son, Tomura, your brother.” Daddy smiled, but-
“Brother?” Izuku frowned. “But he doesn’t live with us and mama?”
His daddy pulled him to the side while Shigaraki looked shocked. “You have to keep him a secret, Izuku. He’s been hurt a lot and I’ve been helping him. He sees me as a father because of it, but mama doesn’t know because she doesn’t need to know. Okay?”
“So…do I call him my brother?” Izuku asked curiously.
“If you want to, but Tomura may not like it. Try to get along with him, okay?” Daddy asked.
“Okay daddy!” Izuku smiled brightly as he was brought back to Shigaraki.
“Tomura, this is Izuku Midoriya, Izuku, this is Tomura Shigaraki.” Daddy smiled. “Izuku, this man over here is Kurogiri. He’s the one who’s mainly taking care of Shigaraki.”
The smoke-covered man with glowing yellow eyes bowed. “Nice to make your acquaintance, young Master.”
Izuku giggled. “You talk funny.”
Kurogiri seemed to stand there and waited to talk again. “I’m just polite, young Master. Think nothing of it.”
“He’s always been like that.” Daddy chuckled. “Keep my kids safe, Kurogiri. I have some business to attend to. Sorry that I can’t stick around this time, Bunny, but I trust Kurogiri to look after you, he’s a great friend.”
“Awww, okay. Thank you for looking after me, Kurogiri!” Izuku smiled.
“Of course, young Master.” Kurogiri replied.
“Too bright.” Shigaraki grumbled.
“Okay, Kurogiri, please send me to where we discussed earlier.” Daddy said.
“Of course, Sir.” Kurogiri said before opening a portal.
Daddy started to walk through it and waved to Izuku. “I’ll be back as your session ends, work hard young man!”
“I will!” Izuku cheered as his dad disappeared.
“Why are you so annoying?” Shigaraki growled.
Izuku pouted. “What do you mean?”
“You’re too bright and happy, it’s annoying!” Shigaraki shouted. “So why are you here?”
“I’m training to be a hero!” Izuku grinned. “And what about you?”
“A hero?! I hate heroes! They’ve never helped me so I wanna destroy them!” Shigaraki shouted. “I wanna destroy you! But I can’t dammit!”
“Boys. It’s alright to have any viewpoint, but if you attack him for his dream, Shigaraki, I will make your training hell.” Mr. Araki said. “Now, get your Quirk gloves on.” Shigaraki silently grabbed gloves out of his pockets and put them on. They were missing a few fingers which was interesting. “Now, you two try moves out on the training dummies and don’t go overboard. If you’re too sloppy I will make it hell for you!” The man chuckled.
Izuku watched Shigaraki as he attacked his own dummy. The boy’s moves were fluid and precise. Izuku wanted to be like that, he wasn’t as good with his moves yet. The moves seemed to have anger in them though and since he hated heroes something bad must have happened.
When they’d finished, Mr. Araki praised them both for their progress and left them to talk to each other. “Shigaraki, are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be, hero kid ?” Shigaraki said angrily.
“Because you seem mad. I wanna know if you’re okay.” Izuku smiled.
“I will be when all the heroes and assholes die.” Shigaraki glared at him.
“Die?! But they haven’t done anything wrong!” Izuku shouted.
“Tell that to the guys who left me to die on the streets because I was ‘scary’ and covered in blood.” Shigaraki growled.
Izuku teared up and started crying. “I’m sorry!” He instinctively hugged Shigaraki. “You didn’t deserve to be left like that.”
“Huh?” Shigaraki seemed surprised. “And what if I killed my family?”
“Did you mean to do it?” Izuku asked.
“I don’t remember…all I remember is my Quirk coming in and something making me so mad I destroyed everything.” Shigaraki replied. "That killed my family."
“Then…then I won’t blame you!” Izuku held him tighter. Shigaraki’s a kid like him, it wasn’t his fault, it couldn’t have been!
Shigaraki pushed him away and his uncovered finger brushed across Izuku’s skin. “Get off of me, crybaby…I’ve had enough of this hug dammit.”
Izuku could feel that this boy’s Quirk…it was a Quirk that turns things he touches to dust. Though that isn’t exactly accurate…it took things apart and turned them into tiny pieces. It should be a five finger Quirk that only hits the one thing he touched, but it’s also stronger. It activates on touch and spreads, but it can be controlled and on command. Shigaraki doesn’t seem to know that though and he had to have accidentally killed people because he touched them. “I know your Quirk now, because you touched me. You turn things to dust…”
“Hmph. Scared of me now, Prince ?” Well that sounded a little like Kacchan challenging him, but Izuku could only think of good things Shigaraki’s Quirk could do!
“No. It’s a cool Quirk! You could destroy debris off of civilians or open holes in walls to evacuate people or help people out of a villain’s capture!” Izuku smiled, but he did understand that if no one helped Shigaraki he deserved to hate heroes. “You don’t have to be a hero though, it’s okay that you hate them!”
“You’re so weird.” Shigaraki shook his head. “What is your Quirk then? Identifying other’s Quirks?”
Izuku shook his head before making Shigaraki’s Quirk. “Sensei! Can I destroy something?”
Mr. Araki sighed. “Take this old wood sword, I was about to throw it out anyway.”
Izuku bowed. “Thank you!” He said as he picked up the sword and curled his hand around it. The sword crumbled into dust and the thing was a pile on the floor now. “I can copy Quirks!”
“Well, that’s interesting. I guess you weren’t too bad, Midoriya, but don’t be so bubbly and try to talk about heroes to me. I still hate them!” Shigaraki said.
“Okay, Shigaraki. I’ll be more careful.” Izuku smiled.
“It seems you two are getting along, huh?” Daddy appeared.
“Hardly.” Shigaraki grumbled.
“Of course!” Izuku smiled. “Are we going now, daddy?”
“Mhm, my little Prince deserves a good meal and rest, don’t you?” Daddy smiled back.
“Please!” Izuku chuckled. “It was nice meeting you, Shigaraki! Please don’t kill people though” He laughed as daddy started walking him away.
“He’s so weird. Kurogiri, get me out of here!” Shigaraki pouted. He had to admit that the Master's son was a weird one though, he even declared that he was gonna be a hero. Kurogiri obliged and took him back to their base, maybe he’d kill some idiots later just to spite the green haired brat…but for some reason, he just resigned to playing video games.
~~~~~~~~
After a year of training, Izuku was doing well in play fights. One example was right now! He’s happy to be playing heroes and villains again with Kacchan and he was the villain this time. He was going to make Kacchan proud and prove he could fight.
“Come at me, Nerd!” Kacchan grinned.
Izuku laughed. “I’m gonna win this time, Kacchan!” They weren’t allowed to use Quirks in public, daddy walked up to them all and told them that it could get them banned from hero school so Kacchan stopped using his Quirk and so did everyone else.
Kacchan threw a punch at his stomach and Izuku dodged and went to hit Kacchan’s shoulder. Kacchan pushed his arm to the side and went for his chest so he went to trip Kacchan up.
Their actions ended up causing both to fall over and get tangled up. Izuku laughed first with Kacchan following up. “Goddammit. You’re getting good, Deku.”
“Thanks Kacchan, you’re amazing too!” Izuku cheered.
“I’m always amazing, idiot.” Kacchan turned red slightly.
“Let’s go again!” Kacchan said as they restarted the game. Safe to say, both came out with more bruises than they should have, but Izuku hoped his parents wouldn’t be too mad.
~~
“Izuku! What’s the meaning of this young man?” Mama was really mad.
“We were playing heroes and villains!” Izuku smiled brightly. “Kacchan said I was good!”
“Fighting is dangerous, Izuku. Unless you’re being watched over and you’re in a safe place you could get badly hurt!” Mama explained.
“Heroes are always gonna get hurt.” Izuku pouted.
“What your mother means is that getting hurt in an unsafe place at your age is more risky. Remember when you told us that Katsuki fell off a log?” Daddy asked.
“Yeah?” Izuku hummed. “I wanted to make sure he was alright, but he pushed me away.” He pouted.
“Well, it’s the same when you fight like this. What if you hit Katsuki in a bad place or you get hit in a bad place. Or, heaven forbid, either of you get a head injury because of a slip up.” Daddy replied. “We need to make sure you’re alright, Bunny.”
Izuku thought about it…he didn’t want mama and daddy to worry. “I’m sorry.” He started to sob. “I didn’t mean to make you worry!”
“It’s okay to play, just don’t go too rough.” Daddy laughed. “I also fear if Mitsuki Bakugo comes over here she’ll have my head.”
“It’s not like you to be afraid of someone.” Mama said with less…emotion?, in her voice.
“You know what they say about mothers, they are some of the scariest people out there.” Daddy seemed awkward. “My mother would think differently though. She was…I don’t really want to talk about her.”
“Right.” Mama sighed. “C’mon Izuku, let’s get you patched up.”
~
Hisashi would have slipped his son a healing Quirk, but the previous interaction with Fire Breath meant he wouldn’t be able to take it back right after. If Izuku encountered an accident and healed right in front of Inko, she’d ask him where he’d got the Quirk from and would fret that Izuku would become more reckless when he could heal himself. Hisashi had to agree with that fact though, his son would get much more reckless if he could rapidly heal wounds.
Would that be such a bad thing? His mind was poisonous. He didn’t want his son getting too hurt either, but with a healing Quirk and a little encouragement…him becoming a vigilante would be a step into the world of villainy. With a little bit of his associates' involvement and how society and the hero world works currently, vigilantes can get labelled as a villain easily. ‘Stop it…he’s your son and he’s six!’
He was torn between manipulating his son and just caring for him and he hated it. His son was too heroic to force down his dark path and that was fine, he had Tomura. Right, he had Tomura for that exact reason! His son can live as he pleases and Tomura would be the villain he needed to push later down the line. Though…that would probably incur a fight between the two of them. If that means he had to vault his son later down the line, that’s alright. Though he couldn’t let him get any godly Quirks. Fortunately, even if he managed to find All Might and One For All, copying that probably wouldn’t give his son the stockpiled power that comes and more importantly, it wouldn’t bring Yoichi back to him either. That was it then, he’ll control the world and obtain One For All using Tomura as his pawn and then let his son out, it’d be too late by then.
He would be this world’s Demon Lord or at least, he’d try to be.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
I will say, I changed up Shigaraki's Quirk slightly to mirror canon information a little. Explanation to why it may seem different in Genetic Anomaly - Izuku didn't have the ability to figure out Decay's origin and the vestiges couldn't sense anything wrong with it since instinct is the only indicator. That will be explained in the sequel (If I can ever get around to it haha).
Also Hisashi will see some improvements, in time at least lol - The tag will still be applicable.
See you in the next one.
Chapter 4: Tomura Shigaraki/Tenko Shimura
Summary:
Izuku's now eight and Tomura has remembered things.
Izuku also pulls Tenko in for dinner, with an unexpected incident occurring.
Notes:
Hi! *checks calendar* It's been just under a month and I'm posting a chapter. Hopefully, I can pick up the pace soon, but who knows.
Warning(s):
Mentions of death/murder (Shimura family stuffs)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Izuku was eight, he was fighting with Kacchan more. Not in a bad way though, they were sparring still…with parental supervision. His dad told him more about his Quirk. Giving and taking Quirks is powerful as it leaves the other person Quirkless or with too many Quirks. A person is only allowed one Quirk at a time though. If he was to give someone another Quirk, it had to be a perfect fit to merge with their other Quirk or he had to take the other person’s Quirk and swap it with the other one. Two Quirks in one body can harm a person’s lifespan at best or hurt their brain and kill them at the worst. His dad said that when this Boogieman had this Quirk, because of the era, he took away Quirks people were scared to have and gave them to people who didn’t mind having them. Which is why he knows giving a Quirk to someone with one already caused damage to them. It was sad, but it was an accident, no one knew that would happen after all!
Him and Kacchan have been getting along better as well! Kacchan thought izuku was actually looking down on him a little because of the river incident as well as the ‘too kind act’ he puts on. Kacchan soon realised when Izuku screamed at him that he admired Kacchan a lot and always wanted to be like All Might, saving with a smile and like Kacchan, in that he always wanted to win, that Kacchan turned red and quietly apologised. It was the best day ever, because Kacchan never apologises!
Izuku’s dad had also been teaching him a lot on the side to prepare him for school and more. Dad said he was a super smart eight year old and may need harder classes if he carried on…but that meant leaving Kacchan and he couldn’t do that! His dad laughed, but let him stay in the classes, even if they were boring now because he knew most of it. Izuku decided he’d teach Kacchan the things his dad taught him instead to see if he’d catch up.
That made Kacchan grumpy and bored enough to fall asleep mid session though…and if Kacchan had a habit of falling asleep on his shoulder he wouldn’t tell anyone. Kacchan would murder him if he told people that secret. Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru also wanted him to keep the photos they took a secret, again, because Kacchan would explode otherwise, so of course he would. If it makes them happy and keeps everyone happy, he’d let Kacchan find out on his own.
His private training had gotten a little harder too and now he was sparring with Tomura, that was when he wasn’t gaming with Tomura. Izuku kept calling him Tomuchan, but the boy growled at him whenever he used that nickname. Though…the growling was easing up, so maybe he actually liked it. It was funny to use it when sparring.
Izuku and Tomura were in the midst of battle, with the quite taller Tomura trying to strike his sides, Izuku swerved out of way and smacked a hand into the blue haired boy’s back and stuck his tongue out. “C’mon at me Tomuchan!”
“Huh, what did I say about calling me Tomuchan?!” Izuku planted a fist in his stomach and laughed.
“Don’t get distracted, Tomuchan!” He grinned.
“You little shit!” Tomura came at him with fury.
That wasn’t exactly worth it when it ended up with Izuku breaking into tears after having his arm fractured, but his dad had passed him a very powerful healing Quirk with a silent ‘please don’t tell your mom or she’ll kill me’ look. Izuku laughed at it through his cries, but he didn’t tell his mom. Her work was stressful enough after all.
He was back at training again now though and was grinning as Tomuchan arrived. “Tomuchan!” Izuku cheered.
“Damn brat.” Tomuchan grumbled. “Are you good…or whatever?”
Izuku’s smile widened at the care Tomuchan was now showing him. “I’m great. Thanks for asking, big brother!” He teased Tomuchan. His brother seemed to not like it at first, but after some insistence he seemed to be fine with it now.
“You know he’s more of a Master to me, he’s-he’s a good father to you, but he isn’t the same with me as he is with you.” Tomuchan said, causing Izuku to pounce on him, trapping him in a hug.
“I care for you though! Even if you are edgy.” Izuku said quietly.
“Edgy? I am not-” Tomuchan growled as Izuku broke away and started running with giggles escaping him. “Get back here you menace!”
Izuku activated some speed boosting Quirks that he’d registered from his dad and grinned. He turned around and stuck out his tongue. “Nope!” He turned on his heel and ran some more.
~~~~~~~~
Tomuchan was looking more…sad. Less angry and annoyed, like he’d been before, but just sad.
“Tomuchan?” Izuku looked at him with worry. “Are you okay?”
Tomuchan chuckled, but it still felt sad. It felt like his brother was really upset. “I’m starting to remember things now, Izuku.”
“Oh.” If he remembered what he did to his family, that would be awful. “It’s okay. It’s still okay.”
“I didn’t exactly mean to kill most of my family with my Quirk.” Tomuchan growled though. “But my father was a bastard.” Izuku reflexively wanted to chide Tomuchan for his language, but it wasn’t the time. He knew that. “He hated heroes because my grandma was a hero and abandoned him. He hated me and my sister talking about heroes. He didn’t like my friends over because they’d talk about heroes. He’d hit me and my sister or lock us outside sometimes when we talked about them…”
“What?!” Izuku shouted. Why would someone’s dad do that?
“Then came the night my Quirk manifested.” Tomuchan sighed. “I was five. My sister snuck into my father’s study and took a picture he kept of my grandma…it was amazing to see she was a hero, but father knew we’d gone in there and seen the photo. My sister blamed me almost instantly.” He said bitterly.
“She was probably scared, but it doesn’t make it fair that she made you take the blame.” Izuku understood what must have happened next. It was probably bad.
“Mhm. I got smacked, locked outside and wasn’t allowed dinner. I was crying and my dog was out there comforting me…then he died because of my Quirk. My sister came to apologise to me and then was scared by, well, dead Mon. I thought a villain killed Mon, so when she broke me out of my shock and turned to run I reached out to her and she was gone as soon as I grabbed her clothes. Then my grandparents and mom came out and saw what had happened and at that point I focused on something else to cover the pain, I focused on how my family failed me. I-I couldn’t stop thinking about how they let my father hurt me and so slammed the ground in anger. I didn’t expect my Quirk to travel so far and kill them without me touching them, but it went on to destroy the whole house. I didn’t really know it was me anyway.” Tomuchan explained. “My father then came outside and saw what I’d done. I was very angry with him by then and went at him, he hit me with something…” He said as he pointed at his scars. “And then I jumped back on him and killed him, because by then I knew I was the one who caused that. I hate him.”
Well. Intentionally killing his father wasn’t right, but at the same time he just got his Quirk and killed the rest of his family. He was an upset, angry and emotional kid. “It’s okay. You were a kid.”
“You’re really not changing your mind about me?” Tomuchan frowned. “Why? You’re a hero brat. Heroes don’t help the scary kid on the street.”
“Because I’m not gonna leave you alone like those people.” Izuku smiled. “I’ll be your hero if you want. I’ll always be there for you.”
Tomuchan looked at him with wide eyes. “Thank you, Izuku. Um…my real name is Tenko Shimura. Your dad changed my name when he-when I forgot it.”
“Oh. Okay Tenchan!” Tenchan sighed at that, but Izuku kept smiling. He would help Tenchan as much as possible. That starts with making sense of Tenchan’s anger. “And it’s okay to be mad at all of the adults. They should have helped you, but they were selfish. It’s okay to hate them if you want.”
Tenchan huffed, but it seemed he agreed a little at least. They mellowed out into a comfortable silence after that.
~
Hisashi overheard when Izuku found out about Tenko Shimura. His son had managed to wear Tomura’s Quirk induced conditioning down somehow and the boy remembered some of his past again. Izuku’s nickname for Tomura became Tenchan instead since he’d be the only one to know his actual identity, barring Hisashi of course. Now, if it was an actual problem, he’d have to brainwash Tomura again. Tenko Shimura rearing his head out from the depths of the boy’s mind was something he was used to on occasion, he was used to fitting the boy back into his destructive role, but with Izuku involved it was more complicated.
He was thoroughly surprised when, even with Tenko’s resurgence, the reassurances from Izuku that Tenko was valid to be mad and angry still kept some of that hatred bubbling in him. Perhaps the balance of fun and games, happy times and the validated hate would be something to behold. If not, he could always restrict the boy’s memories again, though even that thought started to grate on him… he wasn’t starting to care for Tomura, was he?
~~~~~~~~
“Daaaad, can Tenchan come have dinner with us?” Izuku had started to pester Hisashi to bring Tenko over to their house to meet Inko. Tomura was attempting to look as unbothered as usual, but there was also a little bit of a conflicted look in there as well as fear.
Hisashi had wanted to say no for the ten millionth time, but Izuku’s puppy dog eyes eventually wore him down and maybe he’ll finally cave. He sighed. “Alright.”
“Yay!-” Izuku cheered, but it was much too early for that.
“But!” Hisashi said and Izuku instantly started to lose his cheeriness. “I’d prefer that Tomura’s name stays as Tomura Shigaraki, got it?”
“Aww.” Izuku pouted. “Okay.”
“Whatever.” Tomura slightly glared at Hisashi…okay, so he had definitely figured out the brainwashing. However, he obviously hadn’t said anything to Izuku for some reason. He’d see how that goes.
“Okay. You’re coming for dinner then, but please keep your gloves on.” Hisashi ordered. More so just for the safety of the furniture, cutlery and safety of everyone if he somehow gets too annoyed. Though he had to wonder, was Tomura even killing people anymore? He barely went out in his villain getup as of late.
“Okay.” Tomura replied as he fiddled with his gloves. He had seemed to have settled with them well.
~
Izuku was happy that Tenchan was allowed to visit, finally. He wanted Tenchan to meet his mom, because hopefully it’d help him calm down a little. Dad had Kurogiri warp them to a nearby alley before they walked up to the front door of their apartment.
His dad opened the door and spoke loudly into the apartment. “We’re home Princess, but we have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Are they staying for dinner?” His mom called back from the kitchen.
“Yes.” Dad replied.
“Okay.” Mom said as she walked into the living room. “Oh, you didn’t say they were a child. Hi young man, I’m Inko Midoriya, but call me Inko here.” Mom smiled as she held out her hand.
“I’m Tomura Shigaraki.” Tenchan said, lazily shaking mom’s hand.
~~~~~~~~
Tomura’s…Tenko’s smile was just as bright as Izuku’s when the boy enjoyed something. Inko had basically adopted the boy as a Midoriya already when she saw Izuku and Tenko bickering over a video game for the first time. Over a month had passed and their friendship or brotherhood was something. It made Hisashi happy that Izuku was happy, but seeing Tenko happy…it was jolting that he wasn’t feeling disdain anymore. Why was he now starting to feel concerned over others connected to his family? He was going to abandon Izuku before, but why did that thought hurt him much more now? Why does wronging him feel wrong?
It had to go back to Yoichi. He’d pushed around, tried to manipulate and even physically hit his brother on occasion, but he truly loved him. He wanted what was best for him, but wanted him to himself at the same time. One selfish want overpowered the other, which ended with his brother still leaving him, but as an enemy. He had a chance not to repeat mistakes. He had regained more emotional recognition from that street mugger and love…he could feel it more purely. Unlike Yoichi, Inko loves him, because he’s been kind . Kindness wins over a lot of people, Hisashi knows that now. He should have been kinder to Yoichi.
That thought seemed manipulative though and to a degree, it possibly was, but genuine kindness goes far when it lives along other emotions. No wonder Nezu was as successful as he is, because he takes into account feelings. He can be just as devious and manipulative as Hisashi is, but the difference is that he’s making a positive difference for humanity while working together with others. That’s not really a secure solution and Hisashi wants to fulfil the dream of ruling as a demon lord, but Izuku…
“Dad?” Izuku was poking his arm with worry.
“Sorry Bunny.” Hisashi chuckled awkwardly before placing his left hand over his son’s cheek, proceeding to pinch it gently as a playful gesture. In the corner of his eye, he could recognise Tenko’s shocked stillness. Right. The kid heard the soft nickname, but not the full care Izuku received at home. He kinda felt bad … “Are you alright, Tomura?”
Tenko shook his head. “I’m fine.” He said bitterly.
“You’re not.” Hisashi sighed. “Please, come here.”
Tenko stiffened, but followed his order. It wasn’t meant to be like that… “Master…” He whispered as he stood close to Hisashi.
“Hisashi, Te-Tomura.” Hisashi felt his emotions cascade. Being around Izuku and Inko, a pair who feel things deeply alongside the mess the amnesia made, caused him to actually feel things for others. The amnesia is barely to blame either, it’s just that the amnesia brought Izuku and Inko’s presence into his life and those two changed his life, bringing him the joys of emotions long missed. He slowly placed a hand on Tenko’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. “I care about your wellbeing too.”
Tenko frowned. “No…I-I just wanna go home.”
“Tomura. Honey, it’s fine to feel bad about things. It’s better to talk them out though.” Inko said, hoping to get through to Tenko. He was a stubborn child though, so it was unlikely to help at this moment.
“It’s probably best we get him home and let him think.” Hisashi sighed, the good atmosphere was ruined.
“Awww.” Izuku pouted. “But today was fun. Tomuchan!” And Izuku forced a hug onto Tenko.
“It was, but…” Tenko looked up towards Hisashi. “I’ve got to go now.”
“You can come back whenever you want.” Inko said with a cheery smile.
“Yeah!” Izuku cheered too.
Hisashi nodded. “If you and Izuku want to be here, I’ll allow it too.”
Tenko’s confusion became prevalent, but it didn’t stop him from leaving. Kurogiri warped the boy away as soon as he was in the stairwell of the building. It was a disappointing outcome and the boy’s stubborn, so who knows which way he’ll lean when he goes to check in on him.
“Honey…what happened?” Inko seemed upset.
Hisashi would remedy this. He couldn’t have his Princess upset. He knew where the issue lied, because he kind of caused it all. “Inko, Tomura…he’s an orphan. He saw me, you and Izuku and I believe the dynamic just overwhelmed him. More so my actions as I have been helping with him on the side. Not a lot, but I felt…concerned.” A little lie wouldn’t hurt. He couldn’t say ‘yes Love, I’ve taken this boy after plotting to do so, raised him to kill and am now observing whether or not him getting to know people would be good or bad in the long run.’
“He’s an orphan?” Inko repeated quietly. “Is he being looked after properly? He looked a little thin…”
Hisashi chuckled. “That’s the gangly teen phase. He’s been getting taller, but I’ve been assured he eats normally alongside his training. I’m sure Izuku will be like that eventually.”
“If he takes after you. He’s mostly like me.” Inko giggled. “That didn’t answer my question though, is Tomura being looked after properly?”
“Sort of. It’s the best he can get…he has a destructive Quirk, one that he recently remembered led to him accidentally killing his family when it awakened. Hence the gloves he’s been wearing.” Hisashi explained.
Inko was horrified. “Oh god.” She covered her mouth and started crying. “That poor boy. Please bring him around more…I wanna make sure he’s cared for.”
Hisashi nodded. He’d listen to his Love’s wish. “I can talk to him and his carer about it, Love.”
“Thanks.”
What was happening to Hisashi? He had to briefly check that he didn’t keep an empathy Quirk activated, but there wasn’t one there…hell, he had an emotion dampening Quirk, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually turn that on. The guy he got that off of was really a poor soul. Being unable to feel properly was… Well, it was exactly what Hisashi wanted in an era where the horrors were ingrained in his mind. He killed people as a kid, unapologetically too since the people would kill others with Quirks, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t lingering in his mind.
Izuku came out of nowhere to hug around him. “I wanna do something fun instead of being sad, c-can we go to a hero convention next week?”
What?!
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
I have a decent buffer for this written out, I'm just delaying so I can write my other fics first then focus on this later. That said...the hero convention was a last minute twist even to myself and well...who knows how that's gonna turn out, because I certainly have no clue and now have to write a whole new chapter.
In other news...as in the main fic universe, Hisashi was close to staying and thinking about focusing on his family and now that he's stayed here, his whole being is being messed around. - I'm trying to write this the best I can, but trying to imagine and then write the progress is hard lol (plus there was a timeskip of 3 years for Hisashi's heart to be ice picked open piece by piece too)
See you in the next one!
Chapter 5: Hero Convention
Summary:
Izuku goes to a hero convention while dragging his reluctant father along with him.
Notes:
Hi! Here's your infrequent update for the month!
Warning(s):
None?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku wanted to go to a hero convention. They’d never been to one before and now he had even more reason to go! He could copy the Quirks of heroes and use them to help more people in the future! Not to mention he could get so much merch and so many signatures. He wants to go to at least one.
“Why do you want to go to a hero convention now, Bunny?” Dad asked.
He was just sad after Tenchan’s reaction, so he wanted to do something fun on top of copying a lot of Quirks. “I wanna see all the heroes! And I wanna copy Quirks.” He said with a little embarrassment. It was selfish, but it was logical.
His dad looked at him with surprise. “Oh. That’s a good reason.”
“I have work next weekend, so if we agree, your dad has to take you.” Mom said.
“Me?!” Dad shook his head. “I don’t like hero business, Princess.”
“Plllleeeease dad?” Izuku stuck out his bottom lip and begged. “Just this once!”
Dad sighed. “Who’s going to be there?”
“Uhhh…The Wild Wild Pussycats! They’re a cool rescue team! Fat Gum should be there too and uh…Crust. It’s a big one!” Izuku was excited. He couldn’t remember all of the heroes attending, but there were so many cool ones, even the ones he wouldn’t know! Wait- “Present Mic will be there too, his radio show is great.”
“It seems a lot of the rising heroes are going to be there, huh? Is All Might going to be there too?”
“No.” Izuku pouted. “Is just a convention for heroes who just broke into the top five hundred…not many of them could go. So can we go?!”
Dad sighed. “Alright. We can go, but I’m putting a time limit on it. Three hours, tops.”
“Six!” Izuku returned. He needed to see as many heroes as he could! Three hours wasn’t enough.
“Four.”
“Five!”
“Four and a half.”
…that might be enough. “Deal!”
“Dang it. You’re a little haggler, aren’t you?” Dad said as he ruffled Izuku’s hair.
“Just like you, Honey.” Mom giggled before realising something. “Shouldn’t you be going after Tomura?”
“His guardian has a warping Quirk, he’ll be home by now, but I’ll send a message over to check on him.” Dad smiled before moving to pick up his dinner plate. “I’ll clean up. Rest up, Princess and thanks again for the delicious meal.”
“Buttering me up again.” Mom mumbled. “C’mon Izuku, let’s set up a movie.”
“Ooo. All Might movie!” Izuku cheered.
“No!” Dad raised his voice, ruining the odds at watching an All Might movie. Would it always be like this?
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi was partially regretting taking Izuku to this event. No one knows of his appearance, barring those who know about One For All or had business with him, but there’s so many heroes in this establishment it makes him uneasy. It’s funny, because one or two of the heroes there had definitely had Quirks given to them or changed. If any of them recognised him, they wouldn’t speak about it. Their ‘favours’ still have to be cashed in after all of this…but would he even cash them in at this point? The best they can do for him are hero reports and they wouldn’t even have an in yet with the hero commission. Fortunately he had people in a few good positions already.
“Where do you want to go first, Bunny?” Hisashi asked while holding Izuku’s hand. He wouldn’t dare let go of his son in a convention of all things. He’s just glad Katsuki wasn’t able to come here or it’d be pandemonium.
“There!” Izuku pointed to the Water Hose’s stand. They were young and not overly popular, but they had done a lot of good hero work. “They’re the Water Hose Duo. A very cool hero team!”
“Alright.” Hisashi said as he walked alongside his son to the signing booth, fortunately there was barely a queue. It’s surprising that the duo didn’t have much of a crowd considering their recent exploits and the novelty of them only sticking to work. This was a holiday for them essentially…
“Hi!” Izuku cheered as they approached the table.
“Hey little man!” The male half of the Water Hoses smiled before looking up at Hisashi. “Thanks for coming over. It’s been a slower day than I thought. Though that’s a good thing.” He smiled.
“Oh?” Hisashi hummed. “I’d have thought you’d have loved to have fans come up to you.”
“We do.” The man’s wife chuckled. “But we do our jobs for our community, not for attention. One hundred fans or just one, we’re happy to just put a smile on people’s faces and keep them safe.”
“Exactly! And you two are so cool!” Izuku cheered.
The pair smiled brightly in unison. “Thanks Kiddo. So you’re here to meet us today, what’s your name?”
“I-Izuku. Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku stuttered out a little nervously now that he was meeting heroes. “Can I get your duo poster with an autograph?”
“Of course!” The woman slid a poster from the pile and a few pens. “Which colour do you want?”
“Wait, don’t you need to be paid for that first?” Hisashi frowned.
“First poster’s on the house.” She winked. “So, Midoriya, is this your dad?”
Okay, Hisashi felt a little offended. Izuku’s obviously related to him, look at the curls! “Yeah!” Izuku smiled brightly. “He’s the best! He’s helping me train to be a hero too!”
“Oh. Well, I can see you being quite the kind hero, Midoriya.” The man smiled as he went to the pens. “So…which pen do you want?”
“Gold please!” The pair swiftly signed the poster with the gold pen before carefully rolling it up and snapping an elastic band around it. “Thank you.”
“No problem, Kid.” The woman looked over their shoulders and giggled a little. “It seems we have a fan club arriving. You’re lucky to have gotten here before them it seems.”
Hisashi remembered one caveat to why Izuku wanted to come. “Bunny, don’t you have a question you wanted to ask the Water Hoses before we leave?”
~
“Oh!” Izuku shuffled nervously. “Can I get a picture with you two as well?”
“Of course!” The woman chuckled. “What kind of pose do you want?”
“Well…” Izuku didn’t really think about it, but these guys are cool heroes and he wanted a picture. He also wanted to copy their Quirks without telling them . They were more casual heroes anyway. They try hard, but they’re not ones for showing off. Poses would be dumb then. He felt a little embarrassed by what he wanted to suggest, but he should just go for it. “Can you put your hands on my head together? I think it’d make a nice photo and would still be more normal than heroic.”
“You’re too adorable.” The woman whispered.
The duo came around from their booth while his dad started to pull out his phone. Izuku shuddered as they put their hands on his head, causing them to worry a bit.
“Sorry. Izuku’s Quirk is a copy Quirk, he shudders a little when copying them.” Dad quickly explained.
Izuku could recognise how the Quirks worked. One was water creation and the other was being able to control water. That wasn’t important though as he gave his dad a good smile for the picture.
Izuku moved on quickly as soon as his dad showed him the picture. It was great and people were waiting to talk to the Water Hose duo, so there was no need to hold them up. “Can we go to Fatgum next?” He asked as he bounced on his feet.
“Of course, Bunny.” His dad replied as he patted Izuku’s head. Day was so good!
~~~~~~~~
Fatgum’s area took forever to get through. Hisashi was really feeling like an old man as he already felt tired of all of this, but Izuku…he was still full of energy. At least he could get all of his energy out talking to the heroes.
But why was he here again?...Right. His wife’s at work and Izuku wanted to do something fun after Tenko’s inability to hold his emotions. Tenko…he left the boy to calm down, but he didn’t want to see Hisashi right now anyway.
“Dad! It’s our turn!” Izuku broke him out of his thoughts.
“Okay, Bunny.” Hisashi escorted his son up to the hero. Honestly, the man looked like a beach ball, but unique Quirks do what unique Quirks do best. This was a hero Izuku was here just to fanboy over considering the hero’s Quirk is definitely a stockpiler. He’s seen the man’s fatless, muscled form before.
The interactions were cute in the end, but Izuku definitely recognised he couldn’t use the Quirk when he shot his dad a small pout. It was onto the next one pretty quickly after Izuku passed out his rapidfire ideas, mainly to not hold up the queue.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku managed to copy the Quirks of the Wild Wild Pussycats. Gaining Search and Telepathy for free has insanely high value, Hisashi had to give his son that. Will there be more pictures of heroes in his apartment? Sure. Will it have been worth it, definitely. Thinking about the apartment, he should probably look into a proper family home eventually. An apartment was lowkey, but it was cramping at this rate.
He’d also gotten to meet Crust. The man was genuinely humble, a little dramatic, but good enough to not be an issue.
Present Mic was up next and up last since the queue was long . The man wore his heart on his sleeve when he was on air and it seemed he was also wearing it at this event. He was cooing over the kids that took their time to visit him. Hisashi could see him as a family man to be honest.
“Present Mic!” Izuku cheered as he reached the man’s booth.
“Hi there little Broccoli Boy.” The hero instantly nicknamed his son. It was kind of funny to see Izuku’s brain get caught up on the name and reboot.
“Broccoli…boy?”
“Your hair’s green like a head of broccoli.” Mic chuckled before looking up at Hisashi. “You are tall .”
“I know I am.” Hisashi chuckled. “Part of me hopes my son doesn’t get my genes in that department. I’m a little too tall I believe.” Hisashi chuckled, but it is true for some establishments that his height was annoying.
“I can understand why.” The hero smiled before turning to Izuku. “Well then Little Listener, what do you like doing?”
“I like training! I’m gonna be a hero!” Izuku grinned at the hero. “I wanna be just like All Might.” And there was the line…
“Well. I don’t know if anyone can be like All Might , but you can be an amazing hero if you put your heart to it.” Present Mic smiled. “Though as long as you try hard and believe, you can do anything you wanna do? Ya dig?”
“I’ll try my best!” Izuku responded seriously! “And I’ll do it all with a smile!”
“That’s the best you can do for the people you save. A good ol’ confident smile helps a lot of people ya know?” The hero smiled. “So what do you wanna do now, Listener?”
“I…I want some merch and a picture.” Izuku fiddled with his shirt. “I love your radio show…”
“Well, I have the perfect stuff for you then.” The hero started to reach for a radio.
“He probably won’t replace his All Might radio.” Hisashi said as he placed a hand on Izuku’s head. “A poster, shirt and a picture will probably do him well enough.”
“Mhm.” Izuku nodded. “Can we do the picture first?”
“Of course, Kiddo.” Present Mic decided he’d kneel to Izuku’s height to get a decently framed photo without towering over him. The man must have brushed past Izuku, because Izuku’s Quirk went off again. “You alright?”
Izuku nodded. “I can copy Quirks. I just shudder a bit when I do.”
“Oh. Be very careful with my Quirk, because I can destroy a lot with it.” The hero seemed to turn a little pale.
“Don’t worry, I can keep the copy deactivated!” Izuku instantly relieved the hero of his worries before Hisashi took the photo. The merch purchase was done swiftly and Hisashi was kind of done with gaining items. The bag he’d brought was probably too full and would collapse soon enough. At least it was time to go home.
Izuku yawned as they prepared to leave. “I hope to see you again, Present Mic.”
“I hope to see you too, Kid.” The hero gave them one last bright smile before they walked away. Today had been better than expect-
“I AM HERE, to surprise the rising newbies!” Oh no. No no no no. Why was that oaf here?! All Might came through the door in all his muscled, heroic glory.
“All Might!” Izuku was bouncing lazily. Tired but excited.
“Bunny…my Prince. We have to go.” Hisashi was, for the first time in nearly a century, worried.
“B-But All Might. I want his autograph on my card…” Izuku and that rare All Might card of his hadn’t parted for a while. Alright. The only exit was the bathroom and calling for Kurogiri. The bathroom that All Might was now blocking the way of. Okay…this was a risk, but All Might shouldn’t be so hot-headed as to attack him in the middle of the convention while his child is attached to him. Plus, the strength required to even damage Hisashi right now would mean destroying the place. He was going to try and sneak past while Izuku got his autograph.
“Okay. You get your autograph, but I’m going to head towards the bathroom, okay?” Hisashi smiled weakly.
“You need to be there too, dad.” Izuku started pulling him. “I want a picture too.” Of course he did.
“One at a time, kids. I’ve got enough time to spare today.” All Might let out a cheery laugh which grated on Hisashi’s soul.
“Bunny, could you pass me Mandalay’s Telepath? I believe I’ll need it for something in the future.” Hisashi asked gently.
Izuku nodded and held his hand before passing along a version of Telepath. Izuku’s Quirk was Quirk recreation. Though it’s on paper as a long term copying power, its true strength is that it could provide anyone with infinite copies of Quirks Izuku has previously registered. Then using All For One, Izuku can give those copies to others. That’s why he warned Izuku about the dangers of passing Quirks to others. Not that it exactly mattered to Hisashi what happened to other people, but Izuku would destroy himself if he’d accidentally hurt someone. “Done.” Izuku said as Hisashi felt Telepath fit naturally into All For One.
“Thank you, Bunny.” Hisashi gave his son one last smile before sending him towards All Might. As much as he hated doing so, he doubts All Might would hurt his kid. Especially since he wouldn’t know about Izuku, yet…it’d out Izuku for him to come back to Hisashi, but he couldn’t stomach asking Izuku to ignore him and it’s kind of a damaging blow to All Might. Hisashi forced Nana Shimura from keeping her family together, meanwhile Hisashi is living life with his own family. The more the thought brewed, the more fun it seemed to mentally hurt All Might for the time being.
~
“All Might!” Izuku managed to get to the front of the crowd.
“Aren’t you an energetic one?” All Might’s laugh was so loud, but it was full of life. It was amazing to see him in person!
“C-can you sign my card?” Izuku held out his limited edition All Might card with a small blush. He was meeting his favourite hero!
“Oh my. Is this the Super Ultra Rare All Might card from the chip promotion?” All Might knew his merch! Izuku nodded ecstatically. “I’d gladly sign that for you, but keep it safe.”
“I will!” All Might managed to write his signature perfectly on the card. It made Izuku tear up with happiness. “Thank you!”
“Of course. Now, do you want a picture, young man?” Does he want a picture?! Of course he does!
Izuku nodded again. “Please!” He turned to his dad. “Dad, can you come take a picture of me with All Might? Pleeeease.”
“Of course, give me a second, Bunny.” His dad said.
He didn’t notice that All Might’s demeanour changed after his dad’s response.
~~
Toshinori was having an amazing day. He’d stopped so many criminals today and had managed to rescue many people from a submerging boat. With all of the work done for the morning and part of the afternoon, he decided he’d take a small break and head into the local convention for the rising heroes. He loved coming in and surprising those who were attending, especially the kids who warmed his heart when they admitted that All Might was their favourite and they were going to be heroes like him.
That said, he picked the worst time to go in as there were so many people (mainly kids) flocking him. More than usual anyway. Still, it was worth it.
He’d just gotten to the green kid who was bouncing on his feet and had a rare card from years ago for him to sign. It was amazing to see some of the past merch than the recent day releases, but that card was a rarity in itself.
But then it came to the picture where the kid called his father over. “Of course, give me a second, Bunny.” He would recognise that voice from anywhere. It haunted his nightmares and seeped deep within his mind. That was All For One. Toshinori slowly looked up from the child and it confirmed what he already knew. The white hair, the mirror-like eyes, the height that almost levelled with Toshinori. All For One.
His first instinct was to clear the room, except… ‘Now now, All Might. We wouldn’t want to cause a scene, would we?’ All For One spoke without moving his lips. No one else must have heard him though, so it was a telepathy Quirk. ‘This is only a one way connection from me to you, but it’ll do. As much as I loathe talking to you either way, I’d prefer it if you act naturally.’
This ultimate villain wants him to act natural? After killing all of his predecessors, after killing his mentor-killing Nana, he wants to do this calmly?! ‘Wait…this green child. He’s calling All For One his father.’ Toshinori thought as he stole a glance at the kid.
‘I see you’ve realised something. Yes. That is my son. I’ve been living a decent life with him and my wife. Settling down is quite something, not that you’d know anything about that. Poor Shimura missed out on a lot.’ The anger that brewed within Toshinori was immense. How dare this villain gain love and attention, how dare he live a life with his family after tearing apart so many! The boy doesn’t even look like All For One. Was he adopted? Groomed into being his son? How is this boy so passionate around heroes? Was it an act, was it to get close to heroes?-
‘Just let us take the damn picture, All Might. My son is a hero enthusiast. More so, he’s an All Might super fanboy. Ironic, isn’t it?’ All For One continued. ‘I’d prefer not to make a scene myself since destroying this place and killing so many heroes is not on my agenda today. The people and more importantly, my innocent son, doesn’t deserve to be exposed to our feud.’ He agreed that they couldn’t do this here, but when in the hell did All For One care about getting others wrapped up in his battles. They’d make for distractions at most. This boy is genuinely someone All For One can’t hurt and he can’t hurt people in front of him. Though in that stead, Toshinori cannot extract this boy from All For One’s ‘care’, not yet. Who knows what the man is teaching him, but the boy seemed genuine with his admiration towards Toshinori.
“Alright Young Man, what kind of picture do you want?” Toshinori said behind his mask of calmness. He would freak out later with Sorahiko and Mirai. The boy raised his arms up expecting something.
“Can I go on your shoulders?” Most of the time he might deny that, but one look at his father-at All For One essentially meant he had to. Make the kid happy, make All For One leave without killing a single person. He may still do what he wants, but if it’s a single chance at keeping the peace he’d take it.
“Of course.” All Might picked the boy up and sat him on his shoulders. His smile was taut, forced into staying up for the people and for the appeasement of the villian.
“Smile for the camera, Bunny.” All For One said before taking a picture, turning the camera towards them. “It’s perfect, right?”
“Yeah!” The boy cheered before All For One went to lift him from Toshinori’s shoulders. “Thank you dad. Thank you All Might.” The boy’s smile was so bright. Part of Toshinori really wanted to protect this boy regardless of his father.
“We’ll be off now. We were meant to leave a little while ago, but this little one got distracted.” All For One chuckled. “Thanks for being so kind, All Might.” The tone of voice was teasing. He was teasing Toshinori with the fact that he was unable to act.
~
Hisashi felt like he’d impacted All Might enough now. As worried as he should be, All Might was staying in his place under Hisashi’s heels. He’ll end this with one more reveal, though it’s technically a kindness in turn. A gut wrenching truth…but one the hero probably deserved.
Hisashi connected to All Might once more with Telepath. ‘Just because I’m so nice. I’ll give you one piece of information. You and the idiotic friend of Shimura made the wrong decision when abandoning her child. Regardless of your actions, I found Kotaro Shimura and his family. I manipulated them and their situation and while I didn’t directly destroy them, their family crumbled to dust from within.’ That was vague enough to tell him that the incident was caused by one of them, but not enough to say that Hisashi took Tenko in. ‘You could get the address from the police, but XXXX is where they were located. Bye, All Might…don’t follow me.’ Hisashi could see that Izuku was very tired now, so he scooped him up and held him up close. Izuku’s arms wrapped around his neck before his head buried itself into Hisashi’s neck. “Let’s get you home, Bunny.” He pressed a quick kiss to Izuku’s forehead. He activated his jamming Quirks to prevent the cameras recording Kurogiri’s appearance before leaving the building.
They left the convention as civilians. All Might was left in shock and Hisashi got away without issue as he walked down an alley and called on Kurogiri. If they tried to investigate anything, they wouldn’t find where they teleported to and Hisashi had made sure to ensure all properties in his government identity’s name went elsewhere. The apartment they live in is in a different name entirely, so it should be untraceable and their mail gets routed through a grunt and they bring the mail to them. Izuku’s school had a home address listed somewhere else too. It should be fine.
Either way, if All Might messed with his family, he’d show no mercy in ruining that man’s life.
~~~~~~~~
Toshinori was sitting in front of Mirai and Sorahiko. He called an important meeting with them at his agency. They looked at him with worried faces considering it was an AFO meeting.
“What is it boy? You’re shaking like a damn leaf.” Sorahiko pointed out. He didn’t even know he was trembling.
“I was face to face with All For One today.” He revealed, causing the other two what must be unimaginable shock.
“All For One…you saw him?” Mirai worried. “Where and what’d he do? What’d you do?”
“At the rising hero convention. And we did nothing…After I noticed him, he threatened the public with harm if I didn’t do what he said and let him walk off by the end of it.” Toshinori squeezed his fists together.
“Why?” Sorahiko demanded. “He doesn’t do shit for no reason and he wouldn’t have spared the public if you were in reach and didn’t see him. That said, why was he even there to begin with?”
“He has a child.” Sorahiko sputtered at the mention and Mirai seemed to pale a little. “The boy seemed…loved. He was there to meet heroes and All For One basically threatened me to go along with his son’s wishes and make his day. Apparently I’m the boy’s favourite hero according to him.”
Mirai started laughing a little. It was desperate, but the ironic thought was funny. “It’s kind of comedic if so. World’s largest supervillain spawns a child that loves All Might.” He calmed himself. “Sorry if the outburst seemed out of place.”
“Honestly. Whatever gets you over the fact that that man has a kid is good enough. Did you even catch what the boy’s Quirk was, it could be All For One as well.” Sorahiko asked logically.
“I poked around, but I didn’t want to exactly say to everyone who All For One was. He has a Quirk copying Quirk according to some of the other heroes. He visibly shuddered when copying a Quirk via touch, but he didn’t do that with me. It seems One For All can’t be copied by him either.”
“Not that it’d matter.” Mirai commented. “One For All is a stockpiling Quirk. Copy Quirks cannot copy a stockpile. All For One could steal a stockpile, but copying is much different.”
“Right.” All Might tried to swallow his fear of the next sentence that had to come out of his mouth. He’d searched up the address All For One gave him. The man had never lied, because it’s more terrifying to use the truth as a weapon, and he wasn’t lying about Kotaro Shimura and his family.
“Toshinori?” Sorahiko seemed worried about what Toshinori had to say.
“All For One…he said he found Kotaro. Nana’s son-”
“No. There should be no way.” Sorahiko was in an angry panic. It was understandable, but…
“Kotaro and his family are dead, but All For One said he was indirectly the cause of it all. From his cryptic way of saying it…I think he indirectly caused someone in the family to kill everyone.” Toshinori could feel the bile running through his throat. “T-The family property was destroyed via a Quirk. It was a presumed villain attack, but also a potential, devastating Quirk awakening. Kotaro’s son, Tenko, hadn’t had his Quirk come in yet and he was five at the time. The…remains…found in the debris belonged to every member of the family except for Tenko.”
“If that’s the case, then that poor kid might be out there…” Sorahiko stood in thought.
“Unlikely.” Mirai added. “If All For One had eyes on the family, it’s likely he'd have gotten to the kid if he’s alive. How old was the kid with him and did you get his name?”
“Izuku Midoriya and I asked my contacts to check his records on a need to know basis. He’s just over four years too young. All For One’s alias is Hisashi Midoriya…a family man with a wife and kid.” Toshinori slammed his fist into the reinforced wall. He didn’t put too much power into it, but he was angry. “He boasted about having a family…I think we need to save that kid.”
“You want to save All For One’s Kid ?” Mirai shook his head. “What if he’s just like his dad?”
“He was genuinely happy to see me and if he were to have done anything, he’d have done it when he was sitting on my shoulders. Also, All For One made many risky moves just to please him. The most important thing is that he’s a child and he seems kind.” Toshinori still felt bad leaving the boy with his father, but it couldn’t be helped. “Yes. We’ll definitely save him.”
With the meeting coming to an end, Toshinori’s resolve was hardened. He had a supervillain to defeat and a kid to free from his clutches.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
Hisashi being parent of the century as he refrained from killing All Might, but now All Might is determined to beat Hisashi for many other reasons.
See you in the next one!
Chapter 6: Happy Beginnings...
Summary:
Tenko experiences an unexpected outcome after remembering everything and having his outburst.
Notes:
Sorry for taking so long! My motivation has been stuck on my other two fics and this took to the backburner (though I hadn't meant to leave this nearly three months), but here's a chapter for now! It's taking a little longer because I'm rethinking some directions and a good chunk is gonna have to be edited and changed, but hopefully it'll turn out for the better. The joys of writing haha.
Warning(s):
Mentions of death
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
A day after returning from the hero convention, Hisashi decided he’d sit down with Tenko to talk him through whatever that moody outburst was. He was an early teen after all. Though he should have expected Tenko to fear him considering the circumstances. This was a stupid idea…
“Just get it over with.” Tenko growled. “Make me forget again and make me into your perfect villain.”
That’s what he was expecting then. Hisashi shook his head. “I’m not going to do that anymore. Look. I care for my family and as much pain as yours gave you, I know you’ve started to like the idea of Izuku being your brother. Izuku fully sees you as a big brother and I know Inko loves you too.” He bit the bullet and would say his piece. “I know in the beginning I was horrible. Izuku hadn’t gotten to me at that point and I still had my agenda set in stone, but at this point in time I really do mean it when I say I also care.”
“This is fucking nuts.” Tenko’s red eyes glared Hisashi down. “How much of my life have you controlled?”
“That is certainly a loaded question, but I’ll answer it truthfully. I controlled it before you were even conceived. I found your father, convinced him that heroes weren’t adequate at protecting people and that he should have had another child so that his daughter would have someone to have her back.” Hisashi admitted, though he didn’t know whether or not admitting Tenko’s Quirk was almost not his original one would be detrimental.
“And my Quirk?” Tenko was being thorough.
“I took your Quirk Factor when you were a baby and then later, when I was escorting you home from an incident, I gave you a modified duplicate from an orphan Garaki was housing. I still have your original Quirk, since it developed into something useful. I call it Air Walk.” Hisashi sighed. “So, where do you want to go from here?”
~
Where did Tenko want to go from here? Master had controlled everything . Tenko was born because Master manipulated his father. Tenko didn’t have a Quirk for a while, because Master had taken it. Master was the guy who brought Tenko home…and gave him Decay. Master was the reason Tenko hated his father and why his family was killed by the Quirk that cursed his fingertips. Master was the reason Tenko was on the streets and neglected. Master was the reason Tenko became a killer.
Tenko had wanted to be a hero. The brainwashing Quirk that changed his brain. Even after killing his family, he wanted to save people.
“When did you start using your Quirks to turn me into-into what I am?” Tenko asked.
“Ah. I see why you’re asking that.” Master shook his head. “It was after I took you in.”
“So I still killed my own family. I still had my own hatred.” Tenko tightened his hands into fists and he started to sob.
“Come back to my home with me.” Master said. “And I mean it this time, I’ll take care of you there.”
The fuck was he saying? Has Master really gone this damn soft? Thinking back, Master was always soft on Izuku and he’d lightened up on Tenko over the years. This was a whole different thing, because Tenko would be going to live with the guy who helped ruin his life. Yet he’d also be living with his brother and Inko…Inko reminded him so much of his mother, but whether she was as inactive as mom was to be determined. He did feel warm in that house, that was for certain.
“I’ll come back or whatever.” Tenko grumbled. “But what are you gonna tell them?”
“I said that you were being looked after by a carer, so if I just say that he’s going for an operation or something and you need taking care of, Inko would believe that.” Master said.
“Okay…Master.”
Master choked for a second. “Okay. You can’t keep calling me that. Just call me Hisashi.”
Tenko scoffed. “That’s not much different, is it? It’s just a different name you go by.”
The villain chuckled. “It’s the name my adoptive parents gave me, Tenko. Even if those people disowned my brother and I as kids, we kept our names for one another.” He explained.
“So it’s your true name…well, Hisashi, I don’t forgive you for shit, but I’d like to be with Izuku and Inko.” Tenko said defiantly, maybe he’d get a rise out of Mas-Hisashi.
“Fair enough. Come with me then.” Hisashi said, unfazed by Tenko’s attempt to rile him. “They’re both worried about you.”
Tenko didn’t know how to react, so he stayed silent and would go along with the man anyway. If he was being led to his death, so be it. He was done with everything again…almost everything, anyway.
~~~~~~~~
“Te-Tomuchan!” Izuku was surprised to see Tenchan back at his home after the dinner incident, but he was happy that his brother was there. He couldn’t resist pouncing on Tenchan to drag him into a tight hug. “I missed you.”
“Sorry for running out on you, Brat.” Tenchan hugged him back! Tenchan hadn’t hugged him back yet. “I just needed to cool down a bit.”
“Hey Honey? Is Tomura alright to stay around for a few days?” Dad asked. Izuku wanted Tenchan to sleep over!
Mom frowned a bit. “Did you ask his parent?”
“His guardian, and in fact, he asked me if we could look after Tomura since he’s been called out for an emergency and won’t be back for a little while.” Dad said. “Sooo?”
“I said he could come back whenever he wanted to and that goes for housing him for a while. We can set up the futon in Izuku’s room.” Mom said.
“Yay! We get to have a sleepover!” Izuku cheered. “We can play so many games, Tomuchan. You also have to meet Kacchan! He’s so cool!”
“Baby, calm down.” Mom said as she patted his head. “Tomura seems to be a little overwhelmed.”
“I’m not overwhelmed.” Tenchan pouted.
“Maybe you don’t feel it yet, but I think if you met Katsuki today it’d be a little too much.” Mom smiled. “Why don’t you get comfortable on the sofa and I’ll go make some warm drinks while you pick out some games or something to watch?”
“O-Okay.” Tenchan said before following him to do something. This was gonna be great!
~~~~~~~~
“Let’s go to the park!” Izuku shouted to his parents and Tenko. It had been a day after all!
Mom sighed with a smile. “You just wanna meet up with Katsuki, don’t you?”
“Mhm. I want Tomuchan to meet Kacchan.” Izuku said excitedly. He was sure Kacchan would like to meet him.
“Are you okay with that, Tomura?” Mom asked.
Tenchan nodded. “It’d be good to see what kind of friends Izuku has.”
Dad laughed. “I feel like this is going to be a disaster, but we’ll try it. C’mon Tomura, Bunny. Let’s go.”
~~
They made it to the park in record time with Izuku rushing in to hug Kacchan.
“Get offa me, damn Nerd.” Kacchan grumbled, but hugged him back.
Izuku giggled. “But you’re hugging me too!”
Kacchan quickly separated from him. “Then that’s all you get.” He huffed.
“Noooo, Kacchan’s hugs are nice and warm.” Izuku pouted.
“I see your friend has a bit of a mouth on him and some attitude.” Tenchan said as he walked up to them.
“Who the fuck is this?” Kacchan frowned.
“Kacchan, this is Te-Tomuchan. Tomuchan, this is Kacchan.” Izuku said innocently.
“My name’s not Tomuchan!” “My name’s not Kacchan!” Tenchan and Kacchan said at the same time, causing Izuku to laugh.
“Dammit.” Kacchan decided to glare at Tenchan. “I’m Katsuki Bakugo.”
Tenchan nodded. “And I’m Tomura Shigaraki.”
“Why’s your face so damn crusty?”
“Katsuki! We do not talk to people like that, you Brat.” Auntie Mitsuki chided Kacchan. “Sorry for his rudeness.”
“I see where Bakugo gets his shit from.” Tenchan whispered and Izuku nodded. “Auntie doesn’t really swear around me and mom though, but Kacchan just doesn’t care.”
“I can tell.” Tenchan sighed before turning to Kacchan. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Izuku. ”
“Huh? What’s he been saying?” Kacchan turned his glare to Izuku now.
“Just that you’re amazing and kind and sweet and-” Izuku quickly covered Tenchan’s mouth.
“Stop.” Izuku whined. His face felt like it was on fire…why was Tenchan embarrassing him.
“So you two are new besties, huh? Sharing shit and acting all buddy buddy.” Kacchan seemed angry, but Tenchan was his brother, not best friend.
“Kacchan will always be my best friend! Tomuchan is a friend from training! He’s like my brother now!” Izuku said with a bright smile.
“A brother…well, you best not treat Deku like shit!”
“Deku?” Tenchan’s face turned into a frown. “What does that nickname mean?”
Izuku hadn’t explained the nickname! “Tomuchan! It means Dekiru now. Kacchan was a little mean before, but that’s his personality.”
“It better mean something good now.” Tenchan grumbled.
“Hey. Dekiru means ‘You can do it’. It is good…” Izuku wanted to calm them down a little now with a distraction. “How about we play something…like football?”
“Yeah! Let’s go, Nerd.” Kacchan grinned.
~~~~~~~~
As the days and weeks passed and Tenko went over to the Midoriya house more often, he felt more and more comfortable and at home than he’d felt in forever. Kurogiri was a good caretaker and all, but he was a little more distant than a parent would be. Inko and Hisashi were good parents, even if it pained him to think about Hisashi like that. How the hell this man became an actual family man this easily he’ll never understand, but whatever. He’d take it.
He was smiling more. That was something that only Izuku had managed to bring out of him on occasion, but he was happy. He was happy that Inko brought him warm meals. He was happy that she cared unconditionally. His own mother, her love was unconditional, but it was circumstantial. She couldn’t love him enough to stop father…the blame for everything was still on Hisashi, but part of Tenko believes that father would have been like that regardless of any interference and influence. Grandma was to thank for that.
Kurogiri walked into the apartment. Hisashi has something planned. Whatever it was, it meant either Tenko going away or Hisashi going out on his own mission. “Hello, Mr and Mrs. Midoriya. Sorry for the ill-timed interruption, but I would like to talk to you both about Tomura.” Huh?
“Oh.” Inko looked around. “I can put the kettle on and make some tea.”
“That’d be lovely. Thank you Mrs. Midoriya.” Kurogiri said.
Inko chuckled. “Just call me Inko or if you want to be polite, Miss Inko. Mrs and Midoriya are too long.”
Hisashi chuckled. “Sometimes I wonder why you took my name. You never use it because you’re too kind with everyone.”
“I’m welcoming, because one of us has to be.” Inko teased and Tenko really thought Hisashi would have complained about it, but all he did was smile.
It didn’t take long for Inko to leave and come back with drinks. “So, what brought you here Kurogiri?” She asked, setting down a large pot of hot water.
“Miss Inko. Tomura’s time being here has allowed him to grow positively. With me, he barely interacted with anyone that could remotely be seen as a friend, but with you, I believe he’s likening himself to being a big brother to your son.” Kurogiri said, causing Tenko to feel hot.
“Am not!” Tenko pouted.
“It’s okay if you do, Honey. I’m sure it makes Izuku happy.” Inko said softly.
“Whatever.” He grumbled, but didn’t complain.
“As I was saying.” Kurogiri continued on. “He’s like a big brother to your son. My workload has increased and I barely get time to see Tomura these days. Meanwhile, you’ve been looking after Tomura in my stead. I’m just a carer and it would be likely that I’d lose guardianship over Tomura on the next review so-so I would like to formally ask if you would like to take Tomura in.” So that was the angle they were going for.
“What? We can keep helping out if that’s what you need!” Inko said.
Tenko assumed Kurogiri shook his head considering the glowing yellow eyes moved left and right. “It would still mean I’d lose guardianship. I apologise if you cannot-”
“No!” Inko paused. “I mean, yes. I’d love to take Tomura in. What about you, ‘Sashi?”
“I’d be happy to.” Hisashi said. “We’ll have to talk to the social worker and do what we can to be welcoming, but we’d love to have Tomura here. If he wants to be, that is. Tomura.”
Tenko nodded. “I’d be happy to stay here.” he replied quietly.
“Then let’s get everything sorted. Okay?” He wasn’t ever going to get used to Hisashi in his caring, family mode.
At least this day couldn’t get worse.
~~~~~~~~
Obviously the social worker was actually one of Hisashi’s followers. Or at least someone who was indebted to him. So they had legal access to register Tenko’s identity or fake identity somewhere. At least he was allowed to live somewhat freely.
It had been a comfy few months at this point and Tenko was still happy. Bakugo had been a ‘delight’ to be around. He wasn’t that bad though. He was a good motivator to get shit done, even if he was going to try and be a hero.
Part of Tenko kinda wants that too now. They hadn’t stopped training, but all of his anger and hatred was basically gone. Though there was a piece of his heart that would hate Hisashi because what if his first family could have just been normal?
“Tenchaaaan.” Izuku whined. “Come play Mighty Heroes with me!”
“Okay, Izuchan.” He sighed before settling down to play the video game with his brother.
He had barely noticed that his name had been called out in the house, but it was. Izuku had continued to say Tenchan until the end of the match and Inko stood nearby.
“Why are you calling Tomura, Tenchan?” Inko said gently.
“Oh.” Izuku didn’t know what to say. The best Tenko could do was damage control.
“When my whole family was killed by my Quirk I-I suppressed everything about it and myself, even my name. I remembered a little while ago, but I thought it’d be weird to tell you.” Tenko said.
“Oh Tomura…I’m so sorry.” Inko said as she placed a hand in his hair and combed through it.
“It’s Tenko. My name. It’s Tenko Shimura.” Tenko said, but what he didn’t expect was a shocked look on her face.
“Tenko…Shimura?” Inko proceeded to pull him into a strong hug. What was this for? “By any chance, are you related to Nana Shimura? She was my mother.
She was a young hero at the time so she gave me up to friends who could look after me.” Inko said.
Her mother was a hero. His grandmother was a hero… “I think so? I saw a picture of grandma in my father’s study b-but he didn’t tell us who she was. Now that I think about it though, you look like her. M-My father, he hurt me for even talking about heroes, but after that he was extra mean and left me outside without food. I was upset and kind of angry and then my Quirk manifested.”
“It’s going to be okay now, but I’m going to have to talk to Hisashi. He…he knew, didn’t he?” Inko knew something was up. How could she know? “Don’t worry about any of that. I’ll ask him.” That put the fear of death in Tenko. He’d kill Tenko or Inko. He couldn’t-he clung to Inko tighter.
“Please don’t mama Inko. He’ll kill us.” Tenko couldn’t help but say.
“It’ll be okay, Sweetie. It’ll be okay.” Although they were most likely facing immediate danger, Tenko couldn’t help but believe her and calm down. He really hoped it’d be alright.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
Remember, this is slow to update, but I'll try and get a chapter out in under a month instead of after three.
See you in the next one.
Chapter 7: The Truth
Summary:
Inko puts a few pieces together, but she isn't ready when Hisashi tells her the truth of his endeavours.
Notes:
I'm posting in under a month, woo hoo! That said, it's still gonna be slow going.
Warning(s):
Talks of manipulation/brainwashing
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Inko didn’t know what to start with, but she was holding Tomura-no, Tenko , as he started to sob in her arms. This child, who was like a son to them now, was scared of Hisashi and Inko had an inkling as to why. Hisashi was shady. When Inko and Hisashi started dating, he was fine, because he had no memories from his Amnesia Quirk incident. However, there was a slight change in personality a little while after Izuku was born and she knew why. Hisashi’s memories had returned on a trip out and he shown off his Fire Breathing Quirk. The recent events with the trainer and even Kurogiri’s weird business with him had increased her wariness, but this was the last straw. Tenko was most likely her nephew and the coincidence was very suspicious.
Tenko soon passed out in her arms and Izuku was now crying too, because his big brother cried himself to exhaustion.
Hisashi didn’t take long to come home either. “What happened?” He asked as he stumbled onto the scene of the two passed out children hugging Inko.
“The boys hadn’t meant to, but Izuku used ‘Tenchan’ to refer to Tomura. Tomura is really called Tenko Shimura. Did you know about that, Hisashi?” Inko asked pleadingly.
“Princess…I-” Hisashi sighed. “I did.”
Inko shook her head. “I can’t believe you. You let that poor boy go by that name, go through killing his family and then not mention it to me. Did you know that Nana Shimura is my birth mother’s name? And before you go ‘it’s a coincidence’. He also said I look like his grandmother! Who I only know about from my parents.”
“Your mother?” Hisashi muttered out with a shocked expression on his face.
“I ignored all of your shady dealings, Hisashi. I was being selfish. I wanted us to be a loving family and for Izuku to have his father in his life, but-but to somehow find my nephew a-and what? Let him be apart from us after all he went through. Why?” Inko was crying. She needed to know why this all happened.
“I promise it was an accident. I didn’t know you were related to him at all.” Hisashi replied. “I wouldn’t do that to you, I wouldn’t. If I had known, I’d have looked after him with you.” He seemed to pause for a second. “Let's get the kids to bed first before we talk.”
Inko agreed. “Okay.” The boys were quickly tucked into the bunk beds before migrating back to the living room. “Alright. Please talk.”
”My dream has been to control the world.” Hisashi admitted. Somehow, that didn’t come as a shock to Inko.
“That should surprise me, but it doesn’t.” Inko replied. “You’re always trying to be perfect, you’re always trying to be in control, even if it’s subtle…” She knew that he'd changed slightly after he’d recovered from his amnesia Quirk incident.
“I’m…I’m sorry.”
“You changed. I knew that you did, because you weren’t like this when you had amnesia.” Inko kept crying. "I just chose to overlook it...are any of your feelings real anymore?"
“Some are. I do love you, you and Izuku are my life now. I promise you that this part of me isn’t fake, that after I regained my memory, my love for you never faded.” He insisted. “Please, let’s just work through this.”
“Work through- how are we even going to be safe if you’re a villain?” Inko asked as she wiped her tears with one sleeve and gripped the fabric of the sofa tightly with the other.
“I’m already at the top of the food chain, Inko. If anyone even thinks about messing with me or my family, they won’t be taking that chance.” Hisashi said.
“I bet all villains say that.” Inko frowned. “How can you be so sure we’ll be safe?”
“Are you aware of the Quirk Boogieman?” Hisashi asked. That was a man who could give and take Quirks.
“Yes…” Inko’s eyes widened as she made the connection. “You aren’t telling me that you-”
“I am, Inko. Watch.” Hisashi said as he started to glow, sprouted different things from his fingers and had his hair change colour. “See. I can use the Quirks I’ve collected.” Inko couldn’t believe it. How was this possible?
“What am I supposed to do with this information?” Inko looked at him pleadingly as her emotions became too much for her. Hisashi was perceived as a person of pure evil for decades. “I-I…You are the supervillain. You’re responsible for a lot of evil things, what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Whatever you wish to do, my Princess.” Hisashi’s smile was weak. “If you wish to leave. I’ll let you leave, but I may send people to watch over you and Izuku. Even if it should be safe, there are always some hooligans and such that could be around. Alternatively, you could take time to think about this. I want you and Izuku to be by my side. Because of you and Izuku, I don’t want to harm people on the road to my goal anymore, but as much as I want to be kind, it is inevitable that people will get hurt. However, think of what I could do with the world at my feet. Discrimination would be outlawed entirely.” Hisashi’s offer seemed sweet and good, but the cost of that wouldn’t be worth it. “I could create more stable environments for those who are struggling. I could…I could do anything for myself, but more importantly for you, my Love.”
“It sounds like a dream…but the nightmare that comes before it and the pain people would feel in a dictatorship. Would it even be worth it?” Inko exhausted herself from giving out any more tears. “I-I need a break from this, I need to think. I love you so much, but I can’t just say ‘I want to stay by the man I love, even if it means ignoring so many innocent people’s deaths’. I’m a nurse for Kami’s sake, I can’t endorse you hurting or killing people. I’ve ignored a lot until now, like those associates you’ve introduced me to. I had a feeling they weren’t clean, but I ignored them for you and Izuku.”
“You want a break and time to process? That’s…good. I thought you’d just take the children and leave.” Hisashi smiled. “Take the time you need, Inko.”
“I will need to take Izuku and Tenko with me too. I need to explain to them about you. Their decision matters too.” Inko said firmly.
Hisashi nodded. “Of course. though let me tell you more about Tenko, because we should have no more secrets and this may influence your decision.” Hisashi wanted to be honest, so Inko would listen. “I wanted a person, a vessel even, that had an overwhelming amount of hatred to transfer my consciousness into. Hatred strong enough to steal a Quirk that I’ve been unable to take due to the lack of that emotion myself as well as my age being detrimental. I wanted to steal my brother’s Quirk that’s been transferred through time and is currently held by All Might. At first, I manipulated Tenko’s family to conceive him while I also amplified his father’s hatred for heroes. I took Tenko’s birth Quirk and gave him his current Quirk…I’m the cause of that family’s destruction or well, I had my part to play in it. After the incident, I used another Quirk to brainwash him, to amplify the hatred he held. Now though, because we’ve lived as a family, I have to admit that having him around Izuku and you has made him feel like my kid too and you two care for him a lot. Thank you, Inko for being a light in my life.”
Inko wiped her face. She couldn’t make herself smile, not even to reassure herself. That was a lot of new information. In the end, Tenko’s father made his own decisions, but Hisashi caused a lot of problems there. Now what he did to Tenko…that was more unforgivable, but it seems Tenko’s been alright with him. “Have you apologised to Tenko?”
“Yes. When I realised he remembered everything and broke out of my brainwashing, I spoke to him.” He replied. “I believe he still dislikes me, but at least he took to you.”
Inko nodded. “That’s understandable and I’m glad he likes me at least.” She sighed before getting up and migrating to Izuku and Tenko’s room. “I’m gonna get them up and get going.” She said as she opened the door. “Boys?”
“Huh?” Izuku shot up and rubbed his eyes a little. “Oh, dad’s back.”
“Hisashi?” Tenko was still scared. The poor boy needed some more hugs.
“Boys.” Hisashi started speaking. “Work called me and they need me there immediately. The problem is, I don’t know how long I’m going to be away for. I’m sorry, Bunny.” Hisashi smiled softly. “Your mom here thought you, Tenko and her might get a bit lonely being in this apartment, so she’s also taking you away for a bit.”
“Oh…” Izuku teared up. “Don’t be gone too long dad!” Hisashi was pounced on and caught in a bear hug instantly.
“Hey, kiddo. Strength Quirks off, please.” Hisashi said.
“Ahhh! I forgot! Sorry dad!” Izuku wiped his tears away on Hisashi’s shirt and smiled.
“I’ve messaged Mitsuki, she seemed like she may want to lay hell on you…don’t do anything rash if you cross her.” Inko asked.
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Mothers are still scary after all.” Hisashi chuckled. “Your mother was one of them and you’re like her.”
“I’m glad that I’m a little like my mother then.” Inko chuckled at the new news. “Mitsuki’s said we’re welcome to join them.” Inko turned to Izuku and Tenko. “Are you excited, we’re staying over at Katsuki’s for a while.” She put on a smile.
“Yay, I’m staying with auntie and uncle and Kacchan!” Izuku bounced around on his feet.
Tenko looked at Hisashi and went back to Inko. “It’s going to be insufferable with those two together.” He grumbled.
“Maybe. Or it’d be fun.” Inko said lightheartedly as she tried to make the situation a bit better.
“Enjoy your time there my little Prince and Tenko, and don’t let Katsuki push you two around.” Hisashi chuckled.
“I won’t! I can beat him anyway.” Izuku grinned.
“Good.” Why did Hisashi have to be good with them? “I’ll be off then!” He slipped into his shoes, put on his coat and hat, and picked up his briefcase. “I love you two.” He looked at Tenko. “I care about you too, Tenko.”
“Love you too, dad!” Izuku said.
“Whatever.” Tenko said before looking down to his lap.
“Love you…Hisashi.” Inko’s heart hurt, because Hisashi was her one and only love. Izuku was proof of that love and Tenko was a child that Hisashi obviously now cared about. It hurt so much to watch him leave, but it had to be done for now.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku didn’t understand what happened exactly, but his parents were acting weird. He thinks they were sad about something before they left, but it didn’t matter too much because he was going to be with Kacchan for a while. He held onto his mom’s hand tightly as she knocked on the door. It was late at night and it was getting cold so he wanted to get in quickly.
“Inko…” Auntie looked sad. “Heya, ‘Zuku, Tomura.”
“Hiii auntie!” Izuku smiled. “Where’s Kacchan?”
“He’s in his room, he was tidying it up since he heard you were staying over here.” Auntie laughed. “Get on up there kid.”
“I’ll stay down here.” Tenchan said.
“Okay!” Izuku rushed in, taking off his shoes quickly before scrambling up the stairs of the house. “Kacchan! I’m here.”
“Deku?! Dammit, I thought you’d take longer! Shit.” Kacchan said as he opened the door to his room.
“Sorry.” Izuku giggled. “Can I go into your room, please?” He asked with his signature smile.
“It’s not perfect yet.” Kacchan said with a small pout. “Let me finish tidying.”
“It’s perfect as it is, it’s probably just a small thing.” Izuku chuckled. “Lemme in.”
“Whatever.” He growled back before opening the door properly. “Get in before I change my mind.”
“Thank you Kacchan!” Izuku entered the room to see a few things scattered on the floor still, but it wasn’t really that messy. His own room…now that was messy. “Cleaner than my room.” Izuku muttered.
“I didn’t fuckin’ prepare anything…you wanna do somethin’?” Kacchan asked.
“We could watch All Might movies?” Izuku suggested, since All Might was amazing after all.
“Okay.” Kacchan stomped over to the TV and put the DVD in before sitting on his bed. “Sit down next to me, Nerd.”
Izuku nodded before squishing up next to him. “Thanks for this, Kacchan.”
“No need to keep thanking me, idiot.” Kacchan grumbled before leaning back. “Get comfy, Nerd, because you aren’t moving until the movie is finished.”
“Mhm.” Izuku confirmed with excitement. He couldn’t wait for All Might to get into the action in the movie!
~~
The movie was fun, but now he was tired and he was thinking about his parents again. He’d realised they had probably fought…like one couple fought in the movie and split apart for a while before All Might saved the man and the couple got back together.
“What’s up, Deku?”
“I-I’m.” Izuku’s lip wobbled. “Mom and dad were like that couple in the movie. Mom was upset and dad went away…I don’t want them to split up.”
Kacchan swiftly grabbed his hand and squeezed. “It’ll be okay, Nerd. Remember, those idiots got back together. C’mon, let’s lay down.” Kacchan shuffled down to lie down on his pillow and lay on his back on his covers. Izuku kept holding his hand as he shuffled down and laid on his back too. His heart felt happy because he was holding Kacchan’s hand. They’d never really held hands because Kacchan’s Quirk stopped him from doing so, but Izuku could just activate Kacchan’s Quirk and be resistant to it.
“Kacchan’s so nice to me.” Izuku cried out.
“I’m always nice. What the hell do you mean?” Kacchan grumbles as he pulls Izuku on his side and also rolls onto his side, hugging him with his free hand and arm. Izuku’s head lands in Kacchan’s chest where he continues to sob. “It’s okay, Nerd.”
Izuku grasped onto Kacchan as he felt more tired. It was comfy snuggling up with Kacchan.
~~~~~~~~
“Inko, what did he do to make you leave? You’re the kindest, most forgiving woman I know.” Mitsuki asked as she delivered Inko a glass of wine.
“He…I can’t explain. It’s my fault for staying for so long, but…I really can’t tell you.” Inko sighed. “I’m sorry, Mits.”
“Hey, whatever he did, I’m gonna march over there tomorrow and make him apologise.” Mitsuki grinned, but that only made Inko panic.
“No!” Inko shouted. “Y-you can’t.”
“Please don’t do that…” Tenko added quietly.
“Oh, come on. Mr. ‘I let out a small flame from my mouth’ has nothin’ on me!” Mitsuki said confidently.
“He’s…just don’t push him. He told me something earlier after I learned that he was the one that picked up Tomura, whose name is actually Tenko Shimura and he’s somehow my nephew.” Inko cried. “Tenko’s been really messed up because of him, because Hisashi had been making him hate heroes before he came to live with us.” She explained. “I don’t need anyone fighting him.”
“If you’re sure, but that sounds an awful lot like he’s a villain and with Tenko being as he is, I don’t know…someone needs to talk to Izuku.” Mitsuki groaned before they heard a movie playing from Katsuki’s room. “We’ll go to them after their movie’s finished.”
They waited for the sounds to die down and went upstairs, the sight that greeted them was unexpected as the boys were sleeping curled around each other. Katsuki was seemingly being protective of Izuku. “Mmm…I’ve got you, ‘Zuku.” Katsuki mumbled in his sleep.
“Oh my god, they’re so precious. I’ve caught my brat sleeping on Izuku’s shoulder, but this is a whole new thing.” Mitsuki grinned. “We have to take a photo for a scrapbook or something later.”
“Yeah…at least he has Katsuki.” Inko smiled. “I thought there was going to be a big problem when Izuku’s Quirk was still waiting to manifest. Katsuki…I believe he wasn’t being too nice to Izuku.”
“Oh, I know. Ages ago he grumbled about ‘how does someone make up for being a fuckin’ idiot.’ I think he made up for it.” Mitsuki laughed.
“We should leave them. Thank you again for your hospitality.” Inko smiled.
“It’s really no problem, Inko. You’d have done the same for me.” Mitsuki smiled back. “Just wish Masaru was here and wasn’t away on business, he’s softer than me.”
Inko shook her head. “You’re fine, Mitsuki. I know your type of care, just like Izuku knows Katsuki’s.”
“Good. Now how about we get you and Tenko settled in the guest room then. Izuku seems comfortable enough here.”
Inko nodded, picked up Tenko and followed Mitsuki. Tenko quickly dropped back to sleep while she eventually settled for the night and decided to contemplate everything. She knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to ‘fix’ Hisashi. The knowledge of him being the Boogieman alone means he’s probably edging closer to two hundred years old. Of course, that hadn’t mattered as he’s probably immortal due to certain Quirks. She couldn’t stop loving him though, that seemed impossible. He could also protect Izuku though and…and he did love him. Taking Izuku away from him would leave Izuku fatherless and Hisashi could possibly come after them at any time.
She’d already made her decision, but she’d wait for Izuku and Tenko’s. She’d be selfish and be with the man she loved, but would try and make a deal with the devil in the process to help as many as she could.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 8: ...And a Tragic End
Summary:
Inko, Izuku and Tenko come to a decision surrounding Hisashi.
However, disaster strikes.
Notes:
HI! I meant to get this out ages ago. Sorry for that, but I had my focus on finishing one of my other fics! Anyway, you have my apologies for multiple things today.
Warning(s):
Character Death
Mentions of injury
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku woke up warm and comfy. He was being hugged…by Kacchan. Right, he was upset last night and Kacchan was being so nice. He let him cry and held his hand- is still holding his hand. This felt great. He nuzzled into Kacchan’s chest and smiled, hopefully he was going to be up soon, he wanted to hang out more.
It didn’t take long for Kacchan to wake up. He mumbled something before holding Izuku closer. “You okay, Nerd?”
Was he? He was feeling better than yesterday so he nodded. “I’m okay.”
“Wanna watch a TV show then? Somethin’ like Hero Force or whatever?” Kacchan asked.
“Sure!” Izuku smiled as they separated and turned the TV on to go to the recorded TV series. This was great!
~~~~~~~~
The few days of hanging out with Kacchan, and auntie and uncle were great, but he missed his dad. His mom finally sat him down and said that she wanted to talk to him and Tenko about what actually happened. This was it…this was where she says they’re not together anymore.
“You and dad aren’t gonna be together anymore, are you?” Izuku said, trying his best to keep his tears away.
“Oh Honey.” Mom started to hug him tightly. “I…I do want to be with him, but I told him that this is down to both you and Tenko.” She said.
“W-what’s down to us?” Izuku sniffled.
“Tenko knows as much already, but your father, he-he’s a villain.” Mom said.
“He’s a villain? B-But he’s so nice and kind and he loves us!” Izuku defended his dad.
“He used one of his Quirks to brainwash me.” Tenko said. “I assume he told you everything then, Mama Inko.” He sighed as mom nodded. “I wanted to be a hero so much, even though I hated a lot of things, that he brainwashed me. Made me forget that I had my own dreams. He’s kind of the reason my family is dead too, because Hisashi gave me my Quirk and manipulated my father.”
“Yes. He did all of that. Your father made his own decisions in the end though, Tenko.” Mom said. “I’m sorry about what happened to you.”
“Thanks…” Tenko said quietly.
Izuku broke out of his mom’s hug to pull Tenko into a hug. “I-I’m sorry dad did that to you. Big bro Tenchan, y-you should have been happy!”
“Hisashi shouldn’t have done all of that, no.” Mom said softly. “It’s too late now, at least for Tenko, but your dad is trying to be better, Izuku. He still loves you and he cares for Tenko too.” She said as he hugged around the pair of them. “Hisashi is one of the biggest supervillains. His Quirk can take Quirks and give Quirks and he’s notorious for using that power to make people indebted to him or he’d…he’d really hurt them.” She said. “Even kill them…”
“Shouldn’t we tell the police?” Izuku asked weakly. Even if this is his dad, shouldn’t he go to prison for everything that he’s done?
“I-I know this is selfish, Izuku, but I still want to be with your father. I love him and want to make sure he does better.” Mom said. “But this isn’t about me, it’s about you. It’s about what you two want.” She pulled away from both of them and looked at them seriously. “I think he’d try to be better for you two, so use that to make a decision.”
“I…” What did he want? Did he want to be living with a villain, even if that villain was his dad? A dad who hadn’t once harmed him. A dad who loved him so much. If he loved them then…then maybe- “I want to try to stop him from being a villain. I-I’ve been helping Tenchan, even if it’s slow, he’s seen some really good heroes that he said he actually likes. He wouldn’t have done that a while ago.”
“Hisashi has been better these days. So I guess it’s worth trying.” Tenko sighed, though he was shaking a little.
“Then we can try our best, can’t we?” Inko smiled. “How about we go out and get you guys some ice cream huh? I’ll let Hisashi know about our decision on the way.”
“Okay!” Izuku smiled.
“Eh. I’ll stay here. If that’s okay?” Tenchan asked nervously.
“We’ll bring you some back then.” Mom said before grabbing Izuku’s hand. “Take care of the house, Tenko. We’ll be back soon.”
Kacchan was right, it’d be okay…though he knows Kacchan wouldn’t accept his dad being a villain, so that was a secret for now. At the moment, he just wanted his ice cream.
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi was wallowing at home. He missed his wife and child…and Tenko. Blast them for getting him attached to Tenko. Though that was mainly because his brain definitely got rewired from the memory Quirk. He was a psychopath. He knew that. Technically, he was a sociopath, but he barely gave Yoichi real brotherly love and in fact kicked him around physically. He was actually still a sociopath, considering his actions. Part of him wants One For All now just to be able to talk to Yoichi again to apologise, but that’s likely a stupid endeavour, because Yoichi would still hate him.
Hisashi’s phone started to ring. That song…it was his and Inko’s song, his custom ringtone for her. He swiped up his phone immediately and answered the call. “Inko?”
“Hisashi.” Inko seemed calm. Was that good?
“How have you and the boys been the past few days?” Hisashi asked genuinely.
“Tenko’s still scared of you, but he’s been alright while we’ve stayed at Mitsuki’s house. Izuku’s just been a ball of energy with Katsuki.” Inko’s following giggle was so sweet. “And I’ve…I’ve been good. We talked about what we wanted to do.”
“Oh?” Hisashi was nervous about how this was going to go…
“We’re going to come back to you.” Inko said. Every positive receptor in Hisashi’s brain lit up- “But before you get too giddy, you have to promise to do better! No more…of your business.”
“I can try to cut things back, but Honey, I can’t stop it entirely. You have to know that.” Hisashi, while he definitely could stop his operations in their entirety, someone else would take over and fill the gaps he would leave.
“Why can’t you?” Inko asked seriously.
“I’d rather personally control things, even if it means things stay in low production, if that means random criminals don’t cause more chaos than necessary. There will always be people to fill the gaps after all.” Hisashi explained. “And if I don’t keep an eye on them, they’d be more of a risk towards you, Izuku and Tenko. At least if I’m in control I can scare them away from hurting the people I care about.”
Inko seemed quiet. “That sounds good, but they shouldn’t be hurting anyone.” She said after a small pause.
“I would love for villains to not hurt people too, but I can only stop a certain amount of villains without force or appearances before the stragglers go off to do their own thing.” Hisashi said, because it was true. If it seemed like he was fully out of the picture, villains connected to him would start going off the rails. At least controlled villainy meant less unnecessary damage.
“I…” Inko paused again. “I see. I get it. I don’t like it, but I understand. If you have to continue your work a little to keep people safe I-you can’t hurt anyone though.” She said, compromising. That was enough.
“Alright. I promise not to hurt anyone.” Physically. He couldn’t promise not to mentally scar some people if it was needed.
“Okay.” Inko said. “Well, I’m going to go now. I’m currently out with Izuku getting ice cream. Izuku, do you want to talk to dad?”
“Yes!” Hisashi could hear Izuku shout from far away from the phone. His voice soon became louder, meaning Inko passed him the phone. “I hope you’re doing good, dad.”
“I am, Bunny.” Hisashi said with a small smile. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I’m happy to be getting some ice cream.” Izuku cheered. Hisashi loved hearing Izuku so excited. “Y-You’re not gonna hurt anyone again, are you?” Oh…how could Izuku saying that sentence actually hammer at Hisashi’s heart?
“I’ll be trying not to. I don’t want to upset you, Izuku.” Hisashi said softly. Hisashi heard the jingle of their favourite ice cream place in the background of the call.
“Good! I’ve gotta go, dad. See you soon!” Izuku said happily.
“See you soon, Bunny.” Hisashi said.
“Take care, Hisashi. See you tomorrow.” Inko said. “Love you.” She added before closing the call. The background noise was getting loud anyway, but Hisashi wanted to answer her back.
“Love you too.” Hisashi had a genuine, happy smile on his face. He would have his family back together.
~~~~~~~~
Mom had gotten him his favourite strawberry ice cream. He’d taken a few licks before hearing something bad going on. He could hear screams and things breaking because he had a few sensory Quirks on. The sounds were getting closer!
The fight was soon visible in the street. It would be cool if it was being handled properly, but it wasn’t! It was scary! The heroes around were a new hero, Hera, Chainmail, Midnight and someone similar to Midnight, Sleeping Beauty. Her name was based on an old fairy tale, but it had long been public domain and it was accurate with nails that could extend into a pin shape and one prick from them could knock someone out.
The area quickly became a battleground. The villain’s Quirk seemed to cause things to implode and then explode. If the wall collapsing into a point and then popping out as debris was something to go off of, then it shouldn’t be too bad. It was Hera who was more of a threat, because she was using blasts of air to keep the man and debris from floors and walls away. It was probably because one touch from the villain would kill her. Everyone needed to get out of the way of the fight.
“This way!” Midnight shouted, but it was too late as Izuku saw the villain up close and Hera who was fighting him. The woman wasn’t stressed, no. She was smiling, but it wasn’t like an ‘All Might’ smile, was she enjoying this like a game? No, her head was slightly turned towards people who had cameras, she was playing it up!
“Izuku! Hurry.” Mom was dragging him, but-
“Time’s up, villain.” Hera laughed as the air was displaced from places around them, the thunderclap from it hurt his ears and then…where did the air go, she displaced it all at once? Hera stopped smiling after realising how much air she took in.
Izuku realised what was about to happen and Hera knew too when she couldn’t hold the power. Physics lessons from his dad had taught him enough about what happens with overlapping matter and atoms. The displaced air was about to come back and overlap more air and it was of considerable size too. It was bad. “I love you mom!” He said probably to deaf ears as he held onto her tightly.
*Boom* Another clap hit, but this time it was more explosive as it blasted him, every other person who was running in the area away and most likely Hera. His vision went spotty and he felt weak before he passed out. He was probably dying…he wished he could have said ‘I love you’ to his dad.
~~
Izuku thought he was dead, but when he sat back up with a lot of exhaustion filling his bones, he had to be alive. Of course…dad had let him copy a small regeneration Quirk and Izuku never turned it off.
“Kid!” Midnight must have been watching over him. It made him feel a little happy that he wasn’t just left alone. He was glad she wasn’t caught in the blast too. “How are you feeling?.”
“I…O-kay. I…copy Quirk.” Izuku coughed out some blood that must have pooled in his lungs before he healed.
“Help’s on the way, don’t worry.” Midnight would have had to have assumed he was bleeding internally.
“D’n’t w’rry. Regeneration Quirk copied.” Izuku hacked out more blood. “This is b’cuz it got in b’fore I healed.”
“Still gonna have to get you in to have a check up, kid.” Midnight smiled weakly. His senses came back to him and he realised the situation.
“M-Mom. Where is she?!” Izuku scanned around in a panic.
“I’m so sorry, you were out for a while because you were healing. Though there weren't many of you who were close, everyone but you and Hera…because of that healing Quirk of yours…” Midnight tried to soften the blow, but her eyes were tearing up because of the situation too as she held out her arms to give him a hug. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Izuku grabbed onto Midnight and started crying heavy tears. “You would have to get close to use your Quirk without affecting everyone and then you’d have had to rip your costume a-and he could have killed you by then. You were more suited to deal with evacuation and knocking out the injured who were in too much pain or those frozen in panic who could have been carried away.” He hiccuped out a sob. “You couldn’t even reach him with your fan without hitting innocent people.”
“I wish I could have stopped that villain though…we should have saved everyone.” Midnight held him a little tighter. “So…what’s your name? I need a name to help you.”
“Izuku Midoriya and the explosion wasn’t caused by the villain. It was Hera who killed everyone.” Izuku growled. “I thought all heroes were great, but Tenchan and dad were right. Some are just scum playing up for the camera or fame. She could have fought him into the air with a Quirk that caused air displacement and manipulation or caused him to pass out from a lack of air, but instead she got closer to the ground for a ‘flashy’ fight while smiling for the camera.” He explained. “Since the villain couldn’t implode air after all.”
“Can I move you?” Midnight asked softly.
Izuku nodded before coming to a realisation. “M-My dad…oh god, my dad’s gonna kill them.”
Midnight picked him up and started heading towards what was probably the medical area. Izuku tried to keep his tears at bay, but nothing was working. “There’s no need to hold back on the tears. It’s understandable to be upset, you’ve just got through something bad. Do you wanna talk about the villain’s Quirk some more?”
“The villain was constantly touching the ground or hurling imploded and compressed material or letting it release as debris. If he could implode air, he’d motion through the air more to disorient people.” Izuku said. “Also, the explosion that happened can only be caused by overlapping matter exploding out. Not just air compressing inwards or bursting outwards.”
“Shit.” Midnight’s breath hitched. “This…this needs to be reported.”
“Mhm. And my dad-” Izuku’s bottom lip wobbled. “I need to call dad, I need to call auntie and uncle, Kacchan and Tenko. I need-”
“If you ever need help, I’m sure Kurogiri will come to your aid if you say his name.” Tenchan had said that once. “What do you need?” Midnight asked softly.
“I need to go to dad. I need to explain before something happens to-to you and Sleeping Beauty since you were on evac. Chainmail wasn’t doing anything to help though, even when he can create chains and wrap enemies up or act as a defence…all he had to do was bind the villain’s hands when he was pushed back earlier.” Izuku replied coldly before slipping out of Midnight’s hold. “KUROGIRI!” He shouted, hoping the man would arrive.
A dark purple portal opened in front of him instantly. “Young Master Izuku? I am surprised that you requested my services. What do you request of me?”
“Take me to dad, please?” Izuku asked with red ringed eyes.
“Of course.” Kurogiri bowed as he opened a new portal.
Izuku rushed towards it. “I’m sorry, Midnight. I’ll be okay, I promise!” He said as he stumbled to the other side of the portal and his face landed flat into his father’s stomach.
“Kid, wait!” The portal closed before he could hear anything else.
“Bunny?” His dad seemed surprised before looking extremely concerned. “I thought you were getting ice cream with your mother. Why are you here and-” Dad froze when looking at Izuku. “Why are you covered in blood?”
“Villain attack…” Izuku started to sob again. “I need you dad…mom, Hero Hera killed mom! Killed us? Regen healed me, so I should be dead, but I’m not.” He grasped onto his dad’s back tightly.
“Your mother is…” His dad started growling as he petted through Izuku’s hair. “A hero killed her?! Thank you for telling me who I need to get revenge on. Who I need to destroy-” He stopped himself.
“No.” Izuku whined. “Y-You said you promised to be better. No killing or hurting them.”
Dad stroked through Izuku’s curls a little more. “I can stick to my word and still destroy that hero.” His dad said, quieter and calmer. Dad was too calm…“Were there any other heroes on site before I start researching the scene?”
Izuku decided to answer his dad when he hugged Izuku. “Midnight, Sleeping Beauty and Chainmail. Midnight and Sleeping Beauty were further away on evacuation. Midnight stayed with me until I woke up and was waiting for medical aid to come around, because she saw me regenerate and wanted me to be checked. Please don’t harm them, they weren’t best suited to fight around Hera or the villain. Chainmail though…he should have tried to chain the villain up.” He explained. “Dad…you were right about some heroes being self-serving…Hera was playing for the camera, she didn’t care about the damage she was doing or what she was going to do and even hurt herself! I-I want-.” He felt angrier than ever now through all of his upset.
“What do you want, son?” His dad asked harshly, because he too was angry at what happened.
“I want to make sure she can’t ever hurt anyone again! I want to make sure Chainmail doesn’t let anyone die again.” Izuku growled. “I want to take their Quirks away from them as they don’t deserve them! I want them to pay for killing mom and so many others!” He roared. He would be the person to stop heroes who don’t protect the public! People needed to be safe from them .
~
“I want to take their Quirks away from them as they don’t deserve them! I want them to pay for killing mom and so many others!” Hisashi was shocked to hear that from his son, but that burning anger…that was something he would gladly indulge as he felt it too.
“I was going to be done with it by the end of the next few days.” Hisashi hummed, he had an idea, but his son would have to accept the situation and agree to the terms of dealing with the situation around Inko’s death-he’d focus on that later, he didn’t have time to process the emotions right now. “I need you to advance through your schooling now. Then we can get you out of school and into more intensive physical and combat training. This training will be against artificial beings known as Nomu, these beings adhere to my every command and well, right below my command is your own and Tomura’s. This training will be so you can hold your own against larger opponents and hone your skills. You can continue with regular training instead, but-“
“I’ll do it.” Izuku answered quickly. “I still want to be a hero, but-but if there are those types of heroes in our world too…that section needs to go. I’ll be a vigilante instead if I have to.”
“Of course, son.” Hisashi smiled softly as he kept trying to hide his pain. Inko was gone and his son-as much as Hisashi had wanted this change in Izuku’s mentality a while ago, he didn’t want it now. The reason for this wasn’t worth it. The brightness Izuku always brought with him had now dimmed and Hisashi now didn’t like it.
Izuku’s breathing picked up a bit. “I-We need to tell auntie, uncle and Kacchan. And Tenko's still at their house-the police also need to know I’m fine. I called for Kurogiri when Midnight had me, I’m sorry.” He looked guilty for something he didn’t need to be guilty for.
“Kurogiri was going to become known at some point and as far as anyone can be concerned, he’s my assistant, butler, whatever and I gave you a panic button for him to receive your location to come collect you.” Hisashi said. “As for the Bakugos…let’s get you cleaned up first, okay Bunny?”
“You haven’t mentioned much about mom after getting angry…A-are you not upset dad? I haven’t seen you cry yet?” Izuku said, hitting Hisashi harshly. He hadn’t been visibly upset.
“I’ve been through a lot, Son. I know how to control my emotions. After everything, even when you were coming back to me, part of me feels like I don’t deserve to mourn her, my Little Prince. It hurts a lot, but I don’t want to cry when I-when we still need to get justice for her and even then she-.” Hisashi said as he lifted Izuku up and kept him in a tight hug to carry him a little.
“She still loved you.” Izuku’s throat was bobbing with the emotions he was feeling. “We love you. I’m glad I’m alive to be able to tell you that…” Izuku started sniffling. “People like that hero deserve payback.” They did. They deserved consequences for their actions causing Hisashi’s wife to die and for causing Izuku pain. What about Tenko too? “Dad…you’re crying.”
Hisashi padded under his eyes. “I guess I am. I haven’t done that since you started to walk.” He shook his head. “C’mon young man, let’s get you washed up.”
“C-can you do it, I don’t want to see the-the blood. Please.” Izuku pleaded. What should have been embarrassing for a young kid was something he needed his dad to do now to avoid being traumatised further.
“Okay.” Hisashi carried Izuku to the bathroom with a bath and shower and told Izuku to close his eyes. He’d help his little Prince through this. He deserved it.
~~~~~~~~
Midnight POV - Just after the attack
Midnight was shocked at the destruction caused in this villain attack, the explosion of energy happening in an instant. It knocked Midnight over and launched people away from its epicentre. The few civilians that were too close to the blast were mangled by the force, it was gruesome. There were kids in there too, as they were nearing the popular ice cream parlour the street hosted. It was a massacre, an obviously unintended one if the villain’s horrified face and immediate surrender was anything to go by, but it happened nonetheless. It was an upsetting scene and she’d mourn these people in her own way later. She was a hero first and foremost and some of these people may have survived. It was unlikely with the force and the amount of twisted and broken bodies that was strewn about, but it just takes the right Quirk or way of being hit to survive.
Close to her was the green haired boy and his mom that she’d seen first…they were the closest and other heroes had started filtering in and checking over the others. They were…it was horrible. The mother’s open eyes were enough to tell her that she was gone, but she checked for a pulse regardless. Nothing.
She checked the woman’s son next, she wasn’t exactly hopeful with the bones that were protruding from his body and flesh that was damaged. She gasped as she felt a strong pulse, though that shock was quickly trumped as the boy’s body started to slowly snap back into place and ended up looking undamaged. A regeneration Quirk? The boy’s chest was rising and falling with a healthy strength, which was good, but it also meant that it’d be possible for the boy to wake too. She’d stay with him before the medical team came. “I have a kid with a pulse. A green haired boy with what is probably a strong regeneration Quirk.” She patched in through her radio.
“Copy that, Midnight. Please stay with the child and allow us to come to you.” The medical team said.
“Understood.” She said as she watched the authorities and other staff start bagging up the bodies and taking them away, including the mother of this child.
~~
The kid woke up and was coughing up blood, was he bleeding internally?! The boy eventually explained everything and she felt even more angry. The boy was apparently fine, but from what he explained it was actually Hera who had killed all those people and the villain hadn’t done jack shit to them. Of course an overconfident, showboating upstart had to try and show off and killed people with her own negligence. Midnight knew the girl had only gotten through one of the worst hero schools by the skin of her teeth and that her flashy moves had her reprimanded more often than not because of how dangerous that aspect of her Quirk is. She even had multiple suits for property damage and yet, she was allowed to keep working and with the perfect excuse, she’s now let off a massive explosion and wanted everyone to blame the villain. There was no way it was properly accidental after all of the quiet reprimands she’s received.
When the kid slipped out of her hold and went with someone with a Warp Quirk of all things, she was shocked. He did say he was going to his dad though…hopefully the kid would be fine, but she was probably going to get reprimanded.
“Midnight?” A paramedic came up to them. “Where’s this boy you said survived?”
“He…he woke up and panicked. He had someone with a Warp Quirk come and warp him to his dad. I think. It was too fast for me to react.” Midnight shook her head. “I need to get a profile out there just in case he wasn’t warped to safety. I think so anyway.”
“Hmm.” The paramedic spotted something and picked it up. It was the mother’s purse. It was quite unique with a child-like drawing on it. “Oh…wait, this is-this wasn’t by a green haired woman, was it?” The paramedic knew them…they just didn’t want to open to check for ID and make it real.
“It was. Why?”
“Inko…” The paramedic’s head dropped. “She’s loved throughout our whole hospital. Oh Inko. Wait…was her son, did you find her son? She’s been off work recently due to a family issue and was looking after him!”
“The boy I was trying to bring here was called Izuku Midoriya, if that helps.” Midnight said.
“That’s her son! So he’s okay?” The paramedic breathed out in relief. “He’s lucky to have copied a Regeneration Quirk.”
“He is. So, all I know is that he called out a name. Kurogiri, was the name I think. Then the man appeared, calling Izuku his ‘Young Master’ and I assume warped him to his father, but...” Midnight was worried, the kid needed a medical checkup at least!
“His dad will look after him, he’ll probably have Izuku checked at a hospital or by his personal doctor. Make a note of it, but he should be fine.” The paramedic smiled weakly. “That poor family though, Inko was such a loving and kind woman.” They said with some unshed tears as they walked towards a different site.
Midnight would keep an eye out for Izuku Midoriya then, hopefully he was just with his father. It was worrying that he believed his father would kill the heroes that were around though. That being said, she had a hero to report and she wouldn’t stop until this villain in disguise was brought to justice. Hera’s victims deserved to know that she was punished for what she did and she’ll try to get it for them!
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed - btw, the title connects to chapter 6. Things were good, now they're going wrong.
I apologise to Inko, but I already foreshadowed either her or Hisashi needing to go and well...she drew the short end of the stick here.
See you in the next one!
Chapter 9: Scars and Grief
Summary:
The aftermath of the attack and Inko's death, with the Bakugo's and Tenko.
Notes:
Hi everyone! I didn't mean to leave this so long again, but I've been here and there and busy with my other fic.
Warning(s):
Talks of death
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku felt numb as he was being scrubbed clean of dirt and blood that he refused to look at. His mom was dead! She was gone and wouldn’t be coming back. So many emotions were swirling like a whirlwind inside him, but the one that settled was the anger. No wonder Tenchan was angry with the world, because those types of people somehow are heroes and they’re more dangerous and reckless than villains!
A towel was quickly wrapped around him which brought him out of his thoughts. “I’m done, Bunny.” His dad said, but why did he sound sad at that?
“Thanks, dad.” Izuku looked over his body. His chest had scratch scars over it since he must have been scraped around the ground. His right shin has a scar where a bone must have pushed through too as well as his right arm having a large gash on it . What about his head and face?! He rushed to the mirror and went to wipe it.
“You may not want to do that.” His dad said firmly, but he had to see.
His cheek had a scar that looked like it was cut open in a v-shape and the underside of his chin had a small gash scar. All Izuku could let out was a small whine.
“It’s going to be okay, Izuku. I-I’ve lost a few people I’ve cared about and it does get better in time. There will always be emotion and upset about what happened, but it gets easier.” His dad hugged him tightly. “I’ve checked you over with my Quirks, you won’t need a doctor, but I’ll have one of my people file in the forms that you went to one. I’m going to call the Bakugos instead, do you want to listen in?”
“Please.” Izuku nodded his head a little. “I wanna talk to Kacchan.”
His dad chuckled lightly. “Okay.”
Hisashi picked up the phone and called Mitsuki, hopefully she’d seen what was going on and wasn’t going to explode on him. The call picked up after a short time ringing, meaning there was some hesitation. “Hisashi.” His dad put it on speaker for Izuku to hear too.
“Mitsuki.” His dad was choking up. “Did you see the news?”
“We just got home from being out and about, but it was an awful villain attack in the city, right?” Auntie answered. “It was a disaster as it was like an explosion, it’s no surprise it’s on the news, but why are you calling about that?”
“Izuku has- I have a bodyguard who has a warping Quirk. Izuku has a panic button to ‘summon’ said bodyguard to his location when situations arise. Izuku signalled for him, but that was-was because he was in the area of the attack.” Izuku heard a sharp intake of breath through the phone. “Fortunately, Izuku has a Regeneration Quirk copied right now. If he didn’t have that he would have been dead too, but…but from what Izuku has told me, Inko-Inko’s-” His dad explained. So that’ll be the story. Kurogiri is his dad’s bodyguard who is also protecting Izuku. He didn’t like this being retold though, so he was tearing up again.
“No.” Auntie was breaking down on the other end of the line. “Hisashi don’t you dare say it.”
“I don’t want to, but I have Izuku here and he’s shaken up, obviously and he wants to also be with his auntie, uncle and his Kacchan.” Izuku wanted to cry again. He needs them-wait, Tenko! “Did Tenko see the news?”
“Tenko went for a shower, said he felt bad. God. B-bring Izuku over, please. This is going to break Tenko and Katsuki too, they both loved Inko.” She whispered.
“I believe a lot of people did, especially within her hospital.” His dad was wiping his eyes. “Dammit. I’m going to have my bodyguard warp us over, if that’s okay with you?”
“Does the warper know where our house is?” Auntie asked.
“Yes, because he had to be able to possibly protect Izuku and Inko by sending them somewhere safe that wasn’t our house.” His dad said. “Sorry that I didn’t just have him on their trail.” He muttered.
“I think Inko would have hated that.” Auntie’s wet chuckle came through. Izuku could tell she was crying.
“You’re right, she would have hated it a lot. You’re also on speaker, by the way.” His dad added.
“Hi auntie.” Izuku sniffled. “I-I…”
“I’m glad you’re okay, Izuku.” Auntie said. “Please…come over.”
“C-can you warn Kacchan and Tenchan about something, please?” Izuku asked shakily.
“Of course, ‘Zuku. What is it?” Auntie asked softly.
“Tell them there was an incident and I have a few bad scars. I know they’ll both worry a lot, but I don’t want to shock them.” Izuku said quietly.
Auntie hiccuped. “Okay, I’ll let them know. I’m so sorry about everything that happened though.”
“We’ll be over shortly. Izuku’s just drying up, since he needed to wash up.” His dad said. “Give us ten minutes.”
“O-okay.” Auntie stuttered. “I’ll see you two soon.”
“See you soon, auntie.”
“See you soon, Mitsuki.” His dad closed the call and smiled. “C’mon, Bunny. We should finish up here.”
His dad’s phone started ringing. “Who is it?” Izuku asked as he had finished towelling himself dry.
~
“It’s not one of my registered numbers, let me check.” His dad picked up the call. “Hello, this is Hisashi Midoriya.”
“This is the right number, good. This is the pro hero, Midnight. I wanted to make sure your son had appeared with you. There was a weird interaction not too long ago with a Warp Quirk user, so is he with you?” Midnight said.
“My associate is a little too hard working, but he did teleport Izuku to me safely. Apologies if he worried you at all.” Hisashi said. “I’m trying to keep it together myself after my little Prince here told me about what happened.”
“I understand, Mr Midoriya. I’m personally trying to see that Hera’s career is finished after this. That’s as much as I can say though, considering it needs to be investigated. I’m sorry for your loss though, sir.”
“Thank you for your condolences, but honestly I’m just focusing on having my son here.” Hisashi said. “Good luck ending the career of a flashy hero though, if someone else doesn’t get to it first.”
“I-I’ll try my best.” Midnight said before the call ended.
“You were right, Midnight isn’t one to be blamed.” Hisashi said before shaking his head. Izuku was dressed in long clothing now. The only thing left was that his hair was still a little wet. “Kurogiri.”
The Nomu warped to his location. “Yes Master?”
“Please open a portal to the Bakugo household.”
“Of course, Master.” Kurogiri opened the portal and Hisashi took Izuku’s hand into his.
“C’mon, Bunny.” Hisashi said. Izuku looked at him more pleadingly with an arm extended. It was something he did when he was younger and wanted to be picked up.
“Okay dad.” Izuku replied before Hisashi gave into Izuku’s plea and picked him up. He let his son hug his body as they went through the portal.
~~~~~~~~
Katsuki wasn’t freaking out…he wasn’t! But what the hell did the Hag mean by ‘Izuku got hurt badly and now has scars.’?! Katsuki only went out with his parents a little while ago and they’d come back to a message from auntie saying she and Izuku were out for ice cream! But the ice cream place he likes the most is where that latest big villain attack was .
“The fuck happened?” Tomura was glaring at Katsuku’s parents.
“Hisashi and Izuku are coming soon. They’ll explain things.” Mom said.
The knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts. Though it was serious enough that he didn’t even wanna jokingly call his mom ‘Hag’ “Mom…is that Zuku?”
His mom nodded. “I’ll let them in.” She went to the door and Katsuki followed her, he needed to see Zuku! “Come on in.” She said as she held the door open, she seemed to be giving uncle a weird look though.
“Mitsuki…” Uncle came in with Izuku hugging onto his front tightly, like he didn’t want anyone to see him.
“Dad. I-I don’t-” Izuku was crying, Katsuki could tell.
“It’ll be okay. They won’t think of you differently.” Uncle said as he put Izuku down.
Izuku turned around and the scar on his face was an obvious difference from the morning. “Z-zuku.” Katsuki quickly placed his hand on Izuku’s cheek and rubbed the scar. It kinda looked badass, but was it really the villain attack then? “It looks badass, don’t worry about it.” Katsuki grinned. “Plus, what hero doesn’t have scars, huh? Even if they’re not all on the face, some have gnarly ones on their body. Remember Crimson Riot?”
Izuku perked up a bit, good, he’s got him! “He has so many scratches and deep cuts, but they look so cool and the stories behind them…but-but mine-”
“-Are because you survived, Bunny.” Uncle said. “Sometimes even heroes have to save themselves and survive so they can save more later. Scars from survival are just as strong as scars from battle.”
“O-oh.” Izuku stuttered and Katsuki decided to drag Izuku into a hug.
“Where’s Mama Inko?” Tomura asked so quietly. Katsuki never heard the guy so quiet.
“I’m so sorry, Tenko, Katsuki.” Uncle was holding onto his clothes tightly. Tenko? Was that Tomura’s actual name…no wonder everyone was being weird with it and what ‘Tomura’ meant sounded weird too. “She was caught up in the attack. Izuku’s only here because he copied a regeneration Quirk from someone on the street.” What-no. There was no way!
“That fuckin’ villain!” Katsuki growled. “I’m gonna kill ‘em! How dare they!”
“No, Kacchan.” Izuku’s tone was cold. Colder than Katsuki had ever heard. “It was the hero Hera that did it, not the villain.” He got close to his ear. “And we’re gonna make ‘em pay.” He whispered. Katsuki swallowed thickly. Izuku’s never sounded so cold before, but he understands…the hero killed auntie? Izuku wasn’t one to lie and he’s a damn nerd, so he would’ve made sure what happened.
“How dare she.” Katsuki held onto Izuku tighter. “How dare she act like a hero!”
“I can’t-not again.” Tenko seemed panicked before becoming angry. “I-I’ll kill her.” He growled.
“Villain arrested for mass murder amongst many other chargers. We still don’t have the identity of the man responsible for the deaths of at least ten civilians and injured twenty three, but we have received word from the HPSC, amidst protests from Midnight that the Hero Hera should be investigated for the deaths, that the villain is the one to blame and any more talk around the matter is left for the courts.” What…
“What?!” Izuku shouted. “D-dad, what can we do about this?!”
“I have a registered lawyer for these things. I want and I will make sure Hera is at least publicly blamed and hopefully I’ll get the villain off of the mass murder charges. No one deserves that much punishment due to a coverup.” Uncle said.
“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” His mom pointed out.
“It may be seen that way, but only if I’m going to sabotage the defendant. My associate mainly runs independently from me. So it ensures that I’m going to be helping him.” Uncle grinned.
“Good. So…I also heard you might be a villain, Hisashi…what are you actually planning on doing with the villain and ‘hero’ in this situation?” His mom asked.
“I’m going to right an injustice of course.” Uncle chuckled. “And sometimes a villain is only a villain because society sees them that way. If people perceived Katsuki’s Quirk as destructive instead of flashy from the beginning, he’d be called a villain. Those with brain effecting or Quirk suppressing Quirks are usually called villains too. And sometimes…a hero is just an actual villain acting like they want to help.”
“So you’ll go for justice huh…if you get justice for Inko, I’ll ignore what I heard about you.” His mom said.
“Well I won’t!” Katsuki glared at his uncle, because he was apparently a villain!
His uncle just laughed in response and Izuku shook his head as well as nuzzling into Katsuki’s neck. “Don’t focus on that.” Izuku said.
“Zuku, heroes beat the villains.”
“Leave dad alone…he’s all I’ve got. I’ll make sure he won’t hurt anyone.” Izuku said quietly.
Katsuki wouldn’t forget what was heard, but for Izuku, he’d ignore it for now. “Okay.”
“I’m so sorry.” Katsuki’s dad rushed in from the kitchen. “I overheard, I’m so sorry, Hisashi.” He was tearing up and so was Katsuki. “We all loved Inko, so, so much.”
“I know…I hate to drop this on you and leave, but since I already know, I want to go to the police and try to start organising Inko’s funeral.” His uncle said. “Can Izuku and Tenko stay here?”
“Of course they can.” His dad smiled.
“We’ll take the little Green Bean and Dusty here.” His mom said and that was good, because Katsuki wasn’t letting Izuku go…Tenko staying is annoying though.
“Thank you.” His uncle sighed. “I’m going to hate this, but…you two, don’t worry if I’m not back tonight. I need some time to process everything and set a lot of things up, I’m sorry.”
Izuku shook his head. “It’s okay, do what you need to, dad. Uncle, auntie, Kacchan and Tenchan are enough for now.”
“I’ll…I’ll be fine.” Tenko said, but uncle came over to hug him too.
“I’m sorry. I wished I was there to protect them, I’m sorry.” Uncle said.
“Just fuck off and do what you need to do already.” Tenko shouted but he was crying. Katsuki hadn’t seen the kid be so emotional other than just being angry, but perhaps it was a good thing he was reacting now.
“Alright. I’ll take my leave now. Take care, Bunny. Tenko, take care of Izuku” His uncle walked to the door and eventually left.
“C’mon Zuku. Let’s go to my room.”
Izuku yawned. “Okay.” He sniffled. “Big brother Tenchan…come with.”
Katsuki wanted to argue, but whatever. “C’mon.
~~~~~~~~
Kacchan essentially had to drag Izuku to his room. Izuku felt exhausted and wanted to rest so he flopped onto the bed and sighed. He just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry again, but even his eyes, that were known for ‘The Midoriya Tears’ were all dried out.
“You need anything, Nerd?” Kacchan asked.
“Don’t know.” Izuku mumbled back before covering his face, he still felt like the scar made him a failure. His dad had given him access to so many different Quirks…maybe Air Cannon could have saved them with countering forces-
“Get out of that damn head of yours.” Kacchan flopped down next to him. “Aren’t you too hot in that shit, you can borrow some of my shit if you want?”
“B-but my scars-”
“Don’t fuckin’ matter. You’re pretty with or without scars dammit!” Kacchan’s ears and face turned bright red and his mouth opened like he was in shock. Izuku was shocked too.
“I-I’m pretty? Even with…” Izuku smiled as he rubbed over his cheek. “I am too warm in this...I just thought I’d look bad.” He pouted. Kacchan got up and rummaging around for sleep clothes.
“I’m gonna go downstairs and talk to Mitsuki and Masaru.” Tenko said. “Don’t be too mushy up here.” He said before scratching a little at his arms and leaving the room.
“Mushy?!” Izuku squeaked, but Tenko was already gone again…he wanted Tenko here! Before he could continue thinking, Kacchan pulled off Izuku’s shirt and he could hear Kacchan gasp. Izuku's face felt warm.
“You really went through shit, huh? It’s okay though Deku. You’ve got this shit.” Kacchan smiled and held out a tank top as Izuku looked him in the eyes.
Izuku nodded. “Thanks.” He quickly took the tank top from Kacchan pulled it over his head before flopping onto the bed. “I’m glad I have you, Kacchan.” He sniffled, letting his emotions get to him again.
“Glad I you’re still here, Nerd.” Kacchan said before joining Izuku. He was glad to be here too.
~~~~~~~~~
Izuku and Katsuki tried to take their minds off of the situation by talking about random subjects…mostly All Might. Tenko was allowing himself to be comforted by the Bakugos, though they couldn’t undo the damage Inko’s death had done, because all Tenko could do was cry. There was a large void that Inko had left and nothing would fully fill that for the lives she impacted. She had such an impact on everyone’s lives and now the effect of her death will be felt by all of her friends and family, with Hisashi ready to work at nothing to make sure Hera pays in every single way possible.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
See you in the next one! I've said on my other fic that I'd try to get faster on my uptake on this, but I'm gonna be busy. Still, I'll try for every other week at least.
Chapter 10: Morgue Visit
Summary:
Hisashi is called to confirm Inko's death and makes a few plans on what to do after that.
Notes:
Happy Sunday! Just gonna drop this and leave, so I hope you enjoy!
Warning(s):
Mentions of death.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hisashi wasn’t one to mess around. Since he hadn’t received a call about identifying his wife’s body yet, he decided he’d go to some of his head honchos. The Trigger production is going to have to slow down, it could get Izuku killed if he’s not careful. He went from one facility to the next to slow down the process of things. He already started on it when he had Izuku (and remembered who he was), but they were always on the edge of being ready to restart or from being choked out of resources. All of that boring work was dealt with quite quickly, the perks of everyone being scared half to death when you appear works wonders in getting people to do what you want. That and the heads already owe their lives to him, but that didn’t matter too much when the call came in about his wife. It took the damn authorities longer than it did Midnight. He had to hand it to the hero, at least she was efficient.
A small wait and a quick warp over to the nearest alley via Kurogiri landed Hisashi at the police station that had Inko’s body stored within it. It was safe to say that the place was inundated with the family of all of the deceased or an angry mob if the crowd was anything to go by.
“Hello sir, I’m sorry for the amount of people crowding the lobby. What is your business here?” A man in an overcoat asked. Hisashi assumed his position was higher than a regular officer then.
“I’m here because I received a call about my wife’s passing in the recent attack. Though I had already found out about it due to my own son being delivered to me by my personal assistant. Since my son was a survivor of that blast.” Hisashi said coldly.
“Right…that must make you Hisashi Midoriya. I’m Detective Tsukauchi, I’m sorry for your loss, sir.” The detective shuddered as Hisashi’s cold stare pierced through him. “I can direct you to the morgue and set everything up. I’m sorry about all of the people here. The recent villain attack has people riled up and it’s been hard to get them to leave, especially since some are also family of the deceased.” The man sighed.
“I understand. Thank you for helping.” Hisashi replied. “Can I go in to-to see her?”
“Yes. I’ll get right on informing the morgue about your arrival. Just wait here.” The detective said, heading off in the direction where the morgue must be.
It didn’t take long for Hisashi to essentially be shuffled into the morgue. He barely felt like The Ruler of the Underworld right now as his emotions started piling up. “You know, as someone who has been in the legal sector, I’ve seen a lot and have a lot of experience with harsh scenes. That still hasn’t prepared me for this.” Hisashi said, trying to talk to distract himself.
“Nothing does. I became a detective because one of my cousins was murdered, but I still miss him.” Tsukauchi said. Hisashi supposed that a lot of people could empathise with him. Though how many families did Hisashi cause to feel pain and suffering similar to his own? Blast these emotions.
“I’ve actually got a case I want to recommend to an independent lawyer.” Hisashi said. He would have to dig out the man’s name later as he had too many lawyers across multiple countries and cultures, but he couldn’t forget white hair that mirrored his own and eyes that were a shade of grey that was close to white.
“Can you talk about the case you want to have someone take?” Tsukauchi asked.
“I’m tempted to take on this incident’s villain’s case, since recent reliable information, that being my son’s expert Quirk analysis from being on scene, revealed that Hera was to blame. So I will try and ensure that Hera gets her comeuppance.” Hisashi chuckled darkly. If any bloodlust leaked out of him, it was extremely valid right now. “No fucking hero gets to kill my love, injure my child and run from the consequences, hero commission cover up be damned. I’ll level it to the ground if I have to.” He tightened his hand into a fist. “Sorry. Got a little overheated there.” He did divulge a little too much there.
“It’s understandable, really. If what your son said is true, I’d be angry too. Especially after their announcement. The only solace I can give you is that she injured herself too.” Tsukauchi said as gripped onto his coat. So this man was mad on his behalf too, like Inko was before . Maybe Hisashi would continue to reciprocate kindness if people remained like this. The past version of him wouldn't have even cared, but perhaps for Inko, for Izuku…for Yoichi, he might keep trying to see things from their perspective .
“I see we’re here.” Hisashi said as he snapped out of his thoughts after he saw the covered corpse. He wasn’t actually ready for this. He loved his wife, like he loved his brother, though without the need to control or vault her. Or essentially killing her like he did Yoichi. He swore to not make the same mistakes with her and he wasn’t planning to let her know about his background, but he brought her into his circle and she indirectly died because of that decision. “I-”
“Are you okay to continue, sir?” Tsukauchi asked.
Hisashi nodded. “I am.” He swallowed thickly. “I just feel partially at fault for this. We had an argument about my work, about the fact that it was about clearing villains of their charges being quite unethical. It was because some of the workings were revealed that she wanted to take Izuku away for a little bit while she was thinking things through. you can imagine how getting some villains cleared is bad…I’m going to stop that from now on.” Hisashi admitted quietly. He meant it too, since they’d just be another risk to Izuku. “I heard from my son that they were getting ice cream to cheer themselves up after she talked it out with our son and when they decided to stay with me. They wouldn’t have been out there if I was better.” He said bitterly.
“The what if’s are endless, unfortunately.” The detective said. “That parlour is popular regardless and so many people would be there for one reason or another. In the end, what happened between you and your wife happened and disagreements and arguments happen all the time, but you aren’t to blame for someone else’s actions causing your wife to lose her life. Plus, it seemed like what happened was going to go well between you all as a family. It is just unfortunate accidents…or those acting with neglect can cut people’s lives short.”
“Right.” Hisashi agreed. The detective was helping him rationalise things, even if the guilt remained. The morgue workers soon re-entered the room and pulled the sheet covering the body back as Hisashi approached the figure. Inko’s face was all scuffed up by the attack. “Oh…Princess.” He could feel his eyes welling up. Love sucks, loving people sucks and he knew that with Yoichi, though he entirely twisted what familial love meant with him and now Inko, who he learned to love without hate or control in his heart. Though, if he had the choice to do it again…he would do it all again to have her, Izuku and now Tenko in his life. “I’m so sorry.” He hiccupped as he touched her face, the staff moved away to give him some peaceful time alone with her, so he took this as an opportunity. “I know that Quirk vestiges are real, I used to have enough demons glaring at me at night when I used to need to sleep.” Part of him deserved having them . “However, this isn’t for me.” He secretly took the Quirk from Inko, the red light hidden by his own form. “I’ll pass it on to Izuku and hopefully…hopefully some part of you will still be with him, my love.” He sighed. “This is my wife, Inko Midoriya. Am I alright to leave now?” He wanted to act firm, but his voice slightly betrayed him. He wanted to leave to stave off his emotions.
“Of course, but there is a form to sign to confirm everything.” The detective said with a smile. It was a smile trying to hide the sadness of having to do this certain job, but it was a little assuring nonetheless.
Hisashi signed the papers and then took his leave and decided he’d continue on a warpath now. Izuku may want revenge against the hero that took away his mother, but Hisashi wants to punish all those involved in covering up her death. This was going to be much more awkward though, since killing them would be going too far. Even if Izuku wouldn’t figure it out, killing high ranking members of the government these days would not be beneficial.
Once he was warped home he pulled out his phone, connecting to one of his spies within the commission.
“Master. I am surprised you’re calling me directly. Are my reports to your satisfaction?” His spy, Madokari asked. She was nervous, which was fair, but if he was to be honest, the reports were in much more detail than necessary and were extremely useful for planning moves and such against government allies or targets.
“They’ve been more than satisfactory. However, I am here to call you on a more personal basis. You see, someone quite valuable to me has been affected by that hero Hera’s covered up actions.” He wouldn’t admit that person was himself. “It would be beneficial to me to know who in the commission decided to cover up her actions and blame the villain for the deaths caused by that fight. I could possibly assume it was the commissioner herself that decided it on her own, but I feel this was too high profile of a case for that to pass.” Hisashi explained.
“Ah, well fortunately I was in that meeting as an assistant. The results should have been sent to you over a secure line. The results were that seven out of the ten board members decided to cover up the incident as it would likely incite anti hero protests and a lot more unrest around heroes and the hero schooling processes since she was quite fresh out of her hero school.” Madokari said.
“And what about the president?” Hisashi asked seriously.
“Her own conclusion was that Hera should have been made an example of, but she wasn’t going to upset the board by overruling them.” Hisashi couldn’t blame her then. He could blame those other bastards though.
“Well, that school should be disallowed from ever signing off on heroes at the very least. But I want it burned to the ground.” Hisashi growled. “We can’t do that though or people will take it as an attack on hero society.”
“That sounds about right.”
“However, I will send them a message. The dirt about that man sitting high on that board, that he-what he’s done. ” He did not want to recount the offences the grimy man had hidden away and the lines he’d crossed by an extremely wide margin.
“We get the reports here, but lack of evidence means he stays free. It’s quite dumb since the man’s Quirk is called Cleanse as in, it cleans all foreign matter from someone, an area or himself.” Madokari scoffed. “We all know it’s true, but those fuckers ignore it because of his position and the importance of his Quirk on scenes they need kept secret.”
“I’m going to ruin that man. I’m going to plan for when and where and make sure he’s utterly destroyed. I want his Quirk too.” Hisashi growled.
“Good.” Madokari must have been grinning as she said that. “That man deserves everything coming to him.” She said darkly.
“Indeed. Now, Madokari, please return to your duties and don’t arouse suspicion. If you can get all the information on Hera as possible too, please send it over.” Hisashi said.
“I can try, but as you know, the computers in HQ are Quirk shielded and information is guarded. I’d probably have to go to someone else's house and use my Quirk from there.” Madokari said. “I’ll see what I can do, Master.”
“Thanks Madokari.” Hisashi said with more vulnerability than he first realised. On top of that, he’d remembered that he never actually thanked his subordinates when the woman took a sharp breath in. “You speak of this to no one. Understood?”
“Y-yes sir!” Madokari responded and he closed the call.
“Dumbass!” Hisashi chided himself. He needed to help train Izuku now. That was going to be rough because he was already well trained so only the Nomu would suffice, but he wasn’t going to let his Nomu really harm his son. The worst he’d allow was a broken bone or two since the regeneration Quirk would heal him.
~~~~~~~~
When Hisashi went to extract Izuku and Tenko from the Bakugo’s. Katsuki and Izuku were nearly unwilling to separate. Nearly, only because Hisashi mentioned training and Izuku took the hint as something to get started on soon. Katsuki was grumbling and wanted to join, but there was no way Hisashi was getting him involved with Izuku’s new training sessions. Tenko was out cold with reddened eyes. He’d cried himself to exhaustion. So Hisashi picked him up and would take him home too.
Izuku’s education was also going to be fast tracked after Hisashi put in the forms to see if he could skip a few years worth of work. He was also getting ready to file the papers to defend the ‘villain’. The man was probably a criminal at best since the other charges were thievery, destruction of property and attacking another person with his Quirk. Though, reviews of the footage was actually showing him that the villain was avoiding direct contact with people. Previous footage from the buildings he tore through, that he may or may not have acquired through questionable means, shows him fighting hard to get away from guards, but he never used his Quirk on people, nor did he activate the effect near anyone. The man didn’t want to hurt anyone. The face of horror that was plastered on him near the scene of the explosion was enough to say that though.
At least a positive in all of this was that Tenko was already put down officially as being homeschooled and was kind of being taught by Kurogiri. Hisashi didn’t have to fuss around with his forms at least alongside Izuku’s and-and Inko’s funeral plans.
Inko…she probably wouldn’t want a fussy and crowded funeral, but everyone loved her. As much as he’d love to keep the funeral enclosed to him, the kids and the Bakugos, his wife deserved to be cherished. He’d host an open wake for her, making sure the hospital had the details so that their workers could come.
She’d have one of the most loved send offs Hisashi could give.
Notes:
I'm gonna be busy on a course next week and next chapter isn't drafted at all, so it's 50/50 on whether I'll get a chapter out. Especially so since I'm prioritising my BNHA/KNY fic.
Take care and see you in the next one!
Chapter 11: The Wake
Summary:
Inko's wake is hosted, with a surprise guest making an appearance, to Hisashi's annoyance.
Notes:
Hi! I did want to get this out sooner, but god did I have to delay. Part of that was due to a course I took part in eating my time, part of it was the fact that I had my main fic to continue and the other was just my brain now cooperating. Anyhow, please enjoy an update!
Warning(s):
None.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku wasn’t ready for this. It was the wake for his mom’s funeral and he had no idea on how to hold himself together again. He, Tenchan and dad were in black suits. Apparently there were going to be a lot of people who worked at the hospital mom worked at coming to the funeral. Izuku felt happy that mom had so many friends.
“Let’s go, Bunny, Tenko.” Dad said as he grabbed Izuku’s hand. Tenchan wouldn’t let dad grab his hand, but that was understandable and went to grab Izuku’s other hand instead. Izuku was still hurt by how his dad had hurt Tenchan.
They’d rented out a ceremonial room for the wake, since their apartment wasn’t suited for it. Fortunately auntie, uncle and Kacchan were turning up at the same time.
“Izuku.” Kacchan said his name before rushing over and hugging him. “You good?” Kacchan was so warm…
“A little…’m missing mom.” Izuku said quietly. “She-she’s really gone.”
“We all know how you feel, Izuku.” Auntie said quietly. It didn’t suit her to be quiet. “We can’t believe she’s gone either.”
“Thank you for coming.” Dad said gratefully.
“We wouldn’t dare miss Inko’s wake.” Auntie said. “I’d have one foot in the grave myself and I’d still be here!”
“Though we know she really wouldn’t have wanted this kind of fuss…” Uncle said nervously.
“I know she wouldn’t,” Dad said, shaking his head a little, “but I think people deserve to send her off officially. She was very much loved by everyone after all.”
“When did you get soft huh? You’re usually Mr Private and Serious.” Auntie’s smile was softer than usual. It was usually kinda sharp.
“A certain woman and my son want me to be better, so that’s what I am going to try to do. For her. For him…and for Tenko.” Dad said. “I’ve made my mistakes and I’ve been awful to many people, but I’m trying to be better. For them.”
Izuku leaned into his dad, trying to cuddle into his side. “Let’s get you all to your seats. I’ll greet the other guests.” Dad said. “You can opt to stay with me if you wish, but I might be there for a while as people filter in.”
“I’ll stay seated.” Tenchan said immediately.
Izuku was conflicted. He wanted to stay with Tenchan, Kacchan, Auntie and Uncle, but he also wanted to stay with dad. “Think about it this way, Izuku. Do you want to see everyone as they come in?”
Izuku…didn’t. He didn’t want to possibly have people offering apologies for their loss, because it made him upset to just think about it. “I’ll stay in my seat.” He said with a small sniffle.
“Okay.” Dad placed his hand on Izuku’s head. “We’re going to your seats then.” Dad said, slowly directing them to the front seats. Kacchan had to stop hugging Izuku and settled for grabbing his free hand when they sat down and dad let go of him. “I’ll be back as soon as I’ve greeted the guests.”
“Okay dad. Don’t be too long.” Izuku said sadly, because he still wanted his dad by his side.
“I’ll try not to be.” Dad said as he walked back to the front door. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too long.
~~~~~~~~
Person after person started filtering in. Inko had reached further than he thought. Though a lot of these were actually her colleagues, some had to have been patients or relatives of those patients. One of the attendants that offered their condolences seemed weird. He and his centipede-like appearance seemed familiar.
I’m well timed fashion, Madokari sent Hisashi a warning message. ‘Heroes are snooping on that Hisashi Midoriya alias you told me to keep watch of. Apparently there was a classified assignment given today and the file was accessed a few times. Can't say who did this though since their account was classified too.’ Hisashi knew enough now. He knew why that man looked familiar, because he was a lower hero. Centipeder.
‘I appreciate the warning. I’ll be on the case.’ Hisashi replied.
‘Apologies for your possible loss, by the way.’ She knew. Of course she knew. She was his best spy, Hisashi was being a bit off and his ‘alias’-his real name and a false family name based off of Inko herself-was connected to Inko, thus the news of her wake was also connected.
‘Thanks.’ He said, pocketing his phone afterwards. Centipeder was already near his kids and the Bakugos.
Hisashi couldn’t really leave the front door and while he didn’t need the customary monetary gifts people were giving, he accepted them all the same. In that time, he kept a hearing-enhancing Quirk on and listened into what the Hero was doing. He was talking to Izuku, though it seemed the topic of conversation was Nighteye, other heroes and…All Might.
“So…you knew my mom?” Izuku asked quietly, though Hisashi could still pick up on it.
“Briefly. She helped me out with a few civilians who were hurt and she had one of the warmest smiles on her faces and kindest attitudes. I only knew who she was after seeing the notice posted, but I remembered that she even asked me if I was okay and needed somewhere to rest.” The hero said truthfully. That was a surprise, but that was probably what gave them an easy in and would be a thing to use against Hisashi’s lie detection.
Hisashi welcomed the last of the people while still paying attention to Izuku, Tenko and that hero and pondering why All Might or the likes sent him here. If Hisashi recalls correctly, Centipeder is connected to a new agency that All Might’s sidekick, Nighteye, is starting up. Nevermind that though, Hisashi made his way to the front of the room to address everyone.
Hisashi looked throughout the slightly packed room and readied himself for his first speech. “Thank you all for coming. You know, Inko’s best friend, Mitsuki Bakugo, and I spoke about how Inko probably wouldn’t have wanted a large wake. Most people don’t. However, I knew how well she was loved and how much she cared for others and I’m glad that so many of you turned up for her.” Hisashi said. “Inko was a wonderful woman. She was an amazing wife and a loving mother and not just to Izuku, but to Tenko, who we took in earlier in the year.”
“Did you know she was the only one to look at me after a Quirk accident? That she was the only one to take care of me?” Hisashi said, taking a deep breath. “I got hit by an amnesia-inducing Quirk that also sealed my Quirk. Similar to my son, I have a rare condition that caused me to have two pinky toe joints while having a Quirk. The conclusion people made from that, was that I was Quirkless anyway and I wasn’t treated that well due to that. Inko made sure I was helped and even though we went our separate ways, I felt fond of her and then we managed to find each other again months later and well…the rest is history.” He said. “She was taken away from us too soon.” He said with bitterness in his voice.
“Dad.” Izuku rushed up to him and hugged his leg.
“What are you doing up here, Bunny?” He asked.
“You’re crying.” Izuku said, causing Hisashi to wipe his cheek with his hand.
“I guess I am.” Hisashi said. “I’m sorry.” He chuckled sadly. He felt kind of pathetic too, because he was All For One. Imagine if his followers could see him now. They’d wonder where the imposter came from. “Do you want to say anything, Bunny?”
“I-I miss mom.” Izuku sniffled a little before tears started to roll down his cheeks too. “She was the best a-and she always knew how to-to cheer me up.” He said as he balled up his fists and started rubbing his eyes. “She always made me my favourite food when I was upset. She-she always played games with me and watched all the shows I wanted to watch. I wish-I wish I could have done more for her.” Izuku started to sob, causing Hisashi to pick him up.
“I think we’re taking a break from talking for the moment. Mitsuki, Masaru, do you want to speak?” Hisashi asked before heading towards the seats.
“I believe Mitsuki will have both of us covered.” Masaru said. “I want to stay with Katsuki.”
“I’ve got this.” Mitsuki whispered, trying to strengthen herself before walking up to the front. “Y’know. Inko was my best friend. Me’n’her, we've been at each other’s side since college. It was a surprise to me that she stuck around my ass. My attitude usually pushed people away and we were in different courses, but she befriended me one lunch time cuz she saw I was sitting alone.” She shook her head. “She was one of the first people to actually try with me at that place and-and now-I’m sorry. She was such a wonderful person and-she was always so good with the kids. I think even my Katsuki loved her more than me sometimes.” She laughed a little while she cried. “I can’t-”
“It’s okay, Honey.” Masaru said before getting up and escorting his wife off of the stage.
Hisashi didn’t know how much more of this he could bear, but for Izuku’s sake and for the sake of Inko’s friends, colleagues and acquaintances, he’d make this exception. Though he still needed to speak with Centipeder and decide whether or not to take someone off the board.
~~~~~~~~
The wake finished in a respectful silence and people started filtering out. Though Hisashi wasn’t letting Centipeder leave so easily. He told his boys and the Bakugos that he was seeing Centipeder out, since he was basically the only hero there-or was the only hero to actually talk and interact with them anyway.
“Centipeder.” Hisashi called the man’s hero name coldly at the doorway. Everyone else was gone, so they could have the easiest talk now. “While I do thank you for coming and making an effort, I did notice you were messing with something in your pocket. Your boss or bosses…did you record your conversations for them or are they currently hearing every word of what I’m saying?”
Centipeder froze at the implication, so he was doing one of the two. “I…don’t know what you mean. I came in and reminisced about your wife, paying my respects to her.”
“Please. It’s no use lying to me.” Hisashi said. “Now, if you cooperate with me, I might allow you to live.” That was a lie, since he wouldn’t actually kill or kidnap the man. Izuku and Tenko would know about that immediately. Plus, he’s just a pawn, so it’d be stupid to go too hard on him . “Were you put up to do this by All Might and Nighteye?”
The man seemed conflicted, but he broke easily and started speaking. “Yes…and I have a live feed to them.”
“Good to know.” Hisashi let out a heated sigh. “You Heroes don’t know when to stop meddling, even when it’s for your own good. I lost the love of my life and you had the gall to send a pawn in to get information. I doubt you even told him about who I really was, because if you had, I don’t think he’d be here.” He said with anger leaking into his voice. “Now. You will leave me and my boys alone, because they’re under my protection. I made a mistake by not ensuring Inko’s safety, but I will not abandon them to a similar fate, nor will I let you get any leeway with them. Regardless of how one of them is connected to you, All Might. Now Centipeder, leave, before I change my mind about sparing your life.”
Hisashi let the hero slip away, but this was a real cause for concern, because this encounter narrowed down where All Might would be searching for him. With all of the resources at his disposal, including the blasted Rat of UA, Hisashi would probably be found within the coming year. Oh well. Perhaps it’d be best to create an opportunity to fight against All Might. Or he could just give up for the sake of his children . For once, his doubt seemed stupid. He still wanted to get his brother back after all.
Some planning was in order.
~~~~~~~~
Toshinori was understandably concerned for Centipeder as the hero walked through the door. He told Mirai that it wasn’t a good idea to have him conduct reconnaissance on All For One. The fact the man was here at all was a miracle, because All For One should have turned him into a paste for even daring to be there with the wrong intentions.
“So. You decided to not tell me that the villain I was extremely powerful. He may not have done anything, but the aura he gave off…I thought I was going to die between one second and the next.” Centipeder said. “Who was that?”
“A supervillain that goes by the name All For One. He can give or take Quirks as he pleases, as long as he comes into contact with a person. He’s been around since the Dawn of Quirks and is the Boogieman of the Underworld.” Toshinori said. The man was at least owed the truth for the situation they put him in.
If Toshinori had to guess, all of the man’s blood drained from him in that instant, because he sat down and remained silent for a minute. “You sent me against a fiend that is so heinous that he has bedtime stories and historical rumours saying that he basically ruled Japan at some point?” Centipeder hissed. “You should have told me.”
“You were going there anyway.” Mirai said.
“For a woman I met and respected.” Centipeder said.
“We’re just glad you came back safely.” Toshinori said. “And that you-you found my mentor’s grandson.”
“You do realise that both kids seem to be doing alright in that man’s care and they all seem close. I’m not too surprised considering he was married to that kind hearted woman.” Centipeder said before shaking his head. “I fear threatening their dynamic, especially after losing Mrs Midoriya, that it won’t end well.”
“I agree with Moashi about not threatening them. At least for now.” Mirai said. “We’ll need to plan and scout out the best area and situation to take All For One on. Though the kids being involved and being close to the man is a complication. Their attachment to the man is a concern to our rescue efforts, considering they’d likely impede our efforts. All For One on the other hand, has never created a connection with anyone.”
“How true was his amnesia story?” Centipeder asked. “If he truly was hit by a Quirk that removed his memories, then isn't it in the realm of possibilities that he actually developed feelings for someone and made other connections?”
“He is probably the most cold hearted individual on this planet. If his memories hadn’t returned, then it’d have been possible to have overlooked him in general, but that isn’t the case.” Mirai said. “So something has to be done.”
“Well…call me officially out. I’m not you, All Might. I’m not risking my life or potentially my family’s lives for this and I’m not pushing my luck, considering he spared me today.” Centipeder said, leaving the room as quickly as he entered.
“I guess it’s just us again, Mirai.” Toshinori sighed. “We’ll be ready for him soon enough.”
“Yes. Yes we will.” Mirai said confidently, adjusting his glasses in his usual serious manner. His confidence was reassuring. Yes. They’ll be ready soon enough.
Notes:
I hope you all liked this chapter!
See you in the next one, it's time for a timeskip.
Chapter 12: The First Patrol
Summary:
After a few months, Izuku and Tenko are ready to go on a small patrol.
Notes:
Hi! He's an earlier update than usual - It has been two weeks after all. Hopefully you enjoy the small timeskip!
Warning(s):
Discrimination & abuse
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
It had been six months since his mom’s funeral.
The night after the funeral, dad said that he had taken mom’s Quirk from her body. It was emotionally confusing, because Izuku was confused, but then his dad had mentioned something about Quirks housing a vestige of the person they belong to. Dad wanted to give Izuku the ability to speak to his mom again at some point…safe to say, Izuku cried a lot.
Izuku and Tenchan had started homeschooling and secret training. It was scary and intense, because the Nomu creatures were so…so freaky looking. It was the exposed brain more than anything, but dad assured them that this was a consequence of stuffing too many Quirks into a body, dead or alive. Izuku would admit that he got hurt a little more than he should have in this training. He was reckless with attacks and strategies and his dad was complaining that all of the All Might fanboying had the hero’s personality rubbing off on him…that might have been kind of true, but he was learning! Because of the newer ways Izuku thought of getting out of danger or taking down an enemy, his dad had moved on to teaching different tactics. Using words to manipulate people. Izuku didn’t like lying to people, but his dad’s reasoning, a lie can sometimes be kinder than the truth , helped learn that not all lies are bad. As well as using an example of Underground Heroes using lies to gain information.
In this time, Izuku and Kacchan had to meet up after school and hang out. Kacchan got clingy, because he was seeing Izuku less and wanted to do more. Some of that was learning lessons in advance and some of that was combat practice, since Kacchan was training to go to UA too. Some of those meetups were going to have to stop though, because Izuku’s still planning on going after Hera and other people who ruin people’s lives.
Now as of present, Izuku was getting proficient in both combat and intelligence, so dad was finally going to allow both him and Tenchan to go out on patrol! They needed street experience anyway if they were going to take on Hera. Dad’s lawyer was stalling the trial, because the commission wanted to try to parade the trial as a spectacle. He was told to meet his dad’s regular broker to get the materials though. ‘If you want to be part of the underworld, most villains and vigilantes go through this man to get their gear. My own reputation should be enough, but if it’s not, I believe you can gain his trust.’
That’s how he was now standing in front of the shady man known as Giran. “So…this is the small fry that the big man suggested I get gear for.” The man chuckled. “You don’t seem like much.”
“Is that appropriate to say to someone working under All For One?” Izuku asked, raising an eyebrow. “We have your money. Can we look at the gear?”
“Maybe.” Giran sucked on his cigarette, flicking a bit of ash to the ground. “Can you guarantee that this won’t come back to me?”
“We’ve been fighting beasts the past six months and All For One has been personally training us to keep our mouths shut.” Tenchan said.
“I can assure you that nothing will lead back to you. I swear on my life.” Izuku said with a firm nod.
“I believe you.” Giran said, blowing smoke out to the side. He decided to let him inspect the gear, it seemed to be in order as he checked the armour and materials with a material analysis Quirk. It was a black costume with armour padding around the elbows, knees, chest and abs. There was a proper hood, masks, and strong looking boots. Everything seemed correct, all down to the boots being steel toe capped. “Everything to your specifications?”
“Seems so.” Izuku replied.
“I know I’m not supposed to ask what is with this situation, but I don’t normally deal with kids. The only reason I’m doing this is because this is for the top man so...why are you so important to him?” Giran asked, causing Tenchan to frown.
“Hmm…” Izuku grinned.
“Izuku, no.” Tenchan looked at him seriously.
Izuku chuckled before handing the money over to Giran. Their fingers brushed, but that was enough for Izuku to get the man’s Quirk since the feeling of blurring someone’s mind, making someone essentially forget recent memories registered within him. “Nice Quirk you’ve got there.” Izuku smiled. “Bet it comes in handy for dealing with tough customers. The ability to just make someone’s recent memory basically go away.”
Giran started to make a move to use his Quirk on Izuku. But Tenchan was growling. “If you make any attempt to use your Quirk on him, Master will have your head!” Izuku assumed the man’s movements were actually done to elicit a reaction, since he wouldn’t be stupid enough to actually attack him. Izuku decided he would oblige the man’s curiosity.
“I can handle myself, Tenko.” Izuku said before activating Dark Ball and Spearlike Bones and visibly displaying them. “I have the ability to permanently copy Quirks. Making me forget will still mean nothing, since I’ll have your Quirk in my arsenal. You should also be able to see why this makes me a great addition to All For One’s forces.” He said, not letting slip that All For One was actually his father.
Giran looked at Izuku’s hand and hummed. “I can see your usefulness. A Quirk basically like All For One’s is extremely rare after all. Alright. I’ll leave it for now, but only because I don’t want to get in his bad graces. Enjoy your gear.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Giran.” Izuku chirped.
“Thanks.” Tenchan sighed as Izuku called for Kurogiri. The boys took their leave quickly, it was time to start planning.
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi was fretting. He knows he was, but this was Izuku’s first day out as a vigilante and Tenko…it’s Tenko’s first day out without being brainwashed. Hisashi could tell that boy was worrying, because when he was coerced into going out, he was killing people in alleyways. His and Izuku’s costumes were similar. In terms of Quirks, Tenko’s training actually helped him a little. The boy was destroying things at a healthy enough rate that his skin was healing and his hair was becoming black again. His Quirk control was actually getting good too, because he managed to learn how to decay things at will or decay them with a single finger. That’s also because his memories were back too, which unlocked his Quirk awakening.
The plan of action today was to send the boys to a village in the Fukuoka Prefecture. Being so far out from the main cities and being a village in general meant there was likely going to be next to no problems, but if there was a problem it was likely to be isolated and easy for the kids to deal with. City criminals are too risky right now considering they are likely to have collaborators that could target the kids or they’ll already be in groups.
In addition, Kurogiri will be overseeing their patrol, because he can interrupt any deadly interactions and get the boys home if they need healing. That Nomu had been quite close to Tenko and Izuku as of late, which begs the question of whether or not the Nomu’s memories might be returning. The core memories and personality of the main person was always a part of the advanced Nomu and Kurogiri was a perfect Nomu, which might mean less things will stay blurred for him. Though with that connection came problems. Hisashi could just send him to The Doctor for recalibration, but then that would cause more issues with the kids, since Kurogiri would be a little more distant and a little less friend or uncle-like. Hisashi would think ‘does it really matter?’, but it does, because that body belonged to a hero kid. If he ever awoke from his programming, he had all the chance to go to the authorities and had the means to get there unhindered. Izuku would probably be better at keeping that person in line though, so Hisashi would work with this as a curiosity, since a Nomu reverting hadn’t happened before.
That said, he was now going to have to tell Izuku and Tenko about Kurogiri at some point. He’ll leave for a later time. The boys didn’t need distractions right now.
Once they were gone, Hisashi would also have to call The Lawyer. Since Hera was injured and healing, the villain trial got delayed a few months and then The Lawyer managed to legally stall for another three. Now it was going to look like the trial of the century at this rate.
Izuku and Tenko walked into the room with their gear on while Kurogiri came in and closed the door behind them. They were ready to go, so it was Hisashi’s turn to send them to their location. Hopefully all went well.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku was buzzing to go out. He wanted to do real hero work! He was a kid, but Tenchan was doing stuff before and they were ready! Even if Izuku needed to get stronger physically, his Quirks were enough to keep him in a fight. Plus, dad had said they weren’t going to big city areas, so there shouldn’t even be any fighting really.
“Can we go now dad?” Izuku asked excitedly.
“Me and Izuchan are ready.” Tenchan said.
“I know you two are ready.” Dad said. “I’ll be sending you to Fukuoka Prefecture. There’s a village there that doesn’t get rowdy, but there may of course be some disturbances you can aid with. Do you remember the guidelines I've asked you to stay within?”
Izuku nodded quickly. “No real names. Don’t injure people too badly. Don’t steal Quirks unless it’s necessary.” Not that he’d steal people’s Quirks unless they really deserved it anyway. Only those abusing their Quirks don’t deserve them.
“And don’t let people see your face.” Tenchan added.
“Yes. Good enough.” Dad said. “Kurogiri will be watching over you from a distance. I trust you both to be alright, but he will be there to ensure someone can step in if things go very wrong.” Izuku could understand that.
“Oh. Okay!” Izuku complied with dad’s condition.
Tenchan sighed. “Whatever. It’s not like I needed him around before, but okay.”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Kurogiri, open a portal to Fukuoka, Toho more specifically. Let them do their patrol and watch over them from a distance. Intervene if they’re badly injured.”
“Of course, Master.” Kurogiri confirmed before opening a portal.
“Don’t get into too much trouble, boys.” Dad said.
“We won’t!” Izuku said before grabbing Tenchan’s hand. “Let’s go.” He dragged Tenchan through the portal. He was ready to go!
~~~~~~~~
They walked for a while. It was nothing but silence and a few people passing by. “Don’t expect to do much today, little brother.” Tenchan said. “Though, considering how the area looks, they could do with a few more heroes or vigilantes.”
Izuku sighed. It was true, the worst crime around here was probably neglect. Something that would reflect the area itself as some of the housing was rough. The cracked bricks and paint on buildings, missing roof tiles, flickering street lights all painted a picture that was just…sad. “So…vigilante names. What do you wanna be called instead of your name?”
“I dunno.” Tenchan shrugged.
Izuku hummed. Tenchan loved games and shows. Pokemon was something he was into these days and with his Quirk… “How about Ash? Like what your Quirk does to things…and Ash from Pokemon.”
Tenchan looked at Izuku blankly for a few seconds until smiling a little and nodding. “Sure, but that means I get to name you too.”
“Okay! What have you got for me?” Izuku asked, not knowing what Tenchan would call him.
“Wildcard. Since no matter the situation, you’d be a wildcard ‘cause of your Quirks.” Tenchan said. Izuku loved it!
“It’s amazing! Thank you, Tenchan.” Izuku shook his head. “Thank you, Ash. ” He grinned.
“Yeah yeah, Wildcard . Let’s get moving.” Tenchan said. Perhaps they could pick up the pace a little.
~~
Thirty more minutes had passed in the blink of an eye as they walked aimlessly through the barren streets.
“H-Help.” Someone had whimpered quietly, too quiet for most people to hear, but Izuku had sensory Quirks on. He was glad his dad gave them to him a while ago and he forgot he had them on. Whoever was calling for help sounded like a child and that made Izuku more hurried as they may be in immediate danger. Izuku activated Infrared Sight and looked around. There were many people crowding a smaller person…no it was most likely adults attacking a child from the voice he heard. A heteromorphic child at that, if the multiple arm looking heat signatures were correct. The adults were also in a stance that seemed to mean they were holding weapons, what is wrong with this place?
“Tenchan, there’s a child being attacked by adults. Follow me and be prepared to turn some assholes’ weapons to dust.” Izuku ran and Tenchan followed.
“I’ve got your back, Izuchan.” Tenchan confirmed and gasped as they rounded the corner. Guys with pitchforks, torches, bats…they were holding the weapons over a child while another child was begging them to leave him alone.
“OI!” Izuku shouted before activating Voice. “Get away from THEEEEEEEEEEM!” Izuku burst out his voice, knocking the adults away.
“H-heroes?” The mutant kid asked quietly.
“Nope. Vigilantes.” Tenchan cracked his knuckles as the adults were composing themselves. “How fucking dare people like you attack a kid!” He roared before launching himself at the adult crowd.
“Shoot, Te- Ash !” Izuku rushed with enhanced speed, skidding next to one of the villagers…the villains and slammed an enhanced punch into their gut before using his own version of Decay against the bat they were holding.
“Get lost, this is none of your business!” One older man roared as he swung his torch at Tenchan, but with one touch the thing crumbled to dust. Tenchan followed up by slamming a punch into the side of the man’s head, knocking him out cold.
“Yeah, it’s not our business, but it doesn’t matter when someone needs saving!” Izuku shouted before letting Explosion start crackling in his palms. He planted his palm onto a woman’s abdomen and let rip with a smaller explosion, it was large enough though that the woman was clutching her stomach and collapsed.
“Pathetic, really. What did the kid even do to cause this, hmm?” Tenchan asked as he held back a punch, decaying the attackers skin slightly. Izuku was happy that Tenchan could keep his Quirk control even when he was angry.
The man’s pained scream attracted attention and the people with sharp weaponry turned to attack Tenchan instead. “Leave him alone! Air Cannon!” Izuku shouted as he used Air Walk to get into the air and blast people back and to the side.
“T-this kid has multiple Quirks!” One shouted before Izuku got back to the ground, pulling them in with Earth Flow. He punched them in the head, knocking them out before launching a water whip to grab around another person who was about to attack Tenchan.
“Maybe think deeply about how I have multiple Quirks.” Izuku chuckled darkly before settling in front of the kid he’s protecting.
“The Quirk Boogieman…you work for him.” An older man paled at the thought.
Izuku let out a massive, more demonic smile that could be outlined under his mask. “Perhaps you’d benefit from leaving the kid alone as well as any other heteromorphic person you meet, since even immoral people can hate idiotic bigots like you.”
The people didn’t stick around to argue, the crying girl was taken away with them, but the heteromorphic boy was trembling near them. “W-what did you do?”
“We stopped them from harming you and I’ve heard about the views of villagers on people with your kinds of Quirks and mutations.” Izuku smiled sadly. “Even if you, a child, had committed a crime, that reaction is still bigoted. Like…who the hell chases a kid with pitchforks, torches and bats?!”
“Thank you…” The kid smiled weakly before starting to cry. “Thank you so much!”
“No need to thank us. We should escort you home, can you show us where you live?” Izuku asked as Tenchan reapproached them.
“Thanks for the cover, Wildcard.” Tenchan said.
Izuku turned to the boy. “Also, what’s your name?”
“S-Shoji, Mezo Shoji.” Shoji answered with red rimmed eyes.
“Well, let’s get you home then, Shoji.” Tenchan smiled.
Anyone who dared to look at Shoji with disgust had an issue with Izuku, Izuku would give them deadly feeling glares to keep them away. It would work for now, considering their presence and connection spread through the villain, but it wouldn’t last for too long. They would at least get this kid home.
~~~~~~~~
“This is my home.” Shoji said as he slid open the door to his house, the house being a lightly worn down bungalow.
“Mezo, is that you?” A female sounding voice asked from another room.
“Yes, ma!” Shoji answered. “I-I had problems in the village.” The boy broke again.
“Oh god, are you okay!” The sound of rushing feet pattering against wood was enough to alert Izuku to the woman’s entrance. She eyed Izuku and Tenchan before turning to Shoji…or Mezo since her last name is probably Shoji too. “Who are these two?”
“We’re vigilantes. We were just passing through on our first patrol. It was supposed to be a simple route around a village that wouldn’t be that dangerous since…you know, first patrol and all, but I heard your son quietly cry for help. He was scared and was surrounded by the villagers, and they were raising weapons towards him before we intervened. They’ve been beaten enough to back down, but once we leave…” Izuku explained.
The woman looked furious. “How dare they! And Mezo, why were you in the heart of the village?!”
“A-A girl fell in the river, she was drowning and I saved her. But she was wet and cold and I couldn’t help her with that other than keeping my arms around her, so I did the best that I could and-and…” Mezo was sobbing before he ran up and clutched onto his mom.
“You took her to the village to take her home, right?” Her tone softened and her heart obviously broke more as her son nodded. This boy was so kind… “Those people are despicable. You save one of their daughters, like a hero would do, and they take the opportunity to attack you for it.” Izuku was thinking the same thing as he clenched his fists.
“I’m sorry, ma.” Mezo wrapped his extra arms around his mother now, acting like a blanket.
“Nothin’ to be sorry about, son.” She hugged him back with a flat hand rubbing up and down his spine. “It’s all their fault and they should be sorry and ashamed of themselves. I suppose we’re getting out of here then, since I said one bad incident would be our cut off. I knew it wasn’t good around here, but somehow the city streets would’ve been better than this.”
“What job do you have, if I may ask?” Izuku inquired, he hoped his dad wouldn’t be too mad at what he might propose.
“I’m a store assistant and my husband is a lawyer. He’s not around a lot since he’s the main household earner, but…but he tries his best to supply for us.”
“Hmm. Okay, well…I may not be able to get you the cleanest job, but my dad could probably help secure you something. Let me call him up, since if I ask you won’t be in our debt or anything. I’d hate to leave you here for those bigots to come back later.” Izuku dialled up his dad. “I hope this is okay.” He tapped his foot on the floor nervously.
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi was fretting over Izuku’s safety, but as much as he wanted to call Kurogiri, the fact he wasn’t here already meant they were alright. He’d have to ask after they’d report in. It hadn’t been too long, almost an hour actually, but he had an off feeling.
That feeling seemed to be correct as his son was calling. He swiftly picked up the call, readying himself for a fight if necessary. “Bunny, did you encounter a problem?”
“Um, not really. We had to fight a group of villagers to save a kid, but I don’t feel good leaving the kid and his mother here because it’s heteromorph discrimination the kid is experiencing.” Izuku explained. “So I was wondering if you could help them?”
His kid was too kind, but discrimination being something he’d had to have seen was quite horrible.
“I can’t believe I gave birth to a monster!” A mother screeched before kicking their kid out of their house.
The streets were lined with mutant kids and teens, some being alive and beaten and some being dead. Not much was done about murder back then either, because too many people agreed with them.
He stopped thinking back, it wasn’t good to keep doing so since those memories weren’t the best. In fact, those experiences made him more vindictive and ensured him on his original path. It’s part of the reason why he shoved Yoichi into a vault, because he was weak and in a world that was at war. He was a dead man walking. He cared about Yoichi so much. Yet Hisashi treated him like he was a possession to literally kick around sometimes. He wouldn't lie to himself and say that when he thinks back about it, he really wanted to convince Yoichi to take over the world with him. Hisashi does wonder sometimes how Yoichi would react when he sees that a child of his own is bringing him down. Perhaps he’s already seen it through All Might.
Nevermind that, there was a child that Izuku wanted to protect and the parents were coming with. He has properties all over the area, some which are vacant, but were easily paid off. “I can try my best, just ask Kurogiri warp you all to me.”
“Okay! Thank you dad!” Izuku hung up the call excitedly and Hisashi sighed. His son best not bring every stray home!
~
“Dad said he’d try to help, soooo. Kurogiri!” Izuku smiled as a purple vortex opened near them with Kurogiri appearing out of it.
“You called for me, Young Master?” Kurogiri asked.
Izuku nodded. “Dad said to bring these two with me to see him. They need help! Can you open a warpgate to him?”
“Of course, Young Master.” Kurogiri responded as he opened up a new portal.
“You want us to leave right now?” Mezo’s mother seemed shocked.
“Yes.” Izuku replied seriously, if people were willing to attack, maim and possibly kill a child because of what he was born like, then who knows. “We’re from the city, closeby to Shizuoka Prefecture. Kurogiri warped us over here to begin with.”
“L-let me get some of our belongings first.” The boy’s mother was crying now. “W-we’ve lived here for so long, couldn’t afford anywhere else.” She frantically pulled out a suitcase and started packing clothes for herself and her son as well as some pictures. “But, if this helps protect my son, then we’re leaving.”
Izuku scanned around with his Infrared Sight Quirk and noticed three people holding out around them. “Three possible threats around, make sure your husband knows to not come back here ideally.”
“Oh. It’s fine. He’s actually around Shizuoka Prefecture already, his boss assigned him to defend a villain that apparently killed over thirty people there a few months ago.” She said and Izuku froze before bringing himself to speak. He knew that there was only one case he could be working on right now.
“Small world. My dad hired him.” Izuku said. “The hero Hera killed them, not the villain. I saw it myself, since I was almost killed by her and she’d killed my mom.” He said venomously. “I think my dad would be more than pleased to be helping out your family.”
“That is a coincidence. I’m so sorry for your loss though and I’m glad my husband is getting justice for you then.” She smiled weakly before zipping up her bag and texting her husband. “C’mon Mezo, we have to go.”
“Okay, ma.” Mezo grasped onto his mom’s hand as they walked through the portal.
Izuku growls as he knows he’s kind of letting these assholes win, but the safety of this family trumps fighting the bigotry, that shit takes too long. He reluctantly followed the mother and son through the portal with Tenchan in tow. It was good that they were already connected to his dad though, it made it easier to integrate them into whatever his dad would suggest or find. Maybe Izuku also has a new friend too, because he really didn’t have much from school after he’s essentially tested out. Kacchan was the only one who really stuck by him, though Tsubasa, Yokote and Kariage sometimes were around too.
Hopefully the Shoji’s were here to stay.
Notes:
Shoji! I decided that a first patrol out in the middle of nowhere would be viable and well...for the issues, action and resolutions, Shoji's placement just made sense. It has kinda taken out his backstory a little, but well...I don't believe I'll use that - plus, he still has his experiences.
See you in the next one!
Chapter 13: The First To Fall
Summary:
Izuku brings the Shojis home with him.
After some time passes, his sight sets on the first person who killed his mother and Izuku wouldn't allow her to get away for free.
Notes:
Hi! I did want to get this out earlier again, but I've had a hell of a time wrapping up my other fic and then a close family member of mine passed away, so I've not been in the right mood to be motivated to post. Hopefully this chapter's alright.
Also, noticed a plothole with an older chapter where Hisashi's Quirk was presented as Fire Breath, but his Quirks were sealed by a Quirk accident and Inko had no idea his memory returned - I have hopefully fixed that, but I'm tired as hell, so if you guys notice something (either from here, before or in the future) let me know!
Warning(s):
Mentions of discrimination
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Hisashi smiled as his son returned safely, but he had no intel on these new people. He let his eyes evaluate them, the boy did have an extreme mutation and Hisashi could see why he wasn’t safe in a village now. Honestly, some people are pathetic, but that happens when a population decides to either ignore education or has a lack of it and then closes themself off.
“This is Mrs Shoji and Mezo Shoji.” Izuku said. These people seemed familiar, or at least their names did. Wasn’t his lawyer’s family name Shoji? “Apparently Mrs Shoji’s husband is your employed lawyer!” His son grinned.
Indeed it was. The man always used a pseudonym in their dealings or his first name, not wanting to connect his family to his somewhat immoral cases when he was within the underworld. Not that hiding his name actually stopped Hisashi from finding it anyway. “That’s actually quite convenient.” Hisashi chuckled. “Well, for a trusted, long-time associate of mine, his family deserves safety. Also Kurogiri.” He walked up to the Nomu to whisper something. “Bring The Lawyer here.”
“Understood, Master.” Kurogiri warped away to do his duty.
“Son, it’s alright to tell them who you are. They’re friends after all.” Hisashi smiled.
Izuku took off his mask. “Good, because I wanted a new friend!” His son cheered. “I’m Izuku Midoriya and I’m nine!”
The woman and her son must have been shocked by his age and Hisashi laughed. “You should have warned them before you got here.”
“That’s a nasty scar…” Mezo pointed to the scar on his face.
“Mezo! You can’t just say that! I’m so sorry Midoriya, Mr. Midoriya.” The woman hurried out an apology for her son before bowing.
“It’s okay, it’s proof I survived something bad. I'm not gonna hide it when I don’t need to.” Izuku smiled. “Plus, my friend always says it looks ‘badass’.”
“Language, Izuku.” Hisashi chided jokingly. It always got a reaction from Izuku, even when it shouldn’t.
“I was quoting Kacchan!” Izuku pouted. Exactly as predicted.
“I’m happy Mezo’s words didn’t hurt you. I do have a question though, why are you out fighting when you’re only nine?” Mrs Shoji asked.
“Because I want to. I wanna get strong and prepare myself to fight strong people so I can help everyone that I can!” Izuku said strongly.
“He’s right. And I do know it seems irresponsible of me to allow my child to do this, but well, he’s trained for it his entire life really and at this point, random human fights are usually better for further experience. Plus he can heal himself. That said, how much trouble did you get into today, son?” Hisashi said with a raised eyebrow.
“Umm…we fought off like, twelve people.” Izuku looked at him with guilty puppy eyes.
“It was more like three people each, the other six realised Izuku’s multiple Quirks meant that he was likely connected to you, Hisashi. So they ran off with their tails between their legs.” Tenko explained.
“Just to let you know, my dad’s not actually given me Quirks. My Quirk is to recreate Quirks.” Izuku grinned. “All I have to do is touch someone first for my Quirk to recognise and register someone else’s Quirk.” Izuku sighed. “The downside is, if I’ve accidentally registered someone’s Quirk before and ignored my instinct to recreate them, then I won’t get the information again.” He pouted and Hisashi wanted to laugh.
“Wait, does that mean you can use my Quirk?” The boy asked.
“I can if I touch you.” Izuku held out his hand and smiled. “Your Quirk seems interesting, so I’ll be happy to know what I can do with it.”
“Call me Mezo then!” Young Shoji shook his son’s hand.
“Then you can call me Izuku.” Izuku bounced on his feet. It seemed that he was excited to have a new friend and a new Quirk to mess around with.
~
Mezo’s Quirk wasn’t just more arms, it was arms that could replicate any body part. That means he could sprout more arms and create hands or ears or eyes ! Though, he couldn’t use Mezo’s Quirk right now since it’d destroy the clothing on his top half.
“Your Quirk is so cool! You can turn your arms into any body part, including extending into more limbs. It’d be so good for scouting and fighting if you trained it the right way!” Izuku said. “You could even be a hero if you wanted to be one!”
“A hero?” Mezo looked nervous. Why was he nervous about that? “You really think I could be a hero when I-when I look like this?”
Izuku frowned. “Your appearance means nothing. It’s your actions that matter. You saved a girl earlier and I bet you felt happy that you could do that, right?”
Mezo looked a little surprised. “I was happy, but even if I’m a hero, it won’t change what some people think of me.”
“Can I add my opinion on the matter?” Dad asked.
“Go ahead, dad.” Izuku said immediately.
“Sure.” Mezu said, rubbing his hands down his arms.
“Change takes effort. Now, while there have probably been hints as to who I am, I’m known to everyone as All For One. My other title is The Quirk Boogieman, as much as I loathe it.” Dad said.
“You’re a villain? A supervillain ?” Mrs Shoji was confused. “Sorry. The rumours about you don’t seem to match the person I’m standing in front of.”
Dad chuckled a little. “I had a run in with a villain that caused me to lose my memory and access to my Quirk. Even when it returned, I have come to conclude that my brain chemistry was permanently altered. I gained sympathy, empathy and emotional understanding. The best description is that I was an extreme sociopath, bordering being a psychopath, but now I’m just somewhat a sociopath. Even that’s becoming more questionable, because I have started to care about other people.”
“If you’re a villain, aren’t we supposed to report you?” Mezo asked.
“Please don’t.” Izuku said. “He’s not doing anything bad. Now.”
Dad shook his head though. “I’m still in command of the majority of the villain circles, but that is to limit their productions in the safest way possible. If I remove myself or am removed from controlling these sectors, then the worry would be them going out of control. There could be more turf wars as the groups turn on each other, there could be higher levels of kidnapping and trafficking-which I don’t allow my people to do, but they would do it if not for me, there would be more illegal substances out there too.” He said as Kurogiri’s portal opened. “There will still be things like Trigger or generic drugs coming from my groups as these are new drugs. People have to make money to live after all. I’m just trying to minimise villain activity on my end these days.”
“Mr Midoriya?” That must be Mezo’s dad. “You called for me?”
“Pa!” Mezo rushed over and hugged his dad tightly.
“Mezo?” Mr Shoji looked at dad and started to tremble. “Why do you have my family?”
“Honey, he’s offered to help us. The villagers tried to attack Mezo and Mr Midoriya’s son saved him. We agreed we couldn’t stay there if there was a proper incident.” Mrs Shoji said, causing Mr Shoji to calm down a little.
The man bowed slightly towards dad. “Thank you, Sir.”
“You’re one of my most trusted people. If your family needs help, I’ll gladly offer it.” Dad said. “I have free houses under different aliases. I’ll transfer ownership of a city house to you and your wife. Once you both can cover the costs, the payments will be transferred to you too, since it’d be best to have a degree of separation. Does that sound good?” He asked the adults.
“That sounds perfect, Sir.” Mr Shoji said. “Is there anything else you want from me or can I go with my family?”
“I just need you to be ready for the big trial. Hera needs to lose everything.” Dad said.
“I’ve gotten the professionals together now. I’ve sourced those that have been silenced as well as independent physicists and Quirk analysts that can prove who did the wrongdoing.” Mr Shoji said. “I’ll have everything lined up now though. It’s just about crafting the correct narrative.”
“Well. I know you’re an expert at crafting the best arguments.” Dad said. “Have any of you eaten?”
“I was planning to cook as soon as Mezo got home.” Mrs Shoji said. “So we haven’t eaten yet.”
“And I was busy working.” Mr Shoji said.
“Then it sounds like we can go out for a joint meal. My treat.” Dad said. If dad was offering…
“Can I get katsudon?” Izuku asked. He always wants it, but if they’re going out for food then maybe-
“You’ll start looking like a katsudon the amount of times I’ve allowed you to have it.” Dad sighed. “However, you do enough work to earn it. Tenko, choose something before we get there this time, else I will choose your dinner.”
“Piss off! The last time you did that you got me something inedible!” Tenchan growled.
“Language. Also, that’s because you ‘couldn’t decide’. It’s not my fault you hated calamari.” Dad said. Izuku knew it sounded like a joke, but dad was being serious. At least, Izuku thought he was, because he always got Tenchan something different whenever Tenchan didn’t make a decision. Either way, this was going to be a good night.
~~~~~~~~
In the weeks leading up to the trial, Mezo was integrated into Aldera since they were situated nearby. Some of the empty housing was in their area, because dad wanted to try to keep Izuku in Aldera if they had to move. Kacchan and Mezo got along with a few things and disagreed on others, but it became apparent that they liked to verbally conflict. Mostly because Mezo didn’t take Kacchan’s attitude and back down. It was all friendly though at least, so Izuku knew that they’d be fine.
Izuku would need to steal Hera’s Quirk after the trial. It’s not like she could use it anytime soon anyway, considering her arms were so badly damaged that excessive strain could re-break them, even after being healed.
Izuku was part of the crowd alongside his dad and Tenko in the courtroom. They were the family of a victim after all and the courts wanted them to witness justice being served. Or so they thought, anyway. The court was primed for a guilty verdict. The news reported things falsely, because of the commission. Radio shows reported things falsely, because of the commission. People who were also there and were injured were falsely stating things, because of the commission. Propaganda is a strong tool and they got the quickest start on spreading it. This man was mostly an innocent person and he was being displayed as a mass murderer. What a joke.
After the prosecution stated their case, bringing justice to the affected, Mr Shoji started to read out his argument and the villain’s plea. “I’m well aware of the charges stacked on my client. I’m also aware of how both he and I look, being here after I’ve stated multiple times that I will actively defend Mr Yokoyama. The case I bring to you today is the undeniable fact that Mr Yokoyama did not cause the explosion and did not kill anyone. That leads me to say this, my client pleads not guilty.”
The trial proceeded and the commission’s lawyer kept framing the villain as the one responsible for the deaths that day. They brought in people that were obviously biased, including having Hera put her statement in, but that didn’t break Mr Shoji’s cool demeanour.
When it came to their turn, many of the professionals went through the physics, Quirk research and other aspects of the situation. They picked it apart piece by piece and slowly turned the courtroom’s opinion on the matter. It was just unfortunate that they couldn't bring up the Commission as those creating a cover up since
The prosecution was silent by the time the proceedings ended and the judge was coming to a decision. All they had to do was hope the judge was honest.
“From the evidence I’ve seen today, I can come to a concrete decision.” The judge sighed. “With today’s media, the way society reacts and the fact that it seemed that there were at least some investigative issues from within the police and hero commission, Mr Yokoyama has been wrongfully accused of mass manslaughter. Though he is not completely innocent and should still receive jail time for theft, property damage and assault against a public authority, his crimes end there. The guilt in fact lands with the hero known as Hera, who should be arrested and placed in front of the court to face her crimes. For Mr Yokoyama’s crimes, I sentence him to two years in prison, with a chance of parole after one year and six months. For the Hero Commission, though I cannot judge exactly what happened, it is your job to do better and investigate your faults so that something like this case’s media farce doesn’t happen again. To the families affected, hopefully this case’s conclusion has given you some answers.” He said. “Have a good day, everyone.”
It was time to take Hera’s Quirk then. He would get her tonight before the police formally processed an arrest warrant and took her in.
~~~~~~~~
Hisashi knew it was possibly a bad idea to let Izuku go after Hera. Hera losing her Quirk and staying alive is enough to raise a million flags with the Hero Commission and would get All Might’s attention. The saving grace is that Hera lived on the opposite end of the prefecture. He would have to give Izuku a rundown of how things were going to go.
“Izuku. I need you to heed my directions seriously when you’re on your mission.” Hisashi said, keeping his tone stern.
“I know what I need to do. Get in, get out, make sure she doesn’t know who I am.” Izuku said.
Hisashi sighed. “You have to go in, steal her Quirk and ensure she remembers nothing . If she can recall your height, voice or any identifiable features, she could cause trouble. Also, make sure to use the EMP Quirk you copied to knock out everything in her house. We don’t need her security cameras to catch you either.”
“I know.” Izuku pouted. “I’ve got the Quirks I need activated and Kurogiri has my back too!”
“Why can’t I go with Izuchan?” Tenko asked.
“Because we don’t need reports of possibly two children attacking Hera if somehow she remembers, something catches you or something gives away that there were multiple people there. We also don’t need a random Quirk accident to happen inside her house. Either from Izuku or from you.” Hisashi said logically.
“I’m not even gonna use my Quirk. I can control it.” Tenko hissed.
“Then there’s no need for you to be there. Just…allow Izuku to do this. If he needs help, but doesn’t need to retreat, then sure. Go in to help.” Hisashi said. “Hera will be at her home now. So let’s get you there.”
“Kurogiri?” Izuku asked.
The Nomu answered his call and bowed. “What do you require of me, Young Master Izuku.”
“I’m going to go for Hera. Can you warp me to her house?” Izuku asked.
“I’ve been there before on Master’s request, so I can.” Kurogiri sounded more hesitant than usual. “Are you sure you want to do this, Young Master?” Hisashi believes that this is the first time Kurogiri has questioned Izuku’s decisions.
“I’m sure, because I can’t allow her to ever be able to hurt anyone again.” Izuku said. “The same goes for Chainmail. He wasn’t helping take out the villain or get people away from the fight. I’ll get him eventually.”
“Okay.” Kurogiri said, opening a portal. “Be safe, Young Master.”
“I will. See you soon, dad and Tenchan!” Izuku said, hopping through the portal. Hisashi was sure he’d be fine.
“Kurogiri. We need to talk after this mission.” Hisashi said.
“Understood, Master.” Kurogiri responded before following Izuku. Hishashi sighed. He’d sort that mess out later.
~~~~~~~~
Kurogiri had opened a portal into the Hero’s bathroom. It made sense to warp here since there obviously wouldn’t be any cameras in the room. Still, it was annoying to look around the room and see all of the shower products. There were so many different bottles. Why did someone need so many products?
She was either insecure or wanted to be a model. If she wanted to bea model though, she could have made it big in that area easily. Izuku could conclude that she was pretty and knew how to present herself, so why? She must have wanted to be a hero for some reason then, but what was her issue then? Insecurity? Insecurity was the easiest answer, especially when Izuku thought about how much she played up for the camera. All of this because of her insecurities.
Izuku let out a heated breath. The thought was making him angry. He readied EMP, powering up a ball of energy in his hand to judge the strength of it. He didn’t want to knock out power for the neighbouring houses, because they hadn’t done anything to him.
Izuku let off the EMP when he felt that it wouldn’t reach the other houses. An immediate noise came from somewhere else in the house. Izuku activated another Quirk, one to see in the dark so that he could make his way through the house with ease.
Izuku manoeuvred his way out of the bathroom and listened to the commotion going on downstairs. The woman was complaining about what she had to do now. She was going to the basement to mess with the fuse box. That’s a shame for her. If she had bothered to check her phone, she’d have known something was wrong, but this now allowed Izuku to wait in the living room instead.
Izuku could tell Hera was more panicked when the power didn’t come back on. She would probably make her way to her phone, so Izuku picked that up and sat down on one of her chairs. He was correct when hurried steps made their way back up from the basement.
“Is this the police?” The woman sounded like she was shaking. “They shouldn’t be doing a raid on my house…why?” She made her way to her sofa, which originally housed her phone, but now didn't. “Where is it?”
“You looking for this?” Izuku said, announcing his presence and holding up the phone. “I hit everything with an EMP Quirk. Don’t expect it to work.” He said tossing the phone to her.
“Who are you?” She asked seriously, raising her arm up.
“I wouldn’t recommend using your Quirk, Hera. You’ll do more damage to your arms.” Izuku said as he readied Quirk Transfer. He refused to really call the Quirk All For One due to its connotations and also so he didn't get into the habit of possibly calling it that out loud.
“I ask again. Who are you? And what do you want from me?” Hera asked, not lowering her hand.
“It doesn’t matter who I am, but I’m here for justice. You killed people due to your incompetence and instead of admitting it, you almost let a man innocent of those crimes get sentenced to jail or even sentenced to death.” Izuku let out a heated breath. “And you need to pay for it.”
“I’m being arrested soon. It’s a bit late to get justice.” She said. “Unless you’re going to kill me…”
“I’m not a murderer,” Izuku said, “but I do need something from you!” He pounced with Quirk enhanced speed and landed his hand on the woman’s head. He activated Muddied, causing Hera to become dazed and confused. She wouldn’t remember anything now from the past five minutes and the next five minutes.
Izuku then pulled on Hera’s Quirk using Quirk Transfer. The Quirk slipped into his own collection of self-made ones easily. He didn’t need to keep it though, because he could just take it apart like his copies. He didn’t want to see a vestige of that woman in his dreams after all.
Air Manipulation was his and now she was left Quirkless. She could enjoy the rest of her time in prison and Izuku could know that he’d dealt his own personal justice to her. “Kurogiri.” Izuku called out to his bodyguard.
A purple vortex quickly formed. “Young Master?”
“Everything’s done. Don’t worry about Hera, she’ll be confused for the next few minutes, so let’s leave.” Izuku said confidently.
“Understood, Young Master.” Kurogiri said, keeping his portal open. “Please step though.”
Izuku stepped through the portal with a feeling of fulfilment. He would keep doing this to protect people. Evil didn’t deserve to use their powers to harm others, so he would ensure they couldn’t. He would ensure that the innocent survive, by any means necessary as long as they didn’t involve killing the villain.
He would protect everyone that he could.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
See you in the next one.
Chapter 14
Notes:
Hi! I meant to send this out last week, but I got distracted by getting ahead a little. It helped though, because I needed to properly structure where I was going! I can't think of a chapter name since an assortment of things happen, so just enjoy the ride.
Warning(s):
Death/murder
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After Hisashi confirmed Izuku was alright and everything went to plan, he let him go to get some sleep. Izuku had gone to bed telling Tenko about his mission’s success. Everything seemed to have gone cleanly. Hera was arrested and picked up in a hysterical state. The police’s internal report was that she was rambling about her Quirk being gone. Not stolen, but gone. Giran’s Quirk worked like a treat and the woman didn’t remember Izuku’s infiltration and exit.
Hisashi still needed to talk to Kurogiri. The Nomu was waiting in the room for Hisashi to talk to him. If Hisashi were to make an evaluation, the Nomu was nervous. “Kurogiri.”
“Yes Master?” Kurogiri answered.
“Your programming is weakening, isn’t it?” Hisashi asked, knowing the Nomu shouldn’t be able to lie.
“...Yes. It is.” Kurogiri said reluctantly.
Hisashi sighed. “How much do you remember of your past?”
“Enough.” Kurogiri said.
Hisashi knew this was a risky move and that he should just send Kurogiri to Garaki for recalibration, but call it intuition, Hisashi believes the man has his own agenda. Well, Garaki has always had his own agenda, but they usually benefitted Hisashi’s own schemes. The feeling he has this time is different. “I’m not going to send you to The Doctor. Kurogiri…no, your name was Shirakumo. Do you remember that?”
“Yes. I was a hero student.” Kurogiri said. “What is your plan? If you’re not sending me to him , then there has to be a reason.”
“It’s partially selfish. Izuku and Tenko care about you. They care enough to know that you’d be acting differently from now if I sent you off.” Hisashi said. “And I’ll be honest. Unlike the other Nomu, you’re the closest to remaining as a human. So much so that your original body is below the smoke if you coalesced it.” He said.
“I can’t.” Kurogiri said. “I was ordered not to.”
“Then I rescind that order. Other than that, I want you to have your freedoms and to allow you to keep looking after the kids, but I know that would risk you leaving entirely.” Hisashi said.
“I’ll stay.” Kurogiri said. “I still want the boys to be safe. I want to make sure that they’re alright and that they won’t get into trouble. If I’m not with them, who will protect them out there?” Whether that was part of Kurogiri’s programming speaking or Shirakumo himself, Hisashi wouldn’t be able to determine, but the Nomu seemed content enough to carry on working with him.
“Then, even if you do proceed to hate me, I propose we keep working together. I’m planning on ensuring the streets are safer for the kids and that we can live in peace.” Hisashi said. “Is that acceptable?”
Kurogiri waited and mulled over his options. “Yes, it is.”
“Good.” Hisashi said. “Now. I have to talk with the Shie Hassaikai and ensure they’re not causing too much trouble. Some of their members have been a little…destructive. Apparently, they didn’t appreciate our output of Trigger components being reduced and it ended with some of my men being killed. As much as I would like to ignore the problem, I believe that if I don’t make an appearance at their headquarters, hell might actually break loose.”
“I can see that being a problem.” Kurogiri answered. “When do you want to schedule a meeting with them?”
“I’ll go in person tomorrow. I’m going to bring Izuku with me to work on the negotiations. I’ve received information describing the Shie Hassaikai’s leader as a family man. So much so, he allowed his biological family to live outside of his group’s district and even adopted some lone children. Actually, I believe he took in the child that we copied Tenko’s Quirk from.”
“What a coincidence.” Kurogiri commented. “Are you sure it’s safe for Young Master Izuku to join you on your visit? Considering the content you will be discussing and who you will be dealing with?”
“Izuku will be fine. The boss is peaceful, unless someone is an extreme threat. I’m surprised that his group even expanded into Trigger if I’m to be honest, but questioning their decision wasn’t any of my business.” Hisashi said.
“If Izuku will be safe, that makes this trip alright with me.” Kurogiri said. “I’m going to clean up then rest. Have a good night, Master.”
“Goodnight.” Hisashi said before retiring to his room. Hopefully he got this situation sorted out quickly.
~~~~~~~~
The Shie Hassaikai house was huge! Izuku wondered why that was, but the Yakuza were described as a big family, so maybe that was literal in some sense. Like, did a lot of them live at the main house? Dad walked them through the portal Kurogiri made into the Hassaikai’s head office.
“Mr Chisaki.” Dad’s tone was already threatening. He wouldn’t hurt them, but he was manipulating the situation.
“Who are you?” The man started to lean forward a little at his desk.
“I’m known to you as All For One. I’m sure you’ve heard that name circulating around as the head of a Yakuza group.” Dad said.
“All For One…” The man froze in place. “Can you prove your identity-”
Dad activated multiple Quirk, manifesting them through his fingers. “Is that enough?”
“Yes.” The man stood from his desk, came round to get in closer to them and bowed slightly. “What is the purpose of your visit?”
“Well. I’ve heard back from some of my employees that your group has been killing some of my Trigger sellers.” Dad said. That was still…bad, but Izuku understood the need for those to exist as part of controlling the villains overall.
“They have?” The man seemed genuinely confused. “Dammit. I am so sorry. I saw one of my groups return looking a little roughed up, but they usually partake in battles of honour and don’t usually kill people. I knew I should have stopped them.”
“Who? Who led them?” Dad asked coldly.
“My adopted son, Kai. I am truly sorry on his behalf.”
“That’s all well and good, but unless I can have an assurance that he is sorry and will not cause any more harm to my people, then this conversation is pointless.” Dad said. “Summon him here.”
The man’s throat bobbed. “Okay, but please, don’t hurt him.”
“I’ll try not to, but either way you owe me.” Dad said.
“Of course.” Mr Chisaki nodded. “Thank you.”
Soon, a young man was shuffled into the office. He had short, auburn hair and golden yellow eyes. “You called for me, boss?”
“Kai. Did you go out and kill some people?” Mr Chisaski asked.
“What if I did?” The guy asked. “They weren’t adhering to our offers and were getting pushy. Thought they were gonna pounce on us if we didn’t buy.”
“That’s no reason to kill them. Why were you even buying Trigger?” Mr Chisaki asked, confusion written on his face.
“I wanted to use it as a base for other chemicals. The substance is new and experimental and it reliably reacts with Quirks.” Kai said.
“Well. This is the man whose people you killed. His alias is All For One, though these days he’s known as the rumoured Quirk Boogieman. He can give and take Quirks.” Chisaki said.
Kai seemed to become intrigued by that. “He can?” His eyes shifted towards dad. “I’m sorry that I…overreacted. I should have kept my teaching in mind and kept a cool head.”
Dad sighed. “Look. I’ve lost manpower and while that can be replaced eventually, you’ve cost my people time and money and think of the poor families that need compensating.” He said. “You seem to have ways of gaining connections aside from your boss, so as compensation I would like you to send me your research.”
“I was planning on stopping that.” Mr Chisaki said. “But if that’s a stipulation of your ‘forgiveness’, then I guess we will be working together.”
“On top of that. I want my son here to copy Kai’s Quirk.” Dad said.
“Copy Quirks usually take skin contact. No.” Kai responded immediately.
“Kai. Don’t speak out of turn.” Mr Chisaki said seriously. “I apologise for him cutting in like that. Kai has an aversion to people’s touch due to his skin being extremely sensitive to other people’s skin.”
“I can copy through hair. I won’t have to touch him.” Izuku spoke.
“It’s not an aversion to people. It’s to people with Quirks.” Kai spoke again.
“You have no proof of that, Kai.” Chisaki said with a sigh.
“Don’t worry. I can also change my Quirk to present Quirkless. Maybe that’d prove things?” Izuku asked. He learned that from Naomi after all.
Kai frowned. “You can do that? That’s so…weird. What’s the harm of checking though?” He said before taking off a glove. “If this turns out to work, then I guess I can write this off as equivalent exchange.” He said before approaching Izuku and holding out his hand.
“You’re not going to use your Quirk on Izuku, are you?” Dad asked.
“Of course not. I don’t harm people unless they threaten me or my goals.” Kai said.
“Alright.” Dad nodded. Izuku shook Kai’s hand, registering his Quirk. The ability to atomically disassemble and reassemble something, as well as being able to restore things to their default state. It felt like Tenchan’s Quirk though…why? He’d have to bring that up to dad later, though if Izuku had an idea of things, Tenchan and dad had mentioned before about Tenchan’s Quirk actually being Air Walk, which dad stole from Tenchan as a baby. Izuku was actually still a little heated from learning that, but Tenchan insisted that he’d rather work with Decay now, because that Quirk allowed him to fight with fewer limits.
“I’m…fine.” Kai frowned as he let go of Izuku’s hand. “That has to conclude that my affliction flares to Quirks and not people then.”
“Huh.” Dad hummed. “That’s a weird condition to have. Nevermind that. We’ll sort the details of a deal before I go back to business.”
“Kai could take your son to my daughter. She just gave birth to my granddaughter and wanted me to meet her.” Mr Chisaki said.
“Sure, but if anything happens to Izuku-”
“You’ll kill me. I understand.” Kai said. “C’mon kid. I’ll show you to the family.”
Izuku followed Kai to a comfy looking living room which was housing two adults with a baby. “Hello Kai.” The woman said with a smile before turning to look at Izuku. “Who’s this?”
“Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku said with a soft smile. “I’m the son of one of your father’s associates. It’s nice to meet you.” He said before looking at the baby in her arms. “Your baby is adorable.”
“Isn’t she?” The woman cooed. “Her name is Eri. Wanna say hi to her?”
“Can I?” Izuku asked. Eri looked so cute bundled up in her mom’s arms. He reached over to hold and finger out for Eri to curl her hand over it.
The ability to return organic matter to a previous different state via conserving time within a physical appendage. Time is exponentially scaled the longer it’s stored. Whoa. That’s such a cool Quirk!
“I think she likes you.” The father said. “She normally cries when someone new comes around.”
“I’m Emiri Chisaki and this is my husband, Reo.” Mrs Chisaki said.
“I’m Reo Chisaki . I took on their family name. Boss said it was probably better to take his name due to his status.” Mr Chisaki explained.
“Only because you were basically a son to him already. You were with us for years before we got together.” Mrs Chisaki said. Izuku could tell that her tone was full of love.
He didn’t know how long he hung out with the family, but time seemed to pass quickly. After a while, his dad entered the room with Kurogiri and Boss Chisaki. Izuku said a soft goodbye to Eri and the family before disappearing with his dad. He didn’t ask what the deal they had fully was, but it would probably be a decent one. For now, it was time to go home.
~~~~~~~~
Chainmail was next on Izuku’s list. While his wrong actions couldn’t be called into question exactly, Izuku knew he could have helped prevent Hera from doing what she did. The Hero could have used his chains to restrain the villain and calm Hera down from a distance, but he didn’t.
It was the man’s routine night patrol, so it made everything so much easier for Izuku. It was easier than jumping someone in their own house at least. Though he had to get down from the rooftops of these buildings and ensure no one was around.
Izuku descended using Air Walk and then used Midnight’s Quirk to start collecting knockout gas around himself. He didn’t realise he even had Midnight’s Quirk until he thought about her possibly checking his unconscious body for a pulse.
“Hi Chainmail.” Izuku announced as he landed in front of the Hero, pushing the gas out enough to cover the man.
“What’s this? A tiny villain?” He said, but he stumbled a little as he moved forward to try and capture Izuku. “Wha-why am I so…tired?”
“Goodnight.” Izuku said as the man collapsed to the ground. There was no one around, so this was his best opportunity.
Izuku stole his Quirk with ease and went on his way. This hero couldn’t let anyone else die again.
~~~~~~~~
First Hera and now Chainmail. Both heroes were attacked and were rendered confused after someone attacked them and wiped their memories. Though they weren’t hurt in the physical sense, both were missing their Quirks. Naomasa first thought that they were being either hysterical or were hit by a Quirk that sealed the use of them for a bit. However, when it came to testing for their Quirk Factors, their Quirks were gone entirely.
How was it possible that something destroyed their Quirk factors?
There weren’t any drugs in their systems, so that couldn’t be an explanation for either the amnesia or their Quirks being gone. The only real explanation is that it is the doing of someone else using their Quirk-or Quirks. Multiple people? An amnesia Quirk and a Quirk Factor destroying or removing Quirk…two people at least. However, the first scene didn’t give the impression of multiple villains. Everything was too clean and concise.
There’s also the problem of their connection. The only thing those two had in common was that Hera killed people and Chainmail was there too. This could mean that the other heroes are in danger too. Midnight and Sleeping Beauty were the others on the scene. He had to warn them about the villain or villains on the loose and who were targeting that group.
Revenge is the easiest motive to work with. A lot of people would have had it. As bad as it is, his instincts first pointed towards Hisashi Midoriya. Yet all that came back was a registered amnesia Quirk attack and hospitalisation and subsequently a Fire Quirk registration when it turned out he needed to relearn his Quirk in steps, since his instincts to use it were gone. What was weird was the fact that ‘Hisashi Midoriya’ didn’t exist before this and Fire Breathing Quirks were common, but the name ‘Hisashi’ and the unique white hair and white mirror-like eyes weren’t. There were no villains with that description though…he could be a person who slipped out of the system and never got a chance to return. In some ways, his amnesia could be a blessing.
Nevermind that train of thought. It couldn’t be Hisashi Midoriya.
And there was no way it was Izuku Midoriya either.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku had already accomplished his goal of taking down the two heroes responsible for his mother’s death. Taking down two negligent people isn’t enough. Villains that aren’t controlled by his dad and other uncaring heroes exist. Izuku would have to stop them too.
A scream tore him out of his thoughts. Tenchan was by his side, so nothing really should be able to go wrong. Except that had already happened. As Izuku rounded the corner of the alleyway they heard the noise from, there was already a large pool of blood on the ground and a person collapsed against the wall while another was about to be attacked.
“We don’t have time.” Izuku grit his teeth as he activated Dark Ball and launched one out towards the assailant. He might have tossed it too hard, but who cared! This villain was going to kill this person!
The villain was slammed away and into the wall, cratering it slightly. “Are you okay?” Tenchan asked the one person as Izuku got to the side of the person who was bleeding out. Izuku could tell with his Quirks that the person was dead.
What could he do?
Rewind wouldn’t work, since apparently the caveat for that is the thing has to be alive.
Overhaul, which name he learned from Kai after another brief visit to the Shie Hassaikai’s base, could fix people if they've just died, but you had to either have their healed state imprinted in the Quirk from the times you’ve touched them or you have to have to be an expert in the human body. Kai was studying to use his Quirk in a way to restore people ‘without impurity’, though Izuku could tell that there was more meaning to that than just ‘without injury or illness’. He didn’t push for the man’s thoughts.
A small regeneration Quirk won’t work either, because they’re dead…
Izuku turned to the villain, grabbed them by the shirt before tossing them into the street. He couldn’t allow their brain to catch back up and start attacking again or running.
“Wildcard!” Tenchan shouted.
“I’ve got this.” Izuku growled as the villain stood to their feet.
“A fuckin’ shortstack got the jump on me, huh?” One, this was likely a man. Two, his now visible knife was glowing. “Well. I’m gonna bleed you dry and I’m gonna make it as painful as possible.”
“Shut up.” Izuku said before creating water and controlling it like a whip, slapping the knife out of the man’s hand. He then activated Midnight’s Quirk. He decided to test out another aspect of using multiple Quirks. Combining them. He combined the Water Hose’s Quirks with Midnight’s, creating a knockout liquid. He let the plain water go and created the new liquid, firing it and pushing it against the man’s mouth and nose.
Only gurgles were heard before the man was out cold. Izuku let the water go again and approached the villain, turning him on his side to ensure no water settled in the man’s lungs.
“Iz-Wildcard.” Tenchan looked at the person who Izuku saved. She was panicking while looking between the villain, them and the dead person. Someone being killed in front of a person is traumatic on its own, but this person was likely a friend, considering they were together.
“Yuya.” The woman started to break down. “H-Help him.”
Izuku couldn’t. He tried. “I wish I could. I tried, but he’s lost too much blood and his pulse is gone. I don’t have the ability to heal someone either.” Or well, the knowledge to do so in this way. “I’m sorry.”
“We were only out here to walk to my mother’s birthday party.” The woman sobbed.
“I’m so sorry.” Izuku said. The incident happened under five minutes ago…no. He couldn’t use that, because this woman needed to remember the incident to recall it to the police-
“Hey!” Izuku snapped his head to the new voice at the mouth of the alley. Glowing red eyes were on him and Tenchan in an instant. Eraserhead.
“We gotta go.” Tenchan said. Eraserhead was actually a hero that was on their radar as one of the best heroes, because of how much publicly unrecognised work he does. Also, his costume mostly lets him go unnoticed in public. However, his work here is detrimental, because that’d mean he’d chase Izuku and Tenchan.
Their best bet was to rush off. “Get back here.”
“I took care of the villain! Deal with him and the corpse he left!” Izuku hissed.
“Well. Maybe I don’t like the fact that kids are out on the street.” The hero said.
Tenchan was about to respond, but Izuku had to get there first. “We’re just short!”
“Yeah. And I’m Santa Claus.” Eraser said, pulling on his scarf and launching an attack, wrapping around Tenchan in the process.
Tenchan tried to use his Quirk to escape, but Eraserhead’s Quirk…Both Tenchan and Izuku couldn’t use their Quirks. Except they could. For a brief moment, Izuku’s sensory Quirks came back. That means there are intervals that Eraserhead had to stop using his Quirk. Alternatively… “Ash, I’ll be back. Promise. I have a plan.”
“I trust you.” Tenchan said. Izuku left the scene and rushed around the corner. “Kurogiri.” And immediately he was met with a portal that took him to a nearby roof.
“Young Master…” Kurogiri looked down to Eraser warily. “I do not want to go against my old friend.” Kurogiri had been talking about his past slightly, but he was friends with Eraserhead?! “Yes. I was.” Izuku still needed to stifle his mutter. “I’m the reason he has the signature yellow goggles. Everyone thinks that I’m dead.”
“I won’t pit you against him, but I need to copy his Quirk and get Tenchan out. Can I copy your Quirk to do that?” Izuku asked.
Kurogiri sighed before holding his hand out to Izuku. “You’re not supposed to have my Quirk yet. Your father wanted to entrust it to you in a few years, but had requested that I let you copy it if you either asked or needed it. In the case of facing my friend, I think it’s necessary.”
Izuku took the semi-formed hand of his bodyguard. Opening gates between spaces that one has visited, physically seen or knows accurate coordinates for-and the ability to create clouds. Huh? Two Quirks? Not exactly. The cloud Quirk seemed entangled with Kurogiri’s Warp Gate. Not that it made recreating both hard, but his Quirk instincts were confused. “Why did I get the ability to create a cloud Quirk from you?” Izuku asked quietly.
“That’s a story for later, Young Master Izuku.” Kurogiri said. He was correct, because Izuku had to rescue Tenchan first.
“Where did he go?” Izuku heard Eraserhead ask Tenchan.
Tenchan shrugged. “I dunno. Could have gone anywhere by now.” He said as Eraserhead zip tied up the villain and started using a phone. Now was Izuku’s chance. He knew how to use the Quirk. He spewed purple mist from the palm of his right hand and opened a portal between himself and Eraser’s back.
Izuku pounced, grazing Eraser’s head before jumping through another portal to ensure his safety. “What the?”
Quirk activates through the eyes. It subdues Quirk Factors into being unable to activate. That’d mean all Quirks that weren’t heteromorphic could be stopped. That would include Eraser’s Quirk being cancelled by Izuku’s use of it.
“Ash. Use your Quirk on the scarf!” Izuku announced from above before running through a new portal that got him close to Eraserhead and Tenchan. He then activated Eraser’s Quirk and stared at the Hero.
“I won’t let you do that.” Eraserhead said seriously.
“Too bad you can’t stop us.” Izuku said as Tenchan turned the part of the scarf entrapping him to dust.
“My Quirk…how are you using my Quirk?” Eraser muttered. “You touched me. A copy Quirk?” That was close enough.
“Goodbye, Eraserhead.” Izuku said with a small smirk as he opened a portal below the newly freed Tenchan and himself. He warped them to the rooftop and watched Eraser look around. They got away free. Good.
This incident was already too close for comfort…Izuku needed to be better. Faster. Though he wouldn’t mind competing against the hero for fun if the opportunity arrives. Either way, he would save as many people as possible…he had to stop incidents like tonight happening before it was too late to save the victims.
He will become stronger and he will be better.
Notes:
I hope you've all enjoyed!
Eraser's here! And Tsukauchi's looking into what's going on, but will he ever get to the bottom of it?
See you in the next one!
Chapter 15: Vigilante Activities and Confrontation
Notes:
Hi! Happy Sunday! I hope you enjoy the chapter, though there is a slightly darker scene it doesn't get too descriptive nor does it really get anywhere past intention.
Warning(s):
Attempted rape
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The nights acting as a vigilante became a weekly occurrence. Sometimes twice a week. Spotting incidents was getting easier and solving them was quick. The benefit Izuku had was being able to warp across the country and use different Quirks. No one could nail him down. No one could stop him either, because he now has Erasure and people weren’t really used to fighting without their Quirks.
Izuku and Tenchan had seen some shit though. Some were people beaten to a pulp, others were…dead. Izuku copied the Quirks of people regardless, because they could still help out in the future. The most resourceful Quirk Izuku recovered was one that could change the colour of his eyes and hair. The most weird Quirk…that had to be the ability to create confetti. Though, thinking about it, if he could make a LOT of confetti, then it could be a good Quirk, it’d just be how it was used. The most powerful Quirk though? That goes to the Paralysis Barbs Quirk he got. He can now make small barbs at his fingertips that will inject a small amount of paralysis toxin into his target. It’s easier to use than Muddied, so he could use that now to pacify villains. Small villains that is. Bigger targets would probably require a lot more toxin.
The strange thing about this night was the strange space he was now in after sleeping. It seemed empty and unlike any dream he’d had before. It felt more real if anything.
“Hello?” Izuku called out.
“Izuku?” A voice? It was quiet. Too quiet for Izuku to tell who it might be, but there was a figure forming in the darkness. “Izuku!” Wait-
The figure fully formed. The voice and the appearance- “Mom?”
Mom rushed to Izuku and trapped him in a hug immediately. “Izuku. You’re finally here.” Finally? “I’ve been watching you for a while. You’ve grown so much, you shouldn’t have had to.”
“It’s okay mom.” Izuku said, returning the hug.
“It’s not though. Your dad shouldn’t have enabled your thoughts and behaviour.” Mom said, resting her head against Izuku’s shoulder. “I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I love you too, mom. And I won’t get hurt, I’m doing my best not to and both Tenko and I are doing well!” Izuku said. “I just-I can’t forgive them…I lost you. I’ve missed you and I just-just want you back.” He started to sob. Tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped onto the floor.
“I know, Baby.” Mom said quietly. “I want to be there with you and Tenko, but I know I can’t be. What is this place anyway?”
“Not sure.” Izuku said. “Dad said he could see the people he stole Quirks from in his dreams, so he believed you’d be in mine if he gave me your Quirk. This doesn’t exactly look like a dream though.” Izuku hummed. “Maybe it’s a minescape? Like a lucid dream instead of a normal one?”
“If that’s so…can you make this place into a meadow with a house overlooking the sea? I…I always wanted that as a place to go after retiring and I don’t want to be in a dark place while watching over you.” Mom said reasonably. Izuku closed his eyes and thought of that. The field growing over the blackness, the sea flowing in and the house building itself on the cliffside.
He opened his eyes to new scenery. “Wow.”
“Thank you.” Mom said before looking at Izuku sadly. “You’re waking up.”
“No!” The chat was too short. They hadn’t even gotten to talk properly yet! “I don’t wanna. I wanna stay with you more!”
“I-It’s okay, Izuku. I know you’ll be back soon.” Mom said, but-but-
“Mama!” Izuku sobbed. “I-I’ll talk to you when I can. I love you mom.”
“I love you too.” Mom said. “I know as much as I don’t want you out there acting as a vigilante, you’ll still do it anyway. You’ve got my kindness and compassion, but you’ve also got your father’s stubbornness. So be careful, okay?”
“I will.” Izuku said before waking, jolting himself upright. It was already light outside…it was a new day.
~~~~~~~~
Toshinori felt uneasy after Mirai explained the information he’d received. Mirai had some police reports linked to him about a string of hero and villain incidents that ended with the defeated villains or attacked heroes losing their Quirk. They wanted their help, but the culprit was obvious.
This had to be him .
A couple of reports stated a shorter person, but it’s likely that All For One had a shapeshifting Quirk. In fact, that’s probably why no one’s really seen him in public in recent years. His boldness has really started to cause issues though, because the HPSC is starting to become concerned about the incidents too and that’d lead them to All For One.
If they got directly involved with the investigation and battle, it’d be a disaster.
“We’ve managed to make a list of locations.” Mirai said. Locations…did that mean? “We’re close to finding All For One.”
“What?” Toshinori took a deep breath in. That also meant they were close to finding Tenko Shimura and Izuku Midoriya. He still needed to save them.
“The properties, the identity, the connections. It gives us a rough idea.” Mirai said before activating a projector. “This corner of Musutafu.” He said, pointing a ruler at the map.
This was it. All For One was finally going down.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku informed his dad and Tenchan about his ‘dream’, but all it did was cause the mood to go sombre for a while after they had a full conversation about it. There was no clue as to when he would be able to talk to mom again and there was no way for her to talk to them, so Izuku decided that he might keep the future talks quiet. He didn’t want his dad or Tenchan to feel bad because they couldn’t speak to her.
In an attempt to distract everyone, Izuku dragged everyone out to the park where he’d meet Kacchan, Mezo and some of the others. “Kacchan!” Izuku immediately rushed towards his best friend when he saw him.
“Dammit Nerd!” Kacchan shouted, but didn’t move and instead let Izuku wrap around him. “Always so clingy.”
“I missed you!” Izuku said. It hadn’t actually been that long, but who cares. A few days was already too much! Izuku buried his face into Kacchan’s neck and kept hugging tightly. It took him a minute to back off and smile at the rest of his friends. “Hi Mezo, hi everyone.”
“Hello Izuku.” Mezo smiled back.
“How has everyone been treating you?” Izuku asked.
“Everyone seems to be okay with me.” Mezo said with an edge of uncertainty.
“What’s got you troubled?” Tenchan asked, his hands were stuck in his pockets, but they seemed to be clenched.
“Some of the teachers are weird. They joke about some of the students or comment about them…including me, when they think I’m not overhearing them.” Mezo shakes his head. “They’re more so just pushing up Bakugo and praising him about everything.”
“Yeah. I don’t understand their deal.” Kacchan shrugged. “I already know I’m the best, but I think they want me to get all big headed and shit about it.” He boasted. “Like I’m gonna let whatever they think change me though. I’m gonna become the Number One hero and I’m gonna have you by my side. Screw whatever anyone else wants!”
“Yeah!” Izuku smiled brightly. He wanted that so much too!
“Hi Izuku, Tenko. How have you kids been?” Auntie asked.
“We’re alright.” Izuku said.
“Meh.” Tenchan shrugged. “School’s boring.”
“You’re being homeschooled, how the hell is that boring?” Tsubasa commented. “Lucky bastards.”
“You don’t know what it’s like learning from Hisashi.” Tenchan shuddered. Dad’s lessons weren’t that bad…though the Nomu fights were still a whole different experience.
“Dad’s fine. He knows a lot of stuff!” Izuku said.
“I know that. It’s why I’m clearing my classes after we call.” Kacchan huffed. “Nerd.”
“If I’m a nerd, you’re a nerd too, Kacchan.” Izuku pouted and Kacchan seemed to get annoyed.
“I ain’t a nerd!” Kacchan shouted, but everyone else looked at him in disagreement. “Let’s just hang out and shit. I’m here to relax, not talk about school!”
And that they did. For the time they were out, either playing Heroes and Villains or hide and seek, they were relaxing and they were properly kids again for this time. They could forget the reality where they were hunting down criminals or unworthy heroes. Izuku could believe that everything would be good and he would be the best hero ever alongside Kacchan!
He didn’t know that soon everything would go wrong.
~~~~~~~~
All Might was onto him. That damned buffoon had managed to track down Hisashi’s general location earlier than expected. Hell, he didn’t want the man tracking him down here . This was his home, not some worthless warehouse or somewhere far away! This was going to screw them over. Hell, it might even reach the Bakugo’s depending on how far All Might wanted to push it. He might also die…
Garaki was being weird these days, so the complete trust Hisashi had in him has eroded, but that didn’t even matter at the moment. If Hisashi died, that bastard was the only one who could bring him back. Izuku theoretically could with Overhaul, but while Izuku had registered Hisashi’s state of being in that Quirk, the amount or type of missing might make it impossible. Izuku and Tenchan were out now for a vigilante run and bringing them back now would be too risky.
He couldn’t bring them into the feud between him and One For All, at least not physically. Even being there to witness the fight could shatter Izuku’s vision of All Might and as much as Hisashi loathes to think about it, destroying his son’s mind is not part of his agenda. Not to mention, while Izuku could be there and help stop All Might, the fight would happen sooner or later and Hisashi needed to have this confrontation. So with that in mind, he’d given Kurogiri the necessary information to pass on to Izuku to ensure Hisashi had a contingency on returning or at least partially living on.
Well. If this was going to happen, Hisashi had to dress up for the occasion. He would try the kinder tactics, for his son’s sake, but well…sometimes things can only end when blood is shed.
It was almost time for war.
~
Izuku and Tenchan were out in town again. A few small-time thieves were easy to take down and leave for the heroes as well as a couple of drunkards who’d stanced up to fight were now left waiting against the wall of the pub they’d left. It was a normal night. At least for a while. Then came a scream. Those weren’t too foreign these days.
“Shut up bitch.” A man growled before shoving a woman into the wall. He wrestled the woman’s wrists before clasping cuffs around them. “I always get what I want. I told you that back in the club, you whore.” Those cuffs…those were police issued. Those types were easy to spot since they’re colour coded and branded. Not to mention, this bastard was in a suit. He was a corrupt politician, high ranking police member or CEO then most likely.
“P-Please, just let me go.” The woman started to sob, begging for her freedom.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll let you go. After you’ve satisfied me.” The man said darkly, hands moving to his belt. Okay. This was enough. Izuku didn’t care if this guy was famous or not, he’s not letting his guy rape someone.
Tenchan picked up a rock and tossed it with all his strength. The stone smacked into the man’s head and Izuku warped to the opposite side to flank the man. “C’mon you creepy old man. Leave that woman alone.”
“Why the fuck is this any of your business, kid?” The man stalled. This is Izuku’s chance!
Izuku pounced and placed his hand on the man’s head, activating Muddied. The power to clean things of foreign matter… “Powerful men who can always get away with shit are idiots when it comes to awareness and reactivity. He’ll be out of it for another few minutes.” He growled before thinking of searching the man for the key to the cuff. Nevermind. Screw that. He’d just use Overhaul to remove them. “Stay still, Miss. I’m gonna get those cuffs off of you.” He said before approaching the woman and putting his left hand on the cuffs. He destroyed them and then remade them in his right hand.
“Thank you!” The woman cried before hugging Izuku. “What are your names?”
“I’m Ash, he’s Wildcard. Please, get out of here and call the police.” Tenchan said, zip tying the man up.
“No one’s gonna believe me about him…he’s on the board of the HPSC.” The woman said. So that was this man’s occupation. Of course. Why keep a slimy man like this on the board? Surely they know? Regardless, that caused Izuku to place his hand on the man again and steal that guy’s Quirk. That thing seems like a massive asset, so hopefully without it, it meant the guy was punishable.
“We’ll see if he gets punished.” Izuku said before backing away from the man. “We’re going to see if we can help other people. You just get away from here.”
“Okay. Thank you again so much.” She said before rushing away from the scene. It was their turn to leave too, before the man came to his senses. He dismantled the Quirk before calling for Kurogiri…or Shirakumo as they’d recently learned.
“Where do you want to go, Young Masters?” Shirakumo asked.
“Home?” Izuku asked.
“Your father is currently out. He’d prefer you to continue doing vigilante work for a little while longer.” That had to be a lie. Dad always told them when he was leaving. Why not this time? Either he or Shirakumo were lying!
“Then we’ll just wait at home?” Izuku frowned as Shirakumo wasn’t doing as he was asked immediately. He always did what they asked…he had to, because it also turned out that he was a Nomu as well as a person. Not that Izuku wanted to take advantage of that, but Shirakumo never denied them or said anything. “Please open a portal.”
“You cannot do that.” Shirakumo said while raising his arm and pumping out smoke to create a portal. “Please, don’t.” This is the first defiance and plea to not adhere to a command.
“Alright. Sorry for accidentally forcing you to do something. You can close your gate and act freely.” Izuku said. He felt so guilty for making Shirakumo do something against his will.
“It’s fine, Izuku.” Shirakumo was speaking differently…
“Don’t tell me your speech was also dictated?” Izuku questioned.
“I guess it was a little.” Shirakumo said. “Your father wanted an affiliate like me speaking professionally and concisely. No one ever rescinded that order…though he did take back a few things and I could guess that meant my speech patterns too, though that wasn’t clear.” He hummed before his mist converged, leaving a purple haired teen in his place.
“You look young…” Izuku said.
“I should be twenty four now, though I don’t really know if my body has aged…so I might still look seventeen?” Shirakumo shrugged. “I don’t know. Now. Your dad said you couldn’t go home yet. For safety reasons more than anything. He said not to tell you unless you were going to go home against his wishes anyway.”
“So weird.” Tenchan muttered. “But if that’s the case, Izuchan and I are strong enough to fight people off.”
“While I agree that you can fight and win against most people, this is a different situation. I beg that you just let your father deal with this.” Shirakumo seemed serious. Izuku’s Search Quirk was pinging a familiar character. Eraserhead.
“Eraser is incoming by the way.” Izuku said.
“Ah.” Shirakumo said before his body became entirely mist again. “I don’t want him to have to see me like this. Or at all really. Are you staying here or?”
“Nope, because this man’s about to come to his senses.” Izuku said. “Do you want to warp us to the roof?”
“Absolutely.” Shirakumo said before doing just that.
Eraser entered the alleyway and let out a heated sigh. Izuku was glad that they got out of the way just in time. “When I heard the report, I thought it wouldn’t be true, but of course it is. Ash and Wildcard…the hell are they doin’ here?” That’s a point. Eraser was stationed elsewhere, though Izuku hadn’t seen his Search star in some time.
Izuku grinned. He was definitely going to gloat. “We get around, Eraser.” He said loudly.
“Wildcard.” Eraser looked up and glared with bright red eyes active. “Can you stop running?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Izuku said before tossing the Quirk cancelling cuffs down to Eraser. “That guy had those on him. He cuffed a poor woman and was about to sexually assault her. I don’t care if he’s HPSC or not, scum like him shouldn’t be allowed to walk and his current behaviour shows that he’s gotten away with things before.”
“And you couldn’t let a hero or the authorities handle it?” Eraser asked.
“Why would I trust them? Someone must have been told about his behaviour and then done nothing. They had enough time.” Izuku said darkly. “Are you still chasing us about because you believe we’re children?”
“You’re obviously children.” Eraser said before hooking his scarf around a nearby pipe. He was coming up. “So I just wanna see you kids being safe instead of putting yourselves in danger.”
“We’re fine.” Izuku said, backing away from the edge of the roof. “Kurogiri?”
“I’ve got you.” Shirakumo said before opening a portal. “Let’s go.”
“Right.” Izuku and Tenchan said before disappearing through the gate with Shirakumo manifesting behind them.
“So. Can you tell us what Hisashi is keeping us away from?” Tenchan asked.
Shirakumo sighed. “All Might.” oh no. “All Might is going to come after your father, so he doesn’t want to risk you or Tenko being in the area.”
“B-But I can help! I have Erasure and All Might won’t hurt dad if I’m there to explain!” Izuku shouted.
“All Might has a vendetta against your father that spans across centuries. Your father is worried that he’d not let you get in the way. He didn’t want you in the middle of any drastic actions when either he or even you have to injure All might. Instead, let me tell you what he asked of me and of you two.” Shirakumo said.
Izuku and Tenchan listened to Shirakumo repeating the story of All For One and something called One For All, a story about dad and his brother (and his brother’s successors). Then, there were the directions to take if something bad happened. Izuku didn’t know if he had the heart to do what was asked of him…but he would do what it takes to help his dad, no matter what.
~
Hisashi went as far away as he could from the apartment without going to a populated area. Madokari sent a frantic message to him about an evacuation order and a solo mission All Might was spearheading. At least this was the perfect opportunity to fight the man without interruption or endangering people who didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire. Tenko and Izuku were still away too, which is good.
Hisashi got the sense that something or more so, someone, was heading his way. He looked into the sky and saw that he was correct when a tiny spec started growing rapidly in size before a weighty person landed heavily in front of him. “All For One.” All Might growled on his arrival.
“All Might. What a pleasure.” Hisashi said. “Have you come to give me my brother back?”
“I assume you mean the Quirk. No. I will never hand One For All to you.” All Might said. It was worth a joke comment. “I’ve come to take you down, All For One. First of all though, where are the children?” The children? Izuku and Tenko?
“The boys are somewhere safe, nowhere near here. Though you wouldn’t know where.” Hisashi said. “Instead of worrying about that. How about we bury the hatchet? You leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone.”
“Except you’d never leave everything alone. You’re not one for chatter unless it benefits you.” All Might said. That’s true, but living with his son and Tenko without All Might barging in is the benefit from this.
“I want to live peacefully with my son. Is that too much to ask?” Hisashi asked. There was probably slight sarcasm and snark in his tone, but the man should have picked up on the lessering villain activity…right?
“When you’re the villain leading everything. When you’re the villain that is after my head and endangers everyone else. This is the time for me to step in.” All Might said. A chat would be fruitless with this buffoon. He’s too engrossed with the thought of fighting. Perhaps Hisashi had to knock him down a notch or two then.
“If it has come to this, then let us start. It’s time to dance, All Might.” Hisashi grinned. It was time for him to enjoy himself, even if it’s the last thing he did.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
Now...All Might and Hisashi are fighting. While Izuku could be there and help just mediate, I think due to the past those two have, there would be zero chance a fight wouldn't break out.
The fight's gonna be offscreen, and I'll put the same notice on the next chapter. This is only because I really don't wanna write a fight that, in my mind, will essentially proceed similarly to canon and is *Spoiler* ending the same as in canon.
Sorry if that's a little disappointing, but see you in the next one!
Chapter 16: Trials and Tribulations
Summary:
Shouta's encounters with the new vigilantes have him worried and slightly annoyed.
In the aftermath of Hisashi's fight with All Might, Izuku has a job to do.
Notes:
Hi! Happy Sunday again. Honestly, when rereading this chapter there was one part that threw my brain for a loop because of the motions involved. You'll probably know it when you get to it and I just could not get my brain to settle. Hopefully it works, but if it doesn't I may have to just got back to edit it. Currently though, I'm brain broken and still wanna get the chapter out haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Warning(s);
Mention of rape
Mentions of death
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Shouta didn’t know what was going on these past few months, but ever since the first encounter with those new vigilantes, those kids , he’d felt like he was off his game. This was frustrating. The first time he found them, he thought it was going to be easy. He had the older kid wrapped in his scarf, Quirk cancelled and unable to do anything. Yet another kid comes out of nowhere, grazes him and uses Shouta’s own Quirk against him! It was a Copy Quirk, but it was enough to free the other kid since that kid destroyed the part of Shouta’s scarf that held him in place. Then they disappeared through purple portals.
Shouta went home dissatisfied about the situation. He just wanted to complain to his boyfriend and mull on what to do. He opened his front door and locked it shut behind him with a small slam. “That kinda day?” Hizashi said from the kitchen.
“A pair of new vigilantes.” Shouta groaned. “They destroyed part of my scarf.”
“Oh?” That had ‘Zashi interested. “That’s made of tough stuff. Did one of them have a destructive Quirk?”
“The one I caught had one, but I was erasing it. It was the other one that came in, touched me and used my Quirk against me. He used Erasure on me.” Shouta complained and to his dismay, Hizashi laughed.
“That’s kind of gold.” Hizashi said, peeking around the doorway to look at Shouta’s now grumpy expression. “Don’t look so glum. Surely they weren’t that bad if they left you in perfect condition.”
“It’s not their Quirks or actions that bother me and though I’m pissed about the scarf, it’s about how they looked.” Shouta said. “I’m pretty sure they’re kids. Hell, the one who used my Quirk on me was almost two feet shorter than me.”
“Well. There are people who can be that short. Quirks or otherwise.” Hizashi said reasonably, but…
“Their voices were also more typical of children. I just…I don’t know. I don’t like it.” Shouta said. He had a bad feeling around what they were doing. Those kids could get hurt after all. “Just my gut feeling is off.”
“Well. Your gut is normally right.” Hizashi said. “As much as I’d like to say ‘nah dawg, those really are short dudes giving you a run for your money’, I trust your instincts over my own attempts at rationalising things.” And this is why he loved his boyfriend. The trust Hizashi gave him and Shouta gave Hizashi…it was what kept them strong through some of the long nights Shouta has.
“Thanks for trusting me.” Shouta said with a slight yawn escaping his mouth.
Hizashi made his way to Shouta and kissed his cheek. “No need to thank me for that. Anyway, I’ve made you a small meal, eat that before sleeping or else you’ll be grumpy in the morning.”
“I’ll be grumpy anyway.” Shouta muttered.
“More than usual then.” Hizashi chuckled, causing Shouta to smile slightly.
He’d get food in him, sleep and then come back to the vigilante kids in the morning. There was nothing he could do now other than send in a report, but he didn’t want to screw some kids' futures up yet…they had potential after all.
~~~~~~~~
The next time he saw the vigilantes, they took out a gang of six in a wide alley while he watched over from a rooftop. It wasn’t flawless by any means, but they were going at it better than some pros. Hell, the kid with the destructive Quirk only lightly used his Quirk to cause the assailant some pain. This was to make him recoil and then hit him in a pressure point to knock him out. Whoever trained these kids must have been brutally efficient that’s for sure, but it was good to know they weren’t going overboard. The other one, Wildcard, he was using quite a few different Quirks. Notably though, he used Erasure against someone who was powering up an electrical fist. This wasn’t just a Copy Quirk. This kid could copy and use the Quirks anytime. Shit. Can he only use one at a time or can he use multiple at a time or even combine them? The answer was multiple at one time at least, because he used Erasure and created a ball that he threw at the villain.
“Impressive.” Shouta said, lowering himself from the roof he was on. Though apparently his arrival didn’t surprise them. “You’ve got some skills, though you still have a ways to go with how you fight before you reach the pro level.” Yeah right. That was a lie, because these kids would probably whoop the first years and possibly the second year students at UA. That’s if the level of experience is the same from when he was a student. Maybe they actually had kids who were stronger and smarter now. Who knows.
“We’re always trying to improve.” Wildcard said. “So maybe we’re not there yet, but we will be soon enough.”
“I’d like to think I’m there.” Ash scoffed. As much as the kid probably didn’t think that confirmed things, being cocky about being better than hero students mostly applied to someone of the same age or younger. So Ash was likely a young teen then…but that meant Wildcard was possibly even younger.
“Ash.” Wildcard poked his partner and hissed. He probably caught on that Ash was giving away things with his words.
“So. Why are you doing this if you’re young? Don’t try to change my mind. I’m going to keep assuming you’re children.” Because that was the main concern. How old was this one?
“It doesn’t matter about our age.” Wildcard said. “We’re doing a job that needs to be done.”
“Even if that’s true,” It was kinda true. These areas needed more hands, but this shouldn’t be in the hands of children, “these matters should be handled by adults.
“I’d gladly let good heroes do their jobs.” Wildcard said. “There aren’t many heroes here though and the other places I go to have bad heroes.” He shrugged. “If me doing the job saves one additional person, then I’m doing good.”
“Anyway, we gotta go.” Ash said, pulling Wildcard out of the alley and around the corner of the building. Shouta rushed after them, but just like before there was a purple mist. A portal. These kids were just going to escalate their actions, which meant Shouta should escalate his own. He needed to protect those kids.
~~
Shouta was waiting for Naomasa. The detective owed him a favour or two, so hopefully this went smoothly. The man walked out of his office and approached Shouta. He didn’t look amused though and it’s not surprising, since Shouta did call in said favour. Naomasa pointed to his office, meaning they were getting right to this.
Shouta entered the office and sat down in front of the desk while Naomasa sat behind it and sighed. “So, what’s so important that you cashed in a favour?”
“Ash and Wildcard.” Shouta sighed. “One of them got confident and slipped up. So I’ve got a little information.”
“You wouldn’t call in your favour to tell me information.” Naomasa said. “Hell, you probably wouldn’t tell me
“Yeah. I wouldn’t.” Shouta said. “Except I confirmed that the taller and likely older one is a young teen. They’re definitely kids.”
“Shit.” Naomasa hissed. “Those two are kids? They’ve been overshadowing some of our heroes. One of them has been forcing heroes to retire because their Quirks are gone.”
“What?” That was the first Shouta heard of it. There were rumours, but people were actually losing their Quirks?
“Whatever one of those vigilantes can do, it’s causing people to no longer have their Quirks. Their Quirks aren’t sealed from further use, they aren’t suppressed like your Quirk does to people, their Quirk factors have gone entirely.” Naomasa said. “I shouldn’t really reveal that, but it’s a big situation.”
“This kid is destroying Quirks?” Shouta frowned. “But he can copy Quirks. Hell. He can copy someone’s Quirk and use it whenever. He still has mine and it has been a week since he copied it from me.”
“A permanent copy Quirk…” Naomasa was clicking through something on his computer. Likely the Quirk registry. “How old do you think the kid might be?”
“Probably somewhere between eight and eleven. He was really short.” Shouta said. “I don’t want to see him in trouble.”
“We have profiles for children with copy Quirks, but nothing is documented as permanent.” Naomasa hummed. “There’s not much we can do via the registry, but I can narrow down things to the local areas.”
“The location doesn’t matter. They have access to a warping Quirk.” Shouta said, causing Naomasa to groan.
“Of course they do.” He sighed. “Either way, Quirks that can copy other Quirks aren’t extremely common. I’ll note down who could be who and I’ll try not to get them arrested, but the HPSC wants a name and face to make an example of because of these incidents.”
“They’re kids.” Shouta repeated.
“I know. I’m on your side. So I’ll promise now that I’ll try to keep them as safe as I can.” Naomasa said. That’s enough for Shouta…it was time to go home again.
~~~~~~~~
Ash and Wildcard were everywhere. That warping Quirk was strong enough to cross far distances, which is a shock, but it isn’t as shocking as the fact that they were where Shouta was patrolling at least once a week. Some of these patrols were in another part of the country!
This most recent arrest though was bad. It was Enomoto from the board of the HPSC. He was attempting to rape a woman…how many times had he gotten away with it too? His Quirk was too perfect to wash away his crimes. Ash and Wildcard taking this man out is significant, because this had ramifications and the kids…they’d be targeted now. He really hoped they’d stop now, because the HPSC would ruin them if they ever caught them.
Against the man’s protests, Shouta delivered him to the police with the details of the woman who was attacked and the details of the situation. Whether it would go anywhere would depend on the influence of the HPSC, but the scum deserved prison time.
He made his way home again after that, but this time the air was different. “Shou. Have you seen the news?”
“The news?” Shouta took off his shoes by the front door and entered their living room. What was he seeing? What was he reading? “‘Wide scale destruction reported at Musutafu’. What?” This was the place he was patrolling only a few months ago. He must have been maybe miles away from that site, but what the hell? Who could have even done that? All Might?
The coverage progressed, but there was no report of a villain or hero nor any casualties. It was more than likely that this was a fight classified by the HPSC and only the aftermath was being shown. With no civilians being injured, it was likely that the area was evacuated first.
“It’s devastating. I just hope everything can be rebuilt soon enough.” Hizashi said before sitting beside Shouta. “I think I’ll spread the word around to get some support efforts going and set up a fundraiser. These people will need help after all.”
“That’s a good idea, ‘Zashi. I’ll try to help where I can too. I just wonder what the fuck happened.” Shouta said, still scanning the news feed to see if anything was caught. He would try to help where he could, but this attack…if he was there maybe he could have stopped it.
There was no time to dwell on that. Now was time to move forward and focus on what he needed to do. Shouta had to reach out to those kids again. Hopefully they would accept his help.
~~~~~~~~
Shirakumo had gone to check around for information surrounding the battle between dad and All Might. Izuku had to stifle his emotions before Shirakumo came back. Tenchan was with him and was holding his hand to keep both of them grounded. When Shirakumo returned, they knew it was back news. He told them that Dad and All Might fought and dad lost. That’s the gist of it all, but the outcome? It was the worst outcome, because Dad was killed. He was killed! By All Might! Izuku’s favourite hero. The best hero. Why? Why would he kill dad! Surely dad tried to talk to him. Surely All Might would have listened even if their personal feud was messy, right?
That-That thought can continue later. Izuku needed to go to the morgue. He needed to get to his dad’s body. Shirakumo described the plan his dad made and the fact that he could still get his dad back under the right circumstances. Dad still had connections and Shirakumo had his phone. Izuku pulled it up and opened it. It was password locked though. A pin to be more precise. What would it…surely not? Dad was smart enough not to use Izuku’s birthday, right?
The password was wrong…he tried mom’s next, but that probably wouldn’t-it worked. So next was the contacts. Shirakumo said someone called Madokari was an insider in the HPSC, so Izuku found her contact and clicked Call.
“Master?” That must be Madokari.
“No. I’m Izuku Midoriya. Dad-
All For One’s
son.” Izuku said quickly.
“Oh. Oh god. Why do you have his phone?” Madokari asked. “No. I don’t need to ask that, do I? The top brass were talking about All Might fighting someone and that transporting a body needed to be organised. Add on the damage done…”
“I need to go to the morgue he was sent to. Dad’s doctor…he might be able to bring dad back to life, but I need to do something for security before he gets there.” Izuku said. “Dad’s already given me instructions and I need to go. Now.”
“Okay.” He heard Madokari take a deep breath in. “I’ll get the details. One moment.” It wasn’t long until she relayed the location. “I do hope, more than just bringing Master back, you help bring your father back. Good luck.”
“Thank you.” Izuku said as the woman closed the call.
“Are we going to help Hisashi?” Tenchan asked.
Izuku nodded. “I need to.”
“I know.” Tenchan had all the right to object, but he wasn’t. He was just here to help. Izuku loved his big brother. “I wanna help him too. Bastard grew on me as an uncle, as much as he shouldn’t have.”
Izuku smiled brightly at that. “Then let’s go!”
~~~~~~~~
Izuku used Somnambulist to knock out the mortician and gain access to the corpses in the room. He saw that one of the draws had ‘Taro Yamada’ tagged onto it. It was the name used for an unknown person…or someone who actually had that name, but likely unknown. If they placed dad in that…
Izuku opened the door and pulled out the body. While the body was covered by a sheet, Izuku could tell they were tall and well built, but the head…it was caved in. There was a hand uncovered, so Izuku touched it and-and nothing. He had copied the Quirks of dead bodies before, but this-this had to be dad. He wanted to break down. He wanted to cry and scream. He needed to at some point, but not right now.
“Dad.” Izuku spoke shakily. “I hope this works.”
He remembered Shirakumo’s instructions earlier. “Your father needs you to take his life-extending Quirks one by one, remaking them and giving him the copy before taking the next one. Then, put the original Quirks from All For One in it and leave his body with the copy.” So…he had to take life extending Quirks one by one first. If he could. Him and dad had experimented with taking Quirks from him, but that never worked. It was likely a subconscious thing about wanting to keep his Quirks…so maybe it would work now.
Slowly but surely, Izuku could take Quirks. Though the first one he got was a strength amplifier and the second was something that changed his bones and body into spears. Focus Izuku, focus. Life extending Quirks would require making cells regenerate, grow and replace themselves while not having the process slow down as much over time.
Izuku latched onto the first Quirk. Though it didn’t register as a Quirk to copy-it was one he already had copied. It was Doctor Tsubasa’s Quirk. He didn’t know dad had The Doctor’s Quirk, but it made sense. One by one, Izuku took and swapped the Quirks before remaking them for himself.
Now came the tallest order of them all. Izuku had to swap his Quirk Transfer with dad’s All For One. It was like swimming against a roaring current. All For One didn’t want to leave dad’s body, but it needed to! Izuku needed to have his dad by his side too and he needed to make sure dad could come back.
“Come on!” Izuku shouted, pulling harder with his left hand and using his right to push his own version of Quirk Transfer full of active life-extending Quirks into his dad. The amount of Quirks that registered into him as he finally got All For One were too much. It hurt. His Quirk must have been overloading!
“Izuchan!” Tenchan was hugging around him. “What’s happening?!”
“Too. Many. Quirks.” Izuku whined as he tried to discern what Quirks he was registering to try and focus away from the pain. He couldn’t tell what was what. He might not ever know. It hurt too much to focus on his Quirk’s instinct feelings.
“We should get out of here.” Tenchan said. They couldn’t though, because Izuku still had to move the Quirks in the original All For One Quirk and pass them to dad’s copy.
“I can’t. I need to-to give him all of his Quirks back that are in All For One.” Izuku said as the pain started subsiding. He had a headache coming on now though. Izuku just had to move the Quirks out of it since all he really needed was the real All For One. Using All For One, he passed all of the Quirks back to his dad’s body before collapsing back into Tenchan. “It’s done.”
“Kurogiri!” Tenchan shouted immediately.
A portal formed immediately and Shirakumo came through. “Young masters?”
“Izuchan wore himself out by taking Hisashi’s Quirk since his own Quirk made him copy all of the others in there at once. Get us out of here, please.” Tenchan said, letting go of Izuku and pushing dad’s body back into the freezer and closing it.
“Of course!” Shirakumo said, warping them all away quickly.
Izuku passed out soon after that. Everything was so exhausting.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku’s eyes opened to a grassy field again. He was back in his mindscape. Did that mean-
“Hey Bunny.” Dad said. Dad was fine here, he was okay. Izuku rushed over and hugged his dad, who put a hand on the back of Izuku’s head and stroked through his hair. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“How? How’d you-you die?” Izuku started to cry. “I didn’t even know there was gonna be a fight. You didn’t tell me!”
“Kurogiri told you as much. I didn’t want you to know, because you’d have involved yourself in the fight. Even if I told you to stay back, to watch and wait for my victory, I knew I could possibly lose. If I lost, I wouldn’t be able to gauge if you’d attack All Might or not. I couldn’t allow you to possibly go against him too or let you get emotionally hurt. I wasn’t allowing the chance of you sacrificing your life too.” Dad said logically. Izuku didn’t know what he’d do and that being the thought alone was enough to know he shouldn’t have been there.
“Did you try to talk to All Might? Try to talk him down?” Izuku asked.
Dad sighed. “Yes. Look, I’m going to try to show you what happened.” Izuku wondered how, but then darkness overtook his vision. Before he could say anything, the world was back. They were somewhere in Izuku’s hometown. He recognised the buildings.
“What the?” Izuku looked around, but then everything was interrupted by something, someone, landing. All Might.
The starting chatter wasn’t helpful and then the fight started. Dad wasn’t holding much back. No one was there so he didn’t have to worry, but he was still trying to give All Might lenience.
“Look. I know you’ve been doing your job at dismantling my systems, but can you seriously believe that a lot of the Japanese underbelly slowed down because of you? I’ve been stepping those systems back, because I want to adhere to my son’s wishes.” Dad told All Might.
“Villains are more scared than ever to show their face. Don’t try to throw me off with your deceptions.” All Might said, not believing dad’s words.
“I don’t exactly blame him for not believing you.” Izuku said. “I heard the story from Shirakumo.”
“I know.” Dad said. “There were things I kept out though.” He said, almost guiltily. “My twin brother was weak in the beginning. I presume due to our growth and health differences, we had a health condition in the womb of our mother. I got most of the nutrients, he got little. Not that we knew our birth mother. Whether she abandoned us or died in an unsafe situation, we were found at a riverside, washed down the river. It’s a miracle we lived at all if I’m honest. From there, we lived, but I was quickly outcast from an orphan family due to having an active Meta Ability. I actually had two, since I think I stole our birth mother’s Quirk. Not that I cared where it actually came from. Our guardians also abandoned Yoichi, so he followed me, but he was still frail. I wasn’t the best brother either. I kicked him around a lot, literally. I mean, I named him as such since I saw him as my first possession!” Dad was starting to ramble out of emotion.
“It’s okay dad.” Izuku said quietly. “I know you feel guilty for that now.”
“That doesn’t make what I did right.” Dad said. “You know I killed him too?”
What? “Dad…I thought-I thought you loved him?” He asked quietly.
“I do and did, even if it was more twisted back then. I-I didn’t try to kill him. I thought he was stronger, but he’d accidentally passed on his Quirk and I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was frail. That’s the entire reason I wanted One For All back. At least, that’s the sole reason now. Before, it was because I also had the other goal of ruling the world and One For All would have ensured I reached that goal, but now I just want my brother back. Vestige or otherwise.” Dad said. “I tried to steal the Quirk back. I killed the successors. I created the conditions that birthed Tenko and his rage just to ensure I could obtain the hatred and willpower to do that. I was so foolish though, because all I needed was you and your mother.”
Izuku chuckled. “I love you dad.”
“Love you too, Bunny. Now…back to the fight.” Dad said. The fighting was paused, which would have been cool if it wasn’t his dad versus All Might.
“You cannot seriously think that all of this was from your contributions? There are lines that even you don’t know and won’t reach, yet you think you’ve done enough to stop villains?” Dad said. “Your peace would be more frail if it wasn’t for my control!”
“I’ve built this peace brick by brick, do not try to paint yourself as helpful. Controlled and calculated villains are some of the most dangerous.” All Might said before throwing a full powered punch through the air.
“You buffoon.” Dad sighed as he dodged with Air Walk. “Can you not tell that I’m currently not attacking as a way to keep the area intact? You’ve destroyed more buildings than me!”
The fight never stopped though. Dad had to use Dark Ball to force All Might back and unfortunately cause more destruction around them. Dad was on the defensive the entire time until he had to make a harsher decision.
“You know. After you left, Nana did try her best. She really did.” Dad was smirking. He went for the mental manipulation route and it worked and All Might started getting more angry. “She was a mother, through and through. Even when she cared about your wellbeing.” He hummed. “What was it again? This right?” He started using his thumbs to push his mouth up into a smile. “Does this put you at ease, All Might?”
“Stop twisting her name and actions!” All Might went for an attack and this time he was sloppy enough for dad to move his arms and graze All Might with the bone spear Quirk.
“Her actions were all in vain anyway. I got to Kotaro Shimura. I got to her grandson, Tenko Shimura. He’s on my side now and you’ll never see him again.” Dad laughed. “It’s all useless, All Might.”
“Yooouu!” All Might went in for another attack, but dad instead dodged and stabbed through All Might’s stomach with a combination of Quirks.
“Sorry Izuku. I didn’t want to injure him so badly, but he wouldn’t stop. I still wanted to live and come home.” Dad said. It was horrible. All Might’s side was badly destroyed and-and the blood. The guts spilling out . The unusual flesh of the stomach was there. It made Izuku feel queasy.
“I know. You tried to stop him with words and then without a bad injury. How did he kill you after that though?” Izuku asked. All Might had a grave injury, he should have been done.
The world collapsed around them before they returned to the meadowy cliffside home. “I’m not going to show you that. Injured heroes are the most dangerous and I didn’t exactly understand that until him , though Kudo got close enough to spook me too. The face All Might had when he attacked me will haunt me.” Dad said, shuddering. “I’m sorry I failed you and Tenko, Bunny.”
Izuku shook his head. “You didn’t fail us. You did your best for my sake. Now it means I have to do my best too.”
“Yes. You know the plan, correct?”
“Allow Doctor Tsubasa to revive you, then rewind your body back to before you died, use Overhaul to revert your brain if anything went wrong with it and then use Quirk Transfer to give you All For One and merge your vestige with your mind to give you your missing memories.” Izuku recited.
“Perfect. Though his name is actually Kyudai Garaki.” Dad said before Izuku started to feel weird. “Ah. You’re probably going to awaken soon. I was about to take you to your mother too. Nevermind. We can do that another day.”
Izuku didn’t wanna leave again. He was just starting to process things. He knew he couldn’t fully hate All Might for killing dad, because dad did so much horrible shit in the past and to All Might directly that it was an inevitability that All Might would believe he had to take dad down. However, he couldn’t let the man get his way or let that legacy continue as it would come back to threaten dad or even Izuku himself. Dad couldn’t stop All Might either…not to mention that there could be issues that span years since dad would be in a coma. “Dad. Regardless of how long it takes and whether you’re awake or not to see it, I’m not going to let this feud continue.” Izuku proclaimed.
“I’m gonna get One For All.” And he wouldn’t let anything stop him.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
As mentioned, I decided to do the explaining here about what went down and how, but in summerised chunks. Also...Izuku's gonna try to get One For All in this universe.
Random comment for those that play Honkai star rail and decided to read this note - 3.3 was so good!!!...as well as an emotion stirrer. If you don't play it, I recommend you still listen to the song 'Proi Proi', because it was amazing.
Anyyyyway. See you in the next one!
Chapter 17: From Bad To Worse
Notes:
Hi. Happy Sunday! I haven't got much to say other than, enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku’s first feelings were the comfort of a bed. That was a surprise. He was aching, but at least he was comfy and his body was relaxed. He slowly opened his eyes to recognise daylight. It was probably a new day then and he’d have had people worried. When he turned to the side he saw Tenchan sleeping on the floor next to him as well as-as Kacchan?!
“Kacchan? Tenchan?” Izuku whined as he moved to sit up. “What’s going on?”
Tenchan groaned as he opened his eyes. “Izuchan? Finally.”
“Huh?” Izuku frowned.
“It’s been two days! We were gettin’ worried.” Tenchan let out a small yawn before poking Kacchan in the side.
Kacchan shot up and started crackling explosions. “What the fuck was that for? Fuckin’ Dustball!”
“Kacchan!” Izuku hissed.
“‘Deku!” Kacchan jumped up and scooped Izuku into a hug. “You’re awake. Don’t worry us like that ya shithead.” He was squeezing Izuku tightly though, so he couldn’t be too mad. If he was out for two days he’d have thought Auntie and Uncle would have taken him to the hospital…
“Why aren’t we at a hospital?” Izuku asked. “Where even are we?”
“A secondary house.” Tenchan answered. “Apparently Kurogiri knew where this was.” He sighed before standing up. “Imma tell auntie and uncle you’re awake.”
“Okay.” Izuku said before Kacchan leaned on his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. “Kacchan. We’re probably gonna have to go to your parents.”
“Don’t care. Stay here.” Kacchan mumbled. “I heard what you’ve been doing at night.”
“Oh.” Izuku wrapped himself around Kacchan too and sighed. “Sorry for not telling you, Kacchan. I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Idiot.” Kacchan said. His warmth was comforting, but that was interrupted when Auntie came into the room.
“Katsuki. Get off of Izuku. Izuku. I’m glad you’re awake.” Auntie said, changing between a stern tone for Kacchan and soft tone for Izuku.
“No.” Kacchan grumbled.
“Katsuki.” Uh oh. Auntie was gonna get mad.
“Kacchan. It’s okay.” Izuku said as he grabbed one of Kacchan’s hands. “You can stay by me the whole time!”
Kacchan sighed against Izuku's neck before releasing his hug and getting up. “Alright. Screw you though Hag!”
“Yeah yeah. Just move it.” Auntie chuckled. “I’ve got breakfast cooking too, so you can tuck into that.”
That got them out of bed and rushing towards the kitchen. Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru’s food was always good!
~~~~~~~~
Breakfast was delicious! It distracted Izuku from everything for the moment, but things eventually had to come to a head when everyone was settled. Uncle and Auntie seemed worried. They didn’t want to speak though.
“Izuku…we heard what happened. We’re so sorry.” Uncle said. “When we were evacuating, I knew something big was happening, but we never thought…”
“I know. We didn’t even know this was going on, because we were out.” Izuku said quietly. “Then when I figured something was happening, we couldn’t go there anyway. I had to go to the morgue to get dad’s Quirk after realising he was killed.” He said before taking a deep breath in. “I talked to him in my sleep last night and I confirmed our plans with him. So-so he’ll be back soon enough! I can bring him back with a little help.”
“Izuku…your father-” Auntie started to speak, but Tenchan let out a deep sigh.
“He’s actually being truthful about seeing his dad. Hisashi mentioned that Quirks have vestiges of the people they’re taken from, which is why Izuchan usually destroys Quirks he’s stolen. He doesn’t want to see those people in his dreams.” Tenchan said.
“Yeah…” Izuku chuckled awkwardly. “I also have mom’s Quirk so-so I’ve seen her too. I didn’t get to see her this time though.”
“Oh.” Auntie seemed to tear up a little. “Well. The next time you see your mother, you tell her we miss her. And tell your father he’s an idiot for fighting All Might!”
“He really didn’t have much choice. All Might was hunting him down and he didn’t want us to always be on the run.” Izuku said. Yet that’s what’s going to happen anyway. They couldn’t stay here or they’d be found out at some point. All Might would sniff around people for their location. There’s no doubt about that. “Auntie, uncle, Kacchan…we can’t stay here. We’ll attract too much trouble from All Might’s people or authorities and we don’t want to get you in trouble.”
“What?!” Kacchan shouted. “You can’t just leave! Izuku…” Oh no. Kacchan only called him Izuku in emotionally weak or serious moments and Kacchan wasn’t using an angry and serious tone right now. His lip was starting to wobble. “Please.”
“We don’t wanna get you in trouble with people. The police or otherwise. If people somehow find out my identity and link me to you all and it gets you in trouble or worse…I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.” Izuku said seriously. “Please.”
“Izuchan. We can still visit, secretly, but we can’t be seen here all the time.” Tenchan said. That was still risky though. “Imagine that you can never see Katsuki again. Do you think you can even handle that?”
He couldn’t see Kacchan again…birthdays would be empty. The person who gave him the most joy in the world wouldn’t be in reach anymore. His image of a hero. It hurt his heart, but it still had to be done, right? “But their safety-”
“Will still be ensured if you don’t do anything rash or obvious.” Tenchan hissed.
“Boys. We want you here.” Uncle said. “Please. We can keep you safe here. Where would you even go?”
“Dad has safehouses. We can go to one of those.” Izuku said. “Uncle. Just let us do this. At least until dad is back. Okay?”
“I’ll make sure we’re taken care of.” Tenchan said. “Kurogiri can also look after us too since he’s an adult.” He said. Shirakumo technically wasn’t, but it was an alright excuse.
“Kurogiri!” Izuku said into the air to try and call the man to him.
Shirakumo was there immediately, though he only walked through from the other room. “Young Masters?”
“We need to go to a safehouse. We need to stay away from here for now, just until dad’s back and villain stuff is secured again. It’d make sense if you look after us too.” Izuku said.
Shirakumo looked between everyone before looking at Izuku again. “That makes sense.” He said before opening a portal. “Shall we go?”
“Wait!” Kacchan said. “I wanna talk with Deku. Please?”
“Go ahead.” Tenchan said. “Imma go to the safehouse. Kurogiri, Izuchan, I’ll see you in a bit.” And then he left through the portal.
Auntie approached Izuku and gave him a tight hug. “We’ll give you a few minutes. You’re as stubborn as your father, Izuku, so I know you’ll probably be gone before we come back…be safe out there. Okay?”
Uncle replaced auntie Mitsuki and hugged him too. “Keep safe, kiddo. Kurogiri. I trust you to keep both of them safe.” Masaru said before letting Izuku go and moving to leave the room alongside auntie and Shirakumo.
“See you later, auntie Mitsuki and uncle Masaru.” Izuku said with a smile that was hard to keep up.
“‘Zuku.” Rogue tears fell down Kacchan’s face as he spoke. “I don’t want you to leave. You’re not safe. You’re goin’ out doin vigilante shit and you-you could get yourself killed! Auntie died. Uncle died-even if he was a villain he was good to us! You’re riskin’ your life for what?! I wanna be a hero with you! I wanna be up there in the ranks with you. Rank one and two or whatever else. What happens if you get caught? What happens if you die too?! ”
“I won’t die.” Izuku said calmly.
“You don’t know that! Anything could happen and-and I might not even know about it.” Kacchan sobbed. This wasn’t right…
Izuku rushed towards Kacchan and pulled him into a tight hug. “Kacchan. I won’t die, because I know if I did you’d kill me.” He said, causing Kacchan to chuckle a little. “I don’t wanna leave and I’ll try to check in every week unless it’s too dangerous. I wanna stay, but if I did anything that caused you to get hurt too I wouldn’t forgive myself! You’ve been my rock, my symbol of victory, my everything! You’re my goal, Kacchan. And you always will be.”
“Goddammit Nerd.” Kacchan sniffled. “Do your damned best out there. If you miss your visits I’ll kill you and I better see you at UA!”
“I wouldn’t miss going there no matter what!” Izuku started to grin, but let himself cry. “I should go now…”
“Just gimme another minute.” Kacchan grumbled.
“Okay.”
Izuku and Kacchan stood together until both of them had calmed down. Izuku was ready. He had a mission to complete for his dad’s sake. He would save his dad, he would make sure that villains are fully under control again and then-then he could come back to Kacchan. Then, he’d never leave Kacchan’s side again.
~~~~~~~~
Living on their own was a bit more of a struggle than expected. Izuku wasn’t willing to steal, but that’s what they had to do. Their first thought was to ask Kacchan’s family for resources, but then the expenses could be traced back to them. Their second thought was to steal, but Izuku couldn’t do that and he was their best bet at getting stuff undetected. Yet he eventually did it anyway, out of desperation more than anything since they needed to keep a diet.
Now months have passed. Izuku kept his word to Kacchan and was visiting every week. He was also keeping up with his training and education. He wasn’t going to slack off and let Kacchan beat him when it comes to getting into UA. Also, dad was alive again, but in a coma recovering. The Doctor had actually resurrected him and now it was a waiting game.
There was one new problem though. Shirakumo has been gone for days due to necessity.
“I…I have to go back to Doctor Garaki.” Shirakumo was trembling. “I don’t wanna, but I think I have to. Maintenance of my body requires his knowledge and expertise.”
“Fuck.” Tenchan was gritting his teeth.
“I could-I could try to use Rewind on you?” Izuku suggested. He knew he needed to save the charge for his dad, but he was sure there was probably a few years worth of charge in the unpresented Quirk. “How many years would I have to go back?”
“Seven years.” Shirakumo answered. That was too far. There was no way… “And don’t forget, we still need to be able to get you back to your father without any suspicions.”
“Dad only wanted us to be mildly suspicious of Garaki.” Izuku said. “He was acting secretive, but he’s been like that with certain projects.”
“Still. To tip off your dad’s instincts…it means something.” Shirakumo said.
“Does he know I have command over you if I need to enforce your actions?” Izuku asked.
“I don’t think so, but he could make assumptions.” Shirakumo answered and sighed. “Either way, the only option that ensures my survival is for me to let Garaki do what he needs to do. I shall go.”
And that’s brought them back to now, where one of Shirakumo’s portals opened and the man was now standing in front of them.
“Kurogiri?” Tenchan asked warningly.
“Yes, Young Master?” Shirakumo responded. Oh no. This wasn’t right. In the past few months Shirakumo had stopped being Kurogiri. He requested for them to call him Shirakumo as he became more comfortable around them. In return they’d asked him to just call them by their names and not by ‘young master’.
“How did everything go?” Tenchan asked, unwavering even though they both knew this was wrong.
“I am in proper health.” Kurogiri said. This was too formal… “The Doctor has said that your father should be waking within the next few hours.” Izuku really really hoped that Garaki was spying on Shirakumo’s speech at the moment. Else this was real and Izuku didn’t want to lose another person he’d essentially call family at this point.
“That’s good. Is it alright for us to visit dad?” Izuku asked.
“Of course.” Kurogiri answered. His portal was still open too…alright. They could do this. Izuku would keep his own version of Warp Gate on though, because who knew what was on the other side of the gate.
Something was stabbing into Izuku’s head. It was probably a random headache and the stress wasn’t helping to soothe it. Izuku grabbed Tenchan’s hand and walked through the portal. He wouldn’t let Tenchan go unless everything was alright.
The next red flag of the situation was obvious. Garaki had moved dad’s body and now they were down in the lab that had all the incubated Nomu that were in stasis. At the end of the hall though was Garaki and his dad. Dad’s head was still a sore sight to see. He was missing his eyes, nose, ears and hair. He basically had no face and it really hurt to see.
“Hello boys.” Garaki said. “I’m glad you could make it to see your father’s revival.”
“We’re happy that he’s alive and will hopefully be doing well.” Izuku said.
“He’s going to be very limited. Due to his temporary death and the attack All Might landed, All For One’s lungs collapsed and weren’t tended to in good time. He cannot breathe unaided now and doesn’t have Quirks to help with his issue. He won’t be able to see or smell or hear conventionally either, though he does have Quirks for sight aids and hearing.” Garaki explained.
‘Izuku’ . Huh?
“Oh…” Izuku was upset about that. His dad was deaf, blind, can’t even smell-or taste for that matter since the nose helps with that, and he can’t breathe?
“It’s a shame really.” Garaki sighed. “Nevermind that though. He should be awake soon and I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you again.”
‘Izuku!’ Dad? ‘Can you hear me? Please. Please tell me you can hear me.’
‘I can? How is this even possible?’ Izuku thought.
‘I assume it’s because of the types of Quirks we have. Though I can only assume, since I’m not the scientist here.’ Dad said. ‘We haven’t got time for idle chatter though. You get yourself and Tenko out of there, immediately. Do not go back to the safehouse, do not go to the Bakugo's house, do not take Kurogiri with you.’
‘Why?’ Izuku tried his best to keep himself from frowning in reality.
‘Because the ‘me’ that’s here in your mind due to you having my Quirk is resonating with my body. I’m seeing his memories and HE doesn’t have MY memories. His have been altered. He doesn’t know you, Izuku and he believes that Tenko is supposed to be Tomura. He’ll destroy you both. Damn you Garaki. I didn’t know the extent of his memory altering skills, since the most he’d done was ensuring the Nomu could regain some personality. That's the reason why Shirakumo remembered his life before. Even if I did know, I never expected him to use that on me!’ Fuck!
“Master.” Garaki was grinning. “Welcome back.”
“Doctor…” Dad’s tone.
‘That is All For One. That’s me before I had you. LEAVE! You can’t even fight here, because the Nomu here are too strong. You’re not prepared for them. Hell. A good group of heroes aren’t prepared for them.’ That made the choice clear.
“Tenchan.” Izuku shook his head. “That’s not dad anymore.” He whispered as Garaki reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. ‘That’s the activation device for the Nomu.’
“Shirakumo’s not himself now either…” Tenchan said.
Izuku opened a portal quickly and pulled Tenchan with him. “Which means we leave. We have to run, somewhere, anywhere!”
“Wait what?!” Garaki wasn’t expecting this development. “Get back here!”
That was the last Izuku heard as he and Tenchan escaped. Izuku didn’t know exactly where to, he just imagined one of the cafes he visited before which was very far away.
“The fuck was that.” Tenchan hissed. “So that wasn’t Uncle?”
“It was dad's body but his mind has been messed with. He’s a villain who thinks you’re Tomura still and that I don’t even exist.” Izuku explained as they moved towards a seat.
“How the hell do you know that?” Tenchan asked.
“Dad’s vestige talked to me. I can talk to him consciously now.” Izuku said, tapping his head. “He connected to his body and the memories he’d seen were what I said. He also knew Garaki was about to ambush us with stronger Nomu.”
“Shit.” Tenchan said as he sat down. “So what the fuck are we supposed to do now? Even if it’s weird as shit to say since they’re technically the same person, All For One is much worse than Hisashi Midoriya.”
“How much do you remember about him from back then?” Izuku asked.
“He was always manipulative, but in a way that ensures he always gets what he wants. He’ll play the slow game unless he needs something immediately.” Tenchan shuddered. “And that something will be me.”
“Garaki probably doesn’t know about our vigilante stuff. On top of that, he shouldn’t be able to find us.” Izuku said. “And-“
‘Do not utter the name ‘Kurogiri’’ Dad said as a warning. ‘I used a Quirk on him to allow him to pinpoint the locations of those he recognises vocal commands of. You know that, but I thought that it only works via his name. Do not speak of him now. Don’t even speak the name ’Shirakumo’ either.’
“And dad says we can’t even talk about our guardian since saying his name could bring him here.” Izuku said, tearing up. How the hell were they supposed to talk about him and process their new loss?
“Oh…” Tenchan seemed to be tearing up. He really cared for Kurogiri. More than he cared for dad that is. “That makes sense.”
“What are we supposed to do now?” Izuku asked weakly. “We can’t-I don’t know if we can go back to Kacchan and auntie and uncle now. What if All For One tracks us down?”
‘It’ll only be Tenko he’ll want. Garaki left all information around you out of my head, because if he didn’t then my memory preserving Quirks would have rebuilt my memories of you. They are probably still in there too, but if that ‘me’ sees you now he won’t be able to connect you to who you are properly since it’s not an old memory of you. Though if he listens to you and takes things in, then maybe he’d remember. I cannot be sure.’ Dad said. Shoot.
“He most likely will.” Tenko said bitterly. “Izuchan. I know it’s too early to talk about this shit, but if something happens that involves All For One and I’m going down, escape. All For One won’t kill me, but he’ll have no qualms killing you or worse, getting me to kill you or even torture you.” He said. “The moment it’s a choice of letting me go or certain death in staying, leave. Like how you were holding things together in that lab, don’t let your emotions get to you until you’ve dealt with logical choices.” What? Tenchan wanted Izuku to leave him if the situation looked rough? He couldn’t- he wouldn’t . He couldn’t lose Tenchan too.
“Big brother.” Izuku’s lip wobbled. “Don’t make me choose that. I can’t choose to leave you.” He couldn’t control his tears anymore. “Tenko. Please.”
“I’m not making you choose if we don’t have to, but don’t let them turn me into a monster that possibly kills my only remaining family.” Tenchan said. “Don’t let him do that to me or you. Do what you need to do to ensure I can’t kill you!” Tenchan rarely cried and he rarely begged. Izuku still didn’t want to leave him, but…
Izuku took a deep breath in. This wasn’t for Izuku’s sake, it was for Tenko’s. “Tenko. If this is something you feel so sure about, then I’ll do my best to fulfil your wish.”
He just hoped he never had to.
Notes:
I hope you liked this chapter!
Things are changing up and now things are getting worse. The pace is gonna be quick for the next few chapters as I do wanna get through everything without it dragging on.
Anyhow, see you in the next one.
Chapter 18: A Rescue Gone Wrong
Notes:
Hi! Happy Sunday. I said last week about the pace going a little faster, so this is it. I might go back an add a chapter in between this and the last if it feels TOO fast, but I don't want to keep everything dragging either (who knew this writing this was tough, huh). Anyway...
Warning(s):
Mention of Discrimination
Muzzling of a child
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku and Tenchan went far away from Garaki’s lab and therefore All For One. It’s only been a week, but everything is a mess. They had to leave a letter with Auntie and Uncle. He’d have sent it to Kacchan directly, but there was no way of knowing how he’d react to Izuku being unable to fulfil his promise now. Izuku wanted to keep crying and screaming about how it was all unfair, but he had to keep himself together. If everything settled, he could break down properly.
It was too soon for that to happen though, because it was evening again and both Izuku and Tenchan wanted to patrol. Was it better to hide away, maybe, but either way they’d be tracked down. This meant that doing good was still better than doing nothing and just waiting to be attacked over and over again.
It was approaching sundown. This was the time when crime started to increase, so it was the perfect time to patrol. It was proven true once again as someone tried to scream, but it sounded slightly muffled. Izuku rushed around to the source of the sound and Tenchan followed, knowing the routine all too well.
Izuku spotted a kid being thrown into the van. Fortunately, a glance was enough for Search to light up a star for the kid. They couldn’t attack the van in time, it was too far away for that, but they could follow them to where they’d end up. “I can track them down. I can make sure that we save that kid.” Izuku said.
“Alright. So what’s the plan?” Tenchan asked.
“I can attach you to me with Chains and then fly over with Air Walk and Air Manipulation.” Izuku said. He would warp them over, but that might stick them into the middle of the villains and might end up worse than being careful. “That sound good enough?” He asked before manoeuvring himself into a stance to give Tenchan a piggyback. He had the strength to carry him even without Quirks…
“Really?” Tenchan huffed but got onto Izuku’s shoulders anyway, not questioning the refusal to use Warp Gate. “Let’s just go.”
Izuku secured Tenko to himself and started flying them towards where the kid’s Search star was going.
They took the kid so far away. They were at an abandoned warehouse that was kind of isolated from the rest of the city. Part of Izuku thought they’d take the kid to a darker part of the city since keeping a kid for too long is risky. Especially with cameras within the city that would direct them to this location…unless nobody was going to save the kid, then that’d be another problem entirely.
“Upper floors.” Tenchan suggested. “There’s likely less people up there than on the ground.”
“Good point. We can come in through the roof of an enclosed room since there’d probably be one or two people in there at most.” Izuku agreed as they approached the warehouse. The kid’s Search star was still glowing strong, which was good since it meant the kid was still alive and not dying.
They landed on the roof and saw skylight in a few areas. The only secure room was what was probably the manager’s office. “I got this.” Tenchan said as he placed his hand on the roof and caused it to crumble open. Now it was time to be silent.
‘You could use Air Manipulation and Somnambulist together to gas out the room from here.’ Dad suggested. That was a pretty good idea. It was one he was probably about to have considering they needed the element of surprise to stay up until they got down to the warehouse floor. However…what if this person was a woman or AFAB? It would still work as a quick smokescreen as they entered and beat them-if there was even a person in here in the first place. Izuku let his sensory Quirks try to pick something up, which gave him immediate results as there was indeed breathing within the room.
Well, it was now or never. Izuku started to produce the knockout gas and started to blow it downwards with air. “What the fu–uuu-uck…” And a body dropped to the floor. They were male then, though women can be affected by prolonged or concentrated exposure. That aspect wouldn’t have been useful here though.
“In we go.” Izuku said, dropping into the room and looking around as the pink mist of Somnambulist disappeared. “It’s clear at the moment.” He whispered, causing Tenchan to drop in too.
“Fuckin idiot. What Quirk has he got?” Tenchan asked. Izuku poked the unconscious man’s wrist to check. Creation of poisons from known compositions. ‘That’s an interesting Quirk.’ Dad commented.
‘Yet it’s not too useful since I don’t want to kill anyone.’ Izuku said mentally. “He can create poison.” He relayed to Tenchan.
“Cool.” Tenchan hummed. “Well then. Let’s see if we can save that kid, yeah?”
Izuku nodded. “Yeah.”
‘By the way, poison is a lenient term for many substances. You could have a poison that paralyses a person for a short amount of time. Those are good for interrogations or quickly taking down a person.’ Dad said. Izuku never got into poisons though…it’s kinda why he didn’t know that other substances could generally be registered as poisons. He didn’t want to touch the topic of poison at all.
Tenchan opened the office door and looked around. “Pst. Can you look at the group for me? See if you spot something I can’t.”
Izuku moved to the doorway and looked towards the villains with Quirks active to boost his eyesight and range. What the heck? Why have they- “The kid’s got purple hair and has apparently been muzzled. Probably to do with his Quirk being voice activated else there’d have been no need to muzzle them. There’s one heteromorph. They have some aspects of a cat-possibly a leopard. Notably, their hands have sharp claws where the nails should be.”
“So they’re a cat person whose Quirk makes them more like a hybrid with a human, with more features erring towards human than not?” Tenchan asked.
“Yeah. They don’t have a tail, but they have cat ears.” Izuku said. “As for the others, I can’t see much that’d indicate what their Quirks are. We should be quiet now though, because I’m just gonna listen in to see what they’re saying.” Izuku said.
“The boss said they wanted mental Quirks, right?” The one guy said.
“Eh. It’s more like they wanted strong Quirks, but they wanted mental control Quirks too.” A more female voice answered. “And this little brat isn’t really going to be missed.” The boy in question seemed to be panicking. “Oh shut it, Kid. Perhaps you should’ve been more lucky and born with a different Quirk.” ‘Really?’ Dad complained.
Fortunately those people seemed like they were the only ones here. The building was open and the only upstairs areas were the manager’s office and the room on the other side of the building. “When’s the tradeoff?” Someone asked.
“Soon. I gave ‘em our location and they should have someone here soon to take the kid away.” Another woman said. Now. She had a lot of gold jewellery on as well as looking pretty well off. She was the boss here and that must mean she can command authority over these guys.
“We should get in there now. Someone’s gonna be here to take the kid and if that happens we might not be able to stop them.” Izuku said quietly.
“Then start the show.” Tenchan smirked.
Izuku nodded. “Warp Gate plus Somnambulist plus Air Manipulation. Go.” He said as he opened multiple portals near the villains and pushed out the gas. This should be easy-
“Hah! You thought we wouldn’t be prepared for some heroes!” Of course they were, but that shouldn’t matter-shields. Someone was giving them shields and it seemed it was blocking malicious entities from passing through it. They could breathe without inhaling the gas. Dammit.
“I guess we’ve got to get in there then. Ash, you should take the heteromorph since you can decay their claws.” Izuku said with a slight sigh. “That’s if the shields are only for ranged things and gases though. If they block everything, we have a small issue.” Izuku said with a hum. “Unless we take the kid and leave.”
“And let these fucks get away? No chance.” Tenchan said and Izuku agreed. They couldn’t leave child snatchers to keep doing their evil.
Izuku closed the gates and opened two new ones. “Go!” Izuku dashed through the portal and slammed a strength boosted punch onto his first target. They were a short looking man with red skin and devil-like horns. The punch connected to the shield and it was blocked entirely. Shit.
“Haha! You thought it was just small things, didn’t ya?” The man chuckled before the ground beside him glowed. A red circle formed and lines that formed a pentagram were drawn into being. Was it a demonic summoning circle?
That answer turned out to be yes as a demon twice the size of the man appeared and almost immediately connected a punch onto Izuku. Izuku dodged out of the way, but the strength of that thing cratered the warehouse floor. Izuku turned on Shock Absorption too. He could handle quite a lot of Quirks now, but he couldn’t go too hard or else he’d lose focus on his parallel processes.
Tenchan was struggling too. Decay actually seemed to be working on the shields, but they were fixing at such a staggering rate that Tenchan couldn’t land any attacks on them. If someone can make shields and fix them, that means the Quirk has to be always active and that takes energy. Izuku turned on Overhaul and first grazed the demon. It was a summon via a Quirk, meaning it isn’t a living creature and it’s a manifestation of the person’s will. He destroyed it to atoms in an instant. “Holy fuck.” The demon man recoiled like he was burned. Destroying the summons caused him strain, good. He slammed his hand into the man’s shield next and obliterated that.
A strained sound came from behind some boxes in a corner of the warehouse. It was next to one of the front shutters. That was probably in response to Izuku breaking the shield, so that means the shielder is there! Izuku held his arm up and prepared Laser Blast.
“Tch. Tch. Tch. Taking focus off of everyone else is a bad mistake.” The boss chided. In a flash of red three massive wolves were summoned. They didn’t look right though. They looked familiar.
“Zombie dogs?” Tenchan noticed as he forced his Quirk to be stronger and demolish the leopard person’s shield. Zombie dogs…like from those zombie shooter gamemodes? That’s why they seem familiar. However, the other thing is that this woman can summon hellhounds while this other man is summoning demons. They’re probably family.
“I assume you wouldn’t have gotten involved so early if I wasn’t holding off your brother.” Izuku said casually.
“Hmph. You made that connection quickly.” The woman said. “Dogs, kill that one.” She pointed towards Izuku. Izuku let his blast fire before activating Erasure.
“Nope.” Izuku said before activating the Quirk and glaring at the woman. The dogs disappeared immediately and her expression became sour. “Eraserhead’s Quirk? How annoying.” She said, pulling out a knife instead.
“Wildcard, behind you!” Tenchan shouted. There was a light in the corner of his eye. One of these guys also has a laser based Quirk. Izuku ducked before activating Chains. He shot a chain out of the palm of his hand and wrapped it around the laser man’s wrist before pulling him towards him. That meant another shield destroyed by Overhaul.
Something didn’t feel right though. It was minimal due to his training. He didn’t have time to keep thinking as another spawned demon attacked. Izuku dodged backwards. The floor he landed on though cracked apart underneath him, revealing a deep pit. What? Izuku fell a few metres before using Air Walk to get back out. He should have reacted faster though…of course. One of them was sapping his energy. It was causing Izuku to get slower. They needed to end this immediately.
Shit. The kid was still here too. He was frozen in place. Fortunately, their focus was on Izuku and Tenchan rather than him. Izuku needed to take out the shield guy. Izuku activated Dark Ball and made many of them before amplifying their speed and directing them with Air Manipulation. The shields on the targets didn’t shatter, but they couldn’t absorb the full blows. The people were pushed over. The abandoned boxes, shelves and the walls covering both the upper rooms were taken out. In the extra room were two other people. The shielder and someone else? He was sure the shielder was behind the boxes though.
Nevermind that. This was his moment. Izuku used Warp Gate to get to the shielder and whoever else. He needed to use Quirk Transfer while they were still down. The one guy disappeared immediately, leaving his comrade to Izuku. Alright then. Izuku’s hand pressed to the guy and he pulled on the Quirk. He registered it before destroying it completely and knocking the villain out with Somnambulist.
Izuku warped back down behind one guy who seemed to not use a Quirk and pulled him into a chokehold. “Not much without your shields now are you?” Izuku said before activating the shield Quirk for himself and Tenchan. He placed his hand over the villain's face. The ability to reflect physical damage. Damn. Not the energy sapper. Still, Izuku pulled the Quirk away and dismantled it.
“Fuck!” The leopard woman screamed as her nails bled. It seemed Tenchan decayed her claws away.
“Not so safe without your shields now, huh?” Tenchan boasted.
Off from the side, Izuku was tackled and pounced on by multiple wolves. Their teeth were scraping against the shield as they tried to puncture through and maul Izuku. While they were trying to get through Izuku’s shield, Izuku opened a Warp Gate on the ground that connected to another portal behind the teleporter. He slipped his hand through the portal and touched the man’s neck, pulling on the Quirk immediately. The user can warp themselves and whatever they’re touching to wherever they’re looking at. Line of sight teleportation-Blink. “Hah. I see your game.” Izuku said as he activated the new Quirk. “You warp around your shielder and drain your enemies of energy before they can wear out your shields, if they can at all.” He put on a feral grin. “Too bad your shielder and warper aren’t gonna be doing much anymore. Nor your reflector.”
Izuku used Blink to teleport to the purple haired kid and then teleported him to a corner before teleporting back into the fight. He wrapped chains around a newly summoned demon’s legs and pulled, causing it to crash to the ground. “You have our guys’ Quirks…” The boss growled. “Who are you?”
“Wildcard.” Izuku said coldly. “The one who can pull out random Quirks to deal with yours.” He flashed Erasure towards the demon summoner before pulling him close with chains and touching his arm and stealing his Quirk. “Thanks for the Quirk.” He said before destroying the Quirk and remaking it.
“My Quirk-” The man looked towards Izuku with fear.
“Is mine now.” Izuku said before summoning his own demons. “Take care of the dogs.”
“That’s impossible…” The woman looked around as her dogs were being attacked and thrown about like ragdolls.
“But it isn’t.” Izuku said while Tenchan knocked out the leopard person and moved on to fighting the energy sapper. “Now, it’s time for you to lose.” Izuku said as he dashed and reached for the woman, but decided he’d do this as a fake out. He flicked his eyes over to the person who must have created the pitfalls and Blinked. Instead of landing a hand on the woman who would’ve attacked him, his hand was on the other villain’s face.
That was another Quirk added to the collection before he knocked the person out with Somnambulist.
“Ya little shit!” The energy sapper shouted, but he was immediately punched in the temple by Tenchan and was quickly out for the count.
“Idiot.” Tenchan huffed. “Wildcard-”
“I’ve got this.” Izuku said before turning Erasure onto the woman again. “Demon, pick her up and hold her in place.”
“Wait-wait please!” The woman pleaded before the demon summon scoop her up and kept her suspended in the air.
“You’re begging now? After kidnapping a child and trying to kill me?” Izuku sighed. “I’m not killing anyone anyway.” He huffed, but he was taking her Quirk. Screw these people.
“But I need my Quirk. We need our Quirks. It’s the only way can survive!” The woman panicked.
Izuku shook his head. “If surviving costs you your humanity, then you’ve not survived. You became an evil that doesn’t deserve to be allowed to continue.” He said before rolling up the woman’s leggings and placing his hand against her leg.
“No! Please!”
Izuku ignored her and took her Quirk away. “Much like the heroes and other villains I’ve ruined, I’ve delivered justice against you too.” Izuku knocked her out after that and those villains still standing have all backed away at this point. The fight was over either way. “Let’s get the kid out of that muzzle and get them out of here.”
They made their way to the kid who was still in the corner. They were trembling too and shuffling back. They were spooked. “It’s okay. We got ya.” Tenchan said before placing a finger on the muzzle and decaying the locked side away.
The kid quickly got the contraption off of him and tossed it to the side. “T-Thank you.” The kid said.
“No problem.” Izuku smiled warmly. “Ash, keep a lookout, I’ll get the kid-.”
A familiar portal appeared out of nowhere. Two Nomu walked through the portal. “Shit.” Tenchan cursed. “I don’t recognise these.”
‘I do though.’ Dad finally talked. ‘These are High End Nomu. Their physical capabilities will be stronger than what you can handle. At least that big bulky one is. That’s what Garaki calls ‘the All Might matchup in progress.’
The first Nomu’s fingers turned to tentacles and whipped out. Tenchan tried to dodge, but was captured in a position that stopped him from using his hands and was being pulled back towards the portal. The other Nomu had its sights not on Izuku, but the other kid. All For One and Garaki were after the kid. This was an impossible situation. Izuku had copies of dad’s Quirks and there were a lot of them, but most of them were either flashy but useless or super destructive or dangerous. Speaklike Bones was a useful one, but from here there was no way to use that! If dad’s assessment of the other Nomu was that it was made to match All Might, that meant it would react to Izuku no matter what he did…that meant-that meant-Izuku opened a portal immediately to the most secure place he could think of. The Search star of the one person who would probably help him right now. “Tenchan-”
“Izuchan.” Tenchan put on a brave smile. “I trust your ass to save me, whether that be in days, months or years. Go!”
Izuku nodded quickly, pulled the kid up and rushed through his portal before closing it behind him. Tenchan-he left Tenchan! He had to leave or else the other kid would have been kidnapped too, probably killed and Izuku probably would have died.
“Wildcard?” Eraser… “What happened? Why are you here, why’s there a random kid and where’s Ash?”
“Ash is gone.” Izuku replied before breaking down. He left Tenchan to those monsters and the evil being that his dad’s corpse became. He couldn’t think of any way to save Tenchan without risking the kid or himself and Tenchan knew that there wasn’t a solution either and that they’d keep Tenko alive. Izuku collapsed to the floor and let out a guttural sob. “He’s gone. He’s gone and it’s my fault-I couldn’t do anything.”
The last thing Izuku knew, he was being hugged. Maybe by one or both of the people near him. He didn’t know, because he couldn’t open his eyes before exhausting the remainder of his energy.
What was he supposed to do now?
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed.
Again. It's very fast. It now kinda hit me that it might be TOO fast, but it's already Sunday. I'll gladly accept comments that tell me to add a chapter in between - If I can make something work, in time I might do something! Other than that...I have to apologise to Tenko and Izuku. so uh..., sorry Tenko and Izuku!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 19: New Arrangements
Summary:
Izuku wakes up in an unknown place, but Eraserhead is around and so are a couple other people.
Notes:
HI! Happy Monday! I meant to get the chapter out yesterday, but it was father's day and I got distracted.
Warning(s):
General Nomu talk
Mention of kidnapping
Mention of discrimination
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku didn’t know where he was. He was on something. Something comfortable. Funnily enough, it was familiar to when he woke up at Kacchan’s house…however the Search stars he can sense weren’t Kacchan’s or Auntie and Uncle’s. One was the kidnapped kid’s star and the other was-was Eraser. Right. When he decided to be entirely logical he connected his portal to Eraser so he could get the kid to safety. If Izuku was on a bed, then he had to assume he was safe. Unlike how he was dressed in casual clothes when he woke up at Kacchan’s house, he felt heavy. He had his gear on still. Did Eraser really not take off his vigilante gear?
“You wakin’ up kid?” Eraser asked.
“Mhm.” Izuku didn’t have the energy to refute or argue with him this time. “Surprised you kept my gear on.” He commented.
Eraser sighed. “I know I’m not supportive of a child doing vigilante stuff, but in the end, I’m still going to respect your privacy as long as you’re being safe. Except I think that situation changed, didn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Izuku said, opening his eyes and trying to get up. “Thanks for picking me up and housing me. You didn’t have to do this.”
“You’re right. I didn’t have to, but I want to see you and Ash safe.” Eraser shrugged. Izuku would focus on the kid they’d saved for now. This happened because they saved them after all.
“Are you alright, Purple Hair?” Izuku asked. The boy was in a dark corner trying to hide if Izuku had to guess. Or to stay out of the way.
“I’m okay, but how’d you know I was here?” The kid asked.
“Ragdoll’s Search Quirk.” Izuku replied. “I have a copy.” He clarified.
“Interesting. How many heroes have you run into?” Eraser asked.
“That’s another conversation.” Izuku said. “I suppose you wanna know everything about what happened?”
Eraser nodded. “Only if you’re comfortable talking about it.”
“Ash isn’t dead, but he was taken.” Izuku said.
“He didn’t die to-to those things?!” The kid screeched, cutting off Izuku’s flow.
“Shinsou. Please let him speak.” Eraser asked softly, but also sternly. The kid- Shinsou didn’t speak further.
“Those things were called Nomu. Experimental creations made from corpses by a super smart and evil doctor.” Izuku wondered if he should give his real name to Eraser or not… “I don’t know how much I can get through without putting my identity at risk.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone.” Eraser said. He was telling the truth. “Though if you want a bit of security. My boyfriend is Present Mic. My name is Shouta Aizawa and his name is Hizashi Yamada.” Huh?! Eraserhead was in a relationship and it was with Present Mic?!
Eraser went to the extent of exposing his and Present Mic’s identities and relationship status to trust Izuku…Izuku’s stomach grumbled, interrupting what would have been the perfect time to start talking. “Wasn’t Yamada making us breakfast?” Shinsou asked.
“Yeah, he is.” Eraser said. “You comin’, Kid?” He asked Izuku.
“Sure, Eraser.”
“Call me Aizawa in private or when I’m off duty. Eraser’s only necessary when I’m in my gear.” Aizawa said. That was reasonable.
“Okay, Aizawa. I can talk at breakfast, if that’s alright.” Izuku’s brain caught up with the fact that they are feeding him . “And um, thank you for offering me food!”
“It’s no problem. Let’s get you out there then. ‘Zashi likes to serve hot breakfasts, so we shouldn’t let it go cold.” Aizawa said.
Izuku got up and followed the man. He was side by side with Shinsou. It was a surprise the kid was still here actually, because surely there were legal processes and this kid was just kidnapped. He had to have a home somewhere. The smell that wafted through the house distracted him from his thoughts. Whatever it was, it smelt so good.
“Zashi, the kids are coming in.” Aizawa announced.
“Your little vigilante is up! That’s good!” Yamada cheered before coming around the corner holding a tray with multiple bowls. It was Miso soup and some rice. There seemed to be a little bit of fish piled onto a separate plate too in case they wanted some. “I’d have made something more generous for you growing kids, but I thought I’d stick to basics today!”
“Thank you for the food, Mr Yamada.” Shinsou said quietly.
“No problem, Shinsou.” Yamada said.
Izuku wondered if the hero would recognise him from the con. It had been a few years after all. “Thank you for breakfast, Yamada.” He said before pulling his mask off and hood down. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Huh?! Wait a second…” Yamada was frowning as he went deep in thought before his eyes widened. He seemed to come to a realisation. “Broccoli Boy! Small world, huh.”
“My name is Izuku Midoriya.” Izuku chuckled weakly. “I’m gonna talk about my situation. My mother died due to Hera’s attack and that-that sent me down this path.”
“Hera.” Aizawa repeated. “Did you destroy her Quirk?”
“I’ll get to the part about her soon. I guess I’ll start with the overview of it all though.” Izuku said. “My father, Hisashi Midoriya, was regarded as the Boogieman of the Underworld. Though he didn’t really appreciate that title himself. He can give and take Quirks freely and use the ones he collected for his own causes. I got a mutated evolution of his Quirk. I can copy Quirks from people as long as I touch their skin or hair. Anything with cells to give me the Quirk DNA. More than that though, I can recreate Quirks and disassemble them. So in Hera’s case, I used my dad’s Quirk to take Hera’s Quirk and then I destroyed it. I can remake it for myself though.” He said, using Air Manipulation to push a small breeze through the room.
“Wait. Does that mean you still have my Quirk?” Yamada asked.
Izuku took a bit of rice and ate it before answering. “I can remake it. I don’t usually keep it made or active since it’s destructive. I don’t keep all of the Quirks I have registered, created and stored, since I have to train and rest my stockpiling ability to be larger.” Thinking about it, he never did turn off and dismantle the Quirks he made against the group he fought…he did that now while the others were thinking.
“So, your father just lets you be a vigilante with this other kid?” Aizawa asked.
“Ash is my brother. Not by blood, in that area he’s actually my cousin. Tenko Shimura is his name. What happened to him back at the warehouse was because of that Doctor. It’s partially All Might’s fault too. All Might didn’t entertain my dad’s speeches and instead fought dad.” Izuku started to tear up as he explained. “It’s understandable, because my dad killed All Might’s mentor back before he decided to try and change his ways and become a better person. That was because he met my mom and had me.” Izuku left out the amnesia part, since that isn’t all too necessary. “Because of his past actions though, All Might killed dad, but it was okay because I have Quirks that could help restore dad back to normal. Except I couldn’t bring him back to life because his head was pulverised and I wasn’t gonna be able to fix that, so the Doctor revived him instead. However, the Doctor betrayed dad and messed with dad’s memories. Dad was a supervillain again and didn’t know me and just wanted Tenko back under his control to use him as a vessel. On top of that, our family friend was a Nomu that essentially regained his memories and sense of human self, but-but he had to go to the Doctor to have his body stabilised again for the year. He was our original warper. He had to go to that doctor or-or die and instead of coming back unchanged, he was turned back into a servant that didn’t really recognise us. I’m not gonna go into the in-between details, but that leads us to the warehouse. We noticed that Shinsou was being kidnapped so I used Search to not lose him and then we followed them to the warehouse. It took a lot more effort than I thought it’d take, but we beat them. It was bad luck, but they were apparently kidnapping Shinsou to deliver him to my father and The Doctor and had already sent a message to them. Doctor must have decided to have our family friend and other Nomu ambush us after that and-and that meant they ended up taking Tenko.” Izuku couldn’t handle it.
“I’m not going to say that everything will be okay.” Aizawa said calmly. “But I know with time it’ll get better and we will save your brother and your family friend. I can’t give the same assurances to your father, because of his power and the situation, but we can try to save him too.” He said before opening himself up for a hug. Izuku took the opportunity greedily and hugged the man. “Does your family friend have a name?”
“I can’t say it.” Izuku said, wiping his tears into Aizawa’s shirt.
“It’s okay. We can give you time.” Yamada said.
“No. I mean, I am physically not allowed to say it or else it might summon him here.” Izuku said as he broke away from Aizawa. “Dad used a Quirk on him to connect him to those with command over him. I probably shouldn’t have permission anymore, but who knows. Either way, I can’t risk it.”
“You could summon him to a safe place and erase his Quirk.” Aizawa suggested, but they’d already thought of that. There was no point risking it when they had other Nomu at the ready.
Izuku shook his head. “If they’ve set him up at all to help destroy me, then it’d be more risky than leaving him for now.” He said shakily. “I could probably write his name though.”
“After breakfast.” Yamada said. “You deserve to eat while everything is still warm and then talk.”
“Thank you.” Izuku said quietly. How the hell was this going to go? This was Aizawa’s friend! His food was eaten too quickly for his taste and it was time for him to continue when a notepad was placed in front of him. Izuku started writing the letters and looked between Aizawa and Yamada as he covered the name. “I’m so sorry.”
“What are you sorry about, Kiddo?” Yamada asked, so Izuku uncovered the name and showed it to Aizawa.
“What?” Aizawa’s response was too quiet in an environment that was now silent. “They used him ?!” His voice raised.
“I said I’m sorry.” Izuku said, shrinking into himself slightly. “My dad gave him his freedom back, but he-he didn’t want you to see him like he was.”
“Who are you talking about?” Yamada poked his head around to peek at the name. “Oboro?!”
“Look. My dad wasn’t a good guy. And I won’t pretend that he will ever be exactly good, but he was worse at the time your friend was turned into a Nomu.” Izuku said, calming his nerves. He had to explain the incident then. “Dad was hit by an amnesia and Quirk sealing Quirk. All he was left with was life extension Quirks, but because of how old he is, he still had two pinky toe joints and was assumed to be Quirkless. He was discriminated against, but my mom took care of him until he was released. A few months later, they met back up and he fell in love with my mom and he loved me too. Even when his memories came back, even when mom died, he loved me enough to keep trying to be better. Of course we still take the law into our own hands, but-but he was only doing villain stuff these days to keep the underground under control.”
“Huh. That’s why it seems to have calmed down a lot huh. I thought All Might went on another crime ring bust mission or two.” Aizawa said. “I’ll still admit that I’m extremely angry about this situation. About your father and this doctor defiling our friend’s body. However, I can understand your view.” He said clearly.
“He’s alive again now though! If we can break through his programming again, he’ll be back to himself!” Izuku said. He had an idea. “We could work together. Together we could save my family and your friend.”
“Motherf-” Aizawa cursed. “We’ll sort that shit out later.”
“Right.” Izuku looked over to Shinsou. The boy seemed to look a little overwhelmed. “By the way, not that it’s an issue, but it’s just dawned on me. What’s he doing here? Shouldn’t he have gone to the police and then gone home?”
“Shinsou wasn’t reported missing yesterday, even though it took us hours to find out who he was and where he should have been. The detective I asked to run the case took his statement and decided it’d be best to see how negligent his group home is. He didn’t say anything about the group home directly, but we could tell something was up.” Yamada explained.
“He’s got a Quirk that can influence or control someone’s actions, of course they’re neglecting him.” Izuku muttered, gaining a few looks. “What? People are assholes. Quirks that induce control over others are very useful in many ways, including in heroics!”
Izuku was immediately tackled into another hug, but this time by Shinsou. “People don’t speak about my Quirk like that. Some joke about me taking control of people and making them do bad stuff or some are serious. Even the group parents believe that I would probably be a villain.”
“Sho…” Yamada looked at Aizawa with puppy dog eyes.
“No.” Aizawa replied.
“C’mon. You know you wanna. He even looks like you! Hell, I bet Midoriya looks a little like you if he uses your Quirk.” Yamada said. He wasn’t insinuating what he thought he was insinuating, was he? “We have licenses for things like this!”
“Right.” Aizawa sighed. “Look. Kids. I dunno how this could work since we’re both busy.” He said shadily as he looked towards Yamada. “But we have a couple spare rooms that we usually save for friends, but you can use them.”
“Sho.” Yamada groaned. “We have licenses for a reason! We make enough money, especially with all the jobs I run. If everything works out, we can rejig our time slots and take you in if you want!” So he was insinuating that.
“R-Really?! I get to stay with The Eraserhead and Present Mic?” Shinsou sounded amazed. “Yes! Please! Anything’s better than the group home, but here-here is somewhere where I’d never even imagined!” He turned to Izuku with a bright smile. “You’ll stay too right?”
“I um…it’s a great offer.” Izuku said. It really was, but he wasn’t ready for anything that required commitment. “I can’t decide anything yet, especially not guardianship. I just lost my dad, brother and someone who was essentially an uncle. I know you guys were also friends with him, but you-you’ve had time to process everything before. I haven’t. I can’t-”
“Then don’t make that decision. Just decide on whether you want a room to sleep in at the end of the day or not.” Aizawa said.
“Hey! Don’t talk him out of things!” Yamada hissed. He did like the contrast in tones. Yamada was bright, energetic and very hopeful. While Aizawa was kinda cold and logical, stern and serious, but he was also caring underneath that too. He essentially did what had to be done to keep people safe and had the capacity to care where needed.
“Hizashi. He’s a kid and needs support and doesn’t need to be overwhelmed. We can provide that without overdoing things.” Aizawa said. “So. How about it? You wanna take a room?” He asked.
“I’ll take it as a place to sleep…” Izuku said. “I’m still going out on patrols. I’m still going to try to see if I can find a way to save my family sooner rather than later. I’m going to go out there and stop villains where I can. I can’t stop-”
“If you’re gonna do that. Patrol alongside me.” Aizawa offered. Patrol alongside Eraserhead?
“Won’t that get you into trouble?” Izuku frowned. “And what about if I wanna go out at different times than you or just on my own?”
Aizawa chuckled darkly. “I can’t stop you from going out occasionally. However, I’d like to see them try to stop you patrolling alongside me. I’m the only person in Japan with a Quirk Erasing Quirk and Quirk cancelling tech is expensive to make and obtain. We use them mainly for strong criminals after they’ve been taken down. I need to be in places when a strong villain needs taking down. A suspension or prison time would work against the establishment more than issues housing a child vigilante would.”
‘In most cases that would be true, but the HSPC would likely want your head because of the heroes you’ve forcefully retired. They will want to make an example out of you.’ Dad said.
Izuku had to regurgitate that. “The HPSC will wanna use me as a scapegoat. You’ve got no chance at working with me properly.”
“Really?” Aizawa said. “Well, that brings us back to your second question. You should create a second identity.”
“Yeah that sounds-wait what?!”
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
Sooo...Izuku's staying with Aizawa and Yamada for the foreseeable future!
Also! I'm going to be releasing a new fic, an instalment to my Genetic Anomaly series, tomorrow! Look out for that if you're interested since that's the original world I based this 'what if' scenario off of!
I also feel like this is the time to use my socials. I said I was gonna use them and then didn't...oops (though I was going through a loss in the family and just forgot). Anyhow. My twitter is @Greenspectrefic. I do also have a tumblr - greenspectrefics, but I am a total newbie to that, so I'll see how that goes.
If you read that far, thank you and see you next time!
Chapter 20: Birthday Blues/A Hero Hospital Visit
Summary:
Izuku decides to take up Aizawa's offer and go out patrolling on occasion under a new identity. However, July is approaching and both his mother's and his own birthdays are approaching...
-
All Might doesn't want to keep still any longer. He had to find the kids he neglected to find before and had to save anyone else he can. Mirai had other thoughts though.
Notes:
Hi! Happy Monday! I did want to post this yesterday, but I had a busy day come out of nowhere as my dad took me out for breakfast and then my mom decided we were going to watch the live action of How To Train Your Dragon (in 4D Max LMAO, I felt like I was on a rollercoaster). That, alongside a damned heatwave, really put a dampener on my productivity.
Anyhow...I'm still here and trying to post regularly, sooooo
Warning(s):
Mentions of death.
Talks about unhealthy behaviours
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku didn’t think that having two identities would work out well. Two small vigilantes going around doing similar activities? That was obvious, right? Though when put into practice it really wasn’t. They didn’t start their joint patrols immediately. Izuku stayed to his solo runs, though he avoided direct contact with most gangs at the moment. He didn’t know who was involved with All For One and he didn’t know if they had an order on capturing Izuku. Surely that doctor would want him for many different purposes. Then again, he probably couldn’t risk Izuku even being near his dad and wouldn’t want to waste resources on trying to get him back too.
In the meantime, Aizawa and Yamada’s spare room was just that to him, a spare room to sleep in. He didn’t want to admit that he was getting comfortable, especially when he included him in breakfasts…and maybe lunches. He refused to get comfortable . Even when Aizawa eventually delivered him a new costume for their patrols, Izuku could only say his thanks and follow the man around. This new costume was a burgundy red colour and the Quirk he had to use...that was more difficult to decide, but they’d settled on using a mix of telekinetic Quirks, a levitation Quirk and Air Walk. Also, when they were out, Izuku was using Quirks to change his eye and hair colour and hair type. He now had black hair that was less curly and more straight, that was longer and less floaty and he now had red eyes.
The current patrol with Aizawa was quiet. They were currently on a rooftop watching for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing was happening so far, so Aizawa decided to speak. “Shinsou’s tenth birthday is in a couple days. Are you planning to stick around for it?”
What a question. Would he stay around for it? Maybe…that was the first day of July though and-and this was a loaded month already with it being his mom’s first birthday since she passed. Then there was also Izuku’s birthday. His first birthday without his parents was coming around. “I’ll think about it. July isn’t going to be the best month for me.”
“Can I ask why?” Aizawa asked. He probably already knew, but was asking out of courtesy.
Izuku stayed quiet for a second before deciding to answer. “Mom’s birthday is on the fourth and my own is on the fifteenth. You know the reasons why.”
“Yeah…” Aizawa sighed. “Don’t close yourself off, even if it hurts though.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Izuku asked quickly. Doing stuff alone would be the only distraction he’d have.
“Because I’ve been in your position. After Oboro died, I spiralled. I went on and on about how I should have been better, stronger, that everyone around me had become too complacent with heroes like All Might around. That everything was just easy going for students…and for myself. It was true to a degree, but Mic was the one to bring some rationality around to me, eventually. I do still believe that students get too complacent with themselves, but I’ve come to know that pushing myself to the brink and pushing everyone away isn’t good for me. Having some company isn’t the worst.” Aizawa explained. It was logical, but-but-
“I should have been able to be better or stronger! I can do so much with my Quirk-”
“And that’s something time can only give you.” Aizawa cut him off. “You’re nine, almost ten. Your body still has to grow. Hell, puberty is usually when a kid has the quickest growth with their body and Quirk and training extrapolates that-” Aizawa went into thought. “I probably should word it a bit more simply…”
“Nah. I know more advanced stuff than I should. I get what you mean.” Izuku said, allowing the man to relax his thoughts. “I know that’s how bodies and Quirks work, but still. I have powerful Quirks, I have strategic Quirks, I even have sensory Quirks! I should have known-”
“No, you shouldn’t have. God. Learning how to use ONE Quirk can take years, decades even. Learning how to use multiple in tandem? That probably takes a genius, a prodigy. You’re already doing amazing stuff, kid.” Aizawa chuckled. “Now…” He said as he pointed to some people. They were a couple of women entering an alleyway while drunk as well as a few men who were tailing them. Ugh.
Well. It was time to get to work!
~~~~~~~~
Izuku flopped into bed after getting changed. Using only ‘Telekinesis’ for these patrols was getting more natural. It took a little time to learn using the Quirks together without using others, but it was actually fun using a new identity. It’d actually work for going out in the day too, because dad had a shapeshifting Quirk and it allowed Izuku to hide his freckles. Now, registering that as a whole new identity would be harder. The name he’d go by would be Mikumo Akatani as his own name is definitely on a missing list now. They’d just have Mikumo Akatani recorded as an orphan whose birth was never recorded and became a vigilante after being taken in by villains and made to fight in a fighting ring. That would explain his training and scars, though the one on his face had to be removed by the Shapeshifting Quirk since that was too recogniseable.
Sleep came easy, but what came as a surprise was his reentry to the cliffside dreamscape. He approached the house and opened the door. It was their family getaway house after all…
“Hi?” Izuku said throughout the house.
“Izuku!” Mom!
“It’s good to see you again mom.” Izuku said, trying to withhold his tears.
“I’m happy to see you again too, Izuku. I’ve seen what you’ve been doing. Everything that’s happened…it’s a mess. I’m sorry.” She started to cry. “Tenko doesn’t deserve to go through hell with-with that villain.”
“He doesn’t.” Dad- “But it’s happened. Sooner than I thought, unfortunately. Hi Bunny.”
“It’s good to see both of you together!” Izuku said with a smile. It was sad that this couldn’t be reality.
“I’m glad that we are still together in some capacity.” Dad said. “This imagined realm is very comfortable by the way.”
“We won’t talk about Tenko unless you want us to.” Mom said. “But we know you’ll save him and your father. We trust you to manage to do that eventually. I actually think there’s a different topic to talk about.”
“Huh?” Izuku frowned. What did mom want to talk about then? Dad looked a little pouty as mom continued.
“You’re warming up to Aizawa and Yamada.” Mom said.
“I’m not-”
“We can tell what you're feeling, Izuku.” Mom chuckled a little. “You’re warming up to them, because they’re giving you safety. Because they care and because they’re gaining your trust.”
“It doesn’t feel right. It’s not you, dad and Tenchan. I-I don’t want it to feel like I’m moving on too quickly. That I’m replacing you all immediately.” Izuku couldn’t disrespect them like that!
“You’re not, Honey. You’re looking at Aizawa, Yamada and Shinso and though they’re replacing your father, me and Tenko respectively.” Mom said. That’s exactly why- “you shouldn’t try to put them in our places. They won’t replace us, but they’ll be able to give you what you need. You need care, love and attention. You love so deeply, but you’re scared to receive it from people when they’re not us.”
“Or Katsuki.” Dad added.
“Or Katsuki.” Mom repeated. “I never met my birth mother. Yet I loved her for doing what was best for me and I still love my mom and pops. It’s never a matter of one or the other. It’s just about accepting and understanding that people care about you.”
“Well…I don’t want Izuku calling either of them dad.” Dad pouted.
“He’d never call them dad.” Mom laughed. “Izuku. You never have to accept them as ‘pops and papa’ or something, it’s still too early for that, but they can still care. I know you want to show them you care too. So accept them and let them accept you. So, to start, a certain kid’s big tenth birthday is coming up and I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to see you celebrating it with him.”
“B-But what about yours?” Izuku asked.
“Some nice flowers and a visit to my grave would be enough.” Mom said. “Don’t push yourself of course, but if you can, please do. Don’t forget that you have people here to support you too and they are people who you can get advice off of.”
“Dad…” Izuku looked over to him. He didn’t want dad thinking he was gonna abandon him.
“I know, Izuku. I’m just possessive. I don’t like sharing my loved ones like this.” Dad said. “But you deserve to be loved by others in the areas we can’t. This is the lesson I learned after forcing my brother to be by my side, losing him and then losing my extreme narcissism after my amnesia.”
“Okay.” Izuku would take his parents' words to heart. He would take Aizawa’s advice too. He’d let himself enjoy things with people and grieve with people…he was glad that he could still talk and see his parents though. That was good.
~~~~~~~~
Another breakfast…this time, Izuku let himself relax and smile properly. He could tell that both of the adults noticed he’d changed a little and if they gave him a little extra to add to Izuku’s enjoyment, then no one questioned it.
“I’ll be around.” Izuku said.
“Around when?” Aizawa asked.
“The first of July. I’ll be sticking around for Shinsou’s birthday.“ Izuku said.
“You’re not gonna go out at all?” Shinsou asked with hope shining in his eyes.
“Unless you wanna go out, nah. I’ll be around all day.” Izuku said. “I went through my thoughts last night and what you said Aizawa…I’m gonna let myself take my time and try to keep myself around people instead of running away.”
Aizawa’s hand came to rest on Izuku’s shoulder. “That’s great, Kid.”
“I’m happy you’re gonna be here for my birthday.” Shinsou said, settling on giving Izuku a lazy smile. “You’re still gonna go out on patrol the night before though, right?”
Izuku shrugged. “I think…I dunno. Patrols are good for experience, but I need to train my body and Quirks properly.”
“Well, we can help with that.” Yamada said. “We’re heroes after all. The first part of your training actually starts today! You gotta finish that breakfast.”
Izuku chuckled a little. Yeah…this would work for now.
~~~~~~~~
Toshinori felt uneasy in this hospital bed. Mirai and Sorahiko couldn’t find any trace of Izuku Midoriya or Tenko Shimura. What if All For One was lying and they were nearby? What if they were in a building they’d destroyed in their fight and they’d killed the boys? It was irrational to kill off All For One before getting the location of the kids, but All For One…All For One was goading him. He couldn’t stop himself and it meant All For One injured him badly. So badly that it’d been weeks and he was still recovering in bed, but he needed to find those boys. He wanted to make sure they were safe. He also needed to make sure society was safe because his absence would surely be causing a stir too.
He should be well enough to get back out there… “Don’t even think about it.” Mirai was still here and watching over him.
“I need to get out there. I need to make sure peace is upheld.” Toshinori said.
“You have taken out the enemy that’s been haunting you and your predecessors. You’ve done the world a service, so I’m sure the world can let you rest.” Mirai said, but no. With or without All For One, villains will always be around and causing chaos.
“The villains will all be scrambling for power. I have to be there for the people.” Toshinori said, pushing through all the pain he was in to move. He had to get up. He had to go out there to show everyone that he hadn’t abandoned them. He had to go find his master’s grandson and All For One’s child.
He made it out the door. Nezu, Sorahiko and Chiyo were still here too. Nezu…they’d brought him into this mess for intel and help in tracking down All For One. He’d brought them to this point, but how he was one of the people trying to stop him.
“All Might! Stop!” Mirai sounded desperate, but Toshinori was more desperate to get out of here. “Retire now, peacefully and hand over the fight to the next generation. If you keep going like this, you’ll break yourself.”
Mirai promised… “Did you see my future?”
Mirai shook his head. “Not yet, but I don’t need to when I can assess the situation. You'll do everything to save people, even if it killed you.”
~
Mirai still went against his promise after that though. He needed to know if All Might was going to die because of his selflessness and recklessness. When he did finally look into All Might’s future, he could see that his idol wasn’t going to die anytime soon and was surrounded by figures that he couldn’t make out. Mirai wasn’t sure why this was the case though since he assumed All Might would work himself into an early grave. This meant that he was going to retire though and he was going to lose all of his power if his thinner figure was anything to go by. So Mirai focused on the moment he loses his power instead. It was around six years into the future and he could only see snippets. Toshinori was exhausted. His form was smaller and weaker. He was without his power like he was in the far future. All For One…he was standing hand in hand with a green haired boy- his son -and he was in perfect condition. He wasn’t injured. Oh hell no. He knew that kid was trouble and for All Might to be brought to his knees against what he has to assume is All For One AND that child… “All Might. Izuku Midoriya is going to be your undoing. He’s going to be alongside a healthy All For One in the future and is going to destroy All Might as a hero! You’ll be on your knees in front of them!” He said reactively before thinking.
“Dammit Mirai. I didn’t want you looking into my future!” All Might growled and kept moving forward. He wasn’t going to stop and listen. “If All For One returns, via his son or otherwise, then I have to be ready.”
Nezu hummed and turned to Mirai when All Might was far enough down the corridor. “From what I heard, Midoriya was a fan of All Might and seemed to possess a kind heart. That’s been the opinion of him from everyone we’ve talked to as well. Your phrasing indicated that both the child and his father would ruin All Might as a hero persona, but what about in general. Will he survive as a person?”
“Toshinori will live into old age, surrounded by friends I assume. I could only see a small snippet as it was a few decades away though.” Mirai said.
“So Toshinori lives a long life and is well loved still, even in the face of All For One and his kid.” Torino seemed confused. “If your words are true, don’t they seem to contradict themself? How is it possible for Toshinori to lose to All For One of all bastards, but then live a long life?”
“The snippet blurs before I can see what happens. All Might must surely win again. In the face of an almost loss, he’ll win.” Mirai said shakily. “But he certainly won’t be a hero after that.”
“Then we have to trust that Toshinori prevails.” Nezu said. “And that his duty is truly finished after his next battle.”
Mirai nodded. All Might may never want to speak to him again after breaking his promise like this, but he needed to see it. He’ll still help All Might from the sidelines and support him. Hopefully, this was the first prediction of his that could be overcome, because if not, the future doesn’t seem all too bright. No matter if Toshinori survives, the loss of All Might means the downfall of Japan’s society…that must be prevented at all costs.
Notes:
I hope you've all enjoyed!
Izuku's warming up a little to staying in a new household...however, the All Might bit was possibly my favourite so I can set things up for later - I do hope it feels good for people to KNOW where this is possibly heading. I did toy with not adding that explicitly, but I think half the fun is knowing and the other half is what happens before we get there ;)
See you in the next one!
Chapter 21: Birthday Number One - Shinsou
Summary:
After Izuku decided to try, the time for Shinsou's birthday arrived.
Notes:
Hi! I hope everyone's had a decent week!
Warning(s):
None
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku was awake early. Yesterday’s patrol ended early, but he was pooped so he went to bed. He swore Aizawa said they’d save his dinner for today…but today was Shinsou’s birthday. There was no idea about what their plan was, but the surprise was probably one of the best parts of it.
He slid out of his bed and put on some slippers before padding his way over to the kitchen. He wanted a hot chocolate or something. “You’re up early.” Aizawa said, the hypocrite that he is.
“So are you.” Izuku responded.
“I have chronic insomnia. You?” Aizawa had a point for himself, but he knew why Izuku was up now.
“I crashed out early.” Izuku pouted. “Sorry about skipping dinner by the way.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve skipped dinner due to my patrols more times than I can count. The food will keep in the fridge for a few days if you want it for lunch tomorrow. You could have had it this morning and missed lunch, but ‘Zashi has plans for a birthday breakfast.” Aizawa almost sounded like he was bored.
“Why don’t you sound enthusiastic about that?” Izuku asked.
“Because of a few reasons, but the main one is the fact that Zashi gets too over enthusiastic about holidays and birthdays. Especially mine.” Aizawa sighed. “Not everyone loves the energy or can hold that energy throughout the day to enjoy it, but he certainly can.”
Now that Izuku thought about it…he didn’t want his birthday to be overdone. At least not this year. “I think I get it. I don’t want too much to be done for me at the moment.”
“I’ll make sure he knows that.” Aizawa said. “So…what did you come in here for?” Aizawa asked, refocusing the conversation on what Izuku actually wanted right now.
“Hot chocolate.” Izuku said. “I’m not gonna get more sleep so I thought I could just have a warm drink and think.”
“Speaking of thinking…you tend to zone out. Like you’re either in your own world or overthinking things. Is everything alright?” Aizawa asked. He’d clocked onto Izuku’s mental talks, but he was concerned because he wouldn’t have assumed about the vestiges of Quirks.
“I omitted something about Quirks in general. The reason I dismantled the Quirks I stole wasn’t for space. All For One can hold an undefined amount of Quirks. My dad only kept strong or useful ones or those that were trophies, but regardless of that, All For One can store Quirks and put them into dormancy. Both he and I can take heteromorphic Quirks and be unchanged by them. It goes deeper than that though. A part of a person’s essence is stored within their Quirks. So-so because I have my dad’s Quirk, I can actually talk to the version of him that’s in there. The same goes for my mom.” Izuku admitted. “Sorry for not telling you earlier.”
“You have a right to your secrets, but how does that work? Can he talk to you at any time? Can he take over you? Can he even see what you see?” Aizawa asked. At least he wasn’t seeing Izuku as crazy.
‘The answer is yes to all those questions. Though the takeover thing would likely require me to merge my consciousness with yours. So that will never happen.” Dad said. It was still a little unnerving that dad could actually do that…
“Yes.” Izuku said. “To all of it.”
“I see…” Aizawa said before migrating to the kettle and pulling out a cup. Izuku’s designated cup .
“He won’t take control of me. It would take him merging our consciousnesses and he doesn’t want that.” Izuku said.
“I can see that, but you didn’t exactly explain what kind of vessel your brother was supposed to be, but considering that there is a real possibility that your father could overtake someone’s consciousness…that’s what the twisted version of your father has planned for your brother. Right?” Aizawa asked.
Izuku nodded grimly. “I don’t know if it’ll work with the Quirk copy I made and implanted into All For One, but that’s probably his plan again. After Tenko’s experiences, he’s easy to rile up and get angry. Though, he’s only genuinely threatening and dangerous if he’s been brainwashed. He doesn’t like killing, never did. Dad only needed the intense anger though, so the brainwashing helped keep him going. Tenchan hasn’t been extremely angry in a while though…I dunno.”
“So…that means he will really want your brother alive. Which also means we’ll have every chance to save him.” Aizawa said.
‘Also. All For One doesn’t plan to do that until Tenko’s like, twenty something. He doesn’t want to be in a teenage body full of wild hormones.’ Dad said. That was good to know. There was no reason to share a deadline yet…they had time.
Aizawa took out the hot chocolate powder and scooped some out into Izuku’s cup before filling it with water. The silence only being filled by the sound of pouring water was settling. Izuku was ready to keep moving forward bit by bit, starting with Shinsou’s birthday.
~~~~~~~~
Aizawa wasn’t wrong when he said Yamada was extremely energetic about birthdays. After he’d woken up a few hours after Izuku and Aizawa, he greeted both of them before he’d started preparing something. Though it was supposed to be a surprise, the ingredients were distinct enough for Izuku to make a guess. It’d be pancakes. The fluffy kind. Izuku loved those ones when mom or auntie made them…
“Midoriya. Could you wake up Shinsou for me?” Yamada asked while stirring the pancake batter.
Izuku nodded. “I can. If he gets out of bed is another story.” He chuckled a little before getting up. Izuku knew the kid had bad insomnia. Probably because he was both living in bad places previously and having bad experiences or nightmares overnight at times. His body wasn’t used to sleeping properly. It was better to joke about him still being asleep though than focus on that.
He made his way to Shinsou’s door before activating Telepath. A funny thing Izuku found out by using Telepath is that if someone’s asleep it can do one of two things. Either the person gets a message in the form of a dream and then wakes up or they get woken up immediately. It depends on how deep in slumber the person is.
‘Shinsou. It’s time to wake up. It’s an important day.’ Izuku said through Telepath.
“Midoriya!” Shinsou shouted after a few seconds as he probably had a dream and then woke up. Izuku burst out into laughter before rushing back to the kitchen.
“You woke Shinsou up with Telepath again, didn’t you?” Aizawa asked.
“Of course I did!” Izuku giggled.
“Damn you.” Shinsou grumbled as he entered the kitchen in his pyjamas and fluffy slippers. “That’s always so weird! I was dreaming and you just popped up in there and woke me!”
“Happy birthday.” Izuku said more calmly.
Shinsou blinked a couple times before his eyes went wide. “Thank you. I almost forgot it was my birthday.” It seemed he quickly forgot about the slight transgression Izuku committed against him.
“Happy birthday, Shinsou!” Yamada cheered.
“Too loud.” Shinsou grumbled, but he blushed slightly. He got easily embarrassed because these were his hero idols. “Thanks, Yamada.”
“I’m on your side, Kid.” Aizawa said jokingly. “Are you almost done with those, ‘Zashi? We can’t keep Shinsou waiting too long.”
“It’s okay, really.” Shinsou said immediately. “I’m grateful you’re just doing something for me…”
“Hey. You deserved to be loved and cared for this entire time.” Yamada said immediately. “ This ,” He said as he pointed to the now stacked pancakes, “Is the least I can do.”
Yamada placed the stack in front of Shinsou and then brought out small bowls for toppings and a few options like melted butter or syrup. “I’d have put them all on the pancakes, but I thought you’d like the choice.” He said.
“Thank you.” Shinsou said before spooning up some liquid butter and pouring it over the stack. He added a few blueberries before tucking into the food. His face lit up immediately. “Delicious!”
Yamada quickly made a few more, stacked them up and passed them to Izuku. “Hope I didn’t take too long.” He said.
“It’s not my birthday.” Izuku shrugged. “And I’m okay at being patient. Thank you for the food, Yamada.” He said before picking up the syrup and drizzling it over his breakfast with a spoon. He tucked in and-and…oh. Izuku didn’t notice that Yamada made his pancakes the same as both his mother and auntie made them. They added cinnamon and-and a little apple extract to make them sweeter.
“Midoriya?” Aizawa looked worried.
Izuku broke before he could hold himself back. “I-I’m sorry.” He said, tears falling down his face.
“What are you sorry for?” Yamada rushed over and pulled Izuku into a weak hug. It was something to allow him to break away if necessary. “I’m sorry that my cooking is so bad it brought you to tears, Little Listener.” He was purely joking, but it worked to get a chuckle out of Izuku.
It took a few minutes, but Izuku managed to calm himself as the taste of the pancakes disappeared. “I’m not sorry for crying…I guess.” Izuku huffed. “Thanks for keeping me grounded, but uh…I am sorry for taking attention away from you, Shinsou. It’s your birthday and I’m already messing things up.”
“You’re not!” Shinsou said immediately. “You were sad…I could tell, because I was watching to see if you liked the pancakes too.”
“You’re too understanding.” Izuku said before picking up a napkin and wiping his face clean of tears. “I was just caught off guard. Yamada. I missed some of the ingredients you added and-and you made the same pancakes my mom used to make…”
“Ah. I got the recipe off of a forum a few years ago and they were pretty nice.” Yamada recognised the issue immediately. “I can make ‘em differently next time if you’d like?”
‘Your mother said that she and Mitsuki posted that recipe on a forum.’ Dad said. Oh…it was literally mom’s pancakes.
“No.” Izuku replied immediately. “They’re comforting. Other than having my mom’s Quirk, it’s one of the only physical reminders of her that I actually have. As I said, it just caught me off guard.” It was really great to know his mom’s pancakes lived on in places other than Kacchan’s household.
“Okay. Just let me know if it’s too much.” Yamada said before letting Izuku go. “I hope the pancakes haven’t gotten too cold. You still need to eat after all…unless you want something else?”
“I can finish them…” Izuku said with a small pout. He still wanted them, because they tasted delicious!
Hopefully the rest of the day is good!
~~~~~~~~
Apparently Shinsou wasn’t getting his present until lunch. So now they were out on the street, walking to a secret destination. Izuku had to unfortunately hide underneath straightened black hair and red eyes. He wondered where they were going. They had breakfast quite a few hours ago and well…now it was time to almost eat again.
“You boys wanna go into the arcade?” Aizawa asked. Izuku looked over to Shinsou who was essentially pleading for Izuku to go into the building.
“Sure.” Izuku sighed. “I don’t wanna overdo it though.”
“You can leave whenever you want. Just get one of us to come with you, okay?” Aizawa asked logically.
Izuku nodded. “Of course.”
Izuku quickly realised that this arcade didn’t have Quirk protections. Of course they couldn’t protect them, because that tamper-proof tech was a little more on the expensive side. Now…Izuku didn’t want to cheat, but he did want to win something for Shinsou. He wouldn’t just make something fling across the machines then, he would just give a few things a tiny nudge. If that meant the items fell, then they fell.
Izuku knew Shinsou liked cats, so that’d be the prize of choice. There so happened to be a black cat keychain in one of the medal pusher machines. It was near the edge too. Izuku could get this. He put in token after token and nothing. It barely moved! These machines were scams. He felt himself pouting about it, but it was dumb.
‘You resigned yourself to this fate, Bunny.’ Dad was laughing at his pain. Dammit!
‘I’ll still get it!’ Izuku huffed before putting another token in and watched it drop in the place it needed to be-it didn’t push the keyring over. It got it wobbling on the edge though. The next token . If it wobbles on the next token then the item was his! Izuku watched his token land where it needed to be. The keyring wobbled, so now was the time! Izuku nudged it slightly with Telekinesis and it went. The keyring was his! The additional tokens were a bonus, but he got Shinsou a gift! Izuku collected his prizes and left to meet back up with Shinsou!
It didn’t take Izuku long to find Shinsou. He was with Yamada and was trying to win a plush toy in a claw machine. Izuku didn’t want to break his focus as he lined up and pressed the button again. Those machines are worse than the token pushers. At least you can get tokens back even if you don’t get other prizes. After another failed attempt, Izuku approached them.
“Shinsou.” Izuku held the keyring closed in his hand. He wanted it to be a surprise.
“Huh.” Shinsou whipped his head around. “Mi- Akatani? Are you done with what you’re doing?” He asked.
Izuku nodded. “I won this.” He said before opening his hand. “It’s for you. Happy Birthday again!”
“A-A cat keychain.” Shinsou’s face lit up before he dragged Izuku into a hug. “Thank you! You didn’t have to get that!”
“I wanted to though.” Izuku said. He wanted to be kind and helpful to people. Always. If he was still with Kacchan, Mezou and the others, he’d be trying to do things for them too.
Shinsou took the keychain and turned back to the claw machine. “Since you won something, that means I can win this too!” He said with a lot of determination. He immediately took two more trials and failed, but he went for one last one. The claw dropped, grasped around a plushie and actually pulled it back up. Whether or not it jostled it out when it reached the top and moved…it didn’t. It actually hovered over the drop point and let it go. Shinsou won! “I got it!” He cheered. “Here!”
Shinsou turned around immediately and held the toy out to Izuku. “Huh? You got it for me?”
Shinsou nodded. “I know I thank you for saving me, but-but I wanted to give you something for doing that for me and-and to help you if you need it. So I wanna give you this toy.” He said. It was a green bunny…
Dad started laughing within his mind. ‘What a funny coincidence.’
‘Of course.’ Izuku sighed internally before reaching out for the plush toy. “Thank you.” He said before taking it into his arms. It was so soft…he couldn’t help but hug it.
“No problem!”
“Are you kiddos done?” Yamada asked.
“I am.” Izuku said.
“I am now.” Shinsou replied too before his stomach rumbled. “And I’m hungry.” He said with a small pout.
Yamada chuckled. “Then let’s get Sho and get outta here. We’ve got lunch planned too!”
They quickly met back up with Aizawa, who seemed to have made his own fun by the entrance of the arcade by playing a reflex game. Though he was probably only there to make sure that if Izuku wanted to leave, he’d have company. They left with barely anything to show, but it seemed Shinsou would treasure the keychain Izuku…he’d keep good care of the plushie. Hopefully this lunch will go well.
~~~~~~~~
They were at a cat cafe. Of course this was the destination. It makes complete sense since Shinsou loved cats. The kid’s eyes lit up as they arrived and entered the cafe. Cats swarmed the place and some of them got close to them and followed them to their seats. They were all so adorable. Shinsou thought doubly so as he let one settle on his lap. The cats were probably a few years old. They were trained and calm, though they were also up for adoption since the cafe fosters them and wants them to find good permanent homes.
It didn’t take long to get food and drinks ordered and for some more cats to take an interest. Though the one in Shinsou’s lap stayed there, was purring and was definitely going to sleep. “So…it’s time for your present, Shinsou.” Aizawa said with a small smile. “I’m not going to lie. We planned for this once we settled down and cut down on job hours, but now that you’re living with us it made everything seem perfect. We’re gonna adopt a cat and you get to choose which one.” He said and Shinsou had to withhold his surprise or else he’d wake the cat curling up on him.
“This one…” Shinsou said immediately. “He’s warmed up to me. He’s so adorable and cuddly.”
“He barely does that, by the way.” A waitress said. “He’s done this with us and maybe one customer or two, but those can’t take him for one reason or another.”
“Well then.” Yamada said with a massive smile. “That settles it. We’ll adopt this little one.”
“We might pick up another too.” Aizawa said. “Is he bonded with any other cats?” He asked.
“There is one he’s protective over. He got attached to a kitten, but the other cats kinda ignore him and he’s weird with people. Too anxious probably, but we’ve never found out why.” She said before pointing to a white kitten. “That him. We took him in a couple months ago. He seems too small for his age, even though he eats like a glutton and yeah…he’s staying as far away as he can from everything.”
“Huh.” Izuku hummed. “Maybe he just needs a little time and understanding. Has he got a name?”
“Not yet. He doesn’t really respond to anything or he gets pouty when we try something.” The waitress shrugged. “We just place stuff in front of him at this point.”
“Imma go over to him.” Izuku said.
“Expect him to leave.” The waitress warned Izuku. “But go for it.”
Izuku nodded, got up and moved over to the kitten. “You’re alone and stubborn, aren’t you?” He asked for no reason in particular. It’s not like the kitten would understand him. “Were you abandoned and left to live on your own? I can understand that’d hurt…that you wouldn’t trust people…”
“Mrrrow.” The kitten turned and seemed to study Izuku. He has bright blue eyes. The cat got close before rubbing against Izuku’s foot. Wasn’t he supposed to be more of a loner cat?
“Can I pet you?” Izuku asked quietly as he squatted down.
The kitten dashed back, instantly answering no. The kitten’s small glare was cute. His eyes…they were calculating. This animal wasn’t acting on instinct. It was acting on intelligence.
‘Quirked animals can exist. Remember. Nezu exists.’ Dad said.
“I can copy Quirks. If you-if you’re like us . Smart. Superpowered. Actually understanding…then I can help you and understand you.” The cat moved in close again and approached his hand. He nipped into it lightly. Izuku might have complained, but then he’d registered a Quirk.
Izuku’s eyes widened. Enhanced intelligence, short ranged empathy and age slowing. “You really do have a Quirk…and it’s allowed you to understand us and our feelings, hasn’t it? That’s why you’ve been avoiding people and you probably can’t trust humans with knowing you have a Quirk.”
The cat nodded before jumping and climbing Izuku to get to his shoulder. “Meow.”
“We know another Quirked animal, so the people I’m with will take care of you without causing you problems. They’ll probably love you, so do you wanna come with me?” Izuku asked. “We might be adopting your buddy after all and I think we can adopt another.” The small cat lightly butted his head against Izuku’s and nodded against him. “Then I’ll make sure you come home with us then.”
The kitten seemed content with that and let Izuku escort him back to the table. “Well. This is surprising.” Aizawa said.
“We’re bringing him with us.” Izuku said. That was an order and not a request.
“Kid. We have to make sure that he’ll settle well with us.” Aizawa replied fairly.
“He will.” Izuku said. “I’m sure he will.”
“I’ve never seen him that comfortable.” The waitress confirmed. “Maybe…”
“Please?” Izuku said pleadingly. “He’s bonded with the other cat, so it makes sense, right?” He wasn’t risking revealing that the kitten had a Quirk.
The kitten sat on Izuku’s shoulder and must have looked pathetic enough for everyone to break. “Okay. We’re taking him.” Aizawa cracked first funnily enough.
“Yay!” Izuku raised his voice a little, earning a small bat and hiss from the kitten. “Sorry.”
“We’ll get the forms sorted. I do remember that you were here for food first, kitties second.” The waitress giggled a little.
Izuku would tell Aizawa and Yamada about the kitten’s Quirk later. Izuku was lucky to find him, because Quirked animals are beyond a rarity and if he wasn’t seen by someone kind-if he was taken in by researchers instead. Izuku shuddered. No. No need to think about that. Izuku just had to get him home and then they could sort it from there. For now, he’d enjoy the meal. He’d make sure this kitten could enjoy his new home and perhaps Izuku would learn alongside him.
Notes:
I hope you've all enjoyed!
I impulsively decided I wanted to add a Quirked cat - besides the canon one that can merge with stuff that's in vigilantes. I was toying between adding it here or in the Genetic Anomaly sequel - realistically I can add the cat to both (and was thinking of doing that), but it felt fitting here atm!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 22: Birthday Number Two - Inko's Remembrance
Summary:
The kitties get names and Inko's first birthday since her death rolls around.
Notes:
Hi! I wanted to get this out on Sunday. I really did. I just haven't had good motivation to write/proofread and correct stuff at the moment. Hopefully I haven't kept anyone waiting too long though!
Warning(s):
None?
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Somehow, it was a simple signover and sendoff for the cats. Though the Quirked kitten was basically huffing and puffing. Perhaps he thought it was taking too long, which amused Izuku slightly. When being released, both should have been crated, but the kitten was not having it. He favoured Izuku’s shoulder instead, so Izuku took him home like that. The cat was acting like a king, but Izuku had to guess that he was finally with someone who could understand him and actually support him, so he was happier to hang around Izuku.
Once they had returned to the empty house, the kitten jumped off of Izuku and rushed around the house before stopping on the sofa and sitting there. He was essentially saying ‘I am equal to you, so this is my seat.’ though to everyone else he definitely seemed like an excited and misbehaving kitten.
“You’re not allowed on the sofa.” Aizawa complained before trying to make his way to the cat to pick him up.
“Don’t pick him up.” Izuku said quickly. He had to clarify as Aizawa turned to him to get the reason why he shouldn’t pick the kitten up. “Um…I may have withheld a bit of information. I couldn’t say it in the cafe, because what if they did something? Not that I think they would, but you never know.” Izuku rambled a little. “He has a Quirk and he seems to understand us well enough. I think he’s as intelligent as humans are.”
Yamada blinked a little until he came to his senses. “That’s pretty rad. I get not telling people though. I wouldn’t have said a thing either, because we know what Nezu’s been through.”
Aizawa sighed before sitting next to the kitten instead of picking him up. “So…we now have a cat with a Quirk. Midoriya, what does he have?”
“I think the main component is empathy. He can understand our emotions. However, he’s also got enhanced intelligence, though when remaking the Quirk I didn’t feel any smarter, so I think it’s relative to the fact he’s a cat. And the last part is prolonged physical ageing, but that’s also relative to being a cat. It wouldn’t affect me.”
“Ah. So he’s like Nezu in the way that he won’t age at the normal rate an animal would.” Aizawa said. “That’s good to know, because that means he’ll be a mainstay in our house for a long time if he wants to be one. But, that also means he’s going to be the size of a kitten for a while.”
“I’m glad you two understand.” Izuku said. “Aside from that, I wanna name him something. If he’s okay with it.”
“Meow?” The kitten tilted his head slightly. Considering he likely understood Izuku, it meant that he was wondering what Izuku had in mind.
“Kiki? It sounds cute and it’s short.” Izuku suggested.
The cat hissed with warning. “I don’t think he likes cute names.” Shinsou grumbled.
“Uh…then how about Kenzo? It’s got the meaning of ‘wise’ in it.” Izuku suggested and the kitten nodded. “Then Kenzo it is!”
“Shinsou, how about your name for your cat?” Yamada asked.
“I think we can stick with Sumi.” Shinsou said. “He responds to it already, so why change it.”
Izuku just remembered that he was still in disguise. “Kenzo. I have a disguise on right now, so I’m gonna turn off my Quirks and get rid of it so that I look like I normally do.” He said before letting the Quirks go and be inactive again. “This is the real me.” He said before sitting next to Kenzo. The kitten moved and laid flat against Izuku’s leg, which was adorable.
‘I mean. He’s a kitten, basically a child. Even if he’s mentally processing things well, he’s going to be as clingy as a toddler.’ Dad pointed out. ‘Speaking of animals with Quirks. I believe there is a Queen bee with a Quirk. I don’t know where she got to though.’ Dad hummed. ‘Ah…I just remembered that her Quirk let her control people by digging into their eye socket, destroying their eye and attaching to their brain. Shoot.’ That sounded awful.
‘All For One has contact with her, doesn’t he?’ Izuku asked.
‘She may have been on my list to deal with eventually since I recently encountered her. I received her contact, but I hadn’t done much yet because it’s very hard to not kill an innocent girl while trying to remove the bee. If I removed the Quirk, who knows if the swarm of bees she controlled would have gone wild. The swarm of bees are nestled in her head, may I add.’ Izuku got dad’s point, but he didn’t need the gruesome imagery of the situation. Dad needed a proper trap for her and there wasn’t time for it. Good to know.
This was only one more thing to the list that was probably going to grow. Everything was going to take a lot of work, but Izuku would deal with it. He would deal with everything.
~~~~~~~~
A few days passed and the cats were settling in. Aizawa had to send a message to Nezu though. They had to talk about Kenzo with someone. He also sent a message to a detective to get Izuku registered as a kid under Aizawa’s care. Apparently this was the detective that was on Izuku’s, well Wildcard’s, case. They had to still use the Akatani identity and not disclose that he was ever Wildcard. The problem is, the detective had a Truth Quirk.
Before dealing with any of that, they were going to the cemetery. It was the fourth…it was mom’s birthday. Most people won’t go to the grave on her birthday, rather, they’d go on the day she died. That means it should be empty and they could pay their respects in peace. Aizawa, Yamada and Shinsou were all with him. Though Izuku was in disguise since he could be discovered otherwise.
“Though your son hasn’t opened up too much yet, from what I have heard about you, Mrs Midoriya, is that you seemed like an amazing mother and woman in general. I wish we could have met you.” Aizawa started the talk. It made Izuku feel like there was less pressure on him to start the talk now though.
“Mom…I miss you so much.” Izuku said, already trying to fight back tears. “I know I can sometimes talk to you in my dreams, but-but that’s never going to be the same as you being here. I miss your warmth when you give me hugs. I miss your cooking, because it always comforted me no matter how hard my day might have been. I miss our movie nights and playing pretend a hero with you. I-I miss you being here to make new memories with me…” He said, letting his tears go. “But I don’t wanna make it too sad on your birthday…I’ll always remember how you were and how much you cared for everyone. How much you cared for me and dad…I’ll make you proud, I promise.”
‘You already make me proud.’ Mom’s voice was in his head. It was quiet, but she was there. ‘I just want you to keep living and moving forward. To keep being kind and strong.’
“I love you, mom.” Izuku said quietly.
‘I love you too.’ He could hear her properly now too…that was comforting, but still. He wished she was still here.
“Thank you, Mrs Midoriya. Thank you for raising your son to be so kind and selfless.” Shinsou said earnestly before bowing slightly. “He saved me when I thought no one would. I didn’t believe anyone would care or even miss me, but he and his brother came for me anyway and it-it cost them. So…I’ll do my best to support your son and get Ash back. I’ll become a hero and I’ll do my best!” He said with determination.
“Well said, Shinsou.” Yamada said before also bowing towards mom’s grave. “They’ve already said what I might say, so I just wanna say thank you and I’m sorry that you lost your life to one of our society’s ‘heroes’. We hope to make sure that tragedies like yours aren’t repeated by the actions of other heroes in the future.”
‘They’re all so sweet. Thank them all for me.’ Mom said.
“M-Mom said thank you…” Izuku said. “Her Quirk vestige did, I mean. It seems she can talk to me freely now too.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get over that you can just talk to your parents.” Yadama said.
“It’s still not the same as having them here.” Izuku said sadly.
“Oh.” Wait. Someone else was here. “I didn’t think someone would be visiting Inko today. We can come back in a bit if we’re gonna be in the way.” Auntie…
‘Izuku.’ Dad wanted to remind him that they couldn’t know. That they shouldn’t know that Izuku’s here. If Doctor Garaki hasn’t gone after them now though…actually… ‘I see. It’s a mutual stalemate of destruction. You’d never kill, but there’s an exception that comes in the form of Katsuki. If Garaki ever did anything, you wouldn’t guarantee the safety of him or anyone else if he ever poked his head out again. He must have fortunately come to that assumption and preferred safety. Still. Telling them to then leave might not be the best decision.’
“We were just about to leave. Our son wanted to pay respect to the woman who helped him while he was alone and on the streets.” Aizawa quickly covered as he patted Izuku’s head. Izuku turned to see everyone. Auntie, Uncle and Kacchan. “She didn’t know he was a homeless orphan, but she probably saved his life.”
Izuku nodded silently and made himself look nervous. Fortunately Izuku told them all about the Bakugous. He had to alter his voice with Yamada’s Quirk. He just needed his voice to be a little off. “I had to thank her for that…” Izuku said. He probably caught the others off guard, but it didn’t matter.
“She was a wonderful woman.” Uncle said. “It’s a shame Hisashi couldn’t be laid here as well.”
‘I appreciate the sentiment, but I am technically still alive.’ Dad said.
‘Not really though.’ Izuku replied back.
“I was hoping Deku would be here.” Kacchan grumbled. Izuku was there, but he shouldn’t tell them that he was right in front of them.
Izuku wanted to hint though. He needed to tell them that Tenchan was gone. “While I was on the streets, I believe Wildcard said something about missing a blonde friend with spiky hair and red eyes.” He said. “He’s…he’s alone now. Ash disappeared.”
“He what?” Auntie, as well as the others, seemed shocked.
“Kidnapped. I think. Wildcard didn’t like talking about it.” Izuku said, trying to hold back his own tears. “He’s gonna try to rescue him when he can, but it’s too dangerous at the moment.” And Izuku couldn’t see them with Search. “He’s gathering strength and allies and they will help save him as soon as they can.”
“Where is he?” Kacchan asked seriously, but Izuku knew it was a demand.
Izuku shrugged. “I couldn’t tell you. He could be anywhere or be anyone. He has so many Quirks. That includes a warping one and a shapeshifting one. All I know is that he misses you a lot. Misses Ash a lot. He wants to go home, but can’t.” He said before stepping closer to Aizawa’s side. “I haven’t seen him since being taken under Aizawa’s care. I’m sorry I can’t help you more, but that’s all I know…”
“Dammit.” Kacchan said, but he looked Izuku right in the eyes. “Well. If you see him again, let him know I’m still goin’ to UA and he best be coming too. I don’t care if he’s a vigilante. I don’t care if he’s trying to hide across the country, if he’s staying nearby or if he’s right in front of me .” He emphasised that last part. Kacchan knew or was at least prodding for affirmation. How did he know?
‘You didn’t change your mannerisms, Bunny. Katsuki probably knows them off by heart.’ Dad said. Maybe Izuku could use this opportunity...
“He best still become a hero along with me when the time comes. Even if he still needs to hide away. I won’t let him lose our dream.” Kacchan said. “Now…move it.”
“O-Okay.” Izuku replied. “It was nice meeting you, Kacchan .”
“Only Deku gets to call me that.” Kacchan said seriously, but the gleam in his eye and slightly upturning lip meant he got what Izuku was saying. “What’s your name?”
“Mikumo Akatani.” Izuku said.
“Akatani.” Kacchan nodded. “If you see Wildcard again…make sure you wish him a happy birthday from me and tell him that he needs to stay safe.”
“I’ll pass along the message if I can.” Izuku said. “But I’m sure he already knows you’re looking out for him.” He looked towards Aizawa and Yamada. “We’ve got to go, so we’ll leave you to pay respect to Mrs Midoriya.” His tongue felt sour after not calling her mom, but he couldn’t let them know here and now. Kacchan caught onto that.
“Maybe I’ll see you around again, Akatani .” Kacchan said. Their promise is still burning in his eyes. Izuku would still make his way into UA. That’s what his identity was for.
“Perhaps we will. I plan on going to UA after all.” Izuku said.
Leaving after all of that felt bittersweet, but Kacchan at least knew he was safe and was with people. Kacchan knew that Izuku wasn’t alone and in active danger since people were looking after him. They couldn’t keep meeting up after this though, because if anyone did observe the Bakugo’s, they could assume ‘Akatani’ was Izuku. While they might not harm the Bakugos, they could either be heroes looking for Izuku or they could be villains who would know Izuku’s identity.
Hopefully they still found each other again at some point…
~~~~~~~~
Izuku got back to the house and collapsed onto the sofa. Kenzo jumped up and sat on his lap immediately. Right. He'd known Izuku was emotionally drained for the day. Izuku wasn’t going to pet him though. He had Sumi for that job and that cat loved attention. So much so that he also jumped onto Izuku’s lap and curled up around Kenzo. The pair looked so cute.
“Hey Kiddo. How are you feeling?” Yamada asked quietly. The cats seemed to be going to sleep, so no one wanted to disturb them.
“I’m…okay. Or will be.” Izuku said, gently threading his hand through Sumi’s fur. “Those were the Bakugo’s.” Izuku said. He’d told them about them and about Kacchan, but they may not have concluded that the family they ran into was them. “Kacchan knows who I am. Though I did confirm it to him.”
“So that’s why you called that boy ‘Kacchan’.” Yamada hummed. “I thought you weren’t letting them know about you?”
“I wasn’t planning on allowing it, but me and dad realised that they’re not gonna target them.” Izuku sighed. “It’d equal mutually assured destruction and the villain doesn’t wanna risk that. So he’d most likely leave them alone. Kacchan’s probably not going to tell his parents anyway, but-but I needed him to know.”
Yamada chuckled a little before placing his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “You do what you feel is right. If you think that it’s okay to let your best friend know you’re alive, then I believe it’ll be fine too.”
“Do you want food ordering?” Aizawa came into the room and asked. Izuku was glad the topic of chatter was moving on, because Izuku didn’t want to keep thinking about leaving Kacchan again. “It seems like a cheat day.”
“That was a few days ago. Shinsou’s birthday was our cheat day.” Izuku pointed out.
“Well…I’m not going to be healthy in three days either.” Yamada said. “It’s my birthday and I wanna celebrate.”
Oh god. Why are everyone’s birthdays so close together?! “Is this a secret plot to make us all gain weight?” He joked slightly. His stomach felt like it was preparing for the worst though. If they were gonna get takeout anyway… “Can we get katsudon from somewhere?”
“Oh?” Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “Anything special about katsudon?”
“It’s just my favourite…” Izuku replied. “Pork katsudon to be precise.”
“Then we’ll find somewhere to order that from.” Yamada cheered, causing Kenzo to open his eyes and hiss lightly. “Sorry.” He apologised to the cat. Kenzo snuggled back into Sumi’s warmth before closing his eyes again.
Izuku got comfortable before closing his own eyes. He was tired, both due to emotional exhaustion and lack of adequate sleep. He was already stuck here with Sumi and Kenzo sitting on him, so it was perfect. He’d just rest for a bit before dinner. Tomorrow…tomorrow they’d be visiting Nezu to confirm Kenzo’s existence and see if he’d help with him. Nezu was the perfect person to help Kenzo though…hopefully everything went smoothly.
Notes:
I hope you've all enjoyed!
I think I'm gonna step back from organising posts every Sunday for now. I might still post on Sundays, but constraining myself isn't working atm, so I'm just gonna relax a little. I hope you all understand.
In other news, for any Honkai Star Rail enjoyers (/pain experiencers) - I got Phainon, his LC AND Tribbie! And the recent 3.4 quest...omg. I wish any other player luck with their pulls (if you're pulling),
See you in the next one!
Chapter 23: Impromptu Questioning
Summary:
Izuku and everyone go to speak to Nezu about Kenzo, but things go sideways as a surprise visitor causes issues.
Notes:
HI everyone. I know it's been a little while, sorry about that. I know I said I wasn't going to constrain myself to weekly, but I wasn't planning on taking too long. Part of this is that my motivation is just running low, but part of this was also being pulled into different games and just not being able to focus on writing. Anyhow. I still hope you enjoy this chapter!
Warning(s):
Manipulation
Threat of murder(? - You'll understand when you get there)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nezu was intrigued. Shouta never requested his help for anything unless it was extremely important. The fact that he’d not informed Nezu of the problem was even more of a surprise. Detective Tsukauchi was in the room as they had to collaborate on the Quirk-destroying, or what Nezu suspects as Quirk-stealing, child vigilante. The detective has no clue about All For One, so they’d have no reason to believe the Quirks were stolen and not just destroyed by another Quirk. He was being quite reserved though and cited that Shouta had knowledge of the vigilante too and was encountering him semi-regularly. This meetup was a good opportunity for him to prod Shouta and Hizashi’s brains on the matter.
“I have Shouta and Hizashi arriving soon to talk about something mysterious. I’m quite excited to see what they’ve got for me.” Nezu said. Tsukauchi didn’t seem as excited, but that’s to be expected.
“Do you mind if I stick around? They were talking to me about a kid who they needed to register legally into the system and it seems perfect to talk about that here if they’re coming.” Tsukauchi asked.
“I don’t mind.” Nezu nodded. “Take a seat and help yourself to tea. We can all talk about Wildcard and his antics with them to corroborate our information too.”
“Agreed.” Tsukauchi nodded.
After about fifteen minutes of talking and waiting, Shouta entered the room with Hizashi, two children and a kitten. The kids were fine. However, cats were a hit and miss with Nezu…the calm ones were alright, but some were too instinctual and sensed the mouse part of his mutations. Those ones were less friendly. “What brings you here today then?” Nezu asked, eyeing the kitten warily.
“Meow.” The kitten let out a small noise, but was staring into Nezu’s eyes.
“He was likely answering you.” Shouta said. “Our ward called him Kenzo, because that’s what the kitten agreed to. Kenzo likely has a Quirk.” Another meow accompanied that. Cats usually let out noises either to gain attention for their wants or needs, if they are hungry, if they are injured or if they’re actually just content. This kitten was looking more calculated and collected with no outside stimulus. He had also seemed to be responding to their conversation.
“Considering his behaviour is already seeming abnormal, I can probably confirm that.” Nezu said. “An animal with a Quirk…just like myself. What a rare find you are.” The kitten hissed slightly at his remark. He’s being precautious, which is fair. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. As I’ll repeat, you’re like myself. As in, I’m also an animal with a Quirk. I just hope you avoided being experimented on.” He said as he looked at the children. “Who are the children? You mentioned wards?”
“I’m formally fostering Hitoshi Shinsou. Have been for a few weeks after finding out he’s been in a rough position. The other is Mikumo Akatani. He’s a vigilante off the street, but he has no record of birth, so there was no way of signing for his fostership.” Shouta said. No record of birth? That’s highly unusual.
Tsukauchi cleared his throat. “That means I’m legally obligated to rectify that. You can enact your fostering procedures after that, but this is important to do now down at the station.”
“No.” Akatani said. “I wasn’t prepared to do this today. We’re only here for Kenzo.”
“I can’t really put the matter of nationality or identity down due to laws. I’m sorry.” Tsukauchi said.
“Alright.” Shouta sighed. “Akatani. I trust you’ll be fine. Just tell him what you told us.”
Akatani’s head dropped a little before letting out a sigh. “Okay. I just wanted this to happen in the comfort of our home…”
“I know.” Shouta replied before putting a hand on the kid’s head. “You’ve got this.”
As much as Nezu wanted to be helpful, he was also nosy and wanted to know about this child. Either way, this was the perfect time for him to jump in. As emotional attachments, Shouta and Hizashi cannot legally represent the child and Nezu had a legal qualification. That comes with the fact that he had to represent himself to be considered as a sentient being on the level of humans. “How about we do the process here? Shouta and Hizashi are unable to be neutral candidates when vouching for Akatani’s legal status, but I am not. I have a qualification in law and I am a neutral party. I’m sure they want to go home quickly and Kenzo will probably get tired of padding around here eventually.”
“If everyone’s okay to do that, then I find it acceptable.” Tsukauchi said. If Nezu had to pin the group’s expressions, they seemed slightly worried. Whether that was because he was getting involved in general or because they didn’t want him to know things…he would figure that out. This wasn’t going to take long.
~
Izuku didn’t like this one bit. Whether Nezu was genuinely trying to be helpful or was trying to get into their business, both were bad. They weren’t prepared, nor were they wanting Nezu to possibly further his involvement. Yet they couldn’t leave now. Leaving meant giving a reason and giving a reason would be too hasty or too obvious, especially to Nezu. That only left them to accept and do the questioning here before files were sent off and ‘Akatani’ was a registered Japanese civilian.
“That’s acceptable.” Izuku confirmed. He couldn’t let Aizawa or Yamada speak for him. They may have all come to the same conclusion, but Nezu knows those two too well to pick apart their mannerisms. Hell, he might have already sensed that something was off. “I never did catch your name.” He said as he approached the officer and held his hand out.
“I’m Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi.” He said and took Izuku’s hand in return.
Lie detection of speech. Can discern between half truth and truth.
Oh…well that’s going to be a pain in the ass, because how does one explain this situation without being able to even partially lie? They broke apart and Izuku decided to sit on one of the seats. “I’m going to have to record this. Is that agreeable?”
“Sure.” Izuku said shortly. The detective pulled out a recorder and started it up.
“This is Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. I am currently at UA high school interviewing an unregistered child who needs to be cleared for Japanese nationality.” Tsukauchi said. “Acting as a neutral party and lawyer is Principal Nezu of UA High School. Other official witnesses are Shouta Aizawa and Hizashi Yamada, though they are not neutral parties as they are housing this child and will not be permitted to add any input. Before continuing, I have to tell you my Quirk for legal reasons. My Quirk is Lie Detector, I can detect lies. Now please confirm your names and attendance.” Detect lies…oh how Izuku wished it was that simple, but of course he had to make people feel comfortable about circumventing
“Shouta Aizawa, confirming identity.” Aizawa said.
“Yo. I’m Hizashi Yamada.” Yamada said.
“And I’m the acting lawyer today, Hero and UA Principal, Nezu.” Nezu responded.
“Now for the child in question. Could you please identify yourself?” Tsukauchi asked.
This is technically true, because it’s an alias that he has to stick to. He’d have to quickly make up an excuse as to why it’s not his real name. “I’m Mikumo Akatani.”
“Half True. Can you explain why my Quirk detected that?” Tsukauchi asked.
“I had to come up with a new identity for myself.” Izuku said.
“True. And why’s that?” Tsukauchi asked.
“To escape my father. He’s a villain.” Izuku admitted. And that was the whole truth.
“True. So what was your previous name?” Tsukauchi asked.
‘Remember, people other than Katsuki knowing your identity could put them in danger.’ Dad said. He knew that…
“I can’t say. It’d put you all in danger.” Izuku said. “My dad’s too powerful, he has people on the inside of establishments. Even the police. I can’t tell you.”
“True.” Tsukauchi responded slowly. He seemed slightly taken aback by that statement. “Okay, so you can’t tell us who you are? Not even in confidence?”
“No. I can’t.” Izuku said. “I need to go by this new name. That’s all I can say about my identity.”
“True. Understood. So how about your parents? Were they Japanese naturals?” Tsukauchi said.
“Both were born and raised in Japan and to Japanese nationals, yes.” Izuku replied.
“That’s good.” Tsukauchi said. “As natural citizens, regardless of your father’s status as a villain, you’re a natural born Japanese citizen too. So we’ve got your new identity and you have the right to be here from your Japanese birthright. So what about your birthday?”
How the hell was he supposed to get around that? ‘You don’t. However, they say that the odds of someone sharing birthdays in a room of thirty is higher than people expect. So telling the truth would be coincidental.’ Dad explained.
“It’s the fifteenth of July. 22xx.” Izuku said.
“True.” Tsukauchi hummed. “That’s spooky.” He said quietly. “Well, with that I formally close the registration of your nationality and citizenship.” He said before shutting the recording off.
“That was simple.” Izuku said. Much more simpler and shorter than he thought it’d be.
“Well. It’s usually longer for orphans of foreigners or those that don’t actually know their parents’ nationality. Plus, I might have to come back, but I’m not taking much time at the moment because of the dire situation you’re in. Can I ask who your parents are though?” Tsukauchi asked. Shit.
“I don’t believe that matters, Detective.” Nezu cut in. “But might I ask a question myself?”
“Um…sure.” Tsukauchi looked a little concerned.
“Though the birthday could be coincidental and anyone’s father could have that much power in the system, the reluctance to reveal one’s parents and real name is odd. The fact that you’re going to essentially be shrouded in mystery and gain citizenship under an alias is still a security risk, especially as a self proclaimed vigilante. No one else would notice either…but your face shape is quite familiar. You’re Izuku Midoriya, correct?” Nezu knew. He knew from the damned start because of Izuku’s reluctance to change his eye or face shape. Dammit. He couldn’t even lie with Tsukauchi in the room! “Not to mention, my previous students, and children I do care about, have tells I can pick up on.”
“Akatani you don’t have to-” Aizawa wanted to protect him, but the ruse was up.
“Yes.” Izuku said bitterly before dropping his Quirks that disguised him. “I’m Izuku Midoriya.”
“True.” Tsukauchi looked shellshocked. “We thought you might have been killed in the attack in the other part of Musutafu.”
“Well I wasn’t, because my dad knew of the growing situation and had us stay out on patrol in a different region. However, my dad was killed.” Izuku growled. “By All Might.”
“Right. That.” Nezu said. Izuku spotted that the Principal’s hand was moving. Probably to press an emergency button or send a message.
“Ah ah.” Izuku activated speed boosting Quirks and rushed to Nezu’s side. “You don’t get to call for others. I was only here for Kenzo and you’ve made this so much more complicated!” He said as he copied Nezu’s Quirk and activated Tsukauchi’s Lie Detector Quirk.
“I wasn’t going to call for help. I was, however, going to let people know you were alive and well. All Might’s been worried about you and Tenko Shimura’s safety.” Nezu said truthfully.
“He wouldn’t have had to worry if he didn’t kill my dad!” Izuku said. “Dad was winding in the villain groups. He was controlling them to do less bad shit, but congrats. Thanks to All Might killing him, the part of him that was only All For One has now returned to the living, because his doctor revived his corpse and altered his memories. Because of that, he’s now kidnapped and likely brainwashed Tenko into being a villain!” He let out a small growl. “Why couldn’t you all just stay out of our business? We were fine!”
“True…That was all true?” Tsukauchi looked horrified. “Why the hell would All Might kill Hisashi Midoriya? The man seemed intense when I met him, but he seemed to be on the right side of justice. His wife was killed, so he was rightfully angry and upset, but he…he was okay.”
Nezu’s expression dropped. “While I can’t explain everything in detail, I can say this. Hisashi Midoriya was a supervillain known as All For One. He could give and take Quirks, though he never gave them without making the receiver be in his debt.”
“The Quirk boogieman…” Tsukauchi muttered in shock. Izuku decided to let that title just pass them by.
“Except he stopped doing those entrapment deals. He wanted to do better.” Izuku said towards Nezu.
“He could have lied to you. He’s manipulative.” Nezu said, expect…
“I copied a lie detecting Quirk from him. He couldn’t lie to me and unlike everyone else, he was straight talking with me regardless of whether I had the Quirk or not. Dad. Did. Not. Want. To. Stay. A. Villain.” Izuku said angrily. How dare they keep judging his dad for his past misdeeds!
“True.” Tsukauchi confirmed.
“Well then…what about the Quirk your father was after? If you know about it, that is.” Nezu asked.
‘I would have chosen you over One For All. No compromising or going for both, considering that’s a part of what led to me losing your mother.’ Dad said. He’d already made his point before, but hearing it again still made Izuku feel upset that everything ended this way.
“He’s already told me truthfully that he’d have forsaken it if it meant we were together.” Izuku said and Tsukauchi nodded.
“And what about you? What’s your plan for All Might now that he’s killed your father and that your father’s revived form is a villain again?” Nezu asked.
“My plan is to actually end the damned feud. I just want peace for me, my dad and my brother.” Izuku asked. “I still love All Might as a hero. He’s my inspiration. As a person, he’s lost my respect, but at the same time I understand why he went after dad and didn’t trust his words. Dad killed All Might’s mentor and forced All Might to leave the country to be safer while training.” He collected himself before continuing. “I’m going to use my collective of Quirks to heal dad’s permanent injuries and return him back to how he was mentally. I’m also going to return Tenchan and my uncle figure that’s under All For One’s control.”
“The future…Nighteye said your father was healed and you and your father brought All Might to his knees, but for some reason you didn’t kill him as he made it to old age.” Nezu’s eyes were wide. “We thought it might be because All Might wins, but if it’s your influence over your father-”
“We influenced each other. I attached myself to vigilantism after my mom died. I became more assertive when I needed to be and I am stronger due to his training. Meanwhile, I-I brought his humanity back to him bit by bit. Well…part of that was because of a Quirk incident, but he could have gone back to his old ways. Instead of that happening, both myself and my mom saved him.” Izuku said. If that was Nighteye’s future, then Nezu couldn’t disrupt that. Add on the fact that he’s with Aizawa and Yamada, people who Nezu probably didn’t wish to scorn… “I’m sure you want that future where All Might lives, right? That means I have to be able to get back to my dad and undo all the crap that’s been done to him without being found out. No one outside of this room can know that I am Izuku Midoriya. Not even All Might.”
Nezu seemed to be processing everything. “Surely there are other pathways to success. There are always multiple solutions to problems and there will be multiple for this one.”
Izuku frowned. “Multiple pathways against All For One? You’re acting like my dad didn’t meticulously plan everything out when it came to things. Now All For One’s all that’s there and he is still a meticulous planner. No. He’ll be crueller than ever now.” He turned to Tsukauchi. “How much do you both know about All Might and the recent events?”
“All Might’s been taking a small vacation. Why?” Tsukauchi asked.
“I see.” Nezu sighed. “All Might was badly injured in his fight against All For One. He’s recovering now though.”
“Doubt it.” Izuku said. “Surviving and healing, sure. Recovering? He’s never gonna get back to his former self. Considering the injury he got has put him out of action this badly even with healing Quirks, he’ll likely deteriorate over time and that’s what All For One’s gonna plan for. He’ll go for the long game and plan for All Might’s retirement, and that’s likely the event Nighteye foresaw. That’s the event I need to be at to destroy All For One and bring my father’s personality and memories back. Everything has to go right, even if that’s at the expense of All Might’s time as a hero.”
“I thought you liked All Might overall?” Tsukauchi asked.
“Yes. And?” Izuku shook his head. “I want my dad here. I want him to be my dad and not some psychopath. We’re not gonna kill All Might or even try to badly injure him.”
‘I might, considering the buffoon decided to ignore my words of reason and kill me.’ Dad huffed. He was definitely pouting.
‘Dad.’
‘Yes. Alright, I know. I won’t kill him or rough him up too badly, but I still want to humiliate him.’ Dad said. It was likely that that was going to happen as part of the event coming in the future anyhow.
“This still really makes no sense. All For One’s been described as a monster, a manipulator and uncaring. I’ve seen the situations he’s left people in and the bodies he’s left behind.” Nezu said.
“In the past ten years. How many incidents have been rightfully attributed to All For One?” Izuku asked. “What’s the pattern?”
“Lowering amounts…” Nezu said.
“Exactly. There would still be some like drug rings and sales, because he was controlling them. He was trying to limit everything in the best way he could without losing control of the underground. He was keeping society safer in his own way, but you watch those numbers now. You watch those numbers rocket back up, because of both All Might’s new limitations and All For One’s return.” Izuku said. “We have to do this my way or else we won’t get anywhere. I know you’re trying to find ways around it, Nezu. I know you’re trying to find a way where you don’t have to betray All Might in any way and that’s understandable, but for this to work, I need you to work with me. I need you to work with me too, Tsukauchi…”
“I never thought I’d be in this situation. While All Might cares for both you and Tenko Shimura, you’re trying to effectively return his lifelong enemy to his prime and betray him.” Nezu seemed to be in disbelief.
“Betray is a strong term.” Izuku said. “I’m not going to let All Might die or be killed or stop heroics anytime soon if I can help it. Hell. If he actually wants to cooperate with me after everything’s over, I’d welcome it. I just want both parties to be on neutral terms. Look. I just want my dad back and you would prefer him over All For One too, but I can’t guarantee All Might will survive an encounter with him if we don’t work together and take him down.”
“Surely that doesn’t just hinge on you?” Nezu was being stubborn and for once, irrational. Great.
“I’m done with this.” Izuku let out a heated sigh. “I have multiple Quirks. Do you think any normal hero is going to take All For One down? No. Do you think All Might can in his condition? Because I don’t unless All For One goes easy. Even then, All For One will probably plan to force Tenko away from us. He’ll want to keep Tenko as safe as possible. I have Search from Ragdoll and I can’t even sense them right now. That’s how far away they are and it’s on purpose.” He said. “And now. Now if you try to go in your own direction I will work against you. I’ll have to leave the safety Aizawa and Yadama provide for me.”
“Midoriya.” Yamada looked shocked and saddened. Izuku would apologise later. This was purely to manipulate Nezu. He was already close to listening to reason, this would throw him over the edge.
“I would have to leave Shinsou. I’d have to leave Kenzo.”
“Meow!” Kenzo didn’t like that either and Shinsou, while being quiet, was looking upset. He’d definitely owe them all apologies.
“And I’d have to treat everyone else like a threat.” Izuku said seriously. “Search doesn’t just let me see you, remember? It lets me identify your weakness. Though your one is obvious and well…I still have the Quirk All For One at my disposal.” He said. He had to circumvent Tsukauchi’s truth Quirk and nothing he said was remotely a half truth, but it had its implications.
“You’re threatening me?” Nezu said. He was trying to hide his emotions, but Izuku could tell he was scared.
“You’re not listening to me. You haven’t been listening properly or thinking rationally. I want to work with you. I want to stay in safety and work with the heroes. I want to be a hero. So do not take that away from me.” Izuku demanded seriously. “Otherwise I’d have to work against you in all ways possible.”
Nezu was eerily quiet and was probably reevaluating his thoughts. After a few minutes he seemed to be ready to talk again. “I concede,” he said, “I was letting my bias of All Might cloud my judgement. You were right on how to approach this, even if I dislike it.” Izuku looked towards Tsukauchi.
“True.” Tsukauchi responded.
“Good. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for threatening you. I wouldn’t have taken your Quirk no matter what, because that’s effectively killing you. I-I would never want to hurt you.” Izuku said.
“True.” Tsukauchi sighed. He had known Izuku was lying, but was letting Izuku get to his point. Interesting.
“You…manipulated me.” Nezu said, calming down before looking towards Tsukauchi. “And you allowed it.”
“I did. I wanted to see what Midoriya was up to and whether or not you’d agree with him.” Tsukauchi said. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Nezu sighed. “Midoriya?”
“I had to manipulate you. You weren’t seeing things properly and scaring you was the last way to get you to think clearly.” Izuku said before turning to everyone else and going back to them. “I-I didn’t mean what I said either. I wasn’t going to hurt you all like that. I’m sorry.”
“I thought as much.” Aizawa sighed.
“Nezu, can I ask you a question now that you’re thinking clearly?” Izuku asked. After hearing about Nighteye’s vision, he needed to know when that was going to occur to know what to do and what to plan for.
“Go ahead.” Nezu said. Either he had actually processed everything and was calm again or he had a mask on, either way worked though.
“How far into the future was Nighteye’s vision?” Izuku asked.
“Around six years.” Six years? Six years?! Six years without dad. Six years that Tenchan would be lost and under dad’s control. He was prepared for a couple, but-but…This wasn’t right. No! No…
Izuku collapsed to his knees. That was too long. That was too far away. That’s-that’d be a third of his life when the time came. Why? Why did it have to be years? Of course fate had to be fickle. Six years without his family…it was going to be torture and there was nothing he could do about it.
Notes:
I know I've looked over this a few times already, but if anyone spots anything off/has constructive criticism, let me know!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 24: Moving on Forwards
Notes:
Hi! I'm back again and now I'm ahead in drafted chapters! In time for me to go away for the week too so I won't be at my computer. Idk how to feel about the title though, but I have no time to deliberate (Literally going out in like an hour) - I'll look over possibly renaming the chapter or leaving it blank later. For now, enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku felt many arms around him and a warm, fluffy thing curling against his neck. What the? He broke down in the office, didn’t he? Because-because it was going to be six long years without his dad. That could apply to Tenchan too, because there’d be no way to get him back while All For One had him on lock and key. Dammit.
“It’s going to be okay. No matter how long things will take, we’ll help you save your family.” Yamada said soothingly. Did his Quirk work more than amplifying sound waves? Izuku had to suppose that the Quirk did register as vocal sound manipulation before and not a vocal amplification.
“I’m sorry, Midoriya.” Nezu? “I guess this will be a rough experience for all of us.” He said. “I won’t say anything to All Might, considering the course of action needs to be secure. As much as I trust him to do the right thing most of the time, his emotions towards All For One would cloud his judgments and he’d intervene. Tsukauchi, you need to continue with that identity registration. Mikumo Akatani will have to be Midoriya’s identity if we want things to go smoothly.”
“That’s not…that could get me into a lot of trouble.” Tsukauchi said. “But overhearing how delicate the situation is means I have to take this seriously. I’ll keep everything quiet. If you have plans though, I’d rather be kept in the loop and Midoriya?”
“Yeah?” Izuku responded. Everyone soon moved away from him and Kenzo jumped back to the floor so Izuku could actually see the man.
“Consider this your official warning about vigilantism. I can tell it’s not gonna matter, but I do still have a job to do. I have a feeling you’re Wildcard, which means the commission hates you and I’m not sure to what extent they’ll go to stop you. They know that there’s a Hero on the case, but there’s been no arrest, so they’re gonna escalate sooner or later.” Tsukauchi said.
Aizawa groaned. “They’re gonna be on my ass, aren’t they?”
“Probably.” Tsukauchi shrugged. “I’ll be on my way. I’m glad that it turned out that you’re safe, Midoriya. Shouta. Take care of him.”
“Trying my best already.” Aizawa huffed as Tsukauchi got to the doorway. “You alright, Kid?”
Izuku was hesitant, but eventually nodded. “I will be. This-this is just another delay.”
“I get you’re putting a brave face on, because you want to be strong, but you are allowed to feel and express your emotions more than just when you break.” Aizawa said as he placed a firm hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
“I’ll talk later. I just wanna go back to your house and relax.” Izuku said quietly. “Please.”
“Of course.” Aizawa nodded.
“Can I say one thing before I actually leave.” Tsukauchi asked.
“Go ahead.” Nezu confirmed.
“It’s more for Midoriya.” Tsukauchi said.
“What do you need to ask?” Izuku asked. He was curious.
“Can you stop taking people’s Quirks? Or at least, can you give them back to the people you take them off before the police get to them. I can understand the necessities of stopping someone until further notice, but when people no longer keep their Quirks the HPSC seems to tend towards becoming more combative.” Tsukauchi explained. Izuku had gotten too into his routine. He’d take the Quirks from undeserving individuals and destroy them…
‘I still think it’s not necessary to give them back.’ Dad grumbled.
‘Honey. It’s about Izuku’s safety, rather than…what might be ‘better’.’ Mom said warily.
It was probably better to stop the HPSC from getting any closer anyway. It was the logical thing to do. “I’ll try to give them back where I can.” Izuku said. “Sorry for causing problems.”
“It’ll be alright.” Tsukauchi said. “I’ll try to keep them off your case. Plus. If you stop taking Quirks it’s more than likely they won’t know it’s you. As for the people you’ve already left Quirkless. Some people were given warnings and were probably released. You could probably give them a visit if you feel like you need or want to.” Izuku didn’t know if he wanted to do that though. People who use their powers in dangerous ways would probably end up killing someone. Whether they mean to or not, it’s better for them to be powerless over being able to lose control and kill someone. “I know you probably understand that there’s a lot of things that contribute to people’s actions. Perhaps learning from some of the people that were released might help you with your perspective.” Tsukauchi said before disappearing through the door.
‘He’s…not technically wrong. Remember, my life originally started as an orphan with my brother and even after being taken in by a family, we were quickly left to die again.’ Dad said. ‘Some villains have situations like my own or worse in some regards, and can’t handle it mentally or physically. I was an exception because I will admit that I was strong and extremely sociopathic even when young. I killed people for safety, but also to get stronger. Most villains cannot do that or will not cross that line easily. At least, not in the beginning where they’re trying to survive without actually harming people. Where they’re trying to survive while still feeling like they have things to lose.’
‘I…know. I thought I knew, but I was overdoing it.’ Izuku said. ‘I’ll talk to some of the villains then. If they’ll allow it. I did destroy their Quirks and got rid of their vestiges, but I hope the copies will help them if they need their Quirks back. The heroes should have known better though.’
‘Most definitely.’ Dad confirmed. ‘I wish you luck with the villains. Expect some to be angry.’
‘I will.’ Izuku said. ‘And I’ll be careful.’
“Midoriya?” Aizawa was looking at him worriedly.
“Sorry Aizawa. Was deep in thought.” He wasn’t going to reveal that he could still talk to his dad to Nezu. That’d be a whole other can of worms. However, he did have one request. “Nezu sir. I have something I need to ask of you. If that’s okay?”
Nezu hummed. “Of course. Is it about the villains you removed the Quirks of?”
“I can find the villains easily with my copy of Ragdoll’s Search.” Izuku said. “I uh…I have a Quirk that needs extreme medical knowledge and precise control for me to use it efficiently on people. I have your Quirk and I’ve already trained my general Quirk control with it decently, but if I’m going to use it to save someone or perhaps save a limb, then I need to know how to rebuild and reconstruct different bodily parts. I can get a sense of someone’s current state by using the Quirk and I can restore people by using that instinct, but other than that…” He wasn’t going to mention Rewind that was sitting in his stockpile still gathering time though. The amount of time he’s stockpiled is already enough. He could feel that the Quirk had already stored enough time, so now he had the ability to use it to do brief rewinds. Though if he kept storing it into the future he may actually have enough to work with in hero stuff.
“I see. A complicated Quirk, but one that could be useful. Does it rearrange matter or can it restore missing parts?” Nezu asked.
“Rearrange.” Izuku replied. “It’s atomic disassemblement and reassemblement.”
“Hmm.” Nezu seemed to go into thought. “There’s no harm in you learning ways to use a Quirk in a helpful way instead of it being something that seems destructive or dangerous. I’d have to mention it to Recovery Girl and have you work with her though. I won’t reveal your identity other than being Shouta’s new child. However, that can be settled sometime in the future. You should go home for now.”
“That’s what we’re planning on doing.” Yamada said. His body was taught. Izuku could tell from his voice being slightly strained as he replied to Nezu. He was likely angry at Nezu. Izuku though…he just wanted to go back to their place for now. Kenzo jumped into his arms before making his way back up to Izuku’s neck and curling against him. The soft purrs were relaxing.
They were out of the room quickly after that. Izuku was mentally checked out and decided to focus on slowly petting Kenzo, which Kenzo obviously permitted or the kitten would have lightly swatted him. Aizawa gave him permission to warp them home after that, so they were quickly home and Izuku went to nap…that conversation was too much.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku decided he’d talk after getting a cup of tea. He wanted to air things out and properly make up for his behaviour. He had threatened to leave this family. A family that had grown too attached to him. There was also Kenzo. Izuku had managed to understand the cat and that kitten had trusted Izuku enough to take him to their house. Izuku then turned around and threw away that trust in the conversation, even if it was just for show. It was obvious by how clingy Kenzo was now that he didn’t wholly trust Izuku.
“I’m sorry, Kenzo. For scaring you like that. I really wasn’t gonna do anything as drastic as leaving you.” Izuku said as he scratched under Kenzo’s chin and sipped his tea. It was kinda funny how comfortable Kenzo was with him considering the kitten probably wouldn’t have allowed anyone to do this with others. Kenzo did soon nip him though, so that was probably the indicator to stop.
“You alright to talk, Kid?” Aizawa asked cautiously.
Izuku nodded. “Yeah. Everything was just…a lot. I was hoping we’d get past Nezu. Realistically, I shouldn’t have gone with you all, but I wasn’t going to talk much until Tsukauchi got involved and Kenzo needed me there.” Kenzo rubbed his head against Izuku’s hand. Probably in appreciation. “Six years is too long.”
“I know. That doesn’t mean that it will take six years for you to save your brother or Shirakumo though.” Aizawa said. It was reasonable, but.
“All For One would raise hell if we’d saved both or either of them though, which isn’t the future Nighteye saw. Warp Gate is too genetically complex for the doctor to copy, so losing that Quirk too early would mean he would want to get it back immediately. Then for Tenko…All For One wouldn’t dare lose his vessel too early, which is why the warper is always with him or watching over him. It was like that before we became brothers and everything settled and it’ll be like that now.” Izuku explained. “Six years means Tenko will be twenty…he’ll be old enough for All For One to try to take over and that means their plan will be in the endgame. Everything will have to go right.”
‘You’re forgetting that the real Quirk is here. The copy of All For One will be so much weaker and knowing Tenko, he won’t succumb to a mere copy of me.” Dad said.
‘Even if the copy was made via me?’ Izuku asked.
‘My Quirk has part of me in it…as you can tell. Yours came from you so they probably have slivers of you as a primary source. Hell. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Quirks you make can’t have vestiges or grow into truly being someone’s Quirk. That’s not to say that they won’t fit a body perfectly, because it seems it does.’ Dad was rambling . Izuku understood what he meant though.
“If that’s the case, then we’ll still be prepared. Even if your brother will be twenty and Shirakumo will be…whatever he is, we’ll make sure to support them after their ordeal.” Aizawa said firmly. “We won’t let anyone abandon them just because of their ages and situation.”
Izuku let out a sigh of slight relief. “Good.” He still felt like he needed another distraction. “I…wanna patrol tonight.”
“No.” Yamada replied immediately. “You’ve got too much to process right now, Listener. Going out while distracted isn’t a good idea.”
Aizawa sighed as he looked towards Izuku. What was that supposed to mean? “I’ll go out on patrol with you.”
“Sho.” Yamada was being serious with him. Izuku was just causing problems…he should probably just sneak out tonight.
“He’s gonna go out regardless. I’d rather be with him tonight.” Aizawa said just as seriously.
Yamada sighed. “Then you’re calling tomorrow’s patrol off. No argument. That goes for you too, Midoriya.”
“Deal.” Aizawa said. Izuku hadn’t even agreed!
“I haven’t agreed to patrol with you nor to take tomorrow off!” Izuku said.
“I see. So you’re not taking the day before my birthday off?” Right. Yamada had said his birthday was coming up…Izuku was going to go out tomorrow night too, but he didn’t want to be exhausted when celebrating Yamada’s birthday. Damn this man for manipulating him, but Izuku did owe them after when he did in Nezu’s office.
“Alright. I’ll take tomorrow off.” Izuku pouted slightly. Crime doesn’t take a break!
“Rockin!” Yamada cheered. “Now…I’m thinking we get some grub.”
“We are not ordering more food.” Aizawa said immediately. “I may care for you slightly more than everyone else, but I for sure can’t allow us to eat more junk.”
“But Shooouuutaaaaa!” Yamada was now pouting. Uh oh.
“No arguments. We won’t be fit enough to do stuff if you keep plying us with unhealthy foods.” Aizawa said.
“Dang. There goes my secret plan to keep you here all to myself.” Yamada joked. “I’ll whip something up then. Then you can go out for patrol tonight.”
Sumi joined Kenzo in cuddling up to Izuku. Shinsou was being quiet. He hadn’t spoken the entire time they were back and it was probably due to Izuku’s actions. He’d talk to Shinsou tomorrow if he was still upset, but for now he’d let him have his space and won’t be pushy. At least patrol might be able to take his mind off of things, but even then it probably wouldn’t be interesting. Oh well…he’d just have to see how it goes.
Notes:
See you in the next one!
Chapter 25: The Orphanage
Summary:
Izuku and Shouta go out for their patrol, but Izuku realises something important that changes the trajectory of their priorities.
Notes:
Hi! I'm back from being away! So the title...if you can infer what it means then you know the timeline is off. It'll be explained - I'll clarify in the end notes though!
Warning(s):
Mentions of Quirkless discrimination
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They were back in the Shizuoka Prefecture. They were further away from where Izuku used to live. That area was still being reconstructed after dad and All Might totalled the area nearby the house. Izuku had greedily snuck in and grabbed some of the personal belongings back then. Most of those were pictures of his family though. Even though they held memories, the accessories, furniture and ornaments weren’t all too sentimental to him. The All Might posters were…he couldn’t look at those. He took and rolled up the more limited edition ones and picked up his All Might card. That card was sentimental, because he got it alongside Kacchan. All Might had signed it and that alongside the card itself would make the thing so expensive that only rabid collectors with large amounts of disposable income could buy it. He still wasn’t letting go of it though, because it means so much to him.
Izuku had an uneasy feeling as both he and Aizawa were patrolling around a more open street. There was an orphanage nearby, but it seemed eerily quiet even though its lights were on. He looked around a little at the name as they passed and there was apparently a board. It had the founders on it and collaborators that were helping fund it-Wait. One picture stood out. A chubby man with very distinct goggles. Doctor Garaki. His name was still Tsubasa on that board, but it was definitely Garaki.
‘Dad.’ Izuku tried to summon his dad to get his judgement.
‘Oh.’ Dad hummed. ‘This is…ah. Yeah, this place is gonna be awkward.’
‘Why?’ Izuku asked.
‘Because uh…I may have kidnapped Touya Todoroki after he almost burnt himself to death and had Garaki try to fix him. If Garaki followed my orders, it’s likely that the boy will still be here in a coma.’ Huh?! The Touya Todoroki that was Endeavor’s son and that was said to have died in a forest fire?! ‘Yes. He actually managed to get himself into a lake to cool down, but he almost killed himself. Considering what happened with him though, I fear he’ll be a mess of hatred. I wanted him as a backup vessel in case anything happened to Tenko. Actually, this whole place was meant for facilitating backup vessels. I was meaning to check up on him and I did order Garaki to try and ensure the boy’s prolonged survival after he awoke, but Garaki and his colleague in charge here didn’t mention anything about the boy waking up yet. He should have been up a few years ago, but I guess my specific order delayed them waking him up.’
‘Great. Then we need to get in there and help the guy.’ Izuku thought. ‘And any of the other kids really, because I doubt they’re safe here.’
“Eraser.” Izuku needed to stop them here.
“Psy?” Aizawa seemed confused and concerned. It was a fair reaction, but it wasn’t that bad. Yet. At least that reminded Izuku that he was not Wildcard at the moment, but he was the vigilante Psy and he could only use telekinetic Quirks.
“This man.” Izuku said as he pointed to Garaki’s photo. “Evil Doctor. Before you ask, I’m definitely sure it’s him. Dad also confirmed this place. There’s uh…dad did something villainous before and didn’t think to mention it.”
“Villainous and involving this orphanage?” Aizawa asked.
Izuku nodded. “It was kind of a blessing, since I think only he and The Doctor could pull it off, but dad kidnapped Touya Todoroki and had Garaki save his life. He’s here and in a coma.”
Aizawa looked more shellshocked than anything else. “The Todoroki kid that died? You’re sure that your father meant that one?”
“I confirmed it with him.” Izuku said definitively. “I assume whatever plan they have for him won’t be good if he stays here. We need to save him. As well as the other kids.”
“Psy. We can’t go in there without the facts. They might not even know the circumstances surrounding Todoroki and could have been supplied with information that made it seem legal to hold Todoroki there while he was healing.” Aizawa said logically. “We can’t legally do anything.”
“Then…Then I’m going in by myself.” Izuku said. “I have to see if he’s there and-and I can’t keep an establishment that was founded by him here.”
“Psy.” Aizawa was being more assertive. “ You can’t do anything here.”
Izuku chuckled. He understood what Aizawa was hinting at. “Then I guess I’ll be off.” He said before quickly portalling back to his room.
He had to change gear.
~~~~~~~~
Izuku warped back to the orphanage when he was in his other costume. He was ready to get in there, because he wanted to check on Touya Todoroki. What was Aizawa’s plan though, because he couldn’t legally go against the orphanage when there isn’t any visible issue. They needed a plan if Izuku was going to go around and try to find Todoroki.
“I’ll go in and distract whoever’s on the desk. If you’re gonna do this, you’re gonna have to be quick. Hopefully they let us look around at least.” Aizawa said before walking through the still open gates of the property. Izuku followed him cautiously. There were a few kids looking out of the window, but other than that there wasn’t much going on.
The walls of the building seemed alright. Like they weren’t hiding anything wrong. If this place was housing kids meant to be All For One’s back up vessels, then the person in charge likely knew their purpose too. The man at the desk was well built. He’d be ready for a fight, that was for sure. Izuku was intrigued by what his Quirk was though, because it made his face into somewhat of a sunflower. However, was it just that? Probably not if he’s in charge of something this important.
‘I could tell you.’ Dad offered, but Izuku could figure it out by just touching him. ‘I wouldn’t do that. He has a touch based Quirk. Just play along and find Todoroki at least. These kids have time before things go to hell, but Todoroki probably won’t have that luxury. He almost died due to mentally crashing out over his father’s neglect, he won’t be stable for long when he wakes and has time to think. However, if we can stop him before he goes fully over the edge he was pushed to, then I think we can steer his anger and pain into determination.’
Izuku chose to put the ‘Endeavor is a bad father’ comment to the side for the moment and focused on what he really needed to do. He needed to get to Todoroki and ensure that he could keep the boy mentally stable. “Welcome. It’s getting a little late for visitors, so I might have to ask you to come back tomorrow if you’re here for anything extensive.” The sunflower man said somewhat cheerfully, but he’d clocked that Aizawa might be here on hero business.
“Ah, right. The getups. I don’t have much free time and when I do, I have to wear my gear in case of emergencies. Meanwhile, the kid here decided to think of me as a positive influence and wants to be like me. Safer him with me than acting like a hero and dying on his own, right?” Aizawa said. That was like a jab to the gut though and Izuku pouted. “As for my business. I’m busy a lot of the time, but after being with this kid, I wanted to see if I could adopt one or two kiddos and since you’re in my area I thought it’d be logical to visit here the first chance I got.” Aizawa shifted his body language to seem closed off. Which was good, because of the touch based Quirk this man had.
“I’ll give you a quick tour. If the kids come to meet you, that’s another story, but we were about to close up for dinner time. I’m not going to process interviews with the kids or permit you to watch over them to familiarise yourself with them.” The man said. “Other than that. My name is Haruaki Sun-Sun, but I go by Mr. Sunny in front of the kids. Welcome to my orphanage.”
‘Welcome’. Sunny doesn’t want them here. Izuku could tell. Aizawa could tell too, but it was too risky to stop Aizawa’s search.
‘Be careful, Izuku.’ Mom said. He would be careful.
The first few rooms had kids looking through gaps in the doors or glass windows. They weren’t making much effort to come and talk to everyone. Izuku had to think that they were trained this way and were not open to visitors. That wouldn’t make a lot of sense though, because surely this place had social workers visit-unless those were also part of All For One and Garaki’s network. Shit.
Aizawa was being aware of the kids. He was analysing them and he was checking on them as he passed. “The kids seem a little cautious. Do other visitors cause issues here?”
“Sometimes. We try to take in the kids that people label as having ‘issues’. People don’t always feel warm, even when I try to keep the play as bright as possible.” Sunny said.
A boy with short blonde hair and bright green eyes came out of one of the rooms and looked at both Izuku and Aizawa warily. “Hi there.” Izuku said quietly.
“Hello.” The boy was nervous. He was probably around the same age as Izuku.
“I’m Wildcard. Can’t give my name, but hey…what’s your name?” Izuku asked.
“I’m Shinji Negeshi.” The boy replied quietly. He was turning his face like he had something to hide. Izuku seemed to notice a patch of different coloured skin on his cheek. Perhaps a birthmark?
“I’m just showing these two around for now Shinji. Could you please return to the dining room or your own room?” Sunny asked.
“B-But I was just going to the bathroom.” Negeshi asked. He seemed too skittish to be a vessel of hatred. Perhaps they hadn’t gone too far here yet.
‘Ah. I recognise this boy now. He’s a Quirkless kid whose parents were injured and fell into a coma around two years ago. The orphanage took him in because no one else wanted to look after him.’ Dad said. It riled Izuku up that Quirkless kids were treated like this and it actually hurts because this could have been Izuku. His parents are dead and if Izuku hadn’t had been lucky to get a Quirk while having his pre-Quirk era body he’d have been Quirkless too! Also…were? ‘ His mother woke up a year ago and I SWEAR I was going to get the boy returned to her. I had to get in contact with his parents but for some damned reason, every establishment was not giving me information past the fact that his father died. Imagine ME not being able to do anything. It’s a stroke of horrid luck that I had no one in the position to get information. I didn’t get to remedy THAT problem though.’ Which was probably fortunate since Izuku really didn’t want everywhere to have dad’s people in it.
‘I understand. I’ll sort it out then.’ Izuku activated Telepath before going to speak. “I uh…need the bathroom too. Could Negeshi show me where it is if he’s going anyway?”
Sunny didn’t show any emotion other than a smile that was a little too forced to be natural. The man couldn’t say no to guests though and he shouldn’t have any reason to suspect Izuku of any alternate intentions. “Yes, but make sure he heads back to a room after.”
“Sure.” Izuku nodded. “Okay. Show me the way please, Negeshi.” Izuku connected to Aizawa and started using Telepath. ‘This child was taken in while his parents were in a coma. His mom’s alive and awake, but I have no idea of where or who she might be. She might be looking for him.’ Aizawa didn’t let anything slip, but Izuku knew he heard that loud and clear. It was proof that this place needed investigating and closing down at least.
“It’s a little far. Sorry.” Negeshi apologised.
“It’s fine.” Izuku replied. It was actually better that it was so far away. When they got far enough away from Sunny, Izuku decided to prod to see if the kid was okay here. “I couldn’t help but tell you were a little worried about Mr. Sun-Sun’s reaction. That’s…does he scare you?”
The boy looked behind and around before replying. “He…he’s weird.” Negeshi replied. “But he’s okay.”
“If I said I know who you are and that your mother is alive, what would you say?” Izuku said.
“What?” The kid froze. “My parents died.”
“Only your dad did. Whoever kept you here and told you that lied. I-I would know, because Sun-Sun and Garaki are villains that are connected to my dad. My dad was a villain, but-but he was reforming. He was gonna return you to your mom, but he was killed before he could do that.” Izuku explained. “So let me try in his stead. Okay?”
“O-Okay.” The boy seemed concerned. “We should still go to the bathroom. It’ll be suspicious otherwise.”
“Alright.” Izuku followed the boy as he picked up his movement.
Negeshi stopped again and frowned. “Who is that?” Someone else was in the corridor. His face was badly scarred. He had white hair and blue eyes.
‘Touya Todoroki. He’s awake it seems.’ Dad said.
“I’m…leaving.” Todoroki wasn’t used to speaking yet. Had he just woken up?
“I agree with that. They kidnapped you, so we should get you out of here too.” Izuku said. He needed to contact Yamada. “I need to contact a hero first. A trustworthy hero that will help.”
“I can just go to my dad.” Todoroki said. He struggled and seemed irked by his own voice.
“Are you okay?” Izuku asked while sending a message off to Yamada. “Oh. I’m Wildcard by the way, a vigilante.” He said while holding his hand out.
The kid took his hand cautiously. “Touya Todoroki…I’m fine. I need to get home. I need to-to train again and get better to become a hero.” Izuku was confused by Todoroki’s Quirk. It felt like it was broken. It was fire. A deep fire with basically no limit. Except, it was also ice. No…it was fire, because it was pushed that way. The ice resistance that comes with it means that the icy cold fire it’s supposed to be is the correct version of his Quirk. “You shuddered. Did I burn you or s’methin’?”
Izuku shook his head. “I can copy Quirks. Yours…it’s broken.”
“Broken?” The boy looked angry but also devastated. “How so? I-I can still use it, right?”
“Yes, you’ll still be able to use it perfectly fine, but I can explain everything better later. We have to find a way to get everyone out without tipping the villains off. If Garaki and his boss catch wind of this place being caught out, they’ll destroy it all and they wouldn’t hesitate to kill everyone here if we’re all still inside.” Izuku said seriously. “I’m gonna go back and knock that stupid sunflower man out. Then I’ll inform everyone here about what’s happening and we’ll sort out where you kids are going. I can assume more of you have family left than you know.” He had to get back before that man got suspicious. ”Stay here and I’ll make sure it’s safe for everyone to leave.”
“I wanna help.” Todoroki said. He was determined. “The bastard doesn’t know I’m awake yet.” He said before bringing his hand to his throat.
Izuku could work with this. Todoroki’s unexpected awakening would buy them time. Yamada would already be sending reinforcements and everything would fall into place. Not to mention, if Sunny was in contact with All For One and Garaki, there would likely be no Nomu sent to this location if it’s already been busted. They wouldn’t want those things to have widespread notoriety yet. “Time to be a hero then, Todoroki.” Those seemed to be the right words as the older boy lit up with happiness and determination.
“I’ve got this…” Todoroki was still in slight pain though. He needed to rest his voice more.
“Alright. Negeshi, get to a room or something. Maybe warn some of the other kids. We’ll be off.” Izuku said. Him and Todoroki walked back towards the front desk while Negeshi went through a different corridor. Izuku checked his phone for messages. Please say Yamada actually got the message.
Yamada: Heroes are on route, including myself. Get out and to safety.
“Once we distract Sunny, we get out. Another hero confirmed that more heroes are gonna be here soon.” Izuku said. “After that…I’ll see if we can take you home so I can explain your Quirk stuff. For now, don’t use it though.”
Todoroki’s face turned bitter. “You’re just like him. ”
“Backtrack a little. I’m not saying don’t use it ever. I’m saying for now , because you won’t be able to control it.” Izuku said. “I’ll gladly help you after we’re done and you’re back in a stable place. ‘Kay?”
Todoroki seemed to understand and sighed. “Sorry.” He muttered.
“I’m back.” Izuku announced as he got back to Aizawa and Sunny. “And uh…this kid’s here.”
“Oh. Hey mystery kid.” Mr Sunny seemed so panicked. He was expertly hiding it, but the small drops of sweat and more tensed muscles gave everything away. He was scared that Todoroki had already said his name. He knew the moment the kid gave away his identity this place was through. “How are you feeling?”
“Rough.” Todoroki replied shortly.
“Does he need medical attention?” Izuku asked. “His scars seem a little rough.”
“He should be fine. He was treated and taken off of medical assistance a little while ago. He just needed to come out of his coma.” Sunny said.
“Makes sense.” Izuku nodded. “Negeshi went back to one of the designated rooms. I think he went back into the dining room? Probably to chat about this kid.”
Yamada: At your location now. If you’re not out, get out now.
Izuku let out a chuckled. “Checkmate. Pawn of All For One.”
“What?” The man was shocked. Of course, no one should know his affiliation. No one knows Garaki’s affiliation, let alone a happy looking sunflower man’s real allegiance. Izuku dashed out, activated Somnabulist and pumped it out in front of the man’s face using Air Manipulation.
“Nighty night.” Izuku grinned as the man dropped to the ground. Izuku quickly tapped him to register his Quirk. Oh. It’s a mood altering Quirk that makes people feel happy and content with anything. Wait…if he used that while issuing certain orders, would that persuade people to do what he said?
‘Yes. Which is why I said to be cautious of him.’ Dad confirmed. ‘Even if it happens to be short lived in some cases, it can cause a lot of immediate problems.’
“Now. We should get out of here because the heroes and police are probably here.” Izuku said. Except he needed to get Negeshi. The police and heroes might not do anything if they get his identity. Izuku lit up Search to find the kid again. “Can we take Todoroki and Negeshi with us?” He asked Aizawa.
“Why?” Aizawa frowned.
“Todoroki might find my Quirk analysis useful since my Quirk gives me instincts on how to use his Quirk and Negeshi…he’s Quirkless and I’m worried that the police and other heroes might ignore him.” Izuku explained.
Aizawa sighed. “Alright. I’ll help escort the kids home personally. Go get Negeshi and stay by him when we take reports of the kids.”
“Eh?! But I’m in my Wildcard gear?” Izuku hissed. “Whatever. I guess I’ll just stay on guard. You stay with Eraserhead, Todoroki. I’ll be outside with the rest of the kids.”
Izuku opened a portal to Negeshi and walked through. “Wildcard?!”
“Yeah. It’s me.” Izuku confirmed. “I’m here to get all of you out of the building. Heroes are coming to check the place out because Sun-Sun is connected to a supervillain. If he helped facilitate your anger and hatred in any way, that’s why. He could have also placed you into schools, activities or areas that discriminate against you or have people harm you. So…” Izuku opened a portal to the outside of the building. “Let’s wait outside, yeah?”
“Some of our friends are in their rooms. Can we go get them?” One pink haired girl asked.
Izuku nodded. “Quickly.” He said. The girl rushed out while the other kids were leaving through the portal.
Izuku was just glad this went without a hitch.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
So. In all honesty I just wanted to save/help Touya earlier, but the timeline was off two years - When I wrote the chapters though, I did the maths wrong/just believed it was alright and just thought the timeline was fine (It was not haha). Which leads to the whole 'AFO wanted to do better and make sure Touya was patched up to live properly' - which Garaki promptly ignored, but covered by keeping Touya in a coma/stasis. Which leads us to now!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 26: Fire and Hope
Notes:
Hi! Back again!
Warning(s):
Quirkless Discrimination.
Mentions of neglect
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
When Izuku got outside with all of the kids, he saw that there were a few heroes rushing into the building alongside police. When it comes to kids, it seems heroes are quick on their feet. Yamada spotted Izuku and the kids outside almost immediately though and made his way over to them. He looked all of them over for any injuries or discomfort before nodding and calling the police over too.
“Hey Little Listeners. I’m sorry that this has disrupted all of you, but I hope you can hang on with us for a little while until we sort everything out. Ya dig?” Yamada was being soft. His persona was always loud too, but talking to the kids was a different thing entirely.
“Whoa. Present Mic!” One kid cheered. So they knew a few heroes then.
“Is it true that-that some of our families might be alive?”
“They told me that I was really injured and that my family wasn’t around anymore. But I think I might have been kidnapped now.”
There was a lot to unpack for quite a few of the kids. It was ridiculous but-
A large explosion hit from within the facility. “Shit.” Izuku cursed. The entire place went up quickly. The heroes and police that had entered had evacuated and someone was dragging Sun-Sun’s unconscious form out with them, but the building itself…the kids weren’t safe yet.
“What the fuck was that thing?!” An officer seemed traumatised.
“I have no clue man. That-that couldn’t have been a person? Right? It’s brain was sticking out!” Oh no. Dread filled the pit of Izuku’s stomach. Nomu. They actually sent Nomu?! They shouldn’t have been revealed yet. Unless…unless this secret was more important that the surprise of Nomus existed did.
“Nomu! That’s what they are! They’re bioengineered creatures made to not react to pain and they’re mindless aside from following orders. There are higher up ones that might be able to speak and think, but I assume they aren’t here.” Izuku explained.
“Wait a second. Isn’t that Wildcard? Someone, catch him!” One of the officers shouted.
Izuku sighed before pushing himself into the air and staying there using Air Walk. “Don’t you have more pressing issues? That thing will keep on going and going until it destroys itself and everyone in its path. Eraserhead can stop it for a little while, but I could help stop it much quicker than him.” He said. “Let me help and you might get that experiment so you can get some data from it.”
“He’s unfortunately right.” Aizawa said as he brought Todoroki to the group of kids waiting around. “I had to back off because that thing had claws, spat out a jet of flames and seemed to have extra limbs that had drill hands. It has multiple Quirks and I can’t do shit on my own. I don’t want a child to do the work of heroes, but he has the most intel and experience surrounding these things.”
“Yeah…anyways.” Izuku opened a portal in front of himself and he and Aizawa reentered the orphanage. The place was burning, so they couldn’t be here for long. Aizawa came through quickly, so Izuku closed the portal. “Where is it?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s long gone, but a hero was fighting it.” Aizawa said.
“Did Todoroki see the Nomu?” Izuku asked. No kid should have to see that thing. Izuku was only used to them because he trained against them.
“The thing warped in next to us. I pulled him away and ran aside, but I had to go the long way out while shit went to hell over there.” Aizawa said as he started directing them towards where the Nomu must be.
It was still rampaging. A familiar Search star lit up though. Garaki. Why wasn’t he recalling it? He wanted to see something-or someone. If they were keeping an eye on things, he knew Izuku was here and couldn’t ignore the Nomu. Well then. Izuku would have to react differently than expected. “I can’t stop the Nomu right now. Doctor Garaki is here and is watching it. He wants us there to fight it. If he sees me he might cause more chaos within the raging flames, but if we don’t stop it then all the evidence here will be erased.”
“Then let it be erased. We’ll get enough from the kids. We can’t replace you if shit goes wrong and giving him information on you starts putting you at a disadvantage. Just warp us back out and get the hero too.” Eraser ordered. It was the logical thing to do. Izuku just hated letting this bastard get away with torching this place. He opened a new portal out and returned to the kids. He opened a portal to intercept the hero in the fight too. Fortunately he registered everyone with Search as they went by or else he might not have been able to save them.
“Dammit.” Izuku growled. “Damn that Nomu and damn Garaki!”
“Hey. Thanks for the save. I don’t know how much longer I’d have held against that thing.” Damn. The hero he saved wasn't too old. He was probably around Aizawa’s age. Actually, looking at him, he was in a suit of armour.
“Tensei. Fuck. I didn’t know it was you in there. How’d you even hold up in there in that suit?” Aizawa asked. Shoot. This was Ingenium!
“Almost didn’t. I wanted to take that bastard down, but-but it was like nothing worked against it.” Tensei- Ingenium -said.
“You must have gone in before anyone could say anything. It was a bioengineered creature. It doesn’t feel pain and it wouldn’t stop for anything.” Izuku said. “Anyway…I’m just gonna stay here with Negeshi and Todoroki.”
“Todoroki?” Ingenium frowned.
“Touya Todoroki.” Todoroki said, speaking up slightly. “They kidnapped me, but I guess they also healed me.”
“That’s…how is this possible? I thought his jaw bone was found on the mountainside?” Ingenium seemed a little distraught. “I guess…that’s why there’s scars there though.”
‘Uh…it’s entirely likely that he’s part Nomu at this point. Not all of the kid’s parts were salvageable after all.’ Dad said, making Izuku feel a little uneasy at the implications of that. Did Todoroki actually die, but was reanimated? ‘Possibly. He was incubated in a tube for a while.’
‘Honey. I think explaining the details of what you and your doctor did to save that poor boy’s life is unnecessary. You could have left it at the vague explanation.’ Mom thankfully said as she spoke up.
“My jaw…” Todoroki reached to hold his face.
“Don’t read too much into it, kid. Someone could have faked it, considering you’re alive and here.” Aizawa said. “I said I was gonna help take that kiddo home along with Negeshi. Now that I think about it, I think I recognize Negeshi from a case Naomasa gave me. Though I don’t remember his name being Negeshi.”
“It’s not…I just wasn’t allowed to use my real name. I can use it now, right?” Oh Shinji’s family name wasn’t Negeshi then?
“Of course, kid!” Ingenium said with a smile.
“It’s Nagasu. I’m Shinji Nagasu.” Nagasu said with a smile. He was genuinely happy to use his name again.
“Okay Nagasu. Let’s get you and Todoroki processed.” Aizawa said as he started making his way to the police.
“Doubt it’d work with Nagasu.” Izuku said. “But feel free to try.” Ingenium seemed confused. “He’s Quirkless.”
“Oh. Well that’s a stupid reason to not help him!” Ingenium just landed himself on Izuku’s great hero list. He was already a good one, but mentally being against mainstream discrimination is enough to put him in the top few.
Aizawa had already started talking to the officers-shouting. He started shouting before huffing and coming back over. “We’re taking them home and I’m getting Tsukauchi to help with both of them, even if I only got to mention Nagasu. Here to help the kids, my ass.” He muttered.
“It’s fine.” Nagasu said.
“It’s not.” Izuku said. “But we’ll still get you home, don’t worry.”
“Y’know. For the Wildcard, you seem much different than I’d expected. Ingenium said.
“Well I mostly go after villains. The heroes that I’ve left a lasting encounter on were dangers to others and possibly themselves. Ie, fake heroes. That’s not to say I’d go after people who were in hero work for just money or whatever. I only really go after those that actively endanger people…but I’ve, uh, learned that I shouldn’t be doing that that much.”
“Or at all, Kiddo.” Ingenium said. “People make mistakes, but it’s up to the government to punish them.”
“The government wasn't going to though. They were gonna allow Hera to leave without consequence while they pinned the crime on the villain. I guess it’s more The Commission that I’d have to go after to fix that issue though. That’s for another day.” Izuku muttered.
“The Hero commission allows crappy heroes to do whatever?” Todoroki seemed surprised.
“Yeah. They want heroics to look black and white, but bad heroes can still be seen as ‘good’, while villains or just people who are struggling are seen as bad or evil.” Izuku said. “Nothing’s perfect and no one is wholly good. My actions should be an example of that.”
“What about Endeavor?” Todoroki asked with some hesitation. His face was worried about something. Why would he be worried?
‘He’s abusive. He caused his wife to be sent to a mental facility to recover after his abuse pushed her into breaking and scarring their youngest child.’ Dad supplied.
“My father, villain as he was, knew about your situation. Your father, in my eyes, is abusive and neglectful. He causes you and your family harm. Likely in different ways, but he still probably hurt you a lot. He’s not a good person. A good hero in practice and in public, sure. But he’s not a good person.” Izuku said.
“I…see.” Todoroki said.
“What’s he to you?” Izuku asked. He wondered how Endeavor’s kid saw the man right now.
“He’s my goal! The hero I wanna be better than and-and I wanna be better than All Might like he wanted me to be!” Todoroki said with such determination. “E-Even if I’m gonna be set back for now, I still wanna be number one and make my dad love and acknowledge me.”
“He should love you and recognise you regardless of anything, Todoroki.” Aizawa said. “Being number one is a good goal, but is it what you want for yourself? Ignore what your father wants and what his goal for you is. Ignore making him see you and making him proud. Is it something you’d like to do? Something you want to work towards?”
Todoroki was stumped. “What I want to do? I…I wanna be a hero. I wanna be-I dunno.”
“Just think about it for a long while, Listener.” Yamada said. “You don’t need an answer right now.”
“Alright. We’re taking them both home.” Aizawa confirmed as he pocketed his phone after reading a message. “Tsukauchi will clear both of them since the police won’t do their jobs. As far as they care anyway, Touya Todoroki is dead and this is above their grade and as for Nagasu…I’m sorry again that people are horrible, kid.”
“Thank you for helping me.” Nagasu said with a small smile. “It’s more than quite a few people did for me.”
No one else was going to utter their apologies. The kid had probably heard enough, even if he deserved a lot more and deserved better. Izuku decided to open a portal back home for now. “We should get going then.”
“Wait. I-I saw that kind of portal when fighting that monster. I thought I saw a guy and is that thing even still in there?” Ingenium asked, panicking that they’d left someone inside. Izuku checked Search briefly, but the doctor was gone.
“It’s likely gone, because they did what they needed to and destroyed the physical evidence in there. I just checked with a locator Quirk and the person’s star isn’t there anymore either.” Izuku confirmed. “The person there was controlling that monster. It was under his command so he’ll be safe and he probably took the creature with him. He was ensuring the place was thoroughly torched so no one could get physical evidence. Logically, this will all be placed on Sun-Sun and no one can corroborate Garaki, or well Doctor Tsubasa’s, involvement.”
“I just wished I had a good look at him. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the creature or I’d have probably died.” Ingenium let out a heated sigh. “Anyway…the portal?”
“I copy Quirks permanently. I came into contact with their warper once.” Izuku said shortly. “I hope to see you around more, Ingenium!”
“I’ll call you later, Tensei.” Aizawa said. “Go through the portal kids.” He said towards Todoroki and Nagasu.
“See you all. I hope at least some of you can get back to your families.” Nagasu said before leaving through the portal.
“I wanna see how dad is.” Todoroki said somewhat pensively. “Maybe…maybe things are different now.” He left, but it was bitter. Todoroki wasn’t in the right headspace and that…that was bad, but they’ll work on helping him.
“I’ll see you later, Eraser.” Yamada said, concealing his worry. “See you later, Kiddo.” He said with a bright smile directed towards Izuku. Aizawa and then Izuku made his way out.
They needed to sort a lot of shit out.
~~~~~~~~
No one was home. Not even the cats. Yamada did send a message a little after they got back explaining that he sent them to stay with Midnight, who was a friend of theirs surprisingly and was apparently cursing them out for not telling her about kids and cats. No one knew how long everyone would be out for after all and Shinsou needed looking after along with possibly the cats.
Aizawa decided to make tea and put out a few snacks for everyone before going to his room. He needed to search through some private hero stuff, though it didn’t take long for him to come out of there with a flier in hand. He placed the slightly tattered piece of paper onto the table. It was a picture of a younger Nagasu with a large ‘Missing’ label underneath it. Under that was a number to call.
“This is your mom’s number. I talked to her before to tell her I was personally looking out for you. I didn’t expect to see you in an orphanage though.” Aizawa said. “Wished I recognised you when I saw you though.”
Nagasu shook his head. “All that matters is that you’ve saved me when I didn’t know I needed to be saved. Thank you.”
“No problem kiddo.” Aizawa said. “Wanna call her?” He offered.
Nagasu nodded his head quickly. “It’s-it’s been a while since I heard mom’s voice.”
Aizawa nodded back before pulling out his phone and putting in the number on the poster. The room was silent as the phone rang a few times. “Hello?” The woman on the other end of the line sounded tired. Izuku could imagine what she’s feeling though. She lost her family and unlike Izuku, she had no way of doing anything but putting up fliers.
“This is Eraserhead. We met a while ago about your son’s case.” Aizawa said.
“Oh. Yeah. We did.” The woman replied. “Sorry, I’ve not managed to get much sleep lately. Why are you calling, Mr. Eraserhead?”
“Something happened earlier. I conducted a random establishment search at an orphanage based on reliable information a vigilante gave me. We found your son, Mrs Nagasu.” Aizawa said. “He’s here with me now.”
“Mom!” Nagasu shouted. “I’m here mom and-and you’re real. They said you and dad died!”
“Shinji?” The woman perked up immediately. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah mom.” Nagasu said before tears fell from his eyes. “I miss you.”
“I missed you too. Very much.” Mrs Nagasu said. “Thank you Eraserhead.”
“It’s my duty, Mrs Nagasu. I have to get a police detective to work on the legal stuff right now, but I’ll be bringing your son to you.” Aizawa said.
“C-Can you stay on call while you bring him?” Mrs Nagasu asked.
“We have someone with a warp Quirk. We’ll try to be there soon, but the call might be cut off.” Aizawa said.
“That’s-that’s better than just a call. I’ll see you soon then.” Mrs Nagasu said. “Shinji. I hope you’ve been okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.”
“You were injured. It’s not your fault.” Nagasu said. “I’ve been alright. Though some kids were mean, because I’m Quirkless, but that’s normal.”
“Well. Those kids were stupid.” Mrs Nagasu said. “Was…was there anything interesting at the-the orphanage?” She hiccuped, probably from tears, but no one commented on it.
“I dunno. I enjoyed drawing and painting and homeschooling, but the man teaching us was actually a bad guy.” Nagasu said. Aizawa poked Izuku’s shoulder and pointed to the poster. Most accurately, the small print address on it. He knew the area. He’d patrolled nearby once or twice, so he could warp about five minutes away from it. “It was actually a boy who saved us. He’s a vigilante, but he knew what was going on. His-his dad-”
“Not on the phone.” Izuku said quickly. “Just in case.”
“Oh. Okay.” Nagasu frowned, but accepted the caution. “But the boy saved us! He got the heroes in and all of us kids out!”
“Well. I assume that kid just spoke so-so thank you. Thank you for saving my son and I assume many other children.” Mrs Nagasu said.
“I was just doing what I felt was right.” Izuku said before opening a portal. “We should be over in about five to ten minutes. We’re about to go through a teleportation portal so the call might be cut off, but I’m sure we can call you back when we’re closer.”
“Alright. I-I’ll see you soon, Shinji.” She said. “I never thought I’d say that again.” She whispered. She was vulnerable.
“It’s okay mom. I’m coming home.” Nagasu said before wiping his tears away.
They all soon crossed the portal threshold. Izuku and Aizawa pulled Todoroki with them since he shouldn’t be alone right now and now they were in an alley near the house address. They will be there soon and the mother and child will have a great reunion. Izuku couldn’t help but feel a little more empty though. His mom and dad weren’t here. His brother wasn’t here. Not even Kacchan. Even with Kacchan somewhat in reach, he had to deal with the pain of being away from him. He missed Shoji too and his other classmates, but Kacchan…he missed him the most.
Nevermind that. He had a kid to return to his mom. That would make him happy for now.
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
See you in the next one!
Chapter 27: Home
Summary:
Both Nagasu and Todoroki go home, but the experiences are polar opposites.
Notes:
Hi! I meant to get this out earlier, but I've said this on another fic, I was not feeling good and was chilling playing the Trails of Cold Steel series. Then I had a health scare on Monday, so I've just been rough all week and recovering - I'm fine, but I was definitely scared of it being bad haha. Anyway. I'm all good, so we move on.
Warning(s):
Mentions of abuse
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nagasu called his mother back up before they got to their home. When they did get there, Mrs Nagasu was waiting at the open door. She had similar blonde hair, was wearing a loose dress and had a cane. Izuku concluded that she probably had a permanent injury from the accident that took Shinji away from his family. Though she could have had that before the accident.
“Shinji!” Mrs Nagasu made her way down out of her doorframe and paced quickly towards Nagasu, who was also breaking away to rush towards her. The pair met in the middle and fell into a warm and loving embrace. Mrs Nagasu fell to her knees as she wrapped her son in a surrounding hug before peppering him with kisses.
Some neighbours came out of the houses at the commotion and saw the two hugging. “Oh. Shinji-chan!” One young, pink haired woman was smiling. “We missed you so much, kid!”
“Thank god he was found. How the hell could the police allow him to stay missing for so long.” An older, grey haired man grumbled. It seemed they really did have such a supportive community around them already. That was good.
“Mr Tanako. Miss Shima?” Nagasu turned around a little to see them. “I’m glad to see you all again!”
“And we’re happy to see you.” Shima said as she walked over to the pair and patted Nagasu’s head. She must have been pretty familiar with them. Shima then turned to Izuku and Aizawa. “Did you bring him back, mister?”
“Me and this kid did. He had more information on the matter than I did. He managed to sus out the place Shinji Nagasu was being kept at and knew the situation.” Aizawa said.
“Wow. Thanks to both of you.” Shima said.
“Ah. We should go inside.” Mrs Nagasu said, sniffling before letting Nagasu go, grabbing her cane and pushing herself up. She grabbed Nagasu’s hand and started towards their house. “Tanako and Shima. You two can come over later if you want.”
“Ooo. Of course! I’ll bake a welcome home cake in the meantime.” Shima cheered.
“Shima. It’s probably best not to overdo it…but that sounds like a good idea for when everything has settled.” Tanako said wisely. “I’ll collect up the neighbourhood society and notify them of Shinji’s return. It’ll be a good idea to remove the posters since they’ve become obsolete now. Take care, Nagasu.”
“I will and you too.” Mrs Nagasu said. “Come on in you three.”
Aizawa, Izuku and Todoroki followed the woman into the household and settled in the dining room. The table wasn’t the largest, but it didn’t need to be since it was only designed for a family of three. The room was a mix between new and old though. A couple walls were freshly painted, but those that were wallpapered had some peeling or rough edges. The decorations seemed a little out of place too. “My husband was the wallpaper guy. I was painting to keep myself occupied, so some rooms are probably more spruced up than others. I didn’t want to change some things…” Mrs Nagasu said.
“You don’t need to explain anything to me.” Izuku said. “I was just internally curious.”
“I know, but talking is good for moving forwards.” What she said was true, but it still wasn’t an easy thing to do. “I have a therapist, but today was one of my ‘off days’. Though that ended when I heard Shinji. Thank you again.” She said as she sat by her son. “Now. I know two of you, but who is this boy?” She was talking about Todoroki.
“Touya Todoroki.” Todoroki replied.
“Todoroki?” Mrs Nagasu started to frown.
“If you heard about him from the news and about his dad, yes, it’s that Todoroki.” Aizawa confirmed. “There’s a lot to explain.”
“My father. He saved Todoroki, though that was originally for his own intentions.” Izuku said. “He was a villain, but he did start becoming kinder. Let me explain everything.” And Izuku did, albeit excluding some details like ‘All Might killed him’, ‘part of my parents are actually in my head due to me having their Quirks’ or any of the more gruesome details of his dad’s previous exploits. The story mildly horrified the Nagasu family, but they understood everything.
“Well…that was a lot.” Mrs Nagasu said. “However, it still brought me and my son back together. Plus, regardless of what your father did and was possibly redeeming himself for, you aren’t your father.” She said before whipping out a piece of paper and pen. Nagasu’s eyes were sparkling, but Izuku was confused. “I’m going to get us some tea. You probably need some to soothe your throat after that.” She clicked the pen and started writing. It wasn’t something long, but what surprised Izuku was that she dropped the pen and paper, stood up and started walking away without her cane. She didn’t seem as hindered as she was before.
“That’s mom’s Quirk!” Nagasu said. “Whenever she writes something, she can make it real.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, honey.” Mrs Nagasu said from the kitchen. Izuku could hear that the kettle had started to boil before she came back to the table. “My Quirk works on degrees of reality. If it’s to do with something that’s not a person, then it’s more free to work with. If it is connected to a person, that’s more complicated. Like my leg for example. Read what I wrote.” She said as she pushed the note to the middle of the table.
Izuku decided to read it out loud. “‘Though permanently injured, I shall be able to walk unhindered for fifteen minutes’. Why fifteen minutes?”
“Because if used on a person, my energy is used exponentially quicker. If I had trained my Quirk harder, then maybe it’d be longer or stronger, but I believe it’s never going to be permanent.” Mrs Nagasu said. “It’s why, as much as I’d love to, I can’t heal my leg nor do anything that undoes death or-or brings my son back to me. My Quirk requires the rough locations of people if I want to teleport them and no one would tell me where he went.”
“It really doesn’t like working on people, huh?” Izuku said. “I’m confused why a portal wouldn’t work though.” He said out loud without noticing.
“It’s quite literally because it’s a person. It’s restrictive. It can’t injure or overly affect people unless it’s under the conditions of taking an object out of them. I’ve never cursed my own weakness more than that.” She admitted.
“I’m sorry, I was meant to be thinking to myself with that portal comment. Quirks can just be weird and specific. I know that.” Izuku said. “On the topic of Quirks or lack there of, is Nagasu going to be okay around here?”
“He has been in the past. The school was a little hit and miss sometimes, but Shinji’s friends have always been hoping for him to come back safely and they supported him.” Mrs Nagasu said. “Most of the teachers were alright and the neighbours were great.”
“That’s good. I…” Izuku still wanted to help Nagasu though. The kid deserved better and the fact is, things were most likely going to get worse when he entered middle school or high school. Even establishments could be Quirkist. “You know how I explained my dad’s Quirk. All For One?”
“Yeah?”
“What if I gave your son a Quirk?” Izuku asked. “With consent of course.”
“I-I could have a Quirk?!” Nagasu seemed excited about it, but this decision was down to his mother.
“What are the risks?” She asked immediately. It was a reasonable question, but Izuku didn’t know exactly. He only had his dad’s experience to go off of.
“I haven’t given someone other than my dad a Quirk before. So all I can say is off of his experience. All I know is that it depends on the Quirk.” Izuku replied. “Mental Quirks don’t usually have problems when used by other people and simple Emitter Quirks usually work too, but there are some Quirks that cause problems. My dad told me once about a few stronger Quirks that caused backlash to their new hosts, himself included. Those usually hurt the original owners too, which is why those people asked my dad to take them away. Whoever they were given to usually had more problems or had a hard time acclimating to the Quirks though. Heteromorphic Quirks…they were an exception and could change the body to fit them.” None of that mattered though. Giving Shinji Nagasu a random Quirk was risky, especially since they wouldn’t match his lineage. There was always the excuse of a random Quirk mutation, but there was one easy option. “Mrs Nagasu. What if I copy your Quirk and recreate it? I could give it to your son and it’d seem completely normal for him to have. It shouldn’t even give him problems since it wouldn’t be changing or straining his body. Especially because you haven’t trained it.”
Mrs Nagasu seemed hesitant before becoming more composed and nodding. “I’ll allow it, if you agree to come back if things don’t seem right.” She said. That was a valid request.
Izuku nodded before holding his hand out. He needed to copy her Quirk first. The woman took his hand and shook it before going back for the boiled kettle. The Quirk felt as it was explained. The Quirk was creating things from words, but it tended towards non-human things. To even augment it to work on injuries is an achievement by itself, but Mrs Nagasu probably felt like it wasn’t enough.
Izuku created the Quirk and starting using Quirk Transfer. “Pass me your hand, Nagasu.” Izuku asked. The boy held his hand out and Izuku took it. “There’s nothing wrong with being Quirkless and I’m sure you can do a lot without a Quirk, even if it’s hard. That’s your own uniqueness after all. So I’m gonna ask one last time before I continue. Do you want this Quirk? A copy of your mother’s Quirk?”
Nagasu nodded immediately. “Please. I know I can live without a Quirk, but-but I’d be so much better with one. Plus it’s moms! It’s so cool.”
Izuku understood, so he started to push the Quirk into Nagasu. Green light flowed from around Izuku and into Nagasu as Mrs Nagasu came back with the tea. She sat down as the fifteen minutes she gave herself passed. The glow died down as Izuku finished. “All done.”
“Really? I don’t feel too different.” Nagasu said, but Mrs Nagasu handed him a small piece of paper and passed her pen to him.
“Write something simple. How about trying to change the colour of the paper?” Mrs Nagasu suggested.
“Uh…I’ll make it yellow like our hair!” Nagasu said before scribbling on the paper. “Done!” He said before the paper did in fact turn yellow. “It worked! Look mom, I really have your Quirk!”
“I’m happy for you, Baby.” Mrs Nagasu said, reaching over and ruffling Nagasu’s hair lightly. “How are you feeling though? I know it took a little bit out of me when I first used it.”
“I feel fine.” Nagasu frowned.
“It’s not exactly like manifesting a Quirk.” Izuku said. “It’s more like using a Quirk that’s on a basic level. Which in this case is using the Quirk and having a little energy drained while not having proper control over it. Though the conditions for using it already contribute to controlling it. Just don’t overuse it.”
Nagasu pouted. “But this is so cool!”
“I’ll take all your paper and pens away.” Mrs Nagasu said, folding her arms.
“No!”
She sighed. “Thank you again for helping my son and even giving him a better chance in life. Now…I need to be ready for that detective.”
“I’ll make the tea for him if you want. We have a lot to sort out anyhow." Aizawa said.
The Nagasu’s were grateful for all the help. When detective Tsukauchi came to do his job, the Nagasu’s had no problem, other than the new Quirk acquisition. That was fine though because he was in on the secret. Todoroki’s situation was more sensitive due to Endeavor and what Izuku knew about Enji Todoroki. Though Todoroki was somewhat excited and somewhat nervous, because he did want to go back, but it might be worse than expected. In the end, it was agreed that Aizawa and Izuku would take Todoroki home and check on the homelife. If it turned out to be bad, then they get out of there and place Todoroki under what was essentially witness protection via another interview with Tsukauchi. They would try to get Endeavor prosecuted, but with the HPSC being hypervigilant and controlling the appearance of heroes, it wouldn’t happen. It barely happened against Hera after all and her issues were public.
This might become messy.
~~~~~~~~
The lack of security features on the T odoroki property was a surprise when they arrived. Perhaps no one was supposed to know where the Todoroki family lived, but regardless of that there should be some practical security like outside cameras or light sensors. Todoroki, Izuku and Aizawa made their way into the house after Izuku used sensory Quirks to clear the hallways. Though they were not completely quiet, mostly on Todoroki’s part, they made it through the dark halls unnoticed. However, part of that was probably due to the shouting coming from one of the rooms.
Todoroki quickened his pace and made his way to the room that had been left open. It had light coming from it too. Todoroki looked heartbroken and Izuku noticed why as soon as he peeked into the room too. Endeavor was hovering over a child, likely another of his kids, and shouting. “You have to stop this, Shouto. You will have to use your fire eventually!” Shouto was on the floor, hovering over his own puke and looked bad.
Todoroki seemed to enter a daze before walking away. Izuku and Aizawa quickly followed him as he entered his own room. It was out of the way. Almost forgotten, but not truly as it seemed taken care of in terms of dust and having a maintained shrine. Todoroki started praying at his own shrine. The reality of him being dead to everyone but a few people seemed to settle in. Izuku silently opened a portal before reaching to grab the older kid’s hand. Todoroki needed support now more than ever before he lost himself to anger and grief. He motioned his head to the portal, pulling gently.
They left without any issues, returning to the Aizawa household living room. “That-that bastard.” Todoroki said bitterly. “He forgot me. Moved on. Is still training his ‘masterpiece’ just as he wanted. There’s no reason for me to be there. There’s no reason for my damned existence. Can’t be a hero. Can’t be a good son. Can’t be cared about. What’s the point?”
Izuku had to stop this now, before Todoroki shattered completely. Though he should mention the brother’s reluctance to follow Endeavor’s plans, bringing up what seemed to be a sore point now would be more dismissive than anything else at this time. He had to speak carefully now. “Instead of living for him and centring your life around him , you live for yourself and for the people that do care. I can see that after everything your father isn’t what you want him to be, but your family? I can’t speak for them, but they probably miss you and would want you to be alive and with them, even if you can’t be. As for being a hero, I can assure you that you can still be one. You can still be a hero and you can still prove that you can be better than your father.”
“I’d be glad to have you here too, Kiddo.” Aizawa added. “I can easily train you to be strong in combat, with or without your Quirk.”
“I registered Todoroki’s Quirk earlier and said I’d talk about it later. I assure you that he can use his Quirk.” Izuku said. He needed to show what his instincts told him. He recreated Todoroki’s fire and ice Quirk. “Watch.” Izuku said as he produced a cold blue flame instead of a burning hot one.
“Don’t!” Todoroki shouted. “It’ll burn you.”
“It won’t. What was your reaction to your fire when you first manifested your Quirk?” Izuku asked.
“That I was gonna be just like Endeavor? That I was gonna be a stronger hero than even All Might with just my fire. Why?” Todoroki frowned.
“Did that include your flames being hotter than your dad’s?” Izuku asked.
“Yeah…why?” Todoroki was confused and Izuku could see why. He had to show the cold flames. Aizawa was also confused, likely wondering where this was leading.
“Your Quirk broke with the thought process you were raised with and your attempts at strengthening it the wrong way. I don’t blame you, I blame Endeavor for pushing you in that direction without correction.” Izuku said as he moved his hand down and angled it towards the coffee table. “Look.” Izuku pushed the fire out and it collided with the coffee table, to Aizawa’s audible dismay.
“Midoriya!” The fire turned to fire-shaped ice and Izuku could see the shock on both Todoroki and Aizawa’s faces.
“Your Quirk was both fire and ice the whole time.”
Notes:
I hope you've enjoyed!
Sooo. We have a Touya who has been informed about his Quirk much earlier than in the main timeline.
See you in the next one!