Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Saturday, Post AFO

Teacher’s Dorms

Higari, with a mostly amused Snipe in tow, knocked on the Yamazawa cottage door. An unphased Shoto opened it, staring up at his teachers with his standard stoic expression.

“Are you here to yell at Izuku, too?” The two-toned boy asked.

“Yes.” Higari crossed his arms, scowling, while Snipe chuckled.

“Outa curiosity, who else’s come to yell at him?” The gunslinger inquired.

“So far Nedzu, Chiyo, Auntie Nem, and Fuyumi, somehow.” The teen rattled off. It was an impressive number, given the vigilante and his dads had only gotten home from giving statements to Naomasa an hour and a half ago. “Fuyumi’s still here.”

“Glad you could see your sister, little buddy.” Snipe grinned (Shoto was still disappointed the mask wasn’t just part of his face, he’d been so sure he was right about that).

“Damn it, I wanted to be first.” Higari grumbled, causing his boyfriend to pat his shoulder consolingly.

“I doubt the order we go in is gonna affect anything.” Higari kept his scowl up for a few seconds before releasing it with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.” Shoto moved out of the doorway so the two men could enter and toe off their boots in the genkan.

“Oh, come on!” Izuku yelled from his spot on the couch, where he’d been told in no uncertain terms it would be best for him to stay as all the staff came to check on (and maybe lecture) him. Fuyumi had moved to sit on the other corner of the couch with Izuku after she read him the riot act for going willingly into a super villain's arms (they still weren’t sure how she found out, or if she knew who AFO even was or was just going off of a generic ‘super villain’ description). One raised eyebrow from her had him immediately cowing, accepting his fate as Higari made his way over to them.

Her disappointed face wasn’t quite as effective as Shouta or Hizashi’s, but damn if it wasn’t close.

“She’s really got all those boys wrapped around her little finger, don’t she?” Snipe asked Hizashi, who was leaning against the kitchen doorway, eating snacks as he watched the show play out.

“She’s terrifyingly effective.” They agreed, before holding out a plate of cookies to the cowboy. “Sugar cookie?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Snipe took one, Thirteen’s recipe really was just the best, and the two watched Higari fuss over one of the problem children he’d claimed uncle rights for like he thought Izuku would be kidnapped by another villain again if they took their eyes off him for even a moment. “Where’s Shouta?”

“Dealing with some of the fallout with Nedzu.” Specifically, verifying with Nedzu that they really were offering protection to the oldest Todoroki and the teen girl that had walked out of the forest the day before, then talking to the two to figure out what got them to this point and what needed to happen next.

There were a lot of balls in the air in the aftermath of the final battle.

The class had stayed overnight at the camp, most of the heroes who needed to give statements immediately did too, and everyone came home together early the next morning. Izuku was given the choice of if he wanted to go ahead and get everything over with or recover with his friends and give his statement the next day. He really, really wanted cuddles with his crew (esp his boyfriend and brothers, who’d known exactly what was happening the second they’d heard where Izuku had gone) so once they were on campus the next day and all the students had gone home Shouta had taken him to the station while Hizashi took the other two back to the cottage.

Technically speaking, the Yamazawas could return to their house now that AFO was no longer a threat, but the cottage had more room for all of them (including Hitoshi, if he needed some space from the student dorms the next semester).  Since they’d be right back on campus once students started moving into the dorms anyways, they’d decided it was easier just to stay in the dorms.  

Nedzu, Chiyo, Rin, and Hitoshi would be returning to their homes though later that evening (Hitoshi wanted to spend some time with his mom before he had to move into the student dorms at the end of summer break). They already had dinner planned for Sunday at Rin’s, she was very much looking forward to the use of her own kitchen again.

…

Yagi Toshinori

Saturday morning found Yagi Toshinori giving his own sunken eyes a long hard stare in the bathroom mirror once he woke up to the news. He wasn’t quite able to process it, honestly it felt like he was still asleep and this was all some bizarre dream. Not a nightmare, AFO no longer weighing on him like the worlds largest anvil could never truly be a nightmare, but just bizarre.

Everything was over, just like that. Literally overnight, no, faster than that. The eldritch horror that had haunted him since he was a teen, hunted his mentor (one of few people he’d ever considered family) to her death, her mentor before her, and on down through literal generations worth of All for One holders. He’d as good as killed Toshinori too, if on a delayed timeline.

AFO was dead, and Toshinori hadn’t even found out until nearly twelve hours later.

His true form may as well be a stick compared to his bulked-out All Might form, but he’d never felt so small. So insignificant. For almost as long as he could remember either he was going to kill AFO, AFO was going to kill him, or Toshinori would pass the quirk along and curse another to the same fate. He’d never once imagined that this story would end without his involvement at all.

He kind of didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. How was he supposed to plan for an after when he hadn’t expected there to be one? He supposed this wouldn’t really have an effect on the original plan of ‘pass the quirk to a student and retire’ beyond making it exponentially safer for the one who received it, but it still felt weird to think about doing so without having to feel guilty about it.

The Midoriya boy already knew about the quirk’s history though, and had been part of AFO being taken down to boot. His lack of quirk could be waved away as him being a late bloomer, they could probably even use his abduction by AFO as what sparked his quirk coming on line. Plus, with OFA, he’d be safer out in the field if being a pro hero was something he was really going to insist on.

The longer Toshinori thought about it, the more sense it made. He’d have to email Nedzu later about having made his decision on who to pass OFA to. The lanky blonde grinned at himself in the mirror, heart a hundred times lighter than he could ever remember it feeling, and set about his day.

Fanart by the lovely Gli_litch, in honor of ch 102 they redid the first fanart they sent!

Kitten Brigade pt 2

...

memes in a different place bc i'm not sure if it'll put the ch 1 memes in the series end notes, no one said i know what i'm doing

...

higari:  i wanted to be the first to yell at him *pouts*

snipe: there there darlin you're okay. wanna hug?

higari: no, i'm not a child.  you're being condescending

higari:

higari: yes i want a hug


...


speaking of, i think i'm at the point where i just name snipe myself bc i'm tired of not being able to use a name.  is this a good idea or a silly one? sound off in the comments idk what i'm doing

...

in which Fuyumi knows everything bc she's a queen.  and you best believe she came and gave izuku a lecture about absconding with villains just like he was one of her smol-child students.  zashi took paper notes.  zawa took mental ones and sent video of it to nedzu for hiring purposes

...

zawa: say that again, but slowly

nedzu: we are in fact adopting two more people

zawa: you're a rat bastard (already making lists of supplies and comfort items that would need to be acquired, fuck this was probably going to mean another trip to the mall, maybe he could foist that off on zashi, but between his husband and his dad he didn't really think he'd be allowed to wriggle his way out of it-)

nedzu: i'm fairly certain your son started this, and you're the one that adopted your son

zawa: and you're the one that adopted me, that brings us back to you, the rat bastard

...

zawa: and you're the one that adopted me, that brings us back to you, the rat bastard

nedzu: so dramatic shouta-kun

zawa: i learned from the best, Principal Literally-Planning-World-Domination

zawa: i'm gonna have to get a fucking corkboard to keep up with how this family's set up now.  

nedzu: i'll get you some red string and two boards, it'd be a nice bonding experience with Shoto!

zawa: I Regret

...

zawa: I Regret

nedzu: no you dont

zawa: no i dont

...

the things this man does for his kids <3

...

yagi: how did this happen

yagi: how did afo get taken down without me?

yagi: wtf do i do now

yagi: wait i can give midoriya the quirk!

....

meanwhile off in the distance Nedzu felt a shiver rush over his fur.  Someone somewhere was about to be monumentally stupid.  if they messed with his plans he'd just take them down too, he was not  in the mood for this right now

Chapter Text

Touya and Toga

After they’d followed the hero students out of the forest, Touya and Toga had been sequestered by some of Pixie Bob’s rock monsters in a fortified room on one end of the compound. Touya filled the younger girl in on what Keigo had told him and gave her some more details about his backstory while waiting to see what happened next (and distract themselves from Present Mic’s quirk echoing far too loudly in the distance, kami he hoped Magne wasn’t facing off against him). (She wasn’t, she surrendered herself to some of the rock monsters).

Luckily, Toga agreed to follow his lead on trusting Keigo and seeing what happened with Nedzu. He and Magne had been the only ones to care about her with the league, really since her quirk had come in, so if this is what he wanted to do she’d go with him.

If Touya cried a little bit when she called him her brother and asked him to call her Himiko, no he didn’t and you’ll never be able to prove it. He did pull her into a tight hug and didn’t let go. In that moment, there in the hands of heroes both had long since learned were untrustworthy, each other was really all they had.

Miles away, Nedzu knew he was running on borrowed time for the pair with the police transport on its way to the mountain complex to collect all the other villains who’d been involved in the raid. Luckily, that took more time to organize than sending the initial group of cops out to start taking statements due to logistics, needing to know how many villains would need to be transported, how many cops would be needed as escorts, etc.

Shouta and Hizashi, efficient as they were, still needed time to take down the villains in the forest first, so Nedzu had plenty of time to cash in a personal favor to swoop the pair out from under everyone’s noses. It wouldn’t do to have the WWP or any of their police contacts implicated in aiding and abetting criminals before Nedzu could convince (threaten, blackmail) the HPSC into granting the two immunity.

Shouta, Hizashi, and Izuku were back at the compound safe and sound before Nedzu’s underground contacts arrived on scene, so it was easy enough for Hizashi to slip away and bundle what would likely be two more family additions away into the night when they received Nedzu’s text about it. (They may or may not have intimidated Nedzu’s contacts a little. Was it strictly speaking necessary? Not really, Nedzu was scarier than Hizashi could ever hope to be. But he knew enough about what put that level of not-so-well-hidden terror in Touya’s eyes and if scaring their transport a bit helped even a little to ease that, worth it.)

Once they were safely out of danger of being sent straight into the commissions hands that night, Nedzu could focus on dealing with everything else that needed to happen that night and take up the issue with the commission over the weekend, Monday at the latest. Depends on if the police figured out they were missing two members of the attack on the compound to begin with.

Villainy was a sort of legal grey area. Technically, the police and court systems had jurisdiction and it should have been outside of the HPSC’s control, however the reality of the situation was that the commission had an immense amount of sway when it came to anything hero related and the cops would listen to whatever they said, proper legal proceedings be damned.

The issue was on Nedzu’s list to deal with, but that was a stage much further down in his plans for the corrupt government agency.

The ideal situation here was someone figured it out pretty quick and the HPSC sent an agent to start asking questions, then Nedzu strong-armed them into bending to his will. It would be better in the long run to get official sanctions as soon as possible, but bringing this to the commission’s attention before they even knew about the ‘missing villains’ risked coming off too strong for what Nedzu needed at this stage in the game. On the other hand, waiting too long would make it look like they were hiding the pair, which could also imply this was part of the moves the chimera was making against them.

He was making moves against them. But the children wouldn’t be part of that and they didn’t need to deal with the sort of scrutiny Nedzu was used to.

Usually the government agency chose the most inconvenient times to be good at their jobs but anything related to AFO they had they kept their eyes peeled on, so the agent Nedzu was waiting for appeared at the gates late Saturday evening, just a few hours after they’d gotten Touya and Himiko settled into a spare two bedroom unit in the apartment building secretly connected to campus.

(They didn’t want to be separated quite that far, which was understandable given their joint traumas and the rapid change they were experiencing. They’d figure out something more permanent once they’d settled a bit and trust had started to be built.)

The principal couldn’t have asked for better timing.

“I suppose you know why I’m here.” Kimura, an unfortunately familiar face that Nedzu hadn’t had the displeasure to meet in person until now, scowled down at the chimera. Nedzu was glad he’d sent Shouta away for this discussion, they both knew too much of how the man ‘handled’ Hawks and they couldn’t deal with the man personally until the young hero was out of HPSC clutches for good.

“Of course,” Nedzu played the game, “the matter of the oldest Todoroki and young Toga Himiko. We hadn’t quite had the chance to bring the matter to your attention yet ourselves while wrapping up everything from last night, how lovely of you to make the trip out.”

“Yes, the- what?” Kimura blinked, shocked enough to drop his poker face. “What does Endeavor’s daughter have to do with any of this?”

“Touya, not Fuyumi.” Nedzu clarified, quite enjoying how pale the man’s face turned.  He'd have to get a screenshot from his cameras later. “We both know the HPSC covered up for Endeavor when his oldest ‘died in an unfortunate training accident’.” Nedzu’s voice grew cold. “Except Touya managed to survive the attempt on his life and went into hiding in an attempt to continue to do so. He’s a bright young man, he knew you wouldn’t have let him actually go to anyone for help if it meant Todoroki Enji’s crimes being brought to light. That left him vulnerable to AFO blackmailing him with being returned to his abuser. Touya was forced into the league against his will.

“Now as for Toga, the commission might not have had as direct a hand in her story as it does the Todoroki’s, but you’ve all done a lot of work enforcing societal views of ‘undesirable’ quirks. She was abandoned and abused for hers, not given the support she needed to even survive with her quirks requirements much less remain stable. She also chose to run rather than deal with the abusive foster system and trapped by the league.”

“Their sob stories don’t matter.” Kimura thought he was making a valid point. “They broke the law, they’re villains and they need to be brought to justice.”

“Define justice.” Nedzu countered. “Touya would either disappear into a HPSC compound or be returned to his abuser and Toga was never given a chance to go down another path in the first place. And I believe their backstories do matter, after all young Toga’s story shared in the right light would raise a lot of outrage against the commission if you were to be found punishing her for survival.” Nedzu paused for effect. “And of course, there’s no telling how the public would react to proof of Endeavor’s misdeeds.”

“You wouldn’t.” Kimura’s voice was shaky.

“He would do anything to avoid returning to that cage.” The predator’s eyes glittered in the office lights, carefully cultivated mask hiding just how animalistic the chimera could be dropping at the reminder. “A feeling I know well.”

Nedzu let the silence stretch for a moment before he broke the tension, the mask he wore for most humans falling back into place while Kimura’s hands shook.

“But all either of them want is their privacy and a chance for as normal lives as they can manage, I would hate for this going public to ruin that for either of them.” Nedzu offered an olive branch, judging that he’d scared the agent enough to reach for it with desperate hands just as the principal desired. “And we did just take care of the biggest thorn the HPSC has ever known in part due to them giving us the warehouse address. I would think forgiveness for a matter neither had any real choice in would go a long way in thanking them for that.

Also a long way in buying the public’s good will should this ever reach them or for buying Nedzu’s good will not to burn them for what they’d allowed Touya to go through like he’d burned the ones who’d tortured him didn’t matter. Kimura took the easy out with the fervor of a drowning man grasping at a life preserver.

“They’ve been through enough, I should think. And they turned themselves in before they actually committed any crimes.” The ‘that they currently knew of’ went unspoken. “I think you may be right, they deserve a second chance. If they truly just want a normal life and don’t return to villainy, there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“So glad we could see eye to eye on the matter.” Nedzu let the pitiful attempt at a threat go without comment, if that’s what the agent, and thus the commission, needed to feel a sense of control over the situation that was just fine.

Kimura didn’t overstay his welcome after that, and Nedzu took his departure as the cue that it was time to be done for the day, or at least done in the office. He couldn’t wait to spend some time just relaxing with his family after informing his newest tenants of the latest development.

Hopefully everyone would be able to take the night to just relax, they all certainly deserved it.

Chapter Text

Touya had the eeriest sense of emotional whiplash by the time Saturday evening had rolled around, trying to process everything that had happened in the last forty eight hours.

Keigo being summoned ahead of what was supposed to be the beginning of the league’s endgame, being told to keep an eye on him (while desperately trying to keep a lid on the crush Touya’d been slowly but surely developing) the conversation they’d shared. The cuddling (Touya turned pink, or at least the parts of his face that could turn pink did, every time he thought about waking up to the comforting weight of the winged hero acting as a blanket). Keigo’s low voice whispering in his ear the first hint he’d ever had of someone actually being willing to help.

Meeting Shoto in the woods. Escaping the league, then the police at the WWP training facility before being left with Himiko in an apartment that Nedzu apparently owned. Exploring it with his pseudo-adopted younger sister (she’d never had a place to stay that nice, he’d never had one that cozy), spending a solid chunk of the day at the kitchen table with Nedzu and the underground pro who’d apparently adopted Shoto explaining everything that had gotten he and Himiko to that point (not that he blamed them for not immediately trusting the two) and what the next steps would look like.

There was a lot happening, so Touya and Himiko would be staying in the apartment for a few days until they could figure out a long term situation everyone was comfortable with. Touya had the option of keeping the unit (a decently sized two bedroom) long term while he figured out what he actually wanted to do with his life and got on his feet.

Himiko needed more structure and support than Touya could offer her, he may have taken on a big brother role but she needed a parent, an adult with the time and resources to finish raising her and help her recover from the shitty hand her childhood had been dealt. Touya needed a lot of that himself.

First though, they both needed time to adjust and Nedzu needed time to get everything straightened out with the commission. So, apartment.

He hadn’t been expecting Nedzu to pop back up just a few hours later with the news that the commission would be pardoning them, the paperwork should done within a few days. The long term would still be discussed over the next few days, but the least he could do was let the two of them know they didn’t have to worry about that side of things anymore.

Touya would have thought they’d a phone call or text on the shiny new phones Nedzu had given them for that (Touya’s even had Shoto’s number already programmed in, but he was too scared to text it), not the effort of a meeting in person. He had the weirdest feeling Nedzu knew that too.

“Hey, uh, Nedzu?” Touya awkwardly asked as the chimera was preparing to leave again.

“Yes, Touya?” Nedzu turned and gave the fire user his (seemingly, Nedzu’s brain was large and he could multi-task) undivided attention. It was a little unnerving to be honest, but it would probably be rude to complain about that, right?

“Keigo said he asked for your help.” Touya rubbed at the back of his neck, running his fingers over some of the stables. Nedzu’s eyes tracked the movement, mentally moving general check-ups for the two up a few spaces on his list of priorities. “He’s okay, right?” Across the room Himiko, who’d been flipping between stations on the tv, froze before turning to the two with fear-filled eyes. Neither of them had heard hide nor hair of the bird since they’d split ways in the forest.

“Hawks walked away from the final battle without any serious injuries.” Nedzu carefully answered. Touya was smart enough to read between the lines, Keigo had survived everything with AFO but had gone back to the commission after. Touya didn’t know why, but he knew he hated it.

“Okay, um. Is there a way to thank him or tell him we’re fine? Or is that too risky?”

“I can try to get him a message the way I did when discussing AFO’s plans.” Nedzu said slowly, running through the logistics in his head. “I’m unsure though if he’ll continue to check those places. If you’d like to write a letter tonight, I can deliver it tomorrow. There should be office supplies in the desks in each of your rooms.” Nedzu wasn’t happy Keigo had returned to the HPSC’s hands, but he understood the thought process. The young hero was waiting to see what happened with the two currently standing before Nedzu before he was willing to extend any sort of trust for himself.

“Thank you.” Touya whispered as Himiko scrambled off the couch for her room behind him.

“Of course, Touya.” Nedzu’s voice was gentle. “For the record, I hope you’ll be reunited soon. But while we’re on the topic with that, Shoto has already expressed a desire to see you again, and now that we don’t have to be concerned about the commission there’s no reason not to see your other siblings as well, if that’s something you want.”

Touya had no idea what he wanted.

“Shoto’s not mad at me?” He asked instead of voicing that.

“It may not be my place to say this,” Nedzu gave the caveat, “but that concern seems to be one all of you have shared. To my knowledge, none of you have ever held anything you had to do to survive Endeavor against each other. Shoto’s not mad, and I doubt Fuyumi and Natsuo would be either.”

“I- okay.” Touya nodded. “Okay.”

“Very well. I’ll inform Shouta and Hizashi, and we’ll try to get something set up for tomorrow, or maybe Monday given the last minute nature. Try to get some rest tonight, the both of you, and if you need anything I’m just down the hall.”

Touya nodded, unsure how to respond to that, and Nedzu took his leave. The young man stared at the door for a few minutes just trying to process that before shaking himself out of his stupor and going to join Himiko in writing a letter for a certain bird.

He had a lot of things he had to figure out how to say to so many people he’d long thought he’d never see again.

Chapter Text

Sunday Morning

Mina and Neito

The remaining two teens of the original brigade, who’d been kept out of the loop on AFO because the adults had decided that was too much weight to put on their shoulders, were invited to the Yamazawa’s late Sunday morning for as much as an explanation as they could be given. Izuku was nervous about it, the worry that two of his oldest friends would think they’d been judged untrustworthy somehow combining with finally coming clean to them about D’Artagnan too (he’d been making progress with Hound Dog on that front, but it was slow progress).

Mina, sweet girl that she was, took one look at Izuku’s face when she stepped into the house and immediately made him scoot over on the couch so she could squeeze in beside him, wrapping her arms around him and refusing to let go as the quite frankly fantastical story slowly came out. They’d already talked about how he thought one wrong move would see him abandoned again and refused to let… whatever the hell had happened play into those fears.

Sure she and Neito weren’t happy about apparently being the only ones not in the know on something that seemed pretty big, but that didn’t mean they were going to toss the entire friendship aside. Shouta filled them in on everything that wasn’t super classified, using broad-strokes and vague generalizations in some places, glossing over others entirely, but still making it clear that Izuku hadn’t been given a choice in them knowing what the family had been dealing with since the start of the semester. Mina felt her hold on Izuku tightening with every sentence, like she could have gone back in time and physically stopped him from willingly walking into a super villain’s lair if she held in place hard enough now. Especially a super villain who’d maybe/maybe not been toying with the family for months.

“When I said no serial killers, this was included.” She muttered, face hidden in her friend’s shoulder.

“That was not stated in the terms and conditions.” Izuku deadpanned on autopilot. Neito was sitting on his other side (with Hitoshi on Neito’s other side, Shoto squished in past Hitoshi on the opposite end of the couch- a couch that, while fairly long, wasn’t quite long enough for five growing teens) holding one of Izuku and Hitoshi’s hands each in a vice grip, face pale.

“You could have died!” Mina yelled, propelling herself off the couch so she could pace, veins suddenly buzzing with too much energy to keep herself contained to one spot. “We could have lost you Zuzu, you understand that right?”

“Kota could have died.” Izuku’s voice was quiet, but not small. His conviction in this matter was unshaken, it hadn’t necessarily been the best decision overall but it was the best that he could do in that moment. He couldn’t just let Muscular hurt Kota, plus he had the tracker in the spare phone and Hawks at his side. “I at least have some measure of training, and someone without a quirk turning on society isn’t a stretch. It was pretty easy to convince him I wanted to join his side.”

(Almost too easy, but Izuku got the impression AFO had been blinded by finally getting something over on Nedzu and the raid had happened so quickly that he hadn’t had the chance to look the gift horse in the mouth.)

(Also Izuku had been assigned multiple essays about what he could have done different, not necessarily as a punishment- Shouta and Hizashi knew his choices were limited and he’d done his best. They also knew sometimes there just weren’t any choices, but they’d be remiss both as teachers and as parents who were pro-heroes to not take advantage of the learning opportunity.)

“Zuzu-”

“Mina.” Izuku interrupted the pink girl, squeezing Neito’s hand harder without realizing it. “I had an ally and I know how Nedzu’s trackers work- they ping continuously so even if it only worked for a few seconds on the other side of the portal it still would have broadcast a location that would have alerted Nedzu because it was way outside the expected boundary. He would have noticed it was in the wrong place regardless of if Kota told anyone, which he was going to because I could already hear Shoto and Fumi approaching when he ran off. I didn’t make that decision blind.” He took a shuddering breath.

“I did the best I could. You can be mad, I understand that, there was something really big happening and we didn’t tell you, but in the forest I made the best decision I could with the information I had.” That’s all any of them could ever do as heroes. Really that’s all anyone could ever do, period.

Mina stopped pacing for a second, frozen, before turning and launching herself back at Izuku.

“Shit, Izu, I know. It was so scary though. You were gone and your dads were in the woods fighting villains and we had no idea what was going on.”

“I’m fine, Mina.” Izuku wrapped his free arm around her, gently patting her shoulder. “Dad and papa are fine too, the villain was defeated and everyone’s fine. Promise.” Izuku didn’t mention the stubborn thought in the back of his head that it was a miracle he’d lived long enough to even see the entrance exam so each day he spent with them was a day they probably shouldn’t have all gotten. That wouldn’t help right now. Mina nodded against his collar bone.

“I understand why you didn’t tell us.” Neito finally spoke up now that Mina’s dramatics seemed to have eased (at least for the moment, not that she wasn’t entitled to the dramatics). “I’m still mad about it, but you didn’t make that decision so I’m not mad at you. We’re gonna be heroes, we’re not always going to be able to tell each other anything, I know that. But are there any other secrets we need to know? Head this off at the pass for next time?” He raised an eyebrow at his kitten-eared friend who nearly snorted at the assumption of a next time.

“Not on my end, no.” Izuku couldn’t shrug with how Mina was clamped onto him, so he just gave Neito’s hand a comforting squeeze before making a concerted effort to loosen his grip. He was mildly surprised the copycat hadn’t said anything yet about how tight it’d been.

“Good.” Neito sighed with relief. “Izu, I love you, but it is very hard to keep track with you.” At that one, Izuku did snort, tension in the room effectively cut.

“One of the villains that came out of the forest with us is my thought-to-be-dead-brother.” Shoto broke into the conversation. “Does that count as a secret?”

“WHAT?!!” Every other teen in the room screeched, because due to statements happening at different times and in private, plus the emotions of the night post-missing Izuku, that particular fact hadn’t been shared with anyone but the dads yet.

“Yes, Shoto.” Shouta answered, sounding oh so very exhausted and like he was inches from facepalming. “That counts.”

“Oh.” Shoto didn’t sound very repentant as the others clamored for an explanation. “Oops.”

Sometimes the underground pro didn’t know what he was going to do with these kids.

Chapter Text

There was a debate Sunday morning (before Mina and Neito had come over) about the best way to tell Natsuo and Fuyumi Touya was awake, ultimately ending with in-person being best. Shoto wasn’t a fan, he felt they should know as soon as possible and that easily doable with a text or phone call. Nedzu, Shouta, and Hizashi agreed with the sentiment but they also knew how big a bombshell that was going to be.

'Wasn't a fan' is an understatement, it was the first time Shoto really let himself show himself being angry at his found family.  They didn't miss that milestone being passed, but it didn't make it any better in the moment. 

Shoto was finally appeased with inviting the two over for a last-minute lunch (they ended up pushing Rin’s dinner party to Monday, just to give the siblings enough time to process and maybe have Touya come over) after Mina, Neito, and Hitoshi went back home. (High school students recently released early from a school trip had more availability than two young adults, a slightly late lunch was as early as both Fuyumi and Natsuo could make it last minute.)

Natsuo got there first, pulling Shoto into a hug and messing up his hair just to watch his nose scrunch up as he tried to fix it (it was growing out, they’d have to get both his and Izuku’s fixed up soon, though Hitoshi still refused to let any of them near his head with scissors).

“Stop that.” Shoto scowled, elbowing Natsuo in the side maybe slightly harder than necessary with his cold elbow.

“Alright, alright.” Natsuo relented before holding Shoto out by the shoulders so he could get a good look at his little brother. “And you’re sure you’re fine? You were supposed to be at camp for another two weeks.”

“Yes, Nats.” Shoto’s tone was so dry Natsuo was sure he would have rolled his eyes if he’d figured out how to yet. “Izuku was the one who got kidnapped anyways.” Shoto brushed Natsuo’s arms off and turned to go back inside.

“Wait, what?” Natsuo scrambled after him. “Is he okay?”

“I wasn’t kidnapped!” Izuku called from the kitchen, at least sounding like he was fine but Natsuo darted past Shoto regardless to also check on the cat-eared boy. Sue him, he liked Izuku and didn’t want anything to happen to the bean. Plus, those without quirks had to stick together. “Shoto’s making it sound worse than it was.”

“No, I’m not.” Shoto defended himself. Izuku was setting the table, looking his standard level of hale and hearty, so Natsuo turned back to leave his shoes (made by Powerloader, that actually fit his feet) in the genkan before he tracked something into the house. The hero family might not have cared that much, but Fuyumi did and Natsuo had learned that lesson more than once.

“Ok,” both formerly Todoroki boys finally made it into the kitchen, “you’re sure you’re fine? What the he-eck happened?” Natsuo caught himself with a glance at Shouta who was giving the college student a raised eyebrow, leaning back against the counter next to his husband who was putting the finishing touches on dinner.

“That’s part of why you and Fuyumi were invited.” Hizashi sent a bright grin at Natsuo. “Hope you’re hungry, go ahead and take a seat. Your sister should be here in a few minutes.”

Sure enough, less than five minutes later there was another knock on the door, resulting in another round of hugs and Natsuo’s outrage when he realized Fuyumi was not already aware of the whole villain attack/kidnap situation (still wasn’t kidnapped!), she hadn’t told him.

“Lunch needs to simmer for a bit longer and we do have news for you too.” Hizashi got everything back on track, the two were here for a reason, after all. “And yes, everyone’s fine.” He tacked on when Fuyumi’s eyes grew wide and alarmed, lightly elbowing Shouta in the side when he muttered something about ‘more than fine’.

“We did bring everyone home early because there was an attack on the camp, we can’t give you too many details because it is need-to-know, but no one was hurt.” Shouta took over. “During the attack, certain… revelations were brought to light. Nedzu and I are already working on the legal side of things, but you both deserve to know. Shoto.” Shouta nodded at his newest son, sitting wedged between Natsuo and Fuyumi, giving him the floor.

“Touya was part of the attack. He’s alive.” Shoto reached to hold Fuyumi’s hand with his warm one (on the opposite side from her) when it started shaking minutely. “He wasn’t there by choice, he didn’t want to be a villain, but the… head villain?” Shoto glanced at Shouta, who nodded. “Head villain knew he was on the run from him and blackmailed him into joining up. But Touya’s safe now, and he’s okay with seeing you again, if you want to see him. I want to see him.” The last part was said more quietly, but still audible to the two flanking him.

“He faked his death?” Fuyumi asked, voice a whisper.

“It wasn’t an accident.” Natsuo’s voice and eyes were hard with anger as he put the pieces together. He’d only been nine when his older brother ‘died’ and might not have realized just how fucked up their situation was then, but he more than knew now. “He tried to kill him, didn’t he?”

“That’s our understanding, yes.” Shouta answered when Shoto hesitated, reaching to hold Hizashi’s hand, both of their hearts cracking for the pain the three in front of them were currently going through.

“He’s okay?” Fuyumi asked. “You said he’s safe?”

“He’s perfectly fine.” Hizashi soothed, and Touya was- physically at least. All these kids needed therapy though. “We haven’t had a lot of time to figure out next steps, but we’re doing our best to support him the same way we offered for both of you.” Fuyumi hadn’t accepted anything from the Yamazawa’s yet, unsure she could trust the offer despite having come to trust them. On some level it still just didn’t feel real. Natsuo hadn’t accepted anything other than the shoes, for similar reasons but also a touch of guilt, like he didn’t deserve it.

“When can we see him?” Fuyumi squeezed Shoto’s hand harder without realizing it, but Shoto just wrapped his cold arm around her shoulders. The comfort was probably more important than the temperature.

“I’ll call Nedzu.” Shouta pulled his phone out of his pocket as he stood, squeezing Hizashi’s hand once before releasing it to step out of the kitchen.

“Is the ‘head villain’ the one who kidnapped you?” Natsuo turned to Izuku.

“I wasn’t kidnapped, but yes.” Izuku nodded, fingers tapping against the table top- an indication he was plotting something that went unnoticed under the emotions of the moment.

“Did he pay for it?” Fuyumi froze at the question, eyes darting between her blood-brother and the kitten eared boy who’d probably be an adoptive brother to more than just one former Todoroki.

“He did.” Izuku said before Hizashi could stop him.

“Good.” Natsuo didn’t ask for more info than that, knowing he wouldn’t get any but content with the confirmation regardless.

“Nedzu and Touya will be here in about ten minutes or so.” Shouta stepped back into the kitchen. “They’re putting on shoes now.” Natsuo nodded, unsure what, if anything he could say to that. Shouta didn’t seem to need a verbal response though as he took his seat again.

Natsuo wasn’t sure if he would have been able to predict the deep rage coursing through his system. He was only nine when Touya had ‘died’ and their age gap had meant he wasn’t as close to him as Fuyumi had been, but he’d still lost his brother and it had killed him to watch Fuyumi grieve like that. Just when he thought he couldn’t possibly have stooped any lower, something like this happened. Natsuo had never wanted a fire quirk, not with what he saw Touya and Shoto going through at his hands, but now he kinda did, if only for a few minutes so he could burn him himself.

Fuyumi didn’t know how she felt, or maybe she was just numb? All she could hear was disjointed parts of the conversation repeating through her brain, ‘blackmailed’, ‘villain’, ‘it wasn’t an accident’, but most importantly ‘Touya’s alive’. She and Touya were the closest in age, had been side by side as far back as she could remember. He’d been her best friend, one of the best parts of her life until their other brothers arrived. Losing him had been one one of the hardest things she’d gone through, right behind the inability to stop him.

But she hadn’t lost him, or she had, but he wasn’t truly gone. She’d grieved, she’d gone through trying to protect their younger siblings alone, but he wasn’t gone. He wasn’t gone, he was back, her best friend was back. The emotions swirled around in her chest, all vying for attention and being overtaken by another almost before she could register the first one.

There was a knock at the door.

Chapter Text

There were a lot of things that needed to happen regarding Touya and Himiko, but one of the most pressing was getting Himiko into an actual stable home. Nedzu had been able to tell though that fully separating her and Touya was just going to be traumatic for the both of them, and absolutely no one involved trusted the foster care system, especially with her history, so Nedzu’s first plan was to have her meet both Kayama and Kan to see if either of them were able to hit it off with her.

Kayama would be a great match, she was trustworthy, would take fantastic care of the girl, was only one degree of separation removed from the Yamazawas (who were currently in the process of adopting legally and figuratively all four Todoroki children) and had honestly been Nedzu’s first thought. Kan, though, had heard about the situation and hadn’t hesitated to throw his hat in the ring the second he’d heard her quirk. He didn’t need to drink blood for his quirk, but he was still intimately aware of the discrimination that occurred against blood quirks.

So both of them came over to the apartment on Sunday to meet Himiko, who’d been ecstatic to meet someone else with a blood related quirk, but Kayama was utterly charmed with the girl. Nedzu had watched the whole thing go down with no small amusement, he hadn’t expected to watch Kan and Kayama fight over parental rights of a teenager, but he wasn’t mad about it.

Then his phone buzzed in his pocket, and Shouta calling at that time could only really mean one thing. Nedzu took the call privately anyways, but was unsurprised to learn that Natsuo and Fuyumi were waiting very impatiently to see Touya again. He’d warned Hizashi that they should eat before the reveal, he’d had no doubt this would happen and that their meal would be severely delayed, but his child-in-law had insisted of being able to feed everyone.

“Touya,” Nedzu hopped back onto the couch beside the young man, “your siblings are on campus with Shoto and would like to see you.” Touya stiffened, apprehension flooding through him. “You do have a choice here.” Nedzu reminded him. “If you’re not ready for that, we’ll handle it.”

“No.” Touya shook his head. “I want to see them, I just. It’s been so long, and I-” The fire user cut himself, off, glancing at Himiko who was aggressively questioning Kan about his hero career.

“It has been a while,” Nedzu noted, “you’re all different people than you were back then, but now you have the chance to get to know each other without his interference. The four of you know more than anyone what you’ve been through, I don’t think they’re going to judge you for the choices you were forced to make. Even if they did, my support won’t change. All of you deserve the chance to heal, with or without each other.” The chimera hoped he’d covered most if not all of Touya’s concerns. The finer points of human emotions could be tricky for him at times. “Kan, Kayama, or both will stay here with Toga until we get back.”

“Right.” Touya nodded. “Let’s go.” Nedzu sent off a quick text to Shouta while they both got ready to go. One quick cart ride through the underground tunnel later found the two of them at the Yamazawa cabin door. Touya stared at it for a second, but before Nedzu could press his chimera-height doorbell he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and knocked.

Neither were expecting Fuyumi to come absolutely flying out of the door. She’d bolted the second she heard the knock, feet moving almost before her brain had even processed the sound, throwing it open before throwing herself at Touya. She collided with him with more than enough force to bowl the both of them over onto the stone pathway, especially considering he hadn’t had the chance to brace for her unexpected weight. Natsuo had been only a few steps behind her, but he’d stopped short in the doorway.

(“Should we be worried about the cats?” Shoto asked as the rest of them made followed at a normal pace.

“If they escape we’ll just send Izu after them.” Hizashi shrugged to Shouta’s snort and Izuku’s mild glare.)

“Hey, Fuyumi.” Touya grunted out once his breath returned. Unsure what to do, he reached around to awkwardly pat her back. “Long time, no see?”

“Oh my god, you asshole.” She thunked her face down into his shoulder, shaking with emotion as she wrapped her arms around him and refused to let go. “’Long time, no see.’ Can’t believe that’s the first thing you said.”

“I’m so-” Touya tried to apologize, knowing he owed all three of them more than that.

“Don’t you dare.” Fuyumi interrupted, lifting her head back up to glare at him with fire-filled ice blue eyes. “Don’t you dare apologize for that- that- that bitch’s actions.” Still in the doorway, Natsuo choked on his own spit when he heard Fuyumi cuss but she carried on, heedless. “You were thirteen, Touya! He tried to kill you! He would have! You’re not allowed to apologize for being alive!”

“So you’re not mad?” Touya found himself asking before he really thought it through.

“I’m fucking pissed!” Fuyumi yelled before forcing herself to take a breath and calm down. “But at him, not at you.” She thunked her face back onto his shoulder, continuing softly. “I missed you, Yaya.”

“I missed you to, Mimi.” Touya choked out the childhood nickname, blinking back tears at hearing his again. “So much, all of you.” He glanced up at Natsuo, who’d finally joined them, falling to his knees at Touya’s side. Touya reached up to grasp his hand tightly. “You have no idea how many times I almost crawled back just to see you.”

“It’s probably better this way.” Natsuo also sounded close to tears. “We can actually support each other now. None of us would have been able to stop him.” From killing Touya for keeps if he’d returned was something Natsuo didn’t have to elaborate on.

“I didn’t have the chance to really know any of you then,” Shoto knelt down on Touya’s other side, “but I don’t blame you either. I’m glad you’re here now.”

“I can’t believe you’re here now.” Fuyumi breathed out.

“Not gonna be for long if you don’t stop squeezing so hard.” Touya gasped, still rubbing Fuyumi’s back with his free hand. She loosened her grip, but didn’t let go.

“Far be it from me to interrupt a much-needed reunion.” Hizashi interrupted the group, breaking the tension. “But this might be more comfy on the couch and no-one wants to deal with my volume if any bugs get into the house. Also Izuku, Bastard just got out.” They continued as the cat indeed managed to bolt between their legs, out the door, and deeper into the row of dorms on steroids.

“Got him.” Izuku took off after the cat. He didn’t really have any enhanced speed from his feline mutations, but he could at least track the dumb ass pet better than the rest of them.

Natsuo laughed and helped Shoto pull their older siblings to their feet, no small task considering Fuyumi refused to let go of Touya. Part of her thought if she let go for even a second he’d disappear again, or she’d wake up to find it had all been a dream. She had the entire afternoon though to convince herself this was real though, and every day after that.

Izuku was back with the cat after about five minutes, and spent most of the afternoon watching the four reunited siblings catch up, reminisce about what few good times they had had, and generally just revel in each others company. At one point his eyes met Nedzu’s glittering, rage filled ones.

Endeavor was going to pay for this.

Chapter Text

Sunday

Himiko, Kayama, and Kan

Himiko wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but Touya wasn’t upset about it so she figured it couldn’t be too bad. Well, that wasn’t quite true, she understood what was happening she just didn’t understand why.

She was happy they’d managed to make it out of the League, and that she wouldn’t be loosing one of the few people who’d ever cared about her. She fiercely missed Magne and Keigo and legitimately didn’t understand why Keigo had gone back to the commission, but Nedzu had explained to her and Touya that he’d been undercover (they’d figured that part out for themselves) and that actually leaving the commission wasn’t going to be that easy.

Himiko had almost threatened to riot until the rat/dog/bear told them Keigo himself had said he was fine for now and to focus on the two of them. She calmed down, marginally, at the promise that there was still a plan in the works to keep the winged hero safe, then was right back to rioting when they were informed she’d most likely be fostered by one of the teachers (an adult Nedzu had verified and trusted would be able to care for her).

She hadn’t gone this far, lost two thirds of her family just to lose the last one now. Nedzu calmly explained that they weren’t truly separating the two, that they’d both be getting phones and could exchange phone numbers and that she’d be living on campus while Touya would be able to stay in the unit they were in as long as he needed or wanted. They were a very short trip from each other, walking distance for the humans.

Touya also explained that he saw her as a sister but couldn’t take care of her the way she needed, however he’d be able to see her as often as they could if she wanted and if anyone hurt her he’d incinerate them. She’d glanced at Nedzu to see how he’d react to that, they were his people after all, but he just gave the two a decently threatening grin and said if any of his staff betrayed him like that there’d be nothing left to incinerate.

So when the rat/dog//bear came over the next day she was at least willing to meet with the two(? She’d been expecting one?) adults he brought with him.

The first was a pretty lady with long black hair pulled into a braid over her shoulder who’d been introduced as Kayama Nemuri (call me Nem!) and had given her a small yarn (Himiko thought it was called crochet?) bat that had its own small knife! Himiko loved it and hadn’t set it down once. But the other adult!

Sekijiro Kan was big and burly and that might have been intimidating (some of the people in the league with similar builds had been… not very nice), except he had fangs like her! And a blood quirk of his own!! And had brought her a pouch of blood to snack on!!!

None of the adults (rat/dog/bear Nedzu included) even bat an eye when she drank it! Himiko could have bounced off the walls in her excitement, this had never happened to her before even though it was all she’d wanted for so long. Touya also approved, so she felt safe enough to ask them both any and every question (if Kayama could braid her hair- which she immediately did since she had extra hair ties and the apartment had combs, and quirk related questions for Kan) that occurred to her since this whole meeting was to see if either would be a good match to foster her.

Nedzu had gotten a call and Touya had gone to meet his other siblings, and Himiko might have felt a bit hurt at not going with him but Touya wasn’t sure if they’d be (couldn’t imagine they’d be anything but) mad at him. He didn’t want her around that if it went south. So she stayed, and pelted the two heroes with more questions.

Which is where they were now, with Nem and Kan arguing back and forth about who would be better at taking care of her. Two whole ass adults were fighting over taking care of her. She understood what was happening, she was fully fed and thus stable so she knew she could trust her eyes and ears in that moment, but she didn’t understand.

For a terrifying second, she thought Nem was going to cry when Himiko said that. The teen didn’t know what to do with a crying adult! Before she could panic about it too much Kan (who also? Looked sad?) told her she deserved so much better than she’d been given. He then told her she had a choice in the matter too, but she just shook her head while clutching the bat. How was she supposed to choose?!

And so the bickering continued, up until Nem asked what Kan was going to do when Himiko started dating and Kan froze (realizing he probably couldn’t threaten any potential suitors with his quirk and knew next to nothing about the matter, sue him, he was aroace and disinterested in the general concept). He quickly agreed to co-parenting after that. Appeased, Nem agreed to Himiko going to his cabin that night and they could discuss particulars later.

And just like that, Himiko had a mom and a dad. She couldn’t wait to tell Touya when he got back! (Later, when she realized how extended her family had really just become, she’d just about have a stroke in excitement).

Himiko was able to do that sooner than expected, because Nem had received a text asking if Himiko wanted to come over and meet everyone. If Touya wanted her to do that then she would, it probably meant it had gone well anyways. Still, she was nervous, anxiously twisting the hem of her clean shirt (the Nedzu had brought over clothes for her and Touya the day before, but hadn’t had anything that could approximate a school uniform that wasn’t a UA uniform and he couldn’t give her one of those, but Nem had said she’d take her shopping soon for clothes she was more comfy in).

Touya was waiting outside for them when they approached, and the second she saw him, Himiko was gone, racing to hug him (and she might not let go if his other siblings had been mean to him, not unless her knives could get involved).

“No knives necessary, Himiko.” Touya tugged lightly on her braid.

“So it went well?” Himiko hid her face in his shirt.

“Yeah, what’s wrong kiddo?” Touya frowned down at her, but she didn’t respond. It didn’t really matter, he could guess at what was bothering her. “Hey, just because it went well doesn’t mean you’re not still my babiest sister. Do you know why I wanted you to come meet them?” Himiko shook her head, face still pressed into his torso while Kan and Nemuri stopped a bit away, sensing the seriousness of the moment and giving them some privacy.

“I want all of my family to know each other, you’re important to me and I don’t want to hide you from them and vice versa. Plus, it seems like Nem and my babiest brother’s new dads are basically siblings so I’m pretty sure that makes you cousins.”

“I’ve never had cousins before.” She muttered, but her grip did loosen a little bit.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve got two now since they’ve got another kid too.” He glanced up at the two heroes. “How exactly does this all work, anyways?”

“I have no idea.” Nem shrugged, not sounding too concerned about it. “We’re about five seconds from breaking down and mapping everything out on a giant cork board, though.”

“Oh kami, you’re gonna give him ideas.” Kan muttered, sounding almost as exhausted as one of Shoto’s new dads looked. Touya didn’t know who he was referring to in that moment, Shoto hadn’t had the chance to reveal his conspiracy theorist nature yet, but he’d break down into near hysterical laughter when he finally put the pieces together later.

“He’s already got plenty of those.” Nem snorted, which did not help explain the statement in the slightest. Whatever.

“You ready then?” Touya asked Himiko.

“Yeah.” Himiko nodded, stepping back but clutching at Touya’s hand. Touya smiled at her and gently led her to the door, the two heroes following, then introduced her to more (soon-to-be) family than either had ever even imagined possible.

The rest of the afternoon was pure chaos, and Himiko loved every second of it.

Nedzu Out for Tea

Chapter Text

Overall, everyone meeting everyone went about as well as it could given how many people were crammed into the Yamazawa cabin. All four Todoroki siblings, Hizashi, Shouta, Izuku, Nedzu, Himiko, Nem, and Kan (they’d have to introduce Hitoshi later, since he was with his mom).

Izuku and Himiko attached themselves to each other almost immediately, all high octane energy and five thousand question rambles. It was mildly terrifying sure, but at least he had someone his own age to meet him on that level (also just someone that wasn’t Nedzu in general, all hail).

At one point, the pending custody battle with him came up. UA operated as a sort of sanctuary school for students who reported abuse, but that didn’t mean guardians didn’t have the legal right to contest that custody and (attempt to) prove they were actually fit caretakers.

Nedzu didn’t start the program as an ego trip, he genuinely wanted what was best for his students up to and including getting them out of shitty home lives. When a student reported abuse they did their due diligence and got all the evidence they could, occasionally bringing in Naomasa for his truth quirk if necessary like they did for Shoto. When guardians decided to fight them, Nedzu fought back, determined as ever to go full tooth and nail for the students he’d sworn to protect.

Especially since most of the students who reported bad home lives to the school often involved quirk discrimination, something that shouldn’t but would go against them in court if they didn’t keep it in check. That being said, most of the ones that still felt inclined to fight for custody in court just didn’t have the means to move against UA’s vast resources.

Todoroki Enji did, and his ego couldn’t accept Shoto (or the rest of his kids) being anything but under his thumb. Plus as the number two hero there was always the optics of having his youngest removed from his care affecting his ranking, so he was pissed off and desperate to get Shoto back.

For his newest grandkit’s sake, Nedzu would have preferred the man not push the issue. Shoto didn’t deserve to have to go through the stress and anxiety, even if he would inevitably lose the court case. Naomasa’s quirk was highly respected in the court system and as far as political bias on an individual judge might go, Enji’s credit card might be heavy but the chimera’s reputation carried an indescribable amount of weight.

For his own sake, well. In the end, Nedzu hadn’t been able to stand against AFO’s threat against his pack himself, he just wasn’t designed for that sort of physical fight and his skill set, while impressive, was better utilized elsewhere. But a courtroom?

That one one of Nedzu’s favorite battlefields.

The court systems moved terribly slow even at the best of times, and it was painfully obvious that this case would require Naomasa’s testimony since not even the largest of titan’s could fight against a truth quirk.

Honestly, the judges who oversaw the custody battles UA did face loved it when the man was involved, it made it so much easier for them to cut through the bullshit and so much harder for anyone to claim that UA’s reputation was biasing rulings toward them. However, he’d been kept incredibly busy due to both D’Artagnan’s files (still, he loved Izuku but god damn, kid) and the whole AFO situation that he’d been one of the main detectives on.

Due to all of the above, a date hadn’t actually been set yet but would be soon. Nedzu wasn’t overly concerned, but the collective Todoroki’s were.

“Hey, at least when all this is said and done you can change your last name to Yamazawa.” Natsuo pointed out, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere that had fallen. (In the background, Izuku noted the marked temperature drop in the room and the tiny sparks that had danced around the man’s fingers until he took a deep breath and visibly calmed himself). “Kinda want to change mine.”

“I’ve been thinking about that myself.” Fuyumi joined the fray with a glance at their babiest brother. “I was thinking of Himura, if you’re comfortable with that Shoto.” She wasn’t sure how he’d react to their mother’s name, and if it was negatively she didn’t want to remind him of her even to ask. Shoto took a few seconds before he responded.

“It wasn’t her fault.” He spoke slowly, thinking through his words. “I still have mixed feelings about her and… then, but none of this was any of our faults. Himura Fuyumi.” He tried it out, a pink tint coming to Fuyumi’s cheeks at hearing it out loud. “I think it fits you?”

“It definitely fits you, Fuyumi.” Natsuo squeezed her hand. “Himura Natsuo, Himura Touya.” He glanced over at their newly rediscovered oldest brother.

“If you’re in, I’m in. His name makes me want to vomit.”

“Fucking mood.” Izuku concurred before he realized he’d even spoken out loud.

“Language!” Shoto, Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Nemuri chorused to Touya and Himiko’s confusion, Kan’s eyerolls, and Hizashi’s snickers. Even if the joke was originally poking fun at him, Shouta found the way it’d taken off hilarious and that alone did more to curb the teens language than his reprimands ever had.

And so the evening continued, lunch eaten (thank kami Hizashi had given up and just made massive amounts of meals) and later pizza ordered, then eventually everyone who had homes elsewhere returned to them.

Monday dawned a fresh week and a fresh start for many new members of their exponentially growing family.

…

Keigo

Keigo had returned to the commission post-AFO smackdown, not because he really wanted to, but to wait and see what happened with Touya and Toga. He’d leveraged himself to get Nedzu’s assistance and (assuming they’d actually listened to him) he needed to make sure that that happened before fully leaving the commission.

He was going to though. He’d finally crashed down into his own bed after debriefing first with the police then his handlers post-battle, finally taken the chance to breathe and let everything that had happened over the past few years wash over him, and realized that the emotions he’d felt when fake-defecting had stuck and his brain had made this decision without him.

Keigo was going to leave the commission.

Whether that was to Nedzu if he held up his end of the deal- the chimera had caught his eye in the chaos at the scene after the fight ended and given one single nod before moving to the next thing on the rodent’s checklist, so Keigo knew he’d gotten the message- or just cut and running for keeps, Keigo was leaving. Now it was just a waiting game to see what actually happened.

Kimura hadn’t had a big sit down about everything Keigo’d done wrong after the debrief like he usually would, but Keigo was simply too worn out to worry about it so that was a problem for future him. He’d woken up late Saturday morning to an email that he was excused from his shifts for the weekend and Kimura would see him Monday, which was either really good or really really bad.

Either way, Keigo couldn’t remember the last time he’d been allowed anything close to free time, so he spent it in the best way he could think of. A scalding hot bubble bath with the fluffiest anime he could find. His feathers let him position his phone above his head so he could fully sink into the water aside from his face, ten/ten recommend, it was very good time.

Bright and early Monday morning Keigo found himself in his office with his handler almost convinced he was being punk’d (something he’d also watched that weekend after finishing the anime, having remembered it from Izuku and Tokoyami’s pre-quirk tv show discussions) when Kimura didn’t have a list as long as Keigo’s wings of shit he could have done better. They instead moved on to the next big thing, apparently quirk-erasing bullets, and the man hadn’t tugged at the few feathers attached to his wing stubs even once.

He guessed helping take down the biggest super-villain since quirks appeared and literally being the one to deliver Nedzu’s student to him and thus further earning his good favor/lack of suspicion was finally something the Commission deemed good enough. Who’d a thunk it?

Keigo didn’t have a chance to check the drop box he’d set up with Nedzu until Wednesday, but he hadn’t heard anything from any other channels so it was worth the risk. He wasn’t expecting the letters from Touya and Toga he found waiting for him (two from Toga, written on different stationary and one from Touya on stationary that matched the first letter from Toga).

The young hero’s hands had shook when he first held them at finally having the confirmation that they were safe and out of the hands of the league, the HPSC, and Endeavor. (If Keigo had gone through his room and thrown out anything even hinting at the man late Saturday afternoon, well that was for him and him alone to know).

At least he didn’t have to wait to read them, carrying them into ‘his’ agency would have been far too risky, but tearing them up and throwing the pieces into different trashcans (some dunked in what remained of his water for good measure) hadn’t been fun.

The first two letters talked about how the two had been put up in a unit in an apartment building apparently owned by Nedzu. Touya said he was glad Keigo was fine before yelling at him for going back to the commission, which he supposed was fair, before telling they were fine and to get his ass over there before Touya incinerated the HPSC himself. Keigo’d snorted at that.

In her first letter, Toga had rambled about how nice the apartment was and that the chimera had brought some blood with him when he came to meet them, how bizarre that was, and that she missed him and hoped he came to join them again soon. The second letter was a lot longer, telling him all about the two heroes (Keigo had actually worked with Kan once) that were now co-parenting her apparently and about meeting all of Touya’s siblings. If that wasn’t a kick in the head.

Obviously once Touya had given his name Keigo had realized he had three younger siblings, but the fire user had spoken at length that night about how hard abandoning them had been. Keigo wouldn’t have even been sure Touya could meet them again, much less that Nedzu could somehow arrange for all of them doing so so quickly.

Keigo was still going to give it a few months, just to make sure nothing that had been done so far could or would be reversed, but the end was in sight. The birds hands shook as he returned to ‘his’ agency post shift, the words repeating end over end in his head. The end was in sight.

Chapter Text

Saturday

All of the homeroom teachers needed to go to their students houses one by one to inform parents about the new student dorm situation and Shouta and Hizashi were no exception (plus it was probably best for Shouta to go answer any questions and concerns parents had about the school trip ending early, which was going to be so much fun for him). So the next Saturday, when it was more likely that they’d be able to catch the parents at home, both parents left campus for the day to get that done.

They just didn’t have the time to run through all nearly-forty of their combined classes together (Shouta had never regretted not expelling as few students as he had more, but damn if they didn’t all have potential), so they were tackling them separately and Hizashi couldn’t do anything but pray for the civilians who found themselves on the road with Shouta.

The boys all ended up at Neito’s place for the day, including Fumikage. Mina was spending the day with her girlfriends on a date at one of the local art museums, they’d decided to get dressed up together as one of the paintings and take a photo with it, as well as explore the rest of the museum.

Neito’s house was decently sized yet still cozy, with an incredible amount of crocheted blankets thrown across every available chair or couch. Izuku, Fumikage, and Shoto (all of whom had never been there before) understood why though when they learned that Neito’s mom’s quirk was the ability to create any yarn she wanted out of her wrist.

Izuku still couldn’t believe Neito hadn’t told them he was related to fucking Best Jeanist. Little shit.

This branch of the Monomas also had a couple of cats, a darling little tabby who just wanted cuddles and to hold your finger in her paws appropriately named Lovebug (Hitoshi would die for her, she was his little princess) and an all-black voidling named Alien that had legs that seemed just the slightest bit too long for a normal cat. They both immediately swarmed Izuku of course, he was pretty sure he smelled more like a cat than human to other cats because any time there was a cat in a ten foot radius of him they inevitably came to check him out, before Lovebug abandoned him for the lure of Hitoshi.

Curiosity apparently sated, Alien disappeared into a cat tree with a little cave at the top, glowing yellow eyes watching the boys every move until they themselves disappeared into Neito’s room for a few rounds of video games.

“Okay, so let me make sure I’ve got this straight.” Neito handed his controller over to Hitoshi so he could play the next round. “Izuku and Shoto are adopted brothers, Hitoshi is your cousin through adoption but functionally your brother the same way the rest of the brigade has sibling rights. Iida is an unofficial cousin through parental friends, Mei is an unofficial cousin through being another sensei’s problem child, Nedzu and Recovery girl are your grandparents and Midnight, Power Loader, Snipe, Iida’s older brother, and a couple of random cops are all aunts and uncles?”

“Most of the staff are aunts and uncles.” Izuku clarified.

“Okay.” Neito accepted that, at least it was easier to understand. “And Shoto’s older siblings are also unofficially adopted siblings, but one of them faked his death and adopted his own younger sister who’s also a cousin?”

“Honestly, at the rate the pack’s expanding I’m just leaving it at ‘this person is family’ and not really worrying about the connection itself.” Hitoshi admitted, having lost the round to Fumikage.

“That sounds about right.” Izuku took the controller Hitoshi held out to them.

“How the hell do you keep up with this?”

“Most of us don’t, but Aunt Nem ordered us a white board, it should be coming in the next few days. I think the adults want to have it in writing and its being considered a bonding activity with Shoto.”

“Can we put yarn on it?” The boy in question perked up, having always wanted a white board of some sort.

“We can pin them in place with magnets, I think.” Izuku answered, already well on the way to firmly trouncing his boyfriend despite Dark Shadow roosting in his curly, freshly dyed hair.

“You can always get the ones that look like push pins and wrap the yarn around them.” Fumikage suggested.

“Awesome.” Shoto grinned, already looking forward to it.

All was well and good for a few hours before they migrated downstairs for food. Connie (Neito’s mom was American, and had immigrated to Japan when she married his father after they met when he studied abroad) had been feeling homesick, so she’d fried up a large batch of her mom’s fried chicken and made a pitcher of sweet tea (whether they had leftovers or the teens ate what was left she wasn’t concerned about, she just wanted the taste again).

The doorbell rang while they were eating, and Connie going to answer it let the cats in, cats who absolutely lived for chicken. The best way to distract them was to give them treats in the other room, so Neito sighed and went to grab the bag of treats and catnip from where their spot in the pantry. As he was passing behind Izuku he slowed, and Hitoshi watched the dots connect in his boyfriend’s brain in real time. Almost on autopilot, like the blonde’s inner gremlin had momentarily taken full control, he unscrewed the lid from the nearly empty jar and tipped it over onto Izuku’s head.

For a few long seconds time froze as the collection of teens realized what had just happened.

“Is that catnip?” Izuku asked. Everything quickly snapped back into movement again and Neito realized what he’d done. “Cause I have no idea how I’m going to react to that.”

“Oh kami, Izuku I-” Neito stammered.

“Starshine don’t move-” Fumikage rose to his feet, trying to find a way to help.

“Holy shit Neito-” Hitoshi began, unsure whether this was going to move into a defcon one situation or if they’d all be laughing about it in a few minutes.

“Should I try to ice it?” Shoto asked, thinking that might at least stop the smell if he did it carefully.

“Dad just walked in the door.” Izuku muttered, distracted

“What?” All four boys asked, Shoto, Hitoshi, and Fumikage because they just couldn’t hear him and Neito in dawning horror. That’s when Shouta and Connie appeared in the door to the sight of a horrified Neito with an empty catnip bottle and stock-still Izuku who’s pupils were starting to dilate.

“Dad, I feel weird.” They were just four little words quietly mumbled, but they had such enormous implications.

“Sink.” Shouta ordered, step one being removing as much of the stuff from Izuku’s hair as possible before he really started feeling the effects. Fumikage had made it over to Izuku by that point and quickly shuffled him over to the sink as Shouta rushed to meet them and the two started rinsing the dried plant out of the curls.

“Have you ever tried catnip before?” Shouta asked.

“No, it was never worth the risk- being incapacitated like that while quirkless never ends well.” Izuku was starting to panic, his blood felt like electricity and he couldn’t even begin to describe how his brain felt beyond out of his control. The last time his brain felt out of his control he’d almost jumped out of the hospital window.

“Okay, it’s gonna be okay, Izuku.” Shouta soothed. “Remember when Sansa got hit with catnip on shift? This isn’t uncharted territory and I’m right here, I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“I know you wont.” Izuku stood back up as Fumikage turned the water off, already shaking his arms and bouncing on his feet because he needed some sort of outlet for the electricity.

“Okay, change of plans. Connie, can I leave my car here?”

“Of course.” Connie nodded. “Whatever you need.”

“Thank you. Toshi, call Zashi and tell him what’s going on, have him call Nao and find out exactly what they did when Sansa got cat nipped. Izuku,” he turned to his son, “how do you feel about a rooftop jaunt to the school and some hell course time?”

“Hell course?” Izuku’s entire being perked up, hell Shouta could have sworn even his curls fluffed up. Guess that answered that. He quickly got Izuku out the door and up onto the roofs. They were further from the school than Shouta would have liked to be with one of his sons basically high, but their average patrol was far longer. They’d be fine, even if he and Zashi would have to catch the rest of the parents the next day.

The two had gone through the house once they’d returned home from the Entrance Exam and done a deep search to find as many of the cat nip laced toys as they could from around the house and dispose of them. Shouta had never been more convinced that was the correct fucking choice.

The bottle had been nearly empty, just a tablespoon or so left, but even that much combined with Izuku’s general energizer-bunny personality left Shouta struggling to keep up as they raced toward campus. They didn’t stop before hitting the hell course, already ready and waiting for them thanks to Nedzu, who’d been warned by Hitoshi in the family group chat and Zashi via phone call before they called Nao.

He and Chiyo were waiting at the gym for the two just in case, but Izuku didn’t even stop to say ‘hi’ before launching himself into the course. Not wanting him to run it alone while not at full-cognitive capabilities (even if it wasn’t truly the hell course, Nedzu had turned off all the lasers and shut down the robots), Shouta followed not two steps behind.

He desperately wanted to know what brand catnip the Monomas used (so he could burn the company to the ground) because his cats had never been this affected for this long and Izuku didn’t even slow for another two hours. When he did crash it was so quick Shouta almost didn’t have time to catch him, full tilt to swaying on his feet between one second and the next before stumbling and almost face-planting.

“I think you’re done now, problem child.” Shouta huffed when Izuku sleepily tried to regain his feet, bound and determined not to stop despite the jaw-cracking yawn he gave.

“But I was having fun.” He mumbled, sending Shouta a sweaty, fuzzy around the edges glare.

“You know what else is fun?” The exhausted hero asked. “Naps. Why don’t we take one now?”

“Hmm.” Izuku blinked as he thought about it, each blink lasting longer and longer. “Yeah, a nap could be nice.” With that, he just conked out in Shouta’s arms.

Shouta would have given his left eye to just fall asleep in the course right then and there, but he knew he’d regret it when he woke up and Zashi would never stop laughing, plus there needed to be an awake adult around in case anything happened with Izuku (not that it should, but you didn’t succeed as a hero by being stupid). So, muscles protesting, he hauled Izuku up into a carry and forced himself to walk back to their cabin.

Of course the hell course was in the furthest gym from the teachers dorms. Of course it was.

“Lets just have the two of you crash in our bed.” Hizashi said as he opened the door for his husband after one look at the crashed teen and about-to-crash adult. He took Izuku from Shouta’s arms to carry to the bed themself, try to lighten the load for Shouta at least a little. It wasn’t like their (or any other hero’s) bed hadn’t seen one or both of the heroes collapsing into it after a long patrol without showering first, and this way they’d only have to run one set of sheets through the laundry.

“Zashi, I fucking love you.” Shouta groaned as he followed his husband inside, shoving the door shut and not even bothering to take off his shoes.

“I love you too, dear. Have a nice nap.” Hizashi set Izuku down in the bed and got him and Shouta settled, removing both of their shoes, phones, knives, and Shouta’s scarf.

Hizashi was going to give Neito the most disappointed dad look once Izuku finished coming down.

Chapter Text

Colony of Ferals

aliencat has changed user ‘aliencat’ to ‘slimecat’

slimecat: :)

jealouscat: oh good ur online

jealouscat: neito just dosed izuku with catnip

slimecat: …

slimecat: im sorry he did WHAT

slimecat: is this a ‘that’s hilarious’ situation or ‘neito wtf’ situation. Is he okay??

jealouscat: izuku wasn’t happy about it, but uncle Sho’s got him now so he’ll be okay

slimecat: neito what the actual fuck

copycat: I don’t know what came over me! Kami I owe him the biggest apology

slimecat: yes you do

jealouscat: yup

bestcat: agreed

later

actualcat: I LIVE BITCHES

actualcat: love the new username mina

copycat: I’m gonna apologize in person, but I’m so sorry Izuku

actualcat: I can’t say I don’t understand the brain gremlins just taking over because I do, but that was scary Neito and I’m still upset about it. Ur in for zashi’s disappointed face too, good luck

actualcat: also anything catnip is on a strict ban, I basically got the zoomies for hours and I think it almost killed dad bc he kept up with me in case something happened

jealouscat: jesus, is he okay?

slimecat: IZU!! IM GLAD UR OK

copycat: you should be

actualcat: he’s still asleep, but zashi’s got all the ice packs and heating pads ready for him when he wakes up bc he’s old

actualcat: thanks mina

bestcat: ShoutaAndIzuku.jpeg (basically, Shouta rolled over in his sleep and is semi crushing Izuku, and they’re both covered in all the cats)

bestcat: he’s leaving out the fact that he’s trapped now. This is the photo papa took

jealouscat: lmfao rip izuku

actualcat: :(

slimecat: lmfao zuzu has power of dad. like power of cat but dad

actualcat: :(:(

DMs with Hitoshi and Izuku

badinfluence2: izu is that the first time Shoto’s called one of them dad or papa?

badinfluence1: as far as I’m aware, but don’t bring it up we don’t want to make him uncomfy in case he didn’t realize he said it

badinfluence2: got it

…

Shouta eventually woke up and stopped squishing Izuku, and though he was sore and ultimately annoyed that he still had to finish talking to parents (at least this time he and Hizashi could go talk to parents together since they’d gotten through enough of their respective lists) life moved on.

Monday they had the sit down conversation with Neito.  It ended in tears and hugs.

Wednesday night, something incredibly interesting for those associated with the Yamazawa’s. Endeavor was being featured in a live interview regarding some new initiative his agency was investing in when the water sprinklers all suddenly went off, dousing everything in stinky pipe water and most importantly snuffing out all of Endeavor’s flames, including his shitty mustache and beard.

(Stills of the event paired with the long-standing joke that men who usually have beards look like babies when they do shave them off hit the internet within minutes, the public’s favorite new meme.)

No one would ever be able to prove who’d been behind it, or even that there was anyone to be behind it, but that didn’t stop everyone in the know from being aware of exactly who was to blame. Nedzu and all the (soon to be former) Todoroki’s gave him high fives and Fuyumi even rustled his hair the next time they saw him, and Sansa sent a handful of laughing cat emojis leaving Nao to play the role of disappointed uncle. Shouta and Hizashi did end up grounding him for a week for the stunt, but it was mostly because as parents it was probably the right thing to do. As overgrown problem children themselves, they were proud.

That week, they also finally got Izuku’s primary doctor situation figured out. Turns out, one of Dr. Aiko’s colleagues finally found out about her freelancing in the quirkless clinic and tattle-told on her as part of some bullshit office politics. Nedzu had been in contact with her about taking a position as part of the medical staff at UA, specifically learning the ropes of how the school worked under Chiyo until/so that the older heroine could finally retire. Of course, it had come with better perks and even a raise.

She hadn’t even hesitated (she was relieved to see he was still doing just fine). She didn’t have to worry about freelancing at the clinic under Nedzu, he was even helping fund it out of his personal bank accounts.

Nedzu also hired a handful of other staff for the school infirmary, honestly he’d been remiss in only having one doctor around regardless of how efficient Chiyo’s quirk was. None of them were discriminatory of course, but Hara came to the school on the recommendation of Dr. Aiko, who knew him through working in another clinic for the quirkless.

Hara Makoto’s quirk was the ability to reverse other quirks, which would be super useful in a hero school that saw quirk accidents on a near-daily basis as the future hero’s worked to master fighting with them, but a side affect of that was the man being interested in quirk science. Izuku took to him faster than he’d taken to any other medical professional, and while that general distrust was a heard thing to break he was more comfortable with Hara being his actual pcp.  He was still going to be accompanied every time he had to visit the man for the foreseeable future, but 'more comfy' was still progress. 

(In the end, Natsuo also found out about everything that had happened and started seeing him as a pcp too.  Turns out they already knew each other from when Natsuo had had to visit the clinic.)

One thing down on the ever growing to do list.

That was around the time Hawk’s stopped being spotted on his usual patrols in Tokyo. It didn’t take long for the young hero’s (rabid) fans and the (even worse) news to notice his absence and speculation on the internet was running rampant. Shoto even found some theories that the winged hero had been abducted by aliens (no one asked where he’d been looking to find those particular hypotheses).

Nedzu, Shouta, Hizashi, Izuku, Touya, and Himiko were all concerned about it because they weren’t sure where he was either. He could have just run away on his own, that was always an option that was on the table, or the HPSC could have done something, it was all very suspicious. Nedzu had left his own letter for the bird in the drop box saying that this was on Keigo’s timeline now and he could make contact again at any point, and while the note had disappeared- indicating he’d read it- he hadn’t reached out.

At the same time, rumor’s of quirk-canceling bullets were only growing in Musutafu, something that everyone found concerning. Shouta also reported feeling like he was being watched on patrols, but he’d yet to so much as spot who or what was doing the spying. The underground pro was convinced it was another vigilante.

His instinct said it wasn’t someone who meant harm, there were always plenty of opportunities for an attack on patrol, but none had ever come and he’d even found one villain already trussed up for him with a note and a witness waiting nearby, so whoever had done the trussing hadn’t been too far ahead of him. The witness refused to give too many details, it really wasn’t hard to put the pieces together.

Izuku was trying very hard to hide how irked he was about the situation since Shouta had banned him from patrolling with him while he was grounded. Eraserhead was Ghost’shero, this new asshole could just fuck off and go find his own. He’d heard that Ms. Joke was open to an unofficial vigilante coworker, maybe they could try with her.

Zashi had chuckled when Izuku expressed the sentiment one evening, ruffling Izuku’s hair and giving him a quick ear scritch while promising that Ghost would always be Eraser’s favorite vigilante. Izuku had not appreciated the very obvious ‘gotta humor the baby’ in their tone.

The following Wednesday evening ended Izuku’s grounding, allowing Ghost to accompany his Eraserdad out on patrol once more, to Shouta’s simultaneous relief and dismay. Relief because Izuku had been getting antsy from the grounding, and dismay because the teen had given up hiding how much he wanted to find this other vigilante. Shouta honestly thought about not letting him patrol that night, but the other option was Izuku looking into it without Eraser being there to act as an intermediary and that was something neither he nor Hisashi wanted to happen.

Kami, it was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

Izuku kept his eyes peeled the entire patrol, at least when they weren’t mid-fight with villains. The full moon made it one of their more eventful patrols, not that Izuku minded. He desperately needed an outlet post-grounding, and was sassier than ever. Shouta almost felt sorry for most of the villains and criminals they came across. Almost.

He took that back during an attempted robbery they stopped, when ten villains poured out after the two look-outs managed to sound the alarm, and SIX of them had mutation quirks that Shouta’s wouldn’t touch. Then one of the bigger guys with a spider quirk got in a lucky shot and webbed Izuku to the wall while Shouta was occupied.

Shouta saw his buddy’s hand shift and sharpen into an axe, but before he could respond a swarm of familiar red feathers flooded the alley, blinding the villains who hadn’t been taken down by the duo yet and corralling them together so Shouta could just tie them all up together in his capture scarf.

“Far be it from me to intervene,” Hawks, in a very non-hawks costume (simple armored short-sleeve shirt and cargo pants in a dark grey), descended into the alley via the fire escape in a couple of jumps since most of his feathers were currently occupied to help Shouta snap quirk-canceling cuffs on everyone, “but it looked like you two could use some help.”

“Thanks for the assist.” Shouta grunted, snapping on the last cuff before going to check on Izuku. They could talk about the bird’s presence when there weren’t listening ears around. Keigo kept an eye on the thieves in the meantime, sending his feathers back into the duffle bag he carried.

“I’m fine, ‘Raser.” Ghost’s electronic voice filtered out through his helmet, still managing to sound so much like a huffy teen Keigo couldn’t help but snort. “Hey, asshat!” He called to the spider villain. “How long does this shit last?”

“Yes, because that’s exactly how you get people to answer your questions.” Shouta rolled his eyes when the villain just sneered at the vigilante. Presence already blown (worth it), Keigo simply expanded one of his feathers to sword length and put the tip at the villains throat.

“Answer him.”

“About four hours, but you can cut through it with a knife.” The dude reluctantly shared, staring down the sharpened feather apprehensively.

“Thank you, buddy boy.” Keigo grinned, sending the feather Ghost’s way to help cut him down (he didn’t much care if it temporarily got a little sticky, he was gonna send it home with the kid anyways). Finally able to get the vigilante hidden away by the time the cops showed up, Shouta called in the take down.

It only took half an hour for the cops to show up, take the would-be-robbers away, and the three to reconvene in a convenient alcove on a nearby rooftop safe from prying eyes and ears.

“’Raser, baby bird.” Keigo greeted, before letting the other two they could talk freely. At a minimum, they had to know about Touya and Himiko (she’d told him to call her that in one of her letters), but if Izuku knew the HPSC bugged all his shit then Eraser had to have known as well, so Keigo was going off the assumption they were more or less fully in the know. “I’m not bugged. Apparently, the last take down earned me some good will.”

“I take it you’re the ‘vigilante’,” the teen even did finger quotes, “that’s been stalking Eraserdad?”

“Yes, but officially speaking I’m not here. Couldn’t let you get axed, but don’t spread that I’m here too far.” The commission had sent him there in secret as a spy, but his cover being blown too much would be a problem.

“Why are you here?” Shouta asked, trying to figure out whether or not he was bringing another lost child home that night.

“Recon. The commission sent me here in secret to ferret out information on the quirk-erasing bullets. It’s got them scared shit-less.”

“They’re not the only ones.” Shouta concurred.

“Gee, wonder why that is.” Izuku snorted, bitter tone coming through despite the voice modulator. There was a pause before he continued. “You’re surprisingly good at moving around in secret despite the fame, aren’t you.” It wasn’t really a question, more seeking confirmation on the sort of things the commission had trained him to do.

“How are they?” Keigo asked instead of answering.

“They’re fine.” Shouta’s voice softened a bit. “It’s an adjustment, but they’ve got plenty of support as they make it.”

“They miss you.” Izuku added, he’d spent a lot of his time grounded hanging out with Toga and Touya, more or less helping re-socialize them and giving Toga someone her own age to hang out with. Shoto joined them, but she wasn’t quite ready to meet the rest of their friends yet. Soon though, hopefully, especially since the plan was to get her caught back up on schooling over the next year and get her started as a gen-ed student at UA with the rest of them at the start of their second year. “Toga tries to hide it, but she’s mentioned her ‘other brother’ a couple times.”

Keigo had to force down his reaction to those words. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t join them yet. He wasn’t quite ready to deal with the hell the HPSC’s response would be, and he wanted to get some more intel on the bullets before he did anything. If they continued to be a threat, everyone was in danger- including Touya and Toga.

“Tell them the feeling’s mutual?” He asked.

“Of course.” Shouta nodded. There wasn’t much to say after that, so they went their separate ways. (Izuku wasn’t happy about that though. He was so close!) Ghost and Eraserhead continued to feel a certain hawk’s eyes on them on and off through their patrols through the next week.

Everything was more or less normal though, at least once the full moon finally passed. Izuku and Shouta weren’t even technically on patrol when the catalyst that changed everything happened, they’d just been out getting groceries while Shoto was spending the night with his blood-siblings in Touya’s apartment and Hizashi was doing some work at the station.

They hadn’t expected the terrified six year old racing through the streets, or the quirk accident that followed.

Chapter Text

Most people didn’t like getting their groceries at ten pm, but the heroes only grocery store Shouta and Hizashi frequented was open twenty four hours a day and Shouta preferred going when it was quieter out. There were fewer people to have to contend with both while shopping and while carting the groceries back to campus (Hizashi took the car, but the store was walking distance from the school and one of the benefits of having kids now was having more people on hand to help schlep grocery bags).

Plus, it wasn’t like they had to be worried about getting mugged on the way back. Between being a pro-hero and hero student/vigilante and the neighborhood surrounding UA being fairly safe to begin with thanks to the concentration of pro’s on campus at any given time, they weren’t that concerned about it. (Izuku had already lost one batch of groceries thanks to a villain, he wasn’t about to let that happen again).

At approaching eleven on a weekday and just over half a mile from the school, the streets were more or less dead. If Izuku hadn’t long been used to that from patrols, it might have almost felt liminal.

All that to say it wasn’t hard to pick out the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps, especially with Izuku’s sensitive hearing. First his ears, then the rest of him turned to the sound causing Shouta to also stop and turn, both on high alert and discarding the groceries so they could fight if necessary.

“Someone’s running toward us.” Izuku explained as they did so in case he couldn’t hear it yet.

“Yeah, I got that.” Shouta was just reaching for his scarf when Keigo turned a corner not far behind them, carrying a small bandage covered child with long maybe silver/maybe grey hair in his arms. She wore a tattered and stained medical gown and had a horn sticking out of the side of her head, more than likely related to her quirk. Shouta and Izuku immediately ran to meet him half way.

“What happened?” Shouta asked.

“Not sure,” Keigo explained, “I found her running around outside. It took long enough as it was to convince her I’m a hero, but she wont tell me her name. Hey, it’s okay. You’re gonna be okay.” He stopped to croon at the girl, who had her face hidden in his shoulder and had started quaking. “These are friends of mine, Aizawa’s a hero too. He’s gonna keep you safe, I promise.”

“Hey, kiddo.” Shouta gentled his voice to the same tone he’d used back when he’d first met Izuku. At least this one wasn’t currently stabbed in some back alley, though from all appearances that might not be too far from what she’d actually been through. “I’m Aizawa, pro-hero Eraserhead, I’m gonna get you help and keep you safe from whoever did this to you.” He didn’t make a move to touch the girl, just waited to see how she’d respond. She just curled closer into Keigo, refusing to budge. The bird’s heart broke for the tiny tot.

He wished he could say he didn’t understand how someone could do this to a kid, but that wouldn’t change the fact that he did or that the most he could do for her right now was get her under the protection of a hero who was actually supposed to be in the city. Especially since he’d found her while researching a lead on the quirk-erasing bullets. If, heaven forbid, she were somehow involved the way his instincts were screaming she was, he didn’t want who she was running from to know he was involved.

“Hey now, I know he looks like a big meanie but I’m promise he’s nice.” Keigo tried. “Even Izuku knows that, right baby bird?”

“I’m a cat, not a bird.” Izuku protested, less an actual protest and more hoping the mention of ‘cat’ might play to her curiosity and help get her to trust them a bit more. “But Zawa saved me too, he knows what he’s doing.” No dice. If anything, the kid’s shaking just got worse. Then her horn started to glow, the light quickly enveloping both her and Keigo. Shouta activated Erasure quickly, but the damage was already done.

The second the horn started to glow Keigo was hit with the most disorienting wave of sensation he’d ever felt. Simultaneously hot and cold, his very essence felt like it’d been turned into pure static that had somehow found corporeal form in the middle of a hurricane/earthquake one/two punch. The feeling passed quickly, in no small part due to Shouta’s quirk, but opening his eyes to find Izuku taller than him was no less disorienting than the feeling had been.

Shouta and Izuku watched in shock as the quirked glow abruptly cut out under the weight of Erasure, revealing the girl on the ground clearly having been dropped by a mini-Hawks who couldn’t have been older than ten or eleven. Holy shit, just how powerful was this kid’s quirk?

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean too!” The kid burst into terrified tears before trying to book it down the street. Shouta tried to grab her, but she bit him in the hand and managed to (probably accidentally) slam her knobby little knee into his groin in her struggles to escape his grasp. The underground pro went down like a sack of potatoes and the girl booked it before Izuku, who’d been checking on Hawks, could attempt anything himself.

“Izuku, don’t.” Shouta bit out, forcing himself to his feet and stopping Izuku from chasing her himself. “You’re not trained to handle a kid experiencing a quirk malfunction, call it in.” The hero took off in pursuit, but he only made it a few yards before a car screeched out of nowhere and someone in a bird mask scooped the girl up before disappearing just as fast.

Mother fucking fuck.

Unable to do anything else, Shouta turned back to the two children he now had to deal with. Izuku, crouched next to the recently miniaturized Hawks, had his phone to his ear reporting to the authorities. The under left him to it and turned his attention to an incredibly confused (almost literally) baby bird.

“What the hell just happened?” Keigo jumped a bit at the child’s voice that came from his throat instead of his own. He was starting to put the pieces together and he really really really didn’t. Like. It.

“Looks like her quirk de-aged you.” Shouta explained, taking in the giant bruise on one side of the bird’s face. A bruise that was days old and had to be an aspect of the de-aged body the winged hero was currently in and not something the kid had caused. The short-sleeve costume showed a sprinkling of more bruises plus some scratches and cuts across his arms and from the way he was holding himself, Shouta was willing to be there were more hidden under the costume the now-a-kid was swimming in. “You seem to be about ten-ish, maybe eleven.”

He would be finding a way to make his quirk permanent and point it at a few commission assholes, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“Fuck.” Keigo muttered, trying not to panic because he knew how vulnerable he was in that state. He wasn’t quite sure what side of that age range he was, but it was after the commission had started ramping up their ‘training’. Sometimes he wasn’t sure how he survived it the first time, going back to them like this now after he’d blown his cover (in what they would deem to be) unnecessarily wasn’t going to be pretty. “What do you think the chances are this is temporary?”

Shouta didn’t answer, instead running through the standard checklist of post-quirk malfunction questions to check that there wasn’t anything else going on that they might not have initially noticed. All of them knew the permanency of the situation could go either way. They didn’t even know for sure what the girl’s quirk was or how it caused this to begin with.

“ETA ten minutes.” Izuku added quietly, hanging up the phone.

“Okay, we have a couple choices.” Shouta took charge of the situation. “We were waiting for you to be comfortable enough to come to us, but I really don’t like the idea of sending you back to them like this. Whatever random detectives they send aren’t going to know the difference, we can just tell them we’re taking you to Recovery Girl after we give our statements.”

“So by a ‘couple’ you mean two.” Keigo muttered. Even the ‘two’ options weren’t really a choice, and it’s not like he had anything he needed to go back for anyways. “They’re gonna fight this.”

“That’s what Nedzu’s hoping for.” Shouta broke into his Scary Grin.

“Okay.” Keigo finally relented, hands shaking at the relief that shot through him now that the nightmare he’d been living since he was nine was finally over. Whatever Nedzu wanted Keigo to do for him couldn’t possibly be worse. “Also, you might as well call me by my name now.”

“Welcome to the family.” Shouta rumbled, pulling out his phone to text Nedzu. “We might have to scrounge up some clothes to fit the current version of you, but we’ve got basically everything else you might need.”

“Even if we don’t, papa’s never gonna say no to a shopping trip.” Izuku noted, also on his phone. Keigo got a glimpse of street camera feeds, apparently already trying to track the car, something Keigo hadn’t realized he knew how to do. “Is jiji gonna see if Cementoss will add an attic to the cottage for a roost?”

“That’s a tomorrow question.” Shouta muttered, shoving his phone back into his pocket and pulling out first aid kit to try to clean up Keigo a little bit, also a granola bar and water bottle since there was no way to tell when the bird’s current body had last eaten. “For tonight,” he told Keigo, “you’re coming to our place on campus, Chiyo can check you out there and you can crash on the couch or Hitoshi’s room, whichever you’re more comfortable with.”

The cops showed up not long after that, and they weren’t all that random given the way Keigo watched Aizawa and Izuku interacting with them. They (Tsukauchi and Sansa) didn’t even bat an eye at the whole ‘de-aged Hawks going to UA instead of a hospital or HPSC facility’ situation, or at Shouta’s request to keep his presence in Musutafu on the down-low.

Izuku shared the info he’d already managed to pull up on the car to the lead detective Tsukauchi, who was suspiciously unconcerned with how much he’d been able to find with so little time (not that it was that much overall, but he managed to track it quite a ways back to the area Keigo had found the girl in, and it was stolen). After that, he threw his attention to chattering with Keigo about possible roost designs, visibly distracting himself from how loosing the little girl had affected him.

Aizawa kept sending equally concerned glances at the teen and Keigo, and Keigo, not for the first time, wasn’t sure what to do with that.

He was starting to wonder if he’d bit off more than he thought, agreeing to defect to the chimera’s side.

Chapter Text

Izuku was dealing with a lot of emotions. It’d been a normal night out, until it wasn’t and they were trying to calm and help a little girl who clearly needed it, seriously, the list of people who’d made Izuku’s blood boil like that was small but it was concerning that it kept growing.

Then Hawks got de-aged, and holy fuck Izuku’s blood was back to boiling because what the fuck had the commission done to him, the kid had panicked and bolted, then she’d been literally kidnapped right in front of them most likely by the people who’d put her in that state to begin with. They hadn’t even gotten her name.

Izuku was going to find them, boil their teeth, and feed said boiled teeth to their mothers right in front of them. Well, maybe not their mothers. They might not have anything to do with this. He was still going to boil the teeth though.

At least they were finally getting Keigo away from the commissions not so tender love and care. Izuku had been told in no uncertain terms not to look further into the girl’s situation until he could sit down with Nedzu about it, so he was on ‘make Keigo comfortable’ duty once they finally got back to the cottage.

He was making Nedzu let him in on the burning of the commission though. Izuku felt he could have a little arson, as a treat. Also he was going to riot if he was told otherwise.

For now, he busied himself with gathering the softest blankets in the house and getting stuff for hot chocolate ready (the family go-to for comfort). Hizashi would be home soon, having left the station once Shouta texted the family group chat, but wasn’t there quite yet. He also scooped up Princess and plopped her down in the baffled bird’s lap where he’d settled on the couch.

“Izuku, dear, I’m in the middle of checking him out.” Chiyo sighed, picking the cat up and setting her to the side.

“I know, that’s why I’m not currently acting as emotional support cat.” Izuku blinked, playing innocent.

“Why don’t you go get some spare lounge clothes.” Shouta suggested, trying to get the teen out of the range of annoyed grandmother. “You’re gonna be closest to his size right now.” Izuku took one look at Chiyo’s annoyed face and darted upstairs.

“Well, the good news is this is all surface level.” The elderly doctor sighed, giving her prognosis. “And all of it is from when you were originally this age. As far as I can tell, it looks like you were simply de-aged without any other side effects. What I can’t tell is if the effects will be permanent or not, but Hara, one of my staff, can probably figure that out tomorrow. His quirk is the ability to reverse other quirks, so even if it is permanent he can likely fix it.”

“Will too much time have passed by then?” Keigo asked, anxious about being stuck like this again. On top of everything else, he’d have to go through puberty a second time, which just, no.

“His quirk doesn’t seem to care about how much time has passed since someone was affected by a quirk.” Izuku was back in the living room. “Just how long it’s been since he last reversed someone’s quirk.”

“Here, let me give you a kiss dearie and you can go shower and change.” Chiyo held out a hand for Keigo, who hesitantly put one of his in it. She kissed the back of his hand, resulting in all the cuts and bruises to fade but a wave of exhaustion rolling through him. She patted the hand before placing a couple of gummies in his fingers and releasing him. “Also, welcome to the family.”

“Why do people keep saying that?” Keigo muttered, accidentally out loud while he bundled up the sweatpants and ghost themed t-shirt Izuku had handed him in his arms. Sue him, it’d been a hell of a day. Everyone else in the room stilled at the words.

“It was never my intention to take the HPSC’s place in your life.” Nedzu finally spoke up from where he’d been observing all of the interactions. “I’m aware you’ve been laboring under that particular misapprehension, but I was hoping with time we’d be able to prove that’s not the case. You deserve the support, and we like to adopt people. I see no reason to make you the exception to that rule.”

Keigo didn’t know what to do with the sincerity he found in the chimera’s eyes.

“I uh, where’s the bathroom?” He squeaked out, even his currently childish voice higher than he wanted.

“Directly behind you.” Shouta answered, recognizing the need for some space to process. Just because he had his normal early twenties brain didn’t mean all of this wasn’t still a lot. “There are clean towels in the cabinet, help yourself to any of the products in there too.”

The bird scrambled for the bathroom, grabbing the duffle bag of feathers that had somehow made it all this way with him as he went. His kid-body wings had re-spawned, but all the feathers that had been separated from his adult-body had remained so now Keigo had twice the amount of feathers. He didn’t want to leave any of them in the living room, because then he’d be able to hear the discussion about him that was bound to follow his quick escape.

He quickly turned the water on, the sound giving him a bit more privacy, then set the bundle of fabric down on the counter. The ghost shirt (when Keigo was a little less ‘what the fuck is happening’ he was gonna find the fact that the vigilante had shirts based around his moniker hilarious) already had wing slits cut in it for him.

The kid had destroyed one of his own shirts to account for Keigo’s quirk, when it seemed the shrunken bird would only need to borrow clothes for the night. The measure of kindness, something the commission had never extended aside from his hero costume, snapped something open deep in Keigo that had long been locked, and he finally broke down into silent tears, sinking to his knees on the cold bathroom tile.

It didn’t take him long to get back to himself though, picking himself up off the floor and wiping the tears from his face before peeling himself out of the too big costume. The shower wasn’t long- Recovery Girl’s kiss had worn him out even with the energy gummies, but the hot water was soothing and the soap/shampoo/conditioner he found there smelled nice.

Barely half an hour had passed before he found himself dressed in borrowed clothes, taking a steadying breath before rejoining the others. Nedzu and Chiyo had already gone home on the assumption Keigo might want some space that night (Shouta had already shooed Izuku back upstairs for the same reason), plus it was already past midnight by then. Hizashi was still puttering around in the kitchen, making himself a nice chamomile before they too went to sleep.

Keigo had the distinct impression his fellow blonde had to hold back a coo when they finally turned around and saw him in all his ten-ish year old glory, which was just rude. (The scowl on the bird’s currently childish face that Keigo aimed at them certainly didn’t help).

“Sho already got me up to date.” Was all Hizashi said on the matter. “Did you have a preference between Hitoshi’s room or the couch? There’s also a couch upstairs, the boys seem to think it’s comfy enough.” They weren’t sure whether he’d want a sense of community or privacy, so the choice was up to him.

“The room, I guess.” Keigo wanted to be able to close a door, he hated sleeping out in the open.

“Okiedoke, it’s up the stairs, last door on the left right next to the upstairs bathroom. Gimme a sec I’ll grab the blankets.” Hizashi abandoned his tea set in favor of snagging a pile of brightly colored (except for the black one with ghosts on it) fabric off the couch.

“Are all of those for me?” Keigo asked as he followed Hizashi up the stairs.

“We weren’t sure if you’d want to nest or not, so we got them just in case. They usually live upstairs either way though.” Hizashi explained. Keigo never really had the chance for something like that under the HPSC, but he did have a distant memory from before them of trying to pile all the blankets in the house on his bed in just the right way.

When they both reached the top of the stairs, Keigo found himself taking the armful of warm blankets from the older hero.

The pile he formed them into was probably kind of sad, but Keigo was exhausted (being tiny sucked). Cuddled up underneath them was still the best sleep he’d had in ages.

bb hawks by the ever lovely Gli_litch!

Chapter Text

Keigo slept in Thursday morning (for him at least). He woke slowly, comfortably warm amidst his small mountain of blankets but desperately needing to pee and to the sound of a cat yelling at him from the other side of the door. (How dare there be a closed door in this house, the humans should know better.)

The cat was the massive ginger he’d been introduced to the night before (he’d met Bastard and Princess, Ramen had probably been napping somewhere, apparently).

“Hey, buddy.” Keigo leaned down so the feline could sniff his fingers. Bastard did, then rubbed his fuzzy head all over Keigo’s hand, even doing a little hop from his front legs at one point. “I don’t have a lot of experience with cats, but I guess you’re pretty cute.” Bastard’s answer was to purr and wind his way around Keigo’s legs, almost tripping him as he tried to turn into the bathroom. Taking care of business didn’t take him long, then he was descending the stairs to see what lay in wait for him today.

Shouta in obnoxiously pink sweatpants and a PYHU t-shirt arguing with Izuku about the teen’s taste in tv shows was what was waiting. Ten out of ten terrifying, would not recommend.

“I’m just saying if you give it a chance-” Izuku had his arms crossed and a nonplussed look on his face.

“I’ve seen reality shows before Izuku, they’re all the same.” Shouta grumbled, clearly exasperated. “I don’t care if its pre or post quirk, a reality show is a reality show. I don’t understand what you three see in them.”

“They’re fun to mock.” Izuku snorted. “Also Shoto comes up with some hilarious theories on the dating ones.”

“I’m installing child safety features on all the technology in the house.” Shouta audibly gave up in the face of what his teens considered entertainment.

“Between jiji and D’Artagnan, I don’t think that’s gonna stick.” Izuku grinned, entertained by the threat.

“The rat would make it harder to bypass the child lock just to see what you’d do about it and you know it.” Shouta countered.

“Is he gonna be the one to get you into my computer?” Izuku asked, tone smug at the glare his dad sent him (good thing the man had an anti-quirk glare not an anti-life one, if looks could have consequences indeed). “Cause you couldn’t figure it out last time you tried.”

“Don’t mind them.” Hizashi, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen watching the two pester each other, told Keigo. “They do this all the time. Good morning! I hope you slept well, and there’s breakfast waiting for you in the oven.

“Noted.” Keigo acknowledged the radio host’s points in order. “Good morning, I slept fine,” he slept great, actually, “and thank you.” The argument Shouta and Izuku were having had seemed so normal that it took a minute for Keigo’s brain to actually process the words he was hearing, but just after that it connected. “Wait, You’re D’Artagnan?!”

“Guilty as charged.” Izuku glanced over at him. “I mean technically I got immunity for it, but you know what I mean.” Keigo just stared at the baby bird. A fifteen year old boy was one of the most infamous yet most secretive hackers in Japan’s recent history, on some level the authorities knew that, and yet seemingly he’d gotten off scot-free despite revealing almost as many cops, heroes, and politicians as corrupt as he did criminals and villains. No wonder Nedzu seemed so confident about his ability to keep Keigo out of the commission’s clutches.

“Good for you.” Keigo backed out of that mental fuster cluck, choosing instead to duck into the kitchen in search of his breakfast. He ignored Izuku’s giggling and Shouta’s sigh that followed him, he just wasn’t prepared to deal with that kind of bombshell this early in the morning.

“How do you feel about true crime?” Izuku asked when Keigo returned to the living room, plate in hand. “Dad has the day off so we were thinking about some sort of tv marathon, but we can’t decide on a show.”

“Dr. Hara should be here around noon to see if he needs to reverse the whole de-aged situation, or if it’ll go away on it’s own, and Shoto should be back in about an hour.” Shouta added in.

“Pretty sure I am a true crime.” Keigo snorted, nodding in acknowledgment of the last two things. Truthfully, if they had someone around who could reverse quirks (and how useful was that) Keigo hoped it’d be a case the man could help with. Meant he’d be an adult again faster, he couldn’t even reach the cups in the taller cabinets and that was just embarrassing.

“Me too.” Izuku grinned at him. “At least if we’re counting hate crimes. All true crime is strictly pre-quirk in this household for a reason.”

“That’s fine with me, then.” Keigo shrugged, settling on the couch beside the teen.

“Sweet.” Izuku quickly pulled up his favorite pre-quirk crime show, briefly explaining to Keigo that it’d started as part of a company’s long list of content before the two who featured on it started their own show around the same premise but with their creative control. They were starting from the beginning, so that production quality would only increase as they went.

The ‘Shoto’ that had been referenced a handful of times between the day before and that morning finally made his appearance, stepping through the door with a quick ‘I’m home’ before removing his shoes and settling in next to Izuku to watch the show with them (also briefly introducing himself). He didn’t even make it thirty seconds before he started info dumping conspiracy theories about the episodes at Izuku.

Keigo had known from Touya and Himiko’s letters that Shoto was also being adopted, but the interaction he was witnessing was no less bizarre for already knowing the context.

“We’re working on adopting Shoto, too.” Shouta leaned forward from the chair he’d claimed next to Keigo’s corner of the couch to softly explain. “Endeavor isn’t the best.”

“I’m friends with Touya, sort of.” Was all Keigo really needed to say to convey how much he understood the situation.

“Right.” Shouta nodded, leaning back as Hizashi finally finished whatever it was he’d been working on (playlists for the radio station) and came to cuddle with him on the chair. Keigo had never had a lot of adults in his life with healthy romantic relationships so he had no idea if that was normal or not, but it was sweet all the same.

The doorbell rang just a few episodes later, with Nedzu and Dr. Hara on the other side.

Time to see if they could de-childify a bird.

Chapter Text

Keigo was told in no uncertain terms he was to remain seated when the doorbell rang, not out of concern for his safety, but because Bastard had settled down on his lap and promptly fell asleep ten minutes into the true crime marathon (basically as soon as Keigo had finished eating). The bird had never heard of the Power of Cat rule, but apparently it was more binding than actual laws.

Honestly, that tracked for this household.

“Hello again, Keigo!” Nedzu greeted, bright and chipper and just as sunshine as Hizashi and Izuku ever were. The brightness didn’t diminish the wicked glint in his eyes, but Keigo got the distinct feeling whatever that was about would be discussed after the good doctor that followed the chimera into the house left. “This is Dr. Hara, Dr. Hara, this is Takami.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Takami.” Hara was in his mid-ish thirties, with a warm voice and kind face well on its way to laugh lines. Just in general he had a very comforting vibe around him, Keigo bet he was a hit at the quirkless clinic that was his other job (Izuku had chattered about the man and his quirk once he’d been brought up, to be fair it was a very interesting quirk.

It actually worked along a lot of similar parameters to Shouta’s quirk, which made a lot of sense when you stopped to think about it. Quirks that impacted other quirks had a tendency to only work well against emitter quirks- you could see that with Erasure not affecting mutation quirks at all, and while Neito’s copy quirk could copy a mutation quirk it was a lot more painful and carried more drawbacks than copying emitter quirks did.

Hara’s quirk worked against emitter quirks- specifically the effects emitter quirks had on those targeted (by purpose or accident) by the quirk haver. For example, if Uraraka anti-gravitied someone, Hara could return their gravity by looking at the person with his quirk activated, but he couldn’t stop Uraraka from activating her quirk to begin with. To date, he hadn’t found any sort of time limit on his ability related to how long someone had been suffering under the effects of a quirk, but he could only reverse two or three quirk effects in a day without developing a massive migraine.

He could also figure out how a quirk worked if he made skin-to-skin contact with someone affected by that quirk. On occasion, he was called in by quirk counselors to help figure out kid’s quirks, it was actually one of his favorite consultations to do- he really enjoyed quirk science.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Keigo nodded at the man from where he was trapped under snoozing feline while Shouta shooed Izuku and Shoto upstairs, this didn’t need to be a spectacle event. “How does this work?”

“Knowing Izuku, I assume he told you how my quirk works?” Hara raised an amused eyebrow as Hizashi snorted. Izuku loved the implications of Hara’s quirk, it was probably one of his favorites to speculate about.

“I’m pretty sure he rambled about it for half an hour.” Keigo noted.

“That sounds about right.” Hara grinned. “Nedzu already gave me the salient points of what happened, I just need to hold your hand to see what the quirk actually did, if that’s alright?”

“It is.” Keigo held out his hand to the doctor. At least this one didn’t have to kiss it. Keigo watched as the man’s eyes flashed pink as he activated the knowledge part of his quirk, checking out what he was working with.

“Oh, that is fascinating.” He muttered somewhat absently as he absorbed what that tiny child’s quirk had done. He blinked, eyes returning back to normal as he released Keigo. “First things first, I can put you back to your normal age. I know it’s illegal to move a cat, but I think we can make an exception just this once.”

Bastard was very grumpy to have been woken and removed from his new human, especially when Shouta just hauled him into his arms when he kept trying to return to Keigo. The under ground pro’s assurances he could go back to Keigo in a few minutes did little to appease the beast.

The cat was even less impressed when Keigo left the room to change into a larger set of clothes Hizashi handed him so he wouldn’t be squished when he expanded. The young(ger than normal, but not for long) hero stood away from the furniture and other humans, then rapidly aged up from a preteen to the twenty one year old he actually was. Now adult again, Keigo couldn’t help but rapidly pat himself down, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. He hadn’t somehow grown any extra appendages, his body seemed to be exactly as it was before he’d been de-aged. Even his eleven year old body’s feathers had blipped out of existence (and if that sensation hadn’t been weird as fuck), leaving him with just the ones from his duffle bag.

“All good?” Hara confirmed, moving forward to run a quick check-up just in case.

“All good.” Keigo grinned. It was good to be back.

“Excellent.” Hara glanced at Shouta. “From what I’ve been told of the encounter, it’s probably a good thing you activated Erasure when you did. That child’s quirk isn’t simply de-aging, that’s just how it presents in humans.”

“What is it then?” Shouta frowned, releasing Bastard so the cat could go wind around Keigo’s ankles with a loud purr.

“Reversal. She can return anything to a state it was in previously, the longer she uses her quirk, the more something is reversed, kinda like rewinding an old vhs tape.” Was the technology ancient? Yes, but the metaphor serviced its purpose. Silence fell in the room as it’s occupants absorbed the implication- if Shouta hadn’t activated Erasure and halted her quirk when he did, Keigo might have been de-aged more, potentially into non-existence.

It was a sobering thought, and a powerful quirk. Keigo shared a glance with Nedzu, who’s tail swished as his mind raced. He was obviously already working on tracking the girl and her abductors, he wasn’t just going to leave a small child to suffer, but a reversal quirk and quirk erasing, or more than likely quirk reversing bullets and how/when Keigo had found her?

It didn’t take a genius to make the connection.

But they had other pressing matters to attend to that moment, especially now that Keigo was adult-shaped again. Hara was thanked and sent back to his day and the next phase of their meeting commenced, chimera, his first adopted son, his sons spouse, and his soon to be adopted second son all gathering around the coffee table once more.

“I take it this is the official ‘how we take down the commission’ meeting, then?” Keigo asked.

“Not quite yet, I should think.” Nedzu chuckled lightly despite the seriousness in his tone. Keigo didn’t know what he’d expected, but he wished the chimera luck when it was time for that. Fuck the commission. “I will be having a… conversation, I suppose may be the best way to put it, with them later today though. This is to check in with you, we haven’t had a chance to see what you want to do moving forward.”

He was starting to trust them more, but Keigo still wasn't sure whether that was a comforting sentence or a terrifying one.

Chapter Text

“I take it this is the official ‘how we take down the commission’ meeting, then?” Keigo asked.

“Not quite yet, I should think.” Nedzu chuckled lightly despite the seriousness in his tone. Keigo didn’t know what he’d expected, but he wished the chimera luck when it was time for that. Fuck the commission. “I will be having a… conversation, I suppose may be the best way to put it, with them later today though. This is to check in with you, we haven’t had a chance to see what you want to do moving forward.”

“In what way?” Keigo frowned.

“Not to put too fine a point on it,” Nedzu sighed, the words were harsh but there would be no benefit to beating around the bush, “but you haven’t had the chance to live your own life. This is your chance to start figuring out what you want to do with it Keigo, not that there’s any pressure to come to a decision immediately. Education, experiences, therapy, whatever you need, as you need it, all of us are here to support you in getting. All of that is long-term, today we simply need to figure out your living situation and possibly set a date for a shopping trip.”

“Shopping as in stores?” Keigo’s face scrunched up in distaste, he was easily recognizable and the thought of having to mingle amongst the general public like that almost gave him hives.

“See, I’m not the only one who hates it.” Shouta threw a pointed look at Hizashi.

“Shush, Sho.” Hizashi waved the comment away. “There’s always online shopping, but Tokyo does have that big hero-only mall. Snipe’s been wanting to head up there for a while, we could probably get a group together.” Keigo picked up the implication, strength in numbers in what would likely feel like enemy territory given it’s association with the HPSC. “A summer road trip might be fun for the kids too.”

“My thoughts exactly, Hizashi-kun!” Nedzu agreed. “Sooner may be better than later, perhaps this weekend?” Typically, Nedzu would stretch it out a bit more, but with every piece of info he picked up about the mysterious girl Keigo had almost rescued, the faster he wanted to dig his claws into that whole situation. Putting off the shopping trip even that long might mean delaying it even further if it was too difficult to work out the logistics around supporting another young soul.

And Nedzu had no doubt they would be supporting her. He knew Shouta and Izuku well enough to know they were already invested, was almost certain Keigo would be in the same boat, and Shouta’s quirk would likely be necessary to have around as she learned to master her quirk.

“Right.” Keigo sighed, leaning forward so his elbows rested on his knees. “I suppose this is as good a time as any to point out that I don’t actually have access to my own bank account, assuming I even actually have one. I’m officially registered, so they have to be doing something with the paycheck.”

“Adding it to the list.” Nedzu pulled out his phone, presumably adding it to an actual list.

“Speaking of registered, I may not run my agency but it is legally in my name.” Keigo was not enjoying the thought that had just occurred to him. “We all know they’re not going to be happy and they’re petty as shit, I wouldn’t put dumping the actual running of that on me. I don’t know how to run an agency.” He didn’t even know how to run the dishwasher.

“I’m well aware of their pettiness.” Nedzu glanced up at Keigo. “We’re already prepared for that.”

“I officially co-run my agency,” Hizashi pointed out, “and Shouta unofficially co-runs it too. We’re more than ready to assist with yours.”

“Thank you.” Keigo muttered softly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Not a problem, kiddo.”

“Your not that much older than me.” Keigo scowled, happily ignoring the fact that at thirty two, Hizashi was twelve years older than him.

“Pretty sure he’s more of a kid-brother than outright kid.” Shouta agreed. “At least, assuming we go with the Nedzu Adopts a Bird plan.”

“That’s up to Keigo!” Nedzu pointed out brightly.

“...what?” Keigo asked.

“You don’t have to.” Nedzu assured him. “But I’m more than willing to legally adopt you. It would provide many more legal protections than not.”

“Can you even do that?” The question fell out of Keigo’s mouth before he even realized he’d said it. He froze, expecting to have pissed off the chimera by poking at a sensitive subject. He’d had to fight the government for years to get similar rights to most humans, which was not how Keigo had meant it. “Somebody somewhere is bound to throw a fit about a power grab.”

“You let me worry about that.” Nedzu didn’t sound very worried. He sounded anticipatory. Their prize soldier being adopted by the only other creature to escape them would be rubbing salt in the wound, and that more than anything settled Keigo’s decision for him.

“Okay then, I’m down for that.”

“Excellent.” Nedzu tapped more at his phone. “Now, I do have some thoughts on your living situation, but if you don’t like any of them we can figure something else out. As my son and Shouta’s brother, we can officially add space for you here in the cottage, but I do also own the apartment building on this side of the school. There are plenty of units available, and it’s just a short tunnel trip from here. We can do both, or something else entirely.”

“Touya’s staying in your building too, right?” Keigo clarified.

“He is.” Nedzu watched the bird with a measured gaze. Keigo thought about it. He valued having his own space- he never truly had before- but didn’t particularly want to actually be alone. He was done with being alone. His first real friend in the same building could be fun, and a secret tunnel would be a good escape tool if the HPSC came knocking in either location.

“My first apartment at twenty one.” He shrugged. “That almost makes me feel normal.”

“...I thought you were twenty two.” Hizashi finally said, after a few moments of heavy silence at Keigo’s offhand statement.

“They debuted you early.” Shouta sighed, wishing he could still be surprised at the commission’s bullshit.

“Yup.”

The last thing on that day's agenda was the bird putting on record (or at least on a recording for Nedzu, they weren't going live with the retelling at this stage) at minimum the broad strokes of what the commission had put him through.  They didn't need every detail, just enough to shove the testimony in their faces, but still it took over an hour to get through just the broad strokes.  Shouta had to erase Hizashi's quirk more than once, in the end Keigo opted to just let the blonde squeeze his hand in what he could only assume was meant to be comfort.  It was nice, but Keigo thought it was probably more comforting to the radio host.  

Keigo still felt drained by the end of it even though it wasn't even close to everything he'd been through, and wasn’t sure whether or not he was more baffled or annoyed that Hizashi's solution to that was family-and-kitty (in the case of Izuku, both) cuddles as they continued the true crime marathon (this time with Touya and Himiko invited over, now that all the big important meetings were done) after Nedzu finally departed, but Keigo wasn’t going to complain about it.

He was coming to find that he really liked the contact.

Chapter Text

It was an eventful Thursday for Nedzu. The chimera had to actively work to keep himself calm- Keigo, the young hero Nedzu couldn’t help but see himself in, was finally out from under the commission and would soon be on the way to living his own life. The HPSC was as of yet unaware of this most recent development, but Nedzu was not only about to inform them, he was finally about to tip over the first official domino piece in his plan to reform the corrupt government body.

This wasn’t his initial plan, the prep-work for that had been decades in the making, the foundations being laid alongside Nedzu’s work to make sure he could never be returned to the cage he’d fought so hard to escape. It would dove-tail nicely with what he’d already started though.

Nedzu was far from stupid, his relationship with the HPSC had been antagonistic from the very beginning, but they’d spent most of the years locked in a holding pattern around each other. Picking fights over Shoto, Touya and Himiko, and Keigo would change Nedzu’s trajectory and officially bring an end to that stalemate.

Winning those fights, which Nedzu would ensure happened for the sake of the children he working to save, would be tantamount to a declaration of war. But why wait for those fights to play out, when Nedzu could simply launch the first shots now?

Tail swishing in anticipation, he pulled up Kimura’s email address, typed out a simple, two word question, and sent it on it’s way.

The commission thought they were prepared to take the principal on, but he’d purposefully held back in his interactions with them, carefully hedged his bets, always made sure to appear like he was cautiously picking his battles. He wanted them to think he feared them (or their cage) more than he did, to believe they had the upper hand. Now it was time to taunt them, and Nedzu had anticipated this for so long he could scarcely breathe.

‘Missing something?”

Nedzu settled back into his chair with his tea in hand and phone unlocked on his desk to wait for the response. It took the soon-to-be former handler less than three minutes to place his call.

“What did you do? Where’s Hawks?” Kimura opened, without greeting. Not the approach Nedzu had expected of the man, but at least he wasn’t playing dumb.

“Young Takami is perfectly safe.” Nedzu made sure to keep his tone light and conversational. “We’ve already returned him to his proper age, and I believe he’s currently being covered in a kitten cuddle pile.”

“Cats? Cuddle pile?” Kimura sounded absolutely baffled. Nedzu gave in to the temptation and hacked into the commission’s camera feeds so he could get a look at the man’s gobsmacked face. “If he’s back to normal, Hawks should be working. We sent him to Musutafu with a job to do. Not that we’re not grateful for your assistance.”

“I don’t think ‘grateful’ is a word you’ll be using very much longer.” Nedzu lightly chittered, purely for the drama. He was having entirely too much fun. “Now, Takami has already indicated he’ll see this quirk-stopping bullet business through to the end, he doesn’t seem the type to leave a job half-done, but he’ll no longer be working for you. At least not more than any other registered hero works for the commission.”

Nedzu let the silence stretch for a few beats, really let Kimura simmer in what was and wasn’t said.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re referring to.” The man finally responded.

“This conversation isn’t the only thing on my to-do list today,” Nedzu cut the bullshit, “you’ll forgive me for not being interested in humoring the game we all play. I was created by HPSC scientists before you were even born, I’ve never not known what your organization was capable of. Was I really not supposed to notice the launch of a young pro from out of nowhere, completely unknown to any and everyone, that was pushed to the top of the charts far too quickly?

“The signs the commission had groomed their own child soldier were there for everyone to see,” the chimera continued, “I’m merely disappointed that I’m the only one to act on them. Your abuse ends now. It’s Thursday afternoon, I fully expect Takami’s agency, bank accounts, and any assets you may be holding in his name to be transferred to him properly by end of day tomorrow.”

“You can’t be serious, Nedzu.” Kimura huffed, sounding for all the world like he’d thought the principal had finally lost his mind. “Do you even hear yourself? The commission doesn’t have child soldiers. Hawks is merely a highly capable and skilled individual, it would be remiss of us not to support him when he can do so much good.” Translation: had a highly desirable quirk and the commission would do whatever they could to keep him under their thumb.

“Good that he has every intention of continuing to do.” Nedzu assured, beady eyes narrowing as he advanced the conversation to the Threats stage. “The young man has every inch a hero’s heart, after all. I thought I had made my point clear enough but perhaps I need to elaborate more for you, I do have proof backed up in multiple formats. Physical copies in my possession and the possession of certain associates, and even more digital copies spread far and wide.

“Amongst that proof are photos from when Takami was de-aged, he was covered in cuts and nasty bruises and already in the commissions care by that point, his own retelling of what you’ve done,” and he did mean that ‘you’ literally, Keigo had talked at length about Kimura specifically, “and the evidence I’ve found in my own research. You’ve never been as skilled at covering your tracks as you thought. Two hundred and fifty thousand yen? So little for a child.”

(a/n: 250,000 yen is roughly 1,675 usd)

“Let me be clear, this is blackmail. If my demands aren’t met, or if anything happens to Keigo, me, or mine, those associates are prepared to post that proof in every place they can. This would be international news in next to no time, and not even your boss’ boss,” Kimura’s grand-boss was the HPSC president herself, “would be able to wriggle her way out of an International HPSC investigation. We haven’t brought Tsukauchi in to make this an official matter, but that could be easily arranged. Such a useful quirk the detective has.”

“What are your demands?” Kimura finally sighed, appearing in Nedzu’s camera feed as a fully broken human. Good. Nedzu would let him believe that his life and livelihood were safe for now if the HPSC played ball, but the chimera very much looked forward to the final stage of his plans.

“They’re quite simple. As I said earlier, any assets the commission is holding in Takami’s name are transferred to him directly by end of day tomorrow, including his agency. Feel free to schedule a meeting for anything you need to bring in person, I’ll make sure we’re all available to receive you. There will also be no reprisals for his freedom, not one whiff of petty revenge from anyone associated with the commission. If everyone plays nicely, Hawks can simply become the independent hero he should have always had the chance to be. Do we have a deal?”

“I have no idea how I’m going to explain this, but we have a deal.” The now-officially former handler ground out. “If he fails now that’s on you.”

“I always find it’s best to start with the truth.” Nedzu grinned, tone bordering on sadistic as he side-stepped the dig. Keigo would be taken far better care of as a Yamazawa than he’d ever been by the commission. “I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow for the transfers.” He cut the call before the HPSC agent could respond, watching the man stare down at his desk with a pale face and no movements for a full five minutes before he finally rose to go inform whomever he needed to of the latest developments.

The truth was that the commission had finally crossed a line too far, and now Nedzu himself would be coming for all of their throats.

Chapter Text

About half an hour after his rat-shaped father left the cottage, Shouta was opening the door for Touya and Himiko. The former looked a mix of apprehensive, mad, and relieved, and the latter was bouncing on her toes just as energetic as she ever was now that Kan and Nemuri were taking proper care of her.

Shouta and Hizashi had gotten a slew of random and/or late night texts from the two new parents as they ran into issues. Nemuri at least had the years of experience being an aunt to Tenya and Hitoshi, but Kan didn’t really have anyone in his life to model parenting from. That’s what the rest of the UA staff was for though, they’d never let each other or any kid in their vicinity down.

“Himiko!” Izuku called before Shouta could say anything. “Come trade places with me, Keigo doesn’t know his animals and I can’t deal with it anymore.” In a rush to finally see the Other Brother she’d missed so dearly, the blonde teen darted past Shouta into the house, barely pausing to kick off her shoes in her haste.

“Keigo-nii! You’re finally here!” She cried, launching herself at the bird with slightly less gusto than Fuyumi had at Touya. Apparently he had a type when it came to sister-figures. Keigo easily caught Himiko though, having the reflexes of a hero and the advantage of being seated on a couch. “Wait, what does that mean?” She glanced up at Izuku (who’d jumped out of the way in time) as Keigo returned her aggressive hug.

“He keeps calling me a baby bird.” Izuku rolled his eyes.

“I can confirm.” Shoto unknowingly added flames to the fire as his oldest brother entered the abode in a more normal manner, closing the door behind him. “It’s very entertaining.”

“I thought I was your only baby birdie?” Himiko pouted up at him.

“You are.” Keigo assured her. “You’re the only birdie, the everyone else is a bird. Much more boring than a birdie.” Himiko narrowed her eyes at him as she debated her judgment.

“Acceptable.” She finally allowed with a nod before snuggling further into him. They were still working with her on the concept of personal boundaries and since he’d been one of the first people to actually care about her- even letting her drink from him on occasion- the thought he might be uncomfortable with that never even crossed her mind. Luckily, he wasn’t. “I missed you.” She muttered. “Why didn’t you come here with us?”

“I missed you too, birdie.” Keigo sighed, lightly tugging a piece of her hair. “But I had somethings I needed to take care of. Take my advice and don’t grow up, adulthood sucks.” He glanced up at Touya, who was finally making his approach.

“Birdbrain.” The oldest Himura scowled.

“Hothead.” The newest adoptee into the Yamazawa pack returned.

“For fucks sake.” Shouta muttered in the background, keen eyes already picking up that the two young adults had more than friendship brewing between them. It was bad enough he had to deal with teenage hormones on a daily basis with his students and newly acquired set of children, he didn’t want to deal with repressed mid-twenties UST too.

“Leave them alone, you weren’t much better yourself once upon a time.” Hizashi snickered. Shouta pouted, but didn’t argue the point. His husband was right, Shouta was more or less hopeless and if Hizashi hadn’t up and kissed him after a near-miss on one of Shouta’s patrols just after they’d graduated the two would have never gotten together.

At least the other newly-adopted’s combined presences finally seemed to ease the last of the tension Keigo had been carrying in his shoulders. The young hero might have the reputation of a laid-back troll, but it was good to see him start to genuinely relax.

Their family might have grown more in three months than either adult hero had anticipated it ever could, but it was hard to be mad about it with all the younger generation’s laughter flowing through the house, even drowning out the true crime show. Even Shouta could admit the chaos was nice.

…

Thursday eventually ended when Kan appeared at the door to collect Himiko, passing along keys and a request from Nedzu to Keigo and Touya respectively. It seemed he was caught up in work at the school, or so he said, so he wondered if Touya might mind showing Keigo around his new apartment. They were all on the same floor, after all. Keigo also had instructions to make a list of anything he might need to pick up, and they’d order what they could online and get a group together for a trip to Tokyo that weekend. He had confirmation the commission would no longer be something they needed to be concerned about, so that could be scheduled as planned if Keigo were comfortable with that.

Keigo almost didn’t want to know what the chimera had done to make them give in that quickly.

Touya did not, in fact, mind showing Keigo around his new place. Or more accurately, spending some time with the bird one on one.

The apartment was nice, already furnished with good quality furniture built to account for wing-related quirks, a closet already half-full of clothes, and a fridge filled with food most birds of prey enjoyed, plus a general selection of snacks. (The consideration didn’t almost make Keigo cry, shut the fuck up Touya.) It had two bedrooms, its own laundry room, a decently sized kitchen, and a smaller room that’d make a good office/library.

Though if Keigo used that as an office, he wasn’t sure what he’d do with the second bedroom. Maybe he could turn it into a home gym? Or would that bother people in the apartment below? Touya wasn’t sure either, Keigo would probably just have to ask Nedzu. He was the landlord, after all.

The two ended up talking and planning different things they could do with both of their units (Touya showed Keigo around his as well, though they weren’t dissimilar in layout) well into the night, neither particularly keen on returning to their respective apartments to be alone.

Keigo may or may not have spent the night in Touya’s apartment (it was cozier, since the flame user had had more time to give it some personality). Chiyo may or may not have seen the winged hero do the walk of shame to his apartment the next morning for a shower and a new outfit.

Keigo would maintain that it wasn’t a walk of shame, they hadn’t done anything until they day he died, but the older woman had eyes. Even if they hadn’t, she’d bet everything that they soon would.

(She loved being right).

…

Early Friday afternoon Kimura and some random HPSC goons brought Keigo’s things from his penthouse in his agency and log-ins for his bank account and other necessary info/legal documents. Keigo made sure he had everything he needed or wanted from his unit (mostly the clothes, every hero needed their uniform and his civilian clothes were comfy) and Nedzu made sure all the legal stuff was in order and all accounted for. (He had ways of knowing what assets the commission had for Keigo and Keigo wasn’t going to question it).

He spent the rest of the afternoon in his unit with the Yamazawa kids plus Hitoshi, Himiko, and Touya. Shouta foisting all the teens off them off on the two young men because ‘they need a baby sitter or they’ll burn the school down, it won’t be the fire one that does it, and I don’t want to deal with it today’, sorting through his meager belongings and continuing their introduction into modern television.

Izuku knew a concerning amount about tv shows and the actors who played in them, but he had a mind for remembering factoids and he’d spent a lot of time by himself prior to the school year.

Friday evening Cementoss added an attic/roost to the Yamazawa cabin, complete with its own patio and door for Keigo to take off and land on if he wanted. It also meant Keigo had to add more things to his shopping list, but he felt less bad about it after Hizashi pointed out they’d be doing a mall trip anyways since the boys would all be setting up their dorm rooms in a few weeks. There was no reason not to get anything done at once, and a family road trip would be a nice summer outing for everyone.

Thus appeased, Keigo continued his list making. He’d have appreciated it if Hizashi told him the ‘family’ part of the road trip would require a caravan not a mini-van though.

Chapter Text

Sunday morning dawned decently early for the twenty two people Nedzu had rustled up for a last-minute road trip to the hero-only mall in Tokyo. (It would have been sixteen if they’d done it Saturday, and that just wouldn’t do. A solid twenty three percent of wanting a road trip to a mall in Tokyo was messing with Shouta. His son knew what he did, Nedzu’s tea set was sacred.) Most of them slept well the night before in anticipation of the long day. Izuku hadn’t been one of the ones to sleep well. Izuku hadn’t slept.

“Okay, I know you said to wait for Nedzu but I totally didn’t.” Shouta nearly jumped out of his entire skin when he left the bedroom to start getting ready for the trip to find Izuku already waiting for him on the couch. Shouta stared at him for a full ten seconds before deciding he wasn’t about to have a conversation about the consequences of waiting for heroes in the dark on no coffee. Especially if said heroes were half-asleep. Really, the boy should know better.

“You’re lucky I’m not Zashi.” Shouta grumbled as he found Izuku had already made coffee and there was already a cup waiting for him on the counter. Maybe his kid wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“Papa almost always waits at least half an hour after waking up to put in his hearing aides.” Izuku pointed out. “He’d have never heard me to be startled.”

“They also have better eyes than either of us, and the human eye is designed to track movement.”

“Speak for yourself. Can we get back to the ‘I didn’t wait’ thing now?”

“I assume this is about the girl.” Shouta set about making two new cups of coffee after he drained his first one. Nedzu hadn’t filled Shouta in on what he’d found yet, the chimera was waiting until Monday so he could solidify his plans, but he knew it was big and that the rat didn’t want Izuku poking around in it until Nedzu could read him in. They both knew Izuku would have just immediately jumped in if they’d told him no. Seems like he hadn’t waited regardless.

“Yeah. I already sent everything to Nedzu just in case but he probably already knows it.” Shouta pushed the second mug of coffee (the first being his round two) into Izuku’s hands as he started wringing his his fingers. This would help keep him from hurting his fingers and hopefully keep the kid awake long enough to crash in the car. “I just, we’re gonna be able to help her, right?”

“We helped you.” Shouta gestured at Izuku with his coffee. “We’re helping Shoto and his siblings, and Keigo.”

“I think the commission is backing who has her.” Izuku’s voice was so soft Shouta could barely hear it.

“See again: Shoto and Keigo. Keigo goes without saying, and Endeavor may be powerful in his own right but he’s more than backed by the HPSC.”

“I know, I just…” Izuku’s brows furrowed as he trailed off, unsure how to put what he felt into words.

“It’s not on you to figure this out, problem child. Nedzu thinks as his personal student, you’re ready to be included in the research, that’s why Zashi and I agreed to let you, but this isn’t on your shoulders. It’s not on any one person’s shoulders. When the time comes, we’ll figure it out together. This isn’t your jiji’s first rodeo either.” During the course of Shouta’s speech, Hizashi had appeared in the doorway, noticed the seriousness of the conversation, and backed back out.

“Right.” Izuku sounded like he agreed, but his frown didn’t ease. Behind him, Hizashi returned with his hearing aides.

“Want to tell us why you’re really staying up all night?” Shouta asked, knowing it wasn’t the first all-nighter the kid had done recently. Izuku stayed stubbornly silent for about half a minute, but his dads had more than enough patience for him. “If something’s wrong, let us help.”

“I’ve been having nightmares.” The teen finally admitted. “Everything’s normal, then suddenly the air opens and AFO’s there.” Izuku leaned back into Hizashi’s torso as the blonde pulled him into a hug.

“There’s not a single one of us that don’t have nightmares.” The radio host sighed. It was true, but that didn’t stop them from hating that the little listener had to deal with them so much earlier than most heroes did. “But that means we all have coping mechanisms to deal with them. We’ll go over what Shouta and I like to do when we get back, and you can always talk about it with us or Ryu. You can always wake us up if you need, too. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Izuku looked up at Hizashi. “Thanks, Papa.”

“Anytime, sweetheart. Now go get dressed, your friends will be here soon. We’ll stash you in a car with Tokoyami, I’m sure he’d be happy to let you sleep on him once we get on the road.”

“Dark Shadow might even let you user her as a pillow.” Shouta joked, trying to help his husband break the tension. It worked, Izuku snorted before disengaging from Hizashi to go put acceptable outside clothes on. He crossed paths with Shoto, who was already dressed, just inside the doorway. Shouta quickly left to get dressed too (not without giving Hizashi a quick kiss on the cheek), leaving the blonde alone to deal with the absolute eye-sore of a blindingly neon paisley shirt Shoto had somehow acquired.

The underground pro didn’t care what his kids wore as long as they were wearing something that appropriately covered them, but Hizashi had a stronger fashion sense. (Also the offended squawk they barely muffled was funny as fuck.)

…

It wasn’t even half an hour later that everyone was gathering in the school’s main parking lot. Sometimes Shouta really hated his father’s efficiency and planning ability, the fact that he could pull twenty two of their friends and family together for a caravan road trip in like three days was incredibly annoying.

There were most of the Yamazawas (Chiyo had escaped the trek by playing the age card, no Shouta wasn’t jealous) including the newest one, Hitoshi of course, all of the Himuras, Mina, Neito, and Fumikage just to round out the teenage chaos every road trip apparently required, Toga and both her parents Kan and Nemuri, with Snipe, Higari, Cementoss, Thirteen, Ectoplasm, and Ryo rounding out the "Responsible" Adult side of things. Heaven help them all.

Shouta immediately foisted Izuku and Tokoyami off on Higari and Snipe, if they wanted to be uncle-shaped they could be locked in a metal cage with their nephew. Shouta was already going to have to deal with being locked in a car with the rat and his husband’s road trip playlists (he loved his husband, but he wanted to nap but hated making Hizashi feel like they couldn’t sing along more).

Kan was taking the latest batch of siblings (Touya, Toga, and Keigo) in his car while Nem had her nephew (Hitoshi) and the rest of the brigade (Mina and Neito) with her in hers (plus enough snacks to constitute a fifth passenger on their own).

Fuyumi had Natsuo and Shoto in hers, she was less sure of her driving skills than the other drivers and wanted a less chaos in her space, although she did have to deal with Shoto and Natsuo’s matching painful outfits and Shoto was very excited about the ham radios Higari had pulled out of storage for each of the cars to be able to talk to each other. (So excited not even Shouta could complain about the chaos that was sure to happen on said radios, the kid deserved all the moments of simple joy that he could get).

Ryu elected to drive by himself, fully planning to just chill out to classical music the entire way (he was absolutely going to egg on the collective teen’s chaos via the radios, he was very much looking forward to it). Thirteen and Ecto had opted to ride together with similar plans if you replaced chilling to classical with belting the best nostalgic pop songs.

Together, they made up a small army of spite and determined ingenuity for protecting their own, all of them ready to throw down for the young hero about to wander into a place no doubt swarming with HPSC goons despite only just escaping them. The mall would never know what hit it.

Shouta was fully expecting all of them to be banned by days end.

Chapter Text

It took approximately three minutes and thirty seconds for the first instance of radio chaos to begin, just long enough for Thirteen and Ectoplasm to belt out Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney (a road trip tradition) and for Ecto to get their radio turned on and working.

“We agreed to walkie-talkie protocols, right?” He confirmed with Thirteen.

“Yup!” They confirmed brightly.

“Fantastic.” He activated the radio. “Ecto to Shoto. I repeat, Ecto to Shoto.” There were a few beats of silence while Shoto figured out how to work the radio before the young man eagerly answered.

“This is Shoto. Go ahead, Ecto.”

“I’ve always wanted to ask, what’s your wildest conspiracy theory?” One simple sentence and they were off to the races. Nedzu’s cackles and Shouta’s groaning could be practically be heard from their car at the front of the line.

“First of all, it’s neither conspiracy nor theory-”

…

Izuku was already conked out against Fumi, Dark Shadow wasn’t his pillow but she was acting as the worlds best teddy-bear, so he couldn’t help egg on Shoto. Hitoshi, Neito, and Mina could though. Then Keigo joined in, using his ‘insider expertise’ to ‘confirm’ some of the kid’s theories to the uproars of everyone else. Touya particularly enjoyed feeding Keigo increasingly wild ‘facts’ to feed his babiest brother.  Especially the ones that annoyed the heroes present.

The Yamazawa adults were so proud of how far all their kids were coming.

That entertained the caravan until they stopped at the rest stop halfway to the mall, where they stopped to use the restroom and/or stretch their legs. Unfortunately, that break got Izuku up and running for the day (supplemented by the canned espresso he rescued from a vending machine). He carefully watched the clock once they got back in the car, giving Shouta just enough time to start dozing off (the man was used to sleeping in a noisy high school classroom, he knew how to fall asleep anywhere) before he risked activating the man’s Dad Senses.

“Higari, there’s an idea I had that I’ve been meaning to run by you.”

“Go for it.” Snipe was driving for the second leg of this trip so Higari turned to face Izuku (they were catty-corner from each other) as much as he could, always ready to pass time discussing engineering.

“So I have a couple different drafts for a taser sword design, but I’m having issues fitting a power source in it with the insulation needed to keep the wielder from being shocked too. The taser-taser I made went fine, but this is giving me so many problems.”

“For a what?” Higari asked for clarification desperately hoping he’d heard wrong even though he knew he hadn’t.

“Taser sword!” Izuku repeated with a bright grin while Fumikage, Shadow, and Snipe all snickered. “I wanna give one to dad.”

“Izu buddy, while we’re on the subject of weapons how do you feel about guns? There’s a nice gun store in the hero mall and it’d be a mighty fine way to make up for having to miss your birthday party.”

“There’s been like five thousand things happening and you had patrol, it’s fine.” Izuku waived the concern away.  He was planning a bigger birthday party for when the semester restarted and everyone was in the dorms anyways, he'd always wanted to go all out.

“Okay but consider: everyone should know their way around a firearm, just in case. Gun safety’s important.”

“Did you run this by his parents?” Higari inquired, raising an eyebrow at his grinning boyfriend. “Because I’m not sure which one would get to us first if you teach him to shoot without their permission. I’m also not sure which one I’d prefer get to us first.”

“Don’t worry about it baby, I know what I’m doin’.” Snipe reached over to pat Higari’s knee.

“I hope that’s true, Sam.” Higari grinned, squeezing Snipe’s (real name Samuel Holster) hand. “Your face is too pretty to get messed up.”

“Awww.” Izuku and Dark Shadow cooed in the back seat.

...

“Can we use the radios instead of cell phones to keep track of each other in the mall?” Shoto asked.

“I have no idea.” Fuyumi answered. “I would imagine so, but I’ve never been to this mall so I don’t know what they’ll let us take in.”

“I’m pretty sure all the heroes are armed.” Natsuo snorted.

“I’m gonna ask.” Shoto decided, picking their radio just up. “Shoto to dad, I repeat, Shoto to dad.” The red and white teen didn’t realize he’d used dad instead of Shouta out loud for the first time, but everyone else did. Shouta had to wait a few extra seconds, just to make sure he could answer in an even voice.

“What’s up, kid?” The brewing discussion over the radios interrupted everything else, even the weapons conversation the Higari/Snipe car was knee deep in.

“That’s not what you’re supposed to say.” Shoto pouted, the expression carrying through in his tone of voice. It was taking everything Hizashi had not to accidentally crash their car, but who could blame them at the adorable interaction. Shouta cleared his throat before he responded, studiously ignoring his husband and dad’s joint amusement.

“Dad to Shoto.” A car behind Shouta, Hizashi, and Nedzu, Nemuri had Hitoshi recording all of this for posterity and blackmail. “What’s up, kid?”

“Can we use the radios to keep track of each other in the mall instead of cell phones?”

“I’m down!” Izuku jumped in.

“That could be fun.” Hitoshi added before passing their radio to Mina, who’d been making grabby hands at him.

“Yes!!!!” She cackled.

“That’s so much better than cell phones.” Cementoss threw his hat in the ring, the first adult to do so. One by one almost everyone else sent in their assents to the idea.

“I think that’s a yes on the radios.” Shouta noted dryly.

“Thank you.” Shoto set his radio back down again, appeased.

“That was adorable.” Nemuri grinned. The teens in her car agreed.

…

It was all fun and games until they got to the mall. Buddy System rules were firmly in place, everyone underage told in no uncertain terms that they were to be within sight of an adult at all times unless they were in the restrooms or a changing room. Shouta had never misplaced a kid as a teacher and he wasn’t about to start now, plus he was still holding out hope they wouldn’t actually be banned before they left. (If he weren’t at least slightly optimistic, he wouldn’t be any good at being a hero. You had to have some level of hope to cope with the job they did).

He forgot to specify picking one adult and staying with them, unless there was an official hand-off from one adult to another. Normally he’d refrain from infantilizing teenagers like that, but this specific set was liable to starting a fire if they didn’t enact specific rules for them. A solid chunk of them were Extra flammable to begin with.

They immediately started losing track of teens as they switched between the adults seamlessly, the radios sounding with calls of ‘who has eyes on x’ every few minutes. They were definitely attracting the attention of other heroes. RIP Shouta’s reputation.

Izuku had snagged Keigo’s arm, keeping the hero with him even as he drew him into the antics the self-named Kid’s Table Crew were currently taking part in. Fun aside, there was a reason they’d formed an army to take on the mall and Izuku knew staying in his vicinity would give him close to first pick if anyone tried to start something. That day in particular, he had a lot of anger he wouldn’t mind getting out on some asshole HPSC pawn. But claiming Keigo meant Touya tagging along, and Natsuo decided to hang out with them too. Technically speaking, both older Himuras were adults.

Keigo was also an adult, but since he was the one they were there to protect, it was best he stick around so they could, so they were still staying within hearing distance. Or they were, until Izuku and Natsuo came across a department store employee harassing a blonde girl around their age who had some painfully familiar shoes on.

izukittydrink (catnip tea) by kestralkitsune!!

Chapter Text

Keigo was also an adult, but since he was the one they were there to protect, it was best he stick around so they could, so they were still staying within hearing distance. Or they were, until Izuku and Natsuo came across a department store employee harassing a blonde girl around their age who had some painfully familiar shoes on.

The two quirkless family members demonstrated a terrifying sense of hive mind, didn’t say anything, didn’t hesitate, didn’t even share a glance with each other before speeding in the girl’s direction. Keigo happened to be glancing in their direction when they bolted off otherwise he might not have even noticed, they’d dissappeared so quickly. He grabbed Touya’s hand and pulled the fire quirked man along with him as he followed the younger two. He may be a top pro but he did not want to be the only adult dealing with whatever was about to go down.

(For a moment, he forgot that Natsuo was also an adult and that Touya wouldn’t hesitate to throw down for any of his younger siblings.)

Izuku took less that a second to process the scene in front of him, the slowly raising voices from both sides easily catching his attention, and Natsuo was the exact same way. The girl was about their age but taller than Izuku with long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and blue eyes flashing with ire. Her American accent helped explain the way she gave as good as she got to the employee trying to kick her out, they didn’t have near the quirk discrimination Japan did so she hadn’t had that fight beat out of her. Izuku wasn’t about to let that happen now.

“Dude, what’s your fucking issue?” Izuku got between the girl and the employee, who’s scarlet eyes were starting to flash with the initial signs of quirk use. Izuku would have been concerned if the mall weren’t literally filled with heroes- a solid chunk of which were from UA and wouldn’t have an issue making sure the asshat got arrested if he actually did use his quirk.

Natsuo gently pulled the girl away from the altercation. She almost fought him on it, but he whispered that he and Izuku were quirkless too and that she probably wouldn’t want to be close to what was about to go down so she let him pull her back a couple feet. By then, Keigo and Touya had caught up. Touya stopped with Natsuo and the new kid, but Keigo continued forward to stand behind Izuku, arms crossed and just waiting for the employee to notice and recognize him.

The way his face paled at the sight of a pissed Hawks was so good. Just, chef’s kiss.

“Is there a problem here?” Keigo narrowed his eyes on the employee, voice cold.

“N-no. sir.” The unfortunate employee stuttered, but his eyes stopped sparking. “I was merely letting it know it’s kind isn’t allowed in here and these other two just showed up. We’ll be kicking all of them out, don’t worry.” Keigo had to quickly grab the back of Izuku’s shirt to stop him from charging forward, thank kami for hero reflexes.  If the boy ripped a man's face off here, it wouldn't be nearly so easy to get out of trouble for.

“I know he’s a dick, baby bird, but your entire family will end me if I let you get arrested for assault, settle down.” Keigo pulled the outraged teen away from the employee, literally picked Izuku up under his armpits when he tried to fight the winged man to deposit him with the rest of the group, who were all glaring at the employee too. “Let me deal with this one, okay?”

“Make him cry.” Izuku stopped struggling as Keigo let him go, glancing up to meet his eyes, his own raging.

“No problem. Now go find your adults, I think we’re gonna need them. Keigo squared his shoulders and turned back to the employee, ready to rain righteous hell down on him the way he’d never been allowed to under the commission. No one called others ‘it’s’ with him around. Izuku nodded in approval before ushering the rest away from the skirmish. They found the rest of the teens before they found Shouta or Hizashi though.

…

“Does anyone have eyes on Izuku?” Shouta gave up and finally made the call on the radio. “He disappeared and it’s… too quiet.”

“We’re with all the teens near the food court.” Nem responded. “You might wanna get over here.”

“How’d they get to the food court?” Hizashi asked as they moved (fairly quickly) in that direction. The food court wasn’t too far down the mall, but it was further than one would think the entire group would have made it in the few minutes since they’d disappeared.

“I’m ninety percent sure they can teleport.” Shouta complained.

“Only ninety?” Nedzu said from his spot in Shouta’s scarf, sounding entirely too amused. They weren’t expecting to find Nem, Kan, Thirteen, and Ectoplasm with what seemed to be the full assortment of young people, all watching Keigo verbally eviscerate an employee, which was not on Shouta’s personal bingo card for the day.

“What happened?” Shouta detoured to the standing group, bringing Nedzu along with him while Hizashi kept going to back up the bird.

“The employee called quirkless people ‘it’s’.” Kan, the closest to Shouta, explained since Izuku and Natsuo were currently deep inside a comfort huddle of the other younglings.

“I should have let Zashi check on the teens.” Shouta noted, though he made no moves to stop the warpath the blonde would soon be on. Instead, he was recounting heads because he kept coming up with one head too many. “Did we acquire another one?”

“Izuku and Natsuo originally saw the dude harassing a girl, haven’t gotten a name yet. She’s American, though.” Kan sighed. “Pretty sure she’s already been sucked into the friend vortex. You Yamazawas can’t go one day without finding someone new to adopt.”

“Says the new father.” Shouta returned. None of the kids were bloody or crying, so he’d do any comforting he needed to do when the huddle broke up.

“All but one of those are yours in one way or another, don’t even start with me.” Kan snorted.

…

The altercation with the random asshole employee itself ended when Nedzu decided to get involved, as altercations tended to do. Sometimes Shouta really loved his family. Either way, the huddle was breaking up so it was time to be a Dad.

“Are you okay, problem child?” The black haired hero asked Izuku.

“Yeah.” Izuku grinned. “Keigo made him cry.”

“I saw that.” Shouta snorted, turning to Natsuo who was still surrounded by the other three Himuras. “And you, second problem child?”

“I am now.” Natsuo nodded.

“Good.” Shouta turned to the new blonde teenager they’d acquired. “I don’t know whether you’re a problem child or not, but are you okay? Is someone coming to join you?”

“I already called my dad, he’s on his way with my uncle.” The girl nodded, and sure enough that was an American accent. Southern, if Shouta remembered right. That was more of a Hizashi question, they were a quarter American. It’s where they got their preferred breakfast foods.

“Dad, this is Melissa Shield.” Izuku finally made introductions. “Melissa, this is my dad Aizawa Shouta.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” Melissa blinked up at him.

“It’s nice to meet you too. You don’t have to deal with the entire circus, we can shoo them away.” Shouta wouldn’t want a bunch of strangers around if he’d just had the kind of interaction he could only imagine she’d had.

“It’s fine, they’re pretty funny. That one especially has a way with words.” She indicated Hitoshi.

“Was I wrong?” Hitoshi grumbled while the brigade snickered at him.

“You were not, it’s why we love you.” Izuku comforted. Behind them, Hizashi grinned, knowing full well how acerbic Hitoshi could be when he really felt the urge. Shouta regretted getting out of bed that morning.

“Melissa!” A new voice called as a man who, by the family resemblance and accent, could only be her dad. He ran up to them, their small army parting like the red sea for him, and pulled her into a hug.

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Kan, still the adult closest to Shouta, muttered. “She’s David Shield’s kid.”

“Why is that important?” Shouta asked, not recognizing the name or understanding the significance.

“Turn around.” Kan glanced pointedly over Shouta’s shoulder. The underground pro turned around to see what he was looking at to find none other than an uncertain Yagi Toshinori watching their entire group. “They’re friends, odds are that’s the ‘uncle’ she was referring to.”

Shouta really regretted getting out of bed that morning.

…

For what was supposed to be a fun day defending Keigo from any weird interactions with pro-commission heroes, the mall trip was tense in a way that had nothing to do with that. Still, they managed to get through the big conversation with David Shield about how the group in general had come to find his daughter.

To his credit, apparent friendship with Yagi aside the man was delighted when he found out Izuku was quirkless and in training to be a hero. The two having such disparate views of the idea of someone without a quirk being a hero was… intriguing, and Izuku caught the look on Melissa’s face at the reveal too.

He knew that look. David Shield may be all for someone quirkless being a hero- he was firmly in the ‘think of all the toys we could make’ camp with Higari and Mei, but if she was close enough to All Might to call him uncle it would probably be really hard to discount his (quirkist) opinion. For better or worse, when All Might spoke people listened. Dollars to donuts she’d also wanted to be a hero and he’d told her she couldn’t either. Izuku’s heart broke a little for her, and a bit of the rage he felt for the number one rekindled.

The two Shields and Yagi eventually went their separate ways without incident though, everyone had their own shopping to do, but the ever growing group of teens did exchange phone numbers with their newest friend-acquisition. At least two new group-chats were up and running within minutes.

...

"What do you have there, kiddo?  Hizashi walked up to Shoto, who was holding a bright tie dye hoodie with a cat on it while they were in one of the clothing department stores.  

"It looks like Princess."  Shoto looked up at Hizashi.  "Can we get it, papa?"  

"Of course we can."  To his credit, Hizashi managed to hide most of how choked up that made him.  He was absolutely going to cry about it in the car on the way home though.  Shoto's first dad and papa in the same day!  "Actually, how many are there?"

"I'm not sure, they're over here."  Shoto led him over to the hoodies.  Izuku would crack up when he eventually saw them, and Shouta would claim to hate it but wear it anytime he couldn't steal one of Hizashi's hoodies. 

...

An entire day of shopping later found the entire army piling back into their cars- most of which had shopping bags loaded into the backs, most Keigo’s but some not- ready to finally head home. In the end, Nedzu had to work his magic to keep them from being formally banned, and it wasn’t because of the teens. It was because Shouta found Snipe in a gun store with Izuku and ended up chasing the other hero through the mall himself to everyone else’s extreme entertainment, they were absolutely never going to let him live that down.

At the end of the day, the underground pro was really looking forward to taking a nap in his own bed.

Chapter Text

The next Monday, the first one in August, brought them to the first step in rescuing that poor child and stopping production of the quirk erasing bullets. Shouta, who was being officially read in in this meeting as well, brought Izuku to Nedzu’s office at nine am to get everyone on the same page before Sir Nighteye made his own appearance later in the morning.

“I know you sent me what you found, but I’d like to hear in your own words where you are and what your theories are right now.” Nedzu opened the conversation, Izuku and Shouta settled into their usual spots across from him.

“I connected the quirk erasing bullets to the Shie Hassaikai,” Izuku started, fiddling with a small fidget toy, “which wasn’t hard- quirk reversing bullets and a kid with a quirk that reverses things. No one else is ballsy enough to operate in that area since it’s run by that branch of the Yakuza.” Most people could probably put that together even without the ability to check the… shadier places Izuku knew how to access thanks to D’Artagnan.

“That would all be bad enough on its own, but from the rumors I’ve seen I’m pretty sure the commission at a minimum previously backed overhaul. It was just whispers, nothing solid, but I can’t imagine they’d pass up the chance of acquiring quirk erasing bullets. That’s when I stopped looking into it, that’s above my pay grade.”  At least without his family playing back-up, there was a reason he'd only ever looked into low level government agents at most.

“I also can’t imagine they’d be able to resist that particular temptation if they knew about it.” Nedzu agreed before shifting to a different concern regarding Izuku’s forays into research. “That wasn’t the result of one night’s research, Izuku-kun. You’ve always shown great restraint when it comes to picking battles you know are within your wheelhouse, what changed?”

Nedzu had pieced together the commission side of things quickly once the matter had been brought to his attention, that’s why he’d asked Izuku to wait before diving in. The teen was skilled, but still young and the HPSC’s involvement would change a lot of moving pieces in the plans Nedzu had for them. Even a simple mis-step could have far reaching consequences, not the least of which could fall on Izuku himself.

“I can’t stop thinking about how scared she was.” Izuku said quietly, refusing to look up from his lap. “I know how scared I was when I went to AFO, and I have at least some measure of training. I should have done more, but I can’t change the past so I can at least do something now.”

And there lay the crux of the matter. Izuku was having to come to terms with something every hero eventually had to- no matter how much you wanted otherwise heroes just couldn’t save everyone- exacerbated by still feeling responsible for AFO targeting their family.

“You did exactly what you were supposed to do, Izuku-kun.” Nedzu’s tone brooked no arguments. He would not have his grandson feeling more responsibility than he should for longer than he had to, not when it came to something like this. “Both with AFO and in this. AFO already had his sights on this school thanks to All Might, he likely would have moved his target from Yagi to us either way, and it’s unfortunate but by all accounts the girl’s quirk was going haywire and you’re not trained on how to deal with that yet.

“You seem to have a tendency to be in the wrong place at the right time, but let me be clear Izuku-kun, you are not responsible for bad things that happen around you just because you could not stop them.” Nedzu continued. “In both cases you deferred to the experienced heroes around you, which is exactly what we want you to do in this stage of your education.”

“But-”

“This isn’t your fault, Izuku.” Shouta interrupted Izuku’s budding argument. “You’ve seen too much too soon and that’s colored how you see the world, but we’ll repeat it as much as we need to. This isn’t your fault.”

Izuku stared up at Shouta’s face, scrutinizing it for… something, before turning to Nedzu to do the same. Whatever he was looking for, he seemed to find it because he nodded and slouched down into his seat.

“Okay.” The teen sighed. “I don’t know if I really believe that right now, but I’ll try to.”

“What you’re dealing with is something every hero student goes through, at one point or another.” Nedzu told him. “It’s not only our duty as your family but as your teachers to help you through it, you can always come talk to us or Ryo whenever you start feeling like this. Now drink your tea, it’s getting cold.”

“Thank you, jiji. Dad.” Izuku leaned forward to grab his cup, ears flicking as Shouta ruffled his hair when he straightened back up again.

“Of course, Izuku-kun. Now, as I’ve already informed your fathers, as my personal student I do think you’re ready to be involved in certain aspects of this case on the research and hacking side of things. At a minimum, this will be similar to the Stain situation, though the lead hero on the case will be here later today to discuss what we’ve found. Depending on his feelings on the subject, you may end up slightly more involved.”

“No raids.” Shouta put his foot down. “Zashi and I have signed off on this on the caveat Izuku stays out of anything like that.”

“I can take care of myself!” Izuku scowled up at Shouta, offended his skills had been called into question.

“I know you can, this isn’t about that. You’re still a first year student with only a semester under your belt, and there are aspects of working with other heroes in a situation like that that I haven’t had the chance to teach you yet and you’ll never get from working with me alone. I wouldn’t allow any of my first year students on a Yakuza raid if I had any choice in the matter, and since you’re literally my kid, I do.”

Izuku didn’t push the issue after that, at least slightly appeased it wasn’t a slight against his abilities. They continued to discuss his potential future involvement and what facts Nedzu had established with his own research until the door opened.

“Heyo.” Keigo stuck his head in the room. “You wanted to see me?”

“Is it that time already?” Nedzu checked his watch, the morning had passed faster than he’d noticed, he’d asked Keigo to arrive around a quarter till eleven, just long enough for his own discussion with the chimera before Sir Nighteye arrived for a meeting with the two of them. “What is that you’re holding?”

“Presents.” Keigo entered the office fully, shutting the door behind him. “Pretty sure it’s the first thing I’ve bought with my own money, I wanted to say thank you.”

“That’s entirely unnecessary.” Nedzu’s tail swished slightly as the young hero settled into his own chair, passing thin boxes to Nedzu, Shouta, and Izuku.

“You haven’t seen the present yet.” Keigo smirked, this was gonna be good and he couldn’t wait to see their reactions. Saying ‘he’d’ bought them with his own money might be a bit of an overstatement, but he’d seen the shirts both in the adult section and the kid’s section of one of the stores they’d been in and sent Touya back after they left with his debit card to pick them up for everyone. It was too good, he couldn’t resist once he saw one that’d fit Nedzu too.

Izuku got into his first, pulling out the simple white tee that had ‘BIRDS AREN’T REAL’ printed across the fronts in in English in big block letters along with the image of a pigeon with a video camera in its chest and immediately caught a case of the giggles.

“Kami.” Shouta muttered, looking from the shirt in his own hands back over to the bird who gave it to him with a look that clearly said there was something wrong with him. “When did you even get these?”

“Touya went and got them for me.” Keigo grinned, enjoying the chaos. Izuku was already pulling his on over the shirt he was currently wearing. “I got one for everyone, I dropped Hizashi and Shoto’s off at your house on my way in. Baby bird, there’s one for your love bird there too.” Izuku subtlety flipped Keigo off from behind Shouta while he was taking a selfie of the shirt to send to all his little chaos buddies.

“Of course you did.”  Shouta groaned.  Shoto was going to take that theory as gospel (and ask them for a family photo in the shirts) he just knew it.  

Chapter Text

Izuku was sent back home before Nighteye arrived, he didn’t need to be there for the initial meeting. Shouta stayed behind, as did Keigo. Depending on how this meeting went, the plan of attack against the Shie Hassaikai would likely have compounding effects on Nedzu’s plans for the commission moving forward, and it was time to involve the two of them. Shouta could fill Hizashi in later.

Nedzu, Shouta, and Keigo all quickly got on the same page. Keigo had already discussed with the two what he’d gotten from his own research and he was… unsurprised that the commission would back someone like Overhaul for the sake of acquiring black market quirk erasing bullets, then when he wasn’t needed anymore send in himself and other heroes to clean up their mess. It also explained how everyone was struggling to get any actual info on the organization, they were being (in part, at least) stonewalled as the HPSC tried to cover up their own involvement.

…

Mirai was apprehensive as he approached UA’s front gates, a former student of the school himself, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling he’d been called to the principals office to be punished. It was ridiculous, he knew it was ridiculous, and yet the feeling lingered.

There was also an undercurrent of anticipation mixed in there too, this might finally be the break they needed on the case. Mirai knew Aizawa had been involved in an interaction with a child who had escaped the facility they thought belonged to Overhaul (they hadn’t even realized a kid had been involved, that had been a gut punch that felt like an oncoming train) along with Hawks (who’d reached the girl before they could), who shouldn’t even have been in the city, and a UA student ahead of Nedzu reaching out to them. With any luck, Nedzu had done his own poking around and wanted in.

If so, Mirai would welcome him with open arms. Their entire team was struggling a little too hard to make headway and Mirai was a smart man, he knew why. The commission had always been problematic, but he’d been watching them get worse and worse in recent years. The intelligence hero didn’t like it, but he didn’t have the power on his own to do anything about it. Nedzu however was an entirely different story.

So Mirai agreed to meet the principal. He didn’t need his quirk to know that this was going to be a momentous occasion, every instinct he had was screaming that if he stepped onto campus that day, nothing would ever be the same. His quirk did help though- he couldn’t choose what he saw when his quirk was active but he always remembered it and when you had enough bits and pieces, well. Puzzles didn’t need to be completed to get their message across.

Mirai squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and followed the security bot up to Nedzu’s office. The world could use a little change.

“Ah, Sir Nighteye, there you are!” Nedzu squeaked as the office door opened of it’s own accord when Mirai went to knock. (Nedzu did love his dramatics.)

“I hope you’re having a better morning than I am.” Mirai greeted as he walked over to the chair clearly waiting for him on the other side of Hawks from Eraserhead. “Is it appropriate to assume you brought me here to discuss the girl you ran into last week and the quirk-canceling bullets?”

“It is.” Nedzu took the cue, jumping right into the heart of the matter. “Obviously, her near rescue and subsequent re-abduction brought the matter to our attention and I’ve been doing my own research.” The chimera pushed a cup of tea at the future-seer. “I believe what I found may prove useful to you.”

“I’ve already put together that the commission helped fund the bullets.” Mirai decided to lay his cards on the table, there was no point in beating around the bush when he had the puzzle pieces he couldn’t prove and an inkling of where they would one day lead. Plus, this case had been dragging far slower than it should, and obviously that was due to the HPSC making sure certain info pertaining to them couldn’t be found. That had been tenable as they toiled to get info and form a plan up until they found out there was a child involved. Mirai couldn’t let this drag on any longer, for her sake if nothing else. “Please tell me you have something that can help us get that girl out of there.”

The silence in the room stretched out a bit, the other three not expecting the intelligence hero to be so open with them right off the bat. Mirai sighed.

“I can see people’s futures.” He reminded them before making pointed eye contact with the principal. “It may not be helpful in the moment, but I never forget the pieces I see, and that puzzle never changes. Where this goes, I’m in, but right now my priority is that kid. Something tells me you can understand.”

“More than I think you realize, even with your quirk.” Nedzu nodded, taking that in stride. Mirai’s support would make his life much easier, should he prove trustworthy. (Nedzu was pretty sure he could be trusted, but a little caution never hurt anybody.)

Outside their little moment, Keigo lacked context for what was happening and was a little confused- he got the line likely referencing him and the other baby birds who’d been adopted by Nedzu and/or the Yamazawas, but the rest seemed… bigger.

Shouta did have context, and while he trusted his dad to know what he was doing and not take undue risks, he couldn’t quite stop the chill that ran through him. This wasn’t going to stop with that tiny child, it wouldn’t even stop with the take down of the Yakuza. Between the bullshit with Todoroki Enji, Keigo, and this, they were stepping on HPSC toes left and right, and that particular organization never took well to that. Especially when it was someone who’d always stood in stark opposition to them.

It also wouldn’t take much research to notice Izuku was also D’Artagnan, and while the hacker had never gone for the HPSC specifically, he’d taken down some big names and had the chops and societal pull to do some real damage, especially when backed by Nedzu the way he was. Shouta leaned back against the corner of his chair in a silent question, a not-quite-code he’d developed with the rat in his high school days. Nedzu subtlety tapped twice against his tea cup in an affirmative. Domino pieces the underground pro had been half convinced would never budge were starting to fall and kami, he hoped they were ready.

“Yes,” Nedzu carried on, “the HPSC initially backed the creation of the quirk-erasing bullets. Its unclear how much they actually knew of the process needed to make them,” if they knew about the girl, “but I believe they were looking for a way outside of All Might to deal with AFO, and anyone else they deem a threat. With AFO so suddenly gone, they’re panicking and want all of this swept under the rug as much as they’re hamstringing your efforts in order to hide their involvement.

“They even put Hawks here on the case as well without telling either of you the other was working on it.” Hawks and Mirai shared a glance and small acknowledging nod at each at that. “It’s going to take longer to stop the Shie Hassaikai, but you’re right that we need to get the child out as soon as possible, both for moral reasons and to stop the production of more bullets.”

Nedzu continued on with a deeper explanation of what he’d been able to uproot about the Shie Hassaikai itself, not to mention overhaul over the next half hour before shifting to ironing out basic plans with Mirai, Shouta, and Keigo.

It was decided a small strike team would work best, a quick in and out rescue instead of a raid on the entire organization. The issue was Mirai wanted a team of underground pros, Shouta included both for his skill and his quirk in case hers went haywire again, plus he’d been the one Keigo tried to hand her to just last week. Nedzu, however, wanted to go truly underground.

Shouta could still be involved of course, he knew how and when to keep his mouth shut and had no issue bending the law a bit, not in situations like this, but instead of the rest of the team being underground pros, the rat wanted vigilantes and outlaws that could be trusted but worked outside the legal hierarchical structure entirely.

At least part of it was to test Mirai, feel out where he drew the lines he wouldn’t cross, but part of it was to also keep everything as under wraps (legally speaking, paperwork could only be creatively adjusted so much before it became flat out lies) as possible. A team of vigilantes breaking in would just be seen as someone in the criminal underworld making moves, something that happened every day, something that couldn’t be tracked back to heroes working against Overhaul or Nedzu working against the commission.

The principal knew it was their best option, both in the short and long term, but Mirai was somewhat less… flexible in his willingness to openly flaunt legality like that. He was arguing against Nedzu though, the smartest creature in the world. In the end, it wasn’t really much of an argument at all.

And they’d thought the last few months had been interesting.

Chapter Text

The next step was informing the rest of their brood. Izuku knew because he was involved (as was quickly being established to be his norm), but Shoto and Hitoshi still needed to be told that there’d soon be a little girl in their household if everything went well. Especially since they’d likely be renovating Hitoshi’s room for her.

Don’t get the heroes wrong, they both loved having their nephew around, and he was still more than welcome in their house and to any of the couches, but he would still have a dorm with the rest of Class A and his mom lived nearby.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Hitoshi nodded. “Are we going to decorate it together?”

“Depends on who you mean by ‘we’.” Shouta answered. “That room will only hold so many people at a time.”

“We also want to be careful with how much we decorate it.” Hizashi warned. “We don’t want to overwhelm her, either. It may be better to start off a little simpler and go more extravagant later.”

“I wasn’t thinking everyone, just us. The immediate family.”

“I’ll tell Rin you don’t count her as immediate family.” Shouta snorted, ribbing his nephew.

“Mom’s gonna adore having a tiny niece and you know it.” Hitoshi glared at his uncle. “She’s already practically adopted Fuyumi.” Shouta had to give it to him, the teen had a point with that one. Rin had taken one look at the second oldest Himura and immediately taken her under her wing, claiming she needed a break from the guys.

She, Hizashi, and Nemuri had formed a little ‘no boys allowed’ club with Fuyumi and Himiko, and while it was still summer they were having bi-weekly Girl’s Evenings. Mina and Mei sometimes dropped in as well, the latter of which got on maybe a little too well with Himiko. Nemuri had money on one of them confessing before the semester started while Kan was far more conflicted (he saw it coming but he also wasn’t quite prepared to parent a teenager who was dating).

“I know for a fact you already bought a pink canopy to hang up.” Shouta pointed out, raising an eyebrow at his husband.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t think she deserves to feel like a princess.” Hizashi met Shouta’s gaze unflinchingly, Shouta didn't respond. “That’s what I thought. Every little girl deserves a canopy.” They also thought it may help differentiate their home from whatever kind of room the kid currently had. Not overwhelming but still a little magical would hopefully be visually different enough to help her feel more comfortable.

The plan was repainting the walls a pastel pink with white trim, get a more appropriately sized furniture with matching bedding, some rugs, and line the walls with bookshelves, toy chests, and stuffed animals/dolls. They were relying a lot on online ordering for this one, being seen in public shopping for things of this nature could potentially tip off the commission that they were more involved than they wanted to appear to be at this stage.

At least the boys had plenty to occupy them between revamping Hitoshi’s room and getting their own dorms set up.

“Do we know her name yet?” Shoto asked. “Also at what point do we tell the others, because we’re going to start getting in trouble if we keep doing things without telling them.”

“We don’t, and not yet. Not until we actually have her, we’re playing by a slightly different rule book on this one.” They weren’t playing by the official rule book at all. “There are… extenuating circumstances, on paper we can’t know she's coming here until the lead hero on the case ‘asks’ us to care for her due to my quirk and the past interaction. No one else can know yet.” Shouta stressed the last point. “Nedzu, us, and Keigo, that’s it. But it’s better for her and you if this household is prepared ahead of time. It shouldn’t be for long though.”

“Understood.” All the teens nodded.

…

While the Yamazawas were preparing for their newest arrival, Naomasa and UA’s lawyers were also being busy little bees. There wasn’t a date set for Shoto’s custody trial set yet, but they were expecting it soon. Shoto was throwing himself into any distraction he could get, be that decorating for a mysterious little sister or diving deeper into his favorite theories. He also started seeing Hound Dog once a week.

(Izuku did too, they went one after the other, Izuku spending time with Nedzu while he waited for Shoto to finish up and then they went for ice cream, often accompanied by some assortment of Fumikage, Neito, Mina, and Hitoshi. They had good friends.)

The detective and lawyers wanted to make sure they were ready, so Nao called Natsuo and Fuyumi in to get their official testimony. Saying they were ‘happy’ to do so wouldn’t be quite the right word, it was never easy to recount something so painful, but they hadn’t hesitated. Finally being able to tell their story AND be believed was a massive weight off of their chests.

They finally had their way out from under his thumb, and with the Yamazawa’s support they didn’t have to reliance on his credit card keeping them under him either. There was still a giant family cuddle pile at the Yamazawas after, complete with the traditional hot chocolate (despite the summer heat- it was tradition!) and ice cream.

Touya had a panic attack when Naomasa asked if he wanted to give his statement too. One of the worst ones he’d had in a while.

Endeavor was as of yet unaware his oldest was alive despite the murder attempt, and as much as Touya wanted to scream from the rooftops about what the country's number two ‘hero’ had done to him, Touya just wasn’t ready yet to reveal himself. Later, much later when he was ready to continue the conversation, the detective assured him he didn’t have to.

They already had plenty of evidence between everyone else’s testimony, photos of injuries that Shoto had managed to take and save over the years, Naomasa’s quirk, and even the home visit report from Izuku’s case worker, who’d already established that Shouta and Hizashi were safe and appropriate parents.

Nao couldn’t promise it wouldn’t come out during the trial, their side could creatively phrase their questions and answers all they wanted when the topic of the oldest's 'death' inevitably came up, but there was still official HPSC paperwork giving him immunity that could be found if someone knew where to look.  That being said, Touya didn’t have to go on record if he didn’t want to. They could always do that later if/when he was ever ready, it was totally up to him.

Touya didn’t have a big family cuddle pile that night, the idea of being around that many people made him itchy and, even if he knew it was stupid, the feeling he was once again failing his siblings made it impossible to look them in the eye. Keigo pulled the man over to his apartment so he wouldn’t be alone, even going so far as catnapping Bastard first for fluffy feline cuddles.

The winged hero distracted both of them with attempting to teach themselves how to cook a meal without burning down the kitchen. They were moderately successful. Emphasis on moderately.

(They didn’t have to call the fire department, it was fine.  It was partially Bastard's fault anyways.)

...

“Holy shit.” Izuku breathed, eyes widening at his computer screen before he got Nedzu’s attention. “Jiji! Her name is Eri!”

"Well done, Izuku-kun."  Nedzu's tail swished as Izuku sent him everything he'd just found, the two continuing to pour over it together for the next several hours.  

Chapter Text

Izuku accompanied Shouta out on Eraserhead’s Friday night patrol as Ghost, and yes he wore the ‘birds aren’t real’ shirt over his usual armored undershirt. He couldn’t wait to see what, if anything, this added to his lore in the local underworld gossip wheel (Nao and Sansa were updating the document they’d shared with him with each new tidbit they heard, all three were having a very good time with it- apparently the newest rumor was that he was actually a vampire.)

It was a pretty normal night out, up until Izuku attracted the attention of a kitten- lanky enough to be ‘teenage’ although the poor thing was still pretty small, fitting easily in one of Izuku’s hands. She was a pretty little girl, dark colored fur that was decently fluffy despite the general grime of being an outside cat, lovely purple eyes just a few shades darker than Hitoshi’s, and matching purple socks on her front two paws. Izuku’s heart melted at his first glance down to see what was pin-pricking it’s way up his leg where he and Shouta were taking a short break.

“Hi sweet baby.” He crooned in his actual voice as he picked her up, lower half of his mask disconnected for snacking reasons. Shouta glanced over as Izuku held her against his chest, letting her cuddle into him as he gently pet her. Kami she was purring up a storm (Izuku didn’t purr back at her, don’t listen to Shouta he lies).

The hero judged her old enough for actual food, she’d made it to a rooftop on her own after all (and it wasn’t a low one) so he pulled off a small piece of his (homemade by Lunch Rush, who was experimenting with techniques) jerky to offer her. She took it, but was more interested in nuzzling her face against Izuku every time he stopped petting her.

Izuku was used to it, cats tended to like him more than other people due to the cat mutations. His theory is they saw him as closer to them than other humans. The teen was sad when he had to set her back down after their break ended, but they were in the middle of patrol and Hizashi had a strict Three Cat house rule. Plus it probably wasn’t the best thing to be introducing a new cat when they would hopefully be introducing a new kid in the next week.

The poor thing whined and cried at the lack of contact though, even attempting to follow the hero and vigilante as they launched themselves onto the next rooftop. Izuku forced the image of her out of his mind as he refocused on the patrol- one of the first lessons he’d learned the hard way was that distraction got people hurt.

Villains with sledgehammers for hands could get people hurt too, a lesson Izuku almost found out the hard way not five minutes later. Luckily, he didn’t get hit with one of the sledgehammer arms (Shouta was busy dealing with the guy’s partner), but it was a close call when the villain managed to slide Izuku’s legs out from under him.

Izuku was already rolling with the motion to get himself far enough back to pop back up when a large black blur crashed into the dude from above. He yelled in surprise and pain, but his sledgehammers worked best against something far enough away for him to hit and the blur was already far too close for that. Izuku continued his scramble back as Shouta turned his quirked gaze on the villain.

The sledgehammers faded back into normal hands and the blur resolved itself into the tiny black and purple kitten who refused to let go of the dude, tiny (tinier?) claws still locked on his face. She hadn’t been big(?) long enough to do too much damage, but he was still covered in large, bleeding cuts.

Holy shit, she had a quirk. That… complicated things. Especially since Izuku was on record as having already nearly clawed a man’s (Stain’s) face off. Step one was getting her off the guy, step two could be figured out later. That was pretty easy though, it just took a quick twist of his capture weapon to snatch her away (the two had been about to assault a woman when the pair came across them, Shouta wasn’t concerned about whether or not the kitten brought skin with her when she went).

After that, hammer-man capitulated easily, not wanting that monster to be unleashed on him again. Shouta wrapped both villains up in his capture scarf and called in the cops and an ambulance while Izuku took over holding the kitten, who was clearly attached to him.

“The kitten has a quirk.” Izuku pointed out once the scene was secured.

“I noticed.” Shouta snorted. It was pretty hard to miss, she’d been roughly

the size of a pit-bull.

“A quirk that makes it look like something much larger than a kitten clawed at him.”

"You can relax.” Shouta noted idly before pitching his voice down so the criminals they’d just apprehended couldn’t hear the next part, although he still gave as few details as possible to get his point across, just in case. “They’re sending our favorite duo, we can tell them about the cat. It’s a good thing the new one still has Bastard.”

“Hell yeah.” Izuku did a happy little shimmy, giving the happily purring tiny girl some more chin scritches. They were keeping the cat, he’d have to think of an appropriate name for such a fearsome little warrior.

Quirked animals were a tricky subject, especially when police judged them as violent. Usually they either ended up on the black market to be sold to the highest bidder (if they were lucky, some rich asshole who wanted to add the animal to their treasure trove of rare items, if they were unlucky to some secret research lab) or in cases like this, the police usually just had them put down since it was less paperwork. Izuku didn’t want the latter to happen and their family was more sensitive to the first for obvious reasons, but not telling the responding officers about her could reflect badly on Izuku’s budding hero career. His first foray as Static had already given him a certain reputation, after all.

Nao and Sansa wouldn’t care about a little extra paperwork though if it meant saving this precious little baby (she just wanted to do a protecc, she was baby). They both also fell in love with her at first sight, it was hard to resist those big purple eyes.

“What are you gonna name her?” Sansa asked while she sniffed at his hands.

“Reaper, Destroy of Souls, Most High of the Underworld, Flufflebutt Yamazawa.” Izuku answered (it was fine to give the last name, the criminals were safely tucked away in the back of the cop car), throwing Shouta’s preferred naming conventions to the wind. Well, the Reaper alone fit, but if there was one thing Izuku wasn’t above it was a bit of a ramble.

“No.” The dad in question shot Izuku a flat look. “Absolutely not.”

“I could always call her Dog.” Izuku’s smile couldn’t be seen through his mask, but his tone was saccharine sweet. Next to Sansa and taking his turn to let the baby sniff his fingers, Nao snorted at the interaction.

“...fine, Reaper it is.” Silly Shouta, he should have never thought he’d win this game against Izuku.

Chapter Text

“Shouta.” Hizashi said when Izuku entered the kitchen the next morning for breakfast, cuddling Reaper. “Explain yourself.”

“Why am I the one in trouble?” Shouta grumbled over his coffee. Breakfast was already laid out on the table and the other three were seated around it, Izuku had just been the last to get downstairs. Something had distracted him. (It wasn’t the kitten, it was the kitten brigade group chat that Izuku had sent pictures of Reaper to the night before. He had the survival instinct to make sure Hizashi knew about the new pet before he posted her anywhere else though.)

“You’re the adult.” Hizashi sent Shouta’s signature flat stare right back at him.

“The cat’s quirked.” Shouta explained the events of the night before. He probably should have told Hizashi a little earlier, but this wasn’t one of the Big Big Important Things that necessitated waking the blonde upon return from patrol, and Shouta, sleep deprived as he was, didn’t wake up quickly unless he was woken by the ‘Time to Hero’ alarm. “Keigo and Touya could use an emotional support cat anyways, and Bastard loves Keigo more than he loves all of us combined.”

“Alright.” Hizashi sighed as Shoto reached out to pet the baby. “What’s her name?”

“Reaper, Destroy of Souls, Most High of the Underworld, Keeper of the Cuddles, Flufflebutt Yamazawa. A name truly befitting such a fearsome warrior.”

“Did her name get longer?” Shouta squinted at his kitten eared son.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Izuku smiled, the picture of innocence, causing Hizashi to snort as they too, reached over to introduce themself to the kitten. Absolutely none of them believed that smile.

…

Saturday and Sunday were spent renovating Hitoshi’s room into Eri’s room, the rest of the family had all but melted when Izuku had come home practically bouncing off the walls in excitement and told them her name. Now that he and Nedzu were diving in full-force, plans for the raid were coming along swimmingly.

Step one was packing up and carting all of his things over to his dorm now that the building was up and running (any wards of the school or students attached to staff had permission to come in and get their rooms set up early, so he, Shoto, and Izuku weren’t even the only ones doing so). Then they moved all of the furniture out into the living room so they could repaint and replace anything that needed to be child-sized.

“She’s pretty young.” Izuku pointed out. “Do we need to toddler-ify anything? What age do parents stop having to do that?”

“It’s called baby proofing.” Hizashi paused in his painting. “We shouldn’t have to go that far, but we will be changing some stuff around to make it safer for small kids in general, moving cleaning supplies out of reach, making sure all your weapons are also safely locked away, things like that. We’re also adapting all the lights to turn on and off with claps.”

“I feel attacked.” Izuku scowled at his papa, who somehow now had a pink stripe across their face. “I already keep all my weapons locked away.”

“I know you’re safe with your weapons, Izu.” The radio host assured. “We’re all going to double and triple check now, that’s all. Accidents happen and people come home from patrol exhausted.”

“Does that mean I get weapons to lock away?” Shoto asked. Hizashi blinked, then turned to stare at the peppermint colored teen.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna give you so many knives.” Izuku responded before Hizashi could say anything. “I don’t know how I haven’t already! Wait, you could have my taser!” Izuku dashed out of the room as quickly as he’d spoken.

“Wait, where did you get a taser?!” Hizashi called after him. “Izuku, get back here!” They turned to their husband, who was doing his best to ignore the conversation unfolding behind him for the sake of his own sanity. “Did you know he had a taser?”

“He’s had it since before the school year started.” Shouta sighed, remember the first time he saw it in Izuku’s apartment. “It was for defending his apartment, he’s never used it as Ghost.”

“I didn’t want to use anything that could immediately be linked back to Ghost if anyone broke in.” Izuku elaborated as he ran back in holding a legitimate hard-sided case that, sure enough, had a small handheld taser and a collection of knives in it. “If someone was going to make the connection, they were going to have to work for it. Here ya go, Shoto.” Izuku handed him the box.

“Thanks, Izuku.” Shoto smiled over at him, analyzing his new pretty shinies.

“...I don’t know how to react to this.” Hizashi noted.

“Pick your battles, love.” Shouta sighed. “They’re both responsible enough as hero students, and this is better than them collecting weapons we don’t know about.”

“Right, good point. Izuku, what other weapons do you have that I don’t know about?”

“Do you know about the nail gun?”

“You have a what?” Shouta’s tone was sharp as he learned about that one for the first time. It was gonna be a long afternoon.

…

Monday all three of the boys worked on getting their dorms set up to their preferred specifications. Izuku kept most of the ghost stuff in his room in the cottage, he didn’t want anyone having even a chance to make the connection, but he did plug in a ghost-shaped nightlight. Sure he had the sensitive dark-vision of a cat, but he still knew the importance of having a light source around. Plus, it helped when he woke up from nightmares or if he had to make his way into the room from the small balcony outside it for any reason.

He also left his precious computer and laptop in the cottage too, it was close enough to run over if he needed it and he didn’t trust having it around a bunch of teens- they may be good people but the urge to snoop was a powerful one. He did bring a lot of his hero merch though, and he decorated everything in reds and blacks since red was his favorite color anyways and the color scheme would allow for a few sneaky raven and crow items to be strewn around. Izuku couldn’t wait for Fumikage and Dark Shadow to see it.

They’d also dried out and preserved the small bouquet Fumikage had given him on their first date, it was in a small decorative bottle on Izuku’s desk next between his stack of fresh journals and pen holder. Izuku brought Reaper over while he worked to get everything in order, letting her explore everything while he didn’t have to worry about her getting pulled into any of the pranks his class was sure to be pulling once they were all settled in (maybe even before they got settled in).

Shoto was having a lot of fun playing with colors- the wilder and more they clashed, the better. He had always insisted on everything looking classy or intimidating so Shoto was swinging as far in the opposite direction from that as he could. His dorm was a riot of colors, neon lights, and tie-dye, but Hizashi and Shouta didn’t mind. If he ever got tired of it and wanted to change it, Hizashi could just take him shopping again.

Hitoshi just redid what he had in the cottage- bedding in shades of grey and cat posters on the wall (and stuffed animals on the bed), but he did add in a mini fridge and small coffee station because he’d probably murder their classmates if they fucked with his coffee. Even Mina. Shouta approved of the sentiment, so it was fine.

Tuesday with the dad’s blessings, they brought Neito, Mina, Fumikage, and Dark Shadow over to the cottage first to introduce them all to Reaper (they all loved her, of course, but that went without saying). Then the whole troop went over to the apartment building to harass Keigo, Touya, and Bastard. The bird and oldest Himura kept them all entertained well into the evening (they both also loved Reaper).

Wednesday, Eri was rescued from the Shie Hassaikai facility she was being kept in.

Chapter Text

Shouta was a hero, he really did truly believe in the heart and soul of what the career was supposed to be. He did his best to teach his students how to be true heroes, and his best to live up to what he taught in his own career. There was a reason he had such a good reputation (to those who actually knew of Eraserhead, at least)- he legitimately cared about helping people. Half the reason he went into the category of heroics he did was because Limelight heroes had to worry too much about popularity, even the ones who wanted to focus on helping civilians still had to worry about popularity charts at the end of the day.

Underground heroes would never grace the popularity charts, that’s just not how the underground worked. They also saw a darker side of society and hero work, each and every one of them worked in shades of grey to make sure people stayed safe and got the safety and help they needed from the heroes who worked to protect them.

Shouta was the best underground hero.

But tonight, he wasn’t a hero at all.

No badge, no costume, not even his capture scarf. Sure, the cargo pants, shirt, and boots he wore were armored and the mask (it almost looked like a cheaply made costume piece in the design of those theater symbol masks, but it was made of far better materials than cheap plastic) he pulled on over his hair- pulled up into a half bun instead of being worn loose- also protected his face and head to an extent, but he wouldn’t be on duty that night.

The outfit was very high quality didn’t see the light of day very often, buried deep in the back of a closet behind dusty boxes filled with holiday decorations and the all the miscellaneous bullshit one acquired throughout life like supplies from the one and only time Hizashi thought camping would be a good idea. (The outside had bugs, Shouta still wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, and that weekend had been a disaster.)

Until now, he, Hizashi, and Nedzu had been the only ones to know about it. Nedzu acquired it somewhere, potentially from the same places Izuku had gotten some of his gear over the past few years, but now Keigo (dressed in similar, acquired on short notice but just as high quality) and everyone else involved in tonight’s highly illegal activities knew about it too.

Shouta was the best underground hero in every sense of the word underground specifically, and Izuku wasn’t the only one in the family to ever dip his toes into vigilantism when necessary.

Hizashi had their own outfit just in case, but it’d never been worn until tonight. There’d never been a reason for Present Mic to enter this kind of murky water before, they’d only ever kissed Shouta good luck as he left their home, dusty duffle in hand to change into later so he could get what he needed to get done done, but tonight was all hands on deck.

(Their masks were similar, only covered their face instead of their whole head, but still closed around their faces so they could utilize voice modifiers. Shouta’s voice wasn’t as recognizable as Hizashi’s, but it was still recognizable, and Hizashi had worked to make Present Mic’s voice different from their own so he wouldn’t be as immediately recognizable, but it also wasn’t worth the risk. Shouta’s had a little sun emblem on his left temple and Hizashi had a little crescent moon on their right temple to match.)

So for the first time, they braided their long hair instead of gelling it up into the iconic cockatoo updo, coiling it up to shove it under a close-fitting hat with their own matching mask layered on top of everything.

Nedzu and Izuku had continued their research into Eri, and Hizashi knew enough that his blood was positively thrumming with the need to hit something, he was almost jittery with it as they waited on a roof a few buildings away for everyone to arrive.

Mirai still wasn’t happy about the ultimate game plan for tonight- a collection of “vigilantes” entering a turf war with the Yakuza and whoops, wouldn’t you know it, we found a child and have no idea what to do with her, let’s just leave her on the hero’s doorstep, shall we? But it really was the best option overall.

It kept the hands of said heroes clean, kept the Yamazawas and Nedzu from moving even further into HPSC spotlights (until the were ready to do so on purpose), kept the HPSC from also having a scapegoat to blame their own corrupt, under the table dealings with Overhaul on, and got Eri rescued and safe, along with halting the production of even more quirk erasing bullets.

It was a small group that had been gathered, only four total. Shouta (who’s code name had always been Sun for ironic purposes to make it harder to connect to him, especially since thus far Sun had acted alone, when he’d rarely acted), Hizashi (code name Moon, Sun’s elusive partner finally making an official appearance).

The two that made up the rest of their party were legitimate vigilantes, or at least one for sure was because Eraserhead had arrested him before. Lunar had a quirk that let him shroud up to a hundred feet from his person in utter darkness only he could see through. He was on the shorter side, with a stocky sort of dense, well-muscled build and nondescript features, brown eyes, and dark hair that he hid under neon yellow contacts and the kind of full face mask a skier or stereotypical bank robber might use.

The last was Enigma (literally their code name). Shouta didn’t know much about them beyond that they were here because they owed Nedzu a favor. They refused to offer up anything else about themselves and were dressed in a grey jumpsuit with a sort of Daft Punk style helmet with it’s own voice modulator (minus the graphics on the face, so far at least.)

Shouta pulled out a little holographic device carefully crafted by Nedzu personally (no fingerprints, one use only, would self destruct after tonight- they couldn’t afford to take chances), pressing a button on the side so a little map of the compound could fill the space in the circle the five made. Colored markers denoted entrances, their objective (where they believed Eri’s room to be), and the path between them.

“Alright,” Shouta started, voice modifier pitching his voice down and adding some gravel to it, your typical ‘demonic’ voice effect, “this is a simple smash and grab. Get in, get the target, get out. Enigma, you’re the distraction. You sure sure you can keep them off our backs?”

“It wont be a problem.” Enigma’s modifier was flat and robotic, betraying no emotion or anything else. Give me ten to fifteen minutes, then go in.”

“Wait.” Lunar interrupted sharply, eyes narrowed. “That’s not very specific. How the fuck are we supposed to know when you’re ready?”

“You’ll know.” Was the only answer Enigma seemed willing to give. “Other than that, just stay out of my way once you’re inside and you’ll be fine.” With that, they darted off in the direction of the compound, leaving the others to make their own way across the rooftops to the building on their own time.

“Well that was cryptic.” Hizashi noted, modifier pitching their voice up into a higher, slightly feminine range.

“You’re tellin’ me.” Lunar huffed, before the three of them moved toward the compound themselves.

There was a distinct lack of the fanfare official hero raids, even underground ones, had, but it was Go Time.

Chapter Text

“‘You’ll know,’ they said.” Lunar complained under his breath as the trio made their way into the facility barely ten minutes later. “‘Stay out of my way,’ they said. They’re a fucking lunatic!” Shouta and Hizashi didn’t pay him any mind, focusing instead on the mission with a tenacity that spoke of something personal.

(It’d been said before and it’ll be said again- never leave an unattended kid or a hurt one in front of any of the Yamazawas. They didn’t play around, and now the Shie Hassaikai would be learning that lesson in real time, even if they didn’t have a name to connect it to.)

The night had been quiet for most of the ten minute period after Enigma disappeared, almost peaceful if it weren’t for the anticipation that filled the small group. Then flames and a massive boom had filled the air, lighting everything in shades of yellow and orange as what looked like a solid third of the street facing side of the otherwise unassuming office building that this particular Yakuza group had made a home in caved disappeared in an explosion.

It was definitely a distraction that would draw the gang’s attention, but there was no way Enigma had gotten something like that set up in under ten minutes- the building was massive and took up almost the entire block. It was also going to draw the attention of the local authorities and fire department.

Shouta cussed as he and Hizashi launched into action- the clock they were on just shring even more. The trio entered on the side of the building, just breaking down the door instead of bothering with the lock- it took them long enough to get from the roof to the door to be reasonably confident that anyone who could have been behind it would have rushed to the sound of the explosion to see what was happening. Plus, they no longer had time to worry about something as finicky as locks.

Once inside they headed in and to the left, then up. Nedzu and Izuku believed Eri was being kept in a room on the third floor in the middle back of the building. Not on an outside wall, but closer to the back than the front.

‘Never go up’ was an old adage in the underground community if you were being chased. It limited your options, got you trapped more often than not. Once you were headed up, usually your only choice was to keep going up and most humans could only survive so far of a drop (depending on their quirk). That, combined with the idea (regardless of whether it was accurate or not) that prevailed that villains held what they wanted to keep safe deeper underground, like in a bunker situation, made keeping Eri higher make a little more sense.

If you expected your enemy to go down, keep what you wanted hidden up high.

Shouta had knives (so many knives) scattered across his person in various holsters and pockets, and he kept one in each hand as they moved, ready to throw or throw down at a moment’s notice. He lost the first one between the eyes of the first Shie Hassaikai member unlucky enough to stumble across them when they aimed a gun at Hizashi. Not tonight, bitch.

He used the second to knock a second member unconscious in the stairwell between the second and third floor (they weren’t making half bad time so far as they crossed the building). Lunar nailed a third in the crotch with a well aimed punch, then slammed his head into his knee when the goon doubled over, effectively knocking him as unconscious as his friend.

A second explosion rattled the building as they entered the third floor and the unlikely trio slowed down slightly, more careful now as they expected Eri to be better guarded despite the chaos.

They weren’t wrong, and luckily the next gang member they came across was facing away from them. The thing about any hero or vigilante worth their salt? They know how to move silently when necessary, this one never had a clue anyone was sneaking up on him.

Hizashi handled this one, noiselessly pulling an extendable bo staff out and knocking the armed goon out with a crack to the head. They did want some of the organization to be able to share what had happened later, their particular cover story would be useless if it couldn’t be shared. The calling card they’d leave would help with that too, though.

They stopped just this side of the hall they believed the Eri’s room was on, Shouta carefully peaking around the corner. Sure enough, about twenty feet away two men stood guard- one giant and hulking and one thin with fingers that extended into long, painfully sharp looking points. He noted the dimensions of the hallway and their positions, then crept back so Hizashi could do the same.

When he was ready, Hizashi pulled back long enough to nod at Lunar, who extended his hands in front of him. An inky pitch black darkness flowed from them, slowly at first before suddenly expanding to drown out all the light around them in less than a second. The married duo moved without hesitation, the way they knew each other’s movements was especially useful in a situation like this.

“Hey, what the hell?!” A deep voice yelled.

“Who’s here?” A raspier one, quicker on the uptake, followed. Both were unaccustomed to fighting in sudden darkness though, and absolutely unprepared for the terrifying professionals who stalked them through it.

“Competition.” Shouta growled using his more intimidating voice modulator to it’s full extent. He sent a knife through the air when the raspier voice sounded, he was further away and those fingers of his were a bigger risk in the dark, so the underground pro wanted to make sure he was dealt with first. Sure enough, he heard the faint thunk of the hilt connecting solid and true with someone’s temple, and the louder thunk of a body falling to the floor.

The bigger one was easier to track, his thumping steps marking his progress a few feet towards them in the hallway before Hizashi got to him. There was the sound of a quick hand to hand fight then a grunt, followed by a second loud thump.

“Lunar, let up.” Hizashi called softly. The darkness was pulled back into the vigilante’s hands as quickly as he’d sent it out, and he made his way over to the pair with a low whistle as Shouta retrieved his knife, shoving it deep into the wall across from Eri’s room.

He wasn’t concerned about leaving his knives here- they were all part of the calling card. He’d carved a symbol they’d contrived for their fake rival gang into the wall. Nedzu would be doing more with the symbol elsewhere in the city, making sure it looked like their fake gang was active elsewhere as well. The rat had a whole one act play planned out for their quick rise and just as fast fall.

(Any knives that made it home with Shouta after tonight would be donated to that cause as well.)

“Remind me to never piss you two off.” Lunar said, staring down at the unconscious goons.

“Good plan.” Shouta noted as the heroes focused their attention on the door instead of the fallen gangsters. “Moon?”

“On it.” Hizashi moved to the door knob, pulling a small scanner out of a pocket. They gave the door a couple quick scans to see what was going on with and behind it. Sure enough, for the heat signature scan, it picked up a small figure curled on what was probably a bed in the back corner.

This was it, what they were here for. It was time to get Eri and get the fuck out of dodge.

Chapter Text

Hizashi didn’t waste any time, not that there was any to waste. A third explosion racked the building (kami, what the fuck was Enigma doing?) and the sounds of distant fighting were starting to be heard. All of this commotion was going to draw the attention of the authorities sooner rather than later.

To their luck, the door wasn’t that high tech, just a big ass lock and deadbolt system, also shown by the scans. They didn’t have time to try to pick it, but they also didn’t have to because Nedzu had a big brain and liked to make contingency plans for his contingency plans. Both Hizashi and Shouta had small bottles of a highly corrosive acid for just this reason.

Hizashi got the hinges while Shouta liberally sprayed the entire lock structure, they were just going to pull the door away entirely. Lunar acted as lookout in the meantime.

Once they were ready, they quickly got the door out of the way and Hizashi stepped lightly into the room, trying to put out as many calming and comforting vibes as they could in their vigilante get-up. With the smiling theater face mask to match Shouta’s frowning one and the softer voice modulator, they were the more comforting presence of the two, and they didn’t want to traumatize Eri much more than she already was.

Also, Shouta firmly believed Hizashi was better with smaller kids and could not be swayed otherwise no matter how many times it was insisted his Dadzawa vibes were off the charts no matter the kids age, or the fact that he’d basically single handedly earned Ghost’s trust starting at age eleven. Eleven wasn’t five.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Hizashi called softly as he slowly approached the girl, curled up on the bed and staring at him with wide coral colored eyes. She didn’t look particularly scared, and neither pro liked what that probably meant.

Most likely, she either assumed that they were new members of the Shie Hassaikai she hadn’t met yet, didn’t have enough life experience to realize how abnormal this was out of the ordinary for how gangs worked, or didn’t think there was anything they could do to her than was worse than what they did. Shouta hoped it was one of the first two.

“Who are you?” She asked in a soft, little voice, clutching at a threadbare blanket with bandaged fingers.

“My name’s Moon.” Hizashi explained, crouching down to be on her level in an attempt to be less scary. “We’re here to rescue you.”

“Rescue?” She asked, head tilted to the side at the unfamiliar word. The heroes hoped it was just her age and likely lack of exposure to a wide vocabulary that caused the confusion, but their hearts broke just a little more either way.

“We know the people here hurt you.” Hizashi elaborated calmly, not letting that heartbreak seep into their voice, modulator or otherwise. “We’re going to get you away from them, to the heroes, to people who can help.”

“Why?” Eri didn’t so much as blink, just kept gazing at the masked figure before her.

“Because it’s not right, and we can do something about it. You don’t deserve to be treated like this.”

“But I’m cursed.” She said it like it was the simplest thing, an undeniable fact of life. “So I have to be punished.”

Shouta really, really hoped they ran into overhaul. Fuck staying undercover, Shouta’s quirk would stop his, and then the mafia leader would meet the end of one of Shouta’s very sharp knives.

“No, sweetheart, your not. You have a power, yes, but most of us do. It doesn’t make you cursed, or bad. And you certainly don’t deserve to be punished.”

“Are you… are you sure?” The tiny child asked, tone finally starting to waver.

“One hundred percent.” Hizashi assured, tone chock full of conviction even through the voice modulator.

“And the heroes wont hurt me?”

“I promise. I’ll even pinky promise.” They held out a gloved hand toward Eri, smallest finger extended. Eri stared at it for a second, confused, before grasping it with her entire small fist, shaking it like one would a handshake. It was equal parts charmingly adorable and sad. But it was fine, they were getting her out, she’d be able to learn about things like pinky promises soon enough.

She let Hizashi pick her up and they were once again on their way, but not before Shouta slid past them, waiting until the ‘vigilante’ and child were safely out of the room before tacking a typed note proclaiming ‘time’s up’ above her bed with yet another knife. He also scanned the room quickly, but there weren’t any personal effects a child might like to keep with them, like a stuffed animal or other comfort items. Just the low bed, more of a cot than anything else, and a toilet and sink in the corner.

Shouta let out a small breath to calm himself, he could deal with emotions later, when their time wasn’t running out.

Their way out mostly went well. There hadn’t been any other explosions, and the sounds of fighting were getting louder, but also acting as a distracting drawing people away from them. Shouta had the chance to get his wish though, because at some point, somehow, Overhaul himself had figured out Eri was missing and gone after them.

Their first sign he was there happened when they were on the first floor, nearing the door out. The hall around them started shifting and warping ominously. The trio picked up speed.

“Keep going!” Shouta roared as Overhaul dropped through a widening hole in the ceiling, landing surprisingly softly on the floor. This wasn’t good, while they were still inside they were far more vulnerable to the villain’s quirk. They were so close to the door though, all they really needed was a few more moments of distraction.

Shouta quickly threw half a dozen knives in Overhaul’s general direction- he couldn’t alter them with his quirk until he was touching them, so while Shouta wasn’t expecting them to land (or do any damage if they did) they’d give the time they needed.

The Hail Mary of a plan worked, Shouta darting out the open door seconds behind Moth and just before the walls on either side of the opening slammed shut. The now quartet didn’t stop, continuing to run to the other side of the alley from where the explosions were happening earlier.

This was now the most dangerous part of their mission- they had Eri, but they had to get out without getting caught by the authorities or Overhaul, who was now entering the alley behind them at a steady clip with an unconcerned gait, faith in his overpowered quirk granting him confidence.

It was just a second, just a short, terrifying second as the asphault under their feet began to warp and change under their feet- becoming tacky and threatening to trap them- that Shouta legitimately considered his earlier desire to use his quirk and one of the quickly depleting knives still on him to end the villain’s life.

Yeah, there were camera’s out here that would catch the quirk use- and Shouta’s identity- but that was Nedzu’s lifeblood. If the rat didn’t want a recording to exist, it didn’t exist, full stop. It would further traumatize Eri though, and while she’d already be in therapy for the foreseeable future, would a little bit more really hurt that much in the long run if it kept her alive to work through it?

Still though, Shouta hesitated. Not long enough to give Overhaul any more of an advantage than he already had, but long enough for shots to ring out.

Too many shots in too short a time, too high up, there was a sniper somewhere on one of the rooftops with an automatic of some sort. They weren’t aiming at them though, no, every single bullet found it’s home in Overhaul’s body, quickly riddling him through with holes.

Hizashi tucked Eri’s face against his shoulder so she wouldn’t see, but they didn’t wait around to catch what happened next. They weren’t idiots, while no bullets coming for them seemed to indicate that Nedzu had found a fifth member of the group, they didn’t know that for sure and even if it was a friendly, it was too dangerous to stick around.

Especially if Overhaul was able to over-ride the bullets with his quirk, which they couldn’t discount offhand.

A few blocks away Lunar veered off and headed in his own direction as the plan had always been, leaving Shouta and Hizashi to keep running into the night with their precious cargo toward the designated meet-up spot with Mirai and Keigo, who would hopefully provide a familiar face that would help make Eri feel more at ease.

No one followed them.

Chapter Text

Tsutsumi Kaina, once known as Lady Nagant, sent just enough bullets into Overhaul to put him down long enough to let the heroes, child, and vigilante below escape. She knew the villain’s quirk would let him survive the first volley, but she didn’t want to kill him yet.

Not while it could still traumatize the child. There had been children before, back when she was still under the commission’s control, who’d witnessed her assassinations, and she wouldn’t put another through that if she could help it. That, and her rescue was the entire point that night and Nedzu hoped to keep the rescue as un-traumatizing as possible. Any decent person would.

She’d… forgotten, for a while, what a decent person would hope for. She’d gone off the deep end a little bit, crushed under the weight of the HPSC’s desire for ill-gotten control won through her bullets. She didn’t know how (though she could guess to why), but Nedzu had somehow seen what was happening to her and removed her from the situation.

He’d faked her death, rather convincingly, then successfully snuck her out of Japan. She still didn’t know how he’d arranged it, but he’d gotten her to a safe house in America where she could breathe more easily without feeling like she’d be hunted down for defecting with national secrets as she lived in hiding, into therapy even.

It’d taken her a long time, but eventually she’d recovered as much as one could from what they’d done to her. She’d been able to forge her own life, what she wanted it to be (as far from hero work as she could get, but who could blame her). She even had a girlfriend now (fiancé, soon, she hoped) who knew her past and didn’t judge her for it, and two wonderful dogs.

The hatred she held for the HPSC hadn’t faded much, Kaina didn’t think it ever would, but she was content to let it sit ignored deep inside. She was happy now, far away from them, and it wasn’t worth stirring all that up again for some personal revenge.

Then Nedzu, to whom she owed everything, knocked on their door one evening. She hadn’t even known he was in the country, with new information and a request. The commission hadn’t stopped with just her (why would they), and he was doing his best for them just like he’d done for her, but now there was another little girl with a powerful quirk in grave danger.

She wasn’t directly connected to the commission, but they were part of the reason she was suffering and she was very much at risk of moving directly under their not so tender care if the Commission managed to get to the villain holding her first.

Nedzu was going to rescue her before pushing further in the chess game he’d been setting up for decades, and he’d offered Kaina the chance to help and take her own personal revenge. First protecting a girl who’s quirk, if she learned to control it without someone to protect her could make her the commissions next pawn, and later with testimony, if needed and she was willing.

Kaina was willing.  Now that that was a feasible option, she was more than willing.  

Anna, the love of her life, was nervous about it. She knew how dangerous it would be for Kaina to re-enter Japan, no matter how temporarily. But she’d also comforted Kaina after too many nightmares and knew Nedzu’s reputation. If this is what Kaina needed, then Anna just wanted her to come back in one piece.

Kaina got to watch her tiny five foot even, librarian, couldn’t even kill the spiders in the bathroom girlfriend quietly threaten the smartest creature on the planet, arguably the most dangerous too, for her safety. God, Kaina loved that woman.

That’s how she found herself on a rooftop once again staring down the sights of her quirk, putting Overhaul on the asphalt. She waited until the small quartet were far enough away, only popping off what was necessary to keep the villain down in the meantime, then let loose.

She sent bullet after bullet into him, basically entering a race to see which of thier quirks would give out first. How long could Overhaul’s quirk basically heal his body from the bullets via reconstruction vs how many bullets could Kaina make. It had been years, but the HPSC had trained her stamina extensively, and kill shots were a bitch to reconstruct fast enough to keep from actually dying.

Overhaul lost, and Kaina got the fuck out of there back to a safe house Nedzu had set up long before the authorities made it to the back side of his building to find his body, left lying in the street.  By dawn, Nedzu would have her out of the country on a plane back to America.  It was too dangerous to keep her in the country any longer, especially when Overhaul was finally autopsied 

Less than half an hour of bullets for a chance to help with the falling dominoes that would finally put her past to rest, it was as fair as trade as Kaina could ever hope for. Hopefully one day she could get a chance to apologize to Hawks too, the one forced to follow in her wake.

…

Hizashi and Shouta slowed as they finally approached the designated meeting place where Mirai and Keigo were waiting, familiar red feathers starting to trail them a couple blocks away. Keigo’s presence might provide a familiar face and help keep her calm, but with the ‘cursed’ comments she kept making, maybe seeing him in his adult form safe and sound would do even more good.

“Okay, sweetheart.” They stopped at a bench on the edge of a park, Hizashi gently setting Eri down on it and kneeling down in front of her again. Hizashi chose his words carefully and making sure to keep his town light and bright. “The heroes who are gonna help you are gonna me us here soon, but you’ve already met one of them! Do you remember a man with curly blonde hair who found you a few weeks ago?” Eri seemed to shrink into herself at the mention of Keigo.

“My curse made him disappear.” She said, so softly Hizashi would never have been able to hear it if their hearing aides weren’t built to automatically boost words spoken under a certain decibel.

“No, honey, it didn’t.” Hizashi took and lightly squeezed her hand comfortingly. “His name is Hawks, and he’s just fine. He’s how we know about you, so we could get you safe! He’s one of the one’s who’s gonna help you now.” Hizashi glanced at something over Eri’s shoulder, then nodded in that direction. “See look, there he is!”

Eri whipped around to see where they were gesturing, and sure enough Keigo, side by side with Sasaki, were heading down the street in their direction. Keigo gave the wide eyed girl a bright smile and cheery wave.

“He’s okay?” She whispered, voice awed.

“He’s just fine.” Hizashi assured her, modulated voice laden with comfort as Eri turned to face him again.

“What if he hates me? What if I hurt someone else?” Tears started to fill her eyes as her voice quivered and she started to shake. Hizashi rubbed his thumb across her little hand comfortingly.

“I promise he doesn’t hate you, and he can tell you that himself here in a minute if you don’t believe me.” The hero explained. “And what you have isn’t a curse. It’s called a quirk, and most people have them. I have a quirk, Sun behind me has a quirk, Hawks does too. A lot of people have them, and a lot of people struggle with them at first.

“That doesn’t make anyone bad, and we’ve made a lot of ways to help with them. Do you know what a bracelet is?” Hizashi asked gently. Eri nodded. “Well, we have these special ones that keep quirks from activating. You won’t hurt anyone if you don’t want to.” The bracelets worked similarly to the handcuffs, except they were smaller, came in a variety of styles, colors, and sizes, and of course didn’t have chains on them.

“Hawks has one with him, but I want to make sure you know no one’s going to make you wear it. This is only to make you feel more comfortable, if you want one.”

“Yes!” Eri cried, tears starting to fall from the sheer relief rushing through her. “Please!”

“Shh, it’s okay.” Hizashi soothed while Shouta gestured for Keigo and Mirai to continue forward when they hesitated, unsure if approaching further would upset her more.

It didn’t take long to get them reacquainted and Mirai introduced, and Keigo slid a small pin bracelet onto Eri’s wrist when she asked. She didn’t smile, Hizashi wasn’t sure she knew how, but she appeared lighter for it all the same. It broke their heart to walk away, even knowing she was safe in the hands if their friends.

“It’s going to be okay.” Shouta soothed as they dissappeared into a nearby building to change out of their vigilante get-ups to head back to their apartment (exiting through the parking garage in a car already waiting for them). “They’re going to get her to the hospital and checked out, then give us the official call requesting help tomorrow. Friday at the latest.”

“I have no idea how you were able to let him walk away back then.” Hizashi whispered, referring to an eleven year old Ghost. “I don’t think I could have done it.”

“We didn’t have a choice, he didn’t trust us like she seems to, he would have run and we never would have seen him again. It still killed me inside.” Shouta admitted, letting the two of them into a private room with a key Nedzu had given him. They pulled off their masks, and Hizashi took his face into their hands.

“Shouta, you are the strongest person I know, and I love you so much.” Hizashi pulled his husband into a hug, needing to feel the other’s arms around him. Shouta easily complied, holding the radio host tight and not letting go for a while.

Eri was safe, they were safe, and everything was going to be okay. Now they just needed to get home and get some rest so they were ready when the call finally came in.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a surprise that Izuku was still up waiting for them when they returned home in the very early hours Thursday morning (there was something to be said for not having to do debriefs or paperwork immediately post mission, Keigo would have told Nedzu it went well and they’d be connecting with him later). It wasn’t even a surprise that Shoto was waiting up with him, though he usually stuck to a decently strict sleep schedule.

It was a surprise that Hitoshi was there.

“You were not here when we left.” Shouta pointed at his nephew.

“Mom dropped me off.” Hitoshi explained impatiently. “Now how’d it go?”

“She’s fine.” Hizashi informed the boys. “It went fine, Eri’s fine, she’s with Keigo and Mirai as we speak.

“And… him?” Izuku asked softly, referring to Overhaul but not wanting to say his name since the other two didn’t know who had her. He was also hugging Reaper, who was in full size mode nearly squishing him to the couch as she purred into his chest.

“Not our problem currently.” Shouta shrugged. They’d find out what happened later, it hadn’t come back to haunt them yet so they were probably good for the night. Nedzu was taking care of his end of things now, he’d catch the loose ends like that.

“Good.” Izuku nodded.

“We understand that you’re all concerned, but it’s currently,” Hizashi craned their neck to check the clock, “kami, nearly “two thirty in the morning. Go to sleep, shoo.” They waved a hand at the teens, gesturing for them to scamper off upstairs. “Toshi, you’ve got your choice of couches or armchairs.”

The teens didn’t immediately move (though in Izuku’s defense he was buried under roughly forty to fifty pounds of quirked cat), but they were old enough to make their own decisions. If they wanted to stay up that was their own prerogative, but the heroes were tired and going to sleep.

“How mad would you be if I just dropped into the bed?” Shouta asked as they passed by the couches to their bedroom. The very idea of showering sounded like two much work.

“Luckily, you’re cute enough I’m willing to let you share my shower.” Hizashi answered as he followed, chuckling as the boys yelped and immediately scrambled upstairs to escape the parents.

Just like that, showering became a much less tiring prospect.

…

Hizashi woke up around nine thirty-ish, and smacked blindly at Shouta’s chest and face until Shouta smacked back at the offending arm to show he was awake.

“Are you awake?” Hizashi asked, too tired to open his eyes but knowing it was time to get up. Shouta poked them in the cheek in answer, since they weren’t wearing their hearing aides and couldn’t currently see signs through closed eyelids. “Oh, good. I want coffee.”

“Me too, but you don’t see me whacking you in the nose about it.” Shouta muttered with an eye roll, ignoring Hizashi’s long ‘shoooooooooooooo’ as the underground pro attempted to shuffle his way out of bed. Luckily for both of them, Izuku proved adopting him was one of the best decisions they’d ever made and was absolutely worth all the drama, because he knocked (kicked, tomato/tomahto) on the door.

“I have coffee, but you’re only getting it if you’re wearing clothes!” The teen called through the door.

“You’re safe!” Shouta yelled back, letting himself collapse back against the headboard as Izuku somehow got the door open (Shoto opened it for him because he’s also a good son, and soon to be good older brother). “How come we don’t get coffee service like this after other patrols?”

“Because those are normal patrols that don’t include rescuing Eri.” Izuku informed him.

“Sho?” Hizashi questioned, still not opening his eyes like the drama queen he was. Shouta rolled his eyes at Izuku as he took a mug from the boy. Hizashi’s nose was more than sensitive enough to catch the smell of coffee, they could open their own damn eyes and grab their own cup. Izuku giggled at the blonde’s antics as he finally groaned is way into sitting up and cracked his eyes open to peer at Izuku before holding a hand out for the second mug.

“What are we going to do with you?” Shouta signed at him one handed.

“You love me.” Hizashi muttered absently, focused on the precious, life giving drink before them.

“Prove it.” Shouta signed back. Hizashi wordlessly reached over and tapped at Shouta’s ring finger. His husband was adorable and Shouta loved him very much. Izuku waved to get both of their attention.

“Drink your coffee, I need you awake.” He signed.

“What is it?” Hizashi asked after downing half their mug.

“Overhaul was found shot to death in the street behind his base early this morning.” The former vigilante informed them. “It was on the news.”

Both adults were very awake after that, no coffee necessary.

…

Nedzu was there less than an hour later to do the unofficial debrief for the illegal mission slash rescue, and he confirmed the death. He was very tight lipped about the circumstances of it, but the assurance it wasn’t something they needed to be concerned with at this point all but proved he was somehow behind it so they let it go.

At least the bastard was dead. Shouta thought back to the botched pinky promise, and decided that this might be better than what he’d wanted. For him to reach quirk exhaustion enough to actually succumb to bullets, he would have suffered more this way, and that brought a satisfaction all it’s own.

Shouta’d always known he was a petty bitch like that.

The debrief was quick, it’s unofficial nature had it’s perks. Nedzu left them to it after that, he had work to do in the aftermath making sure all the moving pieces were free and clear, and the pro’s had illegal vigilante costumes to wash and hide away again.

...

Days like this were always weird, where you were waiting for something to happen so you couldn’t really go do anything else and it felt like you were in limbo.

Well, Hizashi had something to do. Since it was still school break, they had more time for the radio station and it’d help to keep up appearances, so Hizashi went in for his usual hours around noon while Shouta took care of all the last minute stuff at the house.

They didn’t get a lot done, too distracted waiting for Shouta to text them saying he’d gotten the call from Mirai or any other news.

They weren’t expecting the call Shouta got first.

Chapter Text

“Touya?” Shouta asked, having checked the ID on his ringing cell phone and found a different name than the one he’d expected. Izuku and Shoto (Hitoshi had been sent home after breakfast) had perked up when the phone started buzzing, expecting it to be time, but still equally curious when it clearly wasn't.

“Hey, are you busy?” The oldest (very soon to be legally) Himura asked, words rushed together in anxiety.

“What happened?” The hero asked, instantly on alert.

“Natsuo’s over, he’s kinda freaking out and I don’t know what to do either.” Touya explained. “He paid him a visit, pissed off to all hell and wanting to know where Shoto is.”

“Is he hurt?” Chiyo should be on campus today last he’d checked (unless they called her in for Eri, which Sasaki had considered if it were necessary), it shouldn’t take long to get Natsuo to her or vice versa if he was, especially if he’d been able to make it to Touya’s. (Shouta squashed down the voice in the back of his head reminding him the college student couldn’t really go to a normal hospital, if it were that dire Touya would have opened with it.)

“Not physically. Natsuo was in public, so he couldn’t really do a lot without drawing too much negative attention.”

“Okay, good. Stay there, we’ll be right over.”

“Okay.” Touya breathed out a relieved sigh, slightly removing the phone from his face to inform Natsuo of the development. “See you soon.”

“What happened?” Shoto asked, glancing between Shouta, shoving his phone back in his pocket (making sure the ringer was on), and Izuku, who’d gone still and was perfectly capable of overhearing both ends of that conversation.

“Endeavor tried to find out where you are from Natsuo.” Izuku answered softly.

“He’s fine.” Shouta assured before the two toned boy could panic too much. “Everyone’s fine, Natsuo’s at Touya’s so we’re all gonna go over.”

“It’s because the court case is going to be set soon, isn’t it?” Shoto asked quietly, pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Probably.” Shouta acklowledged. “It doesn’t matter though.  He can’t get to you here, and if we have anything to do about it he’ll never be able to get to you again.”

“Is everything with Eri going to affect the court case?” The teen asked, eyes filled with anxiety as his hands started to shake slightly. “Or vice-versa?” He couldn’t even begin to process the prospect of having to go back to him, but at the same time this was also going to be the best place for Eri to be. The need to make sure he could stay made Shoto feel selfish, but he couldn’t not.

“No.” Shouta’s answer was firm, decisive as he crossed over to where Shoto still hadn’t moved, pulling him to a tight hug. “It might be brought up in court, but it’s not going to change anything. We have more than enough proof of abuse and neglect from Endeavor and we’ve been providing for you just fine.

“We also have plenty of resources and support to provide for Eri too, and you’ll both be moving into the dorms soon anyhow in case they try to safe having her here makes it unsafe for you. I don’t think it’s likely, but at the absolute worst you just become a ward of the school outright and we adopt you later, when everything’s settled down. As your homeroom teacher, I’m your technical guardian by default, and if not, Nedzu is next on the list. Either way, you’re ours now kiddo. Eri wont change that.”

“Thanks, dad.” Shoto shuddered into Shouta’s chest, arms locked tight around the dad-shaped hero.

“Get that look out of your eyes Izuku, you can't turn the sprinklers on him again.” Shouta snapped over his head where Shoto stayed in the hug because he refused to let go quite yet.

“What if I mail him like five hundred dildos?” Izuku asked, moving to back up options.

“Can you even afford five hundred dildos?” Shoto asked with a little giggle, starting to feel a little better.

“Probably.” Shoto couldn’t see Izuku, but the shrug was somehow audible so it didn’t matter. “Nedzu’s been helping me invest my D’Artagnan money.”

“Neither of you are allowed to mention dildos around Eri.” Shouta groaned, mentally adding ‘sex talk’ to the list of things he absolutely didn’t want to do but needed to. Wait, that was something he could probably pawn off on Nemuri, she had formal training in that sort of thing anyways. Fuck yeah, he’d do that. “Also I hate you both.”

The boys didn't listen to the last statement, the way he was gently rocking Shoto back and forth in a comforting manner proved the opposite.

…

It didn’t take them long to get to the apartment building once Shoto disentangled himself from the hug and everyone got their shoes on. (And after Izuku latched on to his personal first adoptee for his own hug.)

There was promptly another big brothery hug as Shoto all but tackled Natsuo basically immediately, grabbing Touya by the shirt on his way.

“You’re sure I can’t prank Endeavor?” Izuku muttered to everyone’s favorite dad-shaped hero.

“I swear to fuck, Izuku, I will bar your access to every obstacle course on campus.”

“Then you have to deal with my hyperactivity.” Izuku smirked, like that changed anything for the hero.

“Nah, I’ll just pawn you off on Kan and Himiko, you can both be his problem for the day.” It was Shouta’s turn to smirk as Izuku narrowed his eyes on him, because that hypothetical was incredibly tempting and he was trying to figure out if this was another implied permission situation. “You’ll also have to deal with Zashi’s disappointed eyes."

Izuku pouted for a full ten minutes. This was very much not an implied permission situation.

Natsuo was fine, physically at least. He was really shaken though, Endeavor had cornered him outside his apartment building and now he kinda didn’t want to go back now that he knew Endeavor knew where he lived. Touya didn’t hesitate to open his apartment to him, as a two bedroom it was plenty big enough, and they weren’t too much further from Natsuo’s campus than his current apartment was.

Then Touya blushed when he admitted he spent most of his free time at Keigo’s apartment anyways (case in point, he’d gone over to catnap Bastard for emotional support after Natsuo called him saying he was coming over).

(He was currently preparing to work on his GED while Nedzu was having all the ‘legally bringing him back from the dead’ stuff handled, he wasn’t sure what he’d do after that, but that was a problem for future Touya.)

“Does that have anything to do with why Himiko was texting us the other day saying she saw you two holding hands?” Natsuo asked with a smirk.

“No!” Touya protested far too quickly, voice embarrassingly squeaky. He cleared it before trying again, applicable parts of his face suspiciously pink. “No. Wait, Himiko texts you about me?”

“Yeah, dude.” Natsuo snorted his way into a peal of laughter. “We have an entire group chat.”

“I’m in it too.” Shoto nodded, backing his middlest brother up.

“No fair, I wanna join!” Izuku yelled from the kitchen, where he was gathering snacks in the kitchen.

“You’ll have to talk to Fuyumi!” Natsuo yelled back. “She and Himiko are officially in charge.”

“But she’s harder to convince than you are!” Izuku yelled back, tone somehow grumbling despite the volume. Shouta couldn’t help but think about his hacking skills and wonder if they were about to make a reappearance, and if this meant he needed to have a conversation with Izuku about when it’s appropriate to hack your friend’s phones and communications.

Nedzu was currently his biggest role model in how to handle things like that, the Rat God (all hail) had almost no concept of human personal boundaries, and Shouta very much wasn’t enjoying that sudden, terrifying realization.

The underground pro pulled his phone out just to double check he hadn’t missed Sasaki’s call despite knowing his volume was all the way up. He loved his kids, including the unofficial ones, but sometimes their chaos was just a little too much for him on how little sleep he got.

Chapter Text

Sasaki made the official call to Eraserhead just after four on Thursday, after they’d gotten Eri to the hospital and could get the rest of the Official Ducks in a row on paper. Shouta’s quirk could stop Eri’s, they lived on campus where a new staff member in the nurse’s office could (and already had) reversed Eri’s quirk, and they had all the resources and support they needed to be able to take care of her/help figure out where she was and would need to go when it came time to work on her education.

Honestly, it was a perfect storm. It’d be absurd not to call Shouta in at this point.

Of course, that had all been highly anticipated by the Yamazawa family, but things still moved slowly. Keigo and Sasaki had gotten Eri to the hospital to be looked at, and she’d be staying there for at least a week, maybe two for monitoring as they tried to figure out where she was now physically, what exactly it was Overhaul had been doing to her, and gave her a bit of time to adjust.

She wasn’t in as bad a shape as they’d feared, it seemed Overhaul had wanted her fairly healthy for his plans. She was slightly malnourished and lacking in general vitamins/minerals/etc, but the biggest concerns were what lay under the bandages that covered her arms and legs, and her obvious lack of life experience/general knowledge.

The latter could be easily rectified, she had plenty of time to play catch up ahead of her and would be living with teachers at one of the best schools in the nation, if anyone could provide that kind of support, it was them.

The former… well. Eri didn’t fully have the language to explain what Overhaul had done to her, but they knew what his quirk was and had access to his actual research now (or at least some of it). The abuse made everyone sick to their stomachs, but Recovery Girl was a god given gift to humanity and wouldn’t hear of not using her quirk to help that poor child.

But first, back to having Overhaul’s research now, because that had been legitimate news to Shouta and Hizashi once they’d arrived at the hospital to ‘meet’ Eri as soon as they’d been allowed by hospital staff early Friday morning. (Chiyo had gone for the first round of healing late Thursday afternoon, after the doctors had run all the initial tests they needed to do.)

Enigma’s idea of a ‘distraction’ had been a lot, and it had obviously drawn the attention of the local authorities. Sasaki had his finger on the pulse of the entire area, he’d be mad not to quickly mobilize a team to go in once something was clearly going down, not to mention it would be a red flag he wasn’t going by the normal playbook. With the Commission’s eyes on them because of the chance they’d uncover HPSC corruption, they were trying to play that side of things as straight as possible.

(As far as the HPSC was concerned, the official story was still that he hadn’t been part of that team himself because the ‘rival gang slash vigilantes’ had messaged him about Eri once they realized shit was going down. There were some holes in the story, but that was the nature of life.)

Still, the rescuers had already hit the streets before other heroes arrived on site, and Overhaul was already down. With him not there to join the fight, it had been far easier to take down the assorted mafia members. Most of them were fairly small fry, but there were a couple big fish on site. Enough for Mirai to be able to make some real headway in taking the Shie Hassaikai down.

That had, of course, given them the ability to find any research on site about Eri, the bullets, their plans, any and everything the mafia hadn't had the chance to destroy. Most of that was Sasaki’s problem now, and there was still plenty to find and go through, but they had enough to work with when it came to the five year old.

All in all, an unintended, but mostly good development.

Shouta and Hizashi met Sasaki at the hospital around nine am Friday morning. The other hero met them at the door, then pulled them to a smaller room for more privacy to catch them up on what the needed to know on the Hero side of things before inviting Eri’s doctor (a nice enough guy, Shouta guessed) and Chiyo in to introduce Eri’s soon-to-be new guardians (to the new guy, at least) and let them catch the pro’s up on her status.

“She should be waking up soon.” Mirai said at length. “She’s not as distrustful as I’d expected, but she’s still a bit nervous about meeting you. She’s pretty attached to Hawks though, and seems a lot more relaxed around anyone he gives the okay to. Are you ready for this?” He asked.

“As we’ll ever be.” Hizashi said, reaching out to squeeze Shouta’s free hand while they still had the privacy to do so. The underground pro nodded in agreement, squeezing Hizashi’s hand back, his other arm holding a bag with some gifts they’d brought for the girl (actual clothes to replace the hospital gown when it came time, a blanket, coloring books, and a teddy bear).

Sasaki led them a short distance down the hall to her hospital room, where she was curled up on the bed, one of Keigo’s hands clutched in both her tiny ones, snoring softly. Poor thing was hit pretty hard by Chiyo’s quirk, though all the extra rest would be good for her in the long run.

Keigo glanced up when they entered, relaxing when he saw it was just the heroes and giving the trio a small wave of his own. Sasaki had to make his exit, he had a lot of work he needed to do on the Shie Hassaikai case and he’d spent most of the day before at the hospital, but that just gave the Yamazawas and their newest brother time to chat until Eri woke up.

(Mostly they showed Keigo the ropes of signing with one hand, none of them wanted to wake the kid and Keigo still learning the finer points of JSL. The HPSC had taught him the basics, most heroes learned that in their later years of school, but he was admittedly rusty.)

After roughly half an hour Eri’s breathing changed, she squeezed Keigo’s hand slightly, and opened her eyes.

Chapter Text

“Good morning, baby bird.” Keigo greeted softly, lightly squeezing Eri’s hands with the one she was clutching as she blinked herself awake.

“Good morning, Keigo.” She whispered (he’d panicked and told her she could just call him that, this was uncharted territory for him), voice slightly hoarse because her throat was dry.

“Do you want some water?” Keigo asked. “Also, I’ve got some new friends here who want to meet you.” Eri’s eyes widened and she quickly sat up to take in the full room, finding Shouta and Hizashi seated in chairs against the wall opposite her bed. Hizashi gave a bright smile and their own little wave, but both adults let Keigo take the lead on this since he’d more or less been by her side since they’d left her with him.

“Let’s start with the water, okay?” He handed her the glass so she could drink, clearly still in the process of waking up. Keigo didn’t really know what he was doing, but she seemed to like (trust?) him the most, so he’d stayed and was mostly just going off what he’d wished someone would have done for him when he wasn’t much older than her. Honestly, he’d thought she wouldn’t want to see him at all after accidentally using her quirk on, or ‘cursing’ to use her words, him, but their working theory for now was that him being in adult form again was a comfort to her.

“Are these your brothers?” Eri asked when she was done with the water. “The ones you were talking about yesterday?”

“Yeah.” Keigo nodded. It was as good an explanation as any, the family tree was complicated and going in depth on it right now wasn’t going to help anything. “The smiling one is Yamada Hizashi, and the scary looking one is Aizawa Shouta. We all call them Zashi and Shouta, though.”

“I’m not scary.” Shouta faux pouted in the hope it would help show how ‘not scary’ he was, for her at least. He was fully aware of how most saw him, but he didn’t want that to be what she associated him with. “I even brought you a gift, Eri.” He leaned forward to set the gift bag with everything on the foot of the bed for Keigo to snag and hand to the girl.

“I disagree.” Hizashi hummed, causing Shouta to send him a betrayed look. “You’re not scary for us, but you’re plenty scary to any bogeymen and keep them away from us.”

“What’s a ‘bogeymen’?” Eri asked, unfamiliar with the word.

“It’s a made up monster that goes bump in the night.” Hizashi explained. “They’re not real, but if they were Shouta would keep us safe from them.”

“Okay.” Eri accepted the answer, but she didn’t say anything else, nor did she move for the bag that Keigo had set next to her.

“What’s in the bag is for you Eri.” The underground pro took charge of the conversation again before the silence could lapse too long and things could get more awkward than they already were. “Can I come show you?”

Eri nodded shyly, so Shouta got up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed on Keigo’s side, keeping the bird closer to her than he was and the other side free so it was less likely she’d feel trapped. He pulled the bear out first, looking at the little brown tag attached to his blue collar.

“This is Mr. Fluffles.” He read out before passing the medium sized fluffy brown bear to the girl, who’s coral eyes widened in awe over how soft it was, petting it over and over again. “But I like to think I know a thing or two about teddy bear culture,” Shouta continued, “all bears have a last name, for him it’s Fluffles, but its up to their kid to choose their first name. Think you’re up to naming him? It can be any name you want.”

“What if I name him the wrong thing?” She glanced between the toy and the man who’d given it to her.

“It’s a little known part of teddy bear culture, but you do have the ability to change his name.” Shouta assured her. “You also don’t have to name him right away, you can wait until you find the perfect name for him.”

“Really?” She gazed up at him, clutching Mr. Fluffles to her chest.

“Really.” Shout nodded, pulling out the next thing in the bag, the blanket, to show her next.

Hizashi snapped a quick photo of the two. Most would never imagine the bad ass nightmare of the underground hero circuit Pro Hero Eraserhead teaching a five year old girl all about teddy bear culture (that he was making up off the top of his head, no less), but it was times like this that Hizashi loved their husband more than ever. Hizashi also made sure to get a picture of the absolute bafflement on Keigo’s face as the young man watched the scene unfolding mere feet in front of him, because it was priceless.

The blonde got up to join the group when Shouta pulled out the new clothes, there were a couple of different options for her to choose from (when the doctors okayed it, at least), and Shouta took his absolute lack of style knowledge as a good time to introduce them. Hizashi perched on the opposite edge of the bed across from Shouta since she seemed more comfortable with the two of them by then.

Not long after that, Chiyo and Eri’s pediatrician, Dr. Imai, came in to do another check up and Chiyo also clearly knowing and trusting Shouta and Hizashi also helped Eri feel more comfortable with them as well. By the time the early afternoon rolled around, she even felt safe enough in their presence to be okay with Keigo running back to his apartment for a shower, nap, and a change of clothes.

Overhaul and some of the other top dogs in the Shie Hassaikai were dead or in jail, but they didn’t know who else knew about Eri or might try to come after her, so they were keeping a hero presence with her at all times, so far it had been Sasaki and Keigo, but now they could add the Yamazawas to that roster as well. They’d put her in the hero ward with it’s advanced security, but one could never be too careful.

That evening, after Keigo returned and Sasaki also joined them, they broached the topic of Eri staying with the Yamazawas after she was released from the hospital. She was a little confused at first, but then seemed happy enough with the prospect of being able to stay near-ish to Keigo and with the nice heroes she’d met, especially once Hizashi pulled up photos of the cats.

(Her eyes had gone wider than they’d gone thus far, and she nearly made Hizashi drop the phone she tried to pull it closer to her face so quickly. Truly, a child after Shouta’s own heart, she was gonna fit in just fine.)

They also showed her pictures of Izuku and Shoto (they’d wait for Hitoshi, they didn’t want to overwhelm her) and she was very curious about having older brothers, which is what brought them to the next problem because Chiyo and the hospital staff wanted to keep her there for the next week still.

Visitors were fine, as long as they kept the number at a time down, especially now that her arms and legs were as healed as they were going to get thanks to Chiyo. Izuku and hospitals, however, were a bit less fine.

There would be no fewer than three pro’s (who more than had Izuku’s back) in or near Eri’s hospital room though, not to mention Chiyo (who, when angered, was far scarier to a quirkist hospital staff member than any pro hero could ever be). It’d be fine. Probably.

Chapter Text

Friday night Shoto knocked on Izuku’s bedroom door, drawing the cat eared teen’s attention away from his computer.

“What’s up?” Izuku asked, turning the computer screen black as he shifted to face Shoto fully.

“I have a question and an idea and I don’t know if you’re going to like it.” Shoto let his back thunk backwards into the doorjamb.

“Shoot.” Izuku twirled a pencil through his fingers, curiosity piqued.

“You said when you met Eri before she had a bunch of bandages, right?”

“Yeah.” Izuku nodded.

“Okay.” Shoto took a steadying breath. “Feel free to say no to this, I know you’re already not… enthused about being in a hospital.” That was putting it lightly, Izuku’s skin was crawling just knowing where they were going the next morning, but it was fine, he wasn’t the injured party or at risk, the staff wouldn’t hurt Eri or him, and even if someone did get weird about it basically all the adults in their immediate family would be nearby. It was gonna be fine, but his mind was wandering and he needed to focus on what Shoto was saying.

“It goes without saying that neither of us had good childhoods, we both carry marks from that, and from what we’ve been told she probably will as well. I know if I was in her shoes I’d be pretty apprehensive meeting us. Should… would it be a good idea to show her we’re not that different? I know you usually wear long sleeves to cover your scars.”

“You usually do too.” Izuku covered his arms more out of habit than anything else, his various costumes’ long sleeves were armored, and he was so used to wearing them that not having long sleeves made him feel almost naked.  Plus, they were identifiable and he'd spent too long hiding away anything that could make him identifiable in an effort not to be clocked as Ghost.

Shoto had the burn scar from the kettle, that was pretty hard to hide since it was on his face, but he had a few non-burn scars on his own arms and torso from ‘training accidents’ over the years, not dissimilar to what Izuku had collected from his years as a vigilante.

“I’m not uncomfortable in hospitals though. If it’s going to make you too uncomfortable we shouldn’t do it, but I thought it worth asking.”

“No, it’s a good idea. Short sleeves aren’t a problem for me like that.” Izuku leaned back a little to look in the direction of his closet door, mentally reviewing what he had clean right now. “Think I have one of Hitoshi’s cat shirts actually, think that’d be good?” It was that or a shirt with a pair of badly photo-shopped American flag swim trunks that made Izuku laugh every time he saw it, but it just didn’t feel right for this.

“I would imagine that’s fine.” Shoto agreed, before letting mischief shine through his dual colored eyes. “Now that that’s decided, don’t think I didn’t notice you turned your screen off. What are you doing that could get you arrested this time?”

“It’s not gonna get me arrested.” Izuku rolled his eyes. “I have multiple hero’s full permission, including Nedzu’s. Plus, Reaper would shred any cop who tried.” At the mention of her name, the kitten on the bed lifted her head up and yawned at her human. “Yes, you are a good girl.”

“Good.” Shoto responded, referring to the arrested comment though he also agreed Reaper was a good girl (she was the best girl, obviously). “Because I don’t have access to Endeavor’s credit card anymore to bail you out.”

Cackling, he had to duck out of the vigilante’s room when Izuku threw the pencil he’d been holding at him, then reached for other throw-able objects on his desk.

…

Izuku was nervous, sticking a little closer to Hizashi (who’d come home to take him and Shoto to the hospital to meet Eri) than was strictly speaking necessary, but it was manageable. A solid chunk of those nerves were for meeting Eri for real instead of just general hospital related nerves, so at least he was making some progress on his fear of medical professionals.

Therapy for the win, Inui was basically a wizard at this point.

“She seems more shy than scared of people.” Hizashi had said in the car. “She’s more scared of what her quirk could do than anything, so standard rules apply, yeah?”

“Yeah.” The boys agreed. They’d been given a crash-course of the unit the class would coincidentally be getting the next semester on working with traumatized children, though that wasn’t a topic they were unfamiliar with. Having, you know, been the traumatized children at one point themselves. They had this.

Hizashi knocked on the door, waiting for Shouta’s answer before he pushed it open, letting the boys enter in front of him.

“We’re back!” They greeted cheerfully, indicating each teen as they passed them. “Eri, this is Shoto and Izuku. Boys, this is Eri.” Hizashi pulled the door shut again behind the three of them, and they joined Shouta and Keigo with the girl of the hour at her bed.

“Hi, Eri!” Izuku grinned brightly at her, making his way around to half-perch on the arm of the nicer armchair next to the bed that Shouta was sitting in. “I’m Izuku.”

“Hi.” She glanced at him, very clearly shy, before going back to staring at her bear.

“I’m Shoto. What’s your bear’s name?” The peppermint colored teen sat in the chair next to Shouta, on Izuku’s other side before leaning forward to hear Eri’s answer.

“I haven’t given him a first name yet.” She looked up at Shoto. “I need to find the best one first. Mr. Shouta says his last name is Mr. Fluffles.”

“That’s a good last name for a bear, I’m sure you’ll find a good first name soon.”

“Yeah.” Eri nodded, feeling brave enough now to take a closer look at the two boys. “You have cats on your shirts!”

“We do!” Shoto didn’t have any cat shirts of his own, and Izuku just had the one of Hitoshi’s that had somehow ended up in his closet, but Hizashi had raided Shouta’s side of the closet for a suitable shirt. Both shirts were too big so the boys were practically swimming in them, but it was a sweet gesture nonetheless. “Do you like cats?”

“Yeah!” Eri nodded frantically. “I haven’t met any yet, but they look cute!”

“Wanna see something cool, then?” Izuku grinned wider, fangs starting to flash, not that she noticed. They were pretty subtle if you weren’t paying attention.

“Did you bring one with you?” She asked, tilting her head as she gave him another once over, checking for any whiskers or tails that may be sticking out.

“I didn’t bring one, no, but I brought the next best thing.” He reached up for the hat he wore everywhere, again out of habit, and pulled it off to free his ears. He wiggled them back and forth for a little bit of extra razzle dazzle when she gasped dramatically

“You have cat ears!” Eri squealed, for a few moments so excited she couldn’t sit still and wriggled in place, though, notable in its contrast, she still didn’t smile. Hizashi had warned them that she may be having trouble with that, so Izuku didn’t say anything about it (not that he would have).

“I do!” Izuku was dying, she was too precious. “Wanna touch them?”

“Can I?” Her coral eyes widened in excitement as she practically started vibrating.

“Yeah!” Izuku abandoned Shouta’s chair in favor of kneeling down next to the bed so he could rest his chin on his arms on the mattress, all the better for ear access.

Shoto didn’t have cat ears, but he did have much prettier hair according to Eri (she thought it looked like moonlight and apples, which they’d discovered she loved)and he too was willing to let her touch it when she asked.

Shouta and Hizashi grinned at each other, the little girl already had both her older brothers wrapped around her little finger. None of them should ever have been worried about whether or not they’d get along.

They really had the best collection of kids ever.

izu high on catnip tea by kestralkitsune

Chapter Text

The third week in August (and honestly part of the fourth) passed both terrifyingly quickly and horrifyingly slowly, in the way that time did when one had five thousand things happening at the same time but one of those things you absolutely were dreading.

Saturday through Wednesday all four of the Yamazawas cycled (mostly) in and out (when they needed to sleep or change clothes) of Eri’s hotel room, part keeping her company and bonding, and part protection detail.

Shouta and Hizashi had the luxury of being able to explain to the situation to their respective lines of command and co-agency leaders, and fully take the time off from patrol because this was very much part of their hero work.

Keigo, still dealing with suddenly being handed the reins of his own agency was a busy busy bee and didn’t quite have that luxury, though he stopped by when he could. Mostly in the evenings. He was becoming uncle shaped surprisingly quickly with the tiny tot around, even if Izuku threatened to short sheet his bed the first time Eri copied his ‘baby bird’ nickname for the cat eared boy.

(Regardless, he was gone a lot to deal with all of that, with Nedzu, Nemuri and the other higher ups of the Loud Cloud agency supporting him.)

Eri had been confused by the phrase, then confused about what bed sheets were, then again confused by pranks in general, but thought it was 'very silly' (negative) of Izuku when everything was finally explained to her. Izuku could only bow and say ‘yes, princess’ when she took offense on Keigo’s behalf and banned Izuku from pranking ‘her hero’ (Keigo very nearly turned to literal goop when he heard that) and just like that, a new nickname was born.

Monday, two weeks before classes started, all UA students gained access to the dorms to get them set up. It probably wouldn’t be so early ahead of time the following semesters, but since the buildings were new it was decided that having a wider window might help keep chaos down as students and their family moved things into their various spaces for the first time.

General wards of the school and those who dormed there because they lived further away all already had access of course, and had the opportunity to go ahead and move in if they needed to, but local students wouldn’t be moving in until the weekend before school started. Still, the early access would give them a chance to submit any changes that may be needed for quirk accessibility that might have been accidentally overlooked.

Cementoss and the construction agency he helped run would need time to get those changes in place, and putting that off until classes were also underway and all the changes were needed at once would be the wrong kind of chaos that Nedzu wanted on his campus.

The student dorms had been built far enough away from the teachers dorms that none of that chaos interfered with bringing Eri home for the first time on Wednesday, fully decked out in the pinkest, most glittery dress Nemuri could find on short notice and very excited to meet the cats for the first time.

She still hadn’t found the right name for Mr. Fluffles, but she refused to put him down, even with all three cats begging her for attention. Reaper read the room and stayed small size for Eri as she wound around the girls feet, which was probably a good thing because when the cat quirked her way full size she was almost as big as the five year old.

They almost cried when she saw her room for the first time. It took all four of them a few minutes and showing her Izuku and Shoto’s rooms to convince her all of it was actually meant for her because she just couldn’t believe all of that was meant for her. It was a good thing Overhaul was already dead, because he would have wished he was when he met the combined rage of everyone to ever Yamazawa.

They would have to introduce her to all the other teachers on staff (except for Yagi), but that would happen slowly so she wasn’t overwhelmed by everyone. Nemuri she’d already met, when the twilight pro popped by the hospital with her own presents in tow to meet her newest niece.

Wednesday night she met, and was very confused by, Nedzu. Shouta and Hizashi tried to explain who and what Nedzu was beforehand, but the concept of a quirked chimera was a lot for a kid who hadn’t yet experienced a wide range of normal, non-quirked animals.

The chimera had always been the most protective of human children though, there was a reason he’d become a teacher, then principal. He easily took his newest grand-kit’s confusion in stride. She’d get the hang of things before too long. For now she wasn’t scared of him and accepted that he was more or less a differently shaped person fairly easily. That was enough for him.

That was all the busy part of the week, and busy it certainly was (especially since a fair few of the number were participating to varying degrees in dealing with the rest of the Shie Hassaikai).

The ‘dreading this’ part of the week came with an unexpected house call from one of UA’s lawyers, name, around nine am Thursday morning.

“Hamara?” Hizashi asked, having been the one to open the door. “I’m so sorry, did we have a meeting? Things have been a bit hectic around here.”

“This wasn’t planned, I just thought it was best to share it in person.” Hamara assured them. Tall and willowy in build with light green eyes to match the weeping willow leave that cascaded from her head for hair, Hamara Masuyo was one of the lawyers on retainer by the school specifically to work on Ward issues, in this case Shoto’s custody trial. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

“Come in, we’ll go to the kitchen.” Hizashi stepped back and opened the door wider, giving her access to the house while he summoned his husband who’d been roped into a tea party with the Eri and the boys upstairs. “Sho, honey, we have company.”

“Were we expecting someone?” Shouta asked as he made his way down the stairs in some of his more eye destroying lazy day at home clothes (very soft and comfy but very neon yellow sweatpants from Nemuri and an equally bright Put Your Hands Up t-shirt). (All of the family were in their brightest colors, Eri had picked up a penchant for them from Shoto and wanted the entire family to match that morning for a tea party.)

“You were not.” Hamara smiled at him, more than used to seeing the homeroom teachers in their downtime. They didn’t get a lot of that, all of them certainly deserved what comfort they could get when they could get it. “Good morning, Aizawa.”

“Ah, good morning Hamara.” Shouta glanced between her and his husband, concern growing despite the fact she didn’t appear too concerned. “Is this about the trial?”

“What about the trial?” Shoto asked before she could answer, because of course all three kids followed Shouta downstairs, Eri hiding in the back behind Izuku’s legs.

“It is, but it’s not bad news, I promise.” She assured again. “We’ve got everything well in hand, I just wanted to let you know we finally have a date for the trial in person. It felt more appropriate.”

The announcement was met with wide eyes and silence, broken bu Eri tugging on Izuku’s hand until he leaned down so she could ask him what a trial was.

Chapter Text

“Izuku, what’s a trial?” Eri, bless her, asked in that ubiquitous small child whisper that may as well have been a shout for how well everyone could hear it. They hadn’t explained any of the whole custody battle situation with Endeavor to her, for obvious reasons, but even a brief, toned down explanation would require a deeper conversation that standing around in the space next to the kitchen deserved, so they moved to the living room.

They kept forgetting they needed to get a bigger kitchen table.

“No!” Eri screamed, startling everyone because it was the loudest they’d ever heard her get, once they’d explained both the gist of the situation and what all the new words meant to her (though her vocabulary really was coming along well, given everything). She scrambled out of Shouta’s lap and over to Shoto, latching on and refusing to let go. “You can’t go! You have to stay!”

“We’re not letting him go anywhere he doesn’t want to go.” Hamara assured her, and him. “I promise we’re very good at our jobs and we’ve been working toward this for a long time. I know it seems sudden, but all this means is we can finally get all of this over with. It wont be long before it all seems like a distant memory.”

It was sudden, incredibly so. Todoroki Enji had rapidly switched from trying to delay everything as much as possible to wanting this to happen yesterday, and his money and reputation did have a certain amount of sway. Not enough to win, of that Hamara was certain, but enough to manipulate the timing of the trial. Especially now that the school and pivotal detective on the case were no longer locked in battle with the world’s worst nightmare of a villain.

UA was ready though, Nedzu only hired good people, but he also hired the best, so when push came to shove his lawyers held all the ferocity of sharks circling blood in the water mixed with the tenacity of a mamma bear. Plus, they all enjoyed a good challenge, and being let loose full throttle against Todoroki Fucking Enji? That was better than any combined Christmas and birthday gift Hamara could ask for.

“When’s the trial?” Shoto took a steadying breath and asked.

“It’s next Thursday.” She informed him. “Endeavor stopped trying to delay and started pushing for it to happen as soon as possible, and the courts likely just want us all out of their hair at this point.”

“That seems fast.” Hizashi and Shouta glanced at each other. Normally a custody trial over a ward would have happened months ago so in a sense it was slow, but that was the quickest turn around either of them had ever heard of.

“He’s planning something, isn’t he?” Shoto asked, holding Eri tighter (never tight enough to hurt).

“I can’t discount it,” Hamara slowly hedged, “but we think it has more to do with an upcoming campaign the HPSC is planning promoting how ‘safe’ heroes are to be around.”

“And it’d look bad if one of their highest rated pro’s with a family lost custody of his youngest just before that went live.” Shoto’s voice was emotionless as he voiced the natural conclusion, eerily similar to how he’d sounded at the beginning of the school year. “He’ll have the commission’s backing, if that’s the case.”

“Very likely.” Hamara nodded. “We’re prepared for that, too. They’re powerful, but not infallible.” They were just as much beholden to public image as anyone else was, which hamstrung them here because Endeavor wasn’t lacking in the kind of resources that would be useful in court, the most they could really do in that arena was vouch for the ‘hero’.

Vouching that wouldn’t stretch very far when Detective Naomasa, the living truth detector, was called to testify.

The most useful thing they could do here was launch a smear campaign against Nedzu and the school, saying they’d overstepped their bounds and were trying to tear a family apart just to get back at the HPSC and their backers. That would start a media frenzy that would likely last well past the trial date.

It would be a massive, flaming mess to deal with in the short term, especially hard on the four young adults working so hard to get away from their abuser and no one wanted them to have to go through that, but it also would ultimately backfire on the commission.

Fuyumi and Natsuo were done being silent. If the Commission or Endeavor decided to go that route, they were both prepared to share every dirty dark secret they had on Japan’s number two. They had support now, they wouldn’t be left squashed under his heel this time.

Touya was far more hesitant, but if push came to shove he’d go public too. He’d abandoned his siblings to deal with Endeavor’s abuse on their own once, he wasn’t doing it again.

All of them had so much to say, hard proof to back their words as well. When the dust settled from all of that, they wouldn’t be the ones to fall.

That left the Commission and Endeavor’s hands fairly tied. All they really had was speeding up the timeline last minute to try to throw UA’s lawyers and upset Shoto. He might succeed in the latter, but Hamara was a god damn professional. Todoroki Enji couldn’t intimidate her like that.

“This doesn’t scare us, Shoto.” She emphasized, leaning forward to meet his eyes. “And it shouldn’t scare you. It’s not the power play he thinks it is. All this does is let us get this over with faster. I’m not going to stop until you start your second semester with all of this behind you.”

“Thank you.” Shoto muttered, hiding his face in Eri’s hair, mindful of her horn. Izuku, fully aware just how touch starved all of them were, leaned over to make it a group hug for maximum support and comfort.

“It’s not a problem, kid. We’ve got your back.” Hamara looked up at the dads. “Take the weekend, do your best to relax and chill, and I’ll email you about doing trial prep next week.”

“Thank you, Hamara.” Hizashi nodded, sensing the end of the discussion and rising to escort her out before heading into the kitchen.

This definitely called for hot chocolate. And cuddles. All the cuddles.

(They ended up calling a family movie night after informing the other Himura siblings, who were subsequently introduced to Eri too. They had all the hot chocolate and cuddles anyone could ever need.)

Chapter Text

On Monday, they started trial prep, with Nemuri watching Eri/having a girls day with her and Himiko while the Yamazawas plus Touya and Natsuo all piled into one of the larger conference rooms. Fuyumi couldn’t make it at that time, but would be meeting with Hamara later. For now, they were getting as many people in on the main game plan as soon as possible.

Natsuo was currently on summer break along with the teens, Touya’s schedule was incredibly flexible since he was currently just doing online courses for his GED, and Shouta and Hizashi were still on leave for Eri but would have been automatically put on leave anyways since they were involved in a court case.

“This is a civilian matter, for now.” Hamara launched into things once everyone was settled in, never really one to believe in beating around the bush. “So the general process is pretty straight forward. Since UA, through the Ward Program, is technically the one filing in custody in cases like this, we’ll go first because we have to make our case. My aim is to railroad him from the get-go, we’re going to make any defense he tries to throw out look as ridiculous as we know it’ll be.”

She went on to explain that after opening arguments all witnesses would be called and questioned from both side’s lawyers. From the witness list Endeavor’s team had submitted, they were going to take a two-pronged attack: using Shoto’s childhood doctor and ‘expert’ testimony from people on the hero’s payroll to show that none of Endeavor’s kids had ever been abused by him, and attempting to show that UA wasn’t a safe place for Shoto either, or at least that the Yamazawas weren’t.

For the first part, they’d have expert testimony from unbiased doctors who’d done their own examinations and looked at past medical history to evaluate and found that the kind of damage that had been done wasn’t consistent with any sort of standard or safe training schedule, especially for kids.

Especially in the cases of Natsuo and Fuyumi, who were never expected to be heroes, or to have to undergo that kind of training.

They also had the testimony of all the siblings, backed up by Naomasa’s quirk. There was an option, in cases like this- especially when the accusations were so severe and the parties involved so influential, to keep witnesses anonymous to the other side. It was a complicated process involving in-person meetings with an unbiased judge in the same court system to explain the request for anonymity.

In this case, it was that Touya’s testimony may be necessary, but he didn’t want to have to relive that trauma for the courts (especially in front of Endeavor) and that criminal charges hadn’t been laid (yet). Touya’s testimony was to be held in reserve with him only being called to the stand if necessary. The second judge had ruled to allow it.

A slightly bigger problem was that Endeavor’s team had listed Izuku on their list of witnesses.

“I don’t understand.” Touya said as he and Natsuo shared a perplexed look. “I mean sure, I get them trying to say Shouta and Hizashi don’t have the resources to care for Shoto while also having Izuku and Eri, but why would that require questioning Izuku?”

“Unless it’s a quirkless thing.” Natsuo said with a scowl. “Wouldn’t put it past him to think that alone would hurt our case or sway the judge to his side. Or provide an ‘unsafe environment’.” If he did, Natsuo would happily announce his own quirklessness in front of everyone and their mother.

“It’s more likely they’ll take the angle that dad didn’t try to bring me in when he first met me and let me live on my own for a few years.” Izuku shrugged. “That, or the quote-unquote "criminal history", but I have immunity for everything actually criminal and vigilante laws have never applied to me.”

The older Himura brothers just stared at the kitten eared boy for a solid thirty seconds, trying to figure out how to unpack that.

“I’m now realizing we never actually told you how the full story...” Izuku blinked at them slowly, before glancing at Shouta and Hizashi. The latter was trying to maintain professional composure and the former just looked utterly and completely done. “I assume Nedzu told you though, Hamara?”

“Yes.” The lawyer cleared her throat. “He did, we’ve already got a defense prepared for that. I’ll uh, leave it up to you how you want to explain?”

“Can you give us about half an hour?” Shouta broke in. “This feels like a family conversation situation.”

“Of course.” Hamara nodded, grabbing some of her things and her own coffee. “I’ll be just down the hall when you’re ready.”

…

“Okay.” Natsuo broke the silence after Izuku and Shouta filled the two in on the full story (or at least, as much of the full story as they needed to do at this point. “I already knew about the vigilante thing, but D’Artagnan does explain how you had the info on Endeavor to give to Naomasa.”

“I did not know about the vigilante thing.” Touya’s voice was faint as he stared at the cat-eared teen on the other side of the table. “Holy shit dude, I don’t know whether to ask how you’re still alive or if you’re secretly like a god in disguise.”

“Clearly, I’m a god.” Izuku snorted. “Jiji’s the rat god, I’m the cat god.”

“I’m making that your username in the chat group.” Shoto piped in, mostly out of habit at this point, he was too busy trying to control his anxiety to really put his heart into teasing anyone in his family.

“Which one?” Izuku asked.

“All of them.”

“If we can get back on track.” Shouta took control of the conversation before it could devolve further. “All of this was put on record as part of the process for adopting Izuku, so if Endeavor’s lawyers know where to look it wouldn’t be hard to find. Do you have any questions about anything or can we go let Hamara know we’re ready to continue.”

“Does Fuyumi know?” Touya asked.

“Vigilante yes, D’Artagnan no.” Natsuo answered.

“We’ll be telling her as soon as we can.” Shouta marked another thing down on the list as he rose to go retrieve UA’s best lawyer.

Now that personal revelations were done with (for the moment), Hamara continued explaining the general game plan. They’d continue making their way down the witness list, including calling Detective Tsukauchi to the stand to verify that he’d taken statements from all of the Himura siblings and could personally verify that they were telling the truth, along with his own observations.

After Tsukauchi, Shouta would be called to the stand as Shoto’s homeroom teacher and current foster parent, potentially Nedzu as well since he was involved via Izuku’s strategic use of UA’s cameras the day of the Sports Festival

At that point, Touya would have the option to take the stand himself if he decided he wanted to, though if Hamara judged it necessary, she’d check in with him to see if he was still willing.

Most of those being called as witnesses were on both lawyer’s lists and while Endeavor clearly thought he could discredit them, he mostly was only succeeding in stacking the deck against himself. Hamara didn’t bring it up, but her personal theory was he wasn’t listening to his own lawyers and insisting they do things his way. She wouldn’t put it past his arrogance to do so.

Shoto’s testimony, the most important of the day, would happen last. After he spoke, all that would be left was the closing statements from both lawyers.

Hamara would be working with all of them this week to prepare them for questioning (and how to behave in court in general). Endeavor’s lawyers weren’t going to pull their punches, and they needed to be as mentally and emotionally prepared for that as they could.

She was reasonably confident this would go in their favor, she’d put in the elbow grease and worked with Nedzu to prepare for as much as they could, and make sure their contingency plans had contingency plans. It was still going to be a long, rough day for everyone involved.

It would only be one day though, then it would be over. Hamara took a moment to observe the determined family in front of her. They were all putting up a solid, unified front for this, the same they did for everything they faced.

She had no doubt they were going to make it out of this stronger than ever.

Chapter Text

The rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with making sure all the kids were ready for whatever Endeavor’s legal team was about to throw on them, catching up Fuyumi on the situation and giving the adults refreshers. Heroes had multiple units on what to do when they were called to court of course, but they wouldn’t be until third year.

Thursday dawned to early alarms, phones buzzing with a multitude of well wishes, and a torrent of anxiety. Izuku even convinced Reaper to give Shoto attention until he had to shower and get dressed.

Shoto hadn’t dressed in anything that wasn’t a complete eyesore (in either the best or worst ways, he wasn’t particularly fussy), so on top of everything and having to be in his presence again, the plain but nice slacks and button down shirt made the way his skin crawled so much worse.

Hizashi, having gone upstairs to check on both the boys (mostly to assuage their own anxiety, that they were doing their best to shove aside to be strong for the boys) caught him scowling at his reflection. They gently knocked on the door frame to get Shoto’s attention.

“Is it too close?” Too close to who Endeavor had forced the teen to be, Hizashi meant. The hero knew more than a little bit about that particular feeling, they were out as non-binary and gay now, but they hadn’t always been, especially on a professional level. And some of the foster homes they’d been in before applying to be a ward their first year at the school had had certain… ideas about who he should be.

“Yeah.” Shoto nodded.

“Okay.” Hizashi clapped, emphasizing the word. “Not a lot we can do about the outside layers when there’s a dress code, but I always found doing whatever I want with the under layers helps. A secretly asserting your individuality sort of thing, so here’s what you’re gonna do.

“The shirt you have on is white,” paired with black slacks, it was a perfectly appropriate outfit for court but by no means the only color combo that would work, “I’m pretty sure we got you a navy one too, right?”

“Yes.” Shoto answered after thinking about it for a moment. He’d shoved the more staid but required parts of his wardrobe to the back, but there was a blue button up there.

“Rockin. Change into that but wear one of your bright tank tops underneath it, and wear your favorite socks.” They lifted up their own pant leg, showing off the nyan cat socks Shouta had got them for their birthday a few years back. “Oh- pro tip I’ve learned from other lawyers over the years- blue can help people think you’re more trustworthy, and if it helps you can even see the blue shirt as a personal fuck you to Endeavor since it’s opposite red.”

“Thanks, papa.” Shoto stopped to hug the blonde as he went to head back to his room to change clothes.

“Of course, kiddo.” Hizashi hugged the teen back. “We’ve got your back, in whatever way you want us too. It’s gonna be okay.” They hated that they couldn’t promise it was going to be okay today, but they weren’t going to stop until it really was okay.

Even if that meant shouting Endeavor off the nearest cliff, should today go south. Nedzu wasn’t going to let him go to jail, it’d be fine.

…..

While Hizashi and Shoto were upstairs, Izuku was downstairs pacing the living room.

“Breathe, Izuku.” Shouta reminded, watching the pacing (stopping his outlet for the nervous energy thrumming through him wouldn’t help). “C’mon kiddo, what’s happening in that brain of yours?”

“What if we lose because I was D’Artagnan?” Izuku looked up at Shouta, circling around in the adult’s direction for a dad hug. “What if Shoto has to go back, and it’s my fault?”

“We’re not going to lose because you were D’Artagnan.” Shouta obliged the hug, squeezing Izuku slightly tighter than he normally would in the hopes the pressure would help the anxiety. “Remember what we said last week? We have too much proof of Endeavor’s abuse for any court to let a kid go back to someone like that. At absolute worst, Shoto becomes a ward of UA and either I’m still his de facto guardian because I’m the homeroom teacher, or Nedzu is.”

“Right.” Izuku muttered.

“Why don’t we try redirecting your thoughts?” Shouta suggested. “You and I both know what kind of criminal charges Nao is getting ready. When the anxiety gets too bad, just imagine the look on his face when those finally get levelled.” Once Nao made sure all his t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted, of course. But the concept got a snort out of Izuku, which was progress.

Shouta really didn’t want to wake up to the headline that one of the ‘hero’s’ billboards got vandalized or burned to the ground.  Then he'd have to deal with the perpetrators because he was a parent, even though all he wanted to do was join them.  

“Can we take Shoto on patrol with us if, no when, we win?” Izuku asked, words muffled by the way his face was squished into his dad’s shirt.

“I’m not opposed to that,” Shouta hedged, “if you both also behave yourselves today. No pranks in court.”

“I’m smart enough to not prank in court.” Izuku pulled back with a scowl. “I wont be able to hide my identity today, for starters, and I’m not about to piss the judge off.”

“Mmhmm.” Shouta hummed, tone indicating he very much didn’t believe that. “I’ll believe if when I see it.”

“Rude!”

“What’s rude?” Shoto asked, coming down the stairs with Hizashi behind him.

“Dad thinks I’m dumb enough to chaos in the courtroom.” Izuku complained, gesticulating wildly at the amused underground pro.

“I don’t know.” Shoto tried for levity, but his voice was still a little too filled with nerves to really hit the mark. “I can see it. You’d be smart enough to not get caught, though.”

“Izuku, no pranks in the courtroom.” Hizashi’s exasperated papa-mode voice broke in, siding as always with his husband. “Shoto, no encouraging Izuku to pranks in the courtroom, that’s the last thing we need to have to deal with today,”

“Yes, papa.” Both teens chorused, one taking it in stride (Shoto) and one rolling his eyes (Izuku).

“Thank you.” Hizashi huffed, also rolling his eyes to Shouta, who snorted. “Now, your brothers should be here soon so we can all go to the courthouse together, is everyone ready? Got your favorite fidget toys?”

“Just need shoes.” Izuku nodded, patting all his pockets.

“Same.” Shoto nodded.

“Sho, got your coffee?” Hizashi confirmed.

“Obviously.” The absolute affront painting Shouta’s face at the proposition he hadn’t prepared at least one travel mug for the trip to the courthouse succeeded in breaking the tension, sending both teens into hysterics.

“Just checking.” Hizashi’s face and tone verged on angelic in their faux innocence (and just a bit of quirk use to add some reverb), making the whole thing worse.

Sometimes Shouta wondered what it was about him him that made him surround himself with little shits like this.

Chapter Text

It was decided they’d take as few cars as possible since the side parking lots (one on each side of the courthouse, so defendants and plaintiffs intermingled as little as possible) for those who would cause a commotion entering through front doors weren’t that big.

Fuyumi had spent the night with Nemuri, Toga, and Eri, and was set to follow Hizashi’s car to the courthouse in with Shoto, Natsuo, and Touya all placed with her. Hizashi and Chiyo were in the front seats of their car with Shouta, Nedzu, and Izuku in the back seat (Izuku relegated to the hump). Eri had given all of them the biggest hugs her little arms could muster before they left.

It didn’t take them that long to get to the courthouse once they’d finally all managed to climb into the cars, but it took them almost as long to get from the cars to actually inside the building once they got there when Shoto almost had a panic attack. Nedzu, Shouta, and Chiyo shuffled everyone else inside to give Hizashi and the teen some privacy to work through it.

(They found Hamara to let her know they were here and what was happening, she directed them to the room they’d been assigned to wait in for some privacy. They had plenty of time, they’d arrived extra early so they could get Touya settled in the room before Endeavor could see him.)

“It’s okay Shoto, I’m right here.” Hizashi crouched down next to the open car door where the teen was still belted in.

“I can’t do this.” Shoto looked at the blonde with wide, scared eyes, hands shaking. “I can’t go in there, I can’t see him again.” Hizashi’s heart broke.

“It’s gonna be okay little listener, we’re just gonna take this one step at a time. Don’t think about him right now, just focus on me, can you do that?”

“I-” Shoto stuttered out a breath, “I don’t know.”

“Well you’re doing great so far.” Hizashi reached forward to take the teen’s hands, giving them a comforting squeeze. “Let’s try something else, what are five things you can see?”

“You, the car door, trees, pavement, the front seat.”

“Good answers, kiddo. Four things you can feel?”

“My clothes, your hands, the sunlight, the seat belt.” Slowly but surely, Shoto’s breathing was starting to even out and the shaking was lessening.

“Three things you can hear?”

“Cars, someone’s radio, birds.”

“You’re doing great, Shoto.” Hizashi soothed. “Two things you can smell?”

“Soap, your cologne.” Shoto took in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and slowly released it. “I think I’m feeling better now.”

“Glad to hear it.” Hizashi grinned at him before turning serious again. “You said you were worried about seeing him again, right?” Shoto nodded. “We’re going to do our best to minimize that, remember? Once we get in the courtroom itself, you’re gonna sit on the other side of Shouta and me so we can keep you as far away as possible.”

“I remember.” Shoto swallowed. Hizashi squeezed his hands a bit more for a few seconds.

“Shouta, Nedzu, and I are all licensed heroes, we’re not gonna let him hurt you. Plus, I’m not convinced any of us could actually stop Izuku if Endeavor so much as looks at you wrong.” That won a snort from Shoto, a weak one, but a snort nonetheless.

“He promised to be on his best behavior today.” The bi-colored teen reminded Hizashi.

“He did, but he was also personally trained by both your dad and your jiji.” Hizashi reminded right back. “I don’t think there’s many people who could stop Izuku if he really got it into his head to do something.”

“I bet if I asked him to be my emotional support cat for the day, he’d leave Endeavor alone.” Some of the mischievous twinkle Shoto had gained over the last few months of exposure to Hitoshi and Izuku returned.

“I think that’s about the only thing that stands a chance of working.” Hizashi snorted. “You ready to go inside and ask him?”

“I think so.” Shoto took another deep breath, undoing his seat belt. “But can I have a hug first?”

“You can have a hug whenever you want baby.” Hizashi promised, pulling the teen into a tight embrace. “Just remember, we’re gonna take this one step at a time.”

“One step at a time.” Shoto agreed, and finally the last two made their way into the courthouse.

…..

Collectively, the small group (family) stayed in their designated private room for as long as they could, until Hamara came to collect them, purposefully putting off being in the same room as Endeavor as long as physically possible.

They had to leave Touya in the room when they went since he didn’t want to announce his Aliveness to Endeavor if he didn’t have to, but while they’d been killing time Keigo had arrived on his own just so the oldest Himura (now legally, his paperwork had gone through just this week, they were still waiting for Fuyumi’s and Natsuo’s) wouldn’t be totally alone.

The bird really was a good egg, and everyone was more or less just waiting for the two to either get their shit together and start dating, or announce that they already had. Whether or not they were already formally dating was a hotly debated topic amongst the wider family.

That particular court sent a feed of the trial to the private rooms in cases of anonymous witnesses, so the two would still be able to know what was going on.

Because both UA and the Number Two pro hero were so high profile, their case would be seen in a smaller, more private courtroom so it wouldn’t become a media circus. Shoto very specifically looked anywhere but the defendant’s side of the room as they walked in, really only taking in the room at large once he was safely nestled between Shouta on his right (Hizashi on Shouta’s other side closer to the middle aisle) and Izuku on his left.

The court itself was fairly simple, two columns of benches separated with a wide aisle in the middle, the legal team’s weird narrow desks in the more open space between the general seating and the judge’s big raised chair and witness stand. On the left side of the room was a TV standing ready to show any document of video evidence for all to see.

The private rooms connected to the main court room in the back, one on either side with their own private doorway. There was a second doorway in secluded hallways on the other side as well.

Shoto pulled out a stress ball to give himself something he could safely squeeze until the judge brought everything to order, focusing on his breathing.

“All rise for Judge Okumura.” The bailiff finally called over what small conversations were actually taking place. Shoto counted the seconds of his breathing as he found his way to his feet, doing his best to keep up the square breathing Hound Dog had taught him.

Oh kami, it was time. He was going to puke.

Chapter Text

“All rise for Judge Okumura.” The bailiff finally called over what small conversations were actually taking place. Once everyone had risen to their feet the judge, a short, round woman with long brilliantly scarlet, orange, and yellow hair with streaks of a deep purple that seemed to shimmer entered the courtroom from her little side door and settled into her place on the bench.

Judge Okumura, ostensibly a very no-nonsense kind of person based on Shoto’s first impression of her, quickly got things moving. She gave the general introductions and instructions that happened at the beginning of a case and invited both Hamara then Endeavor’s main lawyer, a man named Koga, to do their opening arguments.

It was a very weird experience, one Shoto was sure his siblings were sharing at least partly. He’d been so focused on having to be in the same room as his sperm donor he hadn’t really given thought to the fact that strangers would be going in depth about everything he’d done to them over the years.

He wasn’t necessarily embarrassed about it- he’d had enough discussions about it with Hound Dog and the Yamazawas that having his past aired like that didn’t feel weird in that respect anymore (especially since almost everyone in the Yamazawa family had bad or rough childhoods and none of them had let Shoto for a second think that was in any way something that reflected negatively on him personally).

It still felt incredibly vulnerable though. Everything that was aired over the course of the trial (Hamara was hopeful it would be finished in one day since the courts wouldn’t want to drag it out due to how high profile it would become if it hit the news, but she couldn’t guarantee that) would essentially be going up for debate. Whether or not it qualified as abuse or training, whether or not it ever even happened, (whether or not Shoto could stay where he was safe and happy).

It was all up for debate, and all four of the Himura children were far more used to either not being believed, or if they were, having everything shoved under the rug anyways.

Shoto knew Hamara was confident in the proof his siblings had saved over the years and Tsukauchi’s testimony, not to mention that UA had equal if not greater respect and stature to Endeavor to the general public, making it less likely the allegations would be swept away because ‘kids were just seeking attention’. He also knew his siblings fully intended to send everything public the second they left the courtroom if this didn’t go in their favor.

None of that knowledge stopped the instinctual terror that set in as Hamara’s opening statements and later the first witnesses (the pediatrician Endeavor had had on call when they were small and the unbiased medical staff UA had called on as their own expert witnesses) went into greater detail of the physical abuse they’d been through.

Shouta reached over to take Shoto’s hand, heedless of the fact it was his cold side or how hard the teen was squeezing it. He wasn’t about to let the kid think he was going through this alone. Shoto still had a death grip on his stress ball in his left hand, so Izuku reached over to take Natsuo’s (sitting to the cat-eared boys left) hand for the same reason. (Natsuo did the same with Fuyumi, creating a long chain).

Naomasa, seated behind them for now, also reached forward to squeeze Shoto’s shoulder in support.

After about an hour or so, all of the medical staff were done with their testimony. Endeavor’s trying to claim everything was just the natural result of training, injuries happen of course, and UA’s arguing the opposite, that teen hero students, even other legacy students who’d also spent their childhoods training, didn’t end up with that kind of damage. Also, that Fuyumi and Natsuo wouldn’t have ended up with the injuries they had since they were never involved in that kind of hero training.

Their side also showed some of the photos and videos that Fuyumi and Natsuo had taken over the years as they documented the abuse themselves.  More of the same would accompany their testimony later as well.  

There was a short break, with both parties being released back to their private waiting spaces to recenter, use the restroom, get water, et cetera, before the court reconvened. Once they were released, they waited for Endeavor to leave first, though he tried to do the same thing until his lawyer dragged him out.

Hamara, watching that interaction, privately thought the lawyer was likely aggravated with the hero, especially if her theory on Endeavor not being a star client held water. That would only help them though, if Koga were unable to control his client.

“They haven’t brought up Touya yet.” Fuyumi noted once they were safely back to their little room. “If they’re so insistent that all Shoto’s injuries were normal training injuries, wouldn’t showing that someone trying to master a similar quirk had similar injuries help their case?”

“Koga could have figured out that he’s still alive, he has access to the same public records everyone else does.” Hamara explained. “He may not want to risk us calling Touya as a witness in that case. Or they could be wary of opening that particular can of worms since their story has been that you passed in a training accident.” She nodded at the oldest Himura.

“Training accidents that result in death happen, but they’re rarer than you’d think.” Nedzu broke in. “The hero schools all take safety incredibly seriously, if not for moral reasons than financial ones. It’s one of the few places the HPSC has and enforces strict guidelines that are actually helpful, and they have shut down schools before for that reason. Endeavor should have access to just as many resources to make sure his ‘training’ was just as safe as anyone else’s.”

Hamara could have easily called Touya as a witness full stop, testimony from the man himself about Endeavor literally trying to murder him was the ultimate trump card, but they had plenty of defense on their own and she may be a lawyer, but she wasn’t soulless. If she ended up thinking it was necessary they’d agreed she’d ask him to, but otherwise that decision was entirely up to him.

“Ok, kiddo, you’re gonna be up first, but that’s a good thing because it means we can get this out of the way.” Hamara turned to Shoto, who was starting to turn a faint shade of green, before they had to head back in. “You’re ready for this.”

“I don’t-”

“Shoto, look at me.” Hamara, who’d been standing, crouched down despite her heels to be on his level. “This is important. I know you don’t feel ready and I absolutely understand why, but I’ve been working with you all week for this moment. You are ready. You are, and you’ve got me and your entire family here with you. I’ll be ready to object if Koga tries any funny business, we’re not gonna let you flounder here. Do we need to go over how to help yourself on the stand again?

“Don’t look at him. Look at you or dad or papa if I start to get overwhelmed. The bailiffs, dad, or papa will stop him if he tries to approach the bench. Deep breaths and count down from five if I have to.”

“Yep!” Hamara comfirmed. “And if it still gets too much, tap the bench twice and I’ll get you out of there.”

“Right.” Shoto took a deep breath. “I’m ready for this.”

“You absolutely are.” Hamara grinned at him. “You’re not the one on trial here, he is, and we’re gonna make sure he regrets the day he was born.”

“You’re surprisingly bloodthirsty.” Shoto noted, in that deadpan way of his.

“Eh, it’s not so surprising if you know me.” Hamara stood up, straightening her suit.

“But you're so nice?” The teen’s head tilted to the side in momentary (distracting) confusion.

“Only to those who deserve it, and Endeavor emphatically does not. Who’s ready to kick ass?” She asked the room at large, getting various yes’s, cheers, and head nods in response.

“Thank you.” Hizashi mouthed at her, getting a wink back in return. Hamara considered her job to be taking care of her clients, not just getting them their desired result in court, including making sure they had the confidence they needed to get through the day.

They filed into the courtroom much the same way they had earlier that morning, and before he knew it, Shoto was stepping his way into the witness box.

Chapter Text

“Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” The bailiff swore Shoto in.

“I do.” Shoto nodded, one hand in the air and the other on his heart. From her table, Hamara shot him an encouraging thumbs up before stepping into the open area in front of the judge’s box.

“You are, arguably, the man of the hour.” She eased him into things. “In a lot of custody cases like this, the testimony of the child in question might not matter quite as much due to their age, but you’re a teenager and you’re a hero student. If anyone would be able to tell their own story here, it’s you. Would you tell us your story?”

Shoto stared at her a second. They’d discussed her taking this route for her part of his testimony but it was still hard to believe it was happening, it barely even felt real. His one chance to tell someone and maybe have them believe him, have Endeavor face consequences for his own actions.

Except no. This wasn’t his one chance. It was his second, because he’d already taken his first chance the day Izuku convinced him to talk to Nedzu. He’d been believed then, found people who would believe him then. Nothing in this universe ever happened once, if he’d found people before he could find them again. He glanced from Hamara, behind her to his family, up to the judge who was watching him, then back to his family.

Hizashi gave him a wide grin, Shouta nodded encouragingly, and all three present siblings gave him thumbs up in tandem. He nodded back at Hamara. He could do this.

“Should I start at the beginning?”

“Start wherever you’re comfortable.”

“I genuinely can’t remember a day I felt safe under Endeavor’s roof.” Shoto started, the words and fifteen years of pent up anger flowing easily once he started. “He never wanted kids, he just wanted a robot to do whatever he said and continue his legacy, at all costs.”

Shoto continued on, talking about the physical abuse disguised as training, the neglect, the emotional abuse, what it was like being kept at a distance from his siblings and how everything had just gotten worse after Touya disappeared. He used very careful wording talking about Touya, he didn’t want to say anything to clue in Endeavor on the chance the hero was as of yet unaware, and he didn’t want to set off Naomasa’s quirk.

He talked about how he thought he was going to ‘disappear’ too. About the day Izuku convinced him to finally talk to Nedzu about it, how Shoto had to be convinced in the first place because he didn’t think anyone would actually listen to him, or if they did be willing to go up against the number two hero to do something about it.

How he’d known what Endeavor had done to Fuyumi the one time she’d tried, after Touya’s disappearance. How he was too young to really be able to help so he did what he could, did his best to live up to Endeavor’s exacting ideals for his siblings sake. He wouldn’t be able to handle it if his mistakes led to them getting hurt, but as far as he was aware that was the one tactic Endeavor had never used against him to keep Shoto doing his bidding.

Shoto was in name a hero student, but he’d been preparing to be a hero since he could walk. He was more than well trained in using his periphery vision, and Endeavor wasn’t being subtle in how much he was stewing. Literally, the man was steaming mad. Shoto was stubbornly refusing to look in his direction, instead keeping his eyes trained on Hamara because he knew if he saw the heartbreak on his family’s face he wouldn’t be able to continue.

Surprisingly, he wanted to continue. Now that they were here, the fear and anxiety were taking a backseat to an all consuming rage. He ended up monologing for almost half an hour, which might have been a tad bit excessive, but he felt lighter than air after he got all of it out.

The court was silent when he finally wrapped up, just processing.

“Good job, Shoto. Remember what we talked about earlier.” Hamara whispered to him with a kind smile, before turning to the judge and continuing in a normal volume. “No further questions, your honor.”

“Your witness, Defendant.” The judge turned him over to Endeavor’s lawyers. Koga, a tall, thin man and the head of the legal team representing Endeavor, rose to his feet.

“No other questions, your honor.” He said, essentially dismissing Shoto. Shoto glanced at Hamara in confusion and alarm, he’d been expecting the lawyer to try to discredit him, make it seem like it was his fault, or anything else along those lines. Not just. Having his part be done, just like that. A cold spike of fear went through him as he wondered if he’d done something wrong.

Hamara just smiled at him encouragingly as the judge directed him to return to his seat, which he did, carefully making sure not to glance in Endeavor’s direction on his way.

“You did great, don’t worry about it, I’ll explain later.” Hamara whispered to him, trying to stave off as much of the anxiety she could see forming in his eyes as she could. Shoto nodded as he sat back down, taking his stress ball back from Shouta and trying to remember how to breathe evenly as the adrenaline crashed.

His part was over, he didn’t have to worry about it anymore. But now it was Natsuo’s turn. Shoto turned around in the weird court bench so he could reach out for Natsuo’s hand to squeeze it as his middlest brother stood up to go to the bench himself.

Hamara opened up basically the same way she had for Shoto, asking Natsuo simply to tell his story. Shoto was the only one still young enough to require having a guardian, but she’d meant it when she said that he wasn’t the one on trial today.

“Objection!” Koga interrupted. “Relevance?”

“This will establish a pattern of abuse and negligence at the hands of the defendant.” Hamara explained to the judge.

“Overruled. The witness will answer the question.” Judge Okumura nodded for Natsuo to continue.

So he did, telling his story the same way Shoto had. When he started talking about Endeavor’s quirkism and revealed he was quirkless, the hero had almost blown his top. The one thing about his black sheep child he’d never wanted the world to know was now on official court records. Natsuo just smirked at the schadenfreude of it all when the judge almost had to mark him in contempt of court before Koga was finally able to get him to calm down.

Natsuo wished he hadn’t succeeded. That shit would have been hilarious as fuck.

This time when Hamara conceded the floor, Koga did take her place. Natsuo wasn’t intimidated by the man, outwardly at least. He just gazed at the lawyer coolly, prepared for anything the man could throw at him. It couldn’t be worse than all the quirkist bullshit he’d gotten over the years, and he’d always been more angry than Fuyumi and Shoto had allowed themselves to be. He was more than ready for the lawyer to bring it.

“Would I be right in saying that you’re angry?” Koga started with.

“Of course I’m angry.” Natsuo narrowed his eyes on the man, waiting for him to reveal where he was going with this.

“I would be too.” Koga nodded, voice friendly and warm like they had a camaraderie. “Especially if I were born without a quirk in a world where it’s practically required to have one. Now remind me, what college degree are you studying for?”

“Engineering.” Natsuo answered, short and sweet as he'd been taught.

“The degree that you can only get because your father did what he could to keep your status out of the public eye?” Koga raised an eyebrow. “There currently aren’t any other quirkless students enrolled in university level courses in the country, allowing you to get your education certainly doesn’t seem like something an abusive, quirkist father would do now is it?”

“Objection, leading!” Hamara interrupted.

“Overruled.” Judge Okumura denied. “The witness will answer the question.”

“First of all, ‘allowed’ is a weird word to use here, I didn’t exactly have much choice in the matter. He needs me to play the part of the non-hero son of a rich hero family perfectly, and that involves getting at least one degree.” Natsuo rolled his eyes. “Anything he’s done to ‘protect’,” he did actual finger quotes for that, “me has been in the name of protecting his reputation, he couldn’t let it get out that he sired such a failure of a human. Also, your information’s incorrect, I’m not the only quirkless person in university classes.”

“Really?” Koga blinked at that last bit, not meaning to speak but taken by surprise. He did a good job covering it otherwise, but he was just as quirkist as Endeavor was and didn’t believe any quirkless people should be allowed in university, or any sort of school really.

‘Objection, relevance?” Hamara saw her oppurtunity to break in again, hoping to jar him even more as he was shaken out of the mild shock.

“Sustained.” Okumura sighed.

“No further questions, your honor.” Koga nodded at the judge before returning to his seat. Natsuo, once directed to by the judge, did the same, letting Hizashi squeeze his wrist comfortingly as he passed by. He did glance at Endeavor on his way, taking a deep satisfaction in how pissed the ‘hero’ looked.

It felt fucking amazing to finally be able to put a look like that on his face and not have to worry about the repercussions, much less his immediate physical safety. He’d have considered sticking his tongue out if such a juvenile action wouldn’t have reflected badly on their side in front of the judge.

Next was Fuyumi’s turn, but when Hamara turned around to check on her it was evident she’d been crying at both of her brother’s testimony.

“Can we get a short recess, your honor?”

“Yes.” Okumura glanced between the lawyer and young woman. “We’ll reconvene in ten minutes, dismissed. When they left the courtroom proper, Hamara pulled Fuyumi along with her to the bathroom to help get her cleaned up a bit before she had to take a stand, and to check in with her.

“I’m okay.” Fuyumi insisted as she quickly and carefully wiped her face and fixed her make up. “I just want all of this to be over with.”

“It won’t be long now.” Hamara assured. “Just a couple hours at most, and once you’re done testifying you won’t have to do anything but watch. You can even watch from the private room with Touya and Keigo if it’s easier for you.”

“And deal with their whole mutually requited unrequited thing on top of everything else?” Fuyumi snorted, trying to find some sort of levity in the moment. Finding out Shoto had known what Endeavor had done to her the one time she’d tried to go for help the entire time had hit her hard, and the thought still made her hands tremble.

“I kinda wanted to ask about that, but I figured it wasn’t my place.” Hamara leaned in on the levity, doing what she could in the moment to help.

“Either they haven’t figured it out yet and are roommates, or they have, haven’t told us, and are roommates.” Fuyumi elaborated.

“They seem good for each other, from what I’ve seen.” Hamara mused.

“Yeah.” Fuyumi smiled gently at her reflection in the mirror. “They are.”

Not long after, the two collected the rest of the family and returned to the courtroom to continue the testimonies.

Chapter Text

The pattern was tried and true, Hamara offered Fuyumi her chance to tell her story and let her do her thing, accompanied by evidence on the tv when applicable or necessary. Fuyumi was the first to talk about their mother, a subject her brothers had steered far away from. She’d been closer to Rei than they had been though, and was older so she’d had more time with their mother and had a better recollection of watching what Endeavor had done to her too.

Then she talked about having to fill her mother’s shoes for her brothers, especially with Touya gone. Her voice broke a time or two then, and she had to stop to compose herself so she wouldn’t cry (she’d always been the easiest crier of the family). In the audience benches, Shoto was once again reaching behind him to squeeze Natsuo’s hand with one of his. She smiled at them both, trying to convey she was fine.

She continued on, moving into what it was like trying to find the right path through the chaos each day that would calm Endeavor’s rage when they didn’t match up to his ambitions enough to keep her younger brother’s from getting hurt by the man. How that often wasn’t a possibility, no matter how hard she tried. How she did her best to patch them up afterwards, and had to talk Endeavor into giving them actual medical attention when their injuries were outside her amatuer capabilities.

Correction: talk him into giving Shoto, his precious legacy, actual medical attention. There was no way he’d ever hear of getting Natsuo any help, she’d had to help her brother walk to the closest, but by no means close, quirkless clinic more times than she could count.

By the time she was done she just felt drained, but she still had to contend with Koga’s questions.

“If Endeavor’s ‘abuse’ is really as bad as you claim it is, why did you only go for ‘help’ the one time?” The lawyer asked.

“He nearly killed me.” Fuyumi whispered. She didn’t want to talk about this, he couldn’t make her go into detail. She didn’t want to go into detail. She did her best not to think about that night.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that?” Koga gestured for her to speak up.

“I said he nearly killed me.” Fuyumi repeated, louder.

“We’ve seen the medical records already today.” Koga pointed out. “There was nothing for you for the time period you’re suggesting. For that matter, there’s nothing at all for Natsuo for all the times you’re saying you took him to a quirkless clinic.”

“Quirkless clinics don’t keep paperwork like that.” Fuyumi answered the easier part first. “It’s too dangerous for their patients if they get hacked or the information gets stolen in other ways. And he didn’t officially take me to a doctor that night, he had me seen off the books by a buddy of his.”

“So we’re supposed to go on your word alone?” The man questioned with a raised eyebrow. “The only daughter, stepping into her mother’s shoes. Who’s to say you aren’t exaggerating for the attention?” Abruptly, something in Fuyumi snapped. It might have been at the mention of her mother alone or specifically the shoes she’d never wanted to fill, but she was too busy yelling over Hamara trying to object to pay too much attention to it.

“He beat me!” She all but screeched, the sudden volume startling Koga so much he took a step back (also startling Shouta so much, especially since he’d been paying such close attention and was wound just as tight as everyone else under the pressure of the day, that he activated his quirk for the barest second out of reflex).

“He hit me so hard and so many times I had internal bleeding. He used his quirk, too. The only reason I don’t have a scar to match Shoto’s is because he has friends in the medical community who’s quirks specifically help with them and I’m skilled with makeup. After all, for Shoto a scar could be seen as intimidating later on in his hero career, but I’m his only daughter as you so helpfully mentioned.” Fuyumi’s voice filled with scorn.

“I have to be picture perfect at all times. My ‘father’ has made it perfectly clear anything less will have me facing consequences.” Fuyumi took a deep breath, trying to regain composure before turning icy eyes on Koga. She was Himura Fuyumi, and she’d see Endeavor burn for all the bullshit and pain he’d put them through. She just had to keep herself from forgetting that. “Detective Tsukauchi can also verify that every word I’ve said today is true. Feel free to ask him when he gives his testimony. Do you have any other questions for me?”

“Not- not at this time.” Koga stuttered. “No further questions, your honor.”

“Very well. You may return to your seat.” Judge Okumura instructed Fuyumi. When she was seated with one of Natsuo’s arms wrapped around her, the judge continued. “I think this would be a good time to take lunch. We’ll reconvene in an hour to continue witness testimonies.” With the bang of a gavel, they were all dismissed once again.

…..

Hamara had arranged to have several pizzas delivered to their private room just off the main courtroom a little before then, knowing a longer lunch break would be reasonably expected around that time. They went ignored for the first ten minutes as the Himuras wrapped each other in a big group hug, more than Fuyumi’s tears being shed.

“Why didn’t Koga have any questions for me?” Shoto finally asked once everyone had a plate and was tucking in.

“Oh right, I forgot I hadn’t had a chance to explain that.” Hamara set the piece of pizza in her hand back on her plate. “Basically, your testimony was too long for him to really be able to make any headway against it. You went into so much detail and touched on so many things that any clarification he could have asked for or attempts to discredit would have been too likely to backfire on him.”

“Damn.” Touya whistled. “Good job, Shosho.” Shoto wasn’t really sure what to say to that, his anxiety had him believing he must have done something drastically wrong by that point, so he just shoved his pizza into his mouth instead of responding. Shouta, in full dad mode and needing to make sure all of his kids were okay, reached forward to rub his shoulder comfortingly as he stood up to make sure everyone had water.

He ignored Hizashi, Nedzu, and Chiyo’s knowing looks at the action. Hizashi leaned over surreptitiously to check what Izuku was rapidly typing out on his phone before promptly removing it from the boy, only raising an eyebrow when Izuku tried to protest.

“What did we say this morning?” Hizashi asked.

“It was just research.” The cat-eared boy grumbled, taking another bite of his pizza.

“You can ‘research’ when you’re not next on the stand.” Shouta called from the other side of the room, where he’d knelt down next to Fuyumi to check in with her. “You’re just looking for something you can throw in Endeavor’s face when Koga questions you.”

Izuku couldn’t argue with that.

“Hey, um. Hamara?” Touya asked, leaning into Keigo for support. The bird wrapped a wing around the oldest Himura, something they’d discovered Touya found very comforting.

“What’s up, Touya?” The lawyer turned to the young man.

“You said we’re currently unsure if Endeavor’s side knows I’m alive, and that they didn’t add me to the witness list even if they do because that would beg questions they don’t want answered, right?”

“I can’t guarantee that’s what’s happening, but I’d say it’s pretty likely.”

“And they know that you have an Anonymous Witness on the witness list you have the option to call?” He sought further clarification. “What’s the likelihood they’d know that’s me? Would they have questions prepared for me?”

Hamara paused for a second, thinking through how she wanted to phrase this.

“They know there’s an Anonymous Witness.” She said slowly. “That info goes to everyone involved in the case. If they know you’re alive, they’d be stupid not to assume you’re a strong contender for it. Any lawyer worth their salt would try to come up with something to discredit you, but there’s not going to be a lot they can do in this case. Are you thinking you want to testify?”

“I.” Touya swallowed. “I think I do. It’s time.”

“That’s fantastic, Touya.” She smiled at him. “You have the option of coming into the courtroom with us when we return, or you can wait here for us to call you. The bailiff would come escort you.”

“The second one.” Touya mustered up a weak snicker. “It’s more dramatic.”

“And you’re nothing if not a drama llama.” Keigo sighed, the two of them combined prompting snickers from the rest of the room.

“Oh my kami, Endeshit’s face is gonna be so good when you walk in.” Natsuo interjected. “It’s too bad we can’t get a picture of it.” Izuku raised an eyebrow at Nedzu at that, but the chimera remained stubbornly silent on the subject. It was an amused, satisfied sort of silence though, and that spoke volumes on it’s own.

“I think I’m getting too old for these sorts of dramatics.” Chiyo sighed, breaking the tension in her own way. “I prefer to watch my soap operas, not take part in them.”

“You say that like you’re not the scariest person in this room.” Shouta, ever the little shit, grumbled at his mother as he settled back into his spot next to Hizashi, grinning when she smacked his knee lightly with her cane.

“And you’re the reason I have grey hair.” She informed him.

After that, lunch passed. Maybe not fully tolerably, but easier than it could have.

Then it was time for Izuku, the resident vigilante, hacker, all around self-proclaimed sarcastic bitch to take the stand. Heaven have mercy on Todoroki Enji’s soul, because he would not.

Chapter Text

“Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” The bailiff read Izuku in.

“I do.” The teen nodded, currently leaning on his ‘i’m just an innocent little guy’ persona that he sometimes used when he needed to charm his way out of a situation he didn’t want to be in to keep himself from going off the rails in an inappropriate way. There was a time and a place, and he knew this was neither.

Izuku was, more or less, the first witness to be called by the defense. Naomasa, as a cop with a truth detector quirk, was arguably a neutral third party in this matter despite the fact that he was one of Shouta and Hizashi’s best friends. Due to the nature of his quirk and they way it was utilized by the courts in cases like this (something that was necessary more often than he liked), he’d be going last. Mostly so he could confirm or deny any lies he heard over the course of the day.

Anonymous Witnesses, in this case Touya was the only one, typically went last unless Naomasa was involved in a case, so today Touya would be second to last.

As the defense’s witness, Koga got first crack at Izuku, leaving Hamara her chance to clean up any mess he made after.

“Now Midoriya,” the man cleared his throat as he stood before the witness box and the teen in it, “you’re currently in the process of being adopted by Aizawa and Yamada, is that correct?”

“Yes.” Izuku nodded. “Everything should be finalized in a few months.” Less than two, he was counting the days.

“Are you also a ward of the school?” Koga asked. “Records show you entered their custody in the first week of the first semester.”

“Oh, no. I met dad, er, Aizawa years ago.” Izuku informed him, now knowing which direction Koga was going in first. Calling his dad Aizawa at this point now still felt really strange though. He’d mostly been avoiding using names at all during classes.

“Is that so? How exactly did you meet if it wasn't the first week of school?”

“Objection, relevance?” Hamara broke in. In theory, Koga could just be seeking to throw dirt on UA and the Yamazawas by calling Izuku’s acceptance into the hero course nepotism, especially with his quirk status, so while Hamara didn’t expect her objection to be successful, it was better to know which avenue he’d take. He probably already knew about Izuku’s past, but they didn’t necessarily want to volunteer that information if they didn’t have to.

“This goes into the safety of Todoroki Shoto in the care of UA.” Koga told the judge. “They’re insisting my client is dangerous, but I have reason to believe they aren’t providing any safer an environment.” Oh yeah, no, it was definitely the vigilante thing.

“Proceed.” The judge nodded. Izuku glanced at Hamara, who quickly flashed him the signal to go with Plan A.

“We met when he found me stabbed in an alley.” Izuku answered casually, dropping the bomb like it was something perfectly normal. If Koga wanted to play this game, Izuku was going to play it to a decidedly unnerving slant. “I assume you’re dancing around the fact that I once had a streak of what for most would be vigilantism? Most wouldn’t be able to get those records, but I suppose Endeavor’s money talks.”

Hamara, after discussing with Nedzu and Izuku over lunch taking in the context of the rest of the trial, had decided on a more offensive defense if this came up. Normally, on the stand, one would give as little information as possible, but Koga had shown that he could be thrown, and Hamara wanted to take full advantage of that.

If they could throw him hard enough by being just the slightest bit fast and loose (and unnerving, in that horrifying way Izuku had mastered in his years as a faux vigilante), he may stop his questioning sooner or neglect to ask certain questions. Either way, less for Hamara to clean up afterward.

“You say that like you weren’t a vigilante.” Koga frowned. “The vigilante laws aren’t age restricted, acting as a hero without a hero’s license is vigilantism for everyone.”

“That’s not what the laws say, though.” Izuku corrected, biting down the urge to give commentary on how a lawyer should know that. Not the place, not the time. “Vigilantism is using a quirk specifically to stop criminals or villains without a hero’s license. It’s a little known loophole, but an interesting one when you’re quirkless.”

Speaking of information, that was really something Koga should have known. Asking clarification on Izuku being a vigilante was a bit of a rookie move when his real point was that Izuku either had criminal or violent tendencies. Despite himself, Izuku felt his placid smile gain the slightest edge when he saw the repulsion in Koga’s eyes. Natsuo had been right, he was a quirkist bastard.

“Either way,” Izuku continued, “I did what I had to in part for survival. All of which is on record and I have immunity for.”

“I fail to see how putting yourself in reckless danger could in any way be done for ‘survival’.” Koga scoffed.

“UA is the only school in Japan that accepts quirkless students.” Izuku said, tone ever so much softer. “And I’ve always wanted to be a hero. If UA was going to be my only option anyways, I might as well try to be a hero too. But I was never going to get past the entrance exam without training, and training hard. Do you know how many places are willing to teach a quirkless kid how to fight? So much of what I had to learn I had to teach myself.” Izuku paused for a second, feigning hesitation or indecision.

“Besides, if you look at quirkless statistics, even if I got myself killed it was just as likely I’d die anyways. At least the attempt to learn to fight could help me protect myself against a hate crime.”

“And where were your parents in all of this?” Koga flustered, started trying to find his way back to his original point.

“I didn’t think I was the one on trial here.” Izuku frowned up at the judge at the same time Hamara objected, once again for relevance.

“Sustained.” Okumura banged her gavel. “Stick to the topic at hand.”

“No more questions.” Koga all but growled, turning back to his table in frustration. Izuku barely contained his giggle when Endeavor hissed ‘D’Artagnan’ at him, but it was too late to bring that back up. Kami, he loved a job well done.

“Your witness, Plaintiff.” Judge Okumura intoned.

“Yes, your honor.” Hamara stood and approached Izuku, who let himself relax slightly. The hard part was over, now he just had to follow her lead. Behind her, Izuku caught Nedzu nodding approvingly.

“Now, Midoriya,” Izuku fought to hide his cringe at the old name, he seriously couldn’t wait until the clock on the adoption period ran out, “I believe Koga’s original point was that your time as a so called ‘vigilante’ makes you dangerous. I’d like to elaborate on that point a bit further, do you have any other history of ‘dangerous’ or violent behavior along those lines?”

“No ma’am.” Izuku shook his head.

“I presume you met Aizawa under his hero persona of Eraserhead?” Izuku nodded when she paused. “Has he ever hurt you? Made you feel unsafe? Pushed you toward ‘violent’ behavior?”

“No to all of that.” Izuku told her. “He kept me safe, honestly he’s probably the only reason I didn’t actually get myself killed trying to be a ‘so called vigilante’. He taught me what I needed to know, and pushed me away from violence whenever possible, whether it was by staying out of physical fights or showing me how deescalation tactics work.

“He and Hizashi are the first adults I’ve trusted in… a long time. Because of them, I was able to find other adults I learned to trust over the course of last semester, a family, and the kind of safe, loving home I didn’t know was actually possible for someone without a quirk in Japan. I trusted them to the point that when I figured out what Shoto’s home life was like, I did my best to convince him to talk to them too. I wouldn’t bring anyone to an adult I don’t trust to actually help.”

“No further questions your honor.” Hamara turned to the judge, who released Izuku. What he’d said was perfect, there was no reason to ruin it with more words.

Besides, if he said anything else, a suspiciously misty eyed Hizashi might have actually started bawling and they couldn’t always control their quirk when crying.

Chapter Text

After Izuku testified, Shouta and Hizashi were called to the stand as the current ward guardians of Shoto, followed by Nedzu. Koga, bless his heart, decided to take the oppurtunity now that he was dealing with adults and not actual abuse victims, and leaned in far harder on them than he did the kids, not that he tried to go easy on the kids.

It was just that the adult’s words were more easily twisted, since they hadn’t experienced anything first hand. (Koga couldn’t get the presence of a certain Detective out of his head, and it was wrecking hell on his ability to concentrate. He wasn’t stupid, he knew Endeavor was an asshole. Koga was one too and like always called to like. But he was an asshole who paid well, and Koga was raking in the cash on a case like this. Even knowing Detective Tsukauchi would later verify everything the kids were saying more than likely.)

(Honestly, his biggest issue was going to be keeping his hot headed client off the stand, Tsukauchi would see through him in under a second and the whole game Endeavor wanted him to play would be moot.)

If anything, the adult Yamazawas were only amused at his attempts to discredit them. They’d all played this game before with other ward students, though those kids had all chosen to be general ward students the way Hizashi had instead of being adopted and hadn’t hit so close to home.

But they were professionals, and they didn’t show that amusement. Koga was pretty sure he got flashes of disdain from all of them when they left the stand though. Then Nedzu smiled at him, and it should have been normal but it sent ice running through the lawyer’s veins.

Koga got absolutely nothing usable for his side from all three of them. By this point in the day he was moving past frustrated into vexed territory and had to take deep breaths to calm himself. When he was dealing with clients that had clear anger issues, he couldn’t let his get the better of him.

“Hamara, you indicated earlier you would be calling your Anonymous Witness to the stand?” The judge asked. “As this court usually does, I want Detective Tsukauchi to go last, please go ahead and call them.”

“Now hold on a minute!” Endeavor interrupted before Koga could stop him. “What about me? Don’t I get a chance to defend myself!”

“Shut. The Fuck. Up.” Koga leaned down to hiss in his ear, only the “hero” and Izuku able to make out his words. “You are not as infallible as you think you are, we both know you did all that shit, and the detective’s quirk will see through anything you try to say. We talked about this, your only job to day is to sit there and look pretty. Now. Sit.”

The lawyer had to back up a bit as Endeavor started steaming and the air around him grew hot, but he didn’t stop his glare. Sure, Koga had leaned in on the cash grab after realizing the detective would be involved, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still going to provide the best defense he could. The last thing he needed was his reputation changing to ‘refuses to try for even high profile clients’.

His methods of client control might have worked on most of the people he took on, but he never stood a chance of intimidating the country’s second highest ranked hero into submission. He didn’t even speak, he just exploded into a mass of flames. Or well, he tried to.

Unfortunately for him, Shouta was there and perfectly allowed to use his quirk in courts in cases of destructive or dangerous quirk use just like this.

“I would appreciate not having to use my quirk.” He spoke into the ensuing silence in an incredibly deadpan tone once Endeavor’s flames had gone out completely, even the ones that made up his stupid facial hair. “It gives me serious issues with dry eye, and I’m supposed to be on leave for today.” That they both were was a very pointed follow up that the underground pro left unsaid.

“Koga, if you can’t control your client I’m going to rule him in contempt and have him finish the trial from the defense’s private room.” Judge Okumura sternly told the two.

“Are you sure we want to leave him in there alone?” The bailiff muttered to her, again so softly only Izuku with his more sensitive hearing could pick it up. (He had no problem telling the rest of his family about that moment later though, it was fucking hilarious.)

“If we have to,” Okumura whispered back to him, hand over her microphone to keep this short discussion off the record, “we do have quirk canceling bracelets.” She gave him a look though, as she spoke. The two had worked together for years, if things got to the point she had to put a top ranked hero in quirk canceling jewelry over a custody trial, well that just proved the point of the trial, didn’t it?

“Pretty sure we’re out of anything but the actual cuffs right now.” The bailiff noted. “Some sort of water quirk issue frying everything else.”

“Kami.” Okumura refrained from rolling her eyes, though she wanted to. Then she uncovered her microphone and the day continued, Endeavor rather grumpily and reluctantly behaved after that (aka stewed in a silent sulk in his seat).

Izuku smirked to himself at the thought of Endeavor in quirk canceling cuffs in a courtroom, fuck he couldn’t wait to see that day. Maybe there was something to Shouta’s visualization method.

“Defense, have you reached a decision on whether or not your client will testify today?” Judge Okumura asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He will not.” Koga answered, tone as definitive as he could make it.

“Very well then,” Okumura turned to Hamara, “call your next witness.” Shouta, knowing what was coming, kept his attention on Endeavor. His three Himura children currently present had all tensed when he’d started to get angry, and he wasn’t about to let another temper tantrum make this day worse for them on his (literal) watch.

“I call Himura Touya to the stand.” Hamara announced to the court. The silence was so thick following the name that it almost felt like the very building was holding it’s breath, but Endeavor didn’t explode. If anything, he went pale where he sat quietly in his seat.

“Bailiff, if you could escort him in?” The judge asked. The officer nodded, moving to do as instructed.

When the oldest sibling entered the courtroom he was visibly nervous but kept his head held high. The sleeves on his button up rolled to his elbows (with Keigo’s help, since his fingers worked better than Touya’s did) to further emphasize what remained of his scars, he’d been working with Chiyo and other medical professionals to try to make them a bit less impactful to his daily life and general health, but they still stood in stark contrast with the rest of his skin.

He didn’t look at Endeavor as he climbed into the witness box. Hamara stepped into the area in front of the bench, smiling kindly and encouragingly as she asked him if he too, would tell his story.

Hidden behind the box itself, Touya clutched on of the smaller feathers Keigo had given him in support before the Bailiff had gotten him. The bird couldn’t join the courtroom proper since only those actively involved in the trial could enter, so this was the next best thing. Touya took a deep breath, and started.

“My name is Himura Touya, formerly Todoroki Touya, Endeavor’s oldest son. He thought he killed me and left me for dead in a dumpster. I was thirteen.” The lanky man kept his eyes trained on Hamara the entire time he spoke, though he wanted desperately to glance at his siblings. If he made a single move though, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t look at Endeavor, and if he did that now he might not be able to finish. He had to save that for the end.

He explained what he knew about how his quirked worked- so much more now with Izuku and Hizashi’s speculations, though he wasn’t brave enough to test them (and might never be, but that was just fine- no one was going to make him), and how Endeavor thought Touya would be his first legacy.

Except Touya’s quirk didn’t work like his did, and the man refused to believe it, opting instead to only train it in a way that hurt Touya. Then Shoto’s quirk had manifested, the perfect blend of the pro’s and their mother’s quirk that Endeavor had always wanted. That was the day Touya knew his time was limited.

He’d never shared this with anyone until that day in court, but he’d actually been working on running away, that he shared in a whisper. At some point, a point that was coming closer with each day, Endeavor was going to kill him and running was the only thing that could save him. But every time he tried, he just couldn’t. He wasn’t able to leave his younger siblings, especially Shoto, the baby, to deal with what Endeavor would put them through alone.

Then Rei had her… episode, as a result of Endeavor’s abuse, and was institutionalized.

Then Endeavor went further than he ever had. He hadn’t used his quirk to burn Touya. No, he knew about the quirkless clinic that Fuyumi took Natsuo to and that one of the staff there could reverse the effects of quirks. He’d used a flame thrower to burn Touya instead.

He’d been sadistic about it. He’d told the then young teenager that if he failed this exercise, it’d just look like a training accident gone horribly wrong. The flamethrower was just a tool, you see, an exercise in getting Touya able to control flames that weren’t his, and if he failed to control the flamethrower it’d all just be a tragic accident.

He knew full well Touya’s quirk didn’t and had never worked like that. Touya couldn’t control any flames but his own. It was a murder attempt, full stop, and he’d left Touya’s ‘body’ abandoned in a dumpster like the trash he clearly thought it was.

“HE’S LYING!” Endeavor launched to his feet at that point, unable to control himself long enough to not try to lie in his own defense. His need to save face took over, to his own detriment.

“I WAS THIRTEEN, YOU FUCK!” Touya screamed right back, temporarily forgetting where they were and what Hamara had taught him about court decorum (not that anyone would hold that against him). “I was only thirteen! If some random ass doctors hadn’t happened to find me in time thinking I was a trapped cat, you would have actually killed me!”

Hamara stepped between Touya and Endeavor, breaking Touya’s line of sight as the ‘hero’ continued screaming. Shouta activated his quirk at Endeavor’s first movement, making sure he wouldn’t be able to use it while the bailiff attempted to get the so called pro under control and the judge called for order.

Shouta and Hizashi were both ready to step in if the judge asked or should Endeavor attack the bailiff. The officer may have training and Endeavor may rely on his quirk entirely too much, but a pro hero was still a pro hero and your average cop wouldn’t stand a chance.

However Endeavor, in a rare display that showed he had at least two brain cells to rub together, didn’t go that far, and was eventually calmed down enough to be escorted from the room after the judge ruled him in contempt. Koga knew when not to push, he quickly promised he had no further questions before the judge could even ask.

“You did fantastic.” Hamara smiled at him, helping the shaking young adult out of the witness booth and over to his family. They got him sitting between Natsuo and Fuyumi in the second row, both holding on to him from other side. “All of you are doing fantastic. Just hold on a little bit longer, it’s almost over now.”

Chapter Text

Judge Okumura asked if they would like a recess, Shoto figured they probably looked like they needed a breather, but it just took a glance between the group to decide they wanted to keep pushing through. At this point, it was only Naomasa left and all he really had to do was confirm that everything he’d heard today and the statements he’d taken from everyone beforehand were true.

He was on the stand for less than five minutes, and most of that was a formality- officially explaining who he was, how his quirk worked, and why the court system had certain allowances for him when he was involved in a case since it made things so much easier.

(A lot of that was due to the HPSC, they liked to be able to call him in on cases involving heroes, but of course only when it would be in their favor. They put pressure on the judicial system to play a little fast and loose, and the courts of course capitulated. It was the HPSC, what were they supposed to do? At any rate, this was one of the few times that backfired on the governmental body.)

At length, Endeavor was once again acting enough like the professional adult he was supposed to be to be allowed back into the courtroom (the feeling he’d been sent outside for a ten minute time out was hard to deny despite his attempt at re-entering with his head held high, like he could salvage some dignity here in the eleventh hour).

The current number two didn’t outwardly seem that worried, he still thought he could squeak by and get the result he desired on his reputation and status alone. It didn’t matter to him that UA and Nedzu ultimately held just as much if not more status in the eyes of the general public, he was too used to getting his way.

Okumura tapped her gavel against the bench, drawing everyone’s attention for her final decision. In the front row on the UA side of the court, Izuku and Shouta offered their hands for Shoto to squeeze, while Hizashi turned slightly to the side, reaching out to offer theirs to Fuyumi, who held on to Touya with her free hand, and who in turn held on to Natsuo.

Shoto was pretty sure he was going to puke for real this time, oh fuck he absolutely wasn’t ready for this, but it was far too late to ask for a recess now.

“First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who’s testified today for their bravery and willingness to come forward. I know that it couldn’t have been easy. Thank you to Detective Tsukauchi as well, your willingness to help sort through fact and fiction in otherwise turbulent and complicated cases is always appreciated. That being said, I won’t delay my decision any longer, I know you’re all anxious to hear it.

“In the case of UA vs Todoroki Enji regarding the custody of his youngest son, Todoroki Shoto, I award full custody to the UA ward system in whatever way the school sees fit.” Shoto felt like all the air had been sucked from his body, but this time from the sheer force of the relief that hit him at those words. He just wanted to replay them over and over in his mind to help convince himself he’d actually heard correctly, a large part of his mind was convinced this was all some sort of sick joke, but the judge was continuing with some rather scathing remarks to his sperm donor, now turned former guardian.

“The behavior you’ve shown today and that your children have testified to is both abhorrent and disgusting, no less for the fact that you’re supposed to be held to a higher standard as a pro hero. I can only say that I’m disappointed this is not a criminal court and I can’t actually charge you for the atrocities you’ve committed, though with any luck those will be coming soon.

“Furthermore, I’m going to go ahead and put a No Contact order in place on the behalf of Todoroki Shoto, if that’s okay with you Hamara?” The UA lawyer immediately nodded when the Okumura looked to her, not about to look this gift horse in the mouth. “It might be beneficial for all of you to look into restraining orders, but unfortunately that’s not something I can do at this time.

“Additionally, I’m fining you, Todoroki Enji, seventy five thousand yen for your contempt of court. I would prefer to sentence you to the night in jail, but we all know the HPSC wouldn’t allow that. Remain behind to speak to the clerk about how to pay it and to go over the terms of your no contact order. Case dismissed.”

Endeavor stared at the judge in flabbergasted shock, trying to figure out how he could have possibly lost.

Cheers went up from the UA side as the judge finished her monologue, but the adults quickly got everyone moved up and out of the courtroom for a proper celebration. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Judge Okumura fined Endeavor in part so that he’d have to remain behind so they could leave without him trying to accost them and the Yamazawas wanted to take full advantage of that.

They didn’t stop the giant family group hug in the parking lot, though. Everyone deserved it after the hell the day had been.

“‘As the school sees fit’,” Shoto repeated the judge’s phrasing from where he was being rocked back and forth by Touya, “does that mean that you can just move forward with the adoption?”

“It does!” Nedzu cheerfully answered from where he’d gone to stand on top of the car (Shouta really didn’t like it when Nedzu stood on his shoulder without the scarf, said it felt akin to a cat’s fur being pet the wrong way, so Nedzu tried to respect that. Shouta was typically already on edge without the capture weapon in general). “We’ll still have to go through the normal process of course, but that’s just a matter of waiting for the clock to run out, much the same as we’re doing with Izuku-kun.”

Nedzu said that like they all didn’t know the ‘normal process’ meant ‘how much Nedzu could speed up the typical process’. Shoto would be an official Yamazawa before he knew it.

“Your ours now, kiddo.” Hizashi opened his arms for a hug. “And no one can change that, legally or otherwise.”

“You’re legally my papa.” Shoto whispered against their shirt after practically colliding with the adult in his haste for a hug

In the end, Chiyo had to drive their car home. Hizashi was crying too hard to be safe behind the wheel, and refused to let Shouta drive lest they be Shoto’s legal parents for less than half an hour total.

That just gave both adults plenty of time to give the other staff on campus plenty of warning.

Teacher Chat

donewithurshit: you have half an hour. get the block party ready.

localradiohost: HE MEANS WE WON THE CASE!!!!!

localradiohost: SHOTO’S OURS NOW

sleepytimetea: !!!! YOU WON HOLY SHIT THAT’S FANTASTIC

localradiohost: WEEEE WOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

spaghettiwestern: CONGRATS!!!!

spaghettiwestern: I’ll get the grills runnin! We’re gonna have the best potluck of the year :)

starsailor: I’ve got the drinks. Shouta shut up I’m feeding your kids soda tonight, they deserve it. Also you. You’re having a soda tonight.

WillHauntYou: Congratulations! I’ve got all the tables and chairs, just give me a few minutes and you all can start bringing things out

spaghettiwestern: “you all” ☠

WillHauntYou: lay off it country boy, we’re supposed to be getting a surprise party ready

FruitSaladYummyYummy: Oh my Goodness, congrats!!! I know you’ve been looking forward to this for a while!

spike: I’m over at Nem’s with Toga and Eri and Eri’s so excited she’s practically about to vibrate off the walls

spike: excitederi.jpeg

donewithurshit: I would appreciate it if you didn’t make zashi squeal so hard they almost use their quirk in the car, I’d like us to be able to hear when we get home

donewithurshit: speaking of that, pretty sure we’re gonna get noise ordinanced tonight @dad

dad: not a problem :)

thebetterbob: I’m with @bobthebuilder, we’re not on campus so we’ll be late, but we’re gonna stop for some stuff so let us know if we need to get anything. Higari’s going full uncle mode lmao. Congrats @donewithurshit @localradiohost @dad @TooOldForThis

yallneedtherapy: that’s amazing to hear! Congratulations!!!

The congratulations and last minute details to the party the entire staff had been planning for this moment continued to pour in, but by that point everyone in the chat that wasn’t there in person Shouta and Hizashi wanted to hear from had already spoken, so they put their phones away.

They really only wanted to make the announcement so everyone could stop worrying and get the party ready for when they arrived, right now it was time to focus on family.

Chapter Text

Shoto was practically vibrating as they drove back onto campus, with Fuyumi driving while Natsuo and Touya tried their best to crush him between the two in hugs, equally excited.

He honestly didn’t know he could even be that happy, but here he sat, all four of his siblings alive, reasonably healthy, legally away from Endeavor with a family that loved and supported all of them. And to think it was all because of one moment of weakness when he let a persistent cat-eared classmate force him into getting help.

Shoto had no idea how life could get better than that moment right there.

Then they followed the Yamazawa car onto campus (Keigo chose to fly to the courthouse and back) straight to the little neighborhood of houses that made up the teachers dorms instead of to the parking garage like normal to find a giant block party of a celebration already set-up and waiting for them, including Rin and Hitoshi, who’d also collected Mina and Neito.

The peppermint colored boy was almost too overwhelmed by everything to even begin to know what to do, but luckily he didn’t have to think about it because Natsuo was pulling him out of the car almost as soon as they were parked. Before Shoto knew it, he was lost inside another group hug- this time with his friends.

“Ohmigod, Shoto, I’m so happy for you!” Mina got to him first, throwing her arms around his shoulders, already crying (something she was picking up from Izuku the longer they knew each other).

“I was so worried about you, but I didn’t want to spam your phone. Congrats, buddy.” Neito joined right after Mina.

“One of us.” Was all Hitoshi said (or would repeat at louder volumes every time he was spoken to), as he joined the hug.

“Hello, yes, I know we all want to hug the peppermint baby.” Izuku’s voice carried over to them as he ran up carrying a bright eyed one horned flying purple (Nemuri and Himiko painted her face) five year old above his head. “But there’s someone else who needs to hug him too, and you can finally meet. Please make room for Princess Eri.”

“Shoto! You came back!” Eri cried out immediately after that, already trying to reach for her brother even though Izuku hadn’t even put her down yet.

“Of course I did, princess.” Shoto disengaged from the hug to kneel down so she could crash into him, wrapping her tiny little arms around his neck. “We told you I was going to, didn’t we?”

“I was so scared you were gonna go away.” Eri whispered into his ear, again in that child’s whisper that carried.

“Never.” Shoto swore. “It’s the absolute last thing I want to do.” Then the teen switched tracks. “Hey Eri, do you remember the friends we talked about? Mina and Neito? We showed you that picture of us?”

“Mina’s pink, and Neito had the cat.” Eri leaned back enough to nod.

“Well, they’re right here, wanna say hi?” Shoto glanced up at his friends. “With how crazy everything’s been, you haven’t had the chance to meet, but Mina, Neito, this is Eri. Eri, this is Mina and Neito.” Just across the way from them, the Yamazawas and older Himuras all watched the adorable scene, just letting it play out. (Hizashi was taking so many photos while Shouta was quietly updating Nemuri on the day.)

“Hi.” Eri greeted, shyly leaning into Shoto’s warm side as she peaked up at the two strangers.

“Hi Eri!” Mina grinned brightly, immediately squatting down to be on her level, followed by Neito. “I’m Mina! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“Hey, there pipsqueak.” Neito greeted with is own smile.

“What’s a pipsqueak?” Eri whispered to Shoto.

“It’s someone who’s small.” Shoto whispered back.

“Oh.” She continued, still in a whisper, before the realization visibly hit her and her volume rose. “I’m not small! I’m five!”

“Yeah, Neito.” Izuku parroted with a smirk directed at his friend. “The princess isn't small, she’s five.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Neito leaned into a dramatic, apologetic bow, “for my blunder, my lady. I’ll see that it doesn’t happen again.”

“You better not.” Eri scowled at him, melting the hearts of literally everyone who saw it. Higari, approaching the adults, muttered something to Snipe about how the Yamazawa’s ended up with all the adorable ones. Snipe didn’t even try to humor his boyfriend, just asked something about what the engineer would do if Hatsume was a vigilante like Izuku. Higari paled, and let the topic drop.

Higari stopped to talk with Shouta and Hizashi, but Snipe carried forward to greet the teens and the newest soon-to-be-legally Yamazawa, the first teacher to do so.

“Not to interrupt, but I wanted to come give my congratulations.” Snipe grinned at all the teens. “We’re all real glad everything went right for ya today.”

“Thank you.” Shoto nodded at the teacher, but he kept glancing at Izuku who’d narrowed his eyes at the western-themed hero’s approach.

“I know that tone of voice.” Izuku accused. “You’re planning something.”

“You don’t miss a lick, now do ya?” Snipe grinned at the greenette. “Thirteen got soda for everyone and we’re trying to convince your dad to let loose a little. I’ve got money on y’all succeeding when we inevitably fail again.”

“Dad likes soda?” Shoto turned to Izuku and Hitoshi when they both snorted.

“He loves soda.” Hitoshi answered. “He just refuses to drink it in front of others so he doesn’t tarnish his precious coffee drinker reputation.  And he doesn’t drink it often because it’s filled with sugar.”

“Toshi and I are out on this one.” Izuku added. “As the other two resident coffee drinkers, he’s not gonna take any flak from us. Its up to you and Eri tonight.”

“Bet if I offered him an energy drink instead I could get him to choose soda.” Mina grinned.

“You're on.” Izuku grinned back.

“Can I have an energy drink?” Eri asked. She didn’t quite know what that was, but it sounded fun.

“No!” Five voices cried in horror, with Shouta himself swooping in seconds later to break up the conversation before it go any further. Down that path destruction lay.

After that, the rest of their extended family came over to give their own congratulations, and people ultimately split into little groups that constantly changed as people wandered around to talk to others.

Good food and a good time was had by all, and Shouta was indeed convinced by Shoto (who got Natsuo and Himiko on board for the challenge of it) to drink soda. Shouta didn’t make it that hard for them, it was a celebration after all, he just kinda wanted to see how creative they could get after overhearing their conversation with Snipe. He and Zashi both put their feet down on Eri drinking soda, from a medical standpoint they were still getting her acclimated to a normal diet for someone her age, and for non-medical reasons they were already going to be dealing with Energizer Catzuku hyped up on the sugar later on. They didn’t need to deal with the literal child on a sugar high too.

They also did get noise ordinanced, in part because Lunch Rush spiked the (from that point adult only) punch bowl and Zashi (a chronic lightweight) didn’t notice until they were having issues controlling their quirk. It was fine, Nedzu handled it when the cops showed up, but it did happen. Kan was very insistent that it should count for the bingo sheets, but he got out-voted because the semester hadn’t actually started yet.

The party also went late into the night. Eri was put to bed at her normal bedtime though, and Shouta took the opportunity to escape Having to People via the excuse of having an adult in the house with her. He loved his family, even the staff part of his family, but it had been a long day, he was an introvert, and he was done. Hitoshi joined him in the solitude from time to time until one of his friends came in to drag him back out into socializing.

(He’d have to figure out how to make his friends leave him alone in his own time. It’d taken Shouta years to train his motley crew appropriately, but it was worth it. And a rite of passage.)

Shouta did have the chance to check in with Zashi, Shoto, Nem, Rei, and Hitoshi, and they officially had Family Patrol on the books for the next Friday, after the first week of school ended. Zashi was looking forward to their first (official) underground patrol in a while, and having a second hero on hand for introducing Hitoshi and Shoto to patrols would be nice.

(Some part of him was mildly concerned for whatever criminals would have the bad luck to choose that night to go out, with the current line-up, they could probably take down the entire country. It was a really small part though, most of him couldn’t wait.)

It was too late to send the kids back to their houses by the time things wrapped up though, so there was a big sleepover in the Yamazawa house that night (after Zashi made all of them promise not to wake Eri up, something the ones that weren’t technically theirs easily agreed to).

The day had a rough start, but it ended so much better than any of them had dared to hope.

Chapter Text

The collection of teens currently in house decided to spend Friday showing Eri around their dorm and their rooms, as well as their favorite spots to hang out in the school after they all had breakfast. The five year old was absolutely adorable and immediately had Mina and Neito as wrapped around her little finger as she had everyone else. But first, Fumikage came over.

With how bonkers the last few weeks had been between Eri, Shoto, and the annual Tokoyami family vacation they hadn’t seen each other in person in longer than either was happy about. Truly adorable photos of Reaper, Eri, and Dark Shadow at the beach had been sent back and forth like trading cards in the interim though.

“Ohmigod I’m so glad you’re here.” Izuku blurted as he threw the door open before his boyfriend could even knock, crashing into him for a hug so fast Fumikage barely had time to catch him before they both crashed to the ground. Luckily though he knew Izuku well enough to expect this so he was able to brace himself and keep them from taking a tumble in the dirt. “I missed you so much, please tell me we can have catical tuddles forever.”

“We can cuddle as long as you want.” Fumikage chuckled as Izuku greeted Dark Shadow, who’d made an appearance, and gave her scritches with the hand not locked around his shoulders. “I missed you too. But I think your parents and the rest of our sensei’s may have an issue with us taking tests like this.”

“You’d be surprised the accommodations we’ve made when it came to testing.” An incredibly amused Hizashi broke in from the doorway. “The real issue here is letting the bugs in and the air and cats out while you cuddle.”

“Of course.” Fumi nodded, simply carrying Izuku over the threshold so Hizashi could close the door behind him.

“Thanks papa.” Izuku muttered, making sure his mouth wasn’t blocked by Fumikage’s shoulder so the radio host’s hearing aides could pick it up. “I’m not ready to let go yet.”

“It’s only been a few weeks, green bean.” The blonde commented, amusement sparkling in their eyes at the trials and tribulations of young love.”

“You say that, but I happen to know you didn’t let dad out of your sight after that one two week international mission he got sent on.” Izuku narrowed green eyes at the adult.

“That was before he even met you.” Hizashi frowned, confused.

“It was when he was first explaining your existence to me.” Izuku informed him. “Something about how nice you are and how much he loved you, I think. It was adorable.”

“That’s so sweet.” Hizashi, predictably, immediately melted. “I’m gonna have to pick up some more of his favorite snacks.”

“I’m running out of my favorite jelly pouches.” Shouta slouched into the living room. “Good morning Tokoyami, Dark Shadow.”

“Good morning, Aizawa.” The bird boy nodded at the hero in greeting.

“Absolutely not, love.” Hizashi turned to face his husband. “We need to demonstrate healthier habits for the children, and while the teens at least have the capability of making better choices, I do not want our sweet little princess picking up bad habits from us.” Shouta stared at them for a few seconds.

“That’s a fair point, but they’re still nice on patrols.”

“And that’s fine, but not for snacks.”

“...fine.”

“Starshine, I love you, but you’re built like a tank despite being deceptively small, can I put you down or can we sit?”

“Oh strawberries, sorry raven!” Izuku quickly scampered out of the boy’s arms, but refused to let go of one of his hands.

“Strawberries?” Fumikage questioned, voice filled with the verbal equivalent of a raised eyebrow and a giggle.

“Five year old.” Izuku reminded him. “Speaking of Eri, are the two of you ready to meet her? She’s gonna love you both, she adores Keigo.”

“You sure she won’t find me scary?” Dark Shadow asked, normally chipper voice filled with anxiety as she wrung the ends of her wings together much like a human would hands.

“I know kids have found you scary before,” Izuku started, “before they got to know you and how sweet you are Shadow. “But honestly I’m not even sure she knows what most kids think of as scary are ‘supposed’ to be scary, if that makes sense. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Okay then.” The shadow nodded, but still cuddled in close to Fumikage as Izuku led them both into the kitchen where the rest were still eating the late breakfast.

“Hey, princess.” Izuku crouched down next to her chair, still holding Fumikage’s hand. The bird got the memo though, and crouched down with Izuku. “You remember when we were talking about Fumikage, my boyfriend? This is him! Fumi and Shadow, this is Eri, Eri, this is Fumi and Dark Shadow.”

“You have a bird head!” Eri beat her little hands on the table in excitement, though she hadn’t quite figured out facial expressions yet. It was okay, that’d come with time. “My hero has bird wings! Do you have bird wings?”

“I do not, though I wish I did.” Fumikage intoned with his customary somber (read: what he thought was mysterious) tone. “They seem really cool. My quirk, Dark Shadow, does though.” The quirk in question peaked up over her human’s shoulder and gave the girl a small wave with one of the aforementioned wings.

Eri’s eyes went wide when she saw the shadow, and she let out the most dramatic gasp. Beside him, Izuku could feel Fumikage tense slightly, and he could see Dark Shadow freeze mid wave. Before he could intervene though, the little girl continued.

“You’re like a cat with wings!” Izuku almost snorted at that, because of course she’d immediately picked up the cat vibes Dark Shadow gave off, the girl loved her cats, and a cat with wings was probably the closest something could get to her idea of perfection. The only thing that could make it better was- wait.

“Hey Shadow?” Izuku asked. “What’s your favorite food again?”

“Apples?” Dark Shadow asked, confused at the non-sequitur.

“I love apples!” Eri’s eyes practically sparkled.

“Eri loves apples, too.” Izuku agreed.

Suffice to say, the introduction went well after that. Eri adored Dark Shadow as much as Izuku and Fumikage did, which was great honestly because the quirk deserved all the affection, even if she was a little confused about the concept of a sentient quirk.

She still wasn’t that solid on quirks not being curses and they didn’t want her to associate Dark Shadow with something that bad and related to her trauma, so they went with an approach similar to what they had with Nedzu to explain her. Dark Shadow was sentient, even if she was attached to Fumikage, so ‘differently shaped person’ worked as well as anything else. The important part was making sure she understood Dark Shadow was an actual person of her own and wasn’t on the same level as their actual cats.

Speaking of their actual cats, when the whole troop finally made their way over to Heights Alliance to show the girl their rooms, they brought Reaper with them. They’d discovered she loved the chance to grow to full size and just race around in the grass, something she could easily do on the way over.

(Dark Shadow ended up racing her, and it was both amusing and adorable. Izuku really wanted to be let loose on an obstacle course with both of them, but Shouta staunchly refused to let the sweet baby girl (Reaper) near those courses in case she got hurt somehow. Izuku maintained they could turn the lasers off, but he still refused.  Maybe when Reaper wasn't a literal kitten still.  Maybe.)

Less than five minutes after the kids departed the Yamazawa residence, finally leaving it in sweet, blessed silence, Shouta’s phone buzzed with Nedzu asking the two of them to meet him in his apartment.

my memory is full of holes and i was supposed to post fanart!!

So sorry Shrub, hope a day late isn't too late :|

Let Him Sleep by Shrub

Chapter Text

“Ah, Shouta-kun, Hizashi-kun, there you are.” Nedzu greeted as the two stepped through is front door.”

“Rat.” Shouta greeted right back with a nod.

“Good morning, Nedzu.” Hizashi’s greeting, as usual, was much more polite. At least at first. “I can’t help but notice we’re not meeting on campus, in the one place outside your office you’ve ensured absolutely no one can bug. Which murder are we planning?”

There were very few reasons for them to meet here, alone and almost in secret, in the middle of a weekday when Nedzu would normally be neck deep in preparing for the semester due to start in just a few short days. For that matter, that’s what both teachers should be doing too.

“As always, I appreciate the enthusiasm Hizashi-kun!” Nedzu chittered, amused. “But murder might be just the slightest bit over-dramatic at this point. I brought you here to discuss taking down the government instead, or parts of it!”

“As if that’s any less over-dramatic.” Shouta sighed, easing himself onto the couch (pro tip- if you’re planning to go into a career field as action-heavy and injury-prone as heroics, be careful when you start getting old, it’s absolutely brutal on your body). “It’s about damn time, though. We were starting to think you’d forgotten about us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Shouta-kun, I could never.” Nedzu told him crossly, tail swishing in faux-annoyance.

“The family that commits treason together stays together?” The underground pro quirked one corner of his mouth up into a grin. He’d always enjoyed banter with his father, and this gave Hizashi enough time to prepare their tea before they dove in.

“It won’t be treason by the time we’re done.” Hizashi settled onto the couch next to his husband, tea in hand. “Now, as far as I was aware, this is a bit early for when you intended to enter the end-game against the commission. I can only imagine everything with Keigo and Shoto moved your plans forward. Where are we going next?”

“Oh, I’m so glad you asked.” Nedzu’s tone turned dark, tail swishing faster in anticipation. He’d always known taking these two on as personal students had been a good idea, and though he wished they’d become pack through less tragic means he was so very glad they were. A sentiment he knew both men would understand, since they felt it with their own kits.

Shouta and Hizashi knew the gist of his plans of course, they’d been partially involved in some of the planning over the years, but he’d never fully brought them in and hadn’t planned to until, to use Hizashi’s words, they entered the end game. Part of that was for their own protection, in case something went wrong and they were captured or questioned by the commission, and part of it was because this was a chess game Nedzu had started before either were even born.

If Nedzu were to be honest with himself, finally reaching this point in the game almost didn’t feel real, but the safety of his pack, his students, and most importantly his revenge were so close the chimera could practically taste it.

It only took an hour to lay out everything that had gotten them to this point and where Nedzu intended to go, and then the planning began in earnest.

His kits had some very interesting ideas on which officials- both HPSC and not, should be removed from their posts first.

…

Unaware of the tipping point occurring not even a mile away from them (even Izuku wasn’t officially aware yet, though Nedzu suspected the kit suspected, but this was too big and they wanted the rest of his teen years to actually be as normal as possible), the kids were all happily showing Eri and each other their dorms.

Eri adored Hitoshi’s, to no one’s surprise. His had all sorts of cat décor, after all, along with his requisite coffee station. It was also decked out in shades of purple and grey- jokes about matching his hair aside they were calming colors and he had the feeling he was gonna need that once the rest of 1A moved in together on Sunday.

Neito did raise an eye at the light blue pillows (that matched his eyes) on Hitoshi’s bed and desk chair, but he didn’t say anything. Hitoshi would see the purple pillows in his own room soon enough.

Izuku’s wasn’t that different from his room in the cottage aside from missing his big computer set-up (he refused to risk having that around so many teenagers where anything could happen), the majority of the ghost-themed items Hizashi and his friends had given him, and the cat tree he kept in the corner of his room.

There was a scratching post, but that was for him. He had more in the cottage, Shouta had gotten them for him after he’d figured out how good scratching felt against the trees at camp. (Izuku was still kicking himself for not realizing that was something that might benefit him, his claws functionally grew like normal human fingernails instead of him needing to shed them like cats did, but still.)

Fumi and Dark Shadow both practically melted at the red and black color scheme- while Izuku did love the color red, he wasn’t so much one for the darker side of the palette he’d chosen. Then Shadow noticed the ravens strewn around. The other teens didn’t say anything about Fumikage literally cooing, Izuku’s glare could be a fearsome thing indeed.

Fumikage had to turn on the lights in his room to properly show it off to the others so they (at least the ones who didn’t have the feline ability to see in the dark) could see it. He wasn’t going to have them on for himself ninety percent of the time though. His room wasn’t painted black, he’d opted to tack up very dark green (like his boyfriend’s eyes) curtains to cover them instead of going to that much effort, and there were electric candles and other goth accoutrement every where.

Along with a couple ghost baubles on his desk and a little ghost shaped pillow on his bed. Izuku had to hide his blush in Dark Shadow, whom he was holding in his arms, when he saw it. He still wasn’t used to having a partner who not only knew, but accepted all the parts of him like that.

Neito’s room was pretty normal in comparison, but he did have a little library already stocked up with books on quirk science, a ballet bar across one wall with some hardwood under it and half of that wall was tall mirrors, and of course a purple cat stuff on his bed. He also had a tv and gaming system set up next to the library and a weighted blanket on the bed. It wasn’t too different from his room at home.

Mina loved the almost painfully bright riot of colors Shoto had chosen to decorate his room with (they had had a lot of fun painting his walls all psychedelic though), but that wasn’t surprising given the girl had done something similar with hers with patterns instead of colors.

She’d been talked into an adaption of her hero costume by Izuku and Shouta (the bright colors were mostly fine given she wanted to be a rescue hero but the faux fur could be a hindrance and her new version had pants with pockets and a utility belt), but she could bring the faux fur back in force here with her pillows and comforter. She also had some space themed knickknacks for Ochaco and frogs for Tsuyu. Sue her, she loved her girlfriends.

“I don’t understand how you and Shoto can do homework in rooms like this.” Hitoshi said as they were leaving.

“I usually do mine in the living room.” Mina shrugged. “The common room should be fine, or there’s always your rooms or Ocha or Tsuyu’s.”

“We could do a study group too.” Neito pointed out, elbowing Izuku lightly in the side. “Especially if we rope Nedzu’s personal student into it.”

“Is that all I am to you?” Izuku raised an eyebrow. “A personal tutor?”

“Of course not.” Neito frowned. “You’re also our secret weapon and emotional support kitten.”

Their exploration of the school with the tiny tot got put on hold after that, since Neito had to run for his life from a feral Izuku and full-sized Reaper who didn’t quite know what was happening but wanted in on the fun her human was having.

Chapter Text

On Saturday, Izuku and Fumikage went on their last proper date, spending some time just the two of them, before the school started on Monday. It wasn’t anything too intense, a fun late summer bop of a movie that had been doing well in theaters and another evening picnic. Why mess with what worked?

Saturday night, Shouta popped upstairs to check in with the boys.

“Izuku, Shoto, can you come out here for a second?” He asked once he was in the upstairs living room. Shoto got up and walked to his doorway like a normal person, Izuku just wheeled his chair over to the doorway despite the fact the bedrooms were carpeted.

“What’s up?” The vigilante asked.

“I wanted to check in about what names we’re using this semester now that you both have a rapport with your classmates and everything’s more settled. Do you want us as your teachers to stick to your old family names, or change to something new?”

“I’m good with Yamazawa.” Izuku shrugged. “We’ve only got a month before it’s official anyways.”

“Can I go by Himura?” Shoto asked after a minute in thought. “I don’t want to go by his name anymore, but I’m not ready to explain the full story to everyone. Himura can be explained by wanting to support my siblings changing to that name.”

“You don’t owe anyone an explanation no matter what we call you.” Shouta impressed, wanting to make sure the teen knew that. “But we can go with that.”

“Thanks dad.”

“Of course, kiddo.” Shouta ruffled first Shoto’s hair, then Izuku’s. “By the way, Zashi just got home with supplies if you want to update your hair tonight.”

“Yes!” Izuku cheered, jumping out of the chair and quickly moving it back to the desk.

“Do you think I can dye my hair black this time too?” Shoto asked, peering up into Shouta’s face.

“I don’t see why not, we should have plenty.”

“You can change hair colors?” Eri asked, peeking out of her own room, Mr. Fluffles in hand. Her dad and brothers explained the process as they led her downstairs so she could watch the transformations as they updated their hair and covered any roots.

She wanted to participate too, of course, and while the adults were leery of doing anything that permanent to a five year old’s hair Hizashi had thought ahead, picking up some temporary hair chalk for her in a couple different colors while they were in the store.

Eri convinced the parents to ‘play with the hair chalks too’, resulting in Hizashi’s long hair having blue and purple streaks running through it rather prettily, in Eri’s loud and Shouta’s quieter opinions. Eri tried to put pink in Shouta’s hair, and while he wasn’t opposed to the color choice they were both mildly disappointed when it didn’t pop out that much against his much darker hair.

Zashi saved the day like the hero he was though by pulling out their eye shadow palette and carefully applying a similar pink to Shouta’s eyelids so he could be in their ‘pretty photo’s’ too. The snapshots absolutely ended up in more than one group chat less than ten minutes after they were taken, but any complaints were purely for show, Shouta loved nights like that and everyone knew it.

(Then they realized they forgot to update Tensei on the entire Eri situation when he called asking if they’d abducted another child. He wasn’t really mad about it, there had been a lot of adoptions between all of them in the last few months, things had been insane, and technically she started as a mission. He also wasn’t wrong, though they didn’t exactly tell him that part.)

…..

On Sunday, the entire school moved into the dorms. It’d been decided that each year would be assigned different hours to move in to help keep the general chaos down, though since the students had all already set their dorms up it was mostly parents saying goodbye at the front gates that they were trying to keep running smoothly.

That being said, the ward students and any students who’d already been staying in the dorms for distance reasons had already moved in. Uraraka had actually moved in the day before, catching the kitten brigade (and meeting Eri) while they were still in Heights Alliance.

The first years were all scheduled for one in the afternoon, so Shouta and Hizashi headed out at around half an hour prior to wait for students to arrive. The boys waited with Eri for Chiyo to come babysit for a bit before heading to Heights Alliance themselves.

Each homeroom had it’s own dorm building, which Izuku privately felt was a bit of a money flex on the part of UA (the school literally had multiple gyms that were fully functional mini-cities, like come on). However, the hero students alone were expected to be rough on the buildings and the other students didn’t deserve to have their shenanigans impacting their daily lives like that.

The argument was also made that giving the hero course students their own dorms and putting everyone else in bigger dorms one: would basically just be spending money on the jocks over everybody else, and two: Nedzu and the staff cared just as much about the gen ed and business course students and didn’t want to give anyone preferential treatment.

Everyone in 1A knew the score by now and were on time, even Kaminari- the student with the biggest issue with being chronically late- arrived a few minutes before the 1pm deadline.

Izuku, Hitoshi, Shoto, and Uraraka were out in front of the building, keeping the class corralled while Shouta waited inside. He wanted to give them the chance to get the big back-to-school reunion out of their systems without having to be concerned about the prying eyes of an adult or having to listen to the general… loudness of the class. At one on the dot though, he made his way outside to get the show on the road.

“Hell spawn, eyes on me.” Immediately, nineteen students ceased their conversations and turned to look at him. “Thank you. I want to keep this short and sweet, but there are still some things I need all of you to know. You were all shown where everything is when you set up your dorms so we’re just going to move on to the rules.

“There is a list of chores posted to the fridge, they all need to be kept up with but who does what is being left up to you with the expectation that they’re taken seriously. There will be consequences if they are not. Quiet hours are from ten to six am. Starting now, you do need permission to go off campus, but you can either come talk to me or submit applications online for that.

“Fighting, property damage, and fires are all against the rules too, but I’m well aware of how all of you are. I don’t want to have to call Cementoss more than once a week for any of the above reasons, is that understood?”

“Yes, Sensei!” The class chorused.

“Good. Last few things- there will be weekly cooking lessons with Lunch Rush for anyone who wants or needs to learn, check your emails for the sign up list. There’s also a list of allergens on the fridge. Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and making me add more rules to the rule list will result in consequences.

“You’ve all been given fobs that will let you into the building and keys for your rooms, if you lose them let me know. Does anyone have any questions?”

“No, Sensei!” The students chorused.

“Good. If that changes, you know how to reach me. Welcome to Heights Alliance. Don’t burn it down.”

Chapter Text

catnip: its… surprisingly quiet with the boys in the dorms. I didn’t think it’d make as much of a difference as it did, they’re like five minutes away

catnip: if it’s quiet for us over here, how are you doing over there @begay @docrime

docrime: eriasleeponzashi.jpeg (eri’s curled up in Hizashi’s lap with her hair braided down her back, the cats all settled in around them including Reaper in kitten form happily purring on her lap. Hizashi is also asleep)
docrime: it’s oddly empty but these two are still being adorable. Zashi can’t reach their phone though

catnip: lol poor zash

speeddemon: oh that’s stupidly cute. I’m gonna have to plan another visit to meet my neices. Or maybe I should just move back to musutafu.

Speeddemon: can’t believe youre all adopting kids when I’m all the way over here, unable to be a proper uncle :(

docrime: nieces*

docrime: or, consider, you adopt or have ur own

dontdocatnip: tensei with a baby? Now that’s scary stuff

speeddemon: 1. fuck you both

speeddemon: 2. sansa ur forgetting Im the first one of us to raise a kid. Tenya counts. Also I’m great with kids

catnip: tenya absolutely counts

docrime: zashi and I agree

speeddemon: thank you
speeddemon: what I’m getting from this conversation is that @dontdocatnip and @mmWhyYouLyin need to get their heads out of their asses and platonically adopt their own gremlin

dontdocatnip: being godfathers to the extended hoard is enough for us

docrime: pretty sure they’re referring to themselves as a brigade

dontdocatnip: potato patahto

mmWhyYouLyin: it is LATE go the fuck to SLEEP

catnip: gasp nao brought out the loud text

mmWhyYouLyin: you woke me up :(

catnip: poor baby. Go back to sleep, we’ll see you in the morning

docrime: we have school in the morning

catnip: I’ll play a movie

speeddemon: sometimes it terrifies me that all three of you became teachers

docrime: 🔪

catnip: 🔪

docrime: one more for zashi 🔪

…..

Monday morning in the dorms was interesting, to say the least. Sunday afternoon and night had largely been all fun and games as the class enjoyed seeing each other again and showed off all their dorms to their friends.

Shoji’s dorm had been the one to cause the most contention, once he’d finally been cajoled into letting everyone see it. Having a simpler sense of style and preferences for your space was one thing, but the rest of them found the emptiness of his room fairly sad. When it came to class 1A, that simply couldn’t be allowed to stand, not when they could do something about it.

It was quick work for the eighteen other students to rush off to their own dorms, find something suitable, and rush back. In the end, Shoji’s room looked far less empty with eighteen reminders that his friends all had his back scattered around.

(The class had really come together since the start of the school year, the pranks against All Might and the attack on the summer camp with their missing classmate had all proved to be quite the bonding experience.)

Speaking of the attack on the summer camp, it didn’t take them long to realize they’d never really gotten answers for what had happened with Izuku and all of that and start clamoring for them, but the entirety of the kitten brigade remained stubbornly tight lipped. Izuku did manage to finally get them distracted with what they’d all done over the summer.

(Even if that did open an entirely new minefield for them, since their summer had consisted almost entirely of acquisitions that were varying degrees of need to know. Shoto was still wanting to do the big ‘I’m a Yamazawa reveal in homeroom tomorrow, he wanted the distraction of a day of classes between the announcement and the class inevitably asking approximately five thousand questions.

Izuku had given the green light that he was also a Yamazawa as well, though he still wanted to go by Izuku instead of the family name to cut down confusion about the two of them in class.

The class as a whole didn’t need to know Keigo, Touya, Himiko, or Eri’s backstories, though it was really only a matter of time until they all met. Touya and Himiko more or less had the choice of when and if they wanted to share anything, but Eri’s situation was super classified since it was still ongoing and the class absolutely did not need to know about or be involved in the politics surrounding Keigo’s departure from the commission.)

As teenagers were wont to do, most of them tried to stay up later than they needed too, but Tenya was nothing if not a dependable mom friend and between he and Momo, most of the class was in bed before it got too too late.

It was trying to figure out everyone’s morning routines at the same time Monday morning when things truly got chaotic as everyone got in everyone else’s way in a mad scramble to get ready and make sure they had everything.

They got through it though with minor injuries and only an almost-a-fire at most, no matter what Tenya tries to tell you. Izuku was close enough and had fast enough reflexes to take care of it before it became a non-issue.

The faux vigilante did put his foot down though, because the almost fire had been started by Kaminari trying to figure out how to work the coffee maker in the dorm kitchen. The conversation about that (after the almost fire was put out) lead to the sheepish reveal that the electricity wielding teen had been summarily banned by his parents from touching the appliances in their home after too many incidents as a kid trying to control his quirk so he didn’t know how to do a lot with them, got frustrated, and accidentally lost a little bit of control.

Izuku quickly prohibited him from touching the appliances in the kitchen along with the laundry machines in the basement for the next few days until he or one of the more responsible students had a chance to show him how to work everything. It wasn’t his fault, not really, but he’d threatened the coffee maker. This was what had to be done.

Izuku also made a mental note to bring this up with Shouta and Nedzu, the former needed to know because he was the homeroom teacher, and the latter, well. Izuku would make sure looking into Kaminari’s quirk counselors was something that made it into their private lessons this semester, this whole thing was just ridiculous.

He’d also talk to Mei and Higari. Between the three of them it’d be more than simple to whip up some sort of support gear to help ground Kaminari as he went about his daily life. Izuku had to kick himself a little bit because that probably should have been something at least one of them realized the previous semester and took care of. Even if they’d been a little bit distracted.

Chaos aside, all of them got to class well before the morning bell sounded, though that just might have been the biggest miracle of the year so far.

Chapter Text

“I know it’s the first day of class,” Shouta officially got the second semester rolling, “but I hope your break was restful because we’re going to hit the ground running. Like we did last semester, in a few minutes we’ll be going back to the training field to do another Quirk Assessment Exam to get a measure of how much you’ve improved from last year. Before that, there’s an announcement.”

The mischievous gleam that entered the man’s eyes at that point was subtle yet incredibly evident to anyone who knew the man. The extended kitten brigade settled in (Dark Shadow even ventured away from Fumikage or Izuku’s desks to try to provide Shoto some comfort since of the two, he was the one who had more anxiety about the reveal) for a wild ride.

“Now, I’m required to tell you not to bother or ask either of them about this but realistically you’re all smart enough to pry at your own peril.” Izuku had to fight down a snicker as most of the class collectively froze at that, and a quick glance at his brother showed Shoto was doing the same because damn if that wasn’t the scariest sentence the teacher had ever said to the class.

“There has been a name change for two of your classmates. Todoroki Shoto and Midoriya Izuku are both officially Yamazawas. Moving forward, Shoto is to be referred to as Yamazawa instead of his former last name and Izuku has requested for everyone to continue calling him Izuku. Again, pry at your own peril.” The dad, every bit the little shit his sons and nephew were, paused momentarily so that Izuku could give the class a terrifying grin.

Don’t get him wrong, Izuku had long trusted his classmates by that point and held affection for them, but Shoto didn’t want anyone to pry almost as much as he didn’t want to go by his sperm donor’s last name. Izuku wasn’t above giving a small, probably unnecessary warning.

“That is the end of the morning announcements, go get your gym uniforms on.” Shouta finished up. The class, fully aware of what the expectations were when he gave them instructions, moved quickly for the changing rooms.

…..

This semesters Quirk Assessment went faster and far more smoothly than the previous semesters (it was also a lot more fun). That took them up through lunch where 1A clustered up in the cafeteria with the addition of Hatsume, who was quickly filled in on the Yamazawa update. She took it in stride, her only question was why Shoto and Izuku went by the combined name but Aizawa and Yamada didn’t.

The class, who’d all been too distracted by the second QAT to really think about the specifics of the new last name despite knowing that Izuku had been adopted and that both Aizawa and Yamada had wrought terror working together on the mountain when the criminals tried to attack finally put the pieces together and fucking erupted.

In the classroom, or really anywhere that wasn’t the crowded cafeteria, that would have been fine. They weren’t anywhere else though, and both adults in question had worked very hard to keep their relationship as under wraps as they could. Yeah, sure, there were all sorts of rumors and bets out on them amongst the wider international hero community who’d seen Eraserhead and Present Mic working together firsthand or just knew how well they worked together, but there weren’t any confirmations.

Izuku immediately turned on The Glare that he’d been perfecting since the days before he got his first helmet, quickly cowing the class into silence. They knew he could be terrifying, but that wasn’t anything they’d ever expected to see live. Or directed at them.

“There will be a discussion on that later, it’s time to find a new conversation topic.” He said after the cascade of students rapidly smacking the next until they noticed the glare and also stopped doing what they’d previously been doing.

“Sorry, Izuku.” Mei sheepishly muttered, rubbing at the back of her neck. “You’re all so open about it when it’s us,” by us she meant whenever the parents came down to seperate the two kids in the workshop, “I kinda forgot it isn’t a thing. Congrats on the official Yamazawa though.”

“Thanks, Mei.” Shoto answered for both of them while Izuku kept the glare up long enough to make sure the ones who tended to be slightly slower on the social cues got the message.

“I don’t think anyone outside of our group was able to distinguish anything outside of sudden wall of noise.” Izuku shook the glare off.

“I think you traumatized people with that.” Shoto told him, amused.

“Thank you!” Izuku grinned brightly, every inch the Problem Child he loved to be. “I’ve been working on it for years.”

“Hey, Izu, speaking of The Face you just made and it’s lovely and effective traumatizing power.” Mina appeared at Mei’s side, throwing an easy arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Can you teach me how to do that?”

“Ooh, yes! Me too!” Mei perked right up, followed by all the other girls in the class sans Momo who already had the Disappointed Mother Figure look down pat.

“Yeah, we can do that.” Izuku nodded, pulling out his notebook to jot that down so he wouldn’t forget. “We’ll set up lessons or something one of the evenings in the dorm. Friday’s not an option though.”

“Because people might be going home for the weekend?” Uraraka asked.

“Well, yeah, that too, but mostly because Shoto and I will all be at family dinner.” Izuku told her. The girls still lurking all cooed at that. Izuku kinda couldn’t wait until the entire class realized Hitoshi was Shouta’s nephew and their cousin. Everyone losing their shit again was gonna be top notch entertainment.

…..

After lunch, Izuku made his way upstairs for the first private lesson of the semester, for once passing on the tea Nedzu offered him, but only because they’d just had lunch.

“I know you wanted to talk about how the university classes will work this semester,” Izuku started, “but first I had something I wanted to bring up.”

“Is it about that uproar at lunch?” Nedzu asked, head tilting inquisitively.

“No.” Izuku shook his head. “Though I don’t know if I’d really classify that as an uproar. No, this is about Kaminari.” Izuku brought up the conversation he’d had with the other teen in the dorms this morning and his concerns.

“I’ve already emailed Higari about it and Mei and I talked about it during lunch. They’ll probably have some gear for him in the next few days. But I wanna know who his quirk counselor was and how the messed up that badly, because this is just ridiculous. A lot of people have support items they use to help control or neutralize their quirks in daily life.”

“Indeed.” The chimera frowned, tail swishing in annoyance. “That is concerning. I do still want to discuss how your university courses will work to get that out of the way since they start next week, but we’ll cycle back to that.”

Nedzu was protective of his students, sure, but he was even more protective of children in general. If that counselor had dealt with Kaminari’s quirk so terribly- and they had, Shouta had been working with the boy since the first semester to get a better handle on his quirk and find ways to stop shorting himself out- they’d probably done so with other children.

His plate was full, but this? This would be a delightful treat to relax with.

Chapter Text

On Tuesday, Shouta and Hizashi were called into a meeting with Sasaki about Eri regarding what they’d found about her family. He’d reached out to set it up on Thursday, but obviously they were in the middle of something. Unfortunately, the future-seer wasn’t able to meet Friday through Monday, so that was the earliest they could all manage.

It wasn’t a bad meeting per se, the hero finally just had confirmation that Eri didn’t have any biological family members left willing to take her in. Her mother had basically sold her to the Yakuza branch so she obviously wasn’t an option. Beyond that, her grandparents had all either passed already or wanted nothing to do with her, and the remaining family members who had tried to get police help had all been found dead, either by the Shie Hassaikai outright or HPSC intervention.

It was infuriating and sad, of course, that sweet girl didn’t deserve any of that, but it did mean that they were free to outright adopt her if they were so willing.

Sasaki couldn’t help but laugh at the absolute affront on Hizashi’s face at the word ‘willing’, he’d had a feeling he knew what their answer was going to be. Since they were already going through this process with two other kids, it was easy enough to get it started again.

Hizashi squeezed Shouta’s hand under the table, the radio host had been trying so hard not to get his hopes up too high when there was still a chance Eri could go to a biological family member once they’d gotten her quirk under control. The relief now was almost enough to hit with a physical force, kami, the boys were going to be thrilled.

This also made it easier for them to make some of the bigger daily life decisions that they’d been staring down. Eri was starting therapy this week with a child therapist highly recommended by Inui, but figuring out things like schooling, primary care physicians, who her dentist would be, all the big things that were a part of life but might be confusing or cause a bigger headache than necessary if she were to be moved halfway across the country later down the line required far less red tape now.

They’d just move forward with Plan A, which was therapy and a heavily modified version of homeschooling to get her on par with other kids her age both in what she’d need to know to start kindergarten the next year and in relation to the world itself. They’d also have to see if they could find any kids her own age to be friends with, because it’d probably be better to get her learning how to socialize on her level sooner rather than later, but that was going to be a head-ache for another day. Although Higari and Cementoss had some younger nieces and nephews, and Zashi was pretty sure Thirteen had some younger second cousins.

None of them were sure how potentially temporary Eri knew her placement with them had been until now, that was a big ‘what if’ and she was still so inexperienced compared to other kids her age with the world in general that it’d been decided not to put that kind of stress on her shoulders at the moment. The dads had been concerned about it after her reaction to learning about Shoto’s custody trial and Endeavor potentially being awarded custody of him.

Now they got to tell her that she, too, was officially theirs too.

“Should we tell the boys during family dinner on Friday?” Hizashi asked in the car on the way home, one hand on the wheel and the other in Shouta’s while they sat waiting for a red light (any hero worth their salt knew better than to mess up their response time if something happened quickly, so they saved that for when they were forced to idle).

“We’re just going to turn around and leave her with Nem when we go on the family patrol.” Shouta frowned slightly, releasing Hizashi’s hand as they moved forward again. “What if we did something on Saturday and told them then?”

“We’re not leaving for the patrol until later.” Hizashi pointed out. “Nem’s coming over to watch her at ours, but I see where you’re going with it. It’s still warm out, we could do something outside. Maybe a picnic further into school grounds? We could introduce Eri to the forest too, think she’d like that. We’d need to make sure we take plenty of apples.”

“That works.” Shouta nodded. “Izuku’s official adoption is going through soon too, we’ll need to figure out how we’re celebrating that.”

While the two passed ideas back and forth like they were hot potatoes, Nedzu was happily settled into his office orchestrating the next phase of his longest-running chess game.

The chimera was forced to rapidly swish his tail back and forth as he typed away, because every time he tried to stop his paws started shaking with the sheer anticipation moving through his system.

There was a folder, on a computer he kept in a hidden safe beneath his floorboards that had never been connected to the internet, the folder itself still hidden behind so many firewalls that Nedzu himself almost lost track trying to count them. Every file in that folder was written in a code he’d created only for use on that specific file. He’d never even written the key down, it lived safe and sound within the confines of his quirk.

Everything he’d spent decades saving for that moment.

There were two main sub-folders in there, one for people who needed to be removed from their positions as the principal’s government take down started in earnest, and one with people to replace them. It was all laid out nice and neat, the names to start with and the info he’d use to get them fired paired with who to send that info to and when.

The ‘who’ was the easier part of the equation, both the ones soon to find themselves with their career in shambles if they were lucky or in jail if they weren’t, and the ones who’d deal the final blow. It was the timing that was trickiest.

This wasn’t a one fell swoop situation no matter how much a part of Nedzu wanted it to be. The end goal was a complete changeover of everyone involved in the HPSC, and if they did that all at once it would result in public panic and likely a number of power vacuums that would only lead to more chaos and crime for civilians and increase the chance the coup simply failed. They had to take this slowly.

That didn’t necessarily mean starting at the bottom and working their way up though, at least as far as the official hierarchy was concerned. The first push would take two weeks with the right info and the right nudges in the right places to set off a chain of events that would end with most of the pencil pushers who didn’t look like they had as much power as they did out of the way.

All the people who were often overlooked but were in the right places to see, hear, and know more than they should. All the ones that were the sole reason their department kept running at least somewhat smoothly despite even their direct supervisors assuming ‘but they’re only a receptionist (or whatever their position is)’. Some of the ones who’s sudden dramatic exits would take over the gossip mills, helping cover the actual key players exits.

It was a complicated cascade, some people not even Nedzu could touch, at least without risking giving the game away, so he was making sure their higher ups were changing to people who had grudges against them, or would replace their positions with family members, etc. Some would be too useful to dispense with later. Not many, but a few were in it for the right reasons and would be collateral damage. Those Nedzu already had plans in the wings for to make sure they could do just as much good as they wanted to in other places it was needed.

Nedzu double checked everything, took a deep breath, and started hitting send. Some of the evidence he was sending directly through proxy accounts on various delays over the next few weeks, some were to allies who would deliver the info for him, again at key times, and some went straight to news companies or social media. Regardless of delivery, the evidence of corruption, blackmail, embezzlement, hell even affairs sent to the spouses of HPSC people were being dispatched.

How delightful :)

Chapter Text

The rest of the week passed fairly smoothly, at least as far as classes were concerned. Learning how to live with nearly twenty other teens (and one sentient, teen-aged quirk) was a little bit tougher, but they managed it. Mostly.

Mina, the group extrovert with years of experience cleaning up both her own shenanigans situations and Neito’s when his arrogance and sarcasm got him in a deeper hole than he was expecting, had plenty of experience with deescalation and the authority granted by being vice rep. Paired with Izuku’s own skills in deescalation instilled in Ghost by Eraserhead (even if he didn’t use them as often as he should) they were able to get everything settled out.

It didn’t hurt that Momo’s disappointed face was scarier than either of them.

Shoto was oddly eager for the end of classes on Friday, Izuku was practically vibrating out of this universe (thought that wasn’t necessarily uncommon for him), and even Hitoshi was looking eager. Mina, Neito, and Fumikage didn’t look concerned so most of the class tried not to be (though they did give the three a lot of side-eye).

Honestly, their utter lack of panic was probably the only thing that stopped the rest of them from calling their sensei or even Nedzu (Kaminari and Kirishima’s suggestion) for back up when the trio didn’t go to the dorms after class.

They were fine though, they just went straight to the cabin first to give the youngest Yamazawa a hug and ask how her week had been. She’d started therapy and a small daycare run by a friend of Nedzu’s who specifically cared for the kids of heroes who also taught. There were only two other kids there and they were fairly chill, as far as kids went, so the hope was that that plus Eri meeting them the week before would mean this would be less jarring. It seemed that worked for them, because Eri was very excited to tell the boys all about her new friends.

After that, they all went upstairs to start getting ready for the Family Patrol happening that night. Eri, watching them prepare, felt a little left out since it was literally the rest of them, but Izuku sat down with her to explain that she was still too young, but if she wanted to be a hero when she was older they could do another family patrol. Either way, all of them would be teaching her self defense when she was a little bit bigger.

“Can I get a knife like yours and Mr. Shouta’s?” Eri asked, clutching Mr. Fluffles tighter in excitement as Ramen happily purred away in her lap.

“At some point, yeah.” Izuku promised. He specifically didn’t give a time frame for it; the teen was very sure their parents wouldn’t be opposed to the idea in general but the age Izuku had in mind for starting that education was likely… earlier than they’d have in mind. But that was what older brothers were for, he was pretty sure.

Speaking of older brothers (or uncles, depending on how you looked at it, though Touya was involved and he was definitely an older brother), Nemuri had originally been scheduled to come babysit Eri for the night, but she’d been called in to cover another hero’s shift so Keigo was enlisted as a backup option. He’d also pulled Touya along with him (to plenty of raised eyebrows and potential changes to the betting pool).

Eri was absolutely psyched when they opened the door with a bag of activities on Keigo’s arm. They were gonna have so much fun, Hizashi demanded all of the photos (Shouta behind him nodding seriously in agreement.)

Izuku greeted the older two as they crossed paths (Touya hadn’t seen Eri’s newest clothes from Auntie Nem, so she’d dragged both of them upstairs for a mini-fashion show) while the teen was heading downstairs.

“Hey dad.” Izuku stuck his head into the open bedroom door where the pros were also getting dressed. Shouta, the one he was looking for, was sitting on the edge of the bed checking something on his phone. Perks of having an easy costume. Hizashi was in the closet, happily singing as they got ready.

“What’s up, kiddo?” Shouta looked up, sensing Izuku’s presence with patrol-honed intuition.

“Wanted to double check- are we adding to Ghost’s lore tonight or am I going out as a UA student? Because on the one hand, my gear is close enough that people are probably gonna figure out Static is Ghost eventually, but on the other I’m not sure if everyone’s ready to meet Ghost.”

“Give us some credit.” Hizashi appeared in the closet doorway. “Or at least me some credit, I did meet Ghost and I’m not Problem Child Two for nothing.” Izuku and Shouta met each other’s eyes at that, not even needing to speak to know what the plan was now.

Hizashi should have known better than to throw a gauntlet like that.

…

“HOW IN THE FUCK ARE YOU THERE??!!!” Hitoshi screeched through his comms as Izuku vaulted over his head with zero hesitation to get access to the alley below where Shouta was squaring up against an entire collection (six) of drug dealers. Honestly, the only reason Hitoshi didn’t give away their location was because his voice modifier was enclosed the way Izuku’s helmet was. “YOU WERE JUST TWO BUILDINGS AWAY!” Izuku just cackled as Hizashi and Shoto ‘languaged’ the purple teen.

Since it was Hitoshi and Shoto’s first patrol they were under strict orders to observe only, just like their internships. They didn’t have their provisional licenses yet and would absolutely not skate by on the vigilante loophole like Izuku did. Especially since the commission had negative patience with their entire collection of rag-tag assholes at that moment and would not hesitate to throw the book at any of them in retaliation.

This had the two less experienced herolings holed up on rooftops peeking over the edges like they were Eri’s age trying to spy on their parents which… wasn’t technically wrong but still. Hizashi was staying with them, just in case but also because Present Mic was easily recognizable and the adults had too much gremlin in their DNA to not save that reveal for fucking with any other heroes that might show up. Or Nao and Sansa.

Either way, they weren’t expecting Ghost to vault literally over their heads when Izuku had gotten some distance from them for the purposes of scoping out any disturbances in the night, before Shouta, down on the streets, had stumbled across the drug deal.

Likewise, the drug dealers hadn’t expected a pint size cryptid of the underground to drop down on their heads, literally bouncing between the narrow alley walls to slow his descent. The heroes had their lore of the vigilante because they were inveterate gossips, but the only thing the seedier side of the underground had to go on was reports from criminals who’d interacted with him right before they were arrested, and other than appears and disappears out of nowhere, often works with Eraserhead, and was a sarcastic little mother fucker they didn’t know much even after five years.

It wasn’t until well after their arrests that any of them would realize the alley the vigilante was literally bouncing around wasn’t that narrow. Four of them walked away convinced he wasn’t even human, that the creepy animatronic voice that echoed through their nightmares wasn’t faked through the use of technology.

Coincidentally, those were the four Izuku got to. Shouta only had to chance to deal with the other two before the fight was done, something Izuku was pleased as punch about. The teen knew baiting Shouta into a competition on who took out more criminals that night was a good idea. Especially since it was a full moon, there’d be plenty to take down.

As any first responder knows, full moons are powerful forces that should never be trifled with, so more heroes were scheduled to patrol to account for the absolute bullshit that happened those nights. Even for Izuku’s least favorite underground pro, the dude had an attitude problem that approached Endeavor’s, was one hundred percent jealous of and/or intimidated by Shouta’s reputation, and hated vigilantes.

“Richard alert.” Izuku threw into the comms, spotting the dick on his approach from across the street first. The dumb ass went by the name Nightzilla, and had a costume as ridiculous as the name- complete with a cape. Other than that terrible costume choice, he had an armored bodysuit covered in inky swirls, a domino mask, and a silver buzz cut.

“Fantastic.” Shouta sighed. “Mic, stay tuned, we may need you on this.”

“Understood.” Hizashi acknowledged before giving Shoto and Hitoshi a quick explanation on what was happening. They’d never worked with this hero personally, but Shouta had come home ranting about him after more than one patrol. Especially after he’d met Ghost.

The fight below was out in the street proper instead of an alley against a beanpole with a clone quirk and head that was more bald spot than hair. His clones weren’t as autonomous as Ecto’s, there was definitely some hive mind action happening there, and they were formed when the criminal pulled out his own hair. That explains the bald spot.

It also explained how he created a small horde so quickly, and in the melee Shouta hadn’t been able to use his quirk against the original yet to make them all disappear yet. They could barely fight though, so they really only had the sheer numbers on their side and were mostly an annoyance. For every clone they brought down, another took it’s place. It was irksome.

“Never fear, Nightzilla’s here!” A new voice joined the mix, prompting Izuku to send fake retching noises through their comms as an inky black darkness poured from his hands similar to Nemuri’s quirk, if oddly stickier. Absolutely no light passed through it it as it obscured every figure in the street. “Time for criminals to go night-night.”

“Ghost, do you kn-.” Shouta muttered, getting cut off by Izuku. He’d been trying to get Izuku to go ahead and make his way onto the rooftops if he still had a sense of where they were in relation to him (which he should, Shouta’d taught him that situational awareness personally).

“Fuck!” The fake vigilante yelped, followed by a second of tense silence before he continued, voice terse and quick as he relayed the situation. “Eraser I was right, Dickzilla can manipulate the thickness of his stupid darkness gas. I can’t move, and I’m assuming the clones can’t either.”

“Hang tight, we’ll get it settled.”

“Good, because I’m discovering I am not into this.” Izuku complained, partially out of habit and partially as a coping mechanism.

“Ghost.”

“The fight’s over, buddy boy, time to drop the clones.” Nightzilla’s arrogant voice called through the darkness. “Or not, can’t use a quirk if you’re unconscious.” What followed was a succession of thumps and grunts as Nightzilla, presumably, made his way through the small mob while completely ignoring Shouta asking what he was doing. Then he must have found the original guy, because the darkness lifted and all the clones were gone with the dude on the ground at Nightzilla’s feet.

Most of the darkness, at least. Izuku was still hidden in a small cloud of inky pitch black.

Chapter Text

Shouta was very much at the end of his rope for dealing with the absolute bullshit happening in front of him. Nightzilla was a former Shiketsu student and one of the few underground pros that was puffed up on his own power as a hero. His attitude that the world should lay flowers at his feet for the career he’d chosen was more often held by the limelight heroes, but Shouta’s theory was that one of the staff over at UA’s sister school managed to talk him into the underground based on his quirk.

He just gave Shouta hives, especially after he’d first met Izuku, because the dumb ass flat out refused to acknowledge the shades of gray the underground ran on in favor of a black and white view of morality he conflated with law. Law specifically, because the UA teacher was pretty sure Nightzilla didn’t understand the concept of justice.

Nightzilla made no distinctions for people forced into breaking the law to survive, or how society pushed individuals with certain quirks into villainy, and he absolutely loathed vigilantes. Something about criminals acting like heroes because they thought they had a moral superiority making them even lower than standard criminals. The man’s opinion on the quirkless had never come up, but Shouta was willing to bet it wasn’t good.

And right now he had Shouta’s quirkless, presumably a vigilante son wrapped up in his quirk, crowing about how he was going to be arrested too.

Shouta forced himself to take a deep breath, going off the handle wasn’t going to go well right now. Izuku couldn’t be charged with vigilantism and he was Shouta’s student so he had the teacher’s permission to be out even though he didn’t have a provisional license, but that was very much blurring the lines of the law and with the HPSC’s current attitude in regard to them, even more-so playing with fire.

Shouta saw Hizashi scaling down the side of the building, hiding a grin behind his capture weapon as he checked over the unconscious man with a clone quirk. He wasn’t upset about the dude being roughed up, they’d stumbled across him trying to assault a woman (who’d run off when Shouta and Izuku interfered), but assuming someone was out was a good way to get got when they weren’t and Nightzilla certainly wasn’t doing his due diligence. Shouta quickly snapped the guys hands behind his back with zip ties, making sure he couldn’t clone himself if or when he woke up.

“Mic’s approaching from behind.” The underground pro muttered into his comms, too low for Nightzilla to hear, even if he’d been paying attention.

“Oh, this is gonna be good.” Izuku snickered. It was certainly going to be something, Shouta knew for a fact Nightzilla was aware of he and Mic’s reputation (though the other under had somehow deluded himself into thinking Shouta was riding on Mic’s coattails, something that would play well tonight at least), but something wasn’t right.

The quirk erasing hero silently rose from his crouch, turning his attention back to Nightzilla. It was the way he used his quirk, Shouta thought, how he suddenly had the ability to use it to restrain people. He’d only ever used it to provide a cover of darkness that he alone could see through. Useful sure, but not necessarily uncommon (and there was a stray thought in the back of his head about how similar it was to one of the vigilantes who’d been present for the Eri raid, and maybe his disdain for vigilantes stemmed from familial drama).

Sure, people could learn or figure out new ways to use their quirks, it happened especially a lot in the hero field since they were technically the only ones legally allowed to use their quirks outside of the home. It was also something that quickly made its way through the hero gossip mill, not the least because heroes had to practice the new ways they were using their quirks before they used them in the field (if they were smart) and Shouta had heard nothing about this.

Then he realized Nightzilla’s mannerisms were off. He was way more energetic than he normally was, had never exhibited a tendency for rambling, and was fidgety. That combined with the sudden new quirk feature didn’t bode well.

Shouta really hoped Nightzilla wasn’t using trigger, but he muttered a quick warning into the comms anyways along with instructions for Hitoshi and Shoto to stay put, no matter what. Hizashi didn’t verbally respond, but Shouta knew what the way their eyes flashed under the streetlights at that meant. The darker haired pro nodded and backed up out of Hizashi’s line of sight so he wouldn’t be in the way of their quirk, fully prepared to erase Nightzilla’s at a moment’s notice.

Erasure made dealing with trigger enhanced quirks so much easier, it was one of the few times Shouta really loved the quirk he’d been born with.

“Hey listeners, what’s rockin?” Hizashi slid his time-honed hero persona mask back into place, finger gunning at Nightzilla. “I don’t think we’ve met yet, Present Mic.”

“Hey!” Nightzilla grinned, twisting to face Hizashi in a way that made his cape billow out behind him, probably for the aesthetics (like an idiot). “We just caught two villains, we’re just waiting for the cops to come collect them. Nightzilla!” The other under introduced himself, extending a hand for Hizashi to shake.

The two Yamazawa’s made eye contact at that for less than a second before Hizashi took the proffered hand. Neither Shouta nor Nightzilla had actually placed a call to the cops so none were coming yet, something any hero who was fully mentally present would know. With his free hand at his side, Hizashi rapidly finger spelled out ‘cold, thready,’ while Nightzilla continued his uncharacteristic ramble, both of which were also signs of trigger. Shit.

They did need actual authorities on hand for this though, and Shouta didn’t want to risk Nightzilla overhearing the call in, so he smoothly pulled out his phone and texted the alert line instead (it’d taken them far too long to make that a feature, fucking bureaucracy, but damn was it useful in situations like this.

“So, who exactly is that behind your little shroud of darkness?” Hizashi probed, appearing casual but ready for action at a moments notice.

“Oh, you’re never gonna believe this.” Nightzilla informed him, tone smug. “I finally caught Ghost. Little fucker’s been a pain in the ass for years, but I’m gonna be the one to bring him in.”

“I didn’t realize your darkness was tangible.” Hizashi continued, trying to get the other under to slip up. If his ability to reason was impaired due to the drug, it shouldn’t be hard. “Haven’t seen anything on the hero boards about a new development in a while.”

“Eta 3 minutes.” Shouta signed behind Nightzilla’s back. Through the comms, he heard Hitoshi informing Izuku of that. They just needed to keep Nightzilla talking until then. They could deal with Ghost getting caught later if need be, risking him losing control wasn’t worth the chance for escape first. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Not only did trigger mess with one’s ability to reason, it also made you paranoid.

And Nightzilla definitely hadn’t gone through the proper channels to have his new quirk ability tested and signed off on for use in the field. Because he’d only discovered it or was only able to use it because of the use of illicit drugs. Eyes narrowed in suspicion, the man’s entire demeanor changed.

“What exactly are you accusing me of?” He slowly spoke, pace quickening as he continued. “It’s not so easy for us in the underground as it is for you limelighters. All of you have the public’s adoration on your side, protecting you from any mistakes you make because heaven forbid the HPSC doing anything that affects their bottom line. We have to do what we can just to make it through the night! Why would I make it easier for the assholes we fight to figure out what I can do!”

“Hey now,” Hizashi raised his hands in a ‘hey man, I’m innocent’ gesture, trying to appease the hero under the influence. “I’m not accusing you of anything, I was just curious. I’ve never gotten the chance to go through that process, ya dig?” Nightzilla wasn’t listening anymore though, too caught up in his own mental rabbit hole. Shouta kept his body relaxed, ready to use his quirk. Shit was about to go down.

“We’re doing what we can to survive.” Nightzilla muttered, mostly to himself. “We can’t be faulted for that. It’s too dangerous in the underground, we have to do what we can. Because if little shits like you,” he turned to the inky void encapsulating Izuku, “we have to do what we can!” The other ‘hero’ reached out with one hand toward the vigilante, and squeezed.

The darkness writhed as is contracted, but for less than a second before Shouta erased the quirk entirely. Releasing Izuku before he could feel anything more than a slight pressure, not even as much as the weighted blanket he slept under. The helmeted teen rocked on his feet for a second, doing a quick systems check now that he was freed. He didn’t say anything once he knew he was fine, he just booked it for the nearest rooftop.

The sirens and flashing lights of the police were fast approaching, and the second Nightzilla had felt his quirk disappear he’d turned on Present Mic, the closer hero, with a swinging punch that went wide. Shouta was focused on keeping his quirk active (something that was harder to do after the USJ) while Hizashi expertly dealt with the rogue pro.

It didn’t take them long to take Nightzilla down, and then they had to load him and clone dude into the back of separate cars and give their statements. Shouta dropped a few eye drops into his eyes from the small bottle he kept in his belt, the paperwork on a triggered pro was going to be an absolute bitch- it definitely wasn’t something that happened every day. At least Izuku was fine, verifying that through the comms once the short scuffle was wrapped up.

What else could be expected though when it was a Family Patrol?

Chapter Text

The five returned home from the joint patrol at a truly ungodly hour of the morning, almost two hours later than they’d anticipated due to having to deal with the whole Nightzilla situation and resulting paperwork. Heroes on trigger were always a giant mess, where there was one there were often more and it almost always ended in property damage if they were lucky, civilian lives lost if they weren’t.

And of course they’d be the first to uncover someone on the drug. Because why would it be someone else?

At least Nao was the one being assigned the case. It’d be easier to track down how deep this went with his quirk and especially his determination and skill, and he already knew about the whole Izuku/Ghost thing so having him follow along wasn’t too big an issue. Bonus: they could hide the helmet in the detective’s car (he was in his personal one for the night since he wasn’t riding along with Sansa) instead of having to cart it through an entire police station.

“Of course it’d be you.” The tired man had sighed upon arriving on scene.

“It’s a skill.” Shouta matched his energy. “Unfortunately, it’s one we excel at.”

“You can say that again. Alright, everyone in the car, lets get this show on the road. Coffee’s at the station anyways.” Shouta waved for Hitoshi and Shoto, still on the roof, to come down.

“You’ve got the kids?” Nao frowned. He knew about the other one of course, but the standard procedure they’d established for situations like this was picking up Izuku a few blocks away. He didn’t know about the other two. “All of them?”

“We’re celebrating the trial win.” Hizashi explained, claiming the front seat before the boys could try to fight over it. He couldn’t make the argument he needed the space for legroom, aside from Izuku they were all fairly tall or would be soon, but he could make the argument for hair room. Perks of specific costume design.

“Quite the celebration.” Nao acknowledged as the boys approached and filed into the backseat, leaving Shouta to file in behind them. He didn’t comment further though, he’d long known his friends were strange and their growing brood even stranger.

After that it was a simple enough matter to collect Izuku, give statements, and make their way back to the school. (They totally didn’t take blackmail photos of Touya asleep on top of Keigo on the couch. Especially not since Keigo had heard them approaching and was staring at them the entire time but never tried to wake Touya.) (He just signed for them not to wake him up, and it was absolutely adorable. Izuku was totally going to win the pool with his ‘already dating, just haven’t told us yet’ bet.)

Having wake up the next morning was an experience, but one the pros and would be vigilante were unfortunately accustomed to. They did get to sleep in a bit since it was a Saturday, so that was nice. They had to stop Izuku and Hitoshi from going back to the dorms though (to the dual reply of ‘but boyfriends?’), neither Shouta nor Hizashi had told them about the planned picnic, wanting it to be a big surprise.

Unfortunately, the actual picnic plans had to be changed due to rain, but you couldn’t always get what you want. They just moved the entire shebang over to Nedzu’s apartment, and this was probably better anyways because now they had Grandma Chiyo on hand and could invite Rei over, too.

Izuku and Hitoshi were suspicious, they had the instinct that came from trying desperately to figure out Shouta’s tells for years to know something was up, but they could also tell it wasn’t bad so they weren’t upset about it, just lightly suspicious. Shoto had been drawn into a conversation on tea with Nedzu and was too distracted to pay attention to any of that, which was fair. Shouta would normally remind him of his situational awareness, but when Nedzu wanted to command someone’s attention, he commanded someone’s attention and he loved his tea almost more than he did his pack. Shoto never stood a chance.

After everyone was happily full from lunch and the food had all been stored away and everything cleaned up, Hizashi gathered everyone’s attention and turned to Eri, who was sitting on Hitoshi’s lap.

“Eri, sweetheart, do you remember what we talked about before the trial? How winning means we can adopt Shoto?” The girl looked up at him with wide eyes, before nodding.

“So he can be a Yamazawa for real.” She’d learned to hide her tells, so it was difficult to tell she was suddenly scared that meant they didn’t want her around before, but Hizashi’s keen eyes still noticed the slight shake in her hands. They reached out to take them, offering the silent comfort.

“He was already one for real. This just means legally.” Hizashi clarified. “Well, we have some good news. We found out this week we can adopt you too, if that’s okay with you.”

“I get to be a Yamazawa?” She whispered, eyes lighting up in wonder.

“Yeah, baby, you get to be a Yamazawa. We want you to be one, if you want that too.”

“I GET TO BE A YAMAZAWA!!” She screeched, launching off of Hitoshi to throw her little arms around Hizashi’s shoulders not for a second doubting that he’d catch her. Due to the position of the hug, Hizashi missed it (something they’d always be a little sad about, but Shouta caught it bright and clear on his phone), but Eri had the first smile any of them had seen her wear and damn if it wasn’t a bright one.

It wasn’t long before the news was spilling across every family group chat that existed (including a selfie with Shoto and Eri that Shouta sent to the teacher chat, asking everyone to look at his two newest cats. He did it with Izuku and he could do it again.)

Of course Keigo and Touya were knocking on the door minutes after the news hit the chats they were in, they absolutely wanted in on the celebration and were the only ones close enough to actually join in, much to everyone else’s jealousy.

The boys were supposed to go back to the dorms after that, Momo had already texted Shouta twice about their absence and Mina once, though she was mostly providing context that everyone was getting antsy knowing all three of them were trouble magnets and were absent (Izuku loved his friends for not spilling the beans, the rest of the class could be… insistent when they wanted to be.)

But no one could say no to Eri’s kitten eyes, especially when she was finally smiling. So they had a sleepover in the living room and fell asleep in a giant pile, complete with the furry little demons they lovingly called cats.

It was worth every second, and every bit of discomfort the next morning.

Chapter Text

Ten thirty on the dot Sunday morning, Nedzu got a call from security. Apparently Usagiyama Rumi, also known as pro hero Mirko, was fired up and seconds away from kicking down his front door if someone didn’t tell her where Keigo was. Initially that set off alarm bells, both literally and figuratively, but the the HPSC already knew where the bird was and she wasn’t on his list of commission sympathizers, so the chimera wasn’t ready to go defcon. Yet.

He did wake Keigo up to get his input on the next steps, with a phone call of course, he didn’t just break into the young man’s apartment. Tempting as it was, Touya didn’t react well to being startled the way Nedzu intended people to be when he suddenly appeared, and he wasn’t going to do that to the poor kid.

Plus, he didn’t want to accidentally end up with an eyeful. Again. Young love was sweet, but in that particular case it was something he could do without experiencing, thank you very much.

“Usagiyama’s here?” Keigo’s sleepy voice echoed Nedzu’s explanation of the situation (he still struggled with letting himself relax, but he was making good headway on ‘if no one else is Go Mode I don’t have to be Go Mode, and thus was letting himself wake up slowly).

“Who?” Touya’s voice faintly asked, muffled because he was probably laying on top of the hero again.

“Usagiyama .” Keigo repeated, voice also faint like he’d pulled the phone away to answer Touya. “Sorry, Mirko.” Then his voice returned to normal as he responded more fully to Nedzu. “She’s a top pro but she’s not really one of the commission’s go-to’s, I don’t think she’s here on their behalf.”

At least he hoped she wasn’t. And oh shit, Keigo was realizing that he hadn’t really texted her much since his departure slash rescue from the HPSC, everything had been a lot to deal with and he just hadn’t responded to anything, and damn if that wasn’t a brutal wake up call. She’d been the closest thing he could have had to a real friend (aside from Touya, who kind of didn’t count in this respect since he was part of a mission) ever.

Damn, did that make him a horrible friend?

“She says she’s here to see you.” Nedzu repeated. “I agree, I don’t think she has malicious intent, but its your call.” It was his choice if he wanted to see anyone, Nedzu meant, at least here on home turf. If Keigo didn’t want to talk to her, or deal with this, Nedzu would happily do so for him. If he did, Nedzu would facilitate in whatever way Keigo thought best.

“Would it be possible to use one of the meeting rooms?” Keigo said after a minute’s thought. “I know you usually try to separate the school and things like this, but it’s the best neutral ground I can think of short notice.”

“It is a Sunday, it should be fine.” Nedzu nodded, not that Keigo could see it, fingers already flying over a keyboard as he instructed the security guard to let one of the bots escort her to a meeting room. “She’ll be waiting in conference room C, would you like me to go with you?”

“...yes, please.” Keigo sighed. “Tou, you gotta get up man. I gotta get dressed.”

“That requires moving and moving is illegal.” Again, the voice was faint and muffled, but Nedzu had better hearing than most humans and access to phones with very good speakers and microphones.

“Someone’s waiting for me, you gotta get up.”

“...want me to go with you?” The shuffling sounds of two bodies rearranging themselves and trying to exit a bed echoed through the phone.

“No, you need more sleep. Nedzu’s coming with me, we got this.”

“Mkay. Love you.”

“Love you too, you sap.”

“I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready.” Nedzu spoke up, absolutely startling Keigo, who’d been focused on placing a quick kiss on the top of his boyfriend’s head.

“I’ll be down in less than five.” The bird answered before disconnecting.

Nedzu smiled to himself, freedom was doing wonders for his newest kit, and if this went well, there’d be another person around to support him. Keigo deserved as many people on his team as he could get at this point, especially the few people Nedzu was beginning to suspect he let himself be at least somewhat close too since he fell under the commission’s control.

…..

Keigo wasn’t fully sure what to expect when he opened the door to the conference room just a few minutes later, but he imagined it probably felt similar to what Touya had experienced when he’d met his siblings for the first time. At least as a trained pro, he had the instinct and strength to catch Rumi when she launched herself at him. She never actually made contact the way Fuyumi had though, instead stopping short and patting him over to check for injuries.

“You fucking dumbass, you better not be hurt.” She muttered, eyebrows drawn tight in concentration.

“I’m fine?” Keigo glanced at Nedzu for help, but the chimera just climbed up into a chair to watch the proceedings. Rumi stopped, took half a step back, and stared the nervous bird hard in the face.

“In that case you better be fucking hurt. You stopped responding for weeks and no one knew where you were and you haven’t been patrolling! Do you have any idea how worried I was?” She poked him in the shoulder. “What the hell happened?”

“I uh. It’s a long story?” Keigo glanced past her to Nedzu again, who signed his response.

“Your story is yours, you can share as much as you want. We’ve got your back either way.”

“What? What is it?” Rumi half turned to look at Nedzu just as he was lowering his paws. “What’s going on?” Keigo took a deep breath, then put a hand on Rumi’s shoulder. She immediately turned back to face him, eyes wide with concern.

“Did the commission send you?” He hated that he had to ask, but Keigo couldn’t quite erase that little voice that said everyone he didn’t know was actively moving against the commission with Nedzu and the Yamazawas was aligned with them.

“No?” Confusion joined concern in Rumi’s eyes. “I’m concerned about my best friend, what do those assholes have to do with any of this?” Keigo was pretty sure they had everything to do with everything, or at least they wanted to. He didn’t say that though.

More importantly, he’d known her long enough to know her tells. Rumi was a lot, but she wasn’t the best liar out there and Keigo’d been trained to pick people apart as fast as possible. The relief that hit him that the one person hero he’d ever been able to consider anything close to a friend had very likely (even now, he couldn’t bring himself not to hedge his bets) been genuine the entire time almost turned his knees to jelly.

She deserved to know the truth, and shockingly Keigo found himself wanting her to know. He’d spent so long terrified of anyone finding out, the one eighty almost gave him whiplash but that didn’t stop the desire to scream the words locked in his throat from rising up despite the lingering fear. Either way, on the off chance Keigo was wrong about this, Nedzu would destroy her if she tried to use this info against him, Keigo didn’t need to look at the light flashing in the chimera’s eyes to know that.

“I think you should sit down Rumi, it’s a long story.” Keigo sighed, wings drooping.

“You’re okay though, right?” Rumi didn’t like this. She knew there was more to the winged hero that the affable persona he showed everyone- you didn’t rise through the ranks as fast and as young as he had without something truly special hiding behind all that lighthearted trolling, but she’d never seen him so serious before.

Determined? Often. The small, subtle flashes of anger at particularly heinous villains or when children were involved? Not often, but still yes. But this weird, downtrodden, almost defeated energy didn’t fit with the Hawks she knew.

Correction- that she thought she knew. Because as the entire awful story came out over the course of the next hour each word added weight to the realization that she’d never really known the true man behind the hero. She hadn’t even known his real age, and she’d known he was young, that’s why she’d extended a hand to him in friendship.

They were supposed to be two young guns against the all the old fogies that made up the rest of the upper rankings. Young was one thing, but he’d been a literal minor when he’d debuted. Even younger when they started “training” him. Keigo skated over the specifics and she wasn’t about to push, but she could read between the lines.

Rumi had to breathe carefully through her nose to keep the nausea down.

Keigo hated the rising horror in Rumi’s eyes, but was comforted by the confirmation she’d never been their plant keeping an eye on him nonetheless. He had to work to squash down the voice that said this would ruin everything though. Yes, he’d never really been truly honest with her, at least on a personal level, but Rumi was as good a person as she was a hero, she’d understand and not hold that against him. Probably.

“Those bastards.” Rumi finally said after Keigo had finally wrapped up, wiping at her eyes. “I’m going to hug you now, and then I’m going to destroy the commission.” The bunny eared hero telegraphed her moves despite the speed at which she pulled Keigo in for a hug.

“You’ll have to get in line.” Keigo couldn’t stop himself from snickering as he wrapped his arms around her in return. Rumi, Touya, the Yamazawas, freedom, this was everything he’d ever wanted and the fact he finally had it? Nearly unbelievable.

“It’s a little bit bigger than a line.” Nedzu broke in, feral grin firmly in place. He knew about the friendship since he first started researching Keigo, and had been pretty sure Mirko had never been anything but genuine. Her popularity was from her own hard work and flamboyant hero persona, not help from the commission, but it’d never been his place to reach out. Not for this, at least. “But we’d be more than happy to have you.”

“No shit?” Rumi leaned back from Keigo just enough to raise an eye at Nedzu. “You’re really doing this?”

“We’re really doing this.” The chimera nodded.

“Oh, hell fuckin yeah.” Rumi matched his feral grin.

“Oh, she was going to be an excellent addition to the pack.

Chapter Text

They left the school for the fun part of the conversation- Keigo’s shiny new family, life, and even newer boyfriend. They hadn’t told anyone yet (though they weren’t stupid, both men knew there was a betting pool on them, it was a natural byproduct of being family with a bunch of keen-eyed heroes), but they’d gone from practically living together because they both hated being alone, to legitimately living together, to sharing a bed ‘for the company’, to finally admitting their feelings after late-night nightmares woke them both.

The only time Keigo had been happier than when he’d heard Touya admitting he felt the same way he did was when Nedzu had confirmed that the he never had to worry about going back to the HPSC again.

He texted the oldest Himura when they were on the way back, there was no reason to hit him with an entire Surprise Mirko. They spent most of their time in ‘Keigo’s’ apartment, but they still had ‘Touya’s’. If the fire user wasn’t up to dealing with people today Keigo could just take Rumi to the other unit.

Touya texted back that he was up for it though, especially since they’d talked about how Keigo had seen her texts coming in but hadn’t known how to respond, and what she’d been to him. He was still wary meeting new people, especially new heroes, but if he got overwhelmed he could always go back to their unit and cuddle Bastard.

That last bit made Keigo snort (Bastard loved Keigo, but he seemed to view Touya as some sort of barely functional kitten, was always trying to groom him and yelling until the fire user went to sleep, sometimes he even yelled until Touya went and drank water), drawing Rumi’s attention to where he was smiling at his phone.

“What’s this?” She gasped as they walked through the tunnel (Nedzu had gone ahead in his cart, but they wanted to stretch their legs and Keigo wanted to give Touya time to get ready). “Smiling? At your phone?? Something you want to tell me there, chicken wings?”

“No need, you already know you’re a little shit.” Keigo fired back without missing a beat, sliding is phone into his back pocket. “I was just letting my roommate know we’re headed up.”

“Roommate, or roommate?” Rumi asked, not letting him out of this that easily. “Because I’ve never seen you smile like that before. Looked good on you, though.” She didn’t mean it flirtatiously, her friend deserved every little bit of genuine joy he could get.

“Fine.” Keigo sighed. It’d probably be better to give her a little bit of info now to curb her curiosity before she started asking questions they weren’t ready to answer. He trusted her not to share secrets that actually mattered anyways. “He’s my boyfriend, his name is Touya. I’d prefer it if you called me Keigo, by the way. But back on topic, the boyfriends part is pretty recent and no one’s supposed to know about it yet so don’t go sharing, okay?”

“Of course.” Rumi nodded, honored both that he’d actually shared that and that he’d asked her to call him by his given name. “Call me Rumi. Your Touya can too. Wait- what does ‘supposed’ mean?”

“Thank you, Rumi. Really.” Keigo grinned at her, not as bright as his hero persona grin but far more genuine. “Also it means Nedzu. He lives on our floor and he’s Nedzu, he knows everything anyways.

“Oh, that makes sense. And of course, dumbass, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” She lightly hip checked him as they approached the elevator upstairs. “Now hurry up and introduce me to your boy. I have to see who’s good enough to steal my bestie’s heart.”

When they got upstairs, Touya was already waiting for them in ‘his’ old unit, preparing tea and wearing the Hawks hoodie that legitimately belonged to Touya but a stolen pair of sweatpants that were Keigo’s. Touya was slimmer and taller so they were slightly too short and had to be cinched tight so they didn’t fall off (not that Keigo was opposed to that, in private), but they were damn soft. And Touya knew Keigo liked seeing him in his clothes (both literal and merch), the bastard.

Rumi was very smart, anyone who hit the top ten was, and she didn’t miss the odd fit of the pants or the hoodie, but she decided to play nice for now and didn’t do anything but give a lightly blushing Keigo an amused glance as they toed off their boots. Then she actually got a look at Touya’s face as he came around the corner from the kitchen to greet them.

“Oh shit.” Both Touya and Keigo froze at Rumi’s blurted words, both assuming she’d somehow recognized him. “You didn’t say he was hot, chicken wings. Kami, I think I need a glass of cold water.” Rumi fanned herself as Touya just stared at her in shock, mouth slightly open as what parts of his face could turned bright scarlet.

“I told her we were dating, she was going to figure it out anyways and it’s better to warn her not to tell anyone else.” Keigo explained to him, also blushing. “Apparently I should have also asked her not to scare you off.” He elbowed Rumi in the side as she started cackling. “Also, I resent the implication that I don’t have taste.”

“You don’t.” Both Rumi and Touya said at the same time, though Rumi’s was gasped between bursts of laughter.

“Betrayal.” Keigo’s voice was deadpan as he rolled his eyes at the pair. Honestly, they were going to get on like a house on fire and he should have seen this coming. “You’re both traitors. Are you making the good tea?”

“Of course I’m making the good tea.” Touya crossed his arms, affronted as Keigo slid past him and a still giggling Rumi in the direction of the kitchen, lightly pulling on one of the wings on Touya’s hoodie as he went.

“Nedzu turned you into a tea snob.” Keigo noted, pausing to turn back and give Touya a quick kiss on the cheek just because he could (sue him, they were in the honeymoon phase.

“You say that like that’s a bad thing.” Touya grumbled as he followed Keigo into the kitchen, Rumi following along behind them.

“Oh god, you’re nauseating.” She snickered. “I totally should have seen that coming, also I’m single and you’re both making that hurt. Just thought you should know.”

“Your pain tolerance is almost as strong as mine.” Keigo called over his shoulder, not even looking back. “Deal with it.” The winged hero got them properly introduced over tea, conversation flowing surprisingly easily despite Keigo only really knowing how to Conversate as Hawks and Touya being fairly awkward with strange heroes in general. It was Rumi though, they didn’t have to be skilled conversationalists with her.

And just like that, another one got brought into the fold. Luckily this one was an extrovert and would probably be happy about the new extended family she’d be adopted into.

Chapter Text

On Monday morning, something happened at UA that, to date, had never happened before- Yagi Toshinori knocked on Hizashi’s door in the middle of their off period toward the end of the morning. Knee deep in lesson planning and expecting it to be a student, the voice quirked hero almost bid him to enter without question when their son stuck his head out of the vent.

“It’s Ass Might.” Curls bounced around cat ears as Izuku hung upside down.

“Language, Zuzu.” Hizashi calmly replied (the rules for the second semester was cussing during school hours meant detention, but he’d let this one go since it was an apt description), looking up to meet the vent gremlins eyes with a frown. “Why are you following him through the vents? Do you do that often?”

“No, I want nothing to do with him, even if the class is still having fun with the pranks. I just saw him outside your door and it’s weird.” Following Izuku’s sentence, a second round of knocking echoed, louder.

“Whatever he wants I’ll take care of it. Go do whatever it is Nedzu has you doing.”

“I was supposed to find Snipe but he’s making out with Higari right now and I don’t want to deal with it.” Izuku grinned, unrepentant. “I decided to take a break instead.”

“Go be on break elsewhere, then. Annoy your dad or something. And if Nedzu has him teaching you how to shoot-”

“It’s not about that.” Izuku assured as he pulled himself back up into the vents. “We’re all aware Zawa threatened to skin him if jiji lets Snipe teach me to shoot before you sign off. Love you, Papa!”

“Love you too, kiddo!” Hizashi called into the vents as Izuku scrambled off before turning his attention back to the door as a third, even more insistent, round of knocking sounded. Might as well get whatever the oaf wanted over with.

“You can come in now, Yagi.” They said, tone far from welcoming. The door slid open revealing, as expected, the emaciated form of “All Might’s secretary”.

“Pardon me for the intrusion.” The skeletal figure coughed as he slid into the room, closing the door behind him. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I had something I wanted to run by you. How’d you know it was me, though?”

“A little birdie told me.” Hizashi kept his reply short and sour, he wanted Yagi to be uncomfortable with the knowledge he wasn’t wanted. It was absolutely petty, and they absolutely did not care.

“Ah. I-I see.” The soon to be retired pro stuttered, proving that Hizashi’s technique was having the desired effect. Then he seemed to gather him wits and forged on. “Be that as it may I wanted to come talk to you about my quirk.”

“Your quirk.” Hizashi narrowed his eyes at Yagi as the older man settled into one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. They didn’t like where this was going, none of their first year gen ed students would need a transferable stockpiling quirk meant for the next pillar of peace so the only reason the old hero would have to discuss that with Hizashi was he wanted to give it to one of their kids. Oh good lord, the idiot probably thought between him, Shouta, and Nedzu that Hizashi was the weakest link. Oh that sweet summer child. “The quirk you’re supposed to be looking at the older students for?”

“Yes, well.” Yagi coughed again, staining the handkerchief he pulled from one of his pockets. “It’s come to my attention that young Izuku was instrumental in bringing down AFO once and for all. Surely you agree that such skill must be worthy-”

“Stop. Just stop.” Hizashi interrupted, pushing his glasses out of the way with one hand so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. They ignored every sound of Yagi fidgeting as they slowly counted down from ten, reining in their temper before they did something like shout the dumbass out of existence.

Getting the blood out of the carpet would be so annoying, and he’d spent ages picking it out.

“You’ve made your thoughts on Izuku’s ability to succeed quirkless abundantly clear, All Might.” The pissed off parent hurled the man’s hero name at him like a curse. “The fact of the matter is he did what you and your predecessors never could, all on his own. He took a chunk out of AFO’s arm himself, were you aware of that? The same way he almost removed most of Stain’s face when he took the Hero Killer down as a first year student on his first ever internship.”

“I... was not.” Yagi’s voice was weak when he answered, trying not to form any mental pictures. “If he’s done all that without a quirk, just imagine-”

“I will not.” The radio host’s voice was soft but colder than outer space, sending shivers down Yagi’s back. “I will not imagine what Izuku could do with your bullshit quirk, and you won’t imagine it anymore either. It doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t need or want it and neither Shouta nor myself are going to let you anywhere near him with it.”

“Have you consid-”

“There will be consequences for you if you don’t leave now, Yagi.” Hizashi spoke over him. The cadence was perfectly conversational and his tone had lost it’s iciness, but that softness hadn’t left. It’s effect was scarier, because he didn’t sound angry. He sounded every inch the incredibly patient teacher that Hizashi very much was. Patience that was unyielding, that would not falter until they’d completed their goal no matter how unhurried the pace.

The goal, in this case, was likely Yagi’s head on a pike regardless of whether or not he’d managed to pass on his ancient quirk yet.

Yagi booked it.

Hizashi stared down the camera in the corner of the room, alerting Nedzu to review the last few minutes of footage. Honestly the audacity Yagi had knew no bounds, coming in here and more or less poking a mother bear like that. They stared at the half formed lesson plans on their desk and sighed before straightening everything up to neatly pack away and finish later.

They weren’t going to get any work done for the next little while, there was too much steam they needed to blow off. Hizashi gave Yagi a few minutes to clear the halls before going off in search of his husband. It’d be lunch soon, and dragging Shouta down to the teacher’s only gym below the school for some sparring would be a great way to get rid of that energy (shame they couldn’t use other tactics to do that, but Nedzu had too many cameras up in the school, it just wasn’t worth it.)

At least Hizashi had the comfort of knowing Shouta wouldn’t be able to believe the audacity of that bitch either.

Chapter Text

Izuku wasn’t sure what Ass Might wanted with Hizashi, but neither parent was anywhere to be found at the start of lunch. That was concerning, so fearing property damage (read: fearing missing all the good tea) Izuku texted Nedzu about it only to be assured that both were fine, just sparring off their anger in the teacher-only gyms. Appeased, for now, Izuku went to find his friends for lunch instead.

And who did he see sitting together when he finally made it to the cafeteria but Kirishima and Bakugo? How very interesting a development that was. Kirishima didn’t notice Izuku noticing them, but Bakugo took hero work very seriously and had put a lot of effort into his situational awareness so it only took him a few seconds into Izuku’s observation to glance his way.

“Having fun?” Izuku signed to him (knowing full well the other teen had learned JSL as a kid just in case his quirk ever destroyed his hearing) just to be a problem child (he had a quota he had to fill, after all). Izuku snickered when the resulting scowl caused Kirishima to stop and turn around to see what the spiky haired blonde was looking at only to give Izuku a bright wave.

Izuku waved back of course, he wasn’t a monster, but he left them to it as he continued his search for food and friends. He found them, made his way over to them bento in hand, and then immediately turned and booked it to eat with Mei in the support course instead. He didn’t need sensitive cat hearing to pick up the lyrics blaring from the video Kaminari had found and was showing an enraptured and gleeful Mina, Fumikage, and Hitoshi.

Izuku didn’t know how or when Kaminari had found the The Kitty Cat Dance song from back when herotube was youtube, but he just did not have it in him to deal with that right now. Somebody would be paying for the pain and suffering he’d be going through because of this later though. Mei had a truly wonderful mind after all, Izuku was sure she’d have plenty of creative ideas for retribution.

…..

Tuesday after school, Izuku was summoned not to Nedzu’s office, but over to the grandparent’s apartment for something he wouldn’t disclose with Shouta and Hizashi, but promised had nothing to do with guns or the take down of specific government agencies.

It was just a continuation of the discussion he and Izuku had been having earlier in the day over tea and the chimera was refusing to clue his kits in to troll them a bit (it was good for them, healthy, kept them on their toes), and he’d been firmly barred from his office by Chiyo on grounds of his cackle was starting to get a shade too demented again and he needed to go touch grass and take a breather. She lived with him, she was old, and there was only so much of that energy she could take in such close proximity without actually snapping.

An angry Chiyo was the only person Nedzu actually feared by this stage of his existence, so he promptly abandoned his office in favor of relaxing in his home. He even walked the long way back for the specific purpose of touching a few blades of grass per doctors orders.

Izuku left with several boxes of tea and new teapots for his, Shoto, and Hitoshi’s dorms and some tea of the gossip variety to add to the lore that was forming around Touya and Keigo. He detoured a little bit, stopping by the Yamazawa cabin instead of going directly to the student dorms to fill in the father figures in person.

“Papa? Dad?” Izuku called after letting himself in. “Is anyone home? You’re never gonna believe what happened?”

“Is this about whatever you were doing with the rat?” Shouta stuck his head out of the kitchen to observe his vibrating first child with a small frown. “How much sugar did he feed you? Wait, not my problem, you’re going back to the dorms.” The underground pro quickly retreated back into the kitchen, Izuku following him as Hizashi came in from their bedroom to lean against the doorway. Their gossip senses were tingling.

“I didn’t have any sugar in my tea today, thank you very much.” Izuku said. “Guess who I saw going into Keigo and Touya’s apartment!?”

“Who, honey?” Hizashi asked, stepping out of the doorway so Eri could barrel in, screaming Izuku’s name.

“Hi, Eri-beary.” Izuku set his bag of tea things on the table so he could pick her up (she was getting heavier, but she was still too light). “It was Mirko!” He told the dads.

“Who’s Mirko?” Eri of course immediately asked, laying her head on Izuku’s shoulder, mindful of her horn, so she could snuggle into him. Hizashi had started pulling the hero up on his phone to show the little girl some photos of her while they explained.

“I’m pretty sure at least publicly she has a friendship with Keigo.” Shouta interjected, taking a sip of his coffee.

“She does.” Izuku nodded. “Looks like its more than just publicity. I didn’t know they were still in contact like that though. Nedzu didn’t say anything so I assume everything’s fine, but man was I not expecting that. Seriously, it’s Mirko. Ohmigod, do you think she’d sign one of my figurines?”

“You go to hero school, are related to more heroes than you can shake a stick at, have met yet more heroes as a vigilante, and somehow you’re still such a fanboy.” Hizashi snorted, reaching over to ruffle Izuku’s hair. “Kiddo, I love you so much.”

“I know, but it’s Mirko!” Izuku protested. “She’s so cool!”

“You know that means you have to actually ask her for a signature.” Shouta pointed out. “To her face.” The adult grinned into his coffee when Izuku wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“...maybe I don’t need a signed figurine.” He mumbled. He didn’t stay much longer than that, he did still have homework he needed to get to, but he did stay long enough to hear all about Eri’s day while he was there.

“The bunny hero.” Hizashi raised an eyebrow at his husband. “Plus two cats, two birds, a unicorn, technically you’ve got a kid who can legitimately talk to animals. Are we just collecting the entire menagerie?”

“Isn’t that what the rat’s for?” Shouta sent back, cackling when Hizashi threw one of the throw pillows on the couch at him in defense of his father in law. “Look me in the eye and tell me it’s not true!”

“Yamazawa Shouta!”

“It is!” Shouta knocked a second pillow out of the air before it could hit is coffee.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Hizashi turned on his heel and stalked back into the bedroom, leaving Shouta to deal with the pillows. Served him right.

Chapter Text

If there was anything at UA that was an uncontested fact of the universe, it was that Aizawa Shouta was an incredibly busy man. He’d never hesitate to make time for his students, but if it wasn’t related to their well-being during the school day he probably didn’t have a lot of time for you. Especially if the ‘you’ in question was Yagi Toshinori.

He’d been trying to connect with the exhausted teacher the entire second half of the week, but he was never going to succeed in that if Shouta didn’t let him. He was the first problem child to take to the vents after all, and the underground pros ability to escape any situation he didn’t want to be in had only grown since those days.

Yagi was persistent though and Shouta didn’t have the patience for a game of cat and mouse that he didn’t actively want to play, so he got Nemuri to cover his last homeroom of the day and dropped out of one of the vents in Yagi’s office to land in the chair directly below it. (Wonderful chair placement for Shouta’s needs, but the older hero really should know better, that was a safety concern.)

“Oh!” Yagi jerked back in surprise, nearly allowing himself to go full size on instinct before regaining control of himself. Shouta was almost disappointed, though he supposed no one stayed the highest charted pro for that long without at least some skill and smarts. Also he was mostly being petty about it. “Young Aizawa, fancy seeing you here.”

“I know, it’s the last place I thought I’d ever find myself.” Shouta agreed, tone purposefully conversational as he smiled sarcastically at the skeletal blonde before him. “You haven’t been subtle in your attempts to talk to me though and I had some free time open up this afternoon. Let’s talk.”

“Yes, lets. Just give me one moment to clear this away so I can give this my undivided attention.” Yagi quickly straightened up the paperwork he’d been working through and neatly set it aside, giving himself time for one final last minute think through of what approach he wanted to take with this.

“First,” the older pro started once he refocused on Shouta, “I’d like to apologize if I came across as implying Izuku won’t be able to succeed without a quirk. The incidents with AFO and Stain have proven that he can, quite well. I know I owe young Midoriya an apology as well, but I’ve already made too many mistakes with how I’ve approached him and I know that needs to go through you, Yamada, or Nedzu.”

Shouta had to give it to him, Yagi seemed genuine and his words practically dripped with sincerity, but Shouta didn’t miss how much heavy lifting that ‘if’ was doing, or the fact that this ‘apology’ was being given to Shouta, not Hizashi. The one Yagi had had the most recent interaction with and the one who made himself a lot easier to get ahold of than Shouta did. It was also just a bad apology, but he’d let Small Might dig his own grave. There was definitely a ‘but’ coming, it didn’t take genius to figure that out.

“That being said,” yep, there it was, Shouta hated being right, “One for All is a powerful quirk and a heavy responsibility. It needs to go to someone capable of managing it with intelligence and maturity, and Young Midoriya has more than proven himself capable. He also has a strong support system in you, Yamada, and all the staff here at UA. Then you take into account how easy it would be to simply fake him being a late bloomer and it all does seem to wrap up rather nicely, don’t you think?”

Shouta didn’t answer immediately. He just sat there watching Yagi start to sweat while he thought about which points he wanted to cover first. Shouta’s main goal here was to make sure the oaf dropped this entirely and he was remarkably stubborn (or overly used to getting his way) so the underground pro needed to make sure his words stuck.

“Young Yamazawa, first of all. Izuku’s adoption finalizes in a few weeks and he hates his former family name, the least you could do at this point is respect that. Second of all, he wants to be an underground pro, Yagi. Underground. Out of the public eye. You fucked up when you set yourself up as the Pillar of Peace, now you have to play this game so you can set up an heir apparent to try to fill the power vacuum that’s going to be left when you retire along with soothing public anxiety.

“That’s a mess you made, and honestly it’s bullshit you’re leaving it for someone else to come in and clean up. But it is going to have to be cleaned up, and whoever does that is going to be forced into the limelight inherently. That’s just not the kind of hero Izuku wants to be.

“You’re right about one thing though,” Shouta leaned forward in his seat, “Izuku is smart, smarter than both of us combined probably. He knows your quirk is bad news and he wants nothing to do with it. Drop this, Yagi. We won’t be asking again.”

“Young Yamazawa,” Yagi protested, putting extra emphasis on the name as a sort of capitulation, to show he was listening, “is more than old enough to make this decision for himself. He deserves the chance to hear the offer out and come to his own conclusions. You can’t just say no for him when he has no idea the quirk is even transferable-”

“Of course he knows One for All is transferable.” Shouta interrupted, exasperated and desperately wishing he’d brought a coffee with him. “Did you miss the part where AFO was targeting him for months? Something that’s also ultimately your fault, considering the super villain would have never given UA a second glance if you hadn’t attached yourself to us so publicly.” The words flowed quickly now, increasing in volume as Shouta finally snapped and let out all the anger he’d had stewing for Yagi since the USJ.

“None of us expected that to wrap up in just a few months, we were prepared for and enacting life altering changes to protect him from an uber-powerful old as dirt megalomaniac we thought would take years minimum to stop. Of course we told him why we had to do that, it was important he know exactly what he’d been embroiled in.” Shouta stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath to rein himself back in. Then he opened his eyes and nailed Yagi with a slightly red gaze just to make sure he fully had the other mans attention for his final point. “He already knows anything you could tell him, and he wants nothing to do with it.”

“But-” Yagi tried to protest again as Shouta rose to his feet, only to be interrupted.

“But nothing. He wants nothing to do with you so drop it and find someone else to take your stupid fucking legacy. This conversation is over.” Shouta didn’t even bother to go for the door, he just jumped up, caught the (already opening, all hail Nedzu) vent with his fingers, and hauled himself up into it to disappear into the darkness.

Shouta definitely needed coffee, the really expensive blend he kept hidden in Nedzu’s office so he didn’t drink too much of it too fast. As much as he hoped Yagi would listen to reason, he had no doubt this was far from over.

Chapter Text

Fumikage had to go home that weekend, Hitoshi was out with Neito and Mina with her girls, and even Eri had a play date at the park with one of the friends she’d made at her daycare so Saturday found Izuku and Shoto doing homework together in the living room of the cottage. Shouta was off doing something for Nedzu (probably related to world domination so the boys didn’t question it too much), and Hizashi was at the station.

That meant they were alone in the house when Natsuo let himself in in a flurry of excitement and lanky limbs.

“Hey, do y’all have brain bleach?” He panted, out of breath and wild eyed. “Or maybe a fire extinguisher?”

“Brain bleach doesn’t exist.” Shoto told him, deadpan, before turning back to his homework. Whatever shenanigans Natsuo was involved in this time could either be dealt with by Izuku or wait until he finished this essay because he was tired of having it hang over his head.

“Thanks for the support, baby bro.” Natsuo huffed, moving to the window to check outside it.

“Is something on fire?” Izuku asked, because Natsuo wasn’t.   Nedzu should already be aware if something else was, but it was still worth asking.  Especially if it meant roasting marshmallows. “What happened?”

“Nothing’s on fire yet, except Touya’s face maybe.” Natsuo snickered, letting the curtain fall shut as he turned back to the teens in the room. “He was chasing me so I couldn’t tell anyone I caught him and Keigo making out. Sucks for him that I’m faster.” Technically, they were doing a bit more than making out- the reason Natsuo got such a strong head start was because Touya had to find clothes to put back on, but the teenyboppers didn’t need to know that.

Natsuo’s voice was filled with absolute glee to have been the one to finally get confirmation on their whole ‘will they won’t they’ situation, also because he just won so much money from the betting pool. He knew neither of them were going to come forward until they inevitably got caught.

“Why’d you run all the way here then instead of just texting the group chats?” Shoto asked, successfully distracted now. Essays could wait when the older pair of love birds finally got their shit together.

“I’m not gonna out them.” Natsuo scrunched up his eyebrows and shook his head slightly. “I just want confirmation this happened for later when they’re ready for everyone to know. Izu, buddy, we’re gonna clean up.” Just then, there was a furious pounding on the door.

“Something tells me it’s time to tell him that first part.” Izuku noted, amused at the entire situation.

“Ah-hah-hah, yeah, assuming he doesn’t just murder me before I can.” Natsuo moved further from the door, hiding behind Shoto. None of them moved to let Touya in, Shouta and Hizashi had let Nedzu set up all the Himuras with access to the house just in case, and as soon as the hothead calmed down enough to remember that he could let himself in.

“I don’t want to be drawn into this.” Shoto protested, turning to look over his shoulder at his middlest brother. “I didn’t even put any bets down and I’m trying to do homework.”

“One, too bad, and two, Zashi’s not gonna fail you.” Natsuo waved away Shoto’s concerns as the door finally slammed open.

“You little shit!” Touya yelled, storming inside decked out in his favorite Hawks hoodie and, hilariously, Keigo’s costume pants that he was holding up with one hand. He glanced around wildly for Natsuo, finding him already safely ensconced behind their littlest brother. “Oh, come on dude, you can’t just hide behind Shoto.”  That was cheating.  

“I can and will.” Natsuo did his absolute damnedest not to laugh at Touya’s get-up (or Izuku already taking photos of it). “Fuyumi didn’t raise a fool! Also I’m not gonna tell anyone!”

“We’re not either.” Izuku had less survival instinct than Natsuo and more faith in his abilities, so he didn’t hide his snickers, but he did confirm that Touya and Keigo were safe. “Just because everyone’s rooting for you two doesn’t mean we’re not gonna let you have your space. You’ve both been through enough already.”  Half the betting pool was who would find out, how, and when.  

“I- okay.” Touya stopped to catch his breath, finally turning to shut the door because Reaper, who Izuku had left napping upstairs, had finally figured out that it was open and was trying to escape to the ever-tempting grass outside. “And the photos?”

“Those are for Keigo.” Izuku sent a pointed look to ‘Touya’s’ pants.

“What?” The oldest Himura glanced down, blanching. “Oh shit, I’m gonna start a media circus if anyone sees me in these.”

“Lucky for you it’s a Saturday and papa did laundry before he left.” Izuku stood up and headed to the laundry room, calling the rest over his shoulder. “You can borrow a pair of sweatpants to go back.”

“Right, thanks bud.” Touya leaned down to give Reaper, weaving around his ankles, some scritches.

“Not a problem.” Izuku came back to the living room, heather grey sweats in hand and passed them off to Touya to go change into while the cat eared boy grabbed a grocery bag out of the kitchen to put the costume pants in.

Touya didn’t stay long, he had things to do (he ignored Natsuo finally breaking and laughing hard as the middlest brother finger quoted ‘things’). Natsuo stayed for a little bit longer because might as well not waste the trip, but not too long lest he keep the boys from their studies.

Instead, Touya came over for lunch on Sunday with Keigo. They both wanted to check in with the entire collection of Yamazawas out of an overabundance of caution (anxiety) at being found out. The family understood wanting to keep something nice to yourself after so long of having every nice thing ripped away though, of course no one held it against them.

The freshly minted couple was convinced (anyone who tried to tell you Shoto hadn’t figured out kitten eyes was a dirty no good liar) to escort the boys back to their dorm on their way out. It should have been fine, it was a few hours before the students who went home for the weekend usually started trickling back in, but instead they found themselves with some rather… interesting revelations.

It started when the four were still chatting outside the dorm’s front doors and Kaminari returned to the dorms earlier than normal. Him recognizing Hawks was to be expected, he was still the number three pro after all, it was the way he kept glancing at Touya that was strange.

“So do you spend a lot of time around churches?” The electric teen finally cracked, unable to take it any more. It was… not a question any of them had been expecting.

“What?” Touya asked, glancing between the excited Kaminari and an equally perplexed Izuku and Shoto, waiting for someone to explain.

“So, I really like the Boo Boys on herotube, and they had an episode on this local church and you look really close to the ghost that’s said to haunt it. Let me see if I can find a photo real quick.” Kaminari quickly pulled out his phone, rapidly typing into the search engine.

“Who are they?” Shoto asked Izuku, recognizing the name as someone Izuku liked to watch, but not knowing exactly who they were.

“They do ghost hunting, you don’t like that kind of thing so I don’t watch it when you’re around.” Izuku explained, several things clicking together as he remembered that episode. There had been rumors in a local church a few years ago about sightings of a scarred teenage ghost, odd blue flickering lights, and things going missing. Someone had even drawn a sketch of what they’d seen, though it hadn’t included the staples.

An on-the-run Touya who hadn’t started dying his hair from white to black yet seeking refuge in a church and accidentally starting a local legend in the process wasn’t a big stretch, and from the look on Touya’s face Izuku wasn’t too far from the mark on the hypothesis.

(Say no.) Izuku mouthed at him, trying to subvert the disaster this could quickly turn into because Touya looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“I’ve never been religious.” Touya awkwardly denied. “Never had much use for being in a church. Sorry, kid.” Kaminari, who’d been struggling to find the reference photo, deflated.

“Oh.” He sadly slid his phone back into his pocket. “That would have been so cool. Kirishima and Sero are waiting for me to work on that group project, so I’m gonna go ahead and go. It was nice to meet you both!” With a jaunty wave, the blonde teen disappeared into the depths of Heights alliance. A few seconds silence followed his departure.

“...are you on herotube because you haunted a church?” Keigo asked his boyfriend.

“Uh… it’s possible.”

“I remembered the episode as soon as he said it.” Izuku confirmed. “You are.”

“...well that’s a thing, I guess.” Touya had no idea what to do about any of that. Poor guy.

Chapter Text

“I’m sure you’re aware of what Yagi’s been doing.” Nedzu sighed, broaching the topic of Monday’s first private lesson discussion.

“Yeah.” Izuku rolled his eyes. “No idea why he thinks that’s a good idea, but the stubbornness isn’t surprising.”

“Indeed.” The principal’s tail swished through the air, betraying his annoyance at the entire situation. “I thought it best to leave what happens next up to you. If, as you told Hizashi-kun, you truly don’t want to interact with him again I’m perfectly happy to take care of this myself.”

“Or we can use it as a ‘teaching moment’.” Izuku grinned, keeping up with the chimera.

“I would hate for any of my students to receive a subpar education.” Nedzu sniffed, taking a sip of his tea. The look in his eyes belied any altruistic motives.

“I’m so glad you brought this up, because there are some ideas I’d love to have approval for.” Izuku quickly pulled one of his coded notebooks out of his backpack at his feet. After all, how many times did one have approval to show the country’s top hero what ‘fuck around, find out’ means?

“I expected nothing less.” Nedzu leaned forward to catch a peek, pleased.

…..

Yagi ignored Hizashi’s instructions to drop it when he tried again with Shouta and he’d flat out told Shouta he thought Izuku should hear the offer himself before any final decisions were made, so four of them expected the soon-to-be retired hero to seek Izuku out too. That would be his first mistake here. His second was not leaning in and seeking out Izuku on Monday.

That just gave Izuku time alone with his grandfather and two computers. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who’s perspective you looked at it from) Yagi wasn’t aware that was something to be feared. He wouldn’t have surrendered in his fight if he had, but he might have made different strategic choices. He was never going to succeed regardless, but it might have gone a little bit better for him.

The ailing hero started experiencing technical difficulties not long after classes let out. Nothing that could be traced back to anyone, of course, Izuku was too careful for that. (And for some of the more sensitive places Izuku spent the day hacking into, the supervising Nedzu ensured it as he took the oppurtunity to teach Izuku a few more tricks he hadn’t had the chance to yet.)

Apps across all his devices kept glitching and closing, his phone refused to charge no matter what charger Yagi plugged it into, automatic doors either refused to open or if they did, immediately closed on him. Pressing one button on elevator controls had every button light up, making Yagi stop at every floor.

That last one was the most fun, and potentially the most damning- that particular elevator bank was located in Yagi’s agency. Technically, agencies were private property belonging to the hero or heroes who headed them, but that technicality was carrying a lot of weight. With how the laws regarding agencies were set up, attacking one was tantamount to attacking the government (specifically the HPSC) outright, and it wouldn’t be hard to figure out who was behind all the tech issues if one were to put half a thought behind it.

The thing was though, even if Yagi or someone in the Commission were to connect the dots, they still wouldn’t be able to prove anything. If they wanted to try to charge Izuku, they’d have to fabricate evidence, and if they were going to fabricate evidence for anything that was something they were going to do anyways.

On Tuesday, Izuku started playing with the lights. Nedzu had no problem handing over control of that part of the school’s systems to the teen for the day, but Izuku also hacked into several of the city’s camera systems to track the hero. Although, to be fair, he’d figured out how to do that when he was like, eleven, so if anything that part was just nostalgic. Hacking into the electric grid to mess with the lights anywhere that wasn’t UA was fun though.

That particular prank was the one Izuku enjoyed the most. It was poetic to him- this all began with All Might telling a quirkless kid on a rooftop that he wasn’t capable, completely unaware that kid was an incredibly capable vigilante. Flickering and misbehaving lights, a classic sign of a spectral presence, made Izuku giggle, especially because it got worse the closer Yagi got to Izuku. That included when Izuku was busy being a vent gremlin though, so the pro never figured out the connection.

Tuesday night Shouta made his way into Heights Alliance with Nedzu on his shoulder and called all the students down into the common space on the first floor. The class (in a world where they hadn’t survived the attack on the USJ together) had really come together after the reveal of Izuku’s quirk status and All Might’s initial reaction to it through their joint indignation (that slowly turned to rage as they got to know the class’ ray of sunshine better) and pranks.

Izuku hadn’t understood at the beginning of the school year why the random students he’d been placed with had reacted in his defense instead of joining the attack, but he’d appreciated it all the same and left them to it. Now that he was finally entering the fray himself, it only felt right to include everyone.

He’d come so far from the terrified, untrusting eleven year old Shouta’d first met and the hero was so incredibly proud of Izuku for it. Nedzu capitalized on that pride to convince the homeroom teacher to give any students who were game the following Wednesday off of classes. Mostly, they’d still be in the physical classroom enough to have an alibi.

To no one’s surprise, every single teen was down, and thus an evening of planning began. Fumikage was also proud of his boyfriend, wrapping the kitten eared teen in a hug and giving him a quick nuzzle when he fully let loose (aka showed the class how absolutely feral he could be when it came to what plans he chose and the level of detail he put into them).

The biggest issue was they only had one day to do whatever they were going to do, so they had to make that time count.

There were the classic pranks the class had never been able to pull off without approval, like moving all his furniture to the roof (Uraraka enjoyed that one just a little too much), Izuku let them go ham with those. His focus was arguably borderline cruel- he was going to make the man start doubting reality. Gas lighting for the win.

To start, he actually roped in Bakugo (Kan was bemused when Izuku called him to have him send the explosive teen over, but he knew better than to question whatever the fuck that was about after confirming with Shouta everything was on the up and up). Izuku hacked Yagi’s devices again, giving him headlines and articles dreamed up by the creatives in the class (who didn’t question the hacking, they also knew better by then) that the rest of the world wouldn’t know. Except for Bakugo, who’d bring up with the hero the next morning when he arrived on campus.

He couldn’t tell the class about Small Might, so he couldn’t have Momo create a slightly different version of his outfit that day to replace his original one with while the hero was busy with hero training classes, but he did give her schematics for what was essentially a shrink ray.

Shouta hadn’t known he’d created schematics for a shrink ray. The man was going to have a conversation with the rat, Higari, and possibly Hatsume about what they encouraged Izuku to do. If Izuku went super villain they’d all obviously follow, but that was toeing the line a little too much for his tastes. (Also god damn he loved that kid.)

She also made temporary hair dye for everyone so they could change hair colors. That typically wasn’t in the school dress code (Nedzu didn’t care, but the school board did), but they got the teachers involved so they could pretend that’d always been everyone’s hair color no matter how crazy they got with it (Kaminari, for example, went full rainbow. Actually, there were a lot of various pride flag colors being represented).

Momo didn’t have to make little hologram drones, Izuku had a handful of those he’d made with Mei primed and ready to be released on the school the next day. That one he wasn’t going to push too far though, that made even Izuku uncomfy, but he was going to flash quick shots of people from Yagi’s past on the walls when no one was looking or around. That was going to be paired with a list of things Izuku handed to Hagakure, who had permission to use her costume for complete invisibility, to write on and stick in places for him to find. Especially if they went up when he was the only one in the room.

Izuku was also petty, and in with those shots were shots of him either being disapproving, disappointed, or flipping the bird Izuku had programmed to vanish as soon as the hero looked up.

The class also went ahead with everything else they’d had planned but hadn’t yet had the chance to implement, and the poor guy just had one thing after another happening all day long, ranging from bizarre to mildly terrifying.

Yagi was thoroughly freaked out by the time Thursday morning rolled around (Izuku was watching him via whatever cameras he could, with popcorn), he just either wasn’t bright enough or was too stubborn to heed the warning. He started trying to corner Izuku on campus that day, not that Izuku would let him until Friday.

On Friday, the games ended and Izuku let Yagi firmly trap himself inside the teen’s web.

Chapter Text

Izuku loitered in the one of the hallways, letting Ass Might finally catch up to him. He’d thought about just showing up in his apartment like Shouta had the man’s UA office, but that felt a little too pointed. After the week he’d just put the idiot through and the absolute reaming he was planning to unleash, the teen could let him have this win.

“Young Yamazawa!” Izuku grinned to himself when he heard Small Might call his name. “Please wait!” The kitten eared teen quickly schooled his expression, then turned to the man with a light glare.

“What could you possibly want now?” He asked. “You’re not supposed to approach me and you know it.”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about privately.” Yagi glanced around the empty hallway. “Would you mind accompanying me to my office?”

“I would mind, actually.” Izuku crossed his arms, glare becoming less fake. “I don’t trust you, why would I willingly be alone with you?” Plus, if he was serious about this, he’d do it on Izuku’s terms and could deal with a little risk. Nedzu was making sure the halls would stay clear anyways, dramatics aside there was no need to drag innocent students into this.

“I know I’ve failed you.’ Small might sighed, instead of pressing the point. Apparently he did, in fact, have enough balls for this (Izuku hadn’t been convinced he wouldn’t just balk at doing this in ‘public’, now he owed Shouta jelly pouches). “What I said was wrong, the way I said it was wrong, leaving you there and not getting you medical attention was not only wrong, it failed to live up to even the barest standards of how a hero should act.

“I’m sorry I told you that someone without a quirk can’t be a hero.” Yagi continued. “I’m more sorry that I bought into my own propaganda at some point along the way. I forgot what it’s like to be quirkless. I forgot what I went through, and I didn’t pay attention to how much worse the world was getting for people like us. I thought I was above all that, and that is inexcusable.”

The apology was better than Izuku had expected him to give, he’d give the man that, but he wasn’t done yet.

“I was too caught up in being the Pillar of Peace, and that itself was also a mistake because now someone else must take up that mantle. That has to be the right person- intelligent but kind, inspiring to the masses an able to shoulder the responsibility, but most importantly someone who won’t repeat my mistakes. In both of our time here at the school, I’ve seen you embody all of that from afar.

“After everything that’s happened,” the adult skimmed over the whole classified of everything, “you’ve proven time and again that you’re plenty capable of all of that, and I truly believe you won’t lose sight of who you are the way I did. You’re the perfect person to lead Japan into the future; you could do so much good with the resources I’ve put in place for the next Pillar. I’d like to pass on the mantle,” Small Might did one final check for listening ears, “and my quirk to you.”

The top-rated pro finally wrapped his monologue up, letting the teen process all of that. In reality, Izuku was just taking a moment to decide where he wanted to start. He’d had almost a full week to plan out what he wanted to say, but imaginary conversations in the shower never lived up to their real life counterparts.

“Well, that was a lot of pretty words.” Izuku kept his tone carefully nonchalant, though he didn’t bother hiding the ice behind his eyes. “Stupid, but pretty. So you’re sorry about the rooftop, good for you. Any decent person would be and I’d like to think there’s some part of you that’s still decent in there. You’re not forgiven. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you for that day.

“You were once my favorite hero, you know that?” Izuku let the words flow out of him, not holding anything back. “You got me through the worst parts of my childhood. Dreaming of you somehow rescuing me got me through my father’s abuse and classmates bullying. Dreaming of being you helped me cope with my mother’s neglect and the terror when she finally just fucking left.

“There was a point that you, All Might, were everything to me and had that stayed the case I wouldn’t have made it off that roof alive. Luckily for all of us, by the time that happened you’d long been usurped by Eraserhead because you were never anything but a daydream and he was real, he cared, and he kept me alive. I’m getting off topic, but you need to truly understand how much you fucked up. Without dad, I would have jumped.

“Back on topic though. I’m glad you realized you fucked up by establishing yourself as the pillar of peace, but I’d argue you never were one. ‘Bought into your own propaganda’ indeed, your stats are shit when you look at them as a whole. You refused to work with anyone else, probably because you were trying to keep your precious state secrets safe, and people died as a result.

“At almost every incident that’s public knowledge where there were casualties, it can be proven that if you’d just let the other heroes and first responders around do their jobs far fewer people would have died. Their deaths are on you, because you’re too fucking stubborn to accept any way but yours.

“For fuck’s sake, you had no idea I’d been abducted by your super secret scary nemesis, the same asshole I was only targeted by because of you, or that he was dead until the next day. Shut it.” Izuku held up a hand as Yagi tried to protest. “Yes, I know. They didn’t have to tell me, I was fucking there. Sure, Keigo got me outside before that point but I’m not stupid and I know how dad and papa’s quirks work. Where the fuck were you, taking a bubble bath?

“You know what, no. It doesn’t matter. Because instead, you insist on being places you have no business being. Case in point, this conversation. You’ve been told time and again for months now in perfectly clear language that I want nothing to do with you. As a teacher, regarding your quirk, any of it. I want you to leave me alone. You can’t accept that though because it’s not what you want so you continue to harass my parents and me. Look at where we are, asshole!” Izuku’s volume rose as he threw his arms out to the side, indicating both of them and the empty hallway.

“Your head’s shoved so far up your own ass you forced a minor you know doesn’t trust you into a one on one conversation with no other adults! Is that what you think a hero does?!! If so, we should just abandon your concept of a ‘Pillar of Peace’ entirely because that’s like five thousand red flags!

“And while we’re on the topic of your stupid ass mantle, nobody’s going to be able to fill the void you’ll leave when you retire. Everything is going to get so much worse before it gets better and whatever poor soul you convince to take your bullshit is going to have to deal with all of it on their own. Even more people are going to die because of that vacuum and you even wont be around to take responsibility for it. I don’t care what ‘resources’ you think you’ve gathered, it’s not going to be enough.

“And that’s all assuming whoever accepts your quirk even survives it. It’s a stockpiling quirk that’ll be on what, it’s eighth user? Ninth?” Izuku wasn’t solid on the specifics there, he was guesstimating based on how much time had passed. Based on Yagi’s reaction, he was reasonably close. “How much energy is that? You’re strong enough to change localized weather with a punch and that’ll, what, double? Can the human body really deal with that? Assuming, again, that your quirk doesn’t interfere with theirs and cause issues that way first.

“I’m rambling.” Izuku shook his head, getting himself back on topic. “I’ll say this as simply as I can. I think you’re nothing but a disgusting, pathetic excuse of a hero, and I want nothing to do with your legacy or your quirk. Leave me alone. None of us will ask that again.” With that, Izuku turned on his heel and walked away. He didn’t need to know what Small Might’s response was, he’d said his piece and he was done.

Also Shouta was waiting in an empty classroom just around the corner and Izuku really wanted a dad hug.

Chapter Text

Izuku spent several minutes post Ass Might interaction experiencing the joys of a good dad hug (Shouta gave the best dad hugs, to strangers from the outside he didn’t look like he’d be capable of that level of comfort but the man’s inherent Dad Vibes could not be stopped). The fact that he was supported enough to fight his own battles while knowing backup was literally just around the corner meant more to Izuku than he had words to convey.

“You did great, problem child.” Shouta rumbled. “I’m so proud of you. Zashi will be too.”

“Thanks, dad.” Izuku muttered into his chest.

“Any time kiddo.”

…..

The interaction with Yagi happened not too far from the end of the school day and while Izuku had felt in control (and even fairly powerful) in the moment, afterwards he just felt drained. Shouta made the executive decision to excuse him from the rest of classes (that day’s heroics had already been sacrificed in the name of numskull bashing, Hizashi was supervising some sparring, so it was mostly just the tail end of that and home room anyways).

The cat eared teen returned to his dorm room early for some nice alone time (and the crow plushies and ghost themed weighted blanket waiting for him there), but only after he detoured to the cottage to grab reaper. He technically wasn’t supposed to be taking the cats to the dorms, but none of his classmates were allergic to him and she in particular was sturdy enough to deal with all his classmates if she somehow got out of his room.

Honestly, she could probably fuck most of them up if she wanted. She was a good girl. And he’d missed her.

Fumikage knocked on Izuku’s door not long after the time classes were supposed to end before letting himself in (invited by Izuku, he was just announcing his presence first because Izuku could be jumpy sometimes), gently closing the door behind him. Neither wanted to deal with the others in that moment, and it’d be bad to let Reaper out.

“Hey, starshine.” The raven headed teen sat on the edge of Izuku’s bed, lightly running a hand through his hair and scritching his ears, causing Izuku to purr and lean into his hand. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Ass Might tried to apologize for the whole… rooftop thing.” Izuku sighed. “I yelled at him. A lot. Can we cuddle?”

“As you should, and of course.” Fumikage climbed into the bed, clambering slightly over Izuku so he could wrap around him from behind. Izuku just purred harder and leaned back into his warmth while Dark Shadow popped out and arranged herself on top of both of them.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Izuku reached up with one arm to give her some scritches of her own.

“Want me to peck his eyes out?” She asked, tone sweet despite being incredibly serious.

“No.” Izuku snickered. “But I appreciate the sentiment. I just don’t understand how he can try to learn from his mistakes and still just. Not. Not really.”

“It went that badly?” Fumikage asked, nuzzling the back of Izuku’s head.

“Yeah, maybe you really can’t teach a dog new tricks. Can we not talk about it? How did sparring go?”

“Well, Kaminari learned a new trick.” Fumikage grinned, telling Izuku all about how they found out something about Kirishima’s quirk made him conductive when he was hardened and turned him into a human taser.

At some point, both of their phones started buzzing insistently. Izuku, more attached to technology in general than Fumikage, opened his to check the messages pouring into the extended group chat Mina had made to include her and Izuku’s partners. (Plus, Fumikage’s arms were busy hugging Izuku, Izuku was only hugging Reaper and she was currently a slightly less tiny cause she was growing kitten).

luv birbs (fite me izu)

lesbeanflag: u wish u could be this cute

lesbeanflag: cuddlepile.jpeg (Mina, Uraraka, and Asui cuddling on one of the couches in the dorms, wrapped in a blanket)

stolenkitten: I can’t tell whether this is cute or annoying

stolenkitten: trapped.jpeg (Hitoshi, rolling his eyes yet clearly comfy, trapped under a napping neito on another couch)

stolenkitten: 1. how is he already asleep. 2. mina stop changing my username to stolenkitten

lesbeanflag: no its perfect <3

walkingonsunshine: it’s cute toshi. Until you have to pee

takethehop: even then its still cute. Or maybe that’s just you, chako

walkingonsunshine: <3

takethehop: <3

lesbeanflag: I have the best girlfriends <3

walkingonsunshine: no me

takethehop: no me

lesbeanflag: also izu! fumi! come join us! we’ll out-cute the rest of the dorm toghether!

stolenkitten: toghether

walkingonsunshine: toghether

takethehop: toghether

💚: toghether

💚: fumi’s phone isn’t accessible rn but we’re comfy. No

lesbeanflag: 🔪

💚: ok shouta jr

lesbeanflag: jokes on u hes iconic

💚: im telling him u said that

stolenkitten: me too lmfao

lesbeanflag: do it, I said what I said

The group chat went silent after that, Izuku assumed Hitoshi joined his boyfriend in nap time and the girls were enjoying their own cuddle time. That may have been true for Hitoshi, but it absolutely wasn’t for the girls because soon enough Mina was back, rapidly catching Izuku up on the hottest of tea that had just unfolded.

Jirou had gone up to her own dorm to get changed out of her class uniform, something all of them did that normally wouldn’t be given a second glance. Except when she came downstairs, she was wearing a t-shirt easily recognizable as Momo’s and lo, a new class couple was added to the roster.

Jirou apparently hadn’t even noticed and both Mina and Ochako swore Momo had blushed a brighter red than Kirishima’s hair.

Izuku’s response was somewhat less surprised than had been expected and Mina was a smart cookie, she knew that meant he’d already been aware. Cue playful false outrage that he be aware of good tea and not share, though Izuku maintained that he worked hard for his tea and if he shared every little tidbit he was aware of the others would never learn how to harvest it on their own.

Of course they all started begging for some juicy, juicy gossip while Fumikage chuckled at Izuku’s smug gremlin giggling as the kitten eared boy taunted his friends.

It wasn’t like Izuku was wrong, he did work very hard for what he knew. All that effort behind cultivating D’Artagnan’s reputation hadn’t been for nothing.

The afternoon passed with continued antics along that vein, Fumikage eventually nodding off for his own nap behind Izuku, who was about ready to fall asleep himself when another text came in, this time only on his phone from the family chat.

Hizashi had left for a Present Mic patrol after classes ended, hadn’t come home, and no one at the agency had heard from him.

Chapter Text

Hizashi had left for a Present Mic patrol after classes ended, hadn’t come home, and no one at the agency had heard from him. It was officially all hackers on deck to find and bring them home, especially since Nedzu was in a meeting with the school board that was more or less a badly disguised pitched battle since a good number of them were more aligned with the HPSC.

He would be joining the effort, of course, but extricating himself had to be done carefully lest they fuck something up and they didn’t currently have any evidence of foul play. Shouta had come home late from patrol without word himself more than once just fine, after all.

The news still hit like a gut punch and Izuku bolted for his laptop (his desktop was more powerful, but too far away and if anything required hacking on that level Nedzu could handle it if necessary), scaring Reaper and Dark Shadow and startling Fumikage back awake.

Two minutes later a pale Shoto slammed open Izuku’s door. There wasn’t a lot the teen could do, but he could be where he’d get info the fastest. Shouta had already hit the streets along with Nemuri, Kan, Snipe, Higari, and Keigo (the heroes available last minute) and Eri had been dropped off with Chiyo for emergency babysitting (Touya, aware of what was happening because they’d called in Keigo for help, was helping Chiyo with the kid along with Himiko).

“Close the door.” Izuku commented without even looking up, fingers flying. He’d pulled up the city’s security and traffic camera program and was searching through it for Present Mic so he could track him through patrol that way, and the last thing they needed were any of the other students coming in and seeing that on the screen.

“Right.” Shoto muttered, closing the door before sitting on the edge of the bed. Reaper waddled up to him, rubbing along the his leg and purring up a storm. Shoto carefully picked her up to cuddle and distract himself by giving her scritches as Fumikage reached out to lightly squeeze his shoulder, quietly assuring him everything was going to be okay.

Neither Shoto nor Izuku responded to that. They were both too familiar with how quickly a patrol could turn beyond bad.

Hitoshi texted his support instead of joining them. He wanted to, but too many people would just be a distraction and up the chances of the other students figuring out something was up. He was supporting them in spirit though, and surreptitiously running interference/supervising the rest of the class downstairs with Mina.

It didn’t take Izuku long to find the familiar plume of hair and start following it through what looked like a fairly normal patrol. This was why Musutafu, like most cities both in Japan and worldwide, had security cameras up along with traffic cameras, too help figure out what happened when things go wrong (and, for the HPSC at least, spy on people of course).

It was simple work for Izuku to pull up the personal use program he’d written that allowed him to specify up to four people (he’d never needed to track more than that at a time) to follow, selected his papa, and set the feed to triple speed. He was still keeping an eye on it when Nedzu called him, successfully extricated from his school board meeting, so they could work in tandem and not tread the same ground.

“Yeah, I’ve got him on the SCS (security camera system) but nothing’s hap- oh shit what was that?”

“Conferencing in Shouta-kun.” Izuku had clearly found something so Nedzu handled that part, letting Shouta get updated in real time, while Izuku stopped the feed and rewound, playing back at normal speed.

“What do you have?” Shouta’s voice echoed out of Izuku’s phone speakers.

“He went into an alley,” Izuku backed up a little further to get the address, rattling off the buildings Present Mic was last seen turning into an alley between, “looks like they saw something, there’s a flash of light, and then a minute later a guy- short, stocky, black crew cut, no visible quirk use, runs out covered in blood. Nothing since.”

“Got it, almost there.” Shouta informed. “Keep me updated.”

“Will do.”

…..

Hizashi was annoyed.

It had been a fairly normal patrol right up until they’d found some dick face cornering a grizzled old (clearly experienced) street cat and obviously they couldn’t just let that stand as a person with morals, who was married to a cat person who they had a cat son with, and hero. So he went to put a stop to it and presto chango one quick quirk use later Hizashi himself was a cat.

The only issue was their costume didn’t transform with them. The transformation itself was disorienting, but he was a professional and this was far from the first time he’d been the victim of the quirk shenanigan of the day so Hizashi knew how to stay calm and regain his bearings quickly. Except he was practically drowning in his costume and the villain didn’t have to pause for recalibration.

The asshole was able to reach into the pile of fabric and equipment and simply fish Hizashi out, holding them up by the scruff of the neck and crowing about… something. Hizashi’s hearing aides had fallen out as he’d shrunk down so he couldn’t hear shit, but from what he could get from lipreading seemed to suggest he’d recognized Present Mic and was monologuing about having captured him. And maybe something about selling off his equipment to the highest bidder.

Like hell they were getting captured by some doofus with a quirk that transformed others.

Hizashi liked to think they were pretty clever (they were one of Nedzu’s personal students, they knew exactly how intelligent they were), and the furry little paws on the ends of his arms were distinctive. Two plus two is four and small plus cat paws equaled animal transformation quirk and free knife hands. He took a moment to stretch what should have been his fingers, internally grinning to himself when claws flexed their way into the light.

Then he took a page out of Izuku’s book.

The dick face hadn’t expected to find himself on the receiving end of the pissed off tornado of a cat that was Present Mic, aka Yamada Hizashi, and he very much regretted everything that had led to that happening. In his efforts to escape in one piece he ended up throwing Hizashi at the wall (ah the joys of suddenly weighing like nine pounds) and booked it from the alley.

The yellow cat hit the wall pretty hard, but was able to catch himself on the way down (hell yeah for cats always landing on their feet- also remind him to ask Izuku later if that trick worked on him), ending the entire incident with little more than bruises and the lack of opposable thumbs.

Hizashi had a couple of options here. He wasn’t too far from the headquarters for his agency, he could try to make it over and find a way to get in and convince someone it was him. Snagging one of their hearing aides would probably get the point across and would be easy enough to carry. That would leave their entire costume undefended though, and the dick from before knew where it was and was already planning on selling it.

Sure, they could create a new version of his directional speaker and the rest of his gear, between Izuku and Higari they had the technology, but that didn’t mean he wanted info on his current gear spreading amongst the criminal populace.

That left him with his other option- hiding his costume and gear as much as he could and stay and defend it until someone from the school or the agency came to collect him.

When they didn’t call in or go home after the patrol, it’d only be a matter of time until Nedzu or Izuku tracked them down. Hizashi absolutely hated the emotional turmoil this was going to put everyone through, though. They knew firsthand what it was like when Shouta came home from patrols late. It couldn’t be helped though.

With little other choice, Hizashi quickly scoped out the alley (the grizzled old street cat had long since run off) for an appropriate hiding place and, coming to the conclusion under the dumpster was the best spot, started dragging his costume to it, letting his ire at the situation fuel his efforts.

The directional speaker was the only thing that didn’t fit, so Hizashi just sat in front of it, tail angrily flicking behind him as he waited to see whether friend or foe would find him first.

Chapter Text

Shouta turned into the alley Izuku had indicated on high alert, but nothing amiss was evident at first. That in and of itself was more concerning than not considering the alley had a dead end and there was no sign of Present Mic despite Izuku not indicating anything about Shouta’s husband leaving the alley.

Hizashi could have just gone up to the rooftops and there wasn’t an excessive amount of blood visible so there was no reason to be excessively concerned (yet), but a part in the back of Shouta’s mind was trying not to run calculations as to the probability of transportation quirks as he cautiously moved deeper into the alley. That was incredibly unlikely and would be borrowing trouble before they’d even gathered all the evidence.

There was really only two spots in the otherwise sparse alleyway for something to be hidden- the other side of the dumpster or in it, and Shouta knew which spot he preferred to find something. The underground pro hero slowed slightly as he approached the giant lidded box, creeping to check the other side first.

He wasn’t expecting the large, suspiciously yellow cat with familiar (pissed off) green eyes that instantly shifted from Puffed Up Angry Mode when he recognized Shouta to a more neutral seated position in front of their directional speaker, waiting for Shouta to make the first move. (Just in case he hadn’t put the pieces together yet, if Shouta knew his husband, and he liked to think he did.)

Shouta still didn’t know why Hizashi had initially gone to confront the villain of the hour, but the following sequence of events wasn’t hard to put together, especially with the blood still on Hizashi’s paws.

“I think you may be learning too much from our son.” Shouta signed at the cat who instantly started purring, finally leaving his defensive position in front of his equipment (understandable) to wind around Shouta’s legs. The amused hero reached down to give Hizashi some scritches behind the ears. (They’d absolutely talked about what they’d like/what was allowed if one of them were ever transformed into an animal, especially if it was a cat. Shouta was kind of jealous to be honest).

Then he activated his quirk on the chance it’d send Hizashi back to normal, but no dice. CatZashi remained stubbornly in cat form. The tired under sighed, activating his comms to let Izuku, and therefore everyone else, know the search could be called off.

“I’ve got him, he’s fine. You can call off the search.” The under signed the conversation for Hizashi, who’s hearing aids had fallen out since they weren't sized for felines.

“Does he need a medic?” Izuku asked.

“No, he’s fine. We may need Dr. Hara, but that’s an issue for tomorrow.” Shouta grinned at a clearly nonplussed catZashi. “He’s currently a cat.” There was a beat of silence as the sentence hit, the only movement in the alley Hizashi’s narrowed gaze on his husband.

“What was that?” Izuku eventually asked, wondering if he’d heard correctly.

“You heard me.” Shouta confirmed. “We’ll be at the house soon, we’ll talk more then.” Not that there was a lot to talk about, if this didn’t wear off on it’s own in the next few hours they’d just call up Dr. Hara to see what/if he could do anything about it. The chances this sort of quirk was permanent were incredibly low.

“I don’t know what’s gonna be funnier,” Shouta signed to Hizashi, “you meeting the cats like this or the boys. Where’s the rest of your gear so we can get out of here?” Hizashi lightly nipped Shouta’s costume pants in retaliation for the ‘whats funnier’ retort then disappeared under the dumpster to pull the rest of his costume out.

Shouta didn’t hesitate to kneel down and reach under as well, his uniform had seen worse, it’d be better to get out of here before the villain returned with his buddies, and he wanted to get home anyways. Soon enough he had the costume gathered up, including Hizashi’s costume hearing aides safely tucked away into one of his pockets. Hizashi jumped up on Shouta’s shoulder, nuzzling the side of his face once before carefully settling down into the loops of the capture scarf for the trip back.

Sure they could have walked alongside Shouta, but how many times were they going to get the chance for this? Hizashi couldn’t hear Shouta’s low laughter at the move, but he could certainly feel it where he was leaning against his husbands chest. They knew the underground pro had returned to the comms to give their family a better update because the rumbling continued, which, paired with Shouta’s body warmth lulled Hizashi into a comfortable doze that lasted until the man stepped into their apartment. (Izuku threw the door open for him.”

Hizashi popped his head out of the scarf so he could locate the kids (all of them, Hitoshi, Neito, Mina, Fumikage and Dark Shadow had all trooped over from the dorms with Shoto and Izuku) and gave each of them a slow blink while Shouta set the empty costume down. Chiyo was also there, having brought Eri over. Then Hizashi extricated himself from the scarf back up onto Shouta’s shoulder, purring when Shouta reached up to scritch his ears.

“Oh my god, they really are a cat.” Izuku signed, breaking into a serious case of the giggles immediately after. Hizashi ignored that in favor of dropping down and trotting over to a wide eyed, concerned Eri. The rest of them had varying levels of familiarity with how wacky hero work could be, this would be scariest for her.

“Papa?” She signed at him, reaching out to let him sniff her fingers like she’d been taught to do for cats. Hizashi met her eyes and nodded since he couldn’t speak (plus he didn’t trust his quirk control in this form) and leaned forward to rub against her hand.

Hizashi checked in with each of the teens while Shouta took his boots off and changed, taking the oppurtunity to deal with both of their costumes (and the veritable arsenal he’d stashed on his person before heading off in search of his wayward husband- if anyone had actually managed to abduct him, lives would have ended that night). Hizashi had saved Izuku for last, since he was still cackling. The teen had almost regained control several times, but every time he glanced at catZashi the teen lost it again.

At length (after Shoto explained that Izuku hadn’t actually said anything, he was just apparently unable to stop laughing) Hizashi went and sat in front of him, wrapping his tail around his front paws and somehow managing to summon a surprisingly effective feline version of the Disappointed Dad Look. Everyone else immediately also lost their shit- except for Chiyo, who was unbreakable after dealing with teenagers longer than anyone else in the room had even been alive.

Hizashi didn’t let that bother them, not being able to hear it helped a bit but everyone was still plenty visible as they broke down. Eventually Izuku recovered enough to explain himself.

“Are we sure we’re not related?” He signed. “Plus also just. Cat. In this family. You got turned into a cat.” Hizashi turned to look up at Shouta, who was approaching (floor vibrations were so much easier to feel when you were that small on the floor), tablet in hand with a text to speech app already pulled up so Hizashi could finally communicate back.

“You laugh now, but at least I have a tail.” It took Hizashi a couple tries to figure out typing with one paw, but he made it work.

“Fair enough.” Izuku grinned, finally reaching out to poke at Hizashi’s forehead. Eventually Shouta shooed off all the students back to their dorm and Chiyo off to her and Nedzu’s apartment leaving just he, Eri, and Hizashi in the cottage with the cats.

It was getting close to dinner time by then, so Shouta set about making food for him and Eri and setting out a bowl of Tuna for Hizashi, who he’d set up on the kitchen table with the tablet. Eri clambered up into her chair (Shoto had painted it pink and added a bunch of rhinestones one afternoon with Himiko and Natsuo) so she could be included and pet Hizashi. They didn’t have to worry about Princess, Reaper, and Ramen yet because Izuku had taken the oppurtunity to lock the three of them in his room to limit the initial chaos upon the heroes’ return.

This was by far not the first quirk incident the duo had weathered, even if it was the first major one that had happened with Eri in the house. Once he got the dinner to a point where it just needed to simmer for a bit Shouta sat down with her at the table and explained what had happened, that Hizashi would likely just pop back to adult form at some point soon once the quirk wore off, probably overnight, and if he didn’t they’d just pay a visit to Dr. Hara who could fix it the same way he’d helped Keigo after she’d de-aged him.

She had a couple questions that Shouta interpreted since Eri was still learning JSL (he’d been signing and speaking at the same time for the duration so both could understand), but overall seemed to be taking it pretty well. Shouta was ninety percent certain that’s because catZashi was, objectively speaking, absolutely adorable. No he wasn’t biased.

Things continued on over the course of the evening with Hizashi subtly trolling Shouta the entire night for the sheer entertainment factor. They knew exactly what them being a cat meant, Shouta already thought Hizashi was one of the most adorable beings to ever exist, add in the adorable factor of an actual cat? That was enough to give the man a heart attack from cuteness overload.

So Hizashi leaned in on every ‘cats are assholes’ trope he could think of. Purely for Shouta’s sake, so he wouldn’t have a heart attack. No other reason. (Shouta just rolled his eyes, especially when Hizashi made direct eye contact before pushing Shouta’s phone off the coffee table. He’d always been aware Hizashi was a little shit).

Then, just before Eri’s bedtime, already dressed in her favorite pair of Hawks pajamas, she waddled up to Shouta carrying catZashi. She had him clutched to her chest with her arms wrapped around him under his, letting the rest of him stretch out so his tail dragged along the floor. They weren’t main coon sized, but that didn’t make them a small cat so while their face said this wasn’t the most comfortable Hizashi was definitely capable of catching themselves if Eri dropped them. She was so small he was practically walking ‘human style’ as it was.

Shouta had never been so glad to have a hero’s quick reflexes, it was the only thing that got him a photo of the precious moment.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Shouta sim-commed.

“You know how all the cats sleep with me when the boys are away?” Eri asked. “Can papa sleep with us too tonight? I don’t want him to be lonely.” Shouta, dutifully suppressing a coo, interpreted for Hizashi while Eri turned her best pleading eyes on him (her facial expressions had really come a long way since they’d taken her in, Shouta knew for a fact Shoto had taken it upon himself to help her).

Hizashi blinked once after Shouta finished signing, then glanced up at Eri’s pleading face. They immediately turned back to Shouta with their best literal kitten eyes. The underground pro was starting to get worried they were going to have to call Chiyo when the two of them successfully gave him a heart attack.

“I’m ninety nine percent sure you’ve still got an early thirties human brain in there.” Shouta signed/spoke, the latter so Eri could follow but speaking directly to his husband. “I don’t know what you’re making that face for, you can choose for yourself where to sleep.”

“Papa, pleeeaaaaase???” Eri looked down at the catZashi in her arms, turning her pleading face on him instead of Shouta. It was a bit hard for Hizashi to answer in this position, but they turned their rumbling purr up to eleven and slow blinked at the girl. It worked well enough to get the point across- she gave a happy little wiggle before setting him down so they could go upstairs (she’d already tried carrying him up but had struggled.)

Hizashi darted toward Shouta to rub around his legs once before racing off to follow their daughter. Shouta followed at a more sedate pace so he could read her a story and tuck her in.

He had no idea how he got this lucky.

Chapter Text

Hizashi was having a pretty great time as a cat for multiple reasons, not the least of which was how much he was going to be able to tease his husband for being jealous of the experience once this was over (the pets and scritches were surprisingly nice too, he understood now why Izuku liked it so much).

Being carried around like a rag doll by their daughter wasn’t necessarily expected and at times somewhat physically uncomfortable, but more than adorable enough to make up for it. Though he and Shouta would have to have another discussion with her about how to handle the cats, but neither of them nor any of the others had seen her treating the actual cats like this so maybe it was something lost in translation with him just being under a quirk.

What was significantly more heartbreaking was curling up on the corner of Eri’s bed with the other cats (who were fairly freaked out by them being a cat since they all associated his smell with a Human and right now he was decidedly Not, but they were used enough to Izuku to put up with it) only to be woken just a few hours into the night to the little girl’s whimpers. She was having a nightmare, something they knew was likely and had talked to her about but she’d refused to admit having for reasons they hadn’t been able to figure out.

Waking her up was slightly tricky in this form, Hizashi knew better than to touch her and they still didn’t trust their quirk control in this form, but they made the rapid decision to at least try before going to wake Shouta up. (Odds weren’t small that Shouta was also having a nightmare, both adults had their fair share, but at least he was used to being woken from them by the cats.)

Purring wasn’t quite using his Voice so Hizashi tried loudly purring first, but after ten-ish seconds it’d done nothing. The next attempt was knocking loudly against stuff in her room, but the concerned papa didn’t want to break anything and she was too deeply asleep to be woken that way as well. It was officially time to call in reinforcements.

They bolted out her door, down the stairs, and into the room they shared with their husband. Shouta was much easier to wake, he was a trained pro who was ready to be up and running at a moment’s notice (also he had a slightly more than healthy dose of paranoia, but that just came with the territory of working in the underground).

“Zashi?” Shouta bolted upright, quickly taking in the otherwise normal house and yellow cat on their bed. “What happened?” Hizashi couldn’t answer, the tablet was in the other room, and they didn’t have time for that anyways so he just tapped insistently on the bed a few times then jumped off and moved to the door, turning to look over his shoulder at his husband.

Shouta obediently climbed out of bed to follow Hizashi back upstairs to Eri’s room. He recognized what was happening even faster than Hizashi had, and was able to successfully wake their daughter by talking to her. Eri, for her part, bolted up even faster than Shouta had and, upon realizing he was there, threw herself into his arms and just sobbed these massive, heartbreaking sobs into his shoulder.

Shouta immediately wrapped his arms around her in a hug, comforting her through it while Hizashi jumped up to lean against the two of them with as comforting purrs as he could manage, the closest he could get to joining the hug as well. Eventually, they were able to get her calmed down.

“He’s gonna get me.” Eri whispered the first words she’d actually said since waking, tightening her grip on Shouta.

“He’s not gonna get you, princess.” Shouta rubbed her back, glancing at Hizashi as he tried to figure out how much they wanted to tell her, interpreting one handed as best he could while maintaining the hug. They weren’t sure if it was a good idea or not to tell her her previous captor was actually dead. “That’s not something he can do anymore, and we’d never let anyone get you.”

“Because you’re my dads.” Eri whispered again.

“Because we’re your dads, and Nedzu’s your jiji, Izuku and Shoto are your brothers, and everyone else who’s family is family. All of us love you, and we’re all going to do anything we can to stop you from being hurt. But it goes deeper than that kiddo, remember when we met?”

“Yeah.” Eri nodded. “You came to the hospital.”

“That’s right, we did.” Shouta continued. “We didn’t know we were going to be able to adopt you yet and we were still there to protect you. That’s been our job from day one, and it’s not going to change any time soon.”

“Promise?” Eri’s voice wasn’t a whisper anymore, but it was still small.

“Promise.” Shouta confirmed, huffing a small laugh when Hizashi insistently tapped his thigh. “Your papa promises too.” Eri turned to the yellow cat, who purred and jumped up to rub against her elbow in confirmation. The little girl let go of Shouta with one hand so she could pet Hizashi a few times before giving a quiet “I love you.”

“We love you too, Eri.” Shouta’s voice wavered slightly as he hugged her tighter- that was her first ‘I love you’ and he was a sentimental man, he’d probably always get emotional for that. Shouta had been interpreting everything one handed for Hizashi, who for the first time since he’d been transformed was pissed he didn’t have a way to speak. They’d just have to make do with purring harder against Eri to make their point known and make up for it with as many “I love you’s as they could when they had a human mouth again.

Eri didn’t want to talk about her nightmare, not surprising since she hadn’t even told them she was having them (realistically, she’d lied to them about having them, but that was something that could be dealt with in the light of day), but she also didn’t want to go back to sleep alone. Technically, she would have had Hizashi and the rest of the cats, but that wasn’t the point.

Shouta just picked her up and carried her down to their bedroom, leaving Hizashi to follow with the rest of the cats following like so many ducklings. He didn’t mind an impromptu sleepover if it helped their youngest sleep, but her bed was far too small for all of them so the adult’s would just have to do.

Chapter Text

Saturday

Hizashi was still a cat when everyone woke up the next morning, so that took “twelve hour time limit” off the table. It was fine, that wasn’t uncommon and quirk effects that didn’t require focus like this often lasted up to even thirty six hours, so they were far from the danger zone. Even if it was one of the incredibly rare cases where it was a permanent quirk, Dr. Hara would be able to reverse it.

It just might not be for a few days- Chiyo wouldn’t share details (nor should she and they didn’t ask, it was none of their business), but she did let them know Hara was dealing with something and may not be available until the school week started. That was around the time they’d figure out if his quirk would even be necessary anyways.

Looked like they were going to have catZashi hanging around for a bit.

Shouta didn’t think his husband minded all that much as he lay stretched out on his belly in the morning light shining through the window, arms splayed out in front of him. That looked really relaxing, actually.

The morning peace was broken with a single knock on the door before Nem let herself into the house, followed by the trio of Yamazawa affiliated teens, Himiko, Keigo, Touya, and Nedzu. Shoto, Izuku, and Hitoshi at least had the excuse of ‘but we wanted to come home for the weekend and see Eri!’, but everyone else was just curious about the newest temporary feline.

“Yep.” Keigo grinned with a side glance toward Izuku after observing Hizashi for a few minutes (they’d run and hid behind Eri after one glance at the chaotically gleeful look in Nemuri’s eyes, the kid was about the only one who could and would protect him from one of his oldest friends). “They sure are a baby bird.”

Izuku’s ears twitched before he slowly turned his head (just his head, mind you, he didn’t move any other muscle) to stare at the young hero with a blank, dead inside expression and a gravitas Keigo hadn’t realized he was capable of. It was honestly kind of terrifying for a few seconds.

“I’m sneakier than you.” Was all he said before turning back to an obviously struggling not to giggle Hitoshi. The open ended-ness of that statement was worse than any threat he could have given, but Keigo wasn’t the type to back down so easily- the baby bird comments would continue.

Wait, no, what if he had baby bird merch designed and he gave some to Izuku? He could even make it a limited run and autograph it. The kid loved hero merch, that’d probably drive him up the wall. The idea was perfect and Keigo was a genius.

Himiko saw the lightbulb flip on in Keigo’s mind and, sensing chaos, sidled over to ask about it and the two got distracted planning merch together (she had some good ideas, she was practically a t-shirt quote generator when the mood struck her). Unfortunately for them, Izuku had an even more finely tuned chaos radar and quickly sniffed out what was happening. This called for a drastic intervention because catZashi clearly wasn’t enough since he barely blinked when Shouta attempted to deploy a tactical cat/papa.

So the underground pro went and found Reaper, destroyer of souls, most high cat of the underworld, keeper of the cuddles, crown of purrs and claws, Flufflebutt Yamazawa, gave her a kiss on her tiny little forehead, and carefully approached Touya to gently settle her on his head. (He didn’t sneak up on the oldest Himura, his startle response was practically on par with Izuku’s and that would have just been mean to everyone involved).

Touya had glanced at him at first, confused about what was happening, but he froze when Reaper settled in and got comfy in his hair lest he disturb her. Partially because how dare he disturb the rest of one so precious (also the warm rumbling purrs against his scalp were adorable), and partially because he’d heard what’d happened the night the universe distributed her to Izuku.

Keigo glanced up at his boyfriend and also froze, fully because the entire sight was adorable (and would live on as his phone background for nearly a year once he got his hands on the photos Nemuri was taking in Hizashi’s stead). Izuku grinned to himself as he snuck away, Distract the Birb goal successfully completed.

At one point in the afternoon, Eri wanted everyone to have a giant tea party and that’s how they found out Jiji Nedzu was very dedicated to the art form that was the perfect tea party. Shouta was almost legitimately concerned. Like sure, he knew the rat loved tea, everyone did, but the look in his eyes was almost feral over a tea party.

Eventually though, Shouta was able to scare away all the interlopers. (Nem noticed him starting to get The Look in his eyes that he got when he was quickly approaching the end of his ability to deal with people. She was just as much a little shit as the rest of her friend group, but she knew what limits weren’t to be pushed, especially without Hizashi there to run interference, so she was the one who actually got the migration from the cottage started.)

Hitoshi got picked up by Rin (who laughed herself silly when she saw the situation Hizashi had gotten himself into) at one point to spend the rest of the weekend with her, leaving only the people who had rooms in the cottage still in the cottage. Shouta fell asleep on the couch downstairs once everyone had cleared out, Hizashi a soft, warm weight on his chest as they napped together while Eri roped the boys into watching her new favorite show with her upstairs.

Humoring her might have been boring for the teens, but Shoto had proved his ability to Conspiracy Theory even the plots of children's tv shows and the absurd notions he could come up with were always plenty entertaining. That was all happening upstairs though, downstairs was just a peaceful melody of human and feline snores.

Until it was a peaceful melody of one human's snores and one human’s grunt under the sudden onslaught of an entire adult’s body weight when Hizashi changed back, so smoothly they didn’t even wake up. Shouta was glad, and sure his husband would be too, that this happened while the kids were upstairs and everyone else was gone because Hizashi had changed back sans clothes the same way they’d changed into a cat sans clothes.

Shouta lightly rubbed the blonde’s spine until they started to stir.

“Sho?” His sleepy voice asked as Hizashi blinked awake, leaning back so Shouta had the space to sign. Before he could though, the realization set in. “Oh, I’m human again. Rockin. Am I as handsome as always?” They gave Shouta a goofy grin.

“Of course, but as much as I don’t mind seeing you like this, it’s probably more than the kids want to see.” Shouta signed at him, tied with a very obvious once over.

“Right, the transformation didn’t include clothes.” Hizashi leaned over Shouta to grab a blanket hanging over the edge of that side of the couch to wrap around himself before heading into their closet for a fresh outfit. Just in time too, because not five minutes later Naomasa, and more importantly an entirely too glee filled Sansa, knocked on their door.  Nem had been sending them photos the entire time she'd been over but they'd been on shift and unable to make it until now.

As much as Shouta would have loved to have them on his side in trolling Hizashi, watching the pair realize they’d missed the entire thing by minutes was so much better.

Chapter Text

School rolled underway bright and early Monday morning after a chaos-filled weekend, more or less normal for how things happened at UA. They hadn’t actually found the dude who turned Hizashi into a cat, however temporarily, but with their assembled skill sets it was only a matter of time.

Nedzu had Izuku attending class with his classmates that day instead of doing personal lessons, he had an important (if somewhat impromptu) meeting on the books that the kit didn’t need to be there for. Izuku had taken the opportunity to handle All Might his own way, and as certain as Nedzu was that Izuku had done a stunning job getting his point across to the older hero, the chimera was going to drive the point home while the iron was hot.

No one, and he did mean no one, messed with his pack.

Part way through second period, a shame faced and anxious Yagi Toshinori shuffled his way into Nedzu’s office, settling carefully into one of the chairs across from the principal’s desk.

“I’m sure you know why I asked you to meet me today.” Nedzu kicked things off, steepling his paws together.

“I do.” Yagi inclined his head, staring at Nedzu’s desk instead of making eye contact. “It’s been made quite clear my behavior has been atrocious. It shouldn’t have taken Young Yamazawa pointing it out for me to realize how blind I was being and badly I was behaving.”

“No, it should not have.” Nedzu agreed, absolutely not moved by the show of remorse. It was too little too late for that. “I set the expectation last semester that you were to leave Izuku-kun alone, nothing that happened with AFO would have changed that. This semester has barely started yet you’ve shown time and again that you didn’t care to follow very simple instructions.

“I let you on my campus as a courtesy, Yagi, with the expectation that you would treat all of my students and staff with the respect they deserve. You don’t have a teaching license, I don’t have to let you stay, and quite frankly you’ve proven yourself enough of a nuisance and a threat to make any headache the HPSC would try to give me over trespassing you worth it.”

“You’re right.” Yagi sighed, finally lifting his head to meet Nedzu’s eyes. “I’ve already started reviewing third year candidates and I could promise to stick to them, but we both know you have no reason to trust my word any more. I absolutely understand why you would ban me at this point.”

Nedzu tilted his head, analyzing the man across from him. For what it was worth, he did seem fairly genuine, but that meant little when he had a history of changing his mind with the wind while believing his convictions meant more than the rules he’d agreed to abide by. On the other hand, that might be all the more reason to keep the retiring hero where Nedzu could keep an eye on him.

Sending him off on his own could result in it’s own problems, especially if he still ended up deciding on one of Nedzu’s third years to take his quirk. One of Nedzu’s requirements for All Might choosing a UA student for his legacy was that the student would take the quirk on campus, in an environment Nedzu could trust to be controlled. Yagi could easily approach any of the students outside of school and transfer the quirk off campus; it’d be especially easy to do so in an HPSC environment.

That was the last thing Nedzu wanted, especially with the plans he had in motion. None of his students needed to be caught up in that. The chimera mentally adjusted the parameters he was willing to let Yagi operate under for a few seconds before responding.

“I will allow you to choose a legacy here under several new, strict conditions. First, I saw your conversation with Izuku-kun, and he raised some valid points. It may not even be possible for someone to take your quirk at this point, and while I don’t necessarily agree with that assessment, it will be brought up as a potential consequence to any third year you may offer it to, and I will be there for that conversation so that I can make sure they are fully informed. You are also, as before, limited only to the third years.

“The explanation and quirk transfer itself will happen on UA grounds, specifically in the teacher’s only gym below the campus. Recovery Girl and Dr. Hara will be in attendance in case something does go wrong, as will Shouta-kun. None of this is up for debate. Additionally, you’ve had plenty of time to observe all of the students in person, whether or not you’ve made good use of it is not my problem. Until such a time as you make the offer to your chosen student, you will remain off campus. I can send you any footage you may require to watch from home.”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable.” Yagi, cowed, agreed easily. “Thank you for extending one last chance.”

The old hero’s gratitude was something Nedzu may be able to use later, so the principal carefully reined in the urge to give him an overly petty response. There was no use burning that bridge where he could still be useful, especially since there was the oppurtunity to call in that favor against the HPSC. Still, Nedzu needed to make sure his point was truly driven home.

“I would advise you don’t make me regret it.”

…..

After Yagi left his office, Nedzu carefully poked around online and in servers the HPSC didn’t want him to have access to (they’d have to try harder than that to actually keep him out), checking in on the fruits of his opening shot. What satisfying fruits they were.

The commission was in chaos, going for the secret infrastructure was far more effective than even Nedzu had anticipated. It was difficult to truly track how much damage had been done, but at least a four different databases would be useless for at least a few months because the people who maintained them had been fired and either deleted all the tricks that made them work or outright sabotaged them, multiple affairs had been revealed, two embezzlers had even been caught in the crossfire that Nedzu had no part in.

A lot of the lower to mid level positions left were just hunkering down, waiting out the storm and barely getting anything done as they tried to straighten out all the computer stuff that’d been utterly wrecked (helped along by a particularly sneaky virus Nedzu had sent in). The best part was that none of it could be pinned on him, though no doubt the president and her cronies had their suspicions.

Nedzu’s tail swished in satisfaction as the chimera sipped at his tea, things were going well.

Chapter Text

“Settle down, I want to get through announcements as quickly as possible.” Shouta slouched into the classroom right on time on Tuesday morning, as per usual, to get the class started. The class immediately snapped to attention, following the teacher’s every word.

“Now that we have dorm systems in place, Nedzu has organized a joint training exercise with Shiketsu’s first year classes. They’ll be arriving tomorrow morning and staying through Thursday. Your normal classes will be suspended for the next two days for workshops on networking and working with other heroes in the field.” Shouta paused to nail all the students with a quirk boosted glare to make sure they knew he was serious about this next bit. “All of you will behave and reflect well on UA, am I understood?”

“Yes, sensei!” The class chorused, excitement levels rising through the roof, though they contained themselves for the moment.

“Good. Now keep it to a dull roar for the rest of homeroom and maybe I wont make you run extra laps this afternoon.” With the slight threat, the perpetually exhausted underground pro slipped inside his favorite sleeping bag to doze under his desk. Almost immediately, the rest of 1A clustered around Izuku because of course he’d have the inside scoop.

The kitten eared teen was about as easy to restrain as a hurricane though, so instead of info on what the training and workshops would be they all got an extended ramble on what Izuku knew of the Shiketsu student’s quirks. Because who cares about lectures when there’s quirk science to be done? Neito eagerly joined in on further breaking down their quirks while the rest just watched the two go with wide eyes (except for the rest of the kitten brigade, long used to this).

Shoto was listening, he knew better than not absorbing any info he could get on future colleagues, but he was mostly just letting Mina paint his fingernails orange and pink. Hitoshi slipped away from the class wholesale, crawling under Shouta’s desk to take a nap with his uncle. The class hadn’t quite figured out that they were related yet, but they were too preoccupied to notice and Hitoshi was entertaining himself with being more and more blatant about it until they finally cottoned on.

(Their rapport was a bit more subtle than Shoto and Izuku's though, so it was mostly going under the radar while the class tried to get something solid on the whole Yamazawa situation, hampered only by the kitten brigade stonewalling them and Izuku’s dead eyed stares whenever they tried to ask questions about it.)

Fumikage was trying to pick up sketching along with Himiko, getting some private lessons in with Nemuri, so he pulled out his sketchbook to try to capture the likeness of some of his classmates. He probably needed to branch out from still lifes, Dark Shadow, and Izuku and this would be good practice. The bird headed teen actually had a fairly decent sketch of Kaminari by the end of the period that he was pretty proud of.

Lunch saw a little more mixing than usual between 1A and 1B after Kirishima bounded over to spend some time with Bakugo (Shoto, Mina, and Neito were in a stalemate over whether or not they were dating yet, Izuku refused to tell them whether or not he knew anything and Hitoshi was staying out of it because he just didn’t care that much).

Kan had already informed 1B of the upcoming Shiketsu visit and 1B didn’t quite understand the extent to which Izuku Knew All, but they knew he was practically an eldritch entity under those cat ears and curly hair and that he was Nedzu’s student. So they all wandered over to 1A’s table to discuss/get intel on the situation, too. Kan was both glad they were interacting more because it meant he could continue the friendly rivalry he had with Shouta over lunch and secretly pants-ruiningly terrified someone would befriend or get befriended by the resident cat and he’d have to deal with that bullshit along with the 1A teacher.

Since the dorms had been instituted all the ward students and students who just lived in the two campus dorm buildings due to distance had been moved in with their classes since there was no need to single them out or separate them. This left those buildings empty and Nedzu had plenty ideas of how to use them now. This would just be the first of many good teaching opportunities (along with some good old fashioned chaos if Nedzu knew his pack well, which he did).

Shouta was just glad that Joke would be staying in the girl’s dorm with the rest of the students, albeit on a different floor from the students. He was not looking forward to her invading his school, this was his territory and the last thing he needed was another extrovert trying to bug him at all hours. Plus he had enough dealing with the jokes his students, kids, and extended family attempted, hers just pushed him over the edge, even if he did secretly enjoy the ‘it’s funny because we’re both gay’ behind her flirting with him.

He’d go to his grave without saying that out loud though.

The rest of them couldn’t wait for Ms. Joke to hit campus, for the same reasons. (Shouta got no respect in this place.) Eri was mildly confused over breakfast about why Shouta was acting annoyed, but Hizashi happily explained he wasn’t annoyed, just grumpy because one of their teacher friends was coming over with her students and that grumpy was just one of the ways he showed affection.

The best part was Shouta couldn’t even contest that, because grumpy was absolutely one of the ways he showed affection. He loved Hizashi, but damn if he wasn’t a little shit. (That ass and heart of gold were worth it though, something Hizashi was fully aware of.)

Unfortunately for the 1A teacher, he and Kan were responsible for meeting the busses of Shiketsu students as they arrived during homeroom (their own students had a note on the white boards in their classrooms directing them to one of the school’s auditoriums to be baby sat by Nedzu, all hail).

It was reasonably easy to get the classes to the dorms so they could drop off their stuff for the night, then shuffle them over to the auditorium to get the first day’s workshops on networking started. Nedzu’s cackling as he disappeared through a vent in the floor once they had all arrived was unnecessary but expected, and had the bonus of unnerving Joke, the other Shiketsu teacher and all the Shiketsu students, and most of the UA students. (Shouta, Kan, and the kitten brigade didn’t bat an eye.)

Shouta watched them pale and mentally promised the rat a new package of his favorite tea- Hizashi had made him promise not to be the first to start trolling Shiketsu people (aka Joke), but his dad had gotten that ball rolling with that particular move. This was basically his version of an birthday present.

Kan clocking the slight grin Shouta hid behind his scarf and paling as he realized what that meant was just the cherry on top.

Chapter Text

The morning went fairly well, but that was all according to plan. Shouta had been involved in the planning for this and his entire modus operandi was setting expectations at the outset and making sure the teens knew they’d be enforced, so the first thing they had was a lecture/power point on the basics of networking on a professional level.

Just on time as they were wrapping that up, half a squadron of security bots carted in lunch and the students were released for lunch and to practice the skills they’d spent the last while covering. Under the supervision of four heroes- both UA first year hero teachers and their Shiketsu counterparts- because they were still teenagers and they were almost always a stones throw away from some sort of physical altercation. (A quirk that erased other quirks was very handy to have when you were a hero course teacher, even if it didn’t work on all quirks it gave the students enough pause to stop whatever the fuck it was they were doing.)

Shouta, Kan, Joke, and Scope (they/them, deceptively small build with green eyes and whispy silver hair pulled back into two short french braids, they had a quirk that let them see anything within their visual range in perfect detail no matter the distance and were almost as good as Shouta at sneaking) stayed up on the stage to eat while the kids mingled in the audience portion of the auditorium.

“Did you hear that two more heroes got caught with trigger?” Joke asked, taking it easy on her gimmick since it was just the four of them, for now. She saved the true obnoxiousness for bigger audiences and villains. “Apparently it’s some sort of specific, high end strain.”

“We did.” Kan sighed. “It’s concerning, given the current climate.”

“Is Nedzu trying to figure out who the supplier is?” Scope asked.

“When he has time.” Shouta nodded, stabbing his lunch a little harder with his fork than was strictly speaking necessary as he remembered the bullshit that was dealing with Nightzilla. (In general, the guy was a dick, and an unoriginal one at that.)

“Oh shit, I forgot your vigilante was caught up in the first one.” Joke carefully watched the aggressive stabbing happen. “How are they doing?”

“They’re doing fine.” Shouta rolled his eyes. “They’re almost as big a pain in the ass as you are.”

“Can confirm.” Kan snorted, needling both Shouta and Joke at the same time- Shouta for obvious reasons and Joke because she was always on the hunt for new Ghost lore and he wasn’t actually going to give her any. He wouldn’t do that to the kid, not to mention that his parents and grandparents would all have his fangs if he tried. “Hizashi can be bribed with candy to share the good stories Shouta comes home with.”

“So that’s why they’re randomly hyper the day after certain patrols.” Shouta let out a put upon sigh, mostly for the drama of it.

“Oh my god, you have to tell us some.” Joke leaned forward, eyes trained on the 1B teacher. Kan just smirked and sipped his coffee.

……

While Joke was pestering Kan for stories he’d never divulge, the teenagers were involved to varying degrees in socializing with the other school. Mina was doing her due diligence as Vice Rep, putting her best foot forward with Momo and 1B’s reps to make a good impression with Shiketsu’s four class reps. Neito had abducted Fumikage because he’d gone to middle school with one of Joke’s students and he knew the two were going to get along (they’d been into drawing and horror movies for as long as Neito had known them, though they had more of a pastel goth aesthetic).

The collective Yamazawas, including the cousin, hunkered together. Hitoshi was too damn introverted for this shit, Shoto had had plenty of lessons on networking under Endeshit (the least painful ones, if he was being honest), and Izuku was rapidly scribbling observations of forty-ish new students in his notebook. He was honestly kinda freaking out the visiting teens so they were leaving all three of them alone.

Scary Dog Privileges Izuku was always fun, but casually unnerving Izuku was something the rest of his family and class would never get enough of.

Kirishima had dragged Bakugo into talking with some people, but the explosive teen was keeping a weather eye on a blue haired Shiketsu student not too far from them. Kojima Keimon had been in a different class, but he’d been one of Aldera’s Golden Children due to his quirk- Biological Manipulation.

Kojima could change any and all aspects of a living entity’s biological makeup. It was an incredibly powerful quirk, including but not limited to the ability to heal or destroy (in a way similar to Overhaul) in equal measure, affect and alter mutation based quirks, and change people’s physical appearances based on his own store of energy. (Aldera had always let him keep whatever snacks and energy drinks he wanted with him, and he had energy gummies similar to what Chiyo had access to as part of his hero costume.)

He was everything Bakugo could have been had his entire family not had a massive wake up call when they found out Izuku was missing, presumed dead. That had changed Bakugo’s character for the better, but would have left Kojima as Aldera’s Top Golden Child with a few more years to have awful behavior and bigotry ingrained in him.

It was only a matter of time until he figured out where Izuku was, dyed black hair or not the ears were distinctive and Bakugo knew for a fact Kojima made some of the initial social media posts that outed Izuku as quirkless after the Sports Festival, and it probably wasn’t going to go well when they met again.

Things went well for a solid twenty minutes or so as the teens all got to know each other (Shiketsu’s hero course had their own student with a snow white-esque quirk, a tall, slim girl with red pigtails who couldn’t talk to animals but could summon them and they were pretty sure she was flirting with Koda, who none of them had realized could blush).

Then Mina circled back to the more introverted og brigade members and forced them to actually talk to people, falling back into her role as resident/tactical extrovert. She did take some measure of pity on them, dragging them first to two of the class reps (they’d be on their best behavior and Izuku’s signs of anxiety were much more subtle now than they were when the school year started, but those who knew him could still tell he was anxious) because they seemed pretty cool from her conversation with them earlier.

The issue came when Kojima finally realized Izuku was there and took it upon himself to wander over, flanked by a tall boy with blue eyes, dark hair, and the same conceited air Neito liked to adopt with people he didn’t like (he seemed... oddly familiar to Izuku but he couldn't quite place him) and a girl of average height, shoulder length dirty blonde hair, and amber eyes.

“You should be careful talking to him, Chino.” Kojima’s voice carried as he gave Izuku a disdainful once over while the cat eared student raised an eyebrow and his friends tensed up, all already knowing where this was going. “Wouldn’t want his lack of quirk to rub off on you, could you even imagine?” The Shiketsu student laughed as the air in the auditorium stilled and all eye-s turned on their group.