Inko never intended to have another child.
With her husband seemingly overseas permanently and Izuku's issues with Mitsuki's son, she had no reasoning to want another child in the first place. Izuku was enough for her. Besides, she had no way to have one, she thought.
Then came the day she went shopping without Izuku downtown while he was at preschool. She was walking along when she suddenly felt a slight movement by her purse. Looking down, she saw a small hand retracting with her wallet and whirled around to see a little girl staring at her with wide, frightened eyes.
The same eyes Izuku had when he faced Katsuki.
The little girl gasped and ran off, taking Inko's wallet with her. Inko gave chase and quickly caught up with her, placing a gentle had on the little girl's shoulder.
"I'm sorry!" the girl squeaked, handing Inko back her wallet. "You have every right to be angry!"
"I'm not angry, sweetie." Inko knelt so they were at eye-level. "Why did you take my wallet?"
"I wanna… 'cause I wanna eat today." The simplicity and reality of that statement hit Inko hard.
"Where are your parents?"
"Dunno."
"Do you know where you live?"
The girl nodded and pointed down the small alley she'd ducked down. A box sat there with a blanket inside.
"That's where I live."
Inko's heart tightened. This wasn't right. This little girl wasn't much older than Izuku—the same age, if she had to guess.
"What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Kazumi. Just Kazumi."
"Well, Kazumi, how would you like to come with me to my house? I'll make you something to eat and we can talk."
"You're not gonna send me to the agency?"
"Which agency?"
"The one for kids with Quirks who don't have parents."
That would be the normal thing to do in this situation.
"Would you like me to bring you there?"
"No. The other kids are mean and they make fun of me all the time."
"Then I won't take you to the agency. Come with me."
She took Kazumi's hand and led her out of the alley. They took the train back to Inko's neighborhood, where she brought Kazumi to the apartment and made her a small snack.
While Kazumi stared out the window, Inko took in her appearance.
Kazumi was small and very thin, most likely from poor nutrition. Her ice-blue eyes were slightly dull from hunger. As for her clothes, they were tattered and stained, obviously never washed. But the most distinctive feature the little girl had was her hair; it rippled and flowed like water and was the cleanest thing about her.
Hair made of water never has to be washed.
Inko let out a sigh and checked the laundry basket sitting on the kitchen table. Kazumi seemed to be about Izuku's size. She grabbed a blue t-shirt and a pair of shorts from the basket and handed them both to Kazumi.
"Change into these. You need new clothes, right?"
"I guess. Thank you, Miss Lady."
"It's Inko, if you don't mind. And here's a pair of socks, too." Inko watched Kazumi take the small articles and press them against her face.
"Soft. I like them."
"I'm glad. Now, get changed."
"Okay, Miss Inko."
"The bathroom is right over there."
Kazumi went into the bathroom and came back out wearing the borrowed clothes. Inko found a couple of hair ties she used in her own hair and smiled.
"Would you mind if I tied your hair back while you eat?"
"You can if you wanna. Thank you, Miss Inko." Inko tied Kazumi's hair into pigtails. Despite being made of water, it behaved just like regular hair… minus getting dirty and greasy and tangled. Kazumi sat down and began to eat her snack.
"I'm going to make a phone call. Will you be okay on your own?"
"Mm-hmm."
She took the phone into her room and closed the door so Kazumi wouldn't hear as she dialed a number. The number of the Center for Future Heroes. That was the agency Kazumi had referred to, though the name was just so it sounded more inviting to people looking to adopt.
"Center for Future Heroes," the woman on the other end stated. "This is Gardien speaking. How may I help you find your future pro hero today?"
"My name is Inko Midoriya. I was just downtown in my city and I found a little girl named Kazumi."
"Oh. Kazumi." Gardien sounded sad and a little frustrated. "You're hardly the first person to call about her. She's been one of our more difficult cases."
"Difficult?"
"She doesn't get along well with the other children, mostly because of the nature of her Quirk. We haven't been able to learn much, but…" There was the sound of a mouse clicking in the background. "Ah. Here's her file. According to this, her body is made entirely of water and she has hydrokinesis. The other children don't see her as human because of that."
"Poor thing…"
Meanwhile, Kazumi had finished the snack Inko made her and was looking around the apartment. There were a few toys of a hero she recognized as All-Might—the Number One hero and the Symbol of Peace. She headed over to the window and saw a park across the street, where some kids were playing. For a moment, she wanted to join them, then she shook her head. She had to wait for Miss Inko to finish her call.
Then something caught her attention.
On the playground, she could see a boy with green hair talking to another boy with spiky blonde hair. From what Kazumi could see, the boy with the spiky hair was pushing the green-haired boy down and making small explosions with his hands.
He's going to hurt him!
Kazumi ran for the door and put on her old, ratty sneakers that she'd had for a while. Without a second thought, she ran out of the apartment and down the stairs, heading straight for the park. By the time she got there, the green-haired boy was cowering in fear of the other boy.
"See, Deku? You can't face me!" the blonde-haired boy declared. "You don't have a Quirk!"
"You leave him alone!" Kazumi yelled. The blonde snapped his head around to look at her.
"And what are you gonna do?" he sneered.
"I'll stop you!"
"Go. I'll be fine," the green-haired boy insisted.
"No! I hate bullies!" Kazumi puffed out her cheeks and narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "So… so you leave him alone or I'll use my Quirk on you!"
"So you wanna challenge me, new girl?"
"My name is Kazumi!" She formed a small water bubble in her hands and prepared to fire as the boy shot an explosion at her. She doused it just in time.
"Hey! No fair, Water Witch!"
"Don't call me that!" She soaked him; her Quirk wasn't too powerful yet, so she wasn't able to do much more than get him wet.
"You—"
"Izuku!" Inko seemed to come out of nowhere as she dashed over to the green-haired boy and knelt beside him. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine…" he mumbled. Inko then turned her attention to Kazumi, who looked terrified.
"Come here, sweetheart." Kazumi obeyed and stood next to Inko, who gazed at the blonde-haired boy. "Katsuki, I'll be calling your mother about this."
"Auntie Inko, don't—"
"Don't call her? You were hurting Izuku again!"
"But she got me all wet!" Katsuki pointed at Kazumi.
"She was defending somebody who couldn't stand up for himself!" She stood up and took Izuku and Kazumi's hands. "We're going home."
"Bye, Kacchan," Izuku called as the three of them headed towards the apartment. "Mama, who's this?"
"This is Kazumi. I found her while I was shopping. She doesn't have a home, so we're going to give her one, okay?"
"Really?!" both children gasped in disbelief.
"Really." They entered the building and then the elevator. "Are you okay with that, Izuku? Having a sister?"
"Yeah! She can go up against Kacchan without a problem!"
"And Kazumi, are you okay with living here?"
"You mean it, right?"
"Of course I mean it." The elevator arrived at their floor and they made it to the apartment. "I wasn't sure until I saw you defend Izuku, though. He needs somebody like you—a friend to be on his side when he's having problems, or somebody to play with. And you need a home and a family. So why not this one?"
Kazumi's lip wobbled and her eyes filled with tears as she started to sob, burying her face in Inko's skirt.
"Thank you! Thank you, Mama!"
Mama.
Inko Midoriya had another child.
"Izuku, please stay still."
"But I'm excited!" he protested, jumping up and down as Inko fixed Kazumi's hair into pigtails for the day. "Kazumi's going to be my sister for real now!"
For a month, Inko had been going through the process of officially adopting Kazumi. Today was the day she went down to the courthouse to get the final paperwork signed so Kazumi would be a Midoriya. The courthouse even allowed adoptive parents to take a family photo once the paperwork was complete, hence why she was bringing Izuku and Kazumi with her.
Our first family photo.
"All done. Go get your shoes on while I try to wrangle your brother."
Kazumi hopped off her chair and ran to the front door while Inko picked up Izuku to try and tame his hair. It proved to be fruitless, though, so she simply grabbed her purse and made sure the door was locked behind them as she headed out the door with her children.
The train ride was short but nerve-wracking. After today, Inko would officially have a daughter. And a daughter who loved living with them as much as Inko loved having her there. Her gaze went to Izuku and Kazumi, who were playing some sort of hand-clapping game while they giggled about something that only they knew the meaning of. The train pulled to a stop at the right station and she took each of them in hand.
"Stay with me, all right? Downtown is busy this time of day." Luckily, the station wasn't far from the courthouse and the kids wouldn't get tired.
But as Inko approached the courthouse, she saw a few people waiting there for her. It was Mitsuki and her husband, Masaru, along with Katsuki. Katsuki was slightly dressed up and looking angry as usual while his mother looked excited and happy.
"Inko!" Mitsuki greeted her friend. "Hi!"
"Mitsuki, what are you doing here?"
"Well, it's not every day my best friend adopts a little girl! I thought we'd be here for moral support. Plus, Katsuki's gonna have to get used to having her around."
"Thank you."
"Meanie Kacchan…" muttered Kazumi, glaring at the boy.
Inko headed into the courthouse and was shown into the proper room, where a judge witnessed her signing the paperwork and then signed it himself to finalize it.
"Inko Midoriya, I now pronounce you the mother of Kazumi Midoriya."
Kazumi and Izuku started cheering while Mitsuki gave both the kids a hug.
"Welcome to this crazy family, Kazumi! Katsuki, get over here!"
He let out a huff and did as his mother said. Kazumi was handed her adoption certificate and told to hold it up for the picture. Her eyes were full of tears of joy while Izuku and Inko's were the same way. But all three of them kept smiling as the picture was taken. Mitsuki then insisted on getting a picture of the three kids together—Izuku in between Katsuki and Kazumi. Kazumi was so happy to have been adopted that the scowl she usually wore in Katsuki's presence had disappeared in favor of her bright smile. Katsuki chose to smile, too, though his could be better qualified as a smirk.
Once that was all said and done and the pictures had been given to Inko, the two families of three headed off to grab lunch together at a nearby diner. Katsuki sat between his parents at the round table, with Kazumi sitting to his mother's other side and Izuku sitting on his father's other side. Inko sat between her children, helping them read the menu and decide what they wanted. They were even allowed to get ice cream as a celebratory treat.
It was the last time Katsuki Bakugo and the Midoriya siblings would be civil for a while.
So, for those of you who don't know (because you didn't read it), Kazumi was one of the main characters of my story "Antihero". She was a villain Izuku's best friend there, and when I finished the story I mentioned having an AU where she was adopted by Inko Midoriya and grew up as Izuku's sister and Bakugo's rival. I posted that and said that I would write it if people wanted it.
And apparently you do.
And apparently that one guest low-key ships Bakugo and Kazumi. Which I completely understand and I kind of want to do. I might do it, but that's far off in the future.
For now, let's focus on the kiddies growing up.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
