Hello! This is my story, Heroes Are Made. I hope that you will enjoy. I appreciate reviews and comments on my work so please feel free to leave them. I want to say sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes you may see. Without further Ado please enjoy guys, gals, and non binary Pals.

I looked around my empty apartment once more. Most of the boxes had already been shipped off, the few that were still here would come in about two weeks or so. I sighed before swing my backpack on my shoulders, lifting up my duffle bag, and grabbed my suitcase, and walked out the door.

When I get to the street, Bix and DeShawn are waiting for me.

"Got everything?" DeShawn asked. I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, "I'll call you guys when I get there."

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Bix asked.

"I just feel guilty for leaving you guys," I admitted "And with Ryan-"

"If Ryan were here," DeShawn said, "He'd be telling you to stop worrying about us and get your ass in the cab so you don't miss your flight," I looked at him, "Come on Akari, it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

I looked at both of them for a minute before wrapping my arms around them and held on for dear life. A tear or two pricks in the corners of my eyes and I whispered: "Promise you'll both be safe and watch out for them."

"We will will Akari," Bix said, "We will."

My friends help me throw my stuff into the cab and I crawled in the back seat. I look out my window at them. I try to memorize their faces. I look at Bix's blue hair, their pierced nose and ears, and their freckles. I look at DeShawn's dreadlocks and the black tattoos on his forearms that are hard to see with his dark skin. I look at Bix's pointed ears and DeShawn's red framed glasses. I wave as the taxi begins to drive away. They wave back.

When I first moved here, I never thought it would be this hard to say goodbye to New York, but over the years, this place became home. It helped build me into the hero I was now. The city had carved a place in my heart, one that would never go away.

When I reach the airport, I paid the driver and hauled my bags out of the trunk. I sat waiting at the gates for about 2 hours before they finally called for my flight. As the woman checked my ticket she asked: "Are you visiting?"

" No," I said shaking my head, " I'm going home."

Those words had a bittersweet taste in my mouth, and honestly, I don't know what that says about me, or how to feel about it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I hadn't been to Japan in almost 5 years. That was a long time to not be home. I would always say, I couldn't go now I have too much work. Or it's just not in the cards. I now realize looking back it was more excuses not to face my problems. Yes, Japan was home, it always been home, but New York, the United States, it seems to just push everything away and gave me the chance to focus on something else.

While I'm in the baggage claim, I call a car rental place to see if I can get a vehicle for a few days. I didn't own a car while I lived in New York. I really didn't need one in the city. I did have a Harley, which I love more than anything. Sadly though it was going to take a few months before my bike to get here. It also turns out that I cannot get a car.

Once I got my bags, I called a taxi and then headed to the train station. It was little things like this that made me realize how different the States and Japan were. Here you got basically everywhere on trains or the Metro. Whereas some cities in the United States still didn't have a subway station. During my ride, I set next to a middle-aged woman who's going to visit her daughter at University. She asked me where I'm going. I say to see family.

I'm sitting on a bench outside the train station when I finally pull out my phone to text Dad. I don't tell him that I'm here, or I have no way to get to the house, or his office, or really anywhere. I just simply asked what he's doing and where he is. After that, it doesn't take me long to go to where he is.

It's another, much shorter train ride before I reach another city. Once again I'm hauling my bags along with me. I catch a few glances, and a few people turn to look at me, but nothing new. There is a group of a few teenage girls who pulled me aside and asked for a picture. I'm a bit surprised, I hadn't expected many people to remember me here.

An hour or so later I arrive at a beach. It's covered in trash and old furniture, broken machines and other useless junk. I spot a familiar white truck. I throw my large suitcase and duffle bag in the back. I noticed it's unlocked and I stuff my backpack in the front seat. Then I go to the stairs and walk down towards the beach.

It looks like the only thing here is trash and garbage for a while. Then I see that I'm not alone. There's a boy, around 14 or 15 ish. He's a bit on the shorter side and fairly skinny. A hundred dozen freckles or so cover his face, and he has unkempt green and black hair. He's wearing shorts and a t-shirt and has a pair of bright red sneakers. From the looks of it, he's trying to run laps while carrying garbage. The second person I see is the one I know. He's tall with lots of blonde hair, eyes sunken, and fairly skinny. He's dressed in baggy clothes, and he is coaching the boy to go faster.

I watch them for a few minutes, trying to decide when the best time to interrupt. Finally after about 10 minutes or so I walk over to them closer. I don't stop walking until I call out, "You putting this kid to work old man?"

They both stop and look at me. The boy's face is covered in confusion and a bit of worry. But the older man's face is covered with a bit of joy and a little bit of annoyance.

"I thought you were going to call me when you got here," he said.

"I texted you," I argued.

"Texting me to ask where I'm at, and calling me are two completely different things," he said.

" A welcome home, or a how are you would be nice, you know," I say. He sighs and then beckons me forward for a hug.

"Come here," he says, his voice a bit more tired than the last time I heard it. Despite everything my legs quickly carry me over to him, and I hug him tightly. Even after everything I have been through it's still nice to get a hug from your dad. Doesn't matter what's happened between us, it's just nice to have him here with me again.

He whispers in my ear, " I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," I say back to him. When we let go of each other I turn back to the boy. I look at him up and down and then without turning back to Dad, I asked, " So this is the kid?"

" Yeah, that's him," Dad said.

"Who is she?" The boy asked clearly being confused and getting nervous. Dad's sighs from behind me and said, " This is Akari Yagi, she's come to help me train you."

The boy nods his head and I hold my hand out for him to shake. I smile at him, to ease his nerves, but I don't think it helps. He takes my hand and says " I'm Izuku Midoriya, it's really nice to meet you."

He looked back up at my face for a moment. I knew he was studying me a bit as I had done with him. Then he let out a small gasp in his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

" You're Nova Prime!" He said with a great deal of excitement, " The light hero! You're the number 2 hero in the United States! You defeated the Skeleton King your first year of being a pro. And I watched you all three years you were in the UA sports festival. You took first place every time! No one even came close to you! You're amazing!"

"Thanks," I said, smiling a little at the fact that this kid, A, knew a lot about me, and B, seemed to think I was a genuinely good Pro Hero. I never wanted to be a hero because of flashy titles and things like that, but it does give you this warm feeling in your heart when someone tells you that you are good at what you love to do.

"Anyway," I said, " I was just stopping by. I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning to help get a start on training."

I then turned around and begin walking towards the parking lot a few steps then I turned on my heel and again walking backward before calling out " By the way, I'm taking your truck."

" What?" the blond man yelled, "No you're not."

" Yes, I am," I said back, " And you're not going to stop me, Dad."

" Wait, Dad?" Izuku asked looking back and forth between us. He then let out a huge gasp and all but screamed," What?! All Might has a daughter!?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Did you have to do that?" Dad asked as we drove home. His voice was a mixture of anger and annoyance. I rolled my eyes and the shotgun seat next to him.

" You act as if I tried to make the boy flip out on purpose," I said annoyance filling my own voice. Once Izuku had put two and two together, he began to flip his lid and it took a good ten minutes to settle him down.

Dad and I both huff and sit in silence. It's not long before Dad tries to set a better mood and says, " Your hair got longer."

"Yeah," I said looking at the ends of my braid. Dad and I look similar. We have the same color eyes, though mine are bit darker. We have almost the same colored hair, although mine has several streaks of dark Navy in it, and was far curlier. We were both tall, me being six-foot-six and him being 7 foot two even when he wasn't in his hero form.

"I see you got more tattoos," Dad said, looking down at my exposed forearms. I shook my head.

" No, I had these before I moved. I did get new ones though, but they're on my back. Does it really bother you that I have tattoos?"

" Not necessarily, no, it's just that, you've moved back here now. And you know how people are about that stuff."

" I know Dad," I said sighing, "That's why my hero costume covers all of my tattoos. No one will see them."

We're quiet again.

"Are you still dating that Aisa girl?" he asked.

"Her name was Aza, and no," I said, "We broke up seven months ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"I did know how I guess?"

"Why did you break up?" he asked.

"Because she was sleeping with the girl down the hall," I said, my voice turning into a mutter.

"I'm sorry," Dad said.

"Don't be. She was boring anyway," I said, "She never wanted to do anything. She never had time for me or anything else."

"How have you been since your partner-?" Dad tried to ask. I think for a moment trying to find the right words.

"It's been, hard, since Ryan-" I can't finish my words. I taking a deep breath and I look out my window.

"He was a good hero. A really good hero," my dad said.

"I know he was," I said, "I worked with him for over five years. He was my best friend. I don't think anyone knew me better."

We spend the rest of the drive talking about Ryan. Well, I'm talking. Dad's listening. I have always been able to get my feelings out by talking about them. It helps me. It's the only way I really know how to deal with them. Which is weird cuz sometimes I have a hard time getting the words out of my mouth. It seems I only want to talk when I'm willing to I guess. That makes no sense, I know.

When we get to the house, a relaxed feeling fills me. The house we lived in was nice. It was big, but not too big. There was a backyard. There was a large front yard and there were neatly trim bushes that were just in front of the porch. We didn't live in a neighborhood exactly. We lived on a drive that had houses every few spaces or so.

Dad helps me carry my bags into the house. When we got inside I heard the sound of the TV and someone in the kitchen. My eyebrows knitted together as I wondered who on Earth could be home.

"We're home," dad called out.

"What do you mean we?" A familiar voice called out. I froze for a moment in disbelief.

"Wait," I said turning to look at my dad.

"Toshinori, who's with you?" the voice said again. Just then a shorter woman came into view. She had short curly blond hair and the same eyes as my father. We looked at each other in shock for a moment, before breaking out into laughter. I rushed and hugged her tightly, and she latched on to me as well, not willing to let go.

"Aunt Miyoko!" I cried happily.

"Oh, Akari," She said, as she began to stroke my hair. " Oh, I've missed you so much. You've been gone for too long."

She lets me go, then places her hands on my shoulders to take a good look at me. She laughed a little bit more, before tucking a few strands of hair behind my ear.

"You look so grown up," she said at last, " You look like your grandmother." she looked at me once more. Then she turned her head to the side a bit to and called out "Makiko, Kana! Come see who's here."

Before long a woman who looked almost identical to my aunt, with the only difference the length of her hair and her height being the difference, came into view.

"Aunt Makiko," I cry before rushing into her arms as well. The older woman smile and held on to me just as tight as my Aunt Miyoko had. She rocked me back and forth a bit in her arms and before she let me go she yelled to my dad, "Toshinori! Why didn't you tell us she was coming?"

"It's called a surprise," Dad said crossing his arms while looking at his older sister.

The next person I saw was my little cousin. Kana was eighteen and had pale blond hair and the same blue eye that everyone in our family had.

"Kari!" she cried as I picked her up in a hug and spun her around. We were both laughed as I put her down.

"How long are you staying for?" Kana asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, "I'm moving back home."

"You are!?" Kana cried happily.

"Toshinori!" my aunts both cried. Dad smiled sheepishly. Once everyone claimed down, Aunt Miyoko went to work on dinner with the help of my dad, and Aunt Makiko went back to working in the living room and watching the news. Kana helped me get my bags up to my room.

"So," Kana said, as we walked up the stairs, "What's going on with you?"

"I'm going help Dad with some work for a while and I'm also going to try and find an agency that will let me work part-time," I tell her, "What about you?" I ask.

"Well, after graduation I'm planning to sidekick with Major Lazer but I'm also going take some criminology classes at the University of Osaka."

"That's right you did get into there."

"Yeah," Kana said, "A lot of colleges got this new programs now that help people who are working to be pros get their degrees."

"Well that's useful," I say as we finally reach my bedroom door. I smile. The door was still painted to look like a night sky. I pushed the door open with my foot. My walls were painted a sunshine yellow color, that warmed you when you looked at it. My ceiling was painted to look like aurora borealis. Also on the walls were posters of bands and TV shows I loved as a teenager and even now. There was one of Dad's posters, and I had a few other posters for a few heroes that were popular when I was younger. My queen size bed was pushed up against the wall. The same country style quilt was on it. My dark blue curtains were pulled back to let the light from outside the room flooded in. I smiled and then flopped myself down on the bed.

I let out a loud sigh as Kana flopped down next to me. We both giggled a little and I remember all the time was would do this growing up. It felt nice to relax for once. After a while, I ask Kana, "Why's everyone here?"

"You don't know?" she asked.

"Don't know what?"

"Mizuki left Aunt Makiko," Kana said, there was a long silence. "Mizuki got the house and Takuma. She's been here for about a half a year now. And Mom's cafe caught fire a while back. The cops think it was arson. Things have been slow at the office so she sold the house. She has been staying with Uncle Toshi for like two years."

I sat up in bed. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"You weren't home and you didn't ask," Kana said, sitting up as well. "And besides, you had enough problems. You didn't need to be worrying about us."

"Of course I need to worry about you," I said, "You're my family."

"It's okay Kari," Kana assured me, "We've been fine. We've been together. And now that you're home," she paused for a moment and smiled, "I think things can really get better."

"I don't know about that," I muttered.

"Why?" Kana asked, "Are you afraid that you and Uncle Toshi can mess up anymore?

"It's not that," I said, "it's just-" I sighed. "We have issues, that neither of us knows how to fix."

"Have you tried?"

"Of course I've tried Kana!"

"Sometimes it doesn't look like either of you do."

"That's not-"

"What? Not your fault? Not his fault?" Kana asked. I sighed and laid back down.

"This is why I'm moving in with Rumi," I murmured.

"Akari," Kan said laying back down with me, "I love you, but when you face something that you just can't get over no matter how hard you try, you tend to avoid it."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes!" she cried. Kana sighed, "Just try, Kari, please?"

"I will if he does."

"He will," she says, "I know he will."

We're quiet.

"So," I say after a while, "Any good looking people that you've been thinking about lately?"

Kana's faced turned pinkish as she said, "Well, there may be this one boy I meet a few time on visiting trips."

"Oh, tell me more," I said, in a teasing voice. Kan quickly flipped onto her stomach and said, "Okay, so he's in going to be in my Japanese History class, and he is like, oh my God!" she squealed, "He is built like a freaking, ahh! And his face, is just, awesome!"

I laugh at my cousin a bit.

"And the best part is that I think he likes me too," Kana says, pushing herself up to sit on her knees. "He's just so, perfect. Ahhh-"

"Wow you are still crazy," I said.

"Oh please," she said, "I haven't acted like this since junior high."

I make a humming noise.

"What about you?" she asked, "Any boys or girls peaking your interest?"

"Honestly, with my track record, I think I should just stay away from the dating game in general," I say.

"Come on now," Kana said. I shrug, "Face it Kana beside you, everyone in this family seems to have cursed relationships."

"I would call your parents relationship cursed," Kana whispered.

"My parents were something else altogether," I mutter.

Before Kana can go on Aunt Miyoko calls us downstairs for dinner. I rack my brain and try and think of the last time all five of us stay down at the table for a meal. I think maybe a little bit after Dad fight, right before I stopped visiting.

One thing about my Aunt Miyoko is that she as good of a cook as she was as good as a lawyer. Which means her food is awesome. My aunts talk about work and Aunt Makiko yells at Dad for being reckless at work. I catch up with my family as much as I can. After dinner, I help my aunt and Kana wash dishes. I call Bix and DeShawn right before I sit with my family to watch the news.

It's a little weird to hear everything in Japanese when I've only heard English for the past five years. From the looks of everything, all is well. Crime rates were down. The market was good. There was nothing too major going on.

Kana went to bed early seeing as she had school in the morning. She'd graduate soon. Aunt Makiko heads to bed not much later and Aunt Miyoko busies herself with her and Kana's laundry. My dad goes to his office.

I shower and brush my teeth. Tomorrow I had to get up early. I put on an oversize gray t-shirt that says 'Bi AF' and some flannel pajama pants. It takes about seven minutes to brush out my hair.

After a while, I head downstairs. Aunt Miyoko's in the kitchen doing something. I crept quietly and stand in the doorway to my dad's offices. He's look over something on his computer. I stay there for a minute. Not moving, not making a sound.

A few minutes pass before he notices me. "Akari," he says, turning his chair to look at me. He grabbed another one that was close to him and had me sit down.

"So," he said, looking at his hands, "How's it feel to be home?"

"It feels, really nice," I said, smiling at him.

"I need to say thank you, for coming," Dad said looking up at me.

"It's not that big of a deal," I said.

"Yes it is," he sighed, "Akari, you're 24, you'll be 25 in a few more mouths. This is the time in every hero's career where they're at their prime. You were second in the US, that is a huge deal."

"My contract was almost up anyway," I argued.

"You still could have stayed, started at your own agency."

"That sounds like a lot of work," I faked scoffed.

"The point is thank you for coming," Dad said.

"Someone's got to watch after you," I joke. We both chuckle.

"I want things to be different Kari," Dad says.

"I want that too," I say, "You really think we can do more than yell at each other and have awkward conversations though? That's kind of our thing."

"I'm not saying, we're going to be great at it but, I do want to try Akari," Dad says. He puts his hand on my shoulder. "Will do want ever you want us to do."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"I want to do a movie night," I say like I'm eleven or something.

"Done."

"Also, I want to get dinner once every two weeks or something, and ice cream afterward."

"Okay, we can do that," Dad says nodding his head.

"I want good kind and you know what I mean by that," I said pointing a finger at him.

"All right, All right."

"One more thing," I said, thinking maybe I can push my luck.

"Whatever you want," Dad said smiling.

"I want to talk about Mom," I said.

Dad's face falls. The room is taken over by slients. After a minute or two Dad gets up from his chair and walks out.

"Good night, Akari," he muttered.

I sit in his office for a minute. I look at my hands. I should have known that it wouldn't work. I sigh and shut off the lamp in the office and walked out.

Aunt Miyoko stops me as I walk past the kitchen.

"Akari," she says happily. She's in her pajamas and her fluffy blue robe. "Do you need anything?" she asks, as I sit down at the island.

"No," I say shaking my head.

"Come on, I'll get you a glass of water," she says turning to the cupboard.

"You don't need to take care of everyone you know," I said.

"You're like your father, you know that?" she asked handing me the water.

"I've been told," I said. I take a drink or two before Aunt Miyoko says, "Your dad is trying Akari."

"Sure."

"I mean it, young lady," she says in an unusually stern tone, "Despite what the rest of the world thinks your father isn't perfect. But he does want to build a better relationship with you. And whether he is willing to talk about your mother or not has nothing to do with it."

"It kind of does," I say.

"Akari, you have to-"

"What?" I ask, "Given him time? He's had seventeen years."

"And you've had have just as much time to do your work as well," Aunt Miyoko says.

"Look," I said, "I'm sorry our family fucked up, okay?" I push myself away from the island and head to the stairs.

"Akari, we've all been through a lot these past five years," Aunt Miyoko said. I turn to look at her. Her arms are crossed.

"You and your father are strong people, but you two don't know how to talk to one and other. If you both want that to change, you and he better sort out your issues and learn quickly."

I look at my aunt for another second and then mutter goodnight and go to my room. I close the door behind me and sink onto the bed. I look over to a picture on my nightstand. It's him and me on my first day of UA. We looked happy enough. We always looked happy. Always smiling like nothing was ever wrong. But sometimes the biggest smiled held the most pain. At least sometimes mine seemed to.