We are the Future: 2nd Act
Chapter 7: Building Friendships/Adoption
"Hoo Boy…" Izuku shook his head as he and Melissa stare out at the track field that was now an ice rink. "Looks like something turned on Nowaki's switch."
"He doesn't even look affected by the cold. If I recall, even Todoroki-kun had limitations on the ice he could use." Melissa stare with complete awe and wonder.
"Mmmm, Nowaki does too but…" Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "Izumi told me that she and Todoroki-kun have been putting them through endurance training… teaching them how to withstand long periods of heat and cold to help them better master their techniques."
"Impressive, I think your sister and her husband would make excellent teachers. Nowaki and Hiroki are very well trained. I was one of the judges during their exam, and they impressed not only me, but Shinso and Thirteen as well. Thirteen is easily impressed, but Shinso…" She scratched her cheek laughing. "He's hard to gage a reaction on, but you could definitely tell he was interested in the two of them."
"I'm glad…" Izuku smiled. "The expectations are so high coming from our family, I worried the pressure would get to them. I'm happy to see they're not only coping, but doing it succinctly."
"Mmm…" Melissa looked Izuku, saw the soft and affectionate look in his eyes and smiled. "You have pride in them, it shows. You should have children of your own, Deku-kun."
"Eh?" Izuku glanced up, taking a moment to process her words before returning the smile. "Mmmm I'd like to. I even brought it up to my partner… but they were against it." Izuku lowered his head and twiddled his thumbs in an old habit she recognized.
"Why are they against it?" She touched his shoulder affectionately.
"Our relationship isn't exactly normal. We're both heroes and have busy schedules, but we can work around that. I think what's really bothering my partner, is that we can't conceive children together."
"Oh…" Melissa held her mouth. "Your wife is infertile?"
More like I am, Izuku thought with a little bead of sweat dripping down his brow.
"Um, yeah, at any rate the only way we'd be able to have children is if we do surrogacy or adopt… but because we're both heroes and our living situation isn't proper to be raising a kid in adoption isn't likely to happen, and neither of us are comfortable with the idea of surrogacy."
"Hmmm, I see the dilemma…" Melissa held her chin giving the problem careful thought. As she did Izuku's eyes lifted back to the window watching Hiroki and Nowaki challenge each other as well as the other students through the drills and tests. Something inside him twisted painfully and he felt the tears sting his eyes.
"I've been at the hero gig a long time, Melissa. I've saved lives, risked my own to protect them against people who abuse their power. I'm at that point in my life where being a hero just isn't enough anymore. Watching Freya and my nephews grow up to be strong heroes themselves… seeing pictures of Izumi and Todoroki up in their beautiful home in the mountains, surrounded by their children and looking so happy just being together. I want that with my partner… I want the ups and downs of parenthood. I want the joys and worries, the laughter and the tears… I want it all." Izuku lowered his head squeezing his hands together now as if to pray. "There has to be a way, some way, we could make it work."
She heard the ache in his tone, and Melissa's heart just bled for him. She looked out at the field with him wishing she had a way to help… and then saw Akira. The tall dark haired boy came up from behind Nowaki hugging him and ruffling his hair which he shoved and complained.
"Akira Takahashi…" she murmured and Izuku blinked and turned his attention to her.
"Huh?"
"Akira Takahashi… he's a friend of your sister and nephews isn't he?"
"Aki? Yeah he is… they all met when they were little, before Izumi went back to America. Why do you ask?"
"Do you know of his family situation?" She gave a small smile.
"No… now that you mention it. I mean I've heard some of it, how his parents died when he was eight and he now lives with his uncle."
"Half truths… Akira's uncle is a hero called Panthera, and he gained custody of Akira when his parents were still alive."
"Eh? How did he manage that? Were they abusive?"
"No…" She shook her head. "Akira's parents were average citizens. They both worked constantly to make a decent living for him but neither of them could give Akira the right environment to raise him as a hero." Melissa held up a finger as she explained. "Panthera saw the potential in Akira's quirk and got custody of him through the Hero's Ward program. Unfortunately Akira's parents died shortly afterward in a car crash."
"I see...hmm Hero's ward?" Izuku crossed his arms. "Why have I never heard of that?"
"It's a program that was only recently put into effect. Akira was one of the first kids to be put through it. It's a form of adoption that caters strictly to heroes. They fill out the necessary forms much like a regular adoption, but for the soul purpose of raising the children as future heroes and potential successors. Kinda like winning a scholarship."
"Wow… that sounds like something straight out of a comic book. How come I've never heard of this?" Izuku tapped his chin curiously.
"Like I said it's fairly recent. A girl named Erika was the one to suggest it to the hero's council. Now she leads the project with her husband and runs one of the program's orphanages on the old grounds of the Pussycat agency. I can give her a call, set you up with an appointment to see the place."
"Eh?!" Izuku grabbed her by the shoulders shaking her gently and inadvertently pulling her closer. "Really? That would be great!"
"Oh, yes…" she flushed a little at the closeness, inadvertently setting her hands on his chest. "Uhm, I'm happy, you're happy, Deku-kun but…"
He blinked and then quickly let her go and jumping back five feet.
"AHHH! I'm SORRY! GOMEN NASAI!" He bowed Dogeza style and had her giggling. She waved her hands.
"It's okay, it's okay… I'm just glad I could help. Come on, let's finish the tour and then I'll call her."
Izuku jumped up, fists pumped in excitement.
"Yes, thank you so much!"
~Meanwhile~
"Damn… I nailed the last three tests and I still came in third." HIroki groaned ruffling his hair and pouting at the board. At the very top was Freya, followed by Jean, then himself, Akira, and Nowaki placed fifth even though he'd started off strong.
"I probably could have done better if I hadn't lost my temper in the first test." Nowaki slumped rubbing his hands to get the feeling back in them. He had a high resistance to cold temperature, but he still had issues with numbness when dealing with long period use of his quirk. "My body started to go numb after the long distance run."
"Aww relax Nowaki!" Akira hugged him from behind making him jump and fluster. Blood rushed to his face and he suddenly regained feeling in every pore of his body from the contact. "You still did great."
"Yeah, don't sweat it bro…" Hiroki wiped sweat from his brow to punctuate his words. His uniform was barely hanging on by the tatters. He'd sacrificed control in the final sprint of the long distance run to place first in front of Freya, but nearly got naked in the process. "You're not the only one who let control go."
"I suppose you're right." Nowaki tilted his head upward to glance at Akira. "What did I say about doing this in front of other people? We're getting stared at."
"Heh, sorry, you just looked so bummed I wanted to cheer you up a little." He straightened and tugged on Nowaki's ponytail.
"I'm just a bit irritated with myself is all." His stoic voice returned but there was an obvious discomfort and sadness in his mannerisms. He lifted his hands wiggling his fingers and letting the frost dance in them. "I don't like losing control, it's not who I am."
"Not who you are… or not who you want to be?" Akira tugged on his hair again smiling. "Come on, let's change and go back to the classroom for Shinso-sensei's ending lecture."
~Classroom~
"I won the entrance exam, but you won the assessment test, as expected." Jean sat on her desk, legs crossed and showing off thigh to the pleasure of several male students. Even as she conversed with Freya she gave the boys a flirtatious smile and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "In terms of physical strength and athleticism you definitely have me beat, Freya-chan."
"Glad to see you finally know your place." Freya returned leaning back in her chair, arms and legs crossed confidently.
"Though in terms of intelligence and tactical quirk use I'm still the superior one. Not to mention looks." She boasted and had Freya gritting her teeth.
"I'll give you the tactical…" she grumbled. Jean managed to snag second place in the assessments due to the clever use of her quirk. While her body wasn't as physically strong as Freya and the boys, Jean bridged that gap by strengthening her quirk to the maximum and using it to score exceedingly high in the long jump, sit ups, pull ups, and ball throw. "For now anyway."
"I must admit your nephews surprise me." She glanced back at Hiroki and Nowaki who were seated in the back of the class and were chatting it up with several other classmates. "Their quirks are not only powerful but they use them well. I imagine if Nowaki hadn't overused his quirk in the first test, he may have beaten us out. He's a very tactical person I've noticed."
"He is, but that doesn't necessarily mean he would have scored much better than he had. He may have beaten Akira, or even Hiroki, but I still out class both of them." Which surprised her. After Nowaki's stirring performance during the short run she thought the twins would have given her a run for her money… but she'd excelled through the rest of the tests and came out on top. Sighing heavily Freya got to her feet.
"I'm gonna use the restroom before the final lecture starts. I'll be right back."
"Take your time…" Jean waved and scowl when she left. "Don't try and kid yourself, Freya. They surprised you, and you were raring for a fight. If you're not prepared to take them on, then those two boys may get the better of both of us."
In the bathroom Freya splashed water on her face letting the cool spray ease away the temper she'd let build up. She didn't want to admit it, even to herself, but Nowaki had frightened her.
"Not just him…" she admitted gritting her teeth. The whole damn class frightened her. After Nowaki's display, the entire class had upped their game and pulled out one impressive feat over the other. Sure she still rose above it all, but how long would that last? The purpose of going to school was to improve, and at the rate her classmates were going, who knew how long she'd stay at the top.
"I can't let that happen. I have to be the best just like Izuku and Izumi!" She turned off the water with a quick flick of her wrist and took a long deep sigh to calm herself again. "Jean isn't your only competition, Freya…" She told herself and looked into the mirror eyes focused and fierce. "Your class… no… the entire school is your competition. Show them what you're made of."
With a confident nod she straightened and exited the girl's bathroom and nearly ran right into her brother and Melissa.
"Eh? Freya!"
"Geh! Izuku!" Freya gawked and pointed an accusing finger. "What are you doing here?"
"Taking a tour," he smiled. "I saw a bit of your class performance. You were all doing so well. What position did you end up placing?"
He saw her? A flush of embarrassment and frustration tinged her cheeks and she hid it by turning up her nose.
"Pffft, first naturally… what did you expect?" She scowled and grumbled a little when she felt his large hand ruffle her hair.
"As expected, that's my little sister for yah." Izuku complimented and smiled big. Freya resisted the urge to lower her head and instead looked to Melissa.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your lady friend?"
"Oh, that's right. Melissa, this is my little sister Freya." He turned to Melissa patting Freya on the head, and then extended a hand out towards Melissa. "Freya this is an old friend of mine, Melissa Shield. She's head of the support course here at UA."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Freya-chan." Melissa smile. "Uncle All Might talks about you all the time during our e-mails."
"Funny, he never mentions you at all." Freya frowned and glanced up at Izuku. "Does Kacchan know you're seeing other women?"
"Eh? Kacchan?" Melissa blinked in confusion and had Izuku going red. "Is that your wife?"
"No, I mean yes, I mean it's not like that Freya. Melissa is just showing me around the school and all the changes she's added. This isn't a date!" He laughed and pressed a bit harder on Freya's head mussing up her hair and forcing her head in a bow. "Don't mind her, she's just kidding. Now uh, you were gonna make that phone call right? Let's go… go back to class Freya!" Izuku shoved Melissa forward hurrying down the hall as Freya fixed her hair.
"Funny…" Freya said with a raised brow and fixed her hair and angel wing clips. "I wonder if Kacchan would see it that way."
~After Class~
"Whoa…" Hiroki and Nowaki eyed the massive dorm building. They'd seen pictures of it in their mother's photo album, but thanks to Melissa's input they'd made substantial changes in appearance and functionality. "This place is huge!"
"Seems they moved all of our stuff in while we were in class." Freya said after exiting the elevator. "All of our classmates are living here too, you guys are the last ones to show up. What took you so long?"
"Hiroki wanted to take a walk around campus, not realizing just how big the place was." Nowaki walked to the massive fish tank that separated the common area from the entrance and elevators. He tapped the glass causing a crab to scurry along the bottom.
"Idiot…" Freya's brow twitched in irritation at Hiroki who laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hehe, guilty. Oh hey, Freya-chan, I think I saw Uncle Deku while we were walking around."
"Yeah, I saw him too when I went to the restroom before. Apparently Miss Shield is giving him a grand tour of the campus as well." She grunted a little at that.
"Why does that bother you?" Nowaki straightened and turned to face his Aunt.
"Because it's plainly obvious the two canoodled once upon a time."
"Canoodled? Who uses that terminology?" Hiroki frowned.
"I do, because it's the best way I can politely describe the way they were acting around each other. Izuku is always flustered and uncomfortable around women he's not related to, but with Melissa-san he was calm and relaxed as if they'd always been close. It's… weird." She crossed her arms.
"I gotta admit he and Melissa san looked close when we saw them in the gym earlier. She was touching his arm and both of them were smiling." Nowaki told his brother. "Do you think they're having an affair?"
"No way, Uncle Deku would never do something like that." Hiroki said with affirmation. "He's the symbol of peace, the #1 hero in the world, no way he'd have an affair."
"Who's having an affair?" Jean asked flocked by Juliette, Yori, and the other girls. Freya and Hiroki jolted and whirled around, Nowali stayed poker faced but felt a twinge of discomfort between his shoulder blades.
"Nothing, no one, that's the point!" Hiroki laughed it off. "No one's having an affair."
"Smooth…" Freya muttered and ignored the stares to walk back to the elevator. "I'm going back to my room."
"Right behind yah!" Hiroki jogged after her… and when all eyes turned to him Nowaki tensed up and rushed after them.
"Wait for me!"
"Well that wasn't strange at all…" Jean twirled a piece of hair between her fingers as she watched them.
"Someone they know is having an affair?" Juliette held her heart. "How awful… who do you think it is?"
"My money is Freya's vigilante sister. Her torrid affair with the Todoroki siblings has been on display for the media before so it wouldn't surprise me if she had some wild fling now that she's hooked into all that money." Jean theorized.
"Maybe, but I could have sworn I heard Hiro-kun say "HE'D have an affair. Could it be their father is the one two-timing?" Yori pointed out… something caught her eye out the window and she wandered over to it as the conversation continued.
"Shoto, the fire and ice hero? He is quite handsome, there are plenty of lose American women who'd fall for him." Juliette agreed with a mild blush.
"I think you're all taking this too seriously." Sadira with her long smooth black hair and quiet demeanor tried to be the voice of reason. "Hiroki said no one was having an affair so I say we leave it at that... and besides it's not something we should be poking our noses in anyway. "
"Sadira's right…" Everdeen agreed, hands on hips and standing tall showing off her strong arms and legs. Her brown hair was braided over her shoulder, and green eyes narrowing in disapproval. "Let's not jump to conclusions or spread rumors when we don't have any business in this as it is."
"Hey Hey Hey, guys look who's standing out front of our dorm! Isn't that Hero Deku?" Yori bounced on her toes her face pressed into the glass. "Oooh he's so cute and just look at that bod!"
The window became cluttered with girls as they all peaked out at the #1 hero and Melissa who stood out on the grounds, Melissa talking and motioning to the building, and Deku nodding his head over and over, eyes bright and excited as he looked at all the modifications to the building
"Who's that with him?" Juliette tried to peak around Yori's head and bounced a little on her toes.
"That's Melissa Shield, the head of the support program." Jean explained and her eyes narrowed curiously.
"Shield? Didn't All Might have a partner name Shield? Is that his daughter or something?" Yori asked pulling out her phone snapping a picture of the two, more focused on Deku than the woman. "Whoa… they sure look chummy… look at how he's smiling at her."
"Hey you guys don't think…" Jean started to comment and all the girls let out a clutter of gasps and squeals.
"What are you guys doing?" Takeru asked wandering out of the kitchen to see the gaggle of girls crowding the front window. Behind him Hinata sipped loudly at his juice and both Rin and Kageyama munched on sandwiches.
"Shhh…" Yori waved a hand at him motioning for quiet. "Hero Deku is out on our yard and is making kissy faces at one of the teachers."
"Say what!?" Rin dropped his sandwich and leapt over trying to peer around him. "Scoot over, let me see…. Whoa… he's bright red, he's totally digging her. Hey Haru come here and look at this." He waved Haru over from the kitchen
"Not interested…" Haru explained keeping his focus on the mackerel he was grilling.
"I wanna see!" Hinata tossed his juice over his shoulder making it land perfectly in the trash can. He leapt on the group, several girls groaning at the added weight but all struggling to stay within eye range of the display outside.
~Meanwhile~
"Wha… Dad really told that story to you." Izuku rubbed a hand over his red face. "I'm so embarrassed."
"Don't be… I think it's sweet you idolized him so much even before you found out he was your father. Your dedication to him and to hero work is admirable, Deku-kun."
"Ah… thanks," he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned at her. "I'm doing my best anyway… oh which reminds me." He pulled out his cell phone. "Can I get that number of the orphanage from you? I know you left a message for her to get in contact with me, but I'd like it just in case."
"Sure…" Melissa pulled out her own cell phone. "Sending you the contact info now."
"KYA! They're exchanging numbers!" Yori squealed and snapped another picture of the two. "Oh this is too much! I can't wait to show this to my sister, she'll absolutely freak!"
"This is definite proof of their relationship," Jean nodded. "The only harder evidence than exchanging numbers is-"
"Thanks again, Melissa. I really appreciate this." He hugged her suddenly and inside the dorm all hell broke loose as Camera phones and video footage snapped and rolled monitoring the two's interaction.
"Don't mention it…" She pulled back stroking his cheek affectionately. "Give my best to Uncle All Might for me."
"Mmm I will…" he nodded and clasped both her hands in his. "Take care, and please look after my sister and nephews for me."
"Can do… and thanks for helping out with the Sports Festival. I can tell you the Principle is really worried, so it puts her ease at mind knowing you'll be there in case something should happen."
"Not to worry." he pulled back and thumped a fist on his chest. "I'm the symbol of Peace after all. There's nothing I can't handle."
~Next Day~
"DEKU!"
Izuku spilled his coffee into his lap and he yelped quickly grabbing a towel to cool his chest and wipe down his sleep shirt.
"Owowow… What's wrong Kacchan?!"
Bakugo stormed over and slapped the morning paper in front of him. Izuku blinked in confusion as he stared at his own face gracing the front cover of the newspaper. He then went wide eyed and mouth gaped when he read the print title and the other pictures accompanying with it, including one of him and Melissa hugging each other, and him holding her hands looking deep into her eyes.
#1 HERO DEKU'S MYSTERIOUS LOVE FINALLY REVEALED.
SYMBOL OF PEACE SEEN CANOODLING WITH UA SUPPORT COURSE TEACHER MELISSA SHIELD.
"Canoodling?" He picked up the paper, tears streaming down his face as his husband cracked his knuckles, and sneered down at him. Deku knew exactly what the repercussions of this article were going to entail. "Who uses that terminology?"
~Ask Briry~
Briry: I made it! Last update of 2018! *throws confetti* HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Next Chapter: Convincing Bakugo