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A five am knock at her door was most unwelcome. Hotaru had an alarm set for half an hour later, but decided to awaken and see who was there. She suspected Nejire or Mirio, as both were terrible with boundaries. When she saw a slender young woman standing just outside her door, Hotaru decided she wouldn't answer. Hotaru used the screen that served as her front door peep-hole, too naturally distrusting to let the stranger alone. The feminine figure outside looked just like any other public servant, complete with a severe bun at the top of her head and a sleek beige suit.

The stranger knocked again, this time with a note of impatience. "Inasaka-san. I need your signature on some papers."

Hotaru considered the possibility that her father must have died, yet she was no closer to deciding what to do with the crumbling house and the land it stood on. Hotaru slid on some sandals, twisted the deadbolt and stepped out of her home, making sure to close the door behind her. "You're up early," Hotaru remarked.

"That's the life of a lawyer," the woman answered, handing over a manilla envelope.

Hotaru accepted the papers and glanced down. At the very top was her father's certificate of death. She accepted them with both hands when a sudden, piercing scream exploded in Hotaru's head. The unexpected and overwhelming noise nearly shoved Hotaru to her knees. She reached out and grabbed her assailant's leg, pressurizing until she felt the bone crumple. A current locked her body in place.

"You had one job, D" a deep voice sneered. The man had dark, mocha skin and shoulder length dreadlocks.

D? Sound quirk. Skinny. A second later she felt like an idiot. Danger Zone? Though she was unable to turn her head and peek, Hotaru assumed that the stunner was none other than Heart Attack, another member of the Fugu Group. Danger Zone hadn't expected to be hit. She shouted and dropped to the ground at the same time. Heart Attack gets everyone or no one with his quirk, she noted, not letting go of Danger Zone's leg.

Danger Zone screeched and tried to fight, but she was too lightly build and inexperienced at hand to hand combat to make much of a fuss. Hotaru continued to pressurize, much to her hostage's dismay. "Damn it, H, she's gonna tear my leg off!" Heart Attack stopped his quirk. At once, Hotaru released Danger Zone and punched her in the nose for good measure. When she landed, Hotaru made sure to do so a few centimeters above the air, keeping herself out of Heart Attack's range. He needs a shared solid surface, she reminded herself.

Heart Attack pulled out a gun and took aim. Hotaru kept her hands level with her hips as she waited, both palms and feet pressurized to move or defend. It was then, at the most inopportune time, that the screech resumed its attack on her head. With a great force of effort, Hotaru used the air like a trampoline and flipped behind Danger Zone. Hotaru knew it was a dirty move, but she held the woman with the navy hair in a choke hold and used her kneeling figure as a meat shield. Heart Attack glowered and looked Hotaru over.

"I thought we were capturing a pro's girlfriend, not dealing with a pro," he remarked to Danger Zone.

What the hell is Mirio onto? Hotaru thought, keeping her gray eyes firmly locked on Heart Attack, challenging him to use his quirk.

Some of her neighbors were alerted to the noise. The widower that lived above her timidly called down the stairwell, "should I call the police?"

"Yes, please," Hotaru said. She noticed how Heart Attack had pulled out his phone and tapped on his screen. Hostaru pressurized the base of Danger Zone's neck until the villain was rendered unconscious. After that, Hotaru held Danger Zone upright, as the gun was still pointed at them. She was tensed and waiting for an opening. One by one, the people shut themselves back in their apartments. They were far too desensitized to danger to linger for long. There were no good seats for them to watch. It was too early in the morning. An audience only gathered when it was convenient.

Heart Attack turned and fled towards the parking garage, even though the main exit was closer. There must be a getaway driver. She knew the police would arrive soon to take care of Danger Zone, who would bleed out without medical care, and took off after Heart Attack. He turned and fired blindly. Though the first bullet was far from her, the second was too close for comfort. He stunned the ground, but Hotaru made sure to run above it. Heart Attack wrenched open the door and slammed it closed in his wake. Hotaru ripped it open seconds after, catching sight of a black car without plates. The same one as before. The entire car began to fade, as if blurred, before it vanished into oblivion.

The police asked question after question. While she was able to identify all of her assailants, she didn't know how it was that they'd all appeared, even Danger Zone. "Do you know why they would attack you?"

"I'm friends with a popular pro hero," she admitted. "They thought we were something more than friends and that I would be good bait to lure him into a trap."

The officer looked over Hotaru, who appeared unharmed, and couldn't help but grin. "Apparently not." There was still blood in front of her apartment, which Hotaru stepped over to get to her watch.

Inasaka Hotaru 5:40 am

I'll be at the office shortly with more updates on the Fugu Group.

The first she sent to Edgeshot. Just as she began to open a text to Mirio, he sent one.

Togata Mirio 5:41 am

Bubble Girl says there's a picture of us at dinner last night on my fanpage.

Inasaka Hotaru 5:41 am

Holding your hand sure has some dire consequences! The Fugu Group paid me a visit.

Almost instantly, he called. As soon as she answered, he said, "what?" He sounded surprised, if not a bit more serious than normal. "Did they break in?"

Hotaru kept the watch on speaker and headed to the shower. She stripped down and turned on the water while talking. "No, they're much more polite than that. They gave me my dad's death certificate and his will before trying to kidnap me." She couldn't help but sound bitter and frustrated. Of all the ways to learn of Hokoto's death, that may have been the worst.

Mirio plugged the information into place as swiftly as normal, which saved them from rehashing obvious facts. "Is there a company name on the folder?"

"Unfortunately not," she sighed, shampooing her hair. "They covered their tracks."

"You know, this is why heroes live together. Then they have backup ready for when something happens. You've been attacked at the front door twice now."

Hotaru scrubbed herself with a washcloth. "And I've driven them off, twice," she chuckled. "I'd only want to live with Nejire, but now that she and Tamaki are a thing, they'd be too much of a pain to be around."

"Tell me about it." He was already living that nightmare. "If Tamaki and Nejire move in together, do you want to come take Tamaki's old room?"

Hotaru seriously considered it. His place had a better security system and he was on the top floor, which gave crooks less of an entry point. Then again, he was farther away from Edgeshot's agency. "That depends. Do you you want to have me there because you like me, or because you have to keep up with Tamaki?" She questioned teasingly, her wrist twisting to off the water.

Mirio laughed. "We can't keep up with them," he assured Hotaru. "Nejire's already talking about their wedding."

"It will happen on top of a skyscraper and she'll be in a dress with an incredibly long train," Hotaru quoted.

"Hey, you've heard it too!" Judging by the rustling she heard on the other end, Mirio was also getting ready for a long day of heroism.

Hotaru chuckled and toweled herself off. "So what'd you do to piss off the Fugu Group?" She knew she hadn't given him an answer, but Mirio seemed to take it in stride.

"I haven't done a thing to them. I've been looking into some leads on the League."

"So they're already allies or trying to win favor," she hypothesized. "Keep doing whatever you're doing, because it's enough to make someone nervous." She slid her watch back on, walked to her room, and pulled on jeggings and a flowing shirt.

"I'm sorry about your dad," Mirio said somewhat somberly, backpedaling. They both knew that unless their agencies were officially teamed up, they shouldn't talk about open cases.

"Don't be. He lived a long life full of suffering. Hopefully he'll find some peace in the afterlife." She stunned herself with how nonchalant she sounded. Wasn't she supposed to be distraught? Mirio was quiet, which she took as her cue to end the call. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Good luck." Mirio answered. Since she was already ready, Hotaru slid her costume into a black drawstring backpack and kicked on cheap sandals. If she had to take off, she could leave them without hesitation. She kept even more aware of her surroundings as she walked out to the masses. As per usual, the people swarmed on their morning commutes, eager to get to work before a villain could take out a railway or blast a building to smithereens. She kept as many of them under scrutiny as she could, not trusting a soul.

By the time she got to work, she had an extra twenty minutes before her shift started. Out of curiosity, she decided to look at Mirio's fan page. There were several tabs, some more intrusive than others. Good hell. They were auctioning off his autograph on various items. A signed piece of paper was listed for 50,000 yen, while an autographed designer handbag with his face embroidered on it was listed for a million yen. Hotaru had already begun to worry about the fangirls of the page before she got to the thick of it. She clicked on a tab labeled Photos.

What had she expected? Certainly not nudes from their UA sports festivals. She shoved her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She looked more closely at the tabs. In addition to the photos, she saw Merchandise and Lemillion Deeds as the tabs for navigation. On the top of the site's banner, she saw a cropped photo of two hands of differing sizes over a table. She had to select the image to see herself and Mirio. The comments were ruthless, as expected.

She's not even that pretty.

What a whore.

Get back, bitch, he's mine!

If she doesn't make him happy, I will. In looooooots of ways.

I liked Inasaka at the sports festivals, but when she decided not to debut, I realized she's just gonna be another baby factory.

She's probably knocked up and it's not even his. Since he's the BEST, he'll probably act like the dad anyway.

Mirio can be my daddy.

Hotaru didn't dwell too much on the thoughts of outsiders. She finished her shallow delve into the mind of a Lemillion fangirl and got dressed in the staff room, the same as she'd done most other mornings. When she went back to the main foyer, Edgeshot was waiting. "You were attacked," he remarked, to which she shrugged. "By two members of the Fugu Group, but all were able to escape?"

She assumed there had been a news report, so she filled in the blanks. When she was finished, Edgeshot's unreadable expression continued to bore into her. "Urushi and Phatty didn't seem to recognize me, but I wouldn't put it past Phat to figure it out."

Silence. Hotaru wondered if she was supposed to say something else, but decided it was Edgeshot's turn. He waited for a full minute before offering his response. "I believe you'll soon be ready to graduate from being a sidekick. You may want to prepare by appealing to the government for an office of your own."

"But they all escaped," she pointed out, feeling as if he were missing the bigger picture.

Edgeshot seemed amused. "As did you," he responded. "You were ambushed and the criminals would have been captured if not for a warp quirk rescuing them at the last moment."

"Hopefully heroes will get a warp of our own one day," she chuckled.

It took three days of analyzing the abandoned car before the lab released their results. They obtained DNA samples from dozens of individuals, including several missing persons and other allegedly ordinary civilians. The police called and scheduled interviews with each suspect, but only one made it. The one that arrived showed up at the police station already dead, a small puncture through the center of their throat. Though it was unnecessary, testing revealed that they had died of fugu fish poison.

From there, the trail went cold. It was as if the Fugu Group ceased to exist. Law offices were scoured, as were hospitals, seeking a woman with a broken leg, but even Danger Zone seemed to have vanished. In the midst of the investigation, one of Mirio's fans had published Hotaru's information on a dating app. The bio was laughable, at first. I'm a naughty girl that needs spanked. For her profile picture, they'd used her UA mugshot from her third year sports festival - a readily available image. For days, her watch buzzed with message requests.

I've always wanted to screw a UA student.

You look like you've got daddy issues. Want me to be your new daddy?

She only opened one image attachment before an engorged body part taught her better. After that, she reported the profile and changed her watch's settings to only notify her if those in her contacts tried to call or text. She marveled that different men and a surprising amount of women seemed ready to leap into bed with her if given the chance, based solely on her looks and tournament placings. As quickly as the first profile was taken down, several more were made. That time around, she wasn't the recipient of the messages, which meant anyone could pretend to be her. While unnerving, all she could do was report the accounts.

By the time her days off rolled around, Hotaru dreaded going through the day without her mask. Though she was sure relatively few people actually knew her, she felt like she walked around with a target on her back. She tucked her hair into a baseball cap and slid on clothes that would move with her in case she had to fight. Slowly but surely, Hotaru noticed how the dresses and skirts in her wardrobe had turned into pants and shorts. Her shoes were ones that would slip off easily, along with ankle socks that could stuff into her pockets.

Togata Mirio 8:00 am

Good morning! Wanna do something today? :)

Inasaka Hotaru 8:01 am

I'm going to Kamino and putting in my plans for the house.

Togata Mirio 8:01 am

You're gonna keep it?!

Inasaka Hotaru: 8:02 am

I am.

Togata Mirio 8:03 am

Can I come? Please!? :D

Inasaka Hotaru 8:03 am

Are you sure you're not trying to play bodyguard?

Togata Mirio 8:05 am

No way! I want a front row seat if anyone tries to take you on.

The last text had taken the longest to send. Hotaru imagined he must have typed and retyped several times as he tried to find the right words. As he'd admitted before, he didn't want to scare her off.

Inasaka Hotaru 8:10 am

You can see it after it's done.

Togata Mirio 8:11 am

Wanna meet somewhere after?

Inasaka Hotaru 8:13 am

You're too distracting and I have too much to do. You can have me tomorrow afternoon.

Togata Mirio 8:13 am

Sounds good! I'll pick you up at noon.

She noticed how he had chosen the soonest time possible while still meeting her request. First she checked her door monitor before exiting her apartment, then she glanced down both ends of the hall and up the stairs. Once the coast was clear, Hotaru went to the parking garage. After she looked carefully over the car, checking that everything was sound, she started the engine. She pulled out, keeping herself painfully aware of her surroundings. She didn't turn on her music, as it would allow someone the opportunity to mask their breathing, should they be invisible in the back seat. Hotaru knew she was paranoid, but it wasn't wearing on her. She simply learned how to keep her senses open and mind active in different circumstances than normal.

When she finally made it to the Kamino ward, she went to a government run office and made sure the land was secured. The secretary was a helpful, middle aged woman. Hotaru expected to have debt not only for her father and mother's medical expenses, but for the land lease and rickety property that stood atop it. When she asked, the peppy secretary shook her head. "It's all been covered," she assured Hotaru. The confusion must have shown on Hotaru's face, because the secretary giggled. "This is the opposite problem of what I normally face," she said. "Be happy that you've been taken care of."

Though she felt it was too good to be true, Hotaru tucked her papers in her backpack and moved on to the building office. Even without her family home due for demolition, she couldn't have lived in it. She'd known instantly that it wasn't up to her paranoid taste. She and an architect met for the afternoon, carefully designing a home with every storage opportunity taken, a secret basement, two bedrooms, and a balcony with a keypad lock. Much to her surprise, it wouldn't take a year, but only five months. Content with everything she'd accomplished, she drove back to her apartment and went to sleep. She briefly considered texting Mirio, but knew everything could be taken care of the following day.

Segment set in Edgeshot's POV

On one of his first missions, Shinya Kamihara had nearly died. The villain in question had a combustion quirk and had chosen to attack an area far too close to a gas station for comfort. Despite Shinya's best efforts, many citizens had been injured and the paramedics were called in. As soon as the field was clear, Shinya recalled how relieved he had felt to be able able to focus wholeheartedly on the villain. Time and time again, his attacks had been rendered useless. Every time Shinya got close, he was blasted away or had to retreat to keep from sustaining further damage.

He had known the field was clear. Shinya had been young and brash. He decided that to end the fight, he would have to make the villain self destruct. He folded his body and darted towards his foe. With his limited field of vision, he didn't realize that some pedestrian had intervened until it was too late. His hasty attempt to veer and unfold his body cost the paramedic his arm. The villain fired and hit the paramedic.

On that day, it had been another hero that had taken down the villain. A woman rushed to the man's side, tears already formed. Shinya remembered how she hadn't even looked at him. He remembered vividly how the man's pain never ceased. Shinya went with them to the hospital, aware on their entire journey that the woman's eyes kept losing focus and how she looked to be on the verge of exhaustion.

They took Hokoto off to surgery to save him, leaving Shinya with the woman. "Is something wrong?" He asked, noticing how she didn't seem to be able to stand. For the entire drive, he felt trapped in his guilt. It clawed at him and stole his sense. She nodded, which he accepted as the truth. "What's your name? Do you know that man?" He seemed to have opened the floodgates. Even though some part of him knew she wasn't okay, he felt like he needed to have the answers.

"Inasaka Takara," she'd said, her eyes unfocused and voice quiet. Her right hand had lifted to hold her head, as if that would somehow aid her. "The man was, is, my husband." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Inasaka Hokoto."

Her speech was slurred. Even as a young fool, Shinya finally realized he needed to get her medical attention. They had already arrived at the hospital, so he figured it would only be a matter of time. "Why don't we get you seen?"

"I've got to go home. Hotaru-"

Takara veered and stumbled. Though Shinya caught her and was able to get Takara seen by a doctor, it was too late.

Shinya felt as if he couldn't be a hero. Within a few years of graduating UA, he had destroyed the Inasaka family. He stopped going on patrols or trying to fight evil. Each pointless day blurred to the next. He worried for the husband and wife, too afraid to confirm just what damages had happened to them because of his failure. There was a knock at his door. As far as Shinya knew, it was Pan again, trying to get him back to work. He couldn't fault her - as she got paid through his arrests and government funding.

He stood and prepared himself for another uncomfortable talk. "There you are, Young Kamihara. I've been looking for you." Principal Nezu sounded cheery as he invited himself in. "I do hope you have clean clothes. We have a lot to do today."

Shinya had been too baffled to resist. He numbly grabbed an outfit, a large part of him glad not to have to make decisions. When he was dressed, he and Nezu went downstairs, where he saw a UA car waiting for them. After not speaking for such a long time, he felt no need to break his silence. All of his questions were wrong anyway.

Along the way, Shinya recognized their path. Shinya felt dread as they pulled up to the hospital. "Since you don't want to do hero work, I've convinced the hospital to take you on as a volunteer custodian. You may leave whenever you'd like. Be sure to be a good listener and do UA proud!"

Shinya was assigned to the intensive care unit. It took him less than an hour to find the mother. The stiff pump of machines and beeping of monitors prevented any true silence from entering the room. He had watched her, dumbstruck, for too long. A doctor finally took pity on him and explained. "She overused her quirk and died of a brain aneurysm," he said, sounding remarkably jaded. "Hopefully her family will let us harvest her organs before it's too late."

"Family?" He whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Yeah, the father's the one she tried to save."

Not just a husband. A father. She was a mother.

"He probably won't live more than a few years."

Shinya couldn't hear any more. He excused himself from the room. He only got one hall over before he heard a hefty thump. His hero training kicked in and he was quick to race on the scene. Shinya saw a one-armed man with a ruined leg trying and failing to use a crutch. "Come on, Inasaka-san," the physical therapist said, "you can do it."

A nurse held her hand out to a little girl. "Hotaru, sweetie. Let's go somewhere nice." The child shrank backwards, her head fervently shaking. The nurse persisted, grabbing the little one's hand. "Come on, Hochan." The nurse began to pull, trying to be sweet, yet aggressive.

"No!" There was an audible crack from between the girl's fingers. The nurse cradled her injured hand and fled.

The child had looked so scared. "I'm sorry," she called, sounding horrified. Again and again, she repeated the phrase. At first it had been a shout, but it puttered into a repetitive mumble. Shinya continued to lean against the doorway, out of sight of those within. Hokoto was put back in his bed, where he lay in silence, waiting almost an hour before answering his panicked child.

"Read your books, Hotaru."

She didn't apologize again. Shinya heard the quiet rustle of pages as she chose the right one, then her quiet voice as she began to read. She sounded clumsily through words far too large for her age. Whomever had provided the texts must have grabbed something from a doctor's office. That night, Shinya bought five books. When he was sure the father and daughter were asleep, Shinya delivered the happier tales of fairies and goblins to the nightstand.

"Thank you," Hokoto said quietly.

Shinya didn't have the courage to face him. That night, or any night for the next few years. He finished his hiatus from hero work, but the hospital allowed him to switch Hotaru's books. Shinya was the one to give various staff members money to buy Hotaru clothes. Though he was somewhat invested, it wasn't until her first sports festival that he discovered she wanted to be a hero.

Her movements had been timed to perfection. Even before her days of air leaping, she could scale buildings. The first event of her sports festival had been finding flags and collecting the highest point value in one of the practice cities. Her scores compared well against students that had flight, despite never having to use her quirk. In the final round the students sparred. She used her agility to her advantage and only had to tap her opponents to make them drop. While he watched, he realized that she would be the inheritor of all of her father's debts. As they were his fault, Shinya took them upon himself. He paid the hospital bills and the house. Given his top ten status and minimalist attitude it was cumbersome, but not impossible to do.

In her three years as a UA student, she retained her position as one of the best during the sports festivals. Though it had been years since Edgeshot took on a sidekick, he considered putting in an offer for an internship in her first year. When he called Nezu, he was surprised by the answer. "Young Inasaka says she'll not be doing internships, as they're too time consuming. She wants to spend as much time as she can with her father."

He couldn't tell her father he was sorry, but he could show it by treating Hokoto's daughter well. With and without him around, she proved time and time again that she was capable of handling herself. In a remarkably short time, he considered that she may not need him anymore. When he learned that Hotaru managed to fight foes indoors without a single civilian injury, Shinya knew she wouldn't repeat his mistake. On that day, he had Pan begin the paperwork for Python to graduate from a sidekick to a full fledged hero.