PART II: A NEW ERA
Seven Years Later.
The wide screen displays a shaky, but sharp image, in spite of the chaos and wreckage of the scene portrayed. Clouds of dust and explosions billow out from all sides. It becomes evident that the footage is from a body camera, as the person it's attached to begins to run, and his white gloves are visible on the corners of the lens. He's sprinting for three people standing in the centre of the street before him – though vastly differing in appearances, they all wear a matching earpiece, the team's uniform communications devices.
The hero approaches his comrades, breathing heavily but far from out of breath. The tallest of the three turns to look at him expectantly, his narrow red eyes squinting from the frame of his black mask.
"Well, Deku? Is that the last of the evacuees?"
"Yes! How are things here?"
He moves to stand beside the tall, spiky-haired man who had addressed him, and for a brief moment the camera captures the other two teammates. One is a slim, but well-built man with two-toned, red-and-white hair, dressed in a dark blue outfit. Flames dance along his left arm – to his side, seemingly unbothered by how close her long black hair driftes to her partner's fire, a woman stares straight ahead, her blazing blue eyes lined with an otherworldly glow. She speaks.
"Well. We have a perimeter on lockdown. Thanks to Shoto and Ground Zero's complete and utter lack of subtlety, the villains we're dealing with certainly know who's come after them. They're almost certainly trying to plan an escape."
"Bah!" The spiky-haired hero scoffs. "Like we're gonna let these losers slip away."
"We've still got our trump cards, after all," Shoto murmurs.
"Let's do it…!" The voice from behind the camera says, and his teammates nod. In a flash of green lightning, he leads the charge, straight at the building ahead of them.
He reaches his hand out, and the ground before him dips suddenly, forming a slope, taking the forwards-facing side of the building down with it and tearing the chunk of wall free from the rest of the building.
One For All
Ability: Earthshift
Enables the bearer to manipulate the elevation of the earth directly around them, taking anything on the surface along with it.
Swinging his other arm around and into view, he throws what looks like a handful of balls at first glance, but they begin to glow brightly, as they fly into the newly-created opening in the building. "Kaida!" He shouts, and in a rush of wind around him, the daylight is blotted out by a massive silhouette, eclipsing the sun with an ethereal glow. As the dragon lunges past, he crouches to the ground, and a shimmering orange barrier bubbles out around Deku and his other two teammates.
One For All
Ability: Barrier
While immobile, the user can erect a shield that can protect from either elemental or physical sources, for a brief period of time.
The orbs that he had thrown earlier explode, but the deafening noise and blinding light are muffled by the barrier – and the three heroes within ready for battle.
—Midoriya—
The image paused, and the newscaster whistled in amazement. "I'm sure the rest of the world has seen this clip by now, but still, what a showing! That combo-move of your Flashbang and Elysium's shift is such an impressive opener."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Ahaha… Well, we've worked hard at making our teamwork as effective as possible. With the range of Quirks between the four of us, there's a lot to work with!"
"Indeed!" The reporter clapped her hands together, still starry-eyed. "I think it's definitely safe to say that the Four Cardinal Heroes are the greatest team to have ever existed – not to mention the historical significance of top heroes all choosing to work together, rather than individually. There's certainly more money in having your own agencies, after all; even after all this time, how come you've all stuck it out together?"
"It shouldn't be about money," Izuku replied. "What's most important is our solidarity. In today's world, I think it's a big deal for the people to see that even those in the limelight depend on one another."
"Ahh, how honorable…! Not only that, but with three of you being the successors of the former top three heroes, you've had huge shoes to fill. Yet here you are, Deku: blazing a path even brighter than All Might had!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Izuku laughed. "Just because I'm flashy – er… no pun intended – doesn't make me a better man than him, by any means. One for All was mastered by him in his own way. Also, maybe people with more powerful Quirks have an advantage, but even those with weird Quirks can be top-ranking heroes. I mean, look at Lemillion, for example."
On cue, the screen behind the reporter shifted to an image of the number four hero.
Mirio Togata
Quirk: Permeation
He can turn his body intangible, allowing him to travel through normally solid surfaces!
"It's about learning to use your Quirk to its full potential," Izuku concluded.
Beside him, Shoto nodded in agreement. Despite his taller, more mature appearance, the time passed hadn't done much to his stoic personality.
The caster bobbled her head excitedly. "What an answer! That said, I must say that it's a shame that we couldn't bring all four of you in today for the interview. I'm sure you've all got so many great things to say—"
"Kaida doesn't know what 'a day off' means," Shoto muttered.
"It's the weekend, though!" The reporter protested.
"Weekends can sometimes be our busiest days," Izuku said, "so she and Katsuki are holding down the fort so that Todoroki-san and I can be here."
"Ah, I suppose I should stop being so greedy, then," the reporter laughed, a bit embarrassed. "Well then – tell me, Midoriya: how was your trip to America, speaking of Ground Zero?"
Izuku turned bright red. "W-Well, it was… lovely!" He nervously spun the ring on his left hand under his gloves. "Uh. Umm?" He opened and closed his mouth two more times without finding more to say on the matter.
"You certainly surprised a lot of your fans with the decision to tie the knot. I'm sure there are many girls out there with broken hearts."
Izuku could practically hear Katsuki's scoff from the near future, when he'd watch that interview footage.
Pah! He would say, Tough shit for them!
Izuku cleared his throat. "Uh, well," he reminded himself to sit up straighter; even if his incurable camera-shyness would not begone, his height and frame helped him feign the confidence that he needed as the Symbol of Peace. But then he resorted to throwing Shoto under the bus. "Todoroki and Tamashini are quite the inspirational couple, you know? Not that the four of us weren't working well together without m-marriage, but, well, it's just a nice official thing, for each of us mini-teams to be… official." He coughed again, surprising the old-time squeak in his voice that threatened to surface from his awkwardness and embarrassment.
Shoto's grey eyebrow twitched, especially when the reporter turned to him expectedly. "Well, that's for sure. How do you and Tamashini manage? What's your secret to being top heroes and parents?"
Izuku couldn't help but grin as he saw Shoto's scowl crank upwards into a straight line and a shadow of a smile. Getting at his soft spot. Classic newsperson tactics.
"Not much secret to it," Shoto shook his head. "We just manage, I suppose."
In the backseat of their car, while the driver started the engine and cruised out of the parking lot, Izuku let out a massive exhale.
"PHOO. Thank god that's done with." He tugged at his tie, loosening the choke-hold it had around his neck. It immediately became easier to breathe, and he gulped down several more breaths.
Shoto blinked impassively. "How is it that you perform perfectly fine on the field of combat… but in the complete and utter safety of a newsroom, the threat of asphyxiation looms over you?"
Izuku laughed. "In one situation, the threat is something that I can actively fight against… in the other, I'm still not quite equipped to do so."
"You should see a therapist about your anxiety."
"I don't need a therapist!" Izuku exclaimed.
"…That's what someone who needs a therapist would say, Midoriya-sama." The driver looked at Izuku and Shoto through the rear-view mirror, adding his commentary.
"Niimi-san, not you too…! Well, besides the point, next time it's the others' turn to sit in the newsroom."
"Bold of you to assume," Shoto murmured. "Perhaps you'd be able to convince Katsuki, but you know Kaida doesn't do interviews. She doesn't like it when people ask about Kousuke and Hikari."
Izuku sighed in agreement. "And no one would dare poke at a mother dragon."
—Tamashini—
She tented her wings as she came to a landing on the rooftop, shifting just as her legs touched the ground. As she made her way across the landing platform and to the terrace, she frowned at the sight of the blonde, spiky-haired man who laid stretched out on one of the lawn chairs, sporting a pair of large sunglasses.
"Katsuki… Slow day, I take it."
He cracked an eye open, pulling his shades off without even a shred of guilt. "Good afternoon to you too," he grumbled. "I'm keeping an eye on my communicator, don't get your feathers… scales… whatever, in a bundle. To answer your question, yes. It's a goddamn nice day out, so like me, I assume all the bad guys are enjoying the weather."
Kaida pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Well. I suppose you're not wrong. All quiet on my way back, at least."
"Mm-hmm." Ground Zero said matter-of-factly. "We've got plenty of patrols out and about anyway. 'Zuku and IcyHot should be back from their dumb interview sooner or later, so I bet you'll get yelled at if you go back out there again."
"When has anyone ever yelled except you?" Kaida crossed her arms.
He shrugged unapologetically. "How're the geezers in dragon-town? Still semi-immortal and all that, I take it?"
Kaida was unamused. "Athos and the other acolytes are in good health, and I'm sure they would be flattered that you asked after them. Other than that, nothing new to report."
A flicker of a frown crossed Katsuki's face. "…Sorry to hear that. Maybe next week."
"Maybe next week." Kaida nodded, pulling her wind-swept hair out of her face. "I'll leave you to your… siesta, then. See you at dinner."
As stated, she took her leave, and headed into the covered stairwell. In her sturdy boots, her quick footsteps echoed around the walls, and she didn't break pace until reaching the elevator landing. Pressing her hand to the biometric scanner, she boarded the elevator, and briefly considered going down to the offices downstairs to check on the weekend staff, but when by the time the chrome doors slid shut, she let out a long, heavy sigh, jabbing the button to take her down to the penthouse level.
It was an incredibly short elevator ride, and Kaida was resolved to only give herself that thirty seconds to get over the last of her frustration before burying it once more. She closed her eyes, and took a long, deep breath. The long flight from Kiyo-Mizudera was never long enough to burn away the empty desperation left in the wake of every trip, the repeated blanks with every attempt at reaching out through the void – and even then, when she had started making the trip less and less often, she railed against hopelessness.
In some ways, the silence is something to be grateful for, she thought. It means that we still have this time of peace.
The elevator dinged cheerily, and she blinked her eyes open. There was one more door between her and her destination, one more threshold to cross before her dread and remorse would melt away, swept under by the life waiting for her beyond that next threshold.
As the door to the penthouse opened smoothly, the first thing Kaida heard was the sound of the television, playing a cheerful tune of some obscure animated show. Her entry was further masked by the rattling and clattering coming from the kitchen, where the scent of baking sugar cookies drifted into the foyer. The slightest rattle of the closet door as she slipped off her boots and set them away somehow permeated the domestic din, and a white-haired woman's head peered around the corner.
"Welcome home, Kaida," Rei smiled in greeting. She was wearing a light blue apron, the front of which was dusted in flour and sugar, invisible bits of which doubtlessly clung to her hair.
The pitter-patter of two small sets of feet gave Kaida a familiar warm buzz in her heart, and she stooped down to one knee in preparation. Inko's voice called out in warning. "Hikari! Kousuke! No running in the kitchen!"
But two sets of brilliant blue eyes glittered with unapologetic excitement as the twin children burst around the corner, sliding purposefully on the hardwood floor with the slipperiness of their socks. "Mama!" The girl squealed in excitement. Her shoulder-length hair was falling out of its ponytail, a dusting of flour very visible on her dark strands blending into the white lock of hair on her left side. As she ran to Kaida's open arms, little snowflakes trailed in her wake.
Hikari Tamashini
Unnamed Quirk
As the daughter of the current Divine Dragon bearer, and one of two possible heritors, she is able to emit a healing aura. Additionally, she seems to have some degree of ice manipulation, from her father's side. She threw her arms around Kaida's neck and squeezed tightly. "Well, well? Did you bring me more shinys?"
"Of course I did, sweetheart." From one of the compartments at her waist, Kaida produced a small, shimmering glass ball, threaded on a light piece of rope. Like many of the gifts that she brought back for her daughter, it was forged from the infused materials from the sanctum; in this case, a special glass fired from the sands that erode off of the aetherically-infused walls. Hikari squealed with delight as she accepted the present, and dashed off down the hallway, presumably to add it to her collection.
Kaida stood to greet her son; slightly taller than his twin sister, he was certainly the more laid-back of the two… Which is a blessing, Kaida thought, given the nature of his Quirk as it manifests.
Kousuke Tamashini
Unnamed Quirk
As the son of the current Divine Dragon bearer, and one of two possible heritors, he is able to emit a healing aura. He has also developed a fire-producing ability, with particularly and incredibly hot flames.
"Finished with your studies?"Kaida asked, ruffling his hair.
Kousuke nodded sagely. "Of course. So I can just watch TV and play all night and tomorrow."
"Not all night," Kaida laughed, "you do still have to adhere to bedtime."
"Hikari didn't finish her maths practise," Kousuke blurted out.
"How about instead of tattling, you help her with that, then?" Kaida stood up, scooping her son easily onto her hip as she did so. He pouted in protest, and she smiled, wiping a bit of flour off of his nose.
Carrying him into the kitchen and setting him down on one of the chairs by the counter, Kaida greeted Rei and Inko. Rei had returned to scooping dollops of dough onto another pan, while Inko was hovering by the oven, peering in through the glass window anxiously.
"Do… do you need a hand?" Kaida asked.
Inko fiddled with the strings on her apron. "Are they done yet?" She didn't seem to hear Kaida's question. "They're so nice and round but not brown at the edges yet. Are they supposed to be soft, or crispy? Or crispy on the outside and soft on the inside?"
Rei sighed and set the last tray of unbaked cookies atop the counter to await their turn in the oven. "She's like this every time we try a recipe that isn't a Midoriya tradition," she said to Kaida. "Have I ever steered this household wrong?"
"Of course not!" Inko exclaimed, straightening up indignantly. "I mean no offence to your culinary experience, Todoroki-san, but I can't help but worry! Cookies are an ART!"
"A delicate art," Kaida agreed. She made the executive decision to reach past Inko and rescue the tray from the oven.
The intoxicatingly sweet smell brought Hikari sprinting out of her room. "Yes, yes, yessss! We've been waiting all day!"
"Wait until after dinner, or you'll spoil your appetite," Kaida sighed, though she immediately knew she would soon be overruled.
"Injustice!" Inko crossed her arms, donning her oven mitts and plucking the tray from Kaida's hands. "They shall each get half of a freshly-baked cookie."
"It's a bit of a waste if they're not enjoyed straight out of the oven," Rei agreed.
From the counter, Kousuke cleared just throat loudly. "Well, if we eat dinner now, then we can have cookies sooner."
A pair of sunglasses slid across the counter, and Katsuki made his entrance. He plopped his elbows on the counter beside Kousuke and grinned. "This one's smart," he jerked a thumb at the boy. "And perfect timing, too."
Kaida tipped her head back in defeat. "Very well.. I suppose." She knocked Katsuki's elbows off of the table as she went past. "I'm going to change and have a quick shower. Make yourself useful with dinner prep, Katsu."
He rolled his eyes, but flexed his well-muscled arms over his head. "Aight, kiddos. Let's get cracking. Ma, Rei — what's on the menu?"
As Kaida stepped into the bathroom, having shed her outfit, wrapping herself in a towel and running the shower, she felt her mind wandering once more.
Seven years. It had been seven years since the departure of Erebus's forces, and her childhood friend with them. Kaida and Kaiketsu had parted on far from what could be called good terms, and that fact clawed at her mind and dreams far too often. She knew, in her heart of hearts – or perhaps Elysium's – that Kaiketsu was still alive… but whatever fate he had been subjected to, she could not put her fear into words. She would wake up in the middle of the night shaking uncontrollably, wracked with dreams of his imagined suffering and torment, often unable to fall back asleep.
But on most nights, her family was there; Shoto was there to ease her mind back to the peace of the present, and hold her until the terror had faded. Not only him – Izuku, Katsuki, Inko, Rei... The little family that they had all built together was Kaida's village, her invaluable support and roots through each day as they forged ever onwards to the future.
The hot water washed over her head, and she tipped her face back into it. There were decisions that she'd made; choices that she lived by, and she had not once faltered in staying true to those. No matter how troubled my mind may be.
First and foremost in her world, Hikari and Kousuke. From the day they had been born, she knew that they would always come first. All the troubles of everything else, of her unresolved past; those faded in priority compared to the devotion she had for her daughter and son. Kaida could not help fear that they would be subjected to the fearful fate that she had, after losing Akira.
But Kaida was not her mother. Hikari and Kousuke would not be sheltered from the reality of the world, they would be raised aware of their lineage without misconceptions or delusions of glory, learning to embrace the Divine Dragon with both respect and a modicum of fear. In that, neither child was anything like Kaida in her youth. Kousuke was quiet, thoughtful, and down-to-earth, if not a tad smug at times. Hikari's bubbly spirit, which often made those who didn't know her as well think that she was less serious and book-smart than her brother, brought light to those around her – somehow, she seems to take after "uncle" Izuku and "grandma" Inko, Kaida thought, slightly bothered.
She set about the arduous task of washing out her long hair, and the lavender scent of the shampoo worked its calming effect. She hummed softly to herself, her children's favorite lullaby, and as always, the ethereal overtones of Elysium's dragonsong overlaid Kaida's voice.
It no longer voiced a perpetual dialogue in her mind throughout every action of the day. Elysium whispered to her in dreams, against the nightmares and the raging of the dark, but for the most part, its thoughts and Kaida's were as one. Though she would have never imagined that kind of agreeable relationship between spirit and vessel, Kaida was glad for the peace of mind they had built together, seven years in the making. It would have been far too tiresome to deal with the ornery dragon in addition to two young children, after all.
"…are you comparing me to the impudence of a child?"
Kaida rolled her eyes.
When you're petty like that, yes. Actually, never mind – my children are better behaved than you.
She heard the dragon's rumbling laughter and felt its amusement. She smiled. There was much good to cling to, good that they had worked hard to build in their lives.
—Todoroki—
Shoto and Izuku had come home to the kitchen literally on fire, Inko frantically juggling pans on all six burners atop their stove, and Shoto's son sulking in the corner, complaining about his sister not giving him a turn to help cook. Dinner was questionably seasoned, likely the result of Hikari being left with the spices for a moment with naught but Uncle Baku to supervise her; the end product was a yakisoba nearly too spicy for poor Kousuke to stomach, but pillar of strength that he was, he persevered through the meal.
After the fact, once the children had been put to bed, Inko and Rei settled down for their nightly game of Gomoku , the four heroes sprawled themselves out in the living room.
Izuku yawned every two minutes, his nightcap flopping over his face as dozed off on the couch beside Katsuki, who was flipping through every channel on the TV with great disinterest. Shoto was attempting to read the weekend newspaper, but Kaida inserted herself right up against his side, plopped her tablet into his lap, and stuffed one wireless earbud into his left ear. She tapped the screen, and the clips from Shoto and Izuku's earlier interview popped up. He winced.
"Oh, come on," Kaida smirked. "It's always fun to re-watch these."
"When you're not in them, that's easy to say," he sighed. "I can't think of many things that are less fun, actually." But obliging her, he folded up the Sunday paper and tossed it onto the coffee table.
The video played for less than a minute before Kaida couldn't help but comment, stifling a laugh, "I think you actually smile less than your old man, on television."
"Enji leers at the camera," Rei piped up, from the other side of the table, "and you can hardly call that a smile. The effort is there, though."
"I put in an effort, Mom…" Shoto protested.
"Oh, god," Kaida buried her head in his shoulder, away from the screen. Shoto saw that the clip had moved to the footage of their latest raid. "That footage is so… unflattering."
Katsuki snorted. "What, you worried that your dragon ass looks too fat from that angle? If you ask me, the issue is Deku's running with shitty posture making the camera so shaky that anyone watchin'll get motion sickness."
"No one was asking you," Kaida retorted.
"Is my posture really that bad…?" Izuku mumbled.
Shoto laughed at their bickering, pushing Kaida's hair out of her face and wrapping an arm around her as she pouted. It was in moments like those that he could almost imagine the four of them still in their days at UA, before being set upon by the tribulations of life as an adult in the world of pro heroes. Shoto never thought growing up that he would be part of a partnered agency, let alone with a whole team, but he couldn't imagine life any other way than as it was with his closest friends, mother, wife, and children.
"Okay, forget it," Kaida paused the video and pulled the earbud out of her ear. "You were right, this is boring. Shall we go—?"
The doorbell rang, and she stopped short. Izuku jumped, woken from his dozing. Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
"Are we expecting someone?" he grumbled. Kaida frowned, and stood up, making her way around the sofa.
"Not that I know of, but it also wouldn't be the first time Natsuo popped in unannounced," Shoto said, following after her. It was well after-hours, and the only way someone would have been able to access the elevator up to the penthouse was through the biometrics checks – which only included Katsuki's parents, who were on vacation in Europe, and the rest of the Todoroki family.
"Oh dear," Rei sighed. "I hope he's not inebriated this time."
Kaida hummed apathetically, and opened the door. She bristled visibly as soon as the guests came into view.
And quite fairly so. The last thing Shoto expected to find at his doorstep on a Saturday night was a familiar villain and an unfamiliar teenage girl.
"Good evening, Tamashini-chan," The tall man smirked, lifting a hand in greeting. The heavy scarring on his arms, neck, and face were entirely unmistakable – though the last time Shoto had seen this villain was in the forest, seven years ago.
Dabi
Quirk: Cremation
The girl by his side surreptitiously clung to the sleeve of his windbreaker, nibbling her lip nervously. Her long silver hair was swept over one shoulder, parted around her forehead by a distinctive golden horn.
"Or, I suppose," Dabi continued, "if I'm going for informalities, I might as well call you sis—"
In a sudden flash, a long blade was leveled at the man's throat. Kaida's eyes blazed, her pupils turning to slits.
"I don't know who you think you are to walk up to my home in this manner," she said, her voice dangerously low. "But if you think that you're taking another step without answering to me, you're dead where you stand."
The man's cold blue gaze eyed Elysium's tail-scythe, and he sighed. If he was intimidated, he did well to hide it. "Well. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, Eri."
Chapter Seventeen: To Us, Seven Years Hence
Next chapter: Rewind
