22 - I'm not your pawn.

With their trip over, the students of UA returned to their regular schedules, Nico had managed to convince the teachers to open the pool for weekend training while the weather was good. Most of the other girls joined her for a swim sunday mornings and then they would go off and leave the guys to wonder what they were getting up to.

"Hey Nico, your phone is going insane over here." Ochaco called as they got ready to go see a movie. "There's like a dozen messages and it won't stop ringing."

Quickly rinsing the shampoo from her hair, Nico wrapped a towel around herself to see who was so desperate to get her attention. "Oh that's not good, it's my uncle." she didn't even need to call him back since he was calling again. "Nick what's got your fur bunched? You know I go swimming first thing in the morning."

"Well you better be ready to come to the main house, we're getting called in for a final meeting about the Todoroki deal." Nick spoke quickly, "The old man said you could bring Katsuki if possible. I think he wants to meet the boy."

"That's not good, alright do you want us to meet you in front of the gate?" she asked while trying to dress.

"That would be a good idea, and make sure he looks presentable." he hung up and Nico quickly called Bakugo.

"Come on and pick up, today can't be the one day you chose to sleep in." she muttered as the phone rang.

"I swear this better be important." he snapped answering.

"It is, and watch you tone with me." Nico warned him, "Get your ass up and dress respectfully, you're coming with me to my family's main house." she explained before he could say anything else.

"Fuck," Bakugo swore and Nico could hear what sounded like him falling out of bed. "This would happen on a day I planned to take it easy."

"Trust me, I wasn't expecting it either. Now get ready and I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes." she hung up when she heard him grumble his answer.

"You feeling alright runt? You look like you're going to be sick." Nick noticed Nico was looking a little green when they came down to the car.

She nodded stiffly, "Just trying to keep myself together. I don't know how the old man is going to react." she'd been on pins and needles since she had gotten off the phone with Nick, "You know how harshly he judges me. There's that on top of the meeting."

"What's the worst the geezer can do?" Bakugo noticed both Nick and Nico went a little pale. "It can't really be that bad, can it?"

"It can get pretty bad, firecracker." Nico patted his cheek, "and not just for us, the old man's influence reaches far." she left her hand on his face for a little longer. The day was going to be rough enough as it was on her, she didn't want to bring Bakugo down with her if things got bad.

"I ain't scared," he gave her a kiss on the top of her head, "I got All Might on my side, I think it'll be fine." giving her a half smile he hoped it would calm some of her nerves.

"Will you two get in already. And no making out while I'm driving, I don't want to be the cause of a traffic accident." Nick got Nico to laugh, even if it was half hearted it was better than nothing.

Nick pulled up onto a little house, "We're stopping here first, runt go get changed." he said as Nico hopped out. "And as for you, we're going to need you to stay here." he turned on Bakugo once Nico was out of sight. "The old man doesn't like outsides too much and if we just brought you up to the main house without him saying so, it could be a lot of trouble for her. Nico's whole life here has had her walking on thin ice, while she know where it's safe to step it could change with my father's mood."

Bakugo wasn't about to stir up trouble, not if it meant the punishment would come down on Nico. "I get you, I'm not stupid enough to do something dumb." he could see Nick relax a little, "I'll hang out here if that's what it takes, I know that getting his approval means a lot to her for some reason."

"You're not as dumb as you look, maybe you do have potenial after all." they looked over to the house to see Nina coming out, "But you're wrong on one thing, she doesn't want his approval, she wants his acceptance. Ever since she came to live with us, it's all she's ever wanted."

Nick saw the question forming before Bakugo could say it, "With what happened with Nami, the old man couldn't bring himself to accept her as a full member of the family. It doesn't help that she's an exact copy of her mother at that age." As if on cue, Nico came out wearing a deep green kimono with a gold obi and her hair braided over one shoulder. "If you drool any more, you float away." Nick snickered, catching Bakugo staring.

"I'm sorry you're going to have to wait here on your own, I just hope this meeting won't take too long." Nico gave him a soft smile, "I'll come and get you when grandfather says he'll see us, if not we can spend the rest of the day slowly making our way back home."

"Don't you worry about me house cat, you can make it up to me next weekend." Bakugo smiled at the small blush he managed to get from her.

"Kit, you need to leave now. We will catch up in a few minutes." Nina said, snapping Nico back to reality.

"Alright." Nico said, bouncing up on her toes to give Bakugo a small peck on the cheek. "Stay out of trouble and we'll see about next weekend." and she was off for the main house in a flash.

As Nico made her way to the meeting room, she was ambushed by her cousins Nagisa and Nori. "It's about time runt, I've been waiting for you to show. I can't be seen going into the meeting without my third." Nagisa snapped, "It shows the rest of them I can't keep a tight leash on my subordinates, and I can't have that."

"I had to come from school, so you'll have to excuse me for not being here earlier." she shot back at him. "I would have thought you'd be planning your grand entrance with your extra time."

Nagisa's hand shot out and grabbed her chin, "I wouldn't get lippy with me, not if you want to protect that boyfriend of yours." he smirked as Nico's eyes went wide with shock. "Yeah that's right I know the truth and you're lucky I haven't told grandfather, yet."

"Did you honestly think you'd be able to keep it a secret just because you went off to UA?" Nori joined in, "There's nothing we don't know about, we need to keep the rumors to a minimum."

Nico tried to free herself from Nagisa's grip but couldn't get free, "Now just behave yourself and no one will get hurt, maybe." he dropped her chin and led the way to the meeting room, still smirking.

"You're a dick, Nagisa." she muttered, rubbing the tender spots on her face.

"I'm sorry I missed that," he turned to look back at her, "Did you say you wanted me to tell grandfather about your precious boyfriend?"

"I didn't say a thing," she gritted her teeth, "sir." I took everything she had not to punch him in the face.

"As I thought." he nodded once, "We've wasted enough time, we can't keep everyone waiting."

Almost all of the family had shown up, they knew there was something important going on and wanted to be present. They were lined up in a militaristic style, much like when the old man had shown up during the battle of the classes, with Nico in the front row with Nagisa between her and Nori.

"As most of you have heard we have become allies with the Todoroki family, which means we are going to have more ties to pro hero organizations." Nico's grandfather, the current head of the family, said to the crowd. "I expect that will increase the jobs that will be sent our way and also requests for our assistance with larger missions. It does not mean that we will be officially joining any one company, we will still be as we always have been, independent of their politics."

A low murmur rippled through the crowd, "We have long since upheld our way of conducting ourselves when it comes to the hero laws, but this move does not change that in fact it takes us one step closer to being in a position to make changes to those laws in our favour." he silenced the chatter, "If all goes according to plan, that day will come sometime soon. All of you are dismissed except for the council."

"Yes sir." they said in one voice, everyone filed out leaving Nico with her cousins, Nick, Nina and her grandfather.

"Now I know almost all of you know how close we are to closing this deal." the old man shot a cold glace to Nico, "We only have come to a small bump in the road. Endeavour is pressing for a proper union of the families but doesn't only want someone with a beast form."

"But grandfather, there aren't enough of us with a duel quirk. Just who do you suggest?" Nagisa said with a wicked look in his eye, "Wait a minute, Nicole don't you have someone from Todoroki family in your class? This could work out nicely."

Nico's eyes went wide as Nick took a sharp breath in, even Nina looked a little worried. They all knew if Nico lied it wouldn't end well. "I do, Shoto happens to be Endeavour's son." she tried to not sound scared of where this was going. "I haven't had much interaction with him, but he has great potential to be a great hero." She was on autopilot, scared of what would happen if she didn't tell them what she knew.

Her grandfather studied Nico as he thought, "You do happen to have a useful second quirk from that father of yours, and you have your mother's beauty going for you as well." Nico didn't like the way this was starting to sound. "It's settled then. I will take the agreement to them and see if a deal can be made."

"No," Nico whispered, "I'm not some pawn to be used as you see fit." she snapped, it was her life and she wasn't about to let them take her options from her. "You didn't even stop to consider how this would affect me, you just went and made the decision for me."

"I don't know what they're teaching at the school you love so much, but I still have final say in this matter." The old man got to his feet and back handed Nico when she wouldn't back down. "You will do as you are told. If you want to stay at that school of yours you will do as I say."

Nagisa took the opportunity to put his two cents in. "This sudden outburst might have something to do with the rumors I have been hearing that she's been seen with a boy with an explosion quirk." Nico should have known Nagisa was going to tell her grandfather no matter what.

"Is that so? Nicolas I thought I told you to make sure this did not happen." he turned on Nick, "Never mind, clearly I have to deal with matter myself. As of this point you have two options, you can stay at that school and enter into the marriage contract with the Todoroki boy or you come back here where I can keep a proper eye on you."

Nico gritted her teeth, making the little slip in her lip deepen. "I choose neither. I want to stay at school and you can find someone else to use as a pawn." she didn't lift her head but she wasn't going to back down. "I don't care what you think of me, but I will not be used."

"I was afraid there was too much of your mother in you." grandfather noted, "but it wouldn't only be you being punished, Nina and Nicolas were responsible for making sure you wouldn't repeat her mistake, so it would be all three of you out on the street, stripped of hero status and unable to keep your licences."

Nico dropped her head farther, feeling completely defeated. "I will leave school then." was all she said before leaving the meeting room, shifting and running at full speed back to Bakugo.

"Katsuki." she called out as she changed back, "We're leaving." she went and grabbed his hand without letting him see her face.

"Don't you want to change? Not that I mind, but you sure you want to go around dressed like that?" he wasn't sure what was going on but he let her pull him out of the house in time to see Nick and Nina coming down the way. "What's going on? I would have thought you'd want to say bye to them."

"I don't want to talk about it." she kept pulling him along, but he dug his heels in. "Please I just need to get away from this place." she pleaded, it pulled on his heart so he scooped her up and took off.

Once they had put some distance between them and the Gatta estate, Bakugo put Nico down. "You feel like telling me what happened and just why the hell is your lip split." he took her by the shoulders.

"I talked back, the old man gave me a choice and I stood my ground." Nico flinched as she touched her lip. "I wouldn't let him bully me into doing something I didn't want to do."

"I should go back there and blow him straight to hell." Bakugo growled, he went to turn away from her but Nico grabbed onto his sleeve.

She tried not to look scared, but it was impossible. "Don't, he may be old but he's still strong. I just want to go home."

Bakugo was weak against her pleading voice, "Alright, we'll head back." he kissed her forehead, "But just how do you plan on getting around without any shoes? We'll find somewhere to get you a change of clothes."

"I could always just be a cat and that way we can just get a train back to the school. There's no reason for us to delay going back." she said as Bakugo scooped her up and held her tight.

"I'd prefer walking with you like this." he smiled as she blushed, "It looks like I rescued you this way, and I like it that way."

"Just another way to stroke your ego, Katsuki you are the worst." she lightly kissed his cheek, regretting doing so when she saw the small line of blood that was left behind. "But that's what I love about you."