TRIGGER WARNING: PANIC ATTACKS, DISSOCIATION, EXPOSURE TO TRIGGERS, CHILD ABUSE
If you want to skip go from after Shouto talks about visiting his Mom to where Mic appears
The next morning Katsuki packed some sleepwear and his school uniform into his bag, along with his hero costume, which was in its case. He had nervously dressed in his best pair of black jeans and he wore a white shirt with a red jumper. Once more calling on his mother's help and dressing not dissimilar to how he had for his and Eijirou's first date. He wanted to make a good impression with Kirishima's parents. Eijirou had reassured him that they wouldn't care what he wore, but he did, he'd been raised by fashion designers.
He got out Hoshi's travel caged and put her pink blanket inside as well as a few of her new toys. Hoshi came away from her breakfast to sit at Katsuki's feet and meowed at him. He reached down and picked her up, kissing her cheek.
"You're going to spend the night with Shouto." Katsuki said, cuddling her. "You're going to meet his mom and spend some time with him. But I'll come back. I promise." He kissed her again and she meowed. "Good girl." He put her down.
He packed all of his toiletries and his Quirk suppressant gloves, as well as his charging port for his hearing aids. He scowled to himself as he went through his mental checklist. He thought he had everything.
He picked up his two bags and Hoshi's travel cage and moved towards the door. Hoshi followed, her tail up in the air.
"You think I'm your Mom, hah?" Katsuki asked. "Does that make Shouto and Izuku your uncles? Eiji your Dad?"
Hoshi meowed as she followed him out of the room. The two of them made their way to the kitchen, where Eijirou, Shouto and Momo were waiting.
"Morning Baby." Kirishima called, he was still wearing the T-shirt and shorts he slept in and his hair was still somewhat in the ponytail.
"Good morning Red." Katsuki said, greeting him with a kiss. He put the cage on the table and his other bags on the floor. "Shouto, Momo."
"Would you like some tea, Bakugou-kun. I bought this new, old fashioned kettle yesterday, I can't wait to try it out."
"Erm, sure if it's quick. I have to leave for work soon." Katsuki said, Momo nodded.
"Hello pretty lady." Shouto said, reaching down to pet Hoshi.
"Okay, so I've left my room unlocked and I've pre-portioned her food for you, so you just have to put it in her bowl."
"Thanks." Shouto said.
"She'll probably go into the cage herself, but if not, you can just put her in it. She's fine with it in general so she won't try and scratch you or anything." Katsuki said. "The blanket in the box is what she usually sleeps on and her litterbox is in my bathroom, if you want to move it."
"Okay," Shouto said, "I'll text you if I need anything."
"Yeah, I'll have my phone with me." Katsuki said.
"Yeah and I'll have mine in the evening if you can't get in contact with him." Kirishima said, placing his hand on Katsuki's shoulder. The three of them watched as Hoshi wandered around the common room, sniffing along the edge of one of the sofas.
"When do you leave?" Kirishima asked Shouto.
"This afternoon."
"Do you get to spend a lot of time with your Ma?"
"An hour, the nurses are thinking of letting her have longer visiting hours though, now that she's doing better."
"Oh, that's good." Kirishima said.
"My sister is going to meet me there." Shouto said. "Are you excited about Katsuki meeting your parents?"
"Oh, yeah. It's going to be great. I'm a little worried about how he and my brother are going to get on, he can be a bit hostile."
"I am still here, you know?" Katsuki said, crossing his arms.
"You're not hostile, well, sometimes. I meant Hikaru."
"He's your older brother, right?" Katsuki asked. "You have too many siblings."
"Hey, not that many. Both Tsu and Shouto have siblings."
"Yeah, they're both one of three, not five." Katsuki laughed.
"Four, actually." Shouto said.
"Oh? I only thought you had a brother and sister."
"I had two brothers. Touya died when I was little." Shouto shrugged. "I don't know what happened. Like I said before, I wasn't allowed to talk to my siblings, so I never really knew him."
"I'm sorry Shouto." Kirishima frowned.
"It's alright." Shouto shrugged.
As they spoke a sharp whistling sound rang through the air. Katsuki reached up to rub at his ears as his hearing aids relayed the noise. Next to him Shouto froze, he seemed to stop breathing and his body started to shake.
"Shouto?" Kirishima started, but the other boy didn't respond. His pupils were wide but he seemed distant, as if he was somewhere far away. His shaking got worse as he backed away from Katsuki and Eijirou.
"I'm sorry." Shouto whimpered. "I didn't mean to."
"Shouto?" Eijirou reached out to touch his hand but Shouto flinched away, banging into the wall. He sunk to the floor, curling up into a ball.
"I'm sorry, Mama." Shouto said as tears began to fall. The whistling from the kitchen grew louder and sharper in pitch. Shouto tried to shield his hand as he cried harder. "Please don't."
"Red, take the kettle off the heat." Katsuki said, coming to kneel in front of Shouto. Ice was forming on the sobbing boy's skin as his scar caught fire. Kirishima nodded and hurried into the kitchen. Quickly the whistling stopped, but Shouto didn't stop crying.
"Shouto, it's okay." Katsuki said softly. "You're at U.A., you're safe." Shouto shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to be like him." Shouto whined.
"You're not like Endeavour. I promise you." Katsuki said as Kirishima and Momo returned to the common room.
"Shouto I'm so sorry. I didn't think." Momo said, she tried to touch Shouto's shoulder but the boy yelped before she could reach him. She pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry."
"Can you give him the cat?" Eijirou asked. "She always calms you down."
"Not until he has control of his Quirk." Katsuki said. "I don't think touch will help him."
"I'll go get Aizawa." Kirishima said. "He might know what to do."
"Yeah, he helped me, the other day." Katsuki said. Kirishima ran out of the dorms, pausing to slip on a pair of crocs.
"Is there anything I can do?" Momo asked.
"Do you know if he has anything in his room? Something that'll comfort him?"
"He has a blanket, that his grandmother made or something."
"Go get it." Katsuki said and Momo bolted up the stairs. Shouto was still sobbing hysterically, hiding his face from the world. "Shouto? Icyhot? You're okay. You're safe." He said and Shouto whined.
"Can you hear me, Icyhot?" Shouto nodded. "Okay, that's good. You're safe okay? You're in the common room at U.A. You're with me, Katsuki, and Hoshi." The cat meowed at her name. She was sat several feet away. She was watching the two boys with her tail wrapped around her paws. Shouto nodded but his body was still shaking, and his Quirk were still out of control.
"I'm sorry. Don't hurt me."
"I won't hurt you Shouto. It's Bakugou, remember. We're friends."
"Bakugou?" the boy said quietly.
"Yeah, that's me."
"Why did she hurt me? My mama?"
"She wasn't very well, Shouto. It was an accident."
"An accident…" Shouto trailed off.
The door to the dorms opened and Katsuki looked up to see and out of breath Kirishima and Aizawa.
"What happened?" Aizawa asked, kneeling next to Katsuki and Shouto.
"Momo got an old-fashioned kettle. It was whistling. I don't know. He doesn't seem to be that aware" Katsuki said just as Momo returned with the blanket. It was a grey fluffy thing that looked a little worn and charred around the edges. Katsuki took it.
"Shouto, do you know where you are?" Aizawa asked softly. Shouto shook his head, but the flames slowly petered out. "Okay, you're at U.A. the school. Do you know who I am?" Shouto shook his head again. "My name is Aizawa Shouta, I'm your teacher."
"Bakugou." Shouto said, he lifted his head and blinked owlishly.
"I'm here Shouto." Katsuki said. "Do you want your blanket?"
"Mine." Shouto said, reaching out to take the blanket from Katsuki's hands with frozen fingers. He pulled it close to his chest.
"Should we take him to Recovery Girl?" Momo asked.
"No." Aizawa said. "He's not hurt and there's little she could do. I think for now we just keep talking to him."
"How do you feel Shouto?" Katsuki asked. "Do you want something to eat? To drink?"
"No." Shouto said. "Can I…?" He reached out again and took Katsuki's hand in his own. Then blond winced at the cold but he moved a little closer to the other teen.
"You two go make sure no one else comes in. The last thing he needs right now is people starring at him." Aizawa said. Momo and Eijirou nodded, making their way to the stairs. "I am so getting all of you kids therapy." He sighed as Katsuki readjusted himself again, so he was against the wall. Shouto uncurled slightly, resting his head on Katsuki's shoulder.
"Did he say what this was about?"
"No, but given the circumstances, I think it was how he got his scar. It was the kettle that started it and he kept asking me not to hurt him, and he seemed to be talking to his Mom, and she's the one who gave it him." Katsuki said.
"Fucking hell." Aizawa sighed. "Can't any of you kids catch a break?"
"Mina seems pretty chill." Katsuki said and Aizawa snorted.
"All of you seemed "pretty chill" when you started. You never know what someone is going through." Aizawa said.
"I guess." Katsuki replied, twitching his fingers slightly as ice began to form on the ones caught in Shouto's grip. "Shouto?"
"Hmm?" Shouto hummed, his eyes had fallen shut as he snuggled against his blanket and Katsuki's shoulder.
"Can you stop your Quirk?"
"Sorry." Shouto mumbled, his voice obscured by the blanket he had buried his face into. Katsuki felt no difference as his fingers remained coated in crystals.
"Is he hurting you?" Aizawa asked, "I can erase it for a little while if you want."
"He's not hurting me. It's a little uncomfortable." Katsuki wiggled his fingers. "I'm going to miss my train."
"You can go, I'll stay with him." Aizawa said.
"I don't want to upset him by moving." Katsuki sighed.
"It's probably for the best."
Katsuki sighed to himself as he got his phone out of his pocket, typing with one hand, trying not to move too much.
From Bakugou Katsuki:
Something's happened at the dorms.
I think I'm going to be late.
From Hakamata Tsunagu:
Is everything okay?
From Bakugou Katsuki:
I'm fine.
I'll explain later.
But I've missed my train and I don't know when I'll be able to leave.
I'll be there ASAP
From Hakamata Tsunagu:
Okay, be safe.
It took several long minutes for Shouto to stir properly. He picked his head up off of Katsuki's shoulder and rubbed his eyes. Katsuki sighed as Shouto deactivated his Quirk and the ice on both of their fingers melted.
"What happed?" He asked, his voice slowly and quieter than normal.
"You had a panic attack or something." Katsuki said.
"It was like you dissociated for a while. Like your brain just needed a break." Aizawa said. "Do you remember what happened?" Shouto was quiet for a moment, as if he were thinking.
"Momo's kettle." Shouto said, rubbing his eye again. "Why are we holding hands? And why's my blanket here?"
"Momo got you your blanket. We wanted to calm you down the best you could, and she thought it would help. And it did." Katsuki said. "And you wanted to hold my hand, you didn't say why."
"Oh." Shouto said, untangling their hands.
"How are you feeling?" Aizawa asked.
"A little tired, embarrassed. I'll be fine."
"Don't be embarrassed." Katsuki said. "Besides us, only Eijirou and Momo know. And we all understand." Hoshi meowed from where she was sat, before getting to her paws and padding over to Shouto. He reached out and pet her.
"I haven't heard a kettle that whistles since that day." Shouto said quietly. "Father got rid of it. Replaced it with an electric one. I didn't even know it would be an issue."
"It's okay, you know now." Aizawa said. "Just take it easy kid."
"I'll be okay." Shouto said. "I think I want to take a nap, before I got to see my mom."
"Are you sure you still want to see her today?"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever this was, wasn't her fault." Shouto said. "She's excited to see Hoshi."
"Okay." Aizawa said.
"Well, if you're okay, I'm going to go. I'll see if I can catch the next train, or something." Katsuki said, getting to his feet.
"Let me text Hizashi. He was planning on going into Tokyo. He might not have left yet." Aizawa said. "He can take you."
"Oh, okay." Katsuki said. "I'll tell Eijirou and Momo to come back." He went towards the stairs where the other two students were sat. They got to their feet and approached him immediately.
"He's okay. Just a bit tired," Katsuki said.
"That's good." Kirishima nodded.
"I need to go apologise." Momo said, practically ignoring the other two boys, walking back towards Shouto and Aizawa.
"Is he really okay?"
"Yeah, just tired. You know how it is. Down." Katsuki shrugged. "I think he'll be fine. Aizawa knows best, he'll make sure of it."
"Are you leaving now?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, I might be late." Katsuki said with a sigh, he didn't blame Shouto, and he would have stayed with him as long as he needed. But it didn't change the fact he was now late for work.
"Jeanist will understand."
"Yeah, hopefully."
"You finish at four, right?"
"Yeah." Katsuki said.
"I'll meet you outside then."
"You can come into the recaption, I'll tell Thimble that you'll be coming." Katsuki said.
"Okay." Kirishima said. "Have fun today." He said, kissing his boyfriend.
"You too."
"Bakugou, Mic can take you into Tokyo." Aizawa called from where he was still sat on the floor. Shouto had moved though. "He'll be here in a moment."
"Great." Katsuki said. He kissed Eijirou once more. "I'll see you later, Ei."
Katsuki returned to the kitchen. Momo and Shouto were talking quietly by the sink and Aizawa was petting Hoshi.
"That cat is such a cuddle slut." Katsuki said and Aizawa snorted.
"As are all of mine." He said. "They fight over me at home."
"Do they sleep with you? Hoshi only ever really sleeps on my bed, on her pink blanket."
"No. Hizashi doesn't like them in the bed. When he's not home, I let them in, but they come and go." Aizawa shrugged.
"Oh." Katsuki said. He watched as Aizawa checked his phone.
"'Zashi's here." He said. Katsuki nodded, he bent down, taking Hoshi's head in his hands, he kissed her forehead as she meowed.
"Be good." He said, running a hand the length of her body.
He got to his feet and picked up his bags. He turned briefly to call "goodbye" to all of those present and made his way out of the door. Mic was waiting in a black car by the dorms, the windows were unwound, and Mic waved at Katsuki as he approached. The teen smiled back at the teacher.
"Good morning, Listener." Hizashi said. "Put your bags in the boot and we'll be off." Katsuki did as he said and moved back around the car before getting into the passenger side.
"Thank you for this." Katsuki said.
"Don't worry about it, kid. I was going into Tokyo anyway." Hizashi shrugged, starting the car after he had double checked Katsuki had done up his seatbelt. "Is everything alright in there? Sho' didn't really explain what had happened?"
"Yeah, Todoroki freaked out a bit. Aizawa is still with him but he seems to have settled down."
"Ah," Mic nodded. "I see."
"Why are you going to the city?"
"Just to get some groceries, some stuff the cats. The usual." Mic shrugged.
"Oh." Katsuki said.
"Yeah, it wasn't all that important, but you know, two birds, one stone." Mic said.
"Thank you for taking me."
"No worries." Hizashi shrugged. "I'm here to help."
The drive to Tokyo was relatively quiet, surprisingly to Katsuki, who had expected the voice hero to be as loud and obnoxious as his public persona suggested. Instead he sang along quietly along with the radio and tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel.
Eventually, Hizashi pulled up outside of Genius Agency and Katsuki moved to get out.
"Do you need me to come in or anything? I can explain why you're late or whatever?" Mic asked.
"No, it's okay, I text Hakamata earlier." Katsuki said.
"Good, because I'm illegally parked." Mic laughed.
"I thought you were a pro hero?"
"Never said I was any good at it." Katsuki snorted at the teacher, opening the door and getting out of the car. He got his bags out of the back and went up to Mic's window.
"Thanks again." He said.
"Don't worry about it." Mic said. "You kids are like family to Shouta."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he never normally keeps this many kids in a class. And he's never as invested as this," Mic laughed. "Anyway, have a good day, Bakugou."
"Thanks, you too."
Katsuki walked into the agency reception, which was empty, as expected. He made his way up the stairs and dropped his bags of at his desk before heading to the conference room. He pushed open the glass door as Buttons was discussing the plans for the Autumn fashion line.
"Sorry I'm late." He said as she fell silent.
"Only five minutes." Hakamata said. "Don't worry about it."
Katsuki nodded and took a seat next to Flashback.
"You okay, kid?" he whispered as Buttons started again.
"Yeah. School shit."
"Ah, fair." Flashback nodded
"So, everything should be ready for release next week." Buttons concluded.
"Finances are currently stable, but we are expecting a significant profit margin within the next couple of weeks." Zipper added.
"Thank you." Hakamata said. "Flash, what's going on your side?"
"There's been a few suspected sightings of the Villain Dabi, but there's been no reports of violent behaviour. Script and I checked it out and he wasn't at any of the reported locations and we can't prove any of them."
"Have any other League of Villains member been spotted?"
"None as far as we can tell. And in relation to Dabi, he didn't seem to be causing any trouble. I have reports from several shopkeepers that he came in and bought things; he apparently didn't attempt to steal anything." Transcript said. "I think he was just doing normal people things. We think that he may be scoping out the area for future crime, or maybe looking for something. He didn't seem to be doing anything bad?"
"He's still a violent criminal, Script." Fallacy said.
"Yeah, I know." Transcript replied. "And obviously if we had seen him, we would have engaged. But we didn't"
"I don't want anyone to engage in combat with any members of the League." Hakamata said suddenly. "Under absolutely no circumstances is anyone to engage them alone, even if you believe it to be a fair fight. They have set traps for pro's before and I don't want any of you to get caught up in one. If you to encounter them, contact the Lurchers, the police. Treat them with caution and never let your guard down."
"Yes, Best Jeanist." The five sidekicks said together.
"Thank you." Hakamata sighed. "I underestimated the League once, and look what happened to me."
"We won't." Spectre said. "I do not believe any of us are delusional enough to think we a capable of taking them down."
"It's not about being capable. I just don't want any of you to make unnecessary risks. I believe that a full team is needed to take them down. More people then we have here."
"We understand." Fallacy said. "We won't do anything stupid."
"Besides, we have bigger things to worry about." Flashback said.
"What do you mean?" Sleuth asked.
"Edgeshot and the others are coming here, they want our help on a missing children's case." Hakamata said. "They'll be arriving in an hour or so."
"Oh, nice." Sleuth nodded. "Well, not nice, but you know what I mean."
"So, I want the five of you to go out, patrol for that hour, and then get back here for the briefing." Hakamata said. All of the sidekicks nodded and Hakamata dismissed everyone.
"Katsuki, with me." Hakamata said, heading straight towards his office. Katsuki got to his feet and followed. Hakamata pushed open the door and immediately went to sit at his desk, Katsuki took the seat opposite.
"I'm sorry." Katsuki said.
"You were barely five minutes late, don't worry." Hakamata said. "Of course, if it became a regular thing I'd have an issue. But this was the first time, and you gave me a heads up. It's fine."
"Okay." Katsuki said, looking down at his lap. "Shouto got upset, like a panic attack or something. I don't know, Aizawa said something about dissociation. But I couldn't just leave him, you know? And then he wanted to hold my hand and I didn't know what to do. So I let him, and then I was late. But Mic-sensei drove me here instead."
"Poor kid, sounds rough." Hakamata sighed.
"Yeah." Katsuki sighed. "He's had a tough time."
"I'm glad you stayed to help him though. You've definitely allowed yourself to become more empathetic."
"I guess." Katsuki shrugged.
"I understand that you don't see it. But you have changed so much since you came here."
"Yeah right." Katsuki snorted.
"Fine, don't believe me." Hakamata laughed. "But you have." Katsuki crossed his arms in defiance. "I have something for you," Hakamata said, opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a little black box. Katsuki frowned, taking it. "Nice nails, by the way."
"Oh, thanks." Katsuki said. "Are they okay for work? I…I didn't think… Uraraka wanted to paint them."
"They're fine, it's not like they're going to affect anything." Hakamata shrugged. "Fal wears nail varnish all of the time, don't worry about it." Katsuki nodded and he opened the box. Inside was a small strip of slightly opaque fabric, it was a dark forest green with a vibrant orange "x" across the centre.
"It matches." Katsuki laughed.
"I don't know if you'll ever wear it with your hero costume, but I thought you'd like it. I assumed you liked the colours."
"Yeah." Katsuki said. "Orange is my favourite."
"Nice, I like orange." Hakamata said. "Not my favourite but I can appreciate it."
"How do I wear it?" Katsuki asked, letting the silky fabric run through his fingers.
"It doesn't really go with your current outfit, but I can help you tie it." Hakamata said.
"Please." Katsuki said and Hakamata got to his feet. He walked around his desk and took the neckerchief from his hands.
"I'm going to have to touch your neck a little. Okay?"
"Yeah." Katsuki said. Hakamata adjusted Katsuki's shirt collar, allowing him to slip the fabric around his neck.
"You look good, by the way. I like the combination." Hakamata said.
"I'm meeting Eijirou's parents tonight." Katsuki said. "I wanted to look nice."
"You do. You look like a charming young man."
"Pff, I don't think anyone has ever described me as charming."
"I said you looked charming, not that you were."
"Fuckin' rude." Katsuki scowled. Hakamata laughed.
"I think you're proving my point." Hakamata said as he finished tying the knot. "There you go. It's designed to come loose if you pull on it, so it can't choke you."
"Thanks."
"Does it feel okay?"
"Surprisingly, yeah." Katsuki nodded. Hakamata hummed as he readjusted Katsuki's shirt collar.
"You ready to work for a bit?"
"Yeah." Katsuki said.
"Okay so I've got a series of videos for you to watch, five minutes long max. I want you to watch them and fill out a report for each one. Sometimes things will happen in them, sometimes nothing will."
"Okay?"
"It's so you can learn how to correctly fill out a report. I'll go over them later and help you correct them." Hakamata said. "I find it's a much more affective way to teach the task. I can ramble for hours about what information to put where but it's better with examples."
"Assuming I'm going to make mistakes, are you?" Katsuki smirked.
"You've never done it before, I don't see why you wouldn't." Hakamata retorted. "I'll email you the files. Now go, I need to do work before Edgeshot gets here."
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Katsuki said getting to his feet.
He went to his desk and got on with his assigned work quietly and efficiently. The work wasn't exactly challenging; each video was different, displaying fake robberies, attacks and murders. There were some mild and domestic disturbances. Some were simulated patrols, quiet and calm.
He was on his fourth report when he was bothered again.
"Erm, Bakugou-kun?" Katsuki looked up at the voice, seeing a pale, blond man in front of him.
"Oh, hey Thimble." Katsuki said.
"Hi."
"What's up?" Katsuki said, putting his pen down.
"I wanted to give you this." Thimble said, he held out a small plant pot with an angry face on it. Inside the pot was a small cactus.
"Why?" Katsuki asked before he could stop himself.
"It's a desk plant. Everyone here has a desk plant." Thimble shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll look after it."
"Oh. Thanks." Katsuki said, taking the cactus and putting on his desk.
"It's kind of like a rite of passage." Flashback said from the desk opposite Katsuki. He'd come back from his patrol early and had offered to help Katsuki with his reports, but he had denied.
"Oh?" Katsuki said.
"Yeah. I gave everyone else one. And you've been here for three weeks now, and Hakamata said you were staying for a while, so I wanted to say, welcome to the family." Thimble smiled.
"Thank you." Katsuki said, stroking the pot of the plant.
"No problem, man. I like you, you're cool." Thimble said and Katsuki laughed. "Well, I'll leave you to it."
"Oh, Thimble," Katsuki started, "my boyfriend is picking me up after I'm done here. Can you let him wait in the reception for me?"
"Ohh, a boyfriend." Thimble smiled. "Is he cute?"
"Thimble you can't ask that." Flashback said.
"I'll see for myself later." Thimble shrugged.
"Of course he's fucking cute." Katsuki said, rolling his eyes. "I'm dating him." Flashback burst out laughing at the statement.
"Young love." Thimble sighed. "What's his name and what does he look like?"
"Kirishima Eijirou. He's got red hair, red eyes, sharp teeth. His fashion sense is terrible, so don't let Jeanist see him." Katsuki said.
"No problem." Thimble said. "I can let him stay."
"Thanks Thim."
"Well, I've got to go and keep an eye out for Edgeshot and that lot."
Thimble walked off, heading back towards the reception. Katsuki and Flashback watched him go before they both turned back to their work. Katsuki worked silently so a while before Flashback cleared his throat, getting his attention.
"Jeanist says you've got your provisional exam in September?"
"Yeah."
"Are you nervous?"
"Not really. I've done well in every other test so far so…" Katsuki shrugged. "I don't really know what to expect."
"It's not too difficult, especially for a Quirk like yours. They change it all the time, but I don't think you'll have any issue."
"Thanks."
"You're only a first year though, right?"
"Yeah, they want us to do the exam early because of the League or something. So, if they attack us again we can use our Quirks to defend ourselves."
"Seems smart." Flashback said with a nod. "Hopefully Jeans will be back on patrol then."
"I doubt it." Jeanist said, coming up behind them. Katsuki hadn't heard him leave his office. "Despite the fact I'm only a little sore, my doctor doesn't want me to "overexert myself." Hakamata said with air quotes. "It's ridiculous."
"Really? That seems a little over the top." Flashback shook his head.
"Yep. They won't even clear me for light exercise, I feel like I'm wasting away." Hakamata laughed. "I mean I understand the concern, but I'm already fed up."
"At least you can still work, even if you can't be in the field. We'd be lost without you." Flashback said.
"Well, hopefully you'll never have to find out." Hakamata said, resting his hand on the back of Katsuki's chair.
"Yo Boss, that damn pigeon's got in again." Sleuth shouted from across the room as she came up the stairs. Behind her Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, Mt Lady and Hawks followed.
"I'm not a pigeon." Hawks frowned, he cocked his head to the side. The twitching of his wings was the only indication that he'd been annoyed by the sidekick's comment.
"You're as annoying as a pigeon." Sleuth scoffed.
"Shinya," Hakamata greeted.
"Tsunagu, you look well." Edgeshot replied.
"Thank you, I'm feeling a lot better." Hakamata said. "It's been rough."
"I bet it has been, but I'm glad you're getting better." Edgeshot said.
"Yeah, Japan needs you around," Hawks said. "You're Number One in the approval ratings. "
"For some reason." Jeanist laughed with a shrug.
"Hey, the public like what they like. But you can't stay off for too long, don't want them to forget about you or something." Hawks said and Jeanist shook his head.
"Do you want to move to the conference room? We can start as soon as my other sidekicks get here."
"How many do you have now?" Hawks sighed, "Like 50?"
"Six." Hakamata. "You've met them all, except Bakugou." Katsuki looked up at his mentor.
"But I'm just an assistant." Katsuki said.
"You'll be my sidekick sooner rather than later, Katsuki." Hakamata shrugged.
"Bakugou, you're that kid that won the Sports Festival." Hawks said, looking at Katsuki.
"Really, I hadn't noticed." Katsuki replied.
"Yeah man, you were great. I haven't laughed like that in a while."
"What the fuck do you mean?" Katsuki said, getting to his feet.
"You're easy to anger." Hawks' wings twitched again. "Having to be restrained like that. It amused me."
"Fuck you, asshole." Katsuki growled, his fists clenching by his sides. Hakamata moved his hand to Katsuki's shoulder.
"Come now, Hawks, leave him be." Hakamata said.
"I'm only teasing, Bakugou." Hawks said with a sigh. "I don't give a shit."
"I don't think that's any better." Sleuth scowled.
"Hey, I saw your teacher the other day, Aizawa, right? He did not seem happy to see me. He was with Present Mic, they were at KFC."
"Are you sure it was Aizawa?" Katsuki asked, struggling to imagine his homeroom teacher at a fast food place. Somehow, when he thought of Aizawa he could only imagine him eating those little packets of jelly he seemed to exist off of.
"Yeah, he not so subtly told me to fuck off." Hawks shrugged. "In his defence though, the press were following me and he seemed uncomfortable."
"Aizawa has never liked being in the spotlight." Hakamata said, walking away.
Everyone relocated to the conference room and were promptly joined by Fallacy, Transcript and Spectre. Katsuki sat in between Jeanist and Flashback, opposite Hawks. Katsuki shifted uncomfortably as the pro hero's golden eyes watched his every move.
Edgeshot stood where Jeanist normally did and he had connected his laptop to the big screen, enabling him to show everyone assembled his files.
"Okay, so we need your help." He started simply. "This all started after Stain, but we don't know if it's at all related, or even if this villain is inspired by him. We have nothing to confirm or deny either way. But basically, we have three missing kids."
"All together or taken separately?" Jeanist asked.
"Separately, approximately three weeks apart. We have nothing to link them. The went missing in different areas, different times of day and they look nothing a like."
"How do we know they're all connected then?" Spectre asked.
"The way they went missing. Each of the children can be tracked on CCTV up to a certain point, before all of the cameras in the area go dark. It seems that for a ¼ mile radius around the child's last location, everything goes down for seven minutes." Edgeshot said.
"All of the CCTV?" Fallacy asked.
"All electronics." Kamui said. "Everything. Phones, lights, cars cameras."
"So it's some kind of Quirk?" Jeanist nodded.
"We believe so." Edgeshot replied.
"Who are the kids?" Flashback asked.
"The first to go missing was Ueno Seiichi, a nine-year-old boy. He went to missing on his way home from school. His Quirk is listed as Portal. He can apparently travel between mirrors. At first it was believed that he had just gone through a mirror and gotten lost. Everyone thought the technical issues were unrelated." Edgeshot said.
As he spoke, a picture of the boy appeared on the board. He had silverfish grey hair and white eyes. The picture was clearly his student I.D. photo. He was wearing a pale blue school uniform and he was smiling at the camera.
"But then when a month later, Takeda Chiharu went missing with the same tech issues present. We started suspecting they were kidnapped." Mt Lady said.
"Takeda was a six-year-old. She was apparently out playing with her older siblings at the park. There were no witnesses to her abduction. Apparently, she could create small forcefields around herself, but she had poor control over it." Edgeshot said.
Takeda's picture joined Ueno's on the board. She had honey blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Her picture showed her in the arms of her father; her mother and older siblings surrounding them.
"And the third child?"
"He was taken last week. Noguchi Kaori, aged eight. He was taken on his way to school. Same technological issues as the others. His Quirk is listed as Fracture, he can break people's bones by looking at them, but similarly to Takeda, he had yet to exhibit control over this Quirk, so we do not know whether he was able to fight back against his abductor" Edgeshot said.
"Damn." Hakamata said quietly.
"We've got nothing, Tsunagu." Edgeshot said. "We can't find them and we don't know where to look."
"Are they still alive?" Transcript asked.
"We've found nothing to suggest otherwise. At this point we are assuming they are being held somewhere for some kind of purpose." Kamui said.
"You know the statistics." Jeanist said quietly.
"We do. But for the parents' sake, we will act as if they are still alive." Mt Lady said.
"What can we do?" Hakamata asked.
"We were hoping you could help us look. You have more people, more resources." Edgeshot said and all of the Genius sidekicks nodded. "That and if another child goes missing, we were thinking Flashback could try and go back and see it happen."
"I could definitely try." Flashback said. "I'd need an object present at the time, but if they're taken out in the open that shouldn't be a problem."
"Brilliant."
Edgeshot and his team gave the Genius employees a copy of all the information they had on the children and the case and the pro's made an action plan. Hawks had apparently been put on the case at the request of the Hero Commission and he too, was eager to help.
Afterwards the Lurchers left, having to get back to their own patrols. Hawks stayed, claiming that it was technically his day off and he seemed to enjoy winding up Sleuth. The pro's eyes still seemed to follow Katsuki, making his skin crawl and itch. Katsuki stuck to Hakamata's side, like he was a scared little dog, which frustrated him, but he didn't know what else to do.
"Katsuki." Jeanist started. "You can't say anything about this case to anyone outside of Genius. It's against the rules to talk about an active case, it's a security issue and we can't have too many people involved."
"Okay." Katsuki nodded. "I won't say anything."
"Thank you, if you have any thoughts or if you need to talk about it, come to me. I know it might be a bit difficult for you. It's you first proper case after all."
"I'm okay. But I will." Hakamata put his hand on the top of Katsuki's head and ruffled his hair.
"You're a good kid."
"I'm not a kid."
"Sure you're not." Hawks laughed.
"What are you? Four years older than me?" Katsuki snapped.
"Six actually, Squirt." Hawks said with a smirk. Katsuki growled wordlessly and Hawks' golden eyes lit up with mirth.
"Hawks, if you're staying, behave." Hakamata sighed.
"Oh, protective Mama Bear. I see how it is."
"Oi, Jeans." Sleuth shouted. "Are we still doing three vs three or not?"
"Wait what?" Hawks asked.
"Training exercise." Hakamata said. "Sleuth, Fallacy and Katsuki against Flashback, Transcipt and Spectre."
"That I've got to see."