A BNHA fanfic.
My Hero Academia/BNHA is owned by Horikoshi-sama and all affiliated Media. I make no profit from playing in their universe.
Updates on Wednesdays.
Constructive Reviews welcome. Flames will be flushed.
)_O_(
CHAPTER 14
Three days later, Aizawa-Yamada residence…
"It's just for the evening, a girl's night if you will. I'm going to take her for some essentials Yagi-san said she needed, and we are going to have a bit of girl-talk if you get my drift," Nemuri pushed a lock of indigo hair behind her ear.
Hizashi laughed, "what did Yagi-san offer to get you to do this?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, surprised to see Nemuri blush at the implication. "Not what you are implying. I told him I just wanted a chance to get to know him a little better and for him to know the real me."
Shouta laughed as he came into the room. "I see you finally realized he's a man who doesn't like to be chased." He handed Hizashi a stack of papers. "Here, you will find I didn't go too hard on them since it was just English. Have you thought of asking Toshinori-san to help you with the grading? He understands English much better than either of us, having lived in America for so long."
Hizashi smiled at his husband. "I was going to ask him to help with the Third-Year papers. It will be something good to help keep his mind off of his injury and the fact that he can't do hero work for the foreseeable future."
"I think it will be good for dad," Kiku's voice came from the doorway where she stood next to Hitoshi who was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She was dressed in a dark blue jump suit trimmed in white piping, another gift from Shield Industries. Yagi-san was right, Nemuri noted. The girl was definitely going to need certain necessary items and soon.
Kiku bounced forward with excitement. She had a slender black overnight bag with the words "I AM HERE" stitched on in All Might's signature colors. "I'm ready to go, Auntie Nem." Though she had stopped shortening Yamada and Aizawa's given names when addressing them, Nemuri was still "Auntie Nem to both her and Hitoshi.
Nemuri smiled and spun a set of keys around one well-manicured finger. Gesturing toward one of two helmets sitting on a side table by the wall, she smiled at her Pseudo-niece. "Put that on and we can go. Have you said your goodbyes?"
The second half of the sentence was completely unheard by Kiku whose eyes lit up with excitement, "really? We are taking you bike? AWESOME!" Her last word belted out nearly as loud as Hizashi with his quirk active. The two older men winced at her volume while her brother whined, "No fair! You get to ride Auntie Nem's bike first?"
Hizashi laughed and clapped the purple haired boy on the shoulder. "Buck up, son. You will get your turn. Be proud of the fact that you get the first guitar," He shot a wink at Hitoshi as Kiku shot a slightly jealous look at her brother. A moment later she sighed, "well, I guess it's only fair. Besides," she grinned at Hitoshi, "you hate going to the Spa anyway."
Hitoshi grinned back, appeased by the fact that Papa Hizashi was going to finally not only teach him the guitar, but get him his very own. "Have fun doing the girly stuff, Ki-chan. I'll show you which one I picked out when you get back." The two siblings hugged each other, and Hitoshi grabbed his black leather jacket, looking expectantly over at Hizashi. The blonde man laughed, kissed Shouta on the forehead and promised to be back before dinner. "Don't burn down the house while we are gone," he teased the darker haired man.
"Don't worry," Shouta said dryly, "the cats and I have no intention of touching the stove while you are gone. We are ordering sushi and taking a nap while we have the peace and quiet to do so." He was only half teasing at the end.
Kiku hugged her fathers and Hitoshi again, pulled the black helmet over her short green curls and followed Nemuri to the elevator. "Why aren't we taking the stairs again?"
Nemuri laughed, "because high-heels and stairs don't do too well together," she replied, winking at the girl.
"You know, shoes like that are completely illogical for any woman to wear, let alone a pro-hero," Kiku grumbled at her, tapping her foot with excitement as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
)-O-(
Hitoshi wandered the music store staring with awe at the variety of guitars on display. He suddenly stumbled as he bumped into someone, receiving a small zap as he attempted to right the other person.
"Ow." He rubbed his hand where the electricity had left a small mark on his skin.
"Oh, sorry, man. I didn't mean to, ha-ha." The blonde boy laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, sorry here too. I wasn't watching where I was going. Yamada Hitoshi," he introduced himself, bowing to the younger man.
"Uh, Kaminari Denki, pleased to meet you." As the boy bowed back, Hitoshi noted his hair had a black streak in the shape of a lightning bolt. Oddly enough, the boy reminded him quite a bit of Pikachu, the lightning Pokémon.
Hitoshi smiled at the other boy. "They sure have a lot of guitars don't they. I don't know how I will ever choose." He looked around at the selection on display, more than slightly overwhelmed.
"Yeah, me too. I was going to ask Kyoka. Maybe she can help you pick too. Her parents are musicians, so she knows what's good, come, I'll introduce her to you." The blonde boy grabbed his hand and dragged him in the direction of a purple-haired girl who was talking to his father.
Hizashi smiled at Hitoshi as they approached. He'd been cornered almost as soon as they arrived by a young girl about his son's age who had recognized him as Present Mic by his voice alone and was pestering him for an autograph for her father who was, she insisted, one of his biggest fans. It appeared Hitoshi was making another friend. He was enormously proud of how far the boy had come since they had taken him in all those years ago.
"Kyoka-chan, this is Hitoshi-kun, he's looking for a guitar too, I told him you maybe could help him?" The blonde who accompanied his son addressed the girl, seeming to have disregarded his presence all together. Hizashi smiled. It wasn't often he was overlooked, even in his civilian form. He stepped back a moment to let the kids get to know each other.
Kyoka turned, a little annoyed at being interrupted from her conversation with the Present Mic. Dad's birthday was coming up and getting the autograph of his favorite Pro Hero would be the best birthday present she could imagine. She sighed, unable to be truly mad at her hyperactive friend. She smiled and put her parents' lessons in manners to use. "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jiro Kyoka." She bowed to the purple haired boy who, given his hairstyle, was obviously another Present Mic fan.
"Yamada Hitoshi." He bowed back and looked at his father who was smiling gently in the background. "Dad, this is Jiro Kyoka and Kaminari Denki. We are going to look at guitars together."
Kyoka's eyebrows shot up. Dad? She looked between Present Mic and the purple-haired kid. No wonder he emulated the man. "Dad? I didn't know Present Mic had kids. Dad will be so surprised. He's your number-one fan," she replied, excited to know something about the Pro Hero her dad didn't even know.
Hizashi smiled kindly, pulling out a 3x5 photograph from his pocket that was endorsed with his signature and handing it to the girl. Her eyes lit up and a loud "YES!" drew the attention of the rest of the store. She carefully tucked the picture into her purse and bowed to the blonde man. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, this will be the best birthday present for dad, ever. Beat that Myakuji!"
"Miyakuji?" Hitoshi asked faintly, a bit overwhelmed by the girl's enthusiasm.
"Her older brother," Denki whispered, "he's always beating her in terms of gifts for their parents. I think this year it will be her turn. I can believe you are the son of the Present Mic."
Hitoshi smiled. He was proud to be related to his dads, even if it wasn't by blood. He straightened his back. "Let's go look at guitars, once we are done, I bet I can persuade dad to part with another autograph or two."
)-O-(
Nemuri watched Kiku gaze in awe at the sign that hung before the white marble building. The words on the sign read Onsen Josei – Women's Spa. It was one of the most exclusive women's only Spas in Tokyo. She slid the helmet off her head and carried it by its straps as she followed the older woman into the building.
"Ah, Kayama-san, welcome." The woman who greeted them was easily the most beautiful woman Kiku had ever seen. Akabara Biyōka was the owner of the spa and one of Kayama's former classmates. The woman had retired early from hero work preferring instead to cater to the elite women of Japan with special attention given to female heroes.
Nemuri introduced Kyoka and smiled as the girl was fawned over as her friend always did with first-time customers. It would do young Kiku good to be pampered. She was too much of a tomboy as it was being raised almost exclusively by men. She watched Kiku's smile widen as two familiar faces emerged from a doorway to their left.
"Obāsan? Momo-chan?" Nemuri could hear the excitement in Kiku's voice as the elderly nurse and the black-haired girl moved forward to greet them. She smiled down at her young charge. "I spoke with Yaoyorozu-san and Shuzenji-san and decided since both of you were in need of essentials, we would make a woman's day of it. Consider it an early birthday present."
Kiku squealed and hugged her before scooping the small elderly woman up and carefully hugging her. Grinning at Momo she grabbed her hand and the two rushed to the changing room.
"This will be good for her. We need to plan days like this more often," the nurse observed, following the younglings at a more sedate pace.
"I'll text you. Perhaps once a month? It would be a good way to help her wind down and learn to relax more. She has been so stressed since the incident," Nemuri kept her voice low.
"Ha, I'm surprised he got up the nerve to ask you for help; he's one of the most stubborn men I know, and I'm married to the other," Chiyo whispered back.
"I was shocked too. I guess trying to explain things to her embarrassed the both of them so bad he got desperate. I'm not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth though. He really is the most beautiful man I've ever seen and watching him with the children has just reaffirmed what I already suspected. He really is a big teddy bear," Nemuri whispered back, glancing around to ensure no one was listening.
"Ha! Don't let him hear you say that he'll see that as a sign of weakness and become even more stubborn, just like a certain former hero I know." Chiyo went silent as they entered the changing room. The two girls were whispering back and forth and whatever it was they were talking about had a blush on both of their faces.
"Anything we can help you girls with?"
Kiku, clutching a green towel to her chest, shook her head. "I was telling Momo-chan about the conversation I had with dad and how embarrassing it was for the both of us."
"Just think how embarrassed Tenya-kun must have been when you asked him," Momo giggled, nudging Kiku with her shoulder as they made their way out to the hot spring.
)-O-(
Mustafu prefecture…
Katsuki hurried through the park on his way to the Bullseye Hero Agency. It was the nearest agency to the house, and he was desperately hoping the hero had found something about his sister. She'd been missing for three days now. He remembered the questions from Detective Tsukauchi. Had he picked his sister up? Did he have a girlfriend or another friend he might have asked to pick her up? No and No. Girls were a waste of time in his opinion. All Might didn't get to the top by having a woman in his life and neither would he. All of the girls at his school were whiny gossipy extras anyway.
He was drawn from his thoughts by voices coming from the other side of the bushes.
"Leave me alone!"
"Make me you quirkless piece of shit." The words from the familiar voice had Katsuki seeing red. He recognized that second voice. Notsume-kun knew better than to harass quirkless people, especially when Katsuki was around. Explosions popping off his hands, Katsuki stormed through the bushes just in time to see Mienai-chan from class 5B fall to the ground, narrowly avoiding a swipe from Notsume's extended fingernails.
"Oi! What the hell do you think you are doing?" He charged at his friend, fist swinging and cracked the other boy across the cheek, knocking him to the ground.
Mienai scrambled to her feet, knees scraped and bleeding, mumbling a thank you to Katsuki as she took off running. Katsuki just grunted in response as he stood over his friend. "What the hell were you doing? You know how I feel about anyone harassing quirkless people."
"But quirkless aren't people, they are just a useless waste of space. Even the teachers say so," Notsume defended himself, pulling to his feet. "Even your sister is useless, you can't deny it!" He demanded recklessly.
"Bullshit. She only seems useless 'cause she's five years old, she's actually really smart," Katsuki defended. No one dissed his sister. "I'm gonna be a hero and heroes don't hurt civilians. They don't allow others to hurt civilians either. Go home; if I catch you harassing anyone else, we are done."
The other boy didn't say anything. He glared at Katsuki and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. Katsuki could already see the singed bruise forming on the other boy's cheek.
*A PHONECALL IS HERE. A PHONECALL IS HERE. A PHONECALL IS…* At the distraction of Katsuki's phone ringing, Notsume spat at Katsuki's feet and took off.
"What do you want, hag?"
"Katsuki, where are you?"
"I'm on my way to Bullseye's agency to find out if they've learned anything yet," Katsuki retorted, rolling his eyes. His mother could be so overprotective and since his sister went missing, she'd become even worse.
"Don't bother. I just got a call from his sidekick. She not so subtly hinted that Bullseye isn't concerned with missing quirkless children. Come home Katsuki, the detective should be calling any time with more information." Mitsuki's voice was resigned. Given the statistics, she didn't expect to find her daughter alive again.
Katsuki was unwilling to give up. He knew Mieko was still alive somewhere out there, his gut told him so. "Whatever. I'll be home shortly, I see Watanabe-kun over by the slides, I'm going to ask him if he saw anything." Katsuki disconnected the phone and hurried over to where the younger boy was playing.
"Watanabe-kun, hi. It's Bakugo Katsuki, Mieko's brother. Do you remember me?" He knelt down beside the quirkless boy, the only other quirkless kid at the childcare center.
"What do you want? Are you here to make fun of me or tell me to stay away from your sister?" The black-haired boy glared over at him.
"No. I'm actually hoping you know where she went. No one has seen her since lunch on Friday," Katsuki kept his voice mellow even though the boy's rudeness irritated him.
"What do you mean? Your girlfriend came and picked her up," the eight-year-old replied, brown eyes furrowed in confusion.
"I don't have a girlfriend. Whoever she was, she didn't bring Mieko to us," Katsuki told him, a glimmer of hope rising. This boy knew something. "Did you see the girl claiming to be my girlfriend?"
"Yeah. She was blonde with messy buns on both sides of her head and little fangs. Mieko was scared of her at first, but she insisted she was your girlfriend. She even showed her a picture of you. They got in a green van driven by a dark-haired woman. I assumed she was Himi-chan's mother." The boy explained, twisting his hands. "Is Mieko gonna be okay?"
"I hope so. This girl called herself Himi-chan?" The other boy nodded and Katsuki pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he came to the newest one. "Hello, is Detective Tsukauchi available? This is Bakugo Katsuki. I need to fucking talk to him; I have more information for him about my sister's case."
)-O-(
Saitama Prefecture, a couple hours later…
The magenta-haired teen squinted at the computer as a notification popped up informing her she'd been invited to a private chat. She stared at the message suspiciously. Who was Maze Runner and what did they want from her? Figuring she had enough redirections on her servers, she hesitantly entered the chat.
*LOVE CHILD HAS ENTERED THE CHAT*
LOVE CHILD: Who are you? How can I help you?
MAZE RUNNER: I am a friend. You have information I need. We need to meet.
LOVE CHILD: I don't know what you are talking about.
MAZE RUNNER: I'm not a fool. I am aware you hacked the HPSC records four nights ago.
LOVE CHILD: This conversation is over.
*LOVE CHILD HAS LEFT THE CHAT*
A ping from her phone had her opening the new message.
MAZE RUNNER: I know you don't trust me, but I am a friend. The wrong people know what you did. You need to erase your hard-drive and any backups you have right away. My associate will be there in fifteen minutes to get you to a safe location. The code word is Pepperoni and Anchovy. More lives than yours are at stake.
Manami stared at her phone. What could she have downloaded that was so dangerous and who was this mysterious person who had been texting her? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of anyone being in danger from her activities. She hacked because she could, for the fun of it. She never meant any harm with what she did. Swiveling her chair back to the computer, she pulled up the DOS screen and typed a string of commands. As the computer deleted its hard drive and backup, she reached into a drawer and pulled out a flash drive wondering what was so vital everyone was after it. She slid the narrow device into the toe of her shoe, wincing at the feel of it pressed up against her toes. The smell of overheating motherboard had her hurrying to grab her jacket. She had just put it on when the door disintegrated.
She stumbled back in fear at the sight of two men at her door. Well, a man and a boy, she supposed. The boy was pale with shaggy blue-white hair and chapped lips. From the little she could see, she surmised he was about her age or slightly younger. It was difficult to tell for sure as his face was partially obscured by his black hoodie. The man beside him was much taller, his muscular form making him nearly as wide as he was tall. His unkempt blonde hair and the sadistic look in his eyes had her sprinting to her room and locking the door. She'd seen the wanted posters online for the villain Muscular. She had just locked the door and pushed the dresser up against it when a knocking at the window caught her attention. There was a hooded figure at her window, gesturing for her to come. "I have your pizza," he called through the window.
Assuming it to be the code phrase, she asked him what type. A glance over her shoulder had her sliding the window open even as he responded with the answer her contact had advised. This must be her rescue. She leapt out the window just as the remains of the door burst open, sending the dresser flying at the place she stood a moment before. The hooded man, who she could now see wore a black domino mask above a neatly trimmed mustache, gestured with one hand as he grabbed her with the other. As they were bouncing through the air with her draped over his shoulder, she could see the blonde villain bounce off some invisible barrier blocking the now open window. She wondered what her rescuer's quirk was. Several blocks away they stopped, pausing in the shadow of an alley as a slender dark-blue car pulled up. The rear door swung open and her rescuer placed her on the seat inside and slipped into the front passenger seat.
Manami squeaked as a slender white paw reached around her and fastened her seatbelt. "I've been watching your escapades for quite a while, young Aiba-san."
)-O-(
The next morning, Outskirts of Musutafu prefecture…
Enji slammed the phone down, glaring indignantly at it. "What sort of bullshit is that man pulling now?" He left his home office and popped his head into the kitchen where his daughter was cooking breakfast. "Fuyumi-shojo, something has come up, I have to head out, I'll grab breakfast on the way."
His daughter looked up from where she was preparing the rice bowls, a look of exasperation on her face. "Sure. I will get Natsuo and Shoto ready and meet you at the agency later."
Enji hummed an affirmative as he grabbed a fire-proof jacket from the hall closet, slipped on his loafers, and stepped out into the warm summer rain. Under the safety of the umbrella, he pulled out his phone, smiling gently at the white-haired woman who adorned the background, and searched through his contacts. 'I wonder if he's still there?' He mused to himself as he headed for the Subway station. The man he was going to visit liked to keep his home life separate from his hero life. Enji extinguished his signature flaming mustache so as to be more inconspicuous.
A fifty-minute subway ride left him three blocks from his destination. He Jogged the remainder of the way, wondering what the hell Yagi had gotten himself involved with this time.
Enji made quick work of the fifteen flights of stairs leading up to the penthouse apartment belonging to the number-one hero. He paused at the door, smoothing down his slightly wind-blown hair and straightening his shirt. He didn't want to look like some sort of unkempt hobo in front of his rival. He knocked on the door. Several minutes passed and he could hear movement from the other side of the door, followed by swearing. Finally, an exhausted voice yelled 'come in.' Enji opened the door and stepped inside, halting in his tracks just within the entrance, staring. He blinked twice, rubbed his eyes and stared again. Yes, it was Yagi Toshinori sitting before him in a wheelchair, hair unkempt, shirt askew, wearing a pair of baggy gray sweatpants.
"What the hell, All Might!" He moved forward, closing the door with his foot as he toed his shoes off in the entry. "What the hell happened to you? And don't give me the same bullshit excuse about appendix surgery your agency is feeding the masses because we both know you had your appendix out in third year."
Yagi sighed, rolling his wheelchair back slightly and turning it towards the living room. "Come in and sit down. I guess I do owe you an explanation."
Enji followed him into the massive living room, eyes taking in the rumpled comic book lying on the table beside the overstuffed white sofa. He picked it up and glanced over it, eyes shooting over to All Might who was struggling to pull his left arm into the sleeve of his t-shirt. Enji could pick out white bandages peeking out beneath the fabric. He quirked an eyebrow at the number-one hero, lifting the comic book. "She-Hulk? You have interesting taste in heroes, my friend," he commented, hiding a smirk as Yagi's arm got caught halfway in the sleeve.
His rival sighed and gave up, glaring at him through yellow bangs. "You could assist a man, you know."
"I could, but it's so much fun watching you struggle, knowing you aren't as perfect as everyone thinks you are," Enji retorted. This was going in his list of favorite moments to remember.
"You are an asshole, you know that, right?" Yagi sighed in defeat, leaving the shirt half askew on his body, his left arm wrapped protectively around his left side.
"Someone has to be, you are too soft." Enji settled on the couch, placing the comic book back on the table. "Mind explaining to me what happened?" He gestured at the other man's bandages.
"I got ambushed."
"What do you mean you got ambushed? I didn't know there was a villain alive that could damage you like that. How bad is it?"
Yagi sighed again. "I lost my stomach and half of my left lung. I've been forbidden to do any hero work until both Doctor Shūfuku and Recovery Girl have cleared me. They are saying six months at least, but I am determined it won't be that long. As for villains, there is one who could do this. Have you heard of a Villain named All-for-One?"
"The King of the Underworld? The Quirk Stealer? I've heard whispers, but he's just a myth," Enji responded. Everyone knew the First Villain was an urban legend.
"He's real. You may not remember, but I missed two weeks at the end of my first year when my mentor Skyline died. She was killed the quirk stealer, a villain called All-for-One, a man who has been around since the dawn of quirks." Yagi's voice came out in a harsh whisper and Enji could hear the pain of loss that still lingered twenty-five years later. The man raised his head and glared at Enji. "Where were you? Lite Brite said you were on the way, but you never arrived."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Enji was getting annoyed at the accusing tone in the other man's voice.
"Wash's sidekick, the one who called me about the gang fight, she said you had been notified and were on your way."
"I haven't spoken with anyone at Wash's agency in months. How long ago did this happen?"
"Three weeks ago, come Tuesday. She said you would be about an hour as you were dealing with China regarding the fight with Qing Pin," Yagi sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. "I'm guessing from your reaction you don't know what I'm talking about?"
Enji shook his head. His dealings with China had taken up the entire week. He listened with growing concern as All Might explained the phone call he'd received followed by the fight with the villains. His concern grew when he heard that none of the heroes the sidekick had supposedly called for had shown up.
When All Might had finished speaking, Enji spoke up, "I think we need to call a meeting –" His words were disrupted at the sound of the front door opening hard enough to shake the walls. His surprise grew as a tall green-haired girl bounced into the room carrying half a dozen shopping bags and trailed by the underground hero, Midnight.
"Dad! You will never believe how much fun –" Kiku trailed off, she stopped abruptly causing the woman behind her to crash into her, staring at her father's visitor.
It only took Enji a couple of moments to recognize the child who'd arrived at his hero agency, covered in vomit, begging to use the restroom. His eyes widened as he realized his first ponderance – of her being All Might's child – was true.
"Uh, hello?" She mouthed a 'sorry' in her father's direction and disappeared into a nearby room. Midnight just stood there, staring back and forth between Yagi and Todoroki before moving quickly over to the blonde man and gently helping him right his wardrobe mishap.
"Where's Hizashi?" the woman asked, straightening the t-shirt which now completely covered his bandages.
"He had to drop Hitoshi-kun at his martial arts class and pick up my prescription. I wasn't expecting you two here this early," Yagi replied, glancing up at the woman. Enji wondered at their familiarity. Was the number-one hero human after all? He was almost certain the 18+ hero wasn't the girl's biological mother.
A slight creak had Enji looking over to see a blue eye peering out at them from a crack in the door.
Yagi sighed, dragging a hand through his shaggy hair. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. Kiku, my dear, come out and meet our guest."
The girl shuffled out, wearing a white dress that set off the green locks in her hair. Enji noted the faint hints of gold amongst the green, something he hadn't observed four years ago.
"Kiku, I'd like you to meet Todoroki Enji, you might know him as the Pro Hero, Endeavor. Todoroki-san, my daughter, Midoriya Kiku." All Might introduced his daughter to his rival as Midnight stood there gaping.
"How do you do?" Kiku bowed formally. She remembered the fiery hero who had kindly allowed them to get cleaned up after Hitoshi's car incident. "How are your daughter and son?"
"Hello again, kid. Fuyumi and Shoto are doing well. I see you are still hanging around with Midnight. Do you still visit the Hobo too?"
Kiku dropped onto her father's armchair, causing it to creak. She shot a sheepish look at her father before turning to answer the question.
…A.U.T.H.O.R.S..N.O.T.E…
No name drops in this chapter that haven't already been dropped before.
This next Arc will take us up through the next few years until we meet up with the Canon timeline, though this story will be NOTHING like Canon.
Thank you to TodoBakuDeku2108 for their help with Shimura Nana's hero name.