Shoto Todoroki was having a lovely day. Sitting on the couch in the common room, reading a book, enjoying the quiet. He didn't have any homework to do, no extra training to attend, no midgets with purple balls on their heads interrupting his peace and quiet… it was a good day. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his mind wander to a particularly peaceful memory, one that made him feel happy. And angry. But mostly happy.

It had been a perfectly pleasant afternoon. Peaceful, quiet even, but for Kaminari and Sero's spirited game of Skullgirls Three in the living room.

Todoroki had been sitting on the couch behind them reading a historical fiction novel about a samurai warrior who had fallen into forbidden love with a peasant woman, who was herself a masked vigilante hunting a criminal band through the countryside by night. It was quite thrilling, and he was thoroughly enjoying it.

To his left sat Iida, who was also reading, though his was a non-fiction study of the history of combustion engines. And to his right was Midoriya, who had dozed off with two babies on his lap. One was Inko, his daughter, whose little flesh-tendrils that extended from her back were wrapped around her father's scarred hand as she snoozed. The other was Shouta, his son, who was awake and watching his father's chest rise and fall with rapt attention.

It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was inevitably interrupted.

Ashido had entered the room, whispering to a scandalized looking Momo. The latter only had eyes for Midoriya, her expression something of a mix between concern and panic. Shōto had thought it odd. Then Momo had approached Iida, and whispered something in his ear.

Iida had blinked and then announced to the room in his usual speaking voice that yes, Midoriya was regularly visiting Himiko Toga in the mental ward she had been placed in.

Midoriya had started to stir then, his eyes twitching and breath pausing for a moment. Shōto had shrugged. This wasn't news to him. He often came along to help by carrying one of the babies for Midoriya. He never actually entered Toga's room, but she was just a few doors down from his own mother, so the positions lined up well.

Momo had seemed even more scandalized. Mina looked almost euphoric to have acquired such a rich piece of gossip. And Midoriya had awoken with a yawn and a quiet 'wuzgoinon?' as he looked around the room.

"Wow, Midoriya!" Then had come the shrill voice of Minoru Mineta, who had circled around the couch with a filthy grin on his face. "Was it that good then?"

Midoriya blinked again, still tired.

"Was... what good?" he repeated, confused.

Mineta had giggled like a schoolboy, before leaning in closer.

"C'mon, man, you really think we don't know why you visit Toga so much?" he asked, his grin only expanding. "Is she as crazy in the sheets as she is in the streets?"

He stood there, amidst the silence, as Midoriya blinked and stayed quiet for a long moment. Then Midoriya calmly, quietly asked Todoroki to hold Shouta, and Iida to hold Inko. Both did so with polite acquiescence, and Izuku stood up. He stared down at Mineta, who was still smirking.

Then he cocked back his left hand and drove his fist into Mineta's face in a savage hook. Mineta was nearly knocked from his feet by the hit, only to stagger to a stop. Then Midoriya took a step forward, and backhanded the smaller boy across the jaw. Mineta did fall over this time, right there on the carpet. The room stared in silent shock as Izuku stared down at Mineta, before Tokoyami piped up from the corner.

"As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible." the darksome boy declared, his voice soft. "Well done, Midoriya."

Midoriya had squatted down in front of Mineta then, a hand latching on to the boy's collar and pulling him up, not onto his feet but at least closer to Izuku's mouth.

"I warned you twice, Mineta." he said, voice low. "You needed to watch your act. You tried to sneak a camera into Momo's room. Then you tried to steal from the girl's laundry. This is strike three."

Midoriya dragged him away towards the stairs, flashing Todoroki and Iida an apologetic smile. Todoroki watched blankly, nodding once before returning his attention to his book and the baby on his lap, who was toying with the drawstrings of his cozy white hoodie using two chubby little hands. He cracked a small smile at the sight.

Nobody had seen Mineta for an hour after that, though Midoriya had come back downstairs and wordlessly reclaimed the still-sleeping Inko from Iida. Shōto at that point was busy playing with Shouta's attention, setting the very tip of his finger on fire with a gentle yellow flame and slowly tracing little shapes in the air for the enraptured baby.

Midoriya had spoken with Mina and Momo afterwards, before announcing news to the class at dinner that evening.

"In interest of dispelling some rumours, I want to be honest with all of you for a minute." he declared, standing up near the end of the meal. "N-Not that I'm not usually honest but... I mean... you know. Anyways..."

He swallowed.

"I leave the dorms every Saturday, with Shōto." he declared. "He goes to visit his mother, and I go to visit Himi- erm, Toga."

Bakugou blew up softly, having the self-awareness to actually look a little embarrassed by the tiny detonation that embedded one of his chopsticks in the ceiling. Midoriya smiled in an almost weary way.

"I know this isn't what some of you expect, or want, but..." Shōto watched as his friend searched for words even as he felt the fire inside him surging, burning hotter, emboldened by the sense of disquieted anger he felt about this whole affair. "I... I'm a father now. Toga's their mother. And she's sick. Her Quirk and upbringing hurt her, badly. I'm not going to throw her aside, the same way I could never throw any of you aside if you were hurt."

There was muttering by then, a few students leaning to each other and speaking in hushed voices. It was then that Bakugou stood.

"Shut up." he commanded, with a sidelong glance at the rest of the table. "Deku isn't insane. He's just weird. Same as the rest of you. It's none of your damn business how he spends his weekends, same way it's none of his what you do with yours. Deku's done more for all of you than you've ever been able to do for him, so stay out of his way."

Bakugou then sat down, and it took a moment to register with Shōto that Bakugou had just strung together a full five sentences without cussing once beyond a single 'damn', which hardly counted. And the children weren't even present.

Midoriya stared at Bakugou for a long moment, his expression cracking into a smile. Bakugou met his gaze and smirked, before going back to his curry.

That had been the end of that, with nobody able to contend Bakugou's point. Shōto hadn't said anything. He supposed the blonde was right, in a way. Midoriya had kept his secrets, and never interfered in his own time except for by Shōto's own invitation. He had no business interfering with Midoriya.

Mineta had been expelled the next day. He was not missed. For the last month of school, Class 1-A was a much more peaceful, polite place. The presence of two babies in the dorms probably helped, as did the mutual period of morning for Aizawa-sensei. Grief and cute babies had brought them all together in an odd way.

Now Shōto sat in the midst of a similarly quiet afternoon, the mid-winter sun warm on his side through the window as he read. He wasn't entirely certain why it was the second book in this series was predominantly mystery novel, but the action, drama and most importantly the romance were all still very much present. The samurai of the first book had shamed himself at the end when he had needed to be saved by the vigilante, unaware that the mysterious masked 'Kitsune' and his beloved Tomoe were one and the same. Now he was on a quest for redemption, seeking to quell a rising rebellion alone against his Daimyo's orders to prove his ability and loyalty.

It was riveting stuff once more. There was even the promise of a revelation that Tomoe and Kitsune were one and the same nearer to the end, an idea which thrilled Shōto.

Iida had traded spots with Tokoyami, quietly studying with a struggling Sero while Tokoyami read a book of poetry in the shade to Shōto's right. Besides the occasional click of his beak, he was a pleasantly quiet reading companion. Midoriya was once again spending time with the twins, though this time he was at the on-campus home of Mirio Togata, who often babysat the pair while Midoriya was in class.

It was a good and peaceful day. Which meant it inevitably needed to be interrupted.

All three of 2-A's newest students walked into the room together; Yanagi, with her white hair and ethereal aspect, was looking all around the room. Beside her the black-skinned Kuroiro had eyes only for Shōto, walking with confidence born of purpose. Komori seemed hesitant, trailing behind her classmates, even murmuring something to Kuroiro before he reached Shōto.

"Yo." said the boy, his voice soft. "Can we talk for a sec?"

Shōto looked up at him, staring blankly.

"About...?" He let the question hang, and Kuroiro took a moment to glance around the room.

"Midoriya." he said, and Shōto sighed deeply before standing up.

"Follow." he commanded, and Tokoyami joined him after a moment, his little poetry book disappearing into his pocket.

The two led their classmates outside, into the yard beside the dorm. There they stood beside one another, facing down their three new classmates.

"Ask your questions, but be aware that we may not answer all of them." Tokoyami warned. "Midoriya is his own sovereign man; we shall leave it to him to explain some measure of himself.

Kuroiro nodded.

"Sounds good to me." he said. "Alright, I'll just cut straight to the chase... what's his deal with girls?"

Shōto could see Tokoyami stiffen at that, and he laid a gentle hand on the other boy's arm.

"I mean, first he freaks out on Komori last year, which we totally get by the way, he was panicking." Kuroiro declared, Komori nodding in affirmation behind him. "But he's... off. He gets all twitchy around Yanagi and Komori, but thinks I'm cool, which is weird because I look like a horror movie villain and they look like normal people."

Yanagi cleared her throat, and Kuroiro chuckled.

"Okay, mostly normal." he admitted. "Anyways, am I wrong here? Am I missing something?"

Shoto looked at Tokoyami, who looked back at him. The two spoke without words for a moment; both were given to staying quiet. With just their eyes, there was much they could say. Eventually, Tokoyami nodded.

"Izuku… that is, Midoriya, has suffered greatly in the prior months," he explained. "You are aware that he lost his mother, I believe, but that is not the end of his story. I trust you are all capable of holding to a vow of secrecy?"

Kuroiro nodded, an action mirrored by his two classmates. Tokoyami took one last look at Shoto, who nodded.

"Izuku has a son and daughter." Tokoyami declared. "Shouta and Inko. They are not his cousins, as you were told. They were born of a forcible union between himself and Himiko Toga, who violated him in a fit of madness."

The field was utterly silent for a moment. Kuroiro's mind was clearly firing on all cylinders as he thought about what he had just been told. Behind him, Yanagi was frowning, a finger to her chin, and Komori… Komori looked horrified, pale and shaking, eyes wide under her hair. She had a hand over her mouth.

"Holy shit." deadpanned Kuroiro. "Well now I feel like a massive dick. She… raped him?"

"Yes." Tokoyami confirmed. "But the less you speak of it, the better. Midoriya has been recovering, and making good progress in doing so."

"Wow." Kuroiro nodded slowly, unable to look Tokoyami in the eyes. "I mean… alright. Thanks for the heads up, I guess. That's a lot to take in. So… the twins are… they're hers?"

"They are Izuku's son and daughter as much as they are hers." Shoto interjected sharply. "He cares for them. He named his daughter for his mother and his son for our former teacher. Do not assume they are somehow at fault for their mother's crime."

"Besides, Midoriya has been making amends with Toga." Tokoyami added, glancing sidelong at Shoto with concern clear in his otherwise stoic expression. "Her madness is an unwanted affliction courtesy of her Quirk and upbringing. He seeks to help her."

"A suitably heroic goal." Yanagi intoned, her voice devoid of any emotion. "Although I would question the wisdom of sharing his life with her… it is his life. Not my own."

Behind her, Komori still had a hand over her mouth, eyes hidden under the bob of her brown hair. There were tears slowly trailing down her face, cutting thin lines along her pale cheeks and gathering along her jaw.

"I didn't know…" she whispered, her voice trembling. "I thought… I didn't know he'd… when he pushed me, it was because… he thought I… I would…"

It was Kuroiro who turned and put his hands on her shoulders, while Yanagi watched with her usual unflappability as her classmate broke down into sobs. Tokoyami took a single step forward himself, but Todoroki grabbed his arm, slowly shaking his head.

"This is not our concern." he murmured.

Tokoyami stared at him for a moment, before pulling away from his hand, turning toward the distraught Komori.

"It is," he replied, hearing four words in his head as his idol pointed a finger, commanding him to take up the standard and carry on the legacy. "It always has been."

AN:

Izuku soon I promise. Also Toga, probably. After that, plot and antagonists and all that good stuff.

Also, Mineta is dead. [Insert Crab Rave Drop Here]

A.I.R's Interjections:

We did it boys, we exorcised Mineta from the 'fic.