Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Those who want power do not deserve it. And those who deserve power do not want it. ― J.K. RowlingThey were bloodied and many of them were broken, but they had won. Somehow, they had gotten all the hostages out alive.
"We've got Eraser Head, Present Mic, Midnight, Hound Dog, 13, Snipe, and a man we're pretty sure is Cementoss in the medical ward," Recovery Girl reported. "They also retrieved Hawks, though he's touch and go. He's been exsanguinated so many times it's a miracle he's still breathing. And all of them have lost their quirks."
They were gathered in the cafeteria, Izuku having decided that everyone needed to rest and eat. He had a bowl of hot soup in front of him, along with a mug of coffee. Mei was pressed up next to him, humming contentedly. She hadn't been able to come, and while she'd understood why, she hadn't been happy that she'd been left behind, and that their need for radio silence meant she would be unable to act as mission control.
"Casualties?" Izuku asked, not wanting to hear the answer, but knowing he needed to.
"Togata is in critical condition, and Bakugo is in a medical coma," Recovery Girl reported. "Sato took a bad gut wound and will need to be in the hospital for at least a few days, even with that remarkable girl's help."
Eri had been a literal life saver, especially in the case of Togata. Her miraculous quirk allowed her to fully restore someone from the brink of death. However, with Togata there was a wrinkle. His body was healed, but somehow he was still weak and listless. Bakugo, on the other hand, had insisted that Eri's healing not be used on him, using only Recovery Girl's quirk. Why Izuku hadn't ascertained, but it had seemed important to his friend, so they had let it slide for now.
"And the dead?" Izuku prompted, dreading the answer.
Recovery Girl hesitated, then sighed. "Stain, as you know, is likely dead. We haven't heard from the PLF, but it's doubtful he lived when Shigaraki and All For One clearly were not killed by him."
"Good riddance," Pixie Bob muttered, tossing her head in annoyance. Burnin nodded, her own lips a thin line. Stain had decidedly not be popular with the remaining pro heroes, but Izuku had been desperate, and his gambit had paid off.
"Koda didn't make it," Recovery Girl continued. "That poison quirk that hit him worked too fast, even for me. I'm sorry, but even Eri couldn't revive him. He was brought back for a short time, but he was just a vegetable. He's dead now."
Recovery Girl continued on, two other older students had both died, as well as a minor pro who had volunteered for the mission. It was hard for Izuku to hear about them, but it was Koda's death that hit him the hardest. Koda had been quiet and distant, but Izuku had come to think of him as a friend and brother after the trials they'd endured together.
"The dead will need to be cremated," Recovery Girl said finally. "And soon. We have nowhere to store the bodies."
"I'll handle it, boss," Burnin said quietly, her expression pained. "One last service to the fallen."
"Thank you, Burnin. Please store the ashes. Have Yaoyorozu make appropriate vessels for each of them. She volunteered to do so earlier," Izuku said, rubbing his forehead. He managed to smile. "We still won, though. Thank you all."
"Take the rest of the evening off, Boss," Burnin said, nodding to Izuku. "We'll handle things for tonight."
"Thank you. We'll hold a vigil in a few hours for the fallen," Izuku said. "We have supplies for it?"
"We did bring rather copious amounts of alcohol," Recovery Girl said, making a distasteful face. "I don't like giving it to students, but well, I suppose none of you are students now anyway. But that does bring up the issue of supplies."
"We're set on them for now, and we're scrounging what we can from nearby cities," Nezu reported. "So far, it's not an issue. The PLF mostly controls Tokyo and its wards, and not much beyond it. But it could become a major issue in the future."
"We'll deal with that tomorrow," Izuku decided. "Thank you."
The others departed for their own tables with their loved ones, leaving Izuku alone with Mei.
"I am sad about Koda," Mei said after a few minutes, once Izuku had finished eating his soup. "And Hari is very sad about Togata. We are losing too many friends, Izuku. How can we keep them safe?"
"I'm trying," Izuku said, looking down at his empty bowl and feeling powerless. "God, I'm trying, Mei. I thought the plan was a good one, that it would work, but…"
Izuku's mind wandered back, to the smoke and fog. He'd been part of the assault force, the ones to hit the PLF hard to draw the prison guards away. Koda had been with them, springing up out of the tunnels right after the Eraser Bombs had been detonated. He'd called forth a swarm of carrion feeders that had been feasting on the corpses that had lined the street, and they'd torn in to the dazed and confused PLF soldiers.
At first, all had gone according to plan. The PLF soldiers didn't carry traditional weapons for the most part, no guns or swords, armed only with their quirks. The Eraser Bombs had left them helpless and immobile, as apparently having their quirks disrupted was extremely painful.
But that had lasted only few minutes at most. Then, they had fought back. Izuku's force had started to fall back, as planned, hoping to draw away the PLF before they retreated into the tunnels again. Izuku had been cutting down two heteromorphic types that had taken on the forms of dangerous beasts, when Koda had squealed in pain. One soldier had spat a stream of bright orange liquid, right in Koda's eyes. A moment later, Izuku had blown him away with a missile, but the damage was done.
Koda had needed to be dragged to safety by Sero, but they hadn't gotten far in the tunnel before Koda had started to convulse, foam bubbling from his lips. They'd take him to Recovery Girl, who had used her quirk on him, and at first it seemed to be working. Izuku had hurried away to manage the rest of the evacuation and fight off the pursuing PLF troops.
When he'd returned, Koda had already been dead.
"It is not your fault," Mei whispered, hugging Izuku tightly. "I know you tried to save everyone. You saved all our teachers, and you killed lots of bad guys. "I hate them. They are evil. Why do they kill so many people, Izuku?"
"I don't know. I can't understand what drives people to such deep and abiding hatred. Something's wrong with them, Mei. And I don't think even Mr Inui could fix it, no matter how much he talked to them," Izuku said.
"Yes. So we will kill them. So they can not kill us." Mei said it matter of factly, like it was the simple, obvious solution.
Izuku hung his head, feeling drained. "I just...I still feel guilty, you know. I didn't even really feel anything this time, when I killed all those PLF soldiers. I felt terrible afterwards, and I know I'll have nightmares about it again tonight, but...but when I was doing it, all I felt was...nothing. It wasn't fun, it wasn't good, it was just...a job. A job I had to do. Even if it was a distasteful one."
"That is good. You should not feel bad if you squish a bug, or if you kill a disease. These people are diseases and bugs. They have to be killed, so that the rest of us can be healthy," Mei declared. "It is good that my babies did their job at least. I will find a way to make them better, so that we can save even more of our friends."
"You really are amazing, you know," Izuku said, managing to smile. "Without those Eraser Bombs, this wouldn't have been possible at all. There's no way we could have managed to get in. Come on. Let's go check on Katsuki and Mirio."
The medical ward wasn't far, and to Izuku's surprise he found Bakugo up and moving, with Uraraka's help.
"Hey, you're looking a lot better," Izuku said, smiling at Bakugo. "You'll have to tell me how you and Togata managed to get away from Shigaraki, Todoroki said they saw him coming after both of you, but then something blew him away."
"Yeah, about that," Bakugo said, flexing the arm that had been broken. "Some weird shit went down. I gotta talk to Togata. Come on. You might as well be there too, seeing as you're my backup option."
That reply confused Izuku, but when he looked to Uraraka she just shrugged, so he and Mei followed Bakugo to Togata's room.
The older boy was awake, talking quietly with Hari, who was clutching his hand at the bedside.
"Hey, Katsuki!" Togata said upon seeing Bakugo, struggling to sit up. He smiled widely. "Guess it's up to you, now. Don't worry, Hari, I'll be staying with you for a bit, I think."
"The hell you are," Bakugo snapped. Hari quickly stood, giving her seat to Bakugo, who sank down in it, sighing. He reached up, plucking a hair out of his head with a wince, then held it up. "Alright. Take it back."
Togata hesitated, looking at the hair. "Are you sure?"
"Hell yeah I'm sure. This doesn't belong to me," Bakugo stated firmly as he handed the hair to Togata. "All Might meant for you to have it. I don't care if that means giving up all these weird quirks."
Togata paused, the hair half way to his mouth. "What?"
"Yeah, you never told me you had all these other freaky powers," Bakugo commented. He extended a hand, and to Izuku's shock, a black tendril came out. It reached out, grabbing a cup of water on the table, and retracting so that Bakugo could take a drink. "Why you never bothered with them, I don't know. Seems like they'd be useful."
"Wait, what's going on?" Uraraka demanded, just as astonished as Izuku was. "Katsuki, how did you do that?"
"It's one of the quirks from One For All," Bakugo explained. "Togata lent me the power for a hot minute so I could save our asses from Shigaraki. I'm just giving them back."
"There...there's more than one quirk in there?" Togata asked, obviously stunned.
"Don't play stupid. All Might and the others told you about them, right? They won't shut up whenever I close my eyes. Really annoying, let me tell you," Bakugo said, rolling his eyes.
"You can talk to All Might?" Togata demanded, suddenly leaning forward to grab Bakugo's hand. "Are you serious? How!?"
Frowning, Bakugo nodded. "What? You should know. He's like, in the quirk, or something. He keeps talking about this guy named Dante. Whatever. But yeah, there's him, and a couple others. The whip thing's from that guy, Banjo. He was the one I kept seeing after I passed out, but apparently there's eight people, including him and All Might."
"Bakugo...I never knew any of that," Togata whispered, falling back onto his bed, tears in his eyes. "I never...I never heard from any of them. I just...I mean, All Might just told me it was a power storage quirk."
"Yeah, obviously. But it stores the quirks and shit of the people who had it. Hey, you still got your original quirk, right?" Bakugo asked, sounding concerned. "Cause I mean, I still want my quirk back from Mei, and I mean, you can have a copy and all but-"
Togata suddenly vanished, leaving his hospital gown behind. A moment later, he popped up on top of the bed. "Yep! Still got it!"
"Oh for Christsake, not in front of my SISTER!" Hari cried, quickly covering Togata's exposed parts by yanking the sheet up over him, which made Togata laugh.
"I have seen his boy parts before," Mei commented. "I made him underwear, after all."
"Yeah, but I wasn't, you know...with him, then," Hari said, waving her hand awkwardly. She glared at the others in the room. "I should just make you all leave so I can get some alone time with my future husband."
"You're getting married?" Mei asked. "Why did you not tell me!"
Hari blushed. "Well, he just proposed, so-"
"That was a joke!" Togata yelped. "I just said, 'Marry me,' because you gave me that food!"
"And I said yes," Hari sniffed. "Don't you try any take backs with me, mister. I am a strict no-take-backs kind of girl."
"Um, maybe we should give them some privacy," Izuku said, turning and pushing Mei towards the door.
"Hold on just one damn minute!" Bakugo snapped. "You still haven't taken it back! Come on now, don't play stupid with me!" Violently, Bakguo yanked out another hair and proffered it to Togata.
For a long, silent moment, Togata regarded the hair. Then, he reached out, closing Bakugo's hand over it. "No. I guess I'm a no take backs kind of guy, too."
That made Hari beam. "Oh, mom is gonna be so pumped! That is so- wait, are you not taking back All Might's quirk?"
Slowly, Togata shook his head. "No. Somehow, somehow this feels right. All Might did tell me I was just borrowing his power. And I think it's time I passed it on."
"No!" Bakugo roared, trying to force the hair towards Togata's mouth. "Dammit, I'm not going back to being weak! You're the strong one! You're the one people like! You have to-"
"Katsuki, in less than a day with that quirk, you've managed to do more with it than I have in nearly two years," Togata said seriously. "You were meant to have it. Sure, I beat a powered down All For One. He's gone. But Shigaraki is the heir to All For One. You saw him. He's got that power now. And he's going to start harvesting new quirks for himself. You have to stop him. Not me."
"No no no no no!" Bakugo said, tears forming in his eyes. "Dammit, I'm not worthy!"
"You are. You've become a true hero, Bakugo. How many times have you been willing to give up your own life to save others now?" Togata asked. "I saw it today, and I've seen it before. You were willing to give up what mattered most to you in the world to save me, after all."
"The hell I was!" Bakugo snarled. "If it were between you and Ochako, you'd be dead as a doornail you insensitive prick!"
Togata blinked. "Oh, I mean, I meant your quirk. You sacrificed your quirk to save mine."
That seemed to calm Bakugo. "Oh. Well, I mean, yeah, sure, whatever. Not like that was all that important anyway. Mei can fix me and whatever."
"You didn't know that then," Togata reminded Bakugo. "But you still took a bullet for me. You had already seen what would happen. And out of all you possessed, that was what was most precious to you."
Bakugo was silent, and he slowly withdrew his hand, looking at the hair. "I guess."
"So I won't take it back," Togata said, shaking his head. "Besides, I don't think it works that way. Once you give up One For All, it's gone. I can still feel a bit of it within me, some lingering power. But I gave everything I could to you, Bakugo. Use it well."
"Yeah, no. You're a good person, All Might's a good person. Me, I'm still a bastard," Bakugo said. He proffered the hair to Uraraka. "You take it. You're the better part of me anyway."
Uraraka made a wet, disgusting noise with her lips. "You know as well as I do I'm no saint. You're not passing this off on me, mister. If Togata thinks you should have it, then you should. I already have one quirk, and that's enough for me."
"Fine! You're all dumb!" Bakugo ranted. He stood, standing and hobbling over to Izuku, shoving the hair in Izuku's face. "You take it. You always wanted a quirk. Well here you go. You get the one you always dreamed of, All Might's."
Slowly, Izuku tok the hair from Bakugo. It seemed to be heavier than it should be, as if it bore the weight of destiny. But instead of putting it in his mouth, he looked at Mei, who had a pensive, worried expression. "I already have something better than any quirk. You keep it, Kaachan."
"I told you not to call me that, you damn nerd!" Bakugo snapped. He seemed to sag, looking desperate. "I just...what if it makes me a monster again? To have so much power...I let that make me a terrible person for so long. If it happens again...I'll never forgive myself. God, did you know I half WANTED to get All For One to give me a quirk? I'd have traded nearly anything to have one again, to get that rush of power."
"Would you have, though?" Uraraka demanded, coming over and slipping under Bakugo's arm to support him.
"No," Bakugo admitted. "That would have meant giving up you. It'd be easier to give up on life than you."
"Good answer," Uraraka agreed. She smiled at Hari. "Well, we'll give you some alone time now. I think Bakugo and I have a few things to discuss ourselves. I'm really glad to be alive right now, and I can't think of many better ways to celebrate it."
Bakugo looked pained. "But I-"
"Another word, and I'll find a way to celebrate on my own. That what you want?" Uraraka demanded as she helped him off down the hall. "I didn't think so."
Izuku looked at Mei, who blinked. "I do not understand all of that. Didn't Katsuki want a quirk? Why does he want to give it away? He is very strange. And are he and Uraraka going to play baseball again? I think that is what is happening but people do not say what they are actually going to do."
"Well, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do," Hari said, putting a hand on Izuku and Mei's shoulders and pushing them out of the room. "I'm going to celebrate my impending nuptials. Don't worry hot stuff, I'll be gentle while you're still healing."
With that, Izuku and Mei found themselves outside of the now locked hospital room. Very interesting and embarrassing sounds began to emanate from it, so Izuku quickly took Mei's hand and led her away.
"That was very odd. I thought people were supposed to wait longer before they got married," Mei commented. "Dad said it took mom years before she was willing to date him, and then it took longer for her to actually marry him."
"I wish my parents matrimony was so successful," Izuku sighed. "I just hope they know what they are doing."
"Oh? I have never met your dad, Izuku. He lives in America, yes? Why does he not visit?"
Izuku paused, then led Mei to one of the maintenance rooms. He shut the door, then slumped down against one of the pulsing ducts that kept fresh air flowing throughout the bunker. "I...I talked with my mom, about this, a little. And...and it's why I don't really want to sleep with you, Mei, not yet."
"You mean have a home run," Mei said, nodding. "I was going to ask about that. I think now might be a good time, but I will listen, first."
Izuku nodded, lacing his hands together and looking up at the metal grating above them. "My parents... My mom was a young office lady, just out of school, and my father was older, a successful engineer at a large company. They hooked up after an office party. They were both drunk, my mom says. She had a crush on my father, but they had never really spoken. After the hook up, she invited him over a few times, and they went out together. One thing led to another, and...and my mom got pregnant. With me."
"Ah," Mei said, nodding. "Babies. I assume you were very cute, since you still are."
That made Izuku smile faintly, and he shrugged. "I don't know. My mom panicked. She was very young, and while she had a crush on my father, she realized she didn't know how he really felt about her. He liked sleeping with her, obviously, but was there more to it than that?"
"There wasn't. He married her when he found out she was pregnant. They tried to make it work, sort of. My father was a good worker, he made a lot of money, and he was being promoted in the company. He had to travel more and more, but the money was good, and my mom had me, and she was content."
"And then...and then they found out I was quirkless. I was five. My father...he'd always been sort of distant from me. He would take me to the store and buy me things sometimes, or to the movies or a park to play, but...but he was never really interested in me. And when he found out I was quirkless...He took a promotion that would involve him living overseas. And he didn't take mom and me with him."
Mei brushed Izuku's cheek with a handkerchief, and he realized he was crying. "Mom says my father never said it was because I was quirkless. She thinks it's because she got fat, and he didn't like to sleep with her as much anymore. I don't know. She says she thinks he's got a girlfriend or something in America. He doesn't talk about it, and she doesn't ask. He sends me birthday gifts, and there was always money. To get into a good school, to buy whatever we needed or wanted."
Izuku's hands balled into fists. "But he doesn't love me. He doesn't really even give a damn about me, or my mom. What does he care that Iida's dead, or that I lost my arm? Do you know what he sent me when I lost my arm? He sent me a set of left handed tools. That's it. And a note, but I didn't read it. I threw it away."
"That is OK, Izuku," Mei said, dabbing at his tears still. "You can use my dad. He likes you very much. He is a good dad. Even when he tries to take away your tools or babies, it is only because he does not want you to get hurt. He did not leave because I have autism, or kick me out when I burned my first room, or be mad when I accidentally broke his car when I tried to improve it."
Mei paused, then admitted. "Well. He was mad. But he forgave me and said he loved me more than his car. And then we fixed it together, so it was alright. He can be your dad, too. But I think we will have to get married, like Hari and Togata. We should wait though. I checked, you need to be a grown up to get married. I think Hari is an adult, I am not sure about Togata. They will probably have to wait until he is 20. That is when you are an adult. But it must be before I am 26. I do not want to turn into a cake. Hari was very worried about that, she is already 21."
Izuku laughed. "Mei, I promise not to let you become a Christmas cake. But why do you think you have to be 20 to be an adult?"
"Well, obviously because until then you are a teenager, which is not an adult. Although I think that we are smarter than a lot of adults, so I do not know why everyone makes a big fuss about it. Maybe they are letting you be an adult early, since you are the boss now. I will ask Burnin if I can be an adult too. Then we could get married."
"I think maybe we'd best wait until your sister is married first. We wouldn't want to steal her thunder," Izuku chuckled.
Mei nodded seriously. "I will schedule it then. My birthday is April 18th, but yours is July 15th. We will have to have a birthday party first, so we will get married on July 22nd in three years, when we are both twenty. I will let Hari know she needs to have hers first. When is Togata's birthday?"
"Same as mine, actually," Izuku admitted. "He brought me some cake last year."
"Ah, yes, I remember, you gave me some! It was very good. I am glad that is taken care of. We will make sure not to have any home runs until then, since that seems to be important to you," Mei declared. "But we should at least try for third base. It sounds a bit disgusting, but maybe if you do it with me it will be fun."
"Wait, Mei, did you just propose to me?" Izuku asked, suddenly realizing just what exactly was going on.
"No, I told you we were getting married. We will try third base later, I need to do some more research first. Maybe I should ask Hari, she seems to know a lot about this sort of thing," Mei explained.
Izuku blinked. "Well, I guess that's settled, then. Um, maybe we should wait a bit before we tell my mom, or your parents. My mom...she's a bit excitable. And I don't want your dad getting the wrong idea."
"He is your dad too now," Mei said, standing and then helping Izuku up. "I thought I was very clear about that. Hmm. He is also Togata's dad too now. That is strange, because I have met Togata's dad. Did you know, he looks nothing like All Might? He does not even have blonde hair."
"Well, his mom does," Izuku pointed out as they left the maintenance room. "Plus, you know, with quirks, kids can have all kinds of hair colors. I mean, my hair's green, and yours is pink. That never would have happened in the Before Times."
"Yes, imagine how boring that was! You could only have some colors of hair. Imagine, no blue, or pink, or purple, or green! That is very strange. Now, some people don't even have hair, ha!"
They continued down the hall, holding hands. Izuku paused for a moment, pulling Mei into an embrace, then kissing her. "I do love you, you know. And I do say yes. We should get married."
Mei nodded, as if that was only logical. "Well, I would not have decided to marry you if I did not love you too, but you will have to remind me to say that. I like touches, and you like words, but they are both good ways to show love. Now, we need to go make some cute babies!"
Izuku swallowed. "Um, I thought we agreed no home runs yet."
"Not those kinds of babies! Unless you change your mind, then we can try. No, I mean, we need to make more Eraser Bombs! And we need to make some that can fit in your missiles. I think I can scale the devices down, but I need your help with the electronics."
"Oh, yes, I might have some ideas, but you'll have to show me how you rigged them first," Izuku agreed.
War swirled about them, with death and destruction in its wake. But somehow, when Izuku was with Mei, he knew that in the end, it was going to be alright.