Midori the Phoenix

Chapter 11: The Prodigy and the Protege

Touya lay on the couch, exhausted after his latest mission. Kota and Eri were out with Compress and Twice training. Magne, Spinner, and their flunkies of the week were handling covert missions across was keeping his distance by supervising the latest developments with the good Doctor and Professor Shield.

...which left him alone with his four year old son, and a knife crazy bitch.

"Toga if you cut my son, I will cut you." He slowly turned his head, eyeing Toga who held a pair of scissors in her hand. Finnick held a pair of childproof scissors and was meticulously cutting paper in odd shapes. Touya wondered if it would have been smarter to give Toga the childproof ones instead of his son. "Stab the paper, not the kid, got it?"

"You're no fun, Dabi." Toga stuck her tongue out at him, but went back to cutting the paper. She hummed happily making little people out of white, then snagged some red cutting circles and glued them to her figures to make it look like they were bleeding. "Pretty."

"Papa! Papa look!" Finnick stood up and held out his finished product. "I made a crown!" He placed it on his head. "Now I'm a King too, just like Uncle Tomura!"

Touya glanced back over at his son, smiling warmly at him.

"Your crown is crooked, your highness." He sat upright and reached out to adjust the fit so it sat properly. "There you go. All Hail, King Finnick." He mock bowed, but the child ate it up like candy.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Bow before me peasants!" The red-haired spitfire ran around the table, then paused and grabbed the other, smaller, crown he'd made and went behind Toga. "All Kings need a Queen! All Hail Queen Toga!"

"Eh?" Toga blinked when she felt the cardboard on her head. She looked sideways at a glass case and saw her reflection. Her eyes sparkled some at the gesture and she twisted her body to cuddle the boy to her. "Awww you're so cute, Finny! I could just-"

"Down, Toga!" Touya warned, but his eyes were full of affection as he watched Finnick cuddle into the embrace. The kid showed no fear, and had no hesitation in his acts of kindness. He was becoming more and more like Izumi every day.

The thought of his wife made his heart twinge and he rubbed it. Aching he closed his eyes and pictured her there with them. He wanted it all to be true so badly that it made him ill. When would there be justice for her? When would he finally be able to stop this useless mourning?

"Papa… Papa…. PAPA!" Finnick shouted at him snapping him away from his internal grief. The kid shoved the phone at him. "You're getting a phone call."

"Oh, sorry, guess I dozed off." He took the phone and scowled at the read out. "An overseas call? Maybe Gentle and La Brava have finally made progress in Europe." He answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Touya Todoroki?" The male voice on the other end spoke. The use of his name made Touya's muscles tighten and he sat up straight again.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Robert Bennett… I'm looking for Touya Todoroki. It's urgent."

The name rang bells and Touya's brows suddenly raised.

"Doctor Bennett? How the hell did you get this number?"

"I thought that was you, Touya. I tell yah it wasn't easy tracking you down. I had to deal with some shady ass characters and they're not the most friendly people in the world to deal with." Robert sighed. "Listen, I've got some information I need to share with you. If I send you my coordinates can you pick me up?"

"That all depends, doctor… is this a set up?" Touya frowned and motioned Toga and Finnick to stay quiet.

"No… I don't know what I could tell you to get you to trust me, but I swear I'm on your side, Touya. I have information you need to know, and it can't wait. The heroes have already been poking around too much and I can't just sit back and do nothing anymore."

"Alright, Doc, you've already earned my trust once. I'll see what I can do about getting you a ride."

"I appreciate it, Touya…"

"...just answer me one question, doc." Touya stood up and pat his son on the head to keep him from following. "You don't seem the type to pair up with villains… so why are you choosing our side?"

"It's simple really… I'm doing it for your wife."

"As much as I admire and appreciate that, Doc, you shouldn't trouble yourself to please my wife. You and I both know she's dead, so there's no point in risking your neck for-"

"She's alive, Touya."

Touya choked on his next breath, his eyes widening and his hand gripping the phone.

"What did you say?"

"I'll give you the details when you pick me up… but you should know that Izumi is alive. I've spent these last four years tracking you down to tell you that."

Touya collapsed against a wall, sliding down on it. His legs were buckling, his heart racing and aching as that very fact came through to him.

Alive… Izumi was alive.

"Send me those coordinates," he said after a moment and hung up. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself then screamed at the top of his lungs. "TOGA FIND KUROGIRI NOW!"

~Several days later: The City~

"I've had enough of your lies, you dirty thief!" Bakugo Katsuki, aka The Explosion Hero: Ground Zero, stood over his quarry with a menacing sneer. "I have undeniable proof that you met with the League of Villains. So start talking!"

"I'm not lying…" the petty thief shivered and looked around. As if Ground Zero wasn't enough, he was cornered by two others as well. Endurance and Red Riot stood intimidatingly behind him as support. Shoto's ice closed them in, preventing anyone from getting in or out of the shell. And Kirishima's "Unbreakable" face was enough for any villain to shudder back in fear. "I'm not an official member. I just do business with them. I don't know their location or anything of real value."

"You may not be lying but your eyes are shifting, a clear telltale sign that you're still withholding information." Shoto said matter of factly.

"Come on now, Garret, it'll be better for you if you just tell us what we want to know." Kirishima offered more politely, and soothingly to balance the tense situation. "I can promise you we'll spring you a deal."

"Yeah right… there's no deal worth taking." Garret whimpered and held his face as the fear of death crept in "If I tell you guys anything I'm dead… hell even if I don't tell you I'm dead. They'll know you talked to me, they'll know!"

"Then it's better that you tell us everything." Shoto crouched down. "We can put you in protected custody and keep the league far away from you."

"Can you honestly promise me that?!" He shouted in disbelief. "You heroes have caught nothing but smoke since the league initiated. Even the Liberation Army hasn't been able to do anything!"

"Don't compare us to those high horses! If I'm after a villain, then I won't stop until they're either dead or behind bars." Bakugo snagged him by the front of his shirt. "Tell me now, or I'll personally lock you up in a cell and make a public statement that you've spilled your ever loving guts out, and then use you as bait to lure the league out."

"Y-You wouldn't…" the thief went pale as a ghost. "You're a hero… heroes don't do that."

"You've never met a hero like me." Bakugo sneered and his grin spread crazed. "So don't test me, yah damn thief, because I'm itching to tangle with those leaguers."

~Several minutes later~

"Nice job, man, though a bit villainous in the delivery." Kirishima complimented as they left the police station. "You give a whole new meaning to the good cop, bad cop routine."

"Whatever, it got the job done didn't it?" Bakugo shrugged it ofd and then rolled his tense shoulders.

"Not exactly," Kirishima pointed out. "We did get a lot of good information about what the League's current plans are… but as for their location we're still in the dark."

"No eye witness accounts, no direct attacks or concrete schemes. The league has been underground for years now, you would think they'd resurface at some point." Shoto frowned as he looked over the notes he'd taken.

"What we do know is that Shigaraki is still calling all the shots, and he's still working on building up numbers and funds like he's planning for war. He's already enlisted the help of at least five new members, two of which are really young." Bakugo paused on the street and turned around to face his team.

"It has to be Kota and Eri," Shoto's eyes went dark and angry. "They were with Touya and Karma in London, and we know that Touya was kidnapped and killed by Shigaraki. It only makes sense that Shigaraki has them in his custody."

"If Shigaraki killed Touya, then why would they help him?" Kirishima wondered aloud.

"He's probably not giving them a choice in the matter." Shoto suggested. "They're just kids, and are too afraid to go against him."

"He may also be manipulating them, using their attachment to Karma as means of bonding with them." Bakugo theorized.

"That still doesn't-" Kirishima started to debate further, but Bakugo's loud exploding ringtone went off and cut the conversation short.

"Yeah, fish eyes, whaddya want?" Bakugo grunted into the phone.

"Nice to hear from you too, Bakugo." Mirio laughed on the other end. "Is Todoroki with you? I'd like the two of you to meet All Might and I down at Moss Isle pub near the school. I've got some things I'd like to discuss with you, and it's important."

"How important? Shitty hair, Icy Hot, and I are working a case and we just-"

"It involves Midori." Mirio interjected and closed Baukgo's argument quickly. "Todoroki's her blood relative and at the very least should come and hear me out. Can you have him meet us there at 2pm?"

There was a brief moment of silence, before Bakugo's heavy sigh came out.

"We'll both be there." He hung up then looked to the others. "Kirishima, can you handle the paperwork on this arrest? Icy Hot and I have somewhere to be."

"Sure thing, bro." Hearing the serious tone in his friend's voice, Kirishima countered it with a friendly smile. "Leave it to me."

"Is something wrong?" Todoroki asked as the two of them walked side by side towards the nearest station.

"I'm not sure. Lemillion wants to talk to us about Midori. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like promising news."

~Moss Isle Pub: 2pm~

"Hey! Right on time!" Mirio waved the two young heroes over to a booth. "Wow it's been so long since I've seen you both. I like this shaved side cut you got going on Bakugo, and Todoroki, I'm digging the ponytail look."

"Thanks I guess... " Todoroki shrugged and folded his hands on the table. "What's all this about, Togata?"

"Well I'm still waiting for All Might to finish his paperwork and meet us down here, so why don't you guys go first, I heard you got a break in the case."

"If your could call it that. We did get concrete evidence about the League's actions. We cornered a thief they've been making deals with. He's been helping Tomura sell off I-Island goods to increase their funds."

"They're still milking that cow?" Mirio sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well they did get away with a ton of stuff. The only way to safely sell it off is by doing it a piece at a time."

"Well from what we gathered they don't have much left. Apparently Izumi his the bulk of it in various hiding places. She divulged some of that information to the Hassaikai when she was partnered with them, but according to the thief there's still a great deal of merchandise missing from the initial inventory." Shoto continued.

"Izumi hid it away… the girl had serious trust issues that even those closest to her didn't see. Rightfully so considering what happened shortly afterwards." Mirio held his chin. "Did you get a location?"

"Thief claims their meet up locations were constantly changing. He'd get a phone call or a text message from a burn phone, and on it would be coordinates of his next pick up. We tried to keep the arrest quiet so that hopefully we can stage a stakeout at their next meeting… but it's a long shot considering how careful the league has been."

"I blame those idiots from the Liberation Army for that. When those assholes unleashed that attack on the league members it caused them to scatter and seek refuge. They should have waited for the police to track down Kurogiri and cut off their escape routes. Instead they jumped the gun, and drove the league underground and out of sight."

"I agree…" Mirio nodded and sat up straight. "Which is why the higher ups have tried to gather as much intel as they can. I've been getting the most recent reports and I'd like to brief them with you before I go."

"That's fine, but you said this discussion would involve Midori." Shoto folded his hands looking concerned. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine for the most part but-" Mirio trailed off when All Might was hailed at the front door. He waved his hand to the other patrons then took a seat beside Mirio.

"Sorry I'm late."

"It's alright, you're just in time actually." Mirio scooted his chair in close so they could all hover in close. "I don't want this to get blown out of proportion… but I'm concerned for Midori. I think it's time she was moved out of the dorms."

"Why so sudden?" Shoto asked.

"I went to go visit her earlier today, and she shared some information with me that made me uneasy." Mirio clasped his hands around the drink he'd ordered. "Midori got her quirk."

"Really? I wasn't made aware of this." All Might looked surprised. "She hasn't told any of the teaching staff. When did this happen?"

"A few days ago, from what I understand she had a dream last night which I guess triggered it, then later that morning she made her soccer ball explode."

"Explode?" Bakugo's head shot up at that. "How does she have my-"

"It's a bit different from yours, Bakugo. From what I gathered she can attract heat into the palm of her hand, and make it ignite." Mirio tapped his palm. "There may be more to it than what I saw. Recovery Girl is taking a closer look and running some tests per my request. "

"A fire quirk, well that's not surprising." Shoto leaned back in his chair. "Still with the kind of quirk Izumi had it seems like an odd mix of hers and Touya's quirks."

"That's because it's not hers…" Bakugo rubbed his chin. "Izumi was born quirkless… so Midori should have inherited Touya's quirk outright… but from the sounds of it I think Inko's quirk got involved in the mix."

"Inko? Midoriya's mother?" Mirio asked.

"Yeah… her mom had the ability to attract small objects to her." Bakugo raised his hand in example. "Combine that with a fire quirk, and that seems more of what you're describing."

"Yes, that is a better explanation." All Might nodded in agreement, "Inko's quirk must have skipped a generation, coming through Midori rather than Izumi."

"Isn't it odd for quirks to skip generations like that?" Shoto questioned.

"It's not unheard of, but Quirkless people in general are a minority so the cases themselves are very rare." All Might explained.

"All of this is interesting to say the least, but why does Midori getting her quirk make you nervous, fish eyes?" Bakugo questioned lounging with an arm flung over the back of his chair.

"It's not Midori getting her quirk that concerns me…" Mirio leaned in his voice lowering again so no other tables could hear. "Midori was asking about her mother."

The table went quiet as Mirio divulged the conversation he'd had with Midori. Grave looks fell on all of their faces, Bakugo in particular.

"Izumi alive? That's impossible, there's no way." Bakugo clenched his fists together. "She was pronounced dead. Doctor Bennett swore to it."

"That's another thing…" Mirio pulled out a newspaper and set it on the table. It was from the England post. In big bold letters the title read:

RESPECTED DOCTOR VANISHES WITHOUT A TRACE.

"Doctor Bennet bunkered out. According to his mother and sister one morning they just woke up and his Car, clothes, furniture, all the items from his practice were emptied out. The English heroes are on the hunt for him, but there's been no sign of him."

"You're thinking the league kidnapped him?" Shoto questioned.

"No… they enlisted him." Bakugo slammed a fist on the table as it all came together in his head. "Do you remember what the thief told us? Shigaraki just enlisted five new members into his league."

"Yeah, but we can only account for two of them." Shoto started, but then paused when he suddenly clued in on where Bakugo was going with this. "Bakugo…"

"That's right Icy Hot. If I'm right then we can account for all of them." Bakugo leaned in and held up five fingers. He subtracted two. "Kota, Eri, Doctor Benett," He subtracted another finger leaving two left. "... the last two have to be Karma and Touya."

"You're right, it makes sense." Shoto looked down at his hands. "They must have staged Touya's death in order to make sure everyone believed Karma's death was real. They planned it all out."

"It's a frightening theory, but how would Izumi have survived. Doctor Bennett aside, his mother and sister are still going on record that Izumi died in childbirth."

"Eri…" Mirio whispered and he pulled out a manilla envelope from his bag and broke out the contents. "Melissa tracked down some of her father's research through some saving channels she knew he used. He'd been working on a support device for Eri."

He found the paper he was looking for and lay it out on the table for everyone to see.

"That's right… Dave told me about this." All Might picked up the paper. "He said that Izumi had hired him to make a support device to help a girl control her quirk. He couldn't give me any details at the time."

"We know that Chisaki was working on a serum that erased quirks, but none of us knew where the source of his product was. Izumi did. It was Eri." Mirio tapped the blueprint he'd laid out. "Chisaki's research that Dave was studying showed he'd done many experiments with her to grasp its full use and he weaponized it using Eri's DNA."

"What kind of a quirk erases other quirks, and what does that have to do with Izumi escaping death?" Bakugo wanted to know.

"I did some digging while I was in London. Around the time Izumi broke into Tartarus, a new young family moved into the cottage across from Doctor Bennett. According to neighbors, the mother still worked overseas and the father was a writer who worked from home most of the time, and would hire a nanny whenever he had to leave for business. A couple of weeks later there was a quirk accident. The father was out leaving the nanny with the two children, and the young girl's quirk suddenly went haywire. The nanny was reduced to an infant state before the brother cut off her quirk with emergency restraints."

"Did you say an infant?" Bakugo's eyes went wide. "You're not seriously thinking that-"

"That's exactly what I think, Bakugo." Mirio folded his hands together. "... and after my little talk with Midori this morning I know for a fact that Midori IS Izumi."

"No!" Bakugo shoved up from the table, the glasses rattled and people looking around at them. "I refuse to believe it! It's not true!"

"Calm down, Katsuki…" Shoto stood up but got his hand slapped away.

"You shut up! I can't believe you're buying this nonsense! She's your niece, isn't she?"

"You're right, she is… which is why I've got an easy solution to this." He looked back at All Might and Mirio. "You said that Recovery Girl is gonna run some tests on her quirk right? Why don't we have her DNA examined as well? I can give some blood samples of my own and they can compare it to see if we're related."

"That's actually a smart idea, Todoroki." Mirio stood up. "We won't jump to conclusions until we get those test results back."

"Agreed," All Might stood and paid his portion of the drinks. "I'm going back to the school. Why don't you two come by and see Midori? You came all this way, and I know she'd be happy to see you both."

"Fine," Bakugo paid his own tab and strut out of the bar with an itch between his shoulder blades. As they approached the dorms, all of their eyes focus on the little girl sitting on the stairs writing in a notebook. The sound of feet approaching makes her aware of them, and she lifts her head. A bright smile spreads across her lips and she sets the notebook aside running straight toward them.

"Kacchan! Uncle Shoto! You came to visit!" She held her arms out and jumped, waiting for him to catch her on the fly like he always did.

...but his arms didn't reach out.

Her feet hit the ground and she stumbled forward. Bakugo moved sideways, leaving Shoto to catch the girl before she landed face first into the concrete.

"Whoa, easy, are you alright Midori?" Shoto knelt and put her back on her feet.

"Huh? Uh… yeah…" She looked up at Bakugo with a hurt and confused expression. "Is something wrong?"

Shoto glanced up at Bakugo who seemed a bit surprised by his own actions. The instinct to dodge instead of reach out and catch her had been too strong to ignore. Despite the agreement, Bakugo couldn't get past the possibility of Midori being Izumi.

Midori turned to face Bakugo her eyes looking worried. The look made Bakugo feel positively sick.

"Don't look at me like that…" her muttered. "I hate it when people look at me like that."

His harsh words made tears well up and her bottom lip tremble.

"Kacchan-"

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" He screamed at her making Midori scramble back and fall on her butt. Shoto was on his feet instantly and he grabbed Bakugo's shoulder.

"Katsuki stop it!"

"Let go of me!" He shoved Shoto away and pointed a finger at Midori. "Listen you brat, you better think of another name to call me, because only one person was ever allowed to call me that name and you're not her!"

"Eh?" Tears dripped down Midori's face. She'd never seen Bakugo so angry with her before.

"You're not her… your name is Midori Todoroki… and Midori Todoroki doesn't get to call me Kacchan. You got that!?"

Midori rubbed at her tears, confused at first, but then nodded as she noticed his temper calming down.

"Okay… then what do I call you?"

"I don't care…" He walked over to her and pulled her back up to her feet and rubbed her tears away. "Make something up."

"Okay…" sniffling Midori wiped at her eyes and offered a teary smile. "How about… Baku-nii?"

"Heh, is that the best you got, kid?" He smirked and ruffled her hair. The giggle came out of Midori, and the mood immediately eased. "Alright, we'll go with that."

"Hehe… oh, Ka- erm… Baku-nii! Guess what! I got my quirk today. Do you wanna see it?"

"Damn right I do, it's the whole reason I'm here." He stood up and took her hand leading her out to the grass. Shoto, Mirio and All MIght remained where they were, all of them smiling. The tension had passed.

"I think Katsuki and I are on the same page." Shoto said aloud, catching the other two's attention. "Go ahead and have the test done… but it doesn't matter what the results are." He smiled at Mirio. "Midori is Midori… we won't treat her any differently."

"Oi! Icy Hot, get over here and provide her with some heat." Bakugo called him over impatiently.

"Right!" Shoto jogged over to them. Mirio and All Might stood side by side watching the trio interact with each other.

"I admire their loyalty…." Mirio murmured with a smile, but his eyes were sharp. "...but I can't agree with their sentiments."

"Ah, I agree." All Might nodded. "If Miori is indeed young Midoriya… then things must change in order to ensure the safety of the world."

Still it was a shame, All Might thought as he looked at the bright eyed girl showing off her quirk with a smile and laugh to Bakugo and Todoroki. The girl was getting a second chance at life… and he'd hate to be the one to take it away from her.

~Ask Briry~

Briry: Oooh what're we gonna do! The puzzle pieces are coming together, but what picture will it make? Stay tuned!

Next Chapter: Connections