Izuku sat down at one of the picnic tables and watched as his guests helped themselves to the food and drinks. As soon as everyone had chosen their seats in a rough circle, the triplets began their barrage of questions.

"So how do you all know our dad?" Kaede asked excitedly as she shoveled food into her mouth.

After taking a large gulp from a bottle of beer, Red Riot spoke up. "Well the first time we met him was when he came to UA with your mom. That was when all the top-rated pro-heroes had government assigned liaison partners, and your dad was your mom's assigned partner. Honestly I don't think anybody expected him to want to spar with us, but he did."

Chiyo's rabbit ears perked up with obvious interest as she looked at her dad curiously. "Wait, you sparred with them all at UA?! Did you win?"

Izuku shrugged slightly as he avoided meeting anyone's gaze. "Well technically I only sparred with Uravity, Creati, Red Riot, Pinky, and Ingenium. I met Earphone-jack and Chargebolt later."

Rumi laughed as she teasingly nudged her husband's arm. "Oh c'mon honey, don't skip over the part where you absolutely annihilated them all."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "I did not annihilate them. I had more experience than them and simply exploited their weaknesses. Plus at the time they were all still teenagers. If I tried to fight any of them now they would definitely win."

Haru looked over at Creati who was sitting closest to her. "What was it like fighting my dad?"

For a split second there was an awkward silence, and Akatani noticed several nervous glances being exchanged between his parents and the pro-heroes before Creati responded.

"Well…" Creati said slowly. "If I had to sum up the experience in one word it would be…terrifying."

Well that certainly got the attention of the kids.

"What?!" Kaede exclaimed in disbelief. "Really? I mean…I know dad used to be a soldier and stuff, but I would think mom would be scarier. She used to be in the top five after all."

Creati fidgeted slightly as she peeked over at Izuku nervously, obviously not wanting to reveal too much. "Umm…because we had no idea what he could do. At the time, nobody knew he was quirkless. When you know what you are fighting against, it makes it easier to develop a strategy to counter it. Your dad was an unknown variable, and he defeated all of us without using a quirk. It made it all the more unnerving to think that he did not even choose to use a quirk to beat us."

"Anyways!" Ingenium said loudly and somewhat awkwardly. "Mr. Midoriya, what are you up to nowadays? Have you started a new career since you left the Ministry of Defense?"

Izuku took a sip of his beer before responding. "Nope. When we found out Rumi was pregnant I made the choice to dedicate myself to taking care of the kids at home. I just want to live a peaceful life. It also helps that I received a generous pension plan from the government after I retired. These days I take care of the house, help the kids, and make meals for everyone. Rumi is the real breadwinner these days."

Uravity smiled. "That is really nice Mr. Midoriya. What do you do with your free time?"

Izuku shrugged. "Mostly just learning new things. Y'know, like sewing, carpentry, new languages, things like that."

"Hold on a minute!" Chargebolt exclaimed over a mouthful of steak. "You mean you know more than just Japanese and English?!"

Izuku nodded as he took a bite of salad. "Technically yes. Before joining the Ministry of Defense I knew a few words of Russian, Mandarin, and French. But those were mostly military terms I picked up from working with other armed forces. Now I am at least able to hold a basic conversation in those languages as well."

Kirishima laughed boisterously as he turned to look at Creati. "Dang! I think the only one of us who comes close is Yaoyorozu. What languages do you speak, Yaoyorozu?"

The black-haired woman stopped from taking a sip of wine to asnwer. "I am fluent in Japanese, English, and Italian. I learned Italian simply because some of the best designers in my company are from Italy and it helps to understand their designs easier if they can explain it in their native tongue."

Leaning forward, Rumi looked over at Jirou. "I saw clips of the concert you were part of last year, Jirou. You were really cool! Do you ever have a hard time balancing your hero work alongside your musical career?"

Jirou shrugged. "Sometimes. I am lucky that since I am an independent artist I can essentially make my own schedule when it comes to making music." She paused before looking over at Izuku. "By the way. Are you guys still in contact with Cassandra?"

Obviously not able to contain her enthusiasm, Haru answered before her dad could open his mouth. "You mean Aunt Cassandra and Aunt Miyu? Yeah we see them a bunch! Right now they are in America but when we were little they used to babysit us and stuff!"

Izuku grinned. "As you can imagine, Cassandra was a lifesaver when it came to getting the girls to go to sleep. One lullaby and all three were out like a light. Honestly I don't know if Rumi and I would ever have gotten more than three hours of sleep if Cassandra and Miyu had not been there to help with the girls."

"That is so freakin cute!" Ashido said sweetly. "I can just see it now, the three girls all snuggled up together as Cassandra sings a lullaby to help them settle down!"

Rumi laughed. "Pretty much. Though you had to be careful if you were in the same room as them. I mean more than once Cassandra put me to sleep as well simply because I was listening in."

Izuku chuckled. "The funny thing is, Miyu was a total pushover when it came to the kids. All they had to do was give her puppy eyes and she would melt. Cassandra was actually the one who did most of the disciplining when the kids were with them."

Uraraka smiled. "So Miyu is actually just a big sweetheart?"

Rumi cackled in delight. "Only with our kids. Anyone else she is a total hardass. God forbid someone made the kids cry when they were little. Miyu would go on a rampage if she thought someone was being mean to the kids."

Everyone had a good laugh at that, and after a few more minutes of idle chatter Izuku looked over at Iida.

"So how are things in the pro-hero world?" Izuku asked innocently. "Besides the usual low-level villain making a mess it seems things have been pretty calm recently."

Now it was Iida's turn to shrug. "For the most part you are correct. So much so that the top three heroes on the roster have gone overseas to help with international missions."

Izuku tilted his head curiously. "You mean All-Might's successor, the angry blond guy, and Endeavor's son?"

Iida nodded as he took another sip of his beer. "Yup, honestly those three are so far ahead of the rest of us in terms of ability and power I don't see anyone taking their spots for a long time."

Unexpectedly, Chargebolt spoke up in a serious manner. "But something fishy has been going on recently. In fact, all of us have been sharing information trying to figure out what is going on."

"Really?" Izuku said curiously as he looked at the assembled pro-heroes. "What do you mean by fishy?"

Kirishima spoke next. "Basically there seems to be a new vigilante in town. But this one is different."

Before anyone could say anything else, Rumi interjected. "Hold on, is this kind of information something that should not be talked about in front of the kids?"

Of course the triplets began talking over each other, swearing themselves to secrecy while Akatani simply looked to his dad for guidance.

Ashido sighed as she finished the last bite of her salad. "It should be fine. We won't be discussing any specifics. Plus hearing a different perspective might help."

As the triplets settled down, Rumi nodded. "Alright, then what is so different about this vigilante?"

Straightening up, Uraraka took on a more serious demeanor. "Well to start, nobody has even been able to get an accurate description of what the vigilante looks like. They are very good at avoiding cameras, and have not left anything behind that might give us a clue as to what their identity is. The other thing is that we are using the term vigilante very loosely. Because whenever they show up there are no survivors. This person kills all the criminals they come across."

Izuku frowned. "Any idea what kind of quirk they are using? Surely that might give you something to work with?"

Iida shook his head. "The best we can guess is that the vigilante has some kind of strength-enhancing quirk. But the thing is they do not stick to one method of fighting. Some criminals are beaten to death, others shot, some cut to pieces, there is no way to predict how this person will attack next.

Izuku scratched his chin in thought. "Is it possible that this is not a vigilante, but some sort of assassin or mercenary hired by someone? Just because all the targets have been criminals does not mean that the attacker is a vigilante. Maybe a rival criminal organization hired them?"

Jirou shrugged. "We are pretty sure that is not the case. This vigilante has attacked a wide spectrum of criminals from lots of various backgrounds. Everything from street thugs to criminal syndicates. There have even been rumors that the criminal underworld has put a bounty out for this vigilante, but we haven't confirmed that yet."

"What I am getting from this is that this vigilante does not want fame or recognition." Rumi said suddenly. "It doesn't sound like they are doing this for power either. I ran into some vigilantes in the past that killed criminals because they loved proving their strength in fights to the death. But this sounds like the vigilante is either a mass murderer diguising their motive, or they have some other reason that you all just dont know about yet."

Uraraka nodded sagely. "That would make sense. The biggest concern we have right now is the potential for innocent people to get caught in the crossfire. So far all the incidents have been relatively isolated, but I would rather play it safe and stop the vigilante before something bad happens."

Izuku leaned back in his seat and took another sip of his beer. "Well it seems you guys have your work cut out for you. As much as I would like to help, I am officially retired."

Uraraka smiled warmly. "We understand Mr. Midoriya. You deserve to spend your days how you want them."

After that the next two hours were spent catching up and relaxing. Stories were shared, pictures were taken, and jokes told. By the end, night had fallen and everyone was helping clean up before leaving.

"And remember kids!" Kirishima said cheerily as he helped put away lawn chairs. "Call me Uncle Red from now on! You ever wanna bulk up, you are welcome at my gym any time!"

"No fair Kirishima!" Kaminari whined. "I wanna be the cool Uncle!"

Kaminari then yelped as Jirou's earjack stabbed him in the neck, making everyone laugh in amusement.

"Stop making a fool of yourself." Jirou said flatly as she stacked plates. "You still act like a kid yourself. No way you can get away with having teenagers call you uncle."

Giving everyone handshakes and hugs, Izuku smiled warmly as he spoke to the assembled pro-heroes. "It was nice to see you all again. You all have my number now, so feel free to reach out if you need to."

"My gym is always open to your family!" Kirishima said proudly. "Stop by anytime!"

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. "Same goes with my company. You ever need something custom made, I am just a phone call away."

Puffing out his chest, Kaminari gave Izuku a cocky thumbs up. "Same here! Well, besides the whole company thing. But you can rely on me for anything you need, Mr. Midoriya!"

Jirou nodded politely. "I have connections in the music industry. So if there are any shows you want to see just give me a call."

Ashido giggled happily. "And if your girls want some high-quality make-up or clothes I would love to treat them to it! I bet I could even give Akatani a full makeover to really bring out his handsome side!"

Iida gave Izuku a polite bow. "My hero agency is always ready to assist your daughters with their internships. I would be honored to personally help them become the best pro-heroes they can be."

Fiddling with her hands awkwardly like she used to when she was a teenager, Uraraka gave Izuku a weak smile. "Umm…I don't really have any cool stuff to give like everyone else…but if you need me for anything I would be happy to help."

Of course Uraraka's statement was met with a round of encouragement from her former classmates, and immediately after she was swept up into a backbreaking hug from Rumi.

"Uraraka I swear you are so friggin cute." Rumi said warmly. "You were the only intern I ever trained, and I don't regret a single moment of it. If you want to impress me, just keep being an awesome pro-hero."

Sniffling and obviously holding back happy tears, Uraraka simply nodded and hugged back tightly.

After a few more final goodbyes, the pro-heroes departed.

Sighing tiredly, Izuku turned to look at his kids. "Alright you guys, get ready for bed. You still have school tomorrow."

Immediately the triplets rushed upstairs and began playfully fighting over who could brush their teeth the fastest, leaving Akatani with his parents.

Looking up at his mom and dad with newfound admiration, Akatani could not help but ask a question that had been bugging him all night.

"Mom? Dad? Are you really okay with me not wanting to be…amazing like everyone else?"

Placing a reassuring hand on his son's slender shoulder, Izuku smiled warmly at him and nodded. "Akatani, your mom and I will support you no matter what. Be your own person, that is all I ask of you."

Gently ruffling her son's curly hair, Rumi nodded in agreement. "And if anyone tries to tell you otherwise, just ignore them. Or give them a good kick in the gut."

Feeling a little better, Akatani gave his mom and dad a quick hug. "Thanks. Sorry for the weird question…I just see all these amazing people around you guys and it makes me feel like…I have to be just as amazing as you guys when I grow up."

Letting go, Akatani shuffled upstairs and into his room.

As he waited for his sisters to finish hogging the bathroom, Akatani stared out his window and into the night sky.

It looks like he had a lot to think about tonight.