Todoroki went silent on the phone at Dr. Nabe's request. It took him a moment to comprehend what Dr. Nabe was asking him, and after that moment passed he spent another questioning her sanity. "Are you serious?" He asked his voice completely flat as he did so.
Dr. Nabe gave a small sigh of relief. He hadn't given her a rejection outright, so maybe he was open to the idea. "I am Shoto. Toga is the epicenter of this whole mess. I can get Izuku's side of the story, but that's only half of it. I need to speak with Toga preferably face to face, but I can settle for a phone session even if that will make things more difficult."
Truthfully Dr. Nabe didn't even want to entertain the thought of an over-the-phone session. They weren't as effective in her opinion. She wanted to be face to face with Toga to truly get a grasp of the woman who could throw such a catastrophe into people's lives.
Shoto sighed at her answer before thinking very carefully. His immediate reaction was to tell her no, but at the same time he knew Dr. Nabe, he'd been going to her for years and knew she could help Izuku and his daughter as she'd helped him and his family. If she was asking for this then it had to be necessary. "I will see what I can do, that's all I can say right now," Shoto answered.
Once more Dr. Nabe sighed in relief. "Thank you, Shoto I'll wait for your answer." She said before the two bid one another goodbye.
Izuku got out of the cab and held the door open for Hinako as they stood in front of the mall. He looked at his daughter as she gave a sigh getting out of the cab with a smile as Izuku paid the cab fare and also signed the receipt for the man. "Oh thank you so much Deku sir. My kid is going to flip when I tell her this. She's your biggest fan." He said as Izuku waved to the man.
"Glad I could help and thanks for the ride." He said as the cab pulled away. He turned around to see Hinako smirking at him. "What?" He asked as they began to enter the mall.
"Nothing it's just, I think this is the first time that I've seen you do the whole hero meet and greet thing. I always knew you were a big deal, but seeing that just now kind of makes it feel real." She said as Izuku blushed and shrugged.
"I guess you're right." He said as they entered the mall. "Let's go get your clothes first." He said as Hinako nodded.
"Sounds good." She said not really sure how to act with her dad. They'd been putting in a conscious effort to spend more time with one another and learn how to interact, but it still felt weird. For so long both of them had been doing their own thing. Sure her dad checked in on her and got her out of any trouble she might be trying to start, but spending an afternoon at the mall? That's the furthest thing from their past interactions as they could get.
The Mall was chock full of people which seemed to be its constant state. Hinako remembered coming here in her bad girl phase and flirting with guys who obviously had girlfriends with them, or stealing trinkets from here and there. She frowned thinking back on those actions and feeling the crushing weight of guilt crash over her. Izuku looked over at his daughter seeing her frown and instantly started worrying.
"Is something wrong, is she not having fun? What should I do, Should we have gotten to get my clothes first? Oh, maybe we should have gone to a department store and not a mall? Idiot, I should have asked her what store she wanted to go to. This is all my fault! Stupid! Izuku began to sink deeper and deeper into his own worries before hearing Hinako's voice.
"Dad you're mumbling," Hinako said getting his attention and pulling his attention to the here and now. Izuku looked up at Hinako and rubbed his head.
"Sorry Hinako I thought you might not be enjoying yourself so I was wondering what I could do to change that. I'm sorry I should have just asked you instead of trying to fix everything on my own. Communication is key." He repeated to himself more than her. Hinako shook her head.
"It's nothing you did dad, and in the spirit of communication, I should just tell you. I used to come to the mall a lot and cause trouble. Nothing too crazy just flirting with couples to cause a scene or some…shoplifting." She said her voice dropping drastically at the mention of her petty theft. Izuku felt himself stiffen at the mention of her stealing and took a breath realizing scolding her for something she already knew was wrong wasn't going to help.
"I'm glad you told me this Hinako, and I trust you know that was wrong?" He asked already knowing the answer as Hinako nodded.
"Yeah, dad I'm really sorry about that." She said before feeling her father's hand on her head patting it lightly.
"The past is past Hinako, as long as you've learned from it there's nothing more that needs to talk about," Izuku said smiling as Hinako blushed at her father petting her head. Until this moment she never realized how much she wanted this. Well maybe somewhere in her subconscious she did. To think this simple show of affection could make her feel so happy. Maybe all those Otaku had it right. She thought.
"Oh look we're here," Izuku said pointing at the women's clothing store and walking towards it. Feeling her father's hand leave her head left her a lot less warm inside than she would like to admit, but she'd survive.
"Hinako entered the store and began wandering the shelves as her father stood to the side not wanting to crowd her as she chose her clothes. As she wandered the aisles Izuku looked out the window of the shop watching the people go about their day. It had been some time since he'd taken a leisure day like this. Not since Hinako was an infant and even then he couldn't call those leisurely.
Izuku stood in the baby section of the supermarket with Hinako in one hand wriggling like a worm as he supported a package of diapers in one hand and a different brand with Black Whip. He looked between the two brands completely stupefied. "They're both for her age range, but do I go with super absorbent or comfort fit?" He said with a sigh as he adjusted the diapers to try to get to his phone while also keeping Hinako fully supported. He decided to call the one female in his life that would know the answer to this question, but of course, with his luck, his mother didn't answer.
"Oh come on!" He shouted before realizing where he was and immediately quieted down. Still, his shout was loud enough to startle his infant daughter who immediately started crying. "Oh, Hinako I'm sorry, so sorry! Please forgive daddy." He said bouncing the little girl as he cooed to her trying anything to get her to stop crying. This was all too much! Izuku felt his eyes burn as he started to cry as well. It didn't help he wore his heart on his sleeve. Even now as an adult it didn't take much to get his waterworks going.
As Izuku silently cried he felt a small hand touch his cheek. He popped his eyes open to stare at Hinako. This small infant was comforting him a grown man. He shook his head and wiped his face. "God I'm pathetic." He said standing up straight. "I've got to do better. Let's just get both." He said with a weak smile as he kissed Hinako on the forehead.
"ad, dad, DAD!" Izuku jolted from his memory as he turned around to see Hinako waving him over to the dressing room. "I've been calling you for like five minutes." She said before looking at him. "Dad, were you crying?!" She said as the irritation left her voice replaced by concern. Izuku blinked his eyes several times to try and keep any tears from falling.
"No of course not one of the free sample perfume ladies caught me by surprise." He said shaking his head. "What's up Hinako?" He asked as Hinako eyed him not buying his perfume story for one second, but decided to let it slide.
"I just wanted to see what you thought of this. I've had my gal taste for so long I don't really know how to pick out normal clothes. Does this look normal to you?" She asked. Hinako was wearing a pair of green shorts that went down to mid-calf above it was a plain white t-shirt with the word Classic scrawled across it. Izuku looked it over and nodded.
"Seems good to me Hinako, honestly I think you could go with something cuter. It is summer maybe you should try a few dresses." He said with smiling awkwardly. "Though I don't really understand fashion least of all, girl fashion so maybe I'm not the best person to ask." He said before an alarm started to sound through the mall as an automated message played.
"Attention customers this is a villain attack alert please evacuate the mall immediately in an orderly fashion. This is not a drill repeat there is a Villain attack in progress please evacuate." Izuku looked to Hinako. "Hinako leave the store and get somewhere safe. I'll find you afterward." Izuku said before green lightning arced around him and he rushed out of the store and vaulted over the railing while using float to get a bird's eye view.
Izuku's eyes raced across the mall before spotting the villain in question. It was a large heteromorphic villain with large horns jutting forth from his forehead and spines running down his back. At first glance, Izuku likened him to an anthropomorphic Triceratops. The man slammed his hands into the ground and ripped a chunk of the flooring free before hurling it towards a Foot Locker store.
"You think you can just fire me over a few dollars missing?! Fuck You!" He shouted. Izuku activated his black whip to catch the boulder before spinning in the air and hurling it back at the villain slamming the boulder into him sending him flying back into one of the supporting pillars for the second floor. "Urgh what the-?!" the dinosaur-like villain stood up from the partially destroyed pillar and looked up to see Deku floating down to the ground in front of him.
"Please stop this. This is not the way to handle being fired. Calm down and surrender before you hurt someone." Izuku said gently but firmly as he stared down at the perpetrator. The villain looked at him and growled.
"Yeah, fuck that!" He shouted before slamming his fist into the pillar destroying it completely. Izuku's eyes widened as cracks spread through the second floor as people continued to evacuate.
"NO!" He shouted leaping towards the pillar and using Black Whip to hold and support the walkway and give the evacuees a stable path to walk on. As he did so the criminal rushed towards him with his horns down ready to gore Deku.
"If I'm going to jail anyway might as well go as the man who killed the number one hero!" From her vantage point, Hinako's eyes widened as the villain rushed towards her dad. Unbidden and almost subconsciously she heard herself yell out. "DAD!" Deku readied himself for the impact, but at the last second, something crashed into the side of the charging villain's face shattering one of his horns.
Izuku's eyes widened as he saw The Rainy Day Hero Froppy kick off the Villain's face sending him flying and skidding across the ground until he came to a stop against the wall. Izuku looked at Tsuyu Asui as she spoke to him. "Hey, Deku it's been a while kero." Izuku gave an awkward smile before speaking.
"Uh, y-yeah Tsu it's been a long time. H-how are you?" He asked as Tsu's poker face remained seemingly unchanged before looking from Izuku to the second-floor walkway he was supporting with his black whip.
"Let's save our chat for after the rescue team comes." She said as Izuku nodded.
"Yeah, you're right." He said the two heroes waited for the Repair Team and Officers to take away the perpetrator and begin repairs on the walkway to relieve Deku of his burden. Izuku rolled his shoulders a couple of times as he walked away with Tsu.
"So how have you been?" Izuku asked as Tsu held a finger to her chin.
"Well I've transferred from Ryukyuu's agency over to Selkie's, but that happened a few months ago. I was off today and a friend and I decided to do some shopping." She said before looking at Izuku. "What about you Izuku how have you been?" She asked as Izuku scratched his head.
"Oh um yeah, I've been…good yeah good. Well, I'm in a better place." He said with a nod. He was better at least he thought so from the person he had been a few months ago. First with him telling Hinako the truth about her mom, and then meeting with Himiko, and then their first therapy session. He didn't want to pat himself on the back too much, but Izuku thought that they had both come a long way.
"Ochaco might be happy to hear that." In an instant, Tsu had brought Izuku crashing down at the mention of her name. He felt severe pain in his chest as he thought about Ochaco. With all the progress he'd made he'd forgotten the worst mistake of his life. He'd forgotten the one person he probably hurt more than anyone else. Izuku clutched his chest as his breath came out in ragged puffs of air.
Tsu looked over after hearing the labored breathing and her eyes widened at Izuku's reaction to hearing Ochaco's name. Now Tsu knew that the breakup between the two of them hadn't been pretty in fact from the way Ochaco the day it had happened Tsu thought Izuku might have killed her parents or something. Of course, Ochaco hadn't gone into detail about exactly what happened, but she knew that it had to do with Izuku being a father. Whatever the circumstances were the whole situation had left a deep scar on Ochaco.
Tsu immediately felt a stab of guilt in her chest at being so inconsiderate. She'd taken into account Ochaco's feelings because she was right in front of her eyes, but she hadn't really thought about how Izuku felt about the breakup. "Izuku I'm-." Before Tsu could apologize a blonde girl ran up to Izuku.
"Dad are you ok?" She asked seeing her father with a pained look on his face and clutching his chest. "Did you get hurt or something?" She asked inspecting Izuku all over to find the source of her father's pain. Izuku noticed the pain look on Hinako's face as she desperately tried to help him.
"I-I'm fine Hinako, just lost my breath there for a minute." He said standing as tall as he could to try to show a brave front. "I'm good now thanks to Tsu here." He said pointing to Tsu whose blank face gave nothing away, but Izuku knew from years of being around Tsu that she wasn't buying his brave face and could tell that something was wrong. He just hoped she didn't bring it up in front of Hinako.
Tsu for her part stayed silent she felt bad that her mentioning Ochaco had sent Izuku into a panic attack. "Me and my big mouth," She thought to herself before Hinako looked directly at Tsuyu her yellow eyes meeting with Tsu's black ones. After a moment of inspection, Hinako bowed.
"Thanks for saving my dad." She said with the utmost gratitude. Tsu raised her hands.
"Oh no, it was nothing, besides Izuku's over exaggerating. He would have had it under control. Izuku's always been good at thinking on his feet." Tsu said as Izuku looked to the side with a blush. The truth was his plan was to let the villain hit him and hopefully deliver a strong kick while still holding onto the walkway. Not the best plan but all he had at the time. "Anyway I should get going Izuku it was nice seeing you. We should catch up sometime. I think I still have your number on my phone." She said placing a finger to her chin remembering if she did in fact have Izuku's number.
"Oh um well, let me see if I have yours." He said pulling out his phone and scrolling through the contacts to see Tsu's name right under Ochaco's. He'd completely forgotten that her number was still in there. The multiple times he'd transferred his data to new phones after upgrading or just breaking his other ones and he still had her number, though it probably wasn't her number anymore.
"Good we'll set something up when we're both free," Tsu said before nodding to Hinako. "Nice to meet you Hinako." She said before walking away. Hinako watched Tsuyu go and cast an eye at her father seeing him watching as well. Not that she could blame him. Tsuyu was a slender beauty with long legs and a small waist her long green hair was done into a quick ponytail no doubt in preparation for fighting that villain.
Her outfit accentuated all her best features. Her deep green leggings showed off those long legs and the toned butt of hers. The shirt she wore was a little too big, no doubt allowing her father being taller than her, to look down and catch some cleavage if he was that kind of guy. "She's really pretty dad an old girlfriend?" She asked with a Cheshire grin. Izuku's face went a heavy pink as he blushed.
"W-wh-what no of-of course not! She was my classmate in high school and a really good friend that's all." Izuku said shaking his head. "Come on let's go home and eat. I think we've both had enough excitement and drama for the day." He said grabbing hold of Hinako and throwing her on his back before she could reject the prospect of flying and leaped into the air.
Tsu turned around in time to see Izuku sputtering at something Hinako said before snatching her up and leaping into the air. She couldn't help but give a soft giggle at that remembering how often Izuku would just go off on a patented mutter storm. "Are you sure you didn't want to see him again? He seems to be happy." She said turning to her best friend Ochaco Uraraka.
The brown-haired woman had said hair tied back into a ponytail and was dressed in a pink T-shirt and jeans with boots on her feet. She shook her head at Tsu's question. "I'm sure. Things ended badly for us like really badly Tsu. He may have recovered but I haven't and I'm not sure I ever will. I-I can't see him and his daughter." She said clenching her fist. Tsu looked at Ochaco and turned to her fully.
"Hinako seemed really nice. I can't speak for her fashion sense, but she didn't seem like a bad girl Ochaco. I'm not going to pressure you or anything Ochaco, do what you think is best for you, but I don't think you'll ever recover if you don't at least talk to Izuku." She said placing a hand on Ochaco's shoulder. "Or you could always talk to me kero. We're best friends after all." She said with a small smile.
Ochaco looked at Tsu and nodded. "I guess it's time you knew Tsu. I've kept it a secret for so long. Not here though come over to my place and I'll tell you about me, Izuku, and…Himiko Toga."
At the mention of the blood-drinking Villain Tsu's poker face broke and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped open.