Sorry for the delay guys! Here's the new chapter, and I see a vote for Hawks in the pairings! Keep the votes coming and we'll see who has the best chemistry with our little problem child owo

Big thank you to kksambo and ryuuraidernight for your reviews!

IX.

Seeing the outside world without Enji looming over her shoulder was a break she didn't even know she needed. It never occurred to her how rarely the twins ever got to leave the house without Enji in tow, and now with her first errand, it was a dream come true.

Even if her first errand was "bring Enji a lunch of your choosing", it was still an excuse to go outside and explore. Get a feel for the time period she was in.

Yayoi sat on the bus with the patience of a saint. People stared, probably recognized her because of her, ugh, steely expression, but she did her best to ignore them. If they recognized her as Enji's crotch goblin, then maybe they'd assume she was just as intimidating and leave her alone.

Her stop had been near an electronics shop, which she took full advantage of by watching the news for a few minutes. General reports of weather and events, as well as some of the footage of Pro Heroes being rolled every few cuts. She was pretty sure, when she saw All Might, that his costume was the same as in the first chapter—right after Izuku had found out he was Quirkless. That was still pretty early, she figured, but definitely not far off from everything being kickstarted.

At some point, All Might was going to be gravely injured. The clock was ticking on his search for a successor, as well as for Shouto's freedom from Endeavour.

When there was a lack of reports of someone like Dabi in the news, she decided it was too early for the man to appear. He wasn't much older than the others by the time they entered UA, she reasoned, so maybe he was going through his villain origin story now. But one thing was for sure, she thought as she walked through the streets: Dabi was definitely something to look out for in the future.

A few Pro Heroes on patrol greeted her and made sure she was okay every so often. When they found out she was running an errand for the No. 2 Pro Hero, their tunes would change from concerned to chipper, and they'd happily give her directions to where she needed to go. What little uncertainty Yayoi had getting off of that bus was gone by the time the fourth hero told her which way she needed to go.

Even if they didn't give her directions and help her, Yayoi knew she was being followed by someone from home. There was no way they'd let a child celebrity, or what came close to one in this society, go out on her own without an escort.

She passed some stores that also sold newspapers, and she looked at them idly while pretending to choose postcards on display. No mentions of Hawks, though with him being a kid as well, that made sense. She did see an article that was cut off at the bottom of the page, though, clearly enticing the reader to buy the paper and turn the page, about a child who had helped people—only to be discovered to be from an abusive home and removed from his parents' custody.

If that wasn't confirmation that Hawks had been saved by Endeavour and taken in to become a hero, she didn't know what was.

With a better grasp of the time period she was in from the story, there was a bit more confidence in her step. She gave the small alarm on her bag a glance, wondering if she would even actually need it today, and eventually Yayoi found herself more relieved than anything. She knew Enji and Mariya would've discussed conditions for Yayoi to leave the house, and it was obvious that tailing Yayoi and keeping a tracker on her was the best decision. The usual little alarm kids would carry on their bags was given to her alongside the watch to keep track of the time, and Yayoi felt almost smug at how little it was needed.

She trotted up to the nearby café she'd been told about, where she was informed Enji's favourite food was served. She was definitely disappointed that he enjoyed kuzumochi as much as he did—it was her previous brother's favourite, too, and she'd make it every summer for him to have when he came back from school. But it was what it was, and she supposed giving Enji some kuzumochi mass-produced at a café was better than swallowing her pride and giving him homemade mochi. There was no heart behind this and she was content with that.

The clerk looked down at her, dog ears perked right up in excitement and fluffy tail wagging under his apron when he recognised her. Other patrons seemed to recognise her, some even taking pictures on their phones, and there was no doubt she would be in the news or something by the end of the day. Heroes were a hot topic, and if the kid of a hero was doing something for their parent, it had to be documented.

"You must be Yayoi-chan!" the clerk chirped. Yayoi nodded, determined look on her face to mask the displeasure. Ugh, more people knowing she was related to Enji was the worst. "Your mama called me this morning to let me know you'd be here. I'll go get Todoroki-san's order for you from the back!"

Another clerk stood by her at the front counter, nervously looking around and all but guarding Yayoi from the patrons' cameras. There was little point to it. Whatever equivalent to twitter over here was probably abuzz with replies and trending images. People just had nothing better to do than ogle.

The dog-eared clerk returned, a carefully wrapped box in his hands, and he knelt down to Yayoi's height with a big grin. His Quirk—or at least the genetics he was born with—seemed to give him Golden Retriever qualities to match his bright disposition. It was sort of adorable. Reminded her of something she couldn't quite place yet.

"Here you go, Yayoi-chan," he sang. He handed the box to her, which she took with both hands, and made sure she had a good grip on it. It wasn't a big box, but for a toddler it was a hefty carry. "And I got you a little something for yourself as well. Enjoy your lunch with your papa!"

The tail wagged some more, the ears perked right up, and when she saw the brown hair under his work cap, it finally clicked. Yayoi passed over the small baggie of yen to him to pay, and as she left she called back to him, "Thank you, Pompompurin!"

The clerk melted on the spot, hands on his chest as he gushed out loud.

She wondered if this world had their own version of Sanrio characters to collect. She used to love the Cinnamoroll character.

It was easy to navigate the streets that led to the agency. She may have only been two during those days where she could travel with Enji to the building, but the streets were easy to remember for their stores and landscapes. Buildings near agencies had to stand out somehow from the heroes they shared the spotlight with.

The park was relatively unpopulated, so she cut through its entrance and took a somehow longer route to Enji's agency. Sure, she was delaying it. Maybe hoping the kuzumochi would be bad when he ate it after so long out of the fridge. Who could say it out loud, though? She was an itty-bitty kid trying to navigate the city. Yayoi took great pleasure in taking her time to walk through the park, and she even stopped to smell some flowers a few times too. Being outside was a luxury she didn't even know she had to work hard for, after all.

It would be a shame to end it all because Enji had to eat—

"Why do I gotta keep teaching you this lesson!?"

Just a short distance ahead of her, through a small cluster of shrubs, she saw smoke rise after firecrackers sounded. It was no doubt a kid who'd shouted, clearly angered but somehow enjoying themselves. Yayoi stopped walking. She stared at the shrubs. She let out a long, tired sigh.

Right. Abuse didn't happen just in the household. She forgot kids could be cruel too.

There was another crack of fireworks, more smoke, and then someone was crying and begging the other to stop. It was pathetic to listen to. It was probably pathetic to watch, too.

Yayoi was by no means a hero. She was selfish, and she would own that with pride. If someone was being bullied back in her youth, she was one of the masses who pretended they saw nothing and figured someone else would end it anyway. She was blending in with the crowd, just doing what everyone else was, and it was okay at the time.

But there were eyes on her now. People expected her, the child of a hero, to be just like their ideal version of Enji.

Yayoi was fuming as she ran to the shrubs and jumped through. She couldn't even take any joy in the fact that Enji's kuzumochi was probably being ruined by her flailing about. All she could focus on was how pissed off she was that she wasn't allowed to just be a bystander anymore. Keeping one person safe wasn't enough for other people anymore—and they'd hurt Shouto if she didn't focus on other people as well.

So when she crashed into the kid making the firework sounds, she dropped her bag and the box of kuzumochi with a frustrated growl. Her hands were already turning orange at the palms.

The blond kid was thrown onto his behind, skidding in the dirt back where his own lackeys had been standing. Yayoi stumbled back to her feet, placing herself between the blond and his prey—and she almost swore out loud.

Bakugou Katsuki. There was no need to guess who his victim had been.

"Knock it off!" she snapped at him. The young Katsuki stared at her, expression blank as though he couldn't fathom someone fighting against him, and his lackeys both gawked and yelled back at her to mind her own business.

Behind her, one Midoriya Izuku was sniffling and cradling a slightly burnt arm.

"Wh—" Katsuki finally realised what was going on and regained his senses. "You stay out of this!"

Yayoi clenched her hands into fists and stood her ground. No doubt someone had noticed her run over in a hurry and followed to make sure the Endeavour's kid was okay. An adult would take over for her soon enough.

But as Katsuki got to his feet and his palms crackled with sparks, as his lackeys stomped on Yayoi's box and took her bag from the ground, it dawned on her that no one was coming. This wasn't just the society that would ignore a situation in the hopes someone else would do it, she realised. This was the society that thought, always and every time, that a hero would be around to save the day.

"I'll kill you!" Katsuki shouted at her. Even from a young age, he really was obsessed with murder and killing. How the hell did no one put this kid on a watch list?

"Back off!" Yayoi shouted back. "Leave him alone!"

This was going to be a nightmare to deal with. She may have been her past brother's guardian, sure, and she may have doted on Shouto, but other kids this age were way out of her field of experience. Especially little shits like this one.

Katsuki snatched the bag from his lackey and slammed a hand over it, covering the little alarm as he did so without realising. "Get lost before I blow up your stuff!" he threatened.

Oh no. Don't blow up the one thing that would alert responsible adults that Yayoi was in trouble. Oh no.

She gave him a smug smirk, daring him to without uttering a single word, and Katsuki just let loose a barrage of explosions from his hands onto the bag. It was well and truly ruined when he dropped it, the smallest of flames burning at the straps, and the air began to smell of burnt leather. The plastic around the alarm melted away, followed by the tell-tale short-circuit of the batteries as the heat melted them too.

"Who do you think you are, anyway?" Katsuki snapped. "You're just some extra!"

Behind her, Izuku hiccupped and mumbled that he was okay. Yayoi tried to keep the dry expression off of her face and refrained from rolling her eyes. That was another thing she hated about the manga a lot. She couldn't stand how much Midoriya had let Bakugou step all over him, Quirkless or not. Even after getting One for All, he would excuse Bakugou's behaviour.

She really hated kids like the two of them. Doormats and assholes alike. They practically enabled each other.

With a loud, easy-going drawl, Yayoi announced, "I'm just doing my civil duty. Can't say the same for some people."

Katsuki stormed forward, throwing his explosions at her as he did so. For once, Yayoi was glad for her Quirk—the damn resistance to heat she got from Enji and her ability to regulate her own temperature. She barely felt a thing when Katsuki hit her with his own Quirk, and all that was left in his way were small scorch marks that Yayoi wiped onto her sleeve.

He was going to be giving Shouto the hardest time in UA, she recalled. Maybe she could get something out of this encounter, after all. A little teaching moment for Bakugou Katsuki.

As she wiped off the scorch marks and let out a breath, she noticed the orange in her palms had spread under the sleeves of her dress. If the kid were smart, which he supposedly was, he would connect the dots and realise he was useless right now.

"Are you done?" she asked innocently.

"N—Not in the slightest!" Katsuki balled his hands into fists, cheeks red as he got angrier. Wow, he didn't like not being able to take someone down in one go, huh? "I'm the strongest, you hear!?"

"Then if you're the strongest, and I'm completely fine…" Yayoi innocently tilted her head. "That makes me stronger?"

"H—Hey, Bakugou, we should—" The kid with dragon wings was shoved back onto his behind by Katsuki as soon as he tried to ask to leave.

"You're just a nobody!" Katsuki snapped again. "And that deku behind you is worse than a nobody! He needs to know his place!"

"If I'm just a nobody," Yayoi continued, "then you're the same as the deku you hate so much."

Katsuki's composure, while miniscule to begin with, was gone in its entirety when she compared him to Izuku. He crashed into Yayoi with a shout, beside himself with rage, and Yayoi did her best to recall the training from Enji in that moment. It was weird, having all of that abuse come in handy for once in a real-life situation, and it was even weirder to see her training for her heat and cold resistance aiding her as much as it did.

As experienced as she was, though, Katsuki still had height and size on Yayoi. Her toddler growth spurt hadn't hit yet, but his clearly had with his Quirk being fully developed, and when five minutes had passed since her alarm had been melted, Yayoi was caught in a standstill with Katsuki. Their hands were clamped together, both trying to push the other off their feet, and Yayoi could feel Katsuki creating small explosions against her palms as she tried to keep from being burnt. The lackeys had already run, nervous at the idea of someone keeping up with their tyrant of a friend, and it was just the trio left in the shrubs. Izuku, injured on the ground and sobbing at them both to stop; Katsuki, yelling at her to mind her own business and learn her place; and Yayoi herself, barely restraining her annoyance and wondering if it was unethical to kick a kid where he hadn't even dropped a pair yet.

She decided it was morally safer to crush his spirits instead.

"Pathetic," she grunted. Katsuki's nostrils flared as he glared at her.

"You're pathetic!" he yelled.

"I'm not the one beating up someone for no reason."

"I told you—"

Yayoi pushed as hard as she could, hoping he would be distracted, but he stood his ground. Persistent little shit.

"That's not a good reason!" she snapped at him. "If you gotta beat up a Quirkless kid to teach him his place, you're no better than a villain!"

He faltered then. But as soon as he recovered, he was pushing her back until she was bending back to keep from falling. Curse this tiny, weak body!

"I'm a hero, not a villain! I'm strong!" The rage in Katsuki's eyes was a whole new level compared to earlier. She struck a nerve, it seemed.

"What hero beats up kids!?" Yayoi pressed on. "Only villains do that! You're a villain!"

"Shut up!"

Below her, closer than she'd thought in her new position, Izuku sniffed, "Kacchan, stop, please!"

"Shut up! Both of you shut up!"

And with a final push aided by his Quirk, Katsuki threw Yayoi onto Izuku and towered over the duo. Yayoi flexed her hands, the skin tingling from the onslaught of bursts of heat, but they seemed unharmed overall. Just really, really bright orange and glowing.

"I'm no villain! I'm gonna be a hero! I'll be the greatest hero! You'll see! I'm the best—I deserve to be the best hero—"

"Heroes don't attack unarmed civilians."

At the sound of a man's voice, the shrubs parting behind Katsuki, Yayoi smirked. About time. She was surprised Mariya didn't show up, but there were plenty of male staff to act inconspicuous outdoors. She wiped the smug look from her face and crawled off of Izuku, turning to face her saviour and the one responsible goddamn adult in the whole park.

And much like Katsuki had lost all colour in her face, Yayoi froze at the sight of Enji staring down at the scene in front of him.

Why was Enji here? He should be at the agency or patrolling somewhere. Why was he here? How did he find Yayoi? She watched turquoise eyes dart down to her burnt bag, and Yayoi held her breath. Did the fucking alarm go to Enji?

Enji let out a long breath and crossed his arms over his chest. He gave Katsuki a very stern look, and the boy began to tear up in his shock.

"This is very disappointing to see," Endeavour told the blond. "She's right. What kind of hero attacks people to prove they're strong? And a Quirkless person, no less. It's shameful."

Katsuki hiccupped.

Without so much as a delay, the blond was sprinting out of the bushes and crying out loud. Enji didn't even bother to give chase, focused once again on Yayoi and Izuku, and he stepped forward to inspect the bag. He saw the box of kuzumochi—or its remains, rather—and he reached up to pinch at the bridge of hid nose with another sigh.

Yayoi crawled off of the still crying Izuku and helped him sit up. The burns on his arm weren't too bad, easy enough to heal, but there was dirt and grass stuck to the exposed skin that was no doubt hurting more than the injury itself.

"Quit crying," Yayoi grumbled at him. Izuku nodded, but continued to cry anyway. "He's gone already."

Behind her, Enji finally got close enough to kneel down and face them directly. It was weird. After all that time being ignored, the first time he was looking at her again was without any ounce of horror or disdain like last time. Part of her hoped he had forgotten her little creepy toddler act from weeks ago, but part of her wanted that to stick. If he knew not to go after Shouto, she could rest easy.

A hand landed on her head. Enji's voice was low, but far from the disappointed tone he used on Katsuki.

"Are you alright, Yayoi?" he asked her.

Yayoi blinked. She looked away from Izuku, back over her shoulder and up at Enji. His expression was hard to read but… did he really care at all? Why would he bother to ask? To scold her if she was injured? This was no doubt a trap. Probably Enji finding a reason to discard her and focus on Shouto more.

She huffed at him. "Fine," she grumbled. "And I'm still not stupid."

He grimaced. He removed his hand from her head.

Izuku's sobs had finally died down somewhat, and he recognised that a Pro Hero was right in front of him now. Through the snot and tears all over his face, he managed to babble out a weak, "Th—Thank you, Endeavour."

People were gathering to watch now, clearly interested when the danger for the Quirkless kid had passed. If Yayoi had had her way, she'd be one of them—but having a hero for a dad was the biggest goddamn drag, she was starting to learn. All the rich kid perks didn't make up for the expectations that came with them.

The exit from the park wasn't far. It turned out that Enji had been following the whole time, "patrolling" the same areas she would walk, and being given an alarm to let him know if she was in trouble was also his idea. She stared at the road ahead of them as he carried both toddlers back to the agency. She didn't look to Izuku in Enji's other arm, or even to Enji himself. It was a lot to process, the quick movements Enji had made to scoop up both kids and head back to his office to treat them both.

This was just for the public. He never cared about anyone enough to help them personally. He was just as selfish as Yayoi—and he felt the pressure of the eyes on him just as much as she had.

It had been a while since she'd seen Faust last, and the woman had altered her costume a bit more, but she was as recognisable as ever. She gawked at the sight of Enji walking to the elevator and taking the kids to the medical office, and Yayoi just gave her a sympathetic look in return. Even his own sidekicks couldn't see him doing this out of the goodness of his own heart. Go figure.

She supposed she got what she wanted out of it—crushing some spirit in Katsuki, that was. With any luck he'd grow up with that weighing on him, and he'd be less likely to be a nuisance to her brother like in canon. Time would have to tell, she thought as she watched one of the sidekicks patch up Izuku's arm. At this point, her childhood would be one big waiting game that she desperately needed to pay off.

When Izuku's arm was finally wrapped in gauze and his mother was contacted, Enji turned his gaze to Yayoi and sighed again.

"I'll ask again, Yayoi," he told her. "Are you alright?"

She gave him a disgruntled look. "If Nii-Nii couldn't hurt me, what could that kid do?" she scoffed.

He gave her his own disgruntled look in return. Christ, she hated how much that hammered home they were related.

"You were very brave today," he tried again. "But next time, you should—"

"Find a hero? An adult?" Yayoi clicked her tongue at him. "People watching me heard it. They just didn't care."

His brow quirked. Enji hung his head low and let out an even more tired sigh. A gloved hand ran through his hair before he lifted his head again and nodded, pained expression on his face.

"People are complacent. You're right."

She blinked at him. He… agreed with her?

"Yayoi, if you were to become a hero, you could step in whenever you wanted to stop those misdeeds," he explained. "But that's only if you become a hero. I won't… force it on you anymore. I think everything with Touya and our… talk after your last session have shown me I should take a different approach."

Yayoi stared. What the fuck was he talking about?

He wasn't serious. Nobody learned to get over their abusive ways that quickly. People like Enji didn't just have an epiphany without something like the damn Hood incident happening first!

When she didn't say anything else, he sat down on the bed with her and watched as Izuku chatted with some of his sidekicks, enamoured by the rare opportunity to talk with his idols.

"I'll still train you to use your Quirk," Enji said. "It's essential. But it seems that… You already have an opinion on my goal for making you a hero."

"It's stupid."

He flinched, but not in the way where words stung a person. It was closer to restraining his own rage, his fire flickering as he calmed himself.

"It's Papa's reason for being a hero. But it's also the reason why that bully was a bad fit to be a hero."

"So it's stupid."

"Yayoi—" Enji stopped himself from continuing. He took a moment to calm down once again. "I'm giving you and Shouto a break from training. The last thing I want to do is have a repeat of Touya with you two. But eventually, you will have to make a decision. I won't accept anything less than perfection."

She scoffed. He didn't even react to it this time. The three months of thinking had really hammered home to him how shitty he was, that even a child was doubting him and scoffing at his words. Yayoi pointed towards Izuku, who was still distracted by the sidekicks, and she gave Enji an expectant glare.

"Shouto needs a friend," she informed him. "Let him have one."

"The Quirkless boy?" Enji cringed.

"That wasn't very heroic of you to say," she drawled. Enji cradled his face in his hands and groaned.

"Aren't you enough?"

If she had her way, she'd be more than enough. But she also knew how much Shouto flourished with more people he trusted around him. "I'm perfect. Shouto still needs a friend."

It was his turn to scoff. She looked at him darkly.

"I'll speak with his mother when she gets here," he finally said. Enji rose from the bed and stood up, towering over Yayoi once again. He looked her up and down, almost like an actual concerned parent scanning for injuries, until finally he was satisfied. "This coming weekend, you can come with us to see Touya. He said he wanted to apologise."

Like hell she wanted to see Touya. It was plain as day on her face, too. Clear enough that Enji added, albeit reluctantly, that she was free to decline.

"I'll think about it," she told him.

And when Midoriya Inko finally entered the medical area through the elevator, all talks of family ceased between the Todorokis.