Their Hero Academia – Chapter 74: 10 Short Films about 1-A

"What're you watching, dork?"

Toshi looked up from his desk to see his sister, Hana, standing in the doorway. "Oh, just a video Shota sent over. He wanted to know what I thought. It's Sequoia Rose and Kestrel fighting some of the Sons of Stain… Looks like they were planning some kind of raid on the local Agencies before they routed them out."

It was a pretty impressive fight. But the Sons of Stain were no joke; they were followers of the late Hero Killer, who still believed Hero Society was corrupt and worked to bring it down. There was something very satisfying about seeing them get beaten.

Hana rolled her eyes. "I don't know how you can just watch all that stuff in your free time. Dad's a Hero. Mom's a Hero. More than half the adults we know are Heroes. You're studying to be a Hero and so are all your friends! Don't you get tired of it?"

"No?" he tried. "It's just all… so cool! Besides, Rose and Kestrel are still pretty young! There's a good chance I might get to work with them someday, so it helps to know about…" She rolled her eyes again and Toshi trailed off.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

"You know," he said, "just because you pretend you're too cool for this kind of stuff doesn't make you cool. We used to watch videos together with Dad! You used to run around in a Froppy onesie!"

Hana looked him dead in the eyes. "Meh." He actually felt a chill go down his spine, but pressed on.

"Oh, come on! You wanted to be a Hero when you were little! What changed, Hanners? Your Quirk's way stronger than Grandma's! It'd be perfect for Hero work!"

"Maybe I don't want to spend my life beating people up, dork! You ever think of that?" Hana looked annoyed. He'd known for a while now her interest in Heroes or in being one had been waning, but her disinterest seemed to have picked up speed since she became a teenager. She did want to be a doctor, which was still helping people, but…

"But you could be a Rescue Hero, like Mom! Or a Medical Hero, like Aunt Eri! Your Quirk would be great for that! You could move rubble or people, maybe even help with injuries..."

Hana pointed at him and he felt a slight shove in his chest, nearly knocking him out of his chair. "Tosh," she said. "Let it go. Not everybody wants that life."

"Even with a punch like that…" Toshi began, but the fire in her eyes silenced him. "Okay, okay. I'll let it go." He smiled. "You know we'll all be proud of you, no matter what you do, right?"

There was another eyeroll. "Could you be any sappier? I'm surprised you aren't crying."

"I don't cry that much!"

"Suuuure…."

"But you know, though," he said, "Aunt Eri and Katsuma got through med school way faster with way less debt…"

"You're what?" Katsumi growled, staring at Dad.

Dad looked up from where he was packing his suitcase. "Going to the Training Camp," he said. "The other teachers think it'll be a good idea if I go and get an idea of what you kids can do."

She threw up her hands in irritation. "And you were planning on telling me this when?"

He shrugged. "Didn't find out until a couple days ago." He'd been commuting back and forth to U.A. a lot lately, getting things set up so he could start teaching the next term. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that or how she felt about having him around and in her space that often. "And I'm telling you now, aren't I?"

Scratch that. She was relieved to still have him around after his injuries. But she still wasn't sure how she felt about him being their teacher. Aunt Itsuka was a homeroom teacher, not a subject teacher, so it probably wasn't as bad for Kana as this would be, but maybe she'd talk to her and see how she dealt with it.

She crossed her arms. "So you're leaving Tai alone with Papa to eat take out the whole time we're gone?"

He gave her a look. "I'm not that dumb. Tsukushi's given them a standing invitation to dinner while we're gone. She'll make sure they're fed."

Leaving Papa and her little brother to the Monomas? Dad was desperate. Well, Papa and Tsukushi got along. And Tai loved Takeru. It was really only Dad and the elder Monoma who fought, usually over stupid stuff like hedges and an ever escalating "niceness" war that probably wouldn't end even when they moved.

"Don't worry," Dad said. "I'll give you your space. I'm not going to be looking over your shoulder the whole time or anything."

She held his gaze, then shrugged. It wasn't like she had anything to hide anyway. It was just the principle of the thing. "Yeah, all right."

He grinned after that. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on any of you, though."

"Wasn't asking you to."

"Not even Izumi."

The words caught in her throat. She could handle All Might pushing them. His jocular demeanor meant that even when he was driving them the hardest, it was hard to get mad at him. Even Aizawa's pushing was a serious, focused thing.

Dad would push as hard of any of them, probably harder. It was, she admitted, what they all needed, how nuts things were right now. He'd force them to go beyond their limits, because he knew no other way.

Could she handle seeing her best friend pushed like that? She'd been trying hard to let Izzy face her own challenges and not step in immediately to protect her. Even since the Sports Festival, she'd been more acutely aware of how Izzy could take care of herself. Dad knew that about her.

"She'll appreciate that." She'd have to try and do the same.

KA-BOOM!

The device exploded, leaving a large scorch mark on the opposite wall of the testing range. Automated systems activated, with arms extending from the wall and spaying fire-suppressant foam over the flames. Later, a cleaning robot would emerge and take care of the mess.

Flipping up her protective mask, Mother let out a laugh. "Aw, I thought for sure that baby was going to work! But didja see the size of that explosion! Wowee!"

Sora joined her in the laugh. "Most spectacular!" she agreed. "Perhaps we should adjust the fuel to power ratio by twenty-percent for the next version?"

Her brother shook his head. "If we are intended to make a rocket-propelled gauntlet for our costumes, then we will require sufficient force to do any damage. Better to reinforce the material to survive the forces involved."

He was incorrect about that. "Material strength will only go so far," she told him. "And reinforcing the material will add additional weight, which will diminish speed."

The incorrectness persisted. "Incorrect," he said. "The advancements being made with lightweight alloys should prove sufficient to…"

Both of them frowned, then turned to face Mother. At the same time, they began, "Mother tell him/her that I am correct!"

Mother let out another laugh. "Babies, babies, babies," she said. "I think it's adorable when you have a science fight. And as much I'd love to weigh in on this one…" The clock on her design desk chirped with an alarm. It was loud, shrill, and impossible to ignore. Father had insisted on her having one like that. It would even trigger back-up alarms if not silenced with the correct passcode. It was ultimately necessary to allow Mother proper time-keeping.

She silenced the alarm. "I promised your father I would have you both in one place so he could talk to you."

At that, the door to the lab snapped open and Father walked in. He had his projector laptop under one arm. Sora looked at Tensei nervously. It was rarely a good sign when he brought that out. It would mean he had a topic for discussion that he considered important enough to require slides.

Father regarded them seriously and set his laptop up. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "As you know, you will be leaving on Monday for the two week Training Camp. While I trust Aizawa and your other chaperones to maintain order, I also still remember the third year camp my own class undertook. Denki and Kyoka were somehow able to sneak away to go skinny-dipping. The resultant pregnancy scare that resulted a few weeks later is not something I wish to see repeated with either of you or your class."

Tensei brought a hand up. "Father, seeing as how Takuma and I are both male, that would be a highly unlikely outcome, should we choose to engage in such behavior." He went a bit red. "Even though we will not. May I be excused from this discussion? It seems as though it would be better focused on Sora."

The traitor! She made a mental note to hide his soldering kit later.

Mother, however, just shook her head. "Let him have this. He spent all of his last day off making these slides. I tried to distract him, but he resisted my feminine wiles."

"Mei!" Father erupted. "That is not an appropriate thing to say!"

"I thought it tied right in, Tenny."

Father went a bit red, as he often did when Mother teased him. "Regardless," he said, "as you are both now in relationships, I feel this next stage of talks to be highly necessary."

The presentation projected from the laptop's holograph lens began with Relationships: How to Make Smart Decisions That Will Ensure a Successful Future for You and Your Partner. Looking carefully, she could see the slide was numbered as one of one hundred fifty.

It was going to be one of those presentations then. Father certainly did love to lecture. Takuma, she understood, but how could he not trust Toshi?

"Perhaps we should be taking notes?" Sora ventured. "But I believe I left pen and paper in my room. I should go and get them!"

"As should I!" Tensei agreed quickly.

Father seemed to be searching their faces for signs of deception, but nodded. "Very well," he said. "Ten minutes, then we will begin!"

More than enough time. She ran out of the lab as fast as her legs would carry her, Tensei hot on her heels.

Carefully, Kimiko closed her suitcase. She had enough clothes to get her through the Training Camp and a few of the medical textbooks Doctor Izumi had provided her with. According to Doctor Izumi, since she was progressing well with her studies, she'd be able to receive additional medical training at the camp. The studying was often long and arduous and cut into her gossip-wrangling time, but she'd be lying if she said it wasn't also rewarding. It was an application of her Quirk that didn't involve sneaking around, didn't make being invisible the be-all and end all of what she was.

There was a knock on her door. "Come in, Daddy," she said.

Her door slid open as Daddy padded inside. He smiled. "How'd you know it was me, 'miko?" As always, he was able to look her right in the eyes, something almost no one else could. Even Kenta had trouble with it sometimes.

"Pretty distinctive knock," she told him.

Daddy smiled again. "You're getting good at observing," he said. He nodded towards the shelf where some of her medical books still were. "You're getting good at lots of things."

"Oh, Daddy," she said. "You're going to make me blush!"

He chuckled at that. "You've got everything you need? Sunscreen? Extra changes of clothes? Reflectors?"

"Yes, yes, yes, …wait, no!" Kimiko ran to her dresser and pulled out her reflective headband, armbands, and gloves. They were useful when she was going places in the dark, otherwise it was very hard to see just her clothing. They stood out when she couldn't.

She stashed them in her suitcase. "Whew! You're a lifesaver, Daddy!" She threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Offf!" Daddy grunted, returning the hug. "I still need to breathe, 'miko!"

She let go, but gave him an affectionate punch on the arm. "Oh, Daddy!"

"Smart, pretty as your mother, and a heck of a right hook," Daddy said, beaming. "No wonder you're going to make a great Hero."

"Daaaaaddy!" she wailed, arms flailing. "You're too much!"

"I'm just telling the truth."

He always did believe in her. When she'd told her parents she wanted to be a Medical Hero, get her paramedic's license, they'd both been supportive, but Mom had been more cautious, telling her about all the hard work that would be involved. But Daddy, Daddy had immediately thrown his full support behind her.

She gave him another hug. "Thank you."

After the hug, he crossed his arms. "Now, you're going to behave yourself on this trip?"

"Of course, Daddy!"

"You're going to pay attention to Aizawa and the other teachers?"

"Of course, Daddy!"

"Not going to hit your friends too much?"

"…I'll try, Daddy!"

"Not going to spend the whole time shipping your classmates and friends? Or trying to arrange a 'summer romance?'"

"…I'm only human, Daddy."

"'miko…" he began, a chastising tone in his voice.

"Fine," she said, stomping her foot. "I'll try and keep it to a minimum."

"That's all I ask."

Shopping in the upscale boutique, Takiyo reached for the designer shirt. Another hand did so at the same time. Wrapping his glowing fingers around one side of the hanger, he tried to take it. But the other hand, ending in sharp looking claws, wrapped around the other side and tugged too.

He looked to his right and shot them a glare, finding a boy his age, with a mane of purple hair and a feline-ish cast to his face. He was very pretty, with a style that suggested the kind of trying too hard to look like he wasn't trying hard to look that good. "Pardon," Takiyo said, "I had it first."

"Oh, please," the boy said. "I saw it first. It'll look better on me anyway."

Takiyo wondered if he could distract the boy by using his Quirk like a laser-pointer, but he doubted he was cat-like enough for that. "There must be something wrong with your eyes if you think that's true."

"Mmm-hmm," he said, his yellow, vertically-pupiled eyes moving quickly. He tapped a finger against his chin. "U.A. student, right? First year? I do remember seeing a glowing boy during the Sports Festival."

Takiyo's thoughts darkened at that. He hadn't stood out nearly as much as he would have liked and he was certain he'd only ended up on an Internship with Cellophane because the class's parents had arranged for no one to be left out. Still, if he had made enough of an impression for someone else to remember, even someone infuriating…

He put his free hand on his hip. "If you remember me, then you should remember how stunning I am." He almost regretted his words. He had told Koda he was trying to be nicer to people. She would be disappointed in him and he hated to think of that. He could already see her disappointed face in his mind…

The boy shook his head, sending his mane waving in what had to be a practiced motion. "You keep telling yourself that." He snapped his fingers, then licked his lips. "Now the boy who took first… that's a different story. Though my friend was rather partial to the girl who took second. But nobody was talking about you, honey."

Neither of them had let go of the shirt in the meantime. It was the last one left in that color and style and he was not backing down. "Regardless," Takiyo said, "none of it changes the fact that I had my hand on this first. It's mine."

The cat-boy laughed, but did release his grip on the shirt. "I suppose it's the duty of the pretty to do everything they can to help the less fortunate. And you, my friend, need a lot of help."

Takiyo gritted his teeth, feeling his glow intensify for a moment. "Must you be so infuriating?" he demanded.

The boy laughed as he walked away. "Oh, you'll see just how infuriating I can be, honey."

What did that mean?

"Up! Up!"

Takuma looked down to see his little sister, Moji, tugging at his pant leg. She looked a lot like a miniature version of Mom, with pinkish skin and horns, topped by dark, fluffy hair. At only two, she didn't have a Quirk yet, but he was sure it would be trouble, whatever it was.

With a grunt, he bent down and picked her up. She wrapped her arms around him and he planted a kiss on top of her head, causing her to giggle. "Did you come to see your favorite big brother? Or did you just want a snack?"

She gave this serious consideration. "Snack!"

Takuma laughed and shifted her so he was only holding her with one arm. "Okay, hang on, I think we've got goldfish crackers around here somewhere… Assuming Mom hasn't eaten them all." At four months pregnant with twins (Or as Dad like to refer to them, "Players to be named later."), Mom had developed a lot of cravings.

"Snack?" Moji repeated, more insistently. She had a bit of a one track mind sometimes.

"I'm getting it," Takuma told her, finding the small serving pouches. He set her down, ripped the top off, and handed it to her.

"Snack!" Moji said again. "Thank you!" Her cravings satisfied, she walked off, leaving him alone in the kitchen. She dodged around Mom as they passed each other in the doorway.

"Hard to believe you used to try and sell your brothers," she said.

"In my defense, Kenta really wanted a brother. He would have liked Yamato."

"You're not going to try and sell the twins, are you?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I'll be out of the house by the time they're old enough to be trouble."

"You will, won't you?" Mom asked. "Hard to believe you're almost sixteen. I must have done something right. Tsu and Momo were so worried when I had you! They were afraid I'd leave you at the park or something! As if! That only happened two times."

"Three," he corrected. "It was raining."

"Meh, who's counting." She crossed the room and pulled a container of ice cream from the freezer. Mom grabbed a spoon and proceeded to eat directly from it. She gestured with her spoon. "So how's things going with you and Tensei? Good? Tell me it's good. In-Laws with the Iidas? Mama's gonna have a nice retirement! You know, Training Camps are great for cementing relationships…"

Takuma felt himself flushing a deep purple. "Nope, nope, nope, not having this conversation!"

Mom cackled at his discomfort. "Oh, come on. You can't possibly be traumatized by this. Your dad and I have always been very frank about sex."

Too frank, really. And with four siblings and two on the way, too often too. "Nope, nope, can't talk, gotta go upload my last video!"

Not entirely a lie; he wouldn't be able to upload anything while at the camp. Two weeks without external validation from strangers? He was gonna die!

The Anivoice Agency was not a large organization, but the building was significant. This was because the ground floor contained an animal rehabilitation center. Most of the animals had been seized from trafficking operations. Father was frequently called upon to rehabilitate the animals before they were returned to the wild.

While there were employees charged with caring for the animals, Father also liked to spend time with them. Akaya had many memories of helping and was accompanying him today.

They paused before a large enclosure holding a gigantic beast, combining the features of many animals. "How are you, Manny?" Father asked. "Feel like talking? No? Okay, let me know if you do…"

Manticore made a soft rumble. He had been in Father's care for ten years and was barely closer to regaining his humanity than he'd been the day he arrived. Yet Father tried.

Father turned to her. "Looking forward to the Camp?" With other people, Father often had trouble finding his words, but never with her or her mother and brother.

What could she tell him? That the words that had shattered her during her Internship still haunted her? That her classmates were all finding themselves in relationships, while no one had expressed any interest in her? That she was certain that no one would look upon her with romantic eyes?

"I am," she said. Not entirely a lie. She could throw herself into being a Hero. And there would be plenty of time to spend with her friends. It did not do to devote oneself entirely to romantic pursuits. Father and Mother had not even begun dating until they had graduated.

She had time. She could tell herself that.

"I'm glad." Father was also not one to push, preferring instead to simply listen.

Her faith taught her honesty…

"I'm not," she said. "I haven't felt truly glad for a long time."

"I know," he said. "We were worried you would never tell us."

"You knew?" she asked.

"You're like me, easy to read," he said. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"It began during my Internship." She told him all that had happened.

"I'm sorry you went through that," he said. She could tell he was pushing down anger on her behalf. "The world's filled with too many people filled with hate. But love wins."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It did for me. For Grandma. For her father. Our skin is stone, but our heart still feels. We've all felt it. You've already braver than I was at your age. Stronger too. I know someone will see you for the amazing person you are."

"Would that I could be so certain."

"It will get easier. Someone will see you and just go 'wow.'"

"Do you truly think so?"

"I know it."

She wished she could believe it so easily. Something about the way Father said it made it sound possible. "Okay."

For a moment, the world was all right. Manticore cooed encouragingly. "Thank you, Manny," she said.

"It'll be fine, Mom," Daisuke said, sitting at the kitchen table, sipping tea. Mom sat across from him, likewise drinking tea, a nervous look upon her face. Dad was at work.

Mom was a tiny woman, dark-haired and serious. She had an arm-stretching Quirk and had been a graduate of U.A.'s General Education program. She worked in finance, well away from the world of Heroes. And she was worried. It didn't show on her face, but he could tell by the subtle way her teacup shook in her hands, the way her arms kept ever so slightly lengthening and then retracting to their normal length, the way she was blinking too much, her breaths quick and shallow.

"The first time your dad went away to a training camp," Mom said, setting her cup down, he lost a hand, most of his classmates were injured, Bakugo was kidnapped, and Fumikage almost was too."

"The hand…"

"And don't say the hand grew back!"

"…Yes, Mom."

Mom frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm just… I'm not like Tsu or all the other spouses. I'm not a Hero. I worry enough about your dad when he's out there. Haru gets it, Mei a little, but… I remember how worried I was when the news broke about what happened at the Training Camp… I don't think I slept a wink until he called."

"It's not going to be like that," he told her. "One, there's no Villains after us. Two, even if there were, Tokoyami's Quirk isn't like her dad's and wouldn't go berserk no matter what else happened. And three, anyone who kidnapped Kirishima-Bakugo would return her within the hour." No offense meant to his explosive classmate, but she would be far more trouble to kidnap than anyone would want to deal with.

Mom frowned at that. "I know. Just promise me you'll be careful, all right? Even with your teachers watching out for you, you're going to be out in the middle of nowhere. If somebody gets hurt…"

Mom worried a lot. It was easy to forget sometimes, how many people didn't have powerful Quirks, how many people weren't Heroes. At U.A., it was a bit of an insular bubble for his class, the children of so many Heroes who'd not only grown up as friends, but were all concentrated in one place. People like his mom had to worry more about Villain attacks, about who would help if something went wrong, about who would get hurt.

His Quirk and his strength made him a frontline fighter and a brawler. She would worry about him getting hurt no matter what. But how could he not put his skills to use? His Extendo-Arms might not have been as flashy as the majority of his classmates' Quirks, but he had the right skills and the right Quirk to be the right person for someone who needed a Hero. He didn't seek fame or glory. He just wanted to help. It was enough.

"I promise, Mom," he said.

"Can we have Mighty Burger for dinner?" Taki asked. Asuka's dark-haired younger brother was the only one in the family to look entirely human. Though the eleven year old's shadow never quite seemed to match his movements.

"Yeah!" Nanami added. Her nine year old sister's wings flapped furiously, though not quite enough to get her off the ground.

"That would be good," Asahi said. Her frog-faced brother, all of thirteen, had not picked up the moodiness that some teens seemed to. If anything, he was too well-behaved.

With Mom at sea and Dad at work, it was left to her to manage her younger siblings. Normally, Asahi would be in charge since she'd started UA, but as long as she was there, she was drafted into the role of caretaker. Not that she minded. She had already done so before attending U.A and had been doing so for much of the Summer break. They'd spent much of the afternoon at the library, so that Nanami could check out books and so that Asahi could begin to do research for a project he would have in his next school term, and were now walking home.

"I don't think so," she said.

"Mighty Burger!" Taki insisted.

"Mighty Burger!" Nanami said.

"Mighty Burger!" Even Asahi was joining in now.

Asuka felt the familiar sensation of Frog-Shadow leaving her body. "Mighty Burger!" Frog-Shadow insisted, joining in the now repetitious chorus of wanting to get take out.

"We have food at home," she said firmly, using the same tone of voice her mom used to manage them. "I'm making pasta for dinner."

Frog-Shadow zipped and around and hovered right in front of her beak, eyes wide and pleading. "Pleeeeeease," her familiar begged. "They've got Hero Babies toys in the kids' meals! I wanna get Baby Ground Zero before they discontinue it!"

"…Why do you know any of that?" Asuka demanded.

"Because Toshi told you about it and I know everything you know."

Asuka squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Ever since she had almost lost her, she had made a greater effort to include Frog-Shadow, allowing her to roam freely and speak to her more often. It had, by and large, been going quite well. Being included more often had tamed some of her childish impulses, though it seemed that it was still an uphill battle.

"I'm pretty sure you're outvoted, Asuka." Taki said. The shadows around him rippled a bit.

Asahi just laughed, a low, croaking sound that flared his throat pouch. "Hey now, Mom and Dad left her in charge. If she says we're having pasta, then we're having pasta."

There were now four pairs of eyes staring at her. She should be strong. She should be tough. She was the responsible adult here. If she could wrangle her classmates as Vice-Representative, then she should certainly be able to handle her family as eldest child.

And perhaps if she flapped her arms hard enough, she could learn to fly without Frog-Shadow.

"Fine. Mighty Burger!"

"Hi! Welcome to the Nice Guy Convenience Store! Let me know if you need help with anything!" Isamu said to the customer who had just entered. Ever since he'd returned from I-Island—and he still couldn't believe everything he'd become privy to during that time—he'd been working in his dad's store, pitching in where he could. It was nice and normal and grounding. The woman grunted and nodded in acknowledgement.

Weird. The dark-haired woman looked familiar. Where had he seen her before? That was going to bug him until he figured it out. She headed to the back to pick up a handful of ready-made frozen meals and a six pack of energy drinks.

The woman seemed to be eyeing him as well when she returned to the front. As he was ringing her up, she asked, "U.A. kid, right? One of Eraserhead's brats?"

"Ah, yes, ma'am," he said. Was she a Pro-Hero? He didn't think so, though she could have been an Underground Hero. But not that many people would know who Aizawa was, even if his own face had been on practically every television in Japan during the Sports Festival.

That, mercifully, had started dying down. The U.A. Sports Festival was a major event, but compared to daily Hero fights and premieres, it was easy to get forgotten by anyone who wasn't a diehard fan.

Was he in danger? He let one of his hands behind the counter. Slowly, he began charging up an energy pulse, just in case he needed it. He just needed to keep his face neutral…

"Thought I recognized you," she said. "You're the zippy kid who tackled me at the last second."

Isamua's eyes went wide. Shadow-Thief? She was on parole, right? Aizawa said they earned their paroles…

"Yeah," he said. Should he apologize?

She shrugged. "Just didn't expect to see any Hero kids working a regular job. I thought all you Hero types had rich families."

"Not a Hero family," he said. "Just me."

"They stuck you with all those Hero kids?" Shadow-Thief asked. "What the hell? That ain't exactly fair to you, is it?"

"I've already learned a lot from them." Isamu shrugged. A sudden and rare burst of confidence filled him. "And besides… I think I'm doing all right for myself." Sports Festival winner, Intern with Deku, "Hero" of I-Island, even if he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that last one, especially the paycheck that had shown up from the Mighty Agency for "services while deputized" with way too many zeroes in it. At least that adventure had been kept out of the news.

Shadow-Thief laughed at that. "You, you're all right, kid." She took the bag with her purchases in it and headed for the door. "Stay in school kid. I wanna get to say I was your first take down someday."

What did it say about his life that getting encouragement from a former Villain was not the strangest thing to have happened to him?