The Second Happiest Day

Deep into the 2nd half of the school year, the School Festival was announced. I hadn't thought a school like UA would do things like festivals. There was the Sports Festival, but that was more of a scouting tool than a true festival. Apparently, we really were just normal kids, who just happened to be training to be heroes.

Eri was completely physically recovered, and she'd been seeing a councilor. So it didn't take as much bargaining as I had thought to get her permission to attend. Mirio and I were prepared to beg, borrow and whatever else it took to get her out and about. But the doctors thought it might not be a bad idea to get her some social exorcise. Under the condition that, if she got too stressed, we were to bring her back immediately. We hoped it wouldn't come to that, but we agreed.

I got roped into a big production with my class, and an even bigger brawl on my way to buy some rope. Heroes never get a day off, I guess. But with both those obstacles, I barely got to see Eri. I had to leave it up to Mirio to show her a good time. I knew that he could, but I still felt like I was letting her down somehow. So I made a promise to myself that I would give it my all, to make sure it would make her smile.

My love for Eri had grown and changed similar to my love for Mirio. Only, instead of romantic thoughts, I developed something akin to paternal instincts. I can't begin to understand how I knew that's what they were. I certainly wasn't old enough to be anyone's father at the time. I chalked it up to what I imagined brothers felt for their little sisters. Being an only child, that wasn't something I was familiar with either. But somehow I knew, this was different. I thought so much of her future, terrifying and exciting things she might encounter. I wanted to be a guiding hand through all of it, to make it so much easier for her than it had been for me. Of course, being originally quirkless, I had a different set of problems. But I was sure I could help sort things out for her too.

After the festival was over, and we'd cleaned everything up, I asked Mirio and Eri to wait outside the dormitory. I changed out of the frankly ridiculous outfit I'd danced in, and picked up the special surprise I'd prepared for Eri. Something she'd asked for by name.

"I have a special treat for you, Eri."

"What is it? What is it?" Her already large eyes grew even wider, and she bounced up and down a little.

I took the candy apple from behind my back and presented it to her She looked at it with awe, and gently took it from my hand.

"Hey, where did you find that?" Mirio asked.

"I saw no one was selling them at the festival, so I picked up the ingrediants last night and made one."

"Wow, that's incredible!"

"It wasn't as hard as I'd thought." I played it off as cool, but honestly, it was much harder. I burned the caramel at least twice and had to start over. And the first few apples kept falling off the sticks. But finally, I got it perfect! I'd fail a thousand times if it meant one success, one smile from that little girl, who used to be so sad.

She took a big, healthy bite and beamed. "It's so good!" Caramel and food coloring stuck to her face just under her nose. I think that might'vebeen when we started calling her Our Little Candy Apple. Or at least, that's what inspired it later.

Mirio belly-laughed and leaned against the courtyard wall. When he'd finally caught his breath, he straightened and cleared his throat. "We have a special treat for you to, Izuku."

"Can I tell him?" Eri asked around another bite of crisp apple flesh.

"Sure thing, go ahead."

"Lemil- I mean, Mirio is going to adopt me when the school year ends!" She threw her hands up, practically tossing her apple in the air.

"Well, Eri, we talked about this. I'm going to fill out paperwork to apply to adopt you after graduation." He knelt ather level and put a hand on her shoulder. "I still have to get a place of my own and have enough money to actually get the application through."

Both Eri and my eyes filled with tears, but I think we were on different levels of understanding.

"Mirio, you know I'll do everything in my power to help you." I told him as he stood to face me. "I know you'll make an excellent father."

His small blue eyes became misty as well, and he suddenly threw his arms around my shoulders and kissed me. It was quick, but meaningful. "I hope the adoption board has as much faith in me as you do. I look at all the requirements, and it kind of shakes me up a little. Punching villains I can handle, but Bureaucracy is an evil I don't know how to fight." He tried to laugh it off, but it was clear he was nervous, maybe even disparaging.

"You can do it!" I offered, not sure where my deviance was. But I wasn't willing to confront the possibility of failure in front of Eri. "I know they'll see it too."

*****

It took less than a year for my entire world to shift; The Leage of Villains had made their presence known in a big way. And it was Lemillion's first big mission as a fully-liscensed hero to bring them to justice. They promptly put him back in the hospital. But not without suffering losses on their side as well.

Ultimately they'd come for UA, one more time. It seems they really had a score to settle with me and Bakugo in particular. A lot of students were injured, and a few brave souls lost their lives in defense of our student body.

All Might

Hound Dog

Present Mic

Tenya Iida

Mashihirao Ojiro

Jiro Kyoka

Koji Koda

Just to name a few. Losing beloved teachers was bad enough, but snuffing out the promise of heroes on the verge of graduation was something the school just couldn't recover from. Principal Nezu preached a message of hope, and rebuilt the school as best he could. He even erected a memorial in the lobby for those who'd died. But classes were limited, and the rest of the year was cheerless.

Even after the League of Villains went quiet, no one's spirits lifted. It wasn't until Lemillion recovered and returned to active duty that I even thought about smiling again.

In all that time, Eri had been shifted from foster hom to foster home, until finally her quirk was deemed too unstable for continued fostering, and she was institutionalized. A bleak situation that actually managed to brighten, as we were allowed to visit her much more consistently than we would have been, had she continued foster care.

With the bakc-pay from his injuries, Miro finally had enough money in the bank to prove that he could support Eri. After extensive psych evaluation, Eri was deemed fit to return to foster care, and was left in Mirio's charge for a six month probational period. If everything went smoothly, he would be allowed to adopt her.

Once the school year had broken againfor summer, I started spending all my time at Mirio's little apartment with Eri. Except for my mandatory training hours to uphold my provisional license. Once I was through, I would go straight to the apartment and have dinner ready for Mirio when he returned. It was never quite consistent hours, but he was more of a daytime hero, and returned early enough to spend the evening with us, usually. I honestly don't know how single parents handled this sort of thing. They should get hero pay for just day-to-day living!

Finally, six months later, the day came at last. The Second Happiest Day of my life was the day the court awarded adoptive custody of Eri to Mirio, and she became Eri Togata. I was so happy, I cried into her soft, silvery hair for...longer than I would like to admit. But she cried too, so I guess I don't feel as awkward about it. I didn't think life could get much better than seeing Eri and Mirio happy and safe, but as All Might used to tell me while training, there's always room for improvement.