Himiko Toga listened intently to Izuku telling her the life she had forgotten, the life Pestilentia and All for One had taken from her. It all made sense. All those nightmares, all those half-remembered memories…it all fit together. She could see how her skills had to be the result of that kind of training. And the names…she could almost hear a kind woman´s voice calling her Ako to calm her on a stormy night. It brought tears to her eyes to know that she would never hear that voice again, and it would stay just in the edge of her memory.
It was heart-breaking to know that she´d had a family who loved her, to know they had been murdered just for being around her, to know her life had been stolen because of her Quirk, that she had been moulded like an object, a weapon. It angered her, but it somehow gave her hope. Izuku knew all of this and had just told her he loved her. She wasn't alone, and she could get her life together just like she had been doing.
When Izuku finished telling her, she was actually feeling better. She wanted blood and revenge, but she felt much more comfortable with all of this. She had living family, she might even reunite with them at some point. She was feeling better. "Thank you for this, Izu-Izu…it actually gives me some hope, you know?" They stayed together for a long while, cuddling comfortably. "Himiko, I think we are going to have to talk to everyone eventually…" "But not right now. Right now, you are all for me, Izu-Izu, and I´m not gonna let you get away from this hug anytime soon!" She gave him a mischievous smile and tightened her grip around him.
But from outside the sounds of footsteps and chatter took their attention. "…the press, ma´am, the doctors said The Deku was awake, we´re gonna interview him." All Might´s deep voice answered in exasperation, "My boy was injured and needs rest, miss reporter. Please give us space." "All Might, we almost didn't see you here! So good to meet again! Can you give us a statement? Is it true the hero Deku is in a relationship with…" Inko Midoriya´s stressed voice interrupted "Miss, with all due respect, leave us alone, there is police presence in this hospital and we will call them. My son can have interviews when he is released!"
"What was that?" asked Izuku "Relationship?" Toga was quite confused "What relationship, Izu-Izu?" her tone becoming just slightly threatening. "They probably mean you." "Oh shit, that could be it. So, we are in a relationship?" "We´ve lived together for more than a month, Himiko, we pretty much are. So, you want to be my girlfriend officially?" "YES, YES, I´ve always wanted that!" A very worried Inko Midoriya entered the room, asking "I heard shouting, are you okay?" Toga turned to look at Izuku, who was blushing hard "We´re alright mom! And thank you for not letting the press in, I´d rather speak to them wearing actual clothes!" Inko left with a smile, her gaze lingering on Toga slightly with…pity? Toga didn't give it more thought, she was getting a talk with the mother later and she could worry later. Right now, she was happy.
About half an hour later a doctor walked in, accompanied by the policeman Izu-Izu had spoken about, Tsukauchi, now the commissioner for the entire Tokyo area. "Midoriya, the Americans already told us everything they could about the situation, but we thought you might want a bit of an update on the Japanese side." "Good to see you, commissioner. The Americans told you about Himiko, right? Cause I am not about to let her go in chains." "Actually, Midoriya, this is about the public perception of it. Your possible relationship was exposed, and the press are demanding an explanation. The Americans can probably coach you on that better than I, I may be flexible, but this is beyond me, Izuku. I´m having a meeting with a senior agent later today, a Holden Johns, I hope we can clear everything up there. Toga, while all of this goes down, you will not be allowed to leave the hospital. As you are technically an American prisoner, we can´t arrest you, and the issue of your sentence is above my paygrade. You are safe, and Midoriya trusts you, so I will trust you too, but if you perform any crime here, my officers WILL take you down. So, behave. And Izuku?" "Yes, commissioner?" "Congratulations to you both, you look cute together"
The policeman left, and the doctor took her turn "Midoriya-san, your leg injury is healing on schedule, we expect you to be in good condition by the morning, when you may leave the hospital. By order of Recovery Girl, we will require you to check back with us in a week, to clear you completely. You are instructed to rest and recuperate. You, Miss Toga, thankfully have not left this closed off floor. We were told to register you under an alias, "Isana Shiranui", so please do keep a low profile. We can provide you with some clothes and a facemask, so you stand out less, but please stay on this floor. The agents will probably talk to you in a while, I think. Should I tell the nurse to bring you food, too?" After Toga nodded, the doctor left.
"Do I have an Isana face, Izu-Izu?" she pouted. "Not really!" he laughed in reply. "Wanna take a nap? I´m really sleepy, Izuku…" "Sure" Hell yeah, let me cuddle up real close…You actually look great in a hospital gown, Izu-Izu, it doesn't cover much…goddamn exhaustion.
Their nap lasted a couple of hours, and after that Toga left to have a shower in her room. Izuku called his mom over, he was ready to talk. "Son, I´m sorry, we overheard you telling her the story. I´m really sorry, I was judging Toga without knowing her entire story. I…I can see why you want to help her, the way she looks at you…I think you really bring some good out of her. She scares me a little and I really don't want to see you get hurt, Izuku, but I trust you." Both Inko and All Might pulled him into a hug "We are here for you, my boy, and we will always be. But we need you to tell us everything right now."
Toga Himiko stepped out of the shower, drying herself with the towel provided by the hospital. The clothes the nurse had given her were plain and boring; a grey t-shirt, too big, but not big enough to look cute, grey sweatpants, again a size too big, and some cheap looking felt slippers. It was better than hospital clothes, at least. She looked at herself in the mirror, she was starting to need a haircut; her bangs were growing uneven and getting in front of her eyes. She put on some makeup, mostly eyeliner. Izu-Izu always gets so cute when he notices my eyes, and this helps! And she noticed how much she was smiling, it felt much more like her "old self" as a villain, in the good times, at least.
A knock on the door stopped her from rambling on in her mind, and when she answered she found Inko Midoriya outside. "May I come in, Toga?" She just nodded. Inko took a seat on one of the chairs and Toga joined her, the bed wasn't the place for a serious conversation. "I think you know what I want to talk about, yes?" "I do. It is about Izuku" "It is, child. My son is the most important person in my life, and his happiness is more valuable to me than my own life. I raised him basically on my own for more than ten years, after Hisashi started staying away for longer and longer periods of time and he just became a name on a bank transfer every month or two. Did Izuku tell you about his father and me?" "He told me when we met in Florida about his father showing up on his graduation, and how little he was in his life. I just listened, I…the only family I had, the only family I remember, was the League of Villains, and we all know we weren't exactly stable. Izuku told you what the villain told him? About me? Do you think it is true, Mrs. Midoriya?"
"He told us. I don't know…the police are investigating. Do you remember any of this life he said you had?" "Only in nightmares and half-remembered fragments, some sounds, an image or two." "I don't think I can judge a victim of such horrors, but I can acknowledge that you are guilty of crimes, have blood on your hands. I can accept you if you really become the person who Izuku sees when he looks at you, but the law is not as lenient as me. Can you tell me about this mission for the Americans?"
"They wanted us to hunt down the villain Pestilentia, kill him if needed. They offered to reduce my sentence and get me psychiatric help, Izuku agreed because he thinks I am worth saving. And to the Americans it wouldn't be a big setback if I died, I think I´ve been a cheap asset so far. And now we learn the Pestilentia is the one who, well…made me, so we are going to take him down."
"So, I assume that after this, you are going to jail anyway?" Toga sighed. Freedom had tasted so good this time she had been with Izuku. Jail would probably be hell, but if Izuku visited, she thought she might have enough will to serve her sentence. "Yes. Izu-Izu had talked me into turning myself in just a bit before All for One hijacked every screen in Asia and activated my sleeper agent programming, and I still want to atone with the law." "Alright, that is good. Now, I want to talk about you and my son´s relationship." Toga gulped. Is this the bad part? Is she going to make us break up? We´ve been a couple less than a day!
"Don't worry, I´m not about to tell you to break up. My son is an adult now, and, as much as it hurts me, he is more than qualified to make his own decisions. And to face their consequences. But I´ll tell you one thing: I will never forgive you if you hurt my son. Izuku has already been through enough trauma, growing up without a father figure, without a Quirk in a society with heavy bias against the Quirkless, being bullied by his best friend…even I have done harm to him, by not being the support he needed. He deserves better, I want him to be happy. For both of our sakes, Toga, I hope you make him happy."
The green haired woman´s calm tone scared her more than the police and most heroes. "Mrs. Midoriya, I love your son. And I mean "love", not a crush at first sight or the admiration for a true hero who looks good when injured, I…my feelings are stronger, stronger than any brainwashing, any torture, any pain. Izuku…he is the first person who asked why I did what I did, and instead of just trying to kill me or put me in chains, he wanted to help. He doesn't see me as a monster. He makes me want to be a good person, a better person. He makes me feel appreciated, important, valid. He makes me laugh. I love him."
"Alright, Toga. You sound sincere. Take care of my son, and don´t make me regret the trust I will give you. Now give me a hug and call me Inko, and I´m gonna call you Himiko." With the hug, the stress of the conversation was gone. Toga hadn't realized how much she had needed a mom hug, and she even sobbed a little. Izuku had definitely inherited his mother´s talent in comforting people. "And now I´m going to make sure you know about contraceptive methods, I don't want grandkids yet."
Hospitals did not make good cold soba. Shouto slurped the subpar soup disappointedly as he sat on a waiting room he shared with Iida, Momo and Tsuyu, who had just returned from visiting Tokoyami. The bird headed hero would take the rest of the week to heal from his broken leg, while the rest were pretty much all healed. Hatsume had left an hour before, both bored out of her mind and pissed off at the instructions not to scratch her back, as the scars from broken glass were apparently extremely itchy. Shouto guessed she would return soon with two dozen puzzles, or a half-broken computer to rebuild, or maybe some weird foreign snacks. Or all of the former.
Uraraka had not left her room except when Iida had dragged her out for food. Shouto had never seen her like this, and he frankly didn't know what to make of it. Why was Uraraka acting with such jealousy for Izuku, when she had clearly distanced herself from the boy for some time? Shouto still had a hard time understanding some people…maybe Momo and Izuku being the exception?
Iida had been practically holding Uraraka together this last day and a half, and he looked tired enough for two. "Iida, you alright there? You look a blink away from a nap, mate." He replied without his usual enthusiasm or arm motions "I´m fine, Todoroki-kun, I just need to stay awake if anyone needs me." "It will be fine, Tenya, just take a nap. Uraraka will be alright for half an hour, don't worry." Iida looked too tired to argue and just nodded, plumping down on the couch. Tsuyu took his glasses carefully and placed them on a nearby table, the speedy hero didn't even react. In a few minutes he was snoring softly.
"So, are they bringing Izuku to us first or the Agency guys? Or both?" asked Tsuyu. Shouto didn't know, but fortunately, someone knocked on the door. It was Hatsume and the tall American who had flown the plane back to Japan. Shouto had talked to her just two or three times, and she had seemed capable and disciplined, and completely done with the bullshit she probably experienced as a government agent. He didn't remember her name or the hero name that had been given, so he just slurped on his soup instead of greeting the agent.
She spoke to them in English "Hey y´all, me and the boss are meeting with your government in an hour, when we´re done we´ll send Midoriya your way. Tomorrow we´ll have our meeting with all of you, decide what to do. My boss wants you away from our mission and from our asset, the Toga girl. I think you guys are useful and could probably help us in another way. Anyway, I´m around if you want to discuss any Agency business or if you want food from outside. I´m on the night guard shift with Freya, feel free to ask us anything. I´ll leave you to it, and Hatsume, our offer stands, do consider it."
Hatsume just shrugged and took a seat, taking out a pen and a notebook and starting to draw something. "So, who´s gonna go get Uraraka? She´d probably try and kill me if I go." Shouto volunteered, "I´ll go get her, we should all be here." Tsuyu then said, "We should let Fumikage rest, I can tell him everything later." "Alright, I´ll go and get our friend."
The hospital was quiet in the night, the hallways empty. In the other waiting room, he could faintly hear the quiet voices of All Might and Izuku´s mother. He still wasn't used to seeing his childhood hero in that way, as a father to his best friend. It even made All Might sort of Shouto´s uncle, in a way. Shaking the ramble of thoughts from his head he kept walking. Uraraka´s room had been placed directly opposite from Toga´s, for safety reasons, he thought.
Shouto rapped his knuckles on the door "Uraraka, we´re all seeing Izuku in a while, you should join us." There was no answer, so he waited a couple of minutes. "Uraraka. Seriously." Again, she didn't answer. "I´m walking in there, so you better be ready." He didn't want to barge into anyone´s privacy like that, but Uraraka needed to face this situation, to deal with it.
Turning the doorknob, Shouto entered the room, which was dark and stuffy, and smelled of discarded food. Uraraka sat on her bed, staring into the distance. "What did I do wrong, Todoroki? Did I push Deku into that whore´s arms? Why did I fuck up so badly? I loved him, I loved him all along…What happened?" Shouto didn't know how to respond to that. He had suspected Izuku and Uraraka had shared feelings for each other, but by the second year he had stopped noticing any signals. And frankly, he hadn't wanted to bother Izuku with questions on that, he was much more of a people person and probably understood whatever had happened.
But maybe he hadn't, and something had indeed happened. Shouto said softly "Uraraka, why don't you ask Izuku that yourself?" "I…I don't think I can face him, not like this." "You can shower and change, there is still time" "That is not what I meant. "I know, maybe you would prefer to speak with him alone, afterwards? I can ask him." "That would probably be even worse…just give me five minutes, I´ll join you guys."