Looking up, he smiled as he caught sight of Hisashi Midoriya.
"So, you're the one who called me here, but would I be correct in assuming that you didn't call me here simply to discus my future employment?"
"That's correct, Mr. Midoriya," Nedzu said, smiling as he caught the hint of amusement on the man's face; All Might's descriptions had painted Izuku's father as something of a kindred spirit, but he had honestly always preferred to make his own judgments when it came to people.
Humans had an unfortunately well-developed capacity for self-deception, depressingly enough.
"Well, I suppose I should answer you about your offer of employment before we move on to any other topic," Mr. Midoriya said, though there was a certain air about him…
Mr. Midoriya was as quick to agree to the offer he'd made as Nedzu had begun to suspect he would, and the pair of them were quickly able to agree on the subject.
"Now, what else did you wish to talk to me about?" Mr. Midoriya asked, the lingering amusement on his face clearing.
"Considering the recent resurgence of the Yakuza, and in particular the seething contempt that Kai Chisaki seems to hold for those with Heteromorphic-type Quirks," Nedzu found himself almost forced to pause, as the memories of what he'd seen the previous night – the poor, wandering people who had been kidnapped from the Rosaru Ward, then clearly abused and altered until they had been reduced to the near-mindless living weapons that he'd seen that night – came back to him, he sighed. "I would like to have your permission to move Izuku and Bombalurina into the dorms I've been having set up."
"I'd have to consult my wife," Mr. Midoriya said, the small smile that had been lingering on his face fading away at last. "Do you intend to move all of the students into these dorms?"
"That's correct," he said, nodding as he offered a smile to Midoriya's father. "I'm planning to send out the rest of the teachers while you're getting settled, in fact."
"Ah, that makes sense," Mr. Midoriya said, inclining his head slightly. "I'll speak with Inko-chan and get back to you, then."
"Thank you, Sensei," he said, smiling as Mr. Midoriya turned to depart.
~MHA~
Making his way back into the room where Pops and Niseko-chan were both sleeping, Chisaki found himself smiling softly as he looked down at the pair of them. He supposed it was rather sentimental of him, tucking Niseko-chan into the same bed where he'd set Pops down to rest while he developed the cure for the disease that had infected so much of society – to say nothing of the Hero syndrome that had spread in its wake – but without the sentiment that tied him to the Shie Hassaikai, and Pops in particular, Chisaki didn't know what kind of person he would have become. He'd no real desire to know, either.
Dismissing those thoughts, after a moment of allowing himself to linger in his nostalgia, Chisaki reached down to pick up Niseko-chan's mask from the side-table where he'd laid it down before putting Niseko-chan down to sleep. Lightly grasping the mask's ear-loops, Chisaki leaned down to scoop the pure child himself up from his spot next to Pops.
"I hope you enjoyed your time with Niseko-chan, Pops," he said, smiling gently under the mask that protected him from the disease and impurities of the present day. "I hope I have the chance to properly introduce you two soon," he continued, turning to make his way out of Pops' room at last.
Arriving once again at the room that he had set aside for Niseko-chan, Chisaki smiled as he set the pure child down on the large bed that he'd had brought in for him when he'd picked out the room where Niseko-chan would be staying. Removing his gloves, Chisaki folded them neatly and set them down on Niseko-chan's new side table. Cradling the pure, silver-eyed child in his arms for a long moment, Chisaki stroked the right side of his face before pressing his right hand to Niseko-chan's head and moving his left hand to the boy's back.
Restoring Niseko-chan to full health, in just the same way he intended to do for Pops when he'd finally managed to cleanse the world of the disease called Quirks, Chisaki brushed his right hand through the long, floppy brown hair that he'd been considering cutting ever since he'd first taken note of it when he'd taken Niseko-chan into his care. Niseko-chan's hair seemed to be only a few shades darker than his own, and the only thing that truly distinguished the pair of them – aside from Niseko-chan's brilliant, silver eyes, of course – was the length of the child's hair.
Smiling under his mask as Niseko-chan's silver eyes fluttered and opened slowly, Chisaki cradled the back of his head, stroking his soft hair for a long moment as he considered what he was going to do next. Yes, there were still the matters of the Hassaikai's efforts to cure the disease of Quirks and the Hero syndrome that had spread in its wake, but the simple fact was that he also had the responsibility to look after Niseko-chan. He'd taken the child into his care after the diseased society that he intended to repair had thrown him out, so in the end it was his responsibility to see that Niseko-chan grew up properly.
"I'm glad to see you again, Niseko-chan."
~MHA~
Raising an eyebrow as he heard the familiar ringtone that he'd set for Toshi-kun, Hisashi set down the paperwork he'd been filling out and turned his attention to his phone.
"What is it, Toshi-kun?"
"I'm starting to wish you could've been here," Toshi-kun said, and from the tone of his voice, Hisashi could tell just where his dear son's favorite uncle had just been; and perhaps even still was, depending on just how troublesome he had found his present situation. "You've always seemed to be able to deal with Mitsuki better than me."
He chuckled. "Yes; Mitsuki-chan does take a bit of handling. Are you nearly finished?"
"I'd say I'm about halfway through, or so," Toshi-kun said. "Though I have Aizawa with me, so it's going faster than it probably would have otherwise," Toshi-kun said, and Hisashi took a moment to firmly grip his phone with a telekinesis Quirk. "How's your progress on your paperwork?"
Hisashi chuckled, himself. "Reasonably well. Depending on how long your task takes, I might very well be finished before you return."
~MHA~
The sound of heaving, shuddering breaths, over the familiar, desperate, shuffling footfalls of a man he had come to know rather well drew Shin's attention, and he turned to see the scrawny, gangly form of one of his fellow Bullets.
"Nurikabe," he called, making his way over to the man; as per usual, Nurikabe was feeling his way along the wall to his left.
It had something to do with the way his particular strain of the disease that Master Overhaul sought to eradicate; something to do with the reason that Nurikabe had come to them in the first place, but Shin could admit – if only to himself – that as long as Nurikabe served the Hassaikai to the best of his abilities, he wasn't particularly interested in the specifics of such a thing.
"Nemoto," Nurikabe gasped, raising his head in an almost convulsive manner. "I- Do you think I could speak to Overhaul?"
"What do you wish to discuss with Master Overhaul, Nurikabe?" Shin asked, emphasizing their boss' proper title ever so slightly, to remind his underling of their respective places, while at the same time pressing the man with Confession, to make certain that he wouldn't be able to avoid answering.
"I wanted to know if he'd made any progress with the cure," Nurikabe said, sinking down against the wall as though he had no more strength to hold himself up.
"Master Overhaul is still hard at work," Shin said, folding his arms as he stepped closer; Nurikabe always possessed a lean, hungry look about him, and given the way his underling always seemed to be shaking… "Go eat something, Nurikabe."
Nurikabe actually chuckled at the suggestion, though admittedly it was a rather sickly sound. "I can't," he seemed to force himself to say. "I haven't been able to eat; not since I was four and this…" Nurikabe reached up, gripping the top edge of his pale yellow and orange mask. "This happened to me."
Before he could suggest that Nurikabe simply return to his room, Shin turned as he heard the sound of someone else making their way down the corridor towards him.
"Tabe," he said, turning toward the white-masked man with the rope around his neck.
"Nemoto," Tabe said, nodding to him, then turned his attention to the shuddering form of his close friend. "Come on, Hikaru; let's go back."
"Right," Nurikabe said, pushing shakily off of the wall where he had been leaning, making his slow, hesitant, way up to where Tabe was standing, before the pair of them made their way back to the room that they both shared.
Turning, Shin continued on his own way into Master Overhaul's office. The boss was going to be busy for awhile, considering what was currently going on, so he had asked Shin to look after little Sezu while he was hard at work. Shin had, of course, been perfectly willing to help him take care of the boy. Not only was little Sezu pure and untainted by the disease that Master Overhaul intended to eradicate, the boy was also truly enjoyable to spend time with purely on his own merits.
"Nemoto," Master Overhaul said, turning to him with a soft expression in his pale, yellow eyes. "I'm glad you came so quickly."
"Of course, Master Overhaul," Shin said, smiling under his mask as he made his way over to where little Sezu was seated, smiling under his mask as he leaned down to peer at the child he had become so fond of during the course of the time the pair of them had been able to stay together. "Come along, little Sezu. I'll take you back to your room, and then you can decide what we do after that."
Ruffling little Sezu's hair, Shin gently pulled the pure, silver-eyed boy down from Master Overhaul's lap. Wrapping his arm around the boy's thin shoulders, Shin held little Sezu close as the pair of them made their way back to his room. Once the both of them had arrived there once again, Shin ushered little Sezu back into the sleeping quarters that Master Overhaul had set aside for him as soon as they had all made their way to this place.
"All right, little Sezu, have you eaten?" the boy nodded, and Shin found himself lightly grasping little Sezu's shoulders to prevent him from folding in on himself the way he seemed to be trying to do. "Good. So, what would you like to do?" he asked, pressing lightly on the child's mind with Confession; truly, it was for the best that he kept little Sezu's uncertainty from silencing him, the way it seemed to do more often than not.
"I'd like to leave," little Sezu said, shuddering in his grip.
"Leave?" Shin asked, reaching down to brush away a tear gathering in the corner of little Sezu's left eye. "Where would you go, little Sezu? Back to the shelter, where Chronostasis found you? You couldn't possibly have been happy there, were you?"
"I- No, not really," little Sezu said, face crumpling as Shin pressed on him with Confession. "No one there really seemed to know what to do with me."
"There, you see?" he asked, reaching up to gently stroke little Sezu's hair. "This is the only place you truly belong. Master Overhaul is very fond of you, and so am I. Still, if you truly wish to go outside, I could speak to Master Overhaul about that. Would that make you happy?"
"I guess… I mean, it'd be nice to see the sky again," little Sezu said, slumping forward into his grasp.
"I'll go speak to him, then," Shin said, smiling under his mask as he gently stroked little Sezu's lengthening, dark-brown hair.
He wondered, for a moment, when or even if Master Overhaul would choose to do something about little Sezu's appearance. There were more than a few commonalities in appearance between Master Overhaul and little Sezu, with the clear exception of little Sezu's silver eyes – an obvious contrast to Master Overhaul's pale gold – and his hair that was a few shades darker. It was rather interesting to contemplate, what changes Master Overhaul might choose to make to little Sezu's appearance.
~MHA~
Chewing his lower lip, Izuku looked back down at the form he and the rest of his schoolmates had been asked to fill out. The Wild, Wild Pussycats had handed them out when they'd finished with their training for the day, telling them that it had something to do with the Provisional License Exams that would be held later, but he didn't quite know what it was. None of the people he'd asked had, either.
Still, all of the people he'd asked were his fellow students, so there was still a chance that someone else would know what was going on.
Sitting back, Izuku sighed softly as he set down the last of the papers he'd finished filling out.
"Finally," Kacchan grumbled, slapping down the last of his papers and slumping down on his own chair. "I knew we were going to have to deal with this shit when we finally got our Hero Licenses, but I was hoping that we could at least get away from it here."
"I guess they want to get us used to this kind of thing," he said, scooping up the papers he'd been working with, straightening them out so that Ragdoll – who was coming around with a stapler – could affix them all together.
"Good work, kittens!" the cyan-haired woman exclaimed, grinning widely at them. "Now, you all just need to get these forms into the box, and then you can all head down to dinner!"
"Great, more work," Kacchan grumbled, as he, Izuku, and the rest of their classmates all got up from the tables they'd been seated at.
Once they'd all handed in their forms, and finished cooking and eating dinner, Izuku heard the sounds of laughter and then caught sight of Ochako-san striding quickly past him.
"Ochako-san?" he called.
She stopped for a moment, turning to look at him as a bright, red blush spread slowly across her pink-cheeked face before she hurried off in the direction of the room where the girls of 1-A and 1-B had all been put up to sleep. Blinking, turning briefly in the direction that Ochako-san had gone, Izuku huffed as he followed the sound of two familiar people laughing. Sure enough, Tenko-nii and his friend – one of his two unofficial partners, alongside Keigo – Touya were leaning against the far wall, laughing with each other.
"All right, what have you two been up to?" he demanded, folding his arms and frowning up at Tenko-nii and Touya.
"Nothing, Zu-chan," Tenko-nii said, grinning down at him; it was the same kind of look that Dad would give Uncle Toshi when he was teasing him. "Nothing at all."
"Right," he said, narrowing his eyes up at Tenko-nii. "I'm sure you weren't doing anything to fluster Ochako-san, Tenko-nii."
"I mean, we might have offered to pose topless for her," Touya said, grinning widely. "And then, I might have implied that I could get you to join in," Touya said, grinning in the same kind of unrepentant way that Dad and Tenko-nii did when they were teasing him or Uncle Toshi.
Swatting the both of them firmly on their right arms, Izuku shook his head as he turned to make his way back to the room where the boys of 1-A and 1-B were all sleeping. Rolling his eyes, as he heard Tenko-nii and Touya start laughing again, Izuku walked away. Kacchan turned to look at him, as Izuku made his way back into the room once more.
"What's going on, Zuzu?"
"Tenko-nii's being a butt again," he said, plopping down next to Kacchan so that the both of them would be able to have a conversation without bothering too many people.
Kacchan chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like Mophead."
Lightly shoving Kacchan as his old friend laughed, softly enough that they wouldn't disturb too many of their fellow students, Izuku settled into the sleeping bag that he had brought with him when they had all come to this compound in the first place.
~MHA~
When their family had all managed to gather together again, once he'd managed to talk the last of the students' parents into letting their kids move into the dorms that Principal Nedzu had set up in an effort to protect all of U.A.'s kids from the Shie Hassaikai, Toshinori sighed as he settled down into the chair at the largest of the tables their family owned; it'd been pulled out just for this occasion, just so all of their family would be able to eat one, last dinner all together.
"Toshinori?"
"Sorry, Kotaro," he said, turning to smile at his adopted younger brother. "I was just thinking; this is going to be the last dinner all of us are going to be able to have together for awhile."
"I know," Kotaro said, a melancholy expression spreading over his face. "We won't be able to meet up like this until the kids' next summer vacation."
Hisashi chuckled, bringing all of their attention to him. "I know you've never quite approved of the work we all do, Kotaro-chan, but there's really no reason for you to worry so much."
"Considering what already happened to Tenko…"
"The only thing that truly happened to Tenko-chan was his hair turning white, Kotaro-chan," Hisashi said, smiling as he plucked up another piece of katsudon.
"He still can't deal with enclosed spaces," Kotaro said, shuddering as his thoughts presumably turned back to the day they had come back home to see Tenko, Izuku, and Touya all gathered together, Izuku with his bright, green wings wrapped around Tenko in a clear effort to comfort him. "Though I guess he did get to be better friends with Touya-kun."
Reaching out to wrap his left arm around Kotaro's shoulders, even as the pair of them continued eating, Toshinori sighed. It was going to take some getting used to, being away from everyone who lived here; every member of the extended family that Hisashi had gathered around him when he'd decided to make his home here. It would be strange, living away from Inko, Nana, Kotaro, and Nao.
Still, he would still be as close to Hisashi, Izuku, Bombalurina, and Tenko as he'd gotten used to being, since all of them were going to be moving onto U.A.'s campus together; even though the reason they were all doing it wasn't really one that he liked thinking about, and there had been more than a few times that he'd found himself wishing that none of this had happened at all. In the end, though, it had happened, and now they all had to adapt to it. Still, having all their kids in one place would probably help.
~MHA~
Once their training camp had finally ended and they'd all piled back onto the bus, Izuku still found himself mildly dissatisfied.
"Still thinking about those Ultimate Moves, nerd?" Kacchan asked, smirking slightly.
"Yeah," he said, sighing softly as he slumped back in his seat, looking down at his hands as he considered what he was going to do next. "I just can't stop thinking about how easy it is for Dad. He's got so many more Quirks than I do, and he shuffles through them so easily. He even stacks them, three or even four at a time, and they're all different ones, too," he couldn't quite stop himself from sighing again, but he turned at the sound of Kacchan chuckling, ducking as his oldest friend ruffled his hair.
"Uncle 'Sashi's an old man, and you're just a tiny little nerd," Kacchan said, smirk widening into a grin as he let Izuku go; Izuku scowled and stuck out his tongue. "You'll just have to grow up a bit, Baby Zu."
"You're the worst, Kacchan," he grumbled, biting back a grin as he folded his arms and slumped back down in his seat.
"Chin up, Midoriya!" Kirishima-san exclaimed, popping up over the back of his seat with a big, wide grin on his face. "We'll all be able to help you with your Ultimate Attack! Heck, since we're all going to be living together, we could help you get the hang of all the Quirks you got from us!"
"That's nice of you, Kirishima," he said, grinning back as Kirishima-san turned around and sat back down in his seat.
Once all of them had made it back to U.A., Izuku found himself faced with a tense-seeming Aizawa-sensei, and Tenko-nii; his big brother was lightly chewing his bottom lip. Izuku had a feeling that he knew roughly what Tenko-nii was thinking, since even though they had ended up having to move away from home he, Dad, Uncle Toshi, Bambaa-chan, and Tenko-nii had all been able to stay together through all the upheaval. So, there were good things and bad things about their present situation.
He just wished that Bambaa-chan's parents, and the rest of the people from Rosaru hadn't ended up being captured and tortured by those Yakuza; he'd read that the Yakuza were supposed to be more honorable that that, for all that they were involved in organized crime, but…
Shoving those thoughts out of his mind, as Aizawa-sensei detailed just what their lives were going to be like, now that they were all going to be not just working but living together, Izuku found himself more than a little surprised to hear that the students with Heteromorphic-type Quirks in class 1-C were going to be divided up between the dorms for classes 1-A and 1-B. Still, not many people in class 1-C had the kind of Quirks that were useful in combat, so it was probably a good thing that they were being brought in.
Bambaa-chan had, of course, been put up with 1-A, but the more surprising fact was that Shinsou-kun had been moved into their dorm as well. Sure, Shinsou-kun had made it pretty obvious that he was trying to get into the Hero Course, but… It was just kind of strange to think about.
Tenko-nii informed them all that their luggage had been delivered to the dorms already, so the only thing they really had to concentrate on was setting up their rooms the way they wanted them, ruffling his hair as he followed in Aizawa-sensei's wake. The smile on his face let Izuku know that Dad was probably getting settled in, too. Izuku had already been considering the likelihood that Dad would come to visit him, now that all of them were living and working together, but now he was almost completely certain that that was what was going to happen.
~MHA~
Once all of them had finished with the damned, annoying scutwork, Katsuki rolled his eyes as Raccoon Eyes insisted on checking out all of the various rooms in their new dorms.
"You kids have fun," he said, smirking as he stood back up, turning to make his way out of the common area. "I'm going to get some actual sleep."
Ignoring the rest of his fellow classmates, since they were probably either calling him a party pooper or worrying about why he was leaving so soon – even though he'd tried to make it clear that he didn't do social unless he was sparring – Katsuki rolled his eyes as he made his way back to the room he'd been assigned. Probably just this morning, or something like that. It was pretty fucking weird, thinking about the fact that he'd gone to a summer training camp with Zuzu and the rest of their class, setting out from home the way they always did, and then ending up all bunking together not only at the camp itself, but also after they left.
Sure, everyone knew why they'd had to move onto the U.A. campus – and he was going to make doubly sure to look out for Sis, since it had to suck, being reminded of what had happened to her Pops, before Uncle 'Sashi had taken her in and their entire family had basically adopted her, too – but Katsuki couldn't say he was exactly all-in for the idea. Honestly, he was kind of surprised that Uncle 'Sashi had gone in for this kind of thing. Given how many Quirks Uncle 'Sashi could use against anyone dumb enough to try attacking him or any of his family.
Not to mention the fact that there would also be Gigan to get past, if anyone did try anything.
~MHA~
When all of them made it to Bambaa-chan's room, Izuku found himself smiling at the almost awed reactions of a lot of his fellow students.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting this much space stuff!" Ochako-san exclaimed, seeming almost to smile wider than anyone else in the room. "I didn't know you liked astronomy and space so much!"
/You like this kind of thing, too, Ochako?/ Bambaa-chan asked, ears perking up as she turned to Ochako-san.
"Yeah!" Ochako-san said, practically bouncing over to where Bambaa-chan was standing, next to the small telescope that either she or Dad had brought with her from home; most likely Dad, since Bambaa-chan had been staying at the training camp with them, too. "It's great to meet someone else I can talk to about all this stuff!"
Smiling wider as he watched his sister and Ochako-san bonding over what was clearly a mutual love of astronomy and the kinds of things that could be found in space, Izuku found his gaze drifting back to the strange theater-light looking thing sitting on top of the bookshelf next to Bambaa-chan's desk. He still wondered just what it actually was, since Bambaa-chan wasn't really the type to keep something like that in her room.
"Hey, Midoriya-chan, what's that on your shelf?" Kirishima-san asked, before Izuku could articulate the question for himself.
/Oh, that?/ Bambaa-chan asked, ears perking up again. /Hmm, it'd probably be easier if I showed you. Can one of you get the lights?/
Once Bambaa-chan had fetched the stage-light looking device, and Iida-san had turned off the lights, Izuku found himself staring up in awe at the star field projected on his sister's ceiling.
"You have a mini planetarium projector, too?!" Ochako-san squealed, and Izuku was almost completely certain that if he activated one of the vision-enhancing Quirks that Dad had given to him, he would have seen just the biggest smile on her face.
/Yeah,/ Bambaa-chan said, purring softly. /I saw it in a store somewhere. I thought it was kind of cool, and the next thing I knew, Papa bought it for me./
Izuku chuckled softly. "That definitely sounds like Dad."
/There's one more cool thing I can show you guys,/ Bambaa-chan said, sounding cheerful.
The sounds of buttons and switches, seemingly being punched in a different sequence than what Bambaa-chan had used before, drew Izuku's attention to a steadily lightening corner of the sky. The sight of an artificial sunrise, coming up over what looked like the silhouette of a forested pair of hills, drew more awed gasps and exclamations from his fellow classmates. Smiling as he watched the projected sun come up, Izuku folded his arms behind his head as Iida-san flicked the lights back on. Their lives might have taken a few strange turns – and a few sad ones, too – but they had all survived.
They were going to be Heroes, so this was just another step.