Rain pelted the earth in harsh torrents as Piccolo slowly walked through the ruins that were once a part of a large warehouse district; not a single soul was in sight to challenge him as he walked towards a crater in the ground.
He stopped at the edge of the crater, looking down at the broken body of one who he had called friend; his armor cracked and broken, and a large hole in his stomach, soaked by the rain and his own blood.
Piccolo floated down to the man, his eyes narrowed as he saw the small smile, and the half-closed eyes, "you are a fool Hisashi Midoriya…" he muttered as he knelt down, closing the man's eyes fully, "a damned fool."
"Piccolo!"
The Namekian looked up as All-Might crashed into the street above him, holding his own injured stomach as he crawled to the edge of the crater, "Is he alright? Is he alive!?"
Piccolo shook his head, closing his eyes as All-Might roared in grief.
"NO!"
"What happened with All For One?" he asked, jumping up to All-Might's side as the man shook from pain and grief.
"I defeated him," All-Might muttered, 'killed him with my last attack, and it was all thanks to Midoriya…"
"He took the hit so you wouldn't." Piccolo muttered, looking back down at their mutual friend, "Typical Saiyan."
"This is all my fault…"
"It's his fault for getting involved when it wasn't needed." Piccolo said sharply, putting his hand on the Number one heroes' shoulder, "you both did your best...don't trouble his spirit with worries of guilt, let him rest."
"You're...you're right...we need to get everything wrapped up, get his body out of there…"
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"Breaking news in Nagasaki, a huge fight between heroes and an unknown villain leveled a warehouse district today after a raid on a nearby hideout ended in disaster. With Pro-Heroes Kami and Crane currently in critical condition. The villain was defeated by All-Might and Pro-Hero Shenron, who was killed during the battle. He is survived by his wife and Daughter, and a Memorial event will be scheduled for those who knew him.
No information about the villain has been disseminated, and it is unknown if his body has been recovered-"
Inko slowly looked up from her spot on the couch, heavy bags under her eyes and tear stains on her cheeks, the room was dark save for the lamp beside the couch, the window behind the TV showing a half moon glowing in the night.
"You shouldn't torture yourself like this." Mitsuki said softly, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.
"I miss him so much…" she croaked out, looking down at her wedding ring.
"I know, but think about your daughter, Please Inko if you don't get out of this funk-"
A knock at the door made both women look towards the entrance hall, Mitsuki stood to answer it while Inko went back to looking at her ring.
"What are you doing here?" Mitsuki asked angrily, making Inko look up once more.
Standing in the doorway was a man who looked very much like her husband, black hair with onyx eyes and a muscular body. Unlike her husband, this man had a goatee, and his hair was styled in a way that made it spike up; his eyes were also colder, holding no warmth for the woman in front of him.
"I came to see my sister in law, or is that a crime?" he asked her snidely, walking into the house while Mitsuki followed him, fists held angrily at her side.
"Inko." he said, eyes softening ever so slightly.
"Vasabi," she mumbled, looking up at him, "what are you doing here?"
"I came to give my condolences." he said, bowing his head respectfully, "Hisashi and I may have had our differences...but I never would have wished death upon my own brother."
"He always said his biggest regret was the fight between you two…" Inko whispered, slowly standing up, 'thank you, for visiting us."
Vasabi slowly looked up, "I'm sorry to try and press the issue so soon but...have you given thought about your Daughter?"
"What's there to think about?" Inko asked, an edge creeping into her tone for the first time in days.
"she is a Saiyan." Vasabi stated, "and there will be those who will try and come for her now that his father is...gone. You don't have the strength to protect her...but if you were to let me take her-"
"-No-" Inko tried to interrupt,
"-and train her-" Vasabi continued, not phased in the slightest.
"-Absolutely not!" Inko snapped, making Vasabi stop, "my daughter is six," she said strongly, "I will not allow you to take her away from me and try and do who knows what-"
"-do you really think so little of me?" Vasabi asked, the corners of his lips turned down in a frown, "I am speaking of helping my niece."
"Because you're so quick to help." Mitsuki sneered, "where were you when Hisashi and Krillin needed help in Tokyo? You turned them away-"
'-it was not my fault that my brother foolishly engaged that Yakuza cell-"
"-they were experimenting on people!" Mitsuki snarled, lowering herself into a defensive stance, "don't think that because I'm retired I won't kick your ass!"
"You never could-"
"Enough both of you!" Inko shouted, making both of them freeze, "my daughter will not be going with you Vasabi, that is the end of this discussion."
"Inko, please reconsider-" Vasabi began, stopping when he saw her ki begin to manifest.
"I already told you once Vasabi," Inko said coldly.
Vasabi hesitated, then nodded, "a poor decision." he muttered, walking out of the apartment.
"That guy really grinds my gears." Mitzuki muttered as she relaxed, "are you okay?"
"No…" she said softly, "My husband is dead and his brother is interested in taking my daughter, I'm very far from okay."
"Maybe you should contact Piccolo, he's the only one who isn't currently locked in a hospital."
"He doesn't have a phone and probably won't come because of the power levels since you're here." Inko sighed, "perhaps I should take Izumi to the Look Out for a few days..."
'Do you think Vasabi might try something?" Mitsuki asked worriedly.
"I don't know...but I can't take that chance." Inko sighed as her daughter's door opened.
"Mommy?" she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes, her long black hair a mess from sleep.
"Izumi sweetie," she greeted, any worries vanishing from her voice as she walked over to her daughter and picked her up, mindful not to crush her tail as she did, "what are you doing up sweetie?"
"I heard loud voices," she mumbled.
"It's okay, me and Aunt Mitsuki just got a little loud, let's go put you back down okay?"
Mitsuki watched her friend walk out of the room, she sighed as she walked over to a bookcase, where several pictures were on display.
The pictures showed them back when they were at UA, the 'Z-Fighters' as they had called themselves, there was Hisashi and Inko in the back wearing the old armor they used to patrol in, Krillin and Tien in their training gear, laughing at something one or the other had said, and there she was standing with her elbow leaning on Inko's shoulder, dressed in an orange tank top, blue jeans with her leg pant leg cut off at the top and a leather jacket over the tank top.
Mitsuki smiled, remembering all the joking around Krillin and Tien had done when they had seen her hero costume the first time.
They stopped after she kicked their ass single handedly in the combat trials.
The last three people in the picture were Cabba, dressed in a nice suit and standing at attention beside the Class 1A Representative, Piccolo. Cabba had been in the business course, and joined the hero course after the sports festival; Piccolo had always seemed suspicious of him.
Guess now they knew why.
The last person was their teacher, Master Roshi, still clad in his hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts, a big turtle shell on his back. Grinning through his fu manchu mustache as he gave the camera a peace sign.
"I'm sorry about that," Inko sighed as she walked back in, "oh, those old pictures," she said with a smile, picking one up that showed Master Roshi chasing after an eleven year old Hisashi and Cabba, both clutching magazines in terror as their master chased them, "you know it's times like these that I really miss the old days, going on adventures, the Grand Tournament…"
"We did get around back then didn't we?" Mitsuki chuckled, looking at Inko and Hisashi's wedding picture with a sad smile, "we thought we were invincible back then, no one could beat us."
"Remember the Saibamen?" Inko asked with a chuckle.
"Oh man those things were annoying!" Mitsuki groaned, "stupid test tube plant babies."
" 'they won't hurt you if you power down'. " Inko said sarcastically, "Vasabi must have thought we were gullible."
'Hehe...yeah...gullible…" Mitsuki chuckled sheepishly.
Inko looked at her in confusion, then began to giggle quietly, "I forgot you actually listened to him!"
"When you're the creator of the little shits I tend to listen to you!" Mitsuki seethed, "my hair still doesn't grow right."
Inko shook her head fondly, "I remember how far you sent Vasabi flying when you finally got away from those things."
"Heh, he didn't see me coming until he was halfway across the city." Mitsuki said smugly, "should've hit him a few times harder, the smug asshole."
"He wasn't always an asshole," Inko reminded her, "I remember when Hisashi and Vasabi had big plans to help the world…" she sighed, "I guess money became more important for Vasabi…"
Mitsuki sighed, "you know, while I hate the guy, I don't think he'd do anything to Izumi…" Mitsuki began, giving Inko a look.
Inko hesitated, "Vasabi fell out with everyone after the Saibamen incident...but there was another altercation between him and Hisashi that alienated him from his own brother…" she shook her head, "i don't want to get into it tonight, and I'll need to wake up early if I'm going to get Izumi to the Look Out before lunch."
"Then I guess I better head home," Mitsuki said, nudging her friend, "make sure you message me when you get there, or I'll kick Piccolo's ass in gear and hunt you down."
"I promise I'll let you know." Inko giggled, "goodnight Mitsuki."
"Goodnight!"
A few hours later the apartment was quiet, mother and daughter were both asleep, unaware of the men slowly making their way into the apartment, "it's the kid right? We're grabbing the kid?" one asked quietly,
"Yeah, boss said not to hurt the woman.' another whispered as they quietly made their way to the bedrooms, opening the door to Izumi's room with a soft click, one reaching out for the little girl with shaky hands.
Izumi slowly opened her eyes, "mommy?" she mumbled as her vision began to clear, eyes widening as she saw the three men freeze in place, Izumi let out a scream as one of the men jumped forward, hoping to quiet her before her scream could awaken her mother next door.
He was too late as a hand broke through the wall and sent him flying with a punch.
"Get away from my daughter!" Inko snarled as she kicked another thug across the apartment, hand blasting the one she punched with several Ki attacks.
A knife plunged into her back and she let out a cry of pain as she whirled on the third thug, using her telekinesis to send him flying out of the window, screaming as he plunged several stories onto the unforgiving ground.
"Izumi, are you okay?" Inko asked worriedly, a hand over her stab wound as she limped towards her daughter.
Inko let out a slight gasp of surprise as a fist suddenly punched through her stomach.
"You should've stayed in the other room." the initial thug muttered into her ear as he yanked his hand out of her body, letting her crumple to the ground.
"MOMMY!" Izumi screamed, jumping from her bed to her mothers side.
"Sleep!" the other thug commanded as he put a shaky hand on Izumi's head, the young girl falling unconscious as the man's quirk took effect.
"Mizori-" the man began.
"He knew the risks." The other said firmly, "let's get this girl out of here before heroes start showing up! Come on!"
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Piccolo forced himself to fly faster as he neared Mustafu, "that power spike wasn't an accident." he growled, landing just outside of the Midoriya apartment, knocking loudly on the weathered wood, 'Inko! It's Piccolo, open up!" he commanded, eyes narrowing when Inko didn't respond as quick as she usually did; with a grunt, Piccolo kicked the door down, eyes widening at the scene in front of him.
Izumi's door was wide open, showing Inko lying in her own blood in the middle of her daughter's room, no sign of the girl or the attackers.
"Inko!" Piccolo was at her side in an instant, doing his best to help her wound.
"They...they took her…" Inko struggled out, her voice sounding much too soft and far away.
"Save your strength." Piccolo ordered her, pulling his phone to call in an ambulance.
Inko's bloody hand reached up and covered his phone, stopping him from making the call.
"Save my daughter…" she mumbled.
"You need medical-" Piccolo began, stopping when she let out a harsh cough.
"It's too late for me Piccolo…" she whispered hoarsely, "Save my Daughter...please…"
Piccolo slowly let his head fall, "I will…I promise…"
"Tell her I'm sorry...tell her I'm so sorry…" she sighed, her eyes dimming as her hand fell away from Piccolo's phone.
Piccolo felt his entire body shake as he slowly closed Inko's eyes, "rest easy...I'll take care of everything…"
He walked out of the apartment as other heroes and law enforcement arrived.
"Piccolo!" Death Arms shouted, running up to him, "what happened?"
"Inko Midoriya is dead." Piccolo muttered as he searched through nearby energy signatures, narrowing in on two signatures running through downtown, carrying the lifeform of a child, "one of her attackers is dead, I'm going after the other two."
Before Death Arms could protest, Piccolo was back in the sky, blasting off towards Downtown Mustafu. Fists clenched and eyes narrowed.
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"Shit, Shit, Shit…." one of the thugs said over and over again as they burst into their hideout, heading straight for a nearby couch while the other carefully set Izumi down on an old mattress, "we weren't supposed to kill the mother Kaiba!" he cried out, glaring at his partner in crime as he walked into the small Kitchen in the corner of the hideout, washing his hands of blood, "now we're gonna have heroes on our ass!"
"They'd have been on our asses for kidnapping the kid." Kaiba grumbled, looking at his cohort, "who cares if his widow dies as well."
"Are you thick in the fucking head Kaiba?" he demanded, 'that wasn't just some widow! She was a pro-hero like her husband!"
"You're delusional Woshi." he scoffed.
"I'm not! The Telekinetic Hero Psyche married Pro Hero Shenron eight years ago!" he snapped, "she retired three years ago! And you killed her! You know how heroes react to their friends getting murdered? They don't react well, I can tell you that!"
"Will you stop your bitching! We just need to contact the boss!"
"We can't! What if we were followed!"
The two continued arguing, completely ignoring the fact that Izumi was awake, standing in the corner of the room staring at the kidnappers.
Izumi Midoriya was always a cry baby, any little thing could set her off, and Kacchan would always make fun of her because of it.
And then that doctor said she couldn't be a hero and she almost cried, but mommy said she could be a hero! Because she and Daddy could teach her!
And they did! But it hurt, and she wanted to quit, but daddy said saiyans don't quit! So she sucked it up!
But then Daddy had to leave, and mommy was sad, and now these men were saying-
No, they were liars, all villains are liars, mommy is okay! And she would help Mommy!
Izumi held her hands up and concentrated, summoning a ki ball.
They weren't very strong, and more than four tired her out, but she couldn't just sit back and wait! Her parents were heroes so she would be one too!
"Just call the boss already!"
'Not until we're sure!"
"If you don't call him I swear to-AGH!" Kaiba let out a surprised cry as Izumi's Ki ball hit the back of his head, 'You little brat!"
Izumi panicked and fired off two more, hitting him in the shin and chest.
"OW!" he snarled, snatching Izumi up by her hair, making her scream and cry, "someone oughta remind you how to respect your elders." he sneered. Cocking his fist back.
Izumi closed her eyes tightly, opening them only when the hit didn't come.
"Good job kid." Piccolo growled, holding the man's fist in place, dust and small pieces of debris falling around him as the man dropped Izumi, "don't watch this, okay?"
Izumi nodded and closed her eyes tightly, putting her hands over her ears.
"It's Piccolo!" Woshi shouted, unleashing his quirk and hoping to knock out the pro hero before he could attack.
He was woefully late as Piccolo shot across the room and drove his fist into the man's stomach, sending him flying through a brick wall.
"You son of a bitch!" Kaiba snarled, jumping at Piccolo, only to freeze as Piccolo's hand shot through his chest.
"A strength enhancement quirk, and blood on your hands. You were the one to kill her." Piccolo growled, "allow me to return the favor!" he threw the man up, making him crash through the roof and into the sky"TAKE THIS!" Piccolo roared, firing off a powerful Ki blast, watching with narrowed eyes as it connected with the man and practically disintegrated him in a powerful explosion.
"Piccolo!" Izumi wailed, drawing his attention back to the girl as she practically flew to him, hugging him around the stomach as she sobbed.
"It's alright kid...I got ya…"
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Izumi stood at the edge of her parents' graves, staring blankly down at the two coffins laying side by side; beside her, Katsuki was awkwardly trying to cheer her up, but jokes, his toys, and just simply trying to talk to her had failed. So now he simply stood beside her, glaring down at the grass and letting her simply hold his hand in silence.
"I should have known…" Mitsuki muttered from her spot beside Piccolo, tears trailing down her cheeks as she stared at the two coffins, "I should have known Vasabi would try something."
"You had no way of knowing." Piccolo said gruffly, his arms crossed.
"But I should've stayed! I shouldn't have gone home I…I…' she stopped as Piccolo put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't do that to yourself." Piccolo said softly, "you did the best you could, we all did…"
Mitsuki shoved his hand off, "we're going after Vasabi right?" she asked, turning and glaring at Piccolo, "we're going to stop him right?"
"There's nothing we can do," Piccolo sighed, "he wasn't connected to either of the men, his alibi is air tight, we have nothing-"
"-then we don't try to arrest him!" she snapped as Masaru quickly ushered the children away, not wanting either to hear this argument, "we go to his little castle, bust the doors down, and take care of this ourselves-"
"You're talking about vigilantism-"
"HE MURDERED MY BEST FRIEND!" She shrieked.
"AND SHE WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO BECOME A MURDERER FOR HER SAKE!" Piccolo roared back, making Mitsuki flinch away, "she wouldn't want you to throw your life away like that," he continued on, "she'd want you to go about this the right way."
"Well we can't get Vasabi the right way." she muttered, wiping away her tears, "so what do we do?"
Piccolo looked towards the cars, Izumi was sitting in the back seat of the Bakugo cars, still staring down at the floor as Katsuki stared at her in worry, "I'm going to take Izumi and train her." he said.
"No, you can't-"
"-Vasabi will stop at nothing to get his hands on her." Piccolo cut her off, "if we keep her in Mustafu then he'll attack again; I won't risk you or your family." he looked to the sky, "I have a few places that I know of that she can be kept relatively safe...train her just like her mother and father were."
"I won't be seeing her anymore...will I?"
"...not until UA."
Mitsuki looked down, "and i'm sure you want to leave as soon as you can…"
"I'm sorry Mitsuki."
"Can...can I just have a moment with her? To say goodbye?"
Piccolo nodded, watching as Mitsuki walked back to the car, opening the back door.
"Izumi…" Mitsuki said softly, kneeling down in front of the little girl.
"Yes Aunty Mitsy?" Izumi asked, staring at the woman with her large doe-like eyes.
"I...want you to remember that we love you," she said, her voice quivering, "and that no matter what, we'll always think about you."
"Why are you saying this? What's going on?" Izumi asked, frightened.
"You're going to be leaving with Piccolo, he's going to protect you," she whispered lightly, "and you'll do whatever he says okay? Can you do that?"
"Y-yes...but...but we can still visit can't we?" she whimpered, almost pleadingly.
"I can't make any promises Izumi…." slowly Mitsuki reached for a small wristband on her right wrist, made of simple brown string with several crystal like beads threaded on the string, "your mother gave this to me." Mitsuki began as she pulled the bracelet off and tied it around Izumi's, "because she wanted both of us to remember that we were best friends...I haven't taken it off since she gave it to me...now I want you to have it, and remember that we will always be here for you."
Izumi began to sob as she hugged the woman, "I promise I'll come back!" she cried.
"I know you will sweetie, I know you will…"
Izumi slowly pulled away from the woman, wiping her eyes as she sniffled.
"No more tears now, yeah?" Mitsuki chuckled despite the tears trailing down her cheeks.
"Yeah." Izumi echoed as Katsuki jumped out of the car, pulling Izumi into a hard hug.
"I'll miss you too Kacchan…" Izumi mumbled, returning his hug.
"I ain't going to miss you nerd…" Katsuki sniffled,"I just got dirt in my eye! Don't read into it!"
"Okay Kacchan.' Izumi giggled, pulling away from him, "we'll see each other again! I know it! And we'll go on and become heroes!"
"You better not slack Mi-chan!" Katsuki said as Piccolo walked over, 'or I'll blast you out of the water!"
Izumi slowly stepped back until she was beside Piccolo, "Good-bye Kacchan." she said sadly as Piccolo picked her up and took to the sky.
The small family watched until they were nothing but a speck in the distance, "she'll be back...right mom?" Katsuki asked softly, not taking his eyes off of the sky.
"Yes she will, she's a Midoriya. They always keep their promises."
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Dear Diary.
Uncle Piccolo says it's good to keep track of your thoughts, so he gave me this small little journal to write in! He also gave me a new notepad for my quirk analysis, but that's mostly because he thinks it'll help an 'amalyitcal mind' whatever that means.
It's been four weeks since we left the city and I still miss Kacchan and Auntie Mitzy, Uncle Piccolo says we might be able to visit if I do good in my training; so I've been working extra hard! I've never been so sore in my life! But I know it'll be worth it. Mommy and Daddy will be proud of me!
I have to get to sleep, but I'll try to remember to write to you when I can!
Love, Izumi.
Dear Diary,
Uncle Piccolo gave me weighted gear to help with my training, he said after eight months I've gotten too complacent. it's tiring even walking in these clothes! They must weigh a bajillion pounds!
Uncle Piccolo has us somewhere in the mountains, his training is crazy! I have to run up the nearest mountain as fast as I can in the mornings, then I spend all day doing whatever exercise he tells me to do before we spar. I haven't landed a hit on him yet but I know I'm close! He's starting to look tired after our spars so I know I can get him!
Dear Diary.
Uncle Piccolo cheated!
After two months i Finally got a clean hit on his cheek and instead of praising me, all he did was take off his turban thingy and shoulder pads and restarted the spar! I couldn't keep up at all! And trying to pick up that stupid turban was harder than lifting the boulders I train with. Next time I'm going to beat him I know it!
Uncle Piccolo said that we would be leaving soon, going to the Look Out; he says it'll help me with my training and I'm actually looking forward to it!
I still miss Kacchan and Auntie Mitzy, I write them as much as I can and Piccolo says he delivers the letters to them but it's too risky to have letters brought back. Knowing Kacchan he's still writing me letters, maybe he'll have them all waiting for me when I get back!
We're about to leave so i have to cut this short, hopefully I'll be able to write again soon.
Love, Izumi.
Dear Diary,
Wow, has it really been this long since I've written in here? I found you at the bottom of my backpack when looking for another cup of ramen.
Well, where should I begin? I climbed Korin's tower because Piccolo said that Korin is one of the best teachers in the world. Imagine my surprise when he was a Cat! But he really was a good teacher. I couldn't get the spirit water from him for three months, and it turned out I didn't even need it!
Then we went higher to The Lookout, where the Guardian of Earth lives. I didn't really believe Piccolo at first because he made it sound like this Guardian would be stronger than All-Might! And after training with Mr. Popo and then with Kami (who's Piccolo's brother somehow) I think he's right! Kami is way strong! Maybe not All-Might level but definitely up there! We stayed with them for the rest of that year until Kami said my training was complete.
I can't believe it's been almost six years since I first started this with Piccolo, I've come so far and I can barely wait another two years before heading home! I haven't seen Auntie Mitsy or Kacchan since we left; I finally convinced Piccolo to buy a phone the last time he was doing hero work in Saitama, so I got to talk to them a few times but it's weird...it feels like Bakugo doesn't want to talk to me. He only gave me short and pointed answers when we talked, and had handed the phone off as soon as he could.
Aunt Mitsy says it's because of how he acts at school, but I can't believe that Kacchan would be so hard headed to think that he's better than everyone just because we have power! That's silly! Kacchan may be prideful, but he would never lord his power over others, he's going to be a hero!
Piccolo says we're going to head towards Tokyo, something about talking with some guy named Toshinori, I don't know what that's about but while he's doing that I have to stay in the forest and wait for him, it's going to be sooooo boring!
Love, Izumi
Dear Diary,
I took on muggers and won!
I guess they weren't really muggers, they were some guys chasing a girl in the forests, I don't know what they were doing but two of them had knives, so I had to step in! And they didn't listen to me when I told them to stop attacking the girl; it wasn't really a hard fight, they were so weak that I had them all unconscious in a few minutes.
The lady kept thanking me and trying to drag me back to the city, but I can't disobey Piccolo so I ended up having to knock her out when she wasn't looking; by that time Piccolo had returned and had taken all of them back to the city after griping me out for not trying to signal him. But then he did something awesome! He took me to a nearby village where they served Katsudon! He said it was because he didn't want to make food tonight, but I think it's because he's proud I beat the snot out of those guys!
We're heading back into the wilderness tomorrow, I had one phone call with Kacchan before we left and he told me to not bother him anymore...what's happening with my best friend? And why doesn't he want anything to do with me? Hopefully I'll talk to Aunt Mitsy and she can explain just what's wrong with Bakugo.
Love, Izumi.