The next morning, Michi accompanied his father to the Bureau of Heroics. As they entered the building, Michi immediately recognized several pro-heroes and close family friends. The building's circular structure featured a large meeting table in the center, and at its heart sat the number one hero, Deku.
Deku, now 43 years old, showed the wear and tear of being a hero over the years, his iconic green hair has grayed, and there were slight bags under his eyes from countless sleepless nights. However, his smile remained full of optimism and kindness, as he addressed the room.
"Drifter... Nemui Shinomori, my friend I was surprised to hear from you last night I understand you have some things that need to be attended to with the council today."
The council consisted of ten of the top heroes, as well as fourteen select heroes that have earned their place in the Bureau. Despite the name, they hold no authority, at least no more than the average hero. The purpose of the Bureau was to bring heroes together into one consensus to work and adapt to the current struggles and problems of Japanese battle against villainy.
Michi was guided by his father to a seat within the circle, feeling a sense of intimidation in the presence of these seasoned heroes. As he glanced around, he recognized his uncle Karasu, code-named Kishi. It has been years since he has seen or even heard of his stern-faced uncle. Michi's eyes focused on another hero, at first not recognizing the older man, but upon examining, Michi recognized him as Uncle Masa. Who now sported an unkempt beard that had grown wild over the years, overtaking his once-youthful face. Masa was a hardened hero, and a hardened man. Dedicated to being the best and someone others could rely on. Masa addressed Michi gently.
"Young Michi, you are not in trouble, please, just explain yourself."
Michi cleared his throat, as he proceeded to summarize the events of the past month, including his involvement with Kazuki, and the underground fighting arenas. Suddenly, Bakugo Katsuki, code-named DynaMight stood up, visibly shaken and furious. His hair had receded since his younger days, and his body and face bore scars of his years of his heroism. Suddenly, the veteran yelled from the depths of his heart
"GLOW STICK!? YOU'RE SON'S BULLSHITTING RIGHT? YOU EXPECT US TO HEAR THAT YOUR OWN KID GOT MIXED WITH THE KAZUKI CLAN?"
Bakugo stood up slamming his fists into the table explosions went off as his fists hit the table, scars on the table from his assigned seat showed this happened often.
"THIS IS THE KIND OF SHIT THAT PUTS KIDS IN HANDCUFFS. LIKE AOYAMA WHEN WE WERE ALL IN UA!"
Izuku put his hand our towards his best friend, trying to calm him
"Katsuki, Nemui, and his son Michi furtively came to us clearly for some help in this matter, screaming at the boy, and threatening him will not get us anywhere."
Michi's color in his face began to drain, "Handcuffs?" Michi's heart began to palpitate as the stress began to get to him.. Nemui put a firm hand on his son's shoulder, when Karasu Itami, stood up, crossing his arms as he looked unimpressed at Nemui.
"I spoke to you about this long ago, how it was important for you to get your son under wraps with how he was acting out in elementary. Now look at this mess. Your son was involved with the Kingpin of Osaka. A man known for his murderous sprees, extortion, and quirk-related crimes. This is not something we can just... FORGIVE! Yes, the information is vital, but what your son has done here, is a fourth degree crime."
Nemui's expression turned stern, his voice was firm, and expressing disapproval.
"My son made a stupid choice. He's well aware of it. Which is why he came to me about the matter. Do NOT act like you were innocent as a teenager Karasu. We all made mistakes in our youth, Karasu."
As Karasu opened his mouth to continue his retort, Masa stood up, speaking assertively.
"When I began my hero internship during our first year at UA, I was still recovering from the trauma Ushironi! To the point where I couldn't even comprehend life for weeks. During the assault on Shigaraki's base, I faced that man again. I wanted to kill him for what he did to me, and to many others. If not for Tsuyoi, I would've taken that man's life. Now, after years of therapy, quirk restrictions, and help, Ushironi is a respected doctor in Tokyo! I've dedicated myself to being a pro-hero, people can make mistakes, and repent from them Katsuki, Karasu! We should not judge Michi solely on this action, but what he does to change in the future!"
Karasu hit the table pointing at Masa
"DO NOT GO TAKING NEMUI'S SIDE AGAIN! THERE IS A DIFFERENCE THERE MASA, YOU DIDN'T COMMIT THE CRIME, MICHI SHINOMORI IS CLEARLY GUILTY OF VIOLENCE, QUIRK USAGE, AND RELATIONS WITH VILLANIOUS ACTIVITY!"
Michi put his hands into his face as he tried to calm down, it felt like the world around him was falling apart. He never should have called Kazuki's number. He thought to himself as he looked at "Uncle" Karasu
"When did Uncle Karasu become so brutal?"
Deku stood up, ushering the rest of the counsel who had stood up, or has been arguing to sit down.
"Please, please! Everyone! All these examples that have been brought up are extreme cases! Aoyama was manipulated, Ushironi was adopted at 12 years old to be used as a tool for his cult! Yes, it is true.. Over the years, we have met people who made bad choices due to the circumstances they were put in."
Deku looked at young Michi, their eyes meeting
"Michi... Do you want to do the right thing?"
Michi slowly nodded his head.
"I'm going to need a verbal answer young man."
Michi's tongue was tied, as he tried to open his mouth multiple times...
"Y-Yes! More than anything! I want to work to be forgiven for this! I... I should have known better than to do something so foolish. It took me until I was too far gone to realize I never should have done any of this, and I am sorry for this!"
Deku listened intently, as he looked over his shoulders, mumbling to himself, Katsuki rolled his eyes
"YOU DAMN NERD DON'T JUST TURN TO THE DAM PREDECESSORS AND LEAVE US OUT OF THE DISCUSSION!"
Michi looked confused, thinking to himself "Predecessors?"
Deku took a deep breath
"We do not think Michi has committed any heinous crime. Just... a series of poor choices, we believe that we should utilize this information he has provided us, and punish him accordingly. Rather than ending his future of a career as a hero."
An uproar erupted from the meeting room, with heroes throwing accusations and choices,
"JAIL TIME!"
"HERO EXPULTION!"
"COMMUNITY HOURS!"
"CORRECTIONAL FACILITY!"
The arguing began to intensify, as Nemui grabbed his son, walking him out of the meeting room
"I'm going to have some nice interns walk you to a waiting room as we discuss where to go from here. Please just know, you don't need to worry."
Michi was seated in a room, he could tell it was a holding cell, as he sat around, he saw multiple seniors in Heroic outfits talking, and working. He could tell the biggest gossip in the station, was of course, himself. After a few hours, Michi was let into the meeting room, everyone looked at Michi as he walked in, his back straight, and his hands folded. Michi had tied his hair back, and taken out his piercings, thinking that it would make his appearance more... "presentable" Deku had his hands folded, he cleared his throat as he lifted a paper
"Michi Shinomori. We have come to a consensus. Due to your father having familial bonds, he did not vote for this matter. Out of 23 votes, it was a 12-11 voting tally."
Michi's face went pale. It was so close, his eyes watered thinking of the possibility that Uncle Karasu most likely voted against him.
"We've come to the conclusion that we will not permanently mark you of any misdoings, but you will be committing to the same amount of time that you spent at the Kazuki arena's in community service. Unpaid. Now, Michi, could you please give us an estimate of how much time you spent at the arena's?"
Michi's eyes brightened, but he tried to hide his reaction as he tried to do the math...
"W-well... It consisted for four weeks... every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday... Sometimes a day here and there... It was about three hours each visit..."
Deku lifted his pencil from his paper and looked up
"So about 36 hours spent at Kazuki's, we will assign you 75 hours to try to "Counteract" the past transgression. That was a saying your mother had right? "Help one person, help everyone?""
Michi looked up with a soft smile that he forced on,
"Something like that sir."
Deku nodded with a smile
"It's okay to be relieved Son, even if they voted against you, it was because they had the best intentions in mind for you. You will be driven home by your father, you start community service tomorrow."
As Michi was escorted out with his father, Katsuki approached Izuku
"Izuku, listen.. This information we've gotten from Michi-"
Izuku shook his head
"It's too hot right now. Kazuki will know Michi was the one who talked, and it would put himself and his family at risk. We have to wait."
Katsuki had a sterner tone
"How long?"
Izuku looked out the window, seeing Nemui wrap his arm around his son's shoulder, Izuku had a soft smile on his face as he saw this.
"There's that fickle word again... "Soon."
Masa Baga
After a lengthy meeting, Masa returned home, letting out a sigh of relief as he loosened his tie upon entering his large house. As soon as he walked through the front door, his daughter charged toward him shouting, "Daddy!" Masa caught her and hugged her tightly, a warm smile on his face. He then noticed Tsuyoi, his wife, and a soft smile formed as he leaned in for a kiss. She held a small infant in her arms, having aged gracefully, and retired from her hero work, to focus on raising their four children. Tsuyoi inquired,
"How as the Saturday morning meeting, Masa? Nothing too worrisome, I hope?"
Masa took a deep breath, still embracing Tsuyoi
"Yeah, well, it was a bit concerning, Nemui's son got into some trouble. That's all I can say for now."
Tsuyoi gave Masa an analytical look, she doesn't look surprised as she sighed
"Those Shinomori's. Always getting others involved in their problems."
Masa's expression softened as he reminisced about his high school days, particularly his friendship with Nemui. However, the inevitable rift between them came to mind.
"They're a tricky bunch, that is for sure."
Tsuyoi grabbed her husband's face, with a soft smile she rubbed his face
"My love, you should give this a trim, maybe style it a little."
As Masa and Tsuyoi discussed things that were less than important, on the stairs, two twins eavesdropped on their parents' conversation. Shizu, the older brother by four minutes, leaned against the stair banister. His ear-length black hair framed a bright smile, and his fingers, hands, and forearms bore burn marks. He whispered to his sister
"Fugu! Do you hear this?!"
Fugu, the younger twin, sat on the ground against the banister, her shoulder length hair tied in a small bun. She glanced with a bored expression away from her phone.
"Mom's not wrong. Michi does have a knack for getting in trouble."
Shizu, with an exuberant smile on his face, jumped at his sister
"Come on! We need to find out what's happening with Michi!"
Fugu's expression remained dull as she responded cautiously to her brother's enthusiasm.
"Shuzu please. Mom has her reasons for being wary of the Shinomori's. You'll only get yourself into more trouble if you go see him now."
Undeterred Shizu headed to his room, picked up his bag, and flashed a hopeful grin.
"Then you should come with me. It'll be less risky if we both go!"
Fugu, still hesitant, expressed her reservations with a tone of annoyance.
"And risk getting in trouble for visiting someone I can't stand? No, thank you."
Shizu's face dropped slightly, and wore a sorrowful expression.
"Don't say you hate him. That's just Mom talking."
Fugu put on a stern expression, reminiscent of their mother, Tsuyoi, as she defended her statement.
"She has a point, doesn't she?! Shizu! Just look at your arms!"
Shizu adjusted his short sleeve, not that it was hiding the scars, but he remained unfazed, his smile undiminished.
"It doesn't matter. He taught me more about my quirk than Mom and Dad ever did!"
Fugu roleld her eyes in frustration, and made one more last effort to convince her brother. But it was futile.
"That's because you were only eight! They were waiting for us to grow up! You know how unpredictable Mom and Dad's quirks can be, which makes ours even more dangerous!"
Shizu rolled his eyes, and threw open his window.
"Last chance!"
Shizu extended his hand to her with an optimistic grin, while Fugu wore a conflicted expression.
"Ugh. Fine. If it turns out like last time, I'm telling Mom you dragged me into this."
Shizu energetically pumped his arm into the air and threw himself out the window. Just before colliding with the sharp metal fence surrounding their home, Shizu's hand used a flame to push himself out of harms way, landing on his feet on the other side. Fugu, wearing an irritated expression, scolded her brother with a hushed voice.
SHIZU'S QUIRK - FIRE: Shizu can control flames, allowing himself to ignite himself, shoot fire projectiles, and on occasion, achieve a remarkable feat of transforming his entire body into living fire!
"YOU SAID YOU'D STOP USING YOUR QUIRK IN PUBLIC!"
Shizu appearing unrepentant shrugged
"I used it on our property, besides, no one saw! How else was I supposed to get down?!"
Rolling her eyes, Fugu cautiously surveyed her surroundings. She felt torn about whether to follow her brother. Eventually, she let out a resigned sigh and grabbed the windowsill. Activating her quirk, and blocking out external sounds. She slowed her vision and guided herself down, at the last moment before hitting the fence, she used her hand to control her descent and landed carefully next to Shizu, in Shizu's perspective, his sister instantantiously appeared next to him, with a glimpse of her falling.
"Now who's using their quirk?!"
With Shizu leading the way, they hurried down the street, his infectious smile still lighting up his face, and Fugu trailing behind, already beginning to regret her decision.
After a twenty-minute run, Shizu and Fugu arrived outside a large house. Shizu surveyed the surroundings with a confident grin.
"It looks like Mr. Shinomori is out at work! This is perfect!"
Fugu, however, looked around shocked.
"Wait, you want to go SEE Michi?! I thought we were just checking on him!"
Shizu chuckled, scratching his head with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I want all the details sis!"
Fugu couldn't help but exclaim in frustration.
"GODDAMIT, SHIZU!"
Without further ado, Shizu hopped over the fence and made his way toward the front door. Just as he was about to knock, Fugu grabbed her brother's arm and quickly pulled him behind a wall.
"Fugu, what the-"
Fugu slapped her brother's mouth, covering it and, with her eyes squinting, she then shut her eyes entirely and pinched her nose shut. Her ears seemed to open up, and she spoke with certainty
"There's someone else in the house with him."
Shizu attempted to rationalize the situation.
"That's probably Eriko-"
Fugu shook her head adamantly, her hearing senses heightened.
"No, I already ruled her out. She's asleep in her room. I hear her snoring. This is someone else. They're right in front of Michi..."
Shizu let out a sigh, gently pulling his sister's hand away from his face.
FUGU'S QUIRK - SENSE OF SELF: By shutting down one of her senses, she can enhance her other senses. However, it comes at a cost—if she uses one sense too much, she loses feelings in the others, making her unable to rely on a single sense for an extended period!
Fugu's face grew worrying as she listened closer.
"I... I think it's Senshi."
Fugu's expression grew serious as she strained her ears to catch the conversation. She relayed what she heard to Shizu in a hushed tone.
"Senshi.. He said, "Kazuki clan."
Shizu clenched his fists, ready to barge in, he stood up, grabbing the door knob and opening the door!
"Michi! Senshi! What the hell is going on?!
End of Chapter 2: The Infamous Twins.