AN: InfinityMask: They still have a year or so, so they can sneak a couple more major timeline changes in before they make it to UA.

Flashyyyyyy: Well, I think you'll like this chapter.

SwordoftheGods: Never underestimate Inko being best mom!

As for romance - I don't write polyships, so Toga's not going to try anything. Given how they act, Himiko's basically going to assume Izuku and Ochako are together even though they are still working through their "It's complicated" status.

Guest - The trick is finding members of the LoV before it's too late.

LEGOBRICK13 - The Villain Deku series was actually just linked in the Discord I am on, so I may have to check it out. Thanks!

After talking with Kayama, Inko's heart was filled with resolve.

She wanted to help Himiko Toga.

For an hour, Kayama told her about how Himiko's parents treated her. The neglect, the emotional abuse, the quirk suppression, and of course, the starvation that Inko discovered for herself the night before.

"If I'm being honest, we were lucky that we stumbled upon her as soon as we did," Kayama continued. "It's telling that she's more afraid of us sending her back to her parents than if we were actually arresting her."

Inko seethed. "If you weren't already planning on dealing with them, I wouldn't mind spending some time alone with them."

Kayama gave her a sly smile. "Well, perhaps the best revenge is for us to ensure that Toga gets the best life possible."

"What was your plan if I didn't volunteer?"

Kayama turned away from Inko. "Kan was going to foster her temporarily. But between his teaching career and his job as a hero, he isn't a good fit for her as a single parent. We were hoping to find her a more permanent home after that."

"That doesn't sound like a good situation for her."

Kayama shook her head. "It isn't ideal, but we weren't exactly prepared for something like this to happen."

"That makes sense."

They sat in silence as Inko finished her beverage.

"Is it ok if I visit the hospital?"

"Of course," Kayama replied.

The two of them gathered their things and began to leave.

"In the meantime, I need to make some phone calls as well. You're going to be in for a busy week if you go through with this."

Kayama could only smile when she saw the determination on Inko's face.

Arriving at the hospital, Inko made her way to Himiko's room. As she approached, she saw Kan waiting for her in the hallway.

"Ah, Mrs. Midoriya. Kayama called ahead and let me know you were coming."

"Is everything ok?"

Kan offered her a reassuring smile. "Of course! Little Toga is just resting. She's still not used to the idea that we are trying to help her."

Inko felt her heart break a little more as she heard that. "Is it ok if I talk to her?"

"I believe so," Kan said. "Just take it slowly and carefully. And I'll be there in case anything happens." He pointed to a nurse's station further down the hallway.

Inko nodded. "I'll try."

Knocking on the door, Inko slowly opened it to see Himiko staring at the television, a distant look on her face. "Do you mind if I come in?"

Himiko's eyes seemed to take a moment to focus on her, and a frown appeared on her face. "You're the mother of the boy I attacked yesterday. What do you want with me?"

Inko slowly opened the door but didn't enter yet. "I just want to talk."

She heard a resigned sigh as Himiko turned away from her. "What is there to talk about?"

Inko slipped into the room and carefully began walking toward the bed. "I- well, I'm sure you saw me last night when I came by with Izu."

Himiko crossed her arms. "Yes, and you were mad. You didn't even try to hide it."

Inko frowned as she pulled up a chair and sat several feet away, not trying to force Himiko to look at her. "Of course I was upset. What mother wouldn't be when they get a call that their child is being taken to the hospital?"

Himiko felt a pang of jealousy run through her.

"Mine," she snapped out, her head whipping around to look at Inko.

"I know," Inko answered quietly. "But last night when I was angry at you, I didn't know."

Inko's sad face seemed to break Himiko's anger. "I'm sure that my parents would be perfectly happy to disown me if it helps them save face over what I did."

"You don't deserve that," Inko told her.

Himiko fought back tears. "But what can I do? For my whole life - my family has tried to make me fit their definition of normal, and every time I failed to meet their expectations, I got punished. Everyone - teachers, doctors - everyone sided with them!"

Himiko looked down, rubbing her eyes. "Yesterday was the first time I made a choice for myself. And look where that got me."

Inko found a box of tissues and handed them to Himiko. "Then they were all wrong."

"What would you know about that?" Himiko asked resentfully.

Inko gave Himiko a sad smile. "My son - Izuku. He's quirkless."

Inko could laugh as she saw the confusion on Himiko's face. "He spent years hiding it from me, but he was bullied and neglected at school because he didn't have a quirk. Even someone with the smallest of quirks was treated better than him. And his teachers stood by and did nothing."

"But at home, I made sure to give him all of the love and support I could. And despite everything, he is turning into a fine young man. Especially after he told me everything - and we got him the help he needs."

Himiko took a tissue and blew her nose, before looking at Inko again. "Must be nice."

Inko's face hardened in determination. "Toga, you deserve that too."

The simple statement shook Himiko. Just having some adult say those five words out loud to her.

"Please, call me Himiko."

Inko gave her a soft smile and tried reaching out, putting a hand on her leg. "Well then, Himiko. You've been fighting a different battle than my Izu, but the similarities are there. And just like the teachers at Izu's school were wrong, your teachers were wrong."

Himiko felt tears building up again. "That's the problem - I don't know what's right anymore."

"I know there are people out there who are willing to help you figure that out if you let them."

Himiko laughed bitterly. "Who? You?"

"Yes."

Himiko whipped her face around to stare at Inko, seeing the seriousness on her face. "D-don't lie to me! I can't handle that right now!"

"Himiko Toga, don't you dare accuse me of lying to you."

Without breaking eye contact, Inko scooted her chair closer and used her quirk to gently pull Himiko's hand to hers. Holding the girl's hand in her own, Inko continued.

"I am serious. I can't offer you the perfect home - Izu has his own problems and Hisashi left us years ago, but I can offer you a home where you will be cared for, supported, and not demonized for your quirk."

Under Inko's gaze, Himiko felt all of her jealousy for Izuku being burned away, replaced with desire. She wanted to believe Inko.

"What's the catch?" Himiko asked cautiously.

"From me? Nothing." Inko looked at the doorway. "But you will need to cooperate with the police and heroes. They can't just ignore what happened yesterday. Even though it may not feel like it, they are trying to protect you as well."

Tears welled up in Himiko's eyes as she vigorously nodded.

Smiling gently at the girl, Inko stood up and tried to give her a hug, which Himiko happily returned.

Meanwhile, at the nurse's station, Kan and Kayama watched the monitor.

"It's hard to imagine seeing her like this," Kayama mused, "after the way the kids described her."

Kan grunted, "If what she told us turns out to be true, it's no wonder she turned out the way she did. I don't think anyone could survive a decade of that without consequences."

Kayama smiled at Kan. "Considering how her son turned out, I think she may be exactly who we needed."

Izuku sat in his apartment with Ochako pressed against him. After their argument, they decided to watch funny videos on YapTube to relax and pass the time until Inko came home. They were watching a video on heros' most embarrassing moments when he heard his phone ring.

Pausing the current video, Izuku retrieved his phone and checked the number before answering.

"Hi, mom! Is everything ok?"

"Hi, Izu. Everything is fine," Inko responded. "I just wanted to check in, since I've been gone longer than I was planning to."

"Everything is ok here! Did something happen?"

"You could say that I ended up taking a trip to the hospital."

Ochako adjusted herself in the seat and saw Izuku's panicked face.

"You're at the hospital? Is everything ok?"

"Yes, everything is fine. I actually went back to talk to that Toga girl from yesterday."

"Y-you went back to talk to Toga?" Izuku gave a confused look to Ochako.

Suddenly Ochako was laser-focused on the conversation. She was making motions to try and get Izuku's attention, but he was too absorbed in the conversation.

"Yes, it's been bothering me and I wanted to talk to her myself," Inko replied over the phone.

"And? How did it go?"

"She's very lost right now."

Izuku frowned. "I bet. When we found her - she was clearly delusional."

Ochako sighed, she was going to have to wait until Izuku was done before she got any information.

After a pause, Inko finally spoke again. "Izu, I've been thinking. How would you feel if you had an older sister?"

Izuku froze, his eyes going wide. Ochako waved frantically to get his attention, but it was hopeless.

"What?"

"I spoke to Kayama earlier and volunteered to foster Toga. When I asked Toga a few minutes ago if she wanted to live with us, she broke down in tears."

Trepidation filled Izuku's chest. He whirled his head to look at Ochako. From his expression, she was getting a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I-is that going to be ok? Won't it be hard?"

"Of course, it will be hard. But I've been thinking about what you said. I can never be a hero in the way you want to be. However, for Toga, I could be a mom, and maybe that's enough."

Hearing his mom's words, Izuku didn't want to argue with her. As he looked at Ochako, his mind began racing as he tried to figure out how to break the news to her.

"If that's how you feel, then I'm ok with it too!"

Ochako was staring daggers at him now.

"Could I come to the hospital as well?" Izuku continued. "I mean, I should probably talk to her, shouldn't I?"

"That's a great idea! I'll see you when you get here?"

"Y-yeah, see you soon."

Izuku was instinctively rubbing the back of his neck before he even hung up the phone. "S-so, do you want to come to the hospital with me?"

"Izuku. What just happened?"

Well, better to just rip this bandage off now, Izuku thought.

"My mom just decided to foster Toga."

The silence in the air was heavy, even more so, seeing the alarm on Ochako's face. It took several minutes before she was able to speak again.

"She- she what?"

Izuku was still trying to come to terms with the news himself. "My mom met with Kayama this morning. Apparently, after she talked to her, she volunteered to foster Toga, and Kayama agreed?"

Ochako pulled out her phone and immediately began calling someone.

"H-hi Kayama," Ochako spoke in a shaky voice, startled when she answered. "H-how did you know?" A moment passed as Izuku patiently watched. "Yes, why did you agree to that?" Disbelief filled Ochako's face. "You- you really think that?"

Ochako continued talking for a few minutes before finally hanging up the phone. He watched her arm begin to fall, dropping the phone.

Swooping in, Izuku grabbed her phone and gently set it on the table before pulling Ochako into a hug.

That seemed to be enough to jar her out of shock, as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I- I-" Izuku gently began rubbing circles on her back. "I can't lose you. Not again. Not to her."

"You won't."

Ochako sighed. "Even if I want to believe that, there's still the fact that I saw Analyst dead. And then what she did to me afterward..."

Ochako pushed herself away from Izuku to look at him. "How can you just expect me to forget about that?"

"I'm not," Izuku told her. "But that Toga can't hurt you anymore. Second made sure of that."

"What about this Toga?"

"She can't hurt you either," Izuku promised.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Don't you think the teachers have a plan?" Izuku offered. "Nezu and Kayama both know what happened to you. Do you think they'd let her anywhere near us if they weren't prepared?"

Ochako seemed to relax slightly, before burying her face in Izuku's shoulder. "I didn't think about that."

Izuku rewrapped his arms around Ochako. "And she won't be coming home yet. There won't be much time before she shows up here and when you move to Mustafu."

"And then I'm going to be seeing you every day." Ochako smiled.

"Exactly. Even if you don't trust everyone else yet, you'd be able to check on us every day."

Ochako giggled. "You know, if she does anything to hurt you or your mom nobody's going to be able to stop me, right?"

Izuku hugged her tightly. "I don't think anyone would blame you."

"Good."

They stood that way for a few moments, the tension in the air easing before finally separating.

"How are you this calm about Toga moving in with you, anyway?"

Izuku laughed nervously. "I may have been distracting myself because you're taking it so badly?"

Ochako shoved him playfully. "Of course, you would do that."

"I'm nervous," Izuku confessed. "Even if she's not as dangerous as she was before we came back in time, we know she could become that dangerous. I- we need to ensure that doesn't happen."

"Agreed." Ochako frowned. "I still want to throw her into Tartarus and throw away the key, but since I can't do that…"

"Better to have her on our side?" Izuku asked.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

Izuku shook his head. "Nobody told you that you have to."

They finally reached the hospital and made their way upstairs. When they approached the room, they saw Kayama waiting outside.

"It seems your mother is making this easy on us," Kayama commented as they approached.

Izuku felt himself blushing. "W-what do you mean?"

Kayama walked them down to a station where she showed them a television screen. On it, they saw Himiko talking with Inko.

"We have been recording her room as a basic precaution. However, with both of their consent, the information Toga has been telling your mom will help us build a case against her parents. Quite frankly, I hope they rot in jail for what they've done." The disgust in her voice was evident.

"How bad was it?" Ochako asked.

"I'd say it was a small miracle that she didn't break sooner," Kayama professed.

Izuku took a deep breath. "I guess we should go introduce ourselves?"

Kayama put her arm on Ochako's shoulder. "First, I think I need to have a little chat with Uraraka."

Izuku looked at Ochako and then back at Kayama, and then nodded. "I'll um, wait right here."

With a nod, Kayama began walking off with Ochako trailing behind until they found a quiet side hallway.

"You aren't a fan of this little arrangement, are you?"

"No," Ochako admitted.

"For what it's worth, we didn't ask Mrs. Midoriya to do this, she offered all on her own."

"I know." Ochako looked back down the hallway. "Izuku had to get his selflessness from somewhere, after all."

"You're worried about them, aren't you?"

Ochako gave Kayama an incredulous look. "You aren't?"

"Of course we are. But I told you before. I think there is a real chance to reform her." Kayama crossed her arms. "Aren't you two all about changing things for the better?"

Ochako frowned. "So how are we going to ensure she doesn't just snap and attack one of them?"

Kayama uncrossed her arms and held up her hand. She raised a finger. "First, she's not going to be discharged until the hospital therapist says she is stable enough to not be under 24-hour surveillance. Ideally, this will happen soon, but she has some time. After all, we need time to deal with the legal issues surrounding her parents, the initial assault case, and getting Mrs. Midoriya approved to foster her. While UA's legal team is good, there are limits to what even they can do."

She raised a second finger. "She will be receiving regular therapy and quirk counseling once she leaves. This just has to happen - she was on the verge of a full psychotic breakdown. Plus the frankly illegal way that she was being treated because of her quirk. Even if she can recover from the worst effects of that, there are bound to be lasting consequences. We aren't going to be like her parents and pretend otherwise. So her therapists will be watching for warning signs of potential regression."

She held up a third finger. "We will regularly have teachers from UA checking in on her. We already have heroes routinely patrolling near your homes to keep an eye on both you and Midoriya. In Himiko's case, we will just be a little more direct about it."

Instead of holding up the fourth finger, she pointed at Ochako. "And if you still don't trust all of those, you'll be going to school with Toga. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be spending your holidays and weekends with Midoriya."

Ochako found herself blushing at the final accusation. "F-fine!"

Crossing her arms, Ochako looked away and gave herself a moment to compose herself. She wasn't about to let Midnight win by embarrassing her.

"And if she regresses?"

"Well, then we will have to give her up as a lost cause, and you get to tell us that you were right."

Ochako stood there for a few long moments, thinking it over. Everyone was trying their hardest to protect Izuku and Inko, she would give them that.

Maybe it was time to try trusting people.

"Ok."

Midnight smiled at the response. "Well then, I think we have come to an agreement then. Shall we head back?"

"Y-yes." Ochako felt her nerves failing her.

Midnight led Ochako back to the nurse's station where Izuku was watching the monitor.

"Enjoying the show?"

Izuku jumped in surprise. "I-I didn't think mom would bond with Toga that quickly."

"Well, I guess it's time to go meet your new sister then?" Midnight teased.

Izuku felt himself blushing. "Y-yeah."

As they walked back down the hallway, Izuku's hand found Ochako's, and they drew strength from each other as they were about to face Himiko in an entirely new light.

Izuku released his grip as he walked to the door, taking a deep breath as he knocked, cracking the door open. "Can we come in?"

He saw his mom light up when she saw him. "Of course! Come in."

Izuku pushed the door open revealing Ochako. "Um, also Ochako is here?"

Ochako stepped into the room. "I um, wanted to surprise Izuku since school is out? And then he got attacked and I was worried about him so I decided to come anyway and now."

Ochako realized she was rambling and cut herself off. Meanwhile, Himiko blankly stared at the two of them.

"You're… ok with me?" Himiko asked Izuku carefully.

Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat before he walked to the bed. "Um, I'm still a little scared, to be honest."

Himiko seemed to wince at that.

Izuku reached out and touched her arm, watching her flinch. "But you want to get better, don't you?"

Himiko bit her lip and looked between Inko and Izuku. "Y-yeah."

"Then it'll be ok." Izuku tried to offer her a reassuring smile. "I just need some time to adjust."

Himiko seemed happy with that answer before she finally turned her head to Ochako.

"You don't like me, do you?"

Ochako gasped at how easily Himiko read her. She crossed her arms and looked away, trying to hide the embarrassment blooming in her cheeks.

Izuku spoke up. "Uraraka she - she had a bad experience with someone who looked a lot like you."

"Oh." Himiko sounded crushed.

"I'm sorry," Ochako apologized. "I know I shouldn't be this way."

"I'm used to it," Himiko replied with resignation in her voice.

Something inside Ochako broke when she heard that. When she whipped her head around to look at Himiko, it was as if she saw her for the first time, the way everyone else saw her. She didn't see her enemy who stabbed her in the middle of a war zone. She saw a broken girl sitting in a hospital bed.

Ochako watched as Inko hugged Himiko, and the girl leaned into it.

Building up her courage, Ochako walked toward the bed and closed her eyes before she bowed her head. "I mean it. I'm sorry Toga. It just - it's going to take time. A lot of time."

"Himiko."

Ochako opened her eyes and looked up. "What?"

"Call me Himiko. I don't really like my last name right now. There are much nicer ones out there." Himiko looked at Inko with a faint smile.

Dark thoughts stormed Ochako's head as she began to panic about Himiko attacking Inko and using her quirk to transform into her. But she forced them away. There was no way Himiko could do that right now and get away with it.

As she wrestled with her thoughts, she finally realized that the look on Himiko's face wasn't the same one that haunted her dreams. The manic gleam that she expected to see in her eyes was missing.

Ochako tried again. "I'm sorry, Himiko."

Himiko appeared to brighten at the second apology. "Do you mean it?"

Ochako's face fell. "Of course I mean it! Why wouldn't I?"

"Before yesterday, nobody ever apologized to me. I usually was the one apologizing." Himiko looked away from Ochako. "It looked like you were going to be one of those people."

Ochako suddenly found herself talking without thinking. "Well screw them!"

This took Himiko by surprise. "W-what do you mean?"

"Nobody should be treated that way! You deserve to be treated better than that!"

Himiko giggled at Ochako's sudden outburst, causing her to turn bright red as her brain caught up with what just happened.

"You're weird! I like you."

After the three talked with Himiko for a few hours, they left the hospital in search of an early dinner before Ochako had to take the train home. As had become routine, Izuku and Ochako fell back slightly behind Inko, giving the two of them a small amount of privacy to talk freely.

"Thank you for doing that," Izuku said, relieved.

"In the hospital?" Ochako asked.

Izuku nodded.

Ochako sighed and hung her head. "I have no idea how I'm going to survive the next several months."

"I think I finally understand how she became the way she did though."

Ochako nodded. "Yeah, if I was treated like that, I could see myself becoming a serial killer too."

Izuku gave her a goofy smile. "See, you're warming up to her already?"

Ochako paled at that, causing Izuku to laugh. When Ochako pouted, Izuku gave her an apologetic smile and subtly reached his hand out to give hers a comforting squeeze.

AN: Inko: After you're done with Himiko's parents, can I spend a few minutes alone in a room with them?
Midnight: What can you possibly do that our lawyers can't?
Inko: Eyes and certain organs count as small objects for purposes of my quirk.
Vlad: Oh, I like this plan. I'll make sure they can't get away.

Meanwhile, I think the kids are taking it about as well as they can be.

And I am proud to announce that this story now has a beta reader!