I stayed away from the gym, coming in to grab the papers from the mail carrier before they reached the gym. The messenger not much caring for the fact he was being headed off down the road.
Taking back my old post as a baby sitter, as I tried to work on the texts that had been sent to me.
"Aunty Zu," One of the little ones pulled on my jacket where it sat tied around my waist.
"What is it little one," Reaching out and gently tucking a lock of hair behind their ear.
"Bunny is here," I turned to see that indeed Bunny was here. I closed the folder I was working on with a snap and stood up.
"Then we are moving on," I worked hard to keep my voice level, as I was not angry with the children. Collecting my papers and stuffing the folder.
"Are you mad at Bunny?" One of the other kids asked, and really it was my own fault I let Yagi get so close to the kids.
"Yeah," I admit, moving to pick up one of the toddlers making grabby hands towards me. "I'm a little mad at him."
"Why," The first kid asked.
"Cause Bunny been sneaking around," Cause really he had been, he hadn't talked to me about anything he had done and then seeing my birth mother's name was tearing at an old scared over festering wound.
"Like my moma and the mail man?" The toddler asked making me blink over at the kid.
"No? Not like that… and don't tell anyone about that," I booped the kids nose.
"So like papa when he takes us on trips?" Kid 2 asked reaching up to hold onto the sleeve of my jacket.
"No, not like that either," Starting to lead the little ones on to another park away from this one and the sulking Bunny.
"Than what is he sneaking around like," Kiddo number one asked.
"Well Little Fire Cracker," Reaching out and ruffling his hair after tucking my folder between the toddler and myself. "You know how us adults don't like Mr. Carter?" I asked, the man referenced a known abuser that had fallen on hard times.
"Yea," Both kid one and two chourised and the toddler suckled on his thumb.
"Well I got some people like Mr. Carter in my past, ones I don't like to think about, and Bunny went and talked to one of them." I explained to them in terms they could understand.
"So Bunny talked to a bad man?"
"Boo Bunny."
"That not nice," Even the toddler agreed.
"Why did Bunny see the bad man," The first kid asked, and really that was the question, why did he go so far. Why would he feel the need to go that far.
"I don't know," I answer them softly, looking back to see Yagi sitting at one of the benches looking rather down.
"Maybe you should ask him why?" The toddler offered up and by the wind wasn't it sad. I was getting legitimate advice from three kids. I sigh, shaking my head before turning around the kids snickering at me.
"Go on you little trouble makers, I got a friend to go talk to." Sending the kids back to the park and they ran off with squeals and shouts. I shook my head and hesitantly moved over towards the bench where Yagi sat. Yagi perked right up jumping to his feet.
"Zu-"
"Sit, I'm mad with you," I snipped at the man before moving to sit down next to him. Keeping some distance between the two of us as we watched the children play around in front of us.
"May I know why you are mad at me, Young Zu?" Yagi asked softly and really it was a logical question. A great way to keep things calm and talk it out like adults like I claimed to be. Heck even the kids were acting more logical than most teens and maybe even myself.
"You went poking around," I sighed, pulling the crumpled up papers out of my coat and held them out in front of me. "A friend… picked up on your poking." still refusing to look at him. Gently he took the papers and straightened them out to look.
"I see, does it really bother you that we went poking around?"
"Yes, i buried it Yagi, I came here, to the Glades, gave up on it, moved on. I left it a long time ago for a reason, and then it starts coming back because you guys start poking around and, and,"
"I understand," Yagi spoke softly, offering the papers back and I took them by the middle of the papers, not wanting them presente, I wanted the papers wrinkled and a mess, and not pristine like Nezu's files. "But it was necessary." Fire flared in my chest and I crinkled the papers a bit more.
"No, it wasn't I don't need a guardian, you could have talked to me about, I don't know becoming a legal adult, that's a thing isn't it, or just waiting till I was? You should have talked to me." I hissed at him, letting my temper flare a bit.
"It's called being emancipated, and that would require us to give you back to your current guardian until we could prove them unfit, is this the preferred option?" He asked rhetorically, and I huffed looking further away from him, digging the fingers of my free hand into my pant's leg.
"No," That could very well lead to just being sent back, and a second time would definitely be a death sentence.
"To not take guardianship would leave you open for anyone in authority to take you away from us." And wasn't that a fright, the idea of strangers taking me from one place to another. Some of the runaways had spoken of the Foster system and the flaws within and they were right. It was far from a nice thought.
"We know you don't like talking about anything to do with your past, so by not asking we avoided getting answers."
"That is a bullshit response, Yagi," using his first name glancing over at him. He only gave a raised eyebrow at that part. "Do you need anything else from my past to make your… plans for me succeed or whatever?"
"Anyway I could get the full story?" Yagi asked gently.
"Absolutely not," bristling at the very idea of giving him anything close to that.
I went home, the gym, was home now. Torino had been waiting at the door. Grunting as he played off his worry. A chicken curry was bought that night for Torino and I to share and I could place it as the first meal that Yagi had bought for me to eat.
"Young Zu?" I looked over to Yagi from where I stood by the sink, seeing him holding a bag in his hand out to me. Turning off the tab I turned and took the offered bag to find a colorful box. The box, once pulled out to look, turned out to be a phone. A nice permanent type of phone. "So we can better communicate, most people have a phone now a days and while you normally make yourself easy to contact. This should make it easier." Yagi rambled a bit as I opened the box to find a smart phone.
"You know a burner would have been cheaper, and likely safer?" I asked Yagi, pulling the phone out of the box. Looking it over.
"Like hell, we need a way to find you," Torino snipped from the recliner, already comfortable in his spot. "Do you know how much that idiot fretted when we couldn't find you last month? Like a damned mother hen! Don't do it again!" Torino snipped, and really this was the most the old man had ever lectured me on my habits.
"So…." Looking back to Yagi, "You are a worry wort?" Hopping I used the term correctly so I could tease him good naturally, and Yagi rubbed the back of his neck blushing while Torino laughed at his expense, showing I had been correct at least.
Where was he, the hour was getting late and it was a visit day, Yagi hadn't said anything about not being able to come today, and while he was forgetful he tended to remember my patrol time and usually said something to Gran by now. So, I wondered rooftop to rooftop on an early patrol, looking into every alley. Knowing for certain that Yagi was mugging bait in the Glades, and I was not about to let the man die in some back alley.
Wouldn't that be a story to tell to the others. Hey you know that territory I patrol in the Glades, yeah, All Might died there. Oh by the stars Stain would be on my in hours to restart his rigorous training routines. Shuttering off that thought process I turned back to my searching and eventually found him…. Being mugged…. Again.
Great, wonderful, I moved fast. Pulling one of my knives from one of the folds in my sleeves, and throwing. The aim was true and my knife knocked away the mugger's knife, he jumped away from Yagi, giving me the room to land and drive forward with a snarl. The mugger falling back. Revealing he was just fresh meat, scampering back as I reached out and grabbed him, needing to tie and subdue. Turning him in was for the best if he was truly fresh, it could scare him straight.
Rolling him over as he struggled and pleaded using zip ties to bind him. Ignoring his pleas with a sad ease.
"Vi," Yagi spoke and I gave a growled huff, barely looking back at him, instead focusing on the person I was subduing. "Let him go," now this was a rumble.
"He will not learn if he is not taught, let the system do that," giving one last jerk of the zip ties ignoring the whimpered plea to let him go.
"Vi," he reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder and the world went black.
The dream felt so normal, a memory with cracks along the edges, as if looking through a damaged looking glass rather than eyes. My body ached all over, held over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Eyes focused stubbornly on blood that was trailing down my arm, over my wrist, and all the way to my fingers to drip down to the floor or drying to stain my skin in uncomfortable patches.
"Good money tonight, the boss should be pleased." the one carrying me spoke to another that was walking beside him, the conversation continuing on just beyond my ability to understand. Words blurring together and forgotten just as quickly as they were spoken, as the stones beneath their feet blurred by, moving on and deeper into the tunnels that held the temporary holding cells of the Pit. The carriers did not care about any injuries, that was for fighters that survived the transfer back to the perma cells, only tossing me into my cage and shutting the door with a clang. I didn't move from where I landed on the floor, on my side in a right mess, one wing folded painfully under me and another half laid over me. Looking at my left hand, the blood was mostly dried out now and starting to flake. The screams and roar of the crowd started to fade away as the hour grew late.
Which memory was this? What fight did I come back from, was I on the concoctions again, everything felt so heavy, how much did I need to heal? Had I healed yet at all. What triggered a memory, had I gone to another of the smaller pits? It had been awhile, it would make sense, Yagi didn't pay money and I likely needed some. That's what it was, it had to be.
'Oh, oh no, Izuku!' That voice, that voice didn't belong here. The only unfamiliar voice here should be Stendhal's, so why was…
Hands pulled me gently onto my back and I got a good look at the worried face of Yagi, the way I now laid was a little uncomfortable, but that didn't matter right now. What was important was the why and how Yagi ended up here. He shouldn't be here. He can't be here. Not in this hell, he belonged in the light, not where his warmth and kindness was at risked at being snuffed out.
"Izuku, this… do you know where we are," Yagi asked gently, one of his hands coming to take one of mine and I finally, finally moved. Pulling myself up to scramble away on my hands and feet, catching my wings on accident a few times before my back hit the wall. "Hey, hey it's okay," He soothed softly. Bringing his hands up to try and convey peace.
I looked around and it really was the same place, it was all the same. Panic started welling up and it wasn't going down, reaching up and pulling at my hair for the grounding pain. "Not here, anywhere but here," I whisper to myself.
Part 2 is coming this was just starting to get too big