Author's Note: This chapter felt a little rushed when I was writing it, but I think it turned out pretty good in the end, even if it seems a little fast-paced. Either way, I hope y'all enjoy!

20: Condition (1)

U.A. Conference Room...

Mirai Sasaki arrived promptly one hour after his phone call with Toshinori and was quickly escorted to the conference room where he was met with an odd sight. It was not only his former mentor in attendance but also whom he suspected was the young man that the man had been investing his time in so much lately. Alongside the young man was a woman with similar features to him, his mother most likely, as well as young blonde girl.

The principal was sitting at the head of the table as always and greeted him warmly. Toshinori's reception was warmer than their last encounter as well as the man shook his hand firmly. The boy greeted him, introducing himself as Izuku Midoriya, confirming his suspicions. The woman, Inko Midoriya, greeted him as well, though she seemed a bit more timid than her son, and nervous.

Once he was seated and made comfortable, Toshinori launched into the story of how they had come into possession of the little girl that Mirai knew had something to do with with the yakuza group that he had been investigating. How they had caught sight of the little girl fleeing her captors and hiding in the recently vacant Hatsume home. How Inko had taken the lead and coaxed the frightened little girl from her hiding spot.

And the confrontation with Kai Chisaki himself outside of the home. Izuku took over from there as he recounted speaking with the man, attempting to mislead him into leaving them alone, and how he had attempted to bait them into reacting when he had alluded to killing Natsuo Hatsume. Toshinori stepped back in to explain how he had stopped the children from acting out too rashly by confronting the man himself. And then both explained how Hitoshi Shinso had set him on his path from one end of Japan to another.

Sir Nighteye listened with rapt attention as he commited everything to memory.

When the two were finally done with the story, Mirai shook his head. "When you said that your apprentices were deep in the thick of things, you weren't speaking lightly," he sighed tiredly while pinching his brow before turning to the woman, "If I may ask: where is the child now?"

Inko nodded slowly, "She's still in the infirmary," the woman said, "Thanks to my son's Quirk, and some help from Miss Shuzenji, we were able to repair the damage done to her nervous system," Mirai arched his brow at her, "Erm, I'm not sure how it was done, but almost all of the nerves that control Eri's Quirk were severed." She explained while the man nodded, "I'd be surprised if she had any control over her Quirk at all!"

"I see," the man nodded, a sick feeling starting in his stomach.

Something in his behavior must have tipped Toshinori off, because the man looked at him suspiciously, "Mirai, I know that look," he said to his former partner, "What are you thinking about?"

Mirai gave a deep sigh, "It's not something I would like to talk about in front of civilians," he said, gesturing to the Midoriya mother and son, "But I will say that Chisaki will have much to answer for once we can pin everything on him."

Inko frowned at the man, "Eri said that someone made people come apart whenever he told her she was being bad," the woman said with a slight glare in her eyes toward the man, "It's his Quirk, and he's used it on her before, hasn't he?"

Mirai narrowed his eyes at the woman, "You're quite sharp, Ms. Midoriya," the man said, "Yes, I believe that Chisaki has used his Quirk on this child," he admitted with a slow nod while Inko's frown deepened, "But I can't prove anything concerning him save for a few Trigger deals that might connect to him." The man sighed.

"What about him mentioning Mr. Hatsume?" Toshinori frowned, "I know that it's a pretty flimsy claim, but surely - ?"

Mirai shook his head, "If I remember correctly, he merely said that his meeting with the man did not end well," the detective said, "While I have very little doubt that he is directly responsible, I...have absolutely no definitive proof." He said with no small amount of frustration leaking into his voice, "While his Quirk could very easily cause the same form of damage, there are several other Villains with registered Quirks that could do almost exactly the same thing."

Izuku looked at his mother, "Mom, what if we asked Eri about what was done to her?"

Toshinori shook his head, "She's been through quite a lot of trauma, Young Midoriya," he said, "Asking her about her experiences may do more harm than good at this point."

"It doesn't have to be now," Izuku shook his head before explaining, "She needs to be taken care of right now, yeah, but once she's recovered enough, both in my mom's opinion and Hound Dog's, then maybe we can do something?"

Mirai nodded, "The boy does have a point, Toshinori," he said, "I still have a lengthy amount of work to do on my end, so the child can easily be allowed to recover from her ordeal before we even think questioning her," he frowned as he thought, "And with Ms. Midoriya and potentially you, Toshinori, watching over her, then I know that she would be safe until she's ready to make a statement."

Toshinori frowned, "I'm not a fan of putting this girl through anymore horrors by asking her to relive her memories in captivity," he said with a sigh before he turned his attention toward Inko, "But the decision is ultimately up to you, my dear," he said while the woman jumped a little, "You've all but adopted her by this point, and she rightly seems to trust you more than any of us."

Inko furrowed her brow, "Of course I'm going to look after her," she said with determination, "There's no way that I'd allow her to go into foster care after what she's been through, and if I didn't then Mitsuki would take her in without question, of course, but are you certain that she has to be the one to make the statement?" She asked of the tall detective, "Does everything have to rely on her?"

Mirai understood what she was getting at, "If you're asking if I could find other witnesses, then yes, I can," he nodded, "Placing all of the responsibility on a child is a fool's bet."

"And it will certainly take time to get everything ready," Toshinori reminded her. "There'll be no need to rush her into anything."

Inko nodded and gave the detective a small pleading look, "Is there a way that I can keep her with me that doesn't involve sending her into a home first?" She asked, "With Himiko it was different since she was remanded into my custody by the police as well as her parents, but Eri doesn't seem to have any of that."

Mirai nodded, "I can pull some strings," he said, "Like you, I want this little girl to be in the best hands and, given your track record with taking care of not only Miss Hatsume and Miss Toga, but Mister Shinso as well - "

"He's just a bonus," Inko told him, "He's a wonderful young man, really, he's just misunderstood because of his Quirk."

Mirai held the barest ghost of a smile on his face, "Regardless, you have several children in your care that are now well on their way in this academy."

"That is quite true," Nezu spoke up for the first time, the normally chatty mammal having let the four of them hash things out before throwing in his two cents. "All of these children owe a great deal to your caring nature, Ms. Midoriya."

Inko blushed under the praise, "I only did what any mother would do for a child in need."

"The point is," Mirai continued, "I couldn't think of a better person to care for this little girl until she's ready to question." He went on and laced his fingers together, "So I'm more than willing to put up with a few stacks of paperwork to put Eri into your loving and protective custody." He then turned his attention to her son, "And I would like nothing more than to see you interning at my agency once it comes time for internships."

Toshinori chuckled at that, "Only if you don't make him make you laugh as you normally do to your interns."

"Whatever do you mean?" Mirai asked, sounding miffed, "I happen to have an excellent sense of humor."

僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア

U.A. Infirmary...

While Inko and Izuku were with Toshinori in the meeting, the rest of the group was keeping Eri company in the infirmary. The little girl was getting used to all the new faces around her rather slowly. Between Mitsuki's loud and boisterous attitude and Katsuki's near eternal snarl, she stay well away from the two blondes.

Kinoko was a bit of a hit with the little girl as she kept making mushrooms pop up in odd places on everyone. Hitoshi had portobellos coming out of his ears, while Himiko had oysters growing out of her nose. She was even brave enough to make a cluster of beeches grow from Katsuki's chin like a beard. Mei threatened to make her wear exploding underwear if she tried anything with her.

Chiyo was laughing along with all of them when she pulled Himiko aside while she removed the mushrooms from her nose. "You have some good friends, dearie," the elderly nurse said as she brought the girl away from the group, "But I'd like to talk to you a little more about your Quirk."

That got the girl's attention, "Does it have something to do with my porphyria?"

Chiyo nodded, "In a way it does," she said, "It has more to do with the fact that the medication I'll be giving you may not be able to cure you," she said while the girl frowned, "Yes, I know I said that it's treatable, but your type is much more troublesome." She sighed, "Side effects from the medications could do you harm, though they may not, I haven't the slightest idea, dearie, which is why I think you should have Izuku use that gadget on you."

"You want him to heal me?" Himiko asked, frowning as she thought about the very same idea while she watched her foster brother work on the little girl. "Um, what would happen if I start the medication?"

"Best case scenario: it would chase the disease out of your system in less than a year," Chiyo said with a bit of hope, "Worst case scenario: it either doesn't work, and you'll be stuck with a growing hunger for fresh human blood to feed yourself and your Quirk over time, or it'll suppress those urges, much like what your parents wanted for you, but on a much worse scale." Himiko frowned at her, "What I mean is, while you'll feel just fine for a short time, a few months perhaps, you'll suddenly feel an incredible urge to drink blood, so much so that you will attack someone."

The girl shivered, remembering just how she had felt after running away: she had been blood-hungry then, to the point that she was very much ready to sink her teeth into someone to sate her hunger.

"There's also a few things I think you'd like to know about your Quirk," Chiyo said as the girl blinked in confusion.

"What about it?" She asked, "I thought I just needed to drink someone's blood so I could change into them?"

The nurse nodded, "Yes, that is one aspect of it, the main one, as a matter of fact," she hobbled over to the X-ray machine, "However I noticed a few other things while I was examining you." She pulled a sheet off of the machine, "When I took some x-rays of your head, dear, I noticed that you have a plate in the roof of your mouth, and that your upper canines are much longer than they appear."

Himiko looked at the picture over her teeth, "So what?" She asked, "That doesn't seem like anything special?"

"Press your tongue to the roof of your mouth," Chiyo suggested. Himiko did as she was told, even holding her mouth open while she did it. When she pressed the roof of her mouth, however, she felt something shift, and her upper canines lowered down, becoming elongated fangs, not unlike a vampire. Chiyo gave out a raspy chuckle as the girl yelped, "See what I mean, my dear?" She laughed while the girl picked up a metal tray to use it like a mirror so that she could see her newly elongated teeth.

Himiko giggled, "Itsh kind'a kewl!"

The woman laughed again, "It's not the only thing I've discovered about you, my dear," she said while the girl admired her reflection, "Your Quirk really was meant to turn you into an actual vampire," she said as she pulled a clipboard from a nearby desk, "Not only do you have that plate in your jaw that lowers your fangs to make feeding easier, but those fangs are also hollow, and have a slight suction to them that draws the blood from the body and straight into your secondary stomach."

She flipped the page on the clipboard, "I've also noticed that your saliva contains a numbing agent that not only causes the person you feed from to feel no pain from your bite, but it also makes them feel a slight sense of euphoria."

Himiko no longer looked pleased, "Whoa...okay..." she mumbled, "So my Quirk's basically turned me into a predator like that big wolf-thing that Izuku can change into?"

"Basically, dear," Chiyo nodded, placing the board back on her desk. "Which is why I'm suggesting you have Izuku make an attempt to heal you with his little gadget." She said as the girl frowned, "I'd rather not take a chance of the medications suppressing your thirst instead of curing the disease."

Himiko nodded, mentally shivering over the idea of losing control of herself, "I'll talk to him about it after we've settled everything with Mei's mama," she promised the elderly nurse, "But should I be taking anything until then?"

"No," Chiyo shook her head, "Even a minute amount of suppression is dangerous at this point," she sighed before giving the girl a small comforting smile, "You'll just have to drink enough blood to keep up with your thirst until Izuku cures you."

Himiko looked back toward her friends/family, smiling as Katsuki exploded angrily at Kinoko for making mushrooms grow out of his ears while Mitsuki slapped him upside the head for scaring Eri, who was laughing at the spectacle. "Anything to keep from hurting them."

僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア

Several days later: Special Prison For Villain Criminals - Tartarus...

Over the next several days, the extended Midoriya family was kept busy settling into the new home. The Bakugos helped out, of course, as did Toshinori when he had the time in between helping with spearheading the investigation into Eri's captors, and arranging Mei's visitation with her mother.

In truth, the rosette was dreading the visit. So many things were racing around in her head about how her mother would react to her, or how she would react to her mother. She knew absolutely nothing about her at this point accept for her name. Other than that, she didn't even know what her mother looked like.

But the chosen day arrived, and Mei found herself being driven across the bridge leading from the mainland to the Bronze Gate of Tartarus. The gigantic multi-layered, walled prison loomed in front of her like the gates of hell. Beside her sat Inko and Izuku, both holding onto one of her hands to keep her calm as they neared their destination.

Toshinori looked at her in the rearview mirror, "You know, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to put this off a bit longer?" He said while the girl looked at him, "You've been through a lot, my dear, and if you're not ready ..."

But Mei shook her head, "No," her voice was already trembling with nervousness, "The longer I put this off, the harder it'll be to follow through," she sighed deeply, gripping Izuku's hand tightly, "Besides...I need to know..." she bit her lip, "I need to know why she left us."

Toshinori nodded in understanding as he pulled to a stop just outside the gate. The security guards on duty came forward to check them out, making sure that there were no weapons, or dangerous implements hidden within the car. Toshinori showed them the paperwork needed for their visitation after they were done. A few minutes later the gates opened up with a groan of worn metal, allowing them inside the walls.

Once inside the car was parked, the small group got out of the car and they were surrounded by more guards. Mei was already nervous just knowing that she was meeting someone that was supposed to be her mother, but the guards nearly had her panicking as Inko wrapped her in her arms and Izuku stepped in front of them protectively with his hand over the Ultimatrix.

Toshinori frowned until one of the guards stepped aside, "Officer Shishikura," the skeletal blond said as the man stepped up to the group, "I was under the impression that we wouldn't have any trouble?"

Shishikura, a tall lean man with light blue hair, shook his head, "There won't be any trouble from my staff, I can assure you of that," the man said with a tired sigh, "However, you should know that Vice President Mera is here as well." He began sweating slightly as Toshinori narrowed his eyes at the man. "I know that we spoke of some interference from the Safety Commission, Sir, but Mera looks like he's out for blood today."

"And he'll get it," Toshinori growled before turning toward the little family with a smile, "It seems like I'm going to have to take care of something before we can see your mother, Young Hatsume," he explained while the girl looked down, "Now, don't you worry, this won't take long," he said as he turned back to the guard, who jumped as the look on his face changed from harmless to murderous in a second. "Will it, Officer Shishikura?"

"No!" The man squeaked and jumped aside, "P-please, allow me to escort you, and your guests!"

As they were guided inside the prison, Inko was once again surprised at just how much pull Toshinori seemed to have with the government if even guards at the most brutal of all the Villain prisons were afraid of the man. [Just who is this man?] She wondered briefly as their guiding officer led them to a private room.

"In here, please," Shishikura said before whispering to Toshinori, "Good luck, Sir."

Toshinori nodded as they entered. Yokumiru Mera was waiting for them with a tired yet friendly smile on his face. Though it was certainly meant to put them at ease, Inko and the two children felt as they had just entered the lair of a very dangerous creature. "Ah, Mister Yagi, so nice of you to join me on such short notice," he greeted the blond with as much energy as he could muster before turning to the little family, "And this must be Miss Hatsume whom I've heard so much about?" He said with an oily slick tone in his voice that made Mei want to bolt out of the room, or at least go for her Proto-Tool if she had it on her.

"The girl is none of your concern, Mera," Toshinori said in a tone not unlike his normal jovial one, however there was an edge to it that sounded like it could cut through anything, "Nor should any member of this family be." He continued as the man's friendly demeanor seemed to falter, "So let's keep this little meeting brief," he said, refusing the man's gesture to sit down across from him, "I have no wish to keep this young lady from her mother any longer than necessary."

Mera smiled at them, his eyes landing on Izuku in particular, making the boy jump. Toshinori noticed this and stepped in front of him. "It's funny," Mera said as he laced his fingers together, "My being here actually has something to do with the release of one Kaina Tsutsumi and the conditions surrounding it."

Toshinori's hands balled up into fists, "Conditions?" The man's voice never changed in tone, but Inko could tell that he was angry; very very angry. "As far as I'm aware, Mera, the conditions of her release are that she goes free, or I air the H.P.S.C.'s dirty laundry for all the world to see." He said which shocked even Izuku at this point because not only was the man blackmailing a government official, but he didn't seem to care who found out about it as the guard at the door seemed to stiffen when he heard him. "That includes why Ms. Tsutsumi was imprisoned in the first place, and how many others like her exists."

Mera seemed to lose a little steam in the argument, "I see you've been doing your homework, eh, Toshinori?"

"I never go all in unless I have all the facts," Toshinori told him, "And quite a few of my friends are detectives, none of which care for how you and the president have been conducting your business over the last decade."

"So I see," the man said, his smile returning, "However, I think you will like this condition." He held up his pointer finger, "There's only the one, after all."

Toshinori looked back at the Midoriya family and Mei. He caught Inko's eyes for a moment and she gave a very subtle nod. "Fine," the blond said as he turned back to the Vice President, "Let's hear this condition, then." He said before giving the man a warning, "But keep in mind that I still have the advantage, Mera. If this condition of yours is even the slightest bit unfair, then I go straight to the press."

Mera chuckled, "I have no doubt that you will, regardless," he said, the sound of his laughter sending chills down Inko's spine, "As you know, the release of such a well-known criminal - "

"She's only a well-known criminal because you high-priced bellhops needed a scapegoat," Toshinori sniped, making the man cringe. "Now get on with it, before I lose my patience." He crossed his arms, waiting.

Mera good humor seemed to evaporate then as he sneered at the man, "Fine, have it your way," he narrowed his eyes, "You're not the only one that's done some digging, Mr. Yagi," the man said, making a gesture toward the little family, "We know quite well that you've been training an apprentice with a very rare polymorphic Quirk, as well as others in order to shape them up for U.A.'s classes," he said while Toshinori ground his teeth, "And that you've become involved with his mother - "

Once again, Toshinori showed his strength in an overwhelming amount of pressure exuding from the man, all of it directed at the Vice President. "My private life is none of your damned business, and that goes double for those I'm involved with," now Toshinori's voice finally began to rise in volume, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take that as an outright threat?!" He snapped.

Mei was just as outraged as he was and shouted out, "What is it about my mom that's so bad?!" She stepped forward wrenching herself out of Inko's protective arms, "What did she do?!" She demanded, "Why are you so desperate to keep her locked up here?!"

Mera smiled at her, "Oh?" He said with amusement, "He hasn't told you?"

Mei looked at the blond-haired man, "Told me what?"

Toshinori sighed and gave a small shrug, "I was going to let your mother explain it," he told her before continuing, "Your mother was picked up and trained from a young age by the H.P.S.C. as their personal assassin," he felt his heart lurch in his chest as a look of pure shock crossed the girl's face, "Her Hero Name was Lady Nagant."

Mera chuckled as the girl's face went deathly pale. When the words left Toshinori's lips, Mei felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her. It wasn't like the emptiness she had felt when she was told about her father's death, no: this was worse...much worse. It was like a betrayal of the worst kind.

"Yes, my dear," Mera went on, "You're the daughter of the infamous Lady Nagant, the cold hearted sniper that killed the previous president."

Toshinori snorted, "You didn't think this through, did you, Mera?" His voice was heavy with sarcasm, "What were you attempting to do? Turn Inko and Izuku against her?" He jerked his thumb at the mother and son.

Mei turned around, afraid of what she'd find, but she was only hugged extremely tightly as both of them held onto her. "There's no amount of digging you could do that would give you enough dirt to make them abandon her," Toshinori went on before turning to the girl, "And just so you know, Miss Hatsume, your mother only did what she did to protect you," Mei gave him a confused look, "Your mother loved you the moment you were born, and wanted to raise you alongside your father, but doing so took her away from her work as an assassin. The previous president didn't like that, and outright threatened your life in front of your mother."

Inko glared at the man, "How could you - ?!"

"Not me," Mera smiled at the group, "And while you may have the information to do some real harm, Mr. Yagi, it won't do anything to aide in Ms. Tsutsumi's release."

Toshinori arched his brow at the man, "And what about a certain someone's retirement?"

"That will undoubtedly have some negative effects," Mera said with a nod of his head, "But we still have the No.2 Hero to take his place, and another agent in the top Hero ranks."

Toshinori smirked at the man, "You mean Hawks?" He saw Mera's face twitch, "You really think that I didn't know?" Toshinori chuckled and shook his head, "I'm not as dumb as you seem to think I am, Mera. I'm well aware of who your agents are, and what they've been up to." He informed, "Tell me, what are you going to do to counter me, now?"

Mera sighed, frowning, "You still haven't heard the condition," he said, giving the man a triumphant look, "If the condition isn't met, then Kaina Tsutsumi will remain imprisoned, and a standing order will be put into motion to keep her there for the remainder of her natural life, no matter who succeeds the presidency."

Toshinori narrowed his eyes, "Get on with it then."

"To have Lady Nagant released," Mera said, "Another must take her place. Someone that's even more well-known than she is, and far more feared." He smiled as his eyes landed on Izuku once again, "The condition is that your apprentice will have to take down Gigantomachia."

僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア

Author's Note: How's that for a zinger? Wanna see what happens next? Hit that Review Button! Adios Amigos!