...Why did everything good remind you of your mom? Everything warm, loving, and gentle? Just...why?
You woke slowly to a small, warm creature laying still in your loose arms. Took you a moment to remember it wasn't your mother. Took even longer to remember who this really was.
The blond girl was snoring softly, her forehead pressed against your collarbone, arms and legs pulled in close to her body. Though you couldn't see her face, her calm little breaths were just so cute. So trusting of your presence. Waking up, you realized just how much danger she had unknowingly put herself in. Had you a nightmare last night... Well, dadgum. You kissed her soft little head, glad nothing bad happened while you were asleep.
Wait... Why were you awake? Your alarm clock wasn't even going off!
BRAP! BRAP! BRAP!
Ah.. yeah... Intuition.
You groaned, hating the mere thought of getting up. It was so warm. So soft. So peaceful.
"Houseplant, please turn it off." You groaned across the room at Kurogiri. The Nomu rolled his eyes and portaled his hand over to the alarm clock. The irritable noise that even stirred Toga awake was shut off. Your head flopped back down into the pillow, seconds from passing out again. Kurogiri sighed and crossed the room. He grabbed your blanket and yanked it off. Cold grabbing you, you hissed at the undead creature. The little girl also growled and curled in tighter.
"You have responsibilities to attend to."
"Just tell em I'm sick..."
"You've already used that excuse two times this term."
"Mmghmgmghhm... Sorry, Toga.. I gotta get up." She didn't remember telling you her name, but shrugged that off pretty easily. You crawled over the child and grabbed the blanket back from the Nomu to drape over her again. Groggily glaring at the wispy thing, "Make sure she's had food, water, and rest. And if anyone asks why she's here, tell her she's mine, I'm adopting her, and they can't have her." You grabbed a clean set of school uniforms and drudged toward the door.
"Are you going to clean up your arm?"
"My what?" You looked down at your arm, the one Toga chewed on last night. It still has a bit of blood smeared and smudged over it. "...Oh. Nice."
You cleaned the blood off your arm in the sink and wrapped them snugly, then wrapped your waist and thighs as well. After that, which you had become surprisingly efficient at, you threw on your UA uniform, excluding the tie as always.
---------------
Internships were left to the second and third years. The one major difference between this school and canon. Good thing, too, because there was enough stress over the coming exams.
"Um," you boldly stood from your chair between classes. "Anyone mind swapping tutoring? My history score is trash. I'll help anyone with English in exchange."
"I-I-'m pretty good with history!" Of course Tenko was the first to raise his hand. Several others did as well, desperate for some help. The free time from Ms. Yamashi stepping back actually allowed you to offer this in the first place. You ended up making agreements with five students, including Tenko.
As the door slid open, everyone skid to their chairs and sat still, but it wasn't Aizawa who entered this time. Nope, it was Snipe. Aizawa entered behind. Snipe stepped boldly front and center before the class, mask on as he scanned the room full of diverse students. "'Right, Class 1A. I am here to help y'all pick out your hero names."
...
There was a stunned silence throughout the classroom.
"YEAH!"
"YEAH!"
"YEAH!"
--------
Snipe gave a brief lecture on the importance of a hero name and handed out some tips on how to pick out a good one that suits you best.
This really was a big decision, you realized more and more as he spoke. Then came the spotlight on all of you guys. Everyone was handed a whiteboard and marker with the prompt to write your hero names down on it. You didn't realize how nervous you were until every character you tried to write turned out all wonky, your hands too shaky to consider understandable handwriting.
"My hero name will be Hitodama!"
"P.O.V."
"Bug Queen!"
"Sketchy!"
"Compass killer... Kidding. It's Polaris."
"Shimura!" Really sticking it to his dad there, isn't he?
"Mine will be Summer Storm!"
You were of the last to stand to give your name. You didn't really know why, but you were just so nervous. It was more than just a stage name for a fight club. This thing would go down in the history books for one reason or another, no doubt.
Standing before the whole class, your clammy hands finally turned the board around.
[(H/n) = Hero name]
"My name will be (H/n)." The most nerve wracking of all was the lack of responses. Crap! Was your hero name too bland to even bother commenting on!? Or was there something else wrong with it!? "I-- I.. nevermind. I'll have to think about it more."
"Nah, lass, the name's fine." Snipe waved your worry away. "Anyone else yet to share their name with us?" As you walked back to your desk, Iguchi rose his hand, was called upon, and stood to cross the room. He stood in front of the whole class, white-board in hand.
He turned it around dramatically slow, clearly nervous as well. "I couldn't think of anything else, so I'm going with 'Spinner' for now." Your eyes bulged out of their sockets. You mean your teasingly calling him by his canon villain name actually had an affect on him!?!!
---------------
There was no after school exercises or anything. Nope, it was directly to a meeting you'd set up with this 'anti quirk' organization.
Humarise.
You meandered a bit down a broken old alley. You shoved through a dusty old door that later creaked on its hinges as you entered a darkened room. A woman stood inside, her body obscuring the light from a singular lamp. Though the hooded, mint green haired lady was taller than average, you towered over her still. She stood at the ready, steely eyes fixed on you coldly.
Raising a hand, the woman spoke into her earpiece. "She's here." She then gestured for you to follow. You did. She opened and entered through a lone door beside the lamp. Following, you were brought to a decently sized room. This one was dark as well. Five screens with silhouettes of potentially powerful figures formed an arch in the center of it. Two men stood there physically in the room already, watching you closely as well.
You stood where you presumed was the right space, at the base of this arch of screens. The silhouette in the very center must be him. The villain you only vaguely recognized from the third movie.
No one exchanging a single word. You pulled out a picture and handed it to the light pink haired gentleman to your right. He inspected the paper closely. It was an old family portrait taken when you were only ten, your father's face torn completely off with one of the corners.
"It's authentic." The man concluded after inspecting it at all angles.
"You guys got the paperwork, right?" You finally said something. A few of the figures nodded.
A man in the far left screen spoke. "We even redid the DNA tests. I'm honestly surprised to find out she was hiding in plain sight for so long."
"Yeah." Another, gruffer voice pitched in. "It is an honor to meet a descendant of Loving Mother. I wouldn't be alive today if your mother hadn't such a kind soul."
Your chin and eyes dropped a little. "...Yeah." You really had nothing to add. No way were you going to bring up that one time she tried to kill you. To these people, your mother was a living moral compass. Anything she loved, they would love, and anything she hated...they would hate. You could only assume they wouldn't be all too welcoming to one of the few people she tried to kill.
But at the same time it was nice hearing people talking about her again. It seemed all too often the people around, you included, were trying to act like she never existed at all. Looking up again, "I have a question."
"Go on.."
"Um.. what exactly does Humarise have to do with my mother? You guys are against quirks, correct? So then why would you love one of the first people to openly accept and love them when it was taboo to do so?"
The gruff voiced man to your right spoke up. "Firstly, Humarise is comprised of five separate groups. That is how it has grown into what it is today. Most of the branches here were once cult-like organizations dedicated to creating world peace; living under Loving Mother's shadow of inspiration, though Some branches may worship her more than others... As for the anti quirk stance, all the groups that joined have done so in order to further this dream of world peace.. After all, quirks have divided every society all around the world to such an extent that it would be better to simply rid of them. One less thing for our members to have to worry about while preaching about love and equality." Your fingers twitched. These people had a righteous enough cause, but... No flawed person should be put on such a high pedestal and worshipped like a god. You knew how Humarise would eventually turn out. Mother worshipers wouldn't change that.
But. There was no arguing allowed here. Not if you wanted to stay in these guys' good graces.
You bowed lowly on one knee before the elders. "In that case, you will find my coming to be a blessing to your cause. Not only have my very own followers developed a drug that can completely erase a person's quirk, but I myself have been granted the ability to erase quirks with but a touch." There were several gasps. Even those there physically in the room with you leaned in closer. Hmhm, you had em hooked. "Your movement is comprised of five branches, correct?.. Why not add a sixth?"
It didn't take them long to agree~
---------------
You had a lot to clean up before moving onto the next thing regarding the newest arrival. Kai especially was not up for having another "immature brat" eating up all their food and wasting everyone's time.
You assured everyone that Himiko was your responsibility, and she would work as a maid just like you used to to pay for her expenses living here...in your room.
All that settled, you jumped to the next thing!
---------------
"Hm? A stray?" Hawks glanced down from his perch on a trash can, waiting under some shade between two buildings at the moment. "Pretty clean for a street cat. You live around here?"
You sat down in the middle of the alley and stared up at the young hero with the biggest, bluest eyes. He pat the trash can's lid beside him. "Hey, pspspspsps." He called to you. You didn't budge. "Not swayed I see~?" The blond hopped down from the bin and squatted in front of you. He stuck out his hand and you leaned into it, purring happily as he scratched your head. "Awe, you're a cutie!"
"Mr'row.." In cat form, you could literally say anything and it would just come out as cute little meows, so he'd never know you'd just cussed him out in cat for the fun of it. You squeaked as the young man picked you up under the arms and stood, holding you suspended there in the air.
He stared directly into your eyes with a goofy sort of smile. "Can I put you in a sock?"
"..Mow?" Translation: '..What?'
He started snickering. You joined him, an uncanny thing for a cat to do, so you transformed into a human right there as well. Keigo gasped and jumped back as you laughed up a storm, now for the fact that he had just fallen for one of the stupidest tricks you could pull! "(Y/n)!?"
"AHAHAHAH! Ohhhh, that was too good!" You wiped a joyous tear from your eye. "Sorry, I'm running on less than three hours of sleep here. Think we can skip shopping today? Don't think I have the energy for that."
Keigo shrugged. "Sure.. alright."
----------
"Wow.. not half bad." Hawks shrugged, staring over your shoulder at what you were sketching. On the way to the park, the two of you bought some food to snack on, a drawing pad, and some pencils. The elder thought you were bluffing earlier about being good at art, but you showed him up pretty fast. "Can you draw people?"
"I can draw you if you want."
"Eh, I see myself enough. How about I draw you?"
"Huh? Wait, you can draw too??"
"Maybe not as good as that, but I can give it a try. I used to get in trouble for doodling instead of studying all the time! Haha!"
"Hahaha, same!" You handed him the drawing pad and pencil. "Do you need me to pose or anything?"
"Nah, I've seen you enough."
It was a wonderful day. A little more on the hot side, the air a little damp, but the cool breeze out here made up for that easy. You and Keigo sat together side by side under the shade of a large tree in the middle of a park. You'd just finished an early dinner and now had to stave off the desire to drop into the grass and sleep.
"You'll be happy to hear I arrested your favorite doctor yesterday~" Keigo smiled.
You gasped. "Garaki??"
"Yyyep!"
"Yusss!" That was exciting news. Your heart was overjoyed to hear that man wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else.
Sleep was a major temptation though as you watched the young hero draw. He wasn't half bad either. Maybe even on-par with you. You hadn't really drawn much lately, so you were a bit rusty, but his work was still impressive. Eventually, you set your chin on his shoulder, eyes simply unable to stay open. Keigo reached up and pat your head. "It's okay. No homo."
"Psh. You remember that?"
"Heh... Yeah.." He seemed to remember a lot more of that day then what he was willing to admit. And maybe that was intentional?.. Dunno. Doesn't really matter. After all, what could they even do to you? As long as Eraserhead wasn't around, you were almost unstoppable!
Secure in yourself, you did end up dozing off for a little bit, leaning against the young man. "Sus" as the guy was, it was comforting having another person around.
. . .
Your head jerked up suddenly. Keigo startled, sat up straighter. "What is it?"
You shook your head a bit just to be sure... You knew you hadn't been asleep long, but something had woken you from your slumber.. And there it was. That feeling you recognized.
Your mouth dropped open. "My dad's watching." Keigo's whole body tensed up. Carefully, he started to scan around the park.
He whispered. "Where is he?"
"It's a quirk. I don't really know how it works, but.. He's not actually here...but he's watching."
Keigo held his breath for a second. After a suspenseful long pause of you two trying to look casual and laid back as possible, that familiar, disturbing feeling bumbled up from within your stomach.
"Wish me lu--" The squelching ooze burst out of you, terrifying Keigo as the darkness swallowed you whole. He grabbed at the sludge, but you were gone before he could even process what to do.
-----
You reappeared in a very, very dark room. Only a few faint and flickering lights provided you with any sight. But there wasn't time to even think about what was going on. A large hand grabbed and squeezed your neck. The next second,
SLAM!
Your whole body was smashed against a wall. You hadn't any time to process all the pain! It was everywhere, and you weren't healing! A thundering voice rattled your eardrums, coming from the dark silhouette of the man holding you up against the wall by the throat. "I killed my brother, let your mother die, and still you doubt I won't kill you for following in their footsteps!!?.. You were supposed to one day destroy this world, not defend it!!! It was the only fitting end for all of this!! All of this meaningless SUFFERING!!! You leave me no choice but to KILL you right now!!!" Back pressed against the wall and hanging there still, your dad shook you by the neck a little until you whimpered helplessly.
The occasional spark of light illuminated the firey red in his eyes. The shape of his face was now sharp and jagged, twisted in the worst possible way. .. This was his base. These were his own computers, his machines, and his chair, now all destroyed by his own malicion. You gagged, gulped, and grabbed the man's hand desperately. But your arms were too shaky and weak to do anything. It was like your arms turned to useless rolls of wool when coming against this man's body of steel. "Plea- plea.. pleea-" You could hardly breathe, much less beg for forgiveness. Just like when your mother tried to kill you, it went from zero to a hundred real fast! Your eyes sprinkled with tears, the old and the new feelings coming together to create a terribly bitter poison in your soul.
"You. Will. Die.. I don't even know why I created you in the first place! It was inevitable to go this way; you betraying me for this diseased world!" Your hanging legs kicked uselessly at the man. "Guess one could argue I created you for my own amusement. To see if it was even possible to create a god amongst men. Well, clearly that is impossible! Because a god would be able to see the corruption of this world! A god would be able to see as I do; that existence is but a constant spiral of pointless suffering and the only way to break from it is by tearing it all down!!! If I can see it then why can't you!!? If YOU'RE a god then this planet really IS doomed!! You're the most dim-witted, knuckle-headed, freakish monstrosity to ever exist!! I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT NOW! Then will fall the last of my shackles! With you, my idiotic brother, and your mother all gone.. I will have no more reason to hold back~ nothing left to tie me down!" By now you were starting to see colors that weren't even there. Your face became terribly pale and there was no shoving and hitting that could fix it. Your quirks were all but gone. And though your body was a tad more enhanced, it was nothing compared to your opponent. "...By far, my greatest fear has been losing you.. So why not get it over with already? That way, I can finally move on..." Yet here he was stalling. You knew he didn't need to monologue, and he knew it too. With what little you could see of his face, you could tell he was looking for the right response from you. But you couldn't... You couldn't just go along with his plans like he wanted you to! You could never be his most perfect creation. No one could! Only a soulless doll of a human could pull something like that off! And even then, he wouldn't be satisfied with their emotional lacking.
Weakly, your lungs squeezed out what little air was left. "..Da... Da-ad.." You gritted your teeth, eyes fixed on the man with an expression of clear disgust. Every other emotion washed over you at once.
This absolute idiot... Why did he think conquering his fear meant making it happen?? Couldn't he just accept that he had emotions?! That not everything and everyone had to be under his control, even himself sometimes!? "...Why?" You managed.
Guess this made a little sense, at least. Sometimes, when you were too overwhelmed with grief to handle it, you wanted nothing more than to burn everything down and start over... But, you knew it never worked out that way. Because scars will follow wherever you go. Wait. Was he...mourning?
Believe it or not, somehow his hold tightened around your throat. Your mouth fell open to gag. The towering figure's arm trembled. "Because I want to. Being the Demon Lord has been my one and only dream since birth. After all, everything is already as good as mine; I just have to claim it."
"Yh cn't 'wn... m' soul.. I...'m...me. W'th.. r' wth't.. yh..." ('You can't own my soul. I am me. With or without you.') Your body was as good as useless, all its strength completely zapped. Your senses clouded, numbing as your mind fuzzed. By the time you got all that out, the eerie staticky sound of silence overwhelmed your mind. Body cold and numb, your eyes rolled back, trembling at the prospect of closing for good.
You were going to die here... Weren't you?
You were dropped to the ground and hardly even noticed it. The static was so loud. It drowned out the droning of your father. He maybe said something along the lines of your mom having said something similar before.. I dunno. All you could think about was breathing. Air! You needed air!
Before you could topple over fully, presently sitting on your knees, your dad dropped to his knees in front of you and grabbed your shoulders with both hands. Your limp head tilted to the side, lazy eyes starting to regain the ability to focus on one solid thing again. Your father's grip on your shoulders was tight as he shook you slightly. You were barely even still awake. It would be a miracle if you could muster the strength to look alert right now. Still, he tried to get your attention, his voice slowly getting clearer and clearer. He was spewing-on about something. Something heavy on his mind.
The sense in his words slowly faded in. "...and then in my anger I killed him. He was abandoning me and I was so full of rage.. I- I just couldn't- I couldn't stop myself! A-and for years to come, I blamed everyone except for myself! It was your mother who finally slapped some sense into me about it. Bu-but then I did it again with her!" His voice was absolutely trembling. Weak. Scarily so. You had no idea what this meant! You'd never heard him so utterly broken before! "I underestimated the consequences of my own actions, again putting my mission over her life! I le-et her die! I let you kill her because it was the best way to accomplish my goal, but now--" The man pulled you closer and placed the bridge of his nose over your shoulder, allowing the tears to flow into the cloth of your shirt. "...You once asked me if I had any emotions.. Yes, I do. And I hate it!! I'vs always known a goal grand as mine requires certain sacrifices...but this is too great.. Your mother cursed me in a far worse way than any hero could dream! She gave me a heart and took it with her in her death! Ple-ease, don't turn on me too; don't make me have to kill you too!!!" He clung to you now, hands wrapping around behind your back. In all your gasping for new, clean air, your breaths shuttered.
Is that what all this was really about?... Mom? Did she really have that much of an affect on him?? Without even realizing it herself?!
You gathered the strength enough to whisper, his ear already near. "...Why not just...not? You could have avoided so much pain if you just.. didn't."
"There are so many reasons." He breathed aloud. "One is...my goal is me. They are why I exist.... Why would I continue to live without this dream of mine?"
"I dunno..." You shrugged. "Not impossible, though."
"Hhhhh... You say that as a mere sixteen year old girl.. Not a man who has dedicated nearly two centuries to his work."
"I dedicated two years trying to kill you...which I gave up pretty fast."
"That was...just two years..."
"Yeah....but still." You smacked your dry lips, a little dizzy now as you collected something to say that might somehow help. There wasn't really much to add. "...I love you, Dad.. Hate what you do... But I love you... Not your power.. Just you." Kind of forced, it was still genuine. It was hard not to look back and think of all the times when he was kind to you as a kid. How fun he was growing up with. The man gasped faintly. He had never, in the past ten or more years of raising you, not once heard those words spoken to him. What exactly did you love? Did you love the air within a hollow shell? Did you love the void of nothingness held together only by a few thin threads? The mask of a killer? Or.. was there something actually there to love? Not even AFO knew. But, he knew that whatever was in here was under a great deal of pressure and in a lot of pain. For no reason, he kept telling himself!
All For One hugged you closely and kissed the top of your head. He held you against his chest like you could be stolen away at any second. Weeping for the first time you could remember, the old man held you snugly between his arms. "..You are so much like her.... Every time I see your eyes..I am reminded of your mother... I miss her."
Your eyes watered again. From the shock. From the anger. From the fear. From the sadness. But, most of all, you agreed whole heartedly.
You sniffled. "...I miss her too..."
...
"...I don't know what I'm going to do...but I'm not going to kill you..." His reassuring words tore down all the building tension in an instant. All the fear and shock came crashing down in the form of tears. You began to sob, both so relieved and so scared. Still trapped in a state of shock, so vividly brought back to the tragedy which took place only a few years ago. You weren't sure if you'd ever be able to forgive him for this.
...And you know what? You didn't need to anyway. That was it. That was the last cord. Finding out your own father not only knew about but also consciously let you kill Chloe. That, on top of him so brutally threatening your life just now.
...Why even try to mend this relationship? Clearly, it brought you nothing but needless pain.
This...you would never let go.
----------------
The next day, you were introducing little Toga to baby Eri when there was a knock on your door.
"You can enter!" You called from the floor, since your legs were presently crossed, doing the young blond's hair as she brushed Eri's short, soft head of hair.
Kai opened the door and stuck his beak mask through it. "My men caught a guy who identifies as the 'Prince of Heroes.' Claims he's looking for the princess trapped in a tower... I was hoping you could explain this."
"Ughhh..." Your head leaned back. "I know who you're talking about. Where'd you put him? And did you cover his wings?"
"He's not flying out of here on my watch."
"Not just that. He could be planting listening devices with his feathers."
"...?"
"..I'll explain on the way. Kurogiri, watch the girls."
----------
Kai walked ahead and reached the door before you did. "Cover his wings. Apparently, the feathers can fly on their own."
"Heyyy! The snitch." Hawks' voice snickered and complained on the other side. You were stopped by Kai, only allowed in after the young hero's wings were properly tethered. When you entered the room, which was barren of furniture and plain, you had to hold in your laughter. "She's alive!" The elder was lying on the floor in the middle of a circle of cultish looking bird mask wearing folk, all tied up like some kind of sacrifice to a god. "What are you smiling about?" The young man growled. You shoved your little smile down and cleared your throat.
"Great going, idiot."
"HEY! I let myself get caught!!"
"Sure you did." While the elder growled, you decided to change topic. "So, how did you even know where I'd be?" You would potentially have to do something rather drastic in order to keep him from ever spilling this information to his company. No idea what though... But, then again, if he knew exactly where to go in order to find you, chances were the HPSC already knew as well. But...how??
Hawks stared up at you with a stupid smirk. "Intuition~" Yeah, he definitely wasn't telling you.
You sighed and rolled your eyes. "Does he have an earpiece on?"
"Already destroyed it." Hari.
You. "Good." You strode forward and knelt down in front of the lad. "Alright. What is this about? If backup is on its way, just remember that we had every right to defend ourselves. You have no right to attack us legally."
"Easy, Princess, I didn't drop by to start a fight." A brow of yours lifted. "Just came to see if you were alright is all. Pretty creepy how you vanished on me! I got worried!"
"Sure you did." Dryly. You forced something of a calm smile. "If you have to know, my dad threatened to kill me is all. He let me live, though. There, happy?" You stood again and turned to Kai, who stood by the door. "This one shouldn't be a problem. Just release him."
Kai's brows furrowed. "What about him knowing where to find you?"
You turned your torso to the brunette, a 'tired of this' look staring him down. "Toga figured that out. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." But still the brunette brushed past you, knelt, and grabbed a fistfull of Hawks' jacket to pick him up a little.
Golden eyes interlocking with golden eyes, the elder of the two droned. "I'm not convinced this hero isn't hiding anything from us... I'll talk to him alone."
"I'm not telling you anything." Hawks' expression got a little serious.
"Is that so~?" Kai yanked the blond a little closer.
"Kai!" You horsed. "You're not going to be violent, are you??"
"Leave, (Y/n)." Kai ordered, glaring at you over his shoulder. You hadn't seen him like this in ages. Despite having a good idea of what his methods may entail, your right foot slipped back. You didn't speak a word, staring at Hawks and Kai with widened eyes; both watching you as you back-stepped out of the room.
. . .
What was wrong with you? You sat alone against a wall in the hall connecting Kai's place to the rest of the palace. You hugged your knees, pulling your legs closer as the distant sounds of pain jumped into your ears. You hid the lower half of your face and breathed sparingly as the occasional scream rang out.
You didn't even know why, but you were too scared to get involved. Kai wouldn't hurt him permanently, but he wasn't the kind of person you could hope to convince. You just hoped Keigo'd just give up already. Whatever it was that he was hiding.
After one loud scream, the distant room went silent. You held your breath, the sound of your thumping heartbeat louder than any other noise. The silence itching at your brain, you got up and ran back to that room.
Kai was exiting when you reached the door. "Is he alive? Is he okay?!" You jogged up to pass the brunette, but he caught your sleeve and tugged you to follow him before you could even peek into the room.
"He's fine. Now follow me." Hesitantly, you did as he asked. Forlorn, you followed the man quietly. "...With the help of Nemoto's quirk, we were able to get a lot of information out of that one. None all too useful, but it should teach him not to mess with us again." Your breaths were shallow and silent as you followed along. You stared at the ground, choosing to ignore the splotches of blood remaining on Kai's clothing. "To answer our question, turns out the heroes planted a tracker inside your medal. The one you got at the Sports Festival." You gasped quietly. Kai glared over his shoulder at you. "If you really want to pay the Shie Hassaikai back for its kindness then stop being such an idiot." Your gaze dropped to the floor again.
"...Sorry."
"And what's with the 'Princess' thing anyways? You aren't cheating, are you?"
"Nn-n-no, sir.. it's just an inside joke. And I only friended him to get some information."
"Then you shouldn't need him anymore. I'm sure some of the notes we took include the information you need... I'll take a thanks for that."
"Thanks..?"
"You're welcome." There was something else on his mind as well. Something that he continued to mull over even after retrieving the silver medal from your room. Walking back to the young hero's cell of sorts, Kai rubbed the back of his head, clean gloves brushing through his hair. "..Your dad threatened your life yesterday? Why didn't you tell me?" You turned around another corner. You just stared down, still so broken up inside. "...Hgh..." Kai was a little irritated by your silence, but, he kept those feelings mostly to himself. "...You are a vital asset to the Yakuza now, (Y/n)." Kai, for the first time in ever, placed his hand on your back gently. You flinched, expecting the comforting gesture least of all. "We'll protect you." He assured. You tried to take that as comfort, but... your dad could so easily just teleport you to him and nullify your quirk long enough to kill you any way he so imagined... The thought was terrifying, really. At any second, at any moment, your dad could so easily change his mind and you'd be dead for sure, unable to even fight back.
"Thanks.. but..." Your face paled. "He's too powerful, even for you." Your right hand thoughtlessly hovered around your throat area, remembering just how insanely weak you were in comparison to him. It was a feeling you would sadly never forget.
Kai watched you closely, his eyes widening when he picked up on the subtle hints through body language. He growled. "That b######..."
"What?" Your eyes switched to the man quickly, worried for a second he was talking about Keigo again.
"I'm sure together we can figure out a way to outsmart and trap that b######. Just say the word and I'll even kill him myself."
"Keigo!?"
"The hell is that? No, your dad."
"Oh.. whew..." That was a close call. You mind had kinda wandered for a second. "I don't really want to kill him. I just....want to be stronger." Your eyes widened a little.
You know what would make you really strong? Strong even if all your quirks were deemed useless??!.. Dr. Garaki's body enhancements. That one power-up Tomura got in Season Six!!
With something like that, you'd never have to fear your dad again.
Kai's hand slid off your back after the two of you reached the door Hawks lay trapped in. Finally! His hand there was more awkward than anything. Felt so unnatural and forced.
"Please.. let me deal with this." You whispered to the man as he cracked open the door. He peeked into the dark room, then opened it further.
"Why?"
"He came here to help me and instead he got-- YHA!" You gasped at all the blood. Splashes of it all up and down the walls, floor, and even the ceiling in some parts. "Kai, what did you do to him!?" Hawks was still laying on the floor all tied up like before, except now he was on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion. Even though you'd heard all the shouts and screams, you hadn't imagined it to be this bad! He must have only made a sound when it got really bad.
"Relax, (Y/n). Physically, he's unharmed. I just left out some of his blood so he'd be a little weaker."
"Some?!" You had a hard time believing this was just some of his blood.
While you were still processing, Kai crossed the room and roped the silver medal around Hawks' neck, leaving it there on the teen. "Consider this a d### warning, brat."
Flames crawled up out of your hands, eating at your sleeves. You didn't expect to get this heated, but, seeing what they had done to this young man. "Everyone, get out!"
"(Y/n).." Kai turned his head, still crouching, and stared at you like he was about to protest, but you glared at him with the sharpest, crystal blue eyes. Like diamonds threatening to cut his skin open. He stood up and backed away from the young hero this once, gesturing for all his men to follow him out of the room.
Once they were gone, the only source of light in here being a small lamp and the hallway lights spilling in through the door at your back, you knelt down again in front of Keigo, the fire in your hands dying out.
"What's broken?"
"My pride." Keigo coughed up a joke. You just stared down at him sourly.
"Why did you fight them so much?!"
"What do you mean?" Chuckling, he tried to smile but you could tell he was clearly on the verge of tears. "They wanted information they didn't deserve."
You shook your head, sighing loudly. "Do you need help getting up?"
"Psh, nah, I should be fine! Just give me a couple hours, I'll eventually gnaw my way out of here! Ahah!" There really was no reason to address how wishy-washy he was being about this. How incredibly fake his smile was. Just like always... Always putting on a mask to hide how he really felt.
You started by freeing his wings from the blanket, then used one of his feathers to cut the ropes off of him. The most he could do was wiggle a little to help. All the while, he kept making jokes about binding fetishes, gay Kai, and one-night-stands, which you ignored, since they were all poorly thought out and were just his way of processing whatever the heck just happened. Finally free from all the ropes, you stared down at the sad little lump of a hero now just laying there on the floor.
"Need help up?"
"Nahhh, I'm fine. This floor is actually pretty comfy."
You rolled your eyes again and picked him up. Arms wrapped around his back like you were giving him a big hug, you stood and pulled the elder to his feet. Hawks immediately complained once upright about a sudden headache, which was understandable for all the blood loss he suffered. He was also struggling with his balance. "We need to get you some water." You concluded. You turned around as-was and carried the smaller hero into the hallway. His chin rested on your shoulder in the meantime. His legs were limp and getting in the way of your own, but it wouldn't be long until you reached the nearest kitchen.
It was deafeningly quiet now... unlike before.
About halfway there, the elder made a sound, sniffling, his eyes filling with tears. "...I don't get it... Why didn't you even try to save me?" Your strides quickened, staring straight ahead.
Your lip quivered. "...I don't know.. I wanted to, but..."
"You were scared.." Keigo exhaled. He inhaled loud and slow. "I get it... Just.. please... Don't do it again.." There it was. All the pain he'd endured finally beginning to show. It wasn't like he could blame you for being afraid. After all, he'd seen first hand how deadly Kai's quirk was. And he could only imagine someone cold as him wouldn't make life for the ones around him very easy.
You held onto him a little tighter than before. "...I'm sorry... I won't next time. Promise."
Keigo whispered so only you could hear, mostly just because of how tired he was. "....What kind of f###ed up life have you been living down here?" He'd imagine the life of a 'princess of the underworld' would be a lot more glamorous than this. From how you and Kai treated each other, it didn't seem like you were a princess at all. Someone else's trusted subordinate at best. And...your dad tried to kill you?? For some reason it never really occured to him what being a "Princess of The Underworld" would look like.
Sounded like Hell.
You couldn't answer the young hero's question. From your perspective, it wasn't really that bad. You just needed to know when to stand up to Kai and when not to. He was a pretty hard man to read, but once you understood how he worked it was easy enough to tell when he was and wasn't lenient about something.
Keigo had almost passed out by the time you reached the familiar, small kitchen. You sat him down in one of the dining chairs and grabbed him some water to drink.
"Want something to eat too?" Obscured by a boxy pillar, you opened the fridge.
"..Have any chicken?"
"Psh. Yeah. We have some chicken noodle soup in here. I can warm it up."
"Mmm, sounds nice." So you set to doing that right away. Hawks lazily scanned around the quaint living space. "..I can't stay long, by the way. They'll bring in some heroes to raid the place if they suspect I'm dead."
"Good to know. I should have you out in only a few minutes."
"-(Y/n), (Y/n), where did you go!?" Toga came running into the living room holding Eri in her arms. She stopped at the worn out, bloody hero half laying on the dining table. "Oh! Are you the hero Kurogiri can't see?!"
"Who?"
"Just one of Garaki's re-animated corpses ordered to watch over me while I sleep." You, from the kitchen.
'v' "The huh??"
"There you are, (Y/n)!!" Toga giggled as she ran into the kitchen. "Eri pooped her diaper and I don't know how to change it!"
"Not right now, okay? I'm taking care of a friend right now."
Hawks raised his hand. "..I can probably do that."
"First of all, no and no." Calling him out from the kitchen. "When would you have even been able to learn something like that, and you can't even stand on your own, bro!"
"The water is helping out a lot!"
"Toga, don't listen to him. I'll change Eri's diaper when I'm done. For now, can you two please go back to my room?"
"Okay!" Toga readjusted the toddler in her arms and scampered back to your room. Keigo chuckled at the pair as they passed him.
"How cute... Who are they?"
"Toga's the newest. Just unofficially adopted her yesterday. Eri, I've been taking care of since she was a baby."
"Wow, so you're a mom on top of all this?!.. Here of all places too??" Must admit though that Hawks had a little 'humanity restored' moment in finding out (Y/n) had this much more caring, motherly side to her.
You stepped around the small wall of a pillar with a hot bowl of soup in hand. "Well, Eri's not technically mine, but I am her designated babysitter and godmother."
"Awe."
You brought the young man some more water and left to change Eri's diaper. When you returned, he was still eating. You stood leaning against one of the nearby walls with your arms crossed. Neither of you acknowledged each other for quite some time.
. . .
You exhaled suddenly. "I've never told a soul about this, mostly because I know no one would ever believe me.. but I originally come from another world where quirks don't exist."
Hawks slurped on a spoonful of soup. "Hm, you're right. That does sound crazy. Why are you telling me?"
"Where I come from, there was this show I liked to watch called 'My Hero Academia,' or 'Baku No Hero Academia,' depending on the region... You were a character in it. The show had a whole episode dedicated to your backstory... That's..how I know your name and such."
"Convenient~"
"Listen, what I just told you is more the truth than I've ever told before! I know there's no way to prove it or anything, but, there you go!" You turned your head away, pouty lip. "..And now that I've told you the truth, you can stop seeing me anymore... You can avoid getting hurt like that again."
Hawks' mouth fell open slightly. But he didn't have anything else to say. He couldn't tell if this was all just a scheme, or if you genuinely did care about him. Judging by the little sparkle of liquid hanging around the corner of your eyes, you seemed to. He chuckled tiredly, massaging the back of his aching neck. "Thanks.. but.. I don't think that will do." You turned his way, brows furrowing slightly. "Or, at least, I'll need more evidence. Ehehh. Don't worry, though! I hold no ill will!" Not to mention he actually enjoyed hanging out with (Y/n). He couldn't throw away a perfectly good friend like that!
You rubbed the tears out before they could sting the cracks in your face. "You're pretty nice." For some reason, you didn't expect him to do that.
---------------
Keigo was already asleep by the time you reached the HPSC building he'd grown up in. You landed carefully as to not stir the rest he so desperately needed. Armed troops were already gathering by the time you landed.
You set the young man down before the half circle and rose your hands passively. "Relax.. he is unharmed." That didn't clear up any of the aggression on their faces, however. They all aimed their guns on you. Thinking quickly, you sent out a dozen or more feathers to tap each of the guards in the throat. "Now..let's not be so hasty~" One after another, the men dropped their weapons. You smiled, waved, and took off toward the skies again. Hopefully, Hawks would clear things up from there. Until then, guess you weren't on the greatest terms with the heroes right now...