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Quirkless Existence Chapter 11
🕑 Added 2023-06-14 15:35:20 +0000 UTCSummary: Bakugo heads over to see Inko and have a difficult conversation, meanwhile the number one hero faces his own challenge in contracting his estranged friend in the wake of the two League attacks.
Chapter 11: Cracks in the Peace
After his talk with Shinso, Bakugo's day was uneventful, if a little subdued as the rest of the school carried their moment of silence for Iida, but didn't seem to know how to approach or interact with class 1-A. Bakugo had already seen how the courses tended to keep to themselves, with even mingling between classes in the same grade and course being rare but it was far more pronounced now. It was infuriating to walk through the halls, go to the cafeteria, or access the gym for hero class as they seemed to give them all a wide breadth.
The only ones that seemed to have the balls to approach them, and the brains not to say something moronic were those in the second and third-year hero courses, though he figured that they would have more experience with losing comrades, or maybe it was their training when dealing with grieving civilians, he didn't know and didn't want to as if it was the later, he would have exploded. Especially when it came to that Tin-tin-looking idiot was around as he was more positive than Shitty Hair which was exhausting, but he managed to get smiles out of Round Cheeks and Bedhead so he kept his annoyance to himself.
The real challenge came in getting off school grounds as despite U.A.’s best, they were still around when the final bell rung, forcing students to either leave with pro escorts, force their way through or in his case, let loose a big but harmless blast to scare them out of his way. If they wanted to write shit about him later, he didn’t care, he had places to be and someone to see.
Line Break
An hour after he left U.A. he stood outside apartments he hadn’t been to in years, still in his uniform but instead of his bookcase, he carried a Tupperware container. 'How long has it been since I last came over?' He asked himself as he looked up at the place, having stopped at the entranceway into the apartment blocks. Looking around, he saw that it hadn't changed all that much since he'd last been there, with the old playground just as boring as he recalled. However, he found himself hesitant to go further in, to head up to see the mother of the girl he had bullied and mistreated.
‘Dammit, old hag…why me?’ He asked another question within the privacy of his mind, as he had thought he wasn't to come anywhere near her, but that had changed in the morning when his mother dumped this on him as she couldn't do it today. But even after working up the nerve to make the trip, he found himself coming short which both confused and scared him as he could go up against real villains, and fight for his life against gutter punks high on drugs but couldn't face a housewife. “Man the fuck up, Katsuki…You can do this.” Taking a breath, he began to walk in, taking the stairs over the elevator. Along the way, he saw few people, most being middle schoolers either coming home or heading out with friends with the exception being an elderly lady who took one look at him then scoffed at him as she told him he should be ashamed as she had to help Izuku more than once with burns.
Apparently, she hadn't always done them herself…great, more reasons why he was an asshole. He walked past the old lady without a word, not having anything to say to her as she just returned to her apartment with the mail she had on her. Thankfully, no one else tried to talk to him as he made it to the 4th floor, door 2. Taking another breath to calm himself, he knocked and the door and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Irritation and concern bubbling in him, he knocked again, louder than the first time. He waited just as long for her to respond and as he reached to knock a third time, there was a response.
“…Coming,” Came a tired voice from the other side, along with the sounds of someone approaching, but they didn’t sound like the footsteps of someone moving slowly because they couldn’t, but they sounded like someone who was extremely tired. The door opened before he could think about it more. “Mitsuki, I told you that I…” Inko paused in her words, having expected his mother instead.
Not knowing what to do, he just did the first thing that came to mind. “Hey, Auntie…” And immediately felt like a moron as he saw how her eyes went from wide in surprise to narrowed in open contempt. Along with that, he took in her appearance and how it had changed. As his mother has mentioned, she had lost weight as she had let herself go in recent years but where on paper, that would have been good, he could tell that her weightless was not healthy, more from lack of eating and stress than diet and exercise, leaving her with skin that seemed loose in places. Her complexion was pale and sickly, as if she rarely stepped out, a point her messy hair and dark bags under her eyes seemed to confirm as he knew that she still worked, but it seemed that she only stepped out for work and maybe groceries.
Her apparent degradation didn’t hinder her bite as she asked with a frown. “What do you want, Katsuki?”
“How have you been? Doesn’t seem like you’ve gotten much sun.” He asked, concerned for her and slightly intimidated by her glare as he was sure that if she had the right quirk, he would be dead right now.
“Answer the question.” Okay, she wasn't in the mood for small talk, so he opted to do what he had been told to do and fast. Lifting the container in his hands, he answered.
“The Old…Ma asked me to bring you this and check up on you. She would have done it herself but she was called into work to fill in for someone.” He knew that he wasn’t welcome, his parents knew he wasn’t welcome here but they didn’t have much choice. His dad was out of the country for the week and his mother was busy, someone was needed to check up on Inko and he was the only one that could.
Looking at him with a critical eye, she looked at the container and knew that Mitsuki would only get more concerned if she regretted it. so with a sigh, she agreed.“…Fine,” She stepped aside, allowing him entry into her home. “Come on.” Walking in, he was surprised to see it wasn’t as dirty as he thought, having assumed that she hadn’t been keeping up with upkeep, but it wasn’t clean either, more the result of just one person living there and barely doing anything besides the essentials. Walking into the kitchen, he placed the container on the table.
“For Mitsuki’s question,” Yeah, he expected that. "I've been busy, but I went for a walk the other day," Inko informed him as she knew that her friend wouldn't have been happy if she was slacking on that. even if she kept it to a 20-minute walk around the block.
Rubbing the back of his head, he replied. “I’ll tell her…she’s been worried.” There was a tense silence between the two as one didn’t know what to say, and the other didn’t want to say anymore. The silence was broken when Inko walked past him into the kitchen and went back to cleaning the dishes as she had been doing when he arrived, the boy only now noticing that she was wearing an apron.
“I know, so you can leave now. You’ve done enough already.” Inko told him without turning to him, her dismissal clear as he turned to leave, looking around the empty apartment, the only sound coming from the kitchen which just felt…wrong. Seeing a picture on the wall, he stepped closer and saw that it was of De-Izuku. It wasn't a school event, as she never participated in those, but it seemed to have been a reward ceremony all the same. She was dressed in casual clothes, if more formal than the shorts and tees she normally wore, holding up a framed certificate and small trophy. She stood next to a blue-skinned woman who smiled at the camera in a way that looked like a sly cat that knew more than you did but wouldn't say.
However, more than that, she looked happy. The smile on her face was similar to the ones he had gotten used to, hated and then missed seeing from her. That smile spurred him to act without thinking.
“We haven’t stopped looking!” Inko paused in the dishes but didn't turn to him when she heard his declaration.
“What?”
Thinking quickly, he explained the situation the best he could without giving away too much information. "The pros, I mean. They haven't stopped the search. All Might himself is on the case so it's only a matter of time before he finds her." He hoped that hearing that the number one was on the case would help, he had seen the man helping his detective friend, and how he would take calls from him to stay in the loop.
“Is that right?” Inko's calm response garnered some attention as she was never as crazy as Izuku about heroes, but her level of words and lack of reaction slept something was off.
"It is. I meant him last year when I went to see the cops before they proved how worthless they were. He was in the station and was willing to hear me out." He explained to her, with the woman finally turning to him.
And in some corner of his mind, he wished she didn't as her eyes were just as hollow as Deku had been in her final days, no-not hollow. They just lacked light; they lacked the hope that would always come when news of All Might being on the case reached people. She seemed like the news just angered her more than anything. “And yet, he hasn’t brought my baby girl home.” Bakugo spluttered with her retort, having no defense to it and he didn't think telling her that they had leads but nothing concrete would help, especially since that Kai bastard kept up a clean, legal appearance.
Inko started to walk towards him. “You spoke with him, didn’t you, Katsuki?” She asked him, though he wondered what her goal was as everyone knew that All Might had taken a teaching job at his school, it was all over the news till it was overshadowed by those league assholes. Even if she hadn’t kept up with that, surely the Old Hag mentioned it in passing.
“Uhm, yeah. He’s a teacher U.A. so I see him just about every day.” He nodded his head.
This response didn't save him as Inko continued to the distance, the hollow look in her eyes replaced with a simmering rage as she thought back to what her daughter told her, to the state that All Might helped to put her in. To the fact he told her to give up when he couldn't even go half her work shift without deflating like a balloon. “Since you do, ask him this the next time you see him,” She stepped right into his personal space, the fact she was smaller and shorter not making her any less intimidating to him as he flinched back. “Is he looking for my daughter to save her, or because he feels guilty?”
“What?” Bakugo asked, having no retort as he had no information about this that made sense. What kind of question was that? That he felt guilty? All Might was a hero, it was his JOB to save people, he didn't even know about her till he met the detective and he mentioned it in passing.
“He meant her that day, the day you were both attacked by that villain. She was the first victim and he saved her; she even had the chance to speak with him.” Inko told him, her anger and grief mixing into a mess in her gut that couldn't be identified. Bakugo's eyes widened in response to her words as this was the first time, he was hearing about this. If Izuku had met her idol, why was she so down afterwards? She would have been jumping off the walls in joy for days afterwards yet he recalled it was the opposite.
Inko didn’t leave him in the dark long as she told him the answer to his many questions. "She asked if she could be a hero if she could achieve her dreams…and he said no." She spat out, her mind only thinking of the mess her sweet child was reduced to, how someone who built himself as an honest man went back on his words, telling her that rather than just requiring effort and time as he always did when interviewed, that she couldn't achieve her dreams because she didn't have a quirk? She was reminded of her failures in that department, how she hadn't encouraged her and hadn't supported her for years despite knowing how much Izuku wanted it.
All of this baggage left her close to tears, but unable to as she felt like she had cried so much there wasn't much left in the tank. So instead, she moved to the couch and collapsed onto it, her emotional high gone and leaving her exhausted, a feeling she had gotten used to ever since she came home and found her baby girl missing.
“He...He hasn’t-” Bakugo nearly fell from the news, he hadn’t heard any of this, All Might had never said anything about it. Wait, if she had been the slime guy’s first mark, how did he get attacked as well?
“Just leave, Katsuki. You’re not welcome here.” Inko told him, getting him to silently leave, closing the door behind him as he walked off, his mind focused on this new information.
‘All Might didn't say anything about meeting her, wait. If she was the first victim, how the hell did that slime bastard get away from him? The only what that would have happened is if All Might was slacking or,’ he paused mid-step, a concerning thought popping into his mind as he could only think of one real way that the slime fucker managed to give All Might the slip. “He run out of time…did she see it?” He asked himself. If she did, then it meant she knew his secret, but she never said anything about it. was All Might looking for her to ensure she didn’t tell her captors?
He frowned as he glared ahead, leaving the apartments behind and making his way home, he wouldn’t call now but he saw the girl the following day, so he’ll corner him then. “All Might has some explaining to do.”
Line Break
While Bakugo thought of ways to squeeze All Might for answers, the man in question sat in the office of his agency, a place he truly rarely ever stayed at, having largely chosen to build such a grand building as a means to remind people he was on the watch than to work at. He had spent so much time on the streets resolving incidents and saving people that paperwork piled up, if not for his first and only sidekick, he would have been buried in it. It was that same sidekick he was working up the nerve to call. “Time to face the music.” He muttered before he dialed the number and waited.
There was a click as the call connected. “Hello?” The man on the other end asked, suspicious of who managed to get his private number.
“Mirai, it's me." All Might stated, the man needing no further introduction.
“Toshinori…I wasn’t expecting the call. To what do I owe it?” Sir Nighteye, former sidekick and estranged friend to Toshinori Yagi asked him. If he was surprised about the call, Toshinori couldn't tell as the man had always been good at masking his emotions and maintaining an air of professionalism.
"Could we talk?" He asked the man.
“After 5 years of silence, you want to talk?” Toshinori winced at that the reminder of how they had separated, and while he did wish to remind him that Nighteye had contacted him the previous year about a possible successor for him, Yagi had also flaked on that so decided to leave it unsaid.
“Yes…Please.” He asked his friend, hoping that he wouldn’t shut him out.
There was silence on the other hand as Nighteye thought about it, with Toshinori hoping that he would agree. “…I have 30 minutes before my break ends and return to work.”
“You’re out of the office?” Toshinori asked him, as he had wished to catch him in a more private moment thanks to the nature of the conversation, hence why he wasn't taking this call at U.A. as teachers didn't have their own offices and anyone could just enter the staff room.
“No, decided to have my lunch from my desk today, my sidekicks stepped out for their meal.” Good, he caught on to the fact he wished for a private call.
“I would like to meet with Young Togata. It’s time I pass on One for All.” Toshinori started with the crux of the topic, having finally admitted that he simply didn’t have the time to seek out alternatives, nor continue to be the symbol of peace, not when new threats seemed to rise where old ones had died.
“Are things truly that bad?” Nightetye asked him, surprised that All Might would seek him out for this, especially when he had been so dogged in his insistence to keep up the power of the symbol even at the expense of his health. No, if he knew his old friend, he knew that he wouldn't have even made this call if he felt like he had another option.
Toshinori signed, falling deeper into his seat as the weight of it all weighed all the more on his shoulders. "They are. As much as I wish it wasn't so, my time is coming to an end fast. I can't be the symbol of peace anymore, not when I'm bleeding time little by little as the days go by." He had around 2 hours left in his time after he pushed himself against the League’s first attack.
“Now with the League of Villains running about, and Venom flooding the streets…my time is stretched too thin.” He admitted as he wasn’t able to head to Hosu, having used up all his time and was forced to watch along with the rest of the League’s assault turned the city into a warzone. Even Endeavour’s presence wasn’t enough to completely force them back as while the number 2 had been instrumental in defeating the Nomu that appeared, they only could account for 4 of the 6 that were sighted that night. The villains that fought among the League’s ranks were even more slippery as they only captured 20 out of the 70 that appeared.
The prize that they paid for this? Over 50 people were killed in the chaos and 160 were injured. Casualties included 2 pros killed, 8 injured to the point of retirement and a further 20 that were hospitalized in the wake of the assault. It was no wonder that the media had been focused on it and it alone ever since, with some calling for why he wasn't there as in the past, he could have made the trip from as far as get there from where U.A. was in minutes, he had once travelled from Tokyo to Nagoya in less than 6 minutes to help with a crisis. Some news agencies asked the damning question: If he had been able to do it in the past, why didn’t he do it now? Was his teaching job taking up that much of his time?
The worst part was that, in a way, they were right, just not for the reasons they suspected.
“I heard that you weren’t present for the USJ incident," Nighteye stated, having both seen the news and spoken with his work studies students about the incident. The boy having been quite concerned for the well-being of his underclassmen.
"I was supposed to be there but got held up stopping crime on my way to school. It wasn't as if the villains were too much trouble, rather it was their number. By the time I had arrived, I had burned through almost all my time." He still recalled Nezu's scolding and how the mouse-dog-bear chimaera hadn't been happy. He hadn't been either as he was eager to assist in their rescue training, only to have to rescue them for real and then rely on the rest of the teachers to rescue him before he was seen in his weakened form.
“You think that it was a plan on the League to slow you down?” Nightetye asked him, to which he shook his head before he recalled he was on the phone so Nighteye would have seen that.
“Probably not. Sure, a few were on Venom but given time, local pros could have handled it but…” That was another issue weighing on him, but even if they knew about his limit, they couldn’t have predicted that he would have burned through it on the way to work, or at least, he hoped that they couldn’t have predicted that as it were true, it meant that their enemies had a far more familiarity and understanding his mindset then he was comfortable with.
On the other end, Nighteye signed as he suspected he had the same issue with his using his few hours outside school as the principal had. “You were never the best at knowing when not to step in, I know that if you were able, you'll still be pulling 12-hour shifts and pretending that it was healthy.”
“It was.” Nighteye scoffed his rebuttal.
“Yes, in comparison to the time you went 3 days without sleep.” Frankly, the man wondered at times if One for All gave those who wielded it superhuman stamina boast as no other pro came close to such a long time active, the closest was Mirko and she only went 18 hours before needing 12 hours rest, meanwhile, All Might manage his ill-advised 72 hours fighting crime and saving people with only 8 hours of rest afterwards. “But I digress, as much as I hate to say it, I warned you that not pacing yourself will have consequences down the line.”
“That wasn’t all, Mirai. I think that he was involved. When I defeated their ‘Nomu’, one of the League leaders mentioned how it had been built to fight me, that he was given two quirks for that purpose.” He didn't need to see his friend know that his eyes must have widened there, as did his when he finally had the time to think about it. About the one surefire they both knew to create a being with multiple quirks.
“What was more concerning was that they called my bluff, I wasn’t able to move without releasing my hold on my muscle form. They could have killed me there if they wanted…but they didn’t. They knew I was weakening, and let me live.” That was a question that he didn't like the possible answers to. The first and hopefully right one was that they were just arrogant, confident that they could get him into a similar state in the future. The second one was that their goal was never to kill him, but ruin him as it was one thing to defeat the Symbol of Peace, it was quite another to dismantle him while he still breathed.
There was a third option, one that brought a chill to his damaged body, that they left him alive because they wished to take his quirk, just like…him.
“Who else knows about this?” Nighteye, seeing just how serious the situation was.
“Besides you? Tsukauchi and the U.A. staff.” He had told them as much during their post-USJ meeting, though he omitted his concerns about One for All. “We thought they would have attacked the school but…”
“Hosu, I heard you lost a student in the fighting?” Nighteye asked bluntly, but not harshly as was his style.
"Killed by Stain, though we don't know if he's affiliated with the League, or it was merely happenstance. Regardless, it is clear that I can't keep the peace…not anymore." All Might confirmed, having felt like a failure when he turned up for class and saw not just how down the first-year hero students were, but the missing seat in class 1-A. he had given them a lesson that was less difficult as it was time-consuming as he doubted that they would have been able to focus on the task at hand.
“There's no shame in admitting that All Might, you've done more in a single year than most do in 5, and you managed to be that symbol for almost 30 years," Nighteye told him as All Might was unprecedented in almost all he did, from being the top hero for over 30 years to ushering in a new age of peace that they enjoyed to defeating the underworld King, even if he didn't walk away without injury.
“But I do find myself curious, I had already brought up the issue of Togata last year but you never showed. Why now? Was there another candidate I didn’t know about?" Nighteye had suspected so when he didn’t show up to meet with him and Mirio, it was only luck that he hadn’t told the boy that they were meeting with anyone that day else he would have had questions. However, if All Might was calling him about this, that discounted his earlier theory.
“Yes, a young girl that reminded me of why I fight. She had the spirit and could have been great, despite being quirkless.” Toshinori replied, revealing a fact he had secret ever since he met her. It was only bad luck that he hadn’t been able to track her down before she was taken.
“Would have? Wait, did you say quirkless?” Oh, he knew he was in for it as while he and Nightetye had the same dream, they had different approaches. He knew that Nighteye would have an issue with him giving his power to someone whose quirkless.
“She’s missing. Kidnapped by what we believe to be Yakuza, but we have no leads. I had held off on speaking with you because I wished to make her my successor, but it’s been close to a year with no progress, and the world can’t wait for me to find her.” He explained to him.
“I’ll hold any reservations I have on your first choice for another day, but I do sympathize with you on that, sometimes things just don’t work out and we have to accept that.” He appreciated that. “However, I think you don’t realize just how bad this drug problem is.”I’ll hold any reservations I have on your first choice for another day, but I do sympathize with you on that, sometimes things just don’t work out and we have to accept that.” He appreciated that. “However, I think you don’t realize just how bad this drug problem is.”
“What do you mean? I’ve seen the reports.” It was close to the days of the Villain factory they had used bio-engineered weapons as well, were they merely a testing group for the Nomu? He'll have to ask Naomasa to check, if so then they’ll need to question the villains they captured that worked for the defunct organization.
“How broad were those reports? Did they only focus on Kanto?” Nighteye took his silence as a yes. “Thought so, though understandably as when it comes to drug operations, operating across blocks is much harder and normally comes later.”
“This is the exception as it appeared as far as Fukuoka and it's only digging its claws deeper into the illicit drug market, from what we can tell, it’s using pre-existing channels where were trafficking Trigger so we're sure that it's either the same group or an afflicted one," Nighteye replied as the man had been looking into this for a while and was quite concerned by what he found.
“In the last 4 months, the reported arrests made concerning Venom have gone up 80%, despite that fact, there is enough of a supply and dealers that crimes where villains were suspected of using it have gone up 45%.” Toshinori sat up a little straighter at the news. Drug crimes were never his strong suit but surely such an increase would gain his attention.
“Why haven’t I heard of this? Surely there’s been a spike in crime!”
“Not so, it is not much creating no incidents as it is exasperating them. The increase wouldn't rise concern, but only if collateral isn't considered.” Nighteye explained, the sounds of paper folders being opened up accompanying his words as he most likely was looking through hard copy prints of the reports.
“How bad is it?”
“It’s gone up over 200%. The average villain captures normally had a price tag of only 4.4 million Yen with cases amounting to anything higher than 6 million being rare.” This All Might knew, all first years were taught this, it was why pros were taught to end fights as quickly as possible and also to be wary of their surroundings. “Now, even when multiple pros are called in, their fights to subdue and capture villains leave severe destruction in their wake with minimum collateral of 10 million, but that’s becoming much rarer.” 10 million, that was a concerningly high number. He hadn't heard of such price tags since All for One’s heyday where entire neighborhoods could be destroyed in fights.
“The media hasn’t reported on them as much as they normally would, but I suspect that was due to you and your presence keeping them busy.” That was another advantage to having a symbol like All Might, even when bad things happened, people tended to continue with their days as they believed he would ensure they would be safe.
“But with these two League attacks, and the death of a student, they’ll farm the bad news for all its worth.” However, that system only worked so long as All Might was seen as invincible, and his recent failure to stop the League in their debut assault cracked that trust.
“My thoughts exactly.” Nighteye agreed with him. “Threats that were at one point D are now being elevated to B, at present more capable villains don’t use the stuff as much as their weaker compatriots but with the League’s success, that could easily change any day now.” That was his worry as Gang violence wasn't anything new, but with the age of heroes and especially in the All Might, most gangs that did more than petty crimes were lucky to last a month. The troubles came in how much damage they could do in that time, but with performance-enhancing drugs on the market, there was a concerning increase in both how long gangs operated before they were caught and disbanded, and in the damage they could let loose.
If more dangerous wished to get their hands on the stuff, or God forbid, joined the League…it'll be a national crime crisis as the League's warper was an unknown variable, with a quirk in which its capabilities were largely unknown. They didn't know the size of the groups he could move, the distance he could move them, or how his teleportation worked, they didn't even know how many portals he could make in total, never mind how many he could create at once.
“Which means we need to stop the League even more now, as their continued existence seems to be a living advertisement to the potency of this stuff.” Toshinori finished the thought that the two were having concerning the League.
“We can discuss this more when you come over. I feel like this would be better done in person.”
Line Break
The following evening, deep underground, Izuku and Eri sat in their shared room. Their dinner finished, the plates set to the side while their books were left on the table where she would help the girl learn how to read and write when she wasn't doing her studies. The two sat on the bed with Izuku doing up Eri's hair, getting it ready for bed as she finished telling her a story about a monkey boy who travelled with a 3 eyed warrior, a green man, a monk and a turtle lover. "Eri, why don't you tell me a story," Izuku asked her as she finished sorting her hair into place, having managed to get the little girl hair roller to help care for her lovely white locks.
Being put on the spot, even if it was just with her, made Eri nervous. “But…I don’t think I can tell a good one.” Eri said, wringing her hands together as Izuku brought her close to her warm body.
Izuku wrapped her arms around her daughter, her larger hands grasping onto Eri’s and massaging them to help calm the girl of her anxieties the same way Inko had done for her more than once. “Nonsense! You’re a very smart girl, I know you can. Go on, be as creative as you like.” She coached the girl forward, wanting to see her work those creative juices she knew she had going in her.
"Okay…Hmmm," Eri took some of her mother's inspiration and closed her eyes with the cutest-looking expression of concentration that Izuku had ever seen from her. Before she could enjoy the sight more, Eri’s eyes popped open as she finally got an idea. “There was one apple person, and he liked to play in the garden."
"It must have been a fun garden," Izuku commented, Eri nodding in response as more of her tension leaked from her body in the face of her mother’s encouragement.
"It was! There were lots of trees, and there was this pond where the little fishes would swim every day that he liked to look at." Eri got into it as Izuku listened in with a smile.
“Oh, how lovely!”
"Then there would be birds that would come sometimes, and the apple man would feed them bread when he could, the birds liked it." Izuku laughed at that, but it was not one of mockery but of joy which made Eri feel nice, she liked making her momma laugh, she was always so stressed.
"He must be a nice person." She commented on the apple man, having a feeling that she would very much like them.
“Then he would play in the flowers, they always smell really nice and he would give them to his friends and they liked them too!” Eri wiggled from the excitement.
“Oh, if only I could see these flowers, they sound wonderful.” Izuku sighed for dramatic effect before Eri let out a long yawn, rubbing at her eyes as Izuku gave her a knowing look.
“Oh, it looks like someone is sleepy.” She noted as Eri rubbed herself into her mother’s body, trying to gain some more energy but all this did was make her sleepier as her mother’s calm, steady heartbeat often did.
"Noooo, I want to stay up and tell you more about the apple man," Eri spoke through a yawn, but Izuku only laughed as she rubbed her, turning around to start pulling at the bedsheets.
“Don’t worry, Blessing. We can talk all you want in the morning; I would love to hear more about his adventures in the garden.” Izuku told her as she quickly and gently moved the blankets and settled Eri into the bed, bringing them back up to her chin level.
“All tucked in?” She asked her, stroking her forehead with her thumb as the little girl nodded her eyed, her eyelids heavy.
“Yes. Will you be sleeping soon too?” Izuku smiled as she leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.
“In a moment, I just need to freshen up is all. Then I’ll be right with you, all right?” She asked her beautiful daughter who nodded in response, sleep starting to take her after a fun day, or at least a fun day by their depressing standards.
“Alright….goodnight, momma.” She started to doze off, with Izuku watching with a smile on her face, even if it was pained by the fact her little story was nothing more than a poor reskin of what the two had done earlier because Eri simply lacked the experience to come up with anything greater which was another reason why Izuku desperately wanted her to get her out of this place, and preferably burn it down on their way out. Her smile grew carnivorous as she pictured Kai in the flames, his broken body burning bright as his soul is taken to the lowest depths of hell.
Banishing her darker urges for later, she got up from the bed but not before saying something to the sleeping girl. “Goodnight, sweetie. And remember, when you have nightmares, momma will always be there to chase them away and make sure you know you’re safe.”
Line Break
“Is Eri asleep?” Kizuki asked over the earpiece, the latest in a line of them that had been smuggled in daily.
Seated in the bathroom of their room, Izuku replied. “Yes, I just put her to bed. Have the plans been finalised?” If she was honest with herself, she still found this entire thing surreal at times. In the over 3 weeks that they've been in contact, Izuku felt like at times it was merely a pleasant dream, or an elaborate con on the part of Overhaul but each time they spoke, her faith in its reality only strengthened.
“Yes. In 3 days, we move.” Izuku felt herself relax, just a bit as her skinny body sagged on the toilet she was using as a seat.
"I just hope that the information I got was useful," Izuku mentioned, having gone out of her way to acquire as much information as she could, listening in to Yakuza members talking, their wives discussing things and whatever she could gleam from Overhaul and Chrono whenever they spoke.
“I'm sure it will prove invaluable, thanks to your efforts, we now have information on the quirks and mannerisms of Kai's top lieutenants," Kizuki replied as she had revealed to the teen already that she and her people could figure out the names and meta abilities of those under Kai, but with Izuku’s added information, they now had more in the way of how they operated, how they factored into Kai’s overall plans which meant they could better plan who will be where when the attack happened.
“I know, I know it’s just…” Izuku rung her hands together now, the irony of her helping her blessing with her fears only a few minutes ago yet she had her own not lost on her.
“Understandably. Things like this aren't stress-free. Just ensure that you're in the spot where you need to be, and we'll handle the rest.” Kizuki replied, they had set things up for when Izuku and Eri would be furthest away from Kai, which would be in their room. If they timed it right, it will be just before the two are taken for another ‘session’. If they could give their escort the slip, they could put a good deal of distance between themselves and them in the chaos of the raid and if she kept her earpiece on her, they should be able to track her once they enter the place.
