Chapter Text
Later that day, more fog had spread throughout Musutafu. Similarly to the previous day, fog was spreading throughout the city, making it much easier to hide and perform crime.
Proving this point, a small group of Villains exit a nearby bank while carrying bags of money. The group consisted of three Villains, one with a physical based scorpion Quirk, one with a ranged based electromagnetic Quirk, and the final with a mental based illusion Quirk.
“Alright is that everything?” The physical Villain asked.
“Yes, it is. Now let’s hurry up before a Hero shows up!” The mental Villain asked.
The three Villains fled the scene while searching for any Heroes in sight. Civilians ran out of the group’s way once they saw the incoming criminals.
The ranged Villain thought to himself before coming up with an idea. He aimed his hands at a fairly heavy structure above a civilian. Then he used his Quirk to fire a beam of electromagnetic energy, causing the structure to fall down and land on a civilian.
This angered the scorpion Villain.
“The hell are you doing?!? We agreed to only hurt people if they got in our way!!!” The Villain shouted.
“We need to harm these people in case a Hero comes to this area. If they do, they’ll either find a civilian and have to tend to them first or have to choose between fighting us or saving the civilian.” The Villain with the electromagnetic Quirk said.
“You two stop arguing, let’s just get out of here.” The mental Villain said.
As the group was arguing, the ranged Villain spotted something rapidly approaching. A large chunk of rock came flying at the group of criminals!
The ranged Villain fired another beam of electromagnetic energy that detonated the small boulder and left it in small chunks. The other two Villains, now realizing they had been caught, stopped arguing to see who had attacked them.
Standing along the alleyway, was a feminine figure wearing a black and pale pink full-body with metallic heels and a visor that made the costume look like an astronauts suit.
“Who’s that?” The physical Villain asked.
“That’s the gravity Vigilante, Stratosphere. She lower things gravity by touching them, that’s how she lifted the rock.” The ranged Villain said.
“I’m not in the mood to deal with this.” The mental Villain said, attempting to use his Quirk to cause an illusion on the figure.
However, the Vigilante touched her own body and caused a faint pink glow, before leaping into the air. The mental Villain’s Quirk required direct eye contact and conscious will to activate, meaning the Vigilante had avoided it.
The Vigilante landed near the back of the mental Villain, before kicking him across the head, emphasizing the metallic part of her heel to cause more damage. The scorpion Villain swung his tail at the Vigilante, only for her to gracefully dodge the attack and leap into the sky again.
She jumped on the side of a nearby building before launching forward, dodging a beam of electromagnetic energy fired by the ranged Villain. She landed near the ranged Villain this time, though the scorpion Villain was expecting the maneuver.
So instead of attacking, the Vigilante instead grabbed the ranged Villain and shoved him in the way of the scorpion Villain, who was attacking with his tail in advance. His tail impaled the Villain, though the Vigilante made sure to pull the Villain out of the way so it wouldn’t deal enough damage to kill him.
“Oh! My bad! Although you did deserve it for attacking those random guys to be honest…” the scorpion Villain said.
While the scorpion Villain was distracted by his own mistake, the Vigilante activated her Quirk on a large garbage bin on the alleyway she had been fighting in. The Vigilante threw the bin at the Villain before leaping forward with a small device she had grabbed from her utility belt.
She knew the Villain would try to use his tail to attack the bin, so she attached the device on his tail before shoving it to the ground. The device attached to the Villain’s tail before sticking to the ground with small but impactful nails. The Villain tried to move out of the way, but was unable due to his tail being stuck on the ground.
Ultimately the Villain was helpless as the bin collided with him, knocking him out cold. The Vigilante sighed before noticing the civilian crushed under the weight of a structure.
“Shoot!” She said, sprinting to the civilian with a worried face hidden beneath her visor.
“D-Don’t hurt me!” The civilian said.
The Vigilante sighed. Now at a closer distance, she could see that the civilian was only a teenage boy. She sighed before activating her Quirk on the structure and lifting it off of them. Even then, the boy crawled away out of fear and pain from the structure.
Then she heard the sound of rapid footsteps. She looked behind herself and noticed a Hero in a black, blue, and white outfit and hidden behind a mask rapidly sprinting.
The Vigilante recognized him as the Turbo Hero: Ingenium. She quickly activated her Quirk on herself before jumping into the air, avoiding the Hero and landing on a nearby building. She looked down at the Hero as he took in the injured.
Ingenium tended the civilians injuries as the boy while asking a few questions. The Vigilante watched as the boy’s initially worried face molded into a happier face. She felt a part of her heart shift.
It would sure feel… nice.
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Eri sat comfortably on a car seat as she looked out the window. Having spent most of her life indoors with her previous family, and and almost all her time locked away at the orphanage, she didn’t often get to see the outside world.
The two #1 Hero had to run a few errands, but now they were finally heading back to his apartment. Deku watched his adoptive daughter looking in awe before beginning a conversation.
“H-Hey Eri, you’re going to be staying with me from now on, you know that right?” Deku nervously said.
He struggled to get the words out, knowing that he would be giving up the girl once he had successfully taken captured Overhaul. It’s all for the mission. Once this is over, I’ll give you up so you won’t have to deal with the risk of being the #1 Hero’s daughter. He thought.
Unfortunately, Eri read his mind. Now knowing his words were empty, she struggled to respond. Deku noticed this and stopped the car. He reached out to the young girl and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Hey. It’s going to be alright. I’ll be watching you. I promise.” Deku said.
Eri read his mind again, only to find he was telling the truth. In truth, Deku had every intention to watch over and protect Eri during their time together. This comforted the girl, though not as much as something else.
Deku’s warm, comforting, almost fluffy hand in her shoulder was unlike anything she had ever felt. It wasn’t like the indifferent hands that belonged to the people in the orphanage. It wasn’t like the… displeasing hands that she faced in her old family.
These ones were warm and nice.
For a brief moment, she felt a sense of peace. Through it wasn’t long until she naturally reverted to her naturally frightened and worried state
“O-Okay.” Eri said.
A brief silence went by before Deku continued speaking.
“Y’know, you’re kinda gonna need to call me something. You can call me… Papa. If you’d like.” Deku said.
Eri nodded.
“Okay Papa.” Eri said.
Deku let out a small smile before continuing the drive. He knew this would only be a temporary time, but nevertheless he would appreciate every second he got to continue this family. His family. And it’s not like he didn’t want a family, he did. It was just that there was far too much of a risk for the #1 Hero to have a family.
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Deku and Eri made their way to his apartment, and the first thing the young girl noticed was the…
Merch.
Lots and lots of merch.
Merch from all sorts of Heroes, some bombastic, some more subtle. Primarily however, it consisted of a strange, tall, bulky man with a wide small, blonde hair, and primarily blue outfit.
“Is this where we’re going to be staying?” Eri asked.
“Yup! This is your home Eri!” Deku brightly said.
Then another awkward silence occurred. It wasn’t the first, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“Soooooooooo… uhhhhhhhhhhhhh… what do kids your age tend to do?” Deku asked.
He hadn’t had any younger siblings or family members to take notes on childhood behavior, and all he could remember from his own childhood was the bullying and his mother’s love.
“…I… I dunno.” Eri quietly shrugged.
With her past family, she hardly ever had time to be a kid and play, and at the orphanage she was too scared to partake in any of the other kid’s games. She had a natural fear of people and not being accepted, and that extended here, despite Deku being a very kind man.
“I… guess I could help you to study for your entrance exams. Since we don’t know any of your likes or dislikes at the moments.” Deku said.
“Study means like… getting ready for something right?” Eri asked.
“Yeah sorta. It can also mean practicing. I did some research, and it’s a written exam primarily covering math and English. You’re a smart kid, I think English’ll be fine, but math may be a bit more difficult.” Deku said.
Eri took a moment to think. If she didn’t study and past this exam, she wouldn’t make it into the school, which would mean Deku wouldn’t be able to catch that Villain. Now realizing the stakes of her situation, she stood up more confidently.
“O-Okay! I-I’m ready for your s-stuff!” The young girl said with a determined look on her face.
Deku looked happily at his adoptive daughter.
She looks adorable with that face. Who knows, maybe this’ll be easier than I thought. Deku thought.
—————————————————————————
An hour and a half passed and Eri looked like she was half a minute from passing out.
While a naturally clever and intelligent kid, Eri hadn’t exactly received very much education in her previous life. Deku had a lot of progress to catch up on, and not a lot of time between the entrance exam.
The #1 Hero had dumped a quite frankly overwhelming amount of information on the the silver haired girl. Having this much information dumped onto someone in such a short timespan, combined with Eri being naturally young, meant it would be very difficult.
“Papa… this… is a lot.” Eri mumbled.
C’mon Eri, we’ve barely gotten started. I have to make sure you’re as ready as possible for this week exam… Deku thought to himself before pausing midway.
He remembered the words of his mentor figure.
You’re overdoing it. Overworking will have the opposite effect.
Deku paused again while considering his options. Eri hadn’t chosen to read his mind, having been too exhausted from studying to care. Deku eventually came to a decision.
“Alright Eri. I know this is a lot to get in one day. And while it’s still early, you definitely need a break.” Deku said.
Eri looked back to her adoptive father with a curious glare.
“I… I what?” Eri asked.
“A break. Some time off. You’ve done a lot, and I’m proud of you!” Deku said with the infamous ‘Midoriya Smile’ that always raised the spirits of almost everyone who looked at it.
Eri wasn’t entirely convinced. She knew that this family would only be temporary, as soon as that Villain has been caught, they would part ways forever. So, she read Deku’s mind to see if these words were as empty as his promise to live with her.
To the young girl’s surprise, her adoptive father truly meant the compliment. Eri, having never received much attention in her previous life, felt especially touched by this. This confused the girl. Why would she feel touched by a fake family?
Deku put on a cartoon for Eri as the fake father and daughter rested on their couch. Eri lied down on Deku’s chest, feeling the warmth of his body. Eri was out before she could finish a single episode of the cartoon, asleep from the warmth of the green haired man.
The #1 Hero froze.
He had faced foes with Kaiju sized Quirks, ruthless Villains with nothing to lose, expertly trained assassins practically designed to defeat him, and the Tomura Shigaraki himself. Throughout all of these, he charged in with a determined look on his face and a drive to fight.
So why was this six-year-old girl making him freeze like a deer in headlights?!
Deku gently lifted Eri off his body and placed her on the second bed inside of his apartment, one meant for guests.
It would sure feel… nice.