Chapter Text
It happens at the park, in broad daylight. The Sakamotos had invited Touya and his kids there, hoping that they would make friends with the couple’s 5-year-old son, Shiki.
Touya accepts. The Sakamotos are his good friends, after all, and he wants to ease their worried minds since Shiki has not developed a Quirk yet.
Kosuke watches the kids play heroes and villains while Chizuki and Touya catch up. Chizuki is holding her newborn daughter, Suzuru. Touya pokes her cute, chubby cheeks. It reminds him of Shouto as a baby.
Granted, he tried to attack Shouto as a baby. Touya grimaces at the memory.
“I’m glad that they’re having fun.” Chizuki is looking at Izuku and Neito as they convince Shiki to play injured civilian. “Shiki doesn’t have a lot of friends his age. There’s my sister’s son, but…”
“Are you worried that he won’t get a Quirk at all?”
“Not just that. Besides, he doesn’t have the joint,” she admits. “I’m worried that Shiki- or Suzuru for that matter- will get a villainous Quirk, like my sister and I. Like her son. Like my grandfather.”
Chizuki’s grandfather was a B-Rank villain. She has the same Quirk as him, while her sister and nephew have a weaker version of it.
“Hey, if it runs in the family, you can’t stop him from inheriting it.” Touya pats her on the back. “But Shiki-kun has autonomy and some pretty cool parents. He’s not gonna grow up and choose to be a villain so easily.”
“I guess you’re right.”
They sit in silence for a little bit. Kosuke and the kids run to the other side of the park, disappearing from sight. Touya can hear them squealing about switching roles.
“You know, Dabi,” says Chizuki. “I just wanted to thank you.”
“Don’t know what this is about, but you’re welcome.”
She smiles. “You’ve worked very hard, for CMAKES and for your family. It’s admirable. It’s also thanks to you that Apocalypse Archives is as popular as it is, with the incredible story and all. So thank you.”
He can’t help but blush. “Well, it was fun. I’m thankful to you guys, too.”
“If it was so fun, we should do it again.”
“Ha! Actually, Neito was just begging for a sequel-”
It happens at the park, in broad daylight. Shiki comes stumbling across the grass and the concrete, screaming until his voice cracks into a million pieces.
“MOM!! HELP!!”
Chizuki leaps to her feet and dashes down the sidewalk to meet him. She’s urgent, trying to keep her son calm but also unable to hide her mounting panic. “What’s wrong, Shiki? Where’s your dad?”
“H-he’s sleeping,” Shiki sobs. “B-but Izuku is-!”
Touya
bolts.
The other side of the park is made up of an open field and a sandbox with a slide, swings, and monkey bars. Neito is unconscious on the grass. Izuku is nowhere in sight. Touya slams to his knees and picks Neito up, and it takes every fiber of self-control left in him not to burst into blue flames when he sees a bruise forming on the kid’s head.
Kosuke is slumped on a bench. Touya runs over to him, but the man is oddly uninjured. Neito stirs as Chizuki races down the field.
“Dad…?” Neito murmurs.
“Neito, are you okay? What happened?”
“Izu…he…he took Izu…”
“Who took Izuku?”
Touya is trying his best. His head is spinning. He wants to run down the streets and find Izuku, but he doesn’t want to leave Neito. He wants to make sure that bruise isn’t indicative of brain damage.
Chizuki reaches them, kneeling beside her husband and shaking him as gently as possible with one hand. He doesn’t stir. She turns to Touya.
“Shiki told me that a man with a gorilla mutation dragged Izuku away.” Her voice is shaking. “Neito tried to stop him, but…”
“He hit him.”
“Yes. They’re long gone at this point.”
“And what happened to Kosuke?”
Chizuki grimaces, looking at her son.
“I don’t know!” He wails. “I was trying to pull him over to the weird man talking to Izuku, but he just- he fell asleep!”
“Shiki,” Chizuki says calmly. “Do you feel a string? Something in your head that feels different?”
The boy hesitates, then nods through his tears.
“Try to let go of it. Snap it in two if necessary.”
Of course, Touya thinks as Kosuke’s eyes flutter open. Of course he develops a Quirk at the worst possible time.
He doesn’t blame Shiki or the Sakamotos, but Touya is hanging on by a thread. Neito is still drifting in and out of consciousness, murmuring. He feels helpless.
He dials his father’s number and prays.
————
How in the world could they leave so little trace?
It has been a full day. Touya is fuming. Neito has been cleared, with the doctors only recommending an ice pack for the bruise. His family is at the police station with him while the Sakamotos watch Neito, Shouto, and Natsuo.
The detective apologizes. The only lead they have is security footage of the gorilla man driving off with Izuku in the trunk. They suspect that it’s a part of a trafficking ring.
Touya decides he can’t listen anymore. Fuyumi runs after him when he storms out of the station.
“Touya, what are you doing?!”
He unlocks his car. “Finding Izuku.”
“You don’t know where he is-”
“Well, I’m not gonna sit here and wait!”
She falters. Touya sighs.
“Sorry, I just- I can’t wait for the police.”
“If you go, it’s vigilantism, Touya.” She says quietly.
“I don’t know what you mean. I’m just going for a drive to clear the stress.” He grumbles, opening the car door.
He’s starting up the engine when Fuyumi plops into the passenger seat. He pauses.
“What?” She tilts her head. “We’re just going on a drive.”
Just as suddenly, Rei knocks on the window.
“Your father is looking into the case with the police.” Her tone is the same, but her eyes are alight with a motherly flame that reminds him of Sekoto Peak. “While we’re waiting, why don’t we all go for a drive?”
No matter what anyone thinks, Neito and Izuku are a part of their family. The traffickers hadn’t just poked a sleeping bear- they’d stabbed it and ripped its cub away.
Touya Todoroki is their father, and he would set the world on fire for them.
————
Being stuffed in a cage in an abandoned warehouse is not comfortable at all. Izuku squirms, trying to find a better position. There are other cages, but most are filled with sleeping adults. The gorilla man and another guard are patrolling outside.
There is no comfortable place to lay in the cage. Izuku whimpers. He misses his Dad, and Neito, and the rest of his family. He hopes the Sakamotos are okay, too.
Kosuke-san looked like he was sleeping. It must’ve been a Quirk. Was it the gorilla man’s Quirk? Or maybe Shiki’s? Dad said that Shiki didn’t have a Quirk yet but he doesn’t have the joint like me. So maybe he developed it just now and it puts people to sleep-
“SHUT UP!” Someone roars. The voice is small, with a youthful rasp not belonging to one of the traffickers. It takes Izuku a moment to recognize it.
“Kacchan??”
Kacchan is glaring at him from a nearby cage. “First I get kidnapped by a weird extra, and now I’m stuck with mumbling Deku! This day can’t get any worse!”
“Kacchan, why are you here??”
“I got kidnapped, dummy! So did you!”
“How? Where’s Auntie Mitsuki?”
Kacchan scowls. “Some extra hijacked our car and threw the old hag out, then he sped off with me. I tried to explode his face off, but he stopped me with his stupid Quirk!”
Izuku blinks. “Not the gorilla guy, right?”
“No, stupid. The other one. He has a crappy bubble Quirk or something.”
“He trapped you in a bubble?”
“Yes!” Kacchan furiously kicks the iron bars. The Quirk suppressing cuffs are heavy on his wrists. “UGH LET ME OUT OF HERE ALREADY!!”
“Don’t worry, Kacchan!” chirps Izuku. “Our parents will save us!”
Kacchan stops to give him a weird look. “Your dad is in America, Deku. He’s not coming.”
“I know. But I have a new dad!”
“What?”
“Auntie Mitsuki will probably come for you, too!”
As if on cue, a melody of pained screams fill the air. Something (someone) hits the warehouse door.
“WHERE IS MY SON?!” screams Mitsuki Bakugo.
Kacchan seems stupefied. Izuku pats him through the bars. Somehow, he doesn’t get snarled at.
Gorilla man enters the warehouse, looking very rattled. He glares at them (mostly Kacchan) before he starts moving their cages.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Where’s my mom?!” Kacchan barks.
“Shut up. My partner’s taking care of her. As for you brats, you’re never gonna see the light of day again.”
————
Yumi
Hey
Keigo
She’s contacting me first? I’m flattered ;)
Yumi
I need a favor
Keigo
Anything for the lady
Yumi
Seriously
My nephew got kidnapped
Keigo
You have a nephew? Okay, what am I looking for?
Yumi
His name is Izuku with green curls and green eyes, freckles. 10 years old.
Kidnapped by a man with a gorilla mutation in a white van, license plate 177BKNG.
[Tap to view location]
We think he’s somewhere around here
Keigo
On it
Yumi
Thank you.
Keigo
You can thank me by taking me out :)
Yumi
I will buy you a basket of fried chicken, three times that if Izuku gets home safely
Keigo
Ooh, incentive. I like it.
Coming up on something.
[Tap to view location]
There’s a fight hap
Yumi
You ok?
Keigo
Sorry, just knocked a dude out
He was fighting a lady and now she’s storming the warehouse
Mama bear beat you guys here.
Yumi
Is Izuku in the warehouse?
Keigo
There’s a lot of kidnapped people. No one responded when I said his name.
Oh hey you’re here
————
Touya leaps out of the car and into the warehouse, breezing past Hawks, who is making sure one of the kidnappers is tightly bound in suppressants. A blonde woman is frantically calling out for someone named Katsuki.
“Izuku!” Touya yells.
No response. The kidnapped people watch with wide eyes as Hawks picks the locks on their cages. The blonde woman falls silent after a few colorful curses, and now she’s staring at them in bewilderment.
Rei grips Touya’s shoulder. “Your father will be here soon. We should go.”
“Izuku isn’t here.” Fuyumi agrees.
The blonde woman takes a step forward. “Did you just say Izuku? As in, Izuku Midoriya?”
“...Yes, we did.” Touya replies. “Who are you, ma’am?”
“My name is Mitsuki Bakugo. I’m Izuku’s aunt, and that sorry excuse of a human being over there-” she stalks over to the villain, “-took my son.”
Mitsuki kicks the man in the stomach. Hawks is “too busy calming the captives to notice”. The villain quickly wakes up. She grabs his collar and snarls.
“Where are you taking those kids?”
The man refuses to talk. Touya activates his fire- not enough to hurt him, but enough where they can all feel the intense blue heat.
Information comes tumbling out. The kids should be on the road, heading to the main trafficking hub. Mitsuki and Touya share a wide grin.
“A pleasure to be working with you,” she says.
“Likewise.”
Hawks holds down the fort until Endeavor and the police arrive. And no, he didn’t see anyone else. He found this warehouse on his own, after all.
————
They catch sight of the van speeding down the road. The moon is at its peak and illuminates them like a scene from an action movie.
Rei Todoroki is a mother, and now a grandmother. She is going to bring Izuku back home.
Mitsuki Bakugo shares the same sentiment.
The van is frozen in place with precise shots to the tires by Rei and Fuyumi. Mitsuki and Touya leap forward to the driver’s window, meeting the horrified eyes of the gorilla man.
“Good evening,” says Mitsuki pleasantly.
The kidnappers never stood a chance. Once the gorilla man is tied up and unconscious, Touya takes his keys and opens up the back of the truck.
Izuku is currently out of his cage, holding open Katsuki’s so the boy can get out. They look like deer-in-headlights for a moment before Izuku squeals excitedly.
“Dad!”
He barrels headfirst into Touya’s chest. Arms wrap around each other and they sink to the floor, relieved.
Mitsuki grabs her son’s face. “Katsuki! Are you hurt?!”
“No, old hag! Let go! Get these stupid cuffs off of me!”
She fiercely hugs him. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll get ‘em off in a second.”
Rei and Fuyumi are smiling. Izuku looks at them in awe.
“You came for me, too?” He asks meekly.
“Of course we did.” Rei tucks a lock of his green hair behind his ear. “You’re our family.”
Izuku bursts into happy tears, and Katsuki scoffs. Mitsuki flicks him on the forehead.
The police find the van with strange puddles around the tires. The gorilla man is tied up in the back, unconscious. Enji Todoroki heaves a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, Izuku reunites with the others at the Sakamoto household.
————
Neito, Shouto, Natsuo, and Shiki tackle Izuku into a cuddle pile and only let go when he starts asking about Kosuke’s sudden falling asleep.
Shiki brushes himself off sheepishly. “That was my fault. I got my Quirk!”
“Really?! What is it?!”
“I’ll show you!”
He taps Natsuo on the cheek. The boy topples over, hits the blanketed tiling, and starts to snore.
Izuku gasps, “You can make people sleep by touching them?!”
“Yep! I can let ‘em go with my mind, too!”
Natsuo snaps awake. “Woah.”
“What did you see?” Neito inquires.
“I dreamt that I was eating a hundred maple snow cones.”
“Ooh.”
The Bakugos are also here. Mitsuki is very grateful to the Todorokis for adopting her nephew. She entrusts Izuku’s continued care to Touya, and they promise to keep in touch. Katsuki reluctantly joins the other kids when they start to play cards.
When Katsuki threatens to explode Neito for using a +4, Shiki pokes his arm and makes him fall asleep. The boys giggle.
Then Chizuki appears, looming over her son with her arms crossed. “Shiki, what did I say about spontaneously using your Quirk?”
“S-sorry, Mom!”
Fuyumi laughs from the doorway. She nudges Touya with her elbow.
“This is sweet and all,” she says. “But I think they should get to know someone new.”
He reads between the lines immediately. “Who’d you have in mind?”
“Remember Loud Cloud?”
Touya nods slowly. “Right, he adopted a kid a few years ago.”
“I hear he’s super into heroes, like your boys.” His sister grins. “I think they’d get along.”
A talk with Enji and some string-pulling later, Izuku and Neito have added a new character to their friend group: Tenko Shirakumo.
“You guys play Apocalypse Archives, too?” He peers curiously at the screen.
They look at each other, grin, then point at Touya.
“He’s the one who wrote it!”
“WHAT?!”
Tenko devolves into a ramble about how he loves the gameplay and the story and the designs and everything.
“And that freaking ending!” He cries. “It was too ambiguous! I need closure for Misa Mesa!”
“Well,” says the writer.
(Tenko thinks his devious grin looks identical to Izuku and Neito’s.)
“You’re in luck.” Touya proudly takes in the wide, expectant gazes of his kids. “We’re making a sequel.”