Chapter Text
Dad sits beside Hibana, radiating rage. On her other side is Matsuda with an icepack over his nose, and his fuming mother. “I call for expulsion!” She cries, jabbing a finger at Hibana, who hunches in her chair.
“Absoluetly the fuck not!” Dad yells back. “He was bullying her!” Hibana cringes at the word. Bullying. Shouldn’t the daughter of the top heroes be able to defend herself?
“Well, Mr. Nanashi,” the principal says in his nasally voice. “The girl must be punished. She broke another student’s nose. We can’t accept violence in this establishment!”
“I agree,” Matsuda’s mother shouts, slamming a fist onto the principal’s desk. “Explusion and blacklisted from every high school in the country!”
Dad slams his own fist on the desk, smoking now. “If you do that, I’ll make sure your son goes through the same fucking thing. Don’t think I can’t make it happen.” Even with only his red eyes visible, Dad is a terrifying presence, and Matsuda’s mother looks away like a scolded dog.
He continues talking. “Give Hibana a week of suspension, two if you must. I’ll pay for the boy’s hospital bill, and you’ll promise the little shit never bothers her again. Deal?”
The principal squeaks loudly as those burning red eyes turn on him. “Ah, yes, that works well. How about we call it a day then? Ms. Nanashi will be suspended for a week, and Mr. Matsuda will attend a counseling session to work on preventing this from happening again.”
“Aww, come on!” Matsuda whines childishly. “I don’t wanna!”
“Listen to your elders, brat!” Dad snaps.
Matsuda’s face pales. “Of course, sir.”
“Whatever. We’re out of here.” Dad stands up, and Hibana slowly does as well. She swallows, but all she can taste is ash. Dad leaves the office, and Hibana follows him to what is surely her grave.
Dad taps on the wheel as he drives them back home. “So,” he says icily. “You want to tell me what that was about?”
“Uhm…no…” Hibana says, shrinking in her seat.
“No jokes, brat. What the hell were you thinking? I was on patrol when you did that, I had to call out.”
“I know, I saw the video…”
“What video?”
“Of you and Papa, about the cheating.”
Dad sighs, rubbing his temple with his free hand. “I didn’t want you to see that shit. It doesn’t matter, we know it’s not true.”
“But everybody thinks you’re cheating on your ‘wives’! Don’t you care about your image?”
“I care about you Hibana. I care about keeping you and Naoki and Izuku safe, from both villains and the media. So they can spin their stories, and I can keep doing my job.”
“Well it shouldn’t be like that,” Hibana huffs.
Dad is quiet for a moment. “I know. And I’m sorry that it is. If it makes you feel better, we’re considering fessing up at some point. Maybe have a press conference or something.”
“So you’ll tell them you’re married?” she asks excitedly.
“Something like that.”
Hibana deflates. That’s not very encouraging. She mulls it over in her mind. Does she trust her parents to actually tell the truth? Or is her idea worthwhile?
“Now enough about me and Izuku,” Dad says, voice growing stern. “How about we talk about the fact that you punched a classmate? And that you’ve been hiding that you’re being bullied?”
Hibana clenches her fists and faces her Dad. “I’m not—”
He looks away from the road for a moment to glare at her, his gaze silencing her instantly. “You are. You told your story of what happened, those kids were being jerks to you. Do they do that a lot?”
Hibana can’t find it in herself to lie. “Yeah,” she mumbles. “They think you guys are weird, and your rules and stuff.”
She doesn’t mean to guilt Dad, but she can see him slump in his seat as her words reach him. “Shit, Hibana. I didn’t…”
“I know it wasn’t purposeful,” she interrupts, “but it sucks. They think I’m strange, and now it’ll just be ten times worse.”
“You’re friends with that Kiko girl though, right?”
“I’m honestly surprised you know her name,” Hibana says. “Considering you don’t ever let me bring anyone home.”
“Hibana, you know the rules.”
“Of course I know the rules! There are so many fucking rules!”
“Language!” Dad barks.
“I just want to be normal, Dad. I want to tell people who my parents are so they stop thinking I’m a freak, I want to have sleepovers in my room, and I want to be able to go out with you when you aren’t dressed like you’re allergic to sunlight.”
Dad is silent. The only noise that fills the car is the steady hum of the engine. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?” He says finally, voice quiet, subdued.
“Right,” Hibana replies bitterly.
||
The house is empty when they get back. It’s a quaint place located in a suburb close to Hibana and Naoki’s schools, with three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, perfect for their family of four.
Hibana instantly retreats to her room, flopping onto the bed back first. She stares at her various hero and TV show posters around the room. She has a lot for her family and their hero friends, most actually gifted by the heroes themselves. There isn’t really a theme to the space, just a clash of colors and mementos, but it’s her space, and she loves it.
If only she could share it with Kiko, or literally anyone else! Some of her parent’s hero friends have kids, but none are close enough to Hibana’s age to really be friends with her. They’re either much too old, or much too young.
She can’t keep living a double life. She can’t be Hibana Bakugou-Midoriya half the time, and Hibana Nanashi the rest.
She flips onto her stomach, pulling out her phone and opening her TikTok. Her account is private, and only Kiko follows it. Hibana bites her lip, contemplating if she should really do this. It’s a crazy stupid idea—recording vlogs about her dads? Frankly it’s probably going to explode right in her face.
But at the same time, she can’t help but be excited for the chaos. Just one issue: what’s her first video supposed to be about?
“I ordered food in, brat!” Dad calls, startling Hibana. “Come eat it before I change my mind!” She scrambles out of bed.
“Did you get katsudon?” Hibana asks excitedly, spotting a foam container on the counter.
“Sure did,” Dad says from the living room. “Now come here, we’re watching that show you told me about last week.”
Hibana drops beside him on the couch, raising her eyebrows in disbelief. “The one you said was too cheesy and girly?”
“Yep.”
And so they do, eating their katsudon all the while. It’s nice, especially after the shitty day Hibana has had. She looks at her dad out of the corner of her eye, watching his face change as things happen on the TV. He’s not perfect, but he tries hard.
Suddenly an idea pops up in Hibana’s head. “Hey Dad?” She asks in between episodes.
“Yeah?”
“Since I don’t have school, do you think I could come with you to the agency for the day?”
“We can't tell people the whole truth.”
“I know.”
Dad sighs. “...Sure.”
Little does Dad know, he’s just helped her complete Step #1 of How to convince the world your parents aren’t cheating on their nonexistent wives (title in progress).
Now Hibana knows exactly what she wants a video of.