Chapter Text
"Kiki?"
The two girls only stare at one another for a moment before Keira jumps into her sisters arms as tears burst from her eyes. She can't stop the sob that escapes her lips as her sister wraps her arms around her waist and buries her face in her neck. Keira can feel the tears as they soak her shirt. "Cadia! Oh my God I can't believe you're here. I missed you." She is babbling she knows but she can't stop herself from crying and desperately clinging to her sister. Finally the missing part of her has come home.
Acadia can't stop the tears as she clings to her sister. Fuck it's been too long. She has to tiptoe slightly to reach her shoulder. A watery smile graces her lips as she realises how much taller her twin happens to be.
Another set of arms sneak around her and she looks up at her mother's tear stained face. "Momma!" A sob causes her shoulders to heave as the 3 of them cling to each other and cry. "Oh let me look at your face my baby! Oh how I missed you!" Acadia is crying harder than she ever thought possible as her mother's hands touch her face. She is breathing heavily as her mother traces the scar on her chin and her eyes become sad. Acadia tries her best not to fidget or look away from her mothers wondering eyes. Acadia watches as sadness and anger fill her mother's eyes before she glances past her shoulder. A soft look on her face as she takes in the group of kids behind her daughter. Amari watches as each kid stands back watching the exchange. They must be the children Asaka and Aizawa are looking for. The ones traveling with her husband and daughter. She looks behind the group of children, darting her eyes up and down the road. Kido isn't with them? "He's not here." Amari glances at Acadia, watching as confusion and sadness flash in her eyes before her face takes on a carefully blank look. Her tone of voice and the look in her eyes startled her. Amari clears her throat before addressing each of the children. There will be time for questions later. She wants to he selfish now and spend as much time with her daughter as she possibly can.
"You all must be hungry, Come on I'll start dinner." Amari stands and begins herding the group of children inside of the house. "Are these your friends?" Amari asks as she smiles at each child. Acadia turns and grabs Tripp tugging him forward. "This is Tripp, his twin brother Torrent. Ronan and Kade and this is Angelique." Acadia turns and gives each of them a reassuring smile. "This is my mother Amari and my own twin sister Keira." Each of them take turns greeting one another. She can't help but notice how wary each child is. And tired by the looks of it as well. Both Tripp and Acadia have dark circles under their eyes as if the concept of getting enough sleep is foreign to them. Amari wants to pinch herself to see if she is dreaming. This moment seems so surreal and dreamlike yet… her daughter felt so solid in her arms. As Acadia turns back to her friends Keira begins jumping up and down. "Mom can I?" Amari turns and gives a soft laugh. "Yes, good luck not getting punched in the face."
Acadia watches in confusion as Keira runs up the stairs and turns back to her mother as she gives each of the kids a hug and guides them into the living room to get settled. Tripp and Torrent looked unsure of the hug but a reassuring smile from Acadia helped ease their nervousness. Suddenly two sets of feet come stomping down the stairs and Acadia watches as a tiny boy follows her sister. "Come on shrimp. I want to introduce you to our sister." Acadia feels like her heart was shredded and shoved back into her chest, like the universe enjoys watching her suffer as it throws curveballs at her. Is this why her father hoped she would forgive him? She gives herself a mental shake and plasters a smile on her lips, as she steps toward the boy hiding behind her sisters leg and crouches down to meet his eyes. "Hi! My name is Acadia. What's your name?" It takes him a moment as he glances at his sister and then his mom as she wipes tears from her eyes.
"Ryu." He whispers. It's strange seeing someone who looks exactly like Keira and yet different at the same time. Acadia watches as Ryu brings his hands up and starts tapping his fingers together. It's a jolt to see her old nervous habit being done by someone else. She thankfully outgrew that habit. Her heart melts at the sight at the same time it feels so broken. She missed out on everything. "Ryu huh? I like that name." This makes him blush as she smiles at him. "It's a pretty cool name after all." She smiles and glances up to Keira a silent question in her eyes, eyes that usually hold a blank expression but now hold a silent question filled with worry. Does he have a quirk? Keira nods her head and gives her a thumbs up. Acadia takes the cue and turns back to the small boy. Swallowing the painful lump in her throat. "I bet it's almost as cool as your quirk." Ryu smiles as he launches into his quirk and how its works.
"I can make a force field out of anything! It is a super awesome quirk. In dad's letter he said you finally had a quirk. Is it as cool as mine?" Acadia has to laugh at his enthusiasm. He seems less shy and finally steps away from Keira. Acadia can think of only one quirk she can show off so she activates shadow cat. Ryu squeals and laughs as ears and a tail appear on his sister. Her eyes turning yellow like a cats. "Oh nothing too fancy really." She giggles as her mother gasps from behind her.
Asaka told Amari her daughter has a mutation type quirk but to finally see it was a bit of a shock. She can turn it on and off? She shakes her head as Keira and Ryu begin pestering Acadia about her quirk. Oh how her daughter has changed so. She seems more confident and happy. Her eyes widen a little when Acadia straightens up and stands next to Keira. It seems like she has barely grown though. Her eyes barely meet her sisters chin. She watches as Acadia sheds her coat and sweater clad only in a tank top and dirty blue jeans. The beginnings of defined muscles lining her arms. Where keira is thin and graceful Acadia is short with pronounced muscles. As if Acadia spent more days training in a gym then playing like a little kid. The scar running down the side of her daughters neck bothers her the most. It's quite obviously not from a normal childhood injury. She has seen her fair share of knife wounds to know what the scars look like. The one on her chin could be from anything, but Amari has a feeling it wasn't because her daughter tripped and fell but from something else. She shakes off the thought before turning to the other children to help hang their own jackets and remove their shoes. "What would you guys like to eat?" She needs the distraction from her thoughts. She hasn't made a final decision to help Asaka capture her daughter. She isn't very good at making plans like her husband. But part of her had a silly idea to slip away in the middle of the night and just running with her children. Her eyes track each child as they warily make themselves comfortable. How long have they been running and hiding? They all seem exhausted and far too wary for children their age. She looks her children, the bright shining eyes of Keira and Ryu as they talk about quirks, the tired and wary eyes of Acadia as she gives them small smiles and vague answers. No she can't ask her daughter to continue running. Acadia turns and gives her a hopeful look. "Ramen?" Acadia announces causing one of the boys to snort and say something to her in another language. Amari listens as Acadia answers in the same language causing the boy to laugh again. When did her daughter learn another language? Amari clears her throat before answering. The years they missed feel more like centuries. "Sure, I can make Ramen." Acadia gives her a bright smile that nearly makes her choke. Ah there's my little girl. Ramen always was her favorite. "Pork?"
"Yes please!" Acadia turns and smiles at her friends switching to Russian with practiced ease. "My mom makes the best Ramen! You guys will love it."
Keira listens with shock as her sister speaks a foreign language. "What was that?" She finally asks. Acadia turns and smiles "Russian of course." Then turns to the girl and says something to her in another language. The girls bright blue eyes light up as she glances between the two sisters. Keira can't help but stare at how pretty the girl really is. Her skin white and smooth her eyes the brightest blue she has ever seen. Her cheeks turn pink as she realises she's been caught staring when the girl gives her a shy smile. Angelique was her name. "That was French." Acadia smiles pretending not to notice how flustered her twin just became. Angelique has that effect on some people. She really is a beautiful girl. Acadia turns to Ronan and smiles asking him if he is okay. Turning back to Keira she announces "Italian" turning to Kade she asks him the same thing. "And English." She smiles at her sister as her eyes widen more. "You can speak 3 different languages?" Acadia shrugs as she looks at each of her friends. "Technically it's 4 with our own language." Kade laughs as he signs 'no 5 if you include sign' laughing as Keira claps and signs back 'how do you know JSL?' Keira can't believe this! They all know so many languages! Her excitement bubbles over as she signs questions at each of them.
Amari slips from the room as the kids begin talking about learning different languages together and how Kido and another man spent hours teaching them to communicate with each other. As she sets about preparing dinner laughter greets her ears as Acadia comes running in with Ryu on her back. "I just want you to know all of them are well versed in Japanese but if you find it hard to understand them they are highly fluent in jsl so don't be afraid to resort to using it to understand them better."
"That is very good to know. So you can speak multiple languages now?" Acadia smiles as she sets Ryu down. "Yeah dad didn't want me to feel lonely or left out so he thought it best if I learned. It's no big deal it means my friends won't be left out or lonely either." Acadia walks to her mom and wraps her arms around her. "God I missed you." She sniffles as her mother hugs her back. They stay there like that for a long moment before Amari pulls away and wipes her eyes again. Clearing her throat, she turns back to the stove. Why Kido? Why have you finally brought her home? And Why aren't you here with her? What is more important than reuniting our family? She glances at her daughter the questions on the tip of her tongue but she swallows it down. As if Acadia could sense the questions her voice comes out in a whispered answer "He went to meet someone for a business deal." Amari glances at Acadia as she runs a finger down her neck and stairs at the wall a sad look in her eyes. The scar runs from just below her ear to her collarbone, the one on her chin isn't very long. Both scars almost line up with one another at this angle. The question is out before Amari can stop herself. "Acadia? How did you get those scars?"
Acadia gives her mother a shocked look as she drops her hand. She can't lie but that would also mean mom would be mad at dad and shit how can she explain this. Dad told her not to worry her mother, but she can't lie to her either. Tell her it was from something… anything that wasn't part of a mission! Her mind screams as she fumbles for an answer.
"She got it in a fight against a mobster." Tripp says as he walks into the kitchen giving Acadia a look that Amari couldn't decipher. Acadia sighs as she realises she can't keep it a secret forever. "Dad sent me on a mission. It wasn't a big deal. I miscalculated the fact that the guy had a knife on him and a mean right hook." She shrugs as she looks away. Amari watches the shame on her daughter's face and the pain that settles into her onyx colored eyes. Damn you Kido! You should have kept her safe and yet she stands here with scars on her face and neck? "Looks like I will be having a conversation with your father. If I ever see him that is." If she had any doubts about this crazy hairbrained plan they flew out the window at the look in her daughter's eyes and the tension resting in her shoulders. She might love Kido but that love is not blind enough to let the man do this to their daughter. As she looks at her daughter and watches her face go blank and devoid of emotion her heart breaks. What has caused Acadia to lose all expression like that? What has caused her daughters shoulders and back to seem so rigid? Sighing Amari pulls her daughter into another hug. "I am not angry at you. I just worry about you okay? It hasn't been easy living without you all of these years. And to see those scars scares me like nothing else ever has." Except her husbands latest plans scare her nearly as much. Oh Kido what have you gotten yourself into? She kisses Acadia on the top of her head and sends her back into the other room to be with her friends. She watches the boy as he turns a scar poking out underneath his shirt. She jolts as she realises he is the boy from the first photo her husband sent. Do all of these kids have scars? How many? Are They all from missions Kido sent them on? She angrily wipes the tears from her face before turning back to her task. There will be time for questions later. For now she needs to give these kids a decent meal. Even though her daughter has clearly been building some muscles, she felt far too skinny in her arms. The motion of cooking calms her racing heart. Acadia is home now. That's all that matters. Tomorrow is unknown so for now… for now just a normal family dinner.
As Acadia walks back in she is nearly tackled by Kade as he runs from Ryu in a game of chase. "Hey at least you have a friend your age to finally hangout with instead of us older and more mature kids!" She smirks at him as he trips over his feet and Ryu tackles him "I'll have you know I take offense to that! I'm 7 and a half! Ryu here is only 5." Kade declares proudly. Acadia snorts at him before turning to Tripp. His guilty face eats at her heart. But she isn't mad at him for telling her mother. Relieved to know he will have her back when she loses her footing. His eyes meet hers and she gives him a soft smile. "Tripp and I have a bet going. Does Kade really have the brain of a toddler? Switched out by our own mad scientist. Or is he really a toddler that somehow managed to grow tall enough to pass as a teenager." Laughter erupts as Kade throws a pillow at Acadia. She smiles as she watches the nervous tension leave her friends. It's tough being in a new place, leave it to Kade to help her ease their fears.
Keira laughs at the antics of her sister and friend. She glances at each of them so different and yet all friends. She can't help but be happy her sister made friends so easily. But her mind wants answers and dammit she will get them. "Where have you been all these years?" Acadia turns to her and back to the others as their faces become serious. She listens as they argue back and forth in one of those languages they know before Acadia settles against the couch and sighs.
"Kiki I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you any of that. Dad has drilled it into my head to give nothing away. He drilled it into all of our heads. It's… " Acadia glances away as she chooses her words carefully. Sighing she decides on the truth. "It's not that I don't want to tell you and mom everything. But I can't risk it either. It's….complicated." Keira watches as her sisters face is sad for a moment before it smooths out into a blank expression. She doesn't know why that look bothers her so much but it does. Keira turns and watches the boy Torrent as he gives her a sad look and turns away. Keira looks at each of her sisters friends. Angelique looks sadly at her hands. The boy Ronan glares at the wall, a look of sadness and anger in his eyes. Kade's expression is bored and distant, but the look seems like a practiced look, Tripp has a nearly identical look to Acadia. "Dad really messed You up didn't he?" Keira realises as she looks at her sister. She is so… different. The way she stands with her shoulders set and no emotion on her face. The hard look in her eye as soon as Keira blurted that out. The scar on her chin and neck. "I'm sorry Acadia. It's just been hard living without you." Keira doesn't want to upset her sister but she seems so broken inside. Call it her twintuition but Acadia is hurting deep down inside. And Keira has only one person she can blame. Sighing She decides to change the subject. "So other than like a hundred different languages what fun stuff did you do and learn?"
Kade is the first to break the silence "oh man do You guys remember that time we found that gross couch and decided to drag it home?" This causes Ronan to howl with laughter. "I thought Boris was going to have a stroke when he saw that thing!"
"Nah! I was kinda hoping he would faint!" Acadia snorts out. "Like one of those chicks in one of those crappy romance films!" She throws a hand to her head and falls onto Tripp's lap dramatically.
"I swear that couch was never going to come clean. Can you believe how many cans of disinfectant Boris shoved into our hands? Pretty sure there's still a layer of fumes hovering over the place!" Tripp laughs as he recalls the hours they spent cleaning the couch and spraying can after can onto the thing.
"God that thing was so gross. I can't believe you guys pulled it out of that dumpster!" Torrent shudders and gags.
"You are just mad they made you help them drag it!" Angelique laughs while Torrent throws a pillow at her face.
"Only because you refused to touch it saying and I quote ' It's diseased! Leave it be you heathens!' You nearly fainted when Acadia made you ride on it all the way back!" Torrent laughs at her
"It was horrifying!" Angelique mock faints. Keira watches as they banter back and forth. She watches as the tension seems to drain out of them and wonders briefly if things have been tense for them for the last little while. Likely given their situations. It's not long before her mother is calling them into the kitchen for their midnight snack. Keira watches as all eyes turn to her sister with a question in them. She scrunches her face at the oddity of it. "It's safe." Acadia announces to them and motions with her hands. Keira can't help the giggle as the kids scramble into the kitchen, giggling and tripping in their haste. Keira follows her sister into the kitchen and watches as Acadia stands back and makes sure each kid has a bowl before filling her own. It's even stranger as they each avoid sitting near the window or at the table and instead gather in a circle on the floor. Keira looks to her mother with a questioning gaze before turning back to the odd behaviours. As if realising what they are doing Acadia glances at her mother's questioning gaze and then to Keira's. They watch as emotions flit across Acadia's face too fast to catch any while she struggles to find the right words before settling and shrugging her shoulders. "Habits." She mumbles as she makes her way over to the group and settles in next to Tripp and Angelique. "I wanna sit on the floor too!" Ryu moves from the table and next to Acadia as she slides over to give him room. Smiling and patting his head as she mumbles something to him. Keira glances at her mother and watches pain flash in her eyes as she glances at the window and back to the noisy kids. She leans close to Keira and whispers to her "It seems they learned to avoid sitting at window height. I remember doing this as a kid. It means bullets are less likely to hit you. It also means anyone looking in would need to get close and likely alert them of their presence." Keira sometimes forgets her mother grew up in a gang heavy neighborhood. Where drive by shootings occurred nightly and violence was the normal routine. "Oh." Keira looks to the group and sighs. Well dinner on the floor doesn't sound like a bad idea really. She grabs her mother's trembling fingers and pulls her towards the group. The kids shuffle and move around until everyone can sit together in one big circle. As if on cue Kade begins the conversation again like he's used to directing it.
"Oh man! This Ramen is amazing. Back… in a place I know we had Ramen but not like this. It comes in this little square! My favorite was just running the square under hot water until it was just a little soft then sprinkling the seasoning on top. Cracker noodles were like the ultimate snack for any kid my age!"
"Sounds horrifying." Acadia grunts.
"Nah! It was my favorite!" Kade smirks at her.
"Cacio e pepe was my favorite!" Angelique grins at her friends.
"What's that?" Keira asks. It sounds fancy.
"Its cheese and pepper sauce on pasta." Angelique gives her a soft smile before turning back to her food.
"Stroganoff." Tripp and Torrent say at the same time. Causing Acadia to snort into her bowl.
"None of You have any taste. Spaghetti alle vongole is the best dish!" Ronan smirks at them before taking another bite. "But then this is quite amazing as well."
"Clams? Like actual clams?" Kade stares in mock horror at his friend.
"That actually sounds pretty good. How hard is it to make?" Listening to them talk about food from home makes Acadia want to cook it for them soon. All of their favorites so they won't miss home too much. She listens as Ronan chatters away about the dish before holding her hand out to him. He doesn't hesitate to shove his empty bowl into her hands. She ignores her sisters curious gaze as she continues dumping the rest of her food into his bowl. His stories of food always remind her how skinny he was when her dad brought him home. How he always seemed to act like someone was going to steal his food right out of his hands. He doesn't protest this strange ritual anymore, knowing Acadia always wins this argument. He's too shy to ask for more food anyways. Might as well load up on extra and give him the rest.
~~~~
Kojiro watches from the top floor of the house next door. He recognises this type of behaviour. It's a hard habit to break he knows, it took years to break the habit and he still occasionally finds himself sitting below the window when he's eating. Old habits die hard and it hurts him to know these kids already have it so deeply ingrained in them that even in a home they should feel safe in they choose to stay cautious. He sighs as he drags his phone out and sends a text to Aizawa letting him know he has eyes on the kids and to be ready in 5 days. He saw the group of kids walking up the sidewalk and only had seconds to hide before the speed quirk kid made his rounds. His heart rate kicked up a notch as he realised he finally has concrete proof all of the kids are alive and well. He waited until he could double check that fact before telling Yasushi.
Ka: Spotted some birds tonight. They landed in the tree next to me.
Sush: spot any large birds?
Ka: no only small ones.
Sush: the whole flock?
Ka: yup all of them looking cute as can be.
Cute meaning alive just incase Rapture404 picks up any strange radio waves nearby. He glances back at the window and wonders which of those kids is the notorious hacker. He scans each child. Other than the twin girls and Amari there's only one other girl, long white hair fanned out against her back. Okay she is the one that will need special care according to Adrian. Tripp and Torrent look well enough as they scarf down their food. The speed quirk kid doesn't seem too jittery as he slouches against the wall inhaling food like he's some kind of vacuum. Jesus kid slow down Kojiro snorts. Another boy with light brown hair hunches over his bowl like he is worried someone might take it from him, poor kid. But Adrian isn't wrong as he watches Acadia hold her hand out for the boys bowl and he hands it to her willingly. He watches as she poor's the remainder of her food into his bowl and hands it back to him. Her expressions says She would rather fatten the kid up than see him starve. He can see the way the girl leans towards her. It's just a subtle shift but his well trained eyes picked it up easily. They do seem to trust her and look equally as protective of her. Good that means building a working team won't be too difficult. He just hopes Kyrick, Tyrion and Sapphira can learn to trust them and each other. They would make an unstoppable team if he could accomplish that. Ah but he's gotten ahead of himself while daydreaming. First he needs to accomplish getting the kids to either trust him or to at least hear him out. He would rather not outright arrest them and force them into the program after all. One step at a time. He just needs to keep the kids in his sight for now. He makes his way down the stairs and to the front windows. He checks the street and around the neighborhood for any signs of Kido or one of his old contacts but doesn't spot anything. He heaves a sigh as he goes back up the stairs and to the window, he watches as Keira takes the kids up stairs. Probably to get settled in for the night he hopes. Those kids all looked pretty tired as they walked up to the safe house. Life on the run takes more energy than necessary and their young bodies can't handle that kind of strain. His phone pings as lights come on one after another in the 5 bedrooms located up the stairs. The house is quite large for a safe house. Then again it's meant to house multiple people at a time. Glancing at his screen he gives another sigh.
Sush: a large bird was spotted at one of the old habitat places. Sightseeing has its perks.
Ka: yes it does. Remember don't spook it and just enjoy the view!
So Kido sent the kids here by themselves and ran to meet one of his old stomping grounds. It's not likely the machine is being kept there. They need to keep eyes on him at all times so they can try to figure out where Kido has hidden it. Kojiro yawns as the events of the last few days catch up to him. He sets an alarm for early morning and decides to crash for the rest of the night. No point in being tired on a mission this important.
Ka: well I'm hitting the hay. Gotta be up early to do some more bird watching. Maybe I'll try to throw them some seeds.
Sush: not a bad plan. Heading there myself.
Kojiro throws his shirt off and crawls onto the tiny cot he set up for his stake out. After plugging his phone into charge he rolls to his back and stares at the ceiling in the hopes that tomorrow brings with it some useful results.
~~~~
Kido nods at the man standing at the door as he steps through. If everything works out like he wants the world will feel the impact for the next 100 years. His guilt for keeping Ryu a secret from Acadia all these years nearly brought him to his knees as he sent her to the safe house. He wanted to go with her so badly his jaw hurts from clenching it so hard. Fuck he wants to see his wife and meet his son. But strategy and plans don't make themselves work. It takes action and someone to execute those plans in order for them to work the way they are supposed to. Kido walks through the dimly lit halls towards a room near the back. Pulling a set of keys from his pocket he unlocks the door and steps inside. There in its horrifying glory sits the key to his plans. He runs his fingers over the cold metal as his plans play out in his mind. Soon the world will know just how far their governments go to hide the truth from them. The truth that they can destroy quirks with a simple machine. Except for mutant quirks this machine won't really kill anyone. Just weaken them considerably. He turns from the machine and locks the door as he steps back into the hall. Now to talk to Lu and make sure all of his carefully laid out plans are being followed to the T. It's nearly time to set the stage for his performance after all.