Chapter Text
“So what do we know about him so far?” All the UA staff were gathered at the discussion table with Fatgum sitting at the head, ready to move as soon as they got the final information. Principal Nezu spoke up after Cece.
“From records found at Nighteye’s Agency, the villain calls himself Xander. He’s also known as Mura Kinesko, a former student that attended UA five years ago, but was expelled after he attacked as student with his quirk unprompted. Rumors from our limited oversight of his state that after he was expelled, he began fraternizing with a gang that had recently been connected to the League of Villains.”
“What is his quirk? And why would he immediately target Artiste among all these other high level heroes?” Aizawa spoke between them all. For a moment, Nezu’s always prominent smile faltered. Silently, he clicked a button in front of his seat, leading to all the windows, lights, and cameras to be blocked off for the time being. He spoke again.
“The young man’s ability is an illusion quirk. He takes from the imagination of those he uses it on to create a false world within their mind. The victim goes into a dream state, and is put under the belief that everything around them is real. However, he was convinced that his power allowed him to bring people to new dimensions that only he could create. The reason why he or his group may be targeting her is because . . . she is one of the few who knows the code to access All for One’s holding facility.”
Fatgum slapped the table, anger and fear again boiling in his eyes.
“You had her keep that sort of information without any protection! Without telling me?!”
“It was at her request Fatgum. She didn’t wish for any more attention to be put on your family.” Nezku stepped onto the table from his seat. “However, now that we know who he is. We know where to find him. Fatgum.” They both looked at each other. “You are going to find her”
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“Mommy . . . mommy . . .” A small tug at her arm pulled Hina from her moment of sleep. With a confused groan, she attempted to sit up, but she was blocked down by a pair of large arms. From the feeling alone, and the snores behind her, she could tell that it was her husband who was keeping her captive. A part of her was off put by this feeling of security. But the warmth was enough to lull her back to sleep. Well, at least until another pull at her arm drew her attention to the edge of the bed, where her daughter Natsumi was standing with her pajamas and favorite stuffed animal. Hina reached out to beckon her over and cup her cheek.
“What is it busy bee?” The little girl rubbed her eyes.
“Little brother keeps on crying. I can’t sleep.”
“What?”
An alien presence washed over her. Sure enough, the faint sound of a baby’s crying could be heard from the other room. Hina’s subconscious wanted her to stand up, to take care of her child, but calling it hers didn’t seem right either. Instead, she simply stared at her daughter, who looked at her with concern.
The crying whirred in her mind, until another groan interrupted.
“Hnnng . . . Hina what’s the matter.”
“Little brother keeps on crying.” Natsumi spoke for her.
“Oh, is that it?” Taishiro slipped off the bed. With a yawn, he came to follow Natsumi, who was presumably walking to the nursery. He stopped in front of Hina, ruffling her hair. Looking up, she noticed that he was in his thinner form, meaning his last job must have taken a lot out of him.
“I know you stayed up late finishing paperwork on yesterday’s fight. Why don’t you let me take care of him right now. Go back to sleep.” The blonde hair framing Tai’s soft expression was enough to pull at Hina’s heartstrings, and she reluctantly laid back down.
However, anxiety pulled at her, and Hina found herself stepping off the bed, and into the hallway. To her left, she saw the light of the lamp and followed. The door was ajar. Delicately, she eased it open and nearly burst into tears at the sight before her.
Taishiro’s back was turned toward her, swaying back and forth as he hummed an unfamiliar lullaby. Natsumi was next to him, trying to peer into his arms. Hina flinched at the slight creak of the door, causing her family to slowly turn back to her. Taishiro smiled, and pulled the blanketed bundle down a bit, to reveal a baby boy. Their hands were tiny, and gingerly held onto one of Tai’s large fingers. His soft blonde hair was the spitting image of his, and his eyes . . .
his eyes were a direct reflection of Hina’s.
“Tai . . .” Hina stepped forward, stifling a sob with her hand over her mouth.
“How did . . . how?”
“How what?” Tears were streaming down Hina’s cheek.
“How did we make this?”
Taishiro raised his eyebrows a bit and ushered to their daughter with a small blush.
“Um . . . do you really want me to explain it in front of her?” Hina shook her head.
“No . . . I mean. How did this happen? The doctors . .” Taishiro nodded.
“Ah, well your recovery was a miracle. But because of that miracle, we have this .” He waved his arm over their two children, and then to the farthest wall of the nursery. The cloud painted wall was filled with frames upon frames of pictures, starting with her first dates with Fatgum, then pictures of their first vacations together. Towards the middle, were pictures of Natsumi as a baby, images of her at Tai’s family ranch, her at preschool, and towards the end, were ultrasound pictures, frames yelling “it’s a boy!”, and a large framed portrait of Taishiro and Natsumi grinning widely next to Hina, who was in a hospital bed, holding a blue bundle with a squished face.
“This . . . this what I’ve always wanted” Hina said with a smile. A comforting hand fell upon her shoulder.”
“Yes . . . and we are just getting started.”
She froze.
“What did you say?” Tai spoke again, this time with a smile that seemed more hollow than comforting.
“I said, we are just getting started. The doctors said that fertility was no longer an issue, and now we can always have the large family that we had always wa- Hina?”
Hina had stepped away as far as possible from the man in front of her, and was now clutching something around her neck. Her ‘husband’ stepped forward, reaching his hand out, but she slapped it away. His surprise caused him to drop the object in his arms.
Despite her distrust in the person in front of her, Hina found herself lunging forward to catch the baby, only to find the blanket empty. With a gasp, the world began to dissipate. She was back where she started; this time with a very agitated villain.
“Why?!” The chains and ropes that were holding her before returned pinning her to the floor. Xander stared down at her.
“Why didn’t you even try to stay there?! Why didn’t you even try to stay happy?!” Hina spat back, struggling against the restraints.
“Because this isn’t what anyone would want! I don’t need a lie.”
“Oh really?” Xander stepped forward. His lips formed a mocking smile. “ Tell me Artiste, have you ever had any doubts about your life? An idea that you don't deserve what you have?" The restraints on Hina tightened as she was pulled forward to be face to face with the monster in front of her. "Well I agree. You don't deserve what you have. You deserve more. And I can give you that, as long as you give me the code to One For All’s holding facility, or sit still long enough for me to extract it from you.”
With all her strength, Hina did the only thing she could think of to do. She reared her head back, and struck Xander on the uncovered side of his face. With a yell, he dropped her and covered his face. When he looked back toward her, his face was full of pure rage.
“Fine! Is that how you want to play it? So be it.” Suddenly, instead of her being in the white room, she was surrounded by darkness.
“Mommy?” A small whimper forced Hina to look behind her. Natsumi was on the floor, struggling to crawl toward her, until an unseen force pulled her back, leaving only her scream
“No! Natsumi!” Hina tried to run back toward her but was pulled on her back.
“Taishiro was now standing over her, thin, and bloody from the head down”. A weak expression of shock was on his face. “Why didn’t you stay with us?” The large man then leaned forward, and fell over her. Hina held her arms up to brace for impact, but was surprised to feel nothing. The shock prevented her from defending herself from the harsh kick at her side.
“Is this what you want?!” He gave another kick to her head. “To see everyone you love die? Over and over again, just because YOU decided not to help them?” Hina felt something dripping down the side of her face, which gave her an idea.
She was dragged across the floor away from Xander, who spread his arms out. A collection of students, fellow UA staff, friends, family, and countless others appeared behind him.
“You can watch them all fall.” Xander stepped forward again, but Hina was ready. With her bloody fingers, Hina scribbled a vague blunt object, and when her foe was near enough, she struck.
With a harsh grunt, Xander fell back, and the black void was nullified, However, the white room was gone as well. In its place was a simple bedroom, with a desk, bed, and a wall full of pictures with Hina, her co-workers, and an article announcing the expulsion of an UA student.
“This . . . this is an asylum.”
Looking around herself, Hina noticed that the chains around her body were gone, and her tablet was haphazardly placed on the desk nearby. The hero had managed to pull herself up and pulled her tool from the flat surface. Noticing that Xander was getting up, she scrambled to find a suitable trap saved on her tablet.
“No!” Xander was fully standing up again. From his side armor, he pulled out a knife and ran at Hina, but a yellow blur forced him down. In front of Artiste, was Fatgum, now pinning down Xander. When he was sure he had them under control, he turned to his wife.
“Hina . . . are you okay?”
Tears welled up in Hina’s eyes, this time for real.
“My students . . . are they . .”
“They are okay.”
With a sigh of relief Hina fell back.
“Thank God.” And she closed her eyes.
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“Happy Birthdayyy Tooo Youuuuuu”.
“Mommy mommy! Blow out the candles!” With a huge blow, Hina flushed out the candles on her cake as everyone cheered around her. In no time, the cake was gone and Cece was standing up among everyone.
“Soooo, gifts?” The fellow partygoers cheered again as they all cluttered to a table set in the back, filled with piles upon piles of gifts. For a moment, Hina simply sat back, watching everyone she cared about living carefree. A shift in the seat next to her and a kiss on the cheek knocked her out of her trance. Taishiro was sitting, with her ever prominent smile.
“Are you okay?” At first, Hina simply stared at him, having to remind herself that this one, was real. When she was able to accept it, she pulled his chin forward and pressed her lips against hers, relishing in the familiar feeling of her husband. Resting her head on Tai’s shoulder, she let out a sigh.
“I am perfect.” She paused. “Well, I am not perfect, but I don’t want that. Not for myself, and not for Xander, or anything else. Perfect is never real. . . . How is he,anyway?” Her husband looked away.
“He’s getting the help he needs. But, that’s what I’m curious about.” He grabbed her hand
“You are the closest thing to perfect to me Hina. So why wouldn’t you want the same for yourself?” This time, Hina squeezed his hand back, while her other one hovered over her stomach. She didn’t know why, but it felt right, even more so when she spoke again.
“Because I love you. Not perfection. And I wouldn’t trade this life for any other one, as long as the real people I love are here.”