Chapter Text
“This is a bad idea” Tamaki said into his throat mic.
“ You think every idea is a bad idea ” Fat Gum said through his ear piece.
“That’s because the two of you keeping having bad ideas.” Tamaki rolled his eyes even though neither of his companions were anywhere near him.
“ Hey I take offense to that! ” Kirishima’s piped up
“ We could always go with plan B .” Fat Gum offered.
“No. That’s an even worse idea that will get Kirishima killed.” Tamaki refused.
“ Sure would be a hell of a lot more exciting than this sneaking around shit. ” Fat Gum said.
“Our job is to catch the villains Fat, whether it’s exciting or not.”
“But if you would just let me- ” Kirishima began.
“Shhhh.” Tamaki cut him off. “Im approaching the warehouse now. Riot are you in position?”
“For like twenty minutes you old slow geezer.”
“Fat is the only old geezer here.” Tamaki mumbled.
“Fat and happy to let you two do all the work while I sit here comfy at my desk .” Fat Gum chuckled over the comms. “Now get a move on and catch us some villains please. Im hungry and I want to order in pizzas to the office.”
Tamaki rolled his eyes again and took up his position by the door. The warehouse he had carefully been creeping up was supposedly the front for an drug smuggling operation that Fat Gum’s entire agency had been trying to disband for months. A drug ring led by a ruthless villain named Thorn.
Their plan was to have Kirishima burst through the front door while Tamaki sneaked in through the windows on the warehouse second floor. Hopefully Kirishima would be enough of a distraction for the twelve or so henchmen they expected while Tamaki discreetly subdued Thorn himself.
Or so was the plan.
Tamaki used his tentacle arms to grabble the edge of the buildings roof, then pulled himself up to perch on it’s edge. He reached down his arm to suction to one of the windows, ready to pop out the pane of glass.
“You ready Riot?”
“On your signal.”
“5...4...3...2...1... Now .”
The minute Tamaki heard the telling sounds of Red Riot bursting through downstairs, he popped out the widow and used his arms to swing himself inside the warehouse. He dropped into a fighting stance and blinked, looking around in the dim light.
What in the…
“Uh...Suneater? There’s….there’s no one down here.” Kirishima called out over the comms.
“I noticed.” Tamaki said, straightening up. “Same up-”
“Hero?”
Tamaki whipped around, ready to fight, and froze when he saw a wide eyed woman staring at him. He almost physically recoiled from her, she looked...bad. Her hair was wild and her face was covered in sores. She shook and blinked rapidly, high on something Tamaki was sure.
And in her arms she carried a sleeping child, skinny as could be.
“You are a hero?” The woman repeated herself.
“Uh...Yes. Um, my name is Suneater, who are you?”
“Please. Please Thorn wants to sell her. You must take care of her.” The woman stumbled forward.
“Thorn? You know Thorn? Who are you? Ma’am do you need help?” Tamaki blurted.
“Suneater? You ok up there? ” Kirishima’s voice asked in his ear.
“Yeah I just have a woman and a kid up here.” Tamaki responded quickly.
“Ma’am can you please-”
He was cut off when the woman stumbled forward again and shoved the sleeping kid into his arms.
“She’s not safe anymore. Thorn wants to sell her off and I don’t have the mark with him anymore to stop him. You are a hero, you can keep her safe.”
“I-I don’t understand ma’am. Is this your daughter?”
The woman reached out and grabbed one of his wrists and one of the girls wrists.
“From now on you two are bonded. You cannot leave eachother or you will both die. You must take care of her hero. Give her a good life.” The woman pleaded desperately.
“Ma’am I-” Tamaki was once again cut off. This time by the overwhelming pain that suddenly shot up his arm, originating from where the woman was gripping his wrist.
He dropped to his knees, letting out a cry as he tried not to drop the kid.
“You can’t leave her or you will both die!” The woman shouted as white filled his vision. His entire arm felt like was on fire for a long brief moment before he felt nothing at all.
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Tamaki woke to an all too familiar pressure wrapped around his side, fingertips he had memorized as well as his own settled near his hip.
Without even opening his eyes he lifted his hand and sure enough, found a head pillowed on his stomach. He buried his fingers in hair that even without seeing, knew to be golden.
The head shifted immediately.
“Tamaki? Tamaki are you awake?”
“Mmmmm, does that surprise you?” Tamaki mumbled, puzzled when he found his throat to be scratchy.
“You’ve been asleep for like three days my Sunshine.”
Tamaki finally popped his eyes open, meeting Mirio’s worried gaze.
“Three days?” Tamaki blinked his eyes around what he quickly recognized as a hospital room. “Am I... ok? Is Kirishima ok?”
“Kirishima’s fine. Him and Toyo would be here but...but they’ve been out tracking that lady.” Mirio explained.
“The...lady.” Tamaki tried to sit up, Mirio easily held him down and shifted to sit beside his husband on the hospital bed.
“Hey hey, easy now.” Mirio gently grabbed his face. “Are you sure you feel ok?”
Tamaki looked up at him and then pushed him off so he could sit up. He patted down his chest and then his stomach.
“I feel perfectly fine. Just thirsty and a little tired... What’s going on?”
Mirio reached out and grabbed Tamaki’s left arm, turning it over in his lap.
“And this...doesn’t hurt?”
Tamaki frowned and looked at his arm where a weird oval purple mark bloomed across his skin, almost like a thumbprint….exactly where the woman had grabbed him before he...passed out.
“The...woman...she grabbed me and my arm hurt. She gave me her kid and was...yelling something about Thorn.” Tamaki recalled.
“The uh...little girl is actually in the room next door.” Mirio said.
“What? What….what on earth is going on Mirio? What did she do to me?”
Mirio scooted closer to him on the bed and wrapped him up in strong arms.
“I thought you were going to die Tamaki. By the time Toyo called me and I got to the hospital you were going into cardiac arrest.” Mirio said, voice shaking. “I love you so much. I love love love you my Sunshine. I love you. I love you. I love you.” Mirio said, kissing Tamaki in between each I love you.
“CARDIAC ARREST!?” Tamaki hissed as he peeled Mirio back to look at him. “Mirio w-what happened to me.”
Mirio took a deep breath and explained.
“Kirishima found you and the kid upstairs, the lady ran but he didn’t follow because he thought you were hurt. He called an ambulance and they brought you here. Fat Gum called me. And then they took the girl to a children's hospital...or...they tried to. But they only got a little ways away before both of you started having like...seizures and then you started going into cardiac arrest and you’re damn lucky Kirishima remembered hearing the lady scream about you two dying if you left eachother so they brought the kid back here and...and I don’t understand it but you both got better like...instantly.”
Mirio let out a forced chuckled and brushed Tamaki’s hair back behind a pointed ear.
“I thought I was going to lose you Tamaki.” His voice broke and a single tear trailed down his cheek.
“B-but I feel fine.”
“I know.” Mirio said, ducking in for another kiss. This was was soft and lingering, Mirio’s shaky breath billowed across Tamaki’s face. When Tamaki pulled back he cupped Mirio’s cheeks between his palms.
After highschool Mirio had lost even more of the baby fat in his cheeks. Tamaki didn’t mind the loss much, Mirio’s jaw was strong and sculpted in smooth lines, and he was every bit as (if not more) handsome as he was in highschool. Tho Tamaki found it hard to imagine a situation in which he wouldn’t consider Mirio the most beautiful person on the planet.
Moments like now, when Mirio’s soft blue eyes were running over HIS face...Tamaki still found it hard to believe that HE was the one who had Mirio’s heart. His hand subconsciously dropped to his chest and briefly panicked when it couldn’t find what he was looking for.
“Where’s my ring?” He breathed. Those blue eyes of Mirio’s scrunched up in a soft smile.
“Oh not to worry, they gave it to me for safekeeping when they changed you out of your gear.” Mirio pulled down the collar of the t shirt he wore to reveal a second chain hanging where his own normally stood alone. The blonde tugged the second chain off and pulled it over Tamaki’s bed head.
Tamaki swallowed and breathed a sigh of relief. He knew it was silly but the weight of the gold band was one of his favorite physical reminders that Mirio was his. He dropped said bed head to rest on Mirio’s shoulder.
“Is the kid ok?” Tamaki asked.
“She is..ok now. When they found her she was out cold, overdosed on some over the counter sleeping meds. They had to pump her stomach.” Mirio explained.
“And...this?” Tamaki held up his arm again, turning it over to examine his wrist.
“She has an identical mark. They had a uh...quirk specialist come in to see you guys yesterday. She thinks you two have been….bonded…” Mirio swallowed.
“Bonded?”
Mirio looked away and reached to grab a folder from the table next to the hospital bed. He handed it to Tamaki. He spoke as Tamaki read.
“Apparently bonding quirks are fairly common. They uh...they’re where all those lovey dovey soul bond romance stories come from. You two are...connected…”
Tamaki furrowed his brow as he read, his mouth dropping open.
“This….this is a j-joke right? M-Mirio this can’t be real.”
“I made him explain it to me like ten times babe. That’s uh...that’s why Toyo and Kirishima are looking for the lady. If she’s the one who did this to you...she’s the only one who can reverse it.”
Tamaki’s hands started to shake as the folder slipped from his grip. It landed on the bed and a single slipped out onto the floor.
Those who have been quirk bonded are known to be required to remain in proximity to their bonded partner. If the pair travel too far apart the pair exhibit traumatic symptoms almost immediately. Known examples range from extreme fatigue and headaches to severe symptoms such as vomiting, heart failure, seizures, and ultimately death.
Bonds are known to last anywhere from a few days, to a few years, and in some rare cases lifetime bonds have been observed…
“You are saying I have to….stay by this kid or I DIE?”
“It looks like that….for now. But Kirishima and Fat Gum are going to find the lady and she’ll fix it ok? Nothing to worry about my Sunshine.” Mirio put his arms around Tamaki again, pulling him tight and close, turning his head to whisper against his hair. “It’ll be ok as long as we’re together.”
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It wasn’t ok.
It wasn’t nearly ok.
As far as Tamaki was concerned, it absolutely wasn’t ok.
Fat Gum showed up later that day, looking sullen as he gave them the news. Hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie.
The woman was dead. Harbor patrol having found her body down at the docks, slumped against a man who was almost dead as well. He nearly bled out in the ambulance while Fat Gum interrogated him about the woman, Thorn, and the quirk.
Fat Gum launched into an explanation. He told them the woman had been a...mistress of Thorn. And when she got pregnant she bonded herself to Thorn, to protect her baby. She told Thorn that if he hurt the baby she would kill herself, and because they were bonded that would kill Thorn as well. But her bonds don’t apparently last forever and the week before the womans and Thorns mark had disappeared, so Thorn planned on...selling the girl…
“So to protect her daughter she bonded her to me…” Tamaki sighed, burying his face in his hands.
“What kind of person sells his own daughter?” Mirio growled.
“Thorn.” Fat Gum said with disgust. “I swear Tamaki...Me and Riot are going to find him. Im going to call in Midoriya’s-”
“I’ll find him.” Tamaki growled, moving to to stand up. Mirio grabbed his arm.
“Babe…” Mirio said, a hint of sadness lacing his voice. “Babe you can’t leave...”
Tamaki turned and stared at him for a long moment before he collapsed wordlessly back on his bed.
“She’s dead...She can’t fix this..Mirio” Tamaki looked up at him, “Mirio she can’t fix this.”
Mirio looked at him, obvious tears in his eyes. Tamaki heaved a sudden ragged breath and sagged back against the bed in a sob. Mirio was at his side instantly, whispering soothing words and murmured hushes as he held him.
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Two days later Tamaki found himself staring at the hospital ceiling. No closer to coming to terms with his new situation than he had been two days ago. Grief settled deep in his soul as he tried to accept that his days as Suneater, brief as they were, were probably now over.
After another day he accepted with no small amount of profound loss...that this...this was his life now.
Another three or four quirk specialists were called in from all over Japan. All performed different tests. All came to the same conclusion.
Tamaki was stuck.
At most they figured Tamaki could travel 100 meters or so before he and the girl would start suffering ill effects. Through interrogation of the wounded henchman, they discovered the mother’s bond with Thorn had lasted roughly five years.
Which meant Tamaki and the girl would probably be stuck together for the next five years.
Tamaki didn’t know what to do. No one knew what to do. They had tried everything they could think of to dissolve the bond. Even going as far as dragging Aizawa up from UA to see if he could erase it. He couldn’t.
Tamaki was stuck.
Tamaki was stuck to a half starved, probably abused, and now apparently mute 5 year old.
The girl had woken up the night that Tamaki had. Social workers had carefully broken the news to her about her mother and the girl hadn’t spoken a word since. Not a peep. They didn’t even know her name as her mother had apparently not given birth in a hospital and had zero records. Her only family was a crazed drug smuggling villain.
The social workers were just as stumped as everyone else. So they were all stuck here until a decision about how to move forward was made.
Tamaki didn’t like it. And apparently the girl didn’t either.
She had been caught three times so far trying to sneak away. To the point where she had to be placed on quirk blockers as she kept shrinking down to slip through cracked windows. A shrinking quirk, just like Thorns.
The first time Tamaki actually saw her since the day at the warehouse was when her case worker stepped into his own hospital room.
“This situation is uh...unique.” She said.
“We’ve noticed.” Tamaki said flatly.
“I really….I mean it’s not like we have a lot of options on how to proceed from here. Without you she will die and without her you will die. So unless you’re ok with dying-”
“She’s going to have to live with me.” Tamaki finished for her.
“It appears that...that is our only viable option yes.”
Tamaki turned to where Mirio faithfully sat at his side.
“I….I don’t have a choice in this but...b-but you do. I can’t ask you to-”
“Hey.” Mirio silenced him, putting a finger over Tamaki’s lips “We’re in this together.”
Tamaki offered him a small smile. Mirio in turn felt his heart break a little. Tamaki’s eyes were dark….almost lifeless...what little emotion they did betray was sorrowful.
“Well…” Mirio started, turning back to the social worker. “We don’t have a choice so let’s not dwell on it. Let’s just move forward so we can go home.”
The social worker nodded.
“Ok. Good. Officially this will look like a foster parents situation, unofficially...well there isn’t really a term for this. But I will be handling your case from here on out. I will bring up some paperwork. And uh...we were wondering if you’d be willing to try talking to her.”
“Me?” Tamaki asked, turning to her.
“We think she understands what the marks mean. She’s been looking at everyones wrists who come in. There’s a chance she might talk to you. She is definitely going to need therapeutic intervention and it would be nice if we could start with her name.”
“I...I g-guess I could try.”
“Tamaki is great with kids! Our neighborhood kids just love him.” Mirio piped up enthusiastically.
Tamaki shot him a look as ‘neighborhood kids’ really just meant ‘Bakugou Akio’ who was extremely biased, but nonetheless...found himself awkwardly stepping into the room next door just a little while later.
A little girl sat cross legged on her hospital bed, a children's book in front of her. She looked up immediately.
Tamaki frowned and looked her over. She had been cleaned up since the night her mom thrusted the kid into his arms. Clean enough where Tamaki could tell now that she hadn’t just been covered in dirt that night...but bruises as well.
He felt...immediately guilty that he had been blaming this poor child at all. She didn’t ask for this any more than he had.
“Uh...hello.” He said after a moment, stepping closer. “M-my name is Toogata Tamaki uh...but you can just call me Tamaki.”
She just stared at him with suspicious brown eyes. He took a step closer, sat at the very end of her bed.
“The social workers thought I should try talking to you since...since we match now.” He said, holding out his arm. Her gaze snapped to it and her eyes went wide. Tamaki was shocked when the little girl breathed a heavy sigh of what sounded like relief before launching herself into his arms.
She fisted her hands in his t shirt and began to sob.
“Oh...Ok then. Uh...we will just...do this...I guess..” He muttered, awkwardly bringing his hand up to pat her back. After a few pats he stopped himself, thinking.
This little girls entire world was probably just as shattered as his right now. Maybe worse since she lost her mother. He felt his bottom lip begin to wobble as he realized that he...he and this little girl were in this together now, for better or worse.
“It’s ok. It’s ok. I got you.” He whispered. He wrapped his arms around her properly, cradling her as he matched her sobs with his own. “I got you.”