Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Keiko peaks around the corner to see the kitchen. After making sure the coast is clear, she tiptoes to the cabinet and slowly opens the door. She grabs a bag of chips, making as little crinkling noises as possible. 

“And what do you think you’re doing?”

Keiko whips around to face Mother, who has her arms crossed. 

She drops the bag of chips, and she starts to shake her head. 

Mother grabs her wrist roughly. Keiko tries to escape her tight grasp and only succeeds after pulling sharply.

‘I’m sorry!’ she fervently signs. ‘I won’t do it again! Don’t take me there! I promise to be good!’

“You should have thought of that before you went sneaking around,” Mother snarls.

Keiko looks at the floor and stays quiet. She knows a losing a battle when she sees one. 

Mother clicks her tongue and grabs Keiko’s hair. She doesn’t try to escape the hold. 

However, right when they’re going to exit the kitchen, a loud crash comes from the front door. 

“Shit,” Mother hisses. “Make yourself useful and go hide. You got lucky this time.”

She goes to handle whoever came in.

Keiko sighs with relief. She listens to Mother and makes her way to her room. She opens Mother’s walk-in closet and climbs onto the top shelf. She opens a trapdoor on the ceiling, leading to a very dusty attic. She closes the trapdoor and curls up.

She activates her quirk, and a yellow aura surrounds her dislocated wrist. The swelling on her wrist starts to die down, but she quickly stops and covers her ears as her Mother and Father shout at each other. She’ll have to heal her wrist later. 

She hears Father shouting slurred words, indicating his drunken. Mother screams some words of her own. Crashes soon follow. More screaming. More crashes. And then silence. 

Confused, Keiko uncovers her ears. She crawls to the spot over the living room, where the commotion had taken place. She presses her ears against the ceiling. 

“Stupid bitch. Trying to kick me out of my own house. I should’ve killed her a long time ago. Well, better sooner than later, I suppose. Now, where’s that piece of shit.”

Keiko’s eyes widen. She knows he’s talking about her. 

The house violently shakes. He probably punched a wall. 

Keiko crawls to the trap door, pulling it open. She climbs down, careful to make as little noise as possible. She hears Father’s footsteps coming closer. In her panic, she dives under the bed, hoping that Father wouldn’t find her. 

Father slams the door open. Keiko presses her hands over her mouth, trying to muffle her ragged breath. 

He stops next to the bed. By now, her heart is throbbing in her ear.

“Now, where could she be?”

Keiko can't stop the tears from clouding her vision. She knows this routine. Father will play with her feelings, his favorite past time. She knows that he will build up hope within her, making her believe that she won’t be found. However, that hope will be crushed when he throws the bed, exposing her cowering form. 

“Is she … HERE!”

Father punches the closet door. Keiko doesn’t release the breath she’s holding. That’ll only expose where she is. 

“Oh, what is this? A trapdoor? So this is where that bitch was keeping you.”

She forgot to close it. Well, it doesn’t matter. Once he finds her, he’s going to take her away anyway. 

“Hmm, if she's not there, where else can she be?”

He paces around the room.

“Is she perhaps … HERE!”

He throws the cabinet across the room, and it breaks upon contact with the wall. 

“No? Well, third time’s the charm, right? So she should be here!”

He throws the bed like Keiko expected.

Little did he know, she’s ready when he throws the bed. Once the lack of a bed exposes her location, Keiko runs, trying to make as much distance as possible. 

Even when wood chips lodge into her feet, she doesn’t slow down, not even when she hears Father curse after a loud thud. She can only guess that he slipped on the clothes that she avoided. 

However, she does slip on something wet as she runs through the living room. 

Unfortunately, there are rubble nearby when she slipped, creating a rough landing. She can feel the bone in her ankle break. 

Before she can stand back up, Father yanks her shirt and holds her by the collar. 

“Did you really think you could run away from me, you little shit?” Father seethes. “You should know by now that you can never run away.”

Keiko shakily raises her hand to sign, but Father slams her on the ground, the wind getting knocked out of her.

As she tries to regain her breath, Father says, “Don’t talk back to me.”

He then dawns on a frightening grin, making Keiko shiver with fear. “This calls for a punishment.”

Keiko attempts to run, but her body freezes when she sees what’s in the living room.

Mother is lying on the floor, a pool of blood surrounding her. She reluctantly looks down at her feet, seeing red. 

She snaps out of her stupor when Father harshly grabs a bundle of her hair and starts pulling her towards the door. 

Keiko tries to escape his grasp, but he responds by punching her in the guts. 

He then raises her by her hair. “Don’t disobey me.”

Her body shuts down. She knows that her fate is sealed. No one’s going to rescue her. Just like all those other times. 

Just then, the wall collapses, and a pink mist envelops the room.

“What the-”

Father stops mid-sentence, and his eyes become unfocused. He drops Keiko, who crumbles into an ungraceful heap. 

Once Father’s grasp is released, a scarf wraps around Keiko’s waist, and she is pulled toward a man with yellow goggles. 

He carries her bridal-style away from the scene, going through the hole they created.

Outside, Keiko can see policemen and heroes surrounding her house. She sees Mother being carried out through a stretcher.

The tension in her body is released when she sees Father being escorted in handcuffs. 

She looks at the man carrying her. Where is he taking her?

Her silent question is answered when a hospital comes into view. 

The man takes her inside, and once the receptionist sees the state Keiko is in, she immediately makes a phone call and tells him to follow her. 

The man and Keiko are escorted into a room, and a group of doctors and nurses immediately arrive, bringing equipments with them. 

However, once Keiko sees the syringes, her face pales, and she attempts to release herself from the man’s grasp. 

“Hey, hey, come down.”

Keiko does not come down. She shoves herself off of him and scrambles away into a corner. 

‘Stay away,’ Keiko signs.

She’s pretty sure they don’t know sign, but she’s not talking. She already knows she’s going to be punished if she does.

The man crouches down. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

Keiko shakes her head. She’s heard that phrase before. 

He jabs a thumb behind his shoulder, pointing at the doctors. “They’re going to heal you, but in order to do so, they need to get close.”

Keiko shakes her head. She doesn’t need healing. She can heal herself. She closes her eyes and focuses her quirk on her wounds. A yellow aura surrounds her wrist, ankle, feet, and head, healing them. 

When she opens her eyes, she sees the doctors’ surprised faces. 

‘I can heal myself,’ she signs. 

The man nods. “I can see that, but they still need to run some tests.”

At the word test, Keiko’s face pales even further. ‘No tests. Tests are bad.’

The man stares at her for a second before nodding. “Okay, no tests.”

When one of the doctors looks like he’s about to protest, the man glares at him, and the doctor shuts his mouth.

The man approaches the doctors and talks with them for a while before they leave.

Now, it’s only Keiko and the man. 

Said man goes back to his spot and crouches. “Name’s Aizawa. What’s yours?”

Keiko blinks at the sudden mention of his name. Hesitant, she signs, ‘Keiko.’

Aizawa nods. “Is there anything you want to ask me, Keiko?”

She’s seen this before. Trust building exercises. Father’s friends did those when she met them. However, unlike them, Keiko feels she can trust him. She doesn’t know why, and she doesn’t know if she can trust her gut instinct. She still asks the question that's been at the front of her mind. 

‘What will happen to Mother and Father?’

Keiko bites her lip nervously. She just escaped them. She doesn’t want to go back.

Aizawa studies her. “Your mother will probably stay in the hospital until she’s released. Based on the investigation, she may face jail time. Your father will be sent to jail.”

She nods. Mother won’t be a problem anymore, but Father’s friends might help him escape. 

“You don’t look very relieved.”

Keiko stiffens, surprised from having her thoughts read.

She bites her lip harder. ‘Father’s friends might help him escape. Once he does, he’s going to come after me.’

Keiko doesn’t realize this, but just thinking about what Father would do once he got ahold of her makes her dissociate. 

“Hey,” Aizawa says, snapping her back to reality.

She looks at him, learning long ago to not ignore when being called. 

“How about staying at my place?”

Keiko gapes at him. He wants her to what now?

He scratches his chin. “Normally, you’d be staying with a relative or be put in the foster system, but considering what you just said, those options aren’t safe. So the only logical choice is to be under the care of a hero.”

Keiko nods dumbly. 

She understands what he’s saying and even agrees. The part she can’t wrap her head around is the fact that he volunteered himself to take care of her. People don’t care about her. People aren’t supposed to care. 

And yet, there he is.

‘If you’re sure,’ Keiko signs. 

She knows she should be more wary, but her instincts are screaming at her to accept the offer. 

Aizawa nods. “I’ll get permission to be your guardian." He stands up. "Do you want to come with me?”

Keiko nods. She’ll put her trust in him. He’s not like everyone she’s ever met. Besides, he saved her from Father. 

When she walks up to him, he holds his hand out. 

Keiko looks at him, and he looks back.

She gingerly takes his hand, and the first thing she registers is warmth. Everyone else’s hands were ice cold, but his is warm. 

Keiko decides she likes this warmth. This warmth feels safe. 

Safe.

Keiko sports the smallest of smiles, the most she could do from years of not using those muscles. 

She likes the sound of safe.

Chapter Text

When Keiko wakes up, she doesn’t wake up on the cold floorboard (or ceiling floorboard).

Instead, she wakes up on something soft. 

Before she sends herself into a panic, she remembers last night’s events.

Aizawa rescued her from Father and Mother and took her in. After the police knew the situation, he was easily able to attain the guardian papers. 

The last thing she remembers is the car ride to Aizawa’s house. She must have fallen asleep. 

Keiko moves to get off, but her legs are stopped by something on the bed.

She looks down to see black fluff.

Fluff?

She cautiously touches it, and she meets green eyes.

Keiko gasps excitedly. It’s a cat!

Since it’s her first time seeing a cat, she can’t hold herself from petting him, and when he purrs, she bounces slightly with excitement. 

“So you’ve met Kuro.”

Keiko jolts. She looks at the doorway to see Aizawa leaning against the frame with his arms folded. Such a posture would have sent her into a panic, but she doesn’t see the anger in his frame, so she relaxes. 

‘Kuro?’

Aizawa nods. “I also have one more, Shiro.”

Keiko immediately perks up at the mention of another cat. 

Aizawa huffs in amusement. “Come on, let’s go eat breakfast.”

Keiko nods and follows him into the kitchen. 

On the dining table are two sets of miso soup and rice.

She blinks at the extra set.

‘Is this one for me?’ she asks. 

Aizawa raises one of his eyebrows. “You don’t think I would eat two sets, do you?”

Keiko shakes her head. 

“Then it’s yours.”

Still hesitant, Keiko cautiously approaches the dining table. She carefully watches Aizawa as she takes a seat, afraid that he’s tricking her. However, when he sits across from her and starts eating, Keiko deems herself safe and brings a spoonful of soup to her lips. 

Her eyes widen once she takes a sip. Does miso soup taste this good?

She doesn’t realize, but she is now eating vibrantly. 

After they finish eating and cleaning the dishes, Aizawa calls Keiko over to the laptop he has open.

“We’re going to buy your clothes.”

Keiko tilts her head. ‘You can buy clothes on a laptop?’

The only thing she knows about the internet is that she can search things up. 

Aizawa nods. “It’s called online shopping. We can buy things in the internet and have them ship it to our house. I’m sure you don’t want to go to a mall yet, so I thought this was a better option.”

Confirming his suspicions, Keiko nods. She’s never been somewhere with a lot of people like the mall, and when she was in a room with someone other than her parents, it was not a nice experience. 

“I’ll be scrolling, so just point out anything you find interesting.”

Keiko nods, and a long search for her interests begins. 

It’s not that she’s picky. It’s just that she’s never had the option to choose. 

As Aizawa is scrolling, a hoodie catches her eye. 

The hoodie is gray with a disappointed Kuro-looking cartoon cat saying “Did I ask for your opinion?”

When she points it out, Aizawa stares at her for a second before adding it to the cart. 

After a few seconds of scrolling, Keiko spots another one that has a picture of a cat with the word “Dog” above it. 

Aizawa huffs with amusement and adds it to the cart. 

The shopping continues in such fashion, resulting in multiple hoodies.

As the two are shopping for pants, Aizawa gets a phone call. Once he looks at the name, he makes a displeased face before pressing the answer button. He keeps the phone far from his face, much to Keiko’s confusion.

However, his strange behavior is answered when the person on the other side of the phone screams, “SHOOOOOOUUUUUTAAAA!”

“Make this quick,” Aizawa grunts.

Not wanting to interrupt him while he’s on the phone, Keiko scrolls through the website herself, pointing at certain pants to get Aizawa’s permission before adding it to the cart. 

Keiko is looking through the sweatpants section when Aizawa asks, “Are you fine with having company over? Specifically loud company?”

She blinks. Father always brought company without asking her.

‘If you want them over,’ Keiko signs.

“I know, but are you okay with it?”

Keiko’s eyes widen. Aizawa is asking for her opinion. No one has ever done that before. 

A warm feeling settles in her chest as she nods meekly. If it’s Aizawa’s friends, she’s fine with them coming over. In fact, she’s even feeling a little excited.

Aizawa relays her answer to the person on the other side of the phone. After finishing their conversation, Aizawa says, “They can be a little overwhelming, just warning you.”

‘It’s okay,’ Keiko says. ‘I’ve never liked my Father’s friends, but if your friends are as nice as you are, I want to meet them.’

His expression softens when he hears that and ruffles her hair. To her surprise, Keiko finds herself leaning into his touch. It’s a strange feeling, wanting to be touched after years of fearing it, but she doesn’t think she’ll get tired of it any time soon.

___________________________________

Keiko is playing with Kuro and Shiro when the door is slammed open. 

Her breath is caught in her throat, as the action reminds her of Father. 

She runs out of the living room with the cats and squirms under a bed that’s in a random room she entered. 

Her breath becomes ragged when she hears shouts, reminding her of the previous night. 

It didn’t help her when the voices seized. 

She hears footprints approaching the room she is in and sees the person crouch, but they never looked under. 

The strange movements slowed down the panic that’s threatening to consume her, and she’s able to hear Aizawa’s voice amongst the buzz.

“It’s okay. The idiots who busted my door were my friends. They didn’t mean to scare you. That’s just how they come in.”

After a pause, he asks, “Do you want to come out?”

Because she doesn’t feel comfortable talking yet, she answers his question by shuffling out herself. When Aizawa sees the state she’s in, he asks, “Can you try breathing for me?”

Keiko nods and takes a shaky breath in, and a shaky breath out. She continues this cycle a couple of times until her heart rate lowered and the buzz disappeared. 

When she looks at Aizawa, she could see the tint of concern in his eyes. “You alright?”

The warm feeling settles in her chest again when those concerned eyes are pointed at her. No one has ever looked at her like that. She nods.

Movement catches the corner of her eyes, and when she looks at the door, she sees two people peeking around the frame. 

The man with yellow hair gives a meek smile while the woman with navy hair gives a small wave.

Aizawa follows her gaze and frowns. “Didn’t I tell you to wait in the living room?”

The man pouts. “We know, but we really wanted to see if the little listener was okay.”

He returns his gaze at Keiko. “Do you want to answer him?”

‘I’m okay,’ Keiko signs. ‘Just a little shaken.’

She doesn’t hear Aizawa mumble, “Little’s an understatement.”

“Can we come in?” the woman asks.

Keiko nods, and the two enter the room, holding bags in their hands. 

The blond sits next to Aizawa and says, “The name’s Yamada Hizashi.”

The woman pushes Yamada and says, “And I’m Kayama Nemuri. You’re such a cutie! Can I hug you?”

Unsure of how to react to this situation, Keiko nods, and she’s flung into Kayama’s arms.

Keiko melts into her embrace, missing the smirk she sends at Aizawa, who’s glaring. 

As she’s in Kayama’s arms, she sees Yamada fishing through his bag.

“Tada!” he shouts, showing a stuffed cat. “We wanted to bring a gift, so when we heard you like cats, we got you this!”

Keiko stares at Yamada in shock. She’s never gotten a gift before. 

“Hey! I just realized the cat looks like you, with the navy hair and grey eyes!” Yamada claims. 

She nods as she gingerly takes the stuffed animal and hugs it tight. 

“Are you okay?”

Keiko looks up when Kayama asks the question. Her hands are on Keiko’s shoulders, concern in her eyes. That’s when she realizes her blurry vision. She nods as she wipes her eyes and signs with shaky hands, ‘I’ve never gotten a gift before. I don’t know why I’m crying, though. Nothing hurts.’

The adults’ face soften, and Kayama hugs Keiko again.

“That’s called happy crying. It happens when someone is so happy that they cry.”

Keiko’s eyes widen. She’s happy?

She thinks about everything that has happened since she met Aizawa, and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Everything is too good to be true. 

She doesn’t mean to, but she ends up crying herself to sleep.

Kayama continues to hold Keiko, slowly rocking her. “The events from yesterday must have finally caught up to her. No doubt the exhaustion would overcome her.”

“Especially after your little entrance,” Aizawa states, glaring at the two.

“We’re sorry!” Yamada exclaims. “Habits are hard to break.”

“Well, you better break that one fast,” Aizawa says. “I think her previous home is worse than we think.”

Kayama and Yamada give each other a look, and Aizawa notices it. “What are you hid-”

The bell rings.

“Did you invite someone else?” Yamada asks as Kayama is putting Keiko in bed. 

Aizawa shakes his head. “I’ll go see who it is.”

When he looks through the peephole, he sees Tsuakuchi standing there with a folder tucked under his arm. 

“What brings you here?” Aizawa asks, opening the door for Tsukauchi to come in. 

“I’m sorry for coming on such short notice,” Tsukauchi says, “but I wanted to give you the information that we obtained about the girl you rescued last night and the things she had to go through since you will be her guardian.”

Aizawa nods and leads him to the dining table, where Yamada and Kayama are already seated. 

Tsukauchi takes a seat and places his hat on the table. 

“For starters,” he says, “her full name is Kagawa Keiko, daughter to Kagawa Aiko and Sora.”

He opens his folder and pulls out her identification paper. 

“In regards to her parents, the mother is going to be staying at a hospital until she is stable enough to be transported to join her husband in prison. We also learned that he is a small time villain, and unfortunately, it seems that Keiko has met some before.”

Aizawa hisses. “Keiko has mentioned her father having friends over.”

Yamada grimaces. “For someone to meet a villain at such a young age.”

Kayama shakes her head. “No one should have to.”

Tsukauchi nods. “We are going to serve him and Kagawa’s mother justice. However, there’s more you should know. We believe that Kagawa has undergone mental and physical abuse from her mother and father respectively.”

He opens the folder. “After the pros took Kagawa Sora to the police station, the other policemen started investigating the house.”

He pulls out a photo of a room, which has a full-length mirror and many televisions surrounding it, and a cd. 

“What’s this?” Kayama asks, grabbing the photo to get a closer look. 

Tsukauchi folds his hands on the table and grips hard. “We suspect this is where Kagawa had to endure most of her mental abuse. 

Aizawa glares. “And the cd has something to do with the televisions?”

Tsukauchi nods, his expression grim. “It’s audio only, but we heard two before we had to switch officers.”

Yamada wears a worried expression. “Is it that bad?”

“It’s … tough. The things that are said. There are ten televisions, and each one has different cd’s that say different things. However, each one is equally awful.”

“Can I hear one?” Aizawa asks. 

Tsukauchi pulls out his phone and some earbuds. “I don’t want Kagawa to accidentally hear this.”

Aizawa nods and plugs one bud in his ear while Yamada and Kayama hover the other one near theirs in an attempt to share. By the end of the five-minute audio, they want to murder Kagawa Aiko. 

“You’re telling me there’s nine others?” Aizawa asks. 

“That are just as bad, yes,” Tsukauchi nods. 

“Oh, poor girl,” Kayama says. 

They hand Tsukauchi his phone back, having a better understanding of what was going on in the Kagawa household.

“I’m also assuming that you’ve seen Kagawa sign?” Tsukauchi asks. 

“That’s her main form of conversation,” Aizawa informs.

Tsukauchi nods. “The reason for her silence is also due to her mother. According to her father’s interrogation, her mother has a translation quirk, and she can force someone to understand a language but, in exchange, experience great pain.”

The three heroes’ expressions harden. “Don’t tell me,” Aizawa says.

Tsukauchi nods. “Kagawa was one of these people. Her mother didn’t want to hear her voice, so she forced sign language onto her. We don’t know how much pain she was in, since her father wasn’t there to see it.”

Yamada drops his head in his hands. “This is just her mother. I can’t even imagine what her father did.”

“Just change that mental damage to physical, and you’ll have a great idea,” Tsukauchi says. “According to his interrogation, he’s done a lot. Before he discovered her quirk, it was just the occasional slaps and punches to the stomach. But after her quirk came in, he went on to more drastic measures. He smashed beer bottles over her head; beat her until she was black, blue, and red; burned her hands, arms, even her face on their stove; and tested out torture devices on her. He even said that he killed her on multiple accounts .”

The three heroes straighten in their chairs. 

“The only reason she didn’t die is because her quirk transfers half of the damage that would have killed her to the perpetrator. And of course she had to heal him and got beaten up afterwards. And then he had to go test it out because he was curious. I suspect this was during the time when Kagawa met the other villains.”

Silence fills the room.

“Can I go strangle him?” Aizawa seethes. 

“Unfortunately, no,” Tsukauchi say. “When the men on the case found out, it took everyone to keep them under control. Trust me, justice will be served on him, and it will hit him hard.”

“Well, make it hit harder,” Aizawa grunts.

Tsukauchi smiles. “I can try.”

The heroes bade the detective goodbye and sit back on the dinner table. 

“We’ll make sure Keiko gets the love she deserves,” Kayama says, Yamada nodding.

Aizawa looks at the door she’s in. “That we will.”

Chapter Text

It’s been a week since Keiko was under Aizawa’s care, and it was the best week she’s ever had in her life. 

Because Aizawa is calm and quiet, there isn't much that reminds her of her past abode, and if something does send her into a panic, Aizawa is quick to get rid of it, like changing the fire stove into an electric one or abstaining from using knives around her presence. Because she’s in such an environment, she’s able to express herself without fearing impending punishment.

She’s also gotten used to having Yamada and Kayama around. In fact, she’s come to be excited whenever they’re supposed to come. It’s not because they bring a lot of gifts, but because they’re so much fun to have around. 

From their past visits, which was every day much to Aizawa’s ire, the guest room has transformed into her bedroom. Keiko has insisted that she didn’t mind the guest room staying the way it was, but the two wouldn’t have it. From casual conversations in which she thinks they’re just asking for her opinion, they have bought her a blanket and pillow set that has a white background and sky blue snowflakes dotting it. The ceiling is blanketed with glow-in-the-dark stars, partnering with her pineapple nightlight to protect her from the dark. Her stuffed animal, which she has named Kaito, sits snugly on her bed. Above her desk is a bulletin board, and a couple photos are already up, courtesy of Kayama and Yamada. They are mainly random surprise selfies they took with Keiko. Sometimes she was reading, other times she was drawing. One time, she got tangled in her blankets, and Yamada took a picture of it. Her disappointed face is evident. 

“Keiko,” Aizawa calls. 

She looks up from her drawing of Shiro. 

“Do you know what my job is?”

Keiko tilts her head. ‘Aren’t you an underground hero?’

Aizawa nods. “That is correct, but I also have one more job?”

Keiko tilts her head more.

“I’m a teacher at UA.”

Keiko’s head snaps upright.

“Because I can’t leave you home alone and Hizashi and Nemuri also work there, I got permission from Nedzu to take you with me. Also, I’m assuming you’ve never gotten an education?”

Keiko nods.

“Nedzu volunteered to teach you. Just tell me when he’s too much to handle.”

Keiko nods slowly. What does he mean by ‘too much to handle’?

“Pack the things you’ll need for entertainment. Nedzu will provide the supplies for your lesson, so don’t worry about that.”

Keiko nods and runs to her room to pack. In her purple backpack, she puts in Kaito, her art supplies, and puzzles. Lots and lots of puzzles.

When she comes out of her room with a bulky backpack, Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “What do you have in there?”

‘Kaito, art, and puzzles.’

Aizawa stares at Keiko. He knows how much she loves puzzles. “How many?”

She averts his gaze.

Aizawa glares. “How. Many?”

Keiko holds up five fingers.

Aizawa sighs. “Just take one of your 3000 piece puzzles.”

Keiko nods. She opens her backpack and takes out four 500 piece puzzles.

Aizawa stares at her in disbelief. “You were going to already take your 3000 one and 4 others?”

Keiko stares at him innocently. 

Aizawa sighs. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

She nods and follows him out the door.

___________________________________

Keiko stares at the entrance of UA. It’s so big! 

“You coming in?” Aizawa asks.

She snaps out of her stupor and chases after her guardian. 

It’s two hours before school starts, so no students are filing into the campus. 

Her guardian leads Keiko to Nedzu’s office.

Aizawa knocks on the door. “It’s Aizawa.”

“Come in, come in!”

Aizawa opens the door, and Keiko is surprised to see a bear, mouse, rat, thing sitting behind the principal’s desk. 

“Hello, Aizawa-san! I’m assuming that you are Kagawa Keiko?” he (Is he a he?) asks.

Keiko nods. 

“Fantastic!” he says. 

He hops off his chair and walks (waddles?) over to Keiko. He holds out his hand for a handshake. “I’m Nedzu! Am I a dog, a mouse, a bear? I’m the principal!”

Keiko shakes his hand. 

“Now, onto business,” Nedzu says, clapping his paws. 

He walks over to his coffee table and sits down. “Come, sit. We have much to talk about.”

The two go to sit.

“Tea?” Nedzu asks. Her guardian shakes his head, but Keiko tilts hers.

Nedzu pours a cup. “Here, try some.”

Keiko takes a sip. It tastes a bit bitter but good overall.

When she finishes her cup, he says, “Now, I want to know the extent of your knowledge. Can you tell me exactly where you think you are?”

‘I know basic math, and I can read and write a little’ Keiko signs. 

Nedzu nods. “So I have some papers that I’m going to ask you to answer. I will guide you through them, but try to answer them by yourself to the best of your abilities. Aizawa-san, can one you get that stack of papers? No not that one. Yes, that one. Thank you.” 

He pulls out the first paper on the pile. It’s full of math questions. 

Keiko grabs a pencil and starts solving right away, answering the ones she knows like addition and subtraction. 

Nedzu quietly sips on his tea. 

Aizawa takes this as his cue to leave. 

“When it’s lunch time, I’ll pick you up, and we can eat lunch,” Aizawa says. 

Keiko nods, barely understanding what he said as she’s too concentrated on solving what 29+37 is.

She sees him leave in the corner of her eyes as Nedzu says, “What’s 9+7?”

‘16.’

“Carry the one over the tens-digits and add it with 2 and 3.”

‘66?’

“Bingo!”

___________________________________

The bell to lunch rings. 

Aizawa dismisses his class and walks over to the principal’s office. Keiko looked like she was concentrating when he left, so hopefully she didn’t burn herself out. 

However, he had nothing to worry. When he knocked on Nedzu’s door, he’s surprised to see Keiko open it and crash into him. 

It isn’t like her to be so open, but his expression softens when he sees Keiko jumping up and down.

‘Learning is fun!’ she signs.

Aizawa ruffles her head. “That’s nice to here. Ready for lunch?”

Keiko nods and waves goodbye to Nedzu, who waves back. 

As they’re leaving his office, Aizawa thinks he can hear Nedzu laughing ominously. Hopefully, he’s imagining it for Keiko’s sake. 

He leads Keiko to the teacher’s facility, with Kayama being the only occupant. 

“My favorite baby’s here!” she screeches, scooping her up and twirling her. 

Keiko smiles and returns the hug, causing Kayama to squeal. 

“She’s so cute!”

“And she needs to eat,” Aizawa grumbles as he takes Keiko from her arms. 

Kayama pouts. “Hizashi isn't even here with the food! Why can’t I hug her more?”

Yamada takes this moment to make his entrance. “Food’s here!”

“He is here.”

Kayama rolls her eyes. 

Keiko looks at the food Yamada brought. ‘What is it?’

He grins. “It’s udon!”

She stares curiously at the noodles. 

“Here, try one!”

Yamada holds a noodle with his chopsticks, and Keiko takes a bite. Her eyes brighten as she chews on the soft food. 

Keiko grabs her own chopsticks and is careful to not burn her tongue. 

Kayama and Yamada take lots and lots of pictures. 

___________________________________

“I have to go teach,” Aizawa says. “So you can do whatever until I’m done, ‘kay?”

Keiko nods and waves. After Aizawa leaves, Keiko takes out her puzzle and starts solving. 

When she snaps in her 200th piece into place, the bell for the end of school rings. Keiko cleans up her puzzles and sits on the couch, waiting for her guardian to pick her up. 

When the door opens, Keiko sees the UA staff walk in. Thirteen, Ectoplasm, Power Loader, Recovery Girl, Vlad King, Snipe, and Cementoss. 

They immediately go to introduce themselves, and Keiko is ecstatic to meet them. When Vlad King asks for her name, she signs, but when they don’t understand her (Recovery Girl actually does but she doesn’t comment), she makes writing actions. Recovery Girl gives her a pen and paper. Keiko writes her name and shows it to them. 

Aizawa takes this moment to make his entrance. He sees the teachers crowding Keiko and glares. 

“Have they been bothering you?” Aizawa asks.

Keiko shakes her head. ‘They were introducing themselves and asked for my name.’

Aizawa nods, releasing his glare. He looks at the paper that has her name. “They don’t know sign, do they?”

Keiko shakes her head. ‘It’s fine, though. It’ll help me practice writing.’

Aizawa shrugs. “If you’re fine with it.”

Keiko nods. ‘Are we going now?’

Aizawa nods.

Keiko waves goodbye to the rest of the staff and follows him.

___________________________________

“Kid, isn’t that second grade work?”

Keiko looks up from doing her homework when Aizawa asks. She nods.

“Didn’t you start learning today?”

She nods again. 

Aizawa stares at her in disbelief. Keiko stares at him innocently. 

‘Learning is fun.’

Chapter Text

Keiko discovers Aizawa’s sleeping bag. 

Well, not discover per say. She knows it exists and that Aizawa uses it often. One day, she sees it abandoned in the living room. She’s about to ignore it and go back on her trek to the kitchen, but a thought comes to mind. 

Keiko looks around, making sure the coast is clear. She slips into the sleeping bag and is surprised by how warm and comfortable it is. She doesn’t mean to, but she falls into a deep sleep. 

When Aizawa finds her, he blinks in surprise before he swiftly takes out his phone to take a picture.

Keiko wakes up in the evening and sees Aizawa on his computer drinking coffee.

As she is coming out of her cocoon, Aizawa asks, “How was your afternoon nap?”

Keiko blushes and signs, ‘Good.’

He smirks. “Want one of your own?”

Her blush deepens, and she meekly nods. 

Next thing they know, Aizawa often finds Keiko sleeping on the floor in her sky blue sleeping bag. 

___________________________________

Keiko discovers Aizawa’s jelly packs. 

Aizawa is slurping on his grape-flavored jelly pack, wondering what to make Keiko. Said girl walks into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She sees Aizawa slurping and stares curiously. He sees Keiko eyeing the jelly. 

“Wanna try?” he offers.

Keiko takes it and slurps. 

Her eyes brighten. 

Well, at least Aizawa knows what to give her for breakfast. 

When Yamada enters Aizawa’s apartment to babysit Keiko, he’s horrified to find the two watching tv, slurping on jelly packs. 

When Yamada comments, Keiko makes eye contact with him and slurps. Loudly. 

___________________________________

Keiko grades papers for the first time.

Aizawa comes home with a stack of papers and grumbles as he furiously marks them with a red pen. 

‘Why are you so mad?’ Keiko signs.

“I was nice enough to tell these idiots that they had a test today, but they didn’t study.”

Keiko looks over a test and winces. Even she’s better than that, and she only started learning three months ago. (She’s on middle school material.) 

She grabs a red pen. ‘Do you have an answer key?’

Aizawa hands her a paper he’s already marked, and Keiko gets grading.

Later, Aizawa looks over the papers she graded.

Keiko is a ruthless grader. 

___________________________________

Keiko gets an ocarina. 

Aizawa finds a picture book on the dinner table. It’s Keiko’s, and it’s about ancient instruments. 

He’s about to put it in her room when he sees a post-it sticking out. Curious, he flips it open, seeing the page on ocarinas. Another note says, ‘It’s nifty.’

Aizawa doesn’t know where she learned that word, and he doesn’t want to know. However, he does call Kayama to buy something on her way to his house. 

The next morning, Keiko wakes up to see a gift box on her bedside table. 

Confused, she opens it, and her eyes widen. 

Next thing she knows, she’s barreling out of her room and tackling Aizawa, who’s making coffee. 

___________________________________

Keiko learns about puns. 

She and Yamada are watching a comedy show, and today’s show is centered around puns. 

If this was Aizawa, he would have switched channels immediately, refusing to infect Keiko. However, this is Yamada, so he doesn’t. 

To say the least, it’s a learning experience, and she finds the perfect opportunity to present what she learned over dinner. 

Today’s dinner is tacos (Yamada proclaims something about Taco Tuesday). 

Aizawa is complaining about how bad his class this year is and how he’s about to expel another student. 

‘Do you want to taco ‘bout it?’ Keiko signs before she takes a bite. 

Aizawa’s taco stops midway into his mouth, but he puts it down in favor of strangling Yamada. 

“What have you done!” Aizawa hisses at a laughing Yamada. 

“This is revenge for the jelly pack!” Yamada proclaims. 

Keiko’s too busy thinking of another pun to tell the UA staff.

___________________________________

Keiko tastes coffee for the first time. 

She’s always seen Aizawa drink it every morning, and she wonders if it tastes good. 

So one day, she asks. 

‘Can I try one?’

“Sure, but it might be too bitter for you.”

Keiko nods, heeding his warning. 

Aizawa hands Keiko a mug of coffee. She takes a sip and scrunches her face. 

He smirks. “Too bitter?”

Keiko nods. 

“Want some sugar in it?”

She nods again. 

As Aizawa is adding some sugar, a lightbulb goes off in Keiko’s head. 

“Oh no,” he grumbles as she runs off to her room. 

She returns wearing her cat onesie. 

‘One cat-puccino, please.’

Aizawa sighs as he hands her the coffee.

She sips it, but she still scrunches her face.

“Still bitter?” Aizawa asks, raising one of his eyebrows.

Keiko shakes her head and puts the coffee on the table. ‘It just feels contaminated.’

Aizawa nods. “You understand coffee. So you’re not gonna drink any?”

Keiko nods. ‘I’ll just stick with tea.’

“Nedzu’s infecting her,” Aizawa grumbles.

___________________________________

Shiro shows her cool side.

Aizawa is out patrolling for his underground hero duties.

It’s Yamada’s turn to babysit Keiko, and the two are solving puzzles together. 

Everything’s peaceful until they spot it . 

A brown cockroach climbs on the wall in front of them. 

Yamada screeches while Keiko clings onto him. The two scuttle as far away from the cockroach, their backs leaned against the wall. 

As the two are cowering, Kuro walks into the room.

“You’re a cat! Save us!” Yamada yells, thankfully without his quirk.

Kuro looks at them, then at the cockroach, then back at them. He turns around and leaves. 

Yamada gasps. “Traitor!”

Keiko tugs at his shirt violently and points at the cockroach. It has stopped moving, and its antennas are pointing towards them. 

It spreads out its wings and leaps. 

Yamada screeches.

Before it can reach them, though, Shiro comes out of nowhere and snatches it midair. 

Yamada takes a moment to process it before he shouts, “Our hero!”

Shiro turns her head and looks at them, the cockroach hanging on her mouth. 

Keiko gapes. 

Did she just wink at them?

___________________________________

Keiko blows balloons for the first time. 

It’s May 6, and it’s her birthday. 

It’s the first birthday she’s ever celebrated.

They decide to do the party at UA, since all the teachers want to join in. 

Kayama and Yamada are on balloon duty. 

“Look, look,” Kayama says. 

Keiko looks at Kayama with wide eyes as she blows up a balloon. 

“Wanna try?”

Keiko nods.

Kayama hands Keiko a balloon, and she tries to blow it up. Tries. 

She blows until her face turns red, but she just can’t seem to make the balloon inflate. 

In the background, Kayama and Hizashi are wheezing on the floor, clutching their stomachs on one hand and slamming the ground with the other. 

The teachers look at the commotion and chuckle. 

Only Aizawa and Recovery Girl are helpful as they teach her how to blow a balloon. 

‘I don’t know if I should make a pun right now,’ Keiko signs with Nedzu (he’s her partner-in-crime) translating, ‘it’s a bit up in the air at the moment.’

Everyone groans, minus Yamada and Kayama who are laughing harder. 

“They deserved that,” Aizawa says. “Recovery Girl and I did not.”

Keiko shrugs. ‘Collateral damage.’

___________________________________

Keiko discovers the air vents.

She’s at UA, bored out of her mind. 

She finished high school work, so Nedzu dismissed her early so that he could make a collage of college ones. 

She already completed her puzzle and solved three rubix cubes at once while juggling ten times. 

As she’s drowning in boredom, her eyes roam around the room until it lands on the air vents. A lightbulb goes off in her head. 

She grabs a screwdriver from Power Loader’s desk and unscrews the vent. She’s about to put the screwdriver back, but Power Loader can live without one screwdriver. She screws the vent back into its place and starts crawling. 

Keiko makes her way through the vents, looking through each one to see where she is. She finally finds the room Aizawa teaches in. After class is dismissed and all the students file out, Keiko takes this chance to make her entrance, slowly unscrewing the vents open. When she comes out, she brushes off the dust and sees Aizawa staring at her in disbelief. 

“What are you doing?” he asks.

‘I was bored,” Keiko signs with a shrug.

Aizawa sighs, but then his expression becomes thoughtful. 

“Do you know the way back?”

Keiko nods, and then she understands what Aizawa is thinking. 

She gives him a thumbs up. 

Aizawa nods and leaves the classroom through the door, while Keiko leaves through the vents. 

Next thing she knows, she’s unscrewing the vents to the teacher’s facility and punches it open, reveling in the teachers’ surprised faces. 

She throws a peace sign, and Aizawa smirks in the background. 

___________________________________

Keiko finally wins against Nedzu in chess.

It’s game day today in UA. The teachers minus Nedzu, Recovery Girl, and Aizawa bet money as they play. 

However, Nedzu decides to bet just this once. 

“Keiko.”

Said girl looks up as she wins another game of Poker against Snipe, who now owes her a puzzle box. 

“Let’s play a game of chess.”

Keiko nods. She’s gotten pretty good. She stopped counting after she lost against Nedzu 500 times, but she’s confident that she can beat any of the other teachers. That’s why none of them played chess against her. 

“With a bet.”

Keiko stops. All the teachers stop. 

Nedzu is making a bet. The Nedzu. 

This should be interesting.

‘What’s at stake?’ Keiko signs.

Nedzu smiles. “If I win, I get to keep you for 24 hours.”

A shiver runs down her spine. “And if I win?”

Nedzu’s smile widens. “I’ll remodel the vents for you.”

Keiko returns his smile. ‘You’re on.’

For the next two hours, Nedzu and Keiko attack each other. Nedzu doesn’t know this (or he might and Keiko just doesn’t know), but she had been practicing online, even going against a couple pros. She even won against a huge chunk of them. 

Finally, Keiko makes the last move. ‘Checkmate.’

The whole staff cheers. Never in a million years did they think that Nedzu could be beaten, but here he is. Beaten by the kid that he taught. 

“Good game,” Nedzu says, extending his paw. 

Keiko shakes it. 

Then she smirks. 

She holds up the knight piece.

‘I guess it’ll be a knight to be remembered.’ 

“Why?” they scream. 

___________________________________

Keiko’s been living with Aizawa for two years now, and she’s happy with life. The two years they gave her was better than the nine years her biological parents gave. 

In those two years, Keiko has improved a lot. Her therapy sessions with Hound Dog have helped her cope with the things she went under. Unfortunately, nine years of abuse doesn’t just disappear with a poof, but she can at least live without having to worry about a panic attack being around the corner. Because of these sessions, she’s a completely different girl from the one Aizawa saved. She’s more open and lets her thoughts out. Instead of keeping quiet, she throws in her input whenever she can. She’s proud that she’s come this far.

Keiko takes her recently printed picture, the one where her arms are raised after defeating Nedzu in a game of chess for the first time. She hangs the picture on her bulletin board and pushes a Nedzu-designed pin to hold it up. 

She’s collected a lot of memories. 

A picture of her slurping on a jelly pack with an exasperated Yamada in the background is held up by an Eraserhead pin (It was very hard to find); her sleeping in Aizawa’s sleeping bag by a Thirteen pin; her tangled in bedsheets by an Ectoplasm pin; her doing puzzles by a Recovery Girl pin; her failing to blow a balloon with Yamada and Kayama laughing in the background by a Midnight pin (It’s as PG as possible); her in a cat onesie doing a nya pose by a Vlad King pin; her doing a peace sign with a groaning UA staff in the background and a laughing Kayama and Yamada holding each other for support (She had told a pun) by a Cementoss pin; her being fed udon by Yamada by a Present Mic pin; Yamada and her bowing down to Shiro by a Wild Wild Pussycats pin; her playing the ocarina by a Snipe pin; and her coming out of the vents holding a peace sign by a Power Loader pin.

With the memories are at least one picture of every person she knows. Even Tsukauchi is up there. Furthermore, there are stray pins scattered all over: All Might, Best Jeanist, Crimson Riot, Fat Gum, Hawks, Ingenium, Kamui Woods, Lunch-Rush, Ms. Joke, Mt. Lady, Mandalay, Pixie Bob, Ragdoll, Tiger.

She’s admiring the board when Aizawa calls her to come to the kitchen. 

Confused, she goes over. 

When she senses the tense atmosphere, she immediately connects it to something she did wrong, not that she knows of. 

“Calm down,” Aizawa says. “You did nothing wrong. I just want to talk about something.”

Cautious and confused, she sits down and looks at the documents on the table. Documents that have the word ‘Adoption Papers’ on it. 

She snaps her head to look at her guardian, her eyes wide. 

Aizawa nods. “You’ve been living with us for two years now, and you already feel like our kid. So we want to make it official.”

Keiko just stares at them, dumbfounded. 

He rubs the back of his neck. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Keiko shakes her head fervently. (Aizawa worries that it’ll actually fall off.) Instead, Keiko does something that he doesn’t expect. 

She says, says , “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” 

At first, Aizawa just stares, shocked that she talked, but he immediately snaps out of their stupor. He hands her a pen, and Keiko immediately signs her name. 

Suddenly, a lightbulb goes off in her head. 

She grabs Aizawa’s finished drink that is now just full of ice. She slides it to her guar- parent. She slides it to her parent.

‘Let’s get along n- ice -ly.’ 

A beat. 

Aizawa slams his head on the desk and groans. Keiko smirks. 

Even though she loves it when people enjoy her puns, she loves seeing people being in misery more.

Chapter Text

“Dad!” Keiko calls, poking the sleeping caterpillar.

She’s gotten used to speaking. After she spoke when Aizawa adopted her, she spoke more little by little. Now, she only uses sign language whenever she feels overwhelmed.

Aizawa opens his eyes, but he’s still lying in his sleeping bag.

“Nedzu says he’s bringing a guest.”

“Meh,” Aizawa says and closes his eyes.

“It’s a new staff member.”

Aizawa groans. 

Keiko keeps poking her dad’s cheeks. “First impressions, Dad. First impressions.”

“First impressions can go die in a ditch.”

“I’m gonna call Zashi.”

“I’m up. I’m up.”

Keiko grins and skips away, her goal completed. “Nedzu says I can watch through the vents, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Aizawa nods.

She grabs her screwdriver (Yes, it’s still the one she stole from Power Loader) and opens the vent. 

The vent systems didn’t actually change much. It’s just more human friendly, and the cooling/heating system isn’t used through it. The screws are also shaped like mini-keyholes, only able to be unlocked by her screwdriver that had been modified. 

She screws the vents back and lies comfy behind the vents. 

The rest of the staff come in and wait for Nedzu to come with their new coworker. 

“GREETINGS, FELLOW TEACHERS!” All Might shouts as he opens the door.

Keiko flinches. She doesn’t like it when people scream the moment they open the door. 

Aizawa eyes the vents with the corner of his eyes. 

Keiko slightly slips a green paper through the vents. 

Green means fine. Yellow means iffy. Red means bad. No paper means she’s having a panic attack.

Aizawa nods slightly, and Keiko pulls the paper back.

“SUP, MY DUDE!” Yamada yells back. 

“Excellent!” Nedzu joins in. 

Keiko is very tempted to say ‘Tiger’, but she refrains herself. 

“As you all know, All Might will be a new teacher starting this semester!” Nedzu proclaims. 

“No, we did not know,” Aizawa grumbles.

Keiko has to cover her mouth to prevent any noise from coming out.

“And there’s something the staff should know,” All Might says before he disappears in a poof of smoke. 

“AHHHHHH!” Yamada screeches.

From the smoke comes out a very, very skinny man. The only resemblance between the man who is standing in front of them and the man who was standing there before are their clothes and their hairstyle.

“HE DEFLATED! HE- WHA- SMALL MIGHT!” 

All Might coughs up blood, which he quickly wipes with a handkerchief.

“AND HE COUGHS UP BLOOD!”

Aizawa hits him behind the head. “Shut up.”

“I’m sure you’d like to explain?” Nedzu asks.

All Might nods. He lifts up his shirt, revealing a red blotch on his stomach. “I got this injury from an enemy I fought five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs and my whole stomach are gone. The fight wasn’t revealed to the public due to the damage that I received.”

Vlad King nods. “If the public found out, there would be mass panic.”

All Might nods. “With this injury, I can only work three hours a day.”

“And so he’s come to spend his last moments teaching the next generation of heroes!” Nedzu proclaims. 

“You make it sound like he’s about to die.”

It wasn’t any of the staff that made the comment. Keiko couldn’t keep quiet anymore. She probably shouldn’t have overheard this national secret. But she did, and All Might deserves to know.

When All Might’s eyes widen, Yamada says meekly, “You’re not the only one hiding secrets.”

Before he says anything, he sees the vent clang open. Out comes Keiko, who gives All Might a salute. 

“Meet Keiko,” Yamada says, “UA’s resident kid.”

However, instead of being more surprised, he relaxes. “Hello, Keiko.”

“Hi, Toshi!” Keiko chirps.

Yamada looks back-and-forth between the two. “You know each other?”

Keiko nods. “We met a couple of times when I visited Tsukauchi. Toshi’s a close friend of his. Didn’t know he was All Might, though.”

Toshinori rubs the back of his neck. “Ah, I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“No harm done,” she says. “I mean, it is a national secret. And besides, if I did have to shoulder one, I’m gonna bring UA with me. There’s no way I can keep secrets from them.”

Toshinori nods. “That’s fair. Anyway, Keiko’s already introduced me, but my name is Toshinori Yagi.”

“And,” Nedzu says, “with introductions done, we can start getting ready for the new school year! Come on, teachers, hustle up. Get your yearly torture-excuse me, teaching plan scheduled!”

“I mean,” Kayama says, “being taught by Nedzu would be torture.”

“What?” Keiko asks in disbelief. “But learning from Nedzu is fun!”

“Only you would think that, sweetheart.”

Keiko blows a raspberry in response. 

She hops over to Toshinori, who sits down on his desk. 

“I didn’t know you were the resident UA kid,” Toshinori says. 

Keiko shrugs. “When your dad works at UA, it’s a given.”

“Oh? And who is he?”

“The grumpy one.”

Toshinori looks over at the staff. “Eraserhead?”

“Mmmhmm!” Keiko nods. 

“Didn’t expect him to have a child.”

“Didn’t expect you to be All Might.”

“That’s fair,” Toshinori says. “Any reason you came to me?”

Keiko shrugs. “Just curious on what you’re gonna do for your first lesson. You teach Foundational Heroes Studies, right?”

Toshinori nods. “But I’m not sure what to do.”

“Why don’t you show the kids a glimpse of what it’s like to be on the field?” Keiko suggests. “Like, I don’t know what Pros do, fight? Like pow, pow, pow.”

Keiko punches in the air three times. 

Toshinori chuckles. “I think I have an idea.”

“Oh! Don’t tell me. I wanna know on the day.”

Toshinori tilts his head. “Are you going to be in the class?”

Keiko shakes her head. “No, I’m just gonna be watching through Nedzu’s security cameras. Besides, I’m taking lessons from Recovery Girl to be a recovery hero, so actually listening to the class won’t do me much good.”

“A recovery hero?”

“Oh! You don’t know what my quirk is?”

Toshinori shakes his head. 

“It’s called Regeneration. Well, it’s actually more than that but who cares about the details. Essentially, I’m good at healing myself. I can also heal others with the expense of my energy.”

Toshinori nods. “That’s an interesting quirk.”

Keiko nods. “Unfortunately, I can only heal wounds that were inflicted within 24 hours, not including my own. If I could, I would offer to heal yours, but I can’t.”

He pats her head. “It’s enough that you thought about it.”

She nods. “Tell me if it worsens from a villain attack. I might be able to heal that.”

He smiles. “I’ll be sure to do that.”

___________________________________

It’s the day of the UA entrance exam. 

Since the kids entering the hero school are the same age as Keiko, she told her dad that she wanted to try out the entrance exam, see if she could pass. 

That’s why she’s walking through the gates wearing a random school’s uniform and backpack, watching kids her age nervously walk through the gates. 

“Get out of my way, Deku.”

Keiko sees a blond roughly pass a very flustered Greeny. If she’s remembering correctly, blondy is the kid from the Sludge incident. 

She resists the urge to facepalm when Greeny trips. Luckily, there’s a girl with bob cut hair to catch him. Or make him float. Zero-G. Either way, he doesn’t fall and goes on his merry way. 

If she remembers correctly, Greeny was the kid who saved Explodo in the sludge incident. 

Keiko shrugs. She wonders if she’ll get to see his potential. 

___________________________________

Keiko’s outside the gate for the practical examination, stretching her legs. 

The briefing had been a mess. Everyone was silent whenever Yamada expected an echo. Keiko stayed quiet because she doesn’t like standing out. She’ll have to apologize to him later. Then, there was Nyoom who interrupted Yamada’s speech, saying something about a possible error. Keiko sighs. Nyoom and his bad habits. He also berated Greeny for muttering too much, and I have to say, the muttering was pretty distracting. Sorry, Greeny.

Keiko is fiddling with her grappling hook. It’s made out of carbon fibers and a special type of alloy, the same material as Aizawa’s scarf. Since her quirk isn’t suited for combat, she submitted a support item form beforehand. 

She hears a commotion happening behind her. When she looks back, Greeny is being yelled at by Nyoom again. Keiko sighs. Poor Greeny. Looks like today’s not his day. 

“And start!” Yamada yells. 

Keiko reigns in her instincts to run into the city. What isn’t anyone moving? 

“What’s with the stalling? There are no countdowns in real life. Move it!”

Now Keiko runs toward the fake city. She briefly looks back to see Greeny lagging behind. 

However, she doesn’t pay further attention as a three pointer rounds the corner.

Keiko immediately twirls her grappling hook around the robot’s neck and pulls sharply, snapping it off. 

She throws the hook at the top of the building and pulls up, gaining the height advantage. 

She sees Yamada and salutes. He salutes back. 

For the next 3 minutes, Keiko wraps her hook around the robots’ necks, using their momentum against them. 

After she counts 42 points, Keiko takes a minute to rest.

Nyoom kicks through robots after robots. Zero-G manipulates a robot’s gravity. Greeny’s just running and panicking. 

Keiko sighs. Welp, it’s time for some field practice. 

She scales down the building and starts finding patients to heal. 

Fatigue, cuts, bruises, sprained and broken bones. She also pulls a couple patients out of harm's way. 

As she’s healing a girl’s scrape, the ground starts to shake. She turns around and sees a robot bigger than the surrounding buildings appear, breaking them as it makes its entrance. 

Keiko whistles, shielding her eyes from the sun. The zero-pointer is a lot bigger up close. 

Unlike the other contestants who are running away, Keiko stands still, waiting for someone to stand up against the threat. 

Under the zero-pointer’s feet, she sees Zero-G trapped by a slab of concrete. 

Keiko is about to run to her when she sees Greeny shoot past her, smashing the zero-pointer into bits. 

“Oooooh!” Keiko says in amazement as the robot explodes.

And her expression falls. 

From the way Greeny’s arm and legs are flopping, they’re probably mangled from the sheer force of his quirk.

Her face grimaces as she remembers when she was in that position once. He must be in so much pain right now.

As he’s falling, she sees Zero-G lifting herself with a robot’s head. As Greeny comes close to her, she slaps his face, making him float. Then, she pukes. 

“AAAAAND THAT’S ALL FOLKS!” Yamada yells, signaling the end of the practical exam. 

Keiko jogs over to Greeny and Zero-G. 

Greeny, who has his face planted on the floor, seems the most injured with his arms and legs bending in weird positions, so she runs over to him first. 

Her earlier diagnosis was correct, but it’s nothing she can’t handle. She touches Greeny’s back, and a yellow glow engulfs his mangled limbs, setting it straight and returning it to its previous color. She still needs to save some energy to heal Zero-G’s nausea, so she doesn’t replenish Greeny’s stamina. 

She turns her attention to Zero-G, touching her arm.

“Thanks!” Zero-G says. 

“Thank you,” Greeny says, absentmindedly. 

Keiko nods. She sees Recovering Girl approaching them. 

“Are the three of you alright?” she asks. 

They all nod. 

“Here’s some gummies to replenish your strength.”

Keiko takes her share and immediately gobbles it, feeling the candy working its magic. 

___________________________________

Before going over to the examination room, Keiko pops into the nurse’s office to steal a couple gummies.

She assisted Recovery Girl in healing all the injured contestants and needs the sugar, or whatever is in those gummies.

She remembers all the people she saw during the exam. She smiles as she plops a gummy in her mouth.

This year should be interesting.

Chapter Text

Keiko is lying in the vents, sucking on a cherry-flavored lollipop. 

She wanted to see Aizawa’s new class, so that explains her current situation despite the fact that she should be with Recovery Girl, since she’s her assistant. 

She only came a couple seconds ago, but the class is already full. The students probably didn’t want to be late for their first day. 

She sees Nyoom berating Explodo for putting his feet on the desk. And what’s with Explodo calling him an extra?

From the entrance of the door, she sees Greeny enter and be confronted by Nyoom. Oh, Zero-G came in. Aaaaand Greeny’s flustered. 

“Go home if you’re here to socialize.”

And there’s Dad, lying on the floor in his sleeping bag. Good first impression, Dad. Real good. 

He introduces himself as their homeroom teacher, pulls out their gym uniforms from inside his sleeping bag, and tells them to head to the fields.

Keiko sighs. With such an abrupt introduction, the students are probably really confused. She sure would have been. Unfortunately for them, they’ll experience something even more shocking.

When the halls become silent, Keiko unscrews the vents and climbs out. After putting the vents back in, she skips over to the nurse’s office.

___________________________________

Keiko is organizing some files and sucking on a tropical-flavored lollipop, whatever that tastes like.

She puts away the last file when she hears the door open. She looks over and spots Greeny enter the nurse’s office.

“What’s up?” Keiko asks. 

Greeny stares at her for a moment until his eyes light up in recognition. “You were the one who healed me in the entrance exam!”

Keiko nods. Before he could say anything else, though, she asks, “You’re here for Recovery Girl?”

Greeny nods. “I’m from the hero course, and we had a Quirk Apprehension Test.”

Keiko hides her surprise. Aizawa always did a Quirk Apprehension Test on the first day of school to measure the student’s potential. Honestly, Keiko thinks it’s a smart move. She wouldn’t like to teach condescending kids.

“My quirk is kind of self-destructive,” he continues, “so I …”

He meekly shows his bruised? broken? mangled? fingers.

“Destroyed your fingers,” Keiko finishes.

Greeny nods, his face red to his ears.

Keiko sighs. “Unfortunately, Recovery Girl isn’t here right now, but I can heal you.”

Greeny’s expression brightens. “You have a healing quirk, right? It works similarly to Recovery Girl’s, from what I’ve seen. The main difference, though, would be that you don’t take the energy of your patients. Maybe you use your own energy? Or maybe you use some other source of energy? Based on how you healed all of my wounds in an instant that day, does your quirk heal any wounds indiscriminately? But that seems too good to be true. Maybe …”

Keiko looks at him dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation. He seems to be deep in thought, his hands holding his chin. This reminds her of the briefing before the practical exam. Does he have a muttering habit?

She goes up to Greeny, who doesn’t even notice her actions, and lightly chops him on the head. He squeaks, clutching the area where she chopped.

Little did he know, Keiko healed him in the small instance she touched his head. She has learned to secretly heal people, healing small areas of wounds in an instant and suppressing the yellow glow. Since Aizawa wouldn’t let her heal his wounds since they’re “small” and can “heal quickly”, she had to get creative. 

“Your teacher is Aizawa-sensei, right?” Keiko asks.

Greeny looks surprised and nods. “How did you know?”

Keiko shrugs, waving a dismissive hand. “You don’t need to know that. Since he’s your teacher, you should probably go to class now. Your finger is already healed so get going.”

On the mention of a healed finger, he looks at it incredulously. “When did you heal me?”

Keiko grins mischievously. “I wonder. Anyway, get going. You don’t want to get Aizawa-sensei mad. Go go go.”

She shoves him out the room and closes the door on his confused face. She may have seemed pushy, but he really will get in trouble if he doesn’t leave soon.

Remembering that Greeny came back from the Apprehension Test, she wonders aloud, “I wonder if Dad expelled anyone.” 

___________________________________

All Might is having his first class today. 

Keiko is in the monitoring room with All Might and the majority of class 1-A, sucking on yet another lollipop. This time, it’s strawberry flavored. 

She side-eyes the cluster of 1-A students, just in time to see them avert their gaze.

It’s the climax of the Midoriya/Uraraka vs Bakugou/Iida battle. When Keiko inputted her thoughts for All Might’s first lesson, she did not mean for the kids to murder each other. In fact, she would have ended their match when Explodo used that big explosion. But this is Toshi’s class, and he gets to make the call. 

Greeny makes an opening for Zero-G, who ultimately secures the bomb and gains the hero team’s victory. 

Keiko walks over to the site with All Might. She goes over to Greeny and heals him, his burns and scratches disappearing. 

He opens his eyes and sees Keiko. He gives her a weak smile. “Thank you for healing me again.”

Keiko nods. “That’s what I’m here for. Give Recovery Girl less work. Just try to be less reckless, yeah?”

Greeny nods and stands up, but he looks unsteady on his feet. Keiko uses her quirk on him again. He smiles meekly. 

They walk to the monitor room, where they’re being graded on their performance. 

“Umm,” Greeny says after the briefing is over, looking at his feet embarrassed. “I don’t mean to be rude but…”

Keiko raises an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“Who are you?”

Silence. 

Then the class erupts.

“Yeah, where did you pop up from?”

“I saw you at the entrance exam.”

“What’s your connection to Recovery Girl?”

“Are you in our class?”

Keiko swirls her lollipop in the air. “My identity isn’t important, but you’ll probably know me as UA’s resident kid.”

UA’s resident kid. She’s mostly known for her mysterious appearance and purpose in the school, both of which are highly debated. The rumors began when UA alumni described their experience at the top school, mentioning UA’s resident kid a couple of times. When inquired about her presence, the alumni weren’t able to answer the press’s questions. They never questioned her appearance at the school, as she was frequently seen accompanied by one of the staff members. The only information they know about her is that she’s mainly seen in Recovery Girl’s office and heals the students’ injuries. 

Because of the rumors that sprouted, many students in the past have asked her about her connection to the famous school. Much to their dismay, Keiko leaves as much information out, revelling in their confusion. To make matters better, for Keiko at least, a staff member always rescues her. She doesn’t know how they know her situation, but she’s willing to place one of her lollipops on the principal. 

“Dude, that’s sick,” Pikachu says. 

Scotch Tape nods in agreement. 

“Why are you in the school?” Invisi asks, based on how a pair of gloves and boots bounce over. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Keiko says, enjoying the mystery around her presence. “All Might-sensei, sorry for the interruption. Carry on with the lesson.”

While the students look disappointed for a split second by the change in topic, they become excited about the rest of the battle trials after the Midoriya/Uraraka vs. Bakugou/Iida one. 

Thankfully, by the end of the exercise, there aren’t any severe injuries. 

Before the students question her existence again, Keiko silently slips away while they are going over the last team’s battle.

___________________________________

“The press is so annoying,” Keiko grumbles, watching students struggle to get past the gate. 

Kayama nods. “They’re also vultures.”

She sees the UA barrier slam down as one of the reporters tries to follow Aizawa in. 

“And idiots,” Keiko mumbles. 

At the back of the crowd, she sees a glimpse of a man who doesn’t seem to be part of the press.

The blood rushes out of Keiko’s face as the man disappears into the crowd. She leans against the window and tries to find him again but to no avail.

“What’s wrong?” Kayama asks.

After another glance, Keiko looks away. “It’s nothing.”

She hopes it’s nothing and that the man is just a part of her imagination. 

___________________________________

“Why don’t you go eat with Iida?” Kayama suggested. “Something has obviously been on your mind since this morning. This can be a change of pace. Also, make some other friends your age.”

Keiko sighs. After Aizawa heard what happened that morning, he kicked her out of the teacher’s facility. The one time he agrees with Kayama, it had to be about this. 

She scans the lunchroom for Nyoom and sees him at a table with Greeny and Zero-G. She makes her way over.

“Hey, Nyoom,” Keiko says, gaining the attention of the people at the table. 

Nyoom sighs and places his chopsticks down. “When will you stop calling me that, Keiko?”

She hums, tapping her chin. “How about never?”

She sits next to Nyoom. 

“Nyoom?” Zero-G asks.

Keiko nods. “He has engines on his calves and nyooms past.”

Zero-G giggles. “That’s so funny! Do we have nicknames?”

“Yup! Zero-G and Greeny.”

“That really fits us!”

“How do you two know each other?” Greeny asks.

“Our families are very close,” Nyoom answers.

“That’s so cool! Right, Deku?”

Keiko tilts her head. “Deku? I thought your name’s Midoriya Izuku.”

Greeny curls in himself and rubs the back of his neck, “Ah, it’s -”

VVVRRRREEEEE. “Security level three has been breached. Please evacuate calmly.”

Students all around Keiko panic. 

VVVRRRREEEE. 

“We’re almost there! Just around that corner and we’re-”

“What’s going on?”

“This hasn’t ever happened before!”

“Did you really think you could escape us? That you were going to be safe?”

“Calm down, everyone! It’s just the press!”

“Ķ̴̘̦̤̜͎͈͔͍̱͚͇͍̬̱͈̗̺͂͒a̶̡̧̖̯̗̳̰̲͉̼̮̣̣̪͎͔̎̉̄̅̑̅͝i̷̪͇̜͉̬̪̬͇͂͐̐̆̄͗͋̒̄̇̆̉̈͑͐̀t̵̥̩̬̼͕͚͖͎̣̥͉̭̖̃͂̿̋͌̇͊̓͊͛͗̓̔́͜͝͝ͅò̶̼̯̐̈́̅̃͂͂̈̋̊̔̌̉̽̓͘̚!̸̢̧̧̫̪̝̗̪̐̈́͒͆̔̾͂̏͑̎̇̒͐͌̚͠͠͠ ̵̨̛̛̹̮̥͔̆͗͒̂͂̇̇̐̓̚̕͠K̶͓̒̑̽̃̌̌͊̇́͊͋̃̑͋͌͝ą̷̙̫̗̩̗̬͉̹̫̍͊͒͌́͋̾̉̾̆̇̏̊̄̕i̴̭̪̳̹̘̻̞̯̗̙̮̖̐̓̇̅̋̐̉̌̋̈͐̽͋̌̽̅̈͘͘ͅt̶̡̧̙̙͚̻̠̰͙̻̤̜͚̜̪̥̜̥̥̰̫̤̜͌͛̈̅͛̉̽̒͒͛ơ̷̡̨̧̨̹̠͉͓̘̹̪̲̱̭̞̺̳̺̫̲̘̦͙̩̓͗͌̈̐̈́̐̄̋̄͘͘͝͠!̵͈͚͎͍̻̠̜̐͗̃͜ ̷̨͎͕̦̩͖̘̲͔͕̥͉͖̤̈́̈̑̈̇̀͠K̴̮̪͋̅͐a̵͎͎͇̞̤͍͉͓̹̮̞͉̹̲̦̼͙̪̻̖̓̏̽͊̌́̽̈́̃̔̎͛̽͜͠i̶͇̠̹̠̣͉̩̯̞̓͋̈́̌̓̈́̽͗̚͠ͅţ̷̢̜̩̞̮̤̠̥̟̤̱͎̥̲̮̆̃̽̑̅͜ͅo̶̭̖͈̲͆̒͆̈̈́͂̒͌͂̓̎̐̒̕͘̚͝!̶̳͖͓̖̏̌̈́̀̅͝”

“It’s just the press! Thank god! Right, Keiko? Keiko? Are you alright?”

“ Ȩ̷̫̣̖̘̫̺͎̳̯̼͓̉̆̃s̸̨̰̱̙̼̰͓̯̳̘͖͉̗̝͓̾̄̾͋̉̈́̔́̃̊̀̄́͜ç̴̼͔͖̾́͂̒̏ą̷̗͔̰͚̱̫̠̜̻͙̙̙͎͛͂̀͒̀͛̋̀́̿̊̉̀̓̄̓͋̈́̓͝p̴̛̛̗̬̖̖̟̣̯̟̼̟̺̭̭̦̭͔͔̖̳̈́̍̄̏͛̋͂̏̐̄͂̂͐̒͘͜ę̶̍͌͒̀́̋͆̾͌̄.̷̧̧̮͍̗̺̟͍̪̬͖̘͎͕̺̞̖̘̿́͛̐ͅ ̷̛̳͕̭̱͚̬̟̺͒̇̓͒̋͒̐͐F̶̧̛̫͖̯̭̺͇̘̯͌̿̅͋͗͆̕̚̕̚͜͝ơ̶̞̖͚̥̻͇̥̭̤̓͋̂̐̓̐̄́̄̊͆̈́͂̑͜͠͝ͅͅŗ̸̘̹̣͔͕̿͌̓̉͒̇̀͐̈́̓͋̄͋͠͝ ̵̧̢͇͎̦͓͇̩̂̒̒̿̄̑̏̈́̆͊̄̃͠͝t̴̢̡̤͖̳͇͔̥͔̮̣͎̖̾̆͊͐̏̃̊̈́͘h̸̡̛͔͓͙̟̦͖̦̜͕̗͙̭̳̻̣̣̳̬̅͒͗͐̂̉͌͂͒́̓̀͘̚ȩ̷̨̢̧̬̟͍̺̗̩͙̟̏̿̃́͊͂̔̕ ̵̣͚͎̺͔̟̟̜͉̲̮̍̆̽̎͛̈̔̐̾͑͘͠b̵̢̛͔̪̙̻͚̯̭̹̱͕̯̻̦͈̘̊̊̌̍̚͜͝o̵̢̤̯̯͎̺͈͕̺̩͂̑͜͜t̸̢̨̟͖̰̞̜̟̭̠͍̺̟̙̃̈̓̈́̂͂̓̋̒̔͆̑̾̓̉͝ͅh̶̠̐̒̈́̓͋͌̏ ̸̨̪̗̯̯̮̘͕̩̑̒͗͊̆̒̽̂͒͒̉͗̀̈͘͠ͅơ̵̢̛̭̠̳̪̦͚̗͇͈͍͚̩̫̺̝͕̲̆͂̌̃̃̈́̉͝͝ͅͅf̷̧̯̭̣͚͔̩̝̤̫̩̿̑̂̈́̇̈̅̍̾͋̽̽̔̑̐͝ͅ ̷̙̭͗̋̋͋̈́̂̚ȕ̶̧̹͍̻͕̠̤̜͔̖͓̺̙̑̽̓̂̋̎̃͘̚ͅs̵̭̬̩̣̖̩̼̠̲͇̥̠̕͜͜.̵̛̦̹̣̤͓̫͔͇̈̐͑̐͂̔̔̄̋̆̀̾̀́̚ͅ ”

Chapter Text

“I promise I’m fine, Dad,” Keiko says for the tenth time. 

During the press break-in, Keiko had fainted. According to Iida, Midoriya, and Uraraka’s accounts, she had turned a ghostly pale when the alarms went off. She let herself be jostled around and didn’t even try to escape. When Iida had stated that it was just the press, that was when Midoriya and Uraraka noticed Keiko’s lack of breathing before she passed out.

“Then tell me what triggered the attack.”

“It’s nothing you have to worry about.”

“You fainted.”

“But that’s nothing new.”

Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why are you so stubborn?”

Keiko shrugs. “Learned from the best.”

He sighs. “Fine. But you are only going to heal, and even then only serious ones. No cuts. No bruises. Just serious ones.”

“Like Greeny’s?”

Aizawa scrunches his nose. “Like Midoriya’s.” 

“He really needs to control that,” he mutters under his breath. 

“USJ! Whoo!” Keiko shouts, punching the air. 

“Okay, go catch up to Thirteen. I’ll meet you there.”

Keiko salutes, and Aizawa ruffles her hair.

___________________________________

“Keiko-san! You’re okay!” Uraraka says.

Keiko is standing next to Thirteen, welcoming the incoming 1-A students.

“Sorry about yesterday,” Keiko says. “I don’t have a good history with loud noises.”

Off to the distance, Aizawa mutters under his breath, “That’s an understatement.”

“Is this Universal Studios Japan!” Pikachu shouts.

“The flood zone, the landslide zone, the fire zone. I built every possible disaster and accident you can think of. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.”

Keiko stands to side with Aizawa. “Where’s All Might?” Aizawa asks.

Keiko flinches. Aizawa catches it and glares. “Don’t tell me.”

A sweatdrop rolls down the side of her face as she holds three fingers to her side.

Aizawa growls. “I understand that he’s the Symbol of Peace, but he’s a teacher now. He needs to learn how to balance the two.”

Keiko chuckles and focuses her attention to Thirteen’s briefing. She sees the excited faces on the students, especially Uraraka and Midoriya. As she’s scanning the faces, she sees a familiar purple mist form near the fountain. 

“I really do apologize, but I wouldn’t have used my quirk if you had been obedient.”

She sees villains coming out of the portal, all people she doesn’t recognize. However, she does recognize four: Shigaraki, Kurogiri, the Nomu, and …

“Long time no see, Keiko! Father dearest has missed you greatly!”

“I hope you learned your lesson, you piece of shit. This is what happens when you disobey me.”

Keiko’s breath gets caught in her throat, the ringing in her ear drowning all noise around her. She doesn’t realize Kurogiri spreading his mist, or Aizawa’s attempt to catch her as she falls into a portal beneath her. 

The portal drops her in front of Shigaraki. She can see the grin forming underneath his mask. 

“We’ve missed you greatly. It was unfortunate that the League’s contract with your father had ended, but when he was arrested, it was the perfect opportunity to get you back.”

Keiko steps away from him but is stopped by something behind her. She looks back and sees Father looming over her, grinning. 

“Did you really think you could escape me?” he asks, grabbing a handful of her hair. 

She feels a shockwave pass through her body, and she gasps in pain. 

“I’ll leave her to you,” Shigaraki says.

Father grins, and a shiver runs down her spine. “With pleasure.”

“Keiko!”

She looks to the direction of the voice and sees Aizawa approaching. 

Father drops Keiko. “I’ll deal with him,” he says, cracking his knuckles. 

“No,” Shigaraki says, running towards him. “I will.”

She sees Aizawa make contact with him, and when he gets close enough, Shigaraki grabs his elbow. The skin around it starts to crumble. 

Keiko makes an attempt to run towards them, but Father punches her in the guts. 

“Not so fast,” he says as Keiko gasps for air. 

A loud crash catches her attention, and she sees Nomu pin Aizawa to the ground, break his arm, and slam his head into the ground. 

A pool of blood forms around his body. She can’t hear his screams anymore, and he isn’t moving. Keiko crawls towards him, but she can’t feel the warmth that was once there. She tries to heal him, but nothing happens. Still, she doesn’t give up.

“Your wasting your time,” Father says, blood dripping from his hands. 

She looks at him and sees drops of blood on his face. 

He grins. “After all, you can’t heal the dead.”

Keiko slams her hands on the ground and channels her quirk in the form of waves towards Aizawa. Immediately, a yellow glow surrounds him, healing his wounds. However, she feels her quirk forcefully cut off, sending pain through her skull. 

“Did you really think you could overpower mine?” Father asks. “You got those waves from me .”

To prove his point, he sends a shockwave at her, propelling her backwards. She slams into a tree, and a searing pain shoots through her head. She crumbles, and her vision swirls.

Father approaches her and holds her by the throat. Keiko kicks her legs to get out of his grasp, coughing for breath.

“You got arrogant while you were with the heroes,” Father says. “I’m going to have to reteach you.”

Keiko’s body gives in from habit. This used to be such a common occurrence, and dissociating always helped. 

“That’s better,” Father coos. 

However, before she’s completely consumed, she sees Shigaraki approach Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta. 

In that moment, a new vigor sparks within her. She grabs Father’s arms and transfers her pain to him. This part of her quirk is from Mother, in which she can force her pain onto someone else, like how Mother can force her quirk onto someone. 

“Gah!” he yells, dropping her. 

Keiko doesn’t waste this moment and runs towards the group. 

But it’s too late.

She sees Shigaraki grab Asui’s face, her face crumbles into dust, her screams etch into her memory, and Keiko can do nothing to stop it. 

“You’re so cool, Eraserhead.”

Asui’s face remains intact. It didn’t crumble away, and her high-pitched scream isn’t etched into her memory.

Keiko doesn’t hesitate and tackles Shigaraki away from the group.

“Keiko!” Midoriya screams. 

She and Shigaraki wrestle on the ground, and his hand grabs her arm. She feels the familiar feeling of his quirk, her skin, muscles, and bones crumbling into dust. However, the pain is nothing new. It’s something she used to deal with on a daily basis. So she doesn’t scream. She doesn’t stop. 

Instead, she adapts. Instead of healing her arm like all those times in the past, she channels her pain onto Shigaraki. 

“Argh!” he yells. “Shit, Nomu!”

Something slams on top of her, and she can feel a strong pressure on her back. The Nomu grabs her arm and breaks it. 

She doesn’t cry out, though. She knows that’s exactly what Shigaraki wants. 

He walks towards her and crouches down to her level. “Do you give in?”

Keiko spits at his face. “Over my dead body.”

Shigaraki sighs. “Such a shame. It seems I’m going to need bring you without your limbs. I was planning to do that at base, but I suppose I can do that now.”

Keiko braces for the pain as he reaches for her arm when the door slams open. 

“Do not fear, for I am here.”

Keiko looks over and sees All Might standing near the entrance. She sees his eyes blaze when they land on her.

In a flash, he grabs Aizawa, Midoriya, Asui, Mineta, and Keiko and places them away from danger. 

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here,” All Might says, looking at Keiko’s arm, or lack thereof.

Keiko grins. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about me, and please be careful.”

All Might pats her head. “I will,” he says before he runs towards the villains.

Keiko stands up and winces. Five of her ribs are broken, and she still has a concussion. 

“Are you okay?” Mineta asks, looking at her lack of an arm.

Keiko nods. “I can rebuild by arm. It’s no biggie.”

“But doesn’t it hurt?”

Keiko blinks. It’s been awhile since someone has asked. She’s so used to having cold eyes directed at her, not ones of concern.

She grins. “Don’t worry. My pain tolerance is higher than the average person. For now, though, let’s focus on Aizawa-sensei.”

The three nod. Keiko focuses on healing any life-threatening wounds on him. After those were taken care of, Midoriya and Mineta carry him and make their way to the entrance. However, the entire time, Midoriya looks distracted, constantly looking back at All Might. She can see the worry in his expression. Does he know about All Might’s weakness? 

“Midoriya,” Keiko calls. “Go help.”

He nods and rushes in to help. Keiko and Asui take Midoriya’s place and start carrying him up the stairs. 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Keiko turns around just in time to see Father pull his arm back. However, the punch doesn’t connect as Kirishima barrels into him. 

“Go! Get to safety!”

Keiko nods, and the three quickly make their way up. She hears an explosion, and when she looks back, she sees Bakugou land a hit on Kurogiri and frost covering the Nomu. Despite her desire to help them, she knows that she can’t do anything. 

They bring Aizawa to the entrance, and she sees Thirteen’s back gone. 

Uraraka sees the condition she’s in and gasps. “Are you okay? What happened to your arm?”

“That’s not important right now,” she says. 

She places Aizawa next to Thirteen before touching both of their arms. A yellow glow encompasses both of them, healing their injuries. Once all the life-threatening ones were gone, she releases the air she was holding.

Uraraka and Ashido tackle Keiko.

“Thank you for saving them!”

“You’re so cool!”

Their attention is grabbed by All Might punching the Nomu out of the USJ. While everyone is staring at All Might in awe, Keiko recognizes the mist coming out of him. He has reached his limits. Before the villains can do anything, though, she sees a bullet strike Shigaraki and Father. 

Keiko turns to see the UA staff standing in front of the door, Iida at their side.

The tension in her body is released as she feels the reassurance radiating off of the teachers. 

Seeing the odds against him, Shigaraki and Father start retreating into the portal. 

“You may have won this time,” Shigaraki says, “but the next time we meet, All Might, you’re dead.”

Keiko catches Father’s expression and sees him grin. A shiver runs down her spine as he disappears.

Silence overcomes the USJ, the danger gone. 

Keiko feels her body swaying from exhaustion. The mental and physical strain is starting to shut her down. However, before she can, she still has a job to do. 

She places her hand flat on the ground and channels her quirk, pinpointing all the injured students and teachers. A pillar of yellow light engulfs them, immediately healing their wounds. Area heal, a new aspect of her quirk that she created with Aizawa. Based on her energy level, the duration of the skill varies. With her current level, though, she’s only able to hold on for a couple seconds, which is enough time to heal any big wounds. 

She releases her quirk, and her vision immediately blurs. She sees the darkness taking over and vaguely feels herself hitting the floor, people calling her name. 

Keiko ignores her surroundings and closes her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Keiko is looking down from the USJ entrance.

All she can see, though, is destruction. Thirteen only has half his helmet. Iida’s torso is cut in half by Kurogiri’s quirk. Aizawa’s body is beaten into a pulp, his body submerged in a puddle of blood. Asui and Mineta’s faces are reduced to dust. All Might and Midoriya have all their limbs pulled out. Kirishima, Bakugou, and Todoroki look like a bulldozer rolled over them, their limp bodies leaning against the trees. She hears the screams of students she can’t see, crying for help.

Keiko collapses onto her knees and leans down, covering her ears. 

“Why didn’t you save them?”

Keiko turns around. The USJ fades into black, and all there is in this black space is her and the boy in front of her. 

Her breath gets stuck in her throat as the familiar black haired boy stands in front of her. His emotionless black eyes stare into her soul. 

“Why didn’t you save them?” he asks again.

Keiko opens her mouth, but no words come out. 

“Why didn’t you save them?” he repeats. 

The dead body in the middle of a pool of blood. His screams silenced. The life in his eyes gone.

“W̵̯̑̈h̵̢̠̭̬͓͓͍̱͔̤͓̗̺͖͆̓̚ͅẏ̵̨͉͎̲̙̹̱͚͚̬̬̖̩̗̭̒̎̑ ̸̧̨̣̭̜̦̟͉̪͙̣͛̽̇͑͋͜͜d̸̥̹̪̣̗̤̬̳̖̟͎̺͚̭͌̃̊̄̏̐̌̑i̶̩͖͈̪͍̠͉͋d̴̢̢͈̲̩͎̩̖̪̙̻̊̆͝n̵̛̝͓̗̗͉̟̫̻̓͆͐̓͌́̇̓̐̋̆͆͘͘͜ '̶̳̠̪̤͉̘̼͓͑͑̇̈́̅͆͌̇ͅţ̸̨̢̛͖̲͔͖̞͔̪͆̊͐̽̆͌̕̚ͅ ̵̧̺̲͚̜̻̬̖̗̞͓͓̟̬̹̊̄͒͝y̵̡͙͖̥͎̝̦̗̥̫͒͑͌̄̂̃̋͒͛̾͠͝ơ̸̼̞̯̼͍̐͋̂̓̑̒̓̽̚̚͝ư̴̡̟̞̝͖̳̣̤̈̽̍̅͐͂͘̚ ̸͚͖͕̣͔̣̬̂͋̍s̶̙̗̳͎͓͈̖̹̪̳͈̼̋̑͜͝ͅa̵̹̳̹̓̊̾̃̕v̷̨̥̘͐͑̈́̑̆̐̋̈͘͝e̴̛̩̞͔̮̘̟̝̭͑͌̎̎͋͐̽̌͆̊͒͝ ̶̡̢͍̰̦̣̝̀̓͒m̴̨͙͎̹͍̗̣̻̭͇͇̔̎̆̽͛̋͠͠e̶̛̹̮͙̗͍̠̰͍̯̼̬̘̿̍̍̒͘ͅ?̸̛̟̱͉̭̔͛̎̓̍̽̓́͂̐̋̽”

Keiko’s eyes fly open, and she wakes up in a cold sweat. Her chest is going up and down quickly, and her breath is ragged. 

“Are you okay?”

She sees Aizawa at her side, his eyebrows scrunched in worry.

Relief fills her when she sees the lack of blood and pounded body parts. 

“Dad, you’re okay” she cries, tears flowing down her eyes.

Aizawa’s expression softens. He helps her sit up and hugs her, stroking her hair. “I’m fine. I came out with less injuries because of you.”

“What about everyone else?” Keiko whispers.

“They’re okay, too. Because of you, no one was seriously hurt. Even most of All Might’s wounds were reversed. So the one who came out the most injured was you, with broken ribs, a broken arm, a missing arm, and a concussion.”

She bites her lip. “I was so useless.”

Aizawa stops stroking her hair. “What makes you say that?”

“I couldn’t do anything. All I can do is heal after the damage was done. Everyone was fighting the League, and all I could do was watch. I should have been the one to fight them. At least I can’t die. If the others die, I can’t heal them.”

She whispers, “You can’t heal the dead.”

Aizawa grabs her shoulder and pulls her away. “Look at me.”

Once she looks up, he says, “You were not useless. If it weren’t for you, Thirteen and I would have injuries that would have permanently affected us. If it weren’t for you, All Might’s time would have lessened more than it already did. If it weren’t for you, some of the students would have exited that fight with more serious injuries I even heard you tackled the ringleader to get him away from Midoriya, Asui, and Mineta. And what you’re aiming for is a recovering hero. As a recovery hero, you did what you were supposed to do. You healed the injured and got them to safety. You made sure no one died.”

“But someone could have!”

“But they didn’t. A million things could have gone wrong during the villain attack, but they didn’t. And one of the reasons is because you did something. You healed, you protected, you fought. You. Were. Not. Useless.”

By the time he finished his speech, new tears were streaming down her face.

Aizawa hugs her again, and she wraps her arm around him, softly crying on his chest. 

___________________________________

“Do you have enough energy, sweetheart?” Recovery Girl asks. 

Keiko got the okay from Recovery Girl to use her quirk. Recovery Girl wanted to make sure Keiko’s quirk hadn’t caused any damage when she overused it during the USJ attack. 

Keiko nods. “I slept for a long time, and I had food. I’m good.”

Recovery Girl asks a couple more questions before she gives Keiko the okay to start. Following the recovery hero’s directions, Keiko concentrated her quirk on only her missing arm. The stub was surrounded by a yellow glow and began to grow, from the upper arm to the elbow to the forearm to the wrist and finally to the hand. She opens and closes her hand and bends her elbow a couple of times, making sure that it’s functioning correctly. Recovery Girl does some tests on to make sure that there aren’t any side effects. 

“You’re all good, sweetheart,” Recovery Girl says. “Just don’t overdo it.”

Keiko nods, chewing on the gummies the heroine gave her. 

“Oh, yeah! Dad, how long was I asleep?”

Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “For a whole day. It’s a day after the attack.”

Keiko’s eyes widen. “What are you doing here? What about your teacher duties?”

“School’s cancelled for a day,” he yawns. “The two of us need to go to the briefing for your testimony, but only if you’re up for it.”

“I don’t mind,” Keiko says, already swinging her legs off the bed. “The faster I get it over with, the better.”

Aizawa stares at her for a moment before getting up. “I’ll tell Nezu. Go meet up with Hizashi and Nemuri.”

“‘Kay!” Keiko says before disappearing into the vent.

___________________________________

Keiko swings her legs back-and-forth, waiting for the briefing to start. She’s sitting in between Hizashi and Nemuri, and Aizawa is across the table from her. 

Tsukauchi and Nezu walk in, signalling the start of the meeting. 

Tsukauchi opens a folder. “If it’s alright, I’d like to start with Keiko’s testimony.”

“I don’t mind,” Keiko says. She described her experience in great detail, excluding nothing, not even her brief reunion with Father. 

By the end of her testimony, Kayama grabs Keiko into her arms. “My poor baby, having to fight nasty villains!”

Keiko really wants to reassure the heroine, but she’s more concerned about her lack of breath. 

“Can you please not suffocate my daughter?”

Kayama finally releases her from her death hold but still continues to wrap her arms around her. “Kill joy.”

“I prefer my daughter alive.”

Keiko taps Kayama’s arms. “It’s okay, Muri. I like your hugs.”

Kayama squeals and cuddles her. “Someone appreciates my hugs.”

Aizawa rolls his eyes. 

Tsukauchi clears his throat. “I hate to be the one to ruin the fun, but can I inform our current knowledge about the villains?”

The rest of the staff members chuckle as the three nod.

“Even though I say that, we know almost nothing about them. The one named Shigaraki has a quirk that can disintegrate whatever he touches, and Kurogiri can create teleportation portals. We know a bit more information about Sora, as he was in one of our previous cases. His quirk is shockwave and can create ripples in the air. He was in prison before the USJ.”

“How did he escape?” Aizawa asks.

“We can only speculate,” Tsukauchi responds. “The guards went in to check on him, but he had disappeared. The quirk cancelling cuffs were nowhere to be found, so based on his connection to the League of Villains, we suspect that Shigaraki disintegrated the cuffs and the two escaped through Kurogiri’s portal.”

Tsukauchi glances at the room before adding, “If there is anything to add, please put your input.”

“I don’t know if this will help,” Keiko says, “but their hideout is a bar.”

“Can you elaborate?” Tsukauchi asks, writing on his notepad.

“I don’t actually know what the exterior looks like or where the location is, but their common room as a bar.”

Tsukauchi nods. “Anything else?”

Keiko racks her brain. “I think they also have someone behind the scene.”

“What makes you say so?”

“There was this tv that was audio only. Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Father always referred to him as Sensei. Whenever Shigaraki got stuck, Sensei would appear to help him.”

Nezu places his paws on his chin. “So Shigaraki is very similar to our students.”

All Might nods. “He was very similar to a man-child during our encounter, revealing the Nomu’s quirk and becoming frustrated when things didn’t go his way.”

“A very dangerous situation,” Tsukauchi says. “I believe that we can end this meeting here. If there are any information that is revealed, we will inform you.”

The UA staff bow the detective goodbye and start to leave. 

“Psst,” Yamada says, gaining Keiko’s attention as she’s unscrewing the vents. “Do you want to be a commentator for the Sports Festival this year?”

“My answer is the same as it had been for years,” Keiko responds. 

Yamada deflates, and Kayama grins. “I told you. Now you owe me dinner.”

As he laments on his loss, Aizawa asks, “Still keeping up your cryptid status?”

Keiko does a seesaw motion. “Kinda. That’s part of it, but it might show favoritism towards this year. Especially after the USJ, the media will get a scoop out of it for sure.”

Aizawa shrugs. “Guess your right. So are you going to be helping Recovery Girl like previous years?”

“Yup,” Keiko says, popping the ‘p’. 

“Hey,” Kayama says. “Since Yamada is paying me dinner, wanna join us? The more, the merrier.”

“No,” Aizawa denies immediately.

She sets her eyes on Keiko, who freezes.

“Hey, Keiko. Wanna join us for dinner? The more, the merrier, right ?” she grins.

“Stop threatening the kid,” Aizawa growls.

Kayama makes a shoo-shoo motion at Aizawa and continues to stare at Keiko.

Keiko sighs. “Fine. Just no alcohol. I do not want to deal with a drunk Zashi and Muri again.”

“Yes!” Kayama shouts in victory. “Let’s get drunk tonight!”

“Hey, didn’t she just say-”

“Woohoo!” Hizashi shouts, hooking his arm around Aizawa’s shoulder.

Keiko laughs. 

After a chaotic day fighting villains, it’s nice to have a normal night with Zashi, Muri, and Dad.

___________________________________

“Did you hear about the girl whose whole left side was cut off? She’s all right now.”

Yamada, Kayama, and Aizawa stare at Keiko, who is grabbing a meat from the grill.

“Order me some beer.”

“Nooooooo! Dad, I’m sorry-not-sorry. Don’t driiiiiiiink!”

Chapter Text

“Let’s visit Keiko once class is over,” Uraraka says. 

“Yes,” Iida agrees. “It is the duty of the class representative to ensure that all of my classmates are healthy.”

“But Keiko-chan isn’t in our class, ribbit,” Asui comments.

Keiko covers her mouth to restrain her giggles. She is currently hiding inside the teacher’s podium, waiting for the perfect opportunity to reveal herself. 

She hears the class quiet down and the chairs scraping against the floor. Her suspicions are confirmed when Aizawa’s feet appear in front of her. 

“I’m glad you’re doing well, sensei!” Iida shouts. “We are wondering if Keiko is doing the same?”

“Boo!” Keiko shouts, popping out.

She is pleased when a couple of the kids shout in surprise. She especially loves Kaminiari’s, who emitted a small spark, shocking people in his vicinity. 

She giggles as Kirishima shakes Kaminiari’s shoulders while Jirou yells at him. 

“We’re glad that you are well,” Yaoyorozu says. “We were very worried about your health.”

“Thanks!” Keiko says. “As you can see, I’m doing good.”

She rotates her left arm to prove her point. 

“How is your arm back?” Mineta asks. 

“Wait, her arm was gone?” Kaminari asks.

Ashido nods. “Yeah! We saw her carrying Aizawa-sensei up to where we were, and I was really surprised to see her arm gone! I don’t know what happened but it scared me really badly, especially when she collapsed!”

Keiko feels her cheeks heat up and rubs the back of her neck. “Yeah, it must have been a big shock. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“There’s nothing to apologize!” Midoriya says. “You saved us from Shigaraki when you tackled him!”

“She tackled the leader?!”

“That’s awesome!”

“So manly!”

The heat on her cheeks increase as the class continues to shout compliments. She looks at Aizawa, who smirks at her. Unable to withstand the atmosphere, she grabs her grappling hook and throws it at the vent, swinging towards it. She unscrews it, wriggles into it, and screws it back with lightning speed. 

___________________________________

Ding dong ding dong. Dong ding dong ding.

Keiko opens her eyes and blearily stares at the blue sky above her.

To calm down, she crawled to the roof, where she was taking a nap. 

She rubs the sleep out of her eyes and looks around. Based on the chattering, she’s guessing that it’s lunch time. 

She stretches before making her way to the principal’s office. She waves to a couple third years that she recognizes. 

She opens the door to Nedzu’s office. “Hey, Nedzu!”

A shiver runs down her spine when she catches the dangerous glint in his eyes. “Hello, Keiko!”

“Iiiiiii’ll just grab this and go,” Keiko says, grabbing her bento and escaping through the vents.

“Have fun!”

Nope, Keiko refuses to have lunch with Nedzu today. She’s gonna eat with Aizawa. 

She passes by the murmurs of conversation as she makes her way to the teacher’s facility, determined to have enough time left to eat her onigiri. 

“You have a villain’s quirk.”

Keiko stops in her tracks. 

She backtracks, looking through the vent she passed. Based on the top of the heads she sees, she’s on the ceiling, and right underneath are two boys, one with bangs covering his eyes (I dub thee Bangs) and the other with shells along his back (I dub thee Armadillo), cornering someone with lilac hair (I dub thee Catmint). 

Bangs pushes Catmint’s shoulder. “How did you even get accepted with a quirk like that?” 

“Maybe he brainwashed them,” Armadillo snickers. 

She sees Catmint’s knuckles grow white from gripping his hands into a fist. 

“I’ve had enough,” Keiko thinks. 

“Only a villain would think to brainwash the top school,” Bangs says as Keiko quietly unscrews the vents.

“Maybe he’s affiliated with those-”

Keiko drops in front of them, interrupting Armadillo.

“What’d you say about a villain’s quirk?” Keiko asks, her hands on her hips. 

The bullies stare at her in shock. Probably due to her entrance. 

Bangs snaps out of his stupor. “Who do you think you are to interrupt our conversation?”

“Who do you think you are to interrupt my conversation?” Keiko huffs. 

The bullies stare at her. 

“But you weren’t in a conversation,” Armadillo says. 

“What if we were having a telepathic communication?” Keiko responds. 

“Uhh…” 

“Anyways,” Bangs says, “why are you protecting a villain?”

Keiko tilts her head. “I’m not protecting you, though.” 

“Pft,” Catmint splutters behind her. 

Bangs and Armadillo glare at her. 

“He’s the one with a villain’s quirk,” Armadillo says. “Do you even know what his quirk is?”

“Nope,” Keiko says, popping the ‘p’.

Bangs grins, as if he has already proven his point. “It’s brainwashing.” 

Keiko tilts her head the other way. “And?”

Bangs and Armadillo stare at her in shock. 

“ And? ” Keiko asks again. 

“His quirk is brainwashing, a villain’s quirk,” Armadillo repeats as if the answer should have been obvious. “He shouldn’t be in a hero school.” 

Keiko gives them a deadpan stare. “Have you even met villains?” 

The two look at each other. 

“Thought so,” Keiko says, crossing her arms. 

“Have you ?” Bangs asks.

“I mean, 1-A had a recent encounter with a couple,” Keiko responds. “I was there as a healer.” 

“Then you should know first hand that brainwashing is a villain’s quirk,” Bangs shouts. 

Keiko rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I saw them first hand. One of them had a quirk that makes her hair long. Is that a villain’s quirk? I didn’t think so. It’s not the quirk that decides your future. It’s what you decide your future to be. And from the looks of it, you guys are on your way to being villains, being bullies and all.” 

The two lean back in shock. Keiko finally turns around to face Catmint, who’s staring at her with the same expression. 

Keiko flashes him a grin. She takes out her grappling hook and throws it at the ceiling vent. 

“Can you climb ropes?” she asks. 

Catmint nods. 

“Well, get climbing.”

Catmint stares at her in disbelief. 

“Do you want to go through this crowd?”

Catmint looks conflicted when he sees the crowd before him, but he finally chooses to climb the rope. By the time he’s in, Keiko grabs the rope. 

“Oh yeah,” she says. “Nedzu has cameras everywhere. Good luck dealing with him. He takes quirk discrimination seriously.” 

She climbs the rope with quick ease and screws the vent back in place. 

Catmint sits crossed-leg on the other side of the vent. “Why did you help me?”

“Why not?” Keiko asks. 

“Didn’t you hear them?” Catmint asks. “I have a villain’s quirk. I can brainwash you.”

“Did you hear what I said?” Keiko asks. “It’s the person who makes a villain, not the quirk. Besides, you haven’t brainwashed me yet, so you’re not a bad person.” 

“What if I did?” Catmint asks. 

“But you didn’t,” Keiko responds. 

Catmint sighs before averting his gaze. “Thanks for defending me back there. No one’s really done that for me.”

Keiko flashes a grin at him. “You’re welcome. I just can’t stand someone being bullied.”

Catmint nods. “So how do I get out?” 

“Follow me. I was heading to the teacher’s facility before that whole fiasco.”

Catmint follows her to the teacher’s facility.

“I’m back!” she calls. 

“About time,” Aizawa grumbles. “What took you so long?”

“Saved Catmint here from bullies,” Keiko responds as she digs through Aizawa’s mini-fridge.

“Catmint?” Aizawa and Catmint ask at the same time. 

Keiko shrugs. “Catmints are lilac. Your hair’s lilac. Catmint.” 

Keiko throws a jelly pack to Catmint. “Have one. You probably haven’t eaten lunch yet. I would share my lunch with you, but I only have one onigiri today.”

Aizawa raises an eyebrow. “I thought you had two?”

“I thought so, too,” Keiko nods. “But when I opened it while helping Muri grade papers, one of them was missing.”

She side-glances at Zashi, who’s sitting suspiciously still.

“I wonder who took it.~”

He frantically scribbles on his papers, ignoring Keiko’s stare.

Keiko grins and returns her attention to Catmint and Aizawa.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Catmint says before sucking on the jelly.

Keiko blinks. She looks at her dad.

He sighs. “You unleashed your inner Nedzu.”

___________________________________

Nedzu asks Keiko to deliver a folder to Power Loader. 

As she’s been Nedzu’s student for years, she suspects some ulterior motives, seeing the glint of amusement in his eyes. But she doesn’t think too deeply into it, as it tends to make one crazy if they try to decipher his thoughts. 

Keiko walks toward Power Loader’s classroom, humming Twinkle-Twinkle-Little-Star. When she reaches it, she opens the classroom.

“Delivery from Principal-”

BOOM!

Keiko is met with a cloud of soot when she opens the door. It’s not strong enough to send her flying but enough that she’s covered from head to toe. 

“You alright,” Power Loader asks. 

Keiko coughs. “Better than whoever was closer. Anyway, delivery.” 

She hands the folder to Power Loader. “Who was it that created the explosion?” 

Power Loader sighs and points at a pink-haired girl, who’s laughing and already tinkering away. 

“That’s Hatsume Mei. She’s a genius and doesn’t fear failure, but I wish she would tone it down with the explosions. It happens everyday.” 

Keiko shrugs. “I don’t know. Makes things lively in here.” 

Mechanic stops tinkering. She spots Keiko and zooms towards her. 

“Do you need any support weapons?” she asks excitedly. “I can show you some of my babies.” 

Before Keiko can respond, she’s dragged by Mechanic to her mountain of inventions. 

“This baby can increase your strength ten fold, while this one can let you hover,” she says. “Ooh! What about this one? This baby can make you jump reeeeeeeeally high!”

Keiko blinks at her infinite amount of energy. “You really like inventing, don’t you.”

“Yup,” Mechanic says. “So, which baby do you want to try out?” 

Keiko puts her finger on her chin. “I’m not interested in any of your current babies, but maybe you can make some for me? My only equipment right now is a grappling hook, so if you can think of something that can help me protect against villains, that would be helpful. Also, I would like some sort of pouch that I can hang my hook on and carry candy.”

Stars shine in Mechanic’s eyes. “I can definitely do that. Any restrictions?” 

“Obviously no explosions,” Keiko says. “I’m also planning to be a Recovery Hero, so you should keep that in mind. Other than that…”

She grins. “Experiment to your heart’s content.” 

Mechanic returns the grin before disappearing.

“I don’t know if that last part was a safe idea,” Power Loader cautions. 

Keiko shrugs. “She’s a genius. She can figure out what’s practical or not.”

___________________________________

[Messaging “Shinsou Hitoshi”]

[Keiko =^owo^=] has changed [Shinsou Hitoshi] to [Catmint]

[Keiko =^owo^=]

You are not an early bird or

a night owl. You are some

sort of permanently exhausted

pigeon.

[Catmint]

…

[Keiko =^owo^=]

:)

[Catmint]

Hey, look on the bright side, 

only three more sleeps 

‘til Christmas.

[Keiko =^owo^=]

!!!0O0!!!

Chapter Text

Keiko pops a takoyaki into her mouth, watching the animated faces of the crowd waiting for the event to start. 

The Sports Festival is upon them, and she’s quite excited for it, especially since her friends are participating. 

Her phone rings. She sees Nedzu on the screen.

“Hey,” Keiko says, positioning the phone between her head and shoulder.

“Hello, Keiko! I hope you’re enjoying the festival.”

“Yup,” she responds, popping a takoyaki into her mouth.

“Well, I’m sure this will make your experience much better. You’ll be participating in the Sports Festival this year!”

She chokes.

“What?” Keiko coughs. “I’m not even a part of the school! And aren’t I gonna be on standby with Recovery Girl like previous years?”

“Well, we talked about it with the staff members, but we want you to enjoy your youth! And the best way to do that is to participate in the tournament!”

Keiko opens her mouth to argue but instead sighs. There’s no escaping the principal when he has his mind on something. “Fine, but I have few conditions.”

___________________________________

Keiko sighs again as she stands with Class 1-C, waiting to be called.

“Keiko? What are you doing here?”

She turns around to see Shinsou approaching her. “Nedzu forced me to participate this year, saying to enjoy my youth with people my age.”

Shinsou’s eyes widen. “You’re our age?”

Keiko raises one of her eyebrows. “What, you thought I was younger?”

“Nah,” Shinsou says, “thought you were a 100-year-old grandma that had a quirk to remain young.”

“Understandable, since it explains how I’m wiser than you.”

“True, true.”

“Welcome to UA’s Sports Festival!” Yamada announces, signalling the start of the event. “Up first, we have the miraculous class who brushed off a villain attack. It’s the first year hero course, Class A!”

A cheer welcomes the first year before Yamada continues, “Then we have hero course Class B, general studies Classes C, D, and E, and support classes Classes F, G, and H!”

Keiko whistles when she sees the crowd cheering for them. “Quite the crowd.”

Shinsou grunts in agreement. 

The referee for the first years goes on stage. 

“Geh,” Keiko says when she sees who the referee is.

“I heard that!” Kayama exclaims, pointing her whip towards Keiko’s direction. “Anyway, the athlete’s oath will be said by your representative, Katsuki Bakugou!”

“Geh!” Keiko says again as she sees Bakugou walk up the stage. “This is gonna be a disaster.”

Bakugou gets up to the mic. “I pledge to be number one.”

Keiko facepalms as people around her complain. 

“Well, at least he’s not being purely arrogant,” she says, sliding her hand down her face. 

Shinsou raises one of his eyebrows. “What are you talking about? It sounded like pure arrogance to me.”

Keiko shrugs. “I know when someone’s being arrogant. Bakugou said that without smiling and without his chin up. So he’s not looking down on us. Or at least, I don’t think so.”

“Huh,” Shinsou says. 

“And our first event is the obstacle course! You can do whatever as long as you stay on course!”

The students get into position. 

“Well, I guess it’s time. See you at the finish line,” Shinsou says. 

Keiko salutes. “See ya.”

“Start!”

Keiko does not start. She actually waits for a little while. She knows the first filter is going to be the gate, seeing as how narrow it is. She has her grappling hook, but she’s not willing to expose herself. It’ll ruin her plans otherwise. 

She sees Todoroki and a couple other Class 1-A students break through.

“Guess I’ll start,” Keiko says.

She throws her grappling hook to the top of the gate, swinging over the crowd of students and quickly passing the first filter. 

She sprints towards the robot, maneuvering past the shocked students. She swings her hook around the robot’s neck a couple times before yanking, swinging over them.

She rolls to soften the impact and doesn’t stop, too into the moment. It’s been a while since she’s felt euphoria like this, swinging freely past obstacles. 

Keiko continues to run full speed, even when she gets closer and closer to the Fall. Instead of slowing down, though, she immediately throws the hook to the other side of the cliff and leaps. She lands on the side of the cliff and climbs up before sprinting again. 

Ahead, she sees Todoroki and Bakugou fighting against each other for the lead. She also spots Midoriya digging up a pile of bombs. As she wonders what the hell Midoriya is doing, a lightbulb goes off her head, and she smiles. Looks like those two won’t be staying in the lead for long. 

To prove her theory, Midoriya leaps on top of the bombs and shoots to the lead. Keiko grins as she sees him soar through the sky. She really wants to try that, but she doesn’t have the materials necessary. Maybe she’ll ask Hatsume to recreate it for her.

Keiko nimbly avoids the bombs as if she is dancing. The bombs going off beside her only encourage her to strive further. 

It’s only when she passes the finish gate that she realizes she went through the course too quickly. 

Keiko didn’t planned to move into the next course. She just wanted to enjoy the first one without coming into the top 42. She really hopes Nedzu will keep his promise. 

“Good job out there,” Shinsou congratulates. “I was actually surprised when you zoomed past everyone.”

“Thanks,” Keiko says. “I probably won’t advance into the next round, though.”

Shinsou raises one of his eyebrows. “And why is that?”

“I don’t want to gain attention,” Keiko says. “Part of the reason why I rejected Mic’s proposal to join him in the commentator's  box. If I continue, I’ll gain spotlight, and I don’t want that.”

“Pretty sure a few pros already have their eyes one you,” Shinsou comments.

“All the more reason not to advance.”

“And here are the top 42!”

Keiko fervently looks for her name, or lack of.

Shinsou smirks. “Guess your free.”

Keiko sighs. “Thankfully.”

She holds her hand out for a high-five. “See you later.”

Shinsou returns it. “See ya.”

___________________________________

Keiko skips down the hallways, completely satisfied with that last scene from the Cavalry Battle. She had been sitting on the edge of her seat as she saw Midoriya and Bakugou attempt to swipe the 10 million points from Todoroki. 

“Hey, Resident UA Kid!”

Keiko jumps and turns around, but she releases the breath she’s holding when she sees a familiar face.

“Hey, Agent Emmet.”

He flashes a grin and claps Keiko on her back. 

“What’s with the formality?” he asks. “Just call me Kenta like in the past.”

Murata Kenta, aka Agent Emmet, a rising Recovery Hero who can lift objects ten times his weight. He’s gaining popularity as a hero who can lift any debris and is therefore a must in earthquake rescue missions. Keiko met him when he was a student at UA as he was a frequent visitor to the infirmary office when he was learning the limits of his quirk.

“Didn’t expect you to be part of the Festival,” Kenta admits.

“That makes two of us,” Keiko sighs.

Kenta claps her on the back. “Hey, don’t be so moody. At least it was fun, yeah? You were sporting a pretty big smile.”

Keiko blushes and clasps her cheeks. “I was?”

Kenta laughs. “Sure was! I like that Keiko much more than the timid one I knew way back when. Not that anything was wrong with that Keiko. You just looked more free.”

Keiko’s blush deepens. “Anyway,” she says, trying to divert the conversation away from her. “Are you also here to look for an intern?”

Kenta nods. “Yup! I also found the perfect one.”

“Really? Who?”

He grins at Keiko.

“Me?” she yells. “But I’m not even a part of this school!”

Kenta laughs. “Don’t worry about the details! Besides, I already got permission from Nedzu and Recovery Girl!”

Keiko stares at him with her mouth open. “You’re serious?”

He grins. “100% serious.”

Keiko returns the smile. “Then I’m 100% onboard. This is one of the few opportunities I’ll get to gain field experience.”

Kenta’s smile widens. “Man, my agency will be so happy when they realize I’ve got you onboard. When they knew realized that I knew who you were, they were so adamant on me reserving you to our agency. It was the most motivated that I’ve ever seen them.”

Kenta’s phone rings. “Speak of the devil. Well, I’ll see you around!”

Keiko waves goodbye as he answers his phone.

She turns around and continues to skip down the hallway. It’s the first time a hero has asked for her internship. Well, it was the first time that she’s participated in the Sports Festival afterall. 

Keiko snaps out of her reverie when she spots Bakugou up ahead, standing next to a doorway. 

He also spots Keiko and does the shoo-shoo movement angrily. 

Keiko scowls and crosses her arms. If Bakugou wants her gone, there’s definitely something going on.

As she approaches him, much to his annoyance, she hears voices down the hall. They sound like Todoroki and Midoriya.

She’s about to round the corner to greet them, but Bakugou grabs her and covers her mouth.

“Mmmrghhmm!”

“Will you be quiet?” Bakugou whisper-yells. 

Keiko continues to flail but stops when she hears Todoroki ask, “Have you heard of quirk marriages?”

Her eyes grow wide. She’s heard about them before, but she would never have guessed for Todoroki to be born from one. It would describe his personality, though.

When Bakugou sees that Keiko has stopped struggling, he finally lets go and leans against the wall. Keiko does the same.

The two stand in silence as they hear about Todoroki’s childhood and why he refuses to use his left side. Keiko winces when she hears about his mother pouring scalding water on him. She grips her right arm, remembering when Father had done it to her. 

The conversation soon fades, and Keiko and Bakugou stand in silence. 

“Well, at least we know why Todoroki doesn’t use his left side,” Keiko says, trying to break the silence.

Bakugou clicks his tongue. “Well, that better not be an excuse to skimp out.”

Keiko shrugs. “We’ll see what happens, but,”

She pushes herself off the wall and walks away. “Just be mindful that emotional scars run deep. When you think you’re free, you don’t realize the shackles that are holding you down.”

Chapter Text

Keiko looks down at the stadium from the crowd, waiting for the first match to start. 

“Hurry up, ------! The Sports Festival is about to start!”

“You better not start without me, Keiko!”

Keiko sits in front of the television with a boy beside her, both bouncing in their place. 

She shakes her head. Ever since her unfortunate reunion with her father, she has been getting random visions of her younger self with a boy her age. However, she can’t remember how he looks like or what his name is. Sometimes, in one of her more distressful visions, his name is distorted but unintelligible. 

Keiko sighs. Maybe she’ll go over this with Hound Dog. Maybe.

___________________________________

Keiko is leaning against the wall and sucking on a watermelon-flavor lollipop, waiting for Midoriya and Shinsou’s match to end. 

Her mind wanders to the conversation that she eavesdropped on earlier. 

The thing she’s conflicted about is if she should tell Todoroki about her intrusion. She feels like he deserves to know, but at the same time, she wants to help him. Their situations aren’t that different, after all. Both were abused, forced to use their quirk, and emotionally hurt.

But the thought that always comes back is, does she have the right? Not even she’s completely healed. What gives her the right to help another person who is hurt just like her when she doesn’t even know the result? Her mind wanders to the little boy in her dreams, causing her to shutter. Definitely not healed. 

She’s snapped out of her thoughts by the thundering applause, signaling the end of the match.

A smile forms on her face when she hears the crowd complimenting Shinsou and his quirk. 

She pushes herself off the wall when she sees him come out of the hall.

“Look who’s popular~”

Shinsou’s cheeks redden. “Shut up.”

Keiko chuckles. She tosses a mango jelly pack at him, who catches it with ease.

“Good job out there.”

Shinsou blinks and rubs the back of his neck. “Thanks. Didn’t expect him to break off of my quirk. It’s the first time that’s happened.”

Keiko shrugs. “There’s always a first for everything, so you gotta prepare for the unexpected. At least you can learn from it.”

Shinsou nods. “Still wish I could have gone further.”

Keiko grins. “Don’t worry. You will in the future.”

Shinsou returns the grin. “Yeah.”

Keiko turns around to leave, but Shinsou stops her. “Wait.”

She looks back.

Shinsou opens his mouth, but hesitates for a second before asking, “Are you okay?”

Keiko tilts her head. “What makes you ask that?”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Well, you just seemed, what is it, troubled? Or at least, something was on your mind.”

She resists the urge to widen her eyes. She smiles. “I’m fine. Thanks, though.”

He nods. “Okay, but I’m here if you need someone to listen.”

Keiko smiles. “Thanks!”

___________________________________

Keiko spends most of the time in the infirmary, healing injured students. A quirk like hers is useful in situations like these, enabling students to go out without having to worry about the consequences. 

As she’s healing Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, she hears Present Mic announce the beginning of Bakugou and Uraraka’s one-on-one match. 

She watches as Uraraka continually charges at Bakugou, getting beat up one after another. The crowd boos at Bakugou’s actions, causing a frown to formulate between her brows. However, it’s gone by the end of Aizawa’s speech, which she wholeheartedly agrees. All in all, it’s an exhilarating fight. She almost regrets not continuing. Almost. 

In the end, she sees Uraraka unable to move from fatigue, crowning Bakugou the winner. However, despite her loss, Keiko can see her strong will and determination to continue. She smiles. Guess there’s another hero the villains need to watch out for. 

The bots carry Uraraka into the infirmary, and Keiko gets right to work. 

She touches her arm, and a glow comes out of her hand, healing Uraraka’s wounds. 

Unlike previous times, she leaves a couple of cuts and bruises. 

“Sorry,” Keiko apologizes with a sheepish smile. “My quirk is still a big secret from the outside world, and I want to keep it that way. Besides, it’s better for your immune system if you heal from your own power.”

Uraraka nods. “It’s fine. I understand. Thanks for healing my wounds!”

Keiko grins. “No problem. You should get going soon. Don’t want to miss the other rounds.”

Uraraka nods again before standing up. 

Before she leaves the room, though, Keiko says, “Oh, yeah. Great job out there. You made Bakugou struggle, that’s for sure. And keep in mind, you may have lost this time, but we both know that you won’t next time.”

Uraraka’s eyes widen while Keiko’s smile becomes softer. She sniffs before engulfing Keiko in a hug. Keiko feels slight dampness on her shoulder and pats the Uraraka on the back. 

After a few minutes, Uraraka lets go and rubs her eyes. “Thanks for saying that. It helped me calm down.”

Keiko smiles. “No problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”

Uraraka returns the smile. “Yup!”

___________________________________

Keiko sits on the edge of an infirmary bed, her legs bouncing fiercely as an unconscious response to her anxiety about the upcoming match.

After assessing Todoroki’s mental state from Sero’s match and adding Midoriya’s sacrificial nature, Keiko can’t imagine anything but disaster… well, a disaster for Midoriya’s bones. 

The moment the bell for the match to start rings, Todoroki blasts his ice at Midoriya, who immediately responds by flicking it. 

One. 

Tordorki fires another line of ice towards his opponent, who flicks it again.

Two. 

As the battle continues, Keiko continues to count.

Three. Four. 

Keiko groans as Midoriya destroys an entire arm. 

Recovery clicks her tongue. “That young man needs to stop using his body like that! One day, that damage will be irreversible!”

Keiko rubs her forehead. “Yeah, luckily, I can prolong the day that comes.”

Recovery Girl hops off her chair and walks up to Keiko. She slams her cane to Keiko’s side.

“Ow!” Keiko yells, a response more towards the shock rather than the pain. “What was that for?”

Recovery Girl huffs. “I don’t want you living yourself off of lollipops for the rest of your life. Besides, these kids need to build their immune system. If you’re there for them for every little wound, what would happen if you can’t make it?”

Keiko leans back on her hands. “I know, but…”

“But you want to help.”

Keiko nods. 

Recovery Girls sighs. “How about this? This time, I’ll teach this young man a lesson and not have you heal him? 

“What?!”

“This will be a good lesson for him. If he doesn’t learn now, when will he?”

Keiko opens her mouth to argue, but she sees Recovery Girl raise her cane.

She sighs. “Fine.”

Recovery Girl nods and goes back to her desk. 

Keiko looks back at the screen just in time to see Midoriya break his already broken fingers. She clasps her hands together. I shall apologize in advance for my inability to heal you.

As Midoriya goes on the offensive, Keiko unconsciously goes to the edge of the bed, trying to calculate his motives. 

Her eyes widen when Todoroki bursts into flames, and she can feel the corners of her mouth twitching up. He’s finally free. The chains that tied him to his father is broken. 

But in the back of her mind, Keiko knows he still isn’t fully free. He may have broken the chains, but he’s still stuck inside the cage Endeavor has put him in. 

Keiko grips the edge of the bed.

Like her.

___________________________________

Keiko walks down the halls, avoiding the awkward conversation that would probably come up. Especially since he needs to get surgery. 

She leans against the railing, watching the match between Tokoyami and Todoroki. 

The phone in her pocket vibrates.

“Hello?”

“Hi, this is Hosu General Hospital. Is this Aizawa Keiko?”

“Yes, how may I help you?”

“We need your immediate assistance. Ingenium was found gravely injured. We suspect this wound could permanently hinder his future hero career.”

Before the nurse had even finished her sentence, Keiko turns the corner towards the exit. 

“Alright. I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you. ”

Keiko ends her call and sprints. She knows that going through the streets would take too long. Her mind scrambles through possible solutions, and there’s only one solution she can think of that will be faster. 

She quickly stops by her locker to change her shoes into one that Power Loader had designed for her. It allows her to sprint three times quicker by giving her a boost every time her feet push off of the floor. 

Keiko grabs her grappling hook and throws the hook at the top of a building, pulling herself to the roof. 

As she runs towards the direction of Hosu, she marks the GPS of Hosu General Hospital, careful to not fall. 

After fifteen minutes of sprinting at full speed, Keiko bursts through the front door of the hospital. 

“Aizawa Keiko,” she says, catching her breath.

The nurse quickly stands up and sprints towards the emergency room, Keiko immediately behind her. 

They burst through another room with the nurse announcing, “Aizawa-san is here!”

Keiko sucks in a breath as she sees Iida with machines attached all over his body and under the influence of anesthesia. 

The doctor goes straight to the point. “To ensure his life, we had to perform surgery. Will this affect your quirk?”

“No,” Keiko says, placing her hands on Ingenium and already healing him. “Can you tell me the main problem? I don’t have much stamina, so I want to concentrate on important places.”

“His spine was damaged, paralyzing his legs.”

Keiko nods, focusing her quirk at reconstructing Iida’s spine and nerves. She pieces bones out of place, creates missing ones, and fixes his nerves. 

As she finishes healing the paralyzed-affected parts, Iida bursts through the door with his frantic mother behind her. “Brother!”

Keiko jumps from the sudden noise. “Your brother’s alright,” Keiko says, calming her racing heart. “I’ve managed to heal the worst of his wounds. He just has cuts and bruises at the least.”

Iida stands at the doorway, catching his breath. “Did you heal him?”

Keiko nods, standing up. “I got a call a couple of minutes ago, so I sprinted all the way here. I’ve healed the worst of his injuries. The staff should be able to heal the rest. I’ll leave you guys to have your family time.”

She swiftly walks out the door, not giving Iida any time to waste on her. Once she turns the corner, she slumps down against the wall. She brings her legs up to her chest, her hands shaking against her legs. 

That was a close call. If Keiko had not come, then Ingenium’s hero career would have been terminated. Not only that, but Iida would also have been deeply affected. He admires his brother so much, she can’t even imagine what would have happened. 

Keiko takes another deep breath before standing up. She goes to the front desk, asking for her contributions to be kept a secret as usual. The nurse is someone Keiko has worked with before, and she leaves the hospital without any delay. 

Keiko looks back at the hospital before walking towards the train station.

Chapter Text

“What are you doing?”

Keiko lazily guides her eyes to an upside-down Aizawa. “Being bored.”

Aizawa sighs. “Why don’t you go do some puzzles?”

“But I’m not in my puzzle mood, Dad! Puzzle mood has gone on vacation today!”

“Puz- You know what? Nevermind. Move over.”

Keiko scooches a millimeter to the right.

Aizawa rolls his eyes, but she can see the smirk crawling onto his face.

He flops onto the couch. Hard.

Keiko bounces up, landing in a heap of tangled limbs. “You did that on purpose!”

Aizawa shrugs. “I don’t know what you mean.”

She huffs and repositions herself, snuggling next to Aizawa. “Are we gonna do anything today?”

He shrugs, grabbing the remote. “Depends. You could be working on your hero costume.”

“My what now?”

Aizawa shuffles through the channels absentmindedly. “You’re interning with Agent Emmet, right? You need to do patrols and missions when they come up, and you need a hero costume and name for that.”

Keiko groans. “Can’t I just be like you? Wear sweatpants while I work. Actually, on second thought, I don’t wanna look like a hobo, especially if I’m going to be rescuing people.”

Aizawa shrugs. “Your choice.”

“Ugh, now I have to actually go to some brainstorming and thinking. Thanks, Dad.”

“At least you’re not bored anymore.”

Keiko sticks out her tongue as she leaves the living room.

___________________________________

“Zashi, Muri, help me. I don’t know how my costume should look like.”

Yamada and Kayama look up from the papers they are grading. They rush to sit next to Keiko, glad for any chance to procrastinate.

“Just make sure it’s practical,” Aizawa says as he creates a big, red x-mark. Probably Kaminari’s. 

Keiko rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry. I already submitted some support items I’m going to need to Hatsume. I just need help on costume design.”

“Well, you’re going to act as a healer, right?” Kayama asks.

Keiko nods.

Kayama and Yamada look at each other, a mischievous glint in their eyes. However, Keiko realizes it too late. Yamada grabs Keiko, causing her to drop her notepad and pencil.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Keiko asks bewildered.

The two heroes zoom out of teacher’s facility, heading towards who-knows-where at top speed. Halfway through, though, Keiko realizes where they’re going.

They burst into Nedzu’s room. 

“Do you have that ?” the two shout in unison.

Nedzu grins. “As a matter of fact,” he says, reaching for his cabinet, “I do.”

Keiko stares in disbelief at what Nedzu pulls out from his desk. “There is no way I’m going to wear that.”

Kayama hugs Keiko, trapping her. “That’s where I come in.”

As Keiko tries to escape from Kayama’s vise-like grip, the boys leave the room. Kayama uses whatever girl magic she has to change Keiko from her regular clothes to the ones Kayama and Yamada so wanted her to wear, all without loosening her grip.

“All done!” Kayama shouts, signaling Yamada and Nedzu to walk in.

Keiko stands in the middle of the principal’s room, wearing the classic, white nurse outfit. She has the nurse cap, stockings, and everything.

As Kayama and Yamada laugh their butts off and bang their fists on the floor, Keiko gets one of her brilliant ideas. 

“Nedzu-san, do you have any extras?”

A dangerous glint forms in his eyes and pulls out two adult-size nurse outfits.

Why he has any of this in the first place, no one knows. But all that mattered to Keiko is revenge. 

Upon realizing Keiko’s intent, the two book it, Keiko close behind. 

“Face your consequences!”

___________________________________

Keiko bounces on her feet as she walks toward Power Loader’s classroom. 

“Is it that exciting to try out equipment?” Aizawa sighs.

“Oh course it is!” she exclaims. “This is Hatsume we’re talking about. She will definitely have brilliant inventions for me. I even sent her my hero costume ideas and everything!”

However, when Keiko opens the classroom, no one is inside. Instead, a suitcase with a note is on a desk. 

Keiko takes the sticky note. 

“Hi, Nurse! (Does she know about what happened yesterday?) Had to go run some errands to get some supplies for my babies. Contact Hatsume Corporation again for more babies!”

“Huh, guess it’s just you and me, Dad.”

Keiko opens the suitcase, Aizawa looking over her shoulder. Immediately, Keiko can pinpoint a dress, vest, gloves, boots, a pouch, and a visor. She can feel herself vibrating with excitement. 

Aizawa huffs. “Go put your costume on and meet me at Ground Beta before you explode.”

Keiko nods fervently before rushing into the bathroom.

___________________________________

Keiko reaches to the floor, stretching her hamstrings and finding her balance on her new boots.

“What are we going to test out first?” she asks, putting her left arm over her right one.

Aizawa looks at the instructions that Hatsume had so kindly provided. He sighs and rubs his forehead. “I wish she added what each gadget does. How do I know for sure they’re safe?”

Keiko shrugs. “Guess she wanted to leave it as a surprise.”

He stretches his neck. “Well, it doesn’t matter either way. Why don’t you go from the down up?”

“Sure,” she says. “What did Hatsume say?”

“There are two functions for the boots. Click the heels once for one of them and twice for the other. Press the gems to cancel.”

Keiko nods slowly. “Okay, that’s very vague. Super scared actually.”

Aizawa grins. “Well, you signed up for this.”

She sighs. “I guess I did.”

Keiko stands on her toes and clicks her heels once. Immediately, she feels something bulge on the sole of her boots, but nothing happens. However, once she takes a step forward, her speed gets boosted and blasts her across the street. Luckily, she experienced this before with the ones Power Loader made her, so she flips and lands on the walls, boosting her back. Before she lands, she clicks on the gems to cancel the boosting effect. 

“That could have been dangerous,” Keiko says, regaining her footing.

“I’m worried about the rest,” Aizawa sighs.

She chuckles before clicking her feet twice. This time, she begins to hover, shaky at first. 

“Hover shoes!” Keiko exclaims excitedly. “This is gonna be so useful!”

She wiggles her body to try and gain balance. Aizawa helps her position her body in the most efficient position. Eventually, she gets the hang of it and can fly to the top of the building with ease. 

She hovers back down and clicks the gems as she reaches the ground, landing in a crouched position. 

“The boots are pretty cool,” Keiko says, admiring them.

Aizawa nods. “Practical. You still need to get used to them before you can effectively use them.”

“I know,” Keiko says.

The two continue in this fashion. 

Keiko takes her grappling hook and clips it onto her belt. The hook isn’t going to be used to reach high places anymore, since she has the hover boots, but she’s going to use it for long-ranged combat. 

The pouch is just an ordinary pouch, unfortunately, that has enough room to store bandages and candies, with an extra secure clip. 

Keiko presses the gems on her gloves, and steam emerges from it. The steam comes quickly enough to cover both Aizawa and Keiko in a second, creating a smoke screen. Furthermore, Keiko learns that if she presses the gem twice, the gloves become a heater and cooler. 

Inside her jacket lines multiple pockets. Inside one of them was a miniature pole. She takes it out, and a slide for “on” and “off” was in the center. She clicks the pole to “on”, curious as to what it does. Immediately, the pole extends. Unfortunately, Aizawa happened to be close, so the end of the pole gut him in the stomach. Also, the ends happens to have a shockwave feature, so not only does it hit him in the guts but also sends him flying to the other side of the street. 

Of course, Keiko immediately goes to heal him.

Inside the other pocket are small pouches of water. Don’t know why Hatsume included them. Maybe for the gloves?

Finally, she moves onto her visor and telecom. When she was testing her other gadgets, she had placed the visor to the side, just in case it or the other inventions exploded. The moment she puts it on, though, the visor activates. When she looks at Aizawa, a sniper scope points to his arm, showing a small scrape. (She offers him an All Might bandage and gets a look of disapproval.) This could be extremely useful as she can only heal an injury if she knows where it is. The exception, of course, is when she uses Area Heal. 

Keiko thinks Hatsume was being nice with this function because she includes a hint that if Keiko says a command, her other gadgets can be activated. She also learns that her jacket can turn her invisible. It has microtechs that can bend visible light, causing the light to not interact with her and making her invisible.The range the microtech is large enough that it covers the wearer. Of course, this only affects sight and not instinct, so she still needs to be careful. (She learned that when she tried to scare Aizawa.)

The telecom to the side of her visor enables communication from a distance. The ribbons in her hair are also backups, just in case. They have a voice recognition function, so only her voice can activate them. Furthermore, it’s hearing range is large enough that it can hear whispers.

“This is so cool!” Keiko shouts, marveling at her costume again. 

“You do know that Nemuri is going to rope you into doing hero names with you, right?” Aizawa asks with a smirk.

“Does that mean I still have to think of a name?” she asks, already anticipating the restless night.

Aizawa nods much to Keiko’s dismay.

___________________________________

Keiko sits in the living room, playing with Shiro and Kuro, while Aizawa sits on the couch grading homework.

She grabs Shiro and looks into her eyes. “She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll scratch you in the face.” Keiko avoids her claws.

The sound of pen scratching on paper stops, and when Keiko looks behind her, she sees Aizawa dialing someone.

From the speaker, Keiko can hear Yamada’s voice. “Hey, what’s-”

“Who taught her memes.”

Culprit: Shinsou

Chapter Text

Keiko yawns as she rubs her eyes.

She didn’t get a good night’s sleep as she was plagued by an old nightmare. She doesn’t remember what it was about when she woke up, but she couldn't go to sleep afterwards. So she spent the rest of the night customizing the commands on her visor, naming the system “Kaito” and naming each part of her costume a different name. Her speed booster is called “Nyoom,” her gloves “Fog Machine,” so on and so forth. 

“Didn’t get much sleep last night?” Kayama asks.

Keiko’s yawn answers her question.

“You think you’ll be able to do this? I can opt you out.”

Keiko shakes her head. “It’s fine. I’m good at acting. Been doin’ it for 13 years.”

She misses the pained look that passes through Kayama’s eyes, but she quickly shields it with a mischievous grin. 

“I like your spirit!”

As the two approach Class 1-A’s classroom, they’re startled by a sudden group cheer, which was quickly silenced. Dad doing his magic. 

As Aizawa introduces internships and goes onto the topic of hero names, Midnight bursts into the classroom and picks up from where she interrupted him. Keiko follows close behind more quietly and with less presence. Her friends notice her anyway and give her a small wave, which Keiko returns.

For most of the presentation, Keiko stands in the back, piping in occasional advice. She doesn’t know why Midnight brought her. Heck, she can’t even think of her own hero name. She gave up after 10 minutes of toruture. So for most of the time, Keiko stands in the back next to Aizawa, marveling at her peers’ creativity. Well, some could be better, especially a certain exploding pom-pom's, but she’s not one to judge. 

When Iida goes up to claim his hero name as his regular name, Keiko sees the look in his eyes. One of conflictions. She takes a mental note to keep an eye on him. 

As the students finish up, Uraraka raises her hand. “Did you come here to help Midnight-sensei, Keiko?”

Keiko urges the blush that’s threatening to rise to her face. “Well, I was supposed to, but my creativity isn’t quite up there.”

Bakugou scoffs. “Why are you here in the first place? Hero names don’t concern you.”

Keiko sports a grin. “Why, in fact, it does. I have my own internship after all. You guys aren't the only ones who made an impact.”

"Hah?"

A hand roughly plops down on Keiko’s head. “She got an internship request after a hero saw her performance at the Sports Festival, even though she only participated during the first stage. Don’t let this discourage you for those who couldn't an internship. Even though she got one, it was an offer from an old alumni of ours. Instead, use this chance to do better next time. If she can get one, (Hey!) you guys can, too.”

A spirit of determination passes over the class.

“Well, good luck!" Keiko yells, escaping Aizawa's grasp. "Ya’ll gonna need it. I’ve seen some drastic changes after these internship things.”

As she exits the classroom, she hears Kaminari say, “I’m actually scared now.”

___________________________________

“Keiko! Long time no see!” Agent Emmet shouts.

Keiko rolls her eyes but can’t resist the smile creeping up her face. “It hasn’t been that long.”

He slings his arm around her shoulders. “Fine. Short time no see.”

She giggles. “So where’s your agency?” Keiko asks, looking around excitedly.

“Don’t be so excited. My agency isn’t that big of a deal.”

“What do you mean ‘not that big of a deal?’ You’re part of the top 10 within the Recovery field! That's especially praiseworthy since you've only be active independently for, what, 5 years?”

He rubs the back of his head. “Aw, you’re making me blush. But enough of that, here’s my agency.”

They stop in front of a rectangular building, the same as all the others in the neighborhood. If one passed by, they wouldn’t think much of it.

“See?” Emmet says. “Not flashy at all.”

“There’s a difference between ‘flashy’ and ‘not a big deal’. Just saying.”

Emmet raises both of his arms in surrender and laughs. “Alright, alright. Let’s go in before my sidekicks kill each other.”

Keiko tilts her head as Emmet reaches for the door. “Do your sidekicks hate each other?”

He scratches his head. “Well, ‘hate’ is a strong word. How about ‘not get along’?”

BOOM!

Emmet groans. “Not again!”

He runs into the building, Keiko close behind. He ditches the elevator and climbs to the third story. He dashes to the end of the hallway and slams open the door, showing chaos.

A large phoenix hovers above a man holding a rod. Based on the crumpled curtain on the floor, Keiko’s guessing it’s a curtain rod.

“What is it this time?” Emmet asks, exasperated.

“Fenghuang trashed the report I worked on!” the man holding the rod yells, keeping his stance.

“It was not done on purpose!” the phoenix, supposedly Fenghuang, cries. “I even apologized! Besides, your report was left on my desk without any notice. You should be aware that I trash papers that I have no recognition of!”

“Maybe if you read the title-”

“Maybe if you remembered my habits-”

“Enough!” Emmet yells, coming between the two. “You’re both to blame, alright? Just, try to be on your best behavior for our intern?”

Upon mention of an intern, the two finally notice Keiko, who’s watching the scene with fascination. “Hi.”

Immediately, the phoenix transforms into a woman with shoulder-length mint green hair. “Sorry about the unsophisticated display you had to witness.”

“Yeah, we didn’t plan this to be our first impression,” the man says, sporting a smile. “I’m Marsupium.” He holds out his hand.

Keiko takes it and shakes. “Keiko.”

“Fenghuang,” she says, also holding out her hand.

Keiko shakes it.

“Now that introductions are out of the way,” Emmet says, clapping his hands, “Fenghuang, can you show Keiko where her room is and tell her the ropes? I’ll be here cleaning up the mess.”

“Very well. Keiko, please follow me.”

She nods and follows her upstairs. “Do all of you sleep in the agency building?”

“Not quite,” she replies, turning out of the stairway and into a hallway. “We typically sleep in the agency when we are working on a big case or when we are hosting interns, like you.”

Keiko tilts her head. “Are you on a case right now?”

Fenghuang hums as she thinks of an answer. “We’re not on a case, but we’re on standby, just in case one shows itself. You’ve heard of Stain, correct?”

Keiko remembers that night with Tensei. She nods. 

“Although heroes are the only casualties, we’re getting ready for any bigger attack. We know it’s not his style, but there’s no harm in being careful.”

“Isn’t that tiring?”

Fenghuang chuckles. “Yes. The report Marsupium and I were fighting about. He played a role in the rescue of a hero who had been attacked by Stain recently. I assume you are aware of Ingenium?”

Keiko fumbles with the hem of her shirt. “Yeah. He almost had to retire, right?”

She nods. “Luckily, a person with a strong healing quirk was able to prevent such an outcome. We are in desperate need for heroes such as him, especially in this city.”

She stops in front of a door. “This will be your room for your internship. Think of the agency as your home and feel comfortable. We want you to settle down, so you won’t start until tomorrow. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, alright? I may have been feisty back there, but that’s only towards Marsupium.”

Keiko nods and watches her leave, but she stops her. “Do you know about the person who healed Ingenium?”

Fenghuang brings her finger to her chin. “Unfortunately, I do not. We don’t know their name, their gender, or even their hero name. Whoever they are, they greatly value their privacy, which I can respect. But I would have loved for them to have joined our agency.”

“Okay, thank you.”

She smiles. “No problem.”

Keiko is left alone in front of the door. After she watches the receding back of the sidekick disappear, she turns the doorknob and enters her room. In one corner was a bed with white sheets, a desk on the other side. A drawer was beside the bed, a hanger right beside the door. 

She closes the door behind her before she drops her bag and flops onto the bed. She kicks her shoes off and stays still for a couple of minutes. The lack of sleep is starting to catch up to her, but she had to do one more thing before she could drift off to sleep. 

[Messaging “Caterpillar”]

[Keiko =^owo^=]

Just arrived at Emmet’s agency.

[Caterpillar]

Okay.

[Caterpillar]

Really?

[Keiko =^owo^]

Yes, I can't miss a golden opportunity.

 You look like a caterpillar in your

sleeping bag and the word has cat in it.

[Caterpillar]

I really should murder Hizashi for

teaching you puns.

[Keiko =^owo^]

Tell him I’ll attend his funeral.

[Caterpillar]

Okay.

[Keiko =^owo^=]

What are you doing right now? Bored out

of your misery because your wonderful

daughter is not there to experience your

grueling exercises?

[Caterpillar]

Ha. Very funny.

[Keiko =^owo^=]

I know.

Hair flip.

Keiko smiles. And then she yawns. A 30 minute nap wouldn’t hurt, right?

She places her phone on the drawer before drifting off into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Keiko ends up sleeping the entire night, sleeping the first peaceful one in a while. Not that she’s complaining. She’ll need all the energy if she’s going to perform her best during the internship. 

Her phone turns on from a notification, a text from Emmet.

[Messaging “AntMan”]

[Antman]

Wear your hero costume.

[Keiko =^owo^=]

Okay!

She slips in her gloves and boots, straps her belt, and fastens her helmet. She twirls in front of the full-body mirror and nods in approval. Before she leaves, though, she pats her stuffed cat Kaito for good measures.

___________________________________

“You look wonderful!” Fenghuang exclaims, admiring every little detail of her costume. 

“Thanks,” Keiko murmurs, willing the blush on her face to die down. “So what are we going to do today?”

“For the first two days, you’re going to be working with Fenghuang and Marsupium as to what we normally do on sight. After that, you’re going to get field experience with me. Fenghuang, can you lead her to the training area? I need Marsupium for a little bit.”

Fenghuang nods. “Please follow me,” she addresses Keiko. The two go downstairs and out the backdoor. Outside, the backyard is full of fallen building debris, creating a mini-disaster zone. 

“Our agency deals with frontline urban rescue, which means we’re responsible for rescuing civilians on the scene. Of course, this comes with its own risks: We’re in danger from both hero and villain attacks. Not only do we work during live attacks but during the aftermath as well. Any questions so far?”

“Does this agency do patrols?”

She nods. “Some agencies don’t, since they’re quirks aren’t beneficial on the front lines, but agencies like ours, which specialize in the field, can get to the sight quicker. When we push this button,” she pulls out a round, white device that has a radar and button, “we can inform the rest of our team of our location. Then we use this intercom,” she pulls out an earpiece, “to relay information from a distance.” 

“Will I do any patrols while I’m here?”

Fenghuang nods. “That’ll be part of the field experience with Emmet. Obviously, villain fights don’t just pop up anywhere, but there’s no harm in being careful.”

In that moment, Marsupium barges outside. “Sorry for the wait. The report took a lot longer than we expected.”

“I finished debriefing our expertise. I was going to explain each of our roles, but you can finish the job.”

“Alrighty,” he says. “Our team is a pretty well-balanced one. Emmet mainly focuses on sight, lifting fallen buildings and debris and all. Then he transfers the injured civilians onto Fenghuang’s back, who’s gonna be in bird form, and bring them to me. And then I’m going to perform emergency first aid before sending them off to the ambulances. Sometimes, our jobs intermix depending on the heroes or villains we’re working with, but that’s the main gist.”

“What are your quirks?”

“Oh, right! (Fenghuang rolls her eyes in the background.) You probably already know Emmet’s, right? He can lift objects ten times his weight, like an ant. Fenghuang releases a calming aura when she’s in her bird form. I have a pocket where my belly is, like a kangaroo. That’s the rough edges around our quirks. And, what’s yours?”

“Long story short, I can heal.”

“So kinda like Recovery Girl.”

Keiko nods. “The only difference is that I use my own energy and I can reach targets out of my reach.”

Marsupium whistles. “Overpowered much?”

She rubs the back of her neck. “I would never recommend how I got this far, but since I did, might as well use it for good.”

Fenghuang pats her head. “You’re a kind girl, you know that?”

Keiko blushes, caught by surprise. The two sidekicks laugh. 

___________________________________

After lunch break, the two sidekicks get working on Keiko’s quirk.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re Area Heal can cover a large area?” Fenghuang asks.

Keiko nods.

“Can you exclude certain people while exercising this move?”

“Instead of excluding, it’s more like including,” Keiko responds. “For my quirk to work, I need some sort of contact, whether directly or through waves. Within a certain area, hence Area Heal, I can pinpoint people by sending small shockwaves underground, and once I locate them, I can channel my quick and heal them.”

“Are there any visual indications through your Area Heal?” Marsupium interjects, much to the annoyance of Fenghuang.

Keiko nods. “When I heal someone, a yellow glow surrounds them. Through direct touch, a glow encompasses the wound, while through Area Heal, a pillar of light surrounds them.”

“Even if it’s through debris?”

At first, Keiko’s head tilts in confusion before her eyes widen in realization.

“Yeah, I can. Why have I never thought about this? I can literally pinpoint the injured that no one can see and tell people their location. How could I have not thought of this?”

Marsupium pats her shoulder. “Experience, my friend, experience.”

Fenghuang nods. “In our field, especially, we always try to find technologies that can pinpoint our patients more efficiently, more reliably, and quicker . With that in mind, our brains are wired to find these solutions through quirks, like what we did with yours.”

“But this is only possible with my quirk,” Keiko frowns.

Fenghuang gently smiles. “You really a kind girl, but you don’t have to worry about that. With your consent, of course, we can submit a suggestion to support companies about the components of how your Area Heal works. Even if we can’t channel healing abilities or summon a pillar of light, we can pinpoint casualties and relay that message onto a device. It’s definitely much better than what we have.”

Keiko pokes her index fingers together. “Can I? Like sign the slip.”

Marsupium ruffles her hair. “Of course you can, but let’s find out more about your quirk first. Even though we can’t teach you any new techniques , we can teach you new aspects of your quirk.”

“A different perspective, if you must say,” Fenghuang interjects.

“Okay!” Keiko shouts.

“This time, we want you to figure out a new aspect of your quirk. We’ll help you, but you need to practice that side of your brain.”

“For starters, start broad and with any field. Rescue, field, support. Anything. Even ones you don’t suspect to be in.”

Keiko strokes her chin. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t be expected to be on the field. I always suspected I would be behind the scenes.”

Fenghuang nodded. “Wonderful. Now, what type of field-related scenes can you imagine yourself in?”

“Um, there’s a lot. Can you give me some examples?”

“Well, what are some that you’ve been in?” Marsupium asks. “And don’t say you haven’t, ‘cause Fenghuang and I have some on our minds right now.”

“There’s the training I got from the UA staff,” she counts off on her fingers. “Then, there’s the entrance exam, USJ, and the Sports Festival.”

Marsupium nods. “Let’s go with the USJ Incident. What types of patients can you imagine?”

Keiko looks down at the ground and rubs her arm, the one that got disintegrated. She didn’t see Fenghuang smack him upside the head.

“Ah! You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to!” Marsupium says, waving his arms frantically. “Sorry if I brought up any unpleasant memories.”

Keiko shakes her head. “It’s fine. If I want to get better, I need to understand the worst ones. What could have gone wrong, what went wrong, and what I can do better in similar situations in the future.”

Fenghuang and Marsupium grin. She’s going to be such a great hero.

“Types of patients,” Keiko murmurs. “I guess ones who are so incapicitated that they can’t fight anymore.” Aizawa and Thirteen. “Ones that get hurt by their quirk.” Kaminari and All Might. “Ones that are bearing the pain.” Herself. 

Fenghuang nods. “Those are wonderful examples, and yes, we need to address those patients. ASAP, in fact. But what about the non-injured ones? Are there possible examples of those types?”

Keiko’s eyes widen. She’s never thought of it that way, but it makes sense. An injury doesn’t need to be physical to be a patient.

“Then ones who are scared. Ones who are cornered. Ones who are lost.”

Marsupium grins. “You’re getting it. Now let’s dig deeper into the category of people who are scared. In the context of the USJ incident, we can say that there are the ones who are hiding, ones who are frozen, and ones who act. What can you say about that?”

“For the ones who are frozen or acting, all I can do is support them with Area Heal or fight with them. But for the people who are hiding, they’re probably facing an opponent who they can’t face.” She thinks of her days with Sora, living in fear and hiding from his wrath. “And if I want to heal those who are hiding,” she knows she’s always wanted to be, “then I need to find a way to heal them without exposing their location.”

Marsupium slaps her on the back. “Exactly! So think you can do it?”

Keiko rubs her chin, trying to shake the negative thoughts away from her head. “I’ve healed without anyone noticing, but I can only do it for short bursts. Like this.”

She pokes Marsupium. He blinks. “Did you do something?”

She nods. “You had a papercut on your pinky. I just healed it.”

He whips out his hands, and his eyes widen when he does indeed lack a papercut. “What the fu-”

“Language,” Fenghuang remarks, smacking him on the head. “Can you do that with your shockwaves?”

Keiko shrugs. “Never tried.”

“Try it on me,” she says. “Oh, but does your quirk activate based on injuries?”

Keiko nods. “But I want to try something. Kaito, check for injuries.”

“Okay!” her visor says with the voice of a young boy that only she could hear. A sniper scope hovers over Fenghuang’s elbow. “Phoenix, here, has a small scrape on her elbow. Nothing big. Kangaroo, over there, is all good!”

“Alright,” Keiko murmurs. She pinpoints Fenghuang through her shockwaves and sends a short burst of her quirk. She checks Fenghuang’s elbows, and sure enough, the scrape is gone. “I did it!”

Marsupium smiles brightly. “Great! That’s the gist of how your mind should work whenever you get stuck. Start big and then go small. I have some theories I want to test out. You up for it?”

Keiko pumps her fists. “Bring it on!”

___________________________________

Many experiments later, Keiko has realized some limitations and new aspects of her quirk.

First of all, her original limitation exists with the short bursts of shockwave healing. 

Then the question was brought up, what’s the difference between the indifferent healing of Area Heal and the selective one?

Turns out, Area Heal is extremely broad, only healing surface wounds, while the selective ones are precise, focusing on a certain part.

Third, distance matters. Within a certain area, healing quality is the same. And once a person is outside of her range, she thought she couldn’t reach them. However, after much difficulty and energy consumption, plus headaches, she can reach them. The quality is low, though, healing much slower. In other words, her range determines the area in which she can cast heal comfortably. 

By the time the experiments were over, the sun was setting.

Keiko bows her teachers goodnight and flops onto the bed, exhausted from the day’s activities. But she had fun, and the experience was definitely enlightenment. 

She wonders what tomorrow holds.

Chapter Text

Keiko stretches her arms as she finishes the report for the day. 

On her second day of internship, she spent the entire day learning the ins-and-outs of how to write a report. After all, a main part of being a hero is filling one out. 

Unfortunately, that’s how the first half of her third day started out. Fortunately, she was freed after dinner. 

Keiko takes a deep breath. It’s so nice to be outside again!

Emmet grins. “You do know that you have more reports to fill out, right?”

Keiko deflates. “I know.”

Emmet laughs and claps Keiko’s back. “Cheer up. Today, we’re going to patrol the downtown area. The main purpose of a patrol is to tell the villains that we heroes are watching and waiting. We will catch you.”

“Does that mean we’re only going to walk?”

“Yes, but with an open eye. There’s a difference between a civilian taking a stroll and a hero on patrol.”

Keiko nods firmly. The two round a corner and enter the heart of Hosu City, seeing the bustling streets despite the setting sun.

Like she advised, Keiko keeps her eyes open, watching through every nook and cranny.

“Oh, right! I forgot to ask you! What’s your hero name?”

She flinches when Emmet suddenly spoke out. 

“Huh? Oh! Name. Uh, it’s Regen.”

He smirks. “You don’t have to be that vigilante. We don’t want the civilians to see us tense. Besides, like what happened now, your spatial awareness disappeared. Gotta find the balance between the two.”

Keiko sighs. “This is hard and exhausting.”

Emmet laughs. “Patrolling is easier once you get used to it.”

Keiko nods and resumes her watch. Instead of watching her surroundings intensely, she scans the area, watching for things out-of-the-ordinary. 

All of a sudden, an explosion goes off behind them, sending debris. Keiko whips around, and her eyes widen. 

A nomu emerges from a crumbled green car. Off to the side, Keiko can see a mother calling for her child to come to her, but the child is scared stiff, shivering in the path of the nomu.

Keiko whips out her grappling hook, twirls it around the child, and yanks her away from the nomu, just in time for its fist to land where the child was standing. Keiko catches the child and untangles the rope from her waist while healing her in the process. The mother frantically comes over, crying and hugging her baby. 

“Keiko, the heroes are on their way. Our priority right now is to evacuate the citizens until more backup arrives. Understood?”

She nods. “Everyone! This way!” 

For the next few minutes, she continues to direct civilians away from danger as heroes from different agencies deal with the nomus. 

As she’s escorting civilians to the evacuation center, a notification pops up on her visor. 

“A message from Midoriya,” Kaito explains. “There’s nothing but a map to his location. Do you want me to lead you the way?”

From the location, she can see that Midoriya is at Hosu, but why? In an alleyway, no less. Keiko’s eyes widen. Iida.

“Agent Emmet!” Keiko calls, who’s escorting civilians from the other side of the street.

“Yeah, what’s up?” He jogs over to her, continuing to point citizens to safety.

“My friends are in trouble! I need to go help them!”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I have a strong feeling that they’re fighting Stain. I need to go help them!”

“The Hero Killer?” Emmet yells, focusing his entire attention to Keiko. “That’s too dangerous! I can’t send you by yourself. It’s too dangerous. I’ll go instead.”

“But the people here need you!” Keiko proclaims, addressing the chaos. 

“I can bring Fenghuang and Marsupium to this location. I’m not letting you go by yourself.”

“There’s no time! It’s now or never.”

Emmet clicks his tongue. “Fine, you win. But don’t get into too much trouble. I grant you permission to fight against whatever villain you face. I’m probably going to have my teaching license revoked, but I’d rather have that than have promising heroes die. I really hate this idea. You know that, right?”

Keiko’s eyes shine in relief. “I know. Thank you!”

“Be careful. Or Aizawa-sensei is going to kill me.”

She nods. “I will! Kaito, activate Nyoom.”

“Alrighto!”

Keiko feels the familiar lift in her soles. She throws her grappling hook onto the top of the building, pulls herself onto the roof, and sprints. 

“Please be on time.”

___________________________________

Three students are cornered, an injured hero slouched on the wall behind them. Stain stands on the opposite side.

Instead of attacking them, though, Stain blocks the pole that’s aimed at his head. The person in question leaps away from the katanas threatening to cut her. 

“Keiko!”

“Sorry to crash the party!” she says, keeping her eyes focused on Stain. “I received your message, Midoriya! Unfortunately, I don’t have much fighting experience compared to you guys or Mr. Stainy here, but I’m here as medical backup! I’m sorry, Todoroki, Midoriya, but can I leave him to you guys?”

Her question is answered when the two run out from either side of her.

“You, too, Keiko?” Iida asks. “This isn’t your problem!”

Keiko’s fists tighten. “You bet it’s my problem! My friends are about to be chopped into tiny bits by a psychopath. If this is ‘none of my problem,’ then what kind of friend am I?”

“But it’s my responsibility to take revenge for my brother!”

Keiko slaps his face, pushing a short burst of her quirk while she’s at it. “You’re not the only one who’s hurt, Tenya! We get it. It was almost too late. I was almost too late. But I wasn’t. And we have to concentrate on that part. Why are you chasing the past and not the future? Do you think Tensei would congratulate your death? Because let’s face it, you were never going to win against Stain alone. So get your shit together!”

Keiko hears Midoriya cry out. She focuses her attention to the fight, pinpointing his location through her shockwave and sending her quirk through it.

Even though she sees the wound close up, Midoriya is unable to move. Probably Stainy’s quirk.

Keiko’s eyes widen as a blur passes by and breaks the katana right before it slices Todoroki in half. 

“I’m sorry that you had to be involved in this. So I’ll make sure no more blood is spilt from the both of you.”

Keiko lets go of the breath that she was holding. While the boys are on the ground, Keiko channels her quirk to them, healing any immediate wounds that need to be addressed. As they resume their combat with Stain, Keiko focuses her attention back to Native.

“I feel so useless,” he says as a glow encompasses his side. “I’m the pro hero here, and yet, I’m being rescued by a bunch of kids.”

Keiko shakes her head. “Anyone would be incapicitated if they faced the Hero Killer one-on-one. He’s just that strong. And it’s like what I told Iida. There’s no point focusing on the past. We can only look at the future. Look what you did wrong. Find the faults and fix it. Like what they’re doing right now.”

The two look up just in time to see Midoriya and Iida knock Stain out. Keiko puts both hands on the ground, waiting to provide any assistance. However, when she sees the state Stain is in, she stands up. 

“He’s out cold.”

Indeed, Stain lays still on the ice, not moving an inch. 

“Here, my grappling hook can serve as a rope. It’s more reinforced than a regular rope anyways.”

Todoroki nods in thanks. 

“We should take out any weapons he has on hand,” Midoriya pipes in.

As Midoriya and Todoroki get to work on taking weapons off of Stain’s personal, Keiko approaches Iida. “Good work out there,” she says, grabbing his arm and healing it, “even if the reason it all started in the first place wasn’t good.”

Iida flinches and avoids Keiko’s gaze. 

She sighs and flicks his forehead. “What did I say about reflecting?”

His eyes widen. “Not to dwell on the past but reflect for the future.”

Keiko smiles. “Right. Even though this whole thing could have been prevented, at the end of the day, you learned a valuable lesson you’ll never forget. I’d prefer you to not risk your life, though.”

Iida chuckles. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Regen!”

Emmet and Gran Torino appear out of the alleyway. Emmet approaches Keiko, making sure she doesn’t have any injuries while Gran Torino kicks Midoriya in the face.

“Are you okay?” Emmet asks, checking for any obvious injuries. 

“I’m fine!” Keiko whines. “I having healing powers.”

Emmet flicks her forehead. “Don’t use Sassy Keiko on me now.”

She sticks her tongue out.

“Get down!”

Keiko sees Midoriya taken away by a Nomu with wings. Before she could react, though, Stain sprints past her and pins the Nomu down with a knife, all while having her grappling hook wrapped around his arm. “Both the fake heroes and petty villains who only look for mischief are targets for my purge. All for a better society!”

“Hey, what are you doing! Apprehend him!”

Stain looks back, and the aura around him intensifies when he sees Endeavour. “You fake! Someone needs to be stained with blood to ensure a better society. Come at me, you fakes! The only one can kill me, a true hero, is All Might!”

Keiko is shocked with fear, unable to move a single inch. This aura, it didn’t remind her of Sora or Shigaraki. Oh, no. It reminded her of someone worse. A dark room with computers and IV fluids. A man sits in front of it, watching the league’s progress. His league. The man turns around and grins.

“He’s out cold.”

Keiko is snapped back to reality to see Stain standing up but knocked out. 

The rest goes by in slow motion. The paramedics hustle to make sure she and her friends are alright before sending them to the hospital. However, as she’s being pushed into the ambulance, her mind is elsewhere, concentrated on the man with no eyes, and the pain he put her through.

Chapter Text

She stands alone in the darkness, staring off into the distance. She knows what will come next, as the same nightmare has continued to haunt her dreams for weeks now. She waits to hear the voice.

“Why didn’t you save me?”

She breathes in deeply to brace herself from his usual stabbing words. However, when she turns around, instead of seeing the boy with a scratched-out face floating in the darkness, she sees Sora’s bloody hands wrapped around his neck. 

The darkness morphs into that of a bar, and the boy becomes more vivid. Even though his face continues to be scratched-out, she can tell that his face was bashed into a bloody pulp. It didn’t help that his body was also misshapen, blood dripping to form a pool underneath him. 

She yelps as she’s pinned to the ground. She struggles to free herself, but the pressure on her back increases.

“Stop hurting him!” she screams, except she didn’t will herself to say it. Her lips continue to move without her consent. “I made him do it! It’s my fault! Stop! I’ve been the bad girl! Punish me instead!”

She stiffens when a staticed voice comes out from the TV. “Why, this is your punishment.”

Even though she can’t see past the tears clouding her vision, she finds her head turning towards the direction of the voice.

“What?” her voice breaks as she asks.

Sora grins. Keiko’s eyes widen as she sees his hands move into the position of his favorite finishing move.

He snaps the boy’s head, and she screams.

Keiko’s eyes fly open, and her breath becomes ragged. Even though she’s shivering, she throws the blanket off of her sweaty body. Luckily, she didn’t scream as Iida lays asleep on the opposite side. Judging by the bed he’s in, she’s in a hospital room. She sits up and cradles her head. Her vision tunnels as she rocks back-and-forth.

“It’s okay,” she whispers to herself. “I’m okay.”

Her voice breaks as she chokes on her sobs. “I’m okay,” she whispers again, tears clouding her vision. “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay.” … Right?

“Keiko?”

She flinches and whips her head towards the voice, meeting Todoroki’s heterochromic eyes.

“I want you to follow my breathing, okay?”

Keiko nods hesitantly.

“Breathe in.” 

He breathes in himself. She follows.

“Breathe out.”

She breathes out.

The two continue the same routine until her breathing returns to a normal pace. Her tunnel vision also disappeared, and she sees that Todoroki had pulled up a chair. 

“Thanks for doing that,” Keiko croaks. 

Todoroki nods. “Do you want to talk about?”

She remembers the screaming and the sound of the boy’s neck snapping. She shakes her head.

He nods again. As he tilts his head to look at the floor, Keiko spots a bandage on his cheeks.

“Did I not heal that?” she asks

Todoroki blinks and brings his hand to his cheek, brushing against the bandage. He shrugs. “I think you only healed the worst injuries. Only small scratches like these were left.”

“I can heal it for you if you want.”

He shakes his head. “You just woke up on the verge of a panic attack. You should take care of yourself.”

“Mmm.”

The two sit in silence, but, somehow, not an awkward one. 

“You know,” Keiko says, “you were pretty awesome out there, fighting with your fire and ice.”

Todoroki blinks. “Thanks.”

She nods. “And even when you used the fire side of your quirk during the Sports Festival, I was left in awe. It felt like I was knowing you more. Passionate and ambitious, yet warm and caring.”

At the corner of her eyes, she sees Todoroki staring at her, his eyes slightly widening. 

 She fumbles with the edge of her bedsheets. “You know, I don’t like using the part of my quirk that I got from my biological father.”

She sees his eyes open marginally wider. 

“Every day when I was younger,” she continues, “I saw him use his quirk for harm, so I could only associate that part of my quirk with evil. When I first found out that I could use shockwaves to pinpoint people far away, I freaked out. What if I hurt someone? What if I cause more harm than good? What if I become like my father? Luckily, I had people around me to help. Otherwise, I’d probably still not be using it.”

She laughs under her breath, trying to lighten up the mood. “Talking with them made me realize that the part of my quirk that came from my father isn’t his at all, but mines. How he uses his quirk shouldn’t dictate how I use mines. He may have used his for evil, but that doesn’t mean I have to follow in his footsteps. So I didn’t and used mines to heal.” 

Keiko squirms under Todoroki’s gaze. “Sorry,” she apologizes. “This probably sounds like it came out of thin air, but I wanted to put my two cents into your situation. I kinda happened to eavesdrop on your conversation with Midoriya.” She decides to leave Bakugou out of the equation. 

Todoroki shakes his head. “I didn’t intend for anyone else to know, but I’m glad it was you who heard us. You probably experienced worse, knowing who your father is.” 

“Don’t downplay your pain by comparing it to mines. All that matters is that we’ve both been through it and are recovering. But we’re both in better circumstances now, right?” 

She can see the tiniest smile poking out. “Yeah.” 

She scratches her chin with her index finger. “You know, I feel guilty hearing your secret. Is there something I can do to make up for it?” 

Todoroki tilts his head. “You don’t have to. I don’t mind you knowing about my past.” 

Keiko shakes her head. “I feel guilty for eavesdropping on your secret, so I want to do something in return, you feel? So how about this? You can ask one question, whatever question you want, and I’ll answer it honestly. So ask away.” 

Todoroki hums, thinking of a question. “Who’s your current father is? Obviously, it’s someone from UA since you are nicknamed UA’s resident kid.” 

Keiko blinks and laughs softly. “Out of all the questions you could ask me, you ask that one? Sure I’ll answer it. It’s not that big of a deal, really. It’s your homeroom teacher.” 

Todoroki’s eyes widen that widest she’s ever seen. “I was not expecting that.” 

Keiko shrugs. “Between you and me, he’s a real softy. But shh. He doesn’t want anyone to know, so it’ll be a secret between you and me.” 

Todoroki nods, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “My lips are sealed.”

___________________________________

“Thanks for driving me all the way to my house.”

Keiko stands in front of the driver-seat window to Emmet’s car. 

“It’s no problem,” he replies. “It’s the least I could do for you. Besides, after the lecture Aizawa-sensei gave me, I’m not risking my life by letting you go by yourself. Man, that lecture still sends shivers down my spine.”

To prove his point, he shivers in his seat.

Keiko laughs. “I hope you recover. I send you off with my best regards.”

Emmet returns the laugh. “Thanks. I’ll need it. Now, time to make sure my sidekicks haven’t burned the building down yet.”

“Yeah. Knowing them, they’ve already burned down the neighborhood.”

Emmet sighs. “Maybe I should put them in an escape room together and threaten stacks of reports if they don’t make it out. Anyways, I’ll see you later!”

Keiko waves as he drives away. She turns around and enters the passcode to enter their apartment building. She nods hello to the front desk and makes her way to the elevator. She pulls out her phone as the elevator dings.

[Messaging “Caterpillar”]

[Keiko =^owo^=]

I’m home.

Keiko presses the button for the second floor, and the door closes.

[Caterpillar]

Okay.

I’ll be home by 5.

The elevator dings, and she exits. She pulls out her keys and inserts it into the lock of a door three doors away from the elevator. The lock opens with a soft click. Immediately, she’s welcomed by Shiro and Kuro.

“I’m home,” she says, petting the purring babies.

She avoids stepping on the cats as she maneuvers her way to her room. She drops her bag on the floor and plops herself on her bed. She’ll unpack later. 

She turns around and faces the ceiling. She thinks back to the rest of her hospital stay. Keiko’s healing that night really only healed the worst of someone’s healing. For Iida, it was his arm, which would have otherwise sustained permanent damage. Midoriya avoided another fractured arm. 

She yawns. “I’m gonna take a page out of Dad’s book and take a nap,” she murmurs, already falling into a deep sleep.

___________________________________

“You’ve been a bad girl today,” the man says in his sickly sweet voice. “Do you know what happens to bad girls?”

A five-year-old Keiko shivers in the presence of the man. She doesn’t dare open her mouth.

The man folds his hands over his legs. “Do you know why you were brought here today?”

She stays silent and counts the bandages on her ankles and feet. Five.

He sighs. “I don’t want to force you to talk, but I need you to cooperate with me if we want things to run smoothly. What did you do to have been brought to me?”

The shaking increases, knowing full well that nothing can stop the man from hurting her. 

He shakes his head. “If that’s what you have decided upon, then I can’t change your mind. I regret to do this, but I’m going to have to send you to the Lab.”

Her already pale complexion turns paler as her eyes widen in fear. Her mind is flooded with images of people with helmets over their head, their mouth foaming, and of people floating in tanks full of blue liquid. For the first time since she’s known the man, she flees. She scrambles for the door behind her, and to her surprise, it opens. She tumbles as she escapes, but she continues running as fast as her little legs can carry her. 

She’s startled as the walls start crashing in. She turns the corner and all of a sudden, she’s staring down the hallway of a hospital room. A frantic nurse runs past her, desperately repeating a phone number. Her phone number. Keiko runs the opposite direction towards the emergency room. Tensei lays there, his eyes cloudy and distant. Doctors and nurses stand dejected, the heart monitor silent. 

A scream echoes behind her, and the scenery transforms into that of the alleyway she fought against Stain. She turns around to see Stain gripping Iida by the throat. Todoroki lays limp against the wall, a large gash across his chest. Midoriya lays in the middle of the alleyway, drowning in his own blood. Stain throws Iida, who stays motionless once he makes contact with the floor. Keiko rushes to his side and sends her quirk, but nothing happens. 

“You should already know the results, you little brat.”

She looks up and sees Sora where Stain should have been. She shivers as a grin spreads onto his face. “Nothing good ever happens to anyone around you. A hero? Don’t make me laugh. And don’t waste your energy. 

Y̸̨̯̺͚͔͈̖̭̼̠̼̣̱̹͌̅̇̑̉͊̔̈́̍̐̚ͅǫ̸̺̗̟̤̱͉̯̱̰̫̗̱̙̲̔̓͠ù̵̡̙̝̻͋͛̇̄͝ ̶̗̹͔͈̯͖̩̱̱͕̯͕͂̈́̓̐͋̀̎̓̍̂̚c̴̞̼̖̹͒ą̸̡̣̩̪͈̼̻̖̤̬͉͊̾̂͂͐̈̌̓̽͋̈́̽̕͘͠ņ̴͖͑͂̌̑͑̏͆̊̍'̷̢̺̘̼̬̦̜̮̦͎͔̱̫̪͊̈͂̊̔̿̎͌͜͝t̸̛̙̊̍̎̒͐͠͠ ̴̱̬̮̞͇͔̱͙͕͑̈́̈́h̴̼͂̂̇̋͌̏̒̐̈́̅͐̆̈́͋͝ë̸͇͔̳͈̥͓̗̦́̀̀̍̽̆̃̿̑a̶͖̤̟̰̫̯̠̝͚͍̋ļ̵̡͈̗̹̝̺̩̬͙̗̥̠̻͆̏̔̐ͅ ̶̺͇̺̘͈̝̙̜̩̳͈̳̠̞͐̊̾̋t̵͎̬͖̲̻̹̗͓̂̅h̷͖͈̩̩͔̣͔͆̄̂̾͜e̸̱̟̲͚̮͕͍̙̻͈̹͋̎̓̆̇̕͜͝ͅ ̷̤͉̯́̃̈́̎̚͝d̸̨̥̺͂̋ȩ̶̩̹̲̖͝a̶̛̻͓̺̮̻̠̼̦͉̲̳̣͑̆͐̈́̋͗͒ͅd̷̡̥͈̞̥͓͈̬̟̭͈͓͒̃̐̋.”

Her body tenses up as the scenery disappears, leaving her in the familiar darkness.

“Why didn’t you heal me?”

Keiko slowly turns her head to see the young boy. She can distinguish a trail of bloody tears flowing out from his scratched-out face. 

“Why didn’t you heal me?” he repeats. “You have such an awesome quirk. You can literally bring people back from the brink of death. So why didn’t you use it?

Ḯ̵̢̯̱̟̪̥͉̟̻̻̝̯͚̻̂͂̔̔̊̄͛̂͝ ̵̢̛͎͇̪̪͙͊̈́̅̊̋͑͗̚̚͜s̵̛͚̥͇̯̗̭̦̞͆̅̆̑͒̌͛̏͐̚̕͝h̵̬̹̮̝͐̈͆̿͘ó̶̡̡̫̯͚̦̻͇̬̙̫͕̑̍̾̐̈̀̈́̀͜͝͝ų̷̼̥̈͂ļ̵̟͍̩̣͚̼̃̅̚d̴͍̘̙͎̳͚͎͎̭̗̭̣͛̄͜͠n̸̛̮̘͕̦̉͆͆͛̐̄̓ͅ'̵̡̡̨̹̼̲͖̯͇͙̝̓̅̒̚t̶͎̱̫̗̹̻̂̋̍ ̶̧̧̛̪̜̟̇̔̇̆h̸͖̻̗̝̞̺̩͍̩̊͊̈̂̾̊̒̆͂̾̐̉̒͜ͅà̸̢͖̬̻̜̅̾v̸̧̧̰͇̤̪̘͍͚̝͕̝̺̂̑͛͛͗̾͂̈͝e̶̢̨̢͉͎͎̼̟͙͔̮͑͗̄̓ͅͅ ̶̜̦͖͚͓̺̜̳̈́̋̿̈͂̏̕ͅh̴͇̻̙͉̟͗ȁ̴̘͔̝̪̮̱̰͚͚͔̺̍͆͑̚d̷̡̨̢̦̺̭͓͍͙͕̲̍̑́̃̋̿̅̿̓̚͘͜ ̵̩̱̋̂ṯ̸̠͔̞̞́̌̃͗̍̋ơ̷̻͚̯̂̓̍̅̂̔̏͊ ̶̨̢̲̦̮̞̖̘̣̪̥̓͐̎͌d̶̢̤̓̈̔̕͘͝ḭ̴̢̣̰̥̠͖̲̣̰̈́͌͂͒̊̇̋̇͗͠͠ë̷̲̥̻́̋̊̊͒̓̄̏̈́͘͘̕͜͝.̷̣̥̃̍̽̍̏̈̀̇͗̑.”

The boy transforms into the man, his grin sending fear through her soul. 

“Found you.”

___________________________________

A man drums his finger on the counter, staring at a picture of Keiko aiding civilians away from the nomus in Hosu.

His IV fluid drips within its bag, matching the speed of his beat.

He crumbles the photo and grins.

“Found you.”

Chapter Text

Aizawa’s eyes fly open. Nothing seems wrong at first glance. No sound, no movement, no attack. But his intuition tells him otherwise, and that’s all he needs. 

He leaps out of bed and rushes towards Keiko’s room, careful to create as little noise as possible. He knocks on her door, waiting for a response. When none comes, he tells her that he’s coming in before opening the door. 

Keiko sits up on her bed, her breath ragged. She has her arms cradled around her head, her knees brought up to her chest. Upon closer look, her eyes are unfocused, and her mouth moves with no noise coming out. 

Aizawa sits down at the edge of her bed, far enough to not invade her personal space, but close enough to make his presence known. Keiko flinches, avoiding his gaze. 

“You alright?” 

Keiko keeps her gaze focused on her feet.

“Can I come closer?”

She remains quiet, but it’s not a protest. Very carefully, he scootches closer. When she doesn’t make any obvious actions showing discomfort, he moves onto the next step. He slowly pulls her into a hug, placing her head onto his shoulder. He runs his hand through her hair with one hand while lightly patting her back with the other. At first, her shoulders tense up, but they slowly relax as time goes by. 

When Keiko’s breathing goes back to a somewhat normal pace, Aizawa starts talking again. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She takes a sharp intake. 

“It’s alright if you don’t want to,” he says, speaking to her in a soothing tone. “But don’t keep it all to yourself. It doesn’t have to be today or even to me. Just make sure you talk to someone someday, okay?”

Keiko nods stiffly. 

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?”

She buries her face into his neck, and Aizawa barely feels her head shaking. 

“Okay. Do you want to watch TV instead?”

She nods and leans away from Aizawa, giving him space to move. She rubs her eyes before standing up, grabbing her blanket and Kaito before heading to the living room. Aizawa follows her out but heads to the kitchen. He pulls out two mugs and fills one with hot chocolate and the other with coffee. 

As he waits for the coffee to start brewing, Shiro jumps onto the counter, purring and rubbing against Aizawa’s shirt. He scratches her chin. “Not watching over Keiko?”

Shiro meows, as if she’s saying, That’s why there’s two cats.

Aizawa huffs. He takes the mug of hot chocolate and coffee to the living room, where Keiko sits on the couch, a blanket over her legs, and Kuro purring on her lap. 

Keiko nods in thanks when Aizawa hands her the hot chocolate. Aizawa grabs the remote control as he sits down, flipping through channels to watch. Eventually, he settles on a food competition, opting to watch people struggle to appease stringent judges. He and Keiko had strange tastes. 

As the contestants are given the task to make a chocolate dessert, Keiko snuggled up next to Aizawa, leaning against his shoulder. Aizawa responds by dropping his head on hers. The two watch as contestants struggle to make a dessert within the time limit. Finally, when the final desserts are being presented, Aizawa sees Keiko stare at a specific dessert with an intense gaze. A hungry intense gaze. 

As the camera zeroes in on the lava cake, Keiko looks up at Aizawa, who raises one of his eyebrows in response. Keiko points at the screen without breaking eye contact. 

“You want me to buy it for you?” Aizawa asks.

Keiko continues to point at the screen, and it clicks. 

“You know I can’t bake.”

She still continues to point. He sighs. “You’re lucky I love you, kid. I’ll call Hizashi and Nemuri and let them know.”

Keiko nods and attempts for a smile, which ends up coming out lopsided. Compared to the past, though, it’s a step forward. 

The two go back to watching the judges mercilessly crush the contestants. 

___________________________________

What is All Might doing in class today? Keiko signs at Aizawa, preparing for her presence to be expected.

“An assessment of what the students learned during their internship,” Aizawa answers, organizing the stacks of paper on his desk. 

What kind of assessment?

“Why don’t you go check it out yourself? Save the kids trouble of going to the nurse's office.”

Keiko snickers. Even Dad thinks there’s going to be injuries. Well, his trouble maker is in his class.

I’m off! she signs, sent off with a wave from Aizawa.

After watching an old anime show, Keiko had mentioned the feature to Hatsume, sending the support student into a frenzy. As a result, she now has sneakers with a dial that has a hover, boost, and unknown feature. Hatsume had a weird gleam in her eyes when she told Keiko about the unknown feature, and she is not excited to test it out anytime soon.

Keiko opens the window in the faculty office and jumps out. As the teachers freak out (minus Aizawa), she dials to the first knob, activating the hover feature. Air pushes out from under the soles of her feet, softening her fall. She then turns the dial to the second knob, activating the boost feature. She kicks off the ground, speeding across the campus and towards Gym Gamma. 

She arrives just in time to see Midoriya speed off in a flash of light. Her eyes widen at his improvement. He’s jumping around like Bakugou! Without breaking his bone! It should have been expected, seeing as they fought together, but seeing it without adrenaline is a whole other experience. Of course, it all ends when he slips. 

When Midoriya reaches the end, Keiko claps him on the back. She gives him a thumbs up, hoping the message goes through. Midoriya looks at her for a few seconds, but his eyes widen in understandment and returns her gesture with a bright smile. 

Keiko gives the other students thumbs up, receiving thumbs up back from a couple. She hopes this means that she’ll be seeing them less in the infirmary. (Little did she know, it’s a futile hope.)

___________________________________

“Whoooooooo’s ready to start baking!” Yamada shouts, luckily without his quirk.

Kayama pumps her fists in the air and shouts, while Keiko does the same albight silently.

“Can you not yell at someone else’s house?” Aizawa grumbles from the couch. 

Yamada ignores him. “I’m going to list off the ingredients! Butter?”

Kayama pulls out a stick of butter from the refrigerator and raises it in the air. “Check!”

“Eggs?”

Keiko takes out the eggs and brandishes them in the air.

“Water?”

Kayama snatches a cup from the sink and fills it with water. She raises the cup in the air. “Check!”

“And the lava cake mix!”

Keiko grabs the box from the table and chucks it at Yamada, receiving a satisfying squawk.

“Now we just dump them all into a bowl and mix!” Kayama rips open the box and dumps the contents into a bowl. Yamada cuts the required amount of butter and plops it in. Keiko cracks open two eggs, one from each hand.

“Shouta! Do you want the honors of adding the last ingredient?”

“Count me out.”

Keiko goes up to him, who is in his caterpillar mode. She pokes him until he cracks an eyes open. 

Those who don’t help don’t eat , she signs.

Aizawa stares at her in disbelief before he groans and forces himself up. “I just need to add the water, right?”

Keiko nods furiously. Aizawa walks up to the counter and grabs the cup.

“Wait, if you pour from that heig-”

The water splashes into the bowl with too much force, causing the cake mix and water to rise up and cover Aizawa’s face. The four of them stand in silence before Yamada and Kayama erupt into laughter. They collapse onto the floor and writhe on the floor with tears in their eyes. Keiko laughs just as hard, coming out as a soft wheeze. Aizawa flips out his scarf from who knows where and wraps it around the two adults.

“Not another word.”

His red eyes and floating hair plus the cake batter is not the best combination.Yamada and Kayama puff out their cheeks to contain their laughter, but they do nod. Aizawa relaxes the scarf and faces Keiko, who is still laughing. 

“I’m going to wash this off. I’m trusting you to keep those two in reign.”

Keiko gives him a thumbs up, but the side of her eyes still contains the tears of mirth. She faces the not-really adults in the room after Aizawa leaves for the bathroom.

Who’s ready for chaos?

___________________________________

“I trusted you,” Aizawa groans into his hands.

Flour is strewn all across the floor, ingredients from the fridge spilled onto a heap outside of the refrigerator, and plates and utensils from the cabinets are laid all over the floor, thankfully in one piece. Yamada and Kayama are kneeling in front of Keiko, who is standing on top of the dining table in a triumphant pose. She is dressed in a blanket cape and a makeshift crown. 

At least the house isn’t burnt down, Keiko signs

Aizawa falls deeper into his misery. She kept her word, but not to the extent he desired.

“You will not leave until this house is sparkling clean.”

Yamada squawks. “Wait, the whole house? Not just the kitchen.”

“Did I stutter?”

The trio salute. “No, sire.”

The oven dings.

___________________________________

“See you tomorrow, Shouta! Keiko!”

Keiko bids them adieu with a hug while Aizawa gives them a curt wave. She skips back into the house and rolls into a blanket burrito. She looks at Aizawa expectantly, adding stars in her eyes for added effects. He huffs and picks her up, setting her on the couch next to him and positioning her to comfortably lay her head on his shoulder. He grabs the remote and mindlessly switches through the channels until they reach a murder mystery show. 

The two quietly watched the show, basking in the peacefulness. When Keiko deems character B to be the murderer, Aizawa quietly breaks the silence.

“Did you have fun today?”

Keiko looks up to Aizawa, who’s still watching the show build up to the final scene. She smiles and returns to the show reveal the murderer, who was indeed character B. 

“Yeah.”

Chapter Text

“Shin!” Keiko calls, draping across Shinsou’s shoulder. 

She still remembers when she first used the nickname. She had dropped it out of nowhere when the two were having one of their insomniatic nights. She had taken a screenshot while they were facetiming, so she now has blackmail to get him to do whatever she wants. Mwahahaha.

He groans. “You’re heavy. Get off.”

“Think of it as weight training.”

“Too early in the morning. Need more coffee.”

“You mean this?” She dangles a can of coffee in front of his face.

His face visibly brightens. “You’re an angel. A literal angel. My hero.”

She giggles as he opens the can and drinks it in one-go, all while she’s still draped across his back. “Are you ready for your exams?”

Shinsou groans. “Don’t remind me. Math is such a pain. When will I ever use integrals? Never.”

“I can help you if you want.”

“You’re too good for this world. Did I mention you’re an angel?”

“Yeah, you did. Hey, maybe math will be the solution to your insomnia.”

“Nah, not even math can conquer that.”

She laughs. “True. Insomnia is a bitch.”

He laughs along with her. “The angel has been corrupted.”

___________________________________

“Hey, hey, Keiko!”

She hums as she pops a lollipop in her mouth. She was sitting in the back of the classroom, solving a Nedzu-custom megaminx while listening to the chaos that is 1-A.

“We heard that the practical exams were going to be against robots,” Kaminari exclaims. “Is that true?”

She tilts her head. “Robots?”

The room becomes silent except for the sound of Keiko crunching on her candy.

“Argh!” Ashido and Kaminari cradle their heads and wallow in despair. “It’s not robots! We’re screwed!”

“Do you know what the exams will be on?” Sero asks, a very eager Kirishima and Mineta nodding along.

“Why would I know? I’m not a teacher.”

The three look dejected upon hearing the news.

She tilts her head. “I’d be more worried about the written exams if I were you.”

Kaminari and Ashido stiffen before they resume their panic. “We’re screwed!”

Ashido kneels beneath Keiko. “You’re smart, right? Help us!”

Kaminari follows her example. “Help us please!”

Keiko continues to solve through her megaminx. “Tough luck.”

“If you’d like,” Yaoyorozu says, “I can assist in your academics.”

Keiko stares at the two profusely thank Yaoyorozu before she concentrates back on her megaminx. She wonders if their stupidity can even be fixed by Momo’s intelligence. 

___________________________________

It’s the day of the practical exam, and Keiko can’t feel anything but worried. 

While Recovery Girl keeps an eye on the other contestants, Keiko keeps her attention on the most troublesome group. She understands why Dad put Midoriya and Bakugou together, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t spell trouble. And true to her words, their practical exam is nothing but trouble. Trouble for her anyways. 

The first sign occurs when Bakugou and Midoriya fight each other for the first half of their exam. She sighs in exasperation, thinking about all the injuries they’re sustaining even before they engage with their opponent. Then, All Might goes all out and beats the hell out of the two. 

Another tick mark forms as All Might smashes Midoriya’s back, and the another when he completely pummels Bakugou to the ground. 

She cracks a pen in her hand. “Is it alright if I strangle Toshi?”

Recovery Girl huffs. “Trust me, dearie. I’d love to give you permission, but that’s called murder.”

So instead, Keiko opts to wait in the entrance of the tent, holding her hands on her hip and welcoming them with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her ears. “Welcome back, All Might. I hope you’re ready for what’s to come.”

Recovery Girl takes over looking after the students while Keiko goes to lecture the teacher. She continues to smile while her eyes glare daggers into him. 

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

He prostrates on the ground. “I deeply apologize for my actions!”

“Why did you try to break Midoriya’s back?”

He rises from his prostrating position but still remains kneeling on the ground. “The situation seemed to call for it,” he meekly responds, avoiding her gaze.

“Oh, so the situation also called to knock Bakugou unconscious.”

He shrinks. 

“Do you see the other teachers breaking bones?” To emphasize, she points at the multitude of screens that obviously proves her point.

He shrinks even further. Keiko’s grin widens, but her eyes grow darker. “The next time the teachers are paired against a student, I better not be receiving patients who are suffering from extensive injuries caused by their teacher.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Good.” She turns her attention to Recovery Girl. “What am I allowed to heal?”

“Just the ones All Might caused,” she explains. “Leave the ones the boys caused themselves. Have it set as a reminder.”

She nods and moves to Midoriya to heal his back. “Midoriya.”

He squeaks and fearfully looks up at Keiko, who’s giving him the same scary smile she gave All Might. “I know it’s not your fault, but the next time you guys fight each other like that, I hope you’re ready for the consequences.”

Midoriya nods fervently. She nods and pats Midoriya on his now-healed back before focusing her attention on Bakugou. She’ll give him the same lecture when he wakes up. Although she doubts he’ll listen, maybe the fact that she is his nurse will be enough ammo to keep him out of trouble.

She sighs. How will these troublemakers survive without her?

___________________________________

“Keiko, Class A is going to shop for the summer training camp. Do you want to come along?”

She tilts her head. “You sure you want me along. I’m not in your class.”

Uraraka fervently nods her head. “It’ll be fun! You’re going to the training camp, too, right?”

Keiko considers the offer for a minute before nodding. “Alright, I’ll go.”

And that’s how Keiko finds herself staring at the entrance of the mall. She’s never been to the mall without Dad, Muri, or Zashi, so she’s a little nervous. She lightly slaps her cheeks, hyping herself up, before entering. After swiveling her head this way and that, she finds her group a little ways into the mall. 

“Sorry I’m a little late.”

“No worries!” Yaoyorozu exclaims. “I’m happy you managed to find your way.”

“Is anything happening right now, Yaoyorozu?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing at the moment. We just came together. And please, call me Momo. My last name can be quite a mouthful.”

Keiko grins. “Okay, Momo.”

Their attention is grabbed by the announcement of several of the items different students needed. 

“I need a large duffel bag,” Jirou claims.

“Then let’s go together. Do you want to come along with us, Keiko?”

She nods and follows the two girls to go on a shopping spree. Not only do they get another bag, they also get bug spray, shoes, clothes, and other miscellaneous items. She also buys some more lollipops as her stash is running out. There are also new flavors, so of course she has to buy them. 

As she’s peering at the gummy section, she sees a young boy and girl rush past in the corner of her eyes. As the little boy is animatedly chatting with his female companion, a small voice goes off in her head.

“You have a healing quirk? That’s so cool! You can literally bring people back from the brink of death!”

She doesn’t recognize the voice, but something about it rings a bell of familiarity. Why, she has no idea. Before she can think more on it, though, Momo and Jirou call her name. She puts the issue at the back of her mind. She’ll think about it later.

As the three of them are waiting to reconvene with the others, she excuses herself to the restroom. As she’s looking for the lady’s room, a light spring enters her step. The shopping trip has been fun, and it’s the first time she’s hung out with people her age. She can’t wait to tell Dad about it.

As she exits the washroom and heads towards the group, someone sharply yanks her shirt back, choking her in the process. Keiko coughs and rubs her sore throat before turning around to see who could have done it. Immediately, the color drains from her face. Shigaraki stares down at her, a smile across his face. A shiver runs down her spine. A smiling Shigaraki is not good. Not good at all.

“I didn’t think I’d get to meet you here, too!” he says with a lighthearted tone, as if a burden has been lifted from his shoulders. “Sensei has missed you greatly.”

The shiver running up and down her spine now emcompasses her entire being. His grin widens at the sight, and Keiko feels herself returning to her five year old self, shivering at the prospect of what awaits her. 

“I’d love to bring you back with me, but that could possibly ruin my plans. But don’t worry, I’ll bring you home soon, and you’ll be able to meet Sensei again. I promise you that.”

Shigaraki turns and walks towards the exit. Keiko stands there, watching Shigaraki’s receding figure disappear into the crowd, frozen in place from fear. Slowly, she takes a wobbly step into the opposite direction, mindlessly searching for any familiar faces to prevent her from getting sucked into the past. Before she realizes, she’s running, desperate to find someone, anyone who can ground her to the present. She doesn’t want to go back to the darkness. She doesn’t want to think about the past. She’s tired of thinking about the past. 

In the midst of her panic, she runs into someone hard, causing her to stumble. That someone grabs her, though, and immediately grounds her to the present.

“Are you okay?” 

Keiko looks up at the familiar voice and sees Iida’s worried expression. Shigaraki’s smile flashes before her eyes. She cradles her head and shakes it, wanting to get the thought out.

“Sit here. I’ll go bring some medics who could help you.”

He turns to leave, but before he could go, Keiko grabs his sleeves. Iida’s eyes widen before it’s quickly softened. He leads Keiko to a place where she could sit and accompanies her, giving her some grounding that the reality is her safely sitting with Iida, not the nightmare that’s threatening to surface.

“Hey, Keiko.”

The darkness ebbs away as she acknowledges the speaker. Kaminari, Ashido, and Hagakure kneel in front of her, a frown upon their faces. They were with Iida shopping for shoes, if she remembers correctly. 

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” Hagakure asks. Kaminari and Ashido nod alongside her.

“Distraction,” she whispers.

Kaminari grins. “It looks like it’s my time to shine. Here’s a question for you. If the Wicked Witch of the West melts in water … how did she shower?”

She opens her mouth to answer, but she hesitates. Wait, how did she shower? Did she just not shower? She’s a witch, so she’s technically a different being. Maybe she didn’t need to shower. What if she used magic? No, she’d still have to use water. No, maybe she used magic that could get dirt to come off of her. Wait, wasn’t there a musical that branched off from the Wizard of Oz? 

As she’s carefully musing over the answer to his question, Kaminari quietly high-fives the girls, a big grin on their faces. Mission accomplished.

“If we’re going based on the musical Wicked,” Keiko says, catching their attention, “then that means the Wicked Witch of the West actually doesn’t melt from water. She only faked her death and then eloped with the scarecrow. The better question is how you even know what the Wizard of Oz is. I had the impression that you didn’t read.”

“Hey! What is that supposed to mean?” he pouts.

Keiko giggles, while Ashido and Hagakure laugh. Even Iida couldn’t help a little chuckle. Kaminari doesn’t stay mad for long and laughs alongside them. A warm feeling settles in her chest. She’s happy she has such good friends.

Chapter Text

Keiko slips on the kitty headphones Zashi bought for her to block out the sounds of the noisy group that is Class 1-A. She hasn’t quite mastered the art of ignoring like Aizawa, but she’ll get there one day. For now, she opts to listen to her playlist. She snuggles against her dad and smiles when she feels his arm gently rest on her shoulders. 

She doesn’t realize she’s dozed off until she feels Aizawa rustle next to her. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she follows the class outside of the bus but stops next to Aizawa, completely aware of the disaster that will fall upon the poor class.

As Mandalay and Pixie-Bob are introducing themselves, she spots a boy hanging out at the back, looking all grumpy and mumpy. He kinda reminds her of Bakugou. Whether that’s good or not is up for debates. Her attention is grabbed by the students' panicked expressions as they’re tossed into the forest. She makes eye contact with some of the students, and she smiles and waves, basking in their betrayed expressions. 

… Maybe she’s been spending too much time with Nedzu.

“Did you really need to fling them off a cliff?” Keiko asks Aizawa.

“Plus Ultra.”

She rolls her eyes but fails to push down the smirk. As she embarks on the bus, she remembers the boy from earlier. 

“Who was the kid earlier?” she asks, plopping down onto a seat.

Aizawa sits next to her. “Waterhose’s kid. He’s staying with Mandalay after what happened to them.”

Keiko nods. She remembers when Waterhose’s death was broadcasted on the news. She never personally knew them, but she was fond of them. They passed away a couple of years ago, so Kouta would have been really young. She can’t even imagine how it feels to lose a loved one that young. 

A hand rests on her head, and when she looks up, Aizawa gazes at her with a fond expression. Keiko grins and snuggles against his side. As she’s falling asleep again, she thinks of a personal mission to accomplish during the training camp. Befriend Kouta!

___________________________________

Keiko arrives at the training camp, taking in her surroundings. Occasionally, she hears distant noise from the forest. The kids sure are working hard. 

She takes in the forest and all the cliffs, and she can’t contain the buzz of excitement in her body.

“I’mma go explore!” Keiko yells before zooming into the forest.

“Don’t go too far!” Aizawa yells behind her. Keiko merely waves.

She grabs the branch above her and swings on before hopping from tree to tree. She cackles as adrenaline flows through her vein, flipping a couple times. Just to show off. 

After running around in the forest for quite a while, she enters a clearing, leading to a cliff. A cat grin spreads across her face. She approaches the cliff and starts climbing, one hand after another. At one point, she stops in the middle to see the view. The wind blows her hair, providing a natural cooling effect on her sweaty body. In the middle of the forest, she sees a couple dust flowing out. 

She continues her trip and eventually reaches the top after a couple of minutes. She sits down at the edge of the cliff, her legs dangling off the edge, and watches the dust bowl slowly but surely go towards the direction of the camp. She closes her eyes as she feels the wind brush against her. She flops onto her back, slightly kicking her legs. Man, nothing beats the countryside.

“What are you doing at my secret base?”

She cracks an eye open and sees Kouta staring down at her. She closes her eyes again before answering. “I was simply out for some exercise. I found a perfectly good cliff to climb, and it just happened to be connected to your secret base. Pardon the intrusion.”

Even though her eyes are closed, she can feel the scowl emitted from the boy. “Well, this is my secret base, so you need to leave.”

“Don’t be a party pooper,” she whines, revelling in Kouta’s sputtering. “I’ll leave after a little while. Just let me enjoy the sun and the wind for now.”

He huffs. “Fine, but leave afterwards.”

“Yes, sir,” she proclaims, lazily saluting. 

He scoffs and goes off somewhere, taking the shadow that was blocking the light with him. She sighs as she basks in the sunlight, feeling the wind flowing across her body. She could lay there all day, listening to the birds and the distance rumbling of suffering students. 

“Those kids sure are working hard,” she says absentmindedly. 

“You’re all idiots,” he mumbles, startling her. She didn’t think he’d respond. “Always going off about quirks and showing them off. Calling yourselves heroes or villains and killing each other. What’s the point of being heroes if you’re just going to leave people behind? Idiots.”

Keiko hums, knowing she’s included in his rant. She can’t really say anything to that. All her life, she was dependent on her quirk to keep her alive, but at the same time, Sora may have pulled things down a notch if she didn’t have her quirk. Maybe.

“I guess I can understand your point,” she says.

“Hah?”

Oof, that sounded just like Bakugou. “I mean, some of the things I experienced were because of my quirk. It allowed people to go beyond. But at the same time, it kept me alive. I don’t know. I’m not good this sappy stuff. Life’s hard.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

She shrugs, opening her eyes to stare at the clear blue sky. “My quirk was both a blessing and a curse. Guess that applies to the whole quirk society as a whole.”

She sees Kouta look away with a scowl on his face. “You’re still idiots.”

Keiko stares at his back for a bit before sitting up. “It’s time for me to head back. Ttyl.”

She chuckles as he mumbles, “Who actually says ttyl in real life?”

___________________________________

“Keiko, do you want to help us make dinner?”

She looks down from the tree to see Mandalay standing below her. “Sure,” she chirps.

“What were you doing up there?” she asks once Keiko hops down, leading her to the kitchen.

“Listening to nature.” She had never been out of the city before, so she was never able to realize how much she loves the outdoors. She’s definitely going to be visiting the Pussycats a lot more.

Mandalay blinks at her. “Huh, I didn’t take you as the nature type.”

She shrugs. “Didn’t know until now. Dad’s not the type to go camping. Don’t let his caterpillar form fool you.”

Mandalay chuckles. She directs Keiko to the kitchen where Ragdoll and Tiger were already prepping the kitchen. 

“Is the little kitten going to be helping us?” Ragdoll asks.

Keiko nods, and she’s immediately put to work. One moment, she would be helping Ragdoll cut the vegetables, and the next, she’d be helping Tiger cooking the rice. At one point, she even went with Kouta to go haul some more vegetables over.

“Where did you come from?” she asks as they go to wherever they kept their vegetables.

“My aunt called me over to help with dinner,” he grumbles. 

She tilts her head. “How, though? Weren’t you at the base?”

He clicks his tongue, and Keiko couldn’t help seeing the uncanny resemblance to Bakugou. Whether that’s good or not is still up for debate. “Her quirk’s Telepathy. Even you can understand from that.”

She huffs. “Well, aren’t you a rude one.” 

Kouta just rolls his eyes. As they’re gathering the vegetables, a thought comes to her mind. She has an idea to get revenge for that comment earlier, but she doesn’t know if it’ll backfire. Well, Keiko’s always wanted to do it to Bakugou just for the hell of it, but she was afraid of the repercussions. Kouta can be her guinea pig. Killing two birds with one stone.

As they’re exiting the storage, Keiko grabs Kouta’s attention. “How do you make holy water?”

“Hah?”

“You boil the hell out of it.”

“Wha-”

“Last night, I dreamed I was swimming in an ocean of orange soda. But it was just a Fanta sea.”

“What are you-”

“What do you call a bee that can’t make up its mind? A maybe.”

“Will you stop-”

“I once submitted 10 puns to a contest to see which one would win. No pun in ten did.”

Keiko notices that Kouta’s not walking beside her anymore. She looks back, and she now knows what will happen if she tells Bakugou puns.

“You might want to run.”

Keiko heeds his advice and runs, only running faster when she hears his footsteps. She zooms past Aizawa, barely taking note the raised eyebrow he sends her way before diving into the kitchen. She quickly drops her delivery, and she immediately dashes out, ignoring Kouta’s shouts to stop running. She runs to the forest and grabs onto a branch before pulling herself up, away from the grasps of the little gremlin.

“Get back down here!” he screams. “You will pay!”

Keiko responds by throwing some coins at him. Kouta is caught off guard, but when he realizes what she did, he explodes once more. She responds by throwing more coins at him.

“Stop doing that!”

“You said I’ll pay.”

“Not like that!”

She laughs at his misery, and off to the distance, she can see Ragdoll and Pixie Bob also having a field day. Her attention is caught by the distant sound of shouting. The class must be getting close.

Kouta also hears this. “You’re off the hook this time.” He shoves his hands in his pocket and walks away. Keiko giggles before following behind, making sure to keep her distance.

She stands next to Aizawa, who raises an eyebrow at her. “What did you say to make him chase after you?”

Keiko grins, and Aizawa’s face falls. 

“No, wait-”

“I once submitted 10 puns to a contest to see which one would win. No pun in ten did.”

“What the fuck did I hear?”

Keiko turns to see the students emerge from the forest. She spots Bakugou giving her the most scandalous look ever.

“Never heard of a pun?”

“Never want to fucking hear one ever fucking again.”

She spots his shaking wrists and goes to heal him, but Aizawa holds her back. “Not this time. Remember the whole point of this training camp? Think of it as endurance training.”

Keiko pouts, puffing out her cheeks. Doesn’t mean she has to like it. 

Aizawa huffs at her reaction. “You can start tomorrow. You’ll be training your quirk, too. I’ll give you more detail tomorrow.”

She immediately brightens at this information. Her attention is grabbed by Midoriya approaching Kouta, and she can only feel dread for what this exchange will be like. Her dread wasn’t for naught as Kouta proceeds to punch Midoriya, as Iida quotes, in the junk. Keiko jogs up to poor Greenie and heals him.

“Thanks,” he mumbles.

She pats him on the back. “Don’t thank me yet. Wait until tomorrow.”

___________________________________

Keiko is playing on her phone while the class is taking a bath. She was invited by the girls to join them and was almost dragged in, but she won in the end. She’ll enter when there’s less people. 

Her quiet is interrupted by Midoriya bursting into the room, holding a passed-out Kouta. She’s immediately at her feet, gesturing to lay the kid on the couch. She places her hand on his head, but when her quirk doesn’t activate, she releases a sigh. 

“He’s not injured. I’m not sure what happened, but he’s going to be fine.”

The tension releases from Midoriya’s shoulders. “I’m glad. He fell from the wall, so I was worried when he fainted.”

“He probably fainted from the shock,” Mandalay comments, laying a towel on his forehead. “I put him up there when Eraser warned me about a student.”

Keiko moves behind the sofa, watching the peaceful state that Koutaw as in. She only ever saw him when he was frowning. She feels one form on her face as Mandalay tells Midoriya about Kouta’s parents when he comments on his dislike for heroes. She’s already heard it once, but knowing the full story still forms knots in her stomach. 

She can never understand how it must have felt to have his parents, his world, taken from him. Her world was given to her when Aizawa rescued her from her hell. She can only connect to him on an emotional level, the loneliness he must feel. So the only thing she can do for him now is to fill in that loneliness, like what her heroes did for her.