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Aizawa was exiting UA when he saw Yagi along with someone else. Takahiro, the American eagle hero. And they were walking directly towards him. He tried to leave quickly, as he needed to go arrest Yoroi Musha, but the damn goat stopped him. the undergrounder gritted his teeth. Didn´t the big oaf see that he was busy? That damn old man could be fleeing the country right now and Yagi stopped him to talk to one of his friends!! Unbelievable!!
“Ah, Aizawa, here you were” he signalled the other hero. “Takahiro here has something to ask you. You see, he is an old friend from when I lived in America and asked me for a favour last time he…”
“To the point, Yagi, I´m busy”
“I´m searching for a relative of mine” the foreigner said, in a well pronounced Japanesse. Aizawa raised an eyebrow. Was he of mixed heritage? Could be. “My mother was Japanese. She left the country with her mother when she was little, but she had a little sister that remained here with their father. I´m trying to locate her.”
“I see” the Erasure hero answered. “But why are you asking me not someone like Centipeder? He is the one specialized in finding missing people.”
“Because Yagi said that he heard you mentioning my mother´s maiden name. Takami”
This actually gave Eraser a pause. Couldn´t he be talking about… Isago Takami, no? Apparently yes, because he had a photo of a young girl that looked pretty much like a younger, female version of Hawks. What should he tell Takahiro? That his aunt was dead thanks to a quirkist hero? That Yoroi Musha, one of the Top Ten Heroes in Japan, ignored information and basic human rights during a raid and killed her only to reach her villain husband? In the end, he only told the American about Hawks and his father, who should be the closest relatives he had in Japan. He would explain everything else later. For now…
“Going somewhere, Musha?” he asked when he cut the old man´s way just outside the agency that used to be his. “You have much to answer for.”
“If this is about my retirement…”
“Leaving your comrades in the darkest moment is poor, but not illegal.” He shook his head. “No, I´m talking about the discriminating attitude you held towards mutants during your career as a hero.”
“Are you accusing me of quirkism?” the former hero showed his teeth. “Tell me just one instance in which I acted in a way a hero shouldn´t!! I always acted according to the law!! Even when mutants were concerned!!”
“And the Birdflock Incident?”
“The Bird… are you kidding me?!! Are you really going to chide on me because of how I handled Hagetaka Keshuu and his merry band of followers? The guy was a psychopath!! He ate the corpses of his victims!! And did other unspeakable things!! Of course I got rid of the entire band, they were loyal to…”
“You killed children there, Yoroi. And I´m not talking about children who fought, but little kids that were crying for their parents. Or who were fleeing after their family was massacred” Aizawa retorted, calmly. The other paled. “You weren´t expecting me to know this, weren´t you? At least not after the Commission covered up for you after you murdered the survivors.”
“There… there is no way…”
“The thing is, as always when concerning mutants, you did a sloppy work. So sloppy that you didn´t even noticed that you let two witnesses get away while you were fighting Shirofukuro Saguru.” He held up the quirk cuffs. “You and all those sidekicks who aided you on that raid are under arrest.”
“Wit…” a shadow of understanding crossed his face in that moment. “The two others? The vulture and sparrow? Weren´t they killed by a falling wall?” Aizawa slapped the quirk cancelling cuffs on his wrists in that moment, which made the man turn red in rage. “Now see here, you don´t have a right to arrest me, young man!! And on Hagetaka´s offspring´s word alone!! Do you know what could have happened if the Bone Breaker and his birds had been left to his own devices?!! The man was a complete psychopath!! He ate dead people which he murdered himself like they were candies!!”
“No one says you didn´t do the right thing by taking him down. But whose fault is that he killed so families in his first days? Mutant families you refused to protect?” the dark haired male raised his phone, with a copy of one of Yoshino Todoroki´s papers. “You had the Bone Breaker´s case BEFORE he turned into a concern for other heroes. Did you do something? No! Only because he was attacking other mutants in that time and not emitters, you decided to leave him alone. After all, it was only a bunch of mutants dying or getting kidnapped.”
“You mean the girls? I thought he had eaten them too”
“But you recognized them later when they reappeared helping their husband and children commit crimes.”
“Yes, well… I was sorry for them, but by then it was too late for them.”
“Like it was too late for Hattori Runa?” his eyes widened even more. “Yes, I read the papers really well. It turned out you received a final disappearance and kidnapping report with the seal of the Bone Breaker just before you mounted this operation to detain them. A young girl with an avian quirk, fourteen. But she was not rescued after the operation.”
“It was too late for her too!!”
“After two days? I doubt it” Aizawa answered, the turned to the policemen that accompanied him. “The sidekicks I mentioned?”
“Detained”
“I can´t believe it!!” the old man continued. “All of this for some mutant bitches? Those whores and their offspring looked for it!! They could have done everyone a favour and kill themselves like the others, but they decided to give in to Hagetaka!!”
“The others?”
“I won´t say anything more without a lawyer”
“Good, I don´t need to hear anything more from a quirkist asshole like you”
He handed Yoroi Musha to one of the policemen, who took the still screaming former hero towards the police car. Meanwhile, Eraser went to the receptionist, a fairly young woman who was cowering behind her table. The hero asked for the files of the agency, but she said that she only had the general ones, that her boss kept the complete ones in his office, she didn´t know where… the undergrounder shook his head. Should have expected this, the sly old man was too careful to keep his dirty laundry out for everyone to see. He walked to the main office, wondering where would he hide incriminatory evidence if he was a famous old man trying not to appear as discriminatory to the public. Hummm… in the computer, in the table, in a hidden cabinet… perhaps under that hideous paint of a samurai on the wall. Bingo.
The spend the next few minutes forcing the secret vault´s door, finding a lot of USBs stored in there. Seriously, who still used USB? Only someone really fanatic with ancient technology. Or perhaps someone who wants to hide a secret. So he grabbed the things and started to connect them to the ancient looking computer Musha kept in the office. Finally, he found one that was titled Bone Breaker. Eraser clicked on it, opening the archives. This was… interesting to say the least. Specially because the Armoured Hero kept so much evidence of the Commission´s involvement in the cleaning process of the murder, manipulation of evidence and the attempted and actual assassination of the remaining children of Hagetaka Keshuu. It was just as Junto had said, they won´t let any evidence of a Top Hero´s misbehaviour tarnish their reputation.
“Well, new charges to add for the prosecutors to use against the employs and higher charges of the Commission when we find them”
He clicked in other file, finding several scans of missing people pamphlets with family photos. Including the Takami, Shirofukuro, Katashirowashi and Shirawashi families. Also several more mutant families with avian characteristics. And all of them had young, teenage daughters, from the ages of thirteen to seventeen. He could definitely see a patron there, also in the survivors. And their reappearances… Shirofukuro Himari was seventeen when she disappeared, twenty-two when she reappeared as Hagetaka´s minion. Katashirowashi Ahmya, the second minion, was fifteen when she and her family disappeared from their home and twenty-one when she reappeared, already a mother. Takami Isago and Shirawashi Kamiko were both fourteen when their families were attacked and reappeared at twenty-two. Hattori Runa, the one Yoroi Musha killed with the Birdflock, barely thirteen. And they were all already…
“Sick old fuck” Shinyo said when he saw the printed pamphlets. “Not that I didn´t expect it out of dear old dad, but to attack girls so young… never knew he liked teenagers.”
“So, you knew that he attacked families?”
“No, but… I always thought that mom was too good for that sick old vulture” he lowered the sheet and sighed, looking at his son. “For fucks sake, I knew he had us to form a criminal group, but this is worse than whatever I could ever imagine. I mean… my mom must have been fifteen when she gave birth to Junto!”
“I remember… you told me a few times about my… grandfather” Keigo put a face of disgust.
“Yeah, well… I didn´t know what else to tell you about, my life wasn´t exactly a fairytale. One thing I was sure at the moment, I didn´t want to become the same kind of father he was” the older raptor passed a hand through his face. “I couldn´t… do what he did to us to you. The guy was a monster. The only thing I could thank him for was his reputation, it kept us save while we were with the Harima group.” Then something came to his mind. “What are you going to do with us now? We… are condemned criminals after all.”
“The prosecutors are still deliberating” Aizawa informed, trying to stay close to the truth. It wouldn´t help to give Keigo false hopes. “But you more likely are going to get life sentence, perhaps with a possibility of parole. They are… taking in consideration what the Commission did to you and your son and your help during the war, so… at least they will put you out of the death road.”
“And Junto?” Shinyo actually looked surprised after asking about his brother, as if it was a weird thing to be worried about family. “I… sorry, I shouldn´t…”
“He will get life without parole, if not the death sentence” the underground hero was frank in that. “I´m sorry, but he is too dangerous to be let out. Your father twisted him in ways that he didn´t you. And after they confirmed that the case of the hotel the first time you escaped wasn´t you, but someone closely related to you… I nearly vomited when I read what happened there, wouldn´t be surprised if the prosecutors think that getting rid of him is the right choice.”
“I wouldn´t either” the sparrow hawk mutant admitted, lowering his head. “I was in the Harima group enough time to know what he is capable of… he is more like our father than me or even Saguru was.” He sighed. “You mentioned that bastard, what did he do to Junto that left him like that?”
“Apparently, he started “training” his children when they reached fifteen on how to handle a woman. Which means that he practically introduced them to his method of getting wives” Hawks and even Shinyo looked sick when they realised what this meant. “I will talk to Junto this afternoon with Tsukauchi´s help for a confirmation, but The Commission actually made a secret autopsy of one of the victims, Hattori Runa, and they found DNA of several closely related males.”
“Gross”
“And talking about the Commission, you two might be asked to testify in the trials of the high charges. It turns out, your mad brother was right when he said that the HPSC had a hand in what happened to your siblings. They practically ordered Yoroi Musha to kill all the surviving siblings after they cleaned up his fuck up at the Birdflock incident.”
“Doesn´t surprise me” Shinyo answered. “They got a hold of Keigo by making Nitsuki sign her custody rights away…”
“WHAT?!” Hawks now sounded angry and his father guilty. “You never told me that!! To think that she would do something like that, the bitch… I´m going to kill her!!”
“Keigo, please”
“Please, what? She deserved it!! That woman sold me to the Commission!! And did who knows how many more things, including trying to poison you!!”
“Crimes for which she is going to be put on trial and given jail time” the woman´s ex-husband shuddered, obviously not wanting to see her in Tartarus. “A lower security prison, most likely, so you wouldn´t have to see her.”
“So long as we don´t have to see each other” the older raptor seemed calmer now. “I remember when Endeavour told me what she had done… if I was desperate before, after it was like the world was crashing on me. I knew what those unethical bastards were capable of, I didn´t want them in a ten miles radius of my chick. If only I had known that mom had relatives in the States…”
“You would have escaped there?”
“If I could”
“I doubt Takahiro or his mother would have hidden a criminal”
“But they would have housed Keigo and kept him away from the HPSC´s clutches, that was enough for me. Besides, the Commission couldn´t do much outside of Japan, he would have been safe, no matter what happened to me.”
Aizawa nodded, internally happy to confirm, one more time, that Shinyo was at least an acceptable parent and that he cared for his son. Considering how he was raised, that was a great thing. If only his time with Hagetaka Keshuu and the Harima group hadn´t left Junto a merciless killer, rapist and kidnapper… maybe he would have had an opportunity. His brother seemed to care for him at least unconsciously, his nephew… perhaps would have cared if he hadn´t been such a monster. Well, Junto was going to be locked up for the rest of his life, there was nothing to do in that front. In Shinyo´s case…
“Here” he extended a card towards the former thief. “It´s the card of a psychiatrist that works on Tartarus with the inmates. Might be of some help for you to obtain your parole.”
“Yeah, well… I don´t really believe in therapy…”
“You would be surprised by how effective it is” Shouta turned around. “Anyway, it´s up to you. Only have in mind that going to therapy is one point in your favour when you try to get a parole.”
----------------------In another place, later------------------
“Well, that was eternal. And tiresome” the underground hero let himself fall on the couch. “So many heroes that have done too many bad things… did you know that Yoroi Musha actually wanted to explain and defend himself when I arrested him?”
“Even for the missing families case?” Mic asked as he served a shot of whisky to the both of them. “I mean… he knew that there was a cannibal on the loose and let it pass without investigating or patrolling only because the victims were mutants. If that isn´t a hate-crime, I don´t know what it is.”
“And you are forgetting he let an innocent hostage die in a raid because she was a mutant” he grabbed the glass of alcohol, drinking it in one shot. “Also all the cases he didn´t attend to because the victims were mutants or villainous quirked… I can get why Yoshino Todoroki meddled into his investigations.”
“Yeah” Mic stretched himself before also taking his shot. Damn, they were so tired!! And they have eaten so much shit in the last few months!! Shouta must also be tired, because he actually let out a yawn. “Tired, kitten? Let´s go to sleep.”
“It´s awfully early. And I have patrol…”
“Nope!! I called your agency and told them you were working in the afternoon and to have someone else to cover your patrol” Eraser gave him an unamused look. “Come on, kitten, you have been sleeping less than usual lately. You need to close your eyes or you are going to collapse of overwork even before our vacation.”
“What vacation?”
“Oh, I didn´t mention it to you?” Hizashi actually smiled at this. “Nezu has given us three entire weeks of paid vacation after you feed him Aldera, Yoroi Musha and Endeavour!! He even took charge to have someone scheduled to cover our patrols during our absence!!”
“Hizashi, we can´t have a vacation now. Hitoshi is recovering from having to participate in a war and Eri is freshly adopted. We can´t just…”
“The kids are coming too, it´s going to be a family vacation!!” he pulled out some travel advertises from his pockets. “I was thinking about going to the States, there is a very famous park that…”
“No”
“Shoutaaaaa”
“No” he crossed his arms. His husband put on a kicked puppy face, which actually made him sigh and explain himself. “When I was at the hospital, I overhead Hawks talking to his dad about how he was planning to visit Takahiro in Florida after he get out of the hospital. Him and Touya, who, now that he has custody, is going to bring Todoroki with him. And I think that travel to the same country as one of my hellspawns sans Hitoshi is calling a villain attack.”
“Right” Mic pushed the Florida advertisement away. “How about France? They have the same…”
“Yaoyorozu”
“Shouta, you are not even…”
They argued for an hour as Shouta said no to one destiny or another for many reasons and Hizashi tried to convince him that travelling was not so bad. In the end, they decided to go to New Zealand with the kids. It was a good destiny. He was sure that Eri would enjoy the peculiar animals in the zoo and Hitoshi will love to see the Hobbit scenario, as it was his favourite movie series. Everyone ended up winning, no?
------------------------A month later-----------------
The students were already seated when he entered the first day of class. Good, they were learning. He tried not to yawn as he walked to his desk in the 2-A classroom, thinking about how much he regretted coming back from vacations… he had slept so well there!! And only had two kids to look after, which was an improvement over the twenty problem children he usually had to deal with. Well, at least with the League arrested or reformed he didn´t have to worry about villain attacks… he hoped. Back to the class…
“Todoroki, what are you wearing in your head? Take it off”
“They are mouse ears, Touya bought them for me at Disney Land” the still black haired teen said as he pulled off the things. By the look of it, the kid had had fun, good for him. He deserved it after everything his shitty father put him through. “I rode the Space Mountain too.”
“Good” the teacher pulled out the book, reminding himself to talk with some of the students later about their current situation. Namely Todoroki, Aoyama and Midoriya. “Let´s start with a quiz to see how much you remember from last year.”
Oh, the cries of desperation from those that haven´t opened a book in the entire vacation, music to his ears. He believed that he could hear Kaminari crying and Ashido panicking. Aoyama kept his poker face, but he obviously was also internally panicking. The rest… well, at least they remembered enough to be certain that they won´t have to face the wrath of their teacher later. Some of them were mistaken, but… well, they will see after the quiz.
Once the quiz ended and they had a study period, he called the students he was worried about to his office so he could talk to them. He began with Aoyama. The kid was a little bit sad that his parents went to jail and he couldn´t see them every day, but other than that, not much. He had been living with an aunt, who was very nice and understanding towards him, and started to go to therapy to get over what happened with All for One. Yuuga actually thanked Aizawa for all the help he got from him and the school with a sincere smile before returning to the classroom. Glad to know that he was going to be okay.
The next one was Midoriya, who informed him that Bakugo had properly apologized to him after the war and they were working on patching up their relationship. Maybe they would never be the friends they were before the blonde´s quirk came in, but they could be something other than enemies. Besides, Izuku had finally came clean to Inko and told her about his quirk and what had happened between him and Bakugo and the other kids in middle school. She took it well and said that, as long as he didn´t hurt himself as badly anymore, he could continue on his path. His mother also put him on therapy, to curve that suicidal impulses he seemed to have, and Quirk Counselling with an actual certified Counsellor. As a plus, she talked to Mitsuki and Mama Bakugo agreed to put her violent offspring in therapy and anger management apart from the one that Katsuki already did with Hound Dog. Aizawa breathed out in relief, that pair was going to be okay.
Finally, he spoke to Todoroki. While it was not actually a good experience to be outed as an abuse victim in national television by a villain, having gotten rid of his father compensate it in some way. Also, he doubted they would have been able to put Endeavour in jail without showing what he did to his family to the public. The man was too popular as a hero not to have popular support without that. Besides, living with Touya and Keigo and their trip to Disney Land surely helped to raise his mood. His brother actually took him to see his mom at the hospital, from where she was about to be released, and to therapy. He also didn´t fight with Natsuo, which lead to the white haired male to actually become a part of Shouto´s life. The eldest Todoroki sibling even convinced Fuyumi to go to therapy with the rest of them, which was a huge improvement. Again, Aizawa felt relieved. That problem child and his family of problem children were going to be okay.
Now the only thing that left in his list was having a normal school year… he hoped.