Chapter Text
Hitoshi wakes up and rubs at his face. He’s still tired but, at this point, when is he not? He takes a deep breath through his nose and pushes himself into a sitting position.
He reaches over to grab his phone from his nightstand to check the time. Peeking out his window, he can see that it’s light out, so it’s likely sometime in the afternoon, probably around 2:00 PM or so.
He unplugs his phone and brings it in front of him, he turns it on, squinting at the brightness of the screen, and reads the time, 2:44 PM
Yeah, okay, he guessed pretty accurately. He was a bit off but that’s to be expected when he has, quite literally, no sense of time because of his job.
His cat jumps up onto the bed and begins to rub up against him, begging for pets. She was probably watching Hitoshi, just waiting for the moment he woke up, so that she could do exactly this. She’s always been super clingy to Hitoshi, ever since he rescued her from the sewer (yes, he was on patrol and heard loud meowing from the sewer, so he investigated and ended up rescuing her, don’t judge him) and brought her home. Ever since then, she’s been attached to him.
Hitoshi mumbles a quiet, “Hey Rue,” as she purrs loudly. Hitoshi brings a hand under her chin and scratches. While he pets his cat, he decides to check his work email.
He always has plenty of emails requesting his assistance on cases or whatnot. You’d think that with being an underground hero, he wouldn’t be as sought out as the limelight heroes but nope. That’s a myth. Just because he’s not well known to the public doesn’t mean that he’s not well known in the hero world. He’s quite known in the underground circuit and with about 30 or so of the current top 100 limelight heroes having gone to hero school with him, he’s fairly popular among them too.
That being said, he doesn’t just accept any request. Especially nowadays. He’s been taking on way less risky cases, going on less patrols, even thinking about beginning to teach. He’s even been thinking about going into teaching like his father, Aizawa Shouta. He’s about the same age as his father when he decided to take a step back from hero work and do more teaching. Obviously, he’d still do some hero work, he won’t completely retire. That would be absurd. He loves his work, no matter how time grueling it is. However, he has two daughters, which makes him think about things so much differently than when he didn’t have any kids. It gives him a new perspective. He definitely knows what his dad was talking about after he was adopted.
There’s very few people who can email Hitoshi and get a response immediately, almost always being a yes. One of those people is Midoriya Izuku.
That one person just so happened to have emailed him while he was sleeping. It’s from an hour ago and he opens it to give it a quick read.
He’s always so formal in emails compared to when he’s just texting Hitoshi.
Case Help
[email protected]
To [email protected]
Hey Mindjack!
We need some assistance on a case here in Tokyo and are requesting your aid. I’m not able to tell you very much about it unless you agree to help us out, then I’ll go ahead and debrief you! All I can tell you is that it involves underground quirk fighting, so we would like a few underground heroes for the element of surprise. Please consider helping us out.Best wishes,
Midoriya IzukuRE: Case Help
[email protected]
To [email protected]
Good afternoon. When would you need me to come in and help? Could I get an estimate for how long this might take?Thanks,
Mindjack
And with that, he has to wait for a response from his friend. It’s probably going to take a minute, so Hitoshi figures he has enough time to go greet his daughter. His youngest is having a sleepover with Ochako’s kid, otherwise he’d have been up a lot earlier to take care of her, seeing as she is only 9.
When he walks out of his bedroom, Rue following close behind him, and into the living room he sees his oldest daughter, Hatsuko, laying on the couch, watching something on her laptop.
She notices him walk in and moves to click the spacebar on her laptop to pause the video, “Hey dad, did you sleep well?”
Hitoshi shakes his head, chuckling softly, “When do I ever?” He jokes.
She laughs quietly, shutting her laptop completely and swinging her legs over the edge of the couch, moving into a sitting position as she places her laptop on the coffee table and gives their other cat, Finn, a quick pet as he appears out of nowhere. She pulls one leg up to her chest and rests an elbow on it, “When are you going to get Etsumi?”
“Ochako and Iida offered to keep her until dinner, so I’ll probably leave here at about 7,” Hitoshi tells her, walking over to sit on the other end of the couch, “Have you already eaten?”
Hatsuko nods, letting her leg drop down, “I made myself some pancakes,” She says and then asks, “when was the last time you’ve eaten?”
Hitoshi rolls his eyes at her playfully, “Don’t worry about it, kid. You’re my daughter, I get to inquire about your eating habits every now and again.”
Hatsuko laughs, shaking her head softly, “Yeah okay dad.” Her tone changes to one a bit more serious, “But seriously though, did you eat when you got off last night?”
Hitoshi gets up and ruffles his daughter’s hair, “Yes Hatsu, don’t worry,” He walks toward the kitchen, “What do you wanna do for dinner?”
“Are we ordering takeout or are you gonna cook?” Hatsuko asks before making any kind of decision.
Hitoshi shrugs, smiling warmly at the coffee already on the counter. It even looks hot still, Hatsuko must have just made it, “We could do takeout if you want. We haven’t had pizza in a while?” He says the statement sort of like a question, almost as if he’s asking if that’s good for dinner. He grabs a mug from the cabinet above the coffee pot so that he can pour himself a cup.
“Ooo, I was thinking ramen but pizza sounds awesome,” Hatsuko joins Hitoshi in the kitchen, leaning on the counter, “I made that a few minutes ago,” She says, eyeing the coffee that Hitoshi is pouring into the mug, “I had a feeling you were about to wake up.”
“This is why I love you,” Hitoshi hums contently as he takes a sip of his coffee.
“Wow,” She scoffs sarcastically, “is that all I’m good for?”
“Yes,” Hitoshi says deadpanned. He knows that she knows he’s joking around. It took a while for the two of them to get to this point, especially with how much trauma Hatsuko holds. Mindless banter wasn’t a part of their morning (er, afternoon) for a long time but now that it is, Hitoshi wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“Well okay then,” She feigns offense, “I’m gonna put you in a retirement home,” She hmphs and walks further into the kitchen, sitting down on one of the bar stools near the counter.
“A retirement home, huh?” Hitoshi raises an eyebrow, “I must say, I will be thoroughly surprised if I live long enough to need that.”
“Dad,” Hatsuko’s smile drops and she glares at him as if he’d just threatened to kill himself or something.
“I was kidding,” Hitoshi tells her, emphasizing the word ‘kidding’ as he laughs softly. He feels better as he sees a small smile appear on her face again, “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Hatsu.”
She chuckles softly, “Good.”
Hitoshi pulls his phone back out, checking his work email to see if Izuku has responded yet.
He has.
RE: RE: Case Help
[email protected]
To [email protected]
I would need you to come in tomorrow at the latest. Preferably today if possible. I need you caught up almost immediately if you agree. If I had to make an assumption, I would say no more than 10 days, hopefully. Could be more, could be less. It totally depends on what we’re able to do. We do have pretty much everything we need as we’ve been looking into them for quite some time now. I know that this is very short notice so I understand if you cannot accept, however it is a pressing matter so if you could make a decision ASAP that would be appreciated!Thank you very much,
Midoriya Izuku
Well shit. Okay.
“What’s with the face?” Hatsuko asks.
Okay, so it’s showing on his face. Got it. Clearly all his training as a hero to keep his emotions in check can’t deter his daughter.
“Your uncle,” Hitoshi answers, as if that would give his daughter all of the information she needs.
“Which one?” Hatsuko asks, a bit annoyed and clearly still confused as she rests her forearms on the edge of the counter and leans forward.
“Izuku,” Hitoshi says, taking a sip of his coffee before continuing on, “He’s asked me to come assist him and some others during a mission.”
“Oh,” Hatsuko’s face drops, she’s sad, “So you’re leaving? How long?”
Hitoshi gulps. He hates seeing her like this, it’s why he’s stopped going on long term missions lately but it’s not like Izuku to request his help so out of the blue, which tells Hitoshi that this is a very important case and they need all the help they can get. Especially with how formal his best friend is being? There’s a lot going on, Hitoshi bets.
However, his daughter is way more important to him than his job, “Not if you don’t want me to. I can stay.”
Hatsuko shakes her head instantly at that, though a sad look is still on her face, “No, it’s your job. They need your help. Yeah, it sucks, but I know you’ll be back. So just… How long?”
“I’m not sure,” Hitoshi answers truthfully, shrugging, “Somewhere around a week and a half or so.”
“And you won’t be coming home during that week?”
Hitoshi shakes his head, “From what I can tell, no.”
Hatsuko sighs, her shoulders slumping. She’s disappointed but plasters a smile on her face anyway, “Soooo, do I finally get to stay home while you’re out on a mission?”
Hitoshi scoffs lightly through his nose, a smile on his face, “I don’t think so young lady, not while school’s in session,” He shakes his head, clicking his tongue at her, “I’ll talk to Ochako and Iida, see if they’ll let you and Etsumi stay with them.”
“Ugh,” Hatsuko groans, “Not Uncle Tenya, he’s so uptight, dad. What about Auntie Kyo and Auntie Momo, they’re actually cool.”
“I mean,” Hitoshi trails off, thinking about it for a second, “I can ask them but I’m not sure they’d be willing.”
Hatsuko gasps dramatically, “They totally would!”
“They don’t like children, Hatsu,” Hitoshi chuckles softly, watching his daughter’s dramatics.
“I am not a child.”
Hitoshi glares at her.
“Okay fine,” Hatsuko folds, “I am a child but only in a technical sense, I’m literally less than a year away from adulthood.”
Hitoshi shakes his head at her, “Whatever you say. Besides, your sister is also a child, in both the technical and literal sense.”
“Fair point,” Hatsuko leans back in her seat (it’s the only barstool with a back to it, the other 3 broke), “Counterpoint; They love me and Etsu.”
Hitoshi laughs, “Yeah, okay. I will talk to them but I do have to talk to Etsumi first, make sure she’s okay with me leaving.”
“Yay!” Hatsuko jumps off the chair and claps happily. She really can be just like a little kid at times and it’s at times like that that Hitoshi is happy that she feels safe enough to be herself..
Hitoshi looks back down to his phone, where the email is staring at him. Instead of responding just yet, he picks his phone up and calls Ochako so that he can speak to his daughter. He asks her if she would be okay if he left but she just got super excited at the opportunity to have a sleepover multiple nights in a row. After getting the okay from both daughters, he crafts a reply to Izuku.
RE: RE: RE: Case Help
[email protected]
To [email protected]
Alright, I will join you. Just give me some time to pack and figure out who I can leave my daughters with. Let me know where I’m going and when I’m allowed to show up.
“I’m gonna go make some calls,” Hitoshi picks up his phone and coffee, which is already almost gone, “See if I can convince Momo to let you guys stay with her and Kyouka. Otherwise it’s Ochako and Iida for you.”
“Great,” Hatsuko responds sarcastically but walks around the counter to give her father a quick hug before heading back toward the living room and picking up her laptop on the way down to a sitting position. Hitoshi heads back down the hallway toward his room to make those previously mentioned calls.
Kyouka and Momo, surprisingly, agreed to house and care for Hatsuko and Etsumi while he’s gone. Hitoshi was definitely expecting them to refuse, and he gave them multiple chances to, not wanting them to feel like he was pressuring them in any way but they insisted that it was completely fine since it'll only be about a week. Hitoshi did make sure to call Ochako and let her know that he’ll be picking up Etsumi early as there’s been a change of plans and he’s going to be leaving town. She assured him that it’s no problem and that she’d make sure to make dinner a bit early to let her eat before going to Kyouka and Momo’s home.
After getting everything arranged, Hitoshi tells Hatsuko the plans including that Momo offered to take her and Etsumi back home tomorrow to get more clothing and shit. That way they don’t have to pack for an entire week in such a rush, they can pack a quick overnight bag for the night and take their time in the morning for the rest of the week. Besides, Hatsuko has a key to the house so if they forget something, it’d be really easy for her to come and pick it up. Plus, she has to come home to feed the cats, anyway. Though, she's not entirely responsible for feeding the cats, Hitoshi's also asked Ochako to feed the cats so she and Hatsuko have decided on taking turns; Hitoshi gave Ochako the spare key.
He was told to meet at Izuku’s agency by 6:00 PM, which means that he’s leaving his house to pick up Etsumi by 4:00 PM because he wants her to have the chance to pack plus he wants to be able to spend some time with both of his daughters before he leaves. When he arrives at Ochako’s house, he turns the car off and walks up to the doorstep, knocking on the door. He hears their dog barking and decides that that’s why he could never have dogs, they’re too loud. He is definitely a cat person. For sure. No doubt about it
Iida opens the door, standing in the doorway he stares at Hitoshi, “Hello Shinsou.”
“Iida,” Hitoshi greets. The two of them, while they have a lot of the same friends and their kids see each other as uncles, aren’t really great friends. They never really clicked in the way that Hitoshi did with some of the others. They don’t even call each other by their given names.
“Ochako and the children are in the kitchen, eating,” Iida explains, “Would you like to come in?” He takes a step back, allowing Hitoshi to step inside.
“Thanks,” Hitoshi mumbles, toeing off his shoes and walking further into the house, he knows the floorplan very well at this point, having come to this house many times before. Though, with being a hero you pick up on things like that very quickly, you learn to remember everywhere you go out of habit.
Hitoshi enters the kitchen and he notices that Ochako is at the table with Etsumi and her own children. She and Iida have a daughter who is a bit younger than Etsumi, about a year and a half. They adopted her a few years back, they were put in a somewhat similar situation to Hitoshi regarding his own daughters. Ochako’s sister was a single parent and fell into a coma after getting stuck in the middle of a villain attack. The kid was just 5. Ochako and Iida, being newly married, took Ochako’s niece in and when Ochako’s sister lost brain function, the couple adopted her. The adoption of Hitoshi’s own kids came around the same time as did the birth of Ochako and Iida’s son. Speaking of their other kids, they have a son who is 4 and another daughter who is 2.
As soon as Etsumi notices her dad, she jumps up from the table and gives him a hug, mumbling, “I missed you.”
He wraps his arms around her, trying to take in as much of the time as he can. He only has a little longer with her before he has to leave. It makes him sad, knowing that his daughter missed him so much and they were only apart for a day. How’s she going to do while he’s gone for an entire week?
God, he’s gonna miss his kids so much.
"I missed you too, baby," Hitoshi hugs her back, stroking her hair for a moment before looking over to Ochako and greeting her, "Hey, Ochako."
"Hi Hitoshi!" Ochako grins from her seat waving; she looks tired but still plasters on that smile before turning her attention back to her 2 year old.
"Thank you for watching over Etsumi."
"Of course," Ochako assures, looking back at him, "she's always welcome here."
Iida nods in agreement, "She's a good kid."
Hitoshi nods, smiling down at his daughter, "Yeah, I got lucky."
Etsumi giggles, "Yep! You did. I'm the best."
Hitoshi hugs her again before thanking Ochako and Iida one more time and making his leave. Hatusko is waiting in the car right now so he can't stay inside for too long. He lets Etsumi say her goodbyes before they head out. Etsumi skips toward the car, climbing into the back seat and greeting Hatsuko happily. The girls get to talking while Hitoshi drives to a nearby ice cream shop so that they can spend some time together. Unfortunatley, the time with Etsumi and Hatsuko went by too quickly and before Hitoshi knew it, he's driving over to Momo's and Kyouka's home.
It's not super far but the drive is long enough that it makes Hitoshi question just turning around and going home, refusing the mission but, alas, he's already agreed to the mission and now he's already pulling up in front of Momo's and Kyouka's home.
They walk up to the doorstep and Hitoshi knocks on the door. The answer comes quick and there stands Momo in the doorway, "Oh, hello dears," A fond smile is on her face as she greets the children, "It is so nice to see you again. You as well, Hitoshi."
Hitoshi agrees, adding on, "Yeah, it's been a while."
"Yeah, it's nice to see you too, Aunt Momo," Hatusko smiles happily, entering the house as Momo steps back and gestures for them to walk in, "thank you for having us."
"Of course, kid," Kyouka chimes in now from the hallway.
Etsumi rushes in all excited, "It's been so long since I've been here!" She gapes in awe at the fancy house. The only other time she gapes like this over a house is when she goes over to Izuku's and Bakugou's house. The rest of the time goes by in a blue; he thanks Momo and Kyouka for agreeing to take in the kids for this week, then he's saying goodbye to his daughters and trying his hardest not to cry, then he's back in his car and driving with a numb feeling in his chest.
God, he's really gonna miss those kids.
Then, before Hitoshi knew it he’s arrived there. At Izuku’s agency.
He walks in and up to the front desk, he was told to just show the lady there his hero license and she’d know what to do with him. So he does exactly that, he pulls his wallet out and takes his hero license from its spot and hands it to the lady. She takes a look at it and nods briefly, handing it back to him as she says, “Oh Mr. Shinsou, welcome. I’ll have my coworker lead you to the meeting room.”
“Thank you very much,” Hitoshi smiles politely as a young girl, probably fresh out of high school, walks over to him, signaling for him to follow.
As he follows her, he places his license back into the wallet, then he slides his wallet back into his pocket. She leads him to an elevator and as they’re waiting, Hitoshi attempts to make small talk (he never would have made small talk back in high school but he’s trying to be a more open person now, okay?), “So, how are you today?”
She seems to not even hear him, she doesn’t even acknowledge him until she happens to turn and look at him to see him staring expectantly at her. She pulls a notepad from her back pocket and a pen from the pocket in the front of her shirt and quickly scribbles something down before handing it to him.
”I’m deaf, so if you asked me something I couldn’t hear it. My apologies.”
Oh. Hitoshi’s eyes widen in realization, “Do you know JSL?” He signs swiftly. He learned it back when he was in elementary school and people were first beginning to judge him because of his quirk, preferring him to just stay quiet over anything. So he didn’t talk. He just signed and the select few that actually knew sign language would get to talk to him.
Her eyes glimmer and she grins, “Yes, I do! I didn’t realize you knew it” She replies excitedly, she signs almost too quickly for Hitoshi to keep up, “That’s awesome.”
The elevator finally dings and then opens and the two step into it. The girl clicks the number 5 and they wait. “I learned in elementary school,” Hitoshi responds to her, “don’t really have a reason to use it anymore but I like to brush up on it every now and then. Make sure I don’t forget.”
“Well, your signing is very good,” She praises, “I went deaf when I was 11, so I started learning then. You’ve probably known it longer than me, to be honest. Why did you learn?”
Hitoshi just shrugs. He doesn’t really like talking about that point in his life anymore but he kind of did already talk about a reason for having to learn, “Quirk related.”
“Ohhhh,” She drawls the sign out. “But not anymore?”
“It was a confidence thing,” Hitoshi hopes that’s vague enough.
She nods in what seems like understanding. The elevator stops and the doors open. They step out, Hitoshi continues to follow her. They stop at the third door on the right and she gestures to it, “This is your stop.” She signs, “I’ll leave you to it.” Then she walks off.
Hitoshi knocks on the door, three times in rapid succession, a pause, and one more.
The door opens to reveal Izuku, he’s in his hero costume and there are plenty of people behind him, all in their hero costumes as well. Hitoshi was told to come in his, so it’s not like he’s dressed wrong or anything, he just hasn’t been on a mission like this in a while. A ton of heroes all gathered around a table, a screen in front of them.
“We’re just waiting for one more and then we can get started,” Izuku says, backing up so that Hitoshi can walk inside.
He nods and takes a step in. Izuku closes the door behind him. He scans over the room, taking note of all of the heroes on this case. Pretty much everybody is a familiar face, except for a few young looking people, who Hitoshi assumes to be students. Everybody else, however, are people he recognizes. People he’s worked with in the past. Most are underground heroes, actually. The only exceptions being Deku (obviously), Suneater, Red Riot, and… Oh.
Oh.
Oh.
He gulps, pausing in his tracks as he sees his ex boyfriend standing directly across the room from him, talking to one of the underground heroes. Kaminari Denki. Chargebolt. Not an underground hero, that’s for sure. Number 11; So close to being top 10. The moment that Hitoshi notices him, he turns his head to look at Hitoshi.
His eyes travel along Hitoshi’s body for a moment before locking in at his eyes. He smiles and, god, Hitoshi almost forgot just how beautiful he is. Nobody he’s dated since Denki has compared in any way and when he adopted his kids, he decided against dating all together. It wouldn’t be the same anyway so what even was the point? There wasn’t one.
15 years. It’s been 15 years since they’ve spoken to each other. They see each other around every now and then; They do have a ton of the same friends so it’s honestly a miracle that they haven’t been forced into a situation where they had to speak to each other before. Besides, he hears his (honorary) nieces and nephews talk about an “Uncle Denks” every now and again. Though, even with seeing each other occasionally, maybe a couple times a year, they never stay in a room together for longer than a minute. It’s usually quick glances while they’re passing through somewhere.
Now they have to work together.
Hitoshi really wishes things didn’t have to end between them. In all honesty, Kaminari is Hitoshi’s - in every definition of the word - soulmate. He’s always felt a connection to him, ever since he met the guy; it’s like there’s a million things tying them together and they can't seem to escape it. Take this for example, they've managed to keep from working together in such close proximity for the last 15 years and, yet, here they are now. In the same meeting room for the first time since it ended. Speaking of it ending, he still means when he said that he really wishes that things didn't have to end between then but, well, he understands why it did. Denki was going overseas. Denki didn’t want a long distance relationship, no matter how much they loved each other. And maybe Hitoshi should’ve fought harder for it. Maybe Hitoshi should’ve told him that he’d wait. Maybe Hitoshi should’ve offered to go with him. Hell, maybe he should’ve even just asked Denki to talk to him in person, maybe seeing Hitoshi’s face would’ve caused Denki to hesitate just a little. But he was just so hurt that Denki didn’t think he was worth the long distance relationship, hell Denki didn’t even think he was worth anything more than a text message explaining himself, so he just…. Gave up. Hitoshi gave up on Denki.
So, yeah, he understands it but that doesn't mean he likes it or approves of it. He was hurt, very hurt and now he’s making direct eye contact with his ex-boyfriend, which is something he hasn’t done in 15 years either.
Speaking, working together, direct eye contact. That's just three things of a million but, somehow, it feels like the three most difficult and he's gotta do all of them today. Hitoshi’s mouth goes dry. The man probably doesn’t even know that Hitoshi has kids, he probably doesn’t know that he’s thinking about dialing back on his hero work, he probably doesn’t know anything about Hitoshi anymore. He’s a completely different person than he was when he was in high school.
Hell, Hitoshi probably doesn’t know damn near anything about Kaminari anymore either. He does know that the man was married for a little over 3 years. 25 to 29, the wedding was all over the news and trending on twitter (that’s when Hitoshi deleted social media for a while, not wanting to see so much of him. He was jealous, he knew he had no right to be, but he was; that was the love of his life, the person he thought to be the one for him, getting married to someone else). He married a woman, another pro-hero. Someone low in the rankings, a rescue hero who was a part of Izuku’s agency from back when Izuku first opened it.
They got married just a year after Kaminari came back from the United States and Hitoshi remembers his first thought being that he wished it were him. He remembers just wishing that Kaminari would somehow show up at his doorstep and beg for him back, telling him that it was a mistake breaking up with him before going overseas and he regrets it because Hitoshi is his soulmate and he's the one he should be with. Hitoshi remembers feeling so stupid for being certain that if that happened, he'd take him back in a heartbeat, neverminding the fact that his heart was broken. Looking back at it now, he hates that those were his first thoughts upon finding out that Kaminari was getting married, he hates how pathetic he was for Kaminari back then.
Anyway, the point that we've now strayed so far from is that they don’t know each other anymore. Though, with Kaminari being a limelight hero, Hitoshi definitely knows more about him than Kaminari does about Hitoshi. That is unless Kaminari has found some things out through their mutual friends, though Hitoshi highly doubts that.
A familiar voice breaks Hitoshi out of thought, it’s the same voice that causes Kaminari to look away and continue speaking to his friend (are they even friends? Hitoshi wouldn’t know.). “You can go sit down at the table,” Izuku places his hand on Hitoshi’s shoulder, “Go ahead and sit next to Suneater.”
Hitoshi nods quietly, making his way to his friend. He sits down, neither of them say anything. Hitoshi is grateful for the silence, he needs time to think again. He really wasn’t expecting to see Kaminari here, it’s definitely a shock. That’s for sure.
After a couple minutes, the final hero arrives and sits in the last available seat.
“Alright,” The moment Izuku starts speaking, everybody quiets down and brings all of their attention to him. The perks of being a strong pillar in the community. “Now that we’ve got everybody here, we can get started. With this mission, we are going to need people we trust and are familiar with, that’s why I’ve curated a team where everybody knows everybody, most of you being underground. The only unfamiliar people here are the students. Speaking of the students, can everybody with a student or two please introduce them or have them introduce themselves?”
Kirishima speaks up first, “Hey dudes! These are the kids I’m workin’ with. They’re very manly, but a bit nervous so help ‘em feel comfortable, will ya? This is Light Balance,” He points to a young girl, she looks shy, probably in her 2nd year of high school, who is dressed in a costume somewhat similar to Ochako’s, actually. From her hero name, Hitoshi assumes that her quirk has something to do with balance. Just a guess. Kirishima moves on to the young boy on his other side, looking almost as shy as the girl, “And this is Groove.”
“Could you tell us their quirks so that we have a sense of what we’re working with, please?” Izuku flashes a bright, comforting smile. It’s what he’s good at.
Kirishima nods, nudging the girl, “Go ahead and tell them.”
“Oh-” Her eyes widen and she chuckles nervously, “Um,” She clears her throat, glancing between everybody in the room, “Basically, my body is super lightweight. I can float for some time, I have really good agility and flexibility, and my balance is way above average.” She runs a hand through the hair draped over her shoulder.
Kirishima nudges his other student.
He waves at everybody, “Uh, I can… force people to dance. In a way. It’s kind of complicated but basically I can play music out of these guys,” He points at his shoulders which look kind of like speakers, “And it’s sort of hypnotic to whoever I aim it toward, and they just… Dance. They forget whatever they were doing and they dance.”
“Thank you guys very much,” Izuku praises.
The next person to go is an underground hero that Hitoshi has worked with a couple times in the past, the most recent time being last month. She speaks softly but quickly and precisely, “This is my student, his hero name is still a work in progress but for now it’s just the same as his quirk’s name. His quirk is called Pause and he can stop a person in their tracks completely as long as he can touch them. The person doesn’t realize that they’re being paused so when they’re unpaused they continue doing exactly what they were doing before.” The boy waves his hand, he looks like a first year.
The final person to speak is, of all people, Kaminari. “Sup guys! This is my student,” He jabs a thumb over at a girl, the way she holds herself, the confidence on her face, how professional her hero costume looks (for a high school student, at least); She’s definitely a third year.
“I’m Ballistic. My quirk is electrical, I drag electric currents from outlets, power sources, anywhere, basically. Even other people with electric quirks, so long as the electricity resides in them and they don’t pull it from other places. I can control them very well, I am very precise and I know exactly how to control my quirk so don’t worry about me getting in the way.”
“She’s a bit cocky,” Kaminari adds when his student is done, she just rolls her eyes, “but she is very talented. Reminds me of Dynamight, actually.”
Izuku and Kirishima snicker at the mention of Bakugou.
“It’s not cocky if it’s accurate," The girl counters.
Hitoshi scoffs, she really does remind him of Bakugou.
“You got something to say Bedhead?” She raises his eyebrows at him.
Hitoshi doesn’t even think twice about the name. He’s still used to all the names Bakugou used to call him. Instead, he holds his hands up in a (jokingly) defensive manner and leans back in his chair, shaking his head softly. Feeling Kaminari’s gaze on him as Hitoshi looks at the student.
“No,” The girl stands up, she refuses to take Hitoshi’s answer as such, “tell me what the hell you think. Because I don’t know who the fuck you are and you’re clearly judging me so I wanna know why you think you’re so entitled.”
“I haven’t even said a word,” Hitoshi crosses his arms, not even phased by the girl’s words. He has two daughters who are both very sassy. He can handle some 3rd year.
“The scoff was enough. Tell me what you wanted to say.”
Hitoshi has dealt with this type of person before and the only way to get them to calm down is to give them an answer, so Hitoshi does exactly that.
“You’re arrogant,” Hitoshi responds calmly, “Arrogance gets people killed. I think that you need to be taken down a notch and I don’t think that Chargebolt is the guy who can help you with that.” He shoots a look at his ex.
“Hey now-” Kaminari’s eyes widen and he holds his own hands up.
“That wasn’t a shot at you,” Hitoshi says quickly, “You’re not the kind of guy who can humble someone, you’re too much of a people pleaser, you want to be liked, you like instilling confidence in people. It’s not a bad thing,” He reiterates, shaking his head for a moment before stopping it and looking straight at Kaminari, “it’s just not what she needs.”
Kaminari shuts his mouth in a thin line, looking down as he mumbles, “You don’t know anything about me anymore.”
“Whatever,” Hitoshi scoffs through his nose, turning to look at Izuku instead, done with acknowledging Kaminari anymore, “Can you please get this started?”
“No!” The girl slams her hands on the table, “I don’t know who you think you are but you have no right to say anything about me or my mentor, you don’t know us.”
Hitoshi shakes his head, not looking at the pair, opting to stare just past Izuku instead, “I knew Chargebolt a long time ago. And as for you, I don’t need to know anything else. Your words and actions tell me everything already. Being too arrogant in the field will lead to more injuries between yourself and others.”
“Okay,” Izuku says before the girl can come up with anything to say back, “Please try and get along, we need to trust each other during this mission.”
“I’m sorry,” Hitoshi apologizes and takes a deep breath, looking over to the girl and Kaminari, “I’m sorry.”
The girl just shrugs and sits down.
Kaminari smiles softly, shaking his head, “Don’t worry about it, honestly. I do agree that she needs to be less arrogant and we’re working on it. I appreciate your input but she is my student and I know how to handle her.”
“Of course,” Hitoshi nods.
Finally, Izuku gets started on debriefing everybody, “Okay! Let’s get into it. We will be investigating an illegal underground quirk fighting ring run by this guy,” He clicks a button on the remote in his hand and a screen behind him turns on to reveal a man’s mugshot, “Nishino Chiko. He is currently 37. Though, in this image he is 29, so he will look a bit different than this, this is just the most recent image we could find of him. His quirk is called Echo, it’s pretty basic, not super dangerous but it is a little confusing. If he has his quirk activated, he can make his voice echo and sound like it’s coming from anywhere, makes it difficult to find him based on that, he can end up deterring you so I want you all to make sure you’re on top of your game and to stay completely focused,” He switches to the next slide, this one is of a timeline:
|January 23rd, xx22: Nishino got out of prison
|
|Somewhere between March and July, xx22: Fighting ring was created
|
|December 19th, xx22: Nishino went back to prison (unrelated to the ring)
|
|July 13th, xx23: Nishino escaped
|
|December 1st, xx23: Ring was discovered and reported
|
|December 2nd, xx23: Investigation began
|
|January 8th (9th?), xx24: Larger investigation team was made, meeting happens (unless it’s postponed a |day), roles are given out, groups get together and discuss how they want to go about their task. |Undercover group goes in, gathers information
|
|(Hopefully) January 16th-20th, xx24: Raid begins.
A separate timeline is shown next to that one, on the same slide.
|2-4PM: Front Line team goes in
|
|3-5PM: Support Team One goes in
|
|4-6PM: Support Team Two goes in
Izuku explains further, “From what we’ve gathered, this ring was established 2 years ago and we were just made aware of it about a month ago, which is when we began looking into it. Now, we have almost enough evidence to be able to go in, however, there’s just not enough that we can get without actually going in there. That will be done tomorrow, I will have a select few of you go undercover and gather extra information so that we have enough to actually take them down. You guys will be in charge of gathering information on quirks and weaknesses and, of course, the actual ring itself. One of you will have a small camera embedded into a watch, another one will have a small camera embedded into a pair of glasses, and the final person will have a small camera embedded into a pair of earrings, it will be totally undetectable. I personally made sure of it.”
Izuku points to the second timeline, “Now, before the day of the actual raid, the person wearing the watch in the undercover team will feel a very slight shock on their wrist to give them a warning and let them know we’re coming. On the day of the actual raid, this is how things will go down. First, the Front Line team will go in sometime in the afternoon, we’ll need the element of surprise, this is why I’ve chosen the afternoon,” He explains his reasoning, he really is nothing like his high school self, he’s so much more sure of himself now, it’s refreshing, “seeing as they operate late into the night, usually anywhere from 11 at night to before sunrise. So it’ll be a surprise in the afternoon for us to show up, when they aren’t on guard. They won’t have their highest defense.
“An hour after the Front Line team goes in, our Support Team One will head in, they will act as a second element of surprise. A new wave of people that they most likely weren’t expecting. After that, they probably won’t be surprised by a third wave of people and, in fact, they’ll probably have their own backup coming in to help. This is when Support Team Two will head on in to just back up everyone else and act as some extra support. This is the team that will have our students in it because I do not feel comfortable allowing the students to go into something so violent until after things have already been somewhat resolved.” That makes sense coming from Izuku, after knowing how much he went through in just his first year of high school.
He goes to the next slide, which has a picture of Hitoshi’s face on it, “This will be the undercover group, our smallest since it would be too suspicious if so many people entered the ring at the same time. Mindjack, ClapBack, and Chargebolt.”
Chargebolt. Kaminari is going undercover with Hitoshi for about a week. Great. Lovely. Exactly what Hitoshi wanted.
“Wait a second,” Kaminari interrupted him, “why am I going undercover? I’m limelight, won’t they recognize me?”
“Don’t worry,” Izuku assures, “I have someone with a quirk to fix that coming in later.”
“What kind of quirk?”
Izuku grins, “It makes you unrecognizable to anybody who doesn’t personally know you. So the two heroes you’re working with will recognize you but nobody else there will until you introduce yourself. And you’re going to introduce yourself as someone new, so they’ll know you under that identity and not your real one.”
Kaminari nods, not saying anything after that.
Izuku goes on to go through what their cover-up identities are and then, after that, he goes through who will be in the rest of the teams. He goes through some more background information, more of the higher ups in the running of the ring. Their quirks and their background. They talk about how they manipulate fights. All the betting that goes on. He tells them everything he knows.
Then, he tells everybody to get into their groups to discuss. Says he’ll come around and talk strategy with everybody.
That he does.
Hitoshi meets up with Kaminari and the other person in his group, another underground hero, someone he works with quite often, her name is Tanaka Yui, hero name ClapBack. Her quirk is called Whisper, she can induce a chemical in her voice during a whisper that can put a person in a trance, making them more susceptible to suggestion, he’s pretty sure she’s related to Midnight in some way.
“So,” Tanaka starts, wincing a bit, “I feel like there’s an air between you two. A bit tense, if I do say so myself,” She presses her lips together, bringing her bottom lip between her teeth to bite nervously as she glances between the two of them, “Especially after that take between you two earlier.”
“Don’t worry Tanaka,” Hitoshi quickly assures her, “we can work together well.”
“I hope,” Kaminari mumbles, reluctantly meeting his gaze with Hitoshi, “you seemed a bit hostile,” He crosses his arms, eyeing Hitoshi bitterly.
Hitoshi chuckles through his nose, just as bitter as Kaminari, if not more, “Not my fault you haven’t bothered to reach out, Kaminari.”
“Kaminari?” Kaminari’s face drops. He looks pained. “Not Denki anymore?”
“That’s what happens when you don’t talk to someone for 15 years.”
“15 years?” Tanaka gasps, “God damn, dude," She gapes unashamedly at Kaminari.
Kaminari shrinks down in his seat, “I’m sorry, Hitoshi. I really wanted to reach out to you and then a week turned into a month turned into years and I didn’t know how to anymore”
“Whatever,” Hitoshi shrugs, not really caring whatever Kaminari has to say in his own defense because, deep down, he knows that he could have reached out too. He could have been the one to try and talk to Denki but, also, Denki is the one who broke up with him, so…, “can we just discuss what we’re planning to do? Because we are walking right into the heart of that damn place, talking to the people who run things, so we need a good plan or at least a lot of trust in each other. We need to work together well, be able to rely on each other.”
“I agree!” Tanaka concurs, “I really trust both of you, I’ve worked with you guys countless times, Shinsou more since we’re both underground heroes but, still, I’ve worked with you both plenty. I trust you guys to have my back one hundred percent,” She hesitated for a moment before continuing on, “but I must say,” She licked her lips, “I don’t think you two trust each other. Deku might’ve made a miscalculation, putting you two in the same group.”
“I trust him,” Hitoshi turns to look Tanaka in the eye, he speaks genuinely. He does trust Kaminari with work. He trusts the way Kaminari fights, he trusts the man’s knowledge. He trusts him to have his back. He trusts him to be able to hold his own. He trusts him to do his job.. He just doesn’t trust him personally, which is fine seeing as this is not going to be a personal trip.
Kaminari nods in agreement, “He’s one of the best heroes I know, I trust him. We can work together, don’t worry Tanaka.”
Something about hearing Kaminari compliment him like that brought him back to high school. Back when Kaminari would compliment Hiotshi daily. Tell him that he’s going to make the best hero, even if it wouldn’t be “real” because there would be no rankings. Kaminari would say that it wouldn’t matter and that he just knew that Hitoshi would be the best, no matter what. Used to say that he’d be good at anything he’d do. He used to tell him not to let go a little bit, to give into his emotions more.
That’s the advice that led to Hitoshi actually taking in the kids he now calls his own. He was very unsure on whether he should bring a 5 year old and a 13 year old into his house when he had almost no previous experience with children. But he thought back to his ex-boyfriend of all people, telling him to give into his emotions, give into the spur of the moment, be just a little less logical about certain things and, yeah, maybe that’s not the best advice to take regarding children but, look, it brought him the two best things in his life.
Hitoshi just stares at Kaminari, he knows he has a soft look in his eye but he doesn’t even care. He loves the man, no matter how much he wants to try and deny it. No matter how much he tries to deny it. No matter how much he remembers that hurt from their breakup. No matter how much he remembers that it took him so long to move on and when he did, he couldn’t find the same spark in anybody else. No matter how often he thinks about his highschool sweetheart despite not speaking for 15 years. No matter how much he thinks about the fact that Kaminari seemed to actually move on from him, getting married of all things. He seems fine.
He seems so totally fine while Hitoshi is still a mess and, in all honesty, will probably always be.
“Well,” Tanaka smiles, accepting that as a good answer, “in that case, we need to come up with what we’ll be doing. I know that Deku told us that we are to go in, familiarize ourselves with the higher ups, and really just kinda get in with the management of the place. See what’s going on on the inside.”
“During the meeting, he said that there are already people expecting us,” Denki reiterated, “so it’ll be easy to get in.”
“I honestly think this is the kind of thing that we have to just go into and judge once we get in there.” Hitoshi speaks his mind. He can’t really think of a way to go about it until he gets in there and better knows what’s going on. Though, he’s almost certain that Izuku has already come up with a plan. Or five.
Speaking of Izuku, the man walks over just then with a packet of papers in his hand and takes a seat on the table, sitting criss-cross, and looks between all of them, “So, have you guys done any brainstorming? Or are you going with Hitoshi’s usual plan of heading in and finding out?”
Hitsohi chuckles softly, of course Izuku knows exactly what he’s thinking.
“And I know that is a good plan for Hitoshi,” Izuku says and Hitsohi is sensing a ’but’ on its way, “but that’s only because he’s good at keeping a level head, he’s a quick decision maker, knows what to do in the moment. Tanaka, however, is the kind of person who prefers a plan, she likes to know exactly what she’s going to do with any situation that may come up. Denki can adapt to a lot of situations but he likes a broad understanding of what to do, he likes possibilities. So, with that being said, I have constructed a detailed plan.” He drops the packet of papers down on the table, it makes a plopping sound.
“Well damn,” Hitoshi mumbles, eyeing the packet. He’s already starting to regret saying yes to Izuku in that email. He should have just said no, then he’d be sitting at home with his daughters, eating some takeout, watching a movie, and having a good time instead of glaring at a packet of papers that’s thicker than the case file, “That’s a lot of paper.”
“The font is big,” Izuku grins, mischief behind his smile. He knows how much Hitoshi hates reading. In fact, he probably knew exactly what he was doing when he put Hitoshi in a group with Kaminari. His best friend just wants to see him suffer.
Tanaka reaches for the packet and they all go through it together. Working out any possible kinks or issues that anybody has with the plan.