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~*~
Himiko Toga was so surprised when her baby teeth fell out and her canines grew in a little longer than they were supposed to be. Mama and Papa were upset and made her go to the mean tooth guy to get them filed down. She was so sad since she really loved her long teeth. She’d showed them off at Show and Tell, and Ms. Yoko said that they were probably part of her quirk, her body was changing to get ready for her quirk to come in. It was really cool. And Akari-chan got up to show how her fingers were starting to turn green. Ms. Yoko said her quirk might be something to do with plants, since her whole family seemed to have flower and plant related quirks. And that was exciting, too.
Ms. Yoko was so nice and tried to get them all ready for when their quirks would come in. They all practiced their meditation so they could stay calm, even if their quirks “surprised” them. They also practiced what to do if they were at home or outside when their quirks came in. Then Mr. Ono came in to talk to all of them. He told the class about his job so they would know to go to him if they had problems or questions about their quirks. He was so nice! And he was going to help them train their quirks so they wouldn't hurt themselves with it.
When Himiko showed Mr. Ono how her teeth were short again he shared a look with Ms. Yoko, but just said that he would help her with her quirk no matter what it was. He also told her that her quirk might make her like different kinds of foods. So they would need to keep on top of that. Then he sent a note home asking her parents to call him so that they could talk about her quirk and what she might get.
Himiko thought nothing about that since Mr. Ono sent those notes home to everybody. Her parents were not happy to see the note. They asked her all about what Mr. Ono said and made her repeat it again and again until Himiko started to cry. But they just ignored the note, and the calls from the school, until Mr. Ono and the principal showed up at their house.
After that, Himiko got to visit Mr. Ono every Wednesday after lunch.
It was a few weeks after her fifth birthday that Himiko started to feel funny at breakfast. Her mom had made soup, rice and fish, one of Himiko’s favorite breakfasts, but she didn’t want to eat any of it.
She tried a bite, but it felt like sand got in her mouth! She spit out her food, but it was fish not sand. She tried some rice, but it was like thick, gloopy paste. Instead of the usual fragrant tiny pearls of delight, it was a mush of yuck ! She would have spit it out, too but mama was giving her a mean look so she swallowed it down.
Finally, she tried her soup. Thankfully it was okay. It was salty and warm, so she could at least drink it, but then one of the green onion pieces got into her mouth. Suddenly she was overpowered by the smell, and it felt like anywhere the onion touched her mouth began to itch. She yelled that her mouth was burning, even as her father swatted her for spitting out food at the table.
When Himiko looked at her mouth in the mirror she could see red streaks where the onion had touched. Mama just told her to clean up before she was late to school.
Himiko tried not to cry, but lunch had onions on it and just looking at it made her tear up. She showed Ms. Yoko her mouth and told her what happened at breakfast. Ms. Yoko smiled and said that Himiko’s quirk was coming in. She called in Mr. Ono right away.
Mr. Ono brought Himiko into his office and asked her about her breakfast. He nodded his head and said that he had guessed she might need more liquid for her food, or maybe some different kinds of food because of her new teeth.
He brought out a tray with some little glasses and a few small plates. First, she would try a tiny drink from the glass. The first sip would tell her if she liked it or not. Then she had to take a bigger drink, to see if it made her tummy hurt. Then she had to drink a huge gulp of water! Himiko didn't like to drink water, but Mr. Ono said it was so they could make sure that her mouth was cleaned out. So Himiko was okay with that.
The first drink was water! She thought Mr. Ono was playing a trick on her, but he said it was so Himiko could practice the plan. So she took a little sip, and said it was okay. Then she took a drink and waited. But her tummy was fine. Then she took a big gulp from her big cup of water. Mr. Ono said she did it perfectly and gave her a gold star sticker on her paper.
The next drink was orange juice. It was okay, but too sweet. It almost made her teeth hurt. Then she had apple juice, and that one made her stomach feel ick. She only got the glass of milk to her nose before she had to push it away. Something smelled rotten in that glass. She got excited when she saw a glass of something red and was only a little sad when it was tomato juice. But it still tasted good. The last cup was bone broth, and that was really yummy.
Next, Mr. Ono had little plates of food. He had one piece of cooked chicken, fish, beef, and pork on one plate. Then he had a few pieces of uncooked white fish, tuna, and beef on little plates of their own.
The chicken, fish, and pork all felt like sand and Mr. Ono said she could spit them into a napkin instead of having to eat them. The beef was okay, but felt more like jerky than the soft piece of beef she'd picked up. How weird.
She didn't want to try the uncooked white fish, and Mr. Ono told her she didn't have to eat it if she thought she wouldn't like it, but Himiko decided she could be brave one more time. This one wasn't like sand, but it didn't taste good. It kind of felt like the eraser on her mechanical pencils that she sometimes chewed on when trying to figure out her math. The raw tuna was the first delicious food she'd had all day! She was so sad that she only had one bite of it. But Mr. Ono said that if she didn't like anything else, they could get her more.
The last thing Himiko tried was the raw beef and it was like a party in her mouth! It was soft and juicy and Himiko didn't think she'd had anything so good in her entire life. Mr. Ono smiled when she said that, then surprised her when he brought out a plate with more raw beef sliced very thin for her.
Himiko almost cried over being able to feel full for the first time that day. Mr. Ono asked when the last time she felt full was and Himiko didn't notice the frown that crossed his face when she said she was always a little bit hungry, unless her grandma was cooking at their house. But she only got this full on New Year's and for the Spring Festival.
Mr. Ono gave Himiko a paper to take home to tell her parents that she shouldn't be eating anything with onions or garlic in it, and that meat should be raw or very little cooked. He also suggested that any fruit juice was cut with water, to keep from being too sweet. And that they shouldn't try to make her drink milk or eat anything dairy until they could find out if she was allergic to it now.
That night Himiko was served a bowl of plain rice. “I didn't know I had to do something special for you,” her mother said as they sat down to eat garlic fried chicken. She tried to eat the rice, but the smell of the chicken was making her lungs burn and the taste of the rice made her feel like she was going to throw up.
The next morning her mother made fish and rice, but no miso soup. Himiko asked for a glass of juice and her mother filled a big glass with water, then splashed in some juice. Himiko didn't know why her mother was being mean like this, so she asked.
Her mother hit her across the cheek for asking. Telling her that little girls that demand special treatment shouldn't be surprised when they are given it.
That day in class Himiko was very quiet. Akari noticed and asked if she was sad.
“I'm hungry Akari-chan.” She looked down as she said, “Mama is mad about my food.”
“Why?” the other little girl asked.
“Because it needs to not be cooked?” Himiko said with a shrug of one shoulder.
In a thousand other stories this is where Himiko is told her food is weird. And later she's told her way to feed herself is wrong and that makes her wrong and even villainous. But this is not those stories.
“Present Mic had a whole show about different ways people need to eat,” Akari-chan said. “And my grandmama doesn't have to eat food at all, but has to eat sunbeams!”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, let's tell Ms. Yoko if we can watch Present Mic’s show about different food people eat,” Akira said as she jumped up from her seat.
Ms. Yoko was happy with Akira’s idea and thought everyone should watch together . She had the class watch the show and talk about interesting ways quirks made people have to eat.
Their favorite was the man with the giraffe quirk that had to live where acacia trees grew. Now he’s a park ranger and leads people on safari to take pictures of all the wild animals in the park and he gets to nibble on the acacia trees wherever they stop for lunch.
Ms. Yoko started asking Himiko if she had had breakfast each morning. And Himiko felt sad there was something so wrong with her that her mama didn't want to make her food. And that she had to tattle like a baby to tell the teacher that her food was too full of green onions for her to eat. Ms. Yoko would nod and then set Himiko up with breakfast from the kitchen. It was usually some bone broth and a few slices of the beef or the fish, with a glass of watered-down juice, but sometimes it was all that Himiko had eaten since lunch so she would eat it up quick.
Her lunches were changed to things she could eat, until her parents stopped paying for her food. Himiko stopped eating for a few days, everything except the breakfast from Ms. Yoko, because her mother made breakfast full of green onions and dinner full of garlic. Some days Himiko stayed away from home as long as she could because the air made her breaths hurt. But Akari noticed that Himiko wasn’t eating and told her mama all about it. The next day she brought two bentos. One for Akari and one for Himiko. By this time Mr. Ono had found a few more things that she liked to eat and Akari’s mom had filled the lunch box with every single one!
“Mama said to leave anything that doesn’t taste good or makes you feel funny. Then she’ll know what not to send next time,” Akari said before starting on her own food. Himiko thought that Akari’s mom shouldn’t have to make her food. But she’s so hungry she’d actually eat the disgusting garlic shrimp her own mama had made last night if it meant she wouldn’t feel so achy in her tummy. Instead she got some yummy mussel soup, and some of that tomato juice that she was actually starting to crave.
Himiko was so grateful to Akari’s mom that she asked Ms. Yoko to help her make a thank you card. When the teacher said she’d be glad to help, Himiko gave her a great big smile that even showed her fangs. They were growing back, and she loved to show them off. She didn’t see the worried face that her teacher made while Himiko was telling the teacher what her extra special picture was for, but she saw Ms. Yoko use her very best writing and even gave her a sheet of stickers to decorate the card and envelope with.
Mr. Ono kept seeing Himiko on Wednesdays after lunch, and they found out that her quirk seemed to need a lot of something called iron and protein. Himiko learned that iron is found in a lot of red meat like the beef that she liked, and it had protein too. That was pretty clever she thought. There was also a lot of iron in the liver that she tried, but she just couldn’t help but gag at the texture of that one so Mr. Ono said she didn’t have to eat it. She also needed a lot of protein for some reason, and the red meat had a lot of protein, too. But her body didn’t like to eat the protein very much, so Mr. Ono gave her a protein shake to try. He had to find ones that didn’t have milk, because those ones made her start to gag. But he found some very yummy berry flavored drinks and one that was chocolate that she really liked.
As soon as Mr. Ono found the drink she liked, Akira’s mom started to include extras for her to take home. Akira told Himiko not to let her mama and daddy see the drinks because they might take them away. Himiko thought Akira was being rude about her parents, but her daddy saw her with one of the bottles and snatched it from her hand. He made her watch him pour it into the toilet. He said it was poop and the toilet was where it belonged. (Well, he said a different word, but Himiko isn’t allowed to say that one, so poop would have to do.) So Himiko thinks maybe Akira was smart about her parents.
One day at school, Mrs. Suzuki, the school secretary, took Himiko to the principal’s office. She was scared until she saw Mr. Ono and found out that she was there to meet with a scarf man who had some questions about Himiko and her quirk. He started out asking Mr. Ono the questions and asking Himiko to tell him if what Mr. Ono said was true or a fib. But she got mad and told the scarf man that Mr. Ono doesn’t fib! But sometimes he does tricks to make sure what he thinks is happening is right. That made the scarf man grin. Himiko liked his grin. It was sharp, just like her new teeth!
So Scarf Man started saying things about the kinds of foods that she needs, and asked if she was getting them. When she nodded, he asked who gave her the food she needed. Himiko was so happy to say that Ms. Yoko gave her bone broth in the mornings and Akiria’s mama sent her lunches with all the yummy things Mr. Ono said she needed. Scarf Man nodded and said he was happy to hear that. Then he asked what the last food her mama had made for her was, and Himiko had to think. She thought real hard and finally remembered the miso soup with all the green onions in it.
Mr. Ono asked if she had made Himiko drink that soup again after the first time she had practically made the entire bowl green. But Himiko just shook her head. Mr. Ono said something like, “That was four months ago,” to the scarf man who frowned. Himiko didn’t like the scarf man's frown.
The scarf man saw Himiko frowning back at him and quickly hid his face in his scarf. When he brought his face back out, he was smiling down at Himiko. She liked that much better and smiled back at him.
Sometimes the principal asked her questions, but sometimes he answered Scarf Man. Before he sent Himiko back to class, he gave her what looked like a juice pouch. Himiko wasn't sure she wanted to drink a really sweet juice, but she tried it to be polite. It was the best thing ever!
“Did I choose a good one?” the principal asked. He looked kind of nervous, but that can't be right. The principal always knew what to do.
“Uh huh,” Himiko said as she took another big sip of her drink. “This is the bestest thing I've ever had!”
The principal’s smile grew so big, and Mr. Ono and Scarf Man were all grinning at her, too. “I'm glad I got something you'd like, Toga-chan. Go ahead and go back to class.”
As she left, she heard the principal say, “It's a synthetic substitute that's shelf stable. I'm glad she liked it. The school can certainly get them for her. I'll have the cook fill out the requisition form today.” Himiko didn't know what the words meant, but the other two men seemed to like what they heard.
Akira asked why she was out of class and Himiko said she had to see the principal and a scarf man about her food.
Akira nodded as she said, “My mama went to talk to Mr. Ono about what food you needed for your lunches. She probably asked the principal if she was getting it right.”
“Of course she's getting it right. Your mama makes the best lunches!” Himiko was quick to reassure her friend. “I love what you bring me.”
“Well, mama always says the most important 'gredient in food is the love. So she must put extra love into yours.”
Himiko was quiet for a minute. “You think your mama loves me?” she asked in a small voice. That didn't make any sense. Himiko didn't think her own mama liked her very much anymore. How could Akira's mama love her?
“Of course she does,” Akira was quick to say. “Like Present Mic says, ‘You can always love more people’. We both love you Himi.” She threw her arms around her friend. “We're best friends forever.”
Himiko hugged her friend back as tight as she could. “Best friends forever.”
The next day Akira brought an invitation to Himiko. It invited Himiko to a sleepover party at Akira's house tomorrow night. Himiko was so excited when Akira said that her mama had decided that she was old enough to invite two friends for a sleepover. The other person Akira was inviting was her cousin Setsuna who went to a different school. They spent the day figuring out things they could do at the party.
When Himiko showed her mama the invitation, she was afraid her mama would say no. But her mama just said she could go since Akira's mama had already called to see if she could come. They even offered to pick up Himiko from school tomorrow so the sleepover could start as soon as school was done! Himiko didn't even mind staying in her room that night while trying to breathe through the chili and garlic fumes that came from the kitchen.
Tomorrow she would be at Akira's house and would have lots of food with the love in it.
~*~
Shouta Aizawa was a brand new, fully licensed pro hero and he was being sent on his first solo mission by none other than his old sensei, Nedzu.
The principal of UA had taken Shouta under his paw in his second year as a student at UA. He'd seen that Shouta, and his single mother were struggling, and offered Shouta a part time job as a teacher's assistant for the first years. Through that job, he was able to relieve some of the financial stress on his mom and earn partial credit toward a teaching license. Now that Shouta was out of school, he figured he'd be able to take the remaining classes and have a fallback plan if he ever got too hurt to keep being a hero.
He'd been shadowing his mentor, Shade, for two years following his graduation from UA, but was now considered to have enough training to do solo jobs. Not that he wouldn't be reporting back to Shade, as well as the Commission, when this job was over, but he was finally greenlit to act on his own.
Nedzu contacted Shouta saying his informant, code named Mic Drop, sent in a tip about a child being abused over her new quirk. He needed Shouta to be his eyes and ears as he investigated the child’s school and home life. If they found the school was being prejudicial or discriminatory in any way, Nedzu was prepared to bring it down with extreme prejudice. The staff would be gutted and the rot removed to keep dangerous ideology from poisoning the minds of the children under their care
If it was her parents or someone else in the home, Shouta was to remove the problem and bring in Child Services to work on the girl’s behalf. Nedzu would help them with whatever surveillance or financial records needed to help CS with their case against the child’s abusers.
When Shouta heard that the problem was quirk discrimination, he'd jumped at the chance to be one of Nedzu's Furies. He'd dealt with enough of that situation growing up, and he would not sit idly by while another child suffered.
Shouta felt that the school was the best place to begin. If they weren't the problem, they might have an idea of who was mistreating the child. When he presented his hero license to the principal, he saw the man look relieved. Shouta had a good feeling about this. The principal wasn't trying to cover anything up and seemed open to asking for help that only a hero could provide.
When Shouta said he was investigating quirk discrimination against one of the students, without mentioning names, the principal got thoughtful.
“Well, there was some difficulty over little Aoto-kun’s quirk awakening, but I think we nipped any teasing or bullying in the bud right away.” He paused to consider again, “If there's one student I'm really concerned about being mistreated over their quirk it would be Himiko Toga.”
“And why is that?” Shouta asked.
“Would you mind if I pulled our quirk specialist in for this conversation? He can more easily explain Toga-chan’s quirk, how it's affecting her needs, and the things he's observed that are concerning.”
“By all means, bring him in.” Shouta was impressed that the quirk specialist was on campus and said so.
“Oh, he's full time,” the principal said offhandedly as he dialed. “Between the four- and five-year-olds gaining new quirks every other day, and the rest of the students needing to learn quirk control, there's just too much not to have him here every day.”
Shouta nodded in agreement. Thinking back to his own primary school the quirk counselor was there only twice a week. They had to learn quirk control as a class, and heaven help the student that had a quirk accident any other day of the week.
He was soon introduced to Mr. Ono, the quirk counselor, who brought a quite thick file for a student that had only just had their quirk manifest. The file contained a record of every communication attempt by the counselor or the school, as well as the responses by Toga-chan's parents. Their responses were less than stellar, but the attempts to communicate were exemplary in Shouta's opinion.
One item the file contained was little Toga's family tree, along with their quirks, back four generations. “As you can see,” Mr. Ono was pointing to one of Toga's ancestors, “she seems to have inherited something of her great-grandfather, Chisuke Haseodori’s, blood manipulation quirk, but we don't know if either of her parents’ illusion or chameleon quirks are also part of her quirk. So far she's manifested longer canines and a need for both increased iron and protein as well as a preference for liquid sustenance.”
“I can imagine she's not popular with having a vampire quirk,” Shouta muttered.
“Nonsense,” the principal looked shocked at the statement. “Toga-chan's a delightful child. She's excited to learn and all her classmates seem to enjoy being around her.”
“Yes, Ms. Yoko is very good about helping all the children in her class be excited and respectful about each other's quirks,” Mr. Ono backed up his boss. “It helps that Little Hero seems to have an episode about almost any problem she could encounter while the children's quirks begin manifesting.”
“So, Mr. Ono, what is your concern about the child’s situation?” Shouta asked.
The counselor proceeded to lay out all his evidence of suspecting Toga might be abused at home. He guessed it might have been happening earlier, but certainly came to be once her quirk began to manifest. He included the examples of the dentist visit to file down her prominent canine teeth, her mother making sure to cook things for breakfast and dinner that included the onion and garlic that burned the inside of the child’s mouth, and the instance of her father dumping the protein shake Akari Asago’s mother sent home.
The principal talked about how Mrs. Asago had come to him asking about Toga's lunch situation; and Mr. Ono showed the list he and Mrs. Asago had worked out for foods that the girl liked and ones she couldn't tolerate. Ms. Yoko had also paid for morning breakfast once she'd noticed the girl was coming to school hungry.
“I'm getting an unfavorable picture of these parents, and I haven't even met them yet.” Shouta was trying not to rush from the room to arrest them immediately. “Would you allow me to ask her a few questions? With you in the room, of course.”
“That can be arranged,” the principal said as he asked the secretary to bring Himiko to the office. “And that'll give me a chance to have her try a blood like product I found when I was searching for items we could stock in the kitchen for her.”
Shouta felt that this principal and Nedzu would get along well when discussing the lengths administration should go to help their students.
Shouta found Himiko a lively and adorable child. She had that honesty that young children are famous for and praised her teachers and principal for the way they took good care of her. She wasn't as solid in her praise of her parents, and Shouta could tell she was confused by their sudden switch in behavior.
He asked his questions and tried not to react to the fact that this baby’s mother hadn't made her food she could safely eat for four months. Forget the school, Shouta's siccing Nedzu on the mother!
He made one more stop before heading to the nearest police precinct to fill out a request for an arrest warrant on the Togas. Mrs. Asago was all too happy to discuss what she knew of her daughter's best friend and the lunches she'd been providing the last three or so months. She was also more than willing to work with the hero to keep Toga-chan away from home on the day the warrant would be served.
The woman really surprised Shouta when she told him that she and her husband had fostering licenses and would be more than happy to work with Child Services in helping to keep Himiko in familiar surroundings once her parents were removed. Shouta said he'd see what could be done and was calling a contact with CS as he left the house.
The warrant came through rather quickly, it always does when child abuse is involved, and the social worker gave Shouta a green light after meeting the Asago family the day after his own visit. He was able to put together a team of officers to arrest the Togas rather quickly once child neglect and abuse was mentioned.
Mrs. Asago was able to get permission for the girls to have a sleepover the next night after too little time persuading Mrs. Toga. She also arranged for her niece, who had been adopted only the year before, to come over for the party. She had a feeling that Himiko and Setsuna would get along well.
The raid of the Toga house went almost textbook perfect, unfortunately. The father came quietly and kept his mouth shut. The mother was another matter. She tried to fight her way out of the house but was no match for the officers and Shouta. Unfortunately, she was also unable to keep her mouth from running and spewing out hateful and quirkist sentiments about her own child.
Shouta was never so happy as when he saw that woman put in the back of a police cruiser. He shuddered to think about how little Himiko would have lost her spark and the potential for misery that living with those people for years would have brought to the child.
There's no way the courts, or Nedzu, would ever let those people be around a child, let alone little Himiko, ever again.
~*~
Shouta kept tabs on Himiko as her case progressed. She seemed to be thriving in her new foster family. At least, he assumed she was thriving when he met up with Mr. and Mrs. Asago at the Togas’ trial where both he and Mrs. Asago had to testify. Mrs. Asago showed him pictures of the girls playing together, visiting the zoo, and playing video games with their father. He was relieved to see that she was doing well.
“Now that those people have lost their parental rights, we can start the adoption process,” Mr. Asago said with a grin. “I've got to keep my gaming partner in house.”
Shouta returned the grin. Happy to see this man eager to gain another daughter.
“Will you please join us for dinner?” Mrs. Asago asked. “I know Himiko would love to see you again.”
Shouta wanted to turn them down, but he also wanted to see, with his own eyes, that she was doing well. He accepted the invitation.
His relief at seeing a taller, slightly plumper little girl at the door made Shouta grin. Himiko gave an equally sharp grin back.
“Scarf Man! Welcome home,” she said.
“Himi, it's ‘Welcome to our home’. You know that,” her sister chided as she bumped Himiko’s shoulder with her own.
“But Scarf Man took away my bad mama and papa, so I could live here. So now he's ours,” she explained.
The other little girl thought this over. “You're right. Welcome home, Scarf Man!”
Shouta chuckled, but easily put on the guest slippers that were waiting for him. He followed the chattering girls to the kitchen where the table was set.
“Scarf Man, sit next to me,” Himiko said as she pointed to a seat.
No one seemed to object, so Shouta took his place in the chair.
“Okay, it's –” Mr. Asago raised an eyebrow. “How would you like us to call you?” he asked, seeming to realize he only knew the man’s hero name.
“Aizawa is perfectly fine,” he said.
The father nodded, “As I was saying. It's Mr. Aizawa's first time eating with us. Who wants to tell him the rules?”
Both girls’ hands shot up in the air.
“Himiko, what's the first rule?” he said with a nod to the girl.
“No eating someone else’s food without asking and without checking what's in it,” she said with a grin.
“Yes, that's my good girl,” the man said as he ruffled her hair. “Akira, what's the second rule?” he asked, beaming at his other daughter.
“Any food on a red plate or red bowl is safe for Himi and everyone else. Black plates have ‘gredients that could make her sick. We never mix red and black!”
The man tousled her hair too, getting a giggle. “Another good answer,” he said as his wife sat the last bowl on the table and joined them.
“What about serving spoons or forks?” she asked the two girls with a soft smile.
“They stay with the dish they are in,” the girls said together.
“What if I forget?” Shouta asked.
“We'll help you remember, Scarf Man,” Himiko said as she patted his arm. “And if you're not sure, we can always put it away and Papa will take care of it.” She turned to the man, “Right Papa?”
“Right, Starshine.” He smiled at his family. “Today we celebrate Himiko coming to our family, Aizawa putting away the bad guys, Mama being brave, and Akira's leveling up on her Little Hero achievement badges.”
“What about you, Papa?” Akira asked.
“I didn't cry or try to hit Himi’s former parents when they were saying mean things,” he said seriously. “I think I get a big celebration today.”
Shouta silently agreed that not attacking the Togas was quite the accomplishment. He knew he wanted another round with that woman.
“Okay, let's eat!” Mrs. Asago cheered.
Shouta noticed that all the serving bowls were red, and he was offered a small black plastic container of green onions if he wanted them. He decided not to even open them since he was next to Himiko. It was a testament to Mrs. Asago's cooking that he didn't notice the missing flavors of onion or garlic.
The meal was delicious, and the company was surprisingly good. They were about to serve dessert when Shouta's phone dinged with a notification. He was being called out to an emergency quirk manifestation.
“I'm sorry to have to leave early,” Shouta said with a bow to the family, “but my skills are urgently needed elsewhere.”
“Scarf Man, wait!” Himiko ran to the kitchen and brought back a pouch of something. “This is a little sweet, so it'll be a good dessert.”
Shouta took the gift from the girl and thanked her and the family for the food, then quickly left. The emergency was easily handled once Shouta arrived. The child was calmed, and their parents were provided with the numbers of several reputable quirk counselors that could help the kid get through the trauma of their quirk manifestation as well as getting enough control to not scare the child again.
Shouta climbed to the roof of the building next to the police precinct where he'd had to turn in his report. The evening was cool, and the streetlights were about to come in. Soon he'd be able to see the city skyline lit up against the star filled night sky. The plastic rustle of his pocket reminded him of Himiko's gift.
He pulled it out to see it was a jelly pouch, cherry flavor. Glancing at the nutrition information on the back, he saw that it provided a balance of carbohydrates and protein, as well as having an impressive number of additional vitamins and minerals. It was nearly a complete meal.
Shouta smiled at the gift. That sweet little girl made sure he was fed after all the trouble she'd had trying to find things she could eat now that her quirk made things difficult. The least he could do is try it.
Shouta's eyes lit up when he tasted the jelly. As Himiko said, it was sweet but not too sweet. He’d finished it almost as soon as he'd started. Shouta stood. He should try some other flavors. The pouches would be a good mid-patrol snack, or even serve as good after patrol breakfast when Shouta was often too tired to cook or even be bothered to microwave something.
He gently folded the empty pouch and returned it to his pocket. Himiko is safe and her new family obviously adores her. This was one case that he was happy to have been involved in.
~*~
Six months later Shouta was invited to a park with the Asago family to celebrate Himiko’s adoption. He'd asked if he could bring a friend with him and was told “the more, the merrier” by Mrs. Asago.
Shouta's “friend” was a fellow hero that had been in Class B when Shouta attended UA. Kan, also known as the hero Vlad King, had a blood-based quirk. He wanted Himiko to see that her quirk wasn't bad or villainous just because it involved blood.
Kan had taken one look at Himiko and asked if she was related to Chisuke Haseodori. He was astounded when he was told that Himiko was the man’s great granddaughter. Kan informed the Asagos that Himiko's great grandfather was Kan's grandpa on his mother's side. Some Googling helped them realize that Himiko was Kan’s first cousin once removed.
It seemed a little strange for an adult to be calling his five-year-old relative “cousin”, so the family settled on calling him Uncle Kan. From that point on, Himiko and Akira loved to spend time with their Uncle Kan and Vlad King hero merch was easily found throughout the house.
Shouta would ask for updates on the girls whenever he ran into Vlad, and the man would immediately pull out his phone to share pictures and stories about how well they did in school, especially the science fairs they entered every year. And also, how Himiko was loving her gymnastics classes while Akira was making a name for herself in the junior roller derby circuit.
Of course, Uncle Kan made it to every family dinner he could. They all made an effort to get together at least one weekend a month if not more often. During his visits Kan would help Himiko work with her quirk and watch Akira as she showed off her newest robot.
Once the girls were deemed old enough, he began training them to prepare for the UA entrance exam. Kan had a bit of an inside edge as he'd been working as a teacher at UA for several years by that time and got permission to train the girls at the prestigious high school.
When the entrance exam was over, Kan called dibs on Himiko and Higari called dibs on Akira. Shouta didn't feel like fighting the two teachers over their protégés and called dibs on the tall, lavender student with the mental quirk. He'd just squeaked by, and Shouta wanted to help him improve.
All in all, Himiko and her family were happy, healthy, and working to make a world where little girls and boys didn't need to fear their quirks or their parents. Himiko figured it was the least she could do to repay her teachers, parents, and Scarf Man for saving her.
~*~