Chapter Text
“Are you excited?” the blonde on the screen said, a bright smile on his face as he looked towards the person behind the camera. There was a sigh, closer and a bit grainy because of the proximity to the phone, but there was an audible smile as the man recording responded.
“Yes, Hizashi, I’m excited.”
“Good! Because I’m just about ready to take him out myself!” He said with a laugh, getting a bit closer and becoming blurry in the frame. “Can you believe it Shota! Our little listener is FOUR DAYS past his due date. I don’t know how, but I know it’s your fault!” The camera shook as Hizashi reached out and took the phone, turning it around to face his dark-haired partner.
“Hey!” Aizawa said, eyes crinkling in a smile as he chucked a bit at his husband’s antics. “How exactly is this my fault?”
“You LOVE sleeping, ‘Zawa. To the point that sometimes I can’t wake you up! Obviously the baby is already getting your bad habits.”
“If he’s inheriting it, is it still considered a habit? I don’t think those are hereditary, ‘Zashi.”
“Oh, hush, you.” There was a rustle of the camera before a hand reached out and smacked the darker haired man’s chest lightly in jest. “Now, help me get the baby stuff ready. I’m supposed to be induced at noon, and I’ll be damned if we’re not there in time.”
“It's only 10, the hospital is 14 minutes away. We have plenty of time…” Aizawa’s voice faded a bit at the end, making the blonde turn the camera back towards him. The dark-haired man had a smirk on his face.
“What’s with the look on your face?” Hizashi asked with a smile, the camera shaking as he laughed at his husband. Aizawa leered, roaming his eyes over the pregnant blonde's body as he got closer.
“You know…” he hummed, getting so close that there was nothing but black on the screen. “…Nemuri told me that sex can help induce labor. We’ve got two hours before we have to check in at the hospital. Why don’t we give it a shot, see if it works?” There were kissing noises, then a soft moan.
“There-there’s no harm-ah! No harm in trying…”
“Mmm…Hizashi…”
“…Hizashi…”
“Hizashi!” the shout from his husband broke the blonde from his musings, a frown on his face as he looked towards the blonde quizzically. “I tried calling out to you a few times. Everything okay?”
Hizashi nodded before exiting out of his video app, taking out his headphones, and turning his phone screen off. “Sorry, lost track of time!”
“I noticed.” Aizawa hummed, leaning down to place a quick peck on his husband’s lips from where he was still sitting at their dining room table. “Come on, we’re going to be late to U.A.”
“I know, I know! Let me just get my glasses and then we can go!” the thinner man said as he jumped up from his seat, rushing to their room. Closing the door, he took a shaky breath and smacked his face lightly before heading to his nightstand and swiping his infamous triangle shaped glasses.
-----
The ride to U.A. was mostly silent, which was a rarity in the Aizawa-Yamada household. It initially set off alarms in Shota's head before he checked his phone and realized what day it was.
July 1st.
It was the anniversary of the day they lost their baby. He still remembered that day very vividly in his mind. It even haunted his nightmares every so often.
It had been such a normal day, a happy one. They were going to the hospital. They checked in. They met with the Dr’s, listened intently as they were told the step-by-step procedure of inducing past due pregnancies. They got ready, anxiousness in their guts but excitement in their hearts.
Breaking his water was easy. Labor seemed even more so.
Hizashi practically glowed through the birthing process. Easily dilating to 10cm in only a few hours. Then…
Nobody had known anything had gone wrong until Hizashi started screaming.
From a certain point of view, Aizawa was lucky enough to be in the room when it happened. He was quickly able to cancel out his husband’s Quirk while the Doctor’s continued to work. Though, it also meant he was there to witness when the blood started gushing out of him. He was there to see the exact moment when Hizashi passed out from blood loss and had to be rushed into emergency surgery.
He was there, lost in grief as the nurses came to have him sign a waiver, indicating that if it came to it, he would have to choose between the love of his life, or his son. They had assured him they would to their best to save both, and it was just a precaution, but Aizawa knew it was a serious concern.
After a few grueling, agonizing minutes of staring at the form, he chose Hizashi.
He had nearly passed out from relief when the Doctor came out to let him know Hizashi was stable nearly an hour later, only to sob as he was told that though they were able to extract the child, due to the nature of the situation within Hizashi, the little one did not make it out of the surgical suite alive.
He heard words floating around as his mind detached itself from his body. Hizashi, tearing in the abdominal wall and womb, hemorrhaging, placenta abruption, internal damage, major blood loss, the list went on.
The baby, his son, because of all that had happened, hypoxia.
They tried resuscitation, but they don’t know how long his oxygen supply had been cut off before they had to rush his husband back for the surgery.
The internal damage also assured that his husband would not be able to have kids again.
They had carted Hizashi back into the room a bit after that discussion. He was still out of it but was woozily awake. Aizawa kissed him soundly, shakily, and let him sleep as the worst of the day was finally over. It wasn’t until later that night that Hizashi woke up coherent, and he was forced to break the news. His eyes glowed, prepared for an onslaught of screaming, crying, anything, but Hizashi did not break down.
Instead, he was quiet.
When the nurses came and saw he was awake, they asked if he had wanted to see the baby before they sent him down to be cremated, and he nodded.
When they came and handed him a cold bundle, Hizashi cradled him but still didn’t cry. He just stared until he eventually passed him back to the nurse. When it was Aizawa’s turn to hold him, he sobbed, placing a single kiss on the baby’s head before handing him back.
For the next week Hizashi had to stay in the hospital recovering. The whole time, he didn’t speak a word.
He never cried.
When he quietly asked the Doctors if anything was wrong, they informed him of postpartum depression, and how in cases like this, it tended be worse with the loss of a child. He was assured that Hizashi would eventually come out of it, but it would take time.
When they left, they took their baby with them, in a tiny white and gold crested Urn.
It took four months until Hizashi was able to cry and start mourning. Another three to be able to smile again. By the time a year had almost passed, he seemed externally the same as he had always been whenever they went out, but in the confines of their home he was still subdued.
When July 1st passed, exactly a year to the event, Hizashi and Aizawa fought like they never had before. It was explosive, and dangerous. They both said things they hadn't meant to say. Aizawa had said Hizashi had acted like he didn’t even care about the loss of their child. Somewhere in the mix of more screaming, the blonde had practically blamed Aizawa for choosing him over their son, saying it was the reason the boy wasn’t here now. He knew, logically, that it was the grief, the loss, the survivors guilt, the depression that made them both say it, but it broke him.
Aizawa knew they needed to calm down, he said he would spend the night at Vlad's, but Hizashi beat him to it.
Aizawa nearly thought Hizashi was done with him as he watched the blonde pack up his things. Hizashi had left to stay with Nemuri after it happened. The dark-haired man had cried and cursed and wrecked what was still remaining in their home while he was gone, to the point that he could literally not sleep on the bed or couch or anywhere else remotely soft. Either way, he wouldn’t be comfortable without Hizashi.
He ended up sleeping in the baby’s room. It was the only thing left untouched.
It took eight days. Eight days of no contact, despite how hard Aizawa had tried. Eight days of Aizawa living in filth, but eventually Hizashi came back, openly sobbing and crying for Aizawa to not leave him, begging for forgiveness. To Aizawa there was nothing to forgive. They had both said truly awful things to each other, and he just wanted his husband back.
They worked through it together while cleaning the wreck they had made in their home and talked, really talked, for the first time in a year since their son's death. They cried, and laughed, and kissed, and mourned. They were both messy and dirty at the end of the day, but at that moment Hizashi had never looked more beautiful to him.
Aizawa asked him to marry him. Again.
Hizashi laughed and smiled, and slowly, they both started to heal.
Now it had been 15 years since the night they lost their son. Hizashi always got a bit quiet on this day, so he knew there was nothing really to worry about since he did as well, but he couldn’t help but still feel concerned.
As they pulled up to the gate that led them to the employee parking lot, he looked at his husband before reaching over and grabbing his hand. Hizashi smiled, bringing it to his lips and kissing Aizawa's knuckles before placing their now intertwined fingers in his lap.
Aizawa smiled and thought ‘Today is going to be a good day.’
-----
Aizawa had never been more immediately wrong. Today was not going to be a good day.
He wasn’t sure what was wrong per se, but as they opened the door to the Teacher’s Lounge, the whispers and small talk of their co-workers abruptly stopped and an awkward, tense silence filled its place.
“Uh, did I forget to put on my hearing aids or is it just really quiet in here for some reason?” Hizashi asked, scratching his head in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Aizawa asked, immediately on high alert. Everyone just awkwardly looked at each other before setting their eyes on an unusually stoic Midnight. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at her questioningly.
“Have either of you seen the news?” She asked after a brief stare-off. The married duo looked at each other, confusion written on their faces before Hizashi tentatively reached to take his phone out from his back pocket.
“No! Don’t look now!” She shouted and sprung up from her seat before snatching the blonde’s phone from his hands, who cried out in alarm and surprise. While she was there, she also reached out and groped Aizawa’s pockets to take his away as well. “I’ll assume you haven’t seen it yet then.”
“Nemuri, what the hell is going on?!” Aizawa’s already limited patience had already been met as he stared at the woman in front of him. While she was always a tad handsy, and she most certainly had never touched them inappropriately, she had also never reached out to them in such a panic either.
“Just…” She hesitated before sighing heavily, looking to Thirteen briefly before turning her gaze back to the duo. “…Just go see Nezu in his office. He had to leave earlier this morning for an emergency press conference with the Chief of Police, but he’s already on his way back. He’ll be here any minute. I’ll keep your phones with me until you come out.”
Looking at each other again, this time in concern, they turned to walk out of the room. Distantly, Aizawa heard the whispers inside the room resume.
-----
Hitoshi was not allowed to watch TV.
That was not a rule that was ever spoken to him, but he knew by the way his foster father, Ging, would narrow his eyes when any of the children who lived in his house would look towards it.
Hitoshi was not allowed to eat in the house.
That was a rule also unspoken, but he knew by the was Ging would snarl at any crumb he would find that was not his. All the children either ate outside, or elsewhere. Whether it be at school, a friend's house, or a restaurant or café.
Hitoshi was not allowed to speak or ask questions.
This rule was explicitly made aware by the fact that he was muzzled at all hours, bar leaving for school. Any time he was on the premises, he had it on him.
Now, he knew how to use his quirk. There was no way it could go off by accident. But he knew Ging didn’t want to give him even the slightest chance to do something on purpose (not that he would, he was going to a Hero School after all). What Ging thought he would do, he wasn’t sure, but he knew Ging was scared of him.
Maybe that's why, even with the muzzle, Hitoshi never felt weak in this home like he would in his previous ones.
Sure, this treatment wasn’t ideal, but the fosters he had in the past were all too happy to have him. To them, it meant a free punching bag, someone they could gleefully take out all of their sadistic pleasures without one ounce of remorse. Yes, Ging was scared of him, and Hitoshi hated when people were scared of him, but with Ging it meant no hits, no bruising, no cutting into him (verbally or otherwise). With Ging, him being scared also meant Hitoshi being safe. Even more so since he started going to U.A., and it doubled after he started training with Aizawa-Sensei.
Still, with that security in mind, he was still surprised when that morning, he and all the other occupants in the house watched the TV in utter silence. Even Ging's eyes were glued to the screen, either unaware or uncaring of the children surrounding him.
He knew what they were all thinking, he and the other three children.
As horrible and cruel as all of it was, it gave them hope.
And hope, to desperate people, was a horrifying thing to have.
"All of you, leave. Now. I need to make some calls." Ging's voice rang through the silence, his face undeniably calm as he shut off the TV. He slowly got up from his armchair in the corner, looking towards Hitoshi briefly before walking towards him.
"I assume you know what to do with this?" the man said, handing Hitoshi something he never had dreamed to get.
A key. The key Ging used for his muzzle.
Hitoshi nodded.
"Good. I'll be out until tomorrow evening. Take care of the other brats while I'm gone." He said, putting on his shoes and jacket. "If I come back, and I see that contraption isn't on your face, or one of those two keys is missing, I'll put you in the basement."
The purple haired teen froze. He'd never been to the basement, but he knew that whenever a kid would go in there, they would either not come out at all, or come back different.
Carefully, Hitoshi nodded again.
He watched on quietly as Ging stepped out of the door.
-----
-and that is all with the weather report for this fine July morning. Back to you, Aoi.
Thank you Haruto. Now, for the top story of the day; a massive kidnapping operation uncovered by a local woman in Hosu. The prime suspect? Her own mother.
Late Friday evening, a 47 year old woman named Akane Mori called police in a panic. She had just learned that her 66 year old mother, Akari Mori, who had just passed away 5 weeks prior to the call via heart attack, was hiding a horrifying secret.
According to the initial police report, Akane was cleaning out her mother’s belongings from her home as she had just become the sole proprietor of Akari’s estate, where she found a series of notebooks in a locked box underneath the floorboards in her room. She claims she had no idea that the books were there, but were instead found due to her and her fiancé and longtime partner, Mai Matsumoto, moving around the furniture. They were clearing the room as they had planned on selling the estate, and needed it empty to take pictures and place the house on the market.
In the report, she stated that the floorboard shifted while moving the nightstand by her mother’s bed, and when she went to move it back, she noticed something shiny under the floor. With her partner’s help, they cleared the rest of the room and started to investigate what was under the bed.
Shown here is a brief clip of Akane responding to one of the reporters in the press conference that was held early this Monday morning.
“I really have no idea what to do right now. I’m kind of in shock. To think she was hiding this from us this whole time is just…crazy. I didn’t know what else to do but call the police.”
Akari Mori, who had been a Registered Nurse since she was 20, and a Newborn Care Specialist since she was 25, up until she retired at 65, had been reportedly taking children from expecting families and selling them to a still un-named buyer and/or buyers. Inside the notebooks are detailed reports from the past 35 years of Akari performing such tasks, including the price each child was sold for, ranging anywhere from 290,700 yen, to upwards of 7.3 million. There are also dates, times, the sex, blood type, and quirks of the children’s parents inside the books. No names are said to have been mentioned.
From what Investigators have found. Each notebook is for a year she performed the kidnappings, starting from her first ‘sale’ nearly 35 years ago. The books found with the least information only had the sales and information for 3 children and family, while the fullest notebook is said to have 37. There also seems to be some years when she did not take any, but police are still searching her house for more information.
Akari Mori was a wonder in the field of newborn science and healthcare. She was a traveling nurse who moved all across the country until her retirement just last year. According to hospital records, per day, she would help deliver dozens of children. Her co-workers, friends and family paint her as an attentive woman, who was kind, smart, and gentle. It seems nobody knew what was lurking below the surface.
There is currently no information on whether or not Akari was working alone, or what her motive may have been.
“One of our concern’s is the money.” Lead investigator Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi says from behind the stand. “As far as we can tell from the notebooks that were found, each sale had been made in cash, yet there is no indication in Akari’s bank records that she had ever deposited said money. Cash, like digital money, still leaves a footprint in our governmental network. Even if the money was laundered or fake, there would still be ways to track it. As far as we can see, she made the sales, collected the money from her buyers, but did not keep it. If she did, the money still has not been found.”
Our Prime Minister has also released a statement regarding this Mass Kidnapping Case.
“Our country has been keeping digital record in our hospitals well before Quirks first started showing up. The first computer made was in the 1940’s, and we are now in 2357. Due to our nation’s laws regarding quirk registration, even if we do not know the names of the children who were taken or their parents, we are confident that the people in charge of this case will be able to locate everyone Akari has documented in her notebooks. Because of our digital age, we know what city, state, and hospital she was located in at the time she took them. To help, I am giving control to the detectives leading this investigation, the medical records for every person in every Hospital in Japan from the years 2321-2356 that Akari was noted to have worked at, to help find the parents of the missing children. We are hoping we can cross reference that information, with the blood samples we have from people with current registered quirks, and all little ones under the age of 7.”
Our Prime Minister also spoke earlier today about what would happen once families start being found.
“All information on the missing persons or children from the past 35 years will receive a letter in the mail from their local police station stating that their medical records show they were one of the victims in the case. If they wish to be reunited with their families, they will be urged to call or text the number located within the letter. We have detectives in each police station who will be in charge of reuniting these families. If they do not wish to be reunited, however, we ask that the people receiving such letters still reach out, just so that we are aware they will not be participating. If one party wishes to be reunited but the other party does not, or does not call or respond within 90 days of receiving such letter, the party that wants to reunite will receive another notice informing them there was either no response, or no want to meet.”
Earlier this morning during the press conference, Principal Nezu of U.A. also spoke, declaring that they will use their facilities to host the meet and greets between the families that wish to be reunited.
“As one of Japan’s most prestigious schools, we have not only the funding, but the means and want to help during this trying time for our nation. With our front gates, we also have the privacy these families will undoubtedly want during these gatherings. One of our Pro Hero faculty members will arrive at the gates to usher said parties into their assigned rooms, and act as a guard while these families are reunited.”
He also went on to speak briefly of their students with Provisional Hero Licenses.
“If they so wish, they can also help guide waiting peoples and families to empty rooms within U.A.. We’ve run the numbers, and at the very most about 1300 children were taken. The number seems high, but compared to just how many citizens there are in Japan, the number seems so very minimal, and we are confident that everyone can be found. Because of this, we are already expecting to send out the first round of letters to awaiting families, people, and children within the next few days, and therefore will be waiting for calls from police stations informing us of meet & greets starting as soon as next Monday. Those students who wish to participate will be using this time as a Hero Internship instead of completing their class courses before summer break, which starts on July 27th.”
The case, according to court documents, will be called Akari vs. Japan.
More information on the ongoings of this case will be available on our website-
Nezu reached over to grab the remote sitting on his desk in his office and paused the video of the News report from earlier that morning, unusually quiet and solemn as he watched the married couple in front of him.
“Not only did I need to inform you of this news so that you can inform your homeroom classed, yours especially Aizawa, as they are budding heroes.” The fluffy white principal started as he clasped his hands together, “But as your friend, I also wanted to let you both know that when I spoke to Naomasa earlier this morning, he informed me that in one of the notebooks, a child’s information was written down matching both of your shared blood type, born July 1st, 2342, at 7:36pm.”
Both Hizashi and Shota jumped and stared at him in shock.
“The baby’s parents were said to be a male carrier with a voice activated quirk, and a male with a quirk canceling quirk.” Nezu continued with a sigh as he looked at his paws and said the words the two were simultaneously dreading and waiting to hear.
“We believe that your son may still be alive.”