Work Text:
27 Years Ago
Hokkaido
Hisashi drew in a deep breath. He let the air fill his lungs, his chest expanding. His ribs twinged in discomfort at the strain. He held it for a moment before blowing the breath back out through his mouth. There was a stirring in the back of his throat. His quirk often felt like a living thing. It ebbed and flowed with the rhythm of his breathing. The fire inside grew as he inhaled and faded as his breath left him and his quirk went unused.
When he was younger and his quirk was just coming in, his fire could occasionally flare out of control, bursting out of his nose or his mouth in spurts of smoke and flame. It was his mother, a former national jujutsu champion who owned her own local dojo, who taught him the art of meditation to help him improve his control. Ever since, it had been a staple in his life. Each morning Hisashi woke up, his first moments were spent controlling his breathing and focusing on his internal flame.
This morning in particular, his fire threatened to rage out of control. After a year and a half of training and probation, he had finally been made a full officer in the police force. Only to find that it was nothing like he had imagined.
His late father, a man who had always prided himself on his hard work and discipline, had always made police work seem noble. A police officer was supposed to be a shield of the common man. Where superheroes were larger than life even in their superhuman society, police officers did the dirty work. The investigations and the paperwork, the evacuations and the every day grind that kept people safe and kept the world spinning. They didn’t get the celebrity or the fame or the pay of heroes, but they were every bit as important.
Or at least, that’s what he had been told.
The reality, as he had come to discover, was nothing close. Most of the officers were petty thugs who moonlighted as ‘security’ for the very yakuza groups they were tasked with investigating. The detectives ignored any crimes that could be blamed on villains so they could pass off work to the hero agencies. The captains, when they weren’t active accomplices in the crimes of their subordinates, just looked the other way. Twice he had had case files taken from his desk and been told in no uncertain terms to drop the investigation. When he had brought his concerns that one of his fellow officers was accepting bribes from a local businessman to ignore domestic violence allegations, his supervisor had just laughed and told him he was imagining things.
Yesterday things had finally boiled over. He had been in the middle of his patrol when he heard a muffled yell followed by heated whispers and thumps.
His boots pounded against the ground. His heart pounded. Hisashi skidded around the corner. Deeper in the alley, a group of seven men were crowded around something. They were dressed in heavy flannels and bulky clothes, disguising their builds. Each had hats pulled low over their heads. Strangely, despite their disheveled looks, their boots gleamed brightly in the morning light.
Hisashi narrowed his eyes and drew his weapon from his side.
“Police!” he barked. “Hands in the air!”
The men stilled and slowly began to turn towards him. As they spread out, he was able to glimpse past their legs to what they had surrounded. A man laid out on the pavement, blood steadily dripping down his face. He was clad in bright yellow and teal, the remnants of a teal cape had been torn off his back and wrapped around his throat. The man’s eyes were hazy and unfocused as he looked back towards the entrance of the alley. Something dark settled in Hisashi’s stomach.
“Hey, hey,” one of the men closest to Hisashi said. He raised his hands and smirked at him. “Easy friend. There’s a good explanation for this.”
“On the ground!” Hisashi’s gun was trained on his chest. “All of you, now!”
“You don’t want to do this, kid.” The man’s smirk dropped into a scowl. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Don’t I?” Hisashi’s finger slid down to the trigger. From the way the man’s eyes narrowed, it was clear the movement and implication wasn’t lost on him. Hisashi took his off-hand off his weapon and leaned over to the radio on his shoulder. “Dispatch-”
With a roar the men began to charge at him. Hisashi felt the fire inside of him erupt in response. Heat surged through him and Hisashi exhaled heavily. Superheated steam escaped his mouth. Hisashi succumbed to the flames and let his fire take control.
The barrel of his gun dropped. He shot the lead man in the leg, the bullet tearing through his knee. He screamed as he fell. His next shot dropped another as it pierced him in the stomach. By that point the others had reached him. He ducked underneath the opening swing of the next thug. He elbowed him across the jaw before grabbing him by the back of the head and slamming into the alley wall. He kicked the one he had shot in the leg in the temple, cutting off his yowls of pain.
He brandished his weapon at the remaining thugs. “Anybody else?”
“You just made a big mistake, pal,” one of them said. Two were holding up the one Hisashi had shot in the stomach as they all slowly backed away. “You’re gonna regret that.”
He waited until they disappeared around the corner before he stowed his weapon. He focused on his breathing and forced the fire inside of him to lessen. Gradually, the inferno turned to embers. He turned to the injured pro.
“Hey. You alright?” When the hero didn’t respond, Hisashi braced his arm over his shoulders and helped haul him to his feet. “Come on, fella. Up we get.” He took a step forward and brushed something with his foot. When he looked down, he noticed a bullet proof vest peeking out from underneath a shirt of one of the thugs. Stamped across the front in bold letters was ‘POLICE’. Hisashi blinked. “Well, shit.”
This morning Hisashi had woken up to an e-mail politely informing him that he was being let go. It cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ and him ‘making other officers uncomfortable’. He snorted derisively. If ‘irreconcilable differences’ meant Hisashi had actual morals and principles and wasn’t a corrupt piece of shit, then sure. He would rather be a good man without a job than be just another dirty cop on the villains’ payroll.
That said… he sighed. He did still need some sort of job. A high school graduate without a college degree who was fired from the police force wouldn’t look good though. Maybe he could work in private security?
Knock knock knock.
Hisashi cracked an eye open. Someone was at his door? He sighed. He really hoped this wasn’t someone from the force coming to try and intimidate him into keeping his mouth shut. He stretched forward, stretching out the muscles that had tightened up over the course of his morning meditation.
Knock knock knock.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he grumbled to himself. He rose quickly and padded through his tiny apartment to the door. He threw open the door. Rather than the uniformed officer he was expecting, or the thugs in masks he was dreading, a woman in a suit and dark sunglasses stood there, her fist raised impatiently to knock again. Her ash blonde hair was pinned back, her prominent brows furrowed.
Hisashi raised an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”
“Akatani Hisashi?” she asked disinterestedly.
“Yeah?”
“I’m here on behalf of the Hero Public Safety Commission,” she said. “My superiors would like to make you an offer.”
25 Years Ago
Kanto Regional Airport
Hisashi slid around a corner, his boots skidding on the cheap tile floors. He nearly crashed into a family of vacationers before he was able to correct himself and keep running. “Sorry!” he tossed over his shoulder. “My bad!”
“Dragon,” his handler’s voice came over his earpiece as he sprinted down the hallway. “Respond. Where are you? Where is the target?”
“I’m in pursuit!” he told her. “He’s heading for the tarmac. I’m going to try and cut him off before he gets there.”:
“You had better,” she said bitingly. “If he gets to the plane and succeeds in his plan of releasing a biological agent over the city, it could infect millions.”
“Just another Tuesday then, yeah?” He vaulted over a luggage cart and continued to sprint through the airport.
“Your primary objective is to prevent the release of the biotoxin. Taking the doctor in alive is only secondary, understood?”
Hisashi sombered. “Understood, ma’am.”
“Good hunting, Dragon.”
He could practically feel the pressure mounting with every step. Every second he took was a second that people could get hurt, where chaos and destruction could rain down upon Japan. He was the only one who could stop it. His partner for the assignment was on the opposite side of the building where the ambush should have taken place if something hadn’t tipped the mark off. Backup, a helicopter full of a heavily armored strike squad, was en route but wouldn’t make it in time. Hisashi was the last line of defense, the only thing standing between Japan and a deadly terror attack.
He had never felt quite so alive.
Do I need therapy? He thought to himself as that realization hit. Should he really be excited by the prospect of being right in the middle of ground zero for a biological attack? He shrugged those questions off to ponder later or never. He still had a job to do.
Hisashi caught sight of the target, a small mousy looking man with too big glasses, just as he entered the forum that led out to the tarmac. The man, a disgruntled scientist who had been fired from a major pharmaceutical company for harassment, was flanked by two hulking body guards. The trio were on the far side of the forum from Hisashi, the exit between the two of them.
Hisashi’s eyes darted down to the doctor’s side where he held a gleaming silver case. That was the real target of his mission. A biotoxin the doctor’s former company had cooked up that could shut down a human’s nervous system in just seconds. Aerosolized, it had the capability of killing millions.
He slowed, coming down from a sprint to serene walk in moments. He flipped up the collar of his jacket and kept his face angled down and away from his targets so he could keep them in his peripheral vision. His right hand slipped to the gun holstered at his waist, his left to the knife he kept strapped across his ribs.
“Target spotted,” he murmured into his communicator. “Cypher, pull the fire alarm on my mark. I don’t want any civilians getting hurt in the crossfire.”
“Damn rookie giving me orders,” his partner muttered as expected. Still, just moments later he said, “Alright, on your mark.”
“Three.” He took a few steps closer to the trio. “Two.” He angled himself to slip past a family, putting himself firmly between them and the target. “One.”
Right on cue, red lights flashed and sirens began to blare. Confused glances turned into shrieks of alarm as the crowds began to make for the exits. Hisashi stepped in front of the target and spun, drawing his weapon and aiming it at the scientist.
“Federal Agent! Freeze!”
The crowd surged around their group like a stream around a boulder. The scientist’s eyes were wide behind his coke-bottle glasses before they narrowed with rage. He clutched the case to his chest and screamed. “Kill him!”
Bang! Bang!
Two quick shots dropped both of the security guards. Hisashi ruthlessly quashed the pang of guilt that spiked in response.
“Put the case down, doctor,” he said. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
“You don’t understand! I-” Bang!
Hisashi’s bullet took the doctor in the shoulder. He cried out and as he recoiled from the pain, he dropped the case. It clattered to the floor. Hisashi charged forward and tackled the scientist to the ground before rolling over to check on the case. He gingerly unlatched it. When he opened it and saw the undamaged canister, he sighed in relief.
“Package secure,” he said. “The doctor as well. Bringing both in for containment.”
“Good work, Dragon,” his handler said brusquely. “We’ll see you soon.”
23 Years Ago
Musutafu General Hospital
Hisashi woke up with a startled gasp. It transitioned into a low pained groan as his injuries shrieked in protest. He settled back into the bed he was in and took stock of himself. His ribs ached, probably fractured but not bad enough to be truly broken. His muscles were sore and his head was ringing. His stomach, however, was a mess of agony. He gently reached out to touch the large looping wound. He had been on an op when things turned sideways. A simple sting to catch some smugglers who were using fishing boats to move black market arms had turned into an all-out firefight. Somehow in the struggle, one of the smugglers had shot a harpoon gun at him. The pain had been bad but it was nothing compared to the agony of having the harpoon ripped back out.
He groaned again. God damn it, Ayase. This is the third time she’s sent us into an op with bad intel. I’m going to kill her when I get out of here. He used his tongue to feel around the inside of his mouth and smiled when he felt the memory card still hidden between his teeth. At least I got out of there with the intel. Now to rain hell down on the analysts.
Gingerly, Hisashi began to sit up. His hospital room was nothing fancy, though it did have the benefit of being a private room. He unclipped the fluids from the iv connected to his hand but left the needle in place. It would make for a passable weapon if he needed it later and it was small enough to be overlooked. He slid off the various electrodes and monitors he had been attached to and padded his way to the window. He tried to force it open but it refused to budge. After only a moment, he gave up, panting at the effort and the pain his attempt had taken.
He looked around the room again before he grinned in victory. Someone, a lazy tech or a forgetful med student, had left behind a small crash kart in the corner. He wandered over to it and searched for a bit before he found a scalpel. He made his way back to the window and had just started jimmying the blade under the lock in the window before a voice spoke from behind him.
“Uh, sir? Those windows don’t open.”
Hisashi flinched. His heart rate spiked before settling, making his ribs throb more. He turned around. A nurse stood watching him from the entry way, a vaguely bemused expression on her face. She had bright, vibrant green hair that was tied back in a knot on the top of her head. Her eyes, a luminous green that matched her hair, held a mix of amusement and disbelief. She was beautiful in the way a cloudless sky was. A simple, graceful beauty that managed to bring comfort and awe no matter how many times it was seen.
It took him a moment to process that she had spoken and then to go over what she had said. After his brain finished catching up however, he gave her his best smile, the one he used to charm targets and superiors into doing anything he said.
“Ah, perfect. I’m not really supposed to be here, miss…” he looked down the front of her scrubs but didn’t see a name tag anywhere. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Midoriya,” she said, squinting at him.
“Midoriya-san,” he mused. Without meaning to, his practiced grin slipped into something more real. “I really do need to be getting out of here. I’ve spent far too long in your wonderful care as it is. I need to be back to work.” And back to making Ayase’s life miserable, he added mentally.
“You lost over a liter of blood,” she told him deadpan. “We had to restart your heart twice.” So that was why his ribs hurt. “What you need to do is get some rest.”
“Ah, but it’s still beating now, so I really should go.” He tried to edge back towards the window but the nurse shot him a glare so hot it stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Sit down, Akatani-san or I will be forced to call security.”
Hisashi let the smile drop from his face. Reluctantly, he sat back on the hospital bed. “Are you always so forceful with your patients, Midoriya-san?”
“Only the ones that need it.” She plugged the IV back in and bustled about his bedside reattaching sensors and hooking monitors back up. Stupid beautiful nurses, he cursed internally. He withheld a sigh. If charm wouldn’t work maybe he just had to try a different tact. “So, why were you trying to escape out the window?”
“I told you, I need to get back to work,” he said seriously.
She arched an imperious eyebrow at him. He felt a little like a kid who boldly lied about taking the last cookie with crumbs around his lips. “And your work is so important that you will endanger your own health?” she asked.
“It is. It’s a matter of life and death.”
Something passed behind her eyes as she took that in. For a moment, he thought it had worked. But then she stood up and brushed the front of her scrubs.
“Well, Mr. Mysterious, I’ll tell you what. I’ll let the doctor know that you’re up and wanting to leave and he can check you over before you go.”
Hisashi felt a brief pang of disappointment. Whether it was from failing to convince her or her leaving, he wasn’t sure.
“If you really think it’s best I’m sure I can stay for a little while,” he joked. “It wouldn’t do to ignore my beautiful nurse’s orders, would it?”
She turned back to him, that same bemused smile on her face. “You should be careful of doing everything a pretty woman tells you to, Akatani-san. It might get you in trouble one day.”
“What’s life without a little trouble, Midoriya-san?”
She slipped out the door after that. Hisashi settled back into his hospital bed, a warm glow in his chest. He liked that nurse. She was beautiful and witty and clearly took no shit from anyone. He wondered for a moment if it would be so bad to just take a few days of recovery so he could see her again. Surely the Commission would excuse him; he got shot with a harpoon for them! He could stay here and banter with Midoriya-san and…
Oh.
Oh.
Oh he was fucked already, wasn’t he?
22 Years Ago
Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
Hisashi strode through the HPSC building, his head full of green haired girls and his heart full of hope. In the months since their first meeting in the hospital, Hisashi had had a few opportunities to see Midoriya again. It was hard given that he was often on missions, but he had maybe done a bit of semi-legal snooping through federal databases and security camera networks to find where she liked to frequent coffee and had made it a point to pop by every once in a while to see if she was there. And no, he told the guilty voice in his head, he was not stalking her he was doing a background check. For all he knew she was a spy! A beautiful femme fatale who would inevitably clash with him in an epic battle that ended up with a frantic kiss between them on a rooftop in the rain.
What was he thinking about again?
Thankfully the elevator dinged to let him know it had arrived, derailing his train of thought. He stepped aboard and scanned his ID card at the sensor before pressing the button for floor Nineteen.
“Authorization Needed.” A mechanical voice chimed.
“Akatani Hisashi. Alpha Lambda Echo Theta Psi,” Hisashi recited.
It was a moment before the voice came back. “Authorization Confirmed.”
His good mood buoyed him until about halfway through the briefing he had been summoned to, where it popped like an overinflated balloon.
“No.”
Gathered around a conference table were various high-ranking members of the HPSC. His handler, who had recently been promoted to the head of ‘talent acquisition’ as they called it, pursed her lips.
“This is a tremendous opportunity,” she reminded him. “You would be able to handpick the other members of the Keystone Initiative. You would have complete control over training and absolute discretion in the field. You would answer directly to the board and the president.”
“The salary increase is substantial,” one of the other suits added. Hisashi vaguely recognized him. His name was Jinma, a low ranking official who was mostly here because his father was a high ranking admiral in the navy.
Hisashi snorted. “That sounds great.” He tossed the folder back onto the table between them. “But this is a non-starter.”
“She is an asset-”
“She is a child!” Hisashi roared. “You’re asking me to put a goddamn middle schooler on the front lines!”
“Don’t be absurd,” his handler said smoothly. “Her training will last at least three years. She’d be a high-schooler by the time she sees field missions.”
Hisashi growled, a trickle of smoke leaking from the corners of his mouth. “You know what grade she’s in isn’t the fucking issue.”
“Both the girl and her parents signed the agreements-” Jinma started to say.
“Oh, fuck you.” Hishashi scoffed. “That child doesn’t know what she’s signing up for.”
“I fail to see how this is any different than a high school hero program,” a different official said. “She would be the same age as them.”
“Yeah? Those kids aren’t asked to drop bodies,” Hisashi said darkly. “You’re asking me to damn this girl to hell.”
“Allow me to be clear, Dragon.” His former handler smiled, her blood red lips twisting into something sinister. “Lady Nagant will be a field operative for the Commission. Whether it is under your command or another’s, that child you’re so desperate to protect will become this country’s single greatest asset to our national defense.” She spread her hands wide. “When looked at in that light, wouldn’t it be better for you to be the one in charge of her? So you can protect her from being damned?”
***
Hisashi slammed back the sake. The memory of the devilish smirk burned more than the alcohol. The idea of using a child soldier galled him. He had stared into the darkness that lurked in the heart of humanity over the course of his career, and to expose a teenager to that? The thought of it made him want to turn his quirk on his handler and leave the commission in ashes. But she had made a good point. If Hisashi didn’t accept, they would just replace him with someone who would. Maybe if he stayed, he could at least try and protect her from the worst of things.
He signalled to the bartender for another, and his drink was quickly delivered and finished. He had stumbled into the bar to blow off steam after his disastrous meeting, and at some point while he was lost in his thoughts the crowd had swelled. He sighed and let his head thunk against the bartop. He should probably just head home and get some sleep. Or try his pop’s old recipe and see if that got him drunk enough to forget what he had agreed to do.
That was when a commotion on the other end of the bar caught his attention. Some douchebag in a too-tight collared shirt was pressing into the personal space of another patron. His eyes were slightly glazed, and even from here Hisashi could tell the man was one or two drinks from passing out where he stood. Hisashi snorted. He threw down some cash on the bar top and stood to leave. He was just going to ignore the man until his eyes caught on the green hair of the girl he was speaking to.
Midoriya. His heart skipped a beat. As if summoned by his thoughts of her this morning, Inko Midoriya stood in the bar looking increasingly annoyed by the man trying to chat her up. Hisashi’s eyes raked over her figure. She was dressed to kill in a navy-blue dress that clung to her form. Strappy silver heels matched the bracelets that jangled around her wrist. Her eyeshadow was dark, the wings of her eyeliner pointed like blades. His earlier fantasies of her being a dangerous femme fatale came roaring back. Hisashi couldn’t stop his feet from taking him closer to her. He was drawn into her orbit like she was the sun.
“You know, you should really be flattered,” the douche said. “I’m the youngest vice president of finances in my company’s history.” Midoriya rolled her eyes but the action went unnoticed as the man continued to leer at her chest. “My father’s on the board. I bet I could get you a job as a secretary if you wanted one.”
“No thanks.” Her tone was ice cold. “I have a job already.”
“C’mon sugar.” Hisashi almost wanted to laugh at the whining sound of the man’s voice. “Just drop the act already. I know you want me.”
“I really don’t.”
“But-” “She said no, pal.” Hisashi had had enough. He laid a hand on the guy’s shoulder. He smiled wolfishly, tendrils of smoke leaking from his mouth. “I suggest you back away now.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked with false bravado. “And you’re gonna make me?”
Hisashi was seconds away from spewing fire when Midoriya stepped forward. The guy next to Hisashi yelped and clapped a hand to his eye. A soft green glow eked out from between his fingers. Hisashi looked back and forth between him and Midoriya whose fingertips glowed the same green.
“No, I’m going to.” Hisashi shuddered at the controlled rage on Midoriya’s face. God, she’s beautiful. “Now, you’re going to leave this bar and never come back. If you do, I’m going to rip this out of your thick skull and feed it to you. Got it?”
“Y-yes!”
“Good. Now go.” She released her quirk and the guy scrambled away, hand clamped over his eye socket. She huffed and turned back to the bar.
“Wow.” Hisashi blinked. Midoriya glared at him with a raised eyebrow.
“You want to be next?”
“Peace, peace.” He raised his hands in surrender. “It’s not a bad thing. I love a woman that could kick my ass.” She snorted and Hisashi felt himself fall a little bit harder for her. Oh, I’m so doomed. He leaned up on the bar next to her with a carefree grin.
“So, where’d you learn how to do that?”
“Where’d you get that scar?” She countered, eyes glittering. He leaned in conspiratorially.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
22 Years Ago
Musutafu
“I work for the HPSC.”
Hisashi didn’t mean for it to slip out like that. Ever since they started seeing each other regularly since that night at the bar, guilt had been eating away at him. He hated having to lie to Inko. Especially after she had told him about her family’s past. So as they lay in bed one night and the guilt once again began to mount, Hisashi decided to just let it go.
Inko rolled over to face him but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her just yet. He didn’t want to see the disgust in her eyes if this went poorly. She traced a hand over his chest, a silent acknowledgement that she was listening. He shivered under her touch and desperately tried to order his thoughts for this unintentional reveal.
“When I was a kid, I never wanted to be a hero. My old man, he was a cop. And I always thought he was the coolest. ‘Cause unlike the heroes with all their fancy gear and powerful quirks, my dad still faced the bad guys too. My dad didn’t have any powers at all but he was still tougher than any hero I ever saw growing up. So when I graduated high school I signed right up for the academy.”
“How long did you stay?”
“Two years,” he muttered. “I had just become a full officer at that point. I was walking down the street one day, and I see these guys beating up a hero in a back alley. So I jumped in. I managed to beat two of them and sent the rest running off. I brought the hero to the hospital and filed a report with my lieutenant.” He laughed bitterly at the memory. “Do you know what he told me?”
“What?”
“He told me to forget what I had seen. To burn my reports and look the other way. Turns out the hero had just taken down a corrupt cop the next precinct over and those thugs that I brought in? They were off duty officers.”
“You didn’t do it.”
Hisashi melted a little at the certainty in her voice. “Of course I didn’t. I kicked it up the chain like a good little officer. The next morning, I was told to clear out my desk. It was only after the entire precinct had been arrested that the HPSC showed up at my door. I thought they were going to arrest me too but instead they offered me a job.”
“What is it you actually do for them?” Hisashi’s breath hitched. This was the moment of truth. Either she would reject him here or… she pressed a kiss into his side and the tension in his chest eased somewhat. “Remember who I grew up with,” she mumbled between kisses. “I’ll never judge you for anything, Hisashi.”
“Officially, I’m an investigator in the Counter-Terrorism Unit.”
“And unofficially?” she asked knowingly.
“Unofficially…” He huffed. “Unofficially, we take out potential threats to national security. Terrorists, villains, yakuza members, corrupt heroes. Anyone that could be a threat.”
He braced himself for rejection. For the condemnations that haunted him in his weakest moments. Killer. Murderer. Monster.
Inko hummed consideringly. She hauled herself up his chest and forced him to look into her eyes. Instead of derision or disgust, all he saw was devotion. Hisashi was left breathless by the love in her eyes. Inko leaned in gently and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. She pulled away and he chased reflexively. She huffed a laugh and held his chest down before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“I love you, Hisashi.” She stared into his eyes. “I love you and I know you. If you’re doing this, then you must think it’s right. I trust your judgment. If you think it’s the right thing to do then it probably is.”
Hisashi almost wanted to laugh. She made it sound so simple. I don’t deserve her. The realization hit him with crystal clear clarity. He looked away from her. “I’m a killer, Inko.”
“I’ve met killers before, Hisashi.” Her hand on his chin forced him to meet her gaze once more. “I’ve met men who revel in seeing the life leave people’s eyes. I once watched my father rip a man apart piece by piece with his quirk. You are no killer.” Hisashi had no idea who started it, but he blinked and their lips were locked in a heated kiss. He poured his guilt into the kiss and Inko’s love and acceptance flowed back into him. She mumbled against his lips. “What you do is not who you are, Hisashi.”
20 Years Ago
HPSC Training Facility
Shibuya Ward, Tokyo
The day Hisashi dreaded had come. The girl from his nightmares stood in front of him, hands clasped behind her in a textbook example of parade rest. She was tall for her age, but her youth showed in the lingering round edges of her face. His heart ached as he watched her. She’s too young. She doesn’t deserve this.
Hisashi let none of his thoughts appear on his face. He kept his expression impassive. The girl probably thought this was an evaluation of her, but Hisashi knew the truth. This test was for him. See what we’ve turned her into? The HPSC taunted him. If you don’t save what remains of her soul, someone else will ruin her even worse. Jinma smirked at him as if to confirm his thoughts. His throat burned, his quirk wanting to erase that smirk with flames, but he held back.
“How is she looking?” he asked the room. He couldn’t help the slight rasp that sounded in his voice. He hated this. He hated the games, the politics, the fact that the HPSC had sunk so low and was dragging him down to hell with them.
“She’s ready,” one of the trainers said. Hisashi ignored the man. Tsutsumi shivered at the sound of his voice. Hisashi almost smiled. That was the first remotely human thing he had seen out of the Commission’s perfect soldier.
“Are you?” He asked her. “Are you ready for this, Tsutsumi?”
Please say no, he begged internally. Please.
“Yes sir.”
His heart sunk. “Are you sure?” He stepped forward into her personal space. Please. Run far away from here. Save yourself, Tsutsumi. “Are you the weapon they made you to be?”
“Akatani…” Jinma growled.
“Jinma, when I want a lapdog’s opinion, I’ll bark.” Hisashi barely restrained himself from cursing him out. He refocused on the girl in front of him. He couldn’t help it. He had to try again. “Are you sure?” he asked gently. “Think long and hard about this, Nagant.” Think about what you might lose. “This isn’t a decision you can take back.”
“I’m ready, sir,” she said defiantly. “I can handle this.”
Hisashi sighed. Damn it. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to mourn the girl that she had been. Poor girl. “Fine then,” he said. “Let’s hope you’re right. Welcome to the Keystone Initiative, Lady Nagant.”
19 Years Ago
Musutafu
Hisashi sighed, rolling his shoulders as he took care of the dishes after dinner. The op in South Korea had almost been a disaster. Of all the reasons he was concerned over having a teenager in the field, Kaina acting like a teenager hadn’t been one of them but maybe it should have been. They had had to stay for a few days to allow the heat to come off before they could leave the country. Granted, a luxurious five star resort wasn’t the worst place he had been forced to stay, but considering Hisashi had had to skip out on yet another dinner he had promised Inko he would be there for, he was a little annoyed with his young teammate.
It was also a solemn reminder of all the things he hated about the entire situation. He hated having to keep secrets from a woman he wanted nothing more than to marry. He hated having to bring a child into the field. He hated that if he wasn’t the one to do it, someone else with less regard for her safety and wellbeing would. He was beginning to wonder if he hated the Commission entirely.
“I don’t know, Mitsuki.” Hisashi’s ears perked up as he heard Inko’s voice. “It’s not like I could take his last name even if we did get married.”
That sent a pang of anguish through Hisashi’s heart. His guilt turned almost crushing. He couldn’t marry the woman he loved because he might put her in danger, and they both knew it. He knew Inko would say it was okay. That he was what she needed not some piece of paper to make it official. But he wanted to give her every part of himself. He wanted to be able to give her his last name and proudly yell to the entire world that she was his wife. Maybe I could take her last name? He thought to himself. Midoriya Hisashi has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Inko’s laughter derailed Hisashi’s train of thought. He patted his hands dry on his pants and padded over to his love. “His job is very important to him.” Hisashi was able to make out the warble of Mitsuki’s voice over the phone but not the words. Inko shook her head. “Goodbye, Mitsuki.”
Hisashi wrapped his arms around Inko’s waist and pulled her into him. “Darling,” he rumbled, “what did Mitsuki want now?”
“She was trying to convince me that you have a secret wife tucked away in another city.” Thankfully Inko sounded amused at the accusation.
“Well that’s just ridiculous.” He trailed kisses up the column of her throat, gently nipping against the spots that he knew drove her crazy. “Clearly I’m a one woman man. Or do I need to prove my devotion to you again, my love?” He reached the base of her jaw and began to kiss his way down the back of her neck and the start of her spine.
“I would never say no to a repeat demonstration, darling.”
“As you wish, Inko.” His hands tightened on her hips and - Ring! Ring! Ring! He growled softly in annoyance. He pressed his forehead against Inko’s back. “If that’s Mitsuki I’m dumping out all the wine before she comes over next time.”
Inko laughed. “Down boy. I’m sure she’s just…” She trailed off.
“Inko?” Hisashi began to grow concerned.
“It’s my mother.” Hisashi’s concern spiked. He let go of Inko to let her focus. In the years that they had known each other, Inko had spoken little of her family and spoke to them even less often. For them to call her out of the blue could mean little good. “Hello?”
Hisashi watched Inko’s shoulders tighten as her mother spoke. The tension was obvious in her frame. He caught the desperate look she threw over her shoulder at him.
“Do you want me to take care of it?” he asked.
Relief flashed in her eyes. Hisashi started to gather his keys and essentials. He mentally began calculating the time it would take for them to get there and what gear he might need to bring.
“Mom, Hisashi and I will be right there. Just stay safe for now, okay?”
18 Years Ago
HPSC Headquarters
Central Tokyo
Hisashi had never quite been comfortable at headquarters. It felt oppressive with its redundant internal security protocols interlaced within the already impressive security of the general HPSC tower. There were good reasons, of course, reasons he had been told time and time again. That the work they did in Department 19 was vital to national security and so warranted the utmost secrecy and protection. That they naturally made enemies over the course of their missions and they would stop at nothing to stop them. Hisashi understood, he really did. But there was a nagging voice in his head that sounded like his late father. A man who spends all their time keepin’ secrets, it whispered, probably keeps some from you too, Firebug.
That distrustful feeling only got worse as he saw the predatory grin on the face of his former handler. He eyed her warily as he approached.
“Good morning, Dragon,” she greeted him.
“Morning,” he replied cautiously. She was way too damn cheery. “What was so important that I needed to come in this morning?”
“I’d like to introduce you to someone.” She strode down the hallway, Hisashi following in her wake. She led him through a series of guarded doors before entering a small, out-of-the-way room that Hisashi had always assumed was a closet.
Inside, the cramped walls had been covered in white boards that had tiny, frantic writing scrawled across them in black marker. A short desk, sized as if for a child, was tucked in the far corner with an idling computer on top of it. In the opposite corner was a cage.
Hisashi’s heart stuttered. What the fuck?
“Welcome,” his handler said with an eerie pride, “to the new Project Ramses.” Hisashi crept forward until he could see into the cage. It was small, no bigger than a dog’s crate, made of steel and locked with a digital keypad on the top. A pile of thin blankets were laid across the floor. In the center of the pile, a furry white shape was moving. “Meet Experiment G-836.”
The furry shape rose onto four legs. It was a… dog? Mouse? Bear? It was some sort of animal with matted white fur, round ears, and beady black eyes. A prominent scar traced over its right eye revealing pink skin underneath. Its pointed snout ended in a small black nose. Sharp fangs peeked out from underneath its lips. It crawled up to the bars of its cage and wrapped its forepaws around the bars. Gazing up at Hisashi, its eyes were calculating. But beyond the glimmer of suspicion there was something lurking deep in the black that unnerved him. He turned back to his handler.
“Explain.”
“G-836, among other experiments, was liberated from the previous Project Ramses when you and your team raided them. Most of their research was useless. But this one showed promise. As such, we decided to adapt their work to our own ends in the new Project Ramses.” She walked up to one of the walls and rapped her knuckles against a section of writing. “They managed to introduce a quirk factor into the animal’s genetics. It enhanced its intelligence far beyond the average human. Right now it’s being put to use creating action plans for our operatives in the field. We want you to evaluate its plans for application in the field.”
Hisashi crouched next to the cage. “Can he speak?”
“He knows not to by now,” his handler chuckled darkly. Hisashi felt a frisson of rage that he stuffed down. What the hell did that mean? The creature cocked his head, watching him.
“Does he have a name?”
“I just told you.” His handler sounded perplexed. “His designation is experiment G-836.”
Hisashi resolutely did not scowl. He kept his expression perfectly blank. This is wrong. He felt the certainty of it in his gut. The creature’s head cocked to the other side, his eyes still intently studying him.
“Management would like to see G-836’s plans go into operation within the month,” his handler continued. “Take a look through the computer and go over some of the plans it has come up with. Give me a report by the end of the week.” She made to move towards the door but stopped before exiting. “Oh, and don’t let it out of its cage. It can be quite… rabid, when around humans.”
Hisashi stared at the door for a moment after she left before sighing. He had officially reached the limit of how much he could process right now. He needed to think about this somewhere that wasn’t a highly regulated secure facility. He turned back to the animal in the cage.
“I’m not calling you that,” he told him. “But you need a name.” He tried to rack his brain. “Shiro? No. Maybe the opposite? We could call you Kuro?” The animal continued to watch him, unblinking. “Not Kuro then. Hmmmm…” He cocked his head. “You’re sort of like a mouse, right? Nezumi… how about Nezu?” Beady black eyes continued to bore into his own. Hisashi sighed. “Well, we’ll figure something out. For now, I guess I should look over what you’ve done so far, huh?”
After about an hour Hisashi left Project Ramses confident of two things. One, that the mouse-bear creature was far smarter than anyone he had ever met. And two, that there was absolutely no way the HPSC would be able to keep him trapped for long.
A week later he was proven right when Nezu broke out of HPSC custody and disappeared.
17 Years Ago
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Hisashi stood in front of the door, swaying slightly. Truth be told he didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be home with Inko. He wanted to lick his wounds in private and hold the love of his life close. But unlike him, Kaina had no one. And he couldn’t let her wallow in private. Not after everything they had been through together.
He knocked on the door. “Kaina?” he called softly. There were a few beats where Hisashi thought he would be able to escape. He wouldn’t have to be the responsible adult looking out for his subordinate. Then came the answer.
“Verify.”
Hisashi swallowed down the sigh that wanted to escape him. Alright, Hisashi, time to be the captain she needs from you. “Alpha Lambda Echo Theta Psi.”
A few beats passed. The door swung open. Kaina looked about as bad as he had expected. Her eyes were bloodshot, dark bags standing in stark relief from the pale skin. Her hair had been brushed and cleaned, a ritual he knew she did after every mission, but her clothes were stained. Her fingers looked as if they had been rubbed raw.
“Are you going to let me in or what?” he asked. She stood aside silently and he limped inside, cognizant of his broken ankle. He took a moment to look around the apartment before he turned and offered her the bottle he had been carrying. “Drink this.”
Kaina took it unconsciously, too used to following orders to question it. She took a sip and her face went green. She spat it up, wretching and coughing.
“What the fuck?!”
Hisashi cackled. “Still can’t handle your liquor, huh kid?”
“Licquor? I thought that was gasoline,” she said, wiping her mouth. “What the hell was in that?”
“My old man’s personal blend.” He smiled proudly..” Sake, Vodka, and good old American Moonshine.”
Hisashi took a few sips himself as he watched Kaina stumble to her kitchen and get a glass of water. She came back and sat in the chair nearest the windows. What little levity had been in the air dried up quickly. Hisashi sat on the couch facing her. He struggled to find the words to comfort her. He swirled the bottle in his hands trying to come up with something. What would Inko say in this situation? He thought. If I were Kaina, what would I need to hear?
“You’re wondering if we did the right thing, right? You’re wondering if it was all worth it?”
Silence. Welp, looks like I guessed wrong. Just as he was about to apologize, Kaina whispered. “How did you know?”
Oh good, I haven’t messed up yet. He collapsed backwards into the cushions of the couch. “Because I constantly ask myself the same thing,” he admitted. “Was there something I could have done better? If I had been a better leader, could I have saved them? Will their deaths even matter in the long run?”
It was something he had had to face often as the field commander for the Keystone Initiative. He was plagued by doubts. Even when an op went well, Hisashi would often find himself thinking about it days or weeks later, wondering if he could have done better, if he could have kept more people safe. The answers always eluded him.
“Did you ever find an answer?”
Hisashi closed his eyes and blew out a breath. Lying would do no good here. “No.”
“How do you keep going then?” Kaina asked. Her voice dropped into something vulnerable, a feeling he had been certain the HPSC had beaten out of her. “How do I keep going?”
Hisashi was painfully reminded once again of just how young Kaina was. To hear the despair and hopelessness in her voice… it made him angry. The Commission had done this to her. Had done it to all of them. He needed to do undo some of the damage. If only to try and absolve himself of some of the sins levied against his soul for his complicity in Kaina’s destruction.
“The only thing we can do is our best,” he said eventually. “You make the best call you can and hope it all works out in the end.” He ignored the part of himself that pointed out that doing just that had led him here.
“And if all your options feel terrible?”
He shrugged. “You pick the one that lets you sleep best at night.”
Hisashi let her think about that for a while. He sipped from his bottle and waited for her.
“So what do we do now?” she asked eventually.
“We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” he said. “Tonight, we drink!” He raised his bottle in a toast.
“I’m not drinking that swill.”
“Come on! It’s not that bad! It doesn’t even burn!”
“How do you know?! You breathe fire!”
17 Years Ago
Midoriya Apartment
Musutafu
“You just got here and you’re already leaving?”
Hisashi stuffed clothes in his go bag, cursing the Commission mentally. He was being sent on a new mission less than a day after getting back from his last one. A resurgent terrorist group that apparently needed his specific skills. He was almost tempted to ignore orders and just take off with Inko. But he had seen some of the plans of this group. They had influence and a fanatic ideology, a combination that was extremely dangerous.
“I’m sorry, my love,” he said. “This assignment is life-”
“Or death, yes, I’ve heard that one before, Hisashi.” Inko rolled her eyes. Hisashi zipped up his bag and turned back to her. “They can’t keep pushing you like this. You need some time to rest.”
Hisashi stepped forward and gently cupped her cheeks in his palms. He caressed her soft skin, drinking in her features like he could burn her visage into his mind. His thumbs stroked over her cheekbones.
“I think this is going to be the last one,” he decided in the moment. “They can get on without me at this point and I’ve been thinking about getting out for a while.” That much was true. He had been fantasizing about leaving the Commission for years, but as he held his entire world in his hands, he realized it was finally time.
“Are you serious?” Inko’s expression was torn between delight and confusion. “What changed?”
He sighed. He thought about his former handler who had been the one to decide that the Keystone Initiative should rest solely on the shoulders of Kaina. “There’s this new high-riser in upper management. She’s driven and ambitious, but she also doesn’t seem to care much about the means so long as she’s getting results. We’ve already been butting heads on the last few assignments and I think it’s only gonna get worse before it gets better.”
“You’re sure about this, Hisashi? Really?”
“Really.” He kissed her and she melted a little in his arms. She pouted when he pulled away. Hisashi ran his thumb over her lips and smiled. “You are more important to me than anything in the world, Inko. After this trip to Deika City, let’s get out of here.” Hisashi felt excited by the prospect. “We’ll move somewhere closer to the coast. I think I could pull off a rugged fisherman look. What do you think?” He stuck out his chin and made a face like he was on the cover of a romance novel.
Inko laughed. “I think that sounds wonderful. But if you think that I would kiss you while you smell like old fish and seaweed you have another thing coming, Hisashi.” She wrinkled her nose cutely and Hisashi felt the urge to kiss her senseless.
“You’ll be okay without me?”
“It would hardly be the first time.” She pointed out.
“But if you get in trouble-”
“First book on the second shelf of the third floor of the library, I know, Hisashi. We do this every time you leave.”
“Alright, alright.” He raised his hands in surrender. “I know when I’m beat.”
She raised up on her tip-toes and kissed him soundly. “Hurry back,” she told him when they broke apart.
“With motivation like that? I’ll be back before you know it.” He winked at her and picked up his bag.
“I love you, Hisashi.”
“I love you, Inko.”
16 Years Ago
Deika City
Hisashi toed off his shoes with a groan. Nearly a year undercover, and he was starting to feel burnt out. He missed Inko so badly. It was a physical ache that pulsed in time with his heartbeat. But he was making progress. Yotsubashi was starting to open up to him, letting him in on some of the MLA’s longer term plans. Unfortunately, that also meant hours and hours of meetings spent in the man’s company straddling the delicate balance of trying to ferret out their secrets without pushing too hard. He turned on the kettle to make himself some tea, cracking his neck with a sigh. He stepped up to his desk to write his report for the night when he stopped. Air was flowing oddly through his little apartment. A window was open somewhere. Someone was here. The number of people in the country who could successfully sneak up on him were in the low double digits, and of them there were only a handful who knew where he was. He put the dots together quickly. The Commission.
“I should have known they would send you.”
Hisashi turned to see Lady Nagant in all her glory standing behind him. He looked her over. She was taller and stronger than when he had first met her, her hair longer, her skin more scarred. For a moment he could almost imagine he could see the child she had once been when he first met her, all barely hidden nerves and a desperation to please. But her eyes were cold. The eyes of a killer. They were doing this to punish him, he realized. Silence him for thinking of stepping away and make the girl he had desperately tried to protect be the one to do it.
Acceptance filtered through his body. At least he knew that Inko would be safe. He had given her everything she would need to protect herself.
“Tsutsumi,” he greeted his old friend.
“You knew this was coming.” It was a statement, not a question. Hisashi shrugged.
“I had a hunch. The HPSC isn’t in the habit of letting loose ends go without a fight.”
“Loose end?” Kaina scoffed. “You’re a traitor, Dragon.”
Well that was a little confusing. Hisashi arched an eyebrow. “A traitor for wanting something beyond the Commission? Is it truly too selfish to want a life beyond the blood and horrors, Tsutsumi?”
In a flash, Nagant’s rifle was aimed at his chest. Just tell me this,” she said, voice cracking. “Did you defect before or after the others were killed?”
“What?” Hisashi felt white hot anger. That was the lie the Commission had sold her? “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You betrayed us!” Kaina plucked something from her belt and flung it to the ground. The stack scattered and separated in the air. Pictures, Hisashi realized. “You sold us out!”
He knelt slowly. He pushed a few of the photos aside. They were of him and Inko. Shots of the two of them laughing in her apartment, snapshots of Inko at work, of him cooking dinner for the two of them. His stomach was in his throat. Horror and despair clogged his throat. Then his mind went blank. His hand trembled as he picked up one of the photographs. It was Inko, sweat-ridden and exhausted and more beautiful than he could ever remember seeing her. Cradled in her arms, with a tuft of green curls on his head, was a baby boy.
“Where did you get this?” he whispered breathlessly.
“You messed up, Dragon.” Kaina loomed over him. “After all the times you told me to be careful, too. You should have taken your own advice.”
His fingers traced over the face of the boy in the photo. He remembered whispered conversations between him and Inko, promises made against sweat soaked skin. Desires confessed under the cover of night, shared only between the two of them.
“What if we had a daughter?” Inko asked, laughing. “What would you want to name her?”
“Hitomi,” Hisashi said confidently. He pressed a kiss into her shoulder. “Definitely Hitomi.”
“And if it’s a boy?”
“Izuku,” he murmured. “I have a son.”
Bang.