Soon

Occasionally I wonder how my father and mother had fallen in love and lasted long enough to have three children. It is on days that I watch my father do the dumbest things while my mother, in dissimilarity, appeared to be a graceful woman enjoying her time in the kitchen and hardly paying attention to the escapades of her husband. Her husband who had a hand stuck in an empty peanut butter jar while trying to retrieve something Elijah had so easily put in there. The sounds of my family's chatter have become white noise as I simply sit and stare at the man that is my father, my gaze one of disappointment and marvel. Surely he had realized that his hand's too big for that jar. He had to have realized that and yet he thought it a brilliant idea to stuff his hand down the jar. I don't even know anymore. From the way Elijah was giggling at my father I take it he finds the situation funny, as he should. I almost wonder if he had planned this. The boy was just barely a year yet he displayed some pretty advanced intelligence. Or maybe I'm the only one who thinks so. Both he and his sister will be a year within a month, something that had me hoping I do not leave anytime soon.

Three months came by too quickly, time has sped up after my mother broke the news to me. It felt as of I blinked and I was- am - suddenly twelve and the family is again collected in my house.

"My hand's stuck" dad droops in defeat after his many failed attempts at getting his hand free of the plastic jar. He simply sat there before his children, one amused by his antics, the other distracted by one thing or another. Clover had better things to do than pay her father any attention. She doesn't even look at him when he calls his name, something she does often. It seems she has a skill for ignoring people, for dad isn't the only one she treats that way. At first, my mother had worried she had a hearing problem and after a quick trip to the doctor it was revealed that she's perfectly fine

She just doesn't give anyone her attention.

Why does she have an attitude at such a young age?

The question has an answer as my eyes automatically go to my mother almost accusingly. Of course she has an attitude, she's Rose's daughter.

"Hey Zen" Alissa materializes at my side, still as short as ever, but somehow older than me. It's hard for me to believe that this child is older than me but apparently is, having turned twelve just two months ago. I keep forgetting that she's two months older and she has taken it upon herself to remind me as of late.

"What?"

"You're twelve" she's grinning with these words as if she knew some secret that she's so happy to keep from me.

"Oh am I? I hadn't realized that today's my birthday, thank you so much for informing me"

"I try my best" she bows dramatically, exposing the back of her head and I whack her without hesitation and with no mercy. I would have loved to see her face hit the wooden floor, but she catches herself, only laughing while rubbing her head. "I should have seen that coming"

"Yes you should, but as always your feeble brain cannot even manage to think ahead"

"Ah yes, this feeble brain of mine, I apologize for not being as glorious as the girl who face planted the dirt after tripping over nothing"

Okay, that was wrong and she knew it. I did not trip over nothing, she had pranked me, she was the cause of my dumb blunder and she knew it.

"Would you two stop" the words are followed by a hand to my face, forcefully pushing me away from Alissa, creating a safe distance between us two. Coming to stand between us, Israel takes the time to pocket his GameBoy, folding his arm over his chest and then glancing at the both of us in silent scolding.

Scolding?

This ni-

This boy is scolding me?

"Settle down children" he smirks, this taunting quirk of his lips that makes me bristle for just a moment. Alissa let's out a groan, one of frustration and, from what I can detect, annoyance.

"Children!?"

"Only children bicker like you idiots"

"Idiots?" It is my turn to be offended. "How can you even lump me in that category? Me, Zena Fox, the twelve-year-old that can go and get her middle school and high school diploma right this instant, how do you call me an idiot?"

"You can be an idiot even if your smart, our fathers are proof of that" is his rebuttal and I can't really argue with his reasoning. Those two are pretty stupid, especially when together. "But that's beside the point, I came to talk to you about things"

"Things such as?" Alissa asks this but we both know what our older cousin is referring to.

Lording over us as if he isn't just two years older.

"Things such as the three of us moving to Japan" he huffs. "We'll be living with my older sister"

"No shit" I mumble but from the look he gives me I can tell he heard me.

"You two weren't supposed to come with me at first, instead you'd be going when you turned fourteen like me, but our dads thought it was a better idea to send us all at the same time. You two will have to suffer through middle school while I will be preparing for UA" this boy speaks as if he's standing before soldiers, his soldiers, and preparing them for battle. He has an authorive aura around him, one that makes me think of my father or his uncle. They get like that when in serious situations and apparently he inherited it. "While we're there I will have to look out for you because my sister is a very busy person and will not always have time for us, though I know she'll coddle the both of you as if you were the cutest creatures to exist"

"Well she wouldn't be wrong" my voice is supported by Alissa's as we both had the same thing in mind.

The only response to our little comment is the roll of his eyes as he calmly moves on as if he hadn't heard us.

"What I am trying to say here is-" he sighs before he can finish, seeming frustrated when Alissa and I exchange a view words in the middle of his sentence. "Would you two listen?"

"Should we grovel at your feet, massa?"

Alissa snickers and Israel does not appreciate the joke, though he contradicts this when there is the slightest tilt of his lips.

"I wanna tell you idiots that if you ever need anything you should come to me, but you don't take me seriously" he groaned and we grinned brighter. "You two always know how to kill the mood"

"It's a talent really" Alissa smirks.

"Truly" I mirror her expression, loving the moments we can get under Israel's skin. The boy is usually laid back and down to earth, not caring about much and also not putting much effort into anything other than his games. Usually, our stupid banter and insults did nothing, but it is moments like these that we successfully get to him and his frustration is amusing.

"I don't even know why I decided to talk to you two"

"Well, obviously because you love us" You could hear the smile in Alissa's voice

"You wouldn't be giving that big brother speech if you didn't so don't even try to deny, dear cousin" oh I am not letting him forget this anytime soon. I will always remind him of the time he showed us that he does care about us when he calls us all kinds of unsavoury things.

"We do not speak of this" oh, embarrassed are we? Typical older cousin, no? He acts as if he doesn't like us, yet he does things that clearly display his affection towards us.

"Of course not, I wouldn't dare tell a soul" with lips pulled into a tin line and hand on my chest, I reassured him of my silence.

"Pinkie promise" Alissa held up her pinkie and our actions brought a smile to his face.

You fool.

"Mooooom, guess who has a heart!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"You're actually leaving"

Leon appears in my doorway when I'm stuffing a suitcase full of my clothes all the while mentally debating whether or not I should take my entire bed with me, because that thing is very comfortable. I'm not surprised to see him, having heard him coming long before he reached the stairs leading up here. He's to help me pack all that I need, which is basically my entire room. Being the phantom that he is I am only now seeing him after over two weeks, our last time together has resulted in a fire in the shed, one my father had to put out because I accidentally made it burn brighter.

"No, I'm just packing my bags for no reason, don't worry, this is perfectly normal. I do it every two months, haven't you noticed?"

"Haha, very funny" he's fully in my room now, his tall figure absolutely towering over me, standing near my bed with an expression I cannot read. "I knew you were leaving, just surprised to see you going so soon after your birthday"

My birthday was last month Leon, the kids birthday was two days ago, of course I'm leaving now. I was set to leave sooner but I wanted to stay for the kid's birthday, to at least be there on their full year in the world, to document this milestone they had achieved. I do believe that video is my most prized possession at the moment.

"Missing me already?" I tease to which he grins, something almost rivalling my father. It's almost childish to me and it almost has me laughing. "I'll take that as a yes"

"Of course I'll miss you, kid. You're like a little sister to me, the little sister that gets me into a lot of trouble"

Good to know.

"You love my antics"

"They're hilarious"

"No, you're just a fool"

He laughs, it's short, but it's pleasant and soon he's sitting on my bed with me, carefully taking my guitar and placing it in its case.

"You know, I was supposed to accompany at first before Morgan had agreed to take you in" he explains. That's news to me. "They had decided you could be by yourself but they still wanted me to be there because it is my job to watch over you when they are not able to"

Oh, well, that's actually kind of sweet. From the way he talks I believe he was a fan of this plan, he wanted to come with me, he would gladly come and it's really sweet.

But then, that begs the question.

"Don't you have family here?"

"Yea" his body seems to sag with the simple word. "I have three brothers, two sisters, all younger than me"

Yup, he always gave me big brother vibes.

"But I haven't seen them in over ten years" he admits. "Though I do make sure to send them some money every month, enough for them to each get whatever it is they want, enough for them to be happy"

Why hasn't this man seen his siblings in over ten years? I want to ask, but at the same time, I do not. It seems like a sensitive subject and I do not want to upset him, especially when he's already feeling so down. It's the first I had felt anything relating to sadness coming from the man. So I remain silent, folding a shirt carefully, while patiently awaiting his next words. He could entirely change the subject, I would not say a word. I wouldn't pry into his personal life, never did and never will. If he wants to tell me, he will, that's just how he is.

Though his thoughts make it very hard for me to stand by this. I have to dampen the sound of his inner voices, forcing his thoughts to the back of my head.

He chuckles after the silence stretched for too long, the thing sounding nervous almost.

"I wonder how they're doing" the words are said to himself as he focuses on my guitar, gently closing the case and making sure everything is locked in place before he stands, moving across my room to the keyboard set up in the corner. "This is depressing"

You don't say.

"I wish you the best Zena and truly hope you achieve your goal, whatever it may be," he says, voice gentle, a tone I haven't heard from him in a while. "And please make sure not to get too many people involved in those crazy antics of yours. I swear you can get someone killed with the things you do"

I wouldn't be surprised if that were to become a reality. With the things I do, I'm lucky to still be standing here.

"Would you laugh at me if I cried?" He asked and I had to bite my lip to suppress a smile.

"Yes"

"Okay"

~~~~~~~~~

Zena could be found in the living room, sitting amongst her siblings, idly watching them play with the toys she had scattered for them. It amused her how they seldom play together having always been sitting facing away from each other when they play. It was as if they did not get along. Yet you could always find them curled close together when they sleep, neither one of them wanting to be separated from the other. It's cute and the number of photos of this nature that Zena has collected could be concerning.

Whenever they played Zena would be close by, either watching them, recording almost everything they did, or she could be seen playing the both of them. Often times the latter would involve her being some villain the two must defeat. Such is the current situation as Zena now lay on the floor, pathetically, with her sister bouncing on her stomach in a manner that had pained her and her brother pulling at her hair. It is truly a predicament, one that had her in pain, yet she didn't try to get them away.

"You guys are killing me here" she pleaded as if her words would get through to the infants. Of course, her plea fell on deaf ears as the twins continued their scrimmage.

"You can get up anytime you want" her mother sits on a nearby sofa, silently watching them play while watching TV.

"No she can't Rose, she is the monster that they are successfully beating" her father, seating in the living room as well, explains as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's play pretend and they already beat her, she can get up instead of subjecting herself to useless pain"

"But they need to be proud" it is Zena who speaks this time. Her sister stopped bouncing on her stomach, allowing her to speak, finally.

"You've been doing this every day for the past week" her mother points out, deciding not to try to convince her daughter anymore. "You'd think they'd get tired with you.

Zena scoffed at the words as if offended by the thought. Of course they would not tire of her, she always has ways of entertaining her siblings no matter what.

"Why do you do this every day?" Her father had to wonder. The question earned him looks from both his wife and his daughter, their gazes making him feel as of he had missed something crucial.

"I'm leaving in two days" two fingers are held up as if to clarify. "Why would I not spend my time with my siblings? I will not be seeing them for some time so the least I can do is play with them"

Zena had decided to spend most of her time with her siblings, knowing she would not be around as often as she would like, knowing she would miss many of their first. They have both started babbling and soon they will be forming words and she is sure she will miss it. It's almost depressing to her, but there is little she could do. Well, she could decide to just stay with her parents and forget about UA. There are plenty of other hero schools all right here in America. But she wasn't one to go back on something she has already decided so she will stick to this. It's not like she'll never see them, she'll visit often and her parents do plan on joining her in japan at some point.

It'll take a while though.

"I'll miss you" her father messes her hair, an action that usually resulted in hateful looks, but seeing as her hair was already a mess, there was nothing to say. "Who's gonna rope me into ridiculous schemes now?"

"You'll be fine" she waved him off without care though smiling at the words. "You're an idiot enough on your own, you'll figure something out"

Her father laughs, as he always does when she says something insulting to him. He always laughed at her stupid jabs or jokes.

"You wound me"

"Clearly not enough" she's sitting, gathering both siblings into her arms, stopping them from further assaults against her. Her grip is strong and unrelenting as they wiggle this way and that to get away.

"Do you want to be a hero, Zena?" Her mother asks.

She recalls being asked this question by her mother once before. Years back when they were in that cafe, she had taken the last chocolate ice cream while that boy cried big fat tears. She could remember it as clear as day, the day her quirked awakened and overwhelmed her. She hadn't answered the question, maybe she didn't have an answer to it.

"Yes," she says after some consideration. "I do want to be a hero"

"Oh I bet you'll be the next symbol of peace" her dad joked and she grimaced.

Absolutely not, she will not bear the title of that destructive ideal. She doesn't even want to be a hero in the same sense as all the others. Depending on the person, "hero", can mean different things and take different forms, hers definitely differs from most. She did not wish to be like All Might, nor did she wish to be like Aizawa and the likes.

Heroes do their jobs, they save people, but not everyone can be saved. Often times the heroes overlook those who truly deserve to be saved, those such as Shigaraki, Deku, the entire Todoroki family. They don't see the little people, they don't try to look beneath the surface. They notice those like Eri, those being forced to stay silent, too afraid to say anything. Those like Izuku who suffered because of something they could not control. She listens to the news often and most suicides are committed by those lacking quirks or possessing weak quirks. None of them were saved.

Maybe it's stupid to think like that, after all, not everyone can be saved.

Then again she really believes those few could've been saved had they taken the time to look. Shigaraki could've been an entirely different person had someone noticed his pain. It's something she thought of often.

She will be a hero, whether she follows or breaks the rules set in place.

Perhaps she's in over her head, perhaps her thought are immature, perhaps she just has nothing better to set her sights on. She wasn't entirely sure, but she will chase this goal she has set for herself.