49

Chapter Text

Hawks stood out front of UA on a temporary stage with Nezu next to him as the press finished setting up and waited on bated breath for what the hero would say. They had been reporting about how little they had seen of him over the past few weeks and wondering what he could be up to.

Hawks cleared his throat and spoke into the microphones forgoing his usual carefree attitude. "Hello, everyone. I'm glad you could all be here today. As many of you know, I've been rather absent from the public eye for a while. I'll answer your questions and explain everything today."

The press murmured, and several raised their hands to ask questions. Hawks pointed to one, and the woman stood. "Hawks. Is it true you participated and organized a raid that led to the capture of the League of Villains?"

Hawks nodded. "Yes, I led the raid that led to the League's capture."

"How did you find them when no one else was able to?"

Hawks took a deep breath. "One of their members who I will not reveal was an undercover agent... from the Undercover Heroics Department usually referred to as the UHD."

Not many of the reports seemed to recognize the name, but those who did quickly raised their hands, eager to ask for more information. Hawks held his hand up and said. "I know many don't know about the UHD's existence, so I'll explain who they are and why I regret the part I played in their use."

The press listened in silence as Hawks explained how the UHD used people who were labeled as villains by holding the futures of their loved ones over them and forcing them to carry out the HPSC's dirty work. Hawks also spoke of his own part in using the UHD members and even capturing some under orders from the HPSC. The press exploded into questions, and Hawks held his phone up as all of theirs went off.

"You all just received proof of my statement. This information is currently being circulated to as many people as possible to ensure those who have taken advantage of those with nowhere else to go will pay for their crimes."

As the press read over the information, one of the members asked. "Hawks, you claimed to have participated in the use of the UHD and have even recruited members. What made you change your stance on this situation? It seems you didn't care or mind before, but now you're outing them to the public."

Hawks took a deep breath and sighed. "I captured a young girl who the UHD wanted. She was a villain, but her life was turning around, and she could have been redeemed, but I took her away from that and forced her into an organization that made her kill and lie and steal. After her, I realized just how far from the path of a hero that I had strayed, and I wanted to try and redeem myself and save some people."

Hawks stared hard at the podium. "I don't expect to get off easy either. I know what I did, and I am ready to face whatever punishment the people think I deserve. I just ask that we give those forced into the UHD another chance at life."

The press asked more questions, and Hawks did his best to answer before ending the conference and heading back into UA to ensure the police and heroes Nezu sent to the UHD were able to get in and secure the people there.

_____________________________________________________________________

Izuku stood back as he watched his mother speak with a reporter while the villain they arrested was loaded up by the police. "Hypno, do you have a moment?"

It took Izuku a moment to realize someone was talking to them. As he turned and smiled, he saw the young woman who had called out to him. He was pretty sure she was a reporter. "Of course. How can I help you?"

The woman smiled and tucked some of her orange hair behind her ear. "I was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions. As a hero student and the son of a sometimes... controversial hero."

The two looked over as Midnight struck a pose and waved to her fans, who had stopped to see her. Izuku chuckled. "Sure, I can answer a couple, but it'll have to be quick. We're still patrolling."

"Of course." the woman pulled her phone out as she asked. "Do you mind if I record?"

Izuku nodded, and she continued, "So back before you started UA, a photo was circulated of you and Midnight together in street clothes, and questions were asked about who you were. Midnight appeared later that week to tell everyone that you were her adopted son. How did that come about?"

Izuku chuckled a bit and rubbed his head. "Ah, let's see. It was around the end of my last year of junior high. I was running from some bullies."

"You were bullied? What for?" The woman said as she typed away and looked at him.

Izuku nodded. "My quirk. I got teased a lot, and as I got older, people thought it was fun to accuse me of using my quirk on them to steal things or, in the case of some girls. They claimed I touched them or tried to at least."

The woman looked surprised, and Izuku sighed. "So that led to some people wanting to chase me and beat me up for it, so I ran, and one day while I was escaping them, I crossed paths with Midnight."

"Did she save you from the bullies?"

"Well, I had lost them by that point, and they had moved on, so at the time she walked me home, but I remembered that one of my favorite heroes patrolled there and ran there whenever I had to get away from bullies." Izuku smiled as he said. "If I couldn't get away from the bullies, she would show up and get them to leave me alone."

"That's amazing, but what led her to adopt you?"

Izuku grimaced slightly as he thought back to how Katsuki had treated him. "Things got rough after a while. One of my bullies took things too far, and after I got hurt, she decided to adopt me and get me away from the people who were treating me so poorly."

"That's quite the decision to make. Do you know what her thought process was at the time?"

Izuku shook his head. "No, you'd have to ask her. Though whatever reason she had, I'm glad she did it. My life just kept getting better after she became my mother."

The woman smiled. "That's wonderful to hear... though I have to ask about your time at the orphanage. There are a lot of scary stories out there about children being mistreated."

"There are, but there are also so many more good stories out there. The place I was raised in was wonderful, and I still keep in contact with those who made at least a part of my life back then good."

The woman hummed and nodded. "I guess the next thing is how do you feel about your mother's persona? Midnight is quiet... a lot for some people. Many think she's not fit to be a mother or a hero."

Izuku scoffed. "I have to disagree with them. My mother raised me well and helped me become who I am now. As for heroics, she was my inspiration. My quirk is very similar to hers, and seeing her out there every day being a hero gave me the strength to dream. Her talks about loving yourself and understanding your body have also helped one of my closest friends. I think Midnight is an excellent mother and hero."

"Well said. Now another thing I've been dying to ask has to do with some photos from the sports festivals and around a week after."

Izuku rolled his eyes as he looked at her phone, and she showed him the photo of him and Mina after their match and then one of the podium showing him and Toru. The woman swiped and showed a couple photos of him kissing either Toru or Mina. "I can guess what this question is."

The woman giggled, and Izuku had to admit it sounded cute, but he also knew she was probably trying to get him to open up more or let his guard down. "Yes, some readers are wondering what your relationship with these two girls is. I believe their hero names are Acid Queen and Prism."

"That's right," Izuku said as he glanced over and saw his mother wrapping up her talking. "Acid Queen, Prism and I are in a polyamorous relationship and have been dating for a few years now."

The woman blinked in surprise and furiously typed away. "I see. That's quite surprising, so these two are dating each other as well?"

Izuku nodded. "Yes, we're all dating each other."

Midnight waved to Izuku, signaling that they needed to get moving as the woman said. "How did you meet?"

Izuku smiled. "I wish I had time to talk about that maybe another time. For now, though, I need to get back to patrol."

The woman pouted but sighed. "Fine, but I intend to ask these questions next time I see you, Hypno."

Izuku nodded, and as he moved towards his mother, he said. "I look forward to it, ma'am."

_____________________________________________________________________

Nemuri sighed as she stretched out on her couch. "Were you talking to a reporter earlier?"

Izuku hummed as he sat on the other couch and filled out paperwork. "Yeah, she was asking about you being my mom and a bit about my partners."

"Oh? How did it go? Were you nervous?" Nemuri said as she looked over to her son.

Izuku shrugged. "A little bit, I guess, but she didn't ask any hard questions, so I managed."

"That's good. Usually, we cover interviews and press attention before you get your licenses, but your year hasn't really been standard."

Izuku chuckled. "Yeah, and we're only partway through the second semester."

Nemuri sighed as her phone started to ring. "Please don't tempt fate."

Izuku smiled as Nemuri answered the phone, but it dropped when she straightened. She had shifted back into pro hero mode as she spoke before looking over at Izuku and hanging up. "Sir Nighteye's agency called, and they're wondering if I can help with a raid. I said yes. Are you up for joining me?"

Izuku grinned as he got up. "Hell yeah."

"Language." Nemuri chided playfully as she sat down. "Get that paperwork done, and I'll explain what you'll need to know beforehand."

_____________________________________________________________________

Toru felt a little guilty as she watched Nighteye put in eye drops before putting his glasses back on and looking at his interns and sidekicks. "We'll be conducting a raid on the Shie Hassaikai in the coming days. In the meantime, we need a safer place to keep Eri. Luckily for us, UA has agreed to take her in as a ward, so Lemilliion, Prism, and I will take her to UA. Bubble Girl and Centipeder get the reports ready for the pre-raid meeting."

The sidekicks gave their affirmative and left. "Prism, if you could get Eri and help keep her calm."

Toru nodded. "Sure thing."

Toru quickly made her way to the rooms on the third floor. They had set Eri up in the room between the ones Mirio and Toru used for when they had to stay overnight. Toru stopped in front of the door and knocked softly as she said. "Eri, it's me. Can I come in?"

"O-Ok." the small girl said through the door.

Toru opened the door and entered as she said. "I've got some news for you, Eri."

The girl looked nervous as she tightened her grip on the blanket she had wrapped herself in. Toru sat on the other side of the bed and smiled. "It's nothing to be nervous about, I promise. We're going somewhere new, and you'll be staying there from now on."

"A-are you gonna leave me?!" Eri said as she crawled over to Toru, who quickly scooped the girl up and put her in her lap.

"No, I'm not. In fact, this place will mean we can see each other more often, and I can introduce you to some other nice people."

Eri looked up as Toru shimmered and revealed her visible form, making the small girl gasp. Toru giggled and said. "We'll be taking you to a place called UA. It's a school that Lemillion and I go to. We also live there with our friends, and you'll be joining us."

Eri deflated a bit and muttered. "A-are there gonna be a lot of people?"

Toru stroked her hair gently and nodded. "Yeah, but we're gonna make sure you don't meet them all at once. You'll have Lemillion and me with you as well, so can you be a strong girl for me and go to UA?"

Eri leaned into the touch and nodded. "O-ok, I will."

______________________________________________________________________

Hirooki jumped a bit as Nemuri threw her arms around them and said. "Hey. it's been a bit."

The two were in the teacher's lounge, and Hirooki chuckled. "Yeah, it has been. We've both been busy, I guess."

Nemuri hummed and circled around the couch to sit next to her partner. "How have you been?"

Hirooki sighed and tapped their helmet that was sitting on their lap. "Exhausted. I want to take some time off."

Nemuri grinned and leaned over. "How about you and I take some time off then. Go on a vacation or at least stay in the apartment for a few days."

Hirooki blushed slightly but smiled. "Don't you have a work-study going on?"

"Yeah, but once winter rolls around, the first year's work studies will be over, and we can do what we want then."

Hirooki smiled as Nemuri grinned. "Sounds like a good idea. Ok, we'll figure out what we're gonna do once we're closer to winter."

Nemuri leaned over and stole a quick kiss before resting her head on Hirooki's shoulder. "Good."

___________________________________________________________________

Aizawa stared down at the young girl who was hiding behind Toru's leg and looking at him worriedly. "So this is Eri?"

Toru nodded. "Yep."

Eri squeaked and hid behind Toru more as Aizawa crouched down to be more at her level. He gave a slight nod and said. "I'm Shota Aizawa. If you need anything, ask me."

The girl looked at Toru, who reached down and patted her head. "Mr.Aizawa is a good guy. You can trust him."

Eri gave a small nod, and as the group started to move towards the teacher's dorms, Nighteye said. "Mirio, make sure she's settled in. I need to go speak with Nezu."

Mirio snapped a salute. "Understood, sir. Good luck with your talk."

Nighteye grunted and walked off towards the main building of UA. he knew the dean of UA was busy handling the legal battle going on with the HPSC and the Japanese government, so he wasn't sure why the rat wanted to speak.

Nighteye approached the lounge that he was told to enter and opened the door. Everything made sense then as he saw a surprised Toshinori sitting there drinking tea. "Mirai? Why are you here?"

Mirai sighed as he stepped in and closed the door. "Nezu told me to come here and speak to him. I suppose he said the same to you?"

Toshinori nodded. "Um, yes he did... would you like some tea?"

"... Yeah, let's have some tea," Mirai said as he sat down across from Toshi.

The two sat in awkward silence and sipped their tea until Toshi asked. "How is Young Hagakure fairing?"

Mirai took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes as he sighed. "Her first patrol resulted in her rescuing a little girl and giving us the information we needed to take down a dangerous criminal."

Toshi chuckled but stopped as Mirai looked up at him. "She's also incredibly stubborn and determined to be just annoying enough that I'll think about sending her packing but won't. On her first day, she hit me with a blast of light, and now I need to use eye drops for the next few days."

Toshi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, she and her partners were quite annoyed with you after I told them what you said about her."

Mirai pointed at Toshi. "That's the other thing. Why is she dating? Both her partners are weak points All for One or other villains could use against her."

"Please, Mirai, don't try to change the subject. What you said back then was uncalled for."

Mirai sighed and sat back. "She certainly exceeded what I expected of her during the sports festival, and now that she's at the agency, I have seen her potential."

"So you apologized to her, right?"

The two men sat in an increasing silence as Mirai sipped his tea. Toshi cleared his throat and said again. "So you apologized to her, right?"

"I have been treating her fairly-"

Toshi set his tea down and gave his former sidekick a stern look. "But you apologized, right?"

Once Mirai didn't say anything, Toshi rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Mirai, please. You need to apologize for what you said. It will help, and Young Hagakure will respect you more for it. She may even give you less trouble while you're with her."

Mirai sighed and set his tea down. "I suppose you are right... how has teaching here been for you?"

Toshi smiled and sipped his tea before saying. "It's been rewarding. I may not be able to save people anymore, but I can do my best to ensure the next generation of heroes can do it better than I did."

Mirai hummed, and the two spoke infrequently about nothing important. Both avoided talking about the argument that led them to go their own ways. Eventually, the door slid open, and Nezu stepped in. "Terribly sorry about being late, you two. The meeting with the government representative just kept going on and on."

____________________________________________________________________

Rush looked over as Razor and Twist spoke with a government rep. They were trying to get them to let their families know about them, but the government kept denying them and generally being unhelpful. They had been in this government building ever since they were rescued.

Rush sighed and fiddled with the cuffs of his hoodie. He had been sleeping when the heroes and police kicked in and stormed the UHD. After the initial confusion wore off, the operatives quickly surrendered while the guards were torn between fighting back or stepping aside. It was only after Warden appeared and told them to surrender that everything went smoothly. He wasn't sure why Warden would just give up, but maybe she was just trying to get out of her own situation just like them.

"Hawks, tell this suit I wanna see my family!" Razor said as she jabbed a finger at the government worker who was starting to sweat.

Hawks sighed as he walked over. "I see you're still full of fire. Chizuru, I know you want to see your kids, but you gotta understand until we get your statements and the HPSC is suitably punished and reigned in, it's not safe for you all to interact with your families."

The woman huffed and stormed off to the gym room. Rush watched Hawks talk to the others before coming over to him. "How ya doing, kid?"

Rush shrugged. "Fine, I guess... I wanna see my sister, but I know I have to wait. I am concerned, though... Changeling was out on a mission, and then she went rogue. Do you know if she's ok?"

Hawks patted his shoulder and said. "Don't worry, Changeling is safe. Just focus on not going crazy here."

Rush chuckled. "Don't worry. Unlike the UHD, this place has windows, so there's that."

Hawks chuckled a bit and squeezed Rush's shoulder before walking off to make sure no one else had any problems.

______________________________________________________________________

Toru cuddled closer to her partners as the three laid in bed. It was a rare day off of school, and Nighteye had told her and Mirio to not come into the office while they finished up the pre-raid preparations.

Mina tightened her arms around the invisible girl and asked. "What are we doing today?"

"Hm, I wanna introduce you two to Eri," Toru murmured as she rubbed her face against Izuku's chest.

"The girl you saved? That's right, you said she was at UA now." Izuku said as he reached over and patted Mina's hair.

Toru nodded. "Yeah. Are you two good with meeting her?"

Izuku kissed the top of her head and said. "Of course we are. When should we go?"

"After breakfast. We'll contact Aizawa beforehand so he can make sure she's ready." Toru said.

Mina chuckled. "Is she not scared of him?"

Toru shook her head as she started to get up. "No. She was cautious of him yesterday when we showed up but apparently, by the end of the day, she was able to be left alone with him."

Izuku yawned as he got up. "Is he in the teacher's dorm now? what happened to his apartment?"

Toru hummed. "He said he moved to the dorms because Nezu asked him to look after Eri."

Mina chuckled. "so he just scooped up his cats and moved in?"

"Not like either Hitoshi or he owned a lot," Izuku said as he stretched. "What do you two want for breakfast?"

Mina hummed as she stretched out on the bed. "I want miso soup."

Izuku leaned over and kissed her gently before pulling back and saying. "Will do. Toru?"

Toru shrugged. "Whatever you want, I'm fine with."

"Alright, I'll go get started on breakfast then," Izuku said as he grabbed his shirt and headed out of the room.

Mina sighed as she got up. "Best boyfriend ever."

Toru hummed in agreement as she got dressed. "He really is."

___________________________________________________________________

Eri fidgeted and wanted to hide behind Toru, but the new people were behind Toru, so she couldn't hide there. Toru made herself visible as she crouched down. "Hello, Eri. Can I introduce some new people to you?"

The small girl hesitated but nodded. The other people Toru had introduced her to were friendly, like Aizawa. Toru grinned. "I'm glad to hear that."

Toru stood and motioned to the very nice-looking guy with green hair and freckles. "This is Izuku Midoriya. He goes by Hypno."

Izuku gave Eri a little wave as he said. "Hello, Eri. it's wonderful to meet you."

Eri responded with a little wave but stayed quiet. Toru moved on by motioning to the very interesting-looking pink girl. "This is Mina Ashido; she goes by Acid Queen."

Mina gave a bit toothy grin. "It's nice to meet you, Eri. I'm sure we'll get along great since we're horn buddies."

Eri looked confused at that. "Horn buddies?"

"Yep." Mina crouched down and pointed to her horns and then to Eri's horn. "We both got horns, so I can tell we'll get along."

"O-oh... that makes sense," Eri said shyly as she looked at Mina's horns.

Toru moved over and sat on the floor next to Eri, who quickly attached herself to the older girl. Mina and Izuku sat across from the two and made sure it didn't feel like they were crowding Eri as they spoke to her.

"So you're all heroes?"

Izuku nodded. "We're training to be, but yeah, pretty much."

Eri fidgeted as she asked. "I-isn't it scary? C-can't you get hurt doing that?"

Izuku smiled as he said. "True it may be, but we do it because we wanna keep others safe."

Mina leaned over as she said. "Seeing the smiles of those we save makes all the danger worth it. Especially the smiles of the kids like you."

Eri's face scrunched up, and after a moment, she frowned and said. "I-I don't know how."

Toru wrapped her arm around the small girl and gave her a gentle squeeze. "It's ok, Eri. we'll help you learn how to smile."

Eri sniffled and hugged Toru, who rubbed the small girl's back. After she had calmed down, the Trio spoke to her for a bit until Aizawa collected her for an appointment with Recovery girl.

Toru sighed and clenched her fist as she turned invisible. "I can't wait to take down Overhaul."

Mina sighed as she intertwined her fingers with Toru's. "Sorry I won't be there. Xeno is working a different case, and we really need to catch this guy."

Izuku grimaced, remembering Mina explaining the case. "You said whoever you're after is mutilating people with mutant quirks, right? Promise to be careful ok."

Mina grinned and pumped her fist. "Course I will. I got one scar from a villain I don't need anymore."

Izuku grabbed her free hand and gave it a squeeze. "You're still beautiful, you know."

Mina blushed, and then her face exploded into lilac as Toru whispered. "I think the scar makes your back look even sexier. Especially when you get all twitchy while Izuku-"

Mina released her partner's hands and covered her face. "Stop it. We're in the teachers' dorms; don't say that stuff."

Toru giggled as she pulled Mina's hands from her face and kissed her cheek. "Fine, I'll stop teasing, but like Izuku said, please be careful."

Mina pouted but nodded. "I promise I will if you two will as well."

Izuku chuckled. "When are we not careful?"

Mina gave him a flat look before walking off. Izuku looked at Toru, who sighed. "Come on, Izu. let's go make sure she knows we'll be careful."

Notes:

so this chapter wasn't going to be a thing originally but after some comments, that were very appreciated, and some time thinking I decided to extend Hypno and write this chapter instead of what I was originally gonna write.

originally I was gonna end Hypno after the cultural festival ended but now... I kinda want to keep going. I have the new basic layout of how the story is gonna go and hopefully, it goes well.