These Things Take Forever (I especially am slow)

Meeting

"Hey Bakugou!" Hagakure pulled Shouto into a tight hug when he arrived at her apartment the next day.

Hagakure's apartment was often the location of choice for any meetings with Aizawa that needed to be held. If he'd given it any thought beforehand, Shouto might have expected a group of underground heroes to have a meeting place that was more... underground. Or at least hidden. But, as Aizawa had often drummed into them, there was nothing suspicious in normality. Plus, Hagakure was usually pretty good at providing snacks.

Shouto gave the others a tight-lipped smile as he walked into the living room, sinking into one end of a plush couch, covered in throws and pillows. Aizawa was already there, quietly sipping tea and looking over a stack of papers.

"Morning," Aizawa murmured, not taking his eyes off the work in front of him. Aizawa had retired from work in the field not long after Class 1A had gotten their licences. A string of injuries in the fight against All For One had made the physical hero work untenable, even if Present Mic would have let him continue. Nonetheless, he was still valued by the hero world in general, and Shouto in particular. He would always treasure Aizawa as a mentor, both as a student and now as an underground hero. It had been Aizawa who had suggested Shouto try out the work and had guided him and their team ever since.

"I picked up some files from Katsuki and Midoriya's agency," Shouto said, handing over the papers from his bag. "There was a probable case a couple of days ago and I found another couple of possibilities in their files when I had a look through yesterday."

Aizawa nodded his thanks while Hagakure handed Shouto a large mug of his favourite tea.

"I've been asking around too," said Hagakure, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa. "I spoke to Mashirao about it and he mentioned the odd case over the last year. But it's so hard to tell what might be part of a larger pattern with these things. As much as I hate to acknowledge it, there are a lot of kids born naturally that end up being taken advantage of for their quirks."

Shouto nodded, his mouth suddenly dry, using his tea as an excuse to remain silent.

"This kind of criminal relies on that. I had the kid from before looked at by a medical team and they told me his DNA was completely normal, just what you'd expect from a kid born with two parents. They don't think he's a clone and there are no connections in quirks between any of the other possibles," said Aizawa. "I haven't been able to secure a DNA analysis on any of the others though, I'm not sure I would want to anyway, these kids have been violated enough. Either way, the child involved was of Japanese ancestry and, now paired with the other cases cropping up in Japan, I am minded to continue our investigation here."

"So, do we think the parents are involved or are these kids being taken?" Shouto asked

"Unclear," Aizawa sighed, running a hand through his hair, it looked limp with his grey hairs standing out more than usual. "There haven't been any missing person reports and not a single child that we suspect to be a victim has ever been claimed by a family member. Either the parents are involved or, somehow, they could even be unaware of the child's existence. There are no parental matches with DNA on file, so nothing to suggest that the parents might be villains themselves."

Shouto frowned, wondering how anyone could be unaware that they'd had a child, these children must have some form of mother. Shouto was now well adjusted enough to recognise that most children were born for the sake of love, for wanting to raise them and care for them. Yet, when children were born for the quirks they might possess, the parents tended to at least have some attachment. Even Shouto at his most bitter would acknowledge that.

While Hagakure went to answer the knock at the door, Aizawa turned to Shouto. His eyes were their usual colour but had a no less stilling effect on Shouto for all that his mentor was not using his quirk.