I'm pissed. And confused.
*
"Come on, Chichi!" Tobi called out to his little sister as he and Hanna rushed past her on the wooden porch at the back of their home.
"I'm coming! Moooom, can you hurry up please?!" Little Chinami-Ren pleaded to her mother as she impatiently tugged at her summer dress. "Tobi and Hanna run more faster than me!"
"It's a small garden, Chinami-Ren. They can't get very far." Their mother said to her sweetly as she continued to braid her long and messy blonde curls. "Just wait a little longer, okay? Remember last time you came in with half a bird's nest in your locks."
Chinami-Ren pouted. "Hanna said they were flowers."
"Okay, all done!" Their mother tied a little bow at the end of Chinami-Ren's braid and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head. Chinami-Ren immediately bolted across the porch and leapt down into the garden after her older brother and sister. "And tell those two to be careful around the pond!"
"I will!" She called back before she disappeared into the lush garden with Tobi and Hanna.
Their mother, Chinami, giggled to herself as the back door creaked open. "Imagine that, telling our youngest to discipline her older siblings." She said to her husband.
"Chinami-Ren has always been the responsible one. Even if she is five." Sana said with a sigh.
"At least we know she'll always keep Tobi in check at least." Chinami leant against one of the old wooden pillars that held up the vine covered beams running over the porch.
"Ah yes. Our little troublemaker." Sana wrapped his arm over his wife's shoulders and kissed her cheek softly.
"Come on, Chichi!" Hanna took her little sister's hand and pulled her into the little shrouded corner of the garden they'd declared to be their little sibling gang's den. They thought the shrubs in the corner had naturally grown into a rounded cave shape but it was secretly their father's doing. He knew his children enjoyed playing in the garden and so even when Kai and Erika were their only children, he would make little spaces in the garden for the children to play.
"What's the rush?" Chinami-Ren asked as she clambered into their hideout, brushing some fallen leaves out of the way before flopping onto the ground.
"Show her, Tobi!" Hanna prodded him.
"Remember when Dad said that it feels stick outside sometimes when it's hot because there's water in the air?" Tobi asked.
"Um... I think so..." Chinami-Ren mumbled. "That doesn't make sense because you can't see it but okay." She shrugged.
"You can't always see water, Chichi." Hanna rolled her eyes. "You'll understand when you're bigger, like me."
"It doesn't matter! Just, check it out." Tobi held his hand in front of his two sisters. He furrowed his brow deeply and poked his tongue out between his lips a little as he tried to concentrate. As if by magic, a small trickle of water appeared in his palm. He furrowed his brow deeper and poked his tongue out a little further the harder he concentrated. The trickle of water grew, and the harder Chinami-Ren looked, she could see the water drawing from the air above his palm.
"Tobi!" Chinami-Ren exclaimed. "That's amazing! You got your quirk!"
"Yep!" He smiled widely and clenched his open hand into a fist, making the water suddenly evaporate back into the air. "I can draw water out of the air when it's sticky!"
"That's so cool! I can't wait till I get mine." Chinami-Ren shuffled closer to her big brother and stared at his fist intently.
"We still don't know if you ever will, Chichi..." Hanna said sadly. "You know, cause Dad..."
"All of you have quirks!" Chinami-Ren squeaked. "Who says I'm gonna be the only one who doesn't get one?!"
"I'm just saying, don't get your hopes up!" Hanna crossed her arms and huffed.
"You're just saying that cause you're scared mine will be cooler than yours!" Chinami-Ren poked her tongue out at her sister. "Did you show Mom and Dad yet?" She asked their brother.
"No..." Tobi shrunk back. "I know Mom will be happy but I'm scared Dad will get angry like he did with Hanna."
"And Kai and Erika." Hanna added with a little pout.
"She's alone on the porch. Let's go show her now! And then we can show Dad later." Chinami-Ren said with a double fist pump.
Tobi bummed to himself. "Okay!"
The three of them took off and bolted through the garden to get back to their mother. As they cleared the shrubbery and rounded the trees near the pond, Chinami-Ren remembered the warning her mother had asked her to pass along to her siblings. "Oh, Hanna! Tobi! Be careful around the-"
As she was about to say 'pond', Tobi lost his balance and slipped into the pond.
"Tobi!" Hanna cried out as she slid to a halt. "Mom! Dad!" She screamed in the direction of the porch where their parents stood. They immediately jumped from their spot and hurried towards the children.
Without a second thought, Chinami-Ren had leapt for the pond's edge and placed her hand into the water. As their parents got to the other side of the pond, all of the water had rocketed out behind Chinami-Ren and Tobi sat at bottom of the pond, contemplating what the hell had just happened.
Chinami scooped her son up, uttering words of comfort as she pulled him away from the slippery and muddy stones and onto the grass. As soon as her brother and mother had cleared the space, Chinami-Ren swooped her hand over the pond space and all of the water returned to its rightful place, the water's surface glassy as if it had been untouched.
"Tobi!" Chinami-Ren cried out as she snapped out of her calmed state. "Are you okay?!"
"Chichi! How did you do that?!" He asked from behind their mother's arms.
"You... Have... A quirk?" Their father asked her slowly.
"I-I guess so..." Chinami-Ren stared at her hands. "I told ya mine would be cooler than yours!" She poked her tongue out at Hanna again.
"Hey! We were meant to be showing Tobi's cool new quirk!" Hanna yelled back at her.
"You BOTH have a quirk?!" Their father looked between the two of them.
"Yeah! I can control water when the air is all sticky!" Tobi pried himself from their mother's arms and puffed his chest out proudly as he told their father.
"S-Sana... Please..." Chinami said quietly when she noticed her husband's face beginning to turn red with fury.
"Come here!" He grabbed Tobi's arm roughly and dragged him away from the rest of them.
"What are you doing?!" Chinami cried out while she tried to reach for her son.
"It's time these brats learnt how to fight with their quirks." Sana spat to his wife. "Chinami-Ren, come."
"Tobi!" Chinami-Ren called after her brother but she wouldn't move. "Tobi!
Tobi!
Tobi!"
*
"Tobi!" Ren cried out as she bolted up in her bed. The searing pain in her arm and shoulder made her half collapse back into her bed as the dream she had faded away.
"Ren!" She felt soft hands on her shoulders press her gently back into her bed.
"O-Ochaco?" She asked as she glanced up at the concerned round face of her dear friend. "What're you doing here? What's going on? Where am I?" She looked around her at the bleak white walls and medical equipment covering the sides of her bed.
"You're in hospital, Ren." Uraraka said softly as she sat on the side of her bed.
Her bedside table was covered with well wishing cards, flowers, treats and all kinds of nicknacks from her classmates and fellow sidekicks from the Endeavour Agency. Her arm and shoulder were bandaged up tightly and she imagined the wounds were probably stitched up too.
"Do you remember how you got here?" Uraraka asked, breaking her thoughtless stare around the room.
"I- I was fighting a Nomu." Ren stammered as she brought her hand up to her shoulder. "It did this and then my br- Ungh! Where's Bakugo?! And Todoroki?!"
"They're okay. Barely a scratch on either of them." Uraraka explained as she placed a calming hand on Ren's arm until she retracted her hand from he wounded shoulder. "They did eventually get banned from your room though... They kept fighting over who got to stay with you until you woke up. The nurse had had enough of their bickering and sent them both home." She chuckled a little.
"How long have I been out?" Ren asked with a furrowed brow. Was it a repeat of Okinawa?
"It's only been a night and a day." Uraraka said with a little nod. "But everyone's really worried about you." She nodded at the table of goodies from their friends.
The door slid open and in walked Ren's nurse. "I thought I heard talking." He said with a little smile. "How are you feeling?" He picked up her chart and checked out the measurements on all of the different machines hooked up to her body.
"Fine. A little stiff but fine."
"Glad to hear it. You should be able to go home today then if the doctor gives you the all clear. You'll just have to come back for a couple of check ups while we monitor your wound but you seem to have an enhanced healing ability." The nurse explained as he jotted down a few notes.
"Good to hear it." Ren said with a clenched jaw. So, the serum was still evolving and effecting her body? The nurse took a few more measurements, checked on some of the pipes attached to Ren's body and let them know he'd be sending in the doctor soon. "How long have you been here?" Ren asked Uraraka once the nurse had returned their privacy to them.
"Mr Aizawa gave me the afternoon off so I could come check on you soooo..." She tapped her cheek a few times. "Since lunchtime I guess."
"Thank you, 'Chaco." Ren nodded with a little smile.
"What happened up there, Ren?" Uraraka's tone turned serious and concerned. "The guys, they told me you went up to fight that Nomu but when the team arrived they found it dead."
Ren clenched the bedsheets between her fingers. "I- I didn't kill it. Ochaco, I think my brother is still alive."
Uraraka gasped and immediately covered her mouth with both hands. "You can't be serious."
Ren nodded. "I don't know how but-" The door slid open again and Ren immediately shut her mouth. This time it was Ren's doctor, who also asked her how she was, to which she responded the same thing she told her nurse. Her doctor too looked at her chart, made a few observations on what the machines were saying before she had a closer look at Ren's arm.
"I'm sure the nurse explained that we'll have to get you back in a few times so I can check on the progress of your wounds?" She asked Ren and she nodded. "Excellent. I think you'll be good to go home today. Keep the wound dry, maybe ask your friend here if she can help you bathe for a few days while you're healing. I'll be sending Recovery Girl all of your medical information so she knows how she can continue the treatment."
"Thanks, Doctor." Ren said with the best bow she could achieve in her bedded state. Uraraka and Ren weren't able to discuss the events of the day before any further as nurses and doctors filtered in and out of Ren's room as they got her packed and ready to be discharged.
Aizawa arrived a short while later to escort the two of them back to UA. It was a quiet and awkward drive with Aizawa trying to keep the spirits up but peppy just didn't suit him. In the end he opted for letting Ren bitch about how much pain she was in and that seemed to help a lot more than his first attempt. Once they'd arrived back at Height's Alliance, Aizawa let Ren know that both Hawks and Endeavour would be arriving shortly to debrief the three of them from that day's mission.
"REEEEEEEEN!" Was the first thing she heard as soon as they'd entered the front doors of class 2A's dorms. Kirishima came bolting across the shiny wooden floors at a pace almost matching Iida. "REN-ARE-YOU-OKAY-I-WANTED-TO-COME-SEE-YOU-BUT-AIZAWA-SAID-NO-YOU-NEEDED-REST-BUT-I-MISSED-YA-KID!" He skidded to a halt so not to knock her over and re-open her fresh stitches before he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head against her stomach. He was trying to be gentle but he still winded her and Ren had to pet his head until he got the message that as much as his hugs gave her life, she actually needed to breathe.
The rest of the class slowly filtered out from their various hiding spots and greeted her excitedly. Most remarking they were glad she was okay and that it was good to see her again. Ashido was just as excited as Kirishima and squealed out a string of words too nonsensical to write down. But they followed the same path as well wishing with a dash of gratitude that she could help with her homework now that she was back.
"I'm glad you missed my tutoring more than you missed me, Ashido." Ren remarked sarcastically after Uraraka had peeled the pink off of her.
Todoroki and Bakugo hung back, awkwardly watching how happy everyone was and how calm and happy being around the class made Ren. Dinner had just been prepared for the class and so they made their way to the dining hall while Aizawa returned to his quarters. Ren tried to keep as much food down as she could but she was still a little woozy and sickly from the knockout drugs, and the painkillers were starting to wear off too.
She left the dinner table earlier than everyone else, deciding she'd wait in her room until Hawks and Endeavour arrived. The idea of debriefing that day made her feel more physically sick than she did already. She had so many questions for them, and she was beyond livid at the idea that they may have known it was her brother all along. Ren lay on her bed and stared at the blank ceiling until she heard the gentle of Uraraka.
"Hey Ren, they're here." She said quietly through the door. Ren propped herself up on her good arm, her stomaching lurching over and over as she made her way to her door.
"Thanks, 'Chaco." Ren said with a weak smile.
"You okay?" Uraraka asked as they walked to the elevator together.
"I'm pissed." Ren mumbled. "And confused."
'Hm.' Uraraka nodded to her friend and placed a comforting hand on her good shoulder. "Want me to beat them up for you?"
Ren chuckled. "I'll let you know when I wanna take you up on that offer."
Uraraka left her in the hallway where Aizawa escorted Ren into his office. Endeavour was seated at his Aizawa's desk with Hawks standing next to him. Todoroki sat at one of the chairs across from the desk while Bakugo leant against the wall to the side. They each turned to Ren as she entered, all wearing stern blank faces.
"I'll leave you to it." Aizawa said plainly before he slipped into his living quarters just past his office.
"Would you like to take a seat, Chinami?" Endeavour asked while pointing to the empty seat next to Todoroki. Ren tentatively stepped over and sunk slowly into the chair. She darted her eyes between the two heroes in front of her, Todoroki kept his eyes on his wringing hands while Bakugo stayed still against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed.
Endeavour lent his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his hands as he tried to find the words to say. Hawks played with one of his feathers, smiling like a small child every now and then when he did something that entertained him.
"Are we going to talk about this or are you just here to waste my time?" Bakugo growled after too long and awkward a silence.
"Be nice, Katsuki." Hawks said without taking his eyes off of his entertaining feather.
"How are you feeling, Chinami?" Endeavour asked after a moment.
Ren shrugged. "About as good as I can be feeling I guess."
"I'm afraid that even if though you're in this state, we're going to need to reprimand for taking action against the Nomu." Endeavour began. "The three of you were told not to engage, and while Shoto and Bakugo were able to obey this instruction, you didn't."
"Oh please. Don't act all high and mighty with me." Ren rolled her eyes. "You knew, didn't you? You knew it was him in there." She asked sourly.
Endeavour sighed. "We had a suspicion that it was your father, yes."
"What?! I meant my brother!" Ren clenched the armrest of her seat. "Why would it have been my father?!
"Oh..." Endeavour mumbled.
"Fuck." Hawks added as his feather returned to the group.
"Why would it be your brother?" Todoroki asked. "Aren't both of your brothers-"
"Why don't you two go first?" Ren asked Hawks and Endeavour, interrupting Todoroki with a hint of acid in her tone.
The heroes exchanged a glance. "Your father broke out of prison a few weeks ago. We suspect he was aided by the League of Villains but the footage of his cell was corrupted so we can't know for sure." Endeavour explained.
"That's why we thought there was a chance he was in that van." Hawks added.
"So why the fuck would you bring me on a mission that could have involved my psychotic father without warning me that was the case?!"
"Because there was a chance that it wasn't your father." Hawks smiled awkwardly.
"That's dumb." Bakugo commented.
"No, instead it was my brother." Ren crossed her arms as best she could and narrowed her eyes. "I watched my father beat Tobi to death. Either of you have any idea as to how he could still be alive?"
"When we raided your family home, we never found the bodies of any of your siblings." Endeavour said. "When we questioned you afterwards, you said it's because the deceased test subjects had been incinerated. What do you remember when your father killed him?"
"I remember him dragging Tobi away..." Ren placed a thoughtful finger on her chin. "I never saw him after that so I suppose there's that chance he didn't kill him and kept him hidden... But even so, how didn't you find him if he was still alive?"
"We checked every inch of that house, Chinami. I'm sorry we didn't find him."
"So, my father has escaped from prison and my brother is still alive. And they're both in with these villain assholes?" Ren asked rhetorically. "Cool."
"Why didn't you tell her?" Todoroki asked after an awkward silence. "That her father had escaped, I mean."
"We we're hoping to get the situation under control before she ever had to find out. The media has been dealt with so they won't let any of the news slip." Endeavour explained. "We can see the mistakes we've made, we don't need a group of kids to lecture us."
"Then don't lecture us." Ren muttered through gritted teeth. "You were held up and we were in danger. I made the decision to take the Nomu-"
"You were all lucky that Hawks heard your message through the broken coms when he did... You were specifically told not to engage." Endeavour butted in. "And you had no right to kill it."
What message? None of them communicated to Hawks the entire time they were engaged with the enemy... Did he mean the feather that she had come across?
"I didn't kill it. That was my brother." Ren narrowed her eyes again as she felt herself rise from her chair. She and Endeavour stared at one another for a long time. "Fine." She dropped back into her seat. "I admit I acted selfishly and not out of the best interest of my comrades, and in doing so I got myself badly hurt and distracted them both from their work. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment you wish to give to me."
'Ungh-?' Todoroki turned to Ren in his seat. "Wait, Ren-"
"Fine." Endeavour cut him off. "Chinami-Ren Arakawa, you're out. You will return your Kaizen uniform to the Endeavour Agency as soon as possible and your employment will be terminated effective immediately."
Ren's eyes widened with every word that came out of Endeavour's mouth. She tried to conceal how much each order pained her but she'd chosen to take responsibility, she fucked up and the grown up thing to do was deal with consequences.
"Father, you can't -" Endeavour held his hand up to stop Todoroki from speaking further. Even Hawks made a noise to butt in but chose not to. The number one hero went to stand from the leather office chair to continue his lecture but it was Bakugo who spoke up.
"You're kidding me right." He pushed himself off of the wall and frowned at the two heroes. "What kind of example are you two setting?"
"Bakugo, stand down." Hawks warned.
Ren tried to catch his eye, warn him with a glance that she could take care of herself but he kept his eyes forward. "She's taking responsibility, and yeah she did some dumb shit but she took care of herself against a Nomu, didn't she? You can't act high and mighty when you kept a secret like that from all of us."
"Bakugo." Hawks warned again but he ignored him again.
"Besides, if you let her go you know every damn agency is gonna fight over the brilliant future hero you just let go." He uncrossed his arm and tucked his hands into his pockets casually, waiting for their move. "Including him." Bakugo tilted his head in Hawks' direction, making Endeavour eye him suspiciously while Hawks held his hands up defensively and chuckled uneasily.
"Okay. Dynamight. You've convinced me to sway my punishment." Endeavour spoke through tightly gritted teeth. He turned to Ren. "You won't be let go from the agency but it's back to basics, patrols, no engaging in conflict and we'll be putting you on a program to test your quirks."
"Fine, and in turn you will continue to keep my father's escape from prison under wraps and my brother's status a secret too." Ren said with a quirked brow.
"We're not negotiating." Endeavour chuckled smugly.
"Then I will walk." She sunk back into her seat, keeping her eyes on him.
"Yeah, me too." Todoroki added with a little nod to Ren.
Endeavour sighed. "Okay." He stood behind Aizawa's desk and contemplated whether or not he wanted to get another snide comment in but the effort wasn't worth it. "Let's go, Keigo."
"Before you do," Ren began. "May I have a word alone with Hawks, please?"
Endeavour and Hawks exchanged a glance before they both nodded. It took a moment for Bakugo and Todoroki to clear out of the office as they both eyed Ren and the winged hero suspiciously.
"What's up, kid?" Hawks asked her once they were alone. He lounged into Aizawa's chair and stretched his wings out lazily.
"I don't remember much from that day after the Nomu fucked up my arm." Ren explained as she leant onto the desk, clutching her shoulder tightly. "But I do remember sending that feather back to you..."
"It was a great plan. Way to communicate with us without having the coms!" Hawks said with a little smile.
'Hm.' Ren smiled weakly. "I'm not here for your praise." She said sternly. "I was thinking about the plans before the mission, and where you guys would have been situated. I thought about the moment that Bakugo caught me and when we landed on the concrete. And you showed up immediately after that."
"... Yeah... Cause I got your... Your message..." Hawks stammered before he readjusted himself to sit properly in the chair.
"That was a little fast, don't you think?" Ren asked sceptically.
"I'm pretty fast-"
"You were already on the way, weren't you?" Ren butted in. "How did you know where we were? And why was that feather out there in the first place?"Hawks opened his mouth but no words came out. "You told them you got a message that sent you in that direction, where you got my message, but it wasn't from us... Who was it?"
Hawks swallowed and his eyes darkened. "I don't think I need to answer any of these questions, do I, Arakawa?"
"Don't call me that, Keigo." Ren spat. "You're not in a position to get on my bad side."
"What do want?"
Ren glanced at the door behind her before she lowered her voice. "Did you know about my father's escape? And did you know it was my brother in there?"
"I swear to you, I didn't know about either. And the reason I knew to head to where you guys where is because they told me you were in trouble." Hawks nibbled at the inside of his cheek uneasily.
"They told you..?" Ren furrowed her brow.
"Things aren't as black and white as they seem, Ren." Hawks mumbled before he glanced at the door again. "Look, if you can hold your tongue, I'll try get you what information I can about your father and your brother."
"Okay." Ren nodded slowly. "I can do that."
The two of them left the office to be greeted by an expectant Endeavour and Bakugo and Todoroki pretending like they didn't care.
"May I ask what that was about?" Endeavour asked Hawks as the two of them made for the exit.
"She's just exploring her options in case she does choose to walk away from the Endeavour Agency." Hawks said to Endeavour cheekily before he turned to give Ren a knowing wink. The heroes left the three of them in the entrance room, awkward and uncomfortable.
"Well..." Todoroki mumbled uneasily. "Never thought I'd see someone else outargue my dad."
'Hmn.' Bakugo grumbled before he turned his nose up at the other two and headed towards the stairs. Ren and Todoroki opted for the elevators, still silent and awkward.
"Wait- Bakugo!" Ren called to him in the stairwell before she raced up to catch him. She found him a few mere steps from his floor as he half turned to face her. She leant on her knees as she caught her breath a couple of steps down from him.
"What do you want?" He growled as he leant back against the railing.
"Why did you do that?" She straightened out and rubbed her jolted shoulder a few times.
"Do what?" He sighed irritably. She talked too much sometimes.
"Why'd you stand up for me like that? After everything you've said to me and... The things I've said to you... I thought you hated me."
Bakugo rolled his eyes and sighed again. "It doesn't have to be that deep, Ren."
"Do you expect me believe you would do something like that out of the goodness of your heart?" She asked with a quirked brow.
"Because despite everything, I always respected you as a fighter." He turned away from her and took the last few steps to his floor. "Just leave it at that."
*