Bakugo
10 years ago
Something no one's gonna tell you about having kids is that they're people. No one ever talks about the fact that the baby in your arms is a person- a person of their own. Cause that means you gotta respect who they are and who they choose to be.
I do. The best I can anyway.
I think about that while outside my kids' school. Headset's been working like crazy, so it's my turn. If she burns herself out again, I'm kicking her ass. In any case, this gives me the chance to spend more time with Yuki and Ame.
Pulling my baseball cap down over my head, I try not to chat with the other parents waiting outside. The heat's a bitch and my hair's sweating, but getting recognized's a no-no. Yuki and Ame know I'm a hero. But they need to know it's not my whole life.
A crooked smile curves my face when I check my watch. They'll be out in two minutes.
"Excuse me?"
I break out of my thoughts about taking my kids to the park and teaching them how to rock climb cause somebody decided to talk to me. Bad idea. Until those two little humans come running out the gate, I'm not in a good mood.
"Hm?" The hum grumbles out my throat, an obligatory frown accompanied with the sound. When I look down there's a woman blinking at me with an ugly fake smile.
"You're Yuki's father, aren't you?"
Oh great. Listen, if Yuki punched her kid that means they either bullied Ame or tried to eat her food. As far as I'm concerned, it's justified.
"Yeah," I keep my arms crossed, raising a brow suspiciously. "What about it?"
The woman chuckles, shaking her head.
"She's a spunky little girl, that one. Always has so much energy."
From her tone, it sounds like she means it, so I relax my shoulders a little. She doesn't try to touch my arm and ask about what it's like being a hero which is reassuring and, by the way, more common than you'd think. (Don't worry, Headset's usually around to shoot overly flirtatious women death stares)
"Trust me," my hand reaches up to the back of my neck. Memories of Yuki being jealous of me whenever her mom and I'd kiss and biting my shin aren't too far gone. "I know."
"You must be proud of her being top of her class already and so young too."
"Tch." Can't help the tsk or the head shake. Why's she sound so impressed!? Of course, she's amazing, she's my kid, why wouldn't she be!? "She's always been smart. If she wasn't kickin ass, I'd be worried."
"Well, your son is just adorable too," Her laugh fades as she looks back at the school, sighing. "Shy little thing though."
Something about the way she says that tips me off the wrong way. I furrow my brows at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh nothing," She waves a hand at me, but I caught that change in tone.
It happens all the time when people talk about my kids.
Yuki and Ame are two sides of the same coin.
Yeah, she can be a little too harsh with her classmates. She's so confident she doesn't know when to stop. But she's a beast of a child: fearless and always trying her best. Ame's six now and he still hasn't gotten his quirk. He can't hold a conversation yet either. But he's a gentle soul like his mother: cautious and quiet.
So when someone judges either of them it makes a part of me I'm not comfortable with grow angry. And didn't I already mention I'm not in a good mood!?
"Some kids are just a little frailer at the start," She says, the relative ease in her voice as she insults my son making my fists clench. "They grow out of it. He doesn't have his quirk yet, maybe once it comes in, he'll get some more confiden-"
"Are you saying he's weak?"
The woman sidesteps a bit, eyes wider. She shakes her head, hand to her chest like I've wounded her.
"N-not at all."
"Good! Cause he isn't! Just cause he's a lil quiet doesn't mean crap!"
All I can imagine is Ame sitting at his desk, feet dangling off the chair, tossling back and forth when he's anxious. I can see him peering over while his classmates look at him then start whispering. I can see his face falling, his eyes getting all sad. Ame might be shy, but he's not stupid. He's observant. What if kids talk about him behind his back like this mother probably influences her child to? What kind of damage is that gonna do to him?
The fact that I don't know how to protect him from it makes my blood boil.
Thankfully, the bell rings before I can say anything I'm gonna regret. As it does, the school gate opens. A sudden relief washes over me, anticipation too.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to offend you," The woman says, but I got a feeling I should be apologizing for assuming. "I just meant that he was cute."
On the off chance she was insulting Ame, I don't.
"Damn right he's cute," I grumble, walking away from her towards the school.
Looks like I'm right on time.
The tippy tapping of running toddler feet rings in my ears and when I perk up, who's sprinting through with her backpack barely strapped in, but my little demon.
"There's my firecracker."
Laughter erupts out of me. Yuki's hair pokes out every which way, the excitement on her face shining for miles. She looks ridiculous and pure and joyful. Not to mention, she's still a battering ram. I forget about that as I crouch down to get on her level.
Second her shoes assault the sidewalk, she runs into me full speed, her arms wrapping around my waist as her head slams into my stomach. A pained sound rises out of me, but I manage to stay upright, putting one hand on her back.
"Where's mommy!?" She breathes, her toothy smile gazing up at me, her chin rested on my chest. I roll my eyes, ruffle her hair since it can't look any more ridiculous.
"She's working. You'll see her soon."
"I wanna see mommy now!" She raises both arms in protest.
"Tough. You got me. Get in the car. I'm taking you to the agency."
That gets her. Yuki loves it there. She's obsessed with heroes and since my agency's next door to Kirishima's, she gets to annoy his sorry ass. It's kind of adorable, to say the least: watching her run to the car like we're going to an amusement park.
Just as I'm about to stand and face the gate again, I feel something on my back. In the midst of sprinting, yelling children, a more tender sort of energy beams out of the creature hugging me round the neck from behind.
I smile a softer smile, looking over my shoulder.
A little black-haired beauty stands on his tiptoes, blue uniform shirt neatly worn on his shoulders, his little yellow hat clutched in one of his hands. It's his favorite. He even smells like the flowers he probably played with during recess, his tiny heartbeat thumping against my spine. It's slow and steady. Something about the calm in it soothes my worries.
"Hey bud," I say, taking his hands in mine, squeezing twice. "You tired?"
Ame blinks at me, but he can't hold eye contact too long without chewing on his lower lip. Rather than answer with his voice, he just hides his face, nods against my shirt.
"Get on then," I say. "Let's go."
Giving him a piggyback ride to the car, disappointment isn't an emotion I can afford to show. I told you, remember? It's important to respect who they are. Ame's discomfort surrounding speech is just something we've gotta continue working on.
Yuki and I have a deal. Anybody bullies her brother about that or anything, she's got free reign. The tyrant currently crawling into the back seat and insisting on buckling her own seatbelt is very happy with that arrangement.
Ame takes the front. He likes being able to see the road in front of him. Sometimes, I'll look over while driving and the kids' just staring at me with light in his eyes. He'll even pretend to put his hands on the steering wheel, mimicking when I change gears.
When I buckle him in and take my seat in the front, I nick my hand on the side of the door when it shuts.
"Aw crap."
"My teacher said crap's a bad word," Yuki says.
"Then don't say it."
"But you said it and mommy says it when she does taxes."
"You don't know what taxes are, Yuki."
"Mommy says she doesn't either."
"Well, then mommy should let me handle it- ow."
I look down at my thumb that's got a huge cut down the center, some blood trickling. Urgh. Clenching my fist, I reach towards the glove compartment for a napkin or something, but my body stills when I set sight on Ame.
He's gone all stiff, his eyes all big and glossy like he's terrified.
"Ame? What's wrong?"
Suddenly panicked, Ame looks from my hand to his lap, and everywhere around him, his chest puffing up and down, little whimpers rising from him like he's about to cry. I reach out to pet his head, to shush him, but he pushes me away.
Actually no, not away, just down- like he wants me to be careful.
"No, no, Ame, it's fine," I try to calm him, but he takes my blood's word for it. "Baby, relax, look."
Eventually, Ame stills, tears wetting his cheeks till I show him that mine are dry. Making sure his eyes are on me, I flex the injury a few times, fingers making a grabbing motion, so he can see that I'm not in pain. That seems to do the trick. Like the two little squeezes on his hands when he's unsure.
"I'm okay." I press a kiss on his forehead. "Dad doesn't get hurt so easy."
Sniffling once, Ame looks down at his lap again and catches sight of his favorite bright yellow hat. Gently as ever, the boy takes it and starts to dab at my cut without hesitation. I flinch, not because it hurts, but because the yellow soaks up the red and it'll ruin it- but...
Ame doesn't seem to mind. All he wants is for me to be okay.
Sighing and rubbing my face I hug him to me.
"You're so caring, aren't you, little man?" Screw the world. I put my baseball cap, the black one I always wear, on Ame's head. A little exchange. He touches it with diligence, jaw slacked like I've just given him a Christmas present. Scoffing, I smile down at the thing much too big for him, try to build his confidence even more. "That's your superpower for now, okay? You take good care of the things you care about."
And I swear, even as I start the car and the engine rumbles, Ame speaks.
It sounded like thank you.
Yuki
Present
I thought it was a car crash at first. Sato's employees all ceased their work as soon as sounds of cars colliding outside took the air. But then, people started running, shouting. That's when my training kicked in.
The sun hits me as soon as I throw my sweatshirt off and readjust my costume. I wear it underneath so that the ends wrap my palms. Kaido and Hina do the same as we run out the door.
People run past us, shrill voices filling the air. Most abandon their cars, the four-way stop ahead an orchestra of chaos with honking, yelling, and crashing.
Spinning on my heel, I search for the source of the commotion- a fight, a building collapsing-
"Yuki," Kaido breaths at my side, grabbing my arm and pointing further down the street.
A man stands there, long black coat shrouding his aura along with a mask covering the entirety of his face. His arms extend outwardly, the pieces of metal dredging a path in the air to his command. Catching the light, debris from the road, steel from passing vehicles, separated masses of iron from buildings- it all circles the intersection around the central figure. Like planets orbiting a sun.
A villain. I can't think of a motive as to why he'd start terrorizing downtown other than this being one of the busiest streets in the city. But my teachers always taught me that some people don't need a reason. Sometimes, they just want to watch the world submit to panic by their hand.
And panic it does.
The man releases his fists. It's a minuscule motion. The scrap metal obeys, flying in all directions at the speed of bullets. Glass clashes to the ground in the wake of breaking windows, car alarms going off, people ducking, their voices shrieking at the fear of impact.
So he can control metal. In an industrial city, that means he has Unlimited opportunities to cause damage.
I see the fist flying towards me when I was six, the boot stomping on my face. I feel the rush of wanting to stand and fight, of wanting the people around me to remain unscathed. That feeling pushes me forward.
"Darkwing!" I yell as we start running in the same direction. My friend looks to me for guidance at the sound of her name. "Get civilians to safety- make sure no one's in the line of fire. And stay in the sky as much as you can. If I have to drag you to the hospital, I'll be pissed!"
"On it."
Hina's wings emerge from her back through the fabric of her costume, the mist of darkness she inherited from her father, an aerial weapon of rescue beyond any other.
"Kaido!" I yell, the boy still at my side.
"Aw, no hero name for me? I'm insulted, Inferno."
A whooshing sound and the following ring of metal cutting through the air has both of us ducking and rolling. Kaido puts his hand on the back of my head on our way down. Once we're back on our feet, I scowl.
"Don't look at me like that! If you die under my watch, there's no way I'm getting a promotion!"
"Shut up." I smack his hand looking around every which way to make sure no one around us just got injured by that wave.
"What's the plan with Magneto over here?"
I can't see the criminal's face behind his mask, but from the way his head turns with diligence like he's studying every atom in the air, it becomes evident. He's searching for something.
"Until we get closer, your fire isn't an option. We've got to figure out a way to detain him." I say, Hina making an appearance as she picks up a child and returns to the sky. It gives me an idea as I realize our villain only seems to propel his metal from his center out. It means he doesn't look up.
"I'll go airborne. Once he's distracted by my explosions, make your move and we'll surround him." I grasp Kaido's shoulder and smirk at the prospect of a good fight. "Let's show him that iron and steel melt pretty easy with some fire and dynamite."
The rush in my veins intensifies.
Police sirens sound ahead, their cars making way through the traffic. On any other day, I'd say their help was somewhat welcome, but now with a guy like this, they're just putting themselves in danger and getting in the way. Until a pro arrives to assist Kaido and me, we need all the room we can to put our provisional licenses to good use.
But I made a mistake. It seems our figure isn't as bad an aim as I thought. The moment the cars stop, he clenches a single fist, a motion that has the officers' guns ripped from their hands and colliding straight with their heads. Most fall unconscious instantly.
After collapsing nearly ten police officers with a flick of his wrist, the man catches sight of what he was looking for. He stills for a moment, cocks his head to the side, and gives a long look towards the center of a crosswalk. When he turns, starts walking with a purpose, I catch sight of his objective.
My heart drops in my chest.
In the center of those white lines, where everyone has already run and only the forefront of abandoned cars remain, my brother holds a body. His best friend's body.
A stream of blood stains Mu's hairline, reaching from their temple all the way down their neck. Their eyes are opening and closing without clear pattern, rolling into the back of their head, arms limp.
Ame breathes heavily over them, such careful movements in how he handles their weakened frame. He could easily pick Mu up, but he doesn't. His attention finds their wound. One of his hands tears the black baseball cap off his friend's head and the other holds him upright, keeping them conscious.
He's afraid. Not for himself. The same look shines in his eyes as when dad cut his hand when we were little. Red glosses over with a wave of the fear that sets in when someone you love is hurt. It blinds him to the danger coming his way.
"Ame!" I yell, propelling an explosion behind me as the villain nears him.
He doesn't look up. All he sees is Mu in his arms.
"Ame, run!" I yell again, more desperately.
The villain hears me before my brother does. His head snaps to the side and suddenly an entire car lifts from the earth, propelled right in my direction. He didn't even wait to see who I was. He just fired without a thought.
My eyes go wide, reflexes kicking in as I put my hands out in front of me and blast the vehicle. A shimmering of yellows and oranges flashes with a deafening sound and the car and I go in opposite directions. It slams into the ground at the center of the intersection.
Once the smoke clears, the villain uses the steel bumper of a car, twisting his fingers till the part begrudgingly separates and flies to his command.
Ame finally looks up. The bumper collides with his chest, sending him backward, Mu falling to the ground. Ame winces, barely making a sound at the sudden pain, instead trying to get back to his feet as quickly as possible.
I can already see the bruise that'll be there tonight, the black and blue Ame will deny hurts for the sake of our parents' sanity.
Trying to control my emotions like I've been taught is essential in an altercation like this. I swing my body over the car in the center of the intersection, skidding to the concrete, barely thirty feet from our villain. Just a little closer and I'm in a close enough range that I can blow that bastard up unconscious.
But I never get the chance.
In one of those hands that's in the past ten minutes only served as a means of destruction, the villain holds Mushi by the collar of their shirt. He lifts them from the ground, Mu barely able to comprehend what's going on, let alone struggle.
I want to sprint faster, take Mu back. But even Kaido knows he can't walk away from the officers he just helped back up. I told you- he has unlimited ammo. We make him feel cornered, he can kill Mu with a single motion of his hand.
I skid to a halt.
Bringing them closer to his face, the villain observes their features, like he's trying to distinguish something. Once Mu's amber eyes shine with realization, they go wide. With what limited strength they have left, Mu manages to grasp their attacker's wrist, push, trying to break loose.
That only seals their fate.
The villain's found what he's been looking for.
From his pocket, he removes a vial containing clear liquid, pressing down on the cap that pierces the container. Gas emerges. Mu coughs, within seconds, falling unconscious. Tucking his arm beneath Mu's knees, the villain holds them in his arms.
"Hey!" I yell, taking one step forward without thinking, my fists clenched. The villain raises their head, finally catching sight of me. His gaze moves from me to Kaido and back, his hands flexing as he holds Mu closer, like the child he's holding hostage is not something he's willing to let go of.
Putting my hands up as if surrendering, I think about the tears that would fall down Ame's cheeks, the cries he'd try and suppress, the days he wouldn't get out of bed if I let something happen to Mu.
Calming my breaths, I look towards Kaido who's standing in front of the police cars. The gray rims red in his irises, glowing. The tattoo on his back glows in the shape of a dragon beneath his costume. He's ready.
Looking back at the villain, I see him staring at me, his chest puffing up and down. He's afraid, holding Mu even closer, taking another step back- like a surrounded animal.
I swallow. "There's no need to hurt them."
"Inferno," The villain says my name almost with question, as if he recognizes me. My heritage is apparent. "I saw you at the sports festival the last two years. You're one of those hero students from UA. "
He doesn't seem angry about my presence, not even annoyed. If anything, he seems conflicted, like he doesn't know how to get out of this situation.
"Shit," he breathes, catching sight of the blood on Mu's face, shifting so they're more comfortable in his arms.
I take another step in their direction.
"Don't come any closer!" The villain yells and I finally get a scope of their voice. From the bit of silver in their hair, they're most likely a middle-aged male, around six foot, high-powered quirk making them harder to profile as a civilian.
I obey his command and put my arms higher. It's when his hand, now ungloved, catches the light. A wedding ring, banded around his finger.
He's married. He has someone he loves. Kirishima's voice rings through my head from this morning.
"So are they." I breathe, pointing at the person I hope to god is alright in his arms. "They're a first-year- a child."
At the last word, the villain shudders, taking another step back. He holds Mu like a fragile, precious thing.
I realize then, a possible motive.
"You have children too, don't you?" I say, putting a single hand out, coming closer carefully. Cornered animals need subtly, someone to give them a way out. I hear the man's breathing intensify, fear and frustration coupling into shaky hands.
I'm almost close enough to take Mu from his arms. My training tells me to be cautious, to diffuse the situation, but another part of me sees something in the man across from me. It's the part of me my mother nurtured ever since I told her I wanted to be a hero.
Villains are just the people no one got a chance to save.
I don't stop walking. I take the risk, knowing from the way he acts there's something going on no one can understand.
I reach out. "We can help you, sir."
His head snaps up and even if I can't see his face, I can see the anger rising in his body. He's heard that sentence before. And whoever said it last time didn't fulfill their promise.
Letting out a frustrated groan, the man lets go of Mu's legs and swings his arm in my direction, Kaido and I moving in sync as I go back and he runs towards me.
A hoard of scrap metal he must've inadvertently shaped into what looks like a thousand blades fly right at me. Explosions won't stop their trajectory enough. I have less than a second. I go to the sky propelling as high as I can go in a single flickering explosion and twist my body to avoid getting hit. A piece skids my arm and I cringe at the feel of my skin tearing.
The villain stares at me as long as I'm up. A bit of blood isn't enough. He's going to fire again.
But I forgot about someone.
As the villain stares up at me, ready to strike again, raising his arm, metal pieces rumbling as they separate from the buildings, the road, even the traffic lights- fluttering footsteps run at him. Before he even has a chance to turn, Ame's body collides with the villain's so hard he tips over.
In sync with all the metal shards that were about to come my way, the villain falls to the ground from Ame's assault. Concrete creates friction on his palms as he catches himself. Mu's limp body does too, but this time Ame's there to catch them. As soon as he's got them, Ame spins on his heel, shielding Mu from any attack that might come their way.
Kaido and I start to run, but the villain puts his hands up in warning, metal rising from the ground once more.
"Either of you move and I'll put a stake through his chest! Stay back!" This time he means it. Kaido and I both stop.
I've been in this situation in training before, I've prepared for it a thousand times. But I never in a million years thought my brother would be there in the midst of it all. I never thought I'd be trembling, my heartbeat beating through my head.
Ame's not behind me unscathed. He's in the grasp of monsters. And there's a fist and a boot just waiting to turn him bloody.
"Get out of my way, boy." The villain orders, his chest puffing up and down, like he's on his last nerve.
Putting Mu as gently as he can on the ground, Ame cradles their head, whispering things I can't hear. He still has the black baseball cap clutched in his fist. His favorite. He lays it beneath Mu's head, letting it collect the dust and rubble from the sight rather than his friends' injury.
I think he's about to do the smart thing and run, let Kaido and I get Mu, but he doesn't. Instead, he turns around to face the villain, plants his feet, his fists clenched.
From the look on his face? Not even a hundred stakes in the heart would move Ame from where he stands.
"I won't ask again, move!"
Ame shakes his head.
The villain sighs, the silent threat of the metal shaking in the air. I can't tell if he's getting frustrated or tired. But his breathing suggests both.
"I don't want any casualties." He bites. Somehow, I can tell he means that too.
Ame breathes lighter, raising his chin.
"Neither do I."
"Why must you heroes make things so complicated?"
Ame swallows, eyes wide, his breaths shaking out of his chest. But for some reason I can't describe, I don't see any fear there. The little brother I grew up with. The one with gentility and softness and crippling anxiety- he isn't there. Instead, I see a boy with the want for violence spinning in the red.
"I'm not a hero," Ame says.
The villain scoffs, cocking his head to the side, the metal in the air crying out from its own weight as he prepares to aim it right at my brother.
"Aren't you?"
The villain, finally, loses patience. With it, his promise of no casualties.
"I'm sorry." He whispers, looking down at his wedding ring, clutching his fist as the metal in the air once again straightens. "I have to do this."
Dusk takes the sky all at once before its greed takes the earth too. The lights from the police cars, the buildings too, it doesn't even begin to outshine the determination in Ame's eyes. A determination that'll be the death of him.
I risk it all. I run at the criminal just as he releases the metal spikes right at my brother. Maybe I'll make it, maybe I won't, I don't care, I won't let Ame get hurt because I couldn't do my fucking job! Guilt combusts along with my explosions, but before I can even reach my brother, someone else does.
Flickers of green lightning sound in the sky.
Explosions far louder than my own combust a few streets over.
Ice, in the form of a barrage, creates barriers around us all.
Kaido takes the opportunity to sprint, send flames in the direction of the criminal and grab Ame, shielding him with his entire body as they hit the ground. Hina comes in from the air, grabbing Mu, carrying him to the sky where he's finally safe.
And when pro heroes Deku, Shoto, and Dynamight surround the criminal who was about to kill my brother, I can finally breathe.
P A R A L L E L
Ame Bakugo - Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo
I don't know what happened. My feet just moved on their own.
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