The L/N family had gotten themselves comfortable for the next few hours of entertainment, they'd stayed home this year in favour of watching it in person, it wasn't that it'd be particularly hard for them to get in, UA themselves were offering discounts to the families of heroes who'd assist in guarding the festival due to the recent USJ attack. The reason in particular they decided to stay home was if Y/N did take the deal, he'd be stuck on guard duty and wouldn't have time to be with his family, another was that the food would be overpriced as hell so why go there when they can eat at home with the food they already bought?
By Y/N's standards this year's UA sports festival was better than the last two considering he didn't have to cover his kids' eyes because a student got naked, he remembers the blonde who's been in the previous two sports festivals so he'd banned his kids from watching the third years this time due to the nudist. The ones they did watch they enjoyed, the first years had a few stand out characters among them such as Endeavour's son and a kid with an explosive quirk, Kazuha preferred the red and white haired teen and made an accidental pun that Tomoko pointed out when he said he was "pretty cool" and Kotori just liked "boom boy" because she liked to laugh at him when he got mad, with her favourite moment being when the second round finished he'd gone face first into the ground in a fit of rage.
During the final round for the first years Kazuha had decided to try make things more interesting by betting his snacks on who'd win, the only members of the family who didn't compete in the wager were Y/N and Yuji the former as he wasn't willing to risk his snacks and the latter because well he was a baby, what were you expecting? Tomoko and Kazuha placed their bets on the candy cane themed boy, whilst Kotori for once differed from her mother by picking the red eyed blonde bomber, eventually this left the 4 year old with too much food so she just ended up giving it back anyway.
Eventually when the festival had ended, the children plus baby had all left to enjoy some fresh air and try using their quirks, having been inspired by the sports festival to get stronger with them, this left the parents to clean the mess made by the family gathering. Currently Tomoko was vacuuming up the crumbs littering the floor while Y/N was storing any leftovers so they wouldn't go to waste, hearing a sound Mrs L/N stopped cleaning to see where it originated to discover it was her husband's phone going off. What was off though was it sounded like a normal ringtone, while this would be the norm for others Y/N always had the most obscure ringtones for all of his personal contacts, emphasis on 'personal' meaning this was a hero related call.
Over with Y/N who was in the kitchen storing any leftovers whilst humming a tune, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his name being called by his wife, when he got to her she was holding his phone which was ringing, not in one of the unique ringtones he sets so he knew this was serious. Checking the name of the caller it was 'Kenji Tsuragamae', this was concerning considering this was the Hosu chief of police calling him at home, even though he knew he was taking time off today. It was Tsuragamae who'd asked Inquisitive to patrol Hosu due to the recent issue of the Hero Killer, and the chief knew he wasn't working today as the hero had personally recommend Ingenium to him while he was busy today, just for today as well so he could be with his family, it was just meant to be one day...
Y/N was stuck staring at his phone as multiple thoughts swirled in his head, so many you'd think he'd used his quirk on himself, eventually brought out of it by the sound of the phone in his hand, he decided it'd be better to stop worrying about it and just hear whatever it is.
Y/N: "Tsuragamae, what's the situation?" When conversing he'd subconsciously switched to speaking in the same tone of voice he does when at work, knowing this must be serious
Tsuragamae: "Ingenuim recently encountered the Hero Killer..." the chief of police had worked with Inquisitive before and knew what he was like as a hero, so when calling he'd expected him to cut straight to the chase, so he would too...
Hearing words coming from the phone that was held to his ear made Y/N's blood run cold, Tsuragamae had just informed him that when Ingenuim had an encounter with the Hero Killer and that he was left in critical condition, the reason this call came to his personal phone and not communicated to him at his agency was they'd need to beef up patrols in Hosu ASAP with stronger heroes, considering the perpetrator had gotten bolder in his actions having just attacked a formidable hero such as Ingenuim.
Once he was caught up with the situation he'd agreed that tomorrow he'd begin working in Hosu till the villain was caught, Tsuragamae originally wanted to protest this course of action but held his tongue knowing the guilt Y/N felt considering Ingenuim was only there in Inquisitive's place. Whilst Tomoko couldn't hear what the person on the phone was saying she still got the general gist of the situation from her husband's responses, so when Y/N had ended the call she pulled him into a hug knowing what was probably going through his head right now, while he and Ingenuim weren't best friends they had a good relationship as colleagues, good enough that Ingenuim was willing to cover for Y/N to spend time with his family.
By the time the kids had come back in, the house was back to its usual state and their parents looked just how they had left them, albeit a bit more physically intimate than usual but nothing to suggest anything was wrong. Over their years Y/N and Tomoko had to sometimes put on brave faces, with both being heroes they'd seen the worst of what humanity had to offer, Y/N as a front liner saw the acts of vilest of villains and Tomoko as a rescue hero had witnessed the horrors they left behind. In the end the two of them had to seek comfort from the other over the years while also not showing this side to their children, they didn't want to worry about them every time they went to work.
The day continued on as usual, at dinner Y/N didn't contribute much to general conversation about the sports festival which only Tomoko noticed as the children were still hyped from the festival and Yuji was getting fed by Tomoko. When the day was coming to an end and everyone was in their respective beds Y/N had seemed to of returned to his regular relaxed self which his wife was happy to see, this kind of situation wasn't new too him, heroes getting hurt on the job was inevitable, it was the fact that his choice led to this situation that got to him. Y/N being an experienced hero knew he had to move on, while the guilt would sit there for a while he knew stressing about wouldn't do him any good, now while he's at home he should make sure he didn't worry anyone and make problems here before he departs tomorrow.
Eventually drifting off to sleep holding his lover, all his worries seemed to drift away, at least until...
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Yeah they still had it
One morning routine later and a family was gathered for breakfast, Y/N then decided to inform Kazuha and Kotori that he'd probably be gone for a few days for hero work, while they were disappointed by the news they still wished him luck on whatever it was. The 2 children had learnt that they shouldn't ask for specifics about work only that their parents would tell them what they could and should know, pretty mature considering they were four and eight years old, they knew being a hero wasn't always stopping bank robbers and getting a cat out of a tree, all they knew was that scary things happen that their parents deal with, which only served to boost their opinions of them higher with them being so brave. With their ages in mind Y/N decided the topic of the Hero Killer was too mature for them so he refrained from telling them, I mean the clue is the name.
When Y/N had gotten to Hosu in his costume he had one stop to make before he'd begin his search for the Hero Killer, due to urgent state of Ingenuim when he was found he was brought to the nearest hospital, that hospital was in Hosu and Y/N had made sure to get it's location from Tsuragamae yesterday, regardless of how he felt about Ingenuim being in a situation he should of been in, the least he should do is apologise. Once in the hospital getting the room of Ingenuim was no trouble after Y/N gave his name, the chief probably expected he'd check up on his colleague so he told the staff to let him through. When he got to the room Ingenuim was being monitored in, Y/N heard there was a conversation already going on inside with what sounded like a teen, regardless of who it was it'd be rude to interrupt so Y/N patiently waited outside for a good moment to make his presence know. At that moment Y/N didn't know what came over him, but he was curious, curious as to the state the hero was in and since the conversation going on was seemingly about that, he decided to listen in.
For the second time recently he hoped what his ears heard was a lie
Ingenuim said that his legs would be useless and he wanted whoever he was talking to (presumably his brother) to take up the name Ingenuim
Y/N could handle his emotions fairly well, but not in that moment, hearing that made the world around him feel like a blur, before he didn't really blame himself cause he couldn't predict what would happen, but now hearing just how bad it was, he now couldn't help but fully blamed himself.
Because of him Ingen-
No not any more...
Because of him Tensei Iida's life was ruined
All kinds of thoughts filled his head, many different what if's and why's about this, eventually his train of thought would be broken hearing the door open. Out stepped a teen who Y/N assumed to be Tensei's brother, the teen seemed to be in a situation similar to what Y/N was just in as he didn't notice the fully equipped hero standing outside his brother's room as he walked off lost in thought, although the occupant of the room did notice him.
Tensei: "A-ah Inquisitive, what're you doing here" his voice matched the state he was in, it was a sad sight
Hearing the name of the hero made two people stop for moment to let it sink in, the hero himself Y/N L/N who came to make an apology and the teen who just left the room of his critically injured brother; Tenya Iida. Tenya remembered the day before the sports festival he was told something by his brother...
Tensei: "Hey listen sorry Tenya but I won't be able to watch the sports festival live, a hero called Inquisitive I owe asked me to do a patrol for him so he could watch the festival with his family, hey but don't worry I'll be rooting for you all the way and once it's over we'll celebrate, sound good?"
When he initially heard what his brother said Tenya was disappointed but then considered this part of being a hero, making sacrifices for the sake of other's, which he then used to further support the notion that his brother was a great hero. Then after the incident Tenya's view on the situation changed, there were two people to blame for what happened to his brother; the first the hero killer who did this to him and the second the "hero" Inquisitive who'd put him in that situation to begin with.
Now hearing one of the people responsible was near him Tenya turned to see what he believed to be one of the culprits for the crippling of his brother; covered head to toe in urban camouflage in a military style costume, fur collared jacket and plain grey helmet, those were the key details he'd taken in and remembered. After taking in the appearance of the "hero" he turned back around and continued to leave, he couldn't do much in this situation and confronting them would only cause problems, so he left with the image of Inquisitive burned into memory.
Back with Y/N who'd finished taking in the sight of Iida, he entered the room and stood to side of the hospital bed, Tensei in this situation was nervous. Inquisitive had a reputation for being intimidating and the aesthetics of his costume reinforced that view, so seeing that same person standing outside his hospital room then walk to the side of his bed made the now former pro nervous, although he wasn't expecting what happened next. Inquisitive took off the helmet to his costume and placed the helmet under his armpit, the appearance of the hero alone was a surprise to Tensei as people who hasn't seen under the helmet thought Inquisitive was a scarred brooding man. Next without missing a beat Y/N preformed a ninety degree bow to Tensei who was taken aback by the display, he didn't catch the somber look on Y/N's face before he bowed.
Y/N: "Iida, I am terribly sorry for what my actions have caused, it is my fault you're in this situation" his voice sounded almost monotone, the only hints of emotion that could be heard were disappointment
Tensei who still processing everything that had just happened eventually got his thoughts together, if he could stand he'd of already pulled Y/N up so he'd stop bowing to him
Tensei: "L/N there's no need for that, no one knew the Hero Killer would be there, so please stand up" the voice he used sounded desperate, it was uncomfortable for him to have Y/N bowing in this situation
Despite what was said Y/N didn't budge an inch
Y/N: "I understand that but still, if I had taken that patrol as I should of, I would've met the Hero Killer, it should be in that bed not you" he spoke as flat as before with sadness building in his voice
Tensei: "Hey! Don't talk like that, this isn't on you, I could've called for help or something but I decided to take him on by myself" after raising his voice he needed to cough
Said cough made Y/N raise his head to try aid Tensei by giving him a cup of water, after drinking and giving a quick thank you Tensei turned to face Y/N letting him know it was his turn to speak. Y/N sighed to himself putting his helmet on the table next to him before sitting in the seat Tenya was previously sat in, slouching in the seat he placed his face in his hands letting out a deep sigh.
Y/N: "I get it, it's just I know I could of done better" no emotion was readable this time
Tensei: "Yeah we all have those thoughts as heroes, and I'm sure you've wished you could of done more to help before, I know for sure I have" his raspy voice let loose a chuckle as he sympathised
Both were now reminiscing, over their years of being heroes they had indeed had moments where they've known and wished they could do better when looking back at their failures, the comfortable silence was eventually broken by the one that caused it
Tensei: "We both have regrets, and truthfully the only one I'm worried about right now is not being their to look out for my brother as he become a hero, pretty selfish of me huh?"
Y/N: "I'll do the best I can" he faced Tensei with a new fire in his eyes
Seeing this Tensei was confused by what Y/N meant so he waited for him to continue
Y/N: "We heroes gotta keep reminding ourselves that we can only do our best in the end and this reminded me of that, I know that in this situation that I'm part of the reason it happened, but I shouldn't blame myself, I've got to just try my best to do better in the future. Even though I shouldn't blame myself I know a part of me always will, so to try to forgive myself I'll make sure you don't have any regrets, I'll look out for your brother, pretty selfish of me huh?"
Tensei was taken aback by what was said but letting it sink in, he just smiled to Y/N
Tensei: "If I could stand I'd bow to you just like you did to me" humour for the first time was brought into the conversation
Both men chuckled at the comment, even if it was kind of in poor taste they took whatever they could get, after that Y/N bid Tensei farewell and wished him luck in his recovery to which the injured man thanked him for. After this Y/N went in search of his main reason for being here which was the Hero Killer, considering where reports of him striking originated in alleyways and isolated environments Y/N began his search in areas fitting those descriptions. Still he was trying to find one man who had the eye of the law long before he was searching so Y/N knew he'd be unlikely to find him anytime soon, damn he realised how useful Tomoko's quirk was in situations like this.
His assumption proved correct as the day was ending and he'd yet to find even a single trace of his target, while he knew the probability of the Hero Killer appearing might be higher at night, running into him tired would do nothing but get him killed, so he decided to head back to his own temporary agency Tsuragamae had set up for him while he was in Hosu. When Y/N settled down for the day he'd texted Tomoko to let him know how things had went, despite knowing he was careful she still told him to be even more careful which caused him to smile, before he went to sleep though he decided he'd keep up his promise to Tensei and do something he hadn't done before.
Y/N proceeded to spend another day of fruitless searching and since his arrival even more heroes had made appearances, either Tsuragamae had requested more aid to search for the Hero Killer or they'd come here by themselves to find him, either way it wouldn't be long now before he was found.
It was now 2 days since Y/N had met Tensei in the hospital and currently a significant distance away from both of them was Tenya Iida, currently he was looking through his list of offers for internships from the sports festival and while he had plenty he was only paying attention to the ones set in Hosu, where he could potentially run into the Hero Killer. Eventually his eyes were drawn to a name he confused to see...
Inquisitive
The same hero who he'd encountered during his visit to his brother, why'd he send him an offer, was he planning on bringing down the entire Iida family legacy? He knew his thoughts were irrational, thinking about it calmly it may be his way of trying to apologise to his brother by helping him when he had failed Tensei, regardless he still hadn't forgiven the hero for his role in Tensei's downfall. Tenya decided he'd need more time with his list of internships, originally he planned on selecting the first one he saw in Hosu, but now with Inquisitive as a possibility he might have to put opinions of him aside if he gave a better chance a better chance of running into the Hero Killer.
Inquisitive as option would be fairly decent he was the highest ranking pro that gave him an offer in Hosu, Tenya had good knowledge on the top heroes, nothing like his classmate Midoriya but he had a surface level understanding of most and the hero did become fairly well known due to the sludge incident. So although it took him longer than originally planned he still handed in his one option the same day he got the list, plus thinking about it now he realised it was actually the best choice he could make, considering if went off by himself and used his quirk without persimmon the blame would fall on Inquisitive...
maybe it could be his way of killing two birds with one stone; defeat the Hero Killer and damage Inquisitive's hero career as they had done to his brother.
Word count: 3623
A/N: Yeah this chapter is pretty short compared to the others, it's mainly a set up for what's to come, but anyways opinions?
Good?
Bad?
Meh?
(Also I thought it'd be fun to tease chapters from now on so...)
Next chapter: Thoughts to the thoughtless