Chapter Text
Hizashi Yamada considered himself a very sociable person. That did not mean he was not mildly annoyed at the light knocking on his door. Especially so early in the morning on his first day off in two weeks. He guessed it was barely past 5 and Hizashi wasn't expecting company. The only two people prone to dropping by unannounced were Shouta and Nemuri, neither of which would ever be awake this early while school was out of session. Tugging at his robe and shuffling his slippers he walked to the door peaking out the peephole. Standing on his doorstep was a sharp faced young girl. The girl looked around 16 with her blue and blonde hair pulled into two pigtails on either side of her head. But the most striking thing about her was the crude metal mask covering the bottom half of her face and the note in her hand. Her eyes looked shifty as if she was nervous.
Hizashi's posture shifted instantly and he was suddenly less himself. Now he was Present Mic. Despite the flat hair and rumbled pajamas it was clear he was ready to help this strange child in need or for the potential threat his more bitter and strangely Shouto sounding internal voice reminded him. He hated to suspect a kid. Captiously he opened the door. The girl looked up at him seemingly unaware of the edge in his movements and posture choosing to focus on the large smile on his face.
“What can I help ya with this morning, little listener? You’ll have to forgive the hair, it’s awfully early.”
He couldn't be sure but he was pretty sure by how her eyes crinkled that she was smiling up at him. She waved one of her hands a bit lazily before unfolding the note and shoving it towards him, again seemingly missing the way that he forced himself not to jump at the sudden movement. He wasn’t sure how a child, villain or otherwise, would be able to access this building but his hesitance needed to be put aside. It seemed this was her only means to communicate and the sooner he helped the lost child the sooner he could return to bed to continue his dreams of black hair and kisses.
‘Zashi, it's been a while.’
He knew instantly whose handwriting was staring back at him. Hizashi eyed the girl, examining her hair and eyes closely. No way...
‘It's Anna but I bet you still recognize my handwriting! This is Yume. I know she's grown up a lot since we last wrote but international post costs a fortune.
Her quirk is going haywire. I don't know the specifics but I know you can get her assessed there and handle it. I dropped her off with nowhere else to stay so I ~hope~ you don't mind looking after her until I head back that way.
You're the best. I'm heading to Portugal for some big operation that requires a delicate touch like mine. You can give her a more stable life than I ever could, it's your turn to play parent.
Friendly Love, Ms Mesmerize’
Ms Mesmerize aka Anna Lee also known as general menace. Hizashi silently ushered the lost girl, no, no, his daughter, inside putting a kettle on. Trying not to fall into his own head he decided might as well start the whole parent thing right away.
"Hey Kiddo let me take your bag to the guest room. Your mom didn't tell me you were coming but we can get you new things as soon as the shops open up. This room is yours now.”
He said taking the relatively large backpack off her shoulder. She seemed to be smiling but he couldn't tell very well.
"So she says your quirk has been going haywire. Is that why you have that mask?"
Muzzle crossed his mind involuntarily as she nodded and pulled a small white board and marker from the pocket of her hoodie easily. She must have had this set up for a while he thought a bit sickly.
Scribbling quickly the board simply said "I can write."
An uneasy feeling overcame Hizashi.
"Maybe we should get your quirk looked at before we go get you things for your room."
Yume nodded tugging on one of her pigtails in what Hizashi assumed was a nervous habit.
"Hey whatever's going on with your quirk will be okay. I don't know if your mom ever told you but I used to have a lot of quirk outbursts when I was younger! I made my parents go deaf by accident but they still love me!" He said cheerily trying to calm her nerves.
It did not. Worry clouded her eyes as she stared at him shocked. Tears started selling up in her eyes and she ran to the room he had deposited her bag in before slamming the door.
"Shit. I think I need Nemuri for this."
Hizashi checked the clock that read 6:01 AM and sighed. He could send her a message but it would be at least 3 hours before she even woke up, probably more. He mechanically finished making the tea and poured two cups. Shooting Nemuri and Shouta a text explaining the basic situation he walked to the guest door, no, he reminded himself again, his daughter's door.
He knocked on the door lightly holding the cup of tea intended for her in his other hand. He waited a beat before calling out to her.
“Yume, I made us some tea. I can make breakfast too if you haven’t eaten.”
He tried to sound chipper despite the hopeless feeling that was starting to settle in his stomach. How was he going to be a good father after 14 years of birthday cards and once a year pictures? He really needed one of his friends to defy their very nature and wake up soon. He half thought he should call.
Just then the door cracked a little and with a silenced sniffle Yume was peaking up at him.
“Hey kiddo. Here’s your tea. Feel free to sit wherever looks comfiest. I haven’t been to the store for the week but I’m pretty sure I have the stuff to make tamagoyaki. That’s like an omelet.”
Yume settled on the plush couch and set her tea on the side table, sending it a longing look before turning her attention to her father. Hizashi had started digging a bit frantically through the kitchen. As he rambled on to her.
“Oh! Oh! I have the stuff to make pancakes! I know you’ve had to have had those before. We make them a little thicker here but otherwise there just like the ones in the states.”
He started pulling out eggs and flour and sugar and well anything else in the cabinets to inventory what else he might be able to make her in case she was a picky eater. When he heard a tapping. Looking up he saw her leaning over the back of the couch with her marker tapping the edge of her little white board.
It read “I’d like to try the omelet. Tama-“ and it trailed off.
She looked a bit sheepish but also much happier. Hizashi hoped it was genuine. He felt really bad for making her cry within the first hour of their new arrangement
“Tamagoyaki. It means “grilled egg”. It comes out more in little rolls.” He explained as he cleaned off the countertops he had cluttered on his little frenzy.
“Can you write in Kanji?” He thought to ask as he started on her eggs.
He peered over his shoulder to see her writing much slower and squinting her eyes in concentration. Invisible to him she was biting her tongue and racking her brain for the proper grammar. He turned his attention back to the eggs and began rolling them.
After several moments he heard the tapping again. Turning he saw she had written in Kanji this time and it was much sloppier with more deliberate lines. She was grimacing under her mask and had her hidden hand’s fingers crossed that what she had written made a shred of sense.
“Yes, but not as fluidly. Lots of words I don’t know. Mom tried.”
He nodded before turning to plate her food. “That’s all right kiddo. You still have a month or so to learn more before we have to figure out what to do about your schooling. What were you doing for school with your mom?”
The plate of tamagoyaki was now in front of his daughter and their conversation paused. She was gently poking at it assessing his cooking skills. After deeming it edible she set her white board down and began to feel around her neck. Her anxiety was growing. She hated meal time.
After feeling around for a bit she removed a necklace and handed it to Hizashi.
He looked at her confused before she pointed behind her ears. He looked in his palm and saw at the end of the chain was a small key. It then all dawned on him.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t even ask if you could eat and drink with that thing! There’s a lock there right? Can you not undo it yourself?”
She froze and looked at him with sad eyes before standing, taking the plate in one hand and reaching to yank the key from his hand.
Bewildered and a bit on instinct he snatched his hand away and to his chest. “Hey, what are you doing?!” He said starting her. He hadn’t mean to be so loud.
She thought for a moment before she picked up the whiteboard. Taking no time she wrote and tried to ignore how her vision was getting blurry. She couldn’t tell if it was tears or the food taunting her stomach just a foot away.
“I was going to my room for my meal time so I didn’t disturb you with my quirk. “
Immediately Hizashi went to reassure her but she stumbled and fell into the chair she had been sitting in and bumped into the table. She blinked several times and Hizashi couldn’t ignore the loud rumble of her stomach and he distantly wondered how long she had to wait between meals to keep others safe. What was her quirk doing?
“You can eat here with me. I’m not going to shut you up all alone in your room.” He tried to sound reassuring but his anger at what his daughter must have been going through came through loud and clear. She misinterpreted the anger and shrank away, turning her head away from him in shame.
He ran his thumb along the key clutched in his hand and lunged to undo the mask quickly. But not quick enough. She grabbed his hand squeezing it in a vice grip her little nails making crescents in his hand. She looked at him terrified. She turned so he couldn’t access the locks and released his hand to start scribbling at her board. Absently Hizashi rubbed at the nail marks on his hand. Her shoulders sank in what he thought might be a sigh. She held up the board but Hizashi could help but notice the tremble in her hand.
“Are you sure? I don’t want my quirk to hurt you.”
Hizashi’s heart ached as he read it and looked into his daughter's watery eyes. He didn’t think she’d react well to a hug right now so he settled on gently ruffling her hair.
“I trust you kiddo and based off your little tumble I’d guess you really need the food. But if you’re that nervous I have a really close friend that has a quirk that can turn yours off long enough for you to eat.”
Gone was the terror and in its place was a look he’d yet to see on her face. She looked relieved, excited, and another emotion he couldn’t place. She came out of the daze and started nodding vigorously, clearly no longer trusting her shaky hands to hold the marker steady.
“Okay! Okay! Kiddo. I’ll call him. But it’s still early if he doesn’t answer you’re going to have to eat anyway. I can have you going to the hospital the first day I have you.” Hizashi said good natured reaching for her work phone opposed to her personal cell.
He stepped onto the balcony and dialed Shouta number. Sleep deprived as he is, even Shouta knows better than to silence his work phone. Two rings and then the grumbly sleepy voice of Shouta Aizawa greeted Hizashi's ear.
“What’s the status? Are you okay?” Shouta asked automatically as he sat up pin straight in bed and started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes a bit aggressively.
“All clear. Shouta, don’t be mad. I’m off today but I NEED you to come over.”
Silence for several seconds was what Hizashi heard as Shouta sighed and flopped back on his bed wanting to go back to sleep as soon as possible.
“Why would you call my work phone? You know that’s only for emergencies and mission communication.” Shouta lectured.
Hizashi wondered if this is what it was like being one of Aizawa’s students. But he knew that he needed to get his kid fed and healthy as soon as possible and if she needed her quirk canceled then he was willing to poke the sleeping dragon.
“Anna left Yume here. I don’t know the circumstances exactly but she has a muzzle on her because she says her quirk is haywire. She is starving Sho and I can’t even get her to take the mask off to eat even though she nearly fainted!”
Hizashi launched into his ramble and he gazed in the glass doors at Yume who was tugging on both her pigtails now with her knees tucked up to her chest on the couch.
“What.” It was a matter of fact and betrayed no emotions and it worried Hizashi. He hated when Shouta took this tone.
“Shouta… Yume’s here. I have custody of her until…I don’t even know when. I texted you and Nemuri this morning when she arrived.” Hizashi's voice was gentle. It soothed Shouta more than he’d ever admit.
Shouta HATED Anna Lee, a fact not lost on Hizashi. However, he couldn’t hate the daughter they had together. He’d only met her once right before Anna took the girl and ran. He remembered how broken up Hizashi was losing his wife and 2 year old daughter but Shouta had silently wondered what he had expected from someone so flighty. They were teenagers after all.
“Did she come to see you?” He asked as he slid on a pair of black jeans. He couldn’t help himself; he needed to know if Hurricane Anna had struck Japanese land again.
“No. I woke up to Yume at my door with a big metal mask on her and a note in her hand. I don’t even know if she sent any legal documents.”
Shouta’s shoulders sagged in relief. “I’ll be there in 10.”
Hizashi smiled and tried not to do a happy dance. “You’re a life saver Sho! I made Yume tea and tamagoyaki but both are probably cold by now. I have no idea how I’m going to be a dad now..” he ran a hand through his hair and glanced up to see Yume looking at his curiously stroking one pigtail with her legs now back on the ground.
“Make that 20, see you soon Zashi.” Shouta said simply not knowing how to comfort him in this. He would get some take out and call Nemuri. Hizashi clearly needed all the help he could get.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second knock on the door startled Hizashi much less than the first one had. He was eagerly waiting for Shouta and rushed to the door quickly sliding and nearly tripping on his slippers. He’d brushed his hair but decided his sweatpants were good enough for this particular company. Swinging the door open he was surprised to see two heads of black hair instead of just one. His nose was also assaulted by the smell of greasy take out. One of those 24 hour diners Sho frequented in the early morning hours after late night patrols.
“Nemuri! I didn’t know you were coming!” Hizashi greeted excitedly as he ushered his two friends inside wondering absently if she had the energy to tease him for his sweats this early in the day.
“Shouta dragged me out of bed and bribed me with coffee and donuts.” Nemuri answered far more cheerfully than Hizashi expected.
Shouta stepped past the two and was instantly in search of the girl as Hizashi and a coffee filled Nemuri prattled on pleasantries behind him. He spotted the girl sitting crossed legged in a dining chair looking a bit green even just from the slit of her eyes and forehead. Dark circles were forming under her eyes in what Shouta knew quite well to be some combination of malnutrition, anxiety, and exhaustion. This was worse than he thought but there was no need to show that particular fact.
She was bigger than he remembered but much skinnier than he’d expected. He hoped she was just lanky like Hizashi. She looked so much like that hurricane mother of hers it was almost painful. Shouta shook himself out of his head and sat across from the young girl.
“So you can’t control your quirk?” He asked. He didn't mean it to sound so harsh but the girl flinched. Seems he wasn’t the only one in his head.
“Hizashi, unlock her mask if she won’t.”
She furrowed her brows and pointed at Hizashi. At first Shouta was confused until he saw the gleam of metal against Hizashi’s sleep shirt. It was the key.
A hand was placed on Shouta’s shoulder and he knew by the casualness it was Nemuri. She’d always had issues with personal space. She smiled kindly at the girl and shot a soft glare at the side of Shouta’s head.
“Maybe you should explain how your quirk works to ease her nerves. Hizashi says he hadn’t thought to.” She said willing him to look at the girls trembling hands.
Shouta sighed. Right. He had to actively comfort the child, not just hide his own anxieties to avoid making the situation worse. Being up so early unexpectedly was really throwing him off his game although he knew Hizashi and Nemuri would argue his presence was never comforting.
“Yes, my name is Aizawa Shouta. I am a pro hero and my quirk is called erasure. I can erase any non mutant quirk by staring at the person.” He said a bit formally. Nemuri failed to hide a snort behind a donut at the simple explanation.
Yume sat for a moment processing what he had said and then simply nodded and pointed to the locks. She looked at her father and smiled trying to reassure him hoping he could see the smile in her eyes. Hizashi made eye contact with Yume one last time to confirm before pulling the key off his neck and quickly unlocking the mask before she could change her mind.
Yume almost gasped. Quickly, a rush of air she’d never quite get used to covered the bottom of her face. Her hands moved automatically to her face as she rubbed at some of the areas where the mask was tighter. Her lips were still firmly held together watching for any sign the man across her, Shouta he’d said, was using his quirk.
After a moment she noticed strands of his ponytail rising and she knew he was using his quirk. She wanted to speak to them. She knew they expected it but not knowing how long he could stare at her she decided against it. Instead she scarfed down the breakfast sandwich and fries he’d brought her. It was so good and she was so hungry. She finished the sandwich quickly and went down the fries she knew she’d still be hungry after but she was so happy to be eating and in a room with people! She couldn’t complain.
Shouta reached into the bag and pulled out a second sandwich and unwrapped it for her. Her eyes looked at him with such reverence it actually made him uncomfortable. He had never liked Anna but he’d never thought she’d mistreat her child. He felt his eyes getting dry and he struggled to maintain contact. She was almost done and he could tell she needed all the food she could get. She was in fact not just lanky like her dad. She was hungry. Maybe starving. He glanced at Nemuri’s last donut out of his periphery and considered offering it to the child too.
Yume didn’t miss the way Shouta’s eyes started to twitch at the corners. She shoved the last half of the burger in her mouth before quickly shoving the metal plate of the mask to her face and starting to do the strap. She looked to Hizashi unsure if he’d lock her in or if she should take the key and do it herself. She went with doing it herself. After finishing redoing her mask she smiled and bowed slightly to Shouta.
She missed the pity in Nemuri and Hizashi’s eyes as they watch her lock the metal to her face but they knew first hand how dangerous some quirks were. Nemuri couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“So what’s wrong with your quirk anyways?”
Silence fell over the apartment. It took Yume a moment to reach for her marker as she contemplated the answer. She couldn’t possibly write out the stories. It was stupid and complicated and she was glad her mask covered the flush on her face. Nemuri went to apologize for her outburst after the glare she’d received from Hizashi but Shouta raised a hand to shush her and tell her to wait a moment.
Hizashi went to protest and defend his daughter from the perceived wrong when he looked and saw she wasn’t crying or storming off like he’d expected. She looked upset but she was writing the answer in English. She probably didn’t know the words in Kanji yet he’d thought.
After a moment she hugged her board to her chest and sighed inaudibly. Then she pushed her board into her dad’s hands and put her head in her arms on the table hiding her face.
“It controls me and other people. I make people do things they don’t want to. It breaks things sometimes. It’s never the same but I can never control it. It just comes out.”
Hizashi read the board aloud. The other two could read English but Yume didn’t know that and if his daughter wanted him to read this outloud then he would abide by her wishes.Shouta and Nemuri pondered the information for a moment. Quirk control was usually taught to smaller children but the letter Hizashi had told them about said it was a recent development. Puberty could throw quirks out of balance. Some adults never learned to turn their quirks off but those were usually mutant quirks and they knew hers wasn’t that.
Shouta needed more information to decide how to help what he anticipated would be his future student.
“What just comes out?” He asked cautiously, eyeing the girl for her reaction.
Shouta could have sworn she looked like she may have laughed or scoffed. She had. They wouldn’t understand how dangerous it was if she told them but they needed to know.
She took the board and scribbled a word she knew the kanji for with surprising practiced ease.
“Music.”