Musume

Chapter 21

In the morning, her father happily threw the boys out of the room so she could change from her hospital clothes and into the clothes he’d brought her. It was a simple pair of leggings, a short red skirt and a black button down shirt, all if it coupled with high black boots.

She couldn’t wait to go home, especially because her father had barely been able to sleep on the chair next to her hospital bed, the man insisting he would not be leaving her side.

Though that was only one of the reasons she could not wait to be back to Musutafu.

Apparently, Tenya would have long lasting damage to his left arm so he’d be staying in the hospital a bit longer, though it would not impede his dream of being a hero. Shoto would be picked up by his father soon and Izuku’s mother was also on her way.

Her father had stepped out to speak with Gran Torino and she was just putting on a red jacket when there was a knock on the door. Curious, she opened it to see Shoto standing on the other side.

“I’m finished, you can all come in.” she said, thinking he’d knocked because she was taking too long.

“Tenya has been taken for further tests and Izuku is with his mother in the cafeteria.” He said as he stepped in. “I wanted to speak with you before Endeavor picks me up.”

“Okay.”

“I haven’t thanked you yet for saving me.”

“You would’ve done the same.” Shrugged the girl. “Is that all?”

Shoto seemed to hesitate before looking her in the eyes.

“No, I wanted to know if you’d come with me to visit my mother.”

Yumi blinked, surprised. She knew his relationship with his mother had been nonexistent since the day she’d poured boiling water on his face as a child. Did he want to mend that relationship? Why did he want her there, then?

“I visited my mom a few days ago and I asked if I could bring a friend to meet her.” Continued the boy, spurred on by her silence. “I wanted to know if you would come.”

Yumi blinked again before nodding.

“Okay, I will be happy to.”

“Really?”

“Really.” She said.

The same small smile from the last time appeared on Shoto’s face, making him look earnest and warm. She felt herself blush a little, not understanding why.

“When do you want to go?”

“Tomorrow? If your shoulder does not hurt too much, we could go another…”

“Tomorrow is perfectly fine.” She interrupted him with a smile “After practice?”

He stared at her, transfixed, then nodded.

HPBNAHPBNAHPBNA

As soon as they got back home, Yumi asked her father to rest, but the man was too stubborn and decided to go back to the school and work. Seeing she wouldn’t be able to change his mind, she asked him to drop her off at the police station on the way there.

She had the day free courtesy of Hawks and later she would go see Recovery Girl to have her shoulder healed so she could resume her internship on the next day, but for now there was something she had to do.

Uncle Tsukauchi was out on a case when she arrived, so Sansa invited her to wait in his office.

Half an hour later, the man was back and surprised to see her there.

“Yumi-hime, what are you doing here? Had we agreed to meet and I forgot?”

Yumi shook her head.

“No, I just wanted to see if you could get me some information.”

“Well, ask away and I’ll see what I can do, but you know I might not be able to…”

Yumi nodded and explained to him what had happened in Hosu. The man listened attentively, only asking a couple questions.

“Well, it seems you had an interesting internship…” he hummed while rubbing his chin. “And you want information on the Hero Killer?”

“Yes. His ideology seemed… solid and…” she hesitated, but it was silly to try keeping anything from her uncle. “…he died to save Izuku and me.”

Tsukauchi’s eyes softened.

“Well, his information is not classified and will probably be made public soon enough, so… let me see what I can do.”

Another half hour later, Tsukauchi had all the information available about him in a folder on top of his desk.

“Let’s see… His real name was Chizome Akaguro. Apparently, he was a hero student for a year, but he became so disillusioned with the world of heroism he dropped out. He then became a vigilante, whilst trying to make people see that we needed to go back to the ancient idea of heroes… Hum… his parents died in an accident due to a fight between a hero and a villain…”

“Stain said something…” added Yumi. “something about me reminding him of someone… a girl, or a woman…”

“Hum, the only one mentioned here is… yes, Mira Garudo… she was Stain’s fiancé for a few months but… she died in a villain attack. The heroes didn’t get there in time to save her. Apparently, she’d been another hero student and just a few months after her death, Stain’s first victim appeared.”

Yumi nodded. So that was probably who she’d reminded him of. Thanking her uncle for all his help, she got up and gathered her things. She still had to visit Recovery Girl and tell Shinso what happened at Hosu.

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Shinso jumped as he avoided Eraser-head’s scarf and brought a hand to his neck, where his own brand new scarf rested. He skillfully untangled it from around his neck before launching it towards his teacher, but it got caught on his teacher’s foot and he lost his balance, falling down to the floor.

“Again.” Said his teacher once he freed the scarf and managed to have it properly around his neck once more.

Shinso nodded and got ready to repeat the move, but his teacher’s phone chose that moment to go off.

The man raised a hand to stop him and reached inside his back pocket for the ringing device.

“What? Hosu? Yes, I’ve heard… WHAT!? Those Problem Children…”

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When she reached the building of the agency, Hawks was waiting for her at the entrance like on the first day. He asked about her now healed shoulder before guiding her to his office.

“Well, I want to hear your side of the story. What exactly happened in Hosu?” he asked sitting on the sofa in the corner.

She took a seat where he signaled next to him and relaxed back as he threw his arms over the back of the sofa.

And so she began to recount everything that happened from the moment he’d left her on the top of a building in Hosu.

“I should’ve gone with you.” He sighed when she was finished. “But I didn’t think it would be Stain and there were tens of Nomu in the city. Well, it ended well, so I guess it makes no sense to keep thinking about it. You did a great job, Yumi-chan.”

Yumi blushed at his praise. She couldn’t believe the Number 3 Hero was praising her, especially since she didn’t feel like she’d done that much. In fact, in the end, Stain had even managed to free himself and had to save her before dying.

Just as she was about to point that out, Hawks lifted his head and there was a knock on the door.

“Sir, there’s a situation in the east. Someone broke into the mall with weapons and the police have the place surrounded.”

Hawks stood up and gave her a hand.

“Ready to get back to work?”

She nodded, accepting his hand and getting off the sofa. If the sidekick that came to inform them looked at them a bit strangely, Yumi never noticed.

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At the end of the day, Yumi bowed low in front of Hawks as thanks for everything he’d taught her. Today had been her last day of the internship.

“None of that, Yumi-chan.” Waved Hawks. “I’m glad you accepted my offer; these last few days were fun.”

Already used to his care-free ways, Yumi just smiled.

“Of course, Hawks.”

“Please, call me Keigo. I’m not your boss anymore, after all. And I hope you’ll keep in contact, little bird. It’d be a pity if today was the last time I got to take you flying.”

Yumi blushed deeply at his words and his smile seemed to grow more pleased.

“Alright, K-Keigo.”

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The sun was already setting when she arrived at the hospital, only to find Shoto already waiting there at the entrance.

“Sorry, the train was late.” She apologized.

“It’s okay.” Shrugged the boy before guiding her inside.

The nurses let them pass without a problem and soon they were standing in front of a door with ‘Mistress Todoroki’ written on it.

When the door opened, the first thing she noticed was a beautiful woman with white hair and a kind face. In fact, the woman reminded her very much of Shoto himself.

“Shoto, you came.” Smiled the woman looking at her son.

“Yes.” Nodded him taking a step inside and revealing Yumi standing there. “Mum, this is Yagi Hiroyumi, she’s my classmate in UA.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Muttered the girl shyly stepping inside after Shoto. “You may call me Yagi or Yumi, ma’am.”

“Please, dear, call me Rei. It’s a pleasure to finally meet a friend of Shoto.” She said with a smile that Yumi had only seen twice, reflected in her son’s face.