"So, what happens now?" asked Toga when Izuku and General Bitchface joined her on the car. They had chosen to just have Izuku, as a Japanese hero, and Holy Diver, as a special agent, as the mission representatives on the report, it was easier to tell the watered-down version of events that way. "We are going to Hades Prison with Shouto and Momo, they are visiting Touya…Dabi…I thought you´d like to see him too. Shigaraki is also there, I wanted to check in on him, I think Fridays he meets with Nejire Hadou, I hope we don't intrude too much…" said Izuku, looking like he didn't want to be a third wheel.

"I can go see them? YES! I´ve missed my big brothers!" General Bitchface then added "Tomorrow we´ll take you with Vlad King and your eh…brother. You probably have a lot to talk with them too." Her voice was full of…concern? "What about you, Holy Diver, you´re coming with us?" She smirked a half-smile before answering "Date night with Freya, so no. Anyway kid, where´s the rest of your gang?"

With a smile, Izuku said "Tsuyu and Tokoyami are taking a few weeks off, Mei is with her parents, Ochako is with Tenya, Tensei´s surgery is next week."

"The offer still stands for all your team, kid. We need people like you for what Texas Red has in mind. A global Agency, the best heroes in the planet, ready to fight big threats…"

"I´m sorry Miss Holy Diver, I think we are all a bit tired of fighting for some time. I actually wanted to ask if Himiko and I could just spend some time together away from all before she…before she has to return." His face was heartbroken, he had realized that Toga´s sentence was about to begin in earnest. Toga herself still had no idea what would happen now that she had fulfilled her part of the bargain…

"There´s no real hurry for her to fight for us at the moment, though we would like to formalize recruitment, paperwork mostly, coming up with a callsign, Hero Name, whatever you want to call it…You can go anywhere in US territory, kids, I suggest Hawaii, it´s closer. And that includes embassies, so you can technically be on house arrest there too if no Agency personnel can oversee you for Japan. So, have your little vacation and we´ll have your time sorted out when you return, right?"

"Wha…Thanks!" House arrest in all the US territory is pretty damn good! "Don't thank me yet, you still have to fill enough paperwork to scare ME. And you´ve gotta come up with that Hero Name, got it?"

"Yeah, I have tons of ideas!"

"Oh, and another thing, the medical analysis on that baby came out…she´s Quirkless. Pestilentia was bluffing. And thankfully her family is still alive, they had moved quickly to search in Hong Kong and Pestilentia´s people had just tracked them down hours before we caught them. They are quite affected, but they will live, we will help them economically as well."

They drove about an hour and a half more, away from Tokyo and into the countryside. They turned left on an isolated road that led them to a cluster of military installations with a state-of-the-art prison in the centre. In the parking lot they saw a few employee cars, a van or two for transporting the guards, and two other guest vehicles; a dark blue SUV with a couple of stickers saying, "teacher on board!" and "my other ride is my pair of wings", and a really cute neon turquoise scooter.

A guard met them at the entrance, where Holy Diver left them, saying "Later kids, hitch a ride back with the Todorokis." The guard informed them that the Todoroki siblings and their mother were already on their visit, but they could see Shigaraki now. "Yes, let´s go see the Handy Man!" had said Toga with excitement.

Compared to the refurbished Tartarus, this prison was much less a dungeon, a lot more effort was placed into the rehabilitation of prisoners in Hades. It was by no means insecure or easy to escape, but the all-around atmosphere was much more positive. Then again Toga had only visited Tartarus while trying to bust out a prisoner, so she might be biased.

The guard led them underground several levels, and further down a few corridors, where they reached a room that had a very distinct separation between itself and the one next to it. "Mei helped the architects of this prison design that wall; it is a wall panel inside, then a fluid fills the next half meter between the panel and the next room, the fluid is measured accurately by its volume and if it shifts by Shigaraki´s Quirk dissolving it, it turns liquid to surround his hand and then flash freezes…Thankfully he has been good and the gloves have been enough."

The door was a sort of airlock where more of the fluid could be poured in seconds to prevent escape. The guard knocked on the door "Surprise visit, Mr. Shigaraki!" Almost instantly on the inner door they could see blue hair and some extremely curious eyes looking at them, rushing to their faces when the guard opened the doors.

"Oh it´s you Deku! How good to see you, did you cut your hair? Never mind the hair is that scar new?"

"Hey Nejire! Good to see you too, yes, and yes! This is my girlfriend Himiko!"

"Oh she´s so cute! I love your hair! Tenko has told me about you, that you are like his little sister. Is it okay if I give you a really cute nickname, Deku only said your first name and that is really intimate, and I am a bit too late to ask your last name now…how about Toothsy?"

"Uhh…thanks? Yeah, Toothsy is nice and cute!"

"Anyway, we are sitting in the living room talking about cosmic horror, bathtubs and our favourite flavours of sodas!" Toga grinned a huge smile, she was liking this Nejire girl "Well I´ve got an anecdote or two about this really amazing root beer in Texas…" Soon they were talking in a lively, carefree manner, this blue girl had a way of making the mood in a room really light. With how naturally she could make people feel at ease, Toga thought it was a no brainer that Nejire was such a great hero.

Shigaraki was a bit quiet, not really from his personality it seemed, rather by how flustered he was around Nejire. Toga´s nose told her that the feelings seemed to be mutual, she could smell crushes a mile away! For over an hour they caught up and talked about random things. After discussing pirate ships at great detail for a few minutes, Shigaraki asked Izuku to the side, he wanted some advice on something. Toga could barely overhear him saying "…I want to ask her…"

"So, you´ve been on a much longer journey than that special report on the tv said, haven't you, Toothsy?"

"Yeah, we kinda earned a small vacation, Izu-Izu and I."

"Oh that is such a great nickname! Anyway I…"

"Eh…Toga, could I talk with you for a sec?" asked Shigaraki. They walked to the other side of the cell, a seriously nice room, in Toga´s opinion. "So, what´s up, bro?" He narrowed his eyes slightly before saying "Two things…nah, three. One, you and Izuku. He´s my friend now that he´s been visiting so I´ve gotta ask…you are serious about him? You may be like my little sister, but I do not want to see Izuku sad."

"Very serious. Marriage levels of serious, Handy Man. Though I kinda think it looks better when you aren't automatically facepalming all the time…"

"Toga. Come on. Next question; in the interview they said that asshole Pestilentia got inside people´s dreams…was he in mine?"

"He was, he told us in the end. Sick bastard, I´ve never slept better now that he´s gone. I put a blade in his brain!"

"Well, that is very much the old you. Thank you, Toga." When he started to ask his third question, he became nervous and fidgety. "Last question…do you think Nejire likes me? I´m going to ask her if she wants to be my girlfriend…I get a few hours in town every month and we had a couple of dates…"

"Tell her. If she visits this much, she obviously cares, and she smells like she likes you! So, do it! One thing though, do I call you Tenko Shimura now?" With a shrug he answered "Sure."

Turning around to her boyfriend, Toga yelled "Izu-Izu, we should wait outside!" Izuku caught her drift quickly, and she led him by the hand outside. "What a rare pair, I would never have imagined it…" she said as they left. "We´ll come by next week before we go on vacation!" she said as they left. "Now lets go and see Dabi!"

The guard again led them to a different cell, again with some Hatsume Industries™ customization; in seconds it could be flooded with fire suppressants and stop even the hottest fire. As they approached, the Todorokis and Momo were leaving. "Izuku! You´re here!" said Shouto as he saw them, bringing Izuku in for a hug. Momo was a bit more restrained, but still very happy to see him, and she gave Toga a very polite greeting. With them were the two other siblings, a brother and the pretty sister that was dating Hawks. Last to leave the cell was a dignified woman with white hair, she looked like a queen who had been through too much.

"Young Midoriya, it is always so good to see you, we´ll wait outside to give you two a ride back, alright? My son will be very happy to get some more visitors." For some reason Toga felt really protective of the sad, dignified lady, she wanted to punch whoever had hurt her in the face. Maybe it was the maternal way she gave Toga a hug…every "mom hug" made her realize how much she had needed a mother figure in her life.

The guard let them in and instantly she was yelling "Dabi!" and running over to hug him. "Hey little sister!" he said, patting her head just like old times. Turning to Izuku, he gave him an icy "Midoriya." Izuku just nodded and took a seat. Again, it took a while for Toga to catch up with her big brother, and she had really missed him. He looked a bit different, the natural red of his hair overtaking the old black colour, his smile easy, relaxed. He looked healthy and happy, and Toga could not have asked for more for her bro.

"Midoriya, treat her right, please. I´m not threatening anyone again, but I´d be very disappointed in you if you hurt her, alright?"

"I won´t hurt Himiko, Touya, I love her."

"That´s good enough for me. My family´s probably waiting for you, aren't they? Don't keep them long, we´ll see each other again. Take care, Toga." Toga cried as she hugged him. "Hey, hey, don't cry. I´ll be here when you come back, probably for the next ten or fifteen years." He gave a sad smile "It is nice in here, don't worry about me or Shigaraki. We´ll be fine, Toga. Enjoy your freedom, you fought for it and even left a piece of you for it."

Toga was quiet on the ride back, still thinking about her friends. When he noticed Toga lost in thought, Izuku reached out for her hand, meeting her eyes, letting her know he was there with no need for words. The sister, who Toga learned was named Fuyumi, dropped them off at the warehouse Izuku and his friends used as the base for their small hero agency.

It was still a few hours till bedtime, so Izuku and Toga started planning their week-and-a-half long vacation to Hawaii. "You´re sure you can survive seeing me in a bikini all week, Izu-Izu?" she purred into his ear, caressing his arm lightly. The blushing hero replied with a somewhat confident smile "Himiko, I´ve already seen you naked!"

"Touché…wanna see me naked again?" she replied with her fanged smile. "Hell yes, I want to, but right now I´m starving…wanna go buy some food? There´s a street vendor close by that makes soba that Shouto swears by…"

"Of course! Proper nutrition is always recommended for vigorous physical actions!" she said, blushing and doing lewd gestures with her fingers. "Hey Shouto, we´re going for some soba, you want some?" In a second Todoroki was there saying "Soba?"

"I´ll ask them for your order when we return, alright?"

"Thank you, brother. Pay it back later?"

"Of course. See you in a while!"

A few minutes later they were standing at the street vendor, enjoying the savoury noodles. "Oh fuck, they are great!" said Toga, slurping on the noodles. Izuku looked like he was about to say something, but instead he just smiled and kissed her cheek "Your deliberate lack of table manners is kind of endearing, Himiko" he said, his smile turning sarcastic. They ordered Todoroki´s order and bought a rather big lunch for Momo as well, and they walked back to the warehouse.

With no supervillains out there ready to force their way into her dreams, a knife concealed in her jeans and Izu-Izu by her side, Toga felt invincible. In the warehouse, the other couple thanked them profusely before going back to cuddling on the couch. "So…does your bed fit us both or are we going to snuggle really tight?" she asked, her face already pink with lewd blushing. "What´s the point of having super strength if I can´t grab a bed and bring it to my room?" with a wink he added "With one bed we´ll probably just fall over, I´ll be right over."

As she waited, Toga had two thoughts in mind; buying some lingerie whenever she had an Agency salary, I can´t properly seduce Izu-Izu in sports bras and common underwear after all, and to ask Izuku if the walls were soundproof.

The next day Toga woke up feeling completely satisfied in every meaning of the word, though perhaps a bit sore. Izuku was already up somewhere in the team´s hideout, probably making breakfast or training. Did he let me sleep late? The times she had been able to sleep late in the past year didn't count to double digits, and in none of them had she woken up this well rested. She fished her clothes from the floor where she had thrown them the previous night, tried in vain for a few minutes to arrange the chaos they had made of the bedsheets, then went to the bathroom for a drink of water.

Dressed with last day´s jeans, clean underwear and a simple green (Deku green) t-shirt, and the boots of her sneaking suit (they were really comfortable), she left the room, joining whatever members of Team First Response were in the kitchen. In the team´s dining area sat Todoroki and Izuku, eating from a plate of fresh cooked pancakes, in the kitchen Momo and Hatsume were drinking some smoothies and chatting something in complex scientific terms Toga couldn't quite understand. "Morning guys!" she beamed at them, they seemed to have started to warm up a bit to her after Izuku had told them about her saving his life. Either that or her natural charm was winning them over, anyway.

"Good day, Toga!" said Momo, giving her a polite smile. Hatsume came up to her, offering a hand, Toga shook it. "Anyone that saves Izuku´s life is a friend in my book so, wanna be friends?"

"I´d love to!" she replied. Instantly, Hatsume´s face turned into a saleswoman´s cunning expression "In that case maybe you can hire me to improve that catsuit you use, that white one…with some cameras and a few patents on the internet we could make it into passive camouflage! You´d be pretty much invisible! I can alter it for your Quirk and everything!" Toga was kind of stunned at the offer, so she only nodded. She relied more on social stealth than actual sneaking, but passive camouflage could be a good asset…

After breakfast, Inko Midoriya picked them up in a nice car with a sticker on the trunk that said, "In love with a hero!". "Izuku! Toga! I hope you are both okay with me tagging along? Toshinori had some work to do so he couldn't make it, but he sends you both a hug!"

"It´s alright, mom, I understand." All Might had met them when they returned, hugging them both and telling them he was really proud of them. He had talked long with Izuku, while Inko Midoriya had listened to Toga.

In that moment Toga had really opened up to the older Midoriya, telling her all she had felt fighting her former rival, fighting herself for control over her personality, killing Pestilentia. Toga knew she would need an actual psychiatrist further on, but for the moment venting a bit with Inko had helped her enormously.

Back in the present, Inko drove them to a medium sized house in the suburbs around UA, a logical place for a teacher like Vlad King to live. Izuku rang on the doorbell and soon they could hear barking behind the door. "Just a second, I´ll be right up Biggles!" The door opened to reveal Sekijiro Kan, the hero Vlad King. Her uncle. "Hello, all of you, please come inside! Don't mind Sir Bigglesworth the Third over here, he´s a sweetheart." Vlad King said as he patted the aforementioned dog, an aging English bulldog who looked at them with curiosity.

Izuku scratched the doggo behind his stubby ears, giggling as the dog barked in answer. Toga was a bit more cautious, but also gave him a few soft pats on the head. "Koichi, our guests are here! Help me set the kettle for some tea!" called the hero teacher "Please join us in the living room, we are very excited to talk." Toga was excited as well, though a sense of apprehension was there too. What if they hate me?

"It is very good to see you again, Midoriyas, I hope all is well?"

"Yes, all is great, Mr. Kan" answered Inko. Sekijiro continued "Please give my regards to All Might later. Izuku, congratulations on your victory, you make everyone at UA pride with that success!" He was almost posing in an endearingly proud way! "It was a team effort, sir. I would never have made it half way without Himiko." Turning to Toga, Vlad King asked, "So you decided to keep that name?"

"Yes, I will claim it as my own as I pay back my debt to society." With a sigh, the older hero said "I thought you might. Would it be alright if we called you Ako, just Koichi and me? Just to…just to keep Isana´s memory alive" His eyes were filled with sadness. "That would be alright, yeah!" she answered, and the hero´s eyes lit up again.

Then Koichi Kojima entered the living room with a teapot and some cups. Toga was amazed; it was like looking in a mirror, but also extremely different. His eyes were the same golden colour, his hair was a similar shade of blonde, a bit paler. Underneath his eyes were dark circles, her brother clearly suffered with insomnia. He was a bit scrawny, and a couple inches taller than her, shorter than Izuku.

Koichi served the tea methodically and sat down. "So…you are Ako? You are my sister? You…you live?"

"I…I am. It is a very long story, and it isn't pretty." Vlad King answered as another dog jumped into his lap, a ridiculously cute Alaskan kleekai, "We have time. Oh, and this is Matilda." The dog woofed in response, and Toga told her tale. After beating 98 inside her mind she had somehow unblocked some of her memories inside Tselinoyarsk, so she could fill in the gaps of what Pestilentia had told Izuku. As she spoke, Koichi became more and more distressed, his hands shaking at first, then he started looking pale and he finally excused himself before fleeing to his room.

"He blames himself, Ako. His first memory is traumatic loss and survivors´ guilt…therapy and medicine have helped enormously, his friends even more. He needs time to deal with it; last week he mourned the sister that, in his mind, he could not save. Today you are alive and have a life that he can barely comprehend…" The older hero seemed really tired "But please do tell me the rest of the story, I´m really curious about how it turned around in the end."

By the end of her tale, a third dog had joined them, a German Shepherd called Ritter, who instantly took a liking to Izuku and offered his belly for rubs. "I don't really know what to say…I think I´ll need some time to process it too, a few months ago I would have arrested you, after all." Izuku and Toga decided to check on Koichi before leaving, going up the stairs to his room.

Toga knocked on the door "Hey brother? Can we come in? Its Izu-Izu and me" a weak "Ok" was the only reply. Koichi was sitting on his bed looking out his window, the TV on but unwatched, an engineering program about some bridge in China. Without looking at them, Koichi started, his voice barely above a whisper "I´m sorry, Ako. I couldn't stay and hear it all…what they did was horrible. I…I feel it is my fault. If I had a stronger Quirk, if I had called the police…If I had done something, they wouldn't have taken you, they wouldn't have killed mom and dad." Toga could see he was crying, the tears going down his neck.

She moved in to comfort her brother, but Izuku was faster, placing a hand on his shoulder "Koichi, you can not blame yourself for any of that. You were four years old! What happened that night was NOT your fault, okay? I know how it feels to be powerless…I was born Quirkless. I know how it feels to have regret paralyze you and how it feels when despair is a bit too much. Himiko knows it too. You can trust us, we both care for you, okay? You can talk to us about anything, we´ll be happy to hear what you want to say."

For a long moment Koichi didn't reply, and Izuku started moving away, but then Koichi said "Deku…Midoriya, thank you. I didn't think a famous hero would ever say that to me, even less one as badass…You two really put my world upside down, you know?" He gave them a small smile.

Then the TV emitted a high-pitched noise and the image shifted, replaced by a man in black armour, his helmet beaked, a long crimson cloak flowing behind him with black feathers clasping it in place. The man looked to be about All Might´s size (when he was still in his prime), and danger pretty much radiated from him. The armour seemed both strong and flexible, made of some sort of…metal? Polymer? Hatsume was sure to know what the mysterious material was.

Flags flanked the man, it looked like some sort of government announcement, but clearly not the Japanese government. Where had Toga seen those flags? She had no time to remember as the man spoke in English, with a marked African accent "I am Ndege Mweusi, the Blackbird, Lord of War, God-King of the Mbele Valley, Emperor of Africa by birthright and conquest. My Kingdom has cast aside the demons, the devils, these "Quirked". If you are still human, join us. Return to the cradle, from Africa mankind will rise again! We will exterminate the Quirks and reclaim our world!"

"Did he just declare war on all the world, Izu-Izu?" "He did, the real war has begun."