Third person pov

While they were awaiting trial, June and Hisato Faust were staying in a police-issued living space. They were under no circumstances allowed to have contact with Lillian, and had ankle monitors. They both knew that stealing her had been wrong. Of course they knew that; that's why they'd tried so hard to hide it from her and from the world. They were ashamed. Just... seeing her sitting there in that hospital, the perfect little three year old girl. How anyone could ever abandon her was so beyond them.

They'd been trying so hard to have a family. To adopt a baby, or to have one themselves. And someone had just thrown their perfect baby girl away. They'd just decided it was too much, and that it was somehow a good idea to just leave a baby in a hospital. It was disgusting and vile. Both June and Hisato had felt sick to their stomachs, so... so they'd taken her.

Lillian was a precious little girl. So perfect and with such a strong little personality. Even at a young age, she'd been so quiet and caring, if not a little grumpy at times and fond of her naps. She was just... she was a little person. This flawless, amazing little person that someone had simply left behind! It was heartbreaking. 

She was their baby girl. They didn't care what anyone said. Lillian could hate them, and that was fine. They had always expected it at some point. But they'd raised her, and she'd given them the chance to be the one thing they'd always dreamed of being ever since they first began dating. They'd both gotten the chance to be parents. They'd gotten to film her in school plays as she did her part as a sunflower or a blue bird. They'd gotten to see her grow, and they got to comfort her when she was sad. It overjoyed them to provide for her. To buy her the things she wanted to need her, and to give her a safe and loving home.

Lillian had been strong, but watching her on the TV as she stumbled into second place in the first portion of UA's famed Sport's Festival... it had them in tears. Watching her freeze over two hundred other kids with a simple blink of the eye. Watching her wipe the blood dribbling from her lips with determination that could not be swayed and keep going forward. It was awing.

Watching the Sport's Festival was something they'd always done together. Without fail, they'd gather around the TV every year in their pajamas. They'd order pizza and pop popcorn, and indulge in every kind of candy the convenient store had in stock. Seeing the amazement shine on Lillian's face as her faith in Japan's future heroes grew was something they'd never forget.

They were not good people, and never would they claim to be. They weren't doing Lillian a favor when they kidnapped her away. When they took her, they'd been thinking of themselves. Both of them knew this good and well, and that's why they were so accepting of there fate. But they couldn't help but thank their dear little Lilly Pad. For being their daughter, and for crying on their shoulder. For wishing them happy birthday and for singing her favorite Broadway tunes loudly in the shower in the mornings.

They wanted to thank her for getting her hair tangled, and crying when they brushed it. They wanted to thank her for every hug and every kiss on the cheek. Every smile and laugh she offered to them with an open-heart. Every joyful moment she experienced, they wanted to say thank you for. Because that was their baby girl, and she had been happy in their care. Their care, which she never should have been in in the first place, but was anyway.

So they did. They watched the TV and cried, and said thank you for the good times and the bad. For smiling up at them and calling them 'mama' and 'dada'. For coloring on their freshly painted walls with crayon, and for getting bit by the neighbors dog. For splashing around in a kiddie pool for hours upon hours in the backyard. For sneaking a garden snake into her room and feeding it pieces of raw chicken until it got out and scared them half to death. They thanked her for her love.

She had loved them like they were her real parents, and it's all they ever could have asked. Now they just wanted her to grow up to be a happy and healthy young woman. They wanted to watch with bright eyes as she rose above and became one of the heroes she'd always admired. To become like Present Mic, and All Might, and Eraserhead. They would never dare speak it to anyone else, but they would always know. Watching her, they'd know that was their daughter.

They watched the shock shift onto her face when her idol announced that she'd placed second place. She'd looked at her blonde friend, Neito Monoma. His eyes were wide too. The first place winner was someone they'd met. Hitoshi Shinso broke out into a grin, and rushed forward to capture the two friends who'd helped shove him into the top spot in a hug. They watched Lillian laugh, tears in her eyes.

The crowd roared for Lillian and for her friends. They cheered as they hugged, and high-fived each other. As Hitoshi and Neito embraced, no animosity between them despite one being in the hero course and the other being in general studies. All the various courses seemed so against each other, but here Lillian was. She didn't care, and June and Hisato knew she never would. She was too sweet for that.

Mic commented on the heartwarming scene, praising Lillian and her two friends before jumping to the fourth, fifth, and so on placers. Pro-heroes leaned forward to get a better look at the bouncing Lillian and teary Shinso, and the grinning Neito. Notes were taken, and fingers were pointed. Their baby was second place. She'd made second place, and she was amazing for it.

They had watched her pull herself up a slippery slope. Both of them had seen how unsure she was as she slipped on that UA uniform for the first time, just like they'd seen her bright smile when she came back from her first day. I think that was the moment that they knew that, no matter, what, she'd be okay. 

Their little girl had friends, and her real father was sitting right under her nose. She'd find him too. They hadn't known he was her father until she entered UA. Like any parents might, they'd researched her homeroom teacher. Seen some videos of him in action. It reminded them of the time when Lillian was five, and she'd gotten angry. So angry that her eyes began to glow red, and her dark hair began to rise around her as though being force up by an invisible draft. At first they'd been terrified. Now? Now they were just thankful. Their little girl was going to be okay.

So no matter how they were punished, or what happened to them... they'd always be proud. They'd always be proud of the girl who allowed them to achieve their dream to be parents, and they would be hoping and praying to any god that would listen that she'd be able to achieve hers too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To say Aizawa was proud was an understatement. It was so horribly obvious that he wasn't even going to try and deny it. The grin that stretched out across his face under his bandages was so wide it was painful. Mic eyed him with a grin as he gazed down at the three students he'd worked to the bone. Evidently, it had all paid off. They'd come in the top three places. Them, with their quirks. Their quirks weren't flashy. Useful, but not flashy like Bakugo's or Todoroki's. Yet here they were.

Lillian was someone he had an odd connection to. Not just because he'd trained her, and not just because of the USJ attack. There was something in her he just couldn't place. Sometimes he'd look at her and see himself for a split second, and he'd have to blink and wonder just what that was. Sometimes the light would catch her face in a certain way, and he'd feel as though he was staring at some younger version of himself.

The fact that she was adopted forced him to fact check. It was absurd to ever even consider it an option, but he almost... wanted it to be. That's not to say he was trying to be her father or force his way into her life. He wasn't obsessed with her, and he wasn't trying to be creepy. He knew the urge to adopt his student wasn't appropriate for the workplace. He was a professional who wasn't supposed to play favorites. There was just something about that damn kid, you know? 

He brushed the feeling off. He couldn't do this. As a teacher, he wasn't supposed to. Lillian had been through too much for him to go meddling around where he didn't belong. He would play his role as a teacher as he was meant to. He would guide her and her classmates towards the path of a hero and watch her grow as any mentor might.

Mic switched off the microphone and let out a shriek, turning to him with wide eyes. "Look at her, Shota! Your dddd- student is amazing! Our student! She's the cutest little thing. Look at her, Shota. Look, look, look!" Mic almost slipped up there, but was too excited to be too put out by it. He was lucky Aizawa was too euphoric with pure delight and fulfillment to even notice. He looked down at her as she bouncing around, eyes gleaming. 

"I can see, Hizashi." He grinned. His brats had done it. Lillian, the nervous girl he'd seen near tears on the first day, had done it. "I can definitely see." 

"Whaaa, Lillian! I can't believe you got second place!" Ochako jobbed up, clearly tired. "I'm so jealous."

"Y-You did really well too, Ochako!" Lillian sputtered out, eyes bright and cheeks flushed from the rush of it all. She felt almost dizzy as she wiped her mouth with her arm. Her arm which was... covered in blood. She stared at it. Right, side effects. It didn't feel like any of her organs were shredded. But then... well, where was the blood coming from? Recovery Girl had never been all that specific as to how her quirk effected her. Just that it hadn't been good.

"I can't believe this, man!" Hitoshi raised his hands again, and Neito clapped both his against them. They hugged again. "I couldn't have done it without you two hell spawns!"

"You better make it into the hero course after this. I don't know what drugs Lillian is on, but I felt like someone was ripping my kidney to shreds when I used her quirk." The blonde grimaced at the memory, and Lillian winced back. She'd lived her whole life with her quirk, even if she hadn't ever really used it before UA. It had always been there, so her body had somewhat adjusted to the power's presence. Apparently it wasn't the same for Neito.

"The first game for the first years is finally over, and what a game it was!" Midnight's voice rang out over the cheering, which had been constant ever since Hitoshi stepped over the finish line. The purple-haired boy felt flushed knowing that at least some of it was for him. "Now, let's take a quick look at the standings, shall we?"

1. Shinso Hitoshi

2. Lillian

3. Neito Monoma

4. Izuku Midoriya

5. Shoto Todoroki

6. Katsuki Bakugo

7. Ibara Siozaki

8. Juzo Honenuki 

9. Tenya Iida

10. Fumikage Tokoyami

11. Kirishima Eijiro

12. Hanta Sero

13. TetsuTetsu

14. Ojiro Mashirao 

15. Awase Yosetsu

16. Tsuyu Asui 

17. Mezo Shoji

18. Ochako Uraraka 

19. Momo Yaoyorozu

20.  Mina ashido

21. Koji Koda

22. Jiro 

23. Sen kaibara

24. Kosei Tsuburaba 

25. Denki Kaminari

26. Kojiro Bondo

27. Reiko Yanagi 

28. Kendo

29. Juroata Shishida 

30. Shihai Kuroiri 

31. Yui Kodai

32. Hiryu Rin

33. Nirengenki Shoda

34. Kinoko Komori

35. Togaru Kamakiri

36. Pony Tsutonori 

37. Hagakure Toru

38. Setsuna Tokage 

39. Manga Fukidashi

40. Mei Hatsume

41. Aoyama 

42. Mineta is dead so who the hell knows who's in this place

"Only the top 42 will advance to the next round. Bur don't be too let down if you didn't make the cut! We've prepared other opportunities for you to shine." Midnight licked her lips, and Lillian felt a little scared. "Now the real fun is about to begin. The chance to fully move yourselves into the limelight! Give it your best!"

The randomizer Lillian was quickly beginning to despise began to spin, and her anxiety revved right back up as endless possibilities as to what they could be doing next stuck out in her mind. "Let's see what we have in store for you next? Will your wildest fantasies come to life? What could it be? The waiting is torture."

Hitoshi winced. Lillian rubbed at her eyes, which were feeling awfully dry. "Is everything she says suggestive?" Neito mumbled, earning shrugs from his two meme squad members. Everyone's eyes were trained on the screen as it whirred for an oddly long amount of time. Lillian swallowed heavily, eyes straying towards where Present Mic was with Mr. Aizawa. Both were watching. They were far away, but somehow she knew their eyes were on her and her two friends. 

Aizawa was eager to see what the next event would be, and to see how his students would do in it. Of course he wanted to see how all his students had progressed, but he was particularly interested to see how the top three would proceed. Lillian, Neito, and Hitoshi made for a destructive and powerful team. Alone they were fine. Lillian could stop scenes, Hitoshi could manipulate enemies, and Neito could attack and and stun. Together, though... 

"Prepare yourselves..." Midnight trailed off. "For this!"

The randomizer conveniently stopped right as she said that. The words Cavalry Battle burst forth onto the screen, and Lillian paled. This was an event she'd only seen once in a past festival, and it had looked quite hellish and difficult from what she could tell. Hitoshi and Neito looked undeterred. Apparently their fresh win was projecting some new kind of confidence into them. And Lillian had to admit... they did make a pretty good team.

"Allow me to explain. The participants will form teams of two-to-four people as they see fit. In theory, it's basically the same as a regular playground came. But there is... one difference." Midnight smirked. Lillian decided that she really didn't like that either. All these suggestive glances were making her antsy and unsure of what was about to happen. That, and her stomach still sort of hurt. She didn't have much to milk out of her quirk yet. 

"This outta be good." Hitoshi grumbled.

"Two-to-four teams, you guys. We've got this." Neito whispered back just loud enough for them to hear. Lillian felt her anxiety levels drop ever so slightly at his words when he realized he was right. Midnight had said that they'd form teams, which probably meant they got to pick and choose. 

"Each player has been assigned a point value based on the results from the obstacle course." Midnight grinned wolfishly, eyes falling upon Hitoshi, Lillian, and Neito. The three immediately began to sweat and exchange concerned glanced. That look... definitely wasn't good. And if the points were based on their placement... well, they were going to have a lot of points. It would be worse due to the fact that there was no way in hell they weren't teaming up with one another. 

Basically... they were going to be the team with the highest point value. Which meant everyone would be coming for them with everything they had.

"I get it. A point based system like the entrance exam. That seems pretty simple!" Kirishima grinned.

"That means every team is going to have a different point value based on which students are on it." Ochako said thoughtfully. Mina grinned.

"Uh-huh!" The pink girl chirped happily. Midnight's smile dropped.

"Maybe you should shut up and let me explain things to you!" She barked irritably, causing Lillian to jump and Hitoshi to flinch. Neito looked used to it, examining his nails. When had so much dirt gotten under them? "Now, then. The point assignments go up by increments of five, staring from the bottom. For example, forty-second place is worth five points, and forty-first is worth ten. And the point value assigned to the first place contestant is..." 

Lillian paled, and Neito froze. Hitoshi began to sweat heavily, eyes going wide and lips parting in surprise at the number displayed at the top. Everyone collectively turned to look at him. Midnight grinned, "Ten million!" 

Hitoshi went pale as a sheet of paper, and was suddenly very thankful he had friends that he knew would be willing to team up with him despite him being a target. He knew that was basically endangering them and their entire chance at proceeding to the next round but... there was no chance anyone else would dare team up with the creepy purple-haired kid with the huge point value.

"That's right. It's survival of the fittest, with a chance for those at the bottom to overthrow the top!" Midnight seemed pleased by this. Lillian and Hitoshi shared wry smiles. Yeah, they were done for. Neito had turned into a stone statue, staring forward with his brows furrowed and lips pressed together tightly. Clearly he was having some trouble processing what was about to happen to them. Lillian understood. He wasn't as familiar with the concept of expecting death as she and Hitoshi were.

This... wasn't going to be good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The UA Sports Festival was something broadcasted worldwide, and that meant even in Italy. Italian subtitles streamed across the bottom of the screen, but Mayako didn't need them to understand what was happening. While her Japanese certainly wasn't as good as it used to be, it was decent enough that she knew what her old classmate, Present Mic, was saying.

Sixteen years ago she made a mistake, and thirteen years ago she made another. Sleeping with Shota Aizawa hadn't been something she consciously did. She'd been so drunk she'd forgotten her own name, and he was probably tipsy enough that he didn't recall much either. Being that drunk, of course they hadn't used protection. It hadn't even crossed their minds.

She'd dropped out of UA when she realized she was pregnant, and her parents kicked her out. She couldn't afford an abortion, so she didn't get one. She birthed Aiyako Aizawa, and then ran away so she wouldn't have to pay the bill. 

For three years she roughed it. She worked three jobs trying to raise the little girl she adored, but when Aiyako got sick... she knew she couldn't. There was no way she could provide what the little girl needed. So she left here there, in that hospital. And she hated herself every day for it. She used everything she had to buy a discount plain ticket to where she was now, and had married a man and started a new family.

But now those memories came surging back. As she sat by her husband of ten years, and gazed at her two little boys as they watched their half sister in awe. Of course her family didn't know she'd left someone behind in Japan. She was so ashamed of herself. How could she do that to her daughter? How could she have the audacity to abandon her, and then leave the country only to start an entirely new family with new kids?

"I'll be right back." She forced a smile and stood up. They smiled at her unknowingly. Having no idea that the girl they were awing over for freezing over two-hundred people was her daughter. Her two sons gawked at her, blue eyes shining as Lillian wiped blood from her lips and grinned. As she banded together with her two friends. As she was nothing short of absolutely, without a doubt, amazing.

She had no doubts Aizawa still didn't know. The man wasn't someone she'd known well, but she knew he'd be proud to have a daughter. He'd want her to have his last name. Her lack of one as Mic announced her quirk, Freeze Frame, told her he had no idea. He was sitting on a pot of gold without a clue in the world. It drove her into her closet, where she pulled out a dusty box of things she hadn't looked at in ages. She put the combination into the lock, and she opened it.

Aiyako's, or Lillian's, birth certificate sat on the top, Shota Aizawa's name written on it right next to her own. It was something she hadn't left behind, but couldn't throw away either. Pictures of Mayako in the hospital, holding a small Aiyako in her arms. Aiyako's first steps. Her covered in paint. Mayako felt tears fill her eyes as she began to shuffle through them more frantically. She felt her breathing pick up.

She'd left a little girl behind.

She'd left her little girl behind.

She hadn't wanted to ruin Aizawa's hero career. It's why she hadn't told him, though she regretted it now as she looked through the photos. She remembered showing Aiyako pictures of him. Pointing and saying "That's your papa! He's a hero!" The amazement in her eyes. The recognition. It was all gone now, and she'd done that. She'd taken away that little girl's father, and that father's little girl.

Mayako picked the box up and walked to the desk in her room, where she did most of her writing. She pulled a piece of paper out in a frenzy and began to write. She wrote as fast as she could, tears blurring her eyes and dropping down on the page. It smeared and blurred the ink as she wrote of her regrets, her joys, and all that could have been but never was. Her apology note. 

She wrote it without shame, choking a sob out when she heart Lillian announced as second place. The cheers of her two sons, and her ten year old's promise to attend UA just like her even if he couldn't freeze things the same way she could. Her five year old clapping his hands and proclaiming that he wanted a quirk like hers. That he wanted to meet her. That Lillian was going to be the next best hero, and that he was going to be just like her.

She folded the letter up and put it in the box, slamming the wooden lid shut. She locked it again and yanked it up and off the desk, marching from the bedroom herself and her husband shared and right for the front door. Her family looked up as she approached, looking confused as she clutched to her like it was something precious.

"Honey? What's wrong? What are you doing?" Her husband hopped up as she threw the front door open, her chest heaving. She turned to look back at him with tears falling from her crystal blue eyes. Behind him, Lillian bounced across the screen, grinning so widely her face looked like it could split. 

"Something I should have done a long, long time ago." She answered, turning away. She couldn't give Lillian the mother she deserved, but she damn well could give her the father she needed.

~~~~~~~

Y'ALL lazy_apocalypse DREW SOME AMAZING ART AND I"M LITERALLY SCREAMING???

THAT LAST ONE HAS ME LITERALLY CRYING IT'S THE MOST PERFECT THING I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY WHOLE ASS LIFE LIKE Y'ALL THERE ARE REAL TEARS OUT THIS BITCH