It's okay to take comfort in materialistic things. As long as it truly helps you, don't let anyone tell you it's wrong.

Beta: emplatinum

◟(◕◡◕❀)

After Eri had gone to sleep the night before I was effectively shooed out and sent back to my room. While a part of me wished Eri could have continued to stay with me, I knew she was in good hands. Aizawa might have been a cactus, but he was a cactus with honey on the inside and knew how to appropriately handle traumatized children. I could rest easy knowing Eri was with him.

Not literally, of course, because night terrors didn't magically vanish.

But I thought they got a little more bearable.

I had slept with Izuku Sunday night and went back to classes on Monday. Nothing special happened during class, and it went by quick enough. The moment the final bell rang, though—

"I'm going to check up on Eri," I said, hoisting my backpack up over my shoulder. "Anyone wanna come with?"

"Sure," Izuku said with a sweet smile.

"I wanna come, too! She was crazy adorable," Ochaco added, putting away her books.

"I would like to join," Shōto said softly.

"Good," I said with a slow smile as I stretched out my hand. "Then how about y'all grab on to me?"

Ochaco gasped. "Wait—all?"

"That's right, dear! You're in the carpool club now."

The delight and excitement on her face was enough to make me beam. She threw her arms around me in a tight hug as Shōto and Izuku took my other hands. With a flex of my wand, I teleported all of us to Nezu's office where Eri had been doodling at his desk.

As soon as she noticed us, she stopped what she was doing and got up from her seat, her eyes wide. "Ne—Kiyomi-san!"

Ochaco released me, I swooped down to Eri and pick her up. I nuzzled her cheek and kissed her nose. "Hello, my little angel."

Eri blushed under my affection, wiggling in my arms out of embarrassment, but not enough to tell me she wanted me to put her down. Shyly, in the smallest and cutest voice I had ever heard, she said, "Hi."

"My eyes have been cleansed after a day of schoolwork," Ochaco sighed, leaning over my shoulder to give Eri a soft smile. "Hi, Eri-chan! I'm Ochaco, Kiyo-chan's friend."

I adjusted Eri in my arms as she greeted Ochaco with another cute, "Hello."

"Good afternoon Kiyo-chan, Uraraka-kun, Midoriya-kun, and Todoroki-kun," Nezu said cheerfully, capping his pen and straightening up in his seat at his desk. "Here to visit Eri-chan?"

"Mind if we steal her?" I asked.

"Keep her on campus and have her back for bedtime at Aizawa-san's apartment," he said. "Eri-chan, are you okay with that?"

"Mm-hmm!" Eri rested her head on my shoulder, her arms wrapping around my neck.

'I can literally feel my stress melting away,' I thought to myself, bubbles of warmth popping inside my belly and heart. The only word that could begin to describe how I felt was giddy, and that was something I hadn't been able to feel since—

Since Baba and Papa—

Well.

It was nice.

"Eri-chan, is there anything you'd like to do?" I asked her. Shōto deftly unhooked my backpack off my shoulders and hooked it around his other shoulder so I could carry her easier. I tossed him a grateful look while Eri thought about her answer.

Eri pondered this question for a few minutes as we slowly walked out of the office. "Um... books?"

"Ah, do you like to read?" Izuku asked her.

Eri gave him a small shrug. "I dunno. Nezu-san thought I might like to, though."

"Then let's swing by the library," I said, recalling that the U.A. library—the public access part of it, at least—had a section of children's books. Most of them were about heroes, but there were a few fantastical and science fiction thrown in. "What did you do with Sh—Nezu-sensei today?"

Eri made a hmm sound. "We ate breakfast together, and then he took me out shopping with a nice lady, um... Nemuri-san. I got a lot of new clothes. We went back to that older lady, um... Recovery Girl-san and she looked me over and then gave me a lollipop. After that it was time for lunch. Then, I had to take some tests. They were hard, but Nezu-san said I did very good and we got to eat cake afterward. When we were done eating I started to draw, and you came!"

'When I have a daughter, please let her be half as cute as Eri.'

The tests were probably to evaluate her education. Given that she was still a target for a criminal organization, sending her to public school—or outside of U.A. period—was begging for disaster. She would need to be privately tutored at U.A.

Nezu would likely design the coursework for her himself, and have—hmm—Nemuri be the one to teach her. Nemuri might be a tad vulgar, but she knew how to behave around small children and she was still an excellent teacher. When Nemuri had to teach her own classes, Aizawa would likely take over.

Still... Eri would need to have social interaction. Ideally with those of her own age, but given her trauma that might be dangerous. Children could be especially cruel without intending to, and it was hard to know what could trigger Eri.

For now the teachers and I—with my friends—would have to suffice.

I said, "Sounds like a busy day."

"It was," she agreed.

I could hear Ochaco's strangled squeal as she (and I) both struggled not to gush about how utterly adorable it was for Eri to say that with a perfectly straight face while nodding her head.

"Can I have five million of you?" I couldn't help but ask, nuzzling her head again.

Shōto coughed—Izuku elbowed him with a grin—while Eri frowned. "There's only one of me, though!"

This made Ochaco and I giggle while Eri looked at the two of us with a perplexed expression.

"What?" she asked, only urging the two of us to giggle even more so.

"It's better not to question when these two start laughing," Izuku advised her. "Better to just be thankful it's not the evil princess laugh."

"Evil princess laugh?" she repeated.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" I immediately chimed in.

"Oh-HO-HO-HO-HO!" Ochaco added.

"Please, no," Izuku sighed.

Eri frowned for a moment before she smiled and tried out, "Oh-ho-ho-ho?"

"That's it," I said, kissing the top of her head. "I love you."

She blushed a brighter red than strawberries.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Life fell into a pleasant routine for a little over a week. I still occasionally slept with one of my friends during the week, but I found it easier to get through the nights. My night terrors weren't quite so consuming, and I was even able to go back to sleep after them.

But I'd be reminiscing not to admit that the highlight of my day was spending time with Eri. Right after class I would hop over and play with her, or read stories to her, or watch a movie with her, and one of my friends would always join in.

I was crazy proud to admit that Eri seemed to enjoy my attention and affection. She really loved sitting in my lap or having me carry her around.

Although Friday night I had to patrol again with Mirio and Izuku for Sir Nighteye's apprenticeship, and Saturday we were supposed to have an official meeting.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Saturday morning, before the meeting at Sir Nighteye's office, I enjoyed a lovely breakfast with Eri and Shōto over at Aizawa's apartment. The said teacher had to go over some paperwork and run errands and asked us to watch over Eri while he did so.

Never going to be the one to turn down a chance to dote on Eri, I readily accepted. As it so happened Shōto had been spending the morning with me and offered to tag along.

We headed over, Aizawa grabbed his paperwork and headed off to a coffee shop, or someplace quiet and remote. I got started on making pancakes while Eri asked Shōto to read a story to her.

It was—

It was honestly just such a good morning. The kind of morning I wished would never end.

It felt like—well, it felt like we were a family.

We enjoyed breakfast together, watched a movie, and Eri told us all about how she liked her new home.

An honest shame it had to end.

"Oh... I better grab Izu-chan and Ocha-chan and head over," I said, glancing over at the clock. I kissed the top of Eri's head and picked her off my lap before setting her in Shōto's. Eri frowned at my departure, looking up at me with almost puppy-dog eyes.

Sadly, she said, "Okay..."

I bent over and kissed her nose again. "Don't worry little angel, I'll be back before you know it. Sho-chan will take good care of you in the meantime."

"We can watch Wall-E again," he offered her, causing a small smile to curl over her face. "And I may not be as good of a cook as Kiyo-chan, but I'm not bad."

"He actually makes my favorite rice bowls," I told Eri, smiling fondly at Shōto. I reached forward again and gently kissed his forehead. "I'll see you later, Sho-chan."

"See you, Kiyo-chan," he muttered, his cheeks red as Eri giggled in his lap.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

"Ah! Senpai!" I exclaimed upon teleporting Izuku and Ochaco with me to the meeting spot. Mirio tossed us a big thumbs up, his two friends flanking both of his sides.

"Good morning kohais!" Mirio chirped, accepting the immediate hug-tackle that I honestly couldn't resist. He patted me on the back, never losing his brilliant grin. "Glad to see you all could make it."

"Hi, hi, hi!" Hado cheered, the blue-haired senior bouncing in place. "It's great to see you all again! Kiyo-chan, you really like Mirio-kun, huh? Oh, hey I remember you, Midoriya-kun, right? And Ochaco-chan! Hi, hi!"

The bubbly girl hugged Ochaco before rushing over to hug me, as well. It was hard not to find her attitude infectious and sweet. Her questions could come across as odd, or childish, but she meant no disrespect. Hado was simply the definition of a curious girl.

It'd be nice if she put that enthusiasm into science and research.

That might be asking a bit much, though.

"Ready to head in?" Izuku inquired.

"Yep!" Mirio said, giving him a thumbs up. "Let's head on in."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Stepping inside the building, we were surprised to find it filled with high ranking heroes. Izuku did a double-take upon seeing an elderly hero in a yellow and white costume. His eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Grand Torio, what are you doing here?"

While Izuku moved over to address the elderly hero—I vaguely recalled that the old man was All Might's trainer, and had taken Izuku on during the hero internships—I assessed the surroundings. There were dozens of other heroes present, and more than half of them were heroes I didn't recognize.

One, in particular, caught my attention, though.

"Sensei?" I gaped at Aizawa. "I thought you had paperwork to do."

"I do," he muttered grouchily. "Sir Nighteye asked me to attend. Since it'll only be an hour, I thought I could spare the time."

I made an acknowledging sound at that as I glanced around the conference room. It was massive, very spacious, and had several tables pushed against one another to form an open rectangular space. At the very far end of the gathered tables sat Sir Nighteye, with his two most senior sidekicks standing behind him.

Sir Nighteye, as always, was dressed sharply in dark colors. He had pointy facial features that made him come across as intimidating or the type of man that rarely smiled. His glasses were impeccably cleaned, and he kept his dark green hair slicked back into a business cut. There were two golden-haired bangs tucked inside that hair, though, which reminded me a lot of All Might's hair color.

To Sir Nighteye's right was Bubble Girl, a blue-skinned sidekick with messy dark blue hair and big round eyes. Her costume was a matching shade of dark blue, with a crop top that revealed her stomach, and thin leggings. She had a pair of thick white boots that went up to her knees and a general ditzy demeanor.

To Sir Nighteye's left was Centipeder. From the neck down he looked like an ordinary gentleman, but from the neck above he had the body and head of a centipede. His hundreds of legs wiggled every time he moved, which could sometimes startle clients. Centipeder wasn't in the public eye much because of his striking appearance, preferring to work more behind the scenes. I hadn't run into him much before because of this, but Nezu had mentioned hiring Centipeder as a second instructor for espionage so I knew he was good.

I tried to spot any more heroes that I recognized.

I knew Fat Gum since he was Eijirō's mentor and Eijirō loved to brag on about him. He was a massively round man that reminded me a lot of Totoro from the Ghibli movies. He had such a unique smile, and was so absurdly round. His hero costume was a yellow jacket that he kept the hood pulled up on, black pants, and white boots with shin guards.

As more people started to arrive, I took a seat near the front with Izuku and Ochaco. Eijirō and Tsuyu also showed up—Tsuyu was sharing a mentor with Ochaco and Hado. Tsuyu sat over by Hado, and Eijirō sat right next to Fat Gum.

Aside from them, however, I didn't recognize anyone else attending the meeting.

Once everyone had taken their seats, a screen rolled down behind Sir Nighteye and he began, "The small yakuza organization, The Eightfold Cleanses, what exactly are they plotting? Along with sharing our acquired information, I would like to consult with all of you today."

Bubble Girl cleared her throat and picked up after him. "Since about two weeks prior, we at the Nighteye Offices have been independently observing a certain villain group known as The Eightfold Cleanses."

"What started this investigation?" inquired one of the heroes called forth.

"There was an accident involving a thief gang known as the Reservoir Dogs. The police cleaned everything up as just an accident, but there were many points that made no sense and we began to track them," Bubble Girl explained, glancing over at Centipeder.

"I am a sidekick, Centipeder," said Centipeder, "I have been conducting the trafficking and observation as per the instructions put forth by Sir Nighteye. Within this one-year period that I have been investigating, there has been a rapid increase in contact between members of the underground organization, as well as people outside of the group. They appear to be an organization moving with the intent to expand and accumulate funds. Also, shortly after the commencement of the investigation..."

Before Centipeder could continue with his narrative one of the heroes that I didn't recognize snorted. He gestured rudely over at where we—the students—were currently seated. "I know U.A. is a great school and all, but why do we have a bunch of kids here? They can't contribute."

Fat Gum abruptly stood up from his seat, his cheeks darkening in anger on behalf of his sidekicks. He thrust his right arm toward Eijirō and Amijiki. "How rude! Both of these students are integral witnesses and helped provide a major breakthrough in the case."

Amijiki wilted under the gazes that swung his way and he sunk further into his seat. Eijirō blushed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Huh? I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"Eijirō-kun bravely took on bullets from the villains, and kept them perfectly intact so we could examine them," Fat Gum went on to say, the large hero glaring directly at the other hero who had spoken out. "Because of such we were able to uncover crucial information about its contents—about this dangerous elixir that erases quirks!"

Gasps were heard. One definitely came out of me, and I abruptly turned toward Aizawa. The only one in the world registered with such an ability was Aizawa.

'Did the villains somehow manage to copy his Quirk?' I thought. 'But if they can copy Quirks, why only use Cactus's?'

"Yes," Sir Nighteye softly said. "And it was through Kiyomi-san that we were able to conclusively verify its contents."

"Huh?" the confused sound popped out of me, as the gazes now swung toward me. My cheeks warmed and I resisted the urge to scoot closer to either Ochaco or Izuku. Through sheer willpower (and experience as a waitress) I kept my hands neatly folded in my lap and offered up the assessing heroes a shy smile.

"Chisaki... has a daughter," Sir Nighteye went on. "She has no birth registration and details about her were unknown. The moment Kiyomi-san found this daughter, Eri-san, she immediately removed her from Chisaki's grasp and brought her to safety. She is currently being watched over by heroes and is heavily protected."

Why are they bringing up Eri-chan? They were talking about the contents of the—

(No.)

"Eri-san's blood matches the ingredients found inside the bullets," Sir Nighteye finished.

Hell. No.

It was like a spear of hot lava shot straight through my stomach and sliced into my heart. If I wasn't in such a public place I would have snarled at such an answer. I wanted to. I wanted to snap that that simply couldn't be the case. I wanted to howl my rage, and most importantly—

I really wanted to see Eri and make sure she was okay.

Worry and anger circled inside the pit of my stomach. I was furious, but above all else this made me scared.

I knew she had been through trauma, but—

This poor child. This poor soul.

How scared she must have been, how utterly hurt and alone she must have felt. Her supposed father used her as a—

(—weapon.)

(—soldier.)

(—thing.)

—tool. He abused her, hurt her, and made her life such a living hell. He tore off her flesh, drained her blood, and did it over and over again for who knows how many years.

No child deserved that.

I wanted to leave. I wanted to go back to Eri, hug her tight and promise her that I would never let anyone do that to her.

'Thank God I took her.'

I didn't even want to consider what might have happened to her if I didn't take her then.

Sir Nighteye went on, "We don't know if he's selling these bullets, or using them for himself. We do know that he needs them for some bigger scheme of his, and he'll be hunting for a chance to take Eri-san back."

(He won't.)

"Our objective is simple. With Eri-san in our custody alongside the intact bullets, we have a solid enough ground to move in. We will capture Chisaki and put down The Eightfold Cleansers. We will ensure their criminal activities do not go unpunished."

"That's fine and all, but with the girl now in our hands do you think he'll be easy to pin down?" asked the hero that had previously gestured rudely to us.

"That is definitely part of the issue here," Sir Nighteye agreed. "We don't know how far ahead he's planned. If we don't finish them with one blow, they'll probably get the chance to launch a counter-attack. We've looked at groups and organizations that have ties to the perpetrators as well as all the known locations under the precept's control. We've left no stone unturned coming up with this list. We'd like everyone here to assist in searching for each of these locations. Let's find the location and wring it out!"

The gathered heroes sat back in the chair, everyone looking up at the displayed map behind Sir Nighteye. One of the heroes who I also didn't recognize said, "I see, that's how us minor heroes come into play, then. All the heroes here are those familiar with at least one of the listed areas."

Aizawa shifted his posture in his seat across from us. "If I could ask a question? I'm not completely knowledgeable about your abilities, Sir Nighteye, but if you have the ability to see the future then can't you just look ahead and see what our outcome is? At this rate, we may be moving too slow."

"That, I can't do," Sir Nighteye responded severely, expression obscured as he pushed back his glasses. "Once I activate my foresight ability it needs a 24-hour interval before it can be used again. In other words, every day, for one hour, I can see one person's future. And when I do, it's like a series of flashbacks play in my head, frame by frame. Once activated, for an hour's time, I can see the film of an individual's life. However, all of that film is from a perspective that very closely follows the person. All I can see are their actions and their immediate surroundings."

Aizawa's eyes flickered over to me, startling me for a split second before he swung his sight back onto Sir Nighteye. "Is that not more than enough? You should be able to find out quite a bit from that. What do you mean by you can't do it?"

Sir Nighteye fell silent for a moment, his sharp features darkening into a grimace. "For example, if in that person's immediate future I see death. A merciless death awaiting them. What could I do? This Quirk of mine is only supposed to be used when the chances of success have been brought to their highest. It should be used for insurance. When there are too many uncertainties at play it should not be used recklessly."

"I don't really get it," interjected the rude hero, "but you can use the Quirk on me. I promise I'll keep it safe—"

"No," Sir Nighteye interrupted sternly. "I will not." He stood up from his desk. "Our mission is clear, and I will provide each of you with a mapped area. Let's not waste any more time."

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Returning home was abrupt. I grabbed Izuku and Ochaco and immediately teleported directly to Eri. To my—our, actually—relief she was still sitting on Shōto's lap and watching a movie. It looked like they had both just finished eating an afternoon snack, and upon noticing me—as I had teleported in front of them—she gave me a dazzling smile.

"Hello!" she said, waving her hand.

I swooped down and picked her up, kissing her nose. "Hello, little angel."

Eri giggled at how my hair tickled her cheek while I kissed her nose.

Ochaco let out a big sigh of relief, while Izuku flopped down on to the couch, also sighing in relief.

"Good meeting?" Shōto inquired, a slight frown marring his face as he looked between all of us. He stood up from the couch, reaching forward and placing a comfortingly warm hand on the small of my back. I leaned into the touch, hugging Eri even tighter.

I didn't want to outright lie to Shōto and call it a good meeting, but we weren't allowed to discuss the case with anyone outside. So I gave him a wobbly smile and said, "How about we all bake a chocolate swiss roll cake, and make some s'more macrons?"

"Yes!" Eri cheered.

Shōto seemed to take the hint, a flicker of worry crossing over his face before it cleared and he gave me one of his sweet, soft smiles. The kind of smiles he kept just for me on bad days.

"Okay," he said.

"I could go for some chocolate," Ochaco said, straightening back up and wandering into the kitchen. "Lots of chocolate."

"Chocolate sounds good," Izuku agreed, following behind her. "Lots and lots of chocolate."

"Yep," I said, nodding firmly. "Chocolate makes everything better."

"Everything?" Eri repeated back.

"Everything," I assured her, kissing her nose again.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Extra (absolutely canon):

"Darn," Kiyomi said, frowning at the second bowl of egg whites and sugar. "This needs to get whipped up over a double broiler, but I can't find the hand mixer. Izu-chan, use Plus Ultra to whisk this, okay?"

"What?" Izuku squawked, indignant. "I can't—I can't use my Quirk on cooking! That's against the rules."

"Izu-chan if you don't use Plus Ultra to whip this up in a timely manner I'm going to replace all your underwear with lingerie," Kiyomi threatened, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

"Oooo." Ochaco looked over a red-faced Izuku with a smirk.

"What's lingerie?" Eri asked Shōto. The cute little girl was on a stepping stool and slowly cutting chocolate on the counter with Shōto's help.

"Izuku-kun's weakness," Shōto explained to her, guiding the knife with gentle patience.

"Ooooo," Eri oo'd as well.

A stammering, red-faced, and upset Izuku grabbed the whisk.

"I'm sorry All Might," he quietly whispered as he began to use his Quirk to make homemade marshmallows.

◟(◕◡◕❀)

Answer: Strawberries, sugar, and grain.

Question: If you had to be apart of a military (fantasy / sci-fi military acceptable) what role would you want to be? General? Spy? Ranger?