chapter 70

EIGHT YEARS LATER

An explosion lit up the sky, dazzling the blue horizon with sparks of yellow and orange. A red plume spewed into the air as a nearby tree caught fire from such an explosion. The bulky hero crashed down through the sky, landing a few yards away from the flame. His silhouette rose as he stood to face his opponent in the center of the city.

The female figure soared down to the ground from the sky, landing like a cat on her feet. She bounced on the cement as if she were on a cushion and stilled herself, standing up just as straight if not straighter than the hero a ways away from her. Her pearly whites gleamed as she grinned at her opponent. The female's purple extensions lengthened behind her and swarmed around her head like weaponized ropes, ready to strike at any moment.

The green and yellow scales of her armor reflected the sunlight into his eyes when she raised her arm to him, as if to raise a glass. "So you decided to come to our little meetup!"

The hero snarled and clenched his fists. "It's not a meetup! It's a duel!"

The purple headed figure rolled her eyes. "Okay okay, duel. But still! You decided to come, Ground Zero!"

The hero, Ground Zero, gave her a sickening grin, his eyes flared with a certain fire hidden behind them. Maybe it was the fire of the tree beside him that sparked such passion. "I'll show you who's the number 1 hero!"

"It's me!" The purple headed hero grinned. Ground Zero rolled his eyes, huffing.

"Get ready to eat my dust, sissy!"

"My name is the Tendril Hero: Gorgon! Get it right!" Gorgon huffed just as much as he did, stomping her foot on the ground in retaliation.

"Whatever! Eat my dust!" The hero repeated, as if it was the only line he knew.

The purple hero frowned at him, creasing her hairless brows. The purple tendrils flopped in the air around her as she started off into a sprint, running at her opponent. Ground Zero exploded off of the ground a few feet, sending a mini explosion behind him to propel him forward. They both yelled as they prepared for impact against one another.

But just as soon as they had both rushed at each other, they were stopped.

A shadow suddenly split the difference right where they might've run into each other and stopped the two from fighting. The shadow looped their arms underneath Ground Zero's shoulders and swept him away. Gorgon stumbled but caught herself, putting her hands on her knees as she stopped on the cement, suddenly alone. She blinked and looked to her right.

"Hey!" Her voice rang out, but much different from before. Her voice was that of a child's.

The shadow washed over the hero again and suddenly she was no hero at all. The scenery was not that of a Japanese city, either. Instead, the three figures stood in the center of a small carpeted living room. There were black leather couches on either side of where the two 'heroes' had come from, which explained 'Gorgon's' bouncy landing, and a nearby table lamp that had a small flame alit at the very tip of it. It must've been damaged by 'Ground Zero's' explosion, of course.

In the center of the living room stood a little girl with curly blonde hair which lengthened just past her shoulders. Her eyes were a brilliant blue with specks of gold within her irises like bright stars in a day's sky. She had fair skin and dark freckles across her nose and her arms. She crossed her arms across her chest, staring at the shadow that had cut through the heroes.

"We were playing!" The little girl, who couldn't have been more than 7, argued.

The shadow laughed. In fact, the shadow was no shadow at all.

The shadow was in fact a much taller and much older figure than the child in the living room. She had charcoal hair and white roots bleeding into her unnaturally dyed hair. Her blue eyes gleamed with happiness and pride as she stared down at the little girl. An older Tikki Shimamura, no doubt—now, Mrs. Bakugou.

"My mistake," Tikki replied, "but I can't have you two destroying all the furniture in the house, now can I?"

Tikki kissed her free thumb and pinched the small flame on top of the lamp beside her. The tiny fire promptly went out with her touch and she turned back to the little girl.

The girl huffed and pouted her lip. A little boy wriggled from Tikki's side. She had him hooked under her arm, holding him effortlessly to keep him from bouncing and crashing into his older sister.

The boy had fluffy white hair with strands of blonde sprinkled throughout his soft white locks. His skin was just as fair as his sister's but he had rose colored eyes. He had a bandaid on the bridge of his nose, decorated with multicolored stars that he had drawn there himself.

"We were playing heroes! I was Gorgon and Jie was Ground Zero!" the little girl expressed, loudly.

"Ah, I see. Then pretend I was the Cured Hero: Epione! I've come to battle you heroes!" Tikki put one fist up by her head and narrowed her eyes with a childish smirk, pretending to be evil, although she was pretending to be the hero she just named.

The Cured Hero: Epione! Her quirk: none! Epione is the alias of Tikki Shimamura after she put away her old hero name. After the loss of her quirk, Tikki Shimamura devoted her heroics to other efforts and reverted back to her Support Course days. She acted more-so as a support hero rather than one that faces intense combat like she used to!

The girl's face contorted into that of a confused look, cocking her head to the side. Her nose scrunched up. "What? No! You can't be Epione! She's a hero! She wouldn't fight us!"

Tikki raised an eyebrow at the little girl. "Then why are you two fighting?"

"We're fighting to see who's the better hero! It's only play fighting!"

At some point during his struggle underneath Tikki's grasp, the little boy stopped and relaxed. He whined and let his arms, head, and legs dangle like a lifeless doll, just hanging there. Tikki laughed and put him down gently on the couch. As soon as he was out of her grip, he bounced off the couch and ran to tackle his sister.

The girl squealed as he tackled her around the waist and brought her to the ground with him although he was about half her size. She screamed out and wriggled out of his hug, putting her foot on his face to get him off of her.

"Mommy!" The little girl cried out. "Help!"

Tikki shook her head with a smile and picked up the little boy again. "Jie, don't strangle your sister."

The little boy, Jie, flailed his arms as he was picked up from the ground again with ease. "Mommm!" he complained.

"I am not Mom!" Tikki gasped. "I am Epione! I have come to capture you!"

"Mommmm," the two children whined again.

Tikki sat down on the leather couch and plopped her son on her lap, holding him against her so he wouldn't bolt up and try to tackle his older sister again. His sister was two years older than him but she treated him like an equal, so he felt like he could do whatever she could. He could be quite a hassle sometimes... and it was very obvious where he got that from.

"What? I can't play with you guys?" Tikki questioned, acting hurt. She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.

The little girl sat criss cross on the ground, frowning up at her mother and little brother. She was definitely an interesting child. She was smart and always curious, asking all sorts of questions. "If you're gonna play, you can't be a hero."

"Heroes can be not-so-heroic sometimes too, you know," Tikki reminded her with a smile. "Who's to say that Epione isn't capable of capturing one of her fellow heroes? Hm?"

The little girl tilted her head so far to the left she almost fell over. "Ma, that doesn't make sense. How could a hero be mean?"

Tikki's eyes drifted to the left, remembering multiple occasions when heroes were mean. Ground Zero was definitely on the list of 'mean' heroes. But mean wasn't the same as villainous. That wasn't what she was trying to express to her children.

"Sometimes heroes get tricked," Tikki lamented. "Sometimes they get tricked to do things they wouldn't do if they saw straight. Sometimes the water is just too murky for them to see something as clear as day. Heroes aren't always perfect, they can be tricked by their own fears too."

"Like who?" her daughter said, not believing her mother. She was one of those people that needed evidence or proof in order to wholeheartedly believe a story. She was realistic rather than fantastical. Even at the age of 7, she knew better than most adults did.

Tikki smiled lightly, her eyes fading as her memories flashed in the back of her mind. Her memories of being Sensima; of the Wraith and her days with the Seijin; of the day she almost died and the day she lost her quirk for good. It was strange to say how melancholy those memories made her feel, but they were so relieving at the same time. Every memory she had had some sort of bittersweet feeling tied to them. Even the ones she feared, she was happy to have them. Her memories and her past made her the person she was today.

"Have you ever heard of a hero named Sensima?"

The two children shook their heads profusely. Even Jie was paying attention now, sucking on his thumb as he stared up at his mother. Their eyes were wide, knowing that a story was about to unfold.

"Well..." Tikki started, "A hero like that, we just call her The Fallen Hero: Sensima, now."

"Fallen?"

"Mhmm. She isn't around anymore. Her days of fighting are over, but that doesn't mean that she didn't spend those days well. She was strong, and brave, but she was also broken. There were little fears always hidden in the back of her mind, always reminding her to be afraid of every little thing and avoid the truth of the past. One day, a villain used those fears and convinced Sensima to work for the villains rather than for the heroes."

The children gasped. Jie said from her lap, "The villain turned her into a villain!"

"In a way, yes," Tikki admitted. She hesitated, but there was nothing wrong with telling her kids a little story. "Eventually, Sensima saw through the murky waters and realized what she was doing was wrong. Her fellow heroes helped her realize that. In the end she fought with the heroes and helped bring down the very villain that was tricking her in the first place."

"And then what? What happened to Sensima?"

Tikki shrugged with a coy smile. "She disappeared."

The little girl's smile turned upside down. "Like a ghost?"

"Like a forgotten idea. Simply vanished."

"Why?"

Tikki shrugged again. "That's why they call her the Fallen Hero. She disappeared without a trace, never to take up hero work again."

"But she's not a villain anymore, right?"

"She never was one. She simply forgot her heroic nature. She strayed on her path and followed blindly in a villain that she thought was telling her the truth."

"Huh?"

Tikki smiled and shook her head. Maybe her explanation was too convoluted for a child to understand. "She disappeared as a hero."

The little girl itched the top of her blonde head, leaning back on the ground with her other hand. "But why would she just disappear if she was still a hero? She had more work to do!"

Tikki bit the inside of her cheek. So many questions...

"Oi!"

The children looked toward the door and an immediate smile donned on Tikki's face. Her eyes softened at the male standing in the doorway. He grinned at them with a cocky smile and crimson eyes.

"What are we up to now? Bothering your mother?"

Jie wiggled out of Tikki's arms and leapt to greet his father. Tikki laughed as her kids ran up to Katsuki, roping their arms around his legs in their form of a hug. He groaned with a smile and picked his legs up like a toy robot to walk over to the center of the living room with the two children still hanging onto his shins. They giggled on their joyride on their father's legs.

"Hi Kats," Tikki sighed in relief, thankful he took their attention away so they wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Hey Teeks. Missed you," Bakugou said as he leaned over and pressed a quick peck to Tikki's lips. Jie and his older sister made fake vomit noises at the affection their parents were showing each other, even though it was very minimal.

She smiled giddily at him as if he'd never kissed her before in their lives. "Missed you too. Rough day?"

He shrugged. "Not so bad."

Bakugou bent down and picked up his kids by the collars of their shirts, prying them off of his legs. They giggled as he plopped them down on their butts on the ground. He turned and sat on the couch next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Your shaggy rat friend says hi."

'Shinsou,' Shimamura corrected, mentally.

"And," Bakugou continued. "Kirishima's inviting us over for dinner. Sayuri and her kids will be there too, I think. I said no but he insisted."

"Oh! We'd love to."

Bakugou groaned, leaning his head back on the couch with his eyes closed. "Yeah, he said you'd say that."

Tikki giggled and patted a somewhat consoling hand on his shoulder. She turned to her kids.

"Uncle Eijiro?" the little girl asked before Tikki even said anything. Tikki nodded.

"Mei will be there too! Go grab your jackets and we can go!" she smiled. Mei was Sayuri's daughter who made fast friends with Tikki's little girl.

Jie groaned and laid on the ground, squeezing his little hands into fists. "I don't want to!"

Mini sparks of an explosion erupted from his closed fist. He whined and made weird noises as he threw a tiny tantrum on the ground.

Jie Bakugou! His quirk: Rage Bomb! This shorty can make explosions ranging from small to big depending on his rage or how emotional he is! Want a big explosion? Make him angry! A little one? Just make the kid happy! This little guy is a pretty happy camper over all, so his explosions are never that big.

Without any hesitation, the little girl put a hand to her mouth and blew a kiss in her brother's direction. A literal pink heart floated off of her lips and burst like a popped bubble when it made contact with Jie's forehead.

He blinked and his tears were gone. He giggled and squeezed his chest, hugging himself. His explosions immediately ceased.

Tikki smiled. "Thank you, Ori. Now please go get your jackets."

The little girl, Orina, nodded with a bright smile, triumphant that she got her brother to stop throwing a tantrum. Orina... named after Tikki's mother.

Orina Bakugou! Her quirk: Blow-a-Kiss! This fiery kid can blow kisses that makes anyone she hits them with immediately happy! She can make even the saddest, angriest, most tired people as happy as a buzzing bee! Isn't that just adorable?!

"Telling them about Sensima, hmm?" Bakugou said from next to Tikki as the children scurried down the hall.

Tikki turned her head to him. He was looking down at her with one eye open while his head was still leaning back against the top of the couch. He raised an eyebrow at her. However, her smile never wavered.

He must've heard her story before he entered the living room.

"What's the problem with it? They wouldn't know who Sensima was, otherwise."

"They'll find out from their classmates eventually. And it's just an interesting story for you to be telling."

"How so?"

"You usually don't like talking about your past. Not even to them," he sighed.

She shrugged as she turned in her seat to face him. She put her legs up on the couch and let her knees rest against his chest. He finally propped his head up on his fist and stared down at her with a slight smile. His opposite hand rested on her knee, circling against her jeans with his thumb.

"Well, the moral of that story is to not be afraid of your past or else that fear might ruin you. It's about time that someone other than me learns from that."

Bakugou paused for a moment before he shook his head, gazing into her eternally blue eyes.

"I'm so in love with you it's disgusting," he said to her with a smirk.

She grinned at him. "How unfortunate for you."

"Hell no. I would be a wreck without you." They both laughed at that—probably because they knew it was true.

"I don't know what I'd do without you..." Tikki sighed with a smile.

Bakugou grinned. "You'd miss me is what you'd do."

She shrugged. "True."

"Mommmmmm!" Jie's little voice rang out from the front door. They must've ran past when the pair weren't looking.

"We're ready to go!" Orina yelled to them as well.

Bakugou let out a breath and bent himself up from the couch like an old man, but with a bit more speed than an elderly person might get up. He spun back to his wife and extended a hand to her.

"Guess that's our cue, Whitey."

She glanced down at his extended hand then back up at him. She smiled and took his hand.

"I suppose it is."

Tikki hooked her arm within his and walked out of the living room, heading towards the front door where their two children were jumping up and down to try and reach the deadbolt at the top of the door. Bakugou jokingly scolded his kids as he unlocked it for them and let them out of the house, into the light snowy landscape.

The dark haired Tikki Shimamura turned and locked the door behind her, smiling to herself. How could she have been so lucky to have a life like this?

Turning away from the door, she saw her family. Her real family. Jie was jumping up, trying to climb onto Bakugou's back as they walked to the car. Orina was tugging on Bakugou's shirt sleeve, waiting patiently for him to unlock the car. Just like Tikki, she had a calm smile on her face that was present at all times. Oh, how Tikki saw the similarities between little Orina and her namesake...

How could I have been so lucky?, she thought to herself again.

She was at peace. She lived without a care in the world with a beautiful family that loved her regardless of her faults. This was the life that she was meant for. No more fear, no more broken pasts, no more memories to torment her.

No more mania... simply happy. Eternally happy.

THE END.