Bakugo and Otaku ran into the large building with determination... and slight confusion. Todoroki Agencies? Otaku has heard of the famous Pro-Hero Shouto before, and never in his life imagined just walking into his office! He was the number two hero in Japan! Well... he supposed Ground Zero was number one, so maybe this was socially acceptable?

The elevator ascended the many floors, and Otaku shivered a bit from the cold. He didn't get to change his soaking wet clothes yet; what was so important that Bakugo couldn't go back to the apartment?!

"Hey, who is this guy? I mean, I know he's famous, but like, who is he?" Otaku asked as the elevator binged and opened its doors. Bakugo just sighed in aggravation.

"Half-n-Half is an old co-intern and classmate of mine. He's nosy as shit, but that's exactly what we need right now." He said as he approached the front desk of the packed agency. The lady seemed confused by this random stranger that somehow got past security downstairs.

"May I help you, sir?" She asked nicely, with a hidden sass in her tone. Katsuki slammed his hero license on the desk and grumbled,

"Ground Zero. Now where's Icy Hot? I have important shit to attend to with him." He seemed anxious.

"He's not available at the moment."

"Is he in his office?" Bakugo asked as he stomped around a corner. He went to the nearest door and jiggled the handle. Locked.

"Sir! That's his private office, and he's not in at the moment! He's in the middle of an important investigation! You'll have to set up an appointment or-"

"When will he be back?" Katsuki spat rudely. Otaku was just in awe at how much straightforward authority Bakugo had, despite its misplacement.

"He'll be here in an hour, but by then we'll be-" She was interrupted once more by the old man,

"I'll be back then, I have to talk to him. No wasting my precious time with your dumb schedule." Bakugo growled as he and Otaku headed back to the elevator.

"But, sir! Oh cuss!"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off as the doors closed. Bakugo and Otaku stood together in silence. Painfully awkward music strung out the stilted vibe in the elevator. Otaku wasn't sure what to ask, so he kept his thoughts to himself as he tried to keep warm. Bakugo eyed him cautiously as a shiver wreaked his body.

"What size are you?" Katsuki asked out of nowhere.

"Huh? Size?" Otaku asked with a lost kitten look on his face.

"For clothes. And shoes. You're drenched and we have an hour to kill." Bakugo said plainly as they exited the elevator and headed outside, walking towards the mall.

"Oh, umm... I usually get hand-me-downs, so I'm not sure."

Bakugo exaggeratedly rolled his eyes.

"You are absolutely no help whatsoever. Come on, we're getting you something half decent to wear." Katsuki gestured his head to the clothing store.

"But I... don't have any money." Otaku said awkwardly as they entered the outlet.

"I'm paying, obviously."

"But-"

"Just accept the damn gift. I can't be walking around with a drenched hobo anymore."

And thus, the shopping sequence commenced. Despite showing up at Bakugo's door with the crappiest smattering of an outfit, Otaku actually had some fashion sense. Not Bakugo's fashion sense, but some sense.

"Flowers? ...Again?" Katsuki asked as Otaku put back the pattered shirt.

"It was an interesting pattern!" He protested hard. But looking at their cart showed that almost all the shirts he grabbed had some flower on it in some shape or form. "I just like flowers, okay!" Otaku blushed.

"..." Bakugo did not get it. It was too colorful.

"Look, it's not like I'm gay or anything just because I like flowers!" He said with a crimson blush.

"Huh?" That kinda confused Bakugo. "I didn't say it was."

"...Yeah."

"..." Eyeing the embarrassed teen up and down, Katsuki shrugged, "You know, I don't care if you are-"

"I'm not!"

"...Alright."

"I'm serious!" His defensiveness was not helping his case one bit.

"I really don't care if you are."

"I mean... I wouldn't either, okay? But I... don't think I'm much of anything."

"Much of anything?" Bakugo pondered aloud. But Otaku just shrugged a little as he pick another shirt.

"Like... I've never had a crush before. And I don't... see myself falling in love. I don't think I'm cut out for that..." Otaku sighed sadly and deflated a little bit. Katsuki simply huffed and replied,

"That makes two of us."

"...?" Otaku hadn't ever met someone who felt like he does before. "Really?"

"I dated a chick for a long time, but I shoulda known it wasn't gonna last. I never felt that... attachment with her." Bakugo grabbed the cart and walked over to the changing rooms. It was kind of hard to move on from such a subject, so Katsuki picked up a random shirt from a pile and gave a nod.

"At least you're won't look homeless with these."

"Hey!" Otaku pouted playfully, "If I look homeless then that's entirely your fault! These are your clothes, after all..." He teased as he pointed to the damp skull T-shirt.

"What?! I'm not wearing a bouquet if that's what you're suggesting!" Bakugo coughed with a laugh.

"I think you could pull it off." Otaku had a mischievous smile on his face.

"Hell no."

Katsuki exited the changing room with an unamused look on his scruffy face. He gave an unenthusiastic turnaround as he showed off the ridiculously pink and green shirt.

Otaku was having a tough time keeping it together.

"Okay... maybe it's a little pansy..."

"Oi! You're the one who forced me to wear this crap!" Katsuki groaned. But Otaku wasn't done with his fun yet.

"Wait-" he grabbed something off a discount rack and put it on Katsuki's head. "Perfect!" He snickered. It was an old lady bonnet that immediately made Bakugo twenty years older. Rolling his eyes, Katsuki stood akimbo and declared,

"That completes my new look. Let's check out the bingo tournament down the street, unless that's too exciting for you, grandma?"

"Pfft! Haha! Ha!"

Oh. That was the first time Katsuki had heard Otaku laugh. It was nice and genuine. Made him want to hear it again. Shaking the smirk away from his face, Bakugo yanked off the ridiculous headband and said,

"We're here to buy you clothes, right? Geez! Wasting our time! Ya better try clothes out and fast, we got to get a move on."

"But we still have a half hour!"

"Not if we're gonna give you a haircut."

"Uh?" Otaku wasn't expecting that. He hadn't ever really been pampered before, but there had to be some catch or something, right? "Why are you doing this for me?" Otaku asked out loud.

Bakugo didn't answer. There were so many things Katsuki messed up on. His biggest regret was throwing Otaku away, and now that he's here... he feels like he has to try and save whatever broken pieces remained. And that started by getting this kid cleaned up. So Katsuki simply shrugged and mumbled,

"Because I wanna."

After dawning a new outfit and getting the sharpest haircut he's ever had, Otaku wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. He picked out his clothes and his hairstyle, and now everything about him felt like... him. It was the first time that he felt like himself, therefore he didn't feel like himself, if that makes sense.

"You alright, kid?" Bakugo asked as Otaku continued to stare at his reflection.

"Oh, uh, yeah..." Otaku scruffed his fingers through his hair. All the clothes he picked looked... bright and happy. But that... wasn't exactly how he felt yet. Maybe he'd slip the black hoodie on once more.

"Well then we better head back to Icy Hot and force him to talk to us."

"Oh yeah, about this guy..." Otaku started as he followed Bakugo out of the hair salon, "You said he hates your guts."

Groaning with immense aggravation, Katsuki rolled his neck several times before answering,

"A lot of people hate my guts. But he's the worse case outta them all."

"Why's that?" Otaku pondered. With a sad shrug, Bakugo sighed,

"...Cuz it makes sense why he hates me." He looked over to Otaku who's big eyes stared back up at him. It was kinda endearing, Katsuki wasn't gonna lie. He gave a single nod and said, "But he might actually talk to me once he sees you."

"Me?!" Otaku gasped as they walked into the building.

"Yeah. Don't hesitate to tell him exactly who you are." Katsuki said mystically. Tell him who he is? If Bakugo was certain... then alright...

Bakugo barged into the offices like the owned the place and stomped over to the counter with authority. He slammed a hand on the table with a bang and made the lady jump.

"So. Is he here?" He pointedly questioned.

"Alright, mister, what I was about to tell you before you left in such a hurry is that we are closed now. You can't see him without setting up an-"

"So is he here or not?" Bakugo growled before walking right past her desk and kicking open Todoroki's office door.

"Sir! Wait!" But she couldn't stop Katsuki from doing what he wants. However, Shouto was not in his office. His crappy, ridiculously cluttered office with cork boards filled up with connecting strings of yarn and pictures stapled to news articles. It was hectic.

"Well?! Where the hell is he!? Is he in the next door over or-" As he left the empty room, he nearly butted heads with a cold, rife glare.

"..." Todoroki stared down the explosive man with spite and furrowed his brows in anger. "Bakugo. Why are you here?" He asked sharply. Katsuki exhaled slowly and said,

"We need your help."

"..." Todoroki's eye twitched in rage. "You need my help?"

"...Yes."

"You want me to stop my pursuit of the man who destroyed everything... to lend a hand?" His presence was very dark. He began to shove Katsuki towards the elevator with a cold authority.

"Hey! Don't push me! You know I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't the last possible option!" Bakugo snapped at the man.

"I am uninterested in looking for anyone other than the man who stole everything from the people I love." Todoroki said sternly with another shove. "I thought you felt the same way, but you have proved me wrong. So goodbye-"

"Excuse me?"

Todoroki stopped what he was doing to look at the source of interruption. It was a teenager.

"...Hello?" Shouto was a little confused. "Who is this?" He pondered with a clueless expression on his face.

"My name is Otaku. I'm..." he looked over at Bakugo who gave a reassuring nod, "I'm Bakugo's son."

"...!" Todoroki's eyes widened and he stopped pushing Katsuki away. Looking between the two he definitely saw a resemblance. "Forgive me. My name is Todoroki Shouto." He bowed respectably to the teenager, "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, umm, I'm good..." Otaku was surprised by the sudden change in Shouto's posture.

"We came to you because we are looking for his mom." Katsuki said as he stood next to Otaku, "You're the only guy I know who could possibly find security footage from sixteen years ago."

"I see..." Todoroki sighed and stared at Otaku. He really did look like his dad. "Alright... You need my assistance?"

"...Yes." Bakugo humbly bowed a tiny bow.

"...I'll help you."

"Thank-"

"On one condition."

"..." Bakugo didn't like the sound of this, but what other choice did he have? "What."

"I need you to answer every question I have. Truthfully, quickly, and honestly. And I can choose to stop helping immediately under any circumstance."

"Fine! We shouldn't take up too much of your time." Katsuki sighed and rubbed his eyes from the headache he was getting. He already hated this, but what else was he going to do?

"First, my question for you:" Todoroki calmly demanded, "Assuming you will pursue this woman once you find her, what will you do once you have made contact?"

"..." Bakugo hadn't really thought of it, but he had a basic idea. "Once I know what's going on, I'm gonna bring her to justice. Out her for doing shit to me."

The straightforward way Bakugo said this made Otaku feel off. Yeah, he got the idea that his birth mom was a bad lady. But every time he was reminded of that it made him shutter.

"I see... then what do you plan on doing with the boy?" Shouto asked with a bitter anger in his eyes. But as he turned to Otaku they grew soft again. Like he genuinely cared about Otaku's wellbeing.

"I'm gonna stick with Otaku until I can find him a proper family." Bakugo was not liking this barrage of investigatory questions, but he was going to answer them like he promised. Otaku gave a tiny smile at that, looking at the carpet.

Todoroki squinted at Bakugo skeptically, his glare sharp as daggers.

"A proper family..." he mumbled to himself, "Alright. Bakugo, please follow me into my office. Otaku, I'm sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to sit out here."

"Huh? Okay..."

"Please do not enter my office, I am currently working on a large investigation and it has critical information not permitted for civilian eyes." Todoroki explained throughly with a softness in his tone. He was being very respectful to Otaku, oddly.

"Yeah, I can stay out here."

Otaku watched as the two men entered the office and waited as the door made a soft click behind Todoroki. He stood a moment before taking a seat in a random chair and patting his knees awkwardly. The previously bustling floor was now almost cleared out, and all but the entryway lights were off.

Shutting off one more light from the bathrooms, the desk lady grabbed her coat and keys. She sighed at the teenager with a silly raise of her eyebrows.

"Sorry you have such a loud and brash father. Must be hard to put up with."

"Oh, he's not, umm-" Otaku awkwardly rubbed his head. Katsuki technically was his biological dad, but he wouldn't really feel comfortable call him his dad yet. But how was he going to explain that to the random stranger? "He's... not that bad." He said instead.

"I understand. He reminds me a lot of my son."

"Oh. Mmhm." Otaku wasn't very interested.

"Yes. He would've been about your age, I believe."

"...Would've?" Otaku asked quietly.

"Hai..." she smiled softly at the floor, "Sometimes, when I think about the what if's, I wonder who he'd be friends with today..." She got lost in her own world a moment before realizing this was just some poor kid she was telling her life story to. "But it doesn't do one good getting lost in the what if's. Remember that now, alright?" She smiled ever so nicely and patted Otaku's face caringly.

"Uhh, sure Mrs..."

"Ms. Meiwaku."

"Ah. Well, thanks, I guess."

Bakugo watched Todoroki as he typed away at his laptop. He looked around the room and sank a little. Todoroki had the walls of a madman conspirator. He was looking for a smuggler, abuser, murderer- the same one he's been looking for for eleven years.

At this point, Katsuki lost hope in ever finding that bastard. Everyone has. Even Midoryia.

Everyone except Todoroki.

"Sixteen years ago, on a September?"

"Hai. Coming home from that bar." Bakugo answered in a grumble.

As Shouto stared at his screen he squinted and mumbled,

"Describe to me the exact order of events that took place that night."

"..." Bakugo didn't want to remember it if this chick really was Otaku's mother, but that's what he was here for, right? "I was at this stupid party with Dunce Face and... and Kirishima. I was dead tired and went home around midnight a little buzzed."

Todoroki raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"Okay, maybe just deadass drunk. But I remember it just fine, okay?!"

"So then what occurred?" Shouto asked quietly as he continued to stare at the screen in front of himself.

"Some crazy chick stopped me, saying she was a fan and going on and on about her personal life and how she wanted to go into UA but didn't have a quirk, blah blah blah."

"I am guessing you were not amused by such an interruption..." Shouto stated factly.

"Yeah, no. I told her to fuck off and she... she got this crooked smile..." Bakugo shuttered. It was all starting to come back... vividly...

Otaku tapped his feet on the floor a moment and hummed an original tune to himself. He was bored, and something about the empty business made him... uneasy. It was only about two in the afternoon, why was this hero agency closed so early? It was weird.

He might as well look at his phone while he waited-

His phone wasn't in his pocket.

"Hey Bakugo? I think I left my phone in the clothes I borrowed earlier." As he was thinking about it he groaned with annoyance. His phone was probably damaged beyond repair after being dunked under water with him. "Man... I wonder if there's any rice I can leave it in..." He mumbled and went over to the door.

"Hey Bak-"

"-she got this crooked smile..."

"..." Otaku immediately guessed who they were talking about. He probably shouldn't listen in... but...

"A crooked smile?"

"Hai... and she whispered, 'we would've been perfect together...'" Otaku pressed his large ear against the door and listened in closer.

"...So do you remember... what she did after that?" Todoroki asked carefully.

"...She smacked me with a brick. And then I woke up, covered in vomit. ...Kirishima picked me up, and I never thought about it again."

"That was nine months before you found the boy?"

"Eleven, but the doc said he was two months old. So as far as timing goes... it fits."

Otaku bit his lip and deflated onto the door. He... only existed because of some rancid tsundere lady... It was starting to sink in a little deeper. No wonder Bakugo didn't want him-

"Bakugo..." Todoroki began seriously, "I never did forgive you for giving up the boy."

"..." Otaku's jaw dropped. Was that why Shouto was angry at Bakugo? Or maybe just one of the reasons?

"...Me neither."

"...!" Otaku wasn't expecting Katsuki to say that. He... regretted abandoning him?

"But you are helping him now. What changed your mind?"

Yeah, what changed his mind?

"...You want the honest answer?" Bakugo asked Todoroki, Otaku nodded his head along as he listened in.

"Only the truth."

"...He-"

*Bump.*

Otaku swiveled away from the door and stared down the hall. No one else was here, right? It was just them three, right?

He tiptoed without making a sound. He could hear soft footsteps. Someone was trying to be sneak around.

"Ms. Meiwaku? I-Is that you?" Otaku shouted into the dark room full of cubicles.

The floor was silent.

No one responded back to him. But it felt like there was something out there-

"Otaku!"

"Gah!" Otaku jumped defensively with his fists out, ready for a scuffle.

"Jeez, kid! Did I spook ya or something?" Bakugo scoffed. But Otaku just looked back over the dark floor.

He felt like someone was watching them...

"We were unable to recover anything from my laptop." Shouto sighed.

"Come on, we need to go get footage from the apartment. We'll drop off your crap while we're there." Bakugo said as he and Todoroki entered the elevator. But Otaku couldn't pry his eyes away from the shadows.

"Oi kid! You alright?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah. I'm ready..." He said slowly while backing into the elevator. As the doors closed he continued to peer out into the abyss, fearful he may find something.

Just as the doors were about to shut, Otaku could've sworn he saw the faintest ghost of a shadow...

...turn.

"Gasp!" He gawked for one moment.

"What is it?" Todoroki asked the oddly behaving boy. But the teen just shook himself back to reality.

"N-Nothing. Just being paranoid." He felt a shiver tickle his neck as he exhaled too quietly for the others to hear, "I hope..."

## Bakugo's Apartment

Otaku entered Bakugo's apartment behind the two top Pro-Heroes. For some strange reason, even though these two were the best of the best, the protectors of Japan, the teen felt... unsafe. He was just being paranoid. No one was following them.

"The landlord agreed to giving us a thumb drive of the footage." Katsuki said with a crack of his neck and a toss of his keys, "I don't know how I ain't ever thought of this before."

"Thought of what?" Otaku pondered with wide eyes. Todoroki slid off his shoes and opened up his laptop.

"Checking this apartment's outdoors security footage..." Shouto sat on the couch.

"To see the night your birth mom plopped you on the steps downstairs." Bakugo added as he sat by the window. Otaku's eyes widened even more. He forgot that's where she left him. He's been stepping over those fateful steps without care this whole time.

"So... we might be able to find a video of her? To... see what she looks like?"

"We will." Shouto mumbled, "Bakugo recalls the exact day he found you, and the time too."

"R-Really?" Otaku gawked once more. Bakugo exhaled,

"...July twenty-fifth, around nine-fifty."

"..."

"...In that bag... with that letter." He pointed to the duffle bag that Otaku had been carrying around with him this whole time. That's right. He tried to steal it earlier.

"Oh... yeah, I erm, guess this is yours-"

"You can keep it."

"...Okay."

Todoroki watched the interaction between the two. Maybe Bakugo really was trying to fix what was broken...

Although it was a bit late for that.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of watching eyes looked down upon the investigators. They squinted in pure, unbridled hatred.

She stared through the clueless figures, her eyes longed for blood.

Licking her lips and scrunching her nose, she unsheathed her weapon, ready to take out her target.

But she couldn't act now. There were too many variables. Too many witnesses, and it'd be too suspect.

Gently, she lowered her weapon and slid it back into her holster.

She can wait.

She's waited this long...

"I've found it." Shouto said rather simply. Bakugo and Otaku blinked blankly.

"Al...Already?" The teenager gawked.

"Hai. Come see." Todoroki spun it around for the two Bakugos to observe.

In the video, Katsuki left his apartment with his hands deep in his pockets. He walked away and passed right by a hooded figure...

The mysterious person watched as he left. She came up to the steps and plopped a duffle bag down before walking away without a care. Just left.

"She... didn't even look back..." Otaku whimpered with wide eyes.

"..." Katsuki leaned in closely with a dark aura of rage ebbing off of him. They couldn't see her face, but that was for her own good. Otherwise, he would've beat the absolute shit out of that crazy bitch. "You were out there... for four hours... while I was out eating dinner..." he snarled.

Noticing the anger building up in Bakugo, Otaku mumbled,

"Y-You didn't know, it's alright! I didn't freeze, so everything is alright and-"

"Shut up De- erm, Otaku..." Bakugo growled.

Todoroki fast forwarded the footage to four hours later.

The bag wiggled and squirmed all alone on the doorstep. Then, Bakugo came into view. He seemed very skeptical of the package. Slowly, he unzipped it. His shock was visible from the camera.

He pulled the baby from the bag.

"Stop." Bakugo said sharply to Todoroki.

"Ha?" Shouto mumbled quietly. Otaku couldn't pry his eyes away.

"Fucking stop the video." Katsuki said even sharper.

But Todoroki didn't stop it. It continued to show Bakugo pick up the baby and hold it awkwardly out, confused as all hell. Then slowly, he held the cold thing close...

He picked up a letter. He looked so scared...

"Fucking Half-n-half bastard! I told you to stop!" Katsuki shouted as he tried to close the laptop up.

"No. I think Otaku deserves to see-"

"We found shit, alright?! Now get that crap outta here!" He screamed, hands sizzling and popping with anger.

"If you are displeased with the video's outcome then that is entirely your doing-"

"RaaaAAAGH!" Bakugo snatched the computer off of Todoroki's lap and dashed it across the wall. It shattered and cracked into a million pieces.

Todoroki stood aggressively and got up into Bakugo's face.

"You can't hide from the past, Bakugo." He fumed.

"Don't show me that shit!"

"That won't change what you did."

"Hey guys! Calm down-" Otaku's words fell on deaf ears.

"I was stupid, okay?! I admit it! Now go shove your self righteous di-"

"You have attempted to ignore your actions ever since you made them. Did it cross your mind that it may have impacted more people than yourself?" Todoroki said with an air of righteous anger.

"Yeah, I fucked up Otaku's life! Thank you for your outstanding observations, now go eat my a-"

"Midoryia was there for you! He was never the same after you threw away your son to become the number one hero!" Shouto's hair was starting to catch fire, and his other hand poured out a cold cloud of steam. Bakugo was incredibly flustered, snapping his teeth at Todoroki and stuttering,

"I didn't- He- I didn't ask for- you-"

.

"Midoryia wanted to take in the boy! But he didn't because of you!"

.

Bakugo and Otaku's jaws dropped in combined shock.

Izuku... wanted to adopt Otaku?

Shocked, Todoroki realized what he had just said and covered his mouth,

"Forgive me. That was told to me in confidentiality..."

"Mr. Midoryia?" Otaku asked in awe. That man... he was very kind to him. He could've been his adopted dad?

But he didn't because of Bakugo?

"You... what?" Otaku looked to Bakugo with daggers in his eyes. "Wait, you... you stopped Mr. Midoryia from taking me in?!"

"No! Fuck, I didn't know he-" Bakugo was honestly surprised, "He wanted to adopt Otaku?"

"...He didn't want anything to come between you and his friendship." Todoroki said slowly, regretting saying anything at all.

"..." Katsuki stared at Shouto aghast. Otaku was shocked too, for obvious reasons.

"...Why didn't Deku just..."

"Like I said, he wanted to keep his friendship with you-"

"Well we can clearly see he and I's 'friendship' turned to shit!" Bakugo sank even harder onto the wall.

This... wasn't how he wanted things to end up.

Staring at Otaku with a sadness, Bakugo parted his mouth to say something, but he didn't know what to say.

He wished Deku upheld that threat to adopt Otaku.

But he didn't... because of him.

"That damned Deku! He should've taken Otaku in! Why the hell wouldn't he have?!"

"Imagine how you would've reacted at the time." Shouto said sternly.

"Who fucking cares how I would've reacted! He should've grown a pair and done what's right instead of-"

"Midoryia did what he thought was right. Did you?" Todoroki snapped, once more shocking himself.

Katsuki couldn't close his mouth as he attempted to grasp the weighty question. Did he do what he thought was right?

He turned to look at the speechless teenager in the windowsill. Otaku was bouncing his gaze between Bakugo and Todoroki as his jaw hung open. He felt awkward, being the subject of their arguing.

Groaning, Katsuki rubbed his headache and exhaled defeatedly,

"I wasn't sure what was right."

"What about now?"

Geez! What was up with these questions!? Todoroki really needed to lay off. Bakugo did promise to answer all his questions truthfully and quickly, but this was getting ridiculous!

"God! Stop it with this bullshit! I'm doing what I can, okay?! That's why I ended up dragging my ass to your office in the first place! Now are you gonna be any help to us or what, Icy Hot?!"

Todoroki pointed to his demolished laptop and sarcastically raised an eyebrow.

"Once I buy you a new laptop..." Bakugo embarrassingly diverted his sight to anything else.

"..." Despite being pissed off, Shouto understood how sensitive this situation was. He calmed himself the best he could. Yes, he was mad at Katsuki for all the places he fell short, but he could restrain himself, or at least try his best.

Maybe he just needed some time alone to regain his thoughts.

"You may repay me later. I have another laptop in my office." As Shouto left the apartment he turned and whispered, "I'll connect with you tomorrow morning, nine o'clock. But understand this: You are one outburst away from me abandoning your investigation."

"..." Bakugo pursed his lips and clenched his fists, but nodded silently. That was the agreement. "I get it..."

Todoroki gave a single nod and whispered,

"Tomorrow, then."

As Shouto closed the door behind him with a bitterness, Katsuki sighed defeatedly and looked into Otaku's eyes. They really were as big as Midoryia's. He... would've fit in well with their family.

Otaku inhaled like he was going to say something, but awkwardly put his finger down.

"What? You can say whatever it is." Katsuki said while grinding his teeth. It sure didn't look like Otaku could say whatever he wanted.

"Oh, umm... just... I'm hungry?" He shrugged.

"Fried rice?" Katsuki sighed as he gathered the things for the meal.

"Yeah. That sounds... nice..." Otaku was extremely awkward right now, and the air was tense. The things that Todoroki had said... they stung Bakugo more than he was showing, didn't they?

He made their meal in complete silence, and Otaku watched while he zoned out.

What would it have been like, being adopted by the Midoryias? He hadn't seen Mr. Midoryia's wife yet, but she was visiting their elderly family, so she must be nice. And Izuku was so kind as they did quirk discovery together. Their house was nice and their yard was great for his quirk. And sure, they didn't have internet, but his phone was broken anyways.

It was exactly the kind of family Otaku always hoped would take him in...

...The kind of family Bakugo always wished would take Otaku in.

As he put the rice into two bowls, Katsuki couldn't help but wonder if Deku and Ochaco were eating a freshly picked array of fruits and vegetables from their garden. That sounded strides better than this wilted chive and old egg fried rice.

"Thanks..." Otaku mumbled as Bakugo plopped the food in front of him. He flicked the rice a little bit with his chopsticks.

In the awkward silence before eating their meal, Katsuki huffed quietly,

"You... would've liked being a Midoryia."

"H-Huh?"

"...They're nice people."

Otaku could see that Katsuki was struggling, so he lent some advice he received earlier,

"You know, we, umm, shouldn't get caught up in the 'what if's'. You didn't mean to, I'm not mad at you."

Otaku said this very maturely, and it actually got Bakugo thinking for a moment. He shouldn't get caught up in the past, he needed to look at the now. The things that he could change for the better, now.

Otaku really would be better off with the Midoryia's.

Maybe it wasn't too late to fix this.

But he'll finish that thought tomorrow. He was tired.

"You comfortable on the couch? Want more cushions?"

"Oh, erm, a few more pillows would be nice."

"Kay. We'll clear out that shelf for your clothes."

"Sounds good."

For right now, Bakugo will take care of the kid the best he can. Until he can talk with the Midoryia's. But they still had a mission to accomplish, and despite having to work with that stuck-up, grudge-holding Canadian Flag, Katsuki was starting to feel... hopeful. With Todoroki's help tomorrow morning, they'll be able to find Otaku's mom in no time.

But little did he know...

...they weren't going to see Todoroki the next morning.

Nobody was.