“You are sure that this is all Shigaraki wants to do?”

“Yes.”

“And his goal so far is to establish that the League is not to be underestimated for now?”

“As far as I know.”

“And what about his relations with All for One?”

“All I know, the guy is his Sensei. That’s all.”

“Any idea on All for One’s intentions with Shigaraki?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure, Todoroki-san?”

“Very.”

“Then I’ll leave you here for now.”

I sigh in exasperation. I have been in this room for who knows how long. I had jokingly held my hands out to Keigo before, but a few moments later a Commission lackey actually clicks quirk-inhibiting cuffs onto my wrists and I am whisked away into the holding cell I am in now. I yawn widely, it’s been over a day since I had some sleep. My eyes slowly shut as I fall asleep sitting up, waiting for the Commission to make their decision, as Keigo pleads my case with them.

It’s after an hour that the president of the Commission herself enters the room, with Keigo in tow and says, “Welcome to the Hero Commission, Todoroki Touya.”

I swear I haven’t been more excited than I am now, knowing that I was a step closer to keeping my family safe at this moment.

The cuffs are taken off and I’m asked to stay as the doctors are called in. The president definitely has noticed my burns, and she immediately wants them to be treated to quote-on-quote ‘Make me look less villainous’. I agree immediately. I have been bothered with the burnt skin for a very long time, and the staples were painful at times. Even after the skin around them has healed, they’d still pull on the wrong nerves and I’d be in pain if they were stretched or pulled the wrong way. I have to usually be very careful when wearing my clothes, as the cloth could easily snag at the staples. After having some really bad incidents where I kept bleeding for hours, I had learned my lesson and am now very particular and protective about my skin and who could touch it.

The doctors come in and with them comes another hour or so of staying awake. I am stripped off of all my clothes and the doctors get to work on checking my skin out. The head doctor named Katasuke pretty much formulates all that needs to be done. I am given an estimate of when the surgery will be conducted and the doctors then take their leave. I immediately fall asleep again, and Keigo and Kaito have to wake me up and both take me back to their apartment, which Keigo is instructed is where I am to be kept and monitored when I am not with the LOV.

The next few days go by, with me evading the League by making up the excuse that I want to recruit a few more members for the task Shigaraki gave. I buy more time by telling them that it would take a few more weeks before I want to strike and I would be working alone with the new recruits, if I did find some suitable ones. I spend most of the day at the Commission building, where I have somehow been set up to have Heroics lessons with Eraserhead. It seems that Keigo took my suggestion to heart and got the president to hire Eraserhead to oversee my hero training and eventually get him to help us with Kaito’s situation as well.

The gruff, sleepy, underground hero grills me through each lesson. It is clear the man is exceptional in his job as a teacher; he does not let me leave any leaf unturned during our heroics lessons. As I sit there, memorizing ethics and hero laws, he keeps an eagle-eyed gaze on me all the time, which sometimes irritates the fuck-shit hell outta me. He makes sure to drill everything in the textbooks in front of me into my mind and I hate every single second of it.

“What did I just tell you?” he asks in his sleepy irritated drawl. “You’re supposed to prioritise the safety of the people first and then think about yourself.”

Irritated, I ‘tch’ back in reply, going back to the strategy-building exercise I am given.

He also gives me worksheets on how other pro-heroes save their victims in certain situations and asks me to write down what I as a hero would do instead. Sometimes he’d bring up situations that Endewhore had handled and I’d fume in anger and irritation then. I may be becoming a hero, but I didn’t want the reminder that I am going on the same path as that bastard. I am still intent on revenge against him for what he did to me and my family, and I for sure, had not yet thrown away my villainous side yet. I had to remind myself time and again, that all I am doing right now is for the sake of Kaito’s safety.

It’s about a few weeks into my lessons with Eraserhead that I get the surgery done. Skin grafts made from who knows what is used over my burnt skin, the staples all removed carefully. Once everything is sewn properly into my skin, I’m wrapped up in bandages and made to rest. One of the doctors, a pudgy old woman, with a syringe in the bun of her grey hair, wearing goggles and a labcoat way too big for her, suddenly kisses me. I sit there in disgust, as she prolongs the kiss and I start to feel fatigued. After a nap, I wake up to see no bandages and almost healed skin on my arms and one of the nurses offers me an energy gummy. I get out of my bed and walk to the full body mirror propped up in the bathroom of my room, and I am startled.

It is as if I never burnt myself.

In front of me, stood the version of me that I was at fifteen, but grown up and aged. It was unnerving how close they were able to get me to look like my old unburnt self. I take a shaky deep breath as I trail my fingers over my face, very light scarring where the staples were, still staring at it in the mirror. I never thought that looking at my own self would give me a case of uncanny valley. Looking at my almost perfect face is bringing back all the uncertainty and doubt that I had as a teenager.

It also brings in the fear and realization that I would be recognized as Endebitch's son with how I looked now, something that I didn’t want.

Keigo walks into the bathroom then.

“Whoa.” he looks at me, his gaze sweeping the length of my body. “They really restored you back to what you looked like before, ha?”

I only nod back. I see Keigo’s eyes start to water and I ask him in concern, “What? Is something wrong?”

He walks towards me and engulfs me into a hug. I wait for him to talk, as he is currently sobbing into my chest. I softly brush his hair and in a soft voice ask again, “Baby Bird, is something wrong?”

What he says, makes me want to cry out of my newly constructed tear ducts.

“You are really back. I am so happy. My Touya is back.”

I smile as I hug him back, nestling my nose within his hair.

After a while, we go back into the room, where Kaito is waiting for the two of us. The kid takes a double take, and he signs about how eerily similar I looked compared to the picture he had seen of me as a teenager. I am glad that Eraserhead included sign language as part of my hero studies, for now I can at least understand what Kaito tells Keigo and I enough.

The pudgy woman returns, who I later learn is called Recovery Girl, and she gives me another kiss to complete my healing. Kaito snickers at my uncomfortable expression and after she leaves, another Commission member that Keigo recognizes walks in.

“Miran.” he nods at the newcomer.

“Hawks.” the man named Miran nods back and faces me. “I am about to use my quirk on you. As you know you’ll have to go back to the League soon, my quirk will cast an illusion on you, so you will look like how you were before your surgery.”

The man proceeds to use his quirk and even I am surprised at how precise it is. I have all my old scars and staples back, but when I touch my arm, I feel smooth skin, which is disconcerting. Kaito is looking at me in awe, signing and commenting on how I am an example of extreme transformations, making Keigo and I chuckle. Keigo and Kaito leave after giving me a hug each and I get into my villain wear, Miran making sure that his illusion is working well.

It was time for me to go back into the lion’s den, this time, as an underground hero.