luciana bianchi, formerly luciana spada, alias jemma, is the mother of pietrina. her quirk, hypnosis, relies on the glowing silver color of her eyes. when she makes eye contact with someone for 2.5 seconds or more, they fall under a hypnotic spell. in this time, she can give them commands that they will follow or manipulate their memories ( implant new/false ones, remove previous ones, etc. ). the duration of the hypnosis depends on how long she made eye contact with a person, usually about 5 minutes. the longest hypnotic spell she has maintained was 60 minutes. her silver eye color is present in pietrina, though her daughter is unable to use the hypnosis quirk. her alias, jemma, is one that has been passed down from mother to daughter in her family for many generations. luciana was the 17th holder of the name, pietrina is the 18th.
ferro bianchi is pietrina’s father. he has a quirk that allows him to rearrange his molecular structure to that of any naturally occurring or synthesized metals, be they basic elements or alloys or anything, so long as he knows the composition, formula, and molecular arrangement of the metal like the back of his hand. pietrina’s quirk came primarily from him, with the added influence of ferro’s father’s mistress’s quirk that turned his body into diamonds.
that mistress’s daughter is kayo yaminari ( @rrenao ) who has the same quirk that turns him to diamonds. kayo and pietrina have met on only a few occasions and while they are unaware that they are related and have only met on opposing sides of the battle, have joked about the similarity of their quirks and which one might be superior.
ferro had a half sister born in japan named izanami itou. this half sister was the daughter of ferro’s mother and an unknown man she met in japan. izanami did not inherit any of the iron-manipulating quirks in the bianchi family line. her daughter, kitiara, did though, in the form of her needles quirk. pietrina only met izanami once briefly before her parents were killed, as ferro insisted on visiting her. at the time, kitiara wasn’t born yet, though izanami was pregnant with her. kitiara and pietrina only meet when the younger leaves the league of villains and runs into la famiglia. trina recognizes the name immediately and while she despises the fact that kit used to work with the league, she does implore petra to take her into the family, seeing it as a sort of salvation for the girl.
------------- she grinned at his reaction, reaching out to give his shoulder a playful punch. he was only an inch taller than her, but it was nice to have someone who you can have eye contact with, on top of it all !
“ of course ! when i was a child, i wanted to be a marine biologist. life had a different path for me, but that doesn’t mean my love for that ever stopped ! but enough about me, i want to know ALL about you ! how’d you come to be, what are your motivations ? do you want to get lunch together ? “
It’s also important that y’all know that, while Izuku killing Yue isn’t canon to the main timeline (bc, you know, he doesn’t completely Lose His Shit);
He does absolutely still hunt Yue down after Tooru’s death and still absolutely hands her ass to her, he just then turns her over to the police. And also makes it very extremely clear that even if she escapes he’ll just hunt her down again because he, and I quote;
“Will do anything to make sure you rot in here like you deserve”
Deku doesn’t really shit talk certain heroes in particular, but he does tear down the system that they support; and quite publicly shows his distaste for attitude problems.
Whether it be heroes that insist on working alone because “teaming up makes you weak”, heroes who abuse their power, or heroes that won’t do certain work because it’s “below their pay grade”. He will not hesitate to rip someone a new asshole just because they’re also a hero. If you’re being a dick he’ll tell you as much straight to your face.
The exception is Endeavor. He’ll shit talk Endeavor specifically.
Anyway, my point is that in combination with their shared views and the fact that she’s Tooru’s mentor; Deku stans Lady Hydra
Also @needlxd and @amplifyingtrace and @rrenao make an appearance bc...OC rights babey
Heroism is a profession that is, by its very nature, fraught with danger. As such, there isn’t a single hero in existence without some scars. Physical or otherwise.
Prism was one of the few that carried hers over from childhood. By the time she experienced her first battle she was already scarred. Already bent and bruised. Already prepared to look into the face of oblivion.
Tooru is the type of person to try to hide their pain. To pretend everything is fine, to focus on everyone but herself. It’s hard to tell if her wounds have begun to heal at all, or if she’s just better at shutting people out.
Izuku likes to believe he knows her well enough to tell the difference. Knows her scars, has traced over them with gentle, careful, fingers, as she has done with his own. The ones not on her skin but within her mind and soul...those are a little more difficult to detect.
He knows some. About as much as she knows about his own. They’re not quite secret, but also not the type of thing one wants to talk about in any sort of detail. The kind that bring everything rushing back in an instant. So he doesn’t know everything, every bruise her mother had left; every nasty, vile word, spoken.
But he supposes he doesn’t need to. Tooru doesn’t need someone to hate Yue Hagakure, she needs someone that loves her. Despite all of the years that she’s been told she’s unlovable, despite all the lies Yue told her about her lack of worth. That she’s loved.
Of course, Izuku Midoriya is not the only one, not by a long shot. Tooru is as well loved as she is kind. He is, however, the only one who knows how much she needs to hear it. How easily she forgets that the world would shatter without her presence.
He’s the only one who bares witness to moments like this. Woken from some unknown nightmare, with shoulders curled forward, away from him; so she won’t wake him. As if rest is more important than this, more important than the quiet sound of her sobs.
“Tooru,” Spoken in a hushed tone. Always careful because loud noises, sudden movements, they can all reopen those unseen scars.
In response there’s a hiccup, a hitch of breath followed by forced even heaves. A rustle of the sheets around them, as Tooru turns towards the source of the voice.
“I didn’t mean to wake you up,” her own voice shakes, sounding oh so tired. And it hurts to wonder how long she had been like that before he had noticed.
“You should. You should wake me, I want to help.” The usual reply to the usual response. It has somehow become a part of their routine. These nightmares. Slowly, hands find hers; weaving their fingers together. He would like, in this moment, to hold her tightly. But that may be too much. “Is this ok?”
“Yes,” The affirmation is just as worn as her initial response. For a few moments they lay like that. Just listening to the sound of each other’s breathing, taking in the warmth of their shared space.
“Why do you stay with someone so broken?” Tooru asks. And she may not be broken but her voice is, clearly still in the mindset of her dream.
“You’re not broken. You’ve never been broken. Just...scarred,” Silence follows Izuku’s words. The kind of silence when she doesn’t want to argue, but doesn’t believe what he said. “I don’t know...what you were dreaming about just now…”
Tooru’s breath hitches and she tenses once more.
“I won’t ask, if you don’t want to talk about it,” The tension bleeds back out, slowly. He traces circles over her palm with the pad of his thumb. “But it wasn’t real. Even if it was a memory. It’s a lie to say you’re broken.”
There is more of that silence, so he simply continues.
“You know me better than that. You know I don’t settle. I’m with you because I want to be. Because, whether or not you believe it, you deserve love. And I'm incredibly, insanely, lucky, that I get to be someone who gives it to you.”
Finally there’s a response, a snort of laughter. Not derisive, not even laced with bitterness; genuine, if somewhat sad at the same time.
“You’re so corny,” Tooru teases, when she’s done laughing.
In place of a retort, he brings her knuckles up to his lips and gives them a small kiss. She can feel his smile against her skin. Feel the nightmare melting away.
“Hey,” Izuku speaks again after a moment “You should call in, we could stay in and watch movies and eat junk. It’s been a while since we’ve had a chill night.”
“I can’t do that, I have work. Lady Hydra depends on me, we don’t have a lot of sidekicks,” What’s unspoken is that she doesn’t want to acknowledge just how much this is affecting her. Doesn’t admit that she’s tired and the idea of doing patrol work after less than an hour of sleep isn’t appealing at all. Nowhere as appealing as sleeping in and spending time with her fiance.
“It will be fine for one day. You have sick days for a reason, someone can cover for you; just this once. Sasaki will understand, she cares about you too, you know,” One of the benefits of working for an underground hero. Or perhaps Lady Hydra was a special case. “Please?”
This is selfish, he knows. Because any day Tooru is not working as a sidekick is experience missed. She prides herself on being reliable; is reliable. But she’s also exhausted and in no state to fight. Likely, it would be fine. It always is. She’s strong and smart and always comes out relatively unscathed.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t worry. And if there’s one thing Izuku has learned over the years, it’s that sometimes being selfish is the right choice.
“This could be our last chance to hang out for a while, you know,” He adds. And it’s true, what with them both working as heroes and the wedding just around the corner.
“Okay,” Tooru relents, because it does sound like exactly what she needs. Just, a quiet day at home.
…
When Izuku stirs the next morning, it’s not with a start. It’s slowly, deliberately grasping at the dream even after it fades away.
They’ve been tormenting him for months, these ‘could have been’ dreams. He can’t tell if they’re better or worse than the nightmares. Would she really have stayed, had he simply pressed harder? If he had insisted would she still be here? Questions like these were useless, but plagued him anyway.
In the end, things had happened the way they happened. Tooru had gone to work with a smile, Izuku hadn’t stopped her. And the hero Prism was no more.
No more than a dream that gave him a few hours of respite a night.
The buzzing of bedside alarm was no more relentless than the forward motion of time itself, and with a worn sigh he reached over and shut it off; blinking away the lingering wetness in his eyes.
After a dream like that, it would be a good idea to book an appointment with a grief counselor. They could tell him that it wasn’t his fault. That you can’t erase someone’s trauma with affection alone. (He knows that, of course he knows that. But he could have made her stay, made her rest). While he pretends to believe those words. Pretends that guilt isn’t festering inside along with a different, more ugly, feeling.
Izuku had been doing that for months, though, with no results. Therapy didn’t help overnight, he knew that. Was still going for things that had happened to him a decade ago. But this was different. There was something impeding any sort of progress. He couldn’t move past the moment of her death.
Holding her cold, lifeless, hand, in his own.
There were more healthy ways of grieving. His friends insisted on them. Cards with professional’s numbers on them and pamphlets for support groups. They meant well. And they were going through the same loss. Izuku wasn’t so naive as to believe that he was the only one hurting, was the only one she had left behind.
It just seemed like he was the only one unable to move on.
Somewhat reluctantly, he heaves himself out of bed and away from the comfort of the ‘what could have been’ dream and prepares for the day ahead.
…
It’s a coincidence, really, a twist of fate; that the name Hagakure passes his desk. Not Tooru Hagakure, no, there would be no reason for that name to be attached to a recent report of organized crime in Osaka.
No, this was Yue Hagakure. Cold eyes staring back through a photograph.
Funny, he’d tried to imagine this woman many times. Tried to picture the kind of person who would hold such wrath towards her own child. Somehow, she seemed even more evil than he’d assumed.
He wonders if she knows that Tooru is dead. Wonders if she knows that it's her fault. That Tooru was always a little willing to die because of what she had done.
Sick of looking at her, her name and her face, he files the folder away quickly, and moves on to the rest of the paperwork assigned to him. Not exactly glamorous work, but necessary. And informative. As Izuku files away past reports he always skims for details, learning about villains he may one day have to face.
He tries to forget what he had read about shadow manipulation, about the Yakuza branch in Osaka headed by the woman named Hagakure.
Tries to forget how long it would take him to get there from his home in Kyoto by train.
…
Iida is the first one to notice. Perhaps because he knows the feeling of wanting revenge. He sees the storm brewing before Izuku himself does. Because he’s still pretending he didn’t see that file. Ignoring all the ways he could negate shadow manipulation.
Osaka isn’t in the area covered by the Wild Wild Pussycats, anyway. It’s neighboring. The report was just about the spread of Yakuza related activity. It wasn’t a mission. He was just a sidekick.
Revenge was a dangerous path.
Iida takes him out to lunch, just the two of them. They’re friends, certainly. Izuku can even safely say that the engine hero is one of his closest friends. But they usually go out as a group. And Iida never wants to meet up on a day he has patrol, never shirks responsibility.
Izuku pretends not to see the red flags. He does an awful lot of pretending, these days.
“Midoriya,” Iida breaches the topic with an air of formality, despite their familiarity. A nervous tick Izuku knows well, but ignores. Maybe if he continues to pretend everything is fine, it will be. At the very least, he refuses to look up from his menu.
“Why haven’t you gone to the counselor?”
This gets Izuku’s attention, causing him to flinch. Appointments were made through the agency. They wouldn’t know what was discussed, but they would know if he canceled repeatedly. Which he had. Mandalay had probably relayed that detail to Iida. He wouldn’t hold it against her.
“It doesn’t help,” He opts to answer honestly. “I went a couple times, it didn’t help.
Iida frowns at the pitiful excuse for a reason, gently taking the menu from his friend’s hands and setting it down. “This kind of thing takes time. Itou still going.”
That made sense. The ex-villain was closer to Tooru than anyone. No one ever really talked about it, but Kitiara had been saved by Tooru. They were sisters, if not by blood. And if anyone knew the hole her loss had left, it would be her.
Izuku hadn’t seen her since the funeral. Not that that was her fault, he was avoiding her. Avoiding seeing that emptiness reflected back.
“I’m dealing, in my own way.” Izuku says, uncomfortable with the concerned stare of his long time friend.
“I hear there’s been a rise in Yakuza activity near Kyoto. In Osaka.” Iida says, his expression clearly stating that he sees right through the core of Izuku’s darkest thoughts.
“Yeah, I suppose so. I don’t see a lot of action, as a sidekick.” Izuku tries, in vain, to keep the conversation casual.
“Revenge won’t help.” Iida moves straight to the point.
“I know,” Izuku replies. Because he does know. But it’s getting difficult to ignore how badly he wants to make Yue Hagakure pay. At least the criminals behind Tooru’s death had already been put away. Lady Hydra had made sure of that.
Iida looks unconvinced. “I learned that lesson back at UA, you saw what happened.”
“I know. I did.” Izuku winces, trying not to look at the scar on the back of Iida’s hand. “You’re right. And I….I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
…
The next, almost as if on cue, is Todoroki. Whereas Iida has been in Izuku’s place, he has been in Tooru’s place. Has scars from the hands that were supposed to raise him gently. Had been molded into a weapon for his father’s use.
Unlike Iida, he doesn’t take no for an answer. Tells Izuku where to meet him.
Somehow, he ends up staring at the name Hagakure once more. Tooru Hagakure, engraved in stone. Early spring frost causes the grass to crunch under their feet, and Todoroki says nothing; allows Izuku to grieve in silence.
He’s not sure how long they spend there. Long enough that he can no longer feel his fingers or the tips of his ears. He’s not even sure he’s had a single thought, the entire time. Brain filled with static as he stares at the marker. Surrounded, as always, by fresh flowers.
The ice and fire user waits until they’re ready to leave to speak.
“I’ve thought about it,” Todoroki says, voice impassive “Taking down my old man for the shit he pulled.”
Izuku’s not sure how to react to this confession, looking at the unreadable expression that follows it with concern and confusion. Todoroki, in turn, looks at Tooru’s grave.
“Sometimes our demons get the best of us. When that happens...we don’t hurt only ourselves, but everyone around us. That’s why I didn’t do it. Not because he deserves forgiveness, but because I wouldn’t really be hurting him.”
Izuku swallows hard, mouth suddenly dry at the double meaning to his words.
Todoroki looks, much like Iida, directly through him when he continues. “Don’t do anything stupid, Midoriya.”
…
Predictably, the one who is able to crack through his walls, in the end, is Leia. As it so often has been since they were children.
It takes little more than her plaintive voice over the phone, telling him to get some rest.
“You haven’t taken any time off since it happened,” Leia says, in the somewhat firm (but still, oh so gentle) tone that she reserves for when either he, or Katsuki, are being particularly stubborn. “You’re going to get burnt out.”
Revenge won’t help.
Don’t do anything stupid.
“Take some time, process things. Get some rest. Please, Izuchan, i’m...worried about you. I haven’t seen you this tired since highschool.”
And she’s right. He still had nightmares, to be sure, but hadn’t outright neglected self care for years. He slept, plenty, though. It was the only time he was able to be with Tooru again.
But he’d also been working more hours than necessary. If he worked all day and slept all night he didn’t have to be alone with his thoughts. That had always been a problem for him. He’d just forgotten for a while, because for a while he wasn’t alone even when he was alone.
“I miss her.” Izuku admits for the first time out loud in a long while. “I miss her so much I...Tooru deserved better. She deserved a long, happy life. She shouldn’t have died it’s not fair.”
And he’s aware that he sounds like a child, whining about how it's not fair. But it truly wasn’t. Tooru had already been robbed of her childhood, and now she had been robbed of her future as well. She deserved so much more. A light like that shouldn’t be gone. Not when the awful woman who had hurt her still walked free.
It’s in that moment, with Leia’s words of comfort floating through the speaker of the phone, that Izuku realizes what he’s missing. Why he’s been stuck.
Closure.
…
Even if he’d tried, he didn’t forget. Didn’t forget that file on Osaka. It hadn’t contained her exact location, of course. If the police knew that, they would have brought her in already. But Izuku was smart, and he’d plenty of time on his hands; since he’d finally decided to use his time off.
Mandalay was thrilled enough that he seemed to finally be mourning in a somewhat healthy way, that she had granted the leave request without question.
From there, it was just a matter of following the trail. Yue Hagakure wasn’t as much of a ghost as she’d like to think.
…
Deku isn’t sure that Yue is surprised to see him. He doesn’t even know for sure if she knows who he is. Or, at the least, who he was to Tooru.
And he doesn’t really care. The less he has to listen to Yue Hagakure, the better. Doesn’t care what words she uses to defend herself, if any.
Instead, he focuses on what needs to be done.
Closure.
…
The battle is hard fought, and hard won. Yue, even without the use of her quirk (he’d made sure, before cornering her, that there would be no shadows to manipulate) is a skilled fighter; and not one to give up easily.
But she underestimates him. The hero without a quirk. And that, ultimately, is her downfall.
With her face in the dirt she continues to antagonize. The words she speaks foul and acidic. Towards him. Towards Tooru.
So she did know, after all, the reason why he, specifically, was here. He thinks about all the satisfying ways to shut her up.
…
When the police are called in Yue Hagakure is restrained and injured, but very much alive. Albeit with a somewhat spiteful gag, preventing any more vile insults.
Later, when Izuku is commended on his restraint; he doesn’t mention the fact that he’s still shaking with the urge to end her life when she’s taken away.
…
Yue Hagakure doesn’t exactly look the picture of regret, even in her holding cell. Pissed, certainly, but seemingly confident that she won’t be in there for long.
She has no idea, the enemy she made. Enemies, plural, because Izuku isn’t even close to the only person who wants her to suffer for what she did to Tooru.
Just because revenge was off the table doesn’t mean that she would get away with everything.
“You can escape. But I’ll find you again.” He says, voice startlingly calm even to himself. “And again. And again. And again.”
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure you rot in here like you deserve.”
Tooru wouldn’t get what she deserved, the happy life, the peace. There was nothing he could do about that now. But Yue Hagakure would get all she deserved, that much was certain.
