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Henry Miles:

I run around the other boys on the basketball court. There's still phantom pain in my right arm from that shackle I used to wear, but the shackle itself has been gone since that man, Hizashi, visited.

I duck and weave around the other prisoners, zipping past them like they're standing still. These boys are all small-time hoodlums; they don't stand a chance in speed and coordination against someone who had to outfox pros for two years.

For the first time in a while, I'm having fun. Thoughts about the danger my sister and I are still nagging at the back of my mind, but without someone currently bullying me, I can relax, at least for the moment, and play. I'm playing a game of three-on-one, which is unfair to the three if you ask me.

I look up from the game for a few seconds and see a big, long black car enter the prison parking lot. I don't think much of it till I see- Hizashi gets out of it. A surge of relief washes over me, and I drop the ball, running to the fence and forgetting my friends.

I can't help it- I feel like an excited little boy again. I hop on my heels as he comes over to the fence. "You found a way to help me? You did, right? You have an idea?" I yell to him as he's still a good distance away. It's not like I can get closer with the big fence and razor wire between us. (Eh, em... I can, considering my quirk, but... if I do that, I don't even wanna know the consequences.) I'm still excited, though.

A woman gets out of the passenger side of the car, carrying a suitcase, and another woman gets out of the back. I look at him curiously as he comes over to the fence.

Hizashi smirks as he looks down at me. He's dressed in an excellent black suit and tie, like the women with him. "Well, kid," he starts. "This will be a little complicated, but we're working on something." He puts his hand on the brown-haired woman who exited the back of his car. "This is my wife, Yuka, and the other woman is our lawyer, Hiroko Saito."

"Is there a place where we can talk privately?" asked Ms. Hiroko. Hiroko was a heteromorph with arms covered in blue feathers and a blue beak for a mouth.

"This is a prison. The basketball course throws people for a loop, but it's just a nice way to pass the time. There's no real privacy here. Only relative privacy from other inmates," I reply. "We can go to my room for that." The bird woman waves her hand for me to take the lead from my side as Hizashi talks to the gate guard.

In a few minutes, the four of us are in my room. Hizashi sits reclined at my desk while the two ladies sit on borrowed chairs from the prison common space. I sit on my bed, feeling a growing trust in Hizashi. Maybe I really can rely on someone again—he said he would come back, and here he is, wasting his time with me again.

"First thing first," Saito says, opening her suitcase. We can't really begin discussing our plans until you read and sign these," she says, handing me a folder with a few pages of documents.

I scan the first one, which, as best I can tell, is just a standard agreement to let Saito represent me. "um, pen-" but Hizashi has already pulled one out of my desk and is poking my cheek with it. I have to take a few swings at getting it because, apparently, Hizashi likes to tease people. I roll my eyes as I take the writing implement and sign. The following document is... "These are adoption papers..."

"Preliminary authorization: The Yamadas already have a daughter and are both in positions of relative respect in the community—Hizashi is a hero and a teacher at a prestigious university, and his wife is an elementary school teacher. A quick assessment of their living situation allowed me to fast-track the adoption process. All I had to get were the correct forms. It was a piece of cake."

I hold the pen over the signature space and freeze.

I've been here before. In foster care, Mr. Miles sat at my desk like Hizashi is doing, and I sat with my sister on the bed. There was a lawyer and a nanny. All we had to do was sign, and our new happy lives would begin... in a home... that ended up being the central HQ for one of the most violent crime syndicates in Japan.

"I know this isn't easy, Henry," Yuka says, touching my arm. "But my husband and I can't help you unless we have legal standing in your case. This is the fastest way to get it."

"You'll be adopting Tori too, right?" I ask.

"We can't do this with both of you at the same time- what with gendered prisons and all. But yeah, she's our next stop." Hizashi points out, still sitting back like he is entirely at ease. I get the feeling that's how he always comports himself.

"Last time I trusted someone this far..."

Hizashi finally sits forward, folding his hands and looking at me with interest. "We know. But we also know you need our help. Badly. And quickly. So I know this is hard, but you'll have to just roll with it." He sits back again and puts his hands behind his head. Oddly enough, that pose makes me feel like he's giving me space.

I breathe in deep as I pause over the signature line. The weight of the decision I'm about to make hangs heavy in the air. Do I do this? Can I? I squeeze my eyes shut... and sign.

When I'm done, the lawyer quickly grabs the folder and returns it to her briefcase. "Well then," she says, looking at my two new "parents" on either side of her and then back at me. "Here's how things are going to go."

She begins, "Relitigating your case could take years. Getting it out of the way was fast-tracked earlier so you could have an easier time working with the police as an informant and testifying. But now the government will see no benefit in being so expeditious."

"Yeah- they can shove it if they think I'm gonna keep-" I start, but she interrupts me. I was about to voice my frustration, but she seems to have a plan, so I hold my tongue for now.

"You will continue to work as an informant and to testify. If your adoption interferes with one of the most crucial landmark cases in Japan, it will fall under harsh scrutiny." Saito stares into my eyes until I close my mouth and sit back. "Now, as I was saying, relitigating your case will take time that we don't have. You believe your sister and you are in danger. Reporting threats to your life and safety may get the two of you moved to different facilities, but as I understand, your complaint is two-fold. One, if your former father, Mr. Miles, comes after you, you do not wish to be a sitting duck or to be separated from your sister and unable to help her. Two, you are upset because your plea deal fell through, and you're being asked to continue informing and testifying as though the government lived up to their end of the bargain when they did not. Moving prisons will not help with this. Is all that correct, particularly regarding your complaints about the way your case has thus far been handled? Simply answer yes or no."

"Well, yes. You see—" I begin, but she cuts me off again.

"Please, young Mr. Yamada, I do not need lengthy explanations; I need concrete answers to do my job correctly. If I am incorrect, simply correct me; do not go into explanations. Are we clear?" I nod, realizing she's being short with me for my own sake. "Have I stated anything incorrectly thus far?" I shake my head. "Good."

She continues. "Thus, we will not endeavor to suspend your sentence; we will simply change where it will be served. The Yamada household cannot serve the essential functions of a federal juvenile detention facility, so living there will be out of the question- though you will be allowed a week's grace period to settle in with your new family- at the end of which you will be placed back in prison. Don't ask, I don't make the rules; I'm just telling you what they are."

"I suggested we could just put you in a cage in the yard, but she didn't go for it," Hizashi jokes, but he quickly gets a glare from Siato.

"A cage in your backyard would not serve the basic necessary functions of a penitentiary, Mr. Yamada."

"Yeah- it wouldn't be miserable enough," I say.

"You'll find that your misery or happiness is quite irrelevant to the functions of a prison, young Mr. Yamada," Siato answers me curtly. "The functions of a prison, in this case, a youth prison for nonviolent offenders, are thus: One, a facility built with the capabilities of reasonably holding a young offender and securing the public from his activities. Two, a facility capable of supporting said individual's basic needs and maintaining him in at least fair health. Three a facility with resources available for said individual to receive training for a more acceptable lifestyle than that which lead to his imprisonment in the first place."

Hizashi grins. "Essentially, a high-security school would serve the functions of a prison just fine."

I know where my friend Denki and my new father Hizashi go to school, but... "UA? How the hell would I get into a hero high school? It's not like I'm a prodigy, and even if I was..."

"You have to admit, it would be ideal." Hizashi waves his finger in the air as he speaks, as if trying to paint a picture on the atmosphere of the room. "You would be able to physically interact with your sister daily if you lived in the dorms, which have actually been... let's say enhanced in light of some unfortunate recent events... attacks." He looks at me as if he expects that to be a deal breaker, but I have big problems here already, so I don't even blink. "But if you were in those dorms and taking classes, you would constantly be in the shouting range of someone with the power and training to help. Where could you possibly go that would be more ideal for your own purposes?"

"More ideal for me? Nowhere. More likely to let me in? Pretty much anywhere," I point out.

He reaches over and pulls a folder out of Siato's suitcase. "I have a strict security program you'll have to follow that will eliminate safety concerns for the other students if they come up, which I doubt they will. You're not known for physical violence, after all, along with being three years younger than even first-year students." He wacks me on the head with the folder. "All we really need to do is give them a reason to let you in."

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"And, pray tell..." I wave my hand on that one.

"We're not doing everything for you, kid," Hizashi says, standing up and stretching. "C'mon, we're off to get your sister. From there, we'll tour the school and try to figure out some ideas."

"So you have no idea how to get me in?" I ask, shocked.

He looks at me seriously. "I'm giving you an opportunity to help figure this out," he pulls his sunglasses down. "But if you're not going to do even that much..."

I put up my hand. "No- no, you're right. Let's figure this out together. Besides... did you just say we'll go pick up Tori?"

I'm at Musutafu Female Youth Observational Center in a few minutes, which feels like hours. It's only two miles from the male prison. We were close yet hadn't heard from or seen each other in months. My hands are on the glass of my car window before we even park- Tori is so close... I can almost feel myself hugging her again.

Minus the basketball hoop, replaced by a volleyball court, the place looks a lot like the facility where I was being held, at least from the outside. I resist running to the gate as I exit Mr. Yamada's car. Tori... Tori... sis... you're so close...

We go through security and travel down the hall, me bouncing on my heels the whole time, holding Yuka's hand as she smiles at me. For some reason, I can see a tear journey down Yuka's face occasionally, but she seems happy.

We're at Tori's room, and I knock fast and loud, but there's no response. Where is she?

A girl walks by us. "What are you guys doing?" the young brunette asks. "If you're looking for the Miles girl, she's studying in the common area."

I sigh in relief.

"Ya know, it strikes me how similar these centers are to a school," Hizashi observes.

"Yeah, they lock you in your dorms, don't allow you any privacy at all, take away most of your worldly possessions, and never let you see the outside world—but they sure can look the same," I say, then shake my head at his foolishness.

Hizashi just shrugs his shoulders.

Moments later, we're in the girl's common area.

I'm struck by how nice this place looks. There's a hardwood floor, some comfy-looking pink couches, and some throw rugs. In the common room in the boy's jail, we had one torn-up rough Devonport and a couple of scattered chairs on a laminate floor. Is this a jail or a hotel?

I see Tori on one of the couches reading an anatomy book and quickly duck behind the couch.

I hear her move and look over the back. "Who are you people?" she asks the group of adults. "I-"

"BOO!" I shout as I spring up in her face. She shrieks and falls off, clambering to the floor. She glares at me when she looks back, but her face freezes. Her jaw drops, and she climbs quickly to her feet.

"You... you're..." she says. I can only grin and nod at her.

Tori suddenly lurches forward over the couch and hug-tackles me to the floor, tears streaming from her eyes. "HENRY!" She squeals. "My brother!" She looks up at the adults again. "What... what do they want? What's happening? Henry?"

Hizashi snatches Saito's business suitcase, receiving an eye roll from her, but she doesn't put up much of a fight. He quickly pulls out a folder and opens it to show Tori the adoption papers he needs to sign.

"What?" Tori slowly climbs to her feet. "Henry, am I dreaming?"

"I'm not sure what kinda dream this is, but it's better than the nightmare we've been living so far," I say, getting up beside her.

She bites her lip. "Can we trust this? Last time.."

"Do you trust me?" I ask.

She nods her head.

Hizashi apparently asked for time off to do all this for me. But still, after all that happened, it's evening by the time we get to school. Adding to that is that I don't know what I'm anticipating.

Well... welcome to UA. We walk past a huge brown solid stone wall until we finally reach a giant golden gate with a UA emblem.

We walk along a neat stone pathway with trees on either side. I notice cameras on the gate and in multiple trees as we go. There are even cameras on the main entrance to the main building. When they say this place is secure, they're not kidding.

I step with my sister into a massive main lobby. The laminate floors are white, and a gigantic white fountain is in the middle.

"Well... if this is to be our next cage, it's certainly a gilded one," my sister notes.

"If we gotta be imprisoned somewhere..." I reply. "We could certainly do worse."

"Certainly one way of talking about Japan's most prestigious hero academy..." Hizashi says, coming up behind us.

I sigh. "All I see is two street rats standing in a palace- Like hell, we belong here." I reach down and hold Tori's hand.

"You're gonna need to change that attitude, little guy," Hizashi says. "You're already challenging a crime lord; we're way past asking where you belong. You're where you are."

"Fair enough..."

Suddenly, we feel a rumbling coming from off to my right. "Ah!" Hizashi says. "I was kinda hoping to see them. Follow me."

We travel back out of the main building and across a vast field. More rumbles come out, and eventually, I notice we're heading straight for the building where that noise is coming from. I mean, heading for dangerous things is par for the course for me and my sister, but I'm not fond of it. Finally, we walk into a massive building labeled "Gym Gamma."

When we go in, I'm struck by the sheer size of the massive empty indoor space. It's maybe forty meters tall by sixty meters across by one hundred and twenty meters long—yeesh!

Part of the place is semi-obscured by a rising blue fog that seems positively alive with electric energy, so I sense something is up.

BOOM! That confirms my sentiment as a young man with spikey blonde hair comes flying out of the fog and scrapes his feet on the ground to stop. "Heck yeah- that's what I'm talking about, Hotaru! WHOO!" He sees us and jogs in place. "Oi- Hotaru, let down the storm cloud, will ya? We got company."

Suddenly, the fog disappears, and the floor is covered in deposits of blue glowing liquid. Amid it all is a dark-haired girl with freckles and a proud look on her face, with her arms folded. "That was freaking awesome- right, Bakugo?" The girl seems to ask of the teenager.

"Yeah- it was acceptable. But remember, we're looking for control, not just power... damnit- look at your arms..." Bakugo says. The girl does and then gives an exasperated sigh. Her arms have red marks all over them- and her clothes look torn in several places. "You're being an idiot, Hotaru- if you can't handle this much power, speak up. You're gonna fry the skin off your own body!" She looks down. "Hey- no," Bakugo stomps over to her. "No feeling sorry- you get a serious injury, and THEN you'll be sorry." He pulls up one of her arms and examines it. "How many times I gotta tell you? You think I like seeing you get messed up like this?"

"I'm sorry,"

"Well, I don't! You have to live with this power. You keep letting it hurt you, and it's gonna kill you- and don't you DARE allow that, hear me!?" Bakugo yells at her.

I want to defend the girl, but all the physical evidence says he's not exactly wrong. I'm guessing Hotaru is some kind of electrokinetic with poor shielding from her own quirk.

The girl sees my small group, and her eyes go wide. She holds her hands in front of her like she's very nervous. "Huh? Oh, right- that's still a thing," Bakugo says. "You're afraid of a troop of extras? You'll be the best; you don't need to fear anything. Come with me," he says and leads her over to us.

In the corner, I notice a young lady taking notes in a book.

"Is he treating her alright?" Hizashi yells to the girl.

"It's... okay—but he's getting results. One of my compromises is if he yells at her for hurting herself, I don't step in," the girl says. "I figure she needs to be yelled at for that." She gets up and comes over to us as well. "What do you need, professor? " she asks Hizashi.

"Well, I need Hotaru if that's okay. These kids are also looking at auditing the school, and she can show them how that works," he says.

Hotaru inches behind Bakugo, who simply pushes her back out so she can be seen. The young man looks down at me and Tori. "Peers, huh? Okay- show them around, kid,"

"I'm not sure I should..." Hotaru says.

"The heck do you mean? Hizashi is your English professor; you should do what he says. Sides, we're supposed to socialize you." Bakugo says forcefully. "No way you're backing down from kids your own age—go," he pushes the girl towards us and then walks off.

The teen girl gives a frustrated growl as she watches the boy go, but instead of storming off like the boy, she puts a hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "C'mon. If they really are gonna go here, that means you can make friends your age. Let's not pass this up, okay, Hotes?" She leads Hotaru over to us by the hand. Hotaru looks at my sister and me nervously, apparently okay with Hizashi, who I wager could obliterate us both in his sleep.

The teen girl gets down a little and looks Hotaru in the eyes, saying, "Hotes—stiff upper lip—you really should do this without me or Bakugo. "Show them around the school, okay?"

"But-"

"No buts—now go on. I won't be like Bakugo, but I'm not letting you back down from opportunities either." The teen girl's tone drops a little, letting Hotaru know she means business.

"Can I have a juice box later?" Hotaru asks.

The teen girl rolls her eyes. "Of course- don't let Bakugo know." She messes up Hotaru's hair and walks away.

My stomach, for some reason, starts to growl. "Aw- now, if only Hotaru knew a place where we could address that... my treat," Hizashi says.

Hotaru's eyes light up, and suddenly, she grabs my hand and Tori's and half-drags us out of the gym.

We've been led back to the main building and up some twenty flights of stairs in no time. Tori and I are both exhausted, but Hizashi and Hotaru are marching along like it's nothing.

"It's not a place for slackers, you two; I see this week of reprieve from jail will need to be full of conditioning," says Hizashi.

"What difference will it make if we don't get in?" I ask.

"I'm about to smack that negativity out of you—we Yamadas write contingencies, but we don't plan on using them. Give every plan your all." He says.

"He's gonna get on my nerves," I grumble to Tori.

"If this is so bad, how is Hotaru acting like it doesn't affect her?" Hizashi points out.

Hotaru keeps looking at us behind her. To be honest, I have no idea how she's climbing these stairs so easily. You would think I would be at some pinnacle after two years of evading pro heroes, but apparently not. If I get into this school, I'll have to look into how that works.

I look at the twenty-first floor and notice—"Hey, why is this floor so dark?" I ask.

Everyone joins me on the landing, looking through the door window. "We call it the haunted floor," Hotaru says, almost giggling. "I doubt there's anything evil in there, though. It's just always closed."

"We do have all night. Would you mind if we took a look?"

"A waste of time if you ask me, you're here to find opportunities, not explore the backrooms," Hizashi says.

"Is the entire floor dark like that? No lights?" Tori asks.

"There are lights, we just don't use it," Hizashi says.

"The whole floor?!" I ask, shocked.

"I mean- this was supposed to be something once. It was a program we couldn't get off the ground," Hizashi says behind me as I open the door.

"Well, if we want opportunities that will make them take us seriously—if there's something here that we can make useful—that might be worth something," I say. "Scarcity equals value. If there's something on this floor, only we can use, well..."

"Well... that's the spirit anyway- lead on, son." Hizashi says, waving me into the "haunted floor."

We travel onto the floor, and I see a long, dark hall until Hizashi flicks a switch, and it's illuminated. Cobwebs are everywhere, but beyond that, I see hundreds of doors to various classrooms and connecting halls. "This isn't a joke, is it, Mr. Yamada? Something was ready to go here."

"It was," He says. "And I would appreciate you calling me dad or something. I did go through the trouble of adopting you after all."

I keep going down the hall and peering through windows into big classrooms. I don't want to be rude to Hizashi, but it's hard for me to even process what a "dad" is. Charles had me call him that, too, and Hizashi isn't like him at all. "Um... okay... pops..."

"It'll do for now," Hizashi says in an annoyed tone.

Several of the rooms have desks and huge machines. I open a door and enter a classroom.

"What is this?" I ask.

"A class-what's it look like?" My... pop says.

"Yeah, but a class for what? What's under this tarp? It looks like some kind of big table..." I put my hands on it and feel around a bit. "It feels- like something complex- a lot of buttons and controls..."

"Yeah, maybe stop touching it, kid," Pop says. I pull back my hands. "Look—I'm getting hungry myself. If I tell you what all this is, will you stop exploring an abandoned floor for "opportunities?" Pop asks. I nod.

He sighs. "That table is an advanced and interactive holo projector. It was made to project different parts of the human body- or any body you scanned. We were, in fact, looking into trying to work with heteromorphs after all."

"That sounds... like something to do with medicine or anatomy." Tori perks up.

Hotaru is scanning the room repeatedly, seeming fairly disinterested, but she's being patient.

"It has something to do with both. This was one of dozens of classrooms for Hero EMTs."

"EMTs?" Tori asks.

"Emergency Medical Technicians," I clarify.

"um... pops... is all this stuff like- beyond repair or..." Tori says.

"Not you, too," Hizashi replies. "Fffff- fine. I guess you two need to adapt to the new environment, and I should be understanding about the honorific. Anyway, there's no reason to say it couldn't all be restored fairly easily- but why?"

"Yeah, Tori—why?" I ask. Tori widens her eyes and nearly glares at me. "What I... oh... ohhhhh—shoot..." I suddenly realize what she's thinking and why.