Archive of Our Own

He screams, tugging viciously at the officers holding him in place, his wings flaring and flapping desperately, struggling to get to his screaming brother, as an officer holds his head still as another wraps a muzzle around his mouth, his eyes flicking briefly over to their teacher, their teachers, All Might and Aizawa standing there, the darkhaired man standing there with his arms crossed, expressionless as his two students are subjected to this cruel treatment, and All Might, the man glares at them, glares, with the heat of a thousand suns.

Hitoshi sobs behind his muzzle, it’s a muffled sound, the device brings up bad memories, memories from the before time.

Izuku wants to comfort him, at least offer him a hand to hold, when he’s forced around roughly, hands grab onto his wings roughly and he hisses in pain, as they’re escorted out of the school to a police car waiting outside.

…

Hitoshi sobs behind his muzzle at his brother’s sobbing, as a detective behind him holds his wing tightly and pulls feather after feather free, dropping them in front of his brother on the table sitting between them and the other detective, who’s yelling accusations and demanding him to confess, jabbing a finger on the page of the open notebook, they’re torturing him, this is beyond excessive force, they’re trying to torture a confession out of him.

Izuku’s feathers aren’t like dad’s they can’t be called back, they’ll have to grow back normally, a long process, a grounded bird is a tortured bird, Izu loved flying, feeling the wind blowing through his feathers, playing cat and mouse with dad in the air, Izu always lost, for obvious reasons, but it was still one of his favorite games.

Then, the detective behind them starts pulling flight feathers, his brother falls silent after the first two, staring down at the table silently, unblinkingly, he’s not there anymore, he’s left him on his own, he’s checked out, and it only makes him cry harder as he kicks his brother under the table, trying to get some sort of reaction out of him, anything, anything at all.

But, Izuku makes no movements, no acknowledgement of him being kicked or the detective pulling his flight feathers out or the detective yelling at them across the table.

…

Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa is furious, he’s beyond furious, at this present moment of time, his mind can’t come to the conclusion of just which word he’d desire to use to describe just how angry he is. He hadn’t expected a call from Nedzu, let alone a distraught Nedzu, who informed him of two of his students being taken to be interrogated under the suspicion of being the traitors that was school administration thought to be among them, for the first time in his life, he’d heard restrained panic in the stoat’s voice when he told him just who the two students were.

When he heard their names, he understood why he heard restrained panic in the principles tone, he’d been assured that their father had been notified, but he wasn’t in the area, and though he was swift, it would be a good twenty minutes before he could get to the station.

They just had to hope that his boys weren’t too traumatized by the time he did get there.

Storming into the station, he throws the doors open, stalking through the waiting area, passed the front desk, and hisses at them. “Do you know what you’ve done?” The detective doesn’t give them time to answer as he throws the door to the interrogation room open, any hope of minimal trauma going out the window at the sight of them, a pile of feathers in front of the greenette, and a muzzle secured around the purple haired boy’s mouth. Oh, dear god. “What the fuck!”

Hitoshi’s head whips around at his voice, and he screams muffled words behind his muzzle, and he stares at the traumatized teen for a moment, before turning on the other two detectives. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing!” The two of them stare at him mutely and he jabs his thumb over his shoulder. “Out. I’ll let him deal with you. Don’t leave the station.”

The one sitting at the table nods sharply, rising stiffly as he makes his leave, the other one dropping the long sea green feather on the table in front of the little bird.

Tsukauchi swears under his breath as he closes the door behind him. “Nedzu called your dad, he’s on his way,” he steps forward, for the purple haired teen, in the intention of removing the muzzle, pausing when he visibly flinches back, okay, only his father can remove it, that’s understandable. “I am so sorry.” He sits in the vacated chair. “I know neither of you are the traitor, I’m not going to question you, I’ll stay with you until your dad gets here.” He raises the key in his hand, for the handcuffs, and Hitoshi nods hesitantly, having to fight the urge, it’s obvious, to keep from leaning away again, and yanks his hands back once they’re uncuffed, curling his hands over his face as he hunches over and sobs, scratching at the muzzle keeping him restrained but refuses to allow the detective to touch, all of the work that had been put into fixing the traumatized children shattering in an instance.

The detective says nothing, a thousand apologies wouldn’t fix the damage that had been done, and he reaches over for Izuku’s handcuffs to unlock them too, the kid doesn’t move, staring unseeingly down at the small pile of feathers in front of him. He leans back in his chair and rubs at his forehead.

Shit.

The door opens roughly, Hitoshi scrambles back as their teachers enter, pushing his chair back, making some sort of sound behind his muzzle, tugging his winged brother back with him, stumbling over his feet until his back hits the wall, and his eyes water as he slides down, pulling his brother down with him, Izuku hasn’t acknowledged anyone around him, he’s not with them, he’s retreated inwards, built his mental fortress up ten times stronger, and barricaded himself inside.

“Tsukauchi,” All Might growls as he glares at the two traitors huddled back against the wall. “Why aren’t you questioning them?”

Aizawa nods in agreement, staring at the two boys, his expression blank, so sure of himself in his decision. “All the evidence is there in that book.”

“I’ll admit,” the detective starts lowly. “Without the context for the contents of his notebook, Izuku’s notes can appear suspicious, so, while I disagree with you on your accusation whole heartedly, I can see where the suspicion comes to play.” He closes the notebook on the table. “But, what evidence do you have to accuse Hitoshi?”

The number one hero snarls at the boy, who presses back against the wall as much as he can, his knuckles popping from the intensity of his grip on his brother’s wrist. “An accomplice obviously, his quirk is brainwashing, Tsukauchi, obviously you can deduce how villainous it is.”

Tsukauchi Naomasa has never wanted to punch his good friend in his side wound more than he does in this very moment, and it’s such a ridiculous thing that’s said, he tilts his head incredulously. “Excuse me, what?”

All Might nods firmly. “It all makes sense, Shinsou brainwashes them so Midoriya can get information on their quirks and sells the information he garners to the League of Villains.”

“Do you—” He shakes his head because of just how hard it is to grasp that his friend was so quirkest. “Do you even hear yourself?”

And, as if things couldn’t get any worse, his voice joins the conversation. “What the fuck is going on here?”

All eyes turn to the source of the voice, and, if looks could kill, the murderous glare they all receive from the glowing golden eyes of Hawks would have sent them to an early grave, and that’s after they’re through with whatever harm comes from Miruko’s glare.

“Hawks, Miruko,” All Might greets them warmly, a complete one-eighty from mere moments ago, and offers them a smile. “Has the Commission sent you to retrieve the two traitors?”

Aizawa says nothing but Tsukauchi can see the cogs in the man’s head turning as his eyes slowly start to widen.

The winged hero shakes his head sharply. “No, All Might, I’m here because I received a frantic call from Nedzu informing me that my sons were being illegally interrogated.” The hero then proceeds to do the one thing the detective had wanted to do if he wouldn’t have run the risk of losing his job and punches the number one hero harshly in the side, All Might wheezes and yells, curling forward. “And, how fucking dare you call my son’s quirk villainous! How would the Commission and Public feel about their number one being so quirkest?”

All Might slowly straightens, and Hawks is noticeably not deterred by the height difference, Tsukauchi knows firsthand just how dangerous and terrifying Hawks can be when you’ve pissed him off and coming after his little birds was one sure way to accomplish that. “Even if their innocence is proven, which I doubt, how would the Commission or the Public ever learn of my error in judgement, the cameras aren’t recording.”

Tsukauchi rubs his head, because, of course they’re not, why would they leave a trace of evidence of their illegally detaining, interrogating, and abusing children, and, of course, All Might would disclose this information.

“Ignoring the illegality of your detaining and interrogating my kids without my consent or attendance,” the number two hero’s eyes darken considerably. “You’re not recording their interrogation; may I ask why?”

All Might nods firmly. “We were under the impression that the traitors would not confess willingly and may need to be coerced.”

“So,” Hawks raises a hand. “Let me see if I’m understanding this correctly, because, it sounds so ludicrous, you’re not recording their interrogation, which, is also illegal, so you can torture them into confessing something that fits the narrative that you’ve already created.”

The older hero stutters for a moment at the particular wording of the statement. “We—We weren’t torturing them, we thought that a bit of excessive force would be needed.”

“Excessive force would be needed on children?”

Tsukauchi buries his face in his hands, because his friend is a good companion to have, but he’s not the brightest lightbulb in the box.

All Might flounders slightly, because when it’s said that way, it sounds wrong, and what they were doing was necessary. “I—I…They’re the traitors! Of course!”

“Right,” Hawks nods sharply. “You’ve said that, and from I’ve heard, because I’ve been standing here for a good couple minutes, your only source of supposed evidence that my kids are the traitors are Izuku’s analysis notebooks, which, if properly investigated, would have come to light as being completely legal and rather useful in the hero community, kid’s a fucking genius, pros love his analysis’s of them.” He eyes the two of them darkly. “Well, most pros.”

He claps his hands together in finality, closing this conversation himself, and turns to the hero at his side. “You get all that, Rumi?”

Miruko smirks, staring the number one hero in the eye, as she lifts her phone, showing him that they had been being recorded the entire time. “Got it.”

“Good,” Hawks looks between the two heroes. “Nedzu was kind enough to send the footage of your treatment of my kids while you falsely arrested them to my agency. I hope you’re ready for war.” And he steps forward, pushing between the two of them, swearing loudly when he sees the pile of feathers on the table and the muzzle on his purple haired son’s face, squatting down in front of him first. “Hey, fledgling, it’s okay, papa bird’s here.”

Hitoshi whines lowly, scratching at his muzzle again, and he frowns sadly at the claw marks painting the boy’s skin as he’d tried to get it off himself. “I know, fledgling, can I take it off?” He reaches forward when the boy nods, turning his head slightly for the clasp on the side, and drops it on the floor at his side once it’s removed. “We’re going home, okay?”

The purple haired teen nods and looks up at the rabbit themed hero as his dad moves to the side to tend to his brother, Auntie Rumi smiles at him sadly and rubs his cheek lightly. “Come on, bunny, I’ll help you to the outside.”

He nods mutely, curling his fingers in her jacket as she pulls him to his feet, glaring at the two teachers until they move out of the way.

Keigo squats in front of the baby bird, reaching out carefully, touching a finger to his cheek. “Baby bird, can you hear me?” The only response he gets is a quick glance before his bright green eyes return to his lap. “Is it okay it I touch you, baby bird?” Izuku nods faintly, it’s more of a jerk of the head, and he nods in turn, leaning forward to scoop the kid up into his arms, standing with ease, the kid curls around him, tucking his wings in close, he can see them quivering, he can feel him quivering, and it only makes him want to go the fuck off, his kids are fucking traumatized, and their condition is their teachers faults, a crude conclusion determined from a faulty investigation, and he only pauses at the door to address the detective who hadn’t harmed his kids. “I want the two responsible for this cruel torture,” he turns a sharp glare on the number one hero for a moment before returning his attention to the other man. “Detained until I can deal with them. They’re not getting away with this.”

Tsukauchi nods once. “I understand, we’ll detain them.”

“Good,” he regards his kids teachers one last time. “I’d get your frontline ready, if I were you, it’s not my kids you should be worried about, I’m a bird of prey, and I will take down anyone who harms my eyasses, you’d best be prepared for the war of your lifetimes.”

Then the winged hero makes his leave, leaving his two victims in his wake, immediately zoning in on the ones responsible, it’s hard to miss them, they’re sweating, he can hear their nervous breathing, the offbeat of their hearts, his hearing is the best of the best, and he glares at them but says nothing, holding his quivering little bird closer.

He shifts Izuku onto his hip in time to catch Hitoshi with his free hand when he jumps at him, sobbing into his shoulder, Keigo curls his hand around the back of his head and a quick kiss to the side of his head, meeting his closest friend’s eyes over his head.

Miruko is upset, she loves his kids, she’d proclaimed herself as their favorite Auntie as soon as she’d met them and said everyone else can get in line behind her. “He wouldn’t calm down, I tried.”

“No, its cool, I didn’t think he would.” He huffs in muted anger. “Do you know how long it took me to get them to open up, to trust people, they’ve ruined all that progress in a matter of hours.” He holds the purplette closer when he burrows into his shoulder. “If I could, I tear them apart piece by piece with my talons, leave nothing but shreds.”

“I know, Takami, I know.” The other hero nods in understanding. “I’d break them bone by bone, kick’em in the face, but that wouldn’t go over well.”

“Yea, I know,” the blonde man sighs deeply. “Neither is the fact that Eraserhead, I can’t speak for All Might, but I’d assume for him as well, that they tortured and traumatized the children of the number two hero.” He shakes his head sharply. “I mean, god, Rumi, they pulled feathers, flight feathers, from my kid’s wing. He’s going to be grounded and it’s going to only add salt to the wound.”

Miruko nods. “It’s not going to be pleasant, take him flying as much as you can, he loves flying.”

“I know, I will.” Sighing deeply, he leans over slightly, lifting the other teen up off his feet. “Imma head home and take care of my kids. You can stop over later if you wanna.”

The heroine shakes her head. “They need their dad right now, Kamui’s gonna wanna know what happened, I texted him about what Nedzu said, but not about this, he’s been blowing up my phone, we’ll probs stop over tomorrow.”

He nods. “That’s cool. I’m not sending them back, not yet, might even transfer them, I’ll see what they want to do, it’s their decision, if they decide to go back, I’ll probably have them transferred to 1-B, I don’t trust having Eraser and Ass Might as their teachers.”

“Takami, All Might teaches heroics, I don’t think you’ll be able to avoid them having interactions with him.”

“Damn, you’re right.” Keigo huffs. “Hell, I’ll fucking pull them out altogether and have them do online course and teach them heroics my fucking self.”

Miruko hums lightly, crossing her arms loosely. “You know, Mic and Midnight have been blowing up my phone to see what was going on, I’m pretty sure they were against the whole them being the traitors thing seeing as to how they’re texting me, you might be able to swing getting them to teach you’re lil birds heroics.”

“Oh, that’s true.” He nods contemplatitively. “Mic at least knows about Izuku’s notebooks, so I doubt he’d have been a part of this whole sham, pretty sure Midnight does too, I think.” Sighing, he nods again. “Let them know, you can come over tomorrow, that’s cool, but Imma get them home, thanks for coming with me.”

“Hey, they’re my lil nephews.” She waves his thanks away. “And, someone had to make sure you didn’t spill blood.” She nods to the two boys. “Take good care of the two kittens.”

Keigo nods once, firmly, and holds them tighter as he opens his wings. “I will, see’ya tomorrow.”

“See’ya, birdbrain.”

…

It’s difficult to get the things he needs to clean them up when they return home and they refuse to let go, so he barters, in the same way he had when he’d brought them home for the first time and leaves his coat with them in the nest while he makes a brief leave to get what he needs.

They’re still where he left them when he returns with the things he’d left them for, and he sighs softly as he steps down between them, setting his things down in front of him, he turns to Hitoshi first, holding out a hand. “Come’re fledgling, let me clean you up.”

The purple haired teen nods and crawls closer, and he offers him a soft smile, turning more fully towards him. “Okay, this might sting a bit, okay?” Hitoshi nods mutely, whimpering softly when he dabs at the scratch marks with a cotton ball of disinfectant, and resists the urge to pull back with great difficulty. “I know fledgling, I know it stings, I’m almost done.” The brainwasher nods mutely once more, sighing in relief when he trades out the cotton balls for bandages, and covers the raw gauges with them, reaching back to scratch behind his ear. “There you go, fledgling, all done, you did really good.” Hitoshi smiles slightly, leaning into the touch, and he chuckles softly. “I know you like it, let me take care of Izu and I’ll come back to that spot, okay?”

Keigo watches the teen retreat back to his personal blanket mound and partially disappear underneath before turning to the baby bird next to him, Izuku turns to look up at him, he’s seemingly checked back in now that he was in the safety of his own home, and he chokes on a breath. “Papa bird…..they pulled my feathers.”

“I know, baby bird,” he holds his arms out to him. “Come’re.” The little bird crawls up into his lap and he curls around him, wings and all, letting the kid crying softly into his chest, petting at his wings soothingly. “It’ll be okay, baby bird, it’ll be okay. I’m gonna take you flying every day and the new feathers will come in before you know it.”

The little bird pulls away slightly and sniffles miserably. “Promise, papa?”

He smiles at him softly, caressing his cheeks as he wipes the tears away gently, and nods. “I promise.” He strokes the boy’s cheeks with his thumbs. “Can I clean up your wings, little bird?”

Izuku nods slightly and scoots closer, laying up against the hero’s chest, resting his head on his shoulder, he feels him move slightly to pick something up, and then he’s rubbing something cold over the burning fresh bald spots, cooing softly when he hisses in pain. The pain is brief, there one minute, and gone the next, fingers rub soothingly at the base of his wings, and he purrs in contentment, nodding into the older bird’s shoulder sleepily.

Keigo rubs at the base of the baby bird’s left wing and holds his other hand out to the fledgling on his other side. “C’mere, little guy.” The insomniac peeks out from his mound, all he can see is his eyes, and he smiles soothingly, flexing his fingers. “Come to papa bird.” The selectively mute teen peers around, cautious, which breaks his heart, honestly, it does, before crawling out of his protective mound of blankets and pillows, crawling forward to curl into the hero’s side. “It’s gonna be okay, hatchlings, everything’ll be okay.”

He’s going to prioritize he retraumatized little ones and then he’ll stalk down his prey.