Inko Midoriya cowered in the corner, the wall trim digging into her back. Izuku whimpered in her arms. She held her infant son closer, trying to shield him with her body.
"Do you know what your husband has done?" the octopus-faced man ranted, his tentacles flying in all directions. Behind him stood a dozen more men with guns.
No, Inko didn't know, though she intended to have a very stern conversation with Hisashi about why strange men in vigilante costumes had broken into her home. Assuming she survived.
"All for One deserves to lose his family, after all his crimes." The octopus thrust his gun into her face.
"Please," Inko whispered. "I had no idea my husband was a villain." She still didn't know if he was, or if these men were delusional, but she knew better than to argue with them. "Even if you don't believe me, my son is innocent."
Izuku gave a sniffle. Inko pressed him closer to her chest, fearing it might anger the men if her baby started crying.
A few of the vigilantes muttered. Their leader frowned. "I suppose it wouldn't be very heroic of us to murder a child."
It wasn't heroic of them to attack a pair of innocents because they were too cowardly to go after a real villain. If she'd been alone, Inko might very well have told them exactly what she thought of them before they killed her. But for her son's sake, she would beg. "Thank you so much." She deliberately made her voice meek and afraid. Anything to garner even a drop of sympathy and the smallest chance at survival.
"But All for One deserves to lose his only child," he continued.
Inko's heart sank. With the gun so close it nearly touched her lips, she whispered, "Please."
"That's why we're going to send you both where he can never find you. It will be as if you're dead to him."
Before Inko had time to wonder, one of the men raised his hand. Green light consumed her vision.
Inko blinked and looked around. She stood in the middle of a crowded street. Cool spring air nipped at her face. Right away, she noticed that not a single person had a visible quirk. These days, on such a crowded street, at least one person would always have animal features. She didn't know what this meant, just that it must connect to the thuglike vigilante's promise to send her and her son where her husband couldn't find them.
Baby Izuku squirmed in her arms. His soft little hands touched her face. He whimpered.
"There, there," she murmured. "The bad men are gone. We're not going to die today."
With those words, relief overcame her. She collapsed onto the closest street bench and pulled out her phone.
Her phone had no service. Well, she'd guessed it wouldn't be that easy. Where had those horrible men sent her? And how would she get back to her husband so she could throttle him personally for whatever nonsense he'd gotten them into?
"Hisashi, I miss you," she said to the empty air.
As if the devil was summoned by his name, she glimpsed a flash of white hair in the crowd.
Inko leapt to her feet.
Her husband, Hisashi, walked down the street, chatting amiably with another white-haired man.
Holding her baby, Inko ran after them. "Hisashi! Wait!"
Hisashi turned around. His eyes locked with hers. They widened. He gazed at her like a man looking upon a goddess. There was such frank admiration and covetousness in his eyes that it made her feel embarrassed and tempted to forgive him everything.
