Hello?

ŧ Chapter 09 ŧ

"So you wanna give the kid a friend?" Tenjin asked as he sat with Kokoro who nodded. "I see... Anyone in mind?"

"I was thinking we could try to get Hawks?" Tenjin's eyes widened, wide purple eyes glaring into his friend's own grey. "What? What's the look for?"

"Do you want the commission on our ass or what?" he hissed before sighing. "Look, they sent out missing person's reports yesterday for you and the kid. Everyone's looking for you, the whole of Japan as well as the rest of the world. We need to be careful as to who we choose. Don't you think it'd be too obvious if we took the hero commission's pet and not someone else?"

"But it'd be obvious either way," Kokoro pointed out, tucking a strand of her long silver hair behind her ear. "Besides, Izu needs someone he can have fun with. Plus, it gives Keigo the chance to be a child, does it not? Wouldn't you want him to be a child again?"

"Okay, it'd be interesting, sure," he nodded, "but we need to think about this properly. Tensions are already high in Japan because of you and Izuku's disappearances. If we kidnap Hawks – or any pro – don't you think it'd be obvious that something isn't right? Why would whoever took you and Izuku target a child and two pro heroes? Wouldn't it be better to target a child instead? You'd be able to create a pretty good alibi with it." Kokoro hummed before nodding. "Great! I have the perfect kid in mind. Well, two to be exact. My brother has a kid around Izuku's age, as well as a little girl about three or four years younger, and I reckon they'd be the perfect 'brother' and 'sister' for him. I'll go to my brother and ask if I can take the kids out for the day and bring them here."

"Sounds like a plan." The two shook hands before Tenjin left and Kokoro went to find Izuku. "Izuku? Are you in here, kohitsuji?"

"I'm over here, okāsan!" Izuku's voice called. Kokoro smiled before heading over to the teenager, sitting next to him as he read a book that Tenjin had given him about the West. "Where'd oji go? He promised to hang out with me today!"

"He went to get your presents," Kokoro explained, ruffling the boy's hair before wrapping her arms around him. "I've got a question for you, kiddo. No matter what, you'll never leave me right?" Izuku looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Well, kohitsuji?"

"Of course not, okāsan!" He grinned, placing the book down and wrapping his arms around his mother's neck. "You're my mother, I'd never leave you! Not unless you told me to." Pulling the boy into a warm embrace, she grinned evilly. Perfect, he's ready for the next stage of the plan. Time to get another friend involved once Tenjin gets back with the other kids.

An hour later, Tenjin returned with a blonde-haired boy at his side and a blonde-haired girl on his hip. "Kokoro! I'm back, and I've got the kids!" he called into the house after making sure the door was shut and locked. Kokoro came down the stairs with an excited looking Izuku following behind her. "Ah, Izu. Good to see you, kiddo."

"Hi, oji!" he greeted before looking the blondes up and down. "Are these the present okāsan talked about?"

Tenjin nodded. "Izuku, this is Denki Tanaka." At the change of his last name, the boy – Denki – turned to look at his uncle who refused to look at him. "And this is Kairi Tanaka. Denki, Kairi, this is Izuku Tanaka."

"By the way, he's ready," Kokoro mentioned. Tenjin smirked before nodded

"Now, Izuku, come here quickly." Izuku moved closer to his uncle, making eye contact with him before he placed his left hand on Izuku's forehead and his right on Denki's. Kokoro came up behind Izuku, holding him steady by his shoulders as glows came from the redhead's hands. Slowly the glow faded and the two were unconscious as their minds sifted through their new memories. Once the boys had been dealt with, Tenjin turned to Kairi and did the same to her.

"Let's get them upstairs," Kokoro ordered. Tenjin nodded and gently picked Denki up, placing him on his other hip as Kokoro did the same to Izuku and followed the silverette up the stairs. Once up there, they set the three on the bed as Kokoro turned to her friend. "We should get him here and prepare the three for the next stage of the plan. Although Denki and Kairi haven't been with us for long, it'll be good to start as soon as possible. Something tells me we may not have much time left with them. The pros are right on our tail, I can feel it."

Pulling out his phone, Tenjin clicked on the contact named 'Phase 2'.

T – He's ready and we have two more.
2 – Amazing, I'll be there in five minutes.

"He'll be here in five minutes," he informed, grinning. Kokoro clapped her hands together in excitement. Finally, after years of lying to the commission as well as her friends, she was finally able to do what she had dreamed of doing for all these years. Finally.

Five minutes passed by and soon the man was in the room with them, looking over the kids before nodding. "They're perfect," he grinned, hands rubbing against each other in pure excitement.

"Zabuzu how long will this take?" Kokoro sighed. Although she was excited this was about to happen, she was also nervous. She didn't want it to take too long since the pros were practically on top of them without realizing it. One little slip up and bam, they're done for. Everything Kokoro had worked so hard for would be over and done with.

"Not long, I promise. If we were at the boss's base, it would be much quicker – two hours at least – but since we're here in Esuha and not in Kamino, it might take three or four hours at least. I'll try to make it quick, since I know the pros are on top of us now." Kokoro nodded, leaning back as Zabuzu grabbed three syringes filled with a shiny blue liquid and jabbed them into the arms of Izuku, Denki, and Kairi. All three kids flinched, but nothing else happened. Slowly Zabuzu began pushing the liquid into their systems, a manic smile growing on his face as he did so. Once finished, he pulled the syringes out before hooking them up to the bags of it he had prepared beforehand, turning to Kokoro and Tenjin. "It'll take at least an hour for the bag to empty and probably another two for it to take full effect. I'm sorry it couldn't be quicker, but the pros shouldn't be able to find us within that time."

"Key word: shouldn't." Tenjin pointed out, huffing out a breath. "What do we do if they find us before it's done?"

"We run with them." Kokoro replied, watching the bags slowly empty into her boys' and her girl's systems. "We don't really have a choice. Either we get caught and we lose both Izuku, Kairi and Denki, or we run away the moment the pros get a little too close to the house and we head to Kamino where the boss is."

"I see," Tenjin murmured before watching the trio for any sign of the stuff working. "The three of them are our top priority now, right?" Kokoro nodded, silver hair falling in front of her face as Zabuzu wrapped an arm around both of their shoulders, grinning.

"This is going to be fun!" he cheered. The other two agreed, smiling. "Oh, by the way, Tenjin, how'd you get your brother to agree giving you both of the kids?"

"Oh that? Simple, I killed him!" Tenjin grinned before he grew serious. "If he were left alive, then we'd be in deep shit. Three kids go missing in the span of a day – if that. it would cause a lot of suspicion. I made it look as though he left town, so I doubt the police will care. The mother's been dead for a year now."

"I see," Zabuzu nodded as they continued to watch the three kids.

"Sir, there's some weird activity happening in this house. It's at the edge of Esuha, I recommend sending any pro heroes who are free, just in case." After relaying the message, a pair of red wings flapped away, hands clenched. We'll get you out of there, little one, I promise.