Your POV

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears but at the same time I couldn't feel it in my chest. The world seemed numb as I recalled the facts of my mother's murderer: A glass manipulation quirk with red eyes that seemed to gleam even in sheer darkness. If I wasn't mistaken those qualities belonged to a person close to me and his grandson.

The timeline didn't add up though. Atlas was only fifteen but this story took place twenty-two long years ago, so maybe I was mistaken. Though it wasn't entirely possible if Atlas was perhaps Edmond's great-grandson. If Ed had a kid at sixteen, and that trend continued until Atlas was born then it was entirely a plausible answer. Putting at Edmond at 63, which, sadly, he had just reached that mark several months ago.

Edmond was one of the few people in the world that I'd be willing to sacrifice everything for, so the fact that he was likely the killer horrified me. We were so close but now it seemed like I'd never met the real side of him. Part of me thought the idea of him being a murder was outrageous but then there was that sinking feeling in my chest that was telling me I wasn't just imaging it. God, I hate that feeling.

Esther's eyes traveled up my body but I didn't pay them any mind, every thought that swirled through my head was of him. Edmond had taken me in, but did he know who I was and what he'd done to my parents? Was this just a ploy for him to get closer to me so that he could end my life as well?

The room went silent as the Hito and Esther stopped their conversation; Her purple eyes staring daggers into his amber ones. Everyone was waiting for me to speak up, but why? I'm not a hero or a member of the police force! I'm just a random orphan with a shitty past and emotional trauma. What was the point of even worrying about my opinion if I had once been a villainous member of Phoenix?

"(Y/N)?" Esther asked, eyes never leaving the tall man sitting on the floor. "Is there a plan? I'm going to help you do whatever it takes to bring Cane down, so tell me what I need to do."

My throat felt dry and every time I searched for words my thoughts wandered back to Edmond's wrinkled face. It was him and I knew it. No matter how badly I wanted to deny it something gnawed at my mind and told me that my hypothesis was right.

Nothing had ever made sense in my life: Why I had been chosen by Phoenix, the metal wings protruding from my back, or what my relationship with the Talons was. None of it!  Yet Edmond was one of the things I'd used to make amends with all the crazy details. Was he just as bad as me?

"I-" Every word I wanted to speak seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as they settled across my tongue. "I need to go."

Before anyone had a chance to stop me I took off in a sprint. I swerved through the halls of Endeavor's building, passing people who didn't bother to give me a second glance. They were to busy caught up in their own lives to worry about one simple, broken girl like me.

The winter air stung my face as I shoved open the glass doors of the agency. As soon as I was clear of people I took off into the sky, ignoring the shouts from Emiko and Keigo. Their begs fell upon deaf ears as I raced towards the pawn shop. I needed to know.

My trip to the pawnshop was impossibly quick, well at least I had thought it was. I'd been to raveled inside my own head to pay much attention to how fast I was going. All I knew was that I was cold and scared of what answer I'd find beyond this door. 

Not wasting anymore time, I pushed the door open and allowed the strong smell of leather to slap against my face. It filled my senses but the usual sense of comfort wasn't there. Instead an eerie feeling crawled it's way across my body and settled in the depths of my stomach.

Through the shelves of merchandise I could see a teenage boy standing at the glass display case, his body hunched over papers as he scribbled mindlessly atop them. It was likely homework that he'd received earlier today, Monday is a school day after all.

"Is Edmond here?" I stormed through the shop in a show of anger, both my wings retracted into my back so that I wouldn't be able to hit anything in the store. The pain in my body surged as I felt the retracted wings inside my back: A strange feeling that I despised with my whole heart. "I need to talk to him."

Atlas looked up with tired eyes that matched the dark night sky. That dark gaze wandered down to my chest where it laid itself upon where the wound would be if it wasn't covered by my shirt. "Last time I saw him he was going to take a nap, but you know how that usually goes. I'd bet he's drinking some tea in the back right now."

I didn't waste another word and shoved my way past Atlas. My actions seemed to confuse the boy but he followed behind me anyway. There were no customers in the store right now so it didn't matter if he walked away for a couple of seconds: If there had been people maybe I would've taken a moment to reconsider my actions.

Edmond sat at the table in the back, one leg hiked up on the chair as he hugged it close to his chest. Both his hands clutched tightly to a cup of steaming tea as he took a long sip of the drink. He looked so peaceful that it was hard for me to imagine him as a murderer. Everything  in me said not to do this; But I couldn't just let it go, not until I knew the truth.

"Ita (L/N)." The words felt foreign to my lips as if they'd traveled from another world just to let me speak them.

That name struck recognition in Edmond as he stopped mid-sip: Nearly chocking on the hot tea. It took a moment for him to answer as he laid the tea back down on the table. "So you know."

No.

No.

No.

He did it. Edmond was the one who made me an orphan. Twenty-two years ago he'd killed both my mother and father then left me for dead in the hands of Phoenix. I'd thought he was a sanctuary inside my storm of emotions, a father to a fatherless girl, but I guess I was wrong. He'd not only withheld this information from me but he was the one who killed them.

"How could you?" Tears stung at my eyes, every emotion that I'd kept locked away came flooding back in a matter of seconds. In only four days I've taken down a third of Phoenix's organization, spilled my past to the people I'm closest with, learned about Keigo's past, and got marked by Cane. Now I'm learning that the person I considered family had been the one who took away my real family.

Stuff goes south quickly, that much I know from experience, but dang my life pulled a 180 on me. I hate it.

"I was young." His hands held the glass cup so tightly I thought it was going to shatter. Even without Emiko's quirk I could sense the regret and pain inside his hollow voice. "I'd just lost my daughter to Phoenix and I was beyond pissed. Revenge was the only thing on my mind and I didn't realize there was a baby inside the house until it was to late."

"You killed both my parents and that's all you can say? No 'I'm sorry' or 'Can you ever forgive me'? Edmond I trusted you and I had to find out from a Talon about what you did." Tears rolled down my face and all composure I'd once held was forgotten. Atlas's hand reached for my shoulder but I shrugged it off and stepped closer to Edmond.

He took a long sip of tea to try and steady himself. It didn't seem to work as every word he said was laced with a hesitant shake as if he was about to break. "Would that do any good? I've known you for six years (Y/N) and I know damn well that's not how you operate. You'd rather punch me in the face and call me a bastard: So do it! Hurt me, but please don't touch Atlas."

"Why did you take me in?" He was right, I've never accepted pity from other people and I sure as hell wasn't about to start now. If this was any other person I would have done exactly what he said: Hurt them worse than they hurt me. But it wasn't- it was Edmond.

"Because you were a kid down on their luck. Even if I would've known who you were I wouldn't have done anything differently."

"You sure about that?" I wiped away my tears and gave him a disapproving look. My (E/C) eyes twinkled with tears of anger, any emotions turning to rage. "How do I know you didn't just take me in so that you could finish the job? It would've been so easy for you to kill me back then but you didn't. Instead you just pretended like nothing happened: I'm going to say this once and only once, you should've killed me."

"(Y/N)-" Edmond tried to call out to me but those calls fell into a swirl of thoughts and were lost among a wave of feelings. I needed to get away. Just for a little bit so that I could take a break and stop myself from losing my shit.

"What's going on?" Atlas was jogging to keep up with me as I swerved through the rows of items in the back of the shop. My mind was hazy and disoriented so it made it hard to find where the backroom exit was.

I shook my head and tried to come up with something to help sooth Atlas's young mind, but nothing but the truth came to mind. Should I tell him what Edmond did? No. Edmond can have that talk with him- I don't have a right to do that to the old man. "Talk to Ed about it."

The young teenager began to lag behind before eventually stopping. I'd thought for a second he was going to use his quirk but nothing ever happen. He understood that I had to get away and though he wants to know more he wasn't going to push my boundaries.

In the main section of the shop I made a B-line for the front door, but was stopped when I heard the sound of the bell ringing. My eyes wandered up to meet with the golden orbs of Keigo, they were filled with worry for me as I stopped dead in my tracks. Besides my boyfriend was my amazing friend and the treacherous member of Phoenix, both females looking as like they'd just landed from a long flight through open air.

I swerved through them and tried to make my way to the door. I'm not prepared to have this conversation right now. Keigo grabbed my wrist and forced me to look at him even as I protested. "You can't just run off like this baby bird! Phoenix is not the only organization looking for you. It's dangerous out there alone."

"You mean the commission right?" I snapped before I could stop myself. Everything I'd learned over the past few days was coming into light and there was nothing to stop me. Dammit, if only I could control the filter in my mouth. "Yeah I know about them Keigo. I know about you and everything you've done."

He looked confused, mouth agape as he tried to make sense of what I was saying. "How-"

"Because they forced me to sit in a coffee shop and listen as they told me every. Single. Little. Detail. About what you've done and who you are. I had a gun to my head and even when I learned about it all, I still fucking loved you and Dabi. And I still do but I need a little bit of time to myself so that I don't do anything dumb."

The grip on my wrist came lose as surprised crawled itself across Keigo's senses and prevented him from thinking straight. With the small moment of hesitation I took my chance and sprinted outside. Allowing my wings to come back out I flew into the sky and left behind all that I've ever know.