Chapter Text
Izuku had his cast removed on the same day that the kids had their first day of junior high school. In a way, everything was changing, all at once. That's how it seemed to Shouto at least. The kids had seen one of their parents nearly die, had come face to face with a murderous villain, and on top of that were in a new, unfamiliar territory. It was changing all of them, that much was obvious. For Haruki, it came with more intensity around his studies, bringing the numbers closer to his heart, as though mathematics was an armour. Aiko was already changing how she viewed herself in other ways, and at times the emotions from both transitions became too much. Rei withdrew herself—even as her personality remained unchanged, she spent more and more time out, or dedicating herself to new projects.
“I mean, it's to be expected,” he ended up saying when he and Izuku spoke of the matter at night, Shouto watching cars pass outside. It was raining softly, the sound filling the silent moments between them. “They're growing up, just like we did. Better than we did, in all honesty. Sometimes there'll be bumps on the road, but none of this is really out of the ordinary.”
“I guess,” Izuku said with a frown that made it obvious he didn't truly agree. “I just feel like we should be doing more, should be spending more time with them. Because—” He halted.
“What's bothering you?” Shouto asked. “For real.”
It took a moment for his husband to speak, balling his fists in the blankets as he tried to find the words. “I guess, after what I went through, I wanna make sure that our kids are safe. That we cherish our time with them. Because we don't know how much time there is, just that it's always decreasing. I just . . . I don't want to lose that time.”
“Oh, Izu, you aren’t gonna lose that time,” Shouto said. With languid movements, he pulled his husband close, gently rubbing at his shoulders. “Everyone is safe, and we’re going to keep being safe. We have plenty of time—we’re gonna get to watch them grow big and strong. We have all the time in the world for that.”
***
“Can I ask you something? Seeing as we aren’t that busy.” Touya looked up from his phone to see his coworker, a younger lady with a severe undercut, looking at him curiously. “Unless you’d mind.”
“Not at all,” he answered. “Just playing some online chess with my niece.” He set his phone down on the check-in counter he was manning, looking out over the empty longue of the tattoo parlour he’d found employ at. “Though if you don’t mind me asking, are quiet Mondays always going to be a thing?”
“They tend to be,” she answered. “Which is why I prefer taking them. Anyways, could I ask you about your scars.” For a moment, Touya almost brought a hand up to his face before realizing she was looking at his arms. The scars there were the ones he had never managed to fully hide—some faint burns that still lingered from his childhood, the dip from where Shigaraki had lain a hand on him, pinholes from where a broken arm had been set. A living memorial to the mistakes he’d once made, visible for all to see.
“Go ahead.” People tended to ask anyways, he’d learned.
“You ever thought of doing anything with them? I get if you want them to be a reminder or something like that, but they look like they were painful, and there’s no reason you can’t transform something that was painful into something beautiful. Maybe get some ink on that, turn them into something new.”
“I’ll have to consider it.”
“You know, when people say that, they normally mean yes.”
“When I say it, it means I’ll consider it.” His phone pinged, and Touya looked down to see that Rei had made a move in response. He brought it up and looked over the board.
“How’s the game going?”
“Just started. But you know, I think I’m going to win this one.”
***
One of the added advantages, for Rei at least, of being in middle school was the added trust that her parents had given her. Later curfew, a larger allowance, all of those things were the sort that any kid would be glad to have. For her; however, it served an added practical purpose.
She was gonna be a hero, that much she knew for certain. The desire had always been present in some form or another—looking back at her life, that much was obvious. But after the last months, after the talk with her grandfather, she knew for certain that it was what she would to. She had to prove him wrong. And besides, she’d already fought a villain once before, had already managed to defeat the man who had nearly killed her father. Rei was ready.
She’d thrown herself into the possibility over the last month, spending her free time researching what she had to do to become a hero, where she’d have to go. What the fighting styles of the best heroes were, what their costumes were made of. She’d even roped Hideki into the latter, convincing him to make a basic hero costume alongside her efforts. A month after they’d begun middle school, she sent him a text, a location where they’d meet and show the costumes off at.
“And that’s scholar’s mate,” she muttered as she waited on the rooftop she’d picked, leaning back against the access door. The game against her uncle had taken up less time than she’d thought it would—four moves to be precise—but those four moves had taken long enough that she could hear someone coming. Hopefully it would be her friend.
“What even is this place?” Hideki asked as he appeared on the rooftop of the apart Rei had picked, climbing up the fire escape. He was wearing close-fitting sweatpants and a hoodie. Rei watched him as he breathed heavily from the exertion and frowned. She’d been able to climb up the same way without difficulty. Maybe he just needs to get better at this sort of thing. I can always work with him on that. “Did you really pick a random rooftop to have this meeting.”
“Of course not,” Rei answered, looking out and over the skyline of the Tokyo suburbs. They were only a half-hour or so from her home, out where the buildings were low and the traffic was sparse. “I was reading up on the fight my dad had with the Pteranodon, and I learned that this is where it began. Dad was crossing the buildings trying to get to another crime when the guy caught him in the air. I thought about it for a while, and figured that, hey, that fight is what, indirectly at least, lead to me becoming a hero. So, I want this spot to be where my journey starts. And if we’re gonna do this together.”
“Huh,” Hideki said, glancing out over the city. “It’s fitting, I guess.”
Rei laughed. “I picked it, of course it’s fitting. Now, what’s with your outfit? I figured it would be something more . . . elaborate.”
He shrugged. “Really I just need stuff that’s light and isn’t too baggy. I can add a belt for gear if I need to, but I can’t really get one of those, and I don’t have any protective gear. Besides, my quirk lets me walk on walls. An outfit doesn’t exactly supplement that very much. And what’s with yours? You just look like you’re in a girl gang.”
“I’ll take the compliment,” Rei said, bouncing up from where she’d sat down and walking over. As she did so she briefly looked down at what she was wearing: a biker’s jacket over a white turtleneck, alongside cargo pants. “So I figured that I need a way to retain heat in my body, avoid going into shock, so that’s what the turtleneck is for. I picked up the jacket at a yard sale a few weeks back. That’s my protective gear for right now. Way I figured it, if motorcyclists use it in case of accidents, it’s gotta help a bit at least.”
“Doesn’t that get a bit warm? Is overheating not an issue?”
“It can be, I guess. But if I ever get too warm, then I can just . . .” Rei let out a little bit of heat, the air above her hand shimmering as she threw out the energy. “I can do that, so it isn’t really an issue.”
“Wow, I forget sometimes just how much you can do with your quirk. It’s so cool.” Rei tried to suppress the smile that came forth at the comment, only to fail. “I take it that the pants are for the pockets?”
“Yeah. Besides, cargo pants are cool. And then I’ll eventually get boots, cause every heroes ends up having boots, let’s be honest.”
“I see. You know, the outfit kinda reminds me of that flame guy from the League way back when. What was his name?”
I know. It’s a feature, not a bug, Rei had wanted to say. “No idea,” was what ended up coming out of her mouth. “Anyways, you ready to do this?”
“To do what?”
Rei gestured to the next building, a short alleyway and a few foot drop separating them. “That’s the jump my dad was about to make when he was grabbed. Whaddya say, first leap as heroes?”
“We aren’t heroes yet?” Hideki said. Unspoken, but equally carried across, was the I’m nervous about making that jump.
“It’s the thought that counts. I’m gonna do it.” Rei took a step back, locking gaze with the building opposite of her.
“Rei, maybe don’t—” Hideki began, but by the time the words have come through she was already running at full speed, drawing heat into herself as she moved. A moment before she entered the air she let the heat out below her feet, fire pushing out beneath her. The force pushed her jump higher, and before she knew it she was sailing into the air, an exhilarated cry leaving her lungs. In a blink she was across, feet slamming into the ground and sending her to her knees, adrenaline still making every moment seem like a lifetime.
Rei only had to look back for a moment before her friend was following her over, a panicked whoop bursting forth. What’s that even for? You’re the one with a gravity quirk.
Still, they had taken that step. The first among many.