Chapter Text
At some point Enji thought he wanted twins when Rei was first pregnant.
Now he knew how foolish he was for thinking so.
It was the middle of the night when he finally came home, Enji was fully expecting it to be completely silent, oh how wrong he was.
He opened the door and walked into the sound of two babies crying- it must’ve been baby Izuku and little Shouto.
Upon waking towards the mess he saw that both Rei and Inko were in the kitchen preparing food for the babies. The stressed first time mother was the first to notice him. “W-welcome home, how was work?”
Rei grimaced as she noticed him, yes he was fixing himself, but it wouldn’t erase his previous actions. With the last three months many things had happened: one of the maids had quit and took Touya with her, Inko gave birth to a a healthy baby boy, Shouto turned eight months old, and through various means Inko moved into the household with them as a “caretaker” of sorts. The truth was that his consciousness couldn’t allow him to leave the single mother to deal with herself alone and without a husband. Sure he wasn’t exactly the best dad around, but at least the maids were there.
Enji grimaced at the thought of how awkwardly he “hired” her and how messy everything was. It was after the day that the maid quit too, which was even more stressful.
~
Inko didn’t remember much after the whole incident with her almost falling and going home with Enji Todoroki. She remembered talking with Rei about her husband and playing with Fuyumi and Natsuo, but she most definitely did not remember falling asleep in a room as nice as the one she was currently in. It was a spacious room with a tatami in the middle and other furniture like dressers and a closet were placed towards the walls. Almost all of it screamed “traditional Japanese house,” which was a complete opposite to her small apartment. As she slipped out of her bed she realized she was wearing different clothes from yesterday, had the day truly been so late she couldn’t even remember changing into nightclothes?
A knock on her door brought her back to her senses and she quickly scrambled up. “C-come in!”
A blank-faced maid came in with a set of clothes and set them on a dresser. Before turning to her, “Please change into the clothes while breakfast is on it’s way. Master Todoroki wishes to see you after you have changed and eaten.”
The maid left before Inko could say anything, she sighed and looked at just what she was given. It was a light pink dress, and judging how much it stretched towards the stomach area of it, the dress was made for expectant mothers. She smiled at the small act of consideration and changed into it (it was more comfortable than she thought it would be.) After twirling around in it and admiring how good it looked in the mirror, she grabbed a nearby brush from the dresser and brushed her hair down as much as she could. Sometimes it could be stubborn but luckily today was not one of those days.
There was a knock on the door and she quickly answered with a “Come in!” The door opened with a clunk and she found someone (or rather someones) she wasn’t expecting at the door.
“Surprise!” Fuyumi cheered as Natsuo slipped through the door. The older child was carrying a plate of food while Natsuo was holding a red ball, they were probably playing before they arrived. Fuyumi was wobbling as she made her way through the room, Inko hurriedly made her way to the child so she wouldn’t drop the food.
“What are you doing here?” Inko questioned as she placed the food on a nearby table. “You were probably playing with Natsuo before right? I thought a maid was going to bring this?”
Fuyumi grinned in response. “She was, but I knew she was gonna bring it to you so I asked if I could do it like a big girl! Did I do good? Am I big girl now?”
Inko smiled warmly as she fixed both children’s clothes to look neater. “Yes, you’re a very big girl, do you want to eat with me?”
Natsuo perked up at the mention of food. “Yummy?” Inko nodded as she picked up some rice for him to eat, the breakfast itself was as normal as one would think it to be with rice, an omelette, a slice of toast, and orange juice to go with it. She herself did not hesitate to wolf the food down (while making sure to share with the kids,) it had been some time since she was able to eat since she didn’t do so the day prior.
“Are you still hungry?” Fuyumi pulled a few riceballs from a bag she had at her side. “Mama made these for us as snacks but you can have them since you’re so nice.”
Inko hesitated at the thought of taking food meant for the kids, but the look Fuyumi was giving her told her heart to eat the riceball like the child wanted. “Thank you Fuyumi-chan.”
“Mhmm~!” Natsuo held out his hand and clasped his fingers around her hands. “Papa wants to see you.”
“I wonder what he wants...” Inko let out a hum as she allowed the boy o drag her through the house and finally stop in front of a tall door. The very thing let out an intimidating aura, and Inko wasn’t sure if she found it impressive or terrifying. She held up a shaky hand and knocked on the door.
The door opened almost immediately and she let out a squeak. The door itself was opened by a maid and revealed a giant room with a desk in the middle. Unsurprisingly, the head of the house (aka one of those most intimidating heroes in Japan), was sitting in a leather chair behind it. Fuyumi gripped Inko’s arm nervously as she hid behind her.
“Are you feeling better now?” The sound of Enji’s deep voice suddenly interrupting the silence caused her to jump out of surprise.
“Y-yes! Thank you for your hospitality.” Inko bowed as much as she could without hurtling her stomach.
“It was nothing.” He quickly dismissed, Enji held up a hand and motioned to the maids. “Leave, and take the children with you, I have matters to discuss with her.”
The maids all nodded silently and ushered out of the room. Fuyumi squeezed her hand once more before allowing herself to be escorted out by the maids. “It’ll be okay.”
The door shut behind her, and it was just the two of them in the room. What would come next would surprise the both of them.
“Would you like to work for me as an attendant for the children?”
-
“Todoroki-san?” Inko called out wearily as she tried to calm her child. “You were quiet for awhile, are you tired?”
“Not as tired as you two probably are.” He answered as he cracked his neck. He held out his hands. “Give Izuku to me, you look like you’re going to collapse at any moment.”
Inko reluctantly complied but she turned to make two bottles for the children instead. Enji internally sighed as he took a bottle from her and made his way to the couch with a slightly calmed Izuku in his arms, the boy was suckling greedily at the bottle. Some of the milk was dripping down his face and onto Enji’s arm, it evaporated quickly upon touching his skin.
“Some table manners you have,” Enji chided as he adjusted Izuku’s position on his arm. “You too Rei, you should be in bed by now too.”
The mentioned female gave a start as she wasn’t expecting him to address her as well. “Shouto needs to be changed as well, I’ll need to do that before feeding him.”
“Then I’ll do that too.” He stretched and held Izuku closer to him, the child’s eyes were beginning to droop so he prioritized holding the bottle for him.
“I can do it.” Rei stubbornly answered, he let out an irritated grunt. “It will only take a moment, and I know you aren’t the best at changing diapers anyways.”
The tense air was interrupted by a laugh from Inko. They both looked over to the doorway revealed her holding three blankets while in her pajamas. One of the blankets was around her shoulders so it was easy to infer just what the other two were for.
“I never would have thought that the ever so talented Enji Todoroki would have a flaw when it comes to diapers.” Rei snickered as she took the blankets from her and pulled a chair from the dining room. “He has a lot more flaws most people wouldn’t believe like-“
“Don’t you have a diaper to change?” Enji growled as he yanked the last blanket from Inko’s hand. “And you- didn’t I tell you to go to sleep?”
She stuck out her tongue at him in return. “Yea, but I don’t want to.” Inko giggled to herself as she plopped down on next to him and poked one finger on her child’s cheek. The child in question burrowed his eyebrows but continued to sleep. “Children sure are life’s miracles, aren’t they?”
Enji could only think of Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo-who were all unfortunate enough to be born before he realized just how screwed up his way of thinking was. He glanced at Rei and Shouto, the tired mother holding the oddly toned child to her chest, a ghost of a smile was evident on her pale face. He looked away before she could notice him staring at her, a pang of guilt stabbed at him as he felt Izuku clasp at his shirt.
“They sure are,” He finally answered, Inko gave him a cheeky grin and grabbed the remote to the tv (lowering it to a quieter volume of course) and flipped the channel to a boring telenovela that happened to be on. “What?”
“I know what’s holding you back,” She ignored his look on confusion and leaned he head on his warm shoulder. “You’re afraid.”
Enji had to put all his strength into not jumping in surprise. He readjusted his posture so the tiny child on his person was now hazardously balancing on one of his arms while the other rested on the back of the couch. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Inko reached an arm over to keep her child from accidentally falling out of the flame user’s own. Her child was surprisingly as silent as a mouse despite being moved around so much. “Jeez he’s one heavy sleeper- anyways you’re holding yourself back from your full potential because you’re afraid of change. That’s why your relationship with Rei-chan is so strained, yea you feel guilty about everything but even I can see that you’re trying to reach out in the small ways you can.”
He pushed her away lightly with a nearby cushion. “You talk a lot for a glorified babysitter who’s only been here for three months.” His grumpy reply only served to fuel her ‘wise mother talk,’
“Word gets around here fast and it’s easy to see who someone really is when they’re relaxing at home after a long day at work,” She explained, there was a tone of sadness laced in her words, she was silent for few seconds before continuing. “To be honest, if I knew about the whole Quirk marriage ordeal and the way you basically ignore Fuyumi and Natsuo, and Touya who I can assume is a sweetheart, before our meeting at the supermarket three months ago- I probably would think of you as the literal definition of scum on Earth who deserves nothing-“
“I think that hurt more than any attack from a villain ever could.” Enji grimaced, the feeling of weight shifting the couch brought his attention to his wife, who was looking at Inko in mild interest.
“Don’t interrupt me or it’ll burn even you.” The young mother chided. “As I was saying- when I first heard about it from the other maids towards the beginning of my employment, I was horrified like most would be. Buuuut I never make it a habit to judge based on hearing about someone’s actions and prefer to see the person behind those actions. Do you want to know what I saw?”
“An arrogant power hungry bastard?” He guessed, a playful edge to his tone. This time it was her turn to hit him with the pillow.
“Let me finish!” She hissed, Enji heard a quiet ‘hit him harder’ from Rei. “What I saw was a man who was human-just like the rest of us normal people. When I saw your face the day as you saved me from falling, I realized you had to have had faults too. As I’ve worked here day and night, I’ve seen every moment of when you come back tired and hurt from beating villains.” Inko held up a hand to trace a scar on his cheek next to his ear, a silent reminder to what heroes put themselves into each day. “Not once did you seem unhappy about having to protect civilians and stop villains. I think that deep down you like being a hero, and not just for power. You’re a man with flaws, but so am I. I can’t claim to have all the answers to what it means to be flawless, but if you’re willing to make everything better with your family, then I will give all the help I can.”
His eyes softened as he recognized genuine warmth and sincerity in her eyes. “I-“
“Mommy..?” Whatever his reply may have been, it was interrupted by Fuyumi’s soft voice. All three of the adults turned to see the child in her pajama, holding her sleepy brother’s hand in one of her own and a blanket in the other. “What are you guys still doing up? It’s past bedtime, you won’t be big and strong if you stay up.”
Inko smiled at the small child and held out her hands as an invitation for one of the children to sit in her lap. “If we grew any more we would be too big to fit in this house, but you still have room to grow nice and big.” The child’s brain was too tired for logic, so she opted for just nodding in response.
“Oh okay,” Fuyumi rolled the blanket out on the floor. “Can we sleep with you guys? It’s lonely with just the two of us.”
Enji had a ‘No’ on the tip of his tongue but the green haired woman jabbed him on the side and spoke for him. “Of course you can, in fact your father was just thinking about how nice it would be to spend a night with you two.”
“I was?” He questioned, Inko gave him a dirty look and response and motioned to his daughter, who’s eyes were sparkling with excitement. He cleared his throat sheepishly. “Of course I was, why don’t we start by watching a movie together and fall asleep together?”
“You mean it?!” She squealed, only to be shushed by the two mothers. “Oops, sorry.” The girl patted the area in the middle of the blanket, Natsuo was already laying down on the left side of it- staring at the tv screen as the beginnings of a children’s movie began to play. “C’mon Papa, you sit right here. I’ll get some pillows so we can get comfy.”
He could only stare in disbelief as she ran off to get said pillows. He delicately handed Izuku to his mother before sitting down on the blanket as he was instructed to do. Natsuo jumped onto him, the flame user held his hands behind him to keep from falling too far. “I’ve never seen her so excited before.”
“She’s wanted nothing more than to have any type of interaction with her father.” Rei yawned as she took to leaning onto Inko. The first time mother moved the blanket to cover the both of them. “Even if it’s just for this moment...” Her sentence was interrupted by the every growing urge to fall deep asleep. “Even if it’s just for this moment.. let them both be happy..” She gave no explanation as her body succumbed to her exhaustion. Inko gave her a small smile and fixed herself to do the same. “Good night Todoroki-san.”
Enji was silent as he looked at the two now sleeping mothers. “Yea.. goodnight to you too.”
“Papa,” Fuyumi whispered as she handed him a rather large pillow. “This one’s for you, I hope you like it.” She put down one for herself and her brother, she gently took Shouto from her mother’s grasp and handed him to their father. “Here Papa, you take Shou-chan and I’ll take Izu-kun so they don’t fall off the couch.”
“You’re a very generous girl, Fuyumi.” Enji commented as he slowly sunk himself onto the floor as best as he could with one free arm. “I’m sure you’ll make a great role model in the future.”
She smiled sheepishly as she cuddled her body closer to her father. “You think so? Ehehe, thanks Papa, I think you’re a cool hero no matter what others say.”
And so the two took to watching the movie in silence, although no words were needed for the two of them. Even if it was just one moment, one night in a vast number of other, let it be one worth enjoying.
Even something as simple as one father surrounded by his four children as they watched a cheesy children’s movie and feel asleep on the floor was enough to call memorable. Even if it meant regret for Enji’s back in the morning from sleeping on the hard surface and both Shouto and Izuku waking everyone up at 5 in the morning. Even though it meant waking up sweaty from the combination of four other surrounding body temperatures and having to resist the urge to get up to get some water during the middle of the night. Even through all of that, it was enjoyable knowing you were surrounded by people who loved you.