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Todoroki Rei had always been a light sleeper, especially after marrying Enji. The long years of fear meant every little noise woke her up, her body steeling to either run to help her children or to bear the brunt of Enji’s fist. When she came to the hospital, this habit had to be slowly unlearned. There was always some noise regardless of the time of day; the hospital was always staffed, and even in the middle of the night there was the occasional sound of furniture being moved or the rattle of medical supplies. Over time, she grew used to this faint background noise, no longer waking rigid in bed at the sound of her children’s frightened cries and accepting that it was merely a faint disturbance.
When something woke her one night, she rolled over and repositioned the blanket, not bothering to open her eyes. However, the noise persisted, a faint shifting that sounded too close to be coming from anywhere else but her room.
She opened her eyes to the sight of a dark figure slinking through the window of her hospital room in almost perfect silence, briefly blocking out the faint moonlight with its darker presence. A cry for help rose in Rei’s throat, frightened into complete wakefulness, until the figure moved towards her. She instinctively pushed herself away, backing into the corner of her bed. Were they robbers, here for drugs or medical supplies? Why had they chosen her room to break into? Had some villains somehow figured out she was the estranged wife of the Number One Hero and wanted some advantage over him?
She was helpless. Her Quirk was useless, having long been drugged into dormancy by the hospital.
Her panicked thoughts ground to a halt when a hand touched her wrist, gentle and unnaturally warm.
“Relax,” said a low voice in the dark. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Rei dared to look at the intruder. The first thing she saw were blue eyes that glowed faintly, and for a moment she thought it was Enji who had snuck into her room. But no, she could make out the build of the person—a man—and he was far smaller, skinnier than Enji had ever been. She could make out a mess of hair, and something metallic glinted on his skin as he shifted.
“What do you want?” she whispered, hyper-aware of the hand on her wrist.
“Nothing, except to see you.” Blue fire ignited in the man’s free hand, and though it was little more than a candle’s worth, Rei instinctively flinched at the sight of it. The hand with the flame moved up, shedding light on the intruder’s face. Rei stared at the mess of scars and staples, framed by shaggy black hair. The shadows cast by the flame gave the contours of his face a skull-like edge, only reinforced by the purpled skin of his lower jaw.
Something stirred in her memory. Shouto had described a villain that had attacked his class at a forest training camp having features such as the intruder’s, scarred skin and staples, a fire Quirk.
“Who are you?” she said.
A sorrowful look flashed across the man’s face. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”
Blue fire, blue eyes. The face, changed but retaining a familiarity, a face that she never hoped to see again.
It couldn’t be.
A name came to her lips, the whisper small and unsure in the dark. “Touya…?”
The man’s face cracked into a rueful grin, pulling at the staples. “Yeah.”
She dove forward, uncaring of the flame in his hands. Touya nearly toppled backwards with the force of her lunge, hurriedly extinguishing his flame and wrapping his arms around her, steadying them both.
“My boy!” she wailed into his hair, clinging to him for dear life. “My baby boy…”
Touya stroked her hair, returning her fierce embrace. “Shh. Someone might hear.” His words came out shakier than expected, full of his own emotion.
Rei buried her sobs in his hair, rocking him gently as she knelt on her bed. When she finally drew back, she gazed long and hard into his eyes, her face stained with tears.
“This must be a dream,” she whispered shakily.
“It’s not,” Touya said, squeezing her hand. “I promise you it’s not.”
With her free hand she reached up, cupping his face. She could see now the face of her eldest, so different from when she had last seen it, but retaining a familiarity only a mother could know. She gently brushed a thumb across the staples, the bumpy ridges of scarred flesh.
“Fuyumi…Natsuo…they told me you died in your own fire.”
“I did, in a way. I wanted to burn him so badly that I burned myself, and this the result.”
Another broken sob fell from Rei’s mouth as she stared at the scars that littered his body. “It’s my fault. If I hadn’t hurt Shouto, maybe you would—”
“No, Mom.” His voice was so changed, so deep, yet possessing the same conviction she remembered. “I would have walked this path regardless, it only happened earlier because of what the old man did to you.”
She could have wept anew as the some of the weight lifted from her shoulders. She hadn’t killed her eldest. However, she restrained herself as her next question came to her mind. It was so dreadful she almost didn’t ask it, but she forced herself to. “Are you…a villain?”
Even in the dark, she could see a flash of something akin to shame. “Yes.”
Rei felt her heart shatter. How far her child had fallen! She had prayed none of her children would succumb to the evils of the world despite experiencing them firsthand at the whim of their father, yet here her eldest stood…
“But,” Touya continued, “I might be changing that soon.”
More stray tears dripped from Rei’s face onto her nightclothes. “Why?”
“I talked to Shouto for the first time not long ago. I thought he had given himself over to what the old man wanted of him, but I was wrong.”
Rei was already shaking her head before he even finished. “No. Shouto wants to become a hero in his own way, better than Enji ever was.”
“I know.” A fond smile tugged at his scarred lips. “He sorta convinced me that maybe being a villain isn’t the best route when you have family that cares about you.”
“Why didn’t you reveal yourself sooner?” A fresh wave of tears burned in Rei’s eyes. “I’ve mourned you every day.”
“I know.” He reached over and grabbed the box of tissues off her side table, passing them to her. “I thought you would want nothing to do with me once I chose this path.”
“You’re still my boy,” Rei said, “no matter what.”
“Good to know.” The reply was intended to be snarky, but it came out too choked with emotion.
“Please, reconsider your choices.” She reached out and grabbed his hands with a sudden ferocity. “This will kill you, Touya and I can’t—” Her voice broke, but she didn’t need to finish.
Touya closed his eyes briefly, feeling the soft coolness that balanced out the warmth of his own hands. “Shouto said the same thing. I know I should, but I can’t let go. All I’ve ever known is hate for Endeavor, and I don’t want to let it go.”
A watery laugh burst from Rei’s lips. “See where hate for him has gotten me?”
“That’s different.”
“I let go a long time ago, and I’m all the better for it.” Rei felt his palms, so rough and scarred in her own, and her heart broke all over again for what had come upon him. “You should too.”
“Things can never be normal.” Touya hated to see the pained expression on his mother’s face, but it was the truth. “If I’m caught, I’ll be arrested. Probably spend the rest of my life in Tartarus.”
Rei didn’t reply. She knew he was right.
“But who said I’ll get caught?”
His eyes burned with fire, and she saw the smirk on his face. She wanted to scold him, to tell him to do the right thing, but was the right thing? She didn’t want him to go to jail, but she knew he had committed crimes. A part of her, a part long discarded, knew how he felt, how the hate had driven him to do bad things.
She had done the same.
“You can’t run forever,” she murmured, grabbing a tissue from the box he had given him and wiping at her face.
“No one knows my true name,” he said. “Todoroki Touya looked way different than this. Maybe one day he can live again.”
“You’re alive now.” She threaded a hand through his unruly hair. She hadn’t noticed before in the dark, but now she realized his hair was dyed a deep black. A spark of hope ignited in her. The scars were a different story, but maybe one day… “Who else knows?”
“Just Shouto. He convinced me to come see you. I had always wondered how they were treating you here.”
“They’ve treated me very well here. I feel better than I ever did back at that house.” Rei’s smile died away. “But it has torn me up inside that I couldn’t be there for any of you.”
“You did the best you could with that scumbag.” Touya’s eyes flared brightly. “I don’t blame you at all for anything.”
“Is he why you’ve taken this path?”
“I will kill him.” He didn’t want to admit it, but the words lacked the vigor of murderous intent they had once held. There was more to life now than killing Endeavor, carrying out Stain’s will.
“You should let go.” Rei studied her son’s face sadly. “You were always so angry, but so was I back then.”
Touya didn’t reply.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before—”
“You did your best, Mom,” Touya interrupted gently. “How many times do I have to say it?”
Rei dropped her eyes to the tissue in her hands, twisting it harshly. “It…it just hurts to see you like this, Touya. I wish…” She left the thought unfinished, a shaky gasp burst from her lips.
He gently embraced her, feeling the shudder of her shoulders. Briefly, he considered that he might have made a mistake in revealing himself, only causing her anguish at his current state.
“But I’m glad you’re alive regardless,” she said, her voice muffled by his shoulder. “I still can’t believe it. You’re alive.”
“I am.” Touya was swift to push his doubts away as relief and joy rose to replace them.
They stayed embraced on the bed for a few moments longer, until Touya forced himself to pull away. “I should probably go. I’ve been here too long anyway.”
Rei grabbed his arm desperately. She had just gotten him back, and she felt if she let go he would vanish. “Please…”
He brushed a stray wisp of hair from her face. “You haven’t seen the last of me. I promise I’ll be back.”
A part of Rei wanted to object. To come back was to risk being caught. A part of her wanted to laugh aloud; merely hours ago she would never have approved the idea of letting a villain go free, but now here she sat in utter contradiction.
“Alright,” she said at last, letting go of his arm. “If you think you won’t get caught.”
“I never get caught.” He flashed her that overconfident smirk and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes. However, the self-assured look swiftly changed to a gentle smile. “I’ll write you, too.”
“Be safe.” She hated to think of what dangers he had put himself in and what people he associated with. “Please, for my sake.”
“Of course.”
“And don’t…don’t hurt anyone.”
Touya couldn’t find it in his heart to refuse as he looked into the pleading eyes of his mother. He was changing more than he had ever intended. “I won’t.”
She leaned up and pressed a cool kiss to his forehead. “I love you, Touya. No matter what you’ve done, I still love you.”
“I love you too,” he whispered, realizing just how much he had missed his mother’s loving touch. “Shouto will call you tomorrow.”
She didn’t know how he could guarantee such a thing, but she nodded. “I look forward to it.”
He pulled away from her, moving to the window of her room. “I’ll be back soon.”
“You had better,” she said, trying to sound lighthearted despite the obvious tremble in her voice.
Like a passing shadow, he vanished into the night, the window clicking shut softly behind him.
Rei let out a shaky breath, hugging her hands to her chest. It was a strange combination of a dream and a nightmare. Her son was alive, but a villain made by the hands of her own husband. She looked past the villainy, seeing her eldest son beneath the façade of a hardened, burned man.
She knew he could change. He was already changing.
But what mattered most was that he was alive. Scarred, but alive.
She didn’t sleep the rest of the night; she was too happy.
A call came for her the next day, just as Touya had said.
“It’s your son, Shouto,” the nurse said, handing her the phone.
“Thank you.” She took the phone, bringing the receiver up to her ear. “Hello, Shouto.”
“He came to see you.” Shouto forewent all formality, his tone betraying his surprise.
“Yes.” Rei smiled wildly, feeling lighter now than she ever had. “Yes, he did.”