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The three of you were walking back to Keigo’s, eating ice cream, when the boys saw the mugging at the same time. Two ice creams hit the ground and the heroes took off—in Kei’s case, quite literally. You leaned against a building and watched, confident they’d have this wrapped up before you could finish your cone.
Keigo approached the mugger, who’d retreated into the alley, feathers swirling around him in case they were needed. Touya knelt by the victim, who was crying, the contents of their bag rolling around the sidewalk. As Touya performed some first aid, the victim’s wallet was kicked into the road by a passerby. You dropped your treat into the trash and carefully made your way to the wallet.
You were collecting the victim’s belongings and making a neat pile when Touya inhaled sharply.
“What the…” Touya’s voice was alarmed.
You looked up to see that Keigo was gone! Or so you thought until your eyes fell to the ground…where a small child with red wings stood, Kei’s t-shirt now a billowing dress. The mugger was trapped on the ground by Kei’s adult feathers. He was laughing wildly, causing small Keigo to back away against the wall, trembling.
“Y/n, can you…” Touya gestured to the victim.
You nodded, and Touya pulled quirk proof cuffs from his back pocket and approached the mugger. Your eyes flicked to Kei, who was taking it all in with wide, fear-filled eyes. He looked about six—before or after the Commission got their hands on him? Gritting your teeth, you turned back to the victim, keeping them calm (and on-scene so they’d give a statement).
You were physically closer to Endeavor Agency than Wings Agency, so you pulled out your phone and called them, letting them know Touya was restraining a villain. At a loss about what to say about Keigo, you stayed silent, leaving that to Touya to deal with. Moments later, Endeavor arrived on the scene. You were relieved to see Dad-deavor as you and several other Todoroki significant others nicknamed him, certain he could keep this from ending up in the paper and (depending on Kei’s age) might be the best person to keep Keigo calm in the short run.
Endeavor briefly checked on the victim, before leaving them for the police and venturing into the alley. When the police arrived a minute or so later, you scrambled to your feet and, following your instincts, darted after him.
“—long does it last?” Touya’s hand was alight as Enji loomed over him, shooting a fearsome glare at the man who’d dared put a hand on his potential future son-in-law.
Not bothering to wait for the answer, you crouched in front of the boy, who was taking it all in with wide eyes.
“Keigo?”
“Is that Endeavor-san?” He whispered it, taking in the scene. Familiar with the look, you recognized the hero worship in Kei’s eyes.
“Yes, it is. He’s worried about you. We all are. Do you remember who I am?” You figured he didn’t, but it was important to get confirmation.
He bit his lip and shook his head. “I only know Endeavor-san.”
“Keigo, my name is y/n. Do you see how your clothes are too big?” He nodded. “You were hit by a quirk. You’re actually twenty-seven. Touya, the man with the blue fire? He and I are your friends. We were hanging out when you and Touya saw a mugging. You subdued the villain, but not before he hit you with his quirk. Touya and Endeavor are trying to find out how long you’ll be little for.”
“I can take it from here,” you heard a smarmy voice you loathed from behind you. Mera, Keigo’s handler.
You stood and blocked Kei from his view. “Leave him alone.” Your voice was a low growl.
“Professor L/N, I hardly think your quirk can stop me.” The Commission didn’t particularly like you, and you hated them. That Keigo wouldn’t dump you and enter the far more socially acceptable relationship/marriage with only Touya was an endless sore spot. When Kei had told them to back off his personal relationships, they’d tried another tactic—finding your price. When there wasn’t a direct cash price, they tried to get you to take a professorship in America or the UK, something with immediate tenure and more money for research.
You felt heat at either shoulder, Endeavor and Touya silently backing you. Mera frowned.
“The quirk lasts for twenty-four hours. Y/n and I will take care of him,” Touya said.
Mera’s expression turned sour. “We know how to—”
“Lock him in a dark room,” you hissed. “I heard about some of your ‘training methods’ and if you think you’re touching our Keigo, you have another think coming.”
Endeavor cleared his throat. “Your services are not needed, Mera. If the president has an issue with that, she can call me. My son will be too busy to answer his phone.”
Mera’s eyes flicked to where a tiny hand had grabbed onto your shirt. “Haw—Keigo, why don’t you come with me? There are lots of toys at the Commission.”
You turned to Keigo and hoisted him onto your hip. His arms wrapped around you, and he hid his face in your neck. “Enough is enough, Mera. And don’t think for a second that we won’t tell Keigo about what you tried to do when he’s big again.”
Mera spun around and stalked away. Keigo trembled. You brushed a kiss to the top of his head. “It’s okay, sweetheart. He’s gone. Let’s get you some clothes that fit. Touya, can you grab his stuff?"
"Let’s go to the estate. Rei still has clothes from when the children were small.” Endeavor ruffled Keigo’s hair, who looked at Endeavor as though he’d hung the moon. If you had the age right, given that he worshipped Enji and didn’t know Mera, he was six. Endeavor had arrested his father, but his mother had not yet sold him to the Commission.
Once at the estate you joined Rei in picking out a few outfits for Kei. You grabbed a pair of scissors and sacrificed a shirt of Touya’s for Kei’s wings. It featured Endeavor’s flames on the front, and you smiled remembering adult Kei had complimented that shirt in a picture when Rei was showing you childhood pictures. You passed them to Enji and went to the living room.
Me: Long story, but Kei is a kid for the next 24 hours. Suggestion on what to do with him? I like kids but I haven’t babysat in a decade.
Yumi: [location drop] There’s a great playground here. I’ll tell Rumi—she’ll want to check in on her chick. Be sure to take a lot of pictures!
When Touya and Keigo came to the living room you offered him a big smile. “Kei, you look adorable in that!”
He blushed. “Endeavor-san said we’ve worked together, and that he thinks I’m a good friend and a valuable colleague.” He stumbled over the last two unfamiliar words. “And he said that there’s a new Endeavor movie for kids and that we’re both in it.”
Touya looked at the ceiling then made a face from behind Keigo. They had wanted to get the heroes to voice themselves in the animated movie—Kei had done it and wheedled until Dad-deavor and Touya gave in. You give Tou a mischievous smile, then leaned forward and said in a loud whisper, “Touya is in it, too!” When Touya gave you a look of betrayal, you winked in return. He stuck his tongue out at you from behind Keigo’s back.
Both of them were on board for the playground. You’d done a search along the route and planned the first stop, just in time for dinner. Keigo tilted his head and chirped inquisitively when you walked into the McDonald’s and the scent of the cooking food drifted to his nose. His hands came up over his mouth, and his eyes grew wide and alarmed. He took a step back.
Touya crouched down. “My favorite nickname for you is pretty bird. We like your bird noises. It’s okay with us.”
With us. Words that stuck in your craw, as you considered all the things you’d like to do to Mera and the Commission president if you ever got your hands on them and knew you could get away with it. They’d programmed Keigo to the point where he would only make bird noises around the two of you and only after you’d reassured him that it didn’t change how you saw him. But he believed, stubbornly, that the public would never accept it. Hell, he’d only started taking off his gloves around the two of you around six months in.
You put a hand on Touya’s shoulder. “If you want to make a noise, you can make it. We won’t get mad, no matter how loud it is.”
Keigo took Touya’s hand, on a mission to find “the best booth.” You ordered him a happy meal with nuggets and the hero toy. You might have slipped the cashier five hundred yen to ensure the toy you wanted for Kei, but since neither of them saw you, you had plausible deniability. Then you ordered food for yourself and Touya.
Keigo examined the happy meal box from every side. He opened it as if he were opening the most expensive gift to ever be given, getting up on his knees to peek into the box. He gasped and pulled out the hero figure.
“It’s you!” He held up the small Dabi. If it were Touya who’d been de-aged, he would’ve loved seeing himself as a superhero. But by now you knew Keigo well enough to know that he’d be far more excited by a piece of Endeavor or Dabi merch he didn’t have, even if it was from a Happy Meal.
Touya gave him an indulgent smile. “It is.”
“I bet you’re my second favorite hero!” Keigo turned to the food. Touya snorted with laughter. You knew it used to bother Touya that Keigo preferred Enji to him, but when he heard why, his jealousy bled away. These days Touya was fine with second place.
You quietly recorded Keigo’s face when he bit into his first nugget. His face went on a journey from suspicion to rapture. You’d picked up five sauces—Kei’s tastes were pretty varied—and small Kei tried each one with a serious face. His favorite, though, was consistent with his adult self—bbq.
You taught Keigo how to skip on the way to the playground. Each time he skipped forward, his little wings would flutter, taking him an extra foot or so into the air. You and Touya had to break into a light jog to keep up but encouraged him to keep it up.
“Hawks!” An adult stood up from the bench by the swings and opened her arms to him. Rumi took a big hop and landed right in front of Kei.
Adult Keigo would’ve laughed and hugged her. Small Keigo hid behind Touya. Rumi’s ears sagged and she bit her lip.
“Keigo, buddy, I’m sorry. My name is Rumi—I’m the rabbit hero Mirko. We’re friends, and we’re loud together a lot. I didn’t stop and think that little you wouldn’t like loud noise.” She offered a hand.
Keigo looked at the two of you.
“The rabbit is your friend,” Touya said. “She can teach you a big kick if you want to learn one.”
“Or she can push you on a swing,” you added.
As it turned out, Kei could push himself on the swings by flapping his wings. And since it was a playground with modifications for heteromorphs, there were so many options for him to play. He let out a whoop of joy when the swing swung back, bringing a smile to the three of your faces.
Rumi took him on the trampoline, tossing him in the air to fly for a moment before she’d catch him again. He giggled in delight, then trilled, the bright sound loud and free in a way you’d never heard from adult Keigo.
A few minutes later the hero Tsukoyomi dropped from the sky next to you and Touya. Fumikage was Kei’s right hand hero, so he was probably running Wings for Keigo today.
“Can we play, too?” Dark Shadow’s chin rested on Fumikage’s shoulder.
You introduced them to Keigo. He was curious, rather than apprehensive, as he approached Fumikage and Dark Shadow. When Dark Shadow offered him a stick, he accepted it with wide eyes. Fumikage let out a soft coo, and Keigo’s mouth fell open. It took him a few tries, but he matched the coo.
“He was a cute kid.” Touya’s arms wrapped around your waist. You leaned back against his chest, enjoying the warmth that indicated Touya and safety.
“I don’t know who I want to hurt more—his mother or the Commission.” Your voice was low enough to not carry.
“I know. So I think you’ll approve of where we’re stopping after the park. I’m only going to give you a hint—he doesn’t have enough of them.”
You laughed. “That’s not a hint. That’s so cryptic, Tou!” You twisted to face him. “I want a better hint!”
“You don’t have enough of them, either.” He kissed the tip of your nose. “And that’s all I’m giving you. Die mad about it.” He smirked at your grumpy expression. Then his eyes softened, “Doll, get your camera ready…I think Dark Shadow is going to teach him how to use the monkey bars.”
You documented the next half hour, heart bursting with affection for the young hero. You’d only met him a handful of times at the agency, but he’d always come off as serious. Kei’s stories also seemed to bear that out. Fumikage must have had so much love for Keigo to drop his dignity and yell Bird bros for life! just so you all could hear Kei’s squeaky voice echo it.
When Fumikage had to return to work, Keigo threw himself into the other hero’s arms and exclaimed, “You’re my third favorite hero!” Dark Shadow held their arms open and Keigo trilled as they hugged.
You missed what Fumikage said in return when Touya snickered. “I’d pay money to see the bunny’s reaction to finding out she’s currently number four out of four favorite heroes.”
“Shut up, Tou,” you whispered.
“Never.” His tone and expression were smug.
You rolled your eyes. Keigo hopped to the two of you, jumping up to hug both of you, the two of you supporting him.
“Ready for your next surprise?”
“Touya, it’s already been the best day of my life. We don’t—”
“Pretty bird, please let me give you this.” Touya’s voice was thick.
“It’s okay, KeiKei,” you said.
He nodded. Touya smiled when Keigo allowed him to carry the child the kilometer to a store that seemed to be closed. Keigo and you shared twin looks of confusion. Keigo stood next to you and held your hand while Touya pressed a doorbell.
“This is one exciting surprise, isn’t it?” You shot for a tone halfway between curious and hyped. Kei’s head tilted to the side and he considered that this could be exciting instead of nervewracking. Then he gave a small nod.
The door opened. “Dabi-san! It’s an honor.”
Touya nodded. “I really appreciate this favor.”
You were ushered into a store. The first room remained in semi-darkness and was filled with non-fiction and adult fiction. You were led onto an escalator where the light level slowly grew as the escalator ascended. You found yourselves in a children’s book section, and you realized this was where you were scheduled to do a signing on Friday.
Kei gasped at the poster of your book and a picture of you beneath your children’s book on childhood in the pre-quirk era. The adult version was full of professional jargon and more in-depth writing.
“We put aside a copy and a marker for Dr. L/N,” the employee handed the items to you.
You looked at Keigo and smiled. You wrote something, then signed your name. You led Keigo to a beanbag, where he curled in your lap. Touya curled up next to the two of you, a hand ruffling Kei’s hair. You opened the book and pointed to what you’d written. “That says ‘For Keigo, my favorite baby bird. I’ll love you for always. y/n.’”
Keigo looked from the book to your face and to Touya’s in bewilderment. Your heart dipped, and butterflies flew in your stomach. Touya looked as uncertain as you felt. Keigo swallowed, and asked, “You love me?”
“With all my heart. You and Touya are the most important people in my life.”
“Yes.” Touya added. “So does my family—which includes Endeavor. So many people love you.”
Keigo’s wings puffed and he disappeared behind them. You shot Touya a look that asked “did I screw up?”
“Do I—” Keigo’s voice was shaky. “Can I have the book since you wrote my name in it? Can big me pay for it, or—” He stayed hidden in his feathery cocoon, but you realized he had taken the book into the cocoon with him.
My Endeavor-san doll was the only thing that was mine, and half the time my parents threatened to hurt it if I didn’t behave a certain way. Keigo’s voice rose up from your memory.
“Keigo, the book is yours. And now even if we dropped it, we would know which copy was for you because I wrote your name in it. I promise.”
He opened his wings, and he grabbed onto the two of you.
“I love you, too!”
The three of you cuddled together for a while before the worker returned. You let Kei look through the pictures, answering questions when he asked them. Touya held both of you, interjecting a comment or story when appropriate.
“Dabi-san?” The employee awkwardly approached the three of you.
“Last part of my surprise, baby bird.” Touya picked Kei up and balanced him on his shoulders. Kei laughed and spread his wings to help him balance. You followed behind carrying the Happy Meal box, stick, and the book. A light clicked on, illuminating a floor of plush toys. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a plush that makes you feel happy. You don’t own enough plushes. To make it fair, y/n and I are also each going to get a plush.”
Keigo gave Tou a small smile. “If you need help, can I help?”
“Pretty bird, I’m counting on it.”
The three of you began with animals—your eyes scanned over bunnies and bears and birds of every flavor, wondering what would catch Touya or Keigo’s eye. You wondered if this was what Touya had meant when he said that you didn’t have enough? Stuffed animals? You had a bear from when you were little, and you had a collection of signed hero plushes from the heroes you now counted among your friends. Apparently, you needed more.
“Pretty bird, what do you think of this?” Touya, the little edgelord, had found a stuffed crow. “Suits me, don’t you think?”
You smirked. “Quoth the raven…”
Keigo nodded eagerly. “His hair matches yours!”
“He has to pass the hug test. Kei, I bet you’d be best at it. You have to hug it as hard as you can and tell us if it’s a good stuffy,” Touya knelt down, passing the crow to Keigo.
You felt your smile go gooey as Keigo took the crow and examined it from every angle, brow furrowed in concentration. Then he squeezed it, screwing his eyes tight. He let go and gave Touya a brilliant smile. “He hugs good, Touya.”
“Then I’ve found my stuffy. You can hug as many stuffies as you want before you pick one, Keigo. Y/n, don’t think I’ve forgotten about you,” Touya, having stood back up, snaked an arm around your waist.
You gave a soft laugh and hugged an tiger plush to appease the boys. Keigo liked a dolphin plush, even going so far as to have you and Touya also test it. Then he gasped, dropped the stuffy, and launched into the air. You both took off running after him.
Touya chuckled when he saw Keigo staring at the wall of hero plushes. “He’s going to pick another Endeavor-san. Classic.”
He didn’t. Keigo hovered about four feet off the ground and plucked a Dabi plush from the display. He cuddled it and beamed at the two of you. “Can I please—” he bit his lip. “Can I please have him, Touya?”
“You don’t want another Endeavor? That one is brand new,” Touya indicated the newest model.
Keigo held the Dabi tighter and shook his head. “But you’re my favorite hero, Touya.”
You saw Touya process that heartfelt declaration. “I’m…?”
Keigo held his Dabi in one arm and wrapped the other around Touya’s waist, adoration naked on his face. It wasn’t far from the look Keigo would get on his face every so often around the two of you. You’d last seen it aimed at you when you used your quirk to help authenticate some smuggled goods, and at Touya when he’d received an award after saving a school bus full of terrified kindergarteners. “I love you, Touya.”
“I love you, too, Keigo.”
You gave a little sniff as you take several photos.
The boys turned to you. You returned to the dolphin and picked it up. It had been incredibly soft, and every time you hugged it you’d think of little Keigo squeezing it. “I’ll take this one.”
You texted Dad-deavor, who sent a car to pick you up and take you to Keigo’s. Keigo explored his apartment with huge eyes. He trilled with pleasure at his collection of rocks, picking up a number of them. Touya made a late night treat of onigiri while you purchased the children’s movie.
You heard Kei’s feet slap the ground as he ran to you. “Y/n! Y/n, I have a nest! Mom never let me have more than a blanket! But I have a nest with so many pillows and blankets!” Your heart squeezed at this simple declaration. You hoped Kei wouldn’t feel self-conscious about the details he’d let slip when he reverted to his adult size.
“You do, KeiKei. Is that your favorite part of the apartment?”
He shook his head. Taking your hand, he led you to a wall covered in photos of Kei with friends. He pointed to a picture of the three of you in front of a castle. “It’s like a fairytale I saw on television. Was it a real castle?”
You sat down on the couch and told him all about your trip to France. You pulled up pictures on your phone and showed him a few more. He smiled at the picture of the lopsided sand castle the three of you had built in Cannes.
Curled on the couch with blankets and stuffies, Kei fell asleep in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, and you didn’t last much longer.
You woke up to the scent of cinnamon rolls. Yawning you looked at the little boy sprawled on the couch next to you, wings twitching. Touya was in the kitchen, proving that if the hero thing didn’t work out, he had a future as a chef.
“Morning,” he greeted you. You waved, and headed into Kei’s room to grab a change of clothes.
Keigo thoroughly enjoyed breakfast, his face smeared with icing by the end of it. You helped clean him up, and Touya helped him get dressed for the day. He’d had a Blue Flames t-shirt tailored and delivered while you'd been sleeping. You’d seen Keigo pose in front of a mirror, turning this way and that, a satisfied look on his face. You’d glanced at your watch when you’d learned that he’d been hit with a quirk. It had been around three p.m. That meant that you had about five hours left with teeny Kei.
He was playing with his rocks when you got off the phone with Fumikage, letting him know how the rest of the day had gone and how Keigo was doing. You sat down next to him, and asked him to tell you what he liked about them.
“An this one is purple. I like purple. Not as much as I like red, though,” he grinned and flexed his wings. “Do you like purple?”
It was quite the metamorphosis from the scared child in the alley. It both healed and hurt to see the little boy that could have been, had his parents cared about the amazing child they’d produced, or had the Commission seen a child instead of an asset. You hoped that he’d remember this day with the two of you, and have some good childhood memories. If he didn’t, he’d prize all the photos and videos (well, he would either way).
“I love purple. I also like dark blue, like this,” you shared, pointing to a blue agate.
Touya joined the two of you and pointed to a black stone shot through with gold. If you remembered correctly it was called pyrite.
“KeiKei?” His inquisitive gold eyes met yours, and he met you with a whistle that sounded like a question mark. “Would you like to go to a museum where they have lots and lots of pretty rocks? Or we could go—”
“Yes, please! I want to see the shiny rocks!”
You grinned. Touya called for a car while you and Keigo made sure you had everything you’d need for the day. You realized that you’d forgotten to charge Kei’s phone last night, so you plugged it in next to his bed. Then you tugged on shoes and turned to help Keigo with his sneakers.
He had them on, but was toying with the laces. “Are they uncomfortable, love?”
Keigo shook his head. “Endeavor-san got me special sneakers while you and Rei-san were picking clothes. I didn’t know they made special shoes for bird toes. I don’t know how to do the laces, though.”
Dad-deavor for the win.
“You have invested in a clothing line for heteromorphs with various bird quirks to help make it affordable for people of all incomes,” you said as you tied his shoelaces. The Commission wouldn’t let him publicly model for the line or do advocacy campaigns, so it was what he could do.
The three of you went to the Natural History Museum, where you spirited them up to the third floor where the gemstones and geology exhibits were. Touya squeezed your hand when Keigo turned in circles, eyes wide with awe, and you rested your head on his shoulder. You’d grabbed Kei’s copy of the guidebook for the exhibit from his bookcase, and had told him that this way you could answer questions if he had them.
“Y/n, can I have a picture with this shiny red rock?” Both you and Touya whipped out your phones and clicked away. A few minutes later, next to a massive rose quartz, Kei asked if the three of you could take a picture together.
“Keigo, do you think you could tell your feathers to hold my phone? I can set it up to take photos automatically, but it would be best if we could hold it about this high.”
His wings puffed with excitement, and three feathers flew out to stabilize your phone. You posed, and five seconds later your phone clicked rapidly ten times.
“Keigo, that was great!” Both of you hugged him. “But you know what’s even more amazing than your quirk?” He shook his head. “Your heart. You care about everyone, and we’re so proud of what a good friend you are to all of us—me, Touya, all the Todorokis, including Enji—Endeavor, Rumi, Fumikage, your sidekicks, and other heroes.”
“You’re so much more than your quirk, Keigo. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise, pretty bird,” Touya added. He’d shared that his father had pounded that lesson into his head after the Commission had tried to scout him for their child soldier program, pouring honey in his ears about how unique he was, with the most powerful flames in recorded history. He’d burned himself in an effort to prove exactly how special he could be, how long he could last. When the story had come up, Enji had said that the Commission had no idea how close it had come to going up in flames.
Kei’s head cocked to the side in thought. Then he gave a nod.
After about an hour, his energy started to flag. So you proceeded to Keigo’s other chicken paradise—KFC. At first sniff, Kei’s wings twitched and his little hands clapped. While Touya waited in line, you and Kei found a booth and talked about what he’d enjoyed about the museum. You recorded (with his permission) a long and detailed description of the rose quartz, including facts you’d read off to him and he’d memorized on the fly, and why he’d liked it (it’s so shiny, and pink, and I think pink is so pretty, don’t you, y/n? Because red is my favorite and pink is kind of like red and—Touya, what’s that good smell?). As only Takami Keigo could, your tiny friend packed away a prodigious amount of chicken.
Your last stop was Edgeshot’s home. Kamihara-san had three sons—a five year old and two seven year olds. You sat with his wife and watched the boys teach Keigo how to play tag, then a little gentle soccer (which mostly involved missing the ball or sending it careening). She smiled serenely then, seeing your surprise, laughed and told you she’d paid for quirk protections on the windows and extending above the fences to protect against wayward balls. The kids decided that spinning until they fell over was the best idea ever. Touya had a soft look on his face as he watched Keigo. You snuck a photo of it.
At two-thirty you took your leave of the Kamiharas, and headed home so Kei could change his size in private.
You spent the last of your time talking about the day and what he’d enjoyed, and what the two of you had enjoyed. At a few minutes to three, he gave each of you a big hug.
“If I don’t remember when I’m big again—” he began. You’d explained that you weren’t sure how the quirk worked. “—this was the best day of my life.” He threw himself at the two of you.
There was a rip and the three of you landed on the floor, not prepared for the weight of a full-grown man to land on you. Startled, the three of you were wordless for a moment.
Kei made a small choked noise, then grabbed both of you, kissing each of you breathless in turn. “I remember everything. The two of you are just—” Warm, firm lips possessed yours again, kissing you until your head spun, before kissing Touya until he whimpered. “—I love you both so much.”