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Time moved fast, yet it somehow felt like no time had passed at all. In little over a week after Enji Todoroki’s first appearance, they got married.
This was not at all like what Rei had pictured her wedding day would look like, even if she once believed that she would never be able to have something like this.
She had often read that when a person proposes to you, it takes months if not at least a year for the couple to come up with the decisions on how one would spend their magical day. People would carefully put the time and effort on things like; what to eat, who to invite, what time of flowers to use, but that was not at all the case for Rei and Enji.
This marriage was nothing more than an arranged marriage, once used to produce the future number one hero. However, she still would have wished that she had gotten more of a say on the day of giving up her life to another.
It seemed like all Enji had needed was a candidate, someone whose quirk, because it wasn’t about the actual person, would nicely combine with his. He craved and desired a quirk who would burn as bright as his to achieve his dreams.
When he had heard about Rei Himura’s quirk, it was like everything inside him had ruptured into a battle of flames and he needed to seize her.
He had everything from the date to what they would both wear ready as soon as her parents gave her life up.
Was she truly nothing more than an object for people to be passing her around?
Nevertheless, she pushed these thoughts down and felt like everything she had been working for and learning all her life would finally be put to use. She had a purpose to fulfill, and she would fulfill it with everything she had.
The reception was small, well if you could even call it that. There was nobody there except for them and the person who would be marrying them.
Her parents had decided not to show up and that broke Rei’s heart. Sure, she didn't have the best relationship with them, but she was their only child, didn't that mean anything to them?
Rei’s romance novels always depicted how the bride’s father would walk her down the aisle and people who cared about the couple would be there, supporting them and cheering them on.
Something that was supposed to feel warm and loving felt bleak and dirty.
‘This is how you will live for the rest of your life’ whispered the tiny voice inside of her mind.
Rei wanted to argue, prove it wrong but even she felt defeated.
She should have figured that love was not something that was ever going to be a part of her life. Where was that intimate and loving connection one would feel with her other half. Enji’s heart was hot and burning, but not will love, never with love.
She cried the entire reception, and Enji had thought it was about how happy she was.
She had cried the entire time just as she had been doing for the past seventeen years in her room because she would now be inside the walls of another residency living the same bleak life.
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After the reception, Enji had led her to a beautiful garden, one that held all types of flowers but more specifically the blue ones that she seemed to love so dearly.
“I recall that you loved those flowers,” Enji, her husband because that's what he was to her now, said without looking at her, “I figured you would like them in our photos.”
Rei looked up at him and for the first time since this new journey began, she had felt something inside her tell her that everything would be okay.
He had promised that she would live comfortably, and all that he wanted was an heir, something that she could give him.
Enji Todoroki had remembered something minor about her, and that was more than her parents had ever done, so maybe just maybe everything would be alright. (It would be years later that she would reminisce over this exact moment.)
She didn’t say anything, not because she wanted to be rude to her husband, but merely because she felt on the verge of tears, once more. She wanted to show how much gratitude she had and so when he turned around, finally looking at her with those blue piercing eyes, she gave a simple nod that she hoped would convey everything she wanted to say.
He gave a small smile and continued to lead her to where the private photographer had been waiting.
The private photographer he had hired did his job excellently, they took very simple photos, mainly for the press, to show that the number two hero was finally going to start a family of his own, and some for Rei to hang around their home.
‘Their home’ still felt like a very out of body experience, something that she could not wrap her head around. She had never seen this place and now she was meant to live in it for the rest of her life. She did not know where it was even located, and once more the reality of this entire situation came rapidly to her.
Even in her own marriage, in her new life, it would simply never be hers.
Sure, she was grateful that she was finally away from her parents and that home that seemed to compress her day by day but now she would be living with someone who she had no clue on. What was he truly like behind doors? What was his favorite meal? What did he like to do for fun? What was his favorite color?
Rei had a list of things she had been dying to know, because she knew that these were the things that people ask to get to know each other. She knew that before a relationship starts, the couple get to build a bond, one that takes yearning and patience, but that did not happen for her and Enji.
She wished and silently prayed that their personalities would mix as well as he was hoping their quirks would.
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The entire car ride they sat in silence, as Enji had pulled out his laptop to work on some emails, while she had stared out the car looking at all the world had to offer.
Often, she would feel his gaze land upon her own figure yet there were no words exchanged. She had been yearning for some conversation, or at least some music or anything to take away from how uncomfortable the silence was.
She decided that it was better not to speak before he did, not because she was scared, no, because she was taught by her mother, and she did have manners.
As she continued to stare at the tall buildings that would eventually begin to look like home structures, she began to think. She had too much to think about and the silence was only making it worse.
She had wondered what inspired him to be a hero. What made it so worth it about risking one’s own life for others? Is this how he would be when it came to her, or even their future children? Would he give up his own life for them, she desperately wanted to know, and she hoped that the answer would be yes.
After what felt like a lifetime, he finally spoke to her. She had been so in her thoughts that he had startled her.
“Rei-san, we are about to approach our destination,” he started, finally looking at her and not at his emails, “I got my secretary to make sure it would fit your style but if there is anything that you wish to make accommodations you are free to do so.”
“Thank you,” was all that she replied in a small tone, and he quickly went back to working.
The thoughts came even quicker this time. How did he know what her style was? He never once asked her anything about herself. He didn't know Rei at all, yet he claims that he knows her to the point that their new home will be suited to her.
She wanted to scream, this dress was suffocating her, she wanted out, out of this attire, of this car, this new life.
She did not scream.
Soon enough, they got out of the car.
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His house, well their house, was a stunning old style Japanese house that was surrounded by greenery and nature. It was well secured from the rest of the world, because he was still the number two hero, but that did not take away from how beautiful her new home was.
Judging by the flowers and plants, her “style” was nature and plants. While this was not all that she was, she liked that at least she would have flowers to tend to her as well. She had always loved taking care of other things and she was glad that she still would be able too.
The house had many rooms that someone who was new, someone like Rei, would easily get lost. Indeed, she got lost way too many times in the first couple of weeks, but she soon got that hang of it. She assumed that these rooms would be for future guests and for their children. How many children was Enji planning on having?
She always imagined herself having three kids, so that they would never feel lonely and always had someone to talk to. She would hate for her children to ever feel like she did, always alone and having no one to relate to or even talk to. She reasoned that she would give her kids everything that she did not have. She would be the one to make sure that they lived a life that was surrounded by love and happiness.
As she was looking over the house she stumbled into the kitchen and her mind went back to all the cooking lessons that her mother had given her. She looked back to those memories and now she knew that those skills would not be put to waste. If this was going to be her life from now on, she was at least going to do things that she knew what she was doing, and making food was one of them.
She had wanted to make Enji’s favorite dish, but she did not know what it was, and she did not want to go ask him directly. After going through the maze that was her house, she found his assistant and asked what Enji lived to eat.
“Rei-san, you do not have to worry about such duties like that, the maid will be cooking,” his assistant, Mei had ushered her, leading her to what she assumed was where the maid was currently residing.
It astonished her how some people had so much money that they had the luxury of having others cook their meals or do their clothes. Rei did not come from such a background, and so she refused, she wanted to be able to provide something more than her quirk, she wanted to be useful.
“I understand,” she had started, which made Mei stop her walking, “But I really want to do this, grant me this wish.”
Mei looked at her and thought for a long time before writing down something in her notepad. She scribbled away while Rei stood in silence, the only thing that could be heard was the pen moving, and sighing.
“I have listed the ingredients for his desired meal,” and with that Mei smiled and went back to Enji’s study.
Rei was thrilled to have such a paper in her hands and quickly rushed to the kitchen. The fridge was stocked up to anything and everything imaginable, most things she had never heard of, while others were things that she liked.
Cooking took less than two hours, and after some time she had placed the table, guessed where they would be seating and waited.
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Enji had entered the room and almost looked startled by the food and by seeing Rei standing by the table. She quietly ushered them to their seats and waited for him to speak, to say anything, this was awkward enough.
Enji looks up at her, his face unreadable, “Mei tells me you wanted to cook?” he says looking surprised.
Did he really think that all she would be used for was her womb? She had many talents; she could adapt to anything. She wanted to prove whatever he was thinking wrong.
“I’ve been learning different dishes ever since I was a child,” she starts, looking directly at him, “This is indeed something that I wanted to do.”
Enji looked at her carefully, “You don’t have to go through all that trouble-”
“I want to be able to do something useful” she had interrupted him.
Her eyes had not left his icy blue ones. She did not mean to interrupt him, didn’t dare too but she needed to set something clear between them
“If you want the maid to do the other household activities, I do not mind, but do not take this from me” she said.
“Very well then.”
They sat in silence after that.
He had praised her cooking skills and she had thanked him, but other than that there was nothing.
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Sleeping that night had been strange.
Normally, couples go on a honeymoon and have intimacy with one another. Those same couples have known each other for quite some time.
Rei did not know Enji just like Enji did not know Rei.
She had never once shared a futon with another person in her life and now she was going to do this with her husband, a man she met a week ago.
He had taken the left side while she had taken the right side.
No words were exchanged and everything was done in silence, but she knew he had been wanting to say something, or at the very least wanted her to say something.
She laid there, as did he in the dark, both not finding sleep they needed. She could feel him staring at her, she could feel that sensation.
“I have never done this with anyone” she broke the tension and silence, no longer being able to be a part of it. She knew this should be embarrassing, confessing such things to another, but she just wanted to get this over.
“I haven’t either,” he started finally taking her eyes off of her, “I do want a child as soon as possible but we do not have to rush things today.”
Rei found it comforting to find out they were in the same playing field, at least she would not be judged nor compared to another person.
“Thank you” was all she muttered.
Soon enough, reality set in that soon enough she would actually have a child in her bare womb. She would be someone’s mother and be there to take care of another life. Sure, she did not know Enji, and this was not what she wanted her life to look like, but maybe she could make it work for her children.