Miyake steps out onto the balcony, clearing their throat, "Hello Hawks. Are you here to switch agencies?"
Enji is suddenly surrounded by a veritable wall of red feathers as Keigo instincitively bristles, putting up a wall between him and Miyake.
"Mi-Miyake!" Keigo stutters, registering the question, "N-not yet." He starts lowering his wings, letting Enji get his first peek of his assistant.
Miyake looks as calm as usual except for the fact they have their desk slippers on rather than their work loafers. Something had rushed them out of the office.
Miyake smiles, "Oh 'not yet' is it? I'm sure we'll be able to sway you onto our side. We can always change the company name to the Todoroki Heroics Agency."
"Did you come out there for something?" Enji places his hand, rubbing Keigo's shoulder.
"Ah yes." Miyake grows grim, "The kidnapping victims have been found. The villains were close-by and a battle ensured. There were casualties and Shouto was one of them. He received acid to the face, may have permanent vision damage and has multiple puncture wounds. The team is headed to Tomioka General Hospital."
Enji scowled, flames coming out when he purposefully exhaled. "I see."
Keigo turns to him, a furrow in his brows. "I could get there pretty quick… do you want to catch a ride?"
"I'd only slow you down… besides, Shouto is an adult. I'm sure his fellow heroes can handle the situation." Enji would be far too heavy for Keigo to carry all the way to Tomioka.
"Still, if there's anything I can do…?"
"I would appreciate if you could come with me to the hopsital." Enji loosely clasps their hands together, he didn't want to try to force Keigo to do something he didn't want to.
"Sure!" Keigo smiles, black marks around the corners of his eyes creasing up, "Great way to meet the family through a medical emergency!"
Enji winces at that. Ah yes, his family didn't know he was seeing Keigo. At least it was Kotori wouldn't be there.
Hiori bursts into the clearing, stopping short of a giant ice pit filled with spikes. She looks out upon an absolutely destroyed scene, filled with rolling waves of earth, frozen mid-motion and giant waves of ice that reached out to pierce the sky. Strange as it was, there were already vans and EMTs on scene.
She had been sent all the way to the M quadrants to search so she was one of the last heroes to the scene.
"What happened?" She jogs over to Resrever, who was reversing things back to their natural state.
"Oh, hey Solus," The support-hero waves at her, "You missed all the fun! There ended up being a battle! We're just cleaning things up now, all the victims are on the way to the hospital now."
"Which hospital?" Hiori asks, her usual stern face made even more scarier by the glaring eyes and acidic hiss of words.Resrever leans back, not used to this behavior frmo the usually calm Solus. "I don't know? Are you okay, Solus?"
"Fine!" Solus snaps, already stalking off to find the Hero Fight Scene Supervisor. They would surely know where her kids are.
Shouto can't focus. His head, the epicenter of pain centered on his eye, pulsed with a pounding headache.
Everything is muted, sound ringing through from underwater, there but hard to grasp.
"Wha-?" He gasps, trying to reach up for the shadowed face in front of him.
"You're gonna be okay," Something cold and searing pours down his face and it takes all of his will to not scream, biting his lip to hiss in pain.
The words come tumbling out, "Sabuki? Is she okay? The kids? Are they okay?"
"Yes, they're going to be just fine, all the kids are fine," the emt—they're in an emt van Shouto realizes–wipes something on where the pain is but he can't feel it, it's just a mess of pain.
"Sabuki?" He needs to know she's okay. She got hit–he didn't save her in time–he never even got to figure out if he has kids, if they are his kids.
"She's right here," She tugs at something in his arms and he looks down–or tries to. He sees the flash of green in the corner of his eye and deep, painful awareness seems to bloom into existence around him.
It hurts so bad. Screaming, burning fire slides down his pace and there's the tell-tale deep, throbbing pain in his side that speaks of a stab wound. His body trembles like a live wire, coming off down an adrenaline high.
There's a warm body in his arm, that he hasn't realized he's been holding so tightly. Milky, sweet scent of pup floats up to him. She's fast asleep, tucked into the curve of his body. Her cheek is taped up with white bandage but she doesn't look any worse for damage.
Shouto tightens his hold, brushing a hand down her green curls. Sabuki is safe. His pup is safe.
"The others?" he says, while trying to focus on past his bed. There's a the constant screech of the sirens and the rumble and sway of a moving vehcicles. He can see there are more people past them but it's hard to see.
"The kids are all fine thanks to the quick response of the heroes. Sabuki's siblings are all fine, if that's what you're asking after." There was prick in the inside of his forearm.
"Tha's good." Shouto slurs. The world goes black
Her phone is buzzing. Fuyumi puts down her chopsticks, reaching to fish it out of her bag.
Her coworkers keep chattering on, not paying any attention to boring, plain Fuyumi.
"Moshi, moshi?" She said, swallowing the last bit of her fish.
"Fuyumi?" Natsuo sounds in her ear.
"Natsuo? What's up?" Fuyumi asks, not worried, picking up a slice of vinegar radish with her chopsticks.
"Oh, just wanted to call and catch up with you. It's been a while since you've came to dinner." There's that disinterested drawl in Natsuo's voice, the same one that he does when he's trying to be sneaky. The comment about her not coming to dinner is probably a barb to throw her off guard.
"Sorry, been so busy lately, summer school is a lot more fast-paced than a regular semester," She demurs, waiting for Natsuo to say what he really wants.
"Mm, I suppose," He says, voice shifting away from the speaker, "Have you heard about Shouto's kids?"
"Are we talking about the Asahi kid or…?" Fuyumi sets the bait, it's obviously not going to be that kid, Natsuo wouldn't bring that up randomly.
"Nah, nah, these kids might be the real deal."
"Oh really? Was a paternity test done?"
"Well not yet, we only found out this week and the kids were kidnapped–the ones that've been on the news–and there's some crazy resemblance with the kids."
"Kidnapped? Are they okay?"
"Yeah, Miyake called not an hour ago and said that they were all headed for the hospital. The only ones with serious injuries are adults."
Fuyumi lets that information sink in–wait, if Miyake called then that means either Dad or Shouto were on the scene.
"Who was on scene? Dad, Shouto or both? Anyone get hurt?"
"Shouto, and he got some bad acid burns and stabbed a couple times."
"Oh, nothing serious then?"
"Nah, they're saying he might lose his eye from the acid."
"What!" Fuyumi shrieks, startling her coworkers who stare at her with gaping mouths. Fuyumi ignores them, rapidly packing up her lunch. "What hospital are they going to?"
"I think a hospital in Tomioka or something? They were pretty far out in the nature reserve, bit of a drive to get to a major enough hospital to treat everyone."
Fuyumi nods, though Natsuo can't see it, and quickly says to the unofficial head teacher that she has to go due to a family member being in the hospital. The teacher nods and waves her off.
"Okay, can you send me the address?" She asks, shoving folders and ungraded papers into her bag.
"Aw Fuyumi, you're finally coming to see us?" Natsuo teases, this is probably why he called her in the first place.
"Don't be a brat."
"Okay, okay, I'll send it." Her phone dings after a few seconds. Putting it into her navigation app, it shows forty minutes by car.
"I'll be at the hospital in forty minutes or so." Her heels make a loud sound while she hurries down the stairs.
"Damn, you might be there before they even get there."
"What about you?"
"I'm still on shift. The dam of our maybe-niblings just called out and is on his way. We work in the same hospital so it'll be an hour for him. Not sure if he's on a bus or rented a car."
Fuyumi wrests her car door open, dropping her stuff on the passenger seat. "Okay. I'm on my way. Call Miyake and tell them to call me if they have any updates."
"Will do." Natsuo agrees, a laughing tone in his remark, "Remember to take pictures of the kids, Dad'll want some to put up on his office wall."
"Whatever, I'm hanging up now, Natsuo." Fuyumi huffs, ending the call and putting the pedal to the metal.
Fuyumi stares at Hawks across the waiting room. The winged hero just wiggles his eyebrows lavasciviously at her.
She… is going to ignore that. Yes, she is. Whatever Dad gets up to in his free time was not her business.
The EMT vans had just pulled in ten minutes ago. Medical staff had swarmed them like buzzing bees, kids being wheeled away on stretchers, a veritable parade of doctors following them.
All that is left to do is twiddling your fingers while the doctors do their job. Fuyumi scrolls absentmindedly on her phone, waiting for news to come out.
An hour passes with no sign of any change, Dad and Touya arriving together.
It's been a while since she'd seen them and Dad looked same as always, a lemon-sucking scowl firmly planted on his face. Touya has cut his hair since she's last seen him, shorn on the sides and longer on the top.
"Fuyumi," Enji rumbles, embracing his daughter, "It's been too long since I've last seen you. You're looking thin. Are you eating well?"
"Yes, I am," She replies and looking for a quick topic change, "Is Hawks your sidechick?"
"Side chick?" Hawks squawks, puffing up like an angry birb, "I am no one's side chick!"
"Despite all our begging and wishing, Dad is married. You are the sidechick, Hawks." Touya drawls, looking down his nose at the blond man.
"Fuyumi, Touya, please." Dad pinches the bridge of his nose. "Let's try to not start a scene at the hospital, especially considering your brother is in surgery?"
"Shouto's in surgery? How come I wasn't told?" Fuyumi bites her lip. She hadn't seen him in while watching everyone get out of the vans but at the same time, with everyone surrounding the victims, she definitely could've missed it.
"Medical can only contact designated guardians, more strictly so for heroes. Usually there's existing protocol between medical and hero agencies to follow, usually for more common injuries like stab wounds and broken bones. Apparently the acid Shouto received to his eye ate away too much of the eye; they called for permission to remove the eyeball. They said that if they tried to save it, there would be a very high chance the optic nerve would get destroyed as well. I said yes."
"No…" Fuyumi whispers, hand flying up to her mouth. Shouto is losing an eye? Of course, she knew it wasn't that bad of an injury considering the fatality rate of Pro Heroes but it was shocking! She can't help but worry what else will go wrong.
"That's horrible," Hawks says, stepping closer to Dad. "Could he get a prosthetic?"
"I haven't heard on that front." Enji frowns harder to which Hawks reacts by reaching out to hold his hand.
"Oh fuck," Touya curses under his breath, looking pained. After a moment, he pipes up, "Have you told Natsuo yet?"
"No."
"Let me call him. He might know more." Touya calls him, putting him on speakerphone.
"Hey Touya, are you at the hospital?" Natsuo's voice comes out of the speakers, a background rumble like from a car.
"Yeah, me and Dad just got in. We got some news about Shouto's condition. Wanted to ask and see if you had any advice."
"Sure, but I don't know how much help I'll be…" There's a hefty pause and some slight mutterings the mic doesn't quite pick up on. "but I have Midoriya in the car with me and he's a neurosurgeon with prosthetic specialization."
"Oh?" Touya shifts, looking towards Dad. Dad nods, pulling something up on his phone. "We'd be glad if he could tell of what he makes of this."
Dad starts reciting. "Chemical burn has breached lower right conjuctiva and broken the cornea. Damage to iris. Possible damage to cillary body. Retina, macula and optic nerve remain undamged. Recommend immediate evisceration of eye. Optical lens prosthetic is recommended."
Touya pales with each passing word, looking queasy. Fuyumi feels sick herself.
"Okay despite how it sounds, it isn't that bad actually. What this means is that burn has only damaged the front of the eye and not the back. If the back was breached and the optic nerve got damaged, it would be really difficult to get vision back BUT that's not the case here. It's just the front parts–the lens–so if the surgical team moves quickly enough they can remove the part that's been burned and save the most important parts. He'd need to get an optical lens prosthetic which replaces his natural lens. Most people who get optical lens prosthetics, you can't tell which eye is the fake. It sounds bad but if the surgical team got the go-ahead to do the evisceration, he'll be fine." A new voice, Midoriya, explains in a clear, soothing tone.
Goodness, that's a relief to hear. Fuyumi can breath more easily now. Midoriya's explanation quelled her fears.
"Ah, so you are Izuku Midoriya, mother of Atsuhiko, Chiharu and Sabuki Midoriya?" Dad leans towards the phone, like he's trying to use his height to intimidate Midoriya over the phone.
"...yes?"
"This is Enji Todoroki speaking. I want to know: is Shouto Todoroki the father of your children?"
A huge sigh from the other end of the speaker and the quiet words of, "I swear you Todorokis are exactly the same."
Louder now, he spoke up, "I can neither confirm nor deny. I don't know who I slept with so theoretically it is possible that I slept with him."
"I think it'd be best for us to speak more privately when you arrive at the hospital Mr. Midoriya. Hope to see you soon." Touya cuts in, sending an acidic gaze at their father. Really exhibiting your sleazy, mean lawyer-persona, Fuyumi thinks.
"Of course, uhh Mr. Todoroki?"
"We'll be there in twenty Touya." Natsuo jumps in, "We'll see you soon." He ended the phone call.
"Let's go up and see if they might the kids put in a separate room." Swiping his white hair back, Touya stalks to the reception desk. "We shouldn't talk about family matters in a such a public place."
"This is gonna be a really interesting family reunion, huh?" Hawks quips, grinning broadly at Dad.
"Don't start Keigo," Dad groans.
Huh, Fuyumi observes the two of them, they make kind of a cute couple if you forget the fact he's your dad . Okay nevermind, still weird for her.
But a small part of her whispers, but hey, Hawks is much better than Kotori.
Wait a minute, how did Natsuo get off his shift?
Enji Todoroki tries to stop him by the door but he says without breaking stride, "If you stop me from seeing my kids, I will make your life personal hell Endeavor-san."
"They're in room C-37." The behemoth of a man peels off from his lurking spot and takes the lead. Izuku knew that, Hiori had called him and told him about it. Following Endeavor saves him time from figuring out where the room is based only on vague directions and signage.
He slides open the door, revealing four beds inside and more than four bodies. Izuku doesn't care for non-family people right now and rushes over to where Hiori is holding Chiharu in her arms and Atsuhiko is sitting on Sabuki's bed.
"Thank hearth and home," He nearly slumps in relief, bending over to card a hand through Sabuki's curls and pulling Atsuhiko to his chest while he does.
"Mom!" He whines but doesn't pull away.
He casts a practiced eye over his kids. Chiharu and Atsuhiko look wan, likely from dehydrated. Atsuhijo has shallow scratches up his forearms but that's the par for him. Probably took a tumble somewhere and got scratched up.
Sabuki's hooked up to an IV, her little golden face marred by blocky white bandages. Her trademark stony look is broke, green eyes wide and watering.
"Oh sweetheart," More exhale than words, he leans in to wrap his arms around her, Atsuhiko cradled in the crook of his shoulder.
She leans forward, sniffling, tucking underneath, "I was so scared Mom."
"I know," He rubs his hands across their backs, through their hair, reassuring himself that they were whole and helathy. Atsuhiko pulls his shirt over his face, trying to hide the fact he's crying.
"It's okay to cry Atsu, all of you have been through a lot. You've been very strong and very brave. Now that you're safe, you might feel scared or mad and that's okay. Sometimes when a bad thing is over, all our emotions that we repressed will come back. Don't try to hide them and let them exist, okay? Shh-shh," He shushes, feeling tiny shoulders hiccup against him.
He looks up as he rocks with two of his kids in his arms. Chiharu worries his lip, looking left out, while Hiori looks on contentedly.
Izuku beckons with his head for the two of them to join him. Smoothly, Hiori settles both herself and Chiharu side-by-side with him.
"Izuku's right you know," Izuku smiles at his little family rejoined once more before looking at these strangers–The Todoroki's–, "even heroes cry sometimes."–and wonders why the hell have these fuckers been watching what was clearly an intimate familial scene. Rude.
Enji finds Midoriya leaning over the central desk, flipping through some papers. He clearly at ease with the hospital staff, flipping through a clipboard and pointing at something on there.
"Mr. Midoriya?" He clears his throat, watch the warmth in his eyes grow dim when he turns around to face him.
"Ah, what can I do for you Mr. Todoroki?" A silvery, diplomatic response.
"I was wondering if we could talk in private."
"Of course, if you could lead the way…?"
Enji turns around and starts walking towards the little garden tucked away between the buildings. Izuku matches him, if not in stride, then in speed as the two silently make their way to the garden.
It's a shabby little thing, trees and shrubs straining for light and water, overgrown grasses going yellow and a cracked wooden bench.
They sit down on it, neither looking at each other, both staring ahead.
"I would like to ask have a paternity test done between the all three children and Shouto Todoroki."
A put-upon sigh. "They're part of the same litter, Mr. Todoroki, but sure. I'll agree to it. Now before to you get to asking me again whether Shouto is the father or not, here is my answer: I genuinely don't know. I thought I had slept with a Shouto fan, not the actual Shouto, because we met up at a costume party. I started having doubts when their quriks came in but my father had a fire quirk so it's possible the kids' father had ice quirk. Genetically, it's possible for something like that to happen."
"I see," Midoriya draws a cigarette from his pocket, Enji producing a flame from the tip of his finger to light it, "Regardless, why didn't you contact our agency if you thought they was a relation?"
"And what? Get hung up on? Get laughed at? He's a famous public figure and I don't want ot put my family under that kind of scrutiny. Besides, I don't have the type of money to take a guy to paternity court."
"So you are in it for the money, then?"
"Mr. Todoroki, if I was in it for the money, I would have gone to the papers with a sob story about how Shouto abandoned his mate and pups, not go into a dangerous residency program for better pay."
"I don't believe that. You've got some ulterior motive."
Izuku blows out a plume of smoke. "Everyone's got an ulterior motive. I've said nothing but the truth. I've got nothing to prove to you because no matter what I'll say, you won't believe."
Enji watches as Midoriys stalks away, dragging on his cigarette.
"How much did you hear?" There's the whispers of unseen wind behind him.
"All of it." Keigo says, leaning over him with the jut of his chin on his shoulder.
"And what did you think?"
"You were rude, Enji. You've been consistently rude to him since he's gotten in contact. NO wonder he stayed away."
"I'm just trying to protect our family."
"And he's protecting his, Enji." Keigo rubbed his cheek, like an overgrown cat, "And besides, this isn't just about protecting your own seperate families now, it's about the joining of our families. If you want those kids to be in your life, you're going to need to make room for them and their family."
"I know… but I can't help but worry. I don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Well then maybe you need to start with your own family. Kotori isn't going to accept some quirkless doctor hooking up with Shouto and who knows how she'll react to her grandchildren. Enji… don't you think it's time you divorce her? I'm not just saying this for my own benefit, but for you and your family's. She drains you of all your money, she's narcissistic, she's borderline abusive! She's done so much harm to your family but Midoriya's done nothing but exist peacefully. If for nothing else, think about how she might hurt the kids."
Keigo steps back, his fingers leaving cold trails in their wake.
"I think it's time you divorce Kotori."
"Hello there stranger," The door opens. He can't see who it is, it's on his bad side–and that feeling tastes strange, the primal fear that you have glaring weakness for everyone to see.
"Hello–" He takes a breath and he can smell that unnameable scent of yearning and desire, that niggle of knowledge that this scent, this person, is what he's been missing for so long, "--Greenie."
There's a scrape of chair and Shouto lifts his eyes to look at him.
He's changed. Time changes us all. Where once youthful exuberance were written in the curve of his cheeks and the dimples of a smile, the quiet solemnity of adulthood has made his eyes grow dim and sculpted a face of grim resolution. He's beautiful.
"You've cut your hair." The green curls that he remembered in his dreams, the swaying mass of hair that spoke of flowering fields and lush jungles, is cut short. His hair is close cropped now, just a little poof of curly hair on top.
"I did." He nervously rubs at the side of his neck, "It was a liability, so I had to cut it off."
Shouto hums, taking the time to observe. He's dressed in t-shirt and jeans, leaning forward to make himself smaller. The most obvious change are the tattoos, dragons and wind crawling down the upper arms and rising over Greenie's neck. He's gained more muscle mass since he last saw him, and scars, from the flex of his biceps and the subtle discoloration on his hands and forearms.
"Why'd you grow your hair out?" Green eyes meet his.
"I kept putting off getting a haircut and so it grew out. Besides, I think it's pretty." Shouto fingers the end of his braid, red and white strands mixed together.
Moments pass as they gaze at each other, reconciling the changes time has brought on the other. It was only one night but it changed a lifetime.
"I would like to know your name." Shouto breaks the silence, words hanging the air. He's been chasing after half-forgotten memories of a stranger for so long, to name him other than Greenie seems impossible. To know his name would make him more than just a figment of Shouto's imagination.
"My name is Izuku Midoriya."
"Thank you."
Another long pause. Midoriya shifts, looking this way and that, as he grows more anxious.
"Let's cut to the chase: since you remember meeting me and I'm assuming you remember sleeping together, then let me be the first to congratulate you," With that, Midoriya stood up and bowed with a flourish. "Shouto Todoroki, you are the father of Atsuhiko, Sabuki and Chiharu Midoriya. Congratulations!" Sarcastic jazz hands followed this statement.
"I know. I knew it as soon as I met them that they were my kids. You can't mistake the smell of your own pups. I didn't realize it at first, what with an entire battle going on overhead, but you can't help but unconsciously protect them."
"I see," He sighs, sitting back into his seat.
"I like kids y'know. Always wanted to have some of my own. I'm sure you've heard about the Changeling Incident. It's changed the way paternity law and pro Hero protections works in the nation. I was one of many that got caught up with the Changeling Incident and in hindsight, it seems so obvious. A bunch of Heroes' kids popping up like that stank of something fishy, but the sad reality for most heroes is that we struggle with having families. Work takes up a lot of our time and it can sometimes put our families in danger. Most heroes choose to never start families to prevent having their own children targeted."
"When I was told that I had a kid, I was shocked and suspicious but when I held that little baby in my arms, I was just overflowing with love. He looked really similar to me, had my heterochromia and hair color. The rest of my family tried to warn me but it was the work of several quirks. I wouldn't be swayed to doubt the own paternity of my child. When it was revealed by Best Jeanist that all these kids were fakes, thus dubbed "Changelings", there was a scramble to unmask these kids."
"Yeah, of course I remember, the usage of quirks used on these children fueled a whole new on the crossover between quirk abilities." Midoriya jumped in, "One quirk physically changed the appearance of the children, another quirk to manipulate quirk manifestations, the parental devotion quirk and the quirk that charmed everyone believing the lie. There's also another theory suggesting that there was a memory erasing quirk involved but it's just theory."
"Yeah, the 'mothers' were all in the plan and wanted to swindle their victims into supporting them for the rest of their lives. It broke my heart when I found out that Asahi wasn't mine. I've always been protective over children and to accept that this boy isn't my son was hard. There were a lot of fights between me and my dad before I accepted the truth. I still send Asahi a birthday present though, it's not the kids fault for what happened to him. Ever since, my father has been very suspicious of those who claim to be our."
"Fucking hell Todoroki, that sounds horrible," Midoriya swears, pushing a hand back through his hair, "I knew that the Changeling Incident was bad but I didn't know how bad."
"Now that I have told you this Midoriya, I must ask: why did you never reach out to say we have children?"
"Because I was scared."
"Of what?"
"Of having my family taken away." a painful sigh,"I am quirkless and this fact has haunted me throughout my entire life. My dad divorced my mom over this fact. My mom remarried and had more kids over this fact. I was bullied and beat up in school because of this fact. I am discriminated against because I am quirkless. I was–I am afraid that you will take my kids away."
"I lost my first family when I was six and my dad left my mom. I lost my family again when my mom kicked me out for being pregnant, Hiori decided to leave with me too. I fought to stay afloat while on a scholarship at Tokyo University as well as pay for Hiori's UA tuition too. Even after we both graduated, we were spiraling into debt and fast. I needed to get certified fast, I couldn't afford to go through three years of residency pay. I applied to Doctors Without Borders for a the Western Wastelands. Two years of work plus a decent pay and then I was free.
They try to prepare you for it but there's nothing that can prepare you for that . It's called the wasteland but it's just vast destruction, barren and devoid of all life. Wasteland is too soft a term for it.
For the first week at the Tahoe base, all the new trainees are left to adapt to the radiation levels. Even with the pills, it makes you feel sick. Then you go through two months of military-grade boot camp. If you pass the final physicals, you're allowed to leave the base and will be sent to join a traveling medical group.
Seven of us passed, the other five failed. I was assigned to be the 'neurosurgeon' of a traveling team called the Rivendell. I say neurosurgeon but really, everyone dabbled in all the branches. Even if you didn't know how to sew up a bullet wound or amputate a leg, they taught you. It was hard but it was so rewarding, traveling those mountains, helping isolated communities."
Shouto just listened, absorbing every single word, every little mannerism. There's a sad but happy smile when he talks about the Wasteland. As he goes on, he grows more vibrant, gesturing with his hands, pitching the cadence of his voice.
He's lively until–"The Wasteland is full of many good people but it's also home to some of the worst people. I'm an omega, like you okay you know this obviously, but that made me a target in the Wastelands. There's some stigma here in Japan but nothing like in the Wasteland. There was a lot that happened but uhm,"
Shouto grabs Izuku's hand, threading their fingers together. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"But I do Shouto." In shaky words, it comes tumbling out. "I was raped. I can't remember much from it, my food was drugged but there was definitely more than one person. They loved my hair, loved to pull on it–that's why I cut it off, I can't stand living with long hair anymore. They cut me up, they tried to force a mating bond on me. It never took–thank hearth and home–"
"I don't care."
"Come on, Shouto, who'd want a tatted, quirkless omega who works a job with too many hours?" A dark, sardonic laugh echoes out of his mouth like it's a joke he's heard the punchline of too many times.
"I do. I want a tatted, quirkless omega who work sa job with too many hours." He reaches further up Izuku's arm, feeling the rough texture underneath his tattoos. As he brushes his fingers over the shallow skin, he swears he can see the bite marks he's feeling underneath the tattoo. "The better question who wants an apathetic workaholic one-eyed Alpha who can't rut?"
"I can't function in the work without coffee." He says like he's confessing to a great sin.
"Me too."
"I have stretchmarks and scars." Izuku's getting redder by the minute, looking like a flustered mouse.
"Well good thing, I find those sexy," Shouto grins, leaning in for a kiss.
"Well son, are you glad to be getting out of the hospital?" Dad picks up his bag while Shouto buttons up his jacket.
"Mhm," He brushes his hair to go over the eye patch more, "I've got a lot of work I need to do."
"Shouto. You're on medical leave. You;re not allowed to work on any cases."
"No, I meant that I need to find a house."
"Well then, how about a trade? A copy of those divorce papers while I get those apartment listings."
"That sounds like a deal, Dad."