A/N: Hey everyone,

Thank you for sticking with this fic. I'm posting it early because I finally finished it and why not?

I appreciate all of you!

Also, I'm so ready to get out of all this serious stuff and go back to comedy! That's what's up next. So look out for it.

Enjoy.

Existence is love. -Alan Watts

XXXI

Fuyumi reached out a hand and ran it along the grave stone. Since Hawks had no one, she had insisted with everything in her that he was buried in her family's grave on the estate. Given her family's reputation, it wasn't much of a fight with the authorities.

She held an Endeavor doll against her body. It was one of Hawks' most prized possessions. Earlier in the week, it had been delivered to her from Hawks' latest intern, Fumikage Tokoyami. It was bittersweet to have it with her, and Fuyumi hadn't let it go since she had gotten it.

"I went to the doctor today," she said, a hand absentmindedly floating to her baby bump beneath the Endeavor doll. "We're having a girl… A little girl."

She sucked in a breath in the silence. Her vision blurred as tears threatened to spill, and she pulled out a long red feather. It had still been in her hair when she was taken to the hospital after the incident. It was all she had.

One tear fell, and she dropped her head back, looking to the sky.

"She has your wings, Hawks."

XXXII

"Fuyumi Todoroki?" the judge asked.

Shoto saw his sister shift in her seat next to him. "That's me," she said.

The judge peered through his glasses at the paperwork. "You are Shoto Todoroki's guardian?"

She nodded. "Yes." The judge looked her up and down, a frown on his face.

Shoto found it hard to look at her. He found it hard to look anywhere. To his right, Aizawa sat, his arms crossed.

The judge cleared his throat. "I see. The charges brought against Shoto Todoroki by multiple prefectures and districts around Tokyo have all been confessed to and claimed by one Toya Todoroki. He confessed to being the one who damaged city property and committed all villainous activity."

Glancing up, Shoto tried not drop his jaw. Toya took the blame for everything. His heart sped up as he looked to the judge and the pro hero sitting off to the side. Shoto didn't recognize her, and he guessed the hero was brought in from a different sector of Japan for the court hearing.

The judge continued, "Given we have a confession, the charges against you have been called into question. However, upon Toya Todoroki's testimony, concerns have been raised about the mental stability of your family."

Fuyumi took Shoto's hand in her own, but whether it was for her benefit or his he didn't know.

"Which is why the court has invited Shota Aizawa, pro hero Eraserhead, here to represent your best interests."

Shoto squeezed his sister's hand and looked to the side at Aizawa. Aizawa gave him a confident look. Thoughts of jail flashed through Shoto's mind as he glanced at the other pro hero in the room and his own legal representation.

"With all this taken into consideration, we have come to a verdict regarding your future. Come Monday morning, you will cooperate and go to Shizuoka Hospital for a psych evaluation. Your mental state will be evaluated and further decisions will be made as to what will happen from there."

Shoto swallowed heavily and thought of his mother.

"Since you have been deemed as a flight risk, you will stay with Eraserhead over the weekend and report to Shizuoka Hospital. Should you complete all this, I see no need for an arrest to be made."

A chill in his right hand, and a heat in his left, spread around Shoto's body as he listened. They didn't trust that he was mentally all there. They didn't trust he wouldn't run. That was the whole reason Aizawa was there… to keep him under control.

He wasn't expecting the judge to give him a sympathetic look, even a small smile. "I recognize the suffering your family has endured. This is in your best interest."

The other pro hero in the courtroom stood to address the court. "Shoto Todoroki. I am the pro hero Avis. I was approached with your case, and it was my responsibility to weigh in on you future as a hero."

Shoto held his breath, pushing all emotions down within him.

"With my advice," she said, "the court has come to the decision to bar you from obtaining your pro hero licensure. Your current license will be confiscated, and you will be expelled from U.A. High School effective immediately."

Pro hero Avis looked Shoto in the eyes, and they held much less sympathy than those of the judge.

"You cannot be a hero if you were once a villain."

Shoto was surprised to see Momo waiting with Natsuo as he exited the courtroom. Aizawa and Fuyumi were held back a moment to complete some papers, so he walked out alone, trying to process everything.

The sun reflected off Momo's jet black hair, and it hung loosely off her shoulders. She stepped up to him, hesitating a touch as he did. As he looked her over again, a strong sense of guilt washed over him. She had gone through a lot to try and bring him home, and how had he repaid her?

"I'm happy you are okay," Momo said before he could get a word out.

"I'm sor—"

She put a finger up to his lips. "I'm glad you are home. I know I couldn't understand, but…" She shrugged.

He moved her hand. "What are you doing here?"

A bit of embarrassment crossed over her face, but she never dropped her eyes from his. "I'll always be here for you."

A sense of comfort washed over him, a feeling he often got with her. "I'm sorry." It was all he could think to express.

"Todoroki." Aizawa appeared from behind him with Fuyumi. "It's time to go."

Fuyumi filled Natsuo in on the court hearing and two said their goodbyes before heading off with Kaito. He gave Momo a quick goodbye, one he felt good about.

Shoto watched his siblings and Momo go before following Aizawa to the car.

Overall, he felt overwhelmingly defeated, but incredibly relieved.

XXXIII

Rei paced outside the Todoroki family grave. She had asked the kids to give her a bit of space, hoping it would allow her to breathe better. As she stared at his name on the plague, her breath was shallow.

He had never come to visit her in the hospital, but she couldn't deny the notion of his flowers. Without his presence, she knew what they meant.

Rei had long forgotten her anger at Enji for all he had done against her, but when it came to their children, her anger ignited like his flames. It was only quelled by the many coping mechanisms she had been taught, and the fact that Enji had died protecting their children.

Her time was interrupted by the car pulling up to the gate. Natsuo and Fuyumi filed out of the house, both with a certain amount of stress radiating off them. She felt it to. While both of them were on board with what she wanted, it was ultimately her idea to do this.

"Ready?" Natsuo asked her, holding his arm out for her.

Rei took his arm and nodded. "I'm ready. I have to do this. I want to do this."

As the three of them slid into the back of the car, Natsuo kissed the top of her head.

On the ride to the prison, Fuyumi filled Rei in on everything involving the court cases. It had been especially hard to hear about Shoto, but she swore to herself that she would do anything to protect him—she would make up for all the times she couldn't defend him back then.

"They said they would reopen an investigation for you as well," Fuyumi added. Rei loved to watch as Fuyumi gently stroked her baby bump, though there was always a sadness to it.

Rei leaned her head back against the seat. It seemed as if a dark cloud was constantly hanging over her, and it had spread to her children. "If it will help Shoto and Toya, I'm fine with it."

Beyond that, she had no intention of opening up old wounds. Upon his death, Enji had left the estate and Shoto's guardianship to Fuyumi, and his agency to Kaito. Nothing had been left to her, meaning she was free of him… free of the hold he had over her life.

While she had been ten years without him, he was never truly gone. Now that he was, she was nearing another crisis of conscious.

Her first decision completely on her own was to go to the prison to see her son.

Rei had no idea how Toya would react to seeing her. So much of his life was the direct result of her… of Enji. She hadn't been there when he had left. She wouldn't know what to say, but she had to see him.

Like Shoto, she owed Toya her life. She owed him her defense, her own testimony. What she couldn't give him then, she would attempt to give him now.

Rei was pretty sure he hated her.

They signed into the prison and were escorted towards a room where Toya would be. Before she entered, Rei took a moment to collect herself. Her palms were sweating, her pulse racing.

Fuyumi stopped beside her. "Are you okay?"

Rei met her daughter's eyes and nodded. "I'm fine. I'm ready."

Ready as she would ever be, anyhow.

She would stay calm. She would apologize. She would listen to him.

Most importantly she would see her son again. Finally.

With a deep breath, Rei entered the room.