As he entered the hospital on Monday Hitoshi couldn't help but be thankful. Just like he'd offered, Hizashi had given him a lift over telling him to text when he was leaving so he could come back and get him. It was still strange seeing people make promises and actually stick to their word about them, the League certainly didn't, but Shouta and Hizashi were anything but the League.

Walking down the corridor to the family waiting room he had come to know very well since Touya had been admitted, Fuyumi was waiting outside the door. A huge smile came to her face as she caught sight of him before she giddily rushed over.

"The doctor's cleared Touya for more visitors!"

Hitoshi's eyes widened.

"So I can see him?!"

She nodded.

"He's sleeping right now so you might want to-."

But Hitoshi was already off.


13 Years Ago

The new kid screamed and wailed as he endlessly cried for hours, covered in snot and tears. No matter how much he tried the kid wouldn't let him anywhere near him. With not much else he could do Touya resigned himself to just sitting back against the wall as he watched the kid seem to go through every conceivable emotion before eventually tiring himself out, only then did those small purple eyes track to him with an expression of fear and pure misery.

"What's your name?"

"Toshi." Came an incredibly quiet response from a throat that had been crying for hours.

"Do... do you want a hug?"

The kid was still for a few seconds before he slowly made his way over, hesitantly closing the distance between them. Touya lifted his arm for Toshi to lean against him before hugging the kid.

"It's okay, little guy."

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly, the sadness in his voice surprising even himself.

Guess I'm a pushover when it comes to kids, years of being a big brother obviously made that happen.

The kid's stomach rumbled loudly.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

Toshi nodded.

Touya reached into his pocket and pulled out a sandwich from the previous day he'd been saving before holding it out to the kid.

Toshi immediately began eating taking furious bites, demolishing the sandwich in around ten seconds flat.

"Have they not been feeding you, kiddo?"

Toshi swiped a hand across his mouth as he shook his head.

"I'll try and get you some more food later on okay?"

"Okay." Toshi wriggled a little as he huddled in closer. "What's your name?" He asked quietly.

"I'm Touya."


Toshi had been a lot clingier since his first trip out of the room, the kid having came back as near to unconsciousness as he'd ever seen someone. Toshi had looked near lifeless as he lay still on the floor, eyes red rimmed from far too many tears shed through whatever procedure they'd subjected him to.

It had scared the fuck out of him to put it bluntly, Touya having dived over the second the door closed to check on the kid.

Toshi was completely checked out which seemed horrifically wrong for someone so young and despite hoping that he would come round soon after he didn't. Instead there was nothing he could do bar position the kid gently so that he was lying against him, head supported on his leg as he just talked, telling stories he used to read to his brothers and sister.

It was during the sixth or seventh fairytale that he noticed Toshi's eyes were looking up at him.

"Hey, bud."

He didn't get a reply as the small bundle only huddled in ever closer before Toshi's brain seemingly decided it was safe to sleep with the kid conking out in seconds.

Touya gathered him up a little better in his arms so that he was resting upright leaning back against his chest.

"Just sleep, Toshi… just sleep."


2 Years Ago

As Touya was shoved back into the room his eyes immediately caught of Toshi.

The kid was a mess.

He looked as if he'd been crying the entire time he'd been gone and Touya wouldn't be surprised if he had.

"'M sorry." Toshi spoke up shakily through breathless hiccuping sobs as he rushed the distance between them, burying himself against Touya and hanging on tight and desperate. "'M sorry."

"Hey." Sighing he collected the kid in his arms, gently stroking his back in reassurance. "What's all this for?"

"I don't hate you, I didn't mean it, please don't leave me, 'm sorry."

Touya sighed.

They'd argued before he'd been dragged out that morning and clearly the kid hadn't coped well in their time apart.

Or should he say teen.

Toshi was growing with every day that passed which he hoped was thanks to the double portions he was still managing to procure for him after striking a deal with the League.

The night he'd asked had been the first time since entering the facility that he'd seen the outside world and it had thrown him for a loop. Everything was too loud, the air felt almost intoxicating to the point where even the faintest of scents was causing his eyes to run and his nose to protest. Turns out they had a use for him and it involved using his flames, they hadn't stated what this 'job' of theirs entailed but regardless of his morals, Toshi came first. Toshi always came first.

He threw up the second they arrived back at the facility, feeling so guilty for the people whose money he'd assisted them in stealing by melting the door of that safe that he couldn't even stomach any food of his own that night.

Toshi being Toshi he'd immediately spotted the difference in portion size between the two but thanks to the League's treatment of them over the years, his lie about having pissed them off too much to get more than that actually worked.

With that he soon began to see a noticeable difference in the kid. His complexion was a little better, and even if it was the slightest amount, Touya could definitely see a chance in his muscles too; those two skinny arms and legs bulking up a little too.

And now that same kid was pouring his heart out with eyes wide in fear of abandonment and that wasn't okay at all.

"Toshi."

He squeezed the kid a little tighter.

"I'm not upset, and I'm definitely not angry. It's okay that you felt annoyed and it's good that you actually voiced it, I'm proud of you."

Toshi looked confused.

"But… I shouted at you?"

"For a kid of as few words as you, I'll take anything I can get, okay, Little Cat?"

Toshi smiled before hitting him lightly on the arm.

"You're an idiot."

He smirked.


Touya groaned as he awoke in the same old hospital. Another day, another grey ceiling and numerous annoying tubes, but at least the doctors had told him that he was close to them being removed thanks to his weight gain over the past week or so. They seemed happy enough with his progress and he wasn't about to do anything to slow it down, the quicker he could get out of this damn hospital the better… not that he had any idea where he was going to go after.

The familiar light breaths had his eyes widening in seconds before he slowly turned.

His breath caught in his throat.

"Toshi…"

A light sob broke from him as he found himself able to truly exhale for what felt like an eternity.

He was safe.

And he was here.

Touya slowly reached out a hand and cast it through the kid's wild hair and as he did, he couldn't help but notice the difference. It was clean. No clumps of matted purple, no grease, and the largest change being that it actually stood up rather than sagging down his back.

He'd known Toshi's hair had changed once he'd been allowed to start at UA because the fuckwits at the facility had actually thrown the kid in the shower before his entrance exam but he hadn't been allowed to see him other than a few seconds as Toshi was marched past down the corridor after getting cleaned up.

He hadn't been paying enough attention when he'd walked back into the facility that day to find his kid and Toshi's friend being tormented in the main room, and it was far too dark in Kamino to make out much of anything.

It had truly broken him to see Toshi back. They'd kept them separate in the run up to his enrolment to make sure he stayed in line and didn't revolt, threatening to hurt him if he didn't do as he was told. The kid thankfully listened but it wasn't like he was saying much of anything at that point anyway. He remembered the League members getting excited about something and immediately he'd known that they had plans for one of them. He'd wished and wished over and over, praying that it would be him rather than Toshi, but then the day came when they grabbed the kid and dragged him out of the room and that was that.

Toshi had never been around real people, only villains and him. Well… he must have had parents at some point during those few years after his birth before he was brought to the facility but the kid was so young back then that he had no recollection of it.

The last year or so they were together at the facility was a quiet one. Toshi was almost completely mute by that point so the chances of him going out of his way to talk to anyone at the school were practically non-existent, and even after the kid had left he knew that he wasn't going to make any friends. There was no way he would assimilate into society without any guidance and that hurt Touya more than anything because he knew that he wouldn't be there when Toshi needed him most.

Touya remembered the day when he'd begged with his forehead against the floor asking them for a JSL book. He knew it was going to come at a price, because everything always did when the League were involved, but he would never regret accepting their terms.

Toshi being a smart kid meant that he'd put two and two together within five minutes of him returning to the room that night with the book and a large amount of bandage down his neck and covering the whole length of both arms. He'd made sure to make it back under his own steam to not freak the kid out but he'd been so close to passing out the whole distance that his vision had whited out the second he slumped down on the ground against the wall.

After that he'd got to work trying to make heads or tails of the book before attempting to encourage Toshi into learning, stating that it was okay if he didn't want to speak but emphasising the importance of being able to communicate with him and others in case of emergency.

As expected Toshi had been a natural and the two of them had completed the book within eight months which, thankfully, meant that Toshi was in a much healthier mental state ready for the League's plan for him at UA. He still believed he wouldn't talk to any of the kids but he would at least have the ability to if any of them knew JSL.

A tear trickled down his cheek.

There was Toshi, his Toshi.

Not covered in blood, half-starved, bruised, or scared of what the League would do to him next. No, he looked happy.

He looked free.

A sob escaped his lips yet again but the smile remained.

He needed to remember to thank whoever had stepped in to look after his kid.

"Touya?" A sleepy voice spoke up as Toshi rubbed a hand across his eyes.

"Koneko; come here."

Toshi's eyes widened at the familiar nickname before the kid rushed the short distance, arms wrapping around him in seconds, squishing him, but he didn't care, he welcomed it.

And he never wanted to let go.