Author's Note: This is a very special addition to the story just in time for mother's day. Please enjoy it.
Extra special thanks to bbymojo, AstroLibra, and Terrence Johnny Stanford.
Melina met Shoto at the front gate after classes. She had not forgotten the promise he had forced her into making. Because she cared about him and knew how much this meant to him she was going to meet his mother.
The first order of business was to buy a bouquet. Melina picked baby pink carnations and white daisies, something a little different from all the ones before due to the importance of the occasion. The choice of flowers was a nod to motherhood and its beautiful glory; to be given to a particularly special mother.
Melina clutched the bouquet so tightly in her hands she could smell the verdant fresh scent released by the stems from her crushing them. She had not been this nervous when facing the villains. Palms sweating, heart racing, she forced herself to take deep, calming breaths.
"You did tell your mother I was coming, didn't you?" Melina asked, staring at his reflection in the shiny silver doors of the elevator.
"Of course I did," he answered, pressing the button that was already lit up as if it would make the elevator move faster.
"Good. I don't want to start off by upsetting her. That's not how to make a good first impression."
"A good impression is that important to you, huh?"
"Well, yeah, shouldn't it be? After all, my meeting her is important to you."
Finally the doors parted allowing them entrance into the elevator.
"I've told her all about you. She's been wanting to meet you."
"What exactly did you tell her?" she questioned him, her heart beating even faster.
Shoto did not answer. He just stood there smiling this weird little smile like he had a big secret. The ding of the elevator reaching the proper floor made Melina jump.
"What did you tell her about me?" Melina repeated.
Shoto took her by the hand, giving her his most charming smile.
"I told her I've met the most amazing woman," he said, leading her down the hall.
"And?" she pressed, squeezing his hand.
"And this woman is my teacher. But in the future, she could be something more. Much more."
"You didn't," she gasped, mortified that he had hinted to his mother about a possible romance between them in the not too distant future.
"No. I didn't," he chuckled.
Melina lightly punched him in the arm.
"You're a terrible human being to scare me like that," she said, only half way joking.
Shoto knocked on the door with Todoroki on the nameplate by the door. Calling out Mom to warn her of his presence, he opened the door.
A woman with snowy white hair sat in front of the window. She was dressed in an untucked white button down shirt and loose light gray pants. When she turned to look at them, Melina saw eyes the same exact grayish color of Shoto's right eye. So he really was the perfect blend of his parents from his physical appearance right down to his quirks. What an amazing and wondrous amalgamation.
"Mom, this is my teacher who I've been telling you about. Melina Zusa, this is my mother," he proudly introduced her.
"It's so nice to meet you," Melina said, bowing then extending her hand to the woman.
"Likewise. I've heard so much about you. I was looking forward to this moment," she rejoined, shaking Melina's hand.
"We brought these for you," Melina proclaimed, her anxiety riddled voice a little too loud.
"They're beautiful. You're the one responsible for all of the lovely bouquets Shoto has been bringing me," she stated rather than asked, taking the flowers from her. "Thank you so much. Please sit. You can call me Rei, Melina."
Shoto and Melina sat in the other two chairs by the window. Melina's legs bounced up and down, opening displaying her apprehension. Shoto put a hand on one of her knees to make her aware of the annoying jittery movement.
"There," Rei said, placing the vase of flowers on the table next to her bed before taking a seat in the chair across from them. "I'm glad to see both of you. I wish you had been here just a few minutes earlier. Melina could have met your brother and sister."
"Oh, I had no idea they were coming today," Shoto said, looking a bit disappointed.
Melina almost breathed an audible sigh of relief. Meeting his mother was making her nervous enough. Being introduced to his siblings would have sent her into her overdrive. She was not prepared to meet the whole family yet. It might have broken her heart too because it would have brought up sentimental and sad memories of the oldest sibling who would be missing.
"How's school?" Rei questioned her son.
"Great. I'm learning more about bees and flowers and stuff than I ever thought I could. Tomorrow we're supposed to have a special training session with our teacher here which is going to be pretty exciting," he said.
Melina and Aizawa set tomorrow as the appointed day to have the team building exercise between students and teacher also giving him a chance to see her skills up close and personal. She hoped she was up to the task. This training practice would be a test for her to see if she could hold up against the villains in a face to face fight without the advantage of a surprise attack.
"So Melina, Shoto told me you make your own cosmetics," Rei said to include her in the conversation.
"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'll be happy to bring you some to try them out," she responded brightly.
"That would be great," his mother returned with a chuckle.
They continued conversing about flowers and their meanings. Both the pink carnations and white daisies symbolize a mother's love. Rei's eyes teared up a little upon learning this.
"I can see why she means so much to you, Shoto. Not only is she lovely and kind, she's extremely thoughtful," Rei said, making Melina blush darkly.
Melina could see where Shoto gets his charm. As if she didn't already know after being acquainted with his father's winning personality. She could return the exact compliment about his mother because Rei Todoroki was a beautiful, gracious, and considerate woman. The woman, despite her husband, had raised two fantastic children. She was quite sure the other two were just as impressive.
As they continued their visit, Melina was finding it more and more difficult to cope with the idea of the abuse the entire family must have suffered to drive this gentle, soft spoken woman to harm her child and for her firstborn child to turn his back on them all. Was it her loving husband who had locked her away in this hospital? Setting a placid smile on her face, trying to concentrate on the conversation at hand, she did her best not to think about that man.
By the end of the encounter she was happy for having met Rei Todoroki but exhausted from the internal emotional roller coast she had been taken on during the otherwise pleasant experience. Once they were out of the hospital, she turned to Shoto, embracing him tightly.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, his body stiff from her unexpected display of affection.
Apparently he was accustomed to making the first move and was far more comfortable with being the initiator of uncomfortable situations. Once the initial shock of her hugging him wore off, he enclosed her waist with his arms. However, by then she seemed to get a hold of herself and pulled away, backing up several steps to put more than arm's length of distance between them.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"I-I don't know," she lied.
Melina could not tell him how sorry she was for all of the trauma he and his mother had endured. She wanted to tell him how happy she was that he had chosen to forgive his mother and work on mending their relationship. However, it was not her place to say such things. Hell, perhaps she was the one who needed the hug to be comforted.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, staring at the sidewalk under her feet. "I shouldn't have done that."
Melina saw the white toes of his converse sneakers appear in her line of vision. She looked up just before he took her into his arms, enclosing her in a bear hug with her arms trapped between their bodies.
"I shouldn't have done that either," he whispered in her ear. "But I regret nothing."
Melina sighed, pressing her forehead against his shoulder as he held her. She was not going to fight him. Despite knowing it would not look good for either of them should someone from school see them together like this, she did not have the emotional fortitude or desire to push him away. She was being selfish; she wanted the affection, and she actually did like being close to Shoto.
"Shoto, stop," she breathed, when his lips grazed her temple.
His unassuming gesture meant to comfort her weakened her knees and her self-control. Thank goodness they were in a public place so this encounter could not progress any further.
"We should go," she said, pulling away from him slowly and reluctantly.
Melina separated herself from him, walking on one edge of the sidewalk while he walked on the other. They walked through the park, each staying on their opposite sides far from the other.
People passed between them most likely unaware the two were even together. Mothers pushing strollers after treating their child to a day at the playground. Couples holding hands on dates. Office workers carrying briefcases on their way home from work. Each one as lost in their own little worlds as the two people they passed between the two people.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Shoto asked her as he held the entrance gate open for her.
"Very," she admitted.
"You won't hold back will you?"
"I'll do my best."
"I'm sure you won't be using your quirk either so how do you think you'll do against us?" he inquired pointedly.
Melina shrugged. "I don't know. I'm actually quite worried about it to be honest."
"You'll do fine."
Shoto stepped up to her, placing a kiss so quick and so brief on her lips she was not sure it had even happened at first. When she gaped at him in shock, the slow gradual smirk that lifted one corner of his mouth told her that he had indeed actually kissed her.
"For good luck," he said as if to excuse his forwardness.
Because why else would he have kissed her except to wish her good luck? Then he had the nerve to turn his back to her and stroll away casually like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Oh, dammit, Prince Charming, she thought. You're making my life so difficult.
~\..'../~
Aizawa gathered the students of class 1A at the entrance of the mock city. They were all dressed in their hero costumes because this was going to be a full dress practice. Kaminari and Jiro were busy setting up computers and multiple video screens that would offer the teachers a view of everything going on from the many cameras located inside the area.
All of the other teachers were in attendance as well to observe their students. Recovery Girl joined the group for health and safety purposes should any student or their teacher get hurt during the training exercise.
"Today we will be playing Capture the Queen," Aizawa announced. "You will be counted out if you attempt to apprehend her and fail. You are free to use your quirks as you wish barring excessive use of force for the purpose of inflicting intentional bodily harm."
Everyone glared at Bakugo.
"What?" he snapped.
Then something at the end of the block caught their attention. A figure clad in grey leather, their face shielded behind a white mask, stood there. The green lenses that looked something like eyes could be heard emitting a slight robotic whir as they moved to focus on all of the students one by one.
"Is that...is that Miss Zusa?" Midoriya inquired.
"There is the Queen now," Aizawa proclaimed in his toneless voice.
The entire class stared in disbelief, rendered mute by her unexpected appearance in the outfit. Obviously there was more to her than her quirk which would be useless in this kind of training activity.
"Catch me if you can," taunted the robotic voice emitted from the masked figure.
Melina tossed out a smoke bomb that filled the area with white smoke allowing her to disappear.
"She's a freaking magician?" Bakugo muttered, unimpressed by her theatrics.
"What are you waiting for? Go get her," Aizawa said when none of the students moved.
Koji Koda called in a flock of crows to search from above and dogs to conduct a ground search in order to find her location. The rest of the students ran down the street, separating into groups, each taking a building to search. After about thirty minutes, no one turned up anything in their subsequent structures. They met back in the middle of the street to discuss strategies.
"How could she just disappear?" Kaminari complained.
"She didn't, idiot," Bakugo growled, glancing around. "She's here somewhere, and we're going to find her."
"Up there!" Koda exclaimed, pointing to the roof the building to their right after a crow started cawing loudly.
"Hi!" Melina yelled, standing on the edge of the roof and peering down at them. "It's about time you found me. I was getting pretty bored. Come get me!"
Melina pulled a small bag from inside her suit, opening it to spill out the contents. Small white pieces of paper that appeared to be confetti rained down. The confetti like pieces were actually tiny pouches containing miniscule amounts of gunpowder. They hit the ground around the students, popping loudly.
"Seriously?" Bakugo sneered looking down at the snapping things around his feet.
"What are these things?" Todoroki asked, stepping on an unpopped one to set it off.
"A distraction," Midoriya said, looking up to see that she was gone.
"Dammit!" Bakugo yelled.
"She went into that building," Koda informed them, pointing to the next building in the row. "She's on the top floor after entering through the roof door."
Aoyama, Ashido, Mineta, and Sato rushed in through the double glass front doors.
"Wait! It's a trap!" Midoriya yelled, rushing after them but lingering at the front doors.
But it was too late. A net dropped over them, pinning them to the floor.
"You're out of the game," Aizawa informed them through the hidden speakers in the building.
"Awww," they all groaned in disappointment. Their time was over too quickly.
"What are you all standing there for? Keep going," he encouraged them although with his deadpan tone it didn't sound very motivating.
"She purposely led us in here because she most likely has the whole building booby trapped," Midoriya said.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," growled Bakugo.
"Asui and Hagakure, why don't the three of you go check things out?" Midoriya suggested. "You can scout ahead of us for traps without being detected. Tokoyami, Jiro, and Shoji, the three of you can search for her floor by floor once you know where the traps are located. The rest of us will wait down here and decide what to do then."
\..'../
Melina scaled down the ladder of the inner wall of the empty elevator shaft. The elevator was for decorative purposes only with no cables and no car to move from floor to floor. The elevator shaft was probably constructed to be used for what she was presently using it for - a means to move around undetected. The building itself was mostly a shell, the inside skeletal and full of empty rooms and bare stairwells.
She had set a trap on the first floor only to redirect them, intentionally sending them down a wrong path. Although there were no more traps, they would split up, thinning their ranks and wasting time to look for the nonexistent traps which would allow her to escape to another building.
She truly was a magician, employing slight of hand and simple trickery to get past the students. Creating a diversion over here to occupy their attention while she got busy over there doing something else. Her tactics may seem like cheating, but there was absolutely no way she could defeat twenty young heroes in a head on battle.
Besides, this was a battle of strategy not quirks. She was simply being strategic to save her ass and not get captured. Like how she had played her cards with the villains.
Reaching the second floor, Melina carefully pried open the doors of the shaft. She would make her exit here. There would undoubtedly be students waiting for her on the first floor. She flattened her back against the wall, keeping to the shadows in the darkened building as she moved soundlessly down the hallway.
Out of the corner of her eye, she believed she saw one of the shadows move. Freezing in place, pressing her back to the wall, she took deep breaths in through her nose, gradually releasing them through her mouth in an effort to remain silent.
One of the shadows peeled away from the wall, forming a definite bird-like head.
"Dark Shadow," she breathed, calling the shadow beast by name.
"I've got you," Tokoyami announced.
Before Dark Shadow could grab her, Melina turned to run. There was a large, unframed window at the end of the hallway. If she could make it, she would break through, landing in the bushes below and safely out of Dark Shadow's grip. Covering her face with her arms, she gathered all of her strength in her legs, launching herself at the massive pane of glass.
"Tokoyami! You're out! You missed your chance," Aizawa proclaimed.
Melina hit the bushes to be bounced off onto the ground. With an audible 'oof' her body smacked the soft grass, and she rolled before coming to a breathless stop flat on her back. That was not the landing she had anticipated.
"She's over here!" Kaminari yelled.
"Damn," she grunted, forcing herself to a standing position.
Still trying to catch her breath, a tad light headed, Melina decided to stand her ground and withdrew her batons from their holders. She had put the charge on the lowest setting only wanting to stun the kids, not hurt them.
Kaminari approached her with Ojiro at his side. Ojiro attacked first, launching himself at her, spinning in midair, and striking out at her with his tail.
Melina dropped down to a squat to avoid being hit by the powerful tail. Since Ojiro was within arm's reach now, she pressed the baton into his side, activating the switch. She watched as he dropped to the ground, dazed but conscious. Her attention moved to Kaminari who launched two disks at her which she deflected with her baton.
Getting to her feet, she ran at him, taking the offense to offset him which it did. Poking him in the belly, she shocked him with the baton. He appeared to be frozen in place, a blank expression on his face, and his eyes devoid of all thought. She had short circuited him.
Poor baby, she thought as a small line of drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"I'm sorry," she apologized before running away.
Melina barely avoided being caught by the multi-armed Shoji in a net-like maneuver. It would have been too ironic to get caught in a trap not unlike her own. Three more down. That left twelve more students to escape and get counted out.
"Oh, god," she groaned. "I don't know if I can do this."
An arm with an appearance like a rock, hard and uneven that would be extremely painful to run into, shot out in front of her to execute a clothesline maneuver as she ran out from between the two buildings. Dropping to her knees, she slid underneath only to be lassoed and wrapped up in a clear, sticky cellophane reminiscent of tape.
"I got her! I win!" Sero yelled triumphantly.
Melina swung her baton upward, placing it against the tape holding her. The electrical charge burned the tape, weakening the bond and enabling her break free by flexing her arms and ripping it apart.
"You don't got her! You're out," Aizawa barked. "You too Kirishima."
Only ten more. Damn I'm tired, she thought, running toward the building ahead of her to take cover.
"I'm tired of this shit! I'm ending this now!" Bakugo shouted.
"Kacchan, no!" Midoriya yelled, his voice desperate and plaintive.
The explosions detonated behind her, the force thrusting her off her feet and through the air. The suit protected her from the heat but not the impact when she hit the pavement and rolled. Although she escaped breaking any bones, getting third degree burns, and enduring a debilitating case of road rash, her body would inevitably be covered with painful bruises. At the moment, she was in too much shock to feel anything.
"Damn you, Bakugo!" Todoroki bellowed at him before turning to go to Melina.
Laying on her side, unable to move but wide awake, she stared down the street at the students running toward her. She wanted to tell them she was okay, but she could not speak.
Recovery Girl knelt down in front of her, blocking her view of the kids coming to her. The woman's gentle, caring expression changed into one of worry as she struggled with the mask to remove it.
Melina flopped over onto her back, somehow managing to get her arms that were like dead weight to move and take it off. She inhaled a deep gulp of air. Her breathing was definitely hindered, obstructed by the mask despite the air circulation system installed in the suit.
"Can you hear me, Melina?" Todoroki asked, dropping down beside her.
She nodded mutely, turning her face in his direction.
"Can you speak?" Recovery Girl asked her.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
"What's wrong? What's going on? Why can't she talk?" Todoroki gushed, his voice strained but controlled to not betray his panic.
"She's in shock. She will be fine. Pick her up, young man," Recovery Girl ordered him. "We should get her to my office."
"I-I-I..." Melina stuttered. Unable to utter another sound, frustrated and angry, she closed her eyes.
"Hey! Are you all right?" Todoroki asked, jostling her about as he gathered her into his arms. "Wake up!"
"I-I'm a-awake," she whispered but not without major effort. "I didn't pass out. Oh, god, it hurts."
"What hurts? Where?" he asked.
"Everything. Everywhere," she mumbled almost incoherently.
"Damn, you're tougher than I thought you would be," Bakugo said sounding almost proud as he walked beside them.
"Gee, thanks," Melina muttered. "Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."
"Is she going to be all right?" Bakugo asked Recovery Girl.
"She'll be fine with rest," she said.
Melina saw flashes of white light appearing in her vision so she closed her eyes. Her head felt light as helium filled balloon. Her entire body tingled. She tried to lift her arms to wrap them around Shoto's neck, to hang onto him before she floated away.
"Hey, Todoroki, I don't feel so good."
"What do you mean?"
"I think I might float away. Hang onto me tight."
Melina felt his arms tighten around her, pulling her closer to his body.
"Wh-what to do you mean? Hey, Melina!" he yelled at her, using her first name.
The intimate familiarity of him calling her by her first name shocked his classmates, but he was too intent on the unconscious woman in his arms to notice their reactions.
"She's okay, Todoroki," Recovery Girl assured him, patting his arm. "It's best that she fainted before she could feel all of the pain."
~\..'../~
Waking up is hard to do especially after being under the sedation of pain medication. Melina moaned, unable to open her eyelids yet. The numerous deep tissue bruises spread over her from head to toe made her entire body throb with each heartbeat. She whimpered pitifully in discomfort not wanting to move a muscle.
"Don't move too much. Take your time," Recovery Girl coached in her soothing voice.
"How long...how long have I been unconscious?" she inquired, her tongue thick and clumsy.
"Only a few hours. You're a quick healer," the grandmotherly woman said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You need rest so be still."
"I'm so embarrassed," Melina muttered, closing her eyes.
"Why?" Todoroki asked making her jump and open her eyes wide in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned him.
"I wanted to make sure you're all right," he answered matter of factly with a slight 'duh' tone to his voice.
"Hmph," Recovery Girl grumped. "I couldn't pry him away from your side."
Melina felt herself growing warm with embarrassment.
"Why are you embarrassed?" Shoto asked her since she did not explain.
"I didn't last very long against all of you. I spent most of the time running."
"You took out half of us. You were avoiding being captured. It was okay to run. Besides, when you did attack, you were pretty tough," he said.
"You're far too hard on yourself, young lady," Recovery Girl interjected, patting her shoulder. "Keep in mind, you did all of that without using a Quirk. I'd say that's pretty good for mere human strength and stubborn will working against a bunch of heroes armed with an array Quirks. All together, they're a pretty formidable group for anyone to take on."
Melina sat up, piling her pillows up to lean back against them. She closed her eyes to make the room stop spinning.
"May I have a glass of water?" she requested.
"Todoroki, why don't you go get water for her?" Recovery Girl suggested. "There are pitchers and glasses in the cabinet over there. The ice machine is down the hall."
"Yes, ma'am," Todoroki dutifully returned, taking the older woman's hint to leave.
Melina did not miss seeing the questioning glance he aimed at the healer before he cast a worried glimpse at her.
"Young lady," the kind woman said, taking one of Melina's hands between hers. "There's something very important we need to discuss."
"What's wrong with me?" she asked, nearing panic.
"Not necessarily wrong per se, but - "
"Melina!" All Might exclaimed, rushing into the room.
"All Might!" Recovery Girl exclaimed, not sound pleased by the interruption. "Could you please leave? There's something important I need to discuss with Melina. You can come in to visit in a few minutes."
Recovery Girl barely finished her sentence before students flowed in like a water breaking a dam. They were there to check on their teacher and would not be deterred for even a few minutes. The other teachers of class 1A came in behind them. A dull roar of voices filled the room when everyone started speaking at once.
Recovery Girl patiently sat holding Melina's hand, while her students and her fellow students fussed over her. Her patience wore thin when she saw her patient's face growing pale, her eyes dulling with exhaustion. Although they were acting out of concern, the noisy crowd needed to go.
Standing up on her chair, she shouted at the top of her voice,"I need everyone to be quiet!"
When silence filled the room, she cleared her throat and sat back down in her chair. Since she had everyone's attention, she began speaking again in her soft voice.
"I know you are all worried about her, but she will be fine. It is extremely important she gets her rest. I must ask you to leave now."
One by one, they bid her good-bye, each of the girls giving her an encouraging hug. When everyone was gone, Shoto placed the pitcher on the table beside the bed, handing her a glass of water.
"Thank you. I really need this," Melina said, her throat parched after all of the talking.
"You should go too," Recovery Girl told Todoroki.
"I'll check on you later," he said to Melina before leaving.
"What did you need to discuss with me?" Melina asked once he was gone, drinking the rest of the water in her glass.
Recovery Girl poured her another glass of water, then felt of her forehead and studied her face. She kissed the weak woman's forehead again, careful not to administer too much healing power that was drawing on Melina's own which was still quite strong. The woman was going to need all the strength she possessed to deal with this information.
"There's no good time, and no good way to tell you this," the older woman said, folding her hands placidly in her lap.
Melina's hand shook as she brought the glass of water to her lips. Recovery Girl's hesitation unnerved her. The woman didn't seem the type to become mealy mouthed when faced with telling someone bad news. Therefore her stalling to divulge the information made Melina exceedingly edgy.
"Young Lady, you're pregnant," Recovery Girl announced.
Melina inhaled in astonishment, sucking in the water, and immediately choking. The healer took the glass of water from her before she doused herself and the bed while her body spasmed violently with each cough.
"I'm what?" she wheezed.
Had she heard correctly? Pregnant? What rhymes with pregnant that she could have misunderstood? Absolutely fucking nothing rhymes with pregnant.
"But how?" she croaked, running her fingers through her hair and grasping handfuls.
"The usual way, my dear. You're the science teacher right?"
"How could this happen? Oh, my god..."
"Considering your situation, being a single woman and a teacher, I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. No more training exercises. You should begin making arrangements for the future with your condition in mind. You're eight weeks along and - "
Suddenly Melina could no longer hear Recovery Girl speaking. A high pitched whine blocked out all other sound besides the alarm going off in her head. Pregnant. Eight weeks. She quickly did the math in her head. By her calculations, she got pregnant from the make up sex in between break ups with Dabi.
"Oh...my...god," she spoke slowly, pausing between each word.
Considering your situation...Recovery Girl had no idea what kind of situation she was in. Sometimes she didn't know exactly what kind of situation she was in.
What kind arrangements for the future was she supposed to make exactly? Was that a veiled hint she should quit her job and leave the school entirely? Maybe she should just pack up and leave in the middle of the night to avoid tear filled, heart breaking good byes. She could fly back to the United States, hopefully putting this villain fiasco behind her as well.
The faces of two very important men in her life flashed through her head. One she knew she would not see again except under the worst possible circumstances. He wouldn't even know he was going to be a father because she would never tell him. The other, she would never tell he was going to be an uncle. There was far too much to explain that she was sure he would not understand. He would hate her. She would not hold his loathing her against him deeming it justifiable.
"Oh, my god," she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle her sob.
Melina could not stop repeating the same three words over and over. If only some god, any god, could hear her pleas and help her. But no one could help her. Not even the heroes she had grown to love. Placing her hands on her belly, she knew she would have to be a hero to her child - even if it meant running away like a coward, carrying her secret, all of her secrets, with her.