There'll be another mini-chapter posted before Thanksgiving before I go on a mini-break.

Thank you all so much for the support!

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The staff of Musutafu General Hospital were less than pleased when the Number Two Hero came barreling into the Maternity Ward - flames, Hero costume and all at three in the morning - demanding to be directed to his wife and newborn.

(It was, potentially, the most humiliating moment of his career, only rivaled by his stagnant place in the rankings. There was no hiding that he had a legacy after pulling that particular stunt.)

Well. It wasn't like they were going to tell him to leave.

They had been told that their child was supposed to be a boy; they were supposed to have a son. His wife had decided on Touya before Touya was even born.

It was no secret that children with Heroes as parents were stronger. Quirks were hereditary; if your parents had stronger, well-developed quirks, the child would likely have one as well. While Rei's Ice had raw power in spades, it was nothing even remotely refined. When he heard that he was having a girl, the source of his dread wasn't the traditional worry of men, but rather what if she ends up weak like Rei -

There was a reason All Might was obstinate on his privacy. Anyone even remotely vulnerable with personal connections to the Symbol of Peace would be hunted down. Enji would never be allowed that layer of safety in his position. Since the media failed to find a gossip case in All Might, they turned to him, and before the young hero had even realized what was happening, he'd been thrown to the wolves.

Rei blinked at his flustered state; the midwives were trying not to outright laugh at the Hero. Enji desperately wished to will his flames to cover his flush. Keeping his thoughts from his face was one of his weaker strengths.

(Todoroki Enji does not have weaknesses.)

"Well?" his wife huffed, brow lined with sweat but positively glowing, "do you want to hold your daughter, or not?"

He heard a snort from behind - he hasn't felt peer pressure like this in a long, long time.

"She's not going to bite you, Enji," Rei sighed.

After triple-checking that his body temperature was sound, he took the pink bundle and started swaying on his feet. Touya started stirring in his arms and tucked into the warmth of his chest. His daughter, his legacy, looked so fragile and small in his arms. And, while Enji had heard of the difference between a Parent's Love and a Hero's Heart, he hadn't truly understood until Touya opened her eyes.

It was -

He wanted -

They were his, all his - sharp and catty and wise - colored a sparkling turquoise that would, one day, match the flames that burned a hole in his heart.

꧁꧂

...Was it possible to change a future that doesn't exist?

Todoroki Touya, in every conceivable scenario, was too capable to be considered useless, yet too inadequate to do enough. Todoroki Touya was fated with a life of self-destruction in a world where men could shatter the earth with a flick of their finger and inherit abilities capable of rewriting the universe without consequence. Todoroki Touya was a side character in a fictional world where his destiny was decided by a predetermined plot.

She exists because something has to change.

An anomaly in a world full of deviation; something unimaginable in a world full of possibility. Her existence couldn't possibly be a coincidence because coincidences don't exist in stories.

She didn't want to abrogate her admittedly naïve hope, but there was nothing about her position that could end in everyone's favor. If she were to dare act differently than her male counterpart, everything would inevitably change the world she once knew; change the world she wants to save. Every step she took out of line would lead to the path of an uncertain fate.

But -

She doesn't want to be held together by staple and ash. She doesn't want to watch the world crumble under Shigaraki's hands. She doesn't want to watch her future family burn with Endeavor's hatred.

…Then again, what right did she have to want in a world of need?

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(Childish desires to ignore and deny and hate rage in the back of her head - such a simple solution, such a tempting distraction - but she ignores and ignores, because she is Todoroki Touya, and Todoroki Touya needs to change.)