Chapter One: All the Chaos That Comes With a Hospital

"And how are your friends?"

He knew this was a normal question for any mother to ask. It was part of seeing how her fifteen year old son was doing in his daily life, nothing suspicious about it. But it always made Todoroki Shouto shift uncomfortably in the chair next to her, expression schooled in calm and collected thought, whereas his mind raced frantically. His mother wasn't asking about kids she never met; she was asking if Shouto was okay.

Growing up, separated from his siblings since before he could remember, his only social interaction were his parents and the teachers his father hired to homeschool him (and look the other way). His mother wanted to know if he was surviving suddenly having 19 pseudo-siblings and living with the others in the dorms.

Sitting next to their mother on the bed, Fuyumi perks up suddenly, securing her mother's braid in a hair tie before turning her attention to Shouto. "Oh, how is Midoriya doing?" she asks, remembering the name from a recent conversation with her younger brother.

Natsuo, sitting in the only other chair in the room, locked his arms around Shouto's shoulders, a fist making its way into his hair. "Does my little bro finally have a crush on someone?"

For all his excitement to make up years of not being allowed to tease his brother like a normal family, Natsuo forgot that Shouto was the most well trained of their family, next to their pro-hero father. He was quickly reminded of this fact when his hand was snatched centimeters away from the dual-colored hair, unceremoniously thrown back into his lap. "I don't have a crush on anyone. Midoriya is a friend," Shouto finally spoke, his tone even, giving Natsuo no hints to anything deeper.

Rei laughed gently from her spot, soft grey eyes lighting with genuine love. "No fighting you two," she chastised, but even she knew there was no real threat behind the words. She couldn't remember how young Shouto was the last time all of her children were in the same room as her, but she knew it was before he even spoke his first words. And while having all of her children in the same room would not happen again because of Touya's passing, Rei could at least be thankful for the time she had with her three youngest. It was nice to feel like a mother again, if she ignored the fact she was in a hospital room, one she had been in for almost a decade.

"Tell me about this friend," Rei continued to Shouto. Thanks to his hero studies and heavy workload at UA, this was the first time she had seen him in over a month. UA's increased security did nothing to help matters, either. And while he wrote her letters every week and she was already familiar with the name Midoriya, Rei couldn't risk losing the chance to hear it from her baby's mouth.

"I've wrote to you about him," Shouto stated, his tone softer with his mother than with anyone else. Fuyumi shot him a pointed stare, but unfortunately Shouto only blinked back at his sister with confusion.

"Well, I haven't heard anything about 'Midoriya'," Natsuo, nodding dramatically to his sister, declared, crossing his arms over his chest.

Shouto hummed in acknowledgement, and Rei gave Natsuo a thankful smile when her more reserved son continued. "He's a friend from school," Shouto began thoughtfully. While his face may have seemed the same to anyone else, familial instinct kicked in and the other three in the room noted the way his eyes glistened just slightly in admiration and his lips twitched gently into an upward curve- not entirely a smile, but certainly closer to one than his face normally held. Even Natsuo held back a teasing comment, knowing that his younger brother wasn't aware of his own expressions when speaking of this boy.

"We fought during the sports festival," Shouto continued. "He's the reason I came to see mom the first time. He's strong, maybe a bit reckless, but he cares for others. A lot like All Might. It almost seems-"

"No, Shouto, I don't think he's All Might's secret love child," Fuyumi sighed, exasperated tone hinting that this wasn't the first time she's had this talk with her brother.

Rei placed a petite hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. "I think he sounds lovely, if you have so much to say about him. Maybe he'd like to come over some time. Honestly, Shouto, I'd love to meet your friends."

He frowned pensively at this, eyebrows furrowing, and index finger rested gently against his lips. "Hm, I'm not sure how easy it would be, but if you'd like I can see if he can visit some time."

Rei's smile widened more than it had all day at this thought. "My sweet Shouto," she hummed, standing and placing her arms around his shoulders, her distinctive scent, ingrained in his mind from childhood, subconsciously easing any nerves Shouto normally held at this sort of contact. "I would be honored for you to bring by your friend, especially if he means so much to you."

Her youngest simply nodded, a deep part of his mind settling, realizing his answer to his mother's question was so well received. He wondered if Fuyumi had known that bringing up Midoriya was the right answer, or if she simply guessed. Knowing his sister, even as little as he did thanks to his father, Shouto figured it was the first option.

Releasing Shouto from her embrace (to which an uncovered part of his mind desperately begged to come back), Rei returned to the bed and allowed conversation to flow easily to Natsuo's studies. Shouto half-mindedly followed the conversation. He was grateful for the chance to be with his family, truly, but the peace from being the center of attention and the chance to let his thoughts drift to his friend was a welcome reprieve.

It felt like no time had passed, however, when Fuyumi suddenly spoke up. "Oh," she declared, "It's almost time for Shouto to head back to the dorms. I think Eraserhead would be fairly upset if I didn't get you back on time."

Shouto glanced at his phone and noticed it was already almost three in the afternoon. While UA wasn't far and the dorm curfew was ten, Aizawa had only approved him to be off campus until 3:30. And with the recent uptick in villain attacks around the city (though thankfully away from his school), coming back late could only end in disaster- particularly in the form of house arrest. "You're right," Shouto agreed reluctantly, standing up and bowing respectfully to his mother and brother. "It was nice to see you both," he said as Fuyumi quickly hugged her family members.

Shouto wished he was better at initiating physical contact, especially with this part of his family. He hoped it would come more naturally as he continued to see them and spend time with his classmates.

After bidding their farewells, the Todoroki family still cautiously tiptoeing around declarations of love and affection, Shouto and Fuyumi stepped out and headed toward the elevators. He was thankful his sister was driving him back to school, it gave him more time with his mother than public transportation would.

As they approached the main lobby of the hotel, the quiet halls quickly became a scene of hurried activity. Doctors and nurses rushing around, families trying to see loved ones, and all the other chaos that came naturally with a hospital. No matter how polite and respectable people could be, the fear and anxiety and even the hope hospitals bring would wear on anyone's resolve.

While normally none of this would stand out to Shouto, his eye caught on to a particular little girl. She was no more than four or five years old, crying softly into her teddy bear. Her lavender-coloured hair was tied into thin purple pigtails, her dress a soft mint colored and ruffed at the hem and sleeves. She looked so innocent, and though she didn't seem injured, the way the woman standing above her- matching hair and a strict business suit indicating she was probably her mother- put Shouto on edge. The woman was talking harshly into a cell phone, and while Shouto couldn't hear any of the conversation, she seemed unhappy. He did pick up on words like 'quirk' and 'fix this' as he and Fuyumi passed by them. Something settled uneasily in the pit of his stomach, made worse by noting how the woman didn't even touch the child, making no move to calm her daughter's tears.

"Amane Misao," a nurse called from the other side of Shouto. The small girl and her mother turned quickly at the name, and rushed over, the mother making no move to touch her daughter. Shouto almost assumed her quirk could potentially harm the older woman, until the girl, Misao as he learned, collided headfirst into Shouto, falling back onto her butt.

At this point, Misao looked up with watery blue eyes, identical in colour to his left one. He crouched down and offered her his hand, helping her to stand up. "Are you alright?" he asked her, a gentle tone he learned during his remedial classes that helped when dealing with civilians, especially younger ones.

"She's fine," the older woman snapped quickly before her daughter had a chance to answer (the matching eyes only furthered Shouto's certainty that they were related). "She's being dramatic. Come on, Misao, pay attention to where you're going and don't bother this poor man."

With that and an irritating clack of her heels, Misao scrambled off to follow her mother, careful not to touch anyone else.

"Are you alright?" Fuyumi asked from above him, and Shouto realized that he had still been crouched down even after the little girl left.

"I'm fine," Shouto responded, standing up and following his sister once again. He shook off the unease at the encounter; the girl was young enough she was likely just getting her quirk. And while Shouto was lucky that nothing happened when they bumped into each other, it could, in all possibility, be that the mother was worried about her daughter hurting someone. Shouto remembered the first time he got his quirk how he nearly hurt his own father, had Endeavor not been so prepared for his half and half quirk, having literally bred his children for it.

He could only hope that Misao was able to handle her quirk without an angry parent.