Chapter XII.

Better than I

. . .

Toya stared at the woman, and she stared unflinchingly back.

He had sometimes seen that look on Hawks, that broken, tired look.

His best friend would totally be fascinated by this cold woman.

The staring, or rather the glaring contest, was only broken when Rei and Enji both entered the room, closing the door behind them.

"Father, Mother!" Toya greeted them with a smile as he stood next to them. A sight that made Kagome ache… she missed him sometimes.

"We just spoke to the Doctor, and um, we have some interesting news," Rei said nervously, looking at Kagome. Said girl still shied away from her.

"We noticed when you crashed into our home how… similar you looked," Rei said, and Kagome froze; this conversation was not going the way she thought it was going. Enji continued from where his wife left off.

"Since you didn't have your hero identification, nor did your quirk match known records. And with Rei's own suspicions, we tested your DNA to see if it matched any hero records."

Kagome's eyes widened dramatically, and they darted around the room, looking for exits.

"Turns out your ours… A 99.9999% certainty in paternity to Rei and I."

Standing next to Rei, Toya faltered, staggering back into the wall. He was aghast because it just wasn't possible.

Another sibling. How?

Now Toya knew he couldn't have missed that. Rei was never pregnant with her. He remembers when his parents announced each of his siblings, remembered each pregnancy and met each of them. And he knew she was not from his parents. It just wasn't possible! The test must be-

"The test is wrong," Kagome assured.

"We had him retest and check everything, honey-"

"Don't call me that. I'm not your child. I'm leaving." Kagome cut off harshly, moving to get out of bed, but she collapsed the minute she started trying to walk. Her abdomen was on fire, and her legs were wobbly from the exertion of the previous days.

The three Todoroki's rushed to her aid, only for her to yell at them.

"Stop!" She held her hand out, her palm flat. The gesture was silent but demanding, making them pause. "I don't need your help."

Kagome struggled on her weak legs, hulling herself up on her bed. The Todoroki's watched her, uncomfortable as she struggled and flopped back onto the bed.

"I'm not your child. You didn't raise me. You don't owe me anything." She stated honestly. "I'm assuming you want to know how I got here?"

"The doctor suspects it had to do with that villain's quirk." Rei supplied, not moving to comfort the woman as she feared she would further upset her.

"Yes, Trial and Error is his moniker and his quirk. The guy used to be a therapist but had a psychic break, developing a split personality. The trauma also leads to Stress Triggered Quirk Eruptions. Now he jumps realities and messes with heroes like myself by showing them the what ifs…. but this time there was a quirk enhancing drug involved so he went crazy."

Toya stared incredulously at her. She was just so nonchalant as if it were a typical day.

"I'm assuming you want to know how long I will be here?" She asked as she settled herself properly onto the bed again. At their nods, she continued, "Thankfully, time doesn't pass in my world. Error returns the victim to the same place and time they left without missing a second."

Rei paused at a thought; this was good. She wouldn't miss anything.

"I'll be here for about a month, considering how bad his psychosis was. I'll just find somewhere to stay when I'm discharged." Kagome rubbed her eyes, annoyed at the situation. It really was less than ideal.

"We actually are happy to take you home to recover."

Kagome froze.

"What?" She looked at them curiously, baffled by their generosity.

"Well, you are ours. It's only right that we help you." Rei spoke gently, sitting down on the end of the bed.

"But I'm not yours. I never was. I don't exist."

"Yet, you are here." She reached towards the bandaged hand, slowly cupping the top of it.

"By accident. I don't want to be here. I want to be with my-"

"Son, right?" Rei interrupted with a knowing smile on her lips.

"How did you know?" Kagome paused, furrowing her brow, the distrust imminent on her face.

"We looked through your stuff, or what's left of it, though it didn't give us an I.D., we found your child's photo. I do apologise. We didn't mean to pry, but…." She trailed off. Rei looked to her husband for reassurance.

"Kagome. I know this must be difficult. But I'm sure your parents, uh… not us, but yours in your own world would do the same for our kids."

The room was deathly quiet.

Rei and Enji thought they were comforting her. But they underestimated their other selves.

A small chuckle came out of Kagome's mouth.

She couldn't contain it. The pure thought of her parents giving a shit about her was hilarious!

"Y-you hahah think my parents oh my-! Hahaha, are like ha you?" Kagome tried to stifle the laugh, but it came out in fits. She couldn't believe their naïveté!

"My parents are the farthest thing from loving!" She snorted, still smiling from the absurdity of the thought.

"Excuse me? What?" Toya blurted out, completely appalled. There was no way that his parents were not loving.

But he didn't know hers.

"I haven't seen my mother in over a decade. She's currently a resident in a mental health facility after disfiguring my little brother." Kagome admitted, still chuckling.

Rei was horrified. She did what now?

"Only after becoming the No. 1 did my father start to give two shits about his family. He had been neglecting all his children or abusing them daily for my entire life just to create the perfect protege. That man wouldn't know love if it slapped him across the face."

Enji face went pale. Did he… hurt his kids?

Meanwhile, Kagome was at her breaking point. The emotional rollercoaster over the past 72 hours had sent her spiralling.

And she couldn't apply the brakes to this train wreck.

She didn't care what this friendly version of her family thought.

She was fucking tired of everyone assuming she would play nice.

So Kagome didn't hold back anymore.

"He traumatised and stressed Toya to the brink, causing him to commit suicide! Natsuo hates everyone and has to go to therapy for anger management! Shoto is emotionally stunted, has PTSD, and is so isolated from the family that he treats us like strangers! Fuyumi is so desperate for family interactions that she lies to me, in fact, everyone, and tries to force relationships that nobody wants, causing massive fights!"

Kagome took a shaky breath. She had a crazed look as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

She wasn't done, though.

"And then there's me…." Enji and Rei's breath hitched, and Toya's heart was pounding in his chest. The atmosphere had grown so incredibly gloomy. The immense fear of how this other world could be any worse unfolded before them. "My oh, so great and loving father sent me to live with Grandmother Mitsu. Who hates him with such a vendetta that she raised me as Endeavour's better! She was so horrified by his uncouth social status and his brashness in the media that she forced me to be the elegant, social and proper pro-hero!"

"I was forced to ice skate, so my fighting style was pretty." Kagome seethed. "I was forced to attend etiquette classes and trained every day for years, just to be better for her to brag about."

"Surely your childhood was better?" Rei asked timidly. She had a death grip on Enji's forearm. A single glimmer of hope was all she needed, but that was snuffed out a long time ago.

"I lived the first six years of my life in hospital. The combination of the ice and fire quirks wrecked my fragile body and caused me to have Poikilothermia, otherwise known as the inability to regulate core body temperature."

Kagome wrung her hair between her fingers. Digging her nails into her scalp, blood beaded as she remembered her childhood.

"I would vomit for days. The doctors didn't know what the issue was until my quirk developed. Then I was fitted for a thermal regulator and able to return home."

Rei saw hope. Briefly, she knew that her other self would have been by her child's side during this time. Kagome noticed how her mother's shoulder relaxed and the happiness returned in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that. My mother never visited me. She didn't want a sick kid. She wanted her perfect fucking family, and that didn't include little old me."

Not one of the Todoroki's could speak.

How could they respond to that?

"After finding out just how broken I am. I wouldn't blame you for walking out right now." Kagome expressed as she pulled her knees to her chest. She looked out of the window of her hospital room, avoiding their stares of shock. "Look, I'm sorry for unloading like that. But as told you. I'm not yours. You are not responsible for the culmination of shit that I am."

Toya couldn't take it. Whatever doubts he had before regarding her legitimacy were gone.

He couldn't stand seeing how broken she was. She thought so lowly of herself and tried to scare them away with every fibre of her being.

Toya knew what she was doing. He had dealt with it when he befriended Hawks.

She was unused to the affection from her family that elicited this response. How many people had to fail her in her life for her to be like this?

To be this hostile to his family when she had never met them.

He wouldn't allow it.

Toya refused to see another person crumble to shitty families.

He brushed past his parents and sat by her side.

She didn't dare look at him.

She wouldn't.

He placed his hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Sometimes it's easier to forgive than forget. And sometimes it's hard to do both when you want neither of them." Kagome sniffled at his consolation. Her Toya had been nice too.

But Toya had been dead for too long for her to cope with him breathing beside her, comforting her.

"You may look at us as the perfect version of your family, and I get it this situation is hell for you." He snuffed a slight scowl on his face, and Kagome snorted in retort. "But I think, in truth, you've been given an opportunity for old wounds to start to heal."

"Things will get better. Otherwise, I won't let you go anytime soon, little sister."

And Kagome just broke. She wailed, grasping onto him, and like his fantastic big brother, he let her weep in his lap.

Rei sobbed in her husband's arms, watching them interact.

Yes, their talk had been bittersweet, and it had hurt to hear the truth of her reality.

But they would ensure she was better.

Never perfect.

But better.

. . .

. . .

A/N: THREE UPDATES IN ONE WEEK I HAVE FED YOU GUYS WELL DAMN

sooooooo Kagome reveals her v traumatic life but its not even her real fam lmaoooo but i hope that explains a little more as to why she is a little crazy

Kagome didn't have a childhood or teenagehood. There was a period of six years between the hospital and being sent to grandma's when she was with her entire family, but just like Natsuo and Fuyumi she was neglected. And as said Rei was not a good mother. And grandma was v abusive. Homegirl never caught a break and never had a parental figure in her life she trusted. So her tantrums where she freaks out and her reactions to us seem extreme and strange are just her unbridled emotions to change as she never got to experience this as a child. When you never had a chance to be angry or upset as a kid it turns into severe emotional issues as an adult as there is no emotinal discipline or intelligence just those emotions in its purest forms.

But now with a healthy family she can begin to heal. Dw as stated in the chapter time doesn't pass while she in this alternative universe, so shippo will never know she is gone. So this is a kinda intervention and therapy for her ha!

Also Toya being a good brother! For real he was kinda a good bro to her in her reality but i dont wanna spoil much! His chapters are v soon like when she gets back to her relaity soon oooooo ^O^

now im gonna go update a few chapters of born to be... NEXT UPDATE IS THURSDAY/FRIDAY!