Fissures

Katsuki Mitsuki sat in the kitchen, a cup warming her hands. Sleep eluded her. It had been eluding her for months. Ever since the hospital had contacted her, ever since she had been told that there may have been a mistake, ever since she had been asked to bring in a sample of her and her son's hair. She did not drink from the slowly cooling drink. She didn't want to. She hadn't wanted to. She should have refused. Katsuki was her child. Her child. Her child. But she hadn't seen the threat. If she had, she would have refused.

As soon as she gave them the sample she began to regret it, it was just something in the back of her mind. By the time the results finally arrived she had grown to quietly dread them. She was called in to the hospital and quietly informed that her son was not hers, that her son was actually the child of the hero Endeavor. She'd been thunderstruck, but it fit half of her son's quirks so well. She knew she would have to contact him, to let him know so he could see her son. But he was already there. He had simply marched in after she had received the news and ordered the hospital staff out.

Being in the presence of the number two hero in the world should have been awe inspiring, but it wasn't. For all his fire he could only look at her coldly. He asked her what her child's quirk was. That was his first question. Not her child's name. Not how her child was. What was her child's quirk. Like that was all he was, that that was what defined him. She didn't answer the first time he asked, and so he asked again, eyes narrowing.

She knew she made a mistake when she told him, because in an instant his entire demeanor changed. He looked pleased in way that worried her. And then he acknowledged her son, claiming her son was his heir. A pit formed in the center of her stomach. It was like she wasn't there, like she didn't exist to him. Katsuki may have been his child by blood, but he was her son. She had raised him, she had fed him and bathed him and clothed him and cared for him. When he skinned his knee she was the one who made it better. When he had a nightmare he ran to her, crawled into bed between her and Masaru so he could feel safe enough to fall back to sleep. He was her son.

But he wasn't. Not to the man in front of her.

He wasn't interested in her child; not as a child. Her son wasn't a person to him, would never be a person to him. Her son was a quirk to him, nothing more. The realization was as startling as it was terrifying. She knew he wanted her son, and he knew that she knew because it was then that he sat down and tried to lie to her. He was sure that she had been a fine mother figure, not that he had asked any questions, not that he knew anything about her or how she had raised her child, but clearly the boy, her son, should go home to his family.

At that her composure cracked. She bristled as she informed him that he was at home with his family. Just like Endeavor's son was at home, with his family.

The 'hero' wasn't amused. His 'son' was nothing of the sort and was waiting to be sent to his new home with his actual family. That put everything in sharp relief. That man, a man who would cast out a child that had been raised in his home since birth, wanted her child. She refused. She got up and grabbed her purse to leave when he sighed, giving her a disgusted look and snapped his fingers. Another man entered the room, a dull little man, barely there and yet suddenly in her way. He was smiling without smiling as he handed her paperwork. A lawsuit waiting for her the moment she left the room. A promise that she would lose, there was precedent, the evidence was undeniable, the sample she had provided was the proof needed. That was the last she heard as she left the room.

She returned home in tears, arriving just before her son got home. She hugged him and kissed him and barely hid tears as she asked him if he wanted a snack before sending him to watch TV. She hid as she called Masaru, telling him to come home, demanding and begging at the same time. Then she returned to her son, hugging him tightly as they watched news about All Might. She desperately hoped she could find a hero to help her.

That… wasn't to be. Things began to spiral out of control. She and Masaru began contacting lawyers, but the words Endeavor's lawyer had used were also used by them. There was precedent. He had rights as the birth father. There were apologies and offers to help them seek damages from the hospital, but they were told that there simply was no ground to stand on. And then things became more tenuous when Masaru lost his job. It was a sudden affair, no warning, no hints. He alone was let go, and offered best wishes on finding new employment.

And then her boss called her into his office and offered her similar regrets.

They had money saved. Not a lot, but enough, surely enough. They still hadn't found a lawyer who thought they had a good chance of keeping their son. One thought that he might be able to get them visitation rights, as if that was enough. And then the man who was hardly there but right in front of her returned. He offered terms, and a threat. Mitsuki snatched up the articles, prewritten and just waiting to be published. The words were poison, slick sleek and toxic. They would be accused of holding their son hostage from their rightful father, a man grievously wounded by their refusal to release their son to him. It was galling, appalling, but written well. Masaru put the article he had been holding down and sat silent for a moment before asking how long they would be able to keep their son.

Mitsuki felt fear trickle down her spine as she felt her son being taken away from her. Masaru couldn't meet her eye as he spoke. They had no money to fight a trial. The case law was against them. They wouldn't be able to hide it from Katsuki if these articles were published. Endeavor had beaten them as soundly as he did any villain. They had to do what they could to protect their son, to… to help ease him out of their home. He was crying long before he finished, and she was crying alongside him. She tried to rebut him, letting him know, again, what sort of man Endeavor was. Surely there was something that could be done. But he turned to her and shook his head; the spark of resistance had been snuffed out of her husband.

Still she refused to accept it. She could… she could take Katsuki. She could leave. She would be able to call Masaru to her later. She would have to find a place Endeavor wouldn't find her. But the man who was barely there but was still in her way, offering her a bland little smile and shake of his head. For all she knew he could read minds, but even if that wasn't his quirk she could tell that he knew what she had been thinking. He proved it by mentioning that, in anticipation of the articles going out, their house was being surreptitiously watched to make sure no villain tried to abscond with the child.

Mitsuki was lost to tears as Masaru argued for the best terms he could. Endeavor was not a patient man.

In the end, they had a week. A week to tell their son about the mistake the hospital made, to let him know that he would be going to… to his father's home, to help him acclimate, to say their goodbyes. It wasn't enough time, not nearly enough.

A week, she had one last week with her son. Without work, she pulled him out of school, spending every second she could with him. She slept beside him, caressing his hair as he slept.

And now, there was a different child in her home. He was her child, but not her child. He was a child that looked at her like a stranger, who narrowed his eyes when she tried to talk to him. He was a stranger, a stranger in her life, in her house, and now inside her child's bed. He looked like her; he had her eyes, her hair. She could see the similarities. But he was different, alien. He was her son, but he wasn't. He hadn't been her son for years, and it hurt because now her son was with the family that had made her son, her blood into a boy that refused to speak to her, that didn't trust her or her husband, and looked at them with a coldness that her son would not be able to reproduce if he created a glacier.

Author's notes: Well that was sad. Next up, someone from the Todoroki household.