Big big biiig thank you to heartattack, ekoshio and Zachary Boyd for your reviews! I hope this chapter came out okay!

X.

The trip to visit Touya ended before it even began. Apparently, from what she could hear Rei tell Enji early the morning of the visit, a nurse had caught Touya using his Quirk and set off the fire alarm, burning himself in the process, and he'd been sedated to prevent harm to the other patients. Yayoi felt no sympathy for him—if anything, she was relieved to not see his pathetic face again. She may have not liked the dynamic of this family to begin with, but with Touya messing up as much as he had and being sent away, Shouto was being given a proper life. Enji was letting him choose to train to be a hero, Rei was speaking back against Enji about things regarding the twins, and even now Shouto was allowed to have a friend. And if Touya was the price of all that, then so be it.

She didn't seem to follow, however, the reasoning for Yayoi herself to be friends with Izuku as well. The smaller boy clung to the twins at every move after Midoriya Inko dropped him at the gates of the Todoroki residence, shaking in a mixture of fear and excitement for reasons Yayoi assumed were purely unique to him. And of course, he stuck with the one who helped him and apologised for being a bother.

Shouto liked his freckles. She let Izuku's grovelling slide.

They were left to their own devices in a playroom near the garden. Izuku politely asked about some of the toys Shouto owned—all brand-new additions thanks to Enji's reluctant easing and Rei's demands—and Shouto gleefully talked about them to the toddler. Yayoi couldn't remember seeing him so animated, at least not with other people, and despite how much of a nuisance it was to get a main character involved in this so early, she was starting to think it really was a good decision. At the time, naturally, she thought it was a good idea too; but between then and the visit, doubts seeped in and made her worry more than she should've.

After the visit had started, though, the doubts were long gone. Shouto was a bright child, that much was certain, but he was practically glowing now that he had another friend to talk about things he enjoyed with. Yayoi wasn't into heroes like him, wasn't as childish and preferred to be a reliable big sister like he needed right now, but Izuku was a stranger his age that he could connect with. And, she pondered as she watched them play with figurines and re-enact news-worthy heroics, this was probably what Izuku needed as well. She never really liked him as a protagonist, at least not in the beginning—admittedly, it took a long while for him to be tolerable for her when reading. Hell, even the section she got up to with All For One's successor being made into a perfect puppet was a slog to reach as she did her reading.

Man, if she thought reading it would be a slog, growing up in it was going to be a nightmare. At least the story progressed quickly each month compared to having to wait however many years for an onslaught of events in her sixteenth year.

Her point was that this was probably the backbone growing Izuku needed. That and a support system. The idiot never did tell his mother or Katsuki's parents what he went through, especially considering Midoriya Inko's reaction to his injuries had been completely normal for a responsible parent.

The pleasantries had turned into a late evening snack as they waited for Midoriya Inko to pick up her son. Izuku and Shouto were practically joined at the hip by then, the smaller boy branching away from his saviour and giving her some breathing room at least. Yayoi munched on her flan idly as she watched them, silent and observing; they had yet to pause in the conversation they'd started, their own flan untouched. It was, loathe as she was to admit it about crotch goblins, adorable. Izuku was more animated than she recalled him ever being—not having to cower at every turn really did show some of the Izuku that never knew he'd be diagnosed as Quirkless.

A detail she never expected from the protagonist, though, was that he struggled a lot with pronouncing things at a young age. Verbose, for sure, and he knew a lot of big words and their meanings—but his mouth always struggled with saying them right the first time, and she assumed it was something he grew out of by middle school. He struggled to say her own name, stumbling a few times before settling on calling her Yacchan. For Shouto, she tried not to laugh when he bit his tongue and accidentally said, "Sho-Sho."

She was done with her flan by the time Rei had come in to check on them. The small room was once a training room, but not converted to a play area for the guest to enjoy himself; Rei hesitated at first to come in, but it was clear she could remind herself this room wasn't the same as it used to be once the tension left her face.

"Yayoi, you finished already?" she asked, voice hushed. Yayoi nodded and licked the spoon clean. "You're not going to join in?"

"It's fine," Yayoi said matter-of-factly. "I wanted Shouto to make a friend. I didn't need one."

She wasn't sure what the look that passed over Rei's features was, but it certainly wasn't the usual pride in a sister looking out for her brother. What would've gone unnoticed by a normal child definitely was caught by Yayoi, and she was quick to beam up at her mother innocently to clear any doubts.

"Shouto's more shy than me," she went on. "Wanna help him."

Rei glanced at the two boys. They'd opened their flan cups and started eating and talking at the same time.

"Right… He is, isn't he…" Rei combed a hand through her hair, almost a nervous habit, and licked her lips. "Would you like another snack, Yayoi? Or do you want to wait for dinner?"

"Dinner."

"I see. Well… If you need anything, Mariya-san will be outside the door."

It was a terse interaction. It was awkward. It was like Rei desperately wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

Yayoi watched Rei leave the room. She wondered, briefly, if one of the troubling members of this family had said something similar once. She wondered, even briefer, if she'd slipped up by being extremely anti-social for a child.

No, she decided. She'd recovered more than enough to come off as a kid worried about her brother and acting out of the goodness of her naïve, child heart. Rei was just paranoid, and that paranoia was rubbing off on Yayoi. Only Enji had seen enough to suspect things so far—no one else.

No one else.

She found out, the morning after it rained one night, that Izuku had never told his mother that Katsuki had been bullying him.

Yayoi was crouched down in front of a puddle, little coat bunched around her and small hat firmly on her head; one finger hovered over the puddle, lips pursed, as she stared at her own reflection. It was Midoriya Inko's turn to host the kids for a play date this time, a good two months having passed since they first became "friends", and they'd taken to going to a playground near the Midoriya residence for outings. It was always a trip that ended with ice cream or taiyaki while they waited for Mariya to pick them up with Rei. It was always a trip that reminded her just how dysfunctional the Todoroki household was on a daily basis.

She found out, to her dismay, when a combination of events went down. She heard Inko call out to someone named Mitsuki—Katsuki's mother, she realised with a slight delay—and as she turned to look back at the woman, curious, a muddy galosh stomped her on the back and sent her into the puddle.

Yayoi landed on her hands, thankfully, and didn't make too much of a splash to be too wet. But she still let out a growl at the nerve of the toddler who'd kicked her in the first place.

"Hey," Katsuki grunted, outright hostile at the sight of her. "The hell are you doin' on my turf?"

"I don't see your name on it," Yayoi grumbled back.

"Well it's mine. Get lost."

She rolled her eyes and held back a sigh. Yeah, Izuku didn't say anything if this kid was still allowed within ten metres of him. She wondered if it'd be satisfying enough to play the victim right now or not. Then again, that'd just get everyone keeping him away from her, and as much as Yayoi liked the idea of living peacefully until the plot kicked in, she wasn't the one who needed the restraining order the most.

Yayoi stood herself up and flicked her hands. Large droplets of water landed on him, and Katsuki stumbled back with a snarl. Goddamn goblin thing, she thought, acting like he'd get diseased from a puddle.

Warming up just her hands was easier now. Water dried up quickly on them, and on the colder days she would hold both Izuku and Shouto's hands so they didn't get too chilly outside. Small streams of steam rose from her fingers, but it soon disappeared once she determined her hands to be dry enough.

She realised, after a brief second, that there were easier ways to get kids in trouble.

"Auntie!" Yayoi screeched, pointing at Katsuki with a horrified look. Inko and Mitsuki looked at them both in alarm, ready to jump into action. "He said a bad word!"

"Katsuki, what the hell!?"

"Katsuki-kun, that's not good!"

If he had known what the word snitch meant at this age, he definitely would've called her one.

Katsuki was practically on thin ice after that. Mitsuki stared him down like a hawk, relentless and forcing the blond to be pleasant the entire time he was there. He was borderline tsundere, huffing each time he (reluctantly) offered someone who'd tripped a hand back up, and Yayoi revelled in it as she pushed Shouto on the swings. Introductions came much later, completely backwards compared to most things, and Izuku wasn't even scared to gush about the fact that his new friends were Endeavour's kids.

"Oh, Yayoi-chan, you really are like your father," Mitsuki said, probably meaning it as a compliment, after Inko had explained how Yayoi found Izuku. Of course, it further proved Izuku never mentioned who had bullied him. Yayoi looked pointedly to Katsuki at that, a silent threat that his freedom was on the goddamn line today, in this shithole of a playground. Not the hill anyone would want to die on.

"Papa is the real hero," Yayoi replied. She was laying it on thick as she spoke. "Yaya was so scared! And then he swooped in all cool and stuff! He was a real hero."

Shouto clung to her. "I'll make sure to go with you next time, Y—Yacchan!" he stammered. His face was turning red, poor boy ashamed to have missed a chance to protect his big sister. She held him just as tightly, smooshing his face as she did so.

"So brave, Shouto! Me and Izu-kun are so safe with you!"

The look on Katsuki's face was nothing short of disgust mixed with contempt.

Inko's phone rang in her pocket, and she was quick to answer when she saw it was Rei on the line. Yayoi watched her answer, smile with relief, and Mitsuki kept an eye on the troublesome children as she spoke with the Todoroki matriarch. There were brief parts she could catch, though not enough to get a full picture. All she could really gather was that, for the first time, Mariya and Rei would be over a few hours later than usual to pick up the twins.

Yayoi pursed her lips and looked warily at Katsuki. Something told her the playground wasn't the last she would see of him today.

"Yayoi-chan, Shouto-kun, your mama won't be able to pick you up until later," Inko said as soon as she was back to the twins. Shouto looked worried, still clinging to Yayoi, but Yayoi was quick to calm him with a pat to the head. "How do you feel about having dinner at our house and watching a movie with Izuku?"

Izuku was a blur of green as he bounced next to his mother. The rapidfire words coming out of his mouth boiled down to "new All Might movie" and "matching costumes".

"That sounds like fun, doesn't it, Katsuki?" Mitsuki prompted her son. The boy was gritting his teeth as he mumbled about wanting to see the new All Might movie as well. "May we join, Inko-san?"

"Of course! We have plenty of space. We'll have to get some groceries first, though." Inko bent down in front of the twins and smiled. "What do you two wanna eat for dinner? I'll make it for you."

Shouto opened his mouth, taking a deep breath, but Katsuki beat him to the punch with a loud, "I want katsudon!"

"Katsuki! Mind your manners!"

"No! I want katsudon!"

Shouto shrank at the raised voices. It wasn't like yelling was a thing that happened often in the Todoroki estate, but it was still something he was unfamiliar with entirely. Katsuki was probably his first exposure to outright hostility, at least compared to Enji before the whole incident with Touya, but she was sure it wouldn't take long to overcome it. Right now the kid was all bark and no bite, and if he tried to teethe, Yayoi would bite back.

She went to interrupt him and turn the tide back in Shouto's favour, but Izuku was faster. The boy tugged his mother's skirt, catching her attention, and with bright eyes the boy told her, "Sho-Sho likes soba, mama. Yacchan too."

"Ah, do they?" Inko looked back to the twins with a warm smile. "Do you two want soba for dinner?"

Both of them nodded fervently.

Two small suitcases met them in the doorway of the Midoriya home. Inko held her hands out and cheered, "Surprise! Your parents said you could sleep over tonight!"

The time it had taken to keep them at the playground, it seemed, was the time it took to let Mariya and Rei use the spare key to leave behind some clothes to stay the night. Being a Friday, it made a lot of sense. It was just still a surprise to see Inko so readily hold a sleepover for her son's brand new friends. Two months still wasn't a lot of time, Yayoi told herself.

It was just… really weird. Maybe she didn't experience this enough back in her old life. Maybe this was supposed to be normal for people, celebrating their kids' first sleepovers like this. Yayoi really had no point of reference. Nothing.

She didn't like it.

Tsukimi soba for dinner, Katsuki leaving to bring some belongings to stay the night as well (Mitsuki's insistence), the reveal of matching Pro Hero pyjamas for the trio at the home. When the camera came out to make some memories, Yayoi was blankly staring at the floor and dressed up in the Endeavour pyjamas bought specially for her.

She didn't like this.

They waited for Katsuki to come back with his own belongings, and as they did Izuku and Shouto ran through the house in a fit of giggles and catchphrases. Yayoi was lost, utterly lost, but unlike Rei who tensed up when Yayoi acted not normal, Inko at least offered her something to keep her busy and distract her. It was, she realised midway through drying a bowl, the first time she'd ever been allowed to clean up dishes since being reborn. Most parents would've taught basic cleaning skills by now, but with maids living with them, what had been the point?

Inko praised her with every utensil and plate she dried. She packed everything away and set the leftovers down in the fridge for another day. "You're very helpful, Yayoi-chan," Inko continued to praise her. "Thank you so much!"

She really did not like this.

She wished everyone would stop making her aware of how messed up both of her lives have been so far. Yayoi was going to be jealous of everyone else who got to live something close to normal at this rate.

Four sleeping bags were set up in front of the television in the living room. A stack of DVDs with All Might's name on each and every one waited to be knocked over by eager kids. Even when Katsuki came back, standoffish and sporting his own All Might pyjamas (and yelling at Izuku and Shouto to change their own, refusing to share the spotlight), the overall atmosphere didn't diminish.

Shouto was genuinely happy. This was the happiest she'd seen him in comparison to the normal timeline. This was… so goddamn far from what he should've been going through right now in the story.

Yayoi let herself smile and tugged the hood of her Endeavour PJs over her head. She did that, she told herself. She gave him that chance at happiness. Nothing was perfect, of course—Rei might still burn him with the kettle, and Touya might still die. Enji might still be a shitstain of a parent, and everything might still push Shouto to the brink. But right now, she gave him some damn good memories and his first actual friend years ahead of when he should've met Izuku.

He wouldn't hold himself back yet. He'd reach his full potential like he should've at the beginning of it all. He'd have a chance at everything his canon counterpart didn't.

Getting all the deets on the Pro Hero parent of his new friends was the highlight of Izuku's night, from what she could gather. Katsuki sulked, of course, because Shouto was the one doing all the talking at that point, but there were occasions where Yayoi was dragged into the conversation too. When Izuku asked if Shouto ever went to the Agency, Shouto said Yayoi had. That, naturally, spiralled into a conversation about all the sidekicks and Pro Heroes she'd met during her trips there. Izuku was really invested in how they all worked together and what their Quirks were, but Yayoi had never thought to ask any of them.

"I'll ask Faust next time Papa takes me," she promised him. "She lets me follow her."

It was the last time Izuku could gush for the night. Inko jumped in right at that moment with some popcorn for the group, and the first DVD was loaded into the player.

Kids were… more emotional than she recalled when it came to movies. Yayoi was glad she was on the couch behind the sleeping bags, huddled up next to Inko instead of beside the boys on the floor; they would've noticed her not crying at the climax of the movie alongside them, cheering for All Might and quoting his famous I am here! line. Had her brother been like this, she asked herself? She couldn't recall. She'd become his guardian when he was older than Shouto was now, so a lot of the big developments were spent stuck under the same roof as the donor and incubator.

Yayoi pursed her lips as the credits rolled. She stared at the boys, somehow all getting along thanks to the film. Katsuki wasn't even picking any fights, wasn't even being standoffish. He gushed about his favourite parts just as much as Izuku and Shouto did, and he even agreed with them on some points. Yayoi tried really hard to think back—to try and remember if her brother had ever gotten emotional over things. Was he reserved? She didn't recall him being reserved, but he wasn't exactly expressive either. A lot of things had jaded him before Yayoi had pulled him out of that house with her.

Come the third movie, everyone was starting to yawn and doze off. Inko declared it to be bedtime, making sure everyone brushed their teeth and tucking them into the sleeping bags. Katsuki on the far side, Izuku next to him, and Shouto and Yayoi on the other side. A perfect setup that saw them doze off one by one as time passed. All but Yayoi, who sat up and stared at the light of the TV's sensor blankly.

She brought a thumb to her lips and chewed at the nail. It bothered her, the more she tried to think about it. Yayoi never took the time to think about the smaller things—she just knew how she was taken from her brother, and their circumstances before she'd become his guardian. She didn't know what made him angry or happy, she couldn't recall the little things that she already knew about Shouto like the back of her hand. Yayoi chewed her thumbnail harder and harder, teeth grinding together.

What even was his favourite food? What school did her brother go to? What were the names of his friends? His favourite movie? Did he even have allergies? What—

Yayoi felt the skin under her nail tear. She tasted blood.

What was her brother's name again?

The nail snapped. Yayoi winced and hiccuped. She jumped out of the sleeping bag and stumbled behind the couch, doing her best to hold back a yell of pain.

She forgot her brother's name. She forgot the name of her precious brother. Did she— Had she forgotten everything else? His hair—she dragged her hands down her face as she tried to figure out the colour. It was… It'd been black, right? Everyone around them had black hair—no, shit, that wasn't a good reason to think he had black hair! Did he dye it? Fuck, she couldn't remember, fuck—

She hiccuped again. She pulled at her hair. She felt her chest cave in as she started to cry.

She was trash. She forgot her brother. She was trash for forgetting her brother. She abandoned him for someone else. She forgot him for someone else. She was trash.

"Yacchan…?"

The sleepy voice behind her startled her. She hiccuped again, wiped her eyes furiously, but the blood from her thumb just made a bigger mess. Yayoi panicked. She tried not to look at whoever was behind her. She tried to pretend everything was fine.

Izuku crouched down next to her and patted her head softly. With a weak yawn, he forced himself to stay awake and waited for her to calm down. The doormat was comforting her, she thought sourly.

"Did'ya—" He yawned again, but he blinked the sleep out of his eyes this time. "—have a bad dream?"

Yayoi whined. She pulled at her hair again. Izuku continued to pat her head.

"Mama says warm milk helps make them go away," Izuku told her. She sniffed. She knew that much. It was Parenting 101 if the kid could handle lactose. "You want some milk?"

She wiped at her eyes again—and she yelped when the tears hit her thumb. Salt water was a bitch, Yayoi decided, because it ratted her out to the worrywart hovering over her so easily. Izulu grabbed her hand, braver than he should've been at this age, and he dragged her into the kitchen. She didn't ask him what he was going or snatch her hand back. She just watched him open a cupboard under the sink and pull out what had to be a first aid kit from inside.

The boy was clumsy as hell and couldn't tie a bandage to save his life, she decided, but he was gentle and considerate as he cleaned up her thumb and covered it in bandaids and disinfectant. When that was done, Izuku set to work cleaning off her face and making sure she was okay.

What a joke her life had become, Yayoi decided. Stuck in a story that probably wouldn't end for nearly five hundred chapters, stuck in the family that was the most PG-13 levels of messed up, stuck having to rely on a kid who should've been the world's biggest crybaby even with his Quirk. All she could do was sigh when Izuku was done and throwing away the bloodied tissues into the bin.

When he came back to her side, he wasted no time holding her hand and shaking it as he chanted, "Pain, pain, go away!"

Yayoi opened her mouth to retort that she was too old for that kind of stuff—and it snapped shut just as quick. She could remember other things, even if it wasn't her brother's name. She could remember doing the chant, only to be told he was twelve and didn't believe in that stuff. She could remember him sipping hot cocoa at two in the morning with her, slowly dozing off in his chair after a hard time sleeping. She could at least remember she'd been there for him.

Yayoi sniffed and held her hand to her chest. She scrunched up her face as Izuku smiled, still sleepy, and she mumbled, "Thanks."

Izuku looked proud of himself, dressed up like a hero and given the chance to act like one.

"Hey, hey, Yacchan," he yawned. "Thanks for not telling on Kacchan to anyone."

She gave him a sour look. "You should've," she grumbled.

"I know. But Kacchan's my friend." He gave her a stupid smile, like he knew what he was doing was wrong. "And he's strong. And I'm not."

"Friends don't hurt each other."

Izuku pursed his lips. He nodded once. "Thank you for saving me, too."

It won't happen again, she wanted to say. I have to focus on Shouto first. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Something in Yayoi told her that right now, this kid wouldn't take the words to heart. Wouldn't process the gravity of the things Katsuki would go on to do. It sucked, being a kid.

She finally found it in her to sleep an hour later. Izuku passed out back in his sleeping bag, and Yayoi stared at Shouto as she laid on her own. Part of her really, really hoped, as she slowly fell asleep, that if her brother had died too, he'd been reborn as Shouto.

It would make holding Shouto so high in her priorities feel just a little less terrible whenever she tried to recall her brother.