Okay so this chapter. Holy this chapter is a doozy. It's the flashback chapter that I felt was required, just to show more depth to Reina and Leinei's relationship, and how they exactly met Hawks or Keigo, whatever you wanna call him. There are some manga spoilers regarding the Todoroki Family, but given their history with them, they were going to pop up one way or the other. I felt this way would've been better than just Lei sitting there looking at pictures in a photo album.

So Trigger Warnings: Manga spoilers, hinting at grooming of a minor, mentions of neglect and abuse, Reina breaks Touya's nose, a car accident, death

Thirteen Years Ago..

"Kids, meet Reina and Leinei."

Three year old Leinei hides behind a nine year old Reina, peeking out from behind her older sister who has her arms crossed over her chest staring down the three kids in front of them. Her fiery red hair is pulled up into curly pigtails, one frizzy from a fight at school.

"You have really pretty hair," nine year old Fuyumi offers, holding her hand out to the girl with a smile. "It looks like our Dad's."

"Hmpf. We're not playing with you guys," Reina says, turning her head away and sticking her tongue out without looking at them. "Come on, LeiLei."

"Fine, we didn't want to play with you anyway!" six year old Natsuo huffs, stomping his foot on the ground. "Who wants to play with a meanie who beats people up anyway!"

"I'm not a meanie!" Reina shoots back, narrowing her green eyes at the white haired boy who sticks his tongue out at her. "Mommm!"

"Play nice while we talk to Aunty Rei," their mom calls back. "Be nice, Reina."

"Hmpf," Natsuo huffs, a triumphant smile on his face as the red haired girl scowls at him. "This is our home. You have to be nice to us or we don't have to share our toys with you."

"Nuh-uh! The guests are supposed to be allowed to play with whatever we want! It's called being a nice person!"

"I don't have to be nice to someone who's mean!"

"Yes huh!"

"Nuh uh!"

"If you're going to argue about it, no one has to play with anything," Reina and Leinei's dad called from the kitchen. "I'm sure Aunty Rei has some chores she needs help doing."

"No Dad, we're fine," Reina calls back, her face paling at the thought of cleaning. "We're getting along!"

"That's good."

"The room we're allowed to play in is this way," Fuyumi says, pointing towards a door. "We have lots of toys."

"Alright," Reina grumbles, begrudgingly following them along to the room. Leinei keeps her hand fisted in her sister's shirt, tripping over her feet as they walk into the large room. Her older sister immediately beelines for the massive toy chest to one side, Natsuo behind her as they start bickering over a ball and a stuffed animal. Fuyumi went over to try and mitigate, attempting to keep the peace between them as Leinei stayed by the door with her hands fisted in the hem of her shirt.

"They're a little loud, huh?"

She looks up at the other white haired boy smiling at her, his unruly hair hanging in his eyes as he crouches down to be at eye level with her. She takes a moment to respond but nods her head slowly, his smile softening.

"Yeah, Natsuo is pretty loud all by himself," he chuckles. "I think your sister is louder. What's your name? Mine's Touya."

"Le-Leinei…"

"You don't have to be scared, okay?" he says, reaching out and tousling her hair. "M'not gonna let them hurt you. If they do, I'll beat them up for you."

"No!" she says, shaking her head. "I don't wanna get anyone hurt. Not ReiRei or anyone!"

"Yeah?" he asks, tilting his head. "Okay. How about we just settle for me protecting you then. Don't have to get anyone hurt."

"Mmm…Mama says that's ReiRei's job…"

"No problem in having two, right? Come on," he adds, standing and holding his hand out to her. "Let's go see if we can get that ball away from Natsuo and Reina before they break it."

Six Months Later…

"You hit me in the face with a ball again, you jerk!" Reina yells at Touya, shoving the scrawnier boy and glaring as he staggers back a few steps. "You're doing it on purpose!"

"No I'm not! I can't help your face! Maybe you should pay attention to where the ball's going, idiot!" he snaps back, shoving her just as she shoved him. Reina's face turns red and she punches him without thinking, Fuyumi looking up from the picture she was coloring with Leinei as Touya screams bloody murder, dropping to his knees with his hands over his nose.

"I'm not an idiot!" she yells at him, leaning over him with her hands on her hips. "Stop throwing the damn ball at me!"

"Reina!" the caretaker gasps in horror, hurrying over as Leinei looks up and sees the blood seeping between Touya's fingers. "That is not lady like in the slightest! You know Young Touya has a frailer body!"

"Explains why he hits like a girl!" she says back as the woman helps the eldest Todoroki child up. "He shouldn't have hit me in the face with the ball. He started it."

"Young Lady, I'm calling your parents," she replies as she helps Touya up. "I don't understand how the younger one is the much better behaved child. What example are you setting for Little Leinei?"

"Touchan?" Leinei says, having wandered over when Fuyumi stood up. "Are you okay?"

"He's fine, sweetheart," the caretaker says to the youngest. "Wanna come help me clean him up?"

She nods slowly, Reina huffing as they leave the playroom. Touya is staring at the floor, his nose swollen and crooked as angry tears streak his cheeks. Leinei tilts her head and lifts her hand, gently wrapping her smaller fingers around his pinky and ring fingers. He stiffens and looks over at the girl, his scowl softening at her worried look.

"M'fine, Lei," he mutters, shaking his head. "Don't worry."

"You're bleeding."

"It just looks worse than it is," the caretaker assures, ushering them into the sitting room and finding a small first aid kit. "I swear, that child is going to be arrested before she's an adult."

"She's probably the most likely of us to be a villain," Touya grumbles as the woman gently wipes the blood away from his face and hands.

"Now Touya, that's just a mean thing to say," the woman scolds him as Leinei watches, sitting on her knees on the floor and tilting her head. "She just needs a nudge in the right direction. Not that her parents can give it to her being gone all the time." She stops and looks over at Leinei, who's now looking at the floor. "Not that I'm saying anything bad about them. I'm sorry, little one."

"I trust Leinei more with my life than I do Reina," Touya declares. "At least Little Mouse wouldn't hit me over a game."

"Now what did we say about giving people nicknames like that? What if she doesn't like it?"

"She does!" he says adamantly. "She's just like that mouse in that book Momma reads to us all the time. Right, Lei?"

"Yep," she replies, smiling as she looks up again. The caretaker sighs and nods, finishing cleaning Touya up before closing the first aid kit and standing.

"I'm going to get you a juice then you can go back to playing with the others," she says. "Please choose a game that won't cause you to pick another fight with Reina."

"Okay," he says, rolling his eyes as the woman walks away. He groans and leans back on the couch, his lips pursed as he looks up at the ceiling. Leinei clambers onto the couch next to him.

"Does it still hurt?" she asks, tilting her head. "Your nose where ReiRei hit you?"

"Not really," he mumbles, shaking his head as he closes his eyes. After a moment of silence, he opens his eyes and looks over at her. He smiles and lifts his hand to her head, tousling her hair. "Do me a favor?"

"Huh?"

"Promise me we'll always be friends."

"Why wouldn't we be?" she asks, tilting her head. "I love you, Touchan."

"I love you too, Little Mouse."

A Year Later…

"Mama, can we spend the night!" Leinei asks, tugging on her mom's pants. "Pretty please! I'll be good! I promise!"

"That's up to Aunty Rei," she replies, looking at the white haired woman, who shrugs. "If it's okay with her, it's okay with me and Papa."

"I don't want to stay here!" Reina whines, stamping her foot on the ground. "I wanna go home! I don't wanna share a room with them!"

"If Leinei wants to stay, that's fine," Rei assures, smiling. "I think it'll be fun for them to have her sleep over. Touya has been begging for her to basically move in for months."

"They do seem rather attached to one another," their father chuckles, patting his youngest's head. "Since you're staying, you have to follow all of their rules, okay? And none of the staying up late playing. You go to bed when they tell you."

"Yes Papa!" she says eagerly, bouncing on her toes and wanting to go tell the others. "I promise! I promise to be good!"

"Are you sure it's okay, Rei?"

"Positive. Maybe it'll be good for Shoto too, to be around someone his own age."

"I'll get to see Shochan?" she asks, tilting her head. "But he never likes talking to me."

"Because you're quirkless, duh," Reina huffs, rolling her eyes. Their mom cuffs her upside the head. "What! It's true! If she had a quirk it would've shown by now."

"I don't need a quirk!" Leinei retorts, puffing her chest out. "Touchan says I can be his sidekick even without one!"

"Alright you two, that's enough fighting," their dad scolds. "Leinei go along and play. We'll go home and come back with a change of clothes for her."

"Take your time. And if Reina changes her mind, she's more than welcome to stay the night as well."

Reina fidgets as she glances at her sister leaving the room, then up to their parents. Their dad tilts his head and raises an eyebrow in a knowing manner as he crouches down. She looks away, fisting her hands at her sides.

"Do you want to stay with your sister?" he asks softly, smiling. "What if she gets scared during the night?"

"...fine I guess I'll stay too," she says, pouting. "But can we go get breakfast in the morning?"

"That's perfectly fine. Go play with your sister."

Reina hurries off after her younger sister, smiling brightly as he sighs and stands up. His wife rubs his arm, smiling. Rei gestures at the table they often sat and talked at.

"I'm sorry we leave them here so often," their mom offers sheepishly. "His work at the Commission has him all over the place and we'd rather the girls not get involved."

"I understand. They seem to have a lot of fun here, despite how Reina acts, and it's good for the kids to have friends outside of school."

"Exactly. How is she doing now that Enji is training her and Shoto?"

"Good, for the most part. I don't really go into the room while they're training, but Enji says they're progressing well. He sees her ranking relatively high in the future if she wants to be a hero."

"It's all she talks about honestly," he laughs, rubbing his wife's back. "It just sucks that it seems like Leinei isn't going to have a quirk. Which is odd, considering almost every member of our family has had a quirk since they were discovered. Reina was blessed with such an amazing one."

"I couldn't even imagine having a quirkless child in our family," Rei says, shrugging. "I think we would have to disown it."

"Well yeah, it would be weird if the hero Endeavor didn't have a successor in some way. We just don't have the luxury of trying again."

That Night…

"No she's sleeping in my room," Touya snaps at his mother as he crosses his arms over his chest. Rei sighs in exasperation, ushering the five year old Leinei into Shoto's room and closing the door. "I don't understand why he has to get his way on everything!"

"Touya, he's not getting his way on anything. Leinei and him are closer in age. He doesn't get to play with everyone else like you do. It'll be good for him to socialize with someone his own age."

"Dad's already given up on me, so you're trying to make her do the same! She's my little mouse! You can't take her from me too!"

"Touya! Stop it. She's spending the night in Shoto's room and that's final. You know you're not supposed to be here without permission or one of us present so go before you get yourself in trouble again."

Leinei fidgets as she stands by the door, having heard the argument outside and the angry stomp of Touya's foot before he walks away. Shoto was seated on his bed, eyes wide as he saw her standing there. She looks all around the room, seeing toys neatly placed into a chest, a closet partially open. Everything in the room was neat and organized, minus the small bedroll on the floor by the closet that she knew was for herself.

"I see you playing with Natsuo and the others," he says softly, not leaving his bed as she nods and moves to the small bed meant for her. "You're Reina's little sister."

"Mhm. Aunty Rei says I need to sleep in here because ReiRei is sleeping in Fuyu's room and Natsuo and Touchan are too old for me to sleep in their rooms."

"Oh, okay. I guess that's why the caretaker brought that roll in…"

"I didn't see you at dinner," she says, sitting down on it and crossing her legs. "Were you not hungry?"

"No, Father makes me eat before," he replies. "He said it has to do with protecting my diet or something. I'd rather just eat with everyone else though.."

"I think dinner would be more fun if you did!" she agrees, smiling. "We just had to listen to Natsuo and ReiRei fight most of the time."

"Why were they fighting?" he asks, concerned. "Are they okay?"

"Oh they always fight. The only one she's ever hit is Touchan."

"Why did she hit Big Brother Touya?"

"I dunno. I don't remember. Why don't you play with us? I only ever see you when Uncle Enji comes to take Reina upstairs."

"...he says he doesn't want me to get hurt playing with you guys because Big Brother Touya can be too rough. He said that I was in a different world or something compared to you guys…"

"Oh..well, I think you're in our world. I dunno why he would say that!"

"Me either. I don't like training all the time. I wanna play with you guys."

"Maybe you can play with us tomorrow! Before Uncle Enji gets up, we can go into the room and play!"

"Won't we get in trouble?"

"Nuh uh! We're supposed to play. And if Fuyu and ReiRei are there, what's the issue?"

"..promise I can come play with you guys?"

"Yeah! We'll have a lot of fun!"

His face lights up at the thought of playing with his siblings and their friends. He picks at a loose thread on one of his blankets as she messes with her pillow. After a minute or two of silence, he climbs off the bed and sits in the middle of the room.

"Wanna see something cool?" he whispers, glancing to the door as if his father or mother would overhear. Leinei nods slowly, her eyes wide as she shifts over to sit in front of him. "Father doesn't like me using my quirk for this stuff, but Mama showed me stuff we can do with our ice," he adds, holding his hand up and scrunching his eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, a small sculpture of a dog is in his hand, and he holds it up triumphantly to his new friend.

"Oh that's so cool!" she gasps, her eyes sparkling as his face flushes at the praise. "Can you do porcupines?"

"Porc..upines?"

"Yeah! They're my favorite animal," she says, her grin almost infectious. "We went to a zoo one time and the people there let me hold one and it was so spokey and spiny but it didn't stick to me or anything. Then Reina held it and poof!" She throws her arms wide, startling the young boy and him recoiling back at her display. "The spokey and spiny things shot everywhere! Reina was crying and crying and I felt bad but the people said that it happens sometimes and let us pick stuff out from the gift shop."

"Oh..that's cool. I can try to make one."

The Next Morning…

"Shochan," Leinei whispers, shaking his shoulder as she stands on her tiptoes. He groans and rolls over, pulling the blanket over his head. "Shochannn!"

"I wanna sleep," he whines, curling into a ball. "Go away.."

"So you don't wanna come play with us anymore? I already got Fuyu and Reina up.."

He slowly lowers the blanket so his different colored eyes poke out from beneath it. After a second's hesitation, he pushes the blanket off completely and climbs out of bed. Leinei takes his hand and pulls him out of the door, seeing Fuyumi and Reina down the hall. Fuyumi rubs her eyes but smiles sleepily seeing their siblings hurrying down.

"I woke up Touya and Natsuo too," Reina says, watching them nod. "We should all play together since we never get to see Lil Sho."

"I'm not little," he grumbles. She pats his head and they hurry to the play room before Rei and Enji could wake up. The other boys hadn't gotten there yet, so they let Shoto pick out a toy for them to play with while they waited. It was the same ball they always played with and that he'd seen them throw around a thousand times before. So they started throwing it back and forth, the look of anxious worry slowly ebbing from Shoto's face the more they threw the ball back and forth amongst the four of them.

At one point, the door opened again and Shoto and Leinei looked over to see who it was. The ball ended up smacking Shoto in the back of the head and bouncing towards the door after that as he crouched down and tried not to cry.

"No, no, don't cry, it's okay!" Leinei says, kneeling next to him as he holds his head where the ball hit him. "Reina gets hit with it all the time! I do too! It happens!"

"It hurt!"

"That's because Reina threw it," Natsuo laughs, coming over to check on his baby brother while Touya stays by the door. He bends over to pick up the ball, holding it tightly in his hands. He glared at everyone fawning over his youngest sibling, his lips screwing up as he saw Leinei hug him.

"You're okay," Reina says, having moved his hair a bit to check the spot for any signs of an injury. "The ball bounced right off."

"Of course it did, he has a hollow skull," Touya grumbles, getting Reina to look up as he throws the ball back at them. "He's doing it for attention."

"Nuh uh! It really hurt!" Shoto protests, tears still in his eyes to attest to it.

"Stop crying, you whiny brat. It's not always going to work for you to get your way like that."

"Touya!" Reina says, having caught the ball before it could hit one of the other kids. "That's not nice to say to your siblings!"

"Shut up. You're not even nice to your own sister."

"Yes she is!" Leinei protests, standing up from where she was kneeling next to Shoto. "Why are you being so mean, Touchan?"

His face flushes at the way she's staring at him, the sad yet accusing looking in her blue eyes. Don't…don't look at me like that. You said you would be my friend forever… Anger tightens his chest and he looks at Shoto, who's rubbing his eyes. Why? Why is everyone fucking leaves me for him?

"You're supposed to protect your younger sister and brothers," Leinei says. "Like ReiRei does for me! Why are you being mean to Shochan?"

"...You wouldn't understand. None of you do."

"What's going on here?"

All of the kids freeze up, seeing Enji standing in the doorway. His eyes glance over the scene, seeing Shoto crying on the floor with the kids around him and Touya standing off by himself. He sees red for a moment, Touya's face going pale as his father marches over to him and grabs him by the shoulders.

"What did you do to him?" he demands, shaking Touya once. The boy's blue eyes filled with tears. "Why is Shoto crying? What did you do!"

"I-I didn't do anything!" he stammers out. "He-he was like that when I came in! I didn't do anything!"

"Dad, he's right!" Fuyumi says, horrified as Enji looks over. "Lei, Reina, and I were playing ball with him. He wasn't looking and the ball hit him. That's why he's crying!"

"Yeah! Touchan didn't do anything!"

"I'm the one that threw the ball. I should've paid more attention to where it was going," Reina says, reaching for her sister's hand. "Touya and Natsuo just came in. We were all going to play together since Sho never gets to play with us."

Enji lets go of Touya, who hastily wipes his face and runs out of the play room. The man walks over to the other kids and scoops Shoto up, being a little rough as he checks the boy for bruises or any signs that might've suggested otherwise to their story. By this point, Rei had come in, clutching her chest.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Enji sighs in relief, hugging the boy tightly before glaring at the children. "He's not to play with you guys, especially not without us here. None of you even have a clue-"

"Enji," Rei says, her voice firm. "Not in front of the kids."

"He could've hurt-"

"Not. In front. Of the kids. I'll call Reina and Leinei's parents to come pick them up."

He says nothing, just carrying Shoto away. Leinei's shoulders slumps as the adults leave, glancing around at the older kids who seem to know what's going on better than she does. Natsuo walks over to the toy chest and picks out a car to start playing with, Reina not saying anything as she sits down. Leinei chooses to go after Touya, finding him in his room with the lights off and him curled up in the corner with his knees hugged to his chest.

"Go away," he says, having heard the door open and close. "I said go away-!"

He looks up and sees Leinei walking over to him. She sits down next to him and smiles, only to have him scowl and look away from her.

"Are you okay?"

"No. He always gets his way and I always get blamed when he doesn't," he grumbles. "Why was he even out of his room! He's not allowed to play with us."

"Well..he wanted to and I thought it would be okay if he did…"

"What, so he's gotten all of Mom and Dad's attention, now yours? You're leaving me now too? How great! He gets everything, like usual, because he's poor baby Shoto and Dad loves him the most because his quirk works with his body and he got both. It's crap."

She flinches at the hurt and pain in his voice, the way his eyes watered. She reaches over and hugs him, her small arms barely making it around his frail body. He makes no attempt to push her off, his bottom lip trembling.

"He just wanted to play with us…"

"You're the only one that listens to me," he murmurs, hugging her back after a minute. "Don't abandon me like Mom and Dad did…"

"I'm your friend forever!" she replies, smiling up at him. "I promised!"

"...that's right. We promised, huh?"

"Yup!" she nods her head for emphasis, her grin widening. He laughs as she can see one of her teeth missing to the side. "What's so funny!"

"You lost a tooth," he says, pointing to her mouth. "Did you put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy?"

"Huh? Ohhh!" She nods. "At home the other day. I fell really hard at the playground during recess and Mama told me to put the tooth under my pillow and I woke up and there was money!"

"Yeah, I did that too. I saved up all my money from it!" he boasts. "We could use it to run away when we're older."

"Or start our agency!"

"Ooh, we could do that," he nods, grinning at her. "What should we call it?"

"Umm…hmm..I dunno."

"I don't either. We can come up with names later."

"Yeah!"

Eight months later, right Before Christmas…

"Hurry up, Leinei!"

"I'm hurrying, I have little legs!" she whines, chasing after Touya in her thicker jacket and pants. The snow crunches under their feet as his mom and their siblings sit a little further away, the kids engaging in a snowball fight with Fuyumi and Reina ganging up on Natsuo. Their laughter and shrieks as the cold snow pelts them can be heard over the entire Todoroki estate.

"This way," he says, stopping to wave his arm above his head to get her attention, then dipping behind a tree. She follows suit, panting heavily with her breath hanging in misty clouds in front of her as she sees him sitting between the roots. She plops down next to him, her legs heavy and tired now.

"I have a present for you," he says eagerly, nearly bouncing up and down and looking at the way they came to make sure the others weren't following. "I know that the toy your parents got you at the zoo had gotten ruined."

"Yeah…I miss it…" Her shoulders slump at the thought. She couldn't find the toy the other night when she brought it over, despite it being set up in Fuyumi's room where Rei had relocated her overnight stuff after the whole Shoto being hit with the ball debacle. They had found it a few days later, completely ruined as if someone had ripped it apart. "I dunno why someone would do that…"

"Me neither, Little Mouse," he replies softly, despite the small smile he had at the way her eyes started to tear up. "But! But, guess what?" he adds, reaching behind his back. She looks up at him, only to have her eyes go wide as he pulls out a purple porcupine with glass beads for eyes. "I found a new one!"

"And it's a porcupine!" she gasps, her voice shrill with excitement as she grabs it away from Touya and hugs it tightly. "Thank you thank you!" she gushes, bouncing with the excitement a five year old would have. "Thank you, Touchan!"

"Anything for my Little Mouse," he says, tousling her hair before pulling her in for a hug. "You're my best friend."

"But..I didn't get you anything…" She replies, crestfallen as her shoulders slump.

"It's okay," he replies, shaking his head and tightening his hug around her. "You're the best present in the world. As long as we're friends, I don't need anything else."

Year and four months later…

"Touchan, Mama and Papa said I have to go on vacation with them," six year old Leinei whines, thirteen year old Touya pouting with his arms across his chest. "We're only going to be gone for a week. Then me and Reina will be right back here."

"Well, I don't want you to go! Who's going to listen to me? Who's going to pay attention to me? No one else does!"

"Natsuo and Fuyu do."

"No they don't."

"Touchan…I'll bring back lots of seashells and stuff. I promise!"

"..." He taps his foot irritatedly, but relents. "Fine. I don't care if you go. Can you guys take me?"

"Uncle Enji and Aunty Rei wouldn't let us."

"How do you know? They won't notice if I'm gone!"

"Touchan, this is a family vacation-"

"So I'm not your family?"

"..."

"Right. Leave me like everyone else. Go ahead." He glared at her. "See if I'm here when you're back."

"...why wouldn't you be here?" she asks, confused. "Are you guys going on your own vacation?"

"...just go, Leinei."

"I love you, Touchan."

"Yeah, sure you do."

A Week later…

"Stop touching me," Reina whines, pushing Leinei's hand away from her side in the backseat of their family car. "Mommm!"

"I'm not touching you!" Leinei replies, pouting. "You took the shell I found for Touchan! Mama, make her give it back!"

"I didn't take anything! Besides, it's just a stupid shell."

"It is not! It matches his eyes! I know he'll like it! Give it back!"

"Girls!" their dad yells, getting the two of them to quiet down as Leinei crosses her arms over her chest with a huff. Tears are pricking at her eyes as he sighs and shakes his head. Their mom chuckles.

"I think it's nap time when we get home."

"No," they both whine.

"I wanna go see Touchan and them," Leinei says, still pouting. "I found shells for Shochan too."

"I will call Aunty Rei when we get home to see if they're up to having guests," she assures, looking in the rearview mirror to smile at them. "But if not, you have to wait, okay?"

"Okayyy," she grumbles, looking out of the window. The car ride continues on for a few more minutes, their dad careful around the mountain curves and slowing down when appropriate for passing vehicles. One of the straighter stretches, their mom gets a phone call, playing a jingle from a tv show that both girls loved. Leinei perks up, seeing her answer it.

"Hey Rei, what-" She goes silent, her hand coming to her mouth. Their dad glances at her, confused but refocusing himself on the drive ahead. Reina looks at Leinei, who is now focused on their mom, a bad feeling twisting in her stomach as a small dull pain hammers into her head.

Why are my eyes starting to hurt..?

"Right…okay, I'm so sorry, hun," she whispers after a few seconds of listening. "I'm so sorry. We should be home soon and we'll be right over. How are the kids?"

"What's going on?" Leinei asks, leaning forward in her seat. "Mama?"

"Give me one second, LeiLei," she says softly, glancing at her daughter. "Okay, Rei. Just breathe. We'll be there soon. Okay. Bye."

She hangs up the call and takes a breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Leinei settles back into her seat, scared and worried at the now heavy tension laying in the car. The pain in her eyes and head is starting to increase, a small whimper of pain bleeding from her lips.

"Hey, Lei, Reina, there was an accident," their mom starts gently. "And Touya didn't make it."

Silence replaces the tension in the car. The bad feeling twisting in Leinei's stomach turns into the feeling of a sharp and sudden pained snap in her chest, knocking the wind out of the small child. Reina says nothing, just looking at her sister opening and closing her mouth like the fish they saw stranded on the beach during their vacation.

"Leinei? Are you okay?"

"I..I.."

She holds her head, clenching her eyes shut. The pain in her head keeps increasing, coming from a dull thud to a heavy pressure squeezing on all sides. Her eyes feel ready to pop out of their sockets. Reina reaches over and squeezes her shoulder.

"LeiLei?"

"My head, it hurts," she whimpers, shaking her head and nearly crying from the increase in the pain it causes. "Make it stop."

"Leinei, look at me," their mom says, getting the girl to look up. She starts bawling at the pain in her eyes from the sunlight coming through the windows. She starts screaming, begging for the pain to stop. The shrill noise startles their father, who looks back at his crying daughter through the rearview. All he sees before his eyes roll upwards are a pair of purple eyes replacing the usual blue ones she had. He slumps over the wheel, the car veering from the lane they were supposed to stay in. Their mother starts to panic, trying to wake him and correct the wheel at the same time as the loud horn from a semi sounds off from in front of them. Reina's trying to soothe Leinei in the backseat, her seatbelt off as she hugs her baby sister to her chest and rocks her back and forth.

Neither of the girls remember the jerk of the wheel and car, only the sound the wheels made and the sound of crunching and crumpling metal as their car hit the guardrail lining the steep drop to the left side of the road. Their mom was slumped over the dashboard, blood dripping from her hairline. Their dad was against the busted window, glass piercing his throat from the way he lay. Reina quickly covers Leinei's eyes so she didn't have to see, too in shock to do anything else. The semi had squealed to a stop, a man hopping out of the cab as a few cars behind them stopped and got out to see the carnage.

"Mama?" Reina whimpers, shifting with her sister still hugged in her arms to reach between the seats and prod their parents. She makes no sound, her eyes wide open and yet unseeing. There's the sound of metal on asphalt and rock, the car starting to creak from the small movement. Leinei couldn't stop crying, from the shock of what happened and the pain slowly ebbing away from her head as her quirk subsided for the first time.

Reina leaned back, the car creaking again. Leinei hugs her tightly and she winces, pain running up her side. She strokes her sister's hair, too scared to move beyond that in case the car decides to fully move over the side of the mountain with them in it.

"There's still kids in there!"

"Holy crap. Are they okay?"

"Someone call the emergency number!"

"They're not gonna make it before the car goes over."

Someone help us, Reina thinks to herself, burying her face in her sister's hair. Please. I don't want to die like this.

The car creaks further over the side and she tightens her hug on the girl. Reina tries to shush her, let her get some breath in her lungs. She tries to say they'll be okay, that help is coming, but it doesn't work. She can't even make herself believe the words leaving her mouth.

"Hey, hey, LeiLei," Reina murmurs, stroking her hair. "I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too, I wanna go home," Leinei replies, her voice hoarse as she sniffles and wipes her face on Reina's shirt. "I wanna go home…"

"I know, LeiLei."

The car creaks again, this time both girls feeling it as it jerks over the side, the tires being the only thing keeping it from completely falling. If this goes over, this is going to suck. Natsuo owes me money. I could use that to buy Leinei some soba. Yeah. That would be fun. We could go get soba.

Outside the car, there's a yell of surprise, crimson feathers streaking the sky and fluttering through the open window. Just as quickly as they came, they flit out, the car starting to even out long enough for one of the doors to open on the more stable side. Reina yelps as she's pulled out, some of the feathers pushing on her and Leinei as a hand grabs her shirt from behind. They fall onto the road in a heap, the car creaking before it falls over the side of the mountain.

"Are you two okay?" a passive faced boy asks, no older than Reina. Leinei is sobbing still, clinging to her sister as they hear the car slam into the side of the mountain and the metal crackling and folding under the weight of each roll. She manages to sit up, cradling her sister in her lap as she stares up at the boy who seems more empty than bored.

"I think so. I-I'm not sure. My-my parents-"

"They were dead before the car went over," he replies, his voice just as empty as his eyes. "The Commission sent me to tail your father until you returned home. Unfortunately I had to intervene."

"So you couldn't have stopped the accident?" Reina snaps at him, her chest heaving as her sister's sobs finally quiet into soft sniffles. "How wonderful. You can go to hell with the rest of them."

"The President was just trying to help. I can't help that your father lost control of the vehicle." He cocks his head. "The paramedics should be here soon."

Two weeks later…

"Welcome to your new home, girls," the Commission president says in a gentle voice, smiling at the still scared girls. Reina hides it with a face of false confidence, holding tight to her sister's hand despite the smaller girl cowering behind her sister. "I know you two have both been through a lot these few weeks. And we're here to ensure that your life moves a lot smoother from here on out. You'll each have your own rooms, and we will hire private tutors unless we see that you would do better in a public school. All that we ask is that you do your best to succeed."

"I wanna go home," Leinei whimpers, a muscle ticking in the older woman's cheek at the child's statement. "I want my mama and papa."

"Unfortunately they're no longer here, Miss Leinei. Now," she continues, pressing a button on the wall next to the door. It buzzes and slides open, the passive face boy from before walking in, crimson wings folded against his back as he holds an Endeavor doll under his arm. "This is your brother Hawks. Hawks, these are Reina and Leinei. They're your new siblings."

"I don't want new siblings, I wanna go home!" Leinei yells.

"Lei, shush," Reina scolds her, squeezing her hand a little tighter. "Nice to see you again, Hawks."

"Mmhm," he replies, nodding his head. His amber eyes are glued on the crying girl behind him, his head tilted. He walks forward, looking at Reina as she guides Leinei further behind her. "I'm not going to hurt her."

"Yeah and we don't know you."

"How can you expect to know me if you hide her? I'm not going to hurt her."

He crouches down and offers his plush to her, trying to coax the purple haired girl out from behind the redhead. Leinei looks at it, seeing the small dirt smudge on the Endeavor plush cheek.

"We know him," she mumbles, her voice still shaky. "He's our Uncle."

"That's cool. I wanna be just like him. I wanna help people."

"You..want to be a hero?"

"Yep. That's why we're here. So we can be heroes." He beckons her closer, the corners of his lips pulling back into a small smile. "And I'll tell you a secret," he whispers, putting his hand up to cover his lips so only she could hear. "Hawks is my hero name. My real fans call me Keigo."

"Kei..go.."

"Yup," he continues, nodding. "But you can't tell anyone. Our secret, okay?"

She nods slowly, blinking a few times at the boy's change in demeanor. Reina rolls her eyes and lets go of Leinei's hand, seemingly trusting the boy now.

"Do you have a hero name yet?"

"N-No, I just found out I have a quirk…"

"Hmm…" He tilts his head, seemingly thinking about it before a grin breaks out on his face. "What about Old Bay Lei!"

"That's a type of seasoning!" Reina protests, but it makes Leinei laugh. She can't even stay mad, relieved that her sister was showing an emotion besides terror and heartbreak. Keigo giggles alongside her.

"What about Lei Bay?"

"I like that. But I don't think it's a good hero name."

"Hmm…fine. Then it can be our name. Sounds good?"

"Uh-huh."

"Alright, you three," the President says, getting their attention. Keigo gets to his feet, dusting the knees of his jeans off. "Reina, Leinei, go get situated in your rooms. We recovered what we could from your house."

"Come on, Lei."

"Come on, Lei Bay," Keigo adds, each of the older siblings taking her hands. "I'll show you which things are good to eat here."