A Year Later - Timeline Current

'Cause I've been gone for a long time
Waiting on the sidelines
Hoping for a chance to play - Forget My Name by New Found Glory

My father stood, Kaiden in his arms, and made him wave bye-bye at us. I rolled my eyes and laughed, at three months, Kaiden only really cares about two things: being fed and being dry. My mom dropped a kiss on her grandchild before kissing dad and pulling me away from mothering Kai out into the mid-winter snowfall.

It wasn't too bad, especially this close to the bay, and I was really looking forward having a day off from being a mom. Plus it was almost my birthday again, and getting my mind off my last birthday was just what I needed. I linked arms with mom before flipping my scarf over my shoulder.

"Kaiden is such a sweet baby." Mom snuck me a sideways look, "He doesn't look a lot like his mommy."

"Is this going somewhere, mom?" I raised my brows, "Somewhere not nice?"

She shrugged, "He's a lovely baby. I just can't understand why I never met his father. I swear, I will never bring it up again if you just tell me something about him." Her brown eyes, twin to my own searched my face, " I know Kai-chan isn't a product of violence. So, please, for your mom, tell me."

I took a deep breath. The winter air, dotted as it was with snow, burned my lungs. I allowed my feet to carry me to the train station, a short walk from anywhere in our neighborhood. My brain racked itself for something that wouldn't point to me being an idiot or Dabi being a criminal. Finally I shook my head with a smile, "We were in love, yes. We were only together for a really short time, mom." I squeezed her hand, "I've told you that before."

"I don't mean to harp," she started. "It's just that the whole not talking about him at all, I don't even know his name! It's like you two met, slept together, and he fell off the planet!"

"I know his name, that's enough until Kai-chan is old enough to know." There was no way I could tell my mom she'd nearly guessed the whole story. Given a week, she'd have Dabi's shoe size. We walked silently for awhile, "Look, just forget it. I really want to go have birthday brunch, birthday shopping, and birthday pampering. Please?"

My mother acquiesced with her usual good grace, "Alright, honey. Your secrets are yours." She smiled, "And birthday pampering sounds good. I didn't know we were pampering."

I nodded eagerly, catching sight of the train station, "I think I need to cut it off." I pulled at my hair, letting the chestnut tendrils slide though my fingers. "Kai-chan pulls it unmercifully!" I laughed, sending foggy puffs out to dissipate on the slight wind. "And I could definitely use a massage."

"I'm not paying for that, am I? Is this my gift to you?" My mom's fake annoyance made me smile again as we bought our tickets to Shibuya station.

I passed though the stile and checked out the closest vending machines. There was one that served warmed coffees and teas in cans, and I could really use one to chase off the chill. Finding the right machine, my mother trailed behind me, already reaching into her purse to buy one, too.

"It's on me. The spa, too." I fed the machine, and selected a sweet coffee for me and mom's tea. "Tsuyu really came though this year." She was the only person from my class that I had any contact with. She sent me a gift card for some fancy thing every year that she said she didn't have use for. All tucked into a birthday card with her name scrawled under the greeting and 'Happy Birthday' under that. I suppose we weren't really friends anymore, not like we were. I was sure that I hadn't even phoned her when I had Kaiden.

Inwardly, I felt a bubble of disappointment, in myself and my lack of friendliness toward a person who still cared for me. Maybe it was my fault, though I had trouble relating to her or her life now. Froppy was well known in our area, and anywhere else that was fairly wet. I made a determination to call her private line, the number had been scrawled on last year's card, and try to rekindle our friendship. I did miss her.

We boarded the train, mom and I sitting next to each other, our drinks open and half gone already. I pulled my phone from my pocket and checked the contact list. There it was, under Tsuyu, just like I remembered, and I left it pulled up so that it would be the first thing I saw next time I looked at it.

Mom finished off her drink, tucking the empty into her purse so we could throw it away at the station. The time passed quickly, both because I was so excited to be going out, and because now that I was a mom, hanging out with my mom became a dual source of encouragement and friendship. When the train slowed and announced the station we were getting off at, I couldn't wait to have a great birthday day off for once.

The Shibuya train station was just as busy as I expected this close to Christmas, even with the lingering snowfall. Mom and I left the warmth of the underground and re-entered the cold beauty of a mid-winter's morning in the extravagantly decorated neighborhood.

We ate first, after climbing stairs and searching for the Miyamasuzaka street exit from the station. So many excellent restaurants, and most of them in this part of Shibuya won't break the bank. That part would come later! For now, we enjoyed the sake specials, and the warm atmosphere.

The snow let up, leaving slushy puddles and air that seemed to want to steal your breath. We must have hit every shopping outlet from the place where we'd eaten to the spa that Tsuyu had sprung for. I was loaded down with shopping bags of clothes and toys for Kaiden, and for myself. I patted my new Legato Largo purse, it was clearance, but still a lovely thing that was large enough to hold not only the things I needed on a daily basis, but stuff for the baby, too.

When I heard the crackling noise in the distance, I didn't think much about it. There was construction all over the district and would be for the foreseeable future. The spa I had been looking forward to for the last week and a half was still a long city block away. I hitched all my bags up, and continued walking with the flow of pedestrian traffic.

When that traffic began to run I turned around. When that noise that I had dismissed as construction became suddenly over loud, I screamed. Two people, villains, my fuzzy mind supplied unhelpfully, swung into view. A woman, sand trailing her like she'd brought along a sandbox, flung her hands out at what I assumed was the hero who I couldn't see. The sand whipped in the freezing air, and shot forward at a speed I almost couldn't follow.

The other grabbed at the sides of his head, and the building in the distance, the one where I desperately hoped a hero was hiding, began to crack, a thick line of broken masonry bisecting a corner. I saw him then, the hero, and it took my breath away.

"Mom!" I backed up, "Mom we need to run, that's..."

The sand villainess swiped her hands our way, and a wave of humanity scrambled for cover. I was pressed against the nearest building, my mother, thankfully, just a meter or so away, similarly clutching at a doorway to stabilize herself. Good enough. I looked up again, and mister mind-game looked right at me, it seemed.

A burst of searing flame hit the sand, sending molten droplets scattering into the crowd. The brick and concrete above me began to creak ominously, and I took a death grip on my purse, and sprinted toward my mom. Old instincts, long-buried, sprung into being just as the first blocks began to fall. I stretched out my hand, once again.

"Mom!" I felt my voice catch and crack as I ran. My fingers met the rock, sending the jagged chunk soaring. I didn't stop. I didn't think, I just felt. I dived toward her, she was staring in open-mouthed amazement. "Run! Ruuuunnnn-" Had I stopped to do as I'd been trained to do; to take in my surroundings, to not let personal attachments blind me to danger, maybe I could have avoided what came next. The rock I didn't see. The rock that slammed into my head.

Shoto

I yawned, pushing my arms above my head in a loose attempt to reinvigorate them. It was just a few days before Christmas, and dad had let me and most of the staff have the next couple of days off. Tomorrow I would go and stay with my mom and sister at the house, but as for today, I battled the twin demons of boredom and paperwork.

My personal phone rang, and I checked the caller ID, "Hey dad."

"I think one of your classmates was involved in a villain attack." I sat straight, all tiredness gone, "The one who dropped out? Maybe..."

I interrupted angrily while looking around for my hoodie, "Dropped out? You mean Uraraka?"

"Like I would remember?" Enji barked back, "Whoever she was, we're taking her and her mother and some other civilians to the hospital. She was injured. But managed to keep some others safe with her quirk until she got knocked out."

I was confused, "Uraraka lost her quirk, though. If she got it back..."

"Look," he paid me back by cutting me off, "That's all I know." He sounded tired.

"Fine. which hospital?" Enji supplied the name and I hung up, now too keyed up to do anything but leave and see who it was. If it was Uraraka, even now, there were things I needed to say to her.

I called down for our car service, and tucked my ID card into my pocket along with my wallet and my house key. I'd just go to the main house afterward. My mind was uncommonly scattered, and it was all Uraraka's fault.

The elevator dinged, and I stepped in, spending the admittedly short interval thinking about my old classmate. I'd not liked the way she'd left. I had meant to talk to her, to let her know how sorry I had been that I hadn't stopped that villain more completely , how I hadn't done anything correctly, and to apologize.

I left the building and stepping into the car, I ordered, "Red Cross Medical, Shibuya."

The rest of the car ride was silent except for the incidental noise of traffic and life happening all around. Yet, I was so keyed up, my mind working so hard, that all I could hear was white noise. The noise of my own insecurity facing Uraraka again. How I should have worked harder to be her friend. How I should have supported her, offered something... Though I had no idea what that could be.

I had been wracked with guilt for weeks after that incident. I clearly remembered when Ochaco had turned to me with terror in her eyes. Her voice wrought with disbelief, and all I could do was order an ambulance and touch her, all too briefly, on the arm. It hadn't been enough then, but I wouldn't be the same now.

If my father had hurt her, even by accident, I would be there for her. If another villain had managed to take something else away from her, I'd be there to give her whatever she needed. The fleeting thought of a childhood crush crossed my mind, and I tried to vanquish it. This was payback, I owed this to her.

When we finally arrived, I told the driver to just go on home, he'd done enough on a holiday weekend. Besides, I could find my own way home easily enough from here. I stopped in the lobby just long enough to buy a bouquet of holly and poinsettia to brighten her room, and to inquire which room was hers.

I walked the long hallways nervously. Apparently, Ochaco was in a coma, and they feared waking her since she'd gotten a severe head injury. I clutched the flowers to my chest and hurried to the elevators and the ICU.

The nurse's station was busy, green and blue scrubs rushing to and fro, phones and computers making noise and adding to the racket of the people in plain clothes. There were clusters of them, and I scanned their faces, looking for Ochaco's parents. When I spotted them, her father holding a woman with Ochaco's autumnal hair and a thick white bandage on her cheek, I quickly stepped forward.

"Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka?" A blue and a brown pair of eyes turned to me, "We met awhile ago if you recall."

The pair broke apart and I had a small shock. Not that it mattered much, but it seemed Ochaco had a sibling. A tiny baby was swaddled and tucked into Mr. Uraraka's arm. "Oh." Mrs. Uraraka's eyes lit up in recognition, "Right, you were in Ochaco's class, weren't you?" She shook her head, "I'm sorry, but how'd you hear that we were here?"

"My father is Endeavor."

"Please tell him thank you." Mr. Uraraka stuck out his hand, and I put my flowers on the floor by my feet before I clasped it, "I'm grateful both my girls are here. And thank you for coming to see Ochaco-chan." His eyes down turned, "She's in a coma, though. I'm sorry."

"It's me who's sorry." I looked at the child in his arms, "I didn't know Ochaco had a sibling."

"This is Kaiden." He said with a smile, "He's not mine. Kai-chan is Ochaco's son."

A doctor in slim glasses and black hair that brushed his shoulders came to a stop in front of us, "Mr and Mrs Uraraka? Can we speak privately?"

"Do you mind?" Mr Uraraka held the bundle that had started to blink bright blue eyes at me, "He's a very sweet baby."

"I've never..?"

Mr. Uraraka laughed, "There's a first time for everything..."

"Shoto," I supplied softly as he handed the baby to me. He gently positioned my arms and hands.

"Thank you, Shoto. We'll be right back."

I stared at blue eyes that were almost my shade, and smiled at a tiny face that was burbling , his little fingers reaching forward. I snaked my hand around and let him grasp my finger. I couldn't help the lump that rose in my throat. Ochaco didn't need me anymore, but at least I had this chance to hold her baby.

I rocked him for the next fifteen minutes, just talking softly to a little face that I felt like I'd known all my life. When Ochaco's parents came back, and I gave Kaiden back to his grandfather, I didn't know why, but my heart lurched. I scooped up my flowers and handed them to Mrs. Uraraka.

"If it's alright, may I stay here for awhile?"

AN/ Legato Largo is a Japanese designer purse label. Not my taste, but I know a lot of women who'd love it. *has a small Pokemon purse* Thank you for your reviews, they really make me happy! Marika, sorry! I'm doing Bound in Copper which teams them up, but it's a complete AU. You could try it? *nudge/wink* A big thanks to Dreams who looked this over for me.