Tohru groaned as she returned to consciousness, drawing the sound out for longer than was needed. Everything was bright, even behind her eyelids, and the room smelled clean. But that sort of too clean that came from bleach and antiseptic. A hospital. She almost groaned again. "Did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"
"She's awake," a voice said to the side of her. Several slow blinks and the blurry image resolved itself into Natsuo, who had tucked himself into a too small chair at her bedside. He was on the phone; logic dictated that Miku was likely on the other end. "Yeah, just now. No, no, get the snacks still. You know how she gets."
Definitely Miku, then.
Natsuo hung up his phone before folding his arms across his chest and watching her. "Well?"
"Well what?" Tohru asked blankly, slowly shuffling herself against the pillows and into more of a sitting position. It was hard to place what was injury and what was stiffness from lying prone.
Natsuo's expression soured and she was reminded that he was, in fact, an older brother even if he never got the opportunity to act as one. "I heard from Shouto—"
Tohru sat up straighter, ignoring the protesting pop of her back. "You talked with your brother?" She asked, unable to stop the smile spreading across her face. "That's great! You— wait. Is he here? Him and his friends? Are they okay?"
Natsuo huffed, keeping his expression stern. "Don't try to change the—" But she was looking all concerned now and he knew she wouldn't focus on anything else until her questions were answered. Amazing how Shouto could still get in the way of things, even without being present. "They're fine. Well, as fine as can be expected. Better than you." Here he gave her another sour look and Tohru didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. "They couldn't be released until the police spoke with them." Natsuo put his chin in his hand. "They'll probably be in here eventually. Shouto and his friends, I mean. Not the police. Amazing how you can make everyone worry about you, even after meeting you once."
"It's a gift," Tohru nodded, looking pleased with herself. Natsuo rolled his eyes.
"Return it," he grumped, "Or at least stop getting yourself in situations where people need to worry."
"You talk like this happens all the time." Tohru frowned.
The door to the room opened, revealing Miku and her plastic convenience store bags held with the crook of an elbow. "This is enough , thank you."
Tohru sank back against her pillows as if they could hide her from Miku's wrath. They couldn't and Miku stalked forward, pausing only long enough to pass her bags over to Natsuo. He took them easily and began to rifle through them, even as Miku stared down their injured friend.
"What were you thinking?" She demanded, hands on her hips, pretty face marred with anger and disappointment and fear. Miku put on a good front, having shoved all her irritation to the forefront, but her eyeliner was smudged, she was still in the clothes Tohru had seen her in when the blonde had left to first catch her train, and Natsuo's jacket sleeve was crumpled in the spot Miku always held onto when nervous. Tohru felt guilt settle heavy in the pit of her stomach.
"I wasn't…" Tohru answered slowly at the same moment Miku exclaimed:
"You weren't!" Miku paced the length of the hospital bed several times before she sat, dropping down onto the side of the bed by her friend and suddenly looking exhausted. "You can't keep doing this."
Miku's voice was so quiet that it knocked out Tohru's will to argue that this had been the first time this had happened since she'd tussled with that mugger on their second year school trip.
"I thought this is why you left U.A., that you didn't want to keep getting hurt."
"It's not…" Tohru began lamely, unsure of what to say. "It wasn't on purpose."
"That's worse," Natsuo said, speaking up for the first time since he was handed the bags of snacks. "Where's your self-preservation?"
Tohru frowned, half a scowl and half a pout. "Was I just supposed to ignore the monster that crashed through the train's roof and started smashing heads?"
That had been the wrong thing to say.
Miku's eyes widened as she stared at Tohru, eyebrows almost reaching her hairline in shock and surprise. "There was a what ?"
"Uh…"
The door to her room swung open, sparing Tohru from continuing. The green haired boy and the one with the glasses calling himself Ingenium stopped in the doorway, lingering and unsure as they found the room occupied with other people. Shouto, on the other hand, continued in as blithely as if this had been his own house.
"Sorry to interrupt," the green haired boy— Midoriya, Tohru remembered belatedly— said as he and the other, taller boy entered the room as well. "We were hoping to speak with you before…" he trailed off, taking in the extent of Tohru's injuries.
Tohru didn't consider her own injuries all that terrible, considering her two impromptu brawls, but the three of them had walked away with wounds that only needed bandages and had likely expected the same from her.
"I don't understand," the bespectacled one— Iida. And surely he must be related to the actual Ingenium, Tohru thought; they looked alike— frowned, non-bandaged hand reaching up to adjust his glasses. "You hardly seemed injured when you left. Did something else happen?"
"Yeah, Tohru," Natsuo egged, not so subtly moving the snack bag away from his brother. "What could have happened?"
Tohru fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Hush, you." To the two boys she answered: "I overused my Quirk. I'm out of practice and haven't had support gear for years. The rebound was more than I anticipated."
Midoriya's already round eyes went rounder still. "Todoroki-kun was right." A pause and an unreadable expression. "Well, sort of."
"Told you so," Shouto said, looking pleased with himself.
"What?" Tohru asked, visibly confused, at the same moment Miku commented "You're being awfully open with them."
Tohru shrugged, reaching up to run a hand through her hair. It was finally the proper color, all the pale brown and pink dye gone to reveal her natural sunshine blonde. She had to bite back a wince at the feel of it though; she'd need a long shower once she was released, both to finally feel clean again and to remove the lingering smell of the hospital. "They saw me throw a dumpster at a man, I think I should be open with them lest they come to their own conclusions and Hero kids can come to some weird ones if left alone."
"Some of us already have," Iida murmured, sparing a glance at Shouto.
"That sounds like something I should ask about," Tohru began but when Shouto opened his mouth to answer she continued, "But I won't. Maybe later, but I'm still on pain killers and don't want to think that hard."
Shouto seemed to deflate a bit, shown only in the subtle fall of his shoulders, and Tohru made a mental note to remember to actually follow up on the comment. It seemed important to him. She sighed, shifting to reach for the water glass on her bedside table. Miku intercepted, picking up the glass first and handing it to her before she could move much.
Despite not knowing how long the water had been sitting there, it was cool as she drank and Tohru was forced to acknowledge how dry her mouth actually was.
The teenagers had managed to wrest the snack bag away from Natsuo, at least enough to gain some snacks for themselves, and seemed to be settling in to hang around. Tohru couldn't blame them, even if it must be somewhat awkward for the two unfamiliar with her, but the alternative was what? Being cloistered in their own hospital room? They were teenagers who had just been through a harrowing experience. Tohru had to imagine they didn't want to be alone, even if they didn't realize it themselves.
Come to think of it, why was she so calm about the whole ordeal?
"Ah!" Iida jolted suddenly, bringing the attention to him as he clutched his pilfered snack to his chest.
"What?" Midoriya began, near babbling in his surprise. "Is it your hand? Should I get a nurse?"
"This isn't right," Iida continued, gesturing fast enough that his snacks nearly went flying. " We should have brought something for you . This is terrible visiting etiquette!"
"He's right," Shouto nodded solemnly as Midoriya deflated, his panic for naught. The youngest Todoroki produced his cell phone— and Tohru had no idea where he had been keeping it. "Endeavor should still be nearby. We can send him on an errand." Something like a smile ghosted across Shouto's lips at the thought of his father having to shop for produce in full Hero regalia and be nice to the coupon moms. "If you sound sad in the background you might even get a melon."
"No!" Both Natsuo and Tohru shouted in unison. Tohru gestured with the hand holding her water glass and slopping enough of it out and into the floor that Miku had to refill it. Natsuo smacked the phone from his brother's hand with enough force that it dropped to the floor and skittered under the bed.
"Rude," Shouto said flatly, looking at his now empty hand.
"Don't bring Endeavor in here. What's wrong with you?" Natsuo grumbled, but at Miku's sour look he got up from the chair to retrieve his brother's phone.
"I can't face that intense disappointment, even if it's not really for me. He's just got this...resting disappointment face. Like if my mother-" Tohru choked on her newly refilled water, sputtering it all down her front as she coughed. She'd realized something as she'd gone to take another drink. Tohru had no idea where her purse was. That was concerning enough for a number of reasons but the one causing an alarm to sound in her head was that her own phone had been in her bag. Had her mother called? Did she know where Tohru was?
"Oh shit. "
"What?" Miku asked, taking the glass from her with one hand and lightly patting at her back with the other. "What happened?"
"I haven't— I don't know where my phone is— Tell me you haven't talked to my mother."
Now it was Miku's turn to look guilty. The look passed quickly, replaced with indignation. "You were unconscious in the hospital."
"She doesn't need that," Tohru sighed, dropping back against her pillows and rubbing her face. "She has enough on her plate without needing to worry about me."
"That's not how being a parent works, Ru-ru." Miku said, her pretty mouth soured into a frown. "But I am sorry that I worried her. It just felt wrong to wait for you to wake up and I couldn't lie to her when she called after not being able to get ahold of you."
"Should we…" Midoriya began, gesturing vaguely to the door and glancing between the two women.
"No." Tohru answered, snappish. She sighed, lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, and tried again. "No, you don't have to go if you don't want to."
"Ru-ru," Shouto repeated, mostly to himself, the ghost of amusement on his face.
The blonde woman glowered but said nothing, turning her attention back to Midoriya. "Besides, I want to hear more about your Quirk. You said it was similar?"
"Well," the boy began, looking a little embarrassed, "Todoroki thought so and from your explanation earlier I suppose they do. In-so-much as enhanced strength and unfortunate rebound. I'd be interested in learning if you could do anything to prevent that. Did you go to U.A.? Was there special training or support gear? I'll admit that I haven't looked much into support gear yet but I suppose-"
He continued speaking slowly picking up speed and Tohru blinked owlishly as she tried to process what was being said. Natsuo already looked lost and though Miku was nodding she kept glancing in her friend's direction as if checking to see if Tohru was understanding.
"Wait, wait. You're going too fast." Midoriya's mouth shut so fast that his teeth made an audible click, color rising in his cheeks and on his ears. Tohru frowned, not liking that reaction one bit. "I just mean I'm going to need a second to process all that. Uh, let's see. Yes, I went to U.A. but I don't think that matters much because I can only talk about the support gear I used. Um, special training?" She drummed her fingers on her lap as she considered. "Not really? Just a couple activities that were recommended to my mother after my Quirk, er, manifested somewhat unexpectedly."
"Unexpectedly?" Iida repeated, arching an eyebrow.
"Well," Tohru scratched idly at a cheek as she considered her next words. "I suppose it actually emerged when it was supposed to, just...subtly. So there for a while it was just assumed I was Quirkless and prone to injuries. But eventually," she made a vague gesture, "That was proved wrong."
"Is that typical?" Shouto asked with a glance over at Midoriya. Iida seemed to be nodding to himself, muttering about another classmate and yelling at the start of the year. Midoriya fidgeted in his seat. "With enhanced strength Quirks?"
"Ehh," Tohru shrugged, "Maybe? I'd imagine that it would still vary from Quirk to Quirk. For example my Quirk is technically always 'on' and I had to work a lot on not just, you know, breaking things. I'm sure not everyone has that problem."
"But did they help?" Midoriya asked, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. "Those things you tried?"
"I believe," Iida began, gesturing with an arm as he spoke. "What Midoriya-kun is asking is if you have any advice on maintaining, er, his bones intact. While I know little of how his Quirk works it seems as if when he uses it in combat he's prone to, if you'll forgive the phrase, going full throttle and injuring himself."
"Maybe you're the true Hand Crusher," Shouto commented, referencing what Tohru thought must be some sort of inside joke.
"And the school hasn't offered anything for you?" Miku asked, eyebrows raising toward her hairline. "Even my high school offered accommodations for Quirk trouble."
"Er," Midoriya colored again, fidgeting with his fingers. "I haven't exactly spoken with any teachers about it. I suppose I… keep forgetting? I'm a, uhm, late bloomer myself. In fact I think I'm still listed as Quirkless on most paperwork outside of school. So I'm not used to… asking for Quirk accommodations."
"Hm," Tohru chewed on the inside of her cheek. There were several things she'd like to ask about from that information. Had none of the teachers noticed themselves? The other students? The nurse? Super Strength was a dangerous Quirk to come into late and Tohru wasn't surprised the kid was hurting himself because of it. "So-"
"Tohru!"
The woman in the doorway could only be Tohru's mother. They looked nothing alike in coloration- Tohru blonde and blue eyed, and her mother's pale brown hair just beginning to go grey- but they had the same shape to their eyes, to their face. The tension in the older woman's shoulders visibly dropped when she saw her daughter awake and largely whole and unmarred; but she lingered in the doorway, dabbing at her eyes with the tissue in her hands.
"I had hoped… When the announcement broke, I had hoped that you would just evacuate. But I knew somehow you'd end up involved. You're just like—" She shook her head, taking the tissue in her hand and folding it over in her hands. "You've always charged head first into whatever was in your way when it came to helping people."
"And sometimes just in general," Natsuo muttered under his breath. Tohru shot him a sour look but didn't dare argue with her mother present and already upset.
He was referring to their first meeting, outside of tutoring, when Tohru had needed to get through a crowd of students milling around the hallway and had simply settled for barrelling her way through. Like a bull in a china shop. She'd smacked headlong into the bulk of him and, nearly a month later when he'd found out about her Quirk, laughed until he wheezed at the thought of how differently that meeting could have gone.
"We'll give you two some time," Miku said, patting Tohru's arm before she stood and began to herd the others toward the door.
"Just a moment," Tohru's mother called, stopping the group before they could leave. She moved from where she had moved further into the room to bow to Miku and Natsuo. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, all this time. I know it can't be easy but you're the closest thing to family she has here."
Natsuo, ears red, scratched at the side of his face as Miku returned the bow and insisted that the woman needn't worry. He reached out, putting a hand on Shouto's head and made the younger boy bow with him. "I think we should be the ones thanking you. Your daughter has, well, she's done a lot for me. I know my sister appreciates having her around and this guy's starting to, too."
"She made soba once," Shouto added, deadpan and unhelpful. "It was terrible."
"Stop talking like I'm dying!" Tohru interrupted, scowling over from her hospital bed. "It's rude ." A pause and Tohru's head snapped over to face Shouto. "What do you mean terrible?!"
Something had happened in the time between Tohru going to visit her mother and the time she had returned to the bar. Something that wasn't the dumpster fire that had been her stop in Hosu City. Tohru repressed a shudder at the memory; she still worried that she smelled like the hospital, even though she'd been free from it for days. This was a something that might actually be a good thing.
There were people in the bar when she arrived. People aside from Kurogiri, Shigaraki, and Mr. Compress. Occasionally Magne as well, but her appearances at the bar seemed to be so sporadic it almost wasn't fair to count her in the lineup of usual faces.
There was a man at the far end of the bar, all in black, with multiple face piercings and the most questionable tattoos she'd ever seen. Were they tattoos? Tohru couldn't tell from this distance. At one of the few tables in the place, near the middle of the room, sat another man; his Quirk giving him a lizard-like appearance. He was working seriously on… something with several boxes and bags on the floor beside him. Something that seemed to involve duct tape and too many knives. Near the middle of the bar was a girl still in her high school uniform swinging her legs idly and chatting excitedly at Kurogiri, who might have looked vaguely trapped behind the bar.
"What did you do?" Tohru asked from the doorway, still too surprised by the additional customers to make a protest about the underage girl. "Raid another bar and kidnap their customers?"
A laugh she recognized as Shigaraki's drew her attention and the man himself entered the bar from the door that led to the upstairs portion of the building. "Don't be ridiculous, Miss Love and Kindness. Everyone here is here willingly." A pause. "For now."
"What?" she asked, squinting.
"Nevermind all that," Shigaraki insisted, waving a hand before dropping it onto her shoulder (save for his pinky, the weirdo) and herding her towards the kitchen. "The point is we have new members, so why don't you make us something to celebrate?"
"A cake!" the blonde girl exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air in excitement. "With lots of strawberries!"
"A cake," Shigaraki agreed, far easier than he should have. "I'll even help you out."
"I-You-What?" Tohru stammered, completely flabbergasted. "You can cook ?"
"How rude," Shigaraki frowned, sounding as if he was legitimately offended. "I'll have you know I make the best cup noodles in all of Kamino."
"Oh god ." Tohru threw a pleading look to Kurogiri but the man did nothing as Shigaraki ushered her into the kitchen.
"What was that?" the black-clad man asked as soon as the kitchen door swung closed. "Your pet civilian?"
"Listen here," Kurogiri began, voice like a growl and smokey body flickering in annoyance. For once he seemed to be pulling on all the intimidation that came with his near-formless body. "Laugh and joke all you want but not a word to her on what we're truly doing. We need something to give us a veneer of legitimacy, and I will not have you chase away the only person stupid enough to wander in here unbidden and stay."
"I'm going to tell her," Twice said, head and shoulders appearing from under the bar with a bottle of alcohol he'd been rummaging for held aloft as if it were a trophy. He sat the bottle on the countertop in front of him, not even bothering to straighten back to his full height. "Don't you dare."
"So, you do have a pet," Dabi chuckled dryly. "Picked up a stray like a back alley cat. Does she have a bell?"
"Uh huh. And what's she really like? How long is her rap sheet? How many murders is she wanted for?" Toga demanded, putting her hands to her cheeks as she imagined. "I bet she's a real killer when she gets angry."
"In a manner of speaking," Kurogiri replied, neutral expression returning. Though there was still a stiff line to his shoulders. "She did manage to put a Nomu down on her own."
"No way," Toga breathed, eyes suddenly filling with admiration. One could almost see the sparkles coming off her.
"Uh huh, that's our Ms. Love and Kindness," Shigaraki said. He'd slunk out of the kitchen to join the conversation, still holding a carton of eggs; half of them were broken. "I'll admit, it was impressive. Imagine if we could flip her to our side."
"So," Spinner began, speaking up for the first time. He gestured from Shigaraki to the kitchen door and back with one of his many knives. "What does she think is going on here?"
Shigaraki picked through the egg carton in his hands, flipping an egg shell in the general direction of the bar. "A theme bar."
Dabi snorted, choking back a sound that might have been a bark of laughter. "You're shitting me."
"She's an NPC," Shigaraki continued, nonplussed, "So remember that."
" Where are the eggs?" Tohru said, audible from the kitchen even with the door closed. Shigaraki cackled, overly amused, before slinking back into the kitchen.
"Kurogiri took them."
They heard Tohru snort as the door swung closed again. "Yeah, I believe that."
The kitchen door swung open roughly fifteen minutes later, this time revealing a very frazzled looking Tohru. She made for the bar, saying nothing, as she brought up a glass from under the bar and took the bottle from Twice. She filled the glass, handed it back to him and then began to drink directly from the bottle itself.
Kurogiri made a motion as if to speak and Tohru held up a finger to stop him. It was several more drinks before she spoke, "That man is a menace. Never again." One more long drink before the bottle was returned to the counter, half empty, and Tohru swung around to return to the kitchen. "Shortcake shouldn't be an ordeal! I swear, if anything happened to those strawberries…"
"Concerning," Kurogiri muttered as the kitchen door swung shut again. "Please refrain from self medicating in the future. While on the clock."
Tohru grumbled at him from behind the door.
"What are you even drinking?" Dabi asked, leaning a bit across the bar to see the bottle.
"Strawberry schnapps," answered Twice. "Oooh, twenty proof."
"Lame," Dabi scoffed.
Roughly thirty seconds after Tohru returned from the kitchen, Shigaraki was removed from it; stumbling slightly as if he had been shoved. He straightened his shirt, still very clearly coated in flour, and took his seat at the bar. "Now, let's talk business."
Dabi arched an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
A while later the bar was empty save for Tohru and Kurogiri, cleaning the glasses and polishing the bottles. Kurogiri seemed to have a thing about keeping the bar spotless even if the bottles didn't see much use. Then again, Tohru thought, what else was there for him to do? The man always seemed to be in or around the place and, while babysitting Shigaraki was likely a full time job, what else was there to do regarding the business?
"So, where did you find them?" Tohru asked, finally voicing the question that had been bothering her.
"Hm?"
"The new, uh, clients? Potential regulars? Shigaraki said they came willingly but we're… a bit hard to find. I know I was absent for a while but Shigaraki always seems excited about finding someone new I think he would have mentioned it. He seems bad at keeping secrets."
"Hmm," Kurogiri grumbled, almost sounding annoyed. He produced a bottle from under the counter and placed it right by him within arm's reach. Tohru didn't recognize the label. Odd. She'd pegged Kurogiri as a wine man. "Most of them came from off the streets."
"I suppose that makes sense," Tohru murmured, though she continued to stare inquisitively at Kurogiri. The shape of his eyes had softened from thoughts of recollection to that of...resignation.
"Spinner and Toga Himiko came from the streets-"
"Is it even legal for Toga to be here?" Tohru interrupted. She wanted to stay angry about a high schooler hanging around a bar…but…what exactly had Kurogiri meant by streets? Spinner didn't seem much younger than Tohru herself, though admittedly his Quirk made it more difficult to judge his age. It made her hackles raise, such young people in conjunction with the word 'streets'.
"Toga Himiko is... part of a...program. Yes, program. We're...giving her valuable life experience." Kurogiri began, bringing her attention back to the conversation at hand. He gave an irritable sigh, as if a new weight had been added to his shoulders. And, much to Tohru's surprise, Kurogiri popped the cork of the nearby bottle and took a swig before continuing his thought.
"Dabi was a bit of a...he sought us out at the same time we heard rumors about him. I'm still-"
"Didn't you just scold me for self-medicating while on the clock?" Tohru shot, putting her hands on her hips in a mirror of the 'I'm disappointed in you' gesture Miku so often employed.
"I am always on the clock," Kurogiri responded coolly, "Allow me this one vice." He paused for another drink before sighing heavily. Not, I suppose, that it makes a difference but the action itself can be cathartic."
Tohru blinked, tilting her head as she puzzled through the implication. "You can't get intoxicated?" The man said nothing, returning to cleaning and Tohru wondered if she had ever seen him drink anything before this moment. "I suppose that makes you an excellent bartender."
"The bar will be more occupied as Shigaraki Tomura's game begins to form," Kurogiri placed the last polished glass back to its proper place before using the towel to clean his hands. "I will remind you that you only need to do your job. You are not required to befriend these people."
The corners of her mouth twitched and Tohru was unable to stop the grin from spreading across her face. "Are you worried about me, Kurogiri?"
The dapper man harrumphed, turning to disappear into the kitchen. "I simply do not wish to refamiliarize another person with the business. You are dismissed."
