Happy New Year everyone! I'm sorry this chapter update is closer to the evening than an afternoon; I needed more sleep than I thought I would to recover from saying goodbye to the awful year that was 2020. I hope this first day of the new year finds you happy and safe, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 3: Cherished

"You think it's time to take a break there, Icy Hot?"

"I'm fine," Shouto insisted, jerking his head sharply to brush away Bakugou's concern. They'd come so far in just a few days. Just a little further and Bakugou might be able raise the back of his hospital bed more than 30 degrees. Shouto didn't like the small, defeated flicker in Bakugou's eyes when he'd realized he couldn't even sit up properly.

"Todoroki." Thick, calloused fingers settled over Shouto's slim, pale digits. Shouto lifted his heterochromatic gaze to meet surprisingly soft crimson eyes. "Take a break before I force the issue."

Shouto didn't fight it when Bakugou lifted his hand away from the injury he'd been so focused on. "Hey, Deku! Did you grab some soda?"

Shouto turned, dropping into the chair beside Bakugou's bed as he did so. He relaxed his shoulders and tried to make it look like his legs hadn't just given out on him.

Midoriya beamed his way into the room and thrust an unnaturally green melon soda against Shouto's chest. "Kacchan said you were working too hard today. I grabbed these from a vending machine on the way up."

"Thank you." Shouto's fingers curled around the cool glass before he could even think of refusing. A break…might not be the worst thing.

"Did you even actually go home, Deku?" Bakugou ground out, snatching the ginger soda from his husband and pulling him down for a kiss.

"I did!" Deku promised. "My hair's still wet from the shower." He lifted Bakugou's left hand and pet his head with it.

Bakugou's hand slipped to the curve of Midoriya's cheek and the pad of his thumb brushed the sensitive skin beneath Midoriya's expressive eyes. "Did you sleep?"

Midoriya pressed his face into Bakugou's hand. "Some. I didn't like not having you there."

"I'm gonna be fine, dumbass." There was too much affection in Bakugou's tone for his words to have the gravity he probably meant to imbue them with.

Midoriya pressed smiling lips to Bakugou's fruitless grumble and Shouto drank deeply from his soda. When he lowered it again, the bottle was almost empty.

"See? Didn't I tell you your body needed to recharge?" Bakugou scoffed and looked back to Midoriya while gesturing to Shouto.

"I'm not sure this one even went home. The two of you are so fucking stubborn. I asked him to take a breather twice before I texted you to bring soda."

"I'm fine." Shouto let the cool rim of the soda rest lightly against his lips.

Bakugou growled low in his throat. "I thought Deku would have to scrape you off the floor and I'd be stuck with a much more annoying healer."

Shouto's eyebrows lifted into his bi-colored bangs. "You mean a healer who would let you get away with over-exerting yourself?"

"Tch. You're not setting a shining example." Bakugou crossed his arms, but his glower remained in place. He looked pointedly at Midoriya. "You're going home early tonight. No, I don't want to hear it. You need actual rest and food. And you…" Todoroki almost fumbled the bottle of his soda when the full weight of Bakugou's ire settled over him. "You definitely need to go home. Stretch or something. Your soulmate is either a saint or you're seriously neglecting them."

Shouto jerked the tips of his fingers back from the scar across his right wrist. He had to stop reaching for it when he was nervous or sad. It was such an obvious tell… "Fuyumi isn't thrilled, but I'm an adult now, and she respects my career commitments."

Midoriya's brows folded together. "Fuyumi? Isn't she—"

"My sister, yes." Shouto stood and set his empty soda methodically into the bin in the corner of the room. When he turned around, he swiped his bangs aside with a gesture he hoped looked unbothered. Why was he giving out his cover story so easily? Neither Midoriya or Katsuki had pressed him. "My soulmate bond is platonic."

Midoriya's pale lips dropped into a surprised "O".

"Shit, man. I'm sorry you didn't get to see your real soulmate's name before…" He gestured at Shouto's wrist. "Whatever the hell that was."

"Kacchan!" Midoriya scolded. "Not everyone has a romantic soulmate bond, and not everyone wants one."

"Still it's going to make it harder if he ever did fall for someone," Bakugou argued.

"I can still feel my bond. I don't need a name to know who it is," Shouto murmured. His knuckled pressed hard into the sore spot on his chest. "If anything changed I would know it."

"Does it still hurt?" Midoriya's eyes were focused on Shouto's wrist again.

Every minute of every day.

"No," Shouto replied rotating his wrist so the scar was more visible. "I told you it just looks bad. It healed up five years ago."

Midoriya frowned. His fingertips reached out for Shouto but stopped halfway there and hung in the air over Bakugou's chest. "But your hand trembles sometimes…"

"That might be the nerve damage," Shouto murmured.

"Nerve damage?!"

"He said it was a third-degree burn, Deku! Of course there's nerve damage; just like the burn on his face! Are you trying to tell me you sparred with him all those times in school, and you never noticed?"

"I wasn't aware you knew, Bakugou," he replied, turning to face his patient. "What gave me away?"

Bakugou shrugged. "I paid attention in our anatomy and injuries classes. You blink a little slower on your left side. Also your smile is tilted, but just a little."

"I'm impressed," Shouto murmured.

A cocky smile spread across Bakugou's face. "The tiniest details can be the deciding factor in any fight. Todoroki's nerve damage is subtle, but it's there." He looked to his left and flashed his teeth at his husband. "Your slipping Deku."

"You only got two things wrong," Shouto continued.

The smirk fell off Bakugou's face like water. "Two?"

Shouto nodded. "First my nerve damage doesn't impair my quirk, or my vision. The impact on my movement is negligible, so it doesn't affect my ability to fight."

"But your wrist is shaky; Deku just said—"

"I couldn't be a surgeon, but my grip strength is the same on both hands," Shouto countered.

Bakugou crossed his arms across his chest. "And the other thing?"

"This," Shouto tapped the skin close to his left eye, "Is a scald, not a burn. Burns are caused by dry heat."

"Huh..." The expression on Bakugou's face wasn't quite a scowl, but the curl of his lip told Shouto he was irritated.

"They're not important details. Your pro hero pride can remain intact." Shouto had meant the remark to be teasing, but Bakugou didn't seem to have heard it. An intense crimson gaze flickered between Shouto's face and his wrist.

"Is there a difference in the scar tissue?"

"A little, but that's more to do with the intensity, duration, and range of the source of heat on the skin." Shouto held his wrist out to his old schoolmate and nodded when Bakugou's eyes flicked up to his. "Go ahead, feel for yourself."

Bakugou's fingers curled around the back of Shouto's wrist and he pressed his thumb lightly into the damaged flesh. Shouto felt the tremor that ran through his arm this time. It's not that he didn't know they happened, but they weren't important. He couldn't fix them, and they didn't materially interfere with his life. They just weren't worth the attention.

"Does that hurt?" Bakugou's words came out in a low murmur; it almost sounded like an apology.

"No."

The fingers of Bakugou's other hand lifted and traced along the skin of Shouto's forearm until they reached the scar. "How much do you feel?"

Shouto closed his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate, but the light tickle against his skin left him dizzy.

No.

That can't be right.

He probably was a bit dehydrated.

Shouto let his eyes flutter open and he leaned against the side of Bakugou's hospital bed. It was a small gesture; he doubted the others would notice. He wished he had more melon soda to drink.

"Todoroki," Midoriya cut in; he was sitting on the other side of the hospital bed, his hip nestled close against Bakugou's. A casual intimacy. "You don't have to."

"It's fine." Shouto's reply was automatic, but it wasn't a lie. "The nurses love to use me as an example for new staff. It's a good learning opportunity." He turned back to Bakugou, trying to force his mind into lecture mode. The level of sensation was a common question. "I can feel everything outside the scar tissue normally. The lip of this scar here," he pointed with his free hand, and Bakugou's thumb ran the length of the jagged circle, "is completely numb."

"You can't feel this?" Bakugou's fingers danced along the edges. Shouto couldn't feel it properly, but he could see a delicacy in the calloused hands that was unexpected.

"It's very faint, mostly signals from peripheral nerves outside the wound, or closer to the center."

"So you have feel this more?" Bakugou's fingers swirled through the uneven red skin at the center of the scar.

"It's muted, like my wrist is asleep."

"But it's not waking up." That was Midoriya, shifting closer on the bed and watching his husband examine Shouto. The bond beat daggers against Shouto's chest, demanding a freedom it could never have.

"No." The word shouldn't twist so sharply inside his chest, especially not after all these years. "It's not waking up."

Hypnotic green eyes lifted, locked with Shouto's. It took some effort not to lean closer, but Shouto managed it. Until Midoriya's fingers lifted from Bakugou's pristine white sheets and reached for him. "May I?"

Shouto eased his weight onto the hospital bed. He wasn't quite sitting, but he was more than leaning, stretching his body towards Midoriya's gravitational pull. "Go ahead."

Midoriya reached across the empty space between them and cupped the side of Shouto's face.

The contact sizzled across Shouto's skin, burning it in an entirely different way,

"Oh!" Midoriya's eyes flashed with surprise. "I felt the muscles in your cheek twitch."

"The nerves just outside the scars are…" Shouto swallowed around the persistent tremor in his throat. "…a little more sensitive."

"Oh…" This exclamation was softer, more thoughtful.

Midoriya's scarred fingers moved slowly across burned skin, and Shouto closed his eyes to the onslaught. Lack of vision threw sensation into sharp focus. Tingles rippled across every nerve in Shouto's torso, raising gooseflesh in their wake. He could feel his heart knocking against the sharp edges of his ribs.

It didn't feel like this when the nursing students examined his injuries. That touch was clinical…cold. It was something he agreed to without passion or feeling. The nursing student's efficient fingers never left him reeling and breathless.

Shouto could feel the heat from Bakugou's legs against the skin of his free hand. When had he leaned this heavily on the bed? Where his fingers inches, or millimeters from his patient? Bakugou was his patient; he couldn't forget that.

Shouto felt his arm being pulled across the bed. His eyes blinked into focus as Bakugou transferred Shouto's right wrist into Midoriya's waiting hands. New fingers danced and Shouto's fingers twitched in Midoriya's hold. It wasn't just tingling now; it was goddamn electrifying.

A calloused thumb turned Shouto's chin, and he parted his lips as a different hand slipped across his face.

Was it stupid to lean into the touch?

No.

Bakugou could barely move without pain. Shouto was just satisfying a casual curiosity. This would be over in half a moment. Over forever.

"I'm surprised you still to have an eyebrow on this side..."

Red lashes fluttered against Bakugou's palm as a thumb smoothed across Shouto's brow. "It's a less severe injury than my wrist." Shouto reminded him.

Fuck. His voice sounded breathy and strained even to his own ears. This sort of thing didn't happen to him. Air. He pulled sanity and oxygen into his lungs in one long, even breath.

"The heat didn't have time to destroy the hair follicles," Bakugou mused.

"Exactly."

Shouto could feel the tip Midoriya's fingers trailing over the scar and down his palm. Midoriya was the only person outside of the Todoroki family that knew all the details about the scald that had changed Shouto's face forever. Had he told Bakugou? Did he keep anything from his husband? Did it matter? Rei was free now; they all were.

"You're kind of a badass, Half and Half."

That…wasn't the reaction Shouto had expected. Bakugou always used rough language, but compliments were rare. "Thank you."

"Zuku? Katsuki? Ah, there you boys are!"

Shouto jolted to his feet, ripping his arm free from Midoriya's grasp. The floor rocked underneath him and he leaned heavily against the hospital bed gulping air. A hand and a strong arm circled his waist, holding him steady.

"Easy there, Icy Hot. I've been caught doing way kinker shit than this."

Bakugou loved getting a rise out of people, Shouto knew this, but it did nothing to stop the flare of heat that surged up his neck and over both cheeks. "Fuck you."

The low gravely chuckle that followed shot across Shouto's sensitive nerves. He turned away from his infuriating patient and watched Midoriya embrace his mother.

"Mom! How are you?"

"I'm good Zuku. How are my boys?" Inko Midoriya was easily the shortest person in the room, but she still managed to lift her son onto his toes with the force of her hug.

"Kacchan is doing so much better!" Midoriya gushed. "Todoroki says he'll be able to sit up on his own in a few days!"

"That's wonderful news, sweetheart!"

Inko Midoriya's first visit to the ward had, thankfully, happened during his dinner break (one of the one's he'd actually taken). Shouto hadn't expected her so early today. He shuffled towards the curtain that hung beside the bed. It was meant to offer privacy during examinations. He would pull it partly closed and make his exit. It wasn't his place to interfere on family time.

"Todoroki-san?"

Shouto let the fabric of the curtain he'd just grasped slip through his fingers as he turned. The greeting on his lips died when the woman in front of him slipped to her knees in a formal bow.

"Thank you for saving my son," She spoke her words directly into the floor. "Katsuki's made Zuku so happy; I don't know what they'd do without each other."

The cold splash of reality let air back into Shouto's lungs. "Midoriya-sama," he knelt, lifting her hands from the cold vinyl until she was sitting back on her ankles. Her large green eyes, the originals from which her son's were copied, glistened with tears. "I'll do everything I can to help."

Her fingers tightened around his with a surprising amount of force. "You don't need to be so formal; not after what you did for my family. Please, call me Inko."

"Inko-san, you don't need to kneel to me. I was just doing my job." Shouto tugged gently trying to get her to rise, but she remained exactly where she was.

"Izuku told me I just missed you last time. He said you helped during the surgery, and Katsuki said you worked to help him heal most of the day, even though you have other patients on the ward."

"I said I couldn't get rid of him," Bakugou grumbled.

"He's only a little less impatient than he was in school," Shouto spoke mostly to Inko-san, but he fixed Bakugou with a pointed glare. "I'm trying to get him back on his feet before he hurts himself worse."

Inko-san chuckled. "That sounds like Katsuki. You'll just have to make him behave for me."

"I'll do my best," Shouto promised. "Come on, let's stand up."

Again Inko-san resisted Shouto's efforts. Instead she said, "I'm so grateful for everything you're doing to help. I think this would be harder on Katsuki if it was someone he didn't know as well. Can I call you Shouto-san?"

"The team would have managed somehow," Shouto assured her, still trying to help her to her feet. "Aia-san, the lead nurse, would tie him down if she had to." Inko-san would not stand up. She shouldn't have been so hard to move. The weight of her gaze prickled along his skin, refusing to let him ignore her question. "Yes, Inko-san. You can call me Shouto-san. Please, let me help you up."

Suddenly Inko-san's feet were under her and they were both standing again. Shouto blinked down at a smile that suddenly felt mischievous. "Thank you, Shouto-san."

"Are you going to greet your son-in-law?" If Bakugou was trying for petulant it was an utter failure; his voice sounded more amused than anything else.

Inko-san beamed at the prone man. "Of course, Katsuki." She stepped close to the hospital bed, cupped one hand behind his neck, and pressed a kiss to Bakugou's forehead. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine, Ma." He nuzzled his face against her temple for a moment. "Thank you for coming to visit."

"I think my mom just adopted you."

"What?!" Shouto jerked to face Midoriya, who had come to stand beside him at some point.

Midoriya shrugged. His arms were loosely crossed behind his back, and a gentle smile curled his lips as he watched his mother leaning over Bakugou's bed. "She does that sometimes."

Shouto followed Midoriya's gaze back to the bed. Inko-san was sitting on the edge now, letting her legs dangle off the end while she spoke to Bakugou. She held one of his hands between both of hers and spoke in a low, soothing murmur. Shouto had watched time, experience, and Midoriya's affection soften the worst of Bakugou's rough edges before their disparate obligations pulled them in different directions, but the gap between them was wider than he thought. Bakugou, the short-tempered, loud-mouthed number two hero was smiling fondly at his mother-in-law with a level of softness Shouto had only ever seen him direct at Midoriya.

Midoriya's elbow nudged sharply against Shouto's ribs, bringing his attention back to the equally soft smile nestled between bursts of freckles. "Resistance is futile."

"Um..." Shouto floundered. He'd known Inko-san was friendly, but… adopt? That was a bit strong for a joke.

Midoriya stepped forward to stand beside his mother, and she looped an arm around his waist, pulling him into the circle of love around Bakugou's hospital bed.

Now was the time to leave. Family time was sacred in every unit, especially the burn ward. There was always something else that needed doing. Shouto eased his weight backwards and started to turn.

"Have a seat, Shouto-san!" Inko-san insisted, calling him back before he'd properly begun his retreat. "It's important not to overwork yourself. We're counting on you."

The three sets of eyes that landed on Shouto pinned him in place. "I…I don't want to intrude," Shouto protested. He intended to back up, but he never quite managed it.

"Just sit, dumbass," Bakugou grumbled. "Before I tell Ma how hard it was to get you to drink the melon soda Deku brought you."

"Bakugou—"

"You like melon soda?" Inko-san cut in. "It's my favorite. Wait, I think I have one on me."

"I'm fine, Inko-san. You don't need to—"

"Here we go!" Inko-san pressed the cool glass into Shouto's hands and guided him forward into the very chair she'd gestured at a moment ago. "This one's from that new vending machine by the train station near here. Let me know if you think it's any good." Inko-san patted Shouto's fingers around the bottle. "I think the color is promising, but that's never a guarantee, is it?"

"No, it's not," Shouto agreed. He twisted open the bottle and took a sip, letting the crisp bubbles burst on his tongue. When the bottle lowered to his lap it was almost half empty. Was he really that thirsty?

"Well?" Inko-san's smile was warm and welcoming. Of course Shouto had been disarmed.

"It's got a good flavor, strong," Shouto reported.

Inko-san's smile brightened. "Excellent. I'll pick up a few more on my way to your home, Izuku."

"Mom, you don't have to do that," Midoriya protested.

"Do you want me to pick anything up for you?"

"That won't be necessary, Ma," Bakugou insisted. "Deku's going home early tonight to catch up on his sleep."

"I'll leave some dinner in the fridge for you. Do you have any laundry that needs doing? Should I water your houseplants?"

"The laundry can wait, Mom. And I just watered the houseplants this morning."

Inko-san held Midoriya's gaze for a long moment before nodding. "Just laundry and dinner then. Do you have any requests?"

"Something simple is fine mom," Midoriya sighed. "Please don't push yourself. I'll be fine."

Shouto leaned slightly to the side until he was almost peeking around Inko-san's back. Midoriya still had an excellent view of Shouto's face as he mouthed, "Resistance is futile."

Midoriya had the audacity to stick his tongue out behind his mother's back.

"Is the amaryllis on your balcony still giving you trouble?" Inko-san asked Bakugou, seemingly oblivious.

"Ah, a little bit!" Midoriya had the grace to look slightly flustered as he forced his attention back to his mother. "I really thought the grow light would make a difference."

"You should have thrown that damn flower out months ago, Deku," Bakugou grumbled. "It's not going to fucking bloom."

"How big is the pot?" Three sets of eyes landed on him for the second time that day and Shouto fought the urge to swallow. "My-uh sister had trouble with her amaryllis. It bloomed for her when she moved it to a bigger pot."

"That's a good idea!" Inko-san beamed. "I should have thought of it myself, but I'm not used to growing tropical plants. Thank you, Shouto-san."

Shouto nodded and lifted the melon soda to his lips again. If his mouth was full he wouldn't be tempted to speak again. It was not his place to interfere with patients' family time.

Midoriya nodded. "Thank you, Todoroki. I'll replant it during my next day off. It might be blooming by the time you come home, Kacchan!"

"Tch. Why are you so damned obsessed with that flower anyway?"

The corner of Midoriya's eyes crinkled as his smile softened. "Because it's the same color as your eyes."

"Oh…"

"It kinda matches his cheeks now," Inko-san observed with a wry smile.

"Shut up!" Bakugou's hands bunched in the blankets at his side, but his words held no real vehemence. Midoriya must have felt the same way because he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the flushed skin of Bakugou's cheek.

Shouto glanced down at his melon soda. It was empty now. He might be able to slip away after he put the bottle in recycling. He leaned sideways, stretching his arm out towards the bin. Inko-san glanced his way for a moment before returning her attention to the soft conversation between her son and son-in-law. Shouto eased himself off the chair and walked as soundlessly as possible to the recycling bin, lowering the bottle down so it wouldn't rattle and draw attention to his retreat. Shouto straightened, slowly aligning his vertebrae, and reached for the handle of the door to Bakugou's room.

"Do you help Fuyumi-san in the garden, Shouto-san?"

Shouto's fingers jerked back against his palm as he turned. "I'm sorry?"

Inko-san was smiling and patting the chair beside Bakugou's bed meaningfully. "Izuku was just telling us that you live with your mother and sister. Do you help your sister in the garden?"

Shouto's gaze jumped to Midoriya's face and rested on the sheepish smile that was still familiar despite not having seen it in years.

Few people missed the catastrophic split in the Todoroki family; it had happened just after Shouto completed UA. Bakugou and Midoriya were a firmly established couple and Shouto had focused his anger and pain on freeing his mother and helping her divorce his father.

It had been an ugly battle but for sake of his mother and siblings Shouto had been just a ruthless as his father. He'd unearthed every marital and moral failing he could present to the courts to get a good settlement for his mother. Endeavor had fought viciously. The strain of being the default number one hero and facing public vitriol for not eliminating the league of villains had made Endeavor desperate to keep something, anything, of the life he'd tried to build for himself. In the end he'd still lost. The settlement had allowed his mother to continue therapy, with a counselor of her own choosing, and join with Fuyumi and Shouto in a modest apartment in the city.

"I do sometimes." Shouto replied. Inko-san kept glancing at the chair beside the bed, and Shouto felt obligated to take a few steps forward. Why had Inko-san shifted the conversation back to him? Because of Midoriya's comment? Shouto shouldn't have had any part in this conversation to begin with. "I live in my own apartment now, but I help with Fuyumi's garden when I visit her and my mother. She has some potted herbs on the balcony, and a few flowers inside."

Shouto's teeth clicked shut when he pressed them together. He didn't belong here; he wasn't part of a family visit. He needed to shut up!

Midoriya craned his head to look at Shouto. "When did you get your own apartment, Todoroki?"

"A few years ago. It was easier to have a place closer to the hospital when I started working here." That and he couldn't stand the weight of Fuyumi's concerned gaze. She was always very kind, but she never accepted that Shouto didn't want or need another soulmate bond. It wasn't going to fix anything.

Having his own apartment gave Shouto room to breathe and, he hoped, Fuyumi room to imagine her brother had more freedom to bring someone home… He didn't mean to cause her pain, he was just very good at it.

"So you could have another reason not to go home, Icy Hot?"

"Bakugou, the only night I haven't gone home was the night of your surgery, and even then I rested and showered in the on-call room."

Crimson eyes regarded Shouto with a look that felt too knowing to be comfortable. But what could Bakugou really see? Nothing that would matter to him when he was back on his feet again.

Inko-san patted the bed beside her and gestured to the chair again. "Your work must keep you very busy," she observed.

Shouto shuffled forward a few more steps. He'd been so close to the door… "It can… Inko-san I don't want to intrude on your time with your sons."

"Sit." It was spoken calmly and with a friendly smile. It was also a command more compelling than anything Endeavor had ever tried to yell into Shouto's head.

Shouto sat with his hands folded neatly in his lap.

"I'm able to sit here and talk with my sons because of you, Shouto-san. You're always welcome to sit and rest with us."

Shouto lowered his head to his chest. He was afraid to bow any lower; he didn't want to negotiate Inko-san off the floor again.

"You should join us for a family dinner sometimes," Inko-san suggested.

Shouto's head snapped up. "What?"

"Yes, and bring your mother and sister." Inko-san nodded to herself. She wore an expression Shouto recognized from his time at school with Midoriya; she was determined. "You have a brother too, right? What's his name?"

"Todoroki Natsuo," Midoriya supplied, grinning at his mother. Why did he look so excited? They'd barely spoken or seen each other the past several years. They'd grown apart; they had their own, separate, lives.

Inko-san ruffled her son's hair affectionately before turning back towards Shouto. "Does he live with your mother and sister?"

Shouto shook his head. "He works in Kyoto now…"

"We have a family dinner every month," Inko-san pressed on. "We'll need to delay our next one until Katsuki feels up to it, but that should give your brother a few weeks to clear his schedule."

"Uh…"

"Katsuki's parents will be there too." Inko-san reached into her purse and pulled out a small notebook which she immediately started writing in. "I'll need to make sure I make enough food."

"You sure you want to expose the Todorokis to my old hag?" A crooked smile split Bakugou's face.

"Kacchan! Your mother is lovely!"

Bakugou lips trembled like he was holding back a laugh. "uh hu."

"She is!" Midoriya insisted. "She's just passionate, like her son."

Bakugou's smile softened, losing its sharp edges as it became something fond.

"Would three weeks from now be alright?" Inko-san asked. It took Shouto a moment to realize she was speaking to him; she kept glancing at Bakugou's bandages. "Will Katsuki be home by then?"

"Mom, give him the chance to ask first," Midoriya cut in. "You don't know what his family's schedule is."

Inko-san blew out a slow breath through puffed cheeks. "Fine. But you will ask your family, won't you, Shouto-san?"

It would be rude to say no, but… did they really want him and his family to visit? Shouto didn't doubt Inko-san's gratitude. But, wouldn't it be an intrusion? Would they still want to spend time with his family in a few weeks? It would be an unusual mix of people. Inko-san and Fuyumi would probably start trading recipes. Natsuo would probably get along well with Bakugou. Shouto knew his mother would love Midoriya; he was kind of hard not to love. "…yes."

"Wonderful!" Inko-san clapped her hands together victoriously. "Oh, and of course you should invite your soulmate too! I almost forgot."

Inko-san's gaze dropped to Shouto's hands, but his wrist was turned away from her. She wouldn't be able to see the burn. "They're already included." Shouto's fingers curled over his wrist. It was a reflex, a tell, that he needed to correct. Any weakness could be exploited, even if he wasn't chasing the number one pro hero slot anymore.

"Oh?"

"Todoroki has a platonic soulmate bond with his sister, Mom," Midoriya explained. His easy smile was as accepting and non-judgmental as ever. It made Shouto's skin itch.

"Oh."

"Yeah, I think it's an excuse too," Bakugou grumbled, then glared at his husband, who had just jabbed his shoulder.

"You shouldn't judge other people's soulmates, Kacchan!" Midoriya huffed. "Platonic bonds are perfectly valid."

"I wasn't saying they aren't; I just think Todoroki's taking the easy way out."

"Boys!" All eyes turned to Inko-san. "Let's not fight, okay? It's not good for Katsuki's recovery."

"Ma, I'm fine."

"No, she's right." Shouto stood, stretching his wrists in small circles as he did so. "You've always hit things hard and fast, but you don't need a spike in blood pressure right now."

"You getting bossy, Icy Hot?"

"I'm still your healer, Bakugou. It's time for me to spend a little time on your legs." Shouto walked to the foot of the hospital bed and started to reach for the sheets. "May I?"

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "If you must."

"Katsuki! Don't be rude to Shouto-san!"

Bakugou's lips puckered to one side; a sour expression. "Yes, Ma…"

Shouto lifted the sheets up and cupped the swell of Bakugou's right calf. "How does it feel today? Any stiffness?"

"A bit," Bakugou grunted when Shouto engaged his right side, then sighed softly. "Yeah, okay. That feels good."

"These are going to heal much faster than your abdominal burns," Shouto murmured. He was almost squinting at the bedsheets, focusing the majority of his attention on healing. "A day or two more and they will only be a dull ache, almost an itch."

"I hope so." The words were soft, almost nothing more than the breath of Bakugou's exhale, but Shouto heard the tremor in them. He was putting on a brave face for his mother-in-law and his husband. Shouto shouldn't have spent so long stuck in his own head.

"This might also help." Shouto lifted his left hand and gently cupped the ball of Bakugou's foot; his fingers curled over the toes.

"What—oh." Bakugou sighed, presumably when the heat from Shouto's hand resonated with his sore muscles.

Shouto didn't get the chance to use heat often with his patients, but when he could it was a safe and pleasant counterpoint to the chill of his healing.

"That feels better."

"I'm glad." Shouto watched as Bakugou's eyes drifted shut. Midoriya held Bakugou's left hand, and Inko-san held his right. The three of them were a locked circuit, a complete unit. Shouto shouldn't have felt included, but for the time being he was part of things. A temporary part, but still important. "Sleep if you want; I'll be right here if you need anything."

Bakugou's eyes, which had been fluttering, opened a bit wider, and the grim straightness of his mouth curled slightly at the edges. "Thank you, Todoroki."

Shouto had known from the beginning this would be a disaster for his heart, but would it be so bad to enjoy these moments of peace and caring while he could?

Thank you for spending some time with my story today! I promise I will update every Friday in the afternoon/evening, PST. I hope to see you again next week! ^_^