Hello! Been a while since my last update but holy shit I never thought to look at the follows/favourites till now, and I see a lot of you guys here! I can't thank you all enough for reading and bookmarking my humble lil fic, and I hope you enjoy this nothing-burger chapter before I try to progress the timeline a little more! I'm at 13 chapters and Yayoi's still six smh

Great big thank you to SpecimeN87, AppleFran, MoBlue, and heartattak for your reviews of chapters 11 and 12!

XIII

Todoroki Enji was an idiot.

She had to call the presses. Todoroki Enji was an idiot.

She had just gotten used to the silence in the house. Two months of just her and Enji, both of them tiptoeing around each other, and Yayoi had even started learning how to cook from Mariya so the woman could spend more time helping Rei with Shouto and the other two. And out of nowhere, Endeavour—current No. 2, future No. 1—pulled this on her?

Yayoi pretty much dropped her plate of omurice she was going to demand Enji taste. She'd deliberately put too much chilli in the omelette, but now it was going to go to waste as she was reminded that Enji was not only stupid, but also liked hot food. The rice spilled all over the floor, and Yayoi gave the child in front of her a thousand-yard stare as he bent down to pick up the omelette.

"You dropped this," the blond boy said.

Yayoi slapped it out of his hand and looked at Enji pointedly.

Enji cleared his throat and patted the blond on the shoulder.

"She has her moments," he told the boy. Yayoi couldn't believe the nerve of him. She kicked out one leg, which was covered in rice, and it splattered over Enji's shoes. "Yayoi, behave yourself."

"You did this on purpose," she said.

Enji sighed. "Yayoi, I expect you to conduct yourself properly. We both know you're mature for your age."

"Doesn't mean I'm not allowed to throw a tantrum."

The blond had picked up the omelette again, still smiling. It was pinched between his thumb and forefinger like it was diseased. Without even hesitating, the blond flicked the omelette at Yayoi—and it was slapped onto her face like cheese onto a cat's tiny head.

Yayoi let out a soft grumble.

Enji sighed heavily, face held in one hand as he shook his head.

"In any case," Enji tried. "Yayoi, this is Takami Keigo. He'll be staying with us from now on."

Takami Keigo, with that same shit-eating grin as before, waved down at Yayoi. He had to be at least thirteen by now—he was almost ten years older than Shouto was in the story, and she recalled their birthdays being a month apart. Shouto was sixteen when the Endeavour Agency Arc began, and Hawks was introduced before then, and then there was the Christmas business with Eri… He had to be.

What the hell was Enji doing with the HPSC's commodity?

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked Enji. She completely ignored Keigo as he coolly relaxed and ruffled his feathers.

"What do you mean, what do I think I'm doing?" Enji gave Yayoi a hard stare.

Yayoi flicked the omelette back at Keigo. Keigo caught it without even pausing as he spoke.

"Endeavour-san was very kind to offer me a place to stay while I study," Keigo said. Yayoi gave him a sour look. "It's like an exchange program with host families, but instead it's still in the same country."

She glanced at Enji. Enji let out a soft grunt, uncomfortable, and looked away.

"Keigo has been made aware of your situation," he mumbled.

Yayoi pushed past Keigo and began punching at Enji's legs. How stupid could he be!? Trust such sensitive information to someone who wasn't even a Pro Hero!? Keigo was barely even close to his debut as a hero working for the HPSC! He was still learning everything that made him such a valuable mole within the League of Villains!

Enji lightly pushed her back, and Yayoi bit down on his hand like a feral dog. Enji swore and tried to pry her off, but he wasn't having any luck while he was being gentle.

In front of them, Keigo watched with wide eyes and that same smile.

Keigo stepped closer and patted her on the shoulder. Yayoi didn't let go of Enji's hand as she looked at him.

"Endeavour-san also told me you made sure he came to Kyushu," he said, softer this time. Yayoi clamped down harder, and Enji swore under his breath. "I really appreciate you looking out for me like that, Yayoi-chan."

It wasn't that she was looking out for him—the plot just drastically needed Hawks in the future. Who knew how difficult the fight against Hood would be without him to assist Endeavour on the finer details? Yayoi's jaw relaxed, and Enji snatched his hand out of her mouth entirely. He was bleeding a little, and she didn't show any remorse for it whatsoever. He really was too goddamn stupid about all of this outside of the initial reaction. Now that he was using his head and not his instincts, he was a total moron.

She wiped at her mouth and kicked at the rice on the floor. She didn't even look at Keigo as he began speaking again.

"Ah, but if you aged mentally about six years…" He held up two hands and began counting. "You're six physically, and six plus ten… You're three years my senior."

Keigo smiled at her with that shit-eating grin again.

"Then, instead of Yayoi-chan, should I be calling you onee-chan?"

She picked up the omelette off the ground and slapped it onto his face like whipped cream upon a sleeping man's face. It split in half upon impact and splattered over his shoulders.

That'd teach him for doing the same to her.

"Onee-chan," Keigo called. He'd come home from his training at the HPSC, a bag of varying kinds of chips on his hand. His free hand, as he called out, reached in to pull out ume-flavoured chips to show off. "Have some snacks with me. Endeavour-san said you're done training today."

Yayoi shut her bedroom door and crawled under her bed with a grumble.

"Onee-chan," Keigo called. He'd come outside with a small gift bag in his hands. "I bought you a present. You like pretty dresses, right?"

Yayoi, who had been experimenting with her Quirk on the pond, splashed water up at him and ran.

Keigo tapped the pencil case, brand new and covered in glitter, against his shoulder as he stared down at her. He was deep in thought as she watched him back. Behind him, Enji was walking through the door and calling out that they were ordering takeout for dinner.

"Nee-chan?" he tried.

Yayoi stomped out of the room without even bothering to greet Enji.

"Ya-nee."

She flipped her bowl up into the air, splashing rice onto his face.

"Yaya-nee-san."

She dropped her muddy galoshes on top of his sneakers at the front door.

"Yayoi-nee?"

She picked up the salt and uncapped it, not even hesitating to throw it on him like an unwanted ghost.

"I think I got it."

"You don't have to keep doing this, Keigo…"

"Now, now, Endeavour-san, if I gave up after this much, I wouldn't be good enough to become a hero!"

Honestly, it was a little impressive how Keigo wouldn't give up. Two weeks into his new life as the foster son of Endeavour himself, and Keigo had been given rejection after rejection from Yayoi every time he tried to build a bridge between them. She couldn't figure out why he wanted to bond with her so badly—aside from the obvious, being that she was the daughter of his hero.

As much as she wanted him to leave, it was still worth acknowledging his tenacity. He wouldn't be Hawks if he wasn't stubborn.

Yayoi had come home from school later than usual. Now that Enji was a single father, he insisted on picking her up from school himself—not that she wanted him to, but when he insisted and refused to let her out of his sight in case of another incident, there was no stopping him. He'd been caught up arresting a villain before picking her up, and when they'd arrived home with takeout for dinner, Keigo had been waiting by the door for them eagerly. Keigo had tried many nicknames over the past couple of weeks, to the point where Yayoi wished he'd just give up already.

Yayoi peeled off her shoes and stacked them neatly against the rack. Keigo was proud of himself as he stared down at her, and she at least deigned to look at him this time when he gave his newest attempt.

Only, this attempt caught her off guard. Compared to the tentative and playful statements made in the past, Keigo was more… soft. Patient. Gentle. The kind of greeting she remembered giving her own younger brother, back when she'd come home before him on a rare occasion when work let her leave early.

"Welcome home, Yacchan," he said.

Yayoi stared up at him, silent.

It'd… been a while since she'd been called Yacchan.

Sure, it was only a couple weeks at the most, but she used to hear it daily from Shouto and even Natsuo and Fuyumi. Izuku would call her Yacchan. But ever since she'd woken up, she hadn't heard it.

Oh, she thought. Had she missed this?

Yayoi clenched her hands at her sides and pursed her lips. She was quiet as Keigo watched her, eyes wide and waiting, and she could tell Enji was holding his breath too.

It was a stupid thing to miss, she told herself. It would've been better if Shouto was the one calling her Yacchan.

She clicked her tongue and stomped past Keigo. She didn't bother to throw anything at him, to have her tantrum. Yayoi was hungry, and she was sick of him trying so hard to find something to call her. The quicker he could stop focusing on her, the better—and it was easier just to go along with Keigo's nicknames at this rate.

As she walked towards the kitchen, she could hear Keigo tell Enji, "Told ya. I got it figured out."

He came to walk her home from school one day, a week after he first called her Yacchan. She walked out of the gate, looking up and down for Enji among the parents who'd already met their children, and Keigo pushed through a group of adults in his school uniform and called out to her. Yayoi blinked at him, and as more eyes landed on her, she wanted to shrink away.

It became a rumour among the parents that Enji had adopted another child. Hoping to fill the void that had arisen from losing his eldest son, Enji had adopted a young boy of a similar age—Keigo's new alias given by the HPSC was thrown around, and when Yayoi saw him today, it was obvious that he kept up the façade with dye and some bandaids on his face to obscure it somewhat. Keigo's blond hair was temporarily red each time he came to pick up Yayoi, and the thick bandages covering his face immediately had her asking if he'd gotten into a fight.

It was no secret among the other parents that Todoroki Yayoi's new older brother was a troublemaker who adored his little sister.

"I could just walk home," she told Keigo after a month of this routine. She let him carry her on his shoulders, and she had to admit that the down feathers of his wings were softer than she'd expected.

"Absolutely not," Keigo drawled. "You know the rules, Yacchan. Until Endeavour-san finds the perp who showed you the future, no being left alone no matter what."

Yayoi grunted, displeased.

Keigo came to a stop at some traffic lights, and he rocked back and forth on his feet.

"You could ask to go to your friends' houses," he suggested. Yayoi pursed her lips and tugged at a clump of red hair. Keigo winced and patted her leg to stop her. "Alright, alright, I get it!"

"Annoying," Yayoi grumbled.

"Yes, yes, we're annoying. How high on the Scoville scale should I soar to make it up to you?"

"Carolina Reaper."

Keigo swayed back and forth as the light turned green for them to cross. "Yacchan, you're merciless!"

"You can't even handle tabasco." She looked around at the others walking with them.

Some part of Yayoi hoped that, by some stroke of luck, she would see Shouto leaving his own school. From what Enji told her, he was relocated to another nearby private school that he agreed to pay for upon Rei's request. It was silly, especially since Rei would never let Shouto out of her sight if she was standing up to Enji this early, but Yayoi just… wished that she would see him by chance while Keigo walked her home.

But today, like always, there was no sign of Shouto. It was just everyone else from her school, and the kids in private school uniforms didn't include Shouto.

Yayoi tightened her grip on Keigo's hair again. Keigo hissed and lifted her off his shoulders. He carried her in his arms and sighed.

"Yacchan, you need to give it time," he told her. Yayoi pursed her lips and didn't look at him. "You know things don't happen immediately when it comes to healing. How many years did it take in that vision for your brother to heal without you?"

Yayoi gripped his uniform with a frown.

"Ten years," she mumbled. "And he had Midoriya—but that was when they didn't know each other. I don't know what push will help him heal this time."

Keigo hummed. "I'd argue that because he has his friend now, the healing can start sooner."

Maybe.

"I should be the one helping him heal," she grumbled.

"Remember what Endeavour-san said, Yayoi—"

"I just have to clear the misunderstanding." Yayoi glared up at Keigo. "I just have to make sure he knows I only wanted to hurt Touya."

Keigo let out a bemused sound.

"And how do you plan to explain that misunderstanding? Or any other misunderstanding? Your unpleasant personality makes it hard for your precious brother to be around you."

How, indeed. Yayoi sucked in a deep breath and looked at her hands. So small, they were, but soon they'd be big and calloused enough to protect her little brother. Shouto deserved a kind life, and it seemed everyone was getting in the way of it even with Yayoi present.

Eventually, in a monologue that surprised herself, Yayoi told Keigo, "No matter what it takes, I will overcome every obstacle for him. I will kick and scream and fight to the death for him. And if I have to turn myself into the villain to keep my brother safe, then so be it."

Keigo didn't mince his words. "If you can't have him, no one else can? Shocking."

His reply sparked an anger in Yayoi that she hadn't felt in… years now. She knew those words—heard her little brother tell her those words when he came home crying and stressed from school. Back when she was Yayoi, legal guardian of her younger brother and college dropout, those words haunted her every time she saw any girl linger on her younger brother. Any one of them could've said it—but only one of them tried to act on it.

For Keigo to imply she was just like them? Sickening. She reached to punch him in the face, but he caught her smaller fist with ease and laughed in response.

"Alright, sore spot. You can rage and scream and shout all you want, Yacchan. I won't stop you." His smile, still easy-going and childish, took a menacing turn when Keigo turned into an alley and narrowed his eyes. "Just don't make him hate you along the way."

Yayoi pursed her lips. She looked away from Keigo, to the alley, and she furrowed her brows.

"What's—" She didn't get to ask her question. Keigo set her down on the ground, his smile gone, and she realised why he'd brought her in here. Someone had been following them.

Yayoi's breath caught in her throat. Did All for One find out she blamed him for her condition? It wasn't exactly a secret in Endeavour Agency, what had happened to his daughter. Kill enough Pro Heroes, get the right information, he could've heard that little Todoroki Yayoi blamed him for something he, for once, didn't orchestrate.

She grabbed Keigo's pants leg. Keigo patted her head and, with the practiced ease that the HPSC had been training him to use it with, he pulled two long feathers from his wings and wielded them like blades.

"I know you're there," he called. At the entrance of the alley, someone walked out from their hiding place. Yayoi couldn't see their face, the light from outside bathing their front in shadow, but she could tell it was someone young. Smaller than Keigo, but not so young that they were a child. An older elementary schooler?

And then they spoke, almost in a whisper that masked a wealth spring of rage.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Keigo let out an intrigued hum. "I'm walking my sister home, obviously."

"Liar."

They walked closer into the alley. Yayoi let out a breath, only to watch it fog up and disappear. The temperature dropped in the alley significantly.

Oh. Yayoi knew who this was. She was so busy looking for her little brother, she never thought that her older brother was doing the same for her.

"You're a liar!" Natsuo yelled, and he surged forward as his Quirk coated the alley with ice.

Yayoi jumped in front of Keigo, skin alight and burning as the ice around them melted near-instantly. The steam that resulted filled the alley, and she heard Natsuo stop running.

"Natsu-nii, it's okay!" she called. "En—Papa got a—"

She didn't get to finish. A body slid along the ice and whisked her up. Yayoi immediately reduced the heat on her body to a lukewarm, bearable amount, and she stared up in surprise at her older brother as he cradled her close to him. He was scared and angry, eyes tearing up as he hovered over her protectively, and he wouldn't look away from Keigo even as they crashed into a trashcan on one side of the alley.

"It's okay, Yacchan, I got you," Natsuo gasped. "I got you. Fuyumi-nee is calling Dad—"

"Papa adopted him!" Yayoi shouted.

Natsuo sucked in a deep breath. When he looked back down at Yayoi, the rage on his face slowly disappeared—and only confusion remained.

"What?" He sounded so small when he asked that.

Keigo decided to do some explaining. He cast aside the feathers, letting them return to his wings, and he lazily tucked his hands into his pockets.

"It's true," he said. Natsuo looked at him in disbelief. Not once did Natsuo's grip on Yayoi ease up. "Endeavour-san took me into the family as a foster. I'm guessing you must be… Touya?" And then Keigo laughed, shrugging. "Ah, my mistake. I'm supposed to be Touya's replacement. I guess that makes me your onii—"

"Natsuo!"

Fuyumi ran into the opening of the alley, phone in her hand, and she stared at the scene with frightened eyes. She hadn't heard what Keigo had said, clearly, and she held a safety alarm in her hands. She was shaking like a leaf.

"D—Dad's on his way! You better get lost if you don't want Endeavour arresting you!" she shouted.

What a shitty family reunion.

But, Yayoi thought, it was a little touching that after everything, these two still went out of their way to be proper older siblings. They did the things she would do for her own brother—call authorities, put herself between the aggressor, die for him—and Yayoi could only watch, stunned, as they gave her the proper care she never got with Touya around.

When Touya had been around, everyone was walking on eggshells. She hung around Natsuo sometimes, sure, but she was just using him to get a hold on what her Quirk could do. And yeah, maybe Natsuo had been the one to advocate for Yayoi's first errand. Come to think of it, Natsuo had been the only one concerned about what was fair on Yayoi—even if Fuyumi had been right to be concerned about taking her to see Touya that day in the hospital.

Oh, Yayoi thought. Did they… actually care about her? Care about her the way she cared about her baby brother?

Stepping in when it looked like an abduction was happening was only natural for most people, but Yayoi did prove that people never came to kids' aid nowadays before. Back when Katsuki and she had clashed, with her protecting an injured Izuku. All eyes had been on her that day. But no one took notice—and if they did, they ignored it. A Pro Hero would stop it, they'd think. And an abduction would warrant the same reaction.

If Natsuo and Fuyumi had been complete strangers they wouldn't care. Keigo dyed his hair the right shade of red to match Yayoi's, and his face coverings gave the illusion of relation. Everyone at Yayoi's school knew she had a new older brother, but Keigo never introduced himself as such to them.

Oh.

They cared.

Keigo let out a small sound and pulled one hand out of his pockets—phone held in it and lit up with a custom ringtone for Enji playing. He swiped to answer, and he spoke softly on the phone to the man himself. Fuyumi darted past Keigo and skidded to a stop in front of Natsuo and Yayoi.

Fuyumi held Yayoi's face in her hands and, crying like a baby, swiped at Yayoi's cheeks as she reassured her that Enji was on his way. Yayoi blinked. Natsuo sat up properly, and he was obviously nursing a sore shoulder, but he wouldn't let go of Yayoi as he did so. He sucked it up and let Fuyumi baby Yayoi.

Yayoi didn't realise why Fuyumi held her face until she felt Fuyumi's hands become damp. Yayoi blinked, felt her eyes watering, and realised she'd been crying.

Natsuo's hold on her tightened, turning into a hug, and she hiccupped.

They cared.

Did she ever feel like this in her old life? Her parents were never there for her—they made her life hell. They made her brother's life hell. Did she have anyone who gave her the time of day? Someone who would jump headfirst into danger for her?

No, she thought. In two lifetimes, this was the first time someone had done that for her. No string attached, no duty because it was their job. Just… because they cared.

They cared about Yayoi.

By the time someone from Endeavour Agency showed up—Faust, reliable as usual—the whole misunderstanding was cleared. It didn't make Fuyumi and Natsuo any less angry and shocked, but Yayoi did get to see Natsuo call Rei while they drove to the agency together. Not many eyes were on them from the crowd, most people leaving for home with their kids, and the car that picked them up was rather inconspicuous. It was easy for them to go unnoticed on the way back to the agency.

While on the phone to Rei, sitting in the backseat with Yayoi and Fuyumi, Natsuo was whispering an argument that Yayoi was surprised to hear.

"Something could've happened," Natsuo tried. His expression was pinched as he glowered at the back of Keigo's head. Keigo, sitting in the front passenger seat, deftly ignored him. "No, don't just say that, Mom. I don't care how bad it might get. What? No! Okay, you know what? No, I will take this tone with you. I'm staying at Dad's house and I'm not coming home until I make sure Yayoi's safe. I'm not trying to—I'm not forcing it!"

It was, safe to say, an interesting conversation to listen to.

But it didn't last for much longer. Natsuo put his foot down, hung up the phone, and grumpily crossed his arms across his chest.

Yayoi pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. Beside her, Fuyumi reached up and patted her head in an attempt to be reassuring.

"W—We haven't properly talked yet, Yacchan," she tried. Yayoi glanced up at her, but she didn't say anything. "Last time we heard about you, you were sleeping for a long time. How are you feeling now?"

Was this her way to broach the topic of how Yayoi recovered after the hospital incident? Yayoi let out a small hum and looked to the front of the car. She caught Faust's eye in the rear-view mirror, and Faust seemed to understand the request Yayoi was making. Truth be told, Yayoi didn't know how much of what she'd used as an excuse to Enji she could tell to her siblings. Sure, Natsuo and Fuyumi might understand—but they probably didn't need to know the intricacies of everything, especially when they never liked knowing what Enji was up to in the original story either.

Faust opened her mouth to speak, but Keigo jumped in casually instead.

"Yacchan was asleep for a while," he said. "But Endeavour-san's been busy making accommodations for her. Our precious little sister is actually closer to an older sister now."

"She's not your sister," Natsuo grumbled.

Fuyumi, at least, noticed the phrasing faster than Natsuo had.

"What happened?" she asked, anxious.

Keigo turned in his seat and smiled down at Yayoi. "Yeah, Yacchan, what happened?"

She swore to God, she wanted to kick him. But her legs were far too little right now, and poor Faust was the one behind the wheel. The last thing she needed was to get her babysitter arrested by another Pro Hero.

Yayoi sucked in a deep breath and sighed. She reached up and removed Fuyumi's hand from her head, and then Yayoi fixed her school uniform as she spoke.

"I got hit with a Quirk when mine first surfaced," she said, and she didn't bother to pad her words and tone. She went straight to her usual mature tone, dropping the façade of a six-year-old altogether. No doubt it was jarring. Natsuo was startled and flung himself into the door, eyes wide, and Fuyumi clamped her hands over her mouth to hold back a gasp. "It's not an exaggeration to say I aged mentally by a good decade."

It wasn't like any of them could tell she was lying. Besides, if they asked Enji about it, he would either tell them the same or nothing at all. There was no way of them questioning the details if they lined up with what Enji believed.

Faust let out a sigh and turned the car towards the road that led to the agency's rear parking space. Paparazzi sometimes hung out there a lot, but they only paid attention to cars that looked important—not the average sedan with a washed-out paintjob and three kids in the backseat. She wound down her window, flashed a card onto the machine that greeted them at the entrance to the garage, and the doors in front of them rolled open.

"It's not public knowledge," Faust reminded Keigo and Yayoi, "and Endeavour hasn't made it known to other agencies that he's looking for who used their Quirk on Yayoi-chan. But the bottom line is that Yayoi-chan hasn't been a little girl for a long while now, and whoever used their Quirk on her knew they were hurting the Todoroki family in doing so."

"Yacchan even asked for me specifically to come live with them once Endeavour-san found out," Keigo bragged. Yayoi glared at him again. He really was trying to start a fight with Natsuo and Fuyumi.

"I only asked if the old man went to Kyushu at any point."

"Practically begged for me to come over."

"Keigo, I swear—"

Keigo dramatically sighed and threw his head back, putting on a display of dismay as the car rolled to a stop in the parking garage. Faust pulled the keys from the ignition and shook her head as Keigo put on the dramatics.

"Not even a 'Keigo-nii'! Yacchan, you're so cold!" he drawled. "Is it because I don't call you aneki? Onee-chan? I'm getting mixed signals here!"

Natsuo and Fuyumi were visibly confused. Faust came to Fuyumi's side of the backseat and opened her door, and Yayoi gave Fuyumi a push to leave the car. She muttered under her breath that Keigo was being an idiot and to ignore him, and even cautioned Natsuo that getting a rise out of people was what Keigo liked to do best. By the time Faust came to Natsuo's side of the car, Keigo's dramatics were beginning to peter out entirely. Yayoi climbed out of the car and shouldered her backpack with a huff. The quicker this explanation could be given to her siblings, the quicker they could be on the same page. She knew Enji kept parts of his hero work out of the household, sometimes to the point of detriment in the instance when Natsuo almost died at the hands of a villain Enji had previously arrested. But some things, like their own sister being involved, shouldn't be kept from them like this. They thought Yayoi was being kidnapped today, for crying out loud. Enji, despite having no contact with Rei, needed to at least tell his kids the reality of the situation.

Faust led them through the front area of Endeavour Agency while Keigo asked Yayoi about her day. The strange normalcy that they'd settled into following Keigo's arrival settled over the group as Yayoi answered in her usual manner—curt and uninterested, detailing her high scores on the easy elementary school activities that did little to stimulate the mind. Keigo hand his hands behind his head and hummed in amusement.

"I'll give you some of my homework, then," he sang. Yayoi slammed a fist into the back of his knees, and his knees buckled as his wings flapped frantically. He stumbled and grabbed onto Faust for balance, and the woman didn't even hesitate to grab him and help him back to his feet.

"Stop slacking," Yayoi scolded Keigo. "I'm supposed to help tutor you, not do your homework for you."

The idea of their six-year-old sister tutoring a thirteen-year-old stranger was a concept that Natsuo and Fuyumi struggled to wrap their heads around, it seemed. Yayoi looked back at them, expression blank, and she fixed her backpack as she did so. Now that she thought about it, how old were they now? Natsuo was the younger, only a few years older than Yayoi and Shouto, but Fuyumi was about the same age as Keigo. She was younger than Touya, after all, but not by much.

When even were their birthdays? She remembered celebrating them, quietly in the household, but never the exact days. All that had mattered were her and Shouto's birthdays, she thought, and the unfortunate knowledge that her birthday was a week before Touya's. Yayoi scrunched up her face as she thought. Keigo was talking to her again, but she ignored him in favour of looking back up at Faust.

"Is the old man even here today?" she asked Faust. Faust finally cracked her impassive expression, pleased to have Yayoi talking to her. For all her professionalism, it seemed that Faust was happy to be unofficially dubbed Yayoi's godmother by Enji following Rei's departure with her siblings.

"He just got back from patrol when Fuyumi-chan called him," she explained. Yayoi nodded, satisfied with the answer. At least he wasn't slacking off in his depression, she thought. They had bills to pay. Keigo's appetite wasn't cheap. "Endeavour was very worried when he got the call, I'll admit. He had tears in his eyes when he called Keigo-kun!"

Good. Weep.

Yayoi felt her face twitch into a smile at the words, and she quickly covered her face with her uniform and shuffled closer to Keigo as they walked. Fuyumi and Natsuo lagged behind—still stunned silent, it seemed—but once they arrived at the elevator and Faust hit the button for Enji's office, Natsuo finally broke the silence himself.

He knelt down next to Yayoi and, eyes wide, he asked her softly, "How old are you, Yacchan?"

Yayoi tilted her head. With rehearsed ease, she answered, "Six. But I'm mature for my age."

The look on Natsuo's face was how she felt every time she had to say that to adults around her. He was disgusted, at a loss for words, and if she did some mental gymnastics and pinned his age at around ten or so, it was quite the impressive reaction for a child to have.

Yayoi cleared her throat and tried again. "Like Faust and Keigo said, I'm a bit older than I should be. The Quirk I was hit with aged me mentally by at least a decade, so in a way, I guess I'm older than even Touya was."

"You don't even call him Nii-Nii anymore," Natsuo muttered immediately.

For all the niceties that came with being cared for by her older siblings, Yayoi still couldn't pretend like things with Touya was great. She was cold in an instant, stepping back from Natsuo and closer to Keigo, and she looked at the elevator doors when she replied to him.

"Touya was a bad brother," she told him firmly. "And the old man was a bad father. They both tried to change—but Touya changed for the worse. And he paid the price with his life." She glanced at Natsuo, not missing the hurt in his expression as he slowly stood back up and moved closer to Fuyumi. "I don't have sympathy for someone who hurts his younger siblings out of jealousy."

The atmosphere in the elevator was heavy and unbearable. Even Keigo, easy-going as he was, was tense as he shifted from foot to foot and watched the timer on the top of the doors count the floors left to go. Even Faust was sweating bullets quietly to herself.

The doors finally dinged, and when they slid open, all Yayoi saw was a flurry of movement before Enji crashed into the elevator and picked up both Yayoi and Keigo in a tight embrace. Even though he'd only had his new foster son for a couple of weeks, the fact that Keigo was Touya's age and had his hair dyed the same red Touya's used to be led to… weaker moments from Enji at times. Not that Keigo seemed to mind—he didn't exactly have the best father in the world, and to have his hero act as a father figure was like a dream come true for him.

Natsuo and Fuyumi stared, wide-eyed and jaws dropped, as Enji let out a relieved breath and dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap. Yayoi beat against his shoulder with a groan, the hug too tight for her toddler body to handle. Jesus Christ, Keigo called him about this! He knew she wasn't in trouble!

Faust side-stepped out of the elevator and scurried over to the small kitchenette in the office. She waved Fuyumi and Natsuo over, still sweating bullets, but as soon as Fuyumi tried to move, Natsuo reached out and grabbed her hand tightly.

It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone in the room that Natsuo then went on to yell, "We're right here!"

It was a slow process for Enji to loosen his grip on Yayoi and Keigo. He'd clearly heard his son, and it took an eternity for him to set the kids down before looking at Natsuo. Yayoi glanced, wary, up at Keigo—and she wanted to slap him for the smug look he aimed in Natsuo's direction. Jesus Christ, this was the shittiest family reunion. He wasn't helping in the slightest. Sure, he knew the Todoroki family was broken to all hell, but did he need to break it even more now that her siblings had just revealed they actually cared all this time?

Maybe in Keigo's mind the case was that they should've cared sooner, but the fact remained that they were here now and damn it all, Yayoi missed her siblings!

Enji stared at his children in disbelief. It was like he couldn't believe they were even in front of him. Enji hesitated, still holding onto Yayoi and Keigo somewhat, but eventually he blinked and sucked in a deep breath. Any and all fire that he had lit on his costume was out entirely, a very sad man squatting before all four of his children at that moment.

Natsuo sucked in a breath to shout at his father again. Enji moved in a heartbeat. He grabbed Natsuo by the arm—and by proxy Fuyumi, still held in Natsuo's grip—and he dragged them both towards him to hug them as well. It seemed he finally registered his children were real, that they hadn't just left after reporting Yayoi's suspected kidnapping to him, and Yayoi saw his eyes water as he clung to them desperately. For a man who used to abuse these children and separate them from each other until they were deemed failures—who didn't even bother to call them by name at times when Touya was still alive—a month apart after losing just one of his children in a tragedy he caused, coupled with the revelations Yayoi had dropped upon him, was enough to make him almost a decent human being. Decent enough to acknowledge the kids were even there to begin with, and decent enough to hug them like he genuinely missed them once he realised they weren't an illusion.

Ten-year-old Natsuo didn't have the same sentiment.

He kicked his legs out and yelled into Enji's chest while Fuyumi, starstruck and lost, stared into empty space with wide eyes. Through the muffled screaming Yayoi could hear Natsuo yelling that he couldn't breathe, to back the hell off, that Enji stank of ashes. It was almost a heart-warming scene, only off-set by the reality of everything crashing down on them and Keigo walking into the office with a disappointed expression.

It was the world's shittiest family reunion, but it was still a family reunion. All that was missing was Shouto, and Yayoi held out hope that the next time would include him as well.

"The first session's been booked for a month from now." Enji hung up the phone and turned to the kids, all sitting at the dining room table. Over by the stove, Mariya tossed some stir fry that she'd been more than happy to make for everyone after finding out Natsuo and Fuyumi would stay for a few days. "Now, I want you all to remember that if you don't like this doctor, you can ask for a different one. I won't get mad."

Natsuo made an unimpressed sound, arms crossed over his chest. "Is Takami coming?"

That was all he'd call Keigo ever since they sat down in the office to brief the children on the situation. Rei hadn't been happy, screaming at Enji through Natsuo's phone after the seventh time calling the boy, but Fuyumi had been the one to surprisingly come to Enji's defence. Rei's reaction to being told that the kids had been informed of Yayoi's predicament—something she buried her head in the sand over, refusing to entertain any talk of her wrong child more than necessary—was to yell at Enji for telling them about things she didn't approve of. Fuyumi's response had been that Enji still had parental rights, and that he had every right to get Yayoi support she needed—even if that support was her own siblings. Keigo had chimed in after the call that he'd been the one brought in as support, and ever since, Natsuo called him Takami with the most venomous tone imaginable. How dare a stranger replace the older brother Yayoi had? How dare a stranger come into their home and act like it was his? Calling him Takami was Natsuo's way of reminding Keigo he was an outsider.

Not the most scathing of ways to do it, but Yayoi gave Natsuo a break with his age.

Enji cleared his throat and shook his head. Currently, Keigo had returned to the HPSC for additional training he was supposed to attend hours earlier. They'd dropped him off on the way home in the limo, and the tension had eased considerably when Keigo had left.

"No," Enji told Natsuo. "Our issues… Keigo has nothing to do with them. Faust has told me what he said to you both, though. I'll… do better. At reprimanding him."

It was an awkward reassurance. For a man who used to reprimand with his fists, he was struggling to get used to the idea of reprimanding with his words. He just had to make sure he didn't say the wrong words, which were far greater in number than the right ones.

Yayoi sipped her orange juice with raised brows. Suddenly it made sense why it was easier for Enji to be physical.

"Which doctor is it," Yayoi deadpanned. Enji looked at her, almost flinching, and she saw the way Natsuo and Fuyumi shifted uncomfortably at the reaction. It was like the dynamic in the house had shifted entirely in the month they were gone, and she couldn't blame them. Yayoi had ten years' worth of remarks that could take Enji down a peg—and she was saving the reason he became the No. 1 in Japan for last. It would kill him to know that All Might was forced into retirement and he only became the top dog by default.

"He was recommended by the Jaku Hospital Board," Enji told her. "I didn't catch the name."

Jaku General Hospital wasn't good. She set down her cup and said, "Change it."

Enji blinked at her. He furrowed his brows, confused, but when he glanced at Natsuo and Fuyumi, he seemed to realise why Yayoi told him to change the doctor.

"Do you have… a preferred doctor?" he asked Yayoi, speaking slowly and quietly. Mariya tossed the stir fry some more.

"Anyone not affiliated with Jaku Hospital Board or Dr. Tsubasa," she told Enji.

Mariya stopped tossing the stir fry.

She turned abruptly and said, rather loudly, "No more talk of business at the table, both of you! It'll give you indigestion."

Enji cleared his throat and nodded, muttering, "Right. Thank you, Mariya," before he put the phone on the wall entirely. The family sat at the table awkwardly as Mariya plated everything up. This was the first proper family dinner they'd had in a while, coming off the stress of Rei's rage and Keigo's prodding, and while tension's weren't high, the new information divulged to the elder Todoroki children was a lot to take in.

Even Natsuo's young mind was able to comprehend the severity of Yayoi's excuse. No one poked a hole in it or anything—she'd been smart to claim it happened at the hospital while she was waiting for Enji to get off the phone with Rei—but she was always met with questions of what the man looked like and what his Quirk had done to her specifically. It wasn't like she could pull All for One's appearance out of her ass, but she did leave crumbs that she could say everything, but refused to in order to avoid chaos that would come with it.

She just had to hold out until Naomasa met All Might. And then she could spin her tale to All Might and leave everything in his hands if Naomasa found out about One for All before meeting All Might, who exposed that himself, from what little she'd read of Vigilantes, All Might would close himself off to Naomasa and work with someone else.

Enji was just an unfortunate side effect.

"So," Enji tried, twiddling his thumbs awkwardly. "Are you… both doing well in school?"

"I have to talk to a counsellor," Natsuo said offhandedly. He picked at his fingernails like it was the most boring thing in the world to talk about. "Y'know. For the Touya-nii stuff."

Enji coughed into his fist. He nodded and seemed to swallow a lump in his throat.

"And you, Fuyumi?" he asked, suddenly no longer wanting to continue this conversation.

Fuyumi glanced at Yayoi before she answered. She'd been doing that a lot since Keigo had left. No matter how often Fuyumi glanced at her younger sister, though, she didn't quite have it in her to speak what was on her mind. No, all that guts went out the window after telling Rei the hard facts about their situation, which ended in Rei hanging up on them without even a goodbye.

Fuyumi adjusted her glasses and said, in the softest tone, "I'm alright. I have my hands full with helping Mom take care of Shouto."

Yayoi perked up. As soon as she did, Fuyumi looked away from her. Oh, she knew what she was doing. Yayoi soured and looked down at her own nails, picking a little too deep under one of them, before Mariya slid a plate in front of her. A small fork was placed in her hands, Mariya subtly doing her best to curb Yayoi's habit of picking at her nails when she was frustrated, but Yayoi wasn't exactly making attempts to stop of her own accord. Sometimes it just felt like there was a lot of ash stuck under there, and she wanted to get rid of every trace of Touya still stuck on her from that day.

Fuyumi dangling Shouto in front of her and then refusing to say anything more was just the right kind of news to make Yayoi frustrated and closed off for the rest of the night.

Enji asked her the same questions Keigo had, and Yayoi had replied with the same disinterest as before. They all ate quietly, only occasionally speaking when Fuyumi asked if Enji and Yayoi ate properly every day. Natsuo tried to talk about how he was getting better with his Quirk, but when Enji had made the effort to tell him to keep practicing, the boy was at a loss for how to react and shut the conversation down entirely.

Even without talk of therapy and who to do it through, they still got indigestion once their dinner was finished and the dishes were cleaned.