VI

This chapter is a mix of past and present, as seen by Fuyumi's point of view. I'm going to be going into more detail concerning the sequence of events that led to Rei's hospitalization. I would highly recommend you stop reading at the page break if you don't want to know my take on what happened to make Rei snap and what followed immediately afterwards.

Fuyumi refused to write her dad off as a lost cause. The daughter held a special relationship with her both of her parents and went out of her way to cultivate both relationships as equally as she could. Though her father was generally unavailable, Rei was in one place and always up for a visit. On the day of Rei's mental breakdown, Fuyumi had gone with her mother. It had been Natsuo who instinctively knew to ice the boy's face. Enji had his private physician visit the house and check the wounds, but all the doctor said could have been done was to avoid letting the five year old try to make his own tea.

The daughter couldn't fault her father for wanting to maintain his image. She had to work hard to encourage her brothers to go along with the public statement. "If word really gets out, then reporters will be all over Mom in the worst time of her life," she'd said. In the end, Toya offered no resistance and though Natsuo had seethed at the logic, he'd agreed it was for the best. All three of them had agreed to leave Shoto in the dark. He wasn't in school yet, so he wouldn't hear any rumors or face ridicule. The story was so boring that none of the media even bothered to report it.

Dad's smart, she told herself as she knocked on her mother's door. This could have been a disaster.

"Come in," Rei called from the other side.

Fuyumi smiled and happily obliged. "Hi, Mom," she said with a careful smile. It had been a week since the event and Fuyumi had been careful to visit every two days. She wore a knit cap with her hair tucked away, just in case any of the flecks of red might set off any triggers. For the most part, Rei seemed quite reasonable in her seclusion. With Enji out of the picture, Rei was a nearly normal woman. She remained soft spoken and sweet as a cube of sugar, but Fuyumi didn't find any fault with that. "I hope you're hungry. I stopped by a takoyaki stand on my way over."

Rei sat a bight straighter and pivoted in her seat. A single chair sat by the window, her sole access to the outside world. While she was deemed sane enough to have access to a television, Rei had insisted she didn't want one in her room. With Endeavor's frequent appearances in the news and all over the internet, Fuyumi couldn't fault her mother for being a bit of a technophobe. "What an unexpected treat. Thank you, Fuyumi." The twelve year old smiled and handed over the box.

"Would you like some? Food tastes best when shared."

The motto was said often in their old house. It had been a way for Rei to put her children in her line of sight. The quiet woman had only felt secure when she was able to have all of them in her sight.

Until even that wasn't enough. Fuyumi recalled how taken aback Rei had been when Toya began to develop is teenage attitude, or when Natsuo started to make comments.

"Why doesn't Shoto have to eat at the table?" He'd asked in an attempt to justify having dinner in front of the TV.

Fuyumi had watched Rei choke back tears. Natsuo knew full well that Shoto was undergoing 'training', which mostly consisted of the child being savagely beat. Dad said it would make Shoto tougher, but Fuyumi wasn't so sure. "Mom, no!" Fuyumi had yelled as she watched her parent flee from the table. She had tried to intervene before, they all had, only to fail in the same way. Their only saving grace was that Endeavor was a hero, so he couldn't leave marks where people would see.

Rei rushed to her beloved baby's hell and burst through the door. There he'd kneeled on the ground with his hands clutching his gut. "Now stand up. If you get hurt that easily, you can forget about beating All Might, or even a small-time villain." Enji's voice was as powerful as thunder. It echoed through the spacious training hall.

Rei tried to be reasonable. "Please stop pushing him. He's only five years old."

"He can take it," Enji insisted. "Get outta of my way!" He hadn't even waited for her to move before he shoved his wife to the ground. The fall could had been expected, but Rei had no battle reflexes. She fell at an angle - first on her head, then on the rest of her figure. The initial thump had her passed out cold. Enji left his wife and drug Shoto somewhere else. He didn't want to waste valuable practice time by moving an unconscious body.

That night, Rei had awakened confused and disoriented. She stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen and began to rummage about. She had pulled her favorite kettle from the top of the stove, filled it with water, and turned on the burner. Her goal was to make some medicinal tea to numb the stinging pain at the back of her head. She glanced at the clock. Despite the ungodly hour of two in the morning, she headed to the wall mounted phone. The fear in her heart and a sense of urgency had her disregard the time and call at once. The line only rang twice. Unbeknownst to her, she had awakened her youngest, Shoto. Rei spoke as soon as she knew the phone was answered. It didn't matter if it was her mother or father on the other end. She had to say it now, before she lost her nerve.

"I feel like I'm going crazy," she began at once. She didn't want responses. She couldn't handle the usual talk of 'hang in there, sweetie. Be supportive.' Tonight, there had to be results. Her words came out far more frenzied than normal. "I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't take it anymore. Every day, the children seem more like him. And Shoto…"

The child in question rubbed the sleep from his eyes and lifted his fist to his mouth to cover a hearty yawn. Upon hearing his name, he quieted and stared up in wonder. Why was his mom talking about him? "That child's left side sometimes looks unbearable to me. All I can see is his father. I can't raise him anymore. I want to run away from this life!"

Though the plight sounded reasonable for the crazed woman, she didn't even learn if she had support from her parents. In that moment, her son spoke.

"Mom, what are you saying?" Shoto asked, stung. Rei pulled the phone from her face as if it had burned her. At the same moment, the kettle began to screech. If I can make it look like he burned Shoto, maybe the police will take us away. The thought struck her in a moment. It sounded like the best case scenario. She grabbed the handle and pulled on the mechanism that released the spout. I have to do it fast. It's the only way! Boiling hot water splattered Shoto. By luck or subconscious aim, Rei would never know how she managed to hit the left side of his face.

Shoto cried out at once. Toya ran into the kitchen first, followed quickly by Natsuo and Enji. "My son!" The last of them called, his voice enraged. He rounded on Rei and pulled his fist back. "What did you do!?" His voice was thunder. It quaked in every inch of her being until she cowered on the floor like a cornered dog.

"I-I-" she couldn't finish a sentence. She began to sob hysterically on the ground. Her hands pulled at her hair to shield her face. A strike hit her kidney. His foot smashed against her curled figure. Rei was rolled onto her side by the force of the attacks.

"Dad, stop!" Natsuo cried. It was only then that Fuyumi arrived. As last to the scene, she didn't have the whole story.

Toya had been stunned enough to let his father get two hits in on his mother. He sprouted fire in his hands and threw them at Enji, who deflected the blasts easily.

As a family rule, nobody hit Fuyumi. They all loved their sister's ability to see on the bright side. She was their angel in their hell. "Dad, Toya, stop!" It had been the only time in her life that she had to raise her voice. Only when she had been sure that everyone would get along, the daughter dropped to her knees, tears welled in her eyes. "Mom, come on. Let's go to a hospital." She tried her best to keep her voice clear, but she felt herself wanting to panic just as much as everyone else.

Alone, the woman and girl walked down the stairs and outside the home. If the boys were going to beat each other, neither of them wanted to see it. Rei limped with every step. "I just. I just-" she kept repeating, her face scrunched with agony. Those were the only words she had said for the rest of the night. When they'd arrived at the hospital, Fuyumi knew enough to only give her mother's first name. Nobody had wanted to question a mother and daughter out at five in the morning. By the time the police arrived to take their testimonies, both had settled on silence. Rei's hesitation was from fear, but Fuyumi's stemmed from loyalty.

Fuyumi waited for the anticipated phrase, but it never came. She sat on Rei's twin sized bed and watched her mother eat. As far as she knew, none of her brothers had come to visit. Will they ever?

"We have a new lady in the house."

"That didn't take long, what's her quirk?" Rei didn't put it past Enji to replace her.

Fuyumi thought the question was to be expected. After all, eighty percent of the population had something. "Uh, I don't know. I think we're asking her that at dinner tonight. It's Dad's sister."

"Teiko?" Fuyumi was surprised at her mother's familiarity. How did Rei know Teiko?

"Yeah, Aunt Teiko," the twelve year old confirmed. "Wait, do you know her?"

"Yeah. I knew Teiko before I knew him." So long as they didn't say Enji or Endeavor, their conversations went well, for the most part. "We were neighbors growing up. Some kids were teasing me and Teiko stood up for me." Her face paled at the memory. "It was pretty over the top."

"No way, what'd she do?" Fuyumi was interested already, but she made sure to sound doubly intrigued to keep her mom talking.

"I'll let you ask her. If I know Teiko, she still loves to tell stories." Rei looked more animated than she had in days past. "Wow, Teiko's here," she said to herself, though loudly enough that Fuyumi could hear. Talking had become good way to keep her focused. "I bet the house got a whole lot louder."

Fuyumi laughed. "It's not too bad. She sent all of us to bed so she could talk to Dad alone."

"So naturally, all of you were listening to every word?" Rei knew her kids.

"Naturally," Fuyumi confirmed. "She never said not to." The obedient daughter had to confirm that she'd broken no rules.

"How long did they fight?"

"It was only a few seconds, then she gave him a talking to." Fuyumi couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a look of triumph in Rei's eyes. None of them were willing to go to the authorities, so it seemed that their sense of justice would have to be filled by Teiko, or not at all. The girl felt emboldened by her mother's show of strength. "He said he loved you."

Rei's gray eyes dropped to her lap. She looked at the hands that had burned her son. Would Shoto ever forgive her? Could he possibly understand? Their visit ended in silence.