Motherhood, Ayumu quickly discovered, was tiring. Her second full day as a parent saw her trying to juggle her own basic needs (mainly using a toilet) and the needs of the two newborns.
She was fortunate that Hawks was capable of multitasking like no one else in the world, but that only helped when he was allowed to stay with her. The commission wasn't making it easy.
No, he wasn't allowed more than a day off to spend with the infants. They had him running around as per usual with the excuse that people would question such an uncharacteristic disappearance.
As they were trying to keep her existence and that of the children quiet, Ayumu chose to keep quiet on that count.
The only saving grace was the nurse who visited once a day.
The woman had an insect Quirk, and it made her expressions difficult to interpret at first.
With the stranger's assistance, she was able to moderately clean herself up, just a few hurried minutes in the bathroom, trusting enough that the HPSC wouldn't hire someone outright dangerous to help her children. That trust didn't extend far, hence the swiftness of her break.
Tia, the insect woman, also made her eat. "You need food if you're going to breastfeed. It burns a lot of calories."
"Great. At least that'll help me lose some of this," she replied, glancing down at her stomach.
Even as her body adjusted to post-pregnancy life, it was continuously different. She'd given up on the nipple piercings when lactation began. The breasts she used to feed the squalling infants looked nothing like hers . They were larger, nipples darker, bereft the bars she'd had for a decade.
And no one had warned her that nursing could hurt.
"You could pump," Keigo told her as he took over changing Hanako. He'd come in a few minutes ago and immediately set to help her. Ayumu couldn't deny that he was a devoted co=parent.
She shrugged. "I'd still have to deal with a lot of the same issues. Anyway, Tia gave me some tips earlier."
He finished with the infant and kissed her peachfuzz crown. "That's good. Is there anything I can do?"
"You're doing enough, Kei." Ayumu ruffled his golden hair on her way to pluck the girl from his arms. He pouted but allowed it. If Dai wasn't sleeping, she was sure the hero would be grabbing him to cuddle, too.
It soothed some of her tension that he doted on them both. When the paternity results came in, he waved them off and asked if his name could be applied to both birth certificates.
That had been an argument she wished she'd had energy for. In the end, the only compromise was to leave the fathers' spots blank. They could tackle the issue later.
"Have you thought anymore about the meeting?"
Ayumu sat with her daughter on her lap, watching those grey eyes blink sleepily now that she was fed and changed. "We'd have to leave the kids."
"Yeah," Keigo agreed. He sat beside her, wings tucked, and one arm slung across her shoulders. "But we'll have to do it at some point."
She knew that, but it didn't make the idea of being away from her twins any easier.
How quickly it had happened, how insidious was that love. She wondered if it was that way for her mother.
Early in her pregnancy, the children had been such a foreign abstract in her mind. Logically, she knew they were inside her, but they were mentally apart. As they began to kick and flutter in her stomach, growing until her body was forced to announce their presence, they started being something to her. She laughed when one got hiccoughs, winced when one kicked the wrong spot.
But it wasn't until she could hold them in her arms that she felt this strange wholeness.
"I'll think about it," she promised the young hero. He nodded, knowing better than to push too hard.
It took two weeks from their birth for her to finally agree.
She didn't like being away from the twins. Ayumu had been promised it wouldn't be more than two hours, but it still made her nervous.
She slipped into a loose blue dress that morning, grateful Keigo had brought it home shortly after she had the kids. It didn't swamp her like most of her late term maternity clothing, but it was loose enough on her postpartum body. The tie under her bust helped her feel a little more put together, and it took minimal effort to hide her nursing bra.
"It'll be okay," Keigo assured her, rubbing her forearm comfortingly. He'd installed cameras throughout the penthouse so she could see the twins whenever she wanted while they were away, and she found herself constantly checking, flitting between cameras to determine the best angle.
Fuyumi was watching them, eager to spend time with her new niece and nephew. The babies were currently napping in side-by-side bassinets, heads turned toward one another as though they could see through the sides. For all she knew they had that ability; Ayumu knew better than most that some quirks developed in utero.
Both heads still had dark fuzz, but she knew that wasn't a guarantee of color, since she'd apparently been the same, and her natural silver was a far cry from black. Their eyes were that odd grey-blue children had before any melanin set in and one could discern a more permanent color. With their button noses and smooshed, chubby cheeks, she wouldn't be surprised if people assumed they were identical when they saw the pair. Ayumu wondered when that would change.
"Whatcha lookin' at so seriously, doll?"
The smoky voice sent shivers down her spine and her head snapped up to see a white-haired Dabi sauntering toward her.
"None of your business," Ayumu spat. The bubble of contentment from watching her children popped at the sight of his smug face.
"Aw, don't be like that." Dabi smirked as he rounded the table, aqua eyes flitting over her before his brows furrowed. His expression soured. "Where the fuck are my kids?"
She spun in her seat and shot him a toothy grin as he took in her significantly reduced stomach. "With your sister. Or I should say that she's with them."
Dabi glanced over where his father sat further down. He was a presence she'd briefly acknowledged upon entering, but otherwise ignored. "You'd better not be taking them around him. "
"He only saw them when he dropped off your sister. I have no interest in him taking them, so calm down."
He nodded slowly, then took the seat indicated by a name card. Had one on either side of her been free, Ayumu had no doubt he would have taken it. As it was, she was flanked by Hawks and the former president. "So, when do I get visitation?"
"That's funny," she responded bitterly.
"They are my kids."
"One of them is mine," Hawks cut in. "But you won't go near either since you're a criminal."
A slow smile spread across Dabi's lips, tugging eerily at the staples holding his flesh together. "One might have some of you, chickenshit, but both of them are mine." Everyone at the table froze. "Oh, you didn't think I knew. Yeah, I got a copy of the test results. Interesting stuff. Shigaraki thought so, too, though he's happy to let me keep playing daddy on my own."
She nearly growled at his words. "You will keep the fuck away from my children."
"Awful protective considering you didn't them in the first place." Dabi was clearly enjoying himself.
"If you get within ten feet of them, I swear I will—"
Whatever threat she was going to make, the former president of the commission interrupted with a pointed cough. While the sleepy man, Yokumiru Mera, had officially taken over, she was still very much a part of the inner dealings.
"You said you had information for us, Mr. Todoroki?" she asked.
Dabi's eyes darted the older woman's way before returning back to Ayumu. "It's Dabi. Touya Todoroki is dead, and I rose from his ashes."
Ayumu snorted at his melodramatics.
"Dabi, then," Misaki agreed.
"First, we discuss my price."
"Touya—" Endeavor began, only for his son to silence him.
"Quiet." The order was venom from the patchwork man's gaze. "You're lucky I even agreed to you being here, Endeavor. You don't get to speak."
Enji Todoroki's flames flared before settling down to their usual weird facial hair thing.
"First, I get immunity for my crimes." That was expected. "Second, I want my fucking kids."
"Absolutely not!" Ayumu slammed her palms against the table and leaned over it, fury sparking in her eyes.
He only smirked. "And lastly, I want my girl back, and that traitor piece of shit kept away from her."
She laughed, a joyless sound. "That's not happening."
"Keep telling yourself that, babygirl."
"I would rather slit my own throat than spend one more day with you, you lunatic." Each word rose louder and sharper than the one before it. She was standing now, leaning toward him, a crazed smile on her face.
"Miss Sato, perhaps you could save the threats for another time?" Mera suggested.
She turned her fierce glare at him. "If you think of agreeing to either of those terms, I will personally see to it that everyone knows any-and-every little secret you are keeping about this whole situation. I will attribute it directly to you," she said, a cruel edge cooling the heat of her temper, "including the part where you coerced Hawks into raping me."
A hush fell across the table as her words settled.
"Hawks, perhaps you should escort Miss Sato out to cool down." This from the blonde woman.
Hawks stood and offered a hand to her. She didn't want to take it but could feel her blood pressure rising. A vein in her forehead throbbed, and her vision was almost a red haze. She took the hand and allowed him to steer her toward the door.
"So, would you like to know what that buys you?" Dabi was fairly confident this would go well for him. Over the last few weeks, he'd had time to think through his need for revenge, the plan to kill his younger brother, and the changed situation with his unknowing wife. He'd needed to sort through his priorities and figure out the best way to get everything he wanted.
When he'd first put forth this little meeting, his insistence on her presence was an instinctual inclusion. He'd been desperate to see her, and he'd pelted the bird's phone with demands for her return ad nauseum. The idea of her presence to facilitate proceedings was borne of the need to get her close again, and maybe a little bit to control her, too.
It had surprised him to see her no longer pregnant, though that put the paternity results handed to him the other day in context; it was much harder to test that while in utero, considering there were two children and multiple potential fathers. He should have read between the lines. Stupid, really.
Mera turned his tired gaze toward him. "We have not yet settled terms."
He shrugged. "It's not exactly information I'm offering."
"Then what?" This was from the woman. She was the one in charge, he'd bet his left eye on it. And she was a cutthroat bitch. He could work with that.
Dabi smirked again and pointed to himself. "A far better option for a spy than that overgrown Dodo, don't you think?"
The table was still, then the commission representatives were exchanging glances. Endeavor just stared at him.
"You're serious?"
He nodded.
"You spy for us, and, at the end of the war, you want a pardon, the woman, and the children?" the woman reiterated.
"I want them first."
Mera shook his head. "We have no assurances of your loyalty."
"Well, I ain't doing this for free." He leaned back and tugged a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.
The president and his puppeteer exchanged a glance, then the tired man asked, "If you could have just one for now, which would you choose?"
He didn't hesitate. "My wife."
"What do you mean, your wife?" Despite the fact that this was Endeavor, he chose to acknowledge the question.
"If you look through marriage certificates filed in the last few months, you'll find that we are legally wedded. Not that she knows yet."
" Not legally wedded, then," Mera corrected.
Dabi shrugged. "The only evidence otherwise will be hearsay. The signature is a match for hers. Ayumu Sato has has much right as I do to bear the Todoroki name."
"So, a pardon and Miss Sato, and you'll work for us."
"Spy for you during this war," he corrected.
The blonde's eyes narrowed. "No. If you want a full pardon, then you'll work for us indefinitely. We will, of course, compensate you. And in return you get your— wife. Once the war is over, the children will join you."
He considered that. It was likely the best deal he'd get, though the thought of being another commission bitch-boy was not fun. "No prison time?"
"As long as you commit no other crimes outside your duties as a spy, none."
"Thirty-five million a year and benefits, with hazard pay when applicable." And it would be until the war was over.
"Done." Maybe he should have demanded a higher salary.
"Ayumu is not gonna like this." He was already thinking through what he needed to do to prepare.
"We will figure out how to deal with Miss Sato."
Dabi reached across and reached a hand toward the blonde woman. "Alright. You got yourself a deal."
"We will be in touch with details."