Small warning: Some more mature themes in this chapter compared to the first five chapters- Hope you enjoy!

"Welcome back, Shouto. How was your trip?"

"It was educational and somewhat fun until the end... It got cut short because we actually got attacked by villains on the last day."

"What!?" This is the second time Shouto's class has been attacked by villains. That's two times too many. 'What is wrong with this school?' She refrains from saying. "Are… you alright?"

"I'm okay. A couple of us got injured, some more than others, and one of us even got kidnapped. Everyone's better now and the person that was kidnapped was successfully retrieved."

She notices that Shouto is being unusually shifty and seemingly nervous. "Is there something else? Perhaps I'm wrong, but you look like there's something else you want to say."

"You know me well, Mom. I can't hide anything from you.

"It's a bit of a long story, if you don't mind." She shifts slightly in her seat to make herself more comfortable. "The one that got kidnapped was Bakugou. They also tried to kidnap Tokoyami, but we managed to prevent them from escaping with him. Bakugou wasn't so lucky and was held captive by the villains. Well, based on his words, it's more like they were held captive by him. Frustratingly, if I moved just slightly faster or reach out slightly more, we could have saved him at the time. He was right in front of my eyes."

"You said he was successfully retrieved. Does that mean the heroes managed to rescue him?"

"...Not exactly. Yaoyorozu managed to stick a tracker onto one of the Nomu's when she was attacked. She made a tracking device for the police while we were all at the hospital. Kirishima and I happened to overhear, so we asked if she could create one for us as well after the police left."

After hearing about the tracking device, Rei becomes slightly alarmed. 'This isn't going to go the way I think it will, right?'

"In the end, five of us went to try to retrieve Bakugou. Kirishima, myself, Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and Iida." She feels a lump in her throat.

He explains how he and several others managed to find him with a tracking device. "The tracking device led to some kind of factory that stored Nomus. We thought that we hit a dead end until the villains were teleported in with Bakugou. We managed to rescue him while All For One and All Might-sensei were fighting."

"Shouto-"

"Not that there weren't problems, but we managed to catch Bakugou while All Might-sensei and All For One were Might was worried about collateral damage, so this allowed him to fight without worries."

"Shouto."

"Since I've already said this much, I might as well tell you everything. I had faith we could pull through because the ones that actually saved Iida from Stain was us-"

"Shouto!"

He becomes taken aback and stops talking. Rei is also surprised at herself that she still has it in her to yell like that.

Rei presses her forehead with her fingers to indicate her stress. She tells him sternly: "Shouto, that was completely reckless of you. Correction, that was far more than reckless. Do you have any idea how dangerous that situation was?"

"Sorry. I know it was and we got lucky that nobody got hurt. Aizawa-sensei also let us know that he would've expelled us if there weren't more pressing issues. But if I went back in time, I would do it again because there's no telling what could have happened to Bakugou if we hadn't acted."

It's clear that Shouto cares a great deal about his newfound friends, which is great to Rei, but her message doesn't seem to be coming across clearly. No matter how he may think of her afterwards, she will live with it as long as she gets it off her chest.

"I don't want to lose you. In a battle like that… someone could lose their life in an instant just for being in the vicinity. They say the greatest nightmare a parent can face is losing one of their children dying before them. The pain I felt from losing Touya… I can tell you that that is absolutely true. If you were to go before me as well…"

The other memory that haunts her. For better or for worse, she was in this same place when she heard the news. Pain. Rage. Detachment. Emotions that her mind vividly remembers from that time.. But, those were fleeting compared to the strongest emotion; despair. Despair nearly overpowered her completely in those days, and still occasionally rears its ugly head. That despair led to the temptation to do things that she could never take back if she succumbed to it. Rei shudders and then shakes her head, refusing to let her mind enter that dark place once again.

"I know that heroes have to leap into danger sometimes, but please, please don't do something like this again until you're a full-fledged one. Can you promise me that?"

"...I'm sorry, Mom. I don't think I can. If another one of my classmates found themselves, I would gladly throw myself into danger again if it was the only way they could be saved."

"There is no guarantee that the heroes couldn't have saved him. The only thing that your group had going for you was the element of surprise by no one knowing you were there. Without that, every single one of you may have been wiped out. And even with that element of surprise, you were all certainly lucky that there were no casualties.

"None of you have reached the full potential of your abilities yet. The people at the scene were the best of the best. You, who are still growing, can't compare right now to those that have reached the top by pushing themselves over and over, and then the ones with power beyond even the top ranking heroes… If All For One took notice of you earlier or if All Might lost his concentration from you appearing, all of you could have lost your lives. I'm glad your friends mean so much to you, but how would you feel if the plan resulted in one of your other friends losing their life in the attempted rescue? Or, could you imagine how Bakugou-san would feel if that had happened?"

"…I guess I didn't think that far."

"Since I can't stop you from going, make sure that you are thoroughly prepared when you go. Plan thoroughly, or else others may lose their lives because of your decisions. I'm disappointed that you didn't think ahead. Everything worked out fine here, but remember my words in the future."

"You're right. I'm sorry, Mom." Shouto repeats, but this one sounds much more heartbreaking to Rei. He grabs a nearby tissue box and walks toward Rei while extending his arm. She questions why he's doing that until she realizes that she is crying. It must have started in the middle of talking.

Naturally, she doesn't want to use this valuable time to scold him, but this is something that she had to say. She hopes that Shouto sees things the same way.

"Thank you, Shouto." She says as she grabs one.

"And I'm sorry I disappointed you." He bites his lip and looks down. The guilt is evident on his face.

"Well, as long as you learned your lesson…" She can't help but wonder if she's spoiling him too much. Despite her anger, it's not much of a surprise that he went headlong into danger despite the risks after she takes a few moments to think about it. 'Heroes. Even if Shouto won't acknowledge it, like father, like son.'

She looks for a soft shift in topic. "I'm surprised both the President and the Vice-President of your class agreed to your plan."

"Iida didn't go along with the plan until we told him that we were only trying to grab Bakugou and get out. As for Yaoyorozu… I'm also surprised she went along that quickly, honestly. It was her quick thinking in the first place that even opened the opportunity for this plan. She's come a long way from when Aizawa-sensei said she wasn't good at sudden decisions. Yet, she was still frustrated that that was all she could do. All Might-sensei himself told her that she's got what it takes to be a true hero."

If Rei had access to a camera, she'd be tempted to take a picture right now with how proud he looks.

"She was part of the first wave that got attacked without warning. Even still, she managed to put the tracker on the Noumu when it attacked out of nowhere. Without her further cooperation, we wouldn't have been able to go in the first place, but… She said she trusted me and even went along with us when she probably wasn't at full strength. It's as you said before, Mom. I have good friends."

She smiles and is about to ask more about Momo. In the next moment, they hear two nurses converse in the hallway. "By the way, Endeavor is number one now right? Since All Might can't be a hero anymore? Has his wife said anything?" One of them asks.

"I'm not sure she knows…" The other responds. The footsteps and voices grow distant as they both walk away, leaving the mother and son to deal with the aftermath.

Shouto glares at the door and then awkwardly scratches the back of his head. "I guess we do need to talk about that." He sighs. "All Might-sensei retired after fighting with All-For-One. That means he will finally achieve his dream of grabbing the number one spot once they officially announce All Might-sensei's retirement."

'Shouto probably thinks that I hadn't heard the news before this.' News as big as this reaches even Rei's humble abode. It's harder to get away from it than anything, as a matter of fact, when it is a hot topic among many patient's conversations.

The venom in his voice also does not escape Rei. She chooses to ignore it for now. "How has your father reacted?"

"I don't know. We haven't spoken. More precisely, I still don't really want to talk to him. Whenever I look at him, I still can't see anything except the man that hurt us."

She takes a quick glance at the flowers by the windowsill. Another gift given by her husband. It seems her son still hasn't noticed.

"Has he changed?"

"Since starting high school, he hasn't trained me, along with the rough treatment that came with the training if that's what you're asking. Maybe he has marginally changed for the better, but I still don't think I can forgive him." He pauses.

"Shouto," She stops while he eyes her intently, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She hesitates on whether to say it or not, but ultimately decides to do so after hearing her son confess to everything. "I am thinking of seeing your father again in the future."

"What?" He stares with wide eyes.

"I haven't even told your siblings of this yet, but… he's come to visit a few times. More than a few, in fact. Admittedly, I'm a bit scared, and the doctors have said it's probably not a good idea. It might not happen for a long time. But, when I feel I'm strong enough to face him again, I want to let you know that this might happen."

"Does this mean you forgive him?" There is some apprehension in his eyes. "Are you going to tell me that I should also forgive him? Because I love you and want to do what you ask, but I don't know if I can ever do that."

Rei shakes her head. She thinks now is the best time to get this off her chest. "I'm not saying to forgive him now or even later. If you still feel like he shouldn't be forgiven, then you don't have to. What he's done… we'll always remember for the rest of our lives. But he sounds like he is trying to change. And he's never forgotten about us. Those flowers are my favorite and are from your father. I only told him that once when we were younger and I'm glad he remembers." She points at the windowsill and Shouto eyes shift towards it with an incredulous expression.

"Just like you, I am still not sure that I can forgive him. But, even if I can't forgive him, I can still accept his efforts.

"No one except for you can make the choice to forgive him and it should come from the bottom of your heart, not from someone telling you to. And forgiveness is not everything; even if all of us forgive him, he will have to look within himself to atone for what he's done. I know you forgive me and say this-" She gently touches his scar again. "-Is not my fault. But every day since then, I am forced to reflect on what I've done.

"Do you forgive me, Shouto?"

"I've forgiven you ever since the day it actually happened."

"It's because of your kindness that you forgive me. I'm still not ready to forgive myself. I believe that the accident is because I was too weak; too weak to stop Enji or Touya, too weak to stop myself from breaking. And my sons paid the price for it.

"In truth, I blame myself more than your father. If he really is trying to change, he will likely be going through something similar." She doesn't know when she started to cry again, but she feels the tears streaming off her face. "All I'm trying to say is that if he is trying to change, just be aware of it and keep an eye on him. You don't have to do anything except for that. You'll know if you want to forgive him when the time comes."

He has a look of conflict on his face and hesitates. "Okay, Mom. I'll at least keep an eye on him." He grabs the tissue box once again and hands it to her. She takes one and dabs her face.

She decides maybe another change in topic is necessary before things become too heavy. "Now, let me ask once again. How was your trip? Before the last day."

"I learned a lot. We traveled by bus until we got near the forest. That was our first challenge; arrive at the goal in the middle of the forest before the time limit. None of us made it for lunch. From there, everyone had a special menu tailored specifically for each of us. They classified me as an operative type so I needed to raise the maximum output level of my quirk. My training menu had me sit in a pot of water and constantly changing the temperature by switching between ice and fire. For example, once I used my fire enough to get the water to boiling point, I would switch to ice until the freezing point. Then, I use my fire until it's back to boiling point again. I would repeat these steps until the teacher decided we had enough. The pot that I used was highly resistant to changing temperatures, so I had also raised the strength of both my fire and ice."

"...That sounds incredibly painful." Rei winces at the idea of outputting ice while being boiled. "You did that the entire time?"

"It wasn't that bad. I got used to it after a few days." He shrugs. "Mom, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Someone made a comment that Yaoyorozu ate a lot and she explained how her quirk converts fat into atoms. As a result, the more she stores, the more she can produce. Sero made a comparison between her quirk and poop. She didn't look like she appreciated that comment at all and I'm wondering why."

"Shouto… no girl likes having their quirk, or anything else, compared to fecal matter."

"I see. I was actually thinking the same thing as Sero. It's a good thing that I didn't say it, right?

"...Yes. A very good thing."

"Well, I knew I was lucky at the time since Jirou punched Sero in the jaw for that, but I didn't know the reason. She throws a powerful right hook for her stature."

...

As Shouto gets up to leave, he says one last thing. "Ah, I almost forgot. The school faculty is having us move to the dorms so that they can better protect us in case something happens. Everyone moves in a week."

"That's quite sudden."

"It's because of the recent attacks. They sent out two teachers, Aizawa-sensei and All Might-sensei, to personally speak to all of the parents to assure them of their concerns. Well, I heard about All Might-sensei, anyway. They seemed to use discretion on who goes where so I only saw Aizawa-sensei speak to Father. It would have been something to see how father would have reacted to All Might."

"Does this mean you're going to be living with your classmates from now on?"

"Yeah, it's mandatory not voluntary. It'll be a new experience, at least."

"Have fun," She says before thinking of something else to say when thinking of how Shouto's childhood went. "Seeing them more often will mean this will be a chance to learn a lot more about the others in your class, but also less boundaries. Let me know if you have questions about anything."

"I will. Thanks, Mom."

After this point, TodoMomo shipping material runs thin in the canon main story 😢
I may take some more creative liberties because of this~