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Throwing Stones

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Perfectly Imperfect

Kagome observed as golden sparks flew from Eri's horn. The child's face was taut and the look of fear was prominent in her features.

"That's good, just try using a little at a time." She coaxed the girl, observing as the small flecks of golden light wrapped around the lizard in front of them. Its tail had fallen off and while it could regrow it on its own, Eri's quirk put the healing process into high gear. The little nub stretched out and grew, steadily returning to its original state.

"Good job, Eri!" She praised the child, "Now just like I showed you, try to slowly let up on your power."

They'd been practicing for two weeks straight. By now Eri could heal most minor wounds and injuries. The size of her horn had grown stable too as she was gradually releasing all of the stored up energy she had. Turning off her power was still a difficult process for her though. So she worked with her every single day in order for Eri to get the hang of it.

Kagome watched as the light slowly faded and the sparks from Eri's horn gradually stopped.

"You did it!" She cheered enthusiastically.

Aizawa nodded alongside her. He'd been present for most of these training sessions just in case but by now Eri rarely needed his erasure to put a stop to her quirk's power.

"Why don't we show the others what you accomplished today?" She smiled as she took her hand.

Eri lit up immediately. Her expression brightened considerably as she made a beeline for Touya.

The man was camped out in the living room thanks to Aizawa scolding him for hovering over Eri so much. Touya hadn't wanted to step away but Eri always got exceptionally nervous with other people watching her. Touya had sulked when she'd asked him to give the girl some space. Eri would likely go to him when she was ready.

Kagome smiled as the child clamored onto his lap and showed off the freshly healed lizard. Touya lowered his palm onto her head and also praised her.

"Not much longer and you'll beat out Recovery Girl in the healing department." The man laughed as Eri beamed up at him.

"She's definitely going to give her a run for her money." Kagome added for good measure.

She stood next to him from beside the couch as Eri ran around to the rest of the group to show off her progress.

"Am I still banned from participating?" Touya sulked.

Clearly, he was still not happy about being barred from supporting Eri firsthand.

"You'll have to ask her what she would be comfortable with." Kagome then pressed her palm over his hand affectionately, "I do want you to know that your support really does mean a lot to Eri. She always goes to you first whenever she accomplishes one of her goals."

Which was the truth.

Every time she managed to succeed in her goals for the day, she would immediately run to Touya first and announce it to him. He'd hovered around the girl protectively since the day she'd been dropped off at the dorm. By now, Eri had come to view the man as a sort of father figure. Touya himself appeared more than happy to fill that role as well.

Kagome blinked.

Family, huh?

In another world, perhaps she and Touya could have had a normal future. One that included marriage and children. As it stood, death was always waiting in the wings, preparing for the right time to strike them both.

Her significant other glanced up at her, "Somethin' wrong?"

His expression was pinched with concern. A tell tale sign that he could hazard a guess as to what she was thinking about.

She shook her head before opting to change the subject.

"Oh, Shouto said he wanted to come by again this weekend. I had to decline before since Eri's quirk was so unstable." Kagome gave him a curious glance, "He says that your other brother, Natsuo, wants to come too. Do you want me to let him know that it'd be alright? Aizawa has already given Eri the green light to have visitors around."

Touya simply nodded his head, "Natsu, huh? I'm surprised he wants to talk." The man then flashed her a wide smirk, "Yeah that's fine. I can handle Natsuo but the egghead might just cry if you keep denying him."

Her smile softened at that.

Even though Shouto hadn't been permitted to come in person these sat few weeks, he still sent his older brother a plethora of letters. She never tried to pry the information from Touya but according to him, Shouto was getting along with his classmates now and was doing much better. He'd mentioned that Shouto had even gone to visit their mother who was still in the hospital. She knew the basics of his family's background but seeing each of the siblings pick up the pieces in the aftermath of their father's abuse was an entirely different feeling. It was more real than simply analyzing information from a profile. More human.

Touya smiled as Eri eventually ran back to him. He lifted her up onto his lap with ease as they settled down for the evening. Kagome watched as Eri began to mimic some of Touya's habits. Such as the way he crossed his ankle over his knee and stretched his arm across the back of the couch. Her frame was much too little to completely copy him but it was still adorable all the same. Kagome silently took out her phone and snapped a picture of the two of them together.

"And here I was hoping to be the favorite." Hawks whined from beside her. "But it looks like Touya got that honor first."

The blond sulked, "First new member of the family in ages and she likes old scar face better."

Kagome playfully swatted at his arm, "Oh be nice. Eri is my charge. I'm technically not permitted to adopt her." She actually had asked Sesshoumaru to try to file for emergency custody of the child. Especially as her mother had dumped her on their doorstep. She'd been granted temporary rights but she was not permitted to adopt Eri on a permanent basis due to her medical condition. Hawks likely could file the legal paperwork but that was a mess they didn't want to step into at the moment. So for now, Eri was her charge just like the rest of the group.

Kagome shot her brother a pointed look, "Also don't call Touya scar face either. I don't appreciate it."

In their quiet evenings together he often stated that he was aware of how people saw him. That his scars were horrifying even for him to look at so he preferred not to use mirrors unless he really needed to. Touya possessed an extremely negative view of his physical appearance and she didn't want anyone hammering down on that insecurity for any reason. He couldn't help the abuse that led to that tragedy. Like everyone else here, he had his own trauma that he needed support for. It was simply unfortunate that his trauma also took on physical scars on top of his emotional ones.

Her adoptive sibling glanced at her cautiously, "You don't appreciate it? Not that Touya wouldn't appreciate it?"

She folded her arms over her chest defensively, "I'm allowed to establish boundaries. No picking on the people under my care while they're here."

Her sibling was already growing suspicious of Touya's protectiveness towards herself and Eri alike. So it would be best for all of them if she didn't give him any more reasons to suspect anything.

Her lips dipped at that.

"Hey," Touya's voice broke through her thoughts. "You gonna chill with us or what?"

Eri bounced happily as she shot her a pleading look.

Kagome smiled softly as she sank into the seat next to them. Eri leaned into her side while Touya wrapped his arm around the backrest behind her. She could feel Hawks' eyes on them but she couldn't bring herself to move. The amount of time she and Touya could spend together during the day was limited already. With more people starting to pick up on the changes in their relationship with one another, their time had grown considerably shorter.

She wrapped one arm around Eri who was nestled between them as she leaned her shoulder against Touya's side. His lips curled into a faint smile as he switched the channel to a child friendly station.

The sat back as the rest of the group gathered around them in the living room.

Kagome watched as Tenko and Shuichi spoke in hushed tones about some of the manga they'd spent a good majority of the day reading. They were so absorbed by their discussion that they hadn't noticed Kenji sneaking up behind them and typing different hair ties into their hair—most of them being delicate ribbons in pastel colors.

Atsuhiro was engaged in a lengthy discussion about the art of magic with Aizawa, which of whom was wholly uninterested and already crawling into his familiar yellow sleeping bag.

Hawks, Jin and Himiko were gathered by each other. Most of their conversation was unintelligible to her but she could decipher the fact that they were arguing about whether grilled chicken or fried chicken tasted better.

A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips.

They were all broken and traumatized people. They were the outcasts society had deemed as monsters. Yet right now, in this very moment, they were a perfectly imperfect family.

"You got that look again." Touya's voice was low as he spoke. "Wanna let me in on the secret?"

Her smile widened, "It's nothing really. I was just thinking that I'd like to do this more often."

His eyes leveled with her for a moment. Then his own lips pulled into a short smile.

"What are you talking about? We've got decades of this chaos ahead of us." He then gestured towards the rest of the group, "You really think these numbskulls are gonna go anywhere else but here after we finish this program? Nah, you're stuck with us."

She laughed heartily, "I'll accept that fate with grace."

After all, that was the best future she could ever possibly imagine.

Eri tipped her chin up and flashed her a wide smile.

Kagome combed her hands through the child's hair affectionately.

Nothing could ever beat this.