"I am Todoroki Touya. The eldest son of Endeavor."
Rei's blood freezes. The first thing she does is try to convince herself that there is no possibility that he is telling the truth, that he's some kind of imposter.
Dabi continues. "To date, I've killed over 30 innocent people in cold blood… and today I'd like everyone to know what drove me to such despicable acts.
"Once upon a time, Endeavor yearned for nothing but power. But when he found himself unable to surpass All Might, he despaired. To concoct even stronger quirks, my father forced the woman who would become my mother to marry him.
"That's when my father created me , in pursuit of his selfish, egotistical dreams. But alas, I was a failed creation. It didn't take long for him to reject me. I was tossed aside and forgotten. "
Her theory that this is an imposter falls apart further with every word. ' An imposter would need to know of Enji's identity, and then trace the name of their firstborn child from there. '
"These murderous flames of mine are Endeavor's flames."
The only remains that were found of Touya that day was his lower jawbone. Something that Dabi also does not have.
"Since I know people aren't going to take a crazy villain's words seriously with no proof…" Dabi then reaches inside the drawer next to him and pulls out a few pages of paper, "there is a 99.9% match between my DNA and a sample of Endeavor's blood from the battle in Kyushu. I've also uploaded it online for people to see!
"I'm sure many of you still believe this to be an elaborate hoax, so I'll just have to convince you otherwise. After all that, Endeavor still made sure Mom kept having kids. The fourth was someone most of you are familiar with, I think. Yes, at long last, little Shouto was the successful creation. And he even abused that creation. I've seen him do it many times.
"Endeavor doesn't have an empathetic bone in his body. At his core, he's addicted to the limelight. A man who wallows in his own self-mindedness and self-importance. Is that the sort of person who should call himself a hero?"
If Touya somehow survived the accident, his body would be covered from head-to-toe with burns. Above all, what convinces Rei is his eyes. Eyes so full of hatred. Eyes that do remind her of Touya. And even reminds her of Enji as he became more and more different from the man she married.
Rei's first reaction is that she's nauseous. She then becomes lightheaded and feels like vomiting. She can barely recognize the doctors that come rushing into her room to turn off the TV and escort her out.
She'll never forget that day.
Fifteen days after she was admitted to the hospital for pouring hot water on Shouto's face, the hospital director and several investigators entered her room.
The person at the front introduced himself as the lead investigator. And then he told her, plainly and respectfully, "Todoroki-san, we regret to inform you that there's been an accident. The forest on the mountain near your home turned into a wildfire. Your eldest son, Touya, was believed to be practicing his quirk and the fire quickly became out of control. The fire was calculated to be at over 2,000 degrees celsius. We had to control the fire before anything else.
"Afterwards, we conducted an investigation and could not find any of Touya's remains. Except for his lower jaw bone." He reaches into his pocket and shows her a picture of the said bottom jaw. Even though she knows that he is explaining things as professionally as possible, everything he says makes him look more like a messenger from the underworld sent only to break her mentally. And it's working. His image becomes more devilish from her point of view with every word. "For these reasons, us detectives believe he burned to death in that fire. Our hypothesis is his bones were reduced to ash and the blaze's updraft scattered those ashes into the wind.
"I'm sorry."
She lost it and then entered the darkest period of her life.
But now there is a second chance.
Less than a week later, Rei is discharged. While she certainly had put in her maximum effort into therapy, she knows that's not the only reason she is being discharged. One part of it has to do with the casualties that have overrun the hospitals. Patients like Rei who were already close to being discharged have been released early to make room. But there may be a more pressing reason.
Endeavor has not made any public statement following the battle. That in itself is telling and fuels the talking heads of every news channel. If he were innocent, they argue he would've at least disagreed and put out some evidence of the contrary. The analysis of Dabi's blood test is public and various medical experts have attested that the document is not forged. The most agreed upon hypothesis is that everything that Dabi said was correct and that Endeavor, unable to face his shame, is hiding away in a hospital somewhere.
If that really is what's going on, Rei guesses that the doctors or their higher-ups have put their hopes on her to get Endeavor up and running again. Her role is simply being a pawn… but it's a role she'd gladly take at this point. Anything that lets her support her family.
First things first, her children, Fuyumi and Natsuo, come to pick her up from the hospital and take her to their new home.
Fuyumi meets Rei in the waiting area in the lobby. "Hey, Mom." Rei can see Natsuo in the driver's seat of his car near the entrance. Natsu waves at Rei and Rei waves back.
Fuyumi talks as she helps Rei into the van. "We don't know how much you know-"
"I saw the video of Touya."
Natsuo doesn't start the car just yet, instead turning around to face Rei. "...Are you really okay?"
"Somewhat."
"Sorry." Fuyumi apologizes as she enters the car from the other side to sit next to Rei. "This should've been a much more happy occasion."
"It can't be helped." Rei's line contains multiple emotions and meanings. Things have truly spiraled out of the family's control. "Is Shouto in school right now?"
"He got a little hurt from that big mission, so he's staying in the hospital. He's recovering well. The doctors just started letting him see visitors starting two days ago. He wasn't able to talk the past few days though."
"We're going there again tomorrow. Do you want to come?" Natsuo asks..
"Yes." Rei answers immediately. She had Shouto on her mind to maintain her focus during recovery. ' After all that he's done for me, I need to be there for him if he needs anything from me. '
There is a clicking sound that happens next to Rei. Rei sees that it's from Fuyumi putting on her seatbelt next to Rei in the back of the car. Fuyumi then silently looks at Rei to ask if she needs help.
'Oh, right. ' Rei hasn't been inside of a vehicle for a long time and only now remembers to do the same. "Thank you, but I should learn to adjust. And then another person that could need her help comes to mind. "...And your father? How is he?"
"He's also recovering. The doctors have told us that his physical condition is improving, but… his mental condition is a different story. We'll be able to see him tomorrow." Fuyumi answers. "It'll be our first time seeing him. Shouto wants to go with us too."
"I see. I'll go with you." Rei replies. Natsuo is focusing on the road but Rei feels like that's an excuse to avoid giving his input on the topic.
Those are the last words exchanged between them for a while. Destruction fills the scenery on the car ride home.
Natsuo and Fuyumi help Rei settle into the new home. They give her a small tour before leading Rei to her room and letting her settle in.
"Call us if you need anything!" They say before leaving her alone.
Tomorrow is the fateful day where she will finally see her husband again. The last time they saw each other, Shouto had barely started grade school. And now their youngest is in high school.
Even after all this time, Enji's thought of me and was considerate in his own way. She thinks back to how he was the one who has been wanting to see her, but he is always understanding about how she and her doctors still have reservations and maintains his distance. He even delivers her favorite flowers every time.
When she thinks of gifts to give him, that's all that can come to mind. The last batch of flowers that was gifted to Rei was months ago, so it's long since wilted away. That doesn't mean that I can go empty-handed.
She opens her door and searches for her children. She finds them after a few minutes together in the living room. "Fuyumi, Natsu?"
"What is it, Mom?"
"Do you know of any flower shops that are still open?"
The next day
Before the Todorokis enter the hospital, they decide to see Shouto first so that he can come with them when they visit Enji.
It may be a different hospital than the hospital Rei was in, but it's not exactly a place that Rei feels completely comfortable entering. Especially knowing that two members of her family are here for injuries. The familiar smell of antiseptic and disinfectants enters her nostrils as they head inside.
Perhaps sensing Rei's apprehensiveness, Fuyumi adjusts her pace to stop at Rei's side. "By the way," Fuyumi leans into Rei's ear and whispers, "that cute girl that Shouto likes has been visiting him every day. Of course, it's not just her. Shouto's other friends came with her, just thought you wanted to know."
Rei chuckles. "Thank you, Fuyumi. Yes, that is some good news."
Fuyumi is the person in front when they approach Shouto's hospital room. She lightly knocks on the door before looking inside. "None of your friends are here, huh?"
"Not yet." A hoarse voice says from the other end.
"It's good that you can talk now. Still, your throat isn't healed yet so try not to speak more than necessary. Guess who we brought with us?" Fuyumi then pushes the door all the way so that all of them can see Shouto.
Shouto's eyes widen in surprise. "Mom…"
'He's covered in bandages… ' Rei knew he was hurt, but didn't know the extent until now. And this is after already staying a few days here. She is reminded again of the harshness that heroes have to face.
"She worked hard to get discharged so that she could see you." Natsuo says. Whether Natsuo knows that he just helped her become focused or not, she thanks him silently.
"Shouto," Rei embraces her son tightly, "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Hey, Mom." Shouto pats her back. "I'm happy to see you again. Sorry. I couldn't be there when you got discharged."
"What are you saying? You have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who's sorry that I could only visit you now."
Once they separate, Shouto looks at her sheepishly. "I don't know how much you know…"
"I know everything. I saw Touya's video and the news coverage about him."
"I see. Don't worry; I'll stop him."
"We might not be able to fight like you two, but we'll help you in any way we can outside of that." Natsuo says.
"Shouto, that's not your burden to bear alone."
"...Dad froze up again when Dabi revealed he was Touya. He also couldn't act in that incident with Natsu-nii. If he freezes up again when Touya targets him… I don't want the worst to happen. So I'll stop him."
"Don't look down on your father too much. I don't believe that he will falter for a third time. It's mainly our fault that things turned out the way they did. I'm sure he feels responsible and will do anything to make things right."
"...Are you going to see Dad now?"
"Yes. We're all going." Fuyumi chimes in. "What about you? You can rest here a little longer."
"No, I'll go with you." Shouto replies.
...
The family approaches the room as Enji's doctor exits and hear his voice, talking to himself. "I might get to live on… but Endeavor died back there. My son's a mass murderer, yet… I can't fight him."
"D-dad…" Shouto, the one who opens the door, immediately shuts it after seeing Enji cry. "He's crying!"
Fuyumi stops Shouto from running away by holding his collar and reopens the door with her free hand. "Good, you're up!" She exclaims quickly to stop the mood from getting even more awkward.
Enji turns his head towards the entrance to see them all, though Rei feels he might not have seen her. "Are you all… okay?"
"Crying… over what, huh?" Natsuo asks.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Enji cries to himself. "I didn't realize until now… these regrets… this guilt… it's too late to matter! My heart, it's…"
"Yes? What about your heart?" Rei's voice is icy. It is at this point that Rei's finally had enough. It's not him crying that bothers her- she herself cried after the broadcast once she remembered everything that Touya said. No, the part that infuriates Rei is that Enji is avoiding Touya when he could save him. "Those regrets and guilt… the rest of us have borne that burden much more than you have."
Does he know how many times she's had the same nightmare of burning Shouto? Or how often she's wished she could go back in time to save Touya? And now they finally have that chance. She would do nearly everything to bring him back. All this time, she assumed Enji felt the same way.
"Rei?! Why are you here?!" He stammers. The grief and pain in his eyes are overtaken by surprise.
Yet, here he was about to run away again. He refused to look at Touya as a child and now he's doing it again. He even used the excuse back then that he was doing it for the sake of heroes. And now he is thinking about quitting when he's needed most. Her blood starts to boil with anger.
But lashing out here would do nothing to help the situation. She takes a deep breath and calms down. "I'm here to talk about our family. And about our son, Touya."
"Rei! Are you… really okay?"
"Okay? No, I'm not." For the first time since the broadcast, Rei answers that question truthfully. If she told the truth to her doctors, she would still be isolated in that hospital right now. "That's why I'm here. You don't get to claim you're hurting more than anyone. And you're not the only one who didn't really see him." She repeats some lines from the letters she sent to Enji. "You're not the only one who's responsible. I have a lot of blame as well. We all have to take responsibility for what comes next.
"Your heart may be broken, but we're here to get you back on your feet. You have no choice but to fight Dabi."
"..." He stares at her in momentary shock. "Are you… really the woman I married?"
"One of our children, one who's suffered much more than us," Rei glances at Shouto, "despite having every right to resent me, he still calls me Mom."
"He's been making friends at U.A. And now, he's the one saving us. Shouto is our family's hero."
"I talked with Mom before we came to see you. I thought… this couldn't be your battle to fight and that I was the only one who could do it. But I was wrong. Once you're done grieving," Shouto extends his hands toward Enji, "stand back up. Because we all have to stop Touya."
The next few weeks are extremely busy. After the Todorokis all reunited in the hospital, Best Jeanist and Hawks revealed themselves. Then, they work together with Enji on damage control. Meaning addressing the hostile public.
The three top heroes host a press conference a few days later. And Enji confesses to everything he put his family through.
"Your criticisms and doubts, direct them all at me. Not at the people who'll be putting their lives on the line! I want all of you to just watch me!"
That one statement by Enji towards the end encapsulates their plan. He volunteered to absorb as much of the criticism and vitriol as he could to protect both his family and the remaining heroes. 'So that's the path you're going to take, Enji.' Needless to say, even if the heroes prevail later on, his name will be dragged through the mud and his reputation will never recover. He certainly knew that but did it anyway.
"Thank you." She might be the only person in the world who will say this to him.
"I don't deserve that."
"I know. Still, thank you. And I'm glad you're alive."
"..."
...
Within a few weeks, all citizens within the vicinity were evacuated to the U.A. shelter for their protection. This includes the Todoroki family, who moved in early on.
Shouto's school, which was already quite big, redesigned itself and became much larger. All of the paths within it also became much more tangled for safety purposes with multiple evacuation routes. This is a problem for Rei, who is now lost.
"Excuse me. Could you help me for a second, please?" Rei asks the only other person who she could find after a few minutes of walking. The girl with long black hair, who was about to open a door, takes her hand off the knob.
'Hm? Is that?'
"I'm sorry. These aren't the civilian quarters. You'll have to turn back."
"That's my issue right now. I was on my way there, but I seem to have gotten lost. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and here I am…"
"I see. So that's why." The student nods. "The layout is complicated and without many directions displayed for security purposes. Please follow me." The girl says to Rei.
"Thank you. But before we go, may I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Are you one of my son's classmates?" Rei asks, though she fully knows the answer already.
"Your son?"
"I'm Todoroki Shouto's mother."
"Ah, I thought I saw a resemblance! Nice to meet you, Todoroki-san's mother. I'm his classmate and friend, Yaoyorozu Momo." Momo flashes a warm smile.
Rei had never been so glad to be lost before.