Chapter Text
Shouto wasn’t expecting his night to go this way.
He was awakened by a nightmare. He couldn’t recall what it was about but he remembered flames and towering shadows. It was a relatively tame one and he was used to nightmares, so he didn’t cry or scream (waking father up for childish reasons were beaten out of him). He attempted to go back to sleep after getting some water to quench his thirst.
He silently made his way to the kitchen. A lesson learnt through his 6 years of living in that house is that making noise has consequences. Heroes don’t scream. Heroes don’t cry. Heroes shouldn’t ask for things.
Hearing his mom speaking stopped him in his tracks. Since he couldn’t hear anyone else talking, he surmised that she was on the phone. He couldn’t hear her clearly but he could make out bits and pieces of her conversation .
“… Can’t do this anymore … like him every day …”
He yawned and walked closer to hear her better since she sounded upset.
“Shouto, that child. Some days his left side just looks unsightly to me…”
Shouto wasn’t sure what that meant but from her tone it didn’t sound good. He wanted to know why he was making mom upset.
“I can’t raise him anymore. I feel like I shouldn’t…”
Mom didn’t want to be there anymore? But why? What did he do wrong? He didn’t want to believe this. He needed to find out what’s wrong so he peaked into the kitchen.
“M-mom…?”
His mother slowly turned around while the boiling kettle started whistling. When they locked eyes Shouto was shocked in place by how mom was looking at him. It was as if she was looking at him but couldn’t really see him, that wasn’t new. But the pure fear in her gaze was what froze him in place.
The whistling only got louder, his mom took the kettle and grabbed his hair to keep him in place. The pain Shouto felt was the worst he had ever experienced. Not only because of the boiling water but because it was mom who was hurting him. Mom had never hurt him before. He couldn’t take it. He broke the “no loud noises or crying” rule and let out the loudest scream while his tears joined the boiling water running down his left side.
That seemed to break his mom out of the daze she was in, but that only made things worse. She realized what she’d done and how she had hurt her baby.
“What have I done? Oh Shouto, my baby! What have I done??”
In her panic she tried to use her quirk. The sudden change in temperature only made Shouto’s sobs more painful and loud.
There were loud footsteps and then Endeavor was rushing in the kitchen. Taking in the scene before him. His wife and his masterpiece were both crying. Shouto was covering his left side with small hands, while there was an abandoned kettle pot and water all over the kitchen floor. It wasn’t too hard to piece together what had happened. He lounged forward to push Rei away from their son.
“What have you done to him?!” He demanded. But Rei was too out of it to respond. She could only constantly apologize and say she’s sorry.
Enji was trying to calm Shouto down and assess the damage. He could already see a big burn scar forming on soft baby skin. He turned towards his other children who were now standing at the doorstep; shocked and crying.
“Don’t just stand there, call an ambulance. Now!”
Natsuo looked like he didn’t understand what was going on but Fuyumi immediately broke out of her shocked state and rushed towards the phone to make the call. Shouto still hadn’t calmed down. Enji turned towards his wife.
“You stay here. I’m not letting you anywhere near my children. I’ll deal with you when I come back home”
Rei could only nod in-between sobs. Endeavor carried Shouto who was shouting outside.
“Mom! I want my mom! Don’t take me away!”
Enji scowled at his childish outburst. “Calm down Shouto and you’re not seeing her again. She’s gone insane and is now a danger to you.”
“It’s your fault! You hurt her like you hurt Touya-nii! She didn’t mean it! I hate you.” Shouto screamed. He wasn’t sobbing anymore but he couldn’t stop the tears that were escaping.
Endeavor growled. “Silence! You do not know what you’re talking about. You will not talk about that failure or address me that way.”
Fuyumi and Natsuo rushing towards them stopped Shouto from replying. The eldest sibling spoke up. “They’re 2 minutes away. Is he going to be ok? Can we come? What about mom?”
Father turned his sharp gaze towards them. “Good. No, she’s scarred him and you will return to your rooms. Stay away from that woman.”
“But-“ Natsuo spoke up only to be interrupted.
“No. You can’t help him and you’ll only distract us. Do as I say and go inside”
Natsuo’s concerned face morphed into one of anger and he looked like he wanted to argue but Fuyumi grabbed his arm. “Yes father.” She said and guided her brother inside with tears still running down both of their faces.
The ambulance finally showed up. They had to sedate Shouto to placate him while Enji described the incident. Shouto was unconscious when they arrived at the hospital and was carried to a private room to be taken care of.
Endeavor was standing in the waiting room when the president of the Hero Safety Public Commission walked in. She strode towards him with a fake smile in professional attire.
“Ah here you are.”
Endeavor frowned. “What are you doing here?”
The unwelcoming attitude didn’t falter her smile or tone.
“When we received a notice about an emergency call from the Number 2 hero’s residency, we had to check in to make sure everything is fine of course”
Endeavor’s demeanor didn’t change. “Tsk. It’s my son. My wife has gone mad and damaged him. I knew that woman couldn’t be trusted around them”
The president feigned a look of sympathy.
“It must be difficult. First, the loss of your eldest a few months ago and now your wife.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Endeavor growled in annoyance.
“Of course, we don’t doubt your capabilities. But it must also be tough for poor Shouto. Going through all of this while in such a sensitive stage for his quirk development. And now he has a gnarly scar that will only hinder his popularity with the public when he debuts.” She said with a smile but cold eyes.
“He’s got my blood. He’s not going to be troubled by such frivolous matters. He will overcome them.” Endeavor proclaimed.
The president gave a cunning smile and responded in a foxy tone. “What if he doesn’t have to?”
Endeavor frowned, not liking where this was going. “What do you mean?”
“We have someone with a rewind quirk. She’s able to rewind someone’s physical state to how they were a few hours ago. We also have a few people with healing quirks who can get rid of previous bruises or scars.” She explained.
Endeavor raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t a fool, he knew this was a deal and not a friendly offer. “What’s the catch here president?”
Her gaze turned calculating. “We can help train your son. He has such a unique dual quirk with lots of growth potential. It would be a pity to see it being held back by his family.”
The pressure of the last few months and tonight were making it troubling for him to contain his rage.
“Why should I hand over my masterpiece? He has my power, I can train him better than anyone else.”
Her smile stayed on her face, but her tone changed into something more threatening. “Look at it this way Endeavor. Without the responsibility and pressure of training your child, you will have more free time to be a hero to keep your ranking. Your son will receive the best training in the country with access to the best resources for his quirk and development. With enough time he will also no longer be held back by emotions or feelings.”
At his silence she continued.
“Additionally, we can offer him excellent education to speed up the process for obtaining his hero license. I have no doubt that with enough support; he would be able to rival even All Might and we’ll make sure he realizes that too. We’ll shape it into his goal and motivation for his training process. Besides, without him in the way you could also work on your family. It wouldn’t be good for your popularity if rumors got out about the house life of the number 2 hero.” She finished her threat with a smile.
Endeavor closed his eyes to quell his anger. “Fine, but I want to be able to check on his progress anytime I want and if the results aren’t promising, I will pull him out.”
Her smile grew wider. “We have an agreement Endeavor. You can go home to console your family. We will take care of Shouto from here on. We will send over the documents to your agency tomorrow.”
He didn’t bother with a response and walked away with one last glare. The HPSC president pulled out her phone to make the necessary calls for preparations for the training to begin.
Poor little Shouto didn’t know how his life was altered. He didn’t even get his glass of water.