Chapter Text
Cries echoed throughout the room, loud breaths of relief and heavy tension filled the space. The new bundle of life screamed like his own life depended on it. The mother cracked a small smile, wondering how such a tiny thing could scream so loud. The smile faded as her gaze lingered up to the man standing above her ominously.
The man studied the infant, looking at the wisps of hair the child had on his lumpy head that was still in the process of forming. A few strands of flaming red poked out.
The two adults did not say a word, only letting the doctors and nurses do their work, one of them whisking the screeching baby away from them to get him cleaned up.
A few deafening moments passed before the baby was brought back into the room, now much quieter and much more clean. He was given back to the mother, and she coddled him fondly. She stared down at him like he’d been hers since the beginning of time. She cherished him. She let the baby flex his tiny hands around her finger, smiling when the hand would tighten around her knuckle.
”Congratulations, Mr and Mrs. Todoroki. Do you have a name?” The doctor said quietly, not wanting to disturb the baby now that he’d finally calmed down, only making subtle coos here and there.
At first, neither of them said anything. The doctor watched the mother look up to the man above her, and witnessed a certain light shine in her eyes when she’d received a slight nod of approval.
”Kaito… Todoroki Kaito.”
A few days had passed since Kaito was born, more wisps of red hair had begun to sprout and he’d finally opened his eyes, though what they’d seen was surprising.
His right eye was a vibrant turquoise, identical to his father’s, but looking to the left, a cloudy, light yellow. The parents were shocked when they saw this fact, confused as nobody on either sides of their family had yellow eyes.
When asking the doctor, he exclaimed that the strange eye color perhaps had something to do with his future quirk. The baby only gurgled and fussed in response.
Kaito was a quiet baby the first few weeks, save for the occasional cry out for food in strange hours of the night. Rei had come accustomed to waking up early to rock the baby back and forth, sometimes humming a sweet tune to the boy. She found joy in still rocking him long after he’d fell asleep, something about the distinct smell babies carry, or the softness of his chubby cheeks, or the cuteness of his sleepy grumbles.
Part of her wondered if she simply had no choice but to find comfort in these insignificant little moments.
Enji spent little time in the nursery. He would send a glance or two the boys way, but each time he would do so, Rei would notice a slight look of distain. He isn’t what Enji is looking for.
Rei couldn’t decide whether that was a blessing or a curse.
There was no warmth in his gaze, only calculation. It was a look that was not foreign.
”The boy doesn’t cry as much as the other,” Enji muttered suddenly, Rei flinching at the sudden sound of his voice, but keeping a protective hold on her newborn.
”..That’s not a bad thing.” She replied, keeping her eyes focused on her son.
He grunted, but said nothing else. Rei kept her gaze on the baby as she heard the door close shut, indicating that the man was done with them for the night.
She was going to set Kaito back in his crib for the night, but before she got the chance, the door slammed back open, a red-haired child revealing himself to the dark nursery.
“Mama!” He said, his little feet slapping the floor as he ran over to the woman.
Touya, barely three years old, reached his mother and a warm smile spread across her face.
“Would you like to hold him?” She asked, watching his eyes light up with wonder.
”Can I?”
“Of course, here—“ She said, gently handing the baby over to the toddler making sure to support his head and allowing Touya to sit in her seat to hold the baby comfortably.
”He’s so squishy,” Touya mumbles, looking down at his little brother. He didn’t exactly understand the concept of a brother, but his mom continuously told him that he was going to be one before she brought a new baby to their home, he supposed this was his supposed ‘brother’. He’d only seen him once before this interaction, heightening his curiosity about the little one.
As he rocked the baby, he felt him stir in his arms, and a moment later blue and light yellow eyes landed on his own.
“What’s wrong with his eye? Is he sick?” Touya asked questioningly. Rei giggled and shook her head.
”There’s nothing wrong, Touya. His eye is just.. special.” She replied.
Touya hummed and went back to looking at his little brother, finding that the infant was already staring at him. He watched as the baby moved his little hand to wrap around his own, only fitting around two fingers. Touya’s eyebrows rose a bit, unsure how to react. A small nod from his mother encouraged him to squeeze the baby’s hand back a bit, causing a small giggle to erupt from him.
”His name is Kaito.” Rei said, enjoying seeing the brothers binding for the first time, even though neither of them probably knew what that meant.
”Kai..to…” He repeated, seemingly testing out the name, seeing if it sounded natural.
In response, Kaito let out a gurgle.
Touya’s eyes widened as he registered an unfamiliar feeling in his chest— it was warm.
And he was sure that was the moment the brotherly instinct formed. His little brother, Kaito.
For the first few years of Kaito’s life, he and Touya were inseparable.
Whenever Kaito let out a cry, Touya was the first to show up at his crib, Kaito making grabby hands at the older boy. If their mother was busy, Touya would sit by the crib, tickling his stomach, babbling on and on about everything and nothing at the same time, letting the smaller boy play with some of his toys.
When Kaito was old enough to sit up and crawl on his own, Touya would always make it a habit to plot down right next to him and ramble on about whatever new hero news was on TV that day, All Might, a newly debuted hero that caught his eye, and their father, Endeavor.
They were glued at the hip, that is, until Kaito turned two years old. Touya had gotten his quirk, and Endeavor’s training began.
When they played together, their father would storm into their room, grabbing Touya’s wrist and dragging him away with nothing more than a grunt.
After dinner, he’d demand Touya to head to the training room.
Kaito was confused, and when he’d ask their mother, she never gave any more response than a small smile and a hug. She always offered to play with the boy in place of Touya, but it wasn’t the same. He wanted his brother.
Kaito, being a curious child, decided to investigate for himself one evening. He wanted to know why he couldn’t see his brother as often.
He toddled over to the training grounds where he noticed the two figures in the middle, standing face to face. It was his brother!
Before he had the chance to waddle over and ask what they were up to, he took note of the disheveled look Touya sported. His hair was messy, messier than usual, he was heavily sweating, and he looked like he wanted to go to sleep right then and there. This, and the icy cold stare their father was giving to his older brother convinced him to stay behind the door, watching from a distance.
The air was thick with the scent of smoke and tension. Touya’s hands were clenched into fists with steam coming from them.
A sharp voice ordered, “More.”
Touya grit his teeth, determined but tired. He wanted to impress his father. He needed to impress his father.
As his hands heat up more and more, Kaito noticed how red they were getting. “Shouldn’t he stop…? He’s hurting!”
Despite the boys worries in his head, he said nothing and watched as the flames got brighter, larger, hotter, but before Touya could do any real damage, he stopped and yelped. “Ah!”
The flames had burned his own skin. Kaito’s eyes widened, slightly moving out of his hiding spot before flinching back into it as Enji moved toward the boy.
He stopped and stood above him before snatching the burned arm into his hand, “How are you supposed to become number one like this? You need to learn to control it. Again.”
Touya bit his lip but said nothing. Kaito whipped his head to his father, stunned. His brother was hurt, and he wanted him to do it again..?
Kaito clenched his own hands, tears prickling at his eyes. He didn’t like this. He didn’t understand exactly what this was at the time, but he knew he didn’t like it. He wanted it to stop.
He didn’t like seeing his brother hurt like this.
One day in their dining room, two weeks after Kaito’s fourth birthday, Kaito and Rei were eating lunch together alone, Touya and Enji off in the training room once again.
It was a normal day, the weather was chilly, the sky darkening as clouds rolled in slowly, hindering the mother’s plans to go outside to the park with her youngest.
She still wanted to spend time with the boy, while she and it, so she’d suggested an indoor picnic.
They made sandwiches, poured drinks, and cut fruit together before settling down to eat. They sat in a comfortable silence, happily eating their food.
That is, until Rei noticed a faint glow. She followed the source and to her surprise, it was coming from Kaito.
”Kaito?” She asked.
”Hm?” The boy responded, ignorant to the glow.
He turned to face her, and she got a full view of the eye. It was faint, but brighter than normal. Instead of a cloudy yellow like the eye usually is, it now glows as a brighter, almost gold-like yellow.
She studied it for a bit longer, and a pit in her gut formed. “Do you feel anything weird, Kaito?”
”Um.. Well I feel kind of hot,” he says, still munching on his food. Though, as he picked up another sandwich, he noticed smoke coming from it. “Mom, this sandwich is hot!”
Rei furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, none of the sandwiches she made were supposed to be hot.
”What do you mean honey?” She asked, taking the sandwich from his hands and noting it was in fact, not hot.
”There’s smoke!” Rei turned her head to the boy, about to ask where he’d seen smoke, but her question was immediately answered.
His hands. There was smoke rising from his hands. “Mama look!”
Rei’s eyes widened. Before they knew it, flames burst up from the boys' hands, flames brighter than she’d ever seen.
She was slightly panicked, but didn’t show it on the outside. She knew what this meant.
She summoned a bit of ice and placed it over the boys' hands, successfully helping him make the fire die out before all that was left was steam. She noticed there weren’t burns on his hands unlike her other child, which she deemed to be a good thing.
Everything else about this situation was not.
Kaito had gotten his quirk, and though many other mothers would be happy about this milestone, she would’ve been ecstatic if he turned out quirkless.
While Kaito was overjoyed about the quirk, Rei’s eyes cast downward. She knew there now wasn’t much time.
She was going to lose him too.
It started with a visit to the quirk doctor.
Enji had arranged both Touya and Kaito to be examined- Touya because the results of his training had become a concern to even Endeavor, with every flame that he created making some kind of burn mark on his skin.
Kaito, because his flames were proving to be something entirely different than what Enji was anticipating.
Rei was there as well. She was holding her breath for reasons even she wasn't sure of. She was as anxious as ever all because of a simple quirk doctor's visit. Perhaps the reason was because she knew the results of this visit would impact her children for the rest of their lives- because she knew who her husband was.
The two children in question were waiting in a playroom, unaware of the thick tension that clouded the room with the couple and thee doctor.
The doctor was an older man, thin-rimmed glasses perched on his nose as he flipped through medical charts and clicked on his computer in front of him, searching for results of the quirk tests that the two children had previously completed.
His expression was unreadable as he exhaled slowly, folding his hands on the desk and looking toward the two.
"This is quite the peculiar case...In regards to his quirk, he's inherited your fire, however..." He turned to look at Rei, who seemed nervous, "His body is dominated by his mother's genes."
Enji's face hardened but neither parent said a word, listening to the doctor explain the tests' results, "To be precise, he's developed a body that has an aptitude for the cold... Rather than a tolerance to fire."
"...Is there a way around it?" Enji asked, voice cold and threatening. Rei gulped.
"Unfortunately there is not, there isn't a way to condition his body to handle the heat. I'm afraid the more he uses the quirk, the more harm he'll do to himself." The doctor explained calmly.
Enji squinted, any emotions he may be feeling not showing on his face, "And Kaito?"
The doctor sat up at the mention of the younger child, shuffling papers and documents in his hand until he reached the one that pertained to Kaito.
"Ah, yes, here it is. When it comes to Kaito, he's quite the opposite of Touya. His flames do not harm him, in fact, the hotter they get, the stronger they seem to become with no harm done to his skin. We have reason to believe that Kaito's flames may eventually surpass both yours and Touya's. His body is naturally built to withstand extreme temperatures with little resistance." The doctor explained sharply, adjusting his glasses to gauge the reaction of the parents and continuing.
"In short, he is... an improved version of you. As he grows, there may be certain aspects of the quirk that may come to light that we aren't able to see right now. I'd suggest bringing him in every once in a while to monitor the condition of the quirk."
Rei's eyebrows furrowed at his words, and as she turned to glance at her husband, her face shifted into horror at the rare smirk he sported.
"I see," Endeavor said, standing suddenly and turning to leave the room.
Rei sat, static for a moment. She should do something, she wanted to do something. But... what could she do?
Nothing, that's what.