Chapter 2 - Ember

Endeavor was a weird guy.

I hadn't even had time to take my first breath in this new world that he snatched me out of the doctor's hands, laughing like a crazy man. 

"Rei, we did it ! Look at him, look at his hair. We did it !"

He was laughing so hard that my tiny baby body was shaking against his chest. His big bear paw, however, was wrapped around my body tightly and I knew he wouldn't let me fall for any reason whatsoever.

His vibrant blue eyes, almost electric, watched me with an intensity that almost frightened me.

"Welcome to you Shoto Todoroki, my greatest creation"

If I could have, I would have laughed right in his face.

Alas, I was only a newborn. I fell asleep in his hand, head against his heart, of sleep of the one who knew he had hit the jackpot for his reincarnation.

*

"They're back, they're back !"

The oldest of the Todoroki looked up from the book in his hand. His sister took off down the hall like a rocket, arms flailing behind her back. Their brother, a little confused, run after her and nearly stumbled on the shiny floor.

Touya closed his book sharply.

"Don't run too fast, Fuyu"

She disappeared around the corner, Natsuo in her trail.

Touya sighed before leaving his room with slow steps, hands in his pockets. The baby's arrival was exciting for them because it was new, but it was already the third time for him : at the rate it was going, there would be three more in the next five years.

He arrived at the front door just as the housekeeper was opening it.

Their mother entered first, a cloud of steam leaving her lips. Natsuo and Fuyumi jumped around her and chirped happily, tugging at her jacket to get her attention.

Rei looked a little surprised to see them still up but she smiled affectionately.

"Good evening, Todoroki-sama"

Touya's eyes scanned their mother up and down : she had dark circles as long as his arm and her back was hunched over, as if she was bearing the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"Oh, Narumi. I thought the children would be in bed long ago..."

The old woman gave her a contrite smile.

"They were all too eager for the baby to come and sleep"

Rei took off her scarf and tried to hang it on the coat rack: she missed it by a good ten centimeters and almost dropped it. Touya, who had slid to the front door with the agility of a cat, gently took it from her hands before hanging it up.

"Leave it, I'll take care of it"

A real smile lit up Rei's tired face. She let herself go as he helped her take off her coat.

"My big boy, what would I do without you ?"

She stroked his hair affectionately. Touya rolled his eyes but let her. Suddenly remembering why this day was special, Touya straightened up :

"Where is the baby ?"

"Oh, with your father"

Touya was rather surprised. The last two times his parents had returned with a baby, it had been his mother who had held them, refusing to give custody to anyone - not even their father.

"With Dad ?"

Her son's bewildered expression amused her.

"I tried to pull him out of his clutches but he wouldn't listen"

Touya scanned the cobbled entrance to their house, but it was too dark for him to see properly

"There was too much snow in the driveway, so he went through the garage to park the car. And since I didn't want to walk all the way from there..."

The housekeeper closed the door before rushing to Rei's side.

"I have prepared your room as you asked, Madam. There is chamomile, hot water bottles under the blanket and the bath is still steaming"

Touya looked at the closed door, puzzled. He was pretty sure that his father had never been so adamant on taking care of one of them after birth that his mother 'abandoned' them to him.

Touya shook off the uneasy feeling that came over him before he ran after his mothers his mother, his siblings already running right in front of him.

It was just a little different than usual. Nothing to worry about.

*

Touya sat up as he heard the garage door open.

A happy smile lit up the little boy's face when he saw his father enter the house, car seat in hand.

He removed his scarf with one hand and took off his shoes with a brief movement of his foot, leaving them lying on the carpet leading to the garage.

He walked through the house at a brisk pace, his eyes darting back and forth between the pod and where he was stepping.

Touya emerged from the darkness of the stairs, nervously fidgeting with his hands behind his back. He swayed back and forth on his feet, waiting for his father to notice him - which he did.

"Touya, you're still up ?"

He looked slightly tired but not as tired as his mother.

"I-"

The baby stirred in his car seat.

Immediately his father's full attention turned to the little creature with cheeks rosy from the cold. His little gloved fists struck the void in his sleep.

Enji smiled. Enji rarely smiled.

Touya felt the corners of his mouth turn downward, his excitement falling like a failed soufflé. He watched his father stop in the hallway to arrange the baby's blanket with surprising delicacy.

Enji's blue eyes looked up at his son. His smile lost its sweetness.

"You wanted to tell me about your soccer game, right ?"

The little boy jumped down the stairs, the baby already completely forgotten.

"It was super easy the other team was like-"

"Quiet, the baby is sleeping"

Touya gave the little thing a slightly irritated look but obeyed his father anyway. Enji listened patiently as they walked through the house to the wing of the bedrooms.

"... and then right at the last minute Kenzo shoot me the ball but as I was at the other end of the field I had to run and you know when I run I go really fast so I ran and afterwards-"

His father opened the door adjacent to the parent's bedroom slightly.

"This is really interesting, Touya, but it's past midnight, it's been a long day and I still have to put the baby to bed"

Touya snapped out of his trance and looked around, surprised that they had already reached their destination.

"Oh, uh, yeah right", stammered Touya, "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

His father offered him a little smile.

"Good Night"

He rushed into the room without turning on the light.

Touya watched from the doorway as he removed the baby from his seat and placed him in his crib. His gestures were of infinite delicacy, as if he was afraid to break it by being too abrupt.

His back to Touya, Enji stood up and gazed at the baby for a moment, his glassy looking at something beyond him.

Absentmindedly, Enji brushed back a strand of white hair from the baby's forehead.

Then he walked through the door connecting to the parent's room without looking back, assuming, not without reason, that Touya had already gone to bed.

Touya looked at him as he left the door ajar, his dark eyes automatically returning to the baby.

There was something... this baby, there was something different about it.

Touya wasn't sure how long he stood in the darkness of the sleeping house watching the baby stir through the bars of his crib.

He felt a little angry and disappointed that his father had not listened to him all the way, yes, but there was something else. He felt... uneasy. And also...

Touya licked his dry lips, eyebrows furrowed, trying to put into words what he was feeling.

He felt worried. Yes, that's right, the baby was making him a little worried. He wasn't sure why, but it made him worried.

Touya left after a long moment spent scrutinizing the new addition to their family.

He wasn't sure he liked it.