Chapter 24 Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra

Everything hurt.

A lot.

It was the kind of pain that was only amplified by the reality I was going to face. If I knew that Rei was alive, that our children were still alive, I would already be awake and fighting through this pain like it was nothing. But, I wasn't ready to face the world where I was without them. Where I was a murderer, I could still see that hollow screaming skull of ash. I hated that I was still alive.

It would have made a better story if I had died then.

No one wants to read the story of a broken man.

I let out a long sign.

"Enji."

I could hear her voice.

I could feel her squeezing my hand.

Wait.

I could feel her.

I shot up in the hospital so fast that I got light-headed. I fought through that, though as I stared at her as I stared at Rei. She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that showed off the bandages that covered much of her arms and up to her neck; a few smaller bandages were on her face, but she was here.

"You're alive." It was more a pray than a statement.

She nodded, smiling brightly. There was no bitter sadness in her eyes, just the same soft, warming smile she always gave me. She moved from her seat beside my bed and kissed me on my cheek. Her lips were cold, but it still warmed my entire body. "So are you. I was worried when they flew your body in, but Recovery Girl said you'd just need some rest."

"What about the kids?" The fog was lifting from my head as I glanced around the hospital room I was currently in. The T.V. was on, a charred crater being shown on one side. Did I do that? "How did you survive the bomb? Kushina?"

"Kushina's fine." That wasn't what I wanted to hear. "Fuyumi and Touya are doing good. I got the most hurt trying to protect everyone. Our house on the other hand." Rei reached towards the counter and grabbed her phone. With the dexterity that still flabbergasted me, she opened a webpage with a single hand and showed me a photo. I recognized the crush remains of our house almost instantly, a large chunk of ice carved it in two while more carnage spilled onto the streets.

"I'm just glad you're okay, when All for One said that he had a bomb and then set it off, I thought that you died. But what exactly happened?" I asked, looking between Rei, the photo and the muted T.V., "How did you survive the bomb."

"Bomb? It wasn't a bomb," Rei frowned and took her phone back. "I'm not sure on the details, but what happened was that Kushina's quirk started activating on its own, but it was more extreme this time."

Rei let go of my hand for the first time, stood, and stretched, making a cute little yawn before she sat on the side of the bed and laid on top of me, holding up her phone for both of us to see. "Normally, she's only about the size of a human on all fours with a single tail, but this time she was like the size of a house. It sounds like you know more about it than I do, but what happened was I fought a giant monster. And I have no plans on doing that ever again unless it's in a video game."

I smiled, relaxing into the sensation of feeling Rei cuddling up against me once more. I could feel the stress leaving me as my body quickly recovered. "The man me and All Might fought, he could take and transfer quirks, according to him, Kushina came to him to control her quirk, and he placed a bomb in her."

"Oh," Rei frowned. "She was crying, you know. When it first started, she tried to run away. So. I don't think it was on purpose. That also explains why she's under armed guard. Can you wait to hear what she has to say before you judge her?"

Nope.

"I can try. But I have my doubts." I kissed Rei on the top of her head and glanced towards the window. It was dark. "Do you think they'll let you sleep here tonight?"

Rei smiled and tugged on my covers before sliding in. "I've been discharged, and I'd like to see them stop us anyways." She gave me a light, tender kiss and snuggled into place. "I think All Might's address is soon. Do you wanna watch it before we sleep?"

"Listening to him talk is a good way to put me to sleep," I mumbled into a long yawn. I moved my hand down and felt the bump on Rei's stomach. "But, I want to see our kids soon."

"They're resting, they'll be happy to know that their father is happy and healthy in the morning." Rei stretched lightly, resting her head on my chest. "Besides, they're with my parents. Fuso and Maki are also with them."

"Maki's going to yell at me."

"Lots of people are going to yell at you." Rei gestured towards the T.V. before she grabbed at the remote. "You did destroy a historical site."

"But bad guy!"

Rei rolled her eyes and turned the volume on.

All Might walked towards a podium that was taller than most men, he looked confined in the dress shirt he was wearing. His right arm was wrapped in a cast up to his elbow. He coughed and stared at the cameras for a few moments.

"Monday Morning, with the blessing of the Kyoto police myself and Endeavour started a raid on a villain operation. In total, 43 missing people reports have been closed, and many more are being investigated as we speak. We uncovered many inhumane experiments, plots against the civilians and heroes of Japan, drugs, and more. During this raid, we encountered two villains, I myself fought Gigantomachia, whose strength was a match for my own, but with the help of some of Kyoto's own heroes, I was able to beat the beast. Endeavour, on the other hand, fought someone much more terrifying."

All Might paused, taking a small sip from his water bottle before continuing.

"The villain known as All for One attempted to use Endeavour's own family against him, staging an attack that put his family in danger. Thankfully, I'm happy to report that they are all safe. As for Endeavour's own fight, I'm sure you're all aware of it by now. In order to beat this foe, Endeavour used his quirk to its fullest The reason for this extreme measure was because of All for One's quirk, the ability to steal and transfer quirks. He has been someone that I've been trying to bring to justice for years, and while I wish he could serve time in prison, I am happy to say that he will never be a threat to our peace and justice ever again."

All Might coughed and took another sip. "I will now be taking questions."

I found myself drifting to sleep.

Happy.

Content.

And ungodly tired.

XXXX

"ENJI! HAVE NO FEAR! FOR I AM—"

I got woken up by the screaming of All Might as he came barreling into my hospital room and then woken up even more as Rei pulled our pillow out from under my head and threw it at him with enough force to shut the man up.

Which was impressive.

Rei was my hero as she glared at All might and then snuggled back down into me. "Why is he so loud."

"Good question."

"Haha! It's good to see you're both doing so well!" All Might bellowed, his understanding of being the third wheel was lacking. "But, come now, it's nearly noon, and—"

"What doctor even let you in?" I asked, sitting up and glaring at him.

"I'm All Might. Do you really think they're going to stop me?"

Dammit, bastard had a point.

I groaned with Rei and sat up in the hospital bed, feeling much more rested than I had the first time I woke up. My limbs didn't hurt as much. And it felt like I could finally stand up and properly move around. And my first thought was to use this new mobility to punch All might right in the nads.

"Well fuck, alright, what do you want?" I patted Rei's baby pump a bit as I sat up. She gave a light laugh at my touch and laid back down.

All Might took a breath and stretched before taking a seat between the bed and the window. "About what I gave you before the fight."

I stared at him.

What did he give me again?

Oh! Right. One for All.

"I think you should keep it."

Oh, hell no!

"Nope!" I reached into my head and grabbed a pinch of hair, pulling out far more than I needed to and shoved my arm out towards All Might. "I am not keeping this! It's yours! I don't want it."

"But, you're someone I can trust with it, and you're—"

"Not you! I'm not keeping this! This is your curse, not mine!"

"But—"

"Seriously you two?" Rei sat up and stretched before placing her hand on my shoulder to look at the hairs I was holding out. "What on earth are you two fighting about now?"

"He's trying to make me keep his quirk," I answered, looking at Rei for a few seconds then back to All Might before I realized that maybe what I just said made no sense at all. "Basically, he can give people his quirk, and he wants me to keep it."

"So, like super strength and stuff?"

"And hotter fire."

Rei hummed and then looked towards All Might, "Toshi, please take your quirk back. I don't need his farts being anymore devastating to our home than they already are."

"That was once," I whined, looking back at Rei and pouting.

"There were scorch marks on the toilet."

It was something that any guy with fire powers would attempt at least once in their life.

"I cleaned it." I rolled my eyes and then looked back towards All Might. "Look, I'm biased, I don't want your quirk, and I'd probably end up giving it to the first kid I liked, hell, probably even Touya." I blinked and looked at my hair, then looked at Rei, then back at All Might. "It's also transferred with DNA, I swap DNA with her like daily, and because I don't actually want One for All, there's a good chance that my wife is going to end up with it."

"Being All Might sounds like a lot of work." Rei, my beautiful introverted wife, had my back that being All Might was a shit idea. "Look, Toshi, just take it back. You're still too young to retire, right?"

All Might sighed and then took my hairs out of my hand. "I feel like you would have made a great—"

"Don't want it."

All Might sighed and rolled his shoulders before swallowing my hair.

I didn't feel any different, just relieved that I wouldn't be holding onto One for All anytime soon.

"Hey," Rei tilted her head to the side and tapped her chin. "Is that why you don't have a girlfriend? You're worried about getting a blow job and then giving her your quirk? Because that makes a lot of sense."

I smacked my lips and stared at her for a few moments. "Rei, did they give you any drugs?"

"Painkillers, they said the dose was low due to my baby belly. why?"

"No reason, you're just being a degenerate in front of All Might is all."

She pouted and buried her head into my chest. "Don't tell me you never thought of it!"

I totally did.