Chapter Five

Hizashi had been right—it didn't take long at all to get into contact with the media, and with how hungry they were for information and a story or anything, every place Hizashi contacted immediately jumped at the chance to not only have more information, but to be able to talk to people directly involved. It's the media's dream, and Hizashi is more than aware of that, making his job incredibly easy. All it took was a few emails, some phone calls, and a couple messages to places he's done interviews at before and suddenly, everything was in the works, going just how they planned.

They discuss a little more after that, before Shouto wakes up, and Hizashi mentions the sooner, the better. Aizawa agrees and while the fact that Aizawa had released reports without ever talking to Hizashi is still fresh and there, it's… better. It's easy to forgive Aizawa, because after talking, Hizashi knows that Aizawa truly does feel bad about it, and Aizawa knows how to apologize, knows how to do better, and he had immediately done so when he'd brought up his idea to Hizashi.

Things are better. A lot better. There's still a long ways to go, but Hizashi thinks they're on the right track. Actually, he's pretty sure they are on the right track. Aizawa knows he made a mistake, and now they're working together to try to fix this media circus as Shouto gets better and before they tell him about the media frenzy happening.

Hizashi knows they'll have to tell him eventually. That much is obvious. They don't know exactly when to tell him and haven't talked much about it—but it'll be once things finally, finally calm down in the outside world. Then, Shouto will have less to stress about. Things will have been taken care of already.

That's the plan.

Mistakes are made, though. Mistakes are always made, some big, and some small, and while Aizawa and Hizashi can control Shouto's exposure to the outside world on their end, they can't really account for other people in the same way, and with the media circus happening in the nation, all it would take is one small mistake.

------

Todoroki almost wants to argue when he's told that he has to go into therapy again today.

Logically, he knows why he has to go. He knows that he'll have to go every day, that his injury is bad enough that he needs a lot of help getting back to where he'd been. But logic doesn't really matter that much when all he wants to do is handle things by himself, like he has his entire life. After the previous disasterous attempt at going to therapy and the way he hadn't even been able to handle Midoriya being with him for very long, the mere mention of therapy causes Shouto's entire mood to drop.

He hates it. He hates everything about it—the way it makes his loss of control evident, to the point where he'd lost control of his quirk, the way he has to be helped with everything, the way he can't even do the most basic things, things he learned as a toddler. He hates it all and though trying to recall any memory is fuzzy, he can at least partially remember that conversation with Aizawa-sensei out in the cold that night, about how all his teacher had wanted was control. He doesn't understand much right now, and there's much more confusion than understanding in everything he does, hears, and sees, but he understands that now, at least.

Todoroki's never been in control of himself or his environment, but he's also never felt this out of control. He hates every second of it.

It's not like living with his father. He doesn't have the cognitive ability to compare the two right now, nor does he have the ability to really look forward to or imagine what it'll be like living with Aizawa and Yamada on anything other than a level of understanding that it's going to be better there, but he knows that while he hates it here, it's much different than living with his father.

They keep telling him that it'll be only temporary, that eventually he'll be able to go 'home'.

Except, Todoroki's never even seen this home.

He can't imagine it. He doesn't know how to look forward to it. Without a memory or a description or pictures, he has no idea what to think. His mind doesn't imagine things and every time he tries to look forward to it, hears that he'll eventually be going there with his teachers, he just comes up completely blank. It's impossible. And without a tangible image to look forward to, Shouto feels nothing but stuck.

That's how he goes into therapy today—feeling stuck, perpetually confused, and agitated, like there's no end to this or any possibility that things will end up differently than at his last therapy session. To make matters worse, though, due to the last… incident, both Aizawa-sensei and Yamada are coming with him, Yamada talking casually to the nurses as Todoroki's put in a wheelchair and taken to a different part of the hospital, far away from his room. Shouto doesn't say a word the entire way there, arms crossed over his chest and a deep frown set on his face, eyes lowered so he doesn't have to look at anyone passing by.

A couple times, though, he does manage to raise his head a little, and catches an empathetic glance from the near-silent Aizawa-sensei, reminding Todoroki each time that he'd had to go through the same types of therapy, as well. From what he'd been told, it seemed like Aizawa had liked it even less than Shouto does.

If anything, that somehow makes him feel the least bit better, enough that he stops himself from openly protesting about going to therapy. He'll get it over with, will do whatever the doctors tell him, if only so that it will be done with for the day and he'll be able to go back to his room and rest again. He's exhausted at the slightest movements now, and even before he'd lost control over his fire side in his last session, he'd been fighting sleep at every second. Even now, he's doing the same, only half listening to Yamada's ongoing conversation with the nurse as he's pushed down the winding hallways of the hospital, only wanting this entire thing to go faster.

Shouto isn't yet familiar with the layout of the hospital and has no idea where they're going, but he half-recognizes the room when they arrive. The therapy room is large, painted in soft blue colors and lined with windows and childrens' paintings, reminding Shouto once more that he's still considered a kid because of his age. He recognizes the place he'd been the other day, where he'd sat at one of the tables with… who had she been? He couldn't remember. Some type of therapist.

Outside the windows, the sun shines brightly, but Todoroki just squints away from it, the bright like burning his eyes. He finds the strength to pull up the blanket on his lap, covering himself with it. Yamada's voice drifts away from him slightly and his reaction is a bit delayed, but he turns his head to see Yamada talking at a desk with the nurse who'd brought him hear, his voice fast and Shouto doesn't have the focus right now to listen in, instead settling back, trying to mentally prepare himself for this session.

He hates even looking at this room. All it does is remind him of his mistakes and what he can't do. His body starts to heat up, feeling the heat rush to his face as he looks down and away from the open room in front of him.

"It's not going to be too long, Shouto."

He startles a little at the voice, body aching as he turns as much as he can, tilting his head up and focusing on Aizawa-sensei. There's still something so different about hearing his given name from him. He doesn't want to call it strange or weird, but it's… it's different, and it's hard to get used to. He likes it though, he thinks, and the reminder that he's not just any student to Aizawa anymore is a good one, one of the few reminders that he likes.

"I hope not," Todoroki mumbles, frowning again, breathing a small sigh. "I… can't even remember what I was doing here last time. I hate it."

His head is fuzzy, filled with confusion and muddled memories. He remembers few things clearly right now, mostly things that happened with Aizawa and Yamada, whether it's the night he spent with them or the conversations he's had since, the stories he's heard about them and the things they've done for him. They're easy to remember, never loud and overwhelming, but with everything else… it's like it all gets smeared together and then iced over so that all Shouto has is a blurry picture of it all, never clear or correct and never easy to remember.

"I know it's frustrating now," Aizawa tells him, speaking softly enough that he doesn't draw the attention of anyone else in the room. "It was the same way for me. I eventually was able to improve, though. You will, too."

He doesn't quite know why, but hearing about Aizawa going through the same things as him makes Shouto hate it just a little bit less. Or more—hearing about it makes it feel more doable. He can remember the training simulation, though older memories are even more muddy, but he remembers the way their teacher had sacrificed himself for them, had suffered more than any of the students had. Logically, his injury had been severe, too, and as far as Shouto knows, Aizawa-sensei is back to normal now after it, save for the scar on his face.

If he could recover from that, then Shouto supposes there has to be hope for him, too.

"I guess," Shouto glances away, to the side of the waiting area, where there's empty chairs and tables filled with books and magazines. There's more paintings on the walls, always so colorful and child-like. He lifts his head a little, looking at the paintings, breathing out again as he tries to come up with the words, eyes coming to a rest on the television mounted on the wall next to the painting. "I just want to be back to normal—"

Shouto means to say more, but chokes on the words, coughing, as he realizes what he's looking at.

The television has been muted and Shouto can't really read the headline scrolling across the screen, but there's nothing to doubt when footage of his father plays.

His body is hot, burning, and Shouto just stares, wide-eyed, mouth dropping open. There's a reporter talking, but Shouto can't hear the words, only focusing on the video playing in the background. The screen is small, small enough that none of them had noticed it being on when coming in, but even like this, Shouto can see exactly what's going on, and that's his father without his flames, being led away in handcuffs, never looking at the shaking camera.

Shouto doesn't feel anything. He's just hot, burning, and his entire body feels like it's about to burst into flames, both sides of him, at any given time.

He starts to, the scent of burning fabric hitting his nose and then, abruptly, he stops. He doesn't even have the ability to wonder why or being concerned, given that he has no control over his quirk, let alone the control to stop it. He just stares, speechless, barely breathing, feeling like the heat inside of him is going to burn him alive.

"Turn this off!"

If Shouto were in any other situation, at any other time, Aizawa-sensei's loud, anger-filled yell would've been enough to startle him out of his trance. It would've been enough to shock him, to make him look away and listen. He barely hears Aizawa, though, and doesn't even react when he hears Yamada shout as well, doesn't flinch when there's crashing behind him, a rush. He's totally delayed and when the screen suddenly turns off, fading to black, Shouto just stares at himself, not taking his eyes off the blank screen.

There's nothing except the heat. There's a moment and Shouto sparks again, only to be quickly cut off again in the same way as before.

There's nothing.

No thoughts, no feelings. There's not fear or hatred. There's not relief or happiness. There's just nothing. He doesn't think about his father. He doesn't remember that night, where everything changed. He doesn't think about the future.

His own mismatched eyes stare back at him, completely blank. There's nothing at all, and nothing makes sense.

Sound starts again, loud. Too loud. The room is bright. His eyes look back at him, but he can't feel anything. There's arguing, scolding, none of it directed at him, though he wouldn't know if it was. The voices drop quieter, worrying, reassuring, concerned. He doesn't do anything. He can't speak or think or feel.

He just shuts down.

------

There's no question about whether or not Shouto can finish therapy.

The second Hizashi realizes that the kid is just gone, apparently completely unable to understand what he'd seen, he knows it's not happening today. There's no way.

Aizawa's mad. The occupational therapy staff is apologetic. Shouto's nurse is trying to be a voice of reason. None of that matters, though.

It's the same thing as earlier, with Aizawa releasing the reports. There's no point in dwelling on why or how it happened at this point, or ruminating in the fact that it did happen. What matters is that it happened, and now they have to deal with the aftermath. Pointing fingers isn't going to get them anywhere, even if it makes Aizawa feel better. Nothing matters except dealing with it, and that's what they have to do.

The thing is, though, that Hizashi doesn't know how to deal with it.

They hadn't talked about this. All of Shouto's doctors, his therapists and nurses, had known the situation. They'd known to not let him have any exposure to the media, with the frenzy going on. No one was supposed to have mentioned it. Aizawa had even coached Midoriya to avoid the subject with Shouto. Shouto wasn't supposed to have found out until they were ready to tell him. They'd taken every precaution in the world, and yet, all it'd taken was a mistake made by a single receptionist, and it's suddenly all crashing down on them.

It's hard to not dwell on things when all Hizashi can think about was how this wasn't supposed to happen.

He waits with Aizawa. He can't even bring himself to make an actual attempt at calming Aizawa down because honestly, he understands his anger, his desperation, because Hizashi's feeling it all too.

They're in the waiting room of Shouto's ward, having been essentially kicked out of the room as Shouto's team tries to deal with this first. On some level, Hizashi understands that, too, because Shouto completely shut down, went blank and was hardly even responding to them. He knows that they have to access his condition, have to decide what's best for him. They're the doctors, of course, and they know best. But Hizashi can't help but want to be in there with the kid he's grown so attached to.

He can't though, so he just sits with his back against the wall, watching as Aizawa paces back and forth, arms crossed over his chest, still fuming even though they're long out of the sight of the therapy staff who'd left the news program on in the first place.

"Shouta," Hizashi tries, quietly calling out to him. It gets his attention and Aizawa stops, looks at him, and the anger starts to fade off of his face, if only enough for Hizashi to notice. He knows that Aizawa isn't angry at him, that Aizawa's angry at this entire situation, but he still wants to at least try to get him to calm down. He pats the spot on the bench beside him, his voice soft in the small waiting room, "Come sit down?"

Aizawa doesn't argue with him. He does what Hizashi suggests, taking a few steps towards him and sitting on the bench beside him. He watches Aizawa, his husband sighing, groaning in frustration as he drops his head into his hands, fingers knotting in his thick black hair. Hizashi gently touches him, laying his hand on Aizawa's back, quiet for a moment.

There's a lot going on right now. Aizawa's trying to deal with it. Hizashi is too, but things overwhelm Aizawa a little easier than they overwhelm Hizashi. He's known him for fifteen years, knows that when Aizawa feels like he's out of control in a situation and can't get in control, he gets unhappy, frustrated, and doesn't know how to deal with things. Hizashi's seen it before and he can't blame Aizawa for getting so frustrated now.

"This shouldn't have happened," Aizawa tells him, muttering the words under his breath, head still in his hands. He doesn't look up at Hizashi. Hizashi leans in a little more, rubbing his hand against Aizawa's back, still staying quiet as Aizawa takes another breath and repeats himself, "This shouldn't have happened. He shouldn't have found out. And on today of all days—he had to see that."

"I know," Hizashi says, voice still soft, trying to be reassuring. "I know it shouldn't have happened."

It's the same thing as releasing the reports. It happened. It's done. Now they have to deal with it. But even that's not helpful right now, because both of them—and Aizawa in particular—are frustrated and there's nothing they can do right now except wait.

"He shouldn't have had to see that."

"No, he shouldn't have," Hizashi agrees. He's leaning against Aizawa now and he moves his hand up slowly, brushing through the soft, bushy ends of Aizawa's hair. They're in the same place as yesterday, the ward's waiting room, but this time, they're together, united and not fighting. Hizashi's forgiven Aizawa for releasing the reports, and because of their talk, he's already seeing Aizawa trying to change his behavior and talk things through with him. All the anger from yesterday has disappeared and all Hizashi's focusing on now is trying to help Aizawa calm down so that he doesn't get completely overwhelmed by everything.

Aizawa raises his head a little, dark eyes glancing at him and then quickly flickering away. His voice drops, betraying insecurity, "Did you know he was being released from the hospital today…?"

Hizashi shakes his head, "No, babe, no one told either of us. They were probably gonna call us after he's transported to prison, but… I had no idea. I'm sorry, Shouta."

"I wish they'd told us," Aizawa leans on him, lets Hizashi support him. Hizashi just nods in agreement. Aizawa doesn't like surprises. He likes being told about things in advance. He likes knowing what's going to happen. He's adaptable in emergencies but other than that, Aizawa likes to know how things are going to happen. "There couldn't have been something worse for him to see."

Hizashi thinks there could've been worse, that Shouto could've seen news and talk show hosts blaming and criticizing him, but he doesn't say that. Aizawa's right in that this was, by far, one of the worst things Shouto could've seen. Not only had he seen that the world was obsessed with his case, with what had happened, but he'd had to see footage of his father on national television, being hauled off to prison, still looking haggard and beaten. It's no wonder why Shouto shut down so quickly at it.

Aizawa moves a little, only to tilt his head up so he can look at Hizashi, meeting his eyes, hunched over and leaning on Hizashi's shoulder. The ward feels silent, even if it's not, and the only thing Hizashi can hear is Aizawa's murmured question, "What do we tell him?"

Hizashi had known that was coming, but it still hurts to hear it, serving as a reminder that they have to come up with something. Hizashi wishes that he had a concrete answer, that he was sure of himself. He's not. He doesn't know what the right thing to do is.

"I don't think we should lie to him," Hizashi starts, breathing out slowly. He wishes he could tell Aizawa for sure what they should do, but he's just as unsure as he is right now. "I think… I think Shouto's already suspecting that something's going on. When you weren't here, he asked me why things got so bad. We haven't read him the full reports yet, but he knows that things got really bad and he obviously knows that his father was a high profile hero. Lying to him—that won't do us any good."

"The truth might hurt him," Aizawa comments, still staring up at him. "I don't want him to know that everyone was blaming him. He's already blaming himself."

"Maybe we can water it down a little…" Hizashi's thinking out loud now. Aizawa has a good point—especially after Hizashi had told him about why things had gotten so bad, he's gotten the feeling that Shouto blames himself for this. It scares him a little, the way he just accepts everything, and it reminds him more than anything of the way Aizawa had been, of how Aizawa had acted when he'd finally told him about everything in his childhood home life.

"We could tell him that the media has been following this a lot and that… they've heard a lot from his father's associates," Hizashi suggests. "And then… we could tell him that the full reports got released, and tell him a little about what was in those reports. He's—he's also been wondering about exactly what led up to everything, I think. Maybe it's time to tell him that, too."

"I'll apologize for releasing the reports," Aizawa tells him, without hesitation.

"Shouta—"

"No, I want to," Aizawa cuts him off before he can say anything else. Hizashi falls silent, lets him talk. "It's my fault, anyways. He needs to understand that he can trust us and that I made a mistake that won't happen again. I'm not the type of person who can't apologize for things I did wrong."

"Ah," Hizashi glances away and then back to him. He doesn't argue, just nods, "I understand. If that's something you want to do, it could help the situation."

Aizawa only hums in response. He sits back a little and lays his head on Hizashi's shoulder, Hizashi looking down to see that Aizawa has his eyes closed. Hizashi sighs, running his fingers through Aizawa's hair again, slowly and rhythmically.

"It'll be alright," He murmurs, trying to comfort both Aizawa and himself. "We'll get through this. As soon as the doctors tell us it's okay, we'll talk to him. It'll be alright."

Aizawa doesn't respond verbally, only pressing himself closer to Hizashi, and Hizashi has to force himself to believe his own words, to trust himself.

------

It takes about another hour.

Hizashi watches the clock on the wall of the waiting room. Mounted on the same wall is the television, muted and playing a news program focusing on Endeavor's move to prison in wait for his trial. Hizashi only half-watches it, watches the same footage playing over and over. The man looks beaten up, like a shell of his usual self, bruised and injured still, but apparently well enough to be moved out of his own hospital. Aizawa lays on his shoulder, to the point where Hizashi swears that he falls asleep there.

Right after the hour mark passes, though, Hizashi hears footsteps approaching them. They get closer and Hizashi gently rouses Aizawa, telling him that they're about to get news on Shouto's condition. Aizawa rubs at his eyes and a nurse comes in, smiling brightly, and tells them that Shouto is feeling better now, that they're alright to go back to his room and talk to him. She mentions a social worker there, and Hizashi takes his chance.

"We'd like to talk to Shouto about the news coverage," Hizashi tells her simply. "We haven't told him anything about it until now, and it's time that he knows what's going on."

The nurse's expression fades into seriousness, "Yes, we assumed that you'd like to tell him about it. Whenever you're ready, I'll take you back to his room."

It doesn't take them much longer. Hizashi exchanges a glance with Aizawa, places a hand on his back again, and waits until Aizawa looks a little more awake. They don't say much, Hizashi only asking him if he's ready and Aizawa giving him a long look before nodding. He doesn't need to say much, though.

The walk back to Shouto's room feels long and agonizing. He's not alone though, with Aizawa still leaning on him a bit, constantly reminding him of his presence, that he's always there, with him. Neither one of them are doing this alone, and that's what matters. It's hard and neither one of them are looking forward to having this conversation, but it's necessary and going at it together feels more doable than doing it alone.

Shouto's sitting up in the hospital bed when they stop at his room. Hizashi can see him through the glass panelling. It seems like he's alert, mismatched eyes glancing around, though when his gaze falls on the two of them, Shouto only seems to be half-listening to whatever the woman talking to him has to say.

She's at his side, with a friendly face and bright clothing, and Hizashi immediately recognizes her as the social worker handling Shouto's case. Shouto's met her once before, though Hizashi isn't totally sure he remembers her, given that he doesn't seem to remember most of his medical team. He's glad that she's here, though, if only to make sure that they don't make Shouto even worse by telling him all this.

There's only silence as the nurse lets them in the room. It's deafening, seeping into every corner and nook of the room, making Hizashi's ears hurt with it. The door closes behind them. Aizawa makes no move to speak and neither does anyone else. The social worker is the only other person here with them and Shouto's attention is on Aizawa and Hizashi, looking straight at them, sitting with his knees pulled into his chest and a hard to read look on his face. Everything about him right now, from his defensive posture to the look on his face—it all just reminds him of a younger Aizawa, trying not to show emotion, always so guarded and unwilling to open up and let others in.

They're so, so much alike, and it still manages to take Hizashi by surprise whenever he notices it.

He's the first to break the silence, partially because he can't stand it and partially because he knows no one else will.

"Shouto… you probably have questions, don't you?"

He stands at the foot of the hospital bed. Aizawa's moved to the side of it, standing where he usually sits at Shouto's bedside. Shouto glances to the side, at Aizawa, completely disregarding the social worker, and then back to Hizashi, blinking at him slowly. He opens his mouth, then closes it, and rests his head against his knees, dropping his gaze.

"I…" He starts, brows furrowing as he looks down at the hospital bed. "I don't know."

Somehow, Hizashi thinks that might be worse. He can't even begin to imagine what Shouto's feeling or thinking right now, but it's obvious that whatever it is, it's hard for even him to understand. Hizashi studies him for a long moment, his gaze soft, and then glances at Aizawa, raising an eyebrow at him. Aizawa doesn't hesitate, seeming to understand what Hizashi was asking him to do.

"How are you feeling?" Aizawa asks him, his voice a little stronger than Hizashi's, a little more like the usual tone he uses. Shouto looks up at him, actually making eye contact with Aizawa, and Hizashi counts that as an improvement, at least—until Shouto speaks again.

"I don't know."

He says it like it's the simplest, most obvious thing in the world, like there's no thoughts or feelings to be had about this situation. It hits Hizashi hard.

"Things are a bit confusing for Todoroki-kun right now," The social worker steps in, tone as gentle as the smile she wears on her face. "I'm sure you both understand. No one was expecting to see that today, least of all Todoroki-kun. Everyone is a bit in shock, right?"

Hizashi gets what she's doing—trying to make Shouto feel less alone in whatever he's feeling. Shock is probably a good way of putting it anyways, given the way he'd locked up and with the way he seems so guarded now, even more so than usual.

"Yeah, that's right," He agrees. He pauses, sitting on the end of Shouto's bed, just like he had a couple night ago, when he'd told Shouto a story about himself and Aizawa. The kid looks away from Aizawa and back at him and Hizashi breathes out a long breath, meeting his eyes and trying to prepare himself for what's next, "Shouto, there's been… things we haven't told you. It's not that we didn't want to tell you, it's just that we didn't want it to be more of a stress on you, since it is really… annoying."

"The media?" Shouto asks him, voice flat, like he's not feeling anything at all. It's something, though, and Hizashi goes with it, nodding in answer.

"Looks like you've figured it out a little," Hizashi commented quietly.

"What happened with your father made the news quick," Aizawa goes on for Hizashi, Hizashi giving him an appreciative glance. Hizashi tends to be more emotional, whereas Aizawa's good at putting things logically and simply, enough so that Shouto will be able to understand. "It actually made the news right after it happened. Word got out fast after you—and your father—were taken to medical care. People took things the wrong way and made their own assumptions and theories about what happened. It turned into a mess."

Shouto's looking at Aizawa now, and Hizashi's grateful of Aizawa's bluntness. That's what Shouto needs right now. That's what he can understand.

"There were a lot of misconceptions regarding what happened…" Hizashi adds on softly, frowning, and Shouto doesn't even look at him.

"I fought back, right?" Shouto asks, the question directed at Aizawa. It opens a hole in Hizashi's chest, knowing he's the one who'd told Shouto about that in the first place. He holds his breath, heart beating hard in his chest. He'd expected this conversation to be hard, but not like this. Shouto just continues on, "Saying that it's my fault wouldn't be a misconception. Is that what they were talking about?"

Hizashi honestly wishes he'd never answered Shouto's question from before. Somehow, he's already figured out that the media was blaming him. He clearly still blames himself, like everything Hizashi had said the other day hadn't even made a dent in his self blame.

"No, you defended yourself," Aizawa's voice is firm. "There's a difference. You defended yourself against someone attacking you. You wouldn't have had to defend yourself otherwise. Nothing you could ever say or do can ever justify someone attacking you like that, understand?"

Shouto doesn't say anything, and Hizashi wonders if even Aizawa can get through to him with his firm, almost authoritative voice. If anyone has a chance at getting through to him, though, it's Aizawa, and Hizashi knows he needs to stay quiet right now and just let Aizawa talk.

"But yes, that was part of the misconceptions the media put out there. It wasn't the only one, but it was one of them," Aizawa goes on. Hizashi notices him glance away quickly, and he knows what's coming. Shouto still doesn't say anything, completely silent, guarded, his expression nearly blank, leavin Aizawa open to explain more. His voice wavers a bit, just enough that Hizashi can notice it, "...The reason why the media was focusing on those things is because they weren't getting the full story. Hizashi and I haven't wanted to say anything, but…"

"...But your father had a few vocal people on his side," Hizashi finishes for him, his own tone soft. Shouto probably knows them, but Hizashi can't remember their names for the life of him. Shouto turns to him, stares, and Hizashi immediately wants to try to make it sound less serious than it had been, try to convince him that not everyone had blamed him, "It—it was a small group. Just a couple people who knew your family. But, ah, the media was really only getting their side. We didn't want to talk to the media and we were working on getting an order in place where no one could talk about your case, just so we could get the media to shut up for a while and leave you alone. But then, there was this press conference—"

He stops. He doesn't know what else to say. The press conference where Endeavor's associates played the media, where they'd made thinly veiled threats on Hizashi and Aizawa without even directly naming them. What does he even say? He can't tell Shouto that they'd insulted him and threatened to release Aizawa and Hizashi's information. That'll do nothing but make things worse. He doesn't want to lie to the kid, but he also doesn't want to tell him things that'll only make him feel bad.

"Your father's associates decided to speak out on public television," Aizawa takes over for him, not saying anything specific about the press conference, to Hizashi's relief. "That happened on that day that I left the hospital for a few hours. I went to go pick up the full reports from the police, but while I was out, I made the rash decision to release the full reports to the media."

Aizawa doesn't even pause, like he's been preparing to tell Shouto this since they'd talked about it earlier. He waits afterwards, glancing at Hizashi, and Hizashi stays silent, as well. No one speaks or makes a sound, and Shouto's eyes widen a little, but other than that, his face doesn't change as he looks up at Aizawa. There's no anger, or sadness, or anything. The most he gets is a little shock, but nothing more.

But Shouto is the one to speak next, his voice quieter, as if he still isn't sure what the think.

"What… what now…?"

"Things are a little different now," Hizashi answers, trying to speak slowly, afraid that Shouto's not really understanding everything they're saying to him. "Well, they're a lot different. The media can't really misunderstand everything now that they have all the facts, but at the same time… they're more interested in this than ever."

"I'm sorry," Aizawa says, catching Hizashi by surprise. He's sincere, genuine, and he hears Shouto take in a sharp breath at Aizawa's sudden apology. Aizawa looks him in the eyes though, holding his gaze, "I shouldn't have released any of that information. I shouldn't have put you out there like that."

Shouto seems more taken aback by Aizawa's apology than anything else, and it's the most emotion Hizashi's seen on him since earlier today. His eyes are wide, his mouth slightly open, and he blinks slowly at Aizawa, as if not understanding why he's apologizing to him. Hizashi doubts that he'd ever heard anything like that from his father, and he can see how hearing it from Aizawa would be surprising. For what feels like forever, he says nothing, and when he does speak, he sounds completely unsure of himself.

"It's… okay…?"

Shouto clearly has no idea what to say to Aizawa, but Aizawa's face softens and Hizashi manages a small smile.

"You don't have to worry about any of this," Hizashi assures him, drawing Shouto's attention once more. He glances at the social worker and is met with an approving nod, signaling Hizashi to carry on, "The reason why we didn't tell you was because we didn't want you worrying about it or putting more stress on yourself. We're still handling everything, but you deserve to know something, especially after what you saw today."

Finally, that breaks Shouto's barriers and at last, the questions come out.

"What was that? What were they saying? What are they saying now about all this? Do they know about you? Are you two in trouble because of this?"

Hizashi laughs quietly at the suggestion that they're in trouble. Even Aizawa gives a snort of amusement. Hizashi smiles at Shouto again, relieved that he's finally feeling something about this and asking questions, "We're not in any trouble. Shouta's not gonna get into any trouble for releasing the reports, either. He just feels really bad about it. As for everything else—they do know about us now, and they're being a little more…"

Hizashi tries to think of the words to describe the media now. They're still vultures, but at least they're not taking Endeavor's side anymore. He'd told Aizawa earlier, but he would've probably suggested that they release at least part of the reports in order to make them stop taking a violent abuser's side. It's worked in that regard, even if they're still talking nonstop about Shouto and his father, and now, about Aizawa and Hizashi.

"...A little more reasonable," He decides. He pauses at the last question, the first one Shouto had asked. He'd known he'd want it explained to him, but he still didn't want to bring up the kid's father to him, especially when he was so new into recovery. It's unavoidable, though, and Hizashi owes an explanation to him, "What you saw today was… do you remember what the detectives told you when they explained why you're here? They read you some of the reports about what happened. Do you remember where they said your father went? Some of his injuries were pretty bad, so he was being treated at a hospital before being taken into custody. That's… where they were moving him."

"Your father was being taken to prison."

"Shouta," Hizashi sighs, shooting him a glance. Aizawa's bluntness is good in a lot of situations. He isn't sure that this is one of them. He turns back to Shouto, who's still wide-eyed, shocked and speechless. He hates seeing him like this and it's clear that Shouto had never expected this, never expected his father to ever actually be punished for what he'd done. He feels horrible having to break the news like this, without any preparation or any warning, but Shouto needs to know what happened and that he's safe now.

"He's awaiting trial," Hizashi tries to clarify. "I know that doesn't mean much to you right now, but you're safe. We'll keep you safe and keep you away from the media. Shouta and I—we're actually… going to be doing a press conference soon."

They'd agreed earlier to not tell Shouto about it, but that was before he'd seen the news. It's better that he knows now, so that he can see that they're doing everything they can to keep him out of this. He needs to trust them, and now that he knows about things that are happening in the outside world, Hizashi's seeing that they need to be transparent with him.

Shouto draws his legs into his chest again, leans forward and closes his eyes. He draws in a shaking, trembling breath and presses a hand against his bandaged head, in the same way he had when Midoriya had visited and Shouto had needed him to leave early. He's silent, eyes closed and not looking at either of them or the social worker.

"Shouto…?" Hizashi tries prompting, letting the worry seep into his tone. He leans forward, trying to see his face better, but Shouto has it all but hidden. He's good at hiding his emotions and keeping his guard up, but Hizashi recognizes this from fifteen years ago, knows that it means he's hurting inside and is just refusing to outright show it. He and Aizawa, they're so much alike, and all Hizashi can remember is being in high school and always trying to get through to Aizawa, always wondering why he was so guarded.

He'll do better this time. He knows now. He can do something about it. He's older.

"I just…" He can barely hear Shouto, with how muffled his voice is. "I can't believe that he's…"

He doesn't finish, but he doesn't have to.

It's hard for Shouto to believe. It'd been hard for Midoriya Izuku to believe. It was hard for the entire nation to believe. If he hadn't been directly involved in it, it would've been hard for Hizashi to believe, even with his historical dislike of Endeavor. They'd just lost All Might as a number one hero a few months ago, and now they'd lost their next in line. Their new symbol of peace had been caught red-handed in a petty rage, beating his son to the point where Shouto's sustained serious, even lifelong, injuries. They've lost another hero, and Hizashi can feel the nation's distrust of pros is beginning to grow.

No one had wanted to believe that the powerful, new symbol was a serial child abuser.

Aizawa releasing the reports had forced everyone to face the facts. There was no denying Endeavor's actions or finding fault in anyone but him after reading through them. There was no way to twist or turn it. It is what it is, and now everyone has to come to terms with what Endeavor is.

And Shouto—he's just like Aizawa was.

Aizawa had never told anyone, because to him, it was what it was. He'd lived with it his entire life. His idea of escape had been gaining control over his life by becoming a pro. No one could tell him what to do, what to say, or where to go. He'd never thought to do anything about his situation, because he'd lived with it his entire life. Back when Hizashi had first found out, he hadn't understood, had spent nights asking Aizawa in sobbing tears why he'd never said anything, only to be given the answer over and over that he'd just never considered that things could be different. It hadn't made sense—his Aizawa was always such a rational, logical person. How could he never consider something so obvious?

But Hizashi understands now, and he understands that the same thing applies to Shouto, and it's the same reason why he'd reacted the way he had to the news. Shouto's never considered the possibility of his father being punished. It was Aizawa's exact mentality—deal with it until he was an adult, and then make a life for himself as a hero separately, getting control over everything in his life and leaving his childhood behind. They're so similar, and Hizashi finds himself wondering if this is how a younger Aizawa would have reacted had his mother ever been punished for her actions towards him.

"I know it's hard to believe," Hizashi says softly, watching Shouto closely. "Listen. He deserves to be punished for what he did to you. I know that's hard to hear, but it's true. If you don't want to talk or think about it right now, that's fine. We only want you to focus on getting better."

Aizawa nods and at Shouto's other side, the social worker smiles brightly at him, her tone cheerful in stark comparison to Shouto's shocked, somber mood.

"Todoroki-kun clearly needs some time to process this all," She suggests, focusing on Shouto, who raises his head a little, still not directly looking at anyone. "We've decided to try therapy again tomorrow. For now, though, it's best for everyone to just rest with everything new going on."

Hizashi nods in agreement, not making any comment, the worry just growing and growing as Shouto doesn't react, only seeming to withdraw further.

------

Things happen fast. Almost too fast, Aizawa thinks, and before he knows it, he and Hizashi are dealing with multiple phone calls from the media, all of them jumping at the chance to be able to speak with them, acting like a pack of animals trying to leap onto prey. It feels predatory, and part of Aizawa hates giving the media what they want and it pains him to get through each call, even with Hizashi at his side. He hates leaving Shouto alone when he has to leave the room, especially with the way Shouto still doesn't seem to know what to think about this entire situation.

Aizawa doesn't want to push him, doesn't want to force him to feel something about all this that he wouldn't normally feel, but the least he wants to do is stay with him. He can't though, not when they have their own press conference to deal with, but Aizawa feels guilty every time he walks out of the room with Hizashi.

Things go fast and before Aizawa knows it, things are suddenly hectic, much more so than before.

The press conference gets scheduled for the day after the next, and they don't have a lot of time to prepare.

It doesn't help that when evening falls, Aizawa gets another phone call from Nemuri, and it isn't about a student this time.

------

For the first time since being in the hospital, Shouto can't sleep.

He isn't sure why, though the easiest answer would be that there's just too much to think about. But Shouto's head is empty and in reality, he has no idea what to think about anything. He lays awake long after Yamada has fallen asleep. Aizawa's not in the room, Yamada having told him that he was meeting with someone to prepare for whatever media thing they're supposed to be doing. Yamada tries to stay up with him, but once Shouto fakes sleep, he quickly dozes off in Aizawa-sensei's sleeping bag as Shouto stares at the ceiling, trying to process everything that's going on outside the confining walls of the hospital.

Earlier, when he'd been going to therapy, all he'd been able to think about was how much he just wanted to get out of here. Now though, he has even less of a grasp on what the outside world will be like. Everything is different. He's living with new people, in a new house, with new rules and a new life altogether. He can't go back to school yet, probably not for a while, with the lack of ability to do anything he could before. And now… now he knows that the entire world has been following what happened. His life is exposed to the general public, even more than it was before with Endeavor as his father.

He hates it, hates the media, but there's nothing he can do about it, and he feels helpless. It's like his head is simultaneously empty and full of thoughts, and like he can't escape it. It's a relief when he sees Aizawa-sensei come back in, and immediately starts to sit up when he does.

"You're still up?" Aizawa asks him, raising an eyebrow at him. His gaze drifts from Shouto to Yamada, sound asleep in the corner. He makes a face at Yamada, sighing, "He was supposed to stay up with you. I guess he got tired."

"He thought I was asleep," Shouto points out, avoiding directly telling him that he'd tried closing his eyes and sleeping, making Yamada think he'd fallen asleep when he really hadn't. "I can't sleep. I tried."

Aizawa doesn't say anything at first, giving Shouto another long look before turning off the rest of the lights in the hospital room and going to take his place at Shouto's bedside. He relaxes a little more with his teacher there, settling back against the bed and trying to close his eyes. His mind doesn't settle, though, aching with every buzz of a thought or echo of the lack of them. He hates it, just wanting his mind to be quiet and stable.

"I got a phone call today," Aizawa says from beside him, making Shouto open his eyes again, curious. The room around them is quiet and dim, filled with the steady beeping of the heart monitor and Yamada's breathing from the corner of the room. Aizawa sits beside him, looking at him, and Shouto notices himself slowly starting to be less and less intimidated by having all his focus on him. He waits patiently for Aizawa to say more, and he doesn't have to wait long, "Your sister got ahold of Midnight-sensei at school."

Shouto blinks, "...Fuyumi…?"

Admittedly, he hasn't been thinking about her much. Fuyumi is his closest sibling, the one that he actually has the best relationship with. He knows one of his brothers—Natsuo—and has a good relationship with him, but Fuyumi has always been the closest to him. With everything happening at the hospital, though, she just hadn't crossed his mind much. It wasn't like he'd forgotten about her, but Fuyumi had recently moved out of the house to be closer to the school she worked in and because of that, he'd known she was safe in the aftermath of all this. He just hopes that she hasn't been bothered by the media much.

Aizawa mentioning her makes him listen, though. Fuyumi has always been a worrier, anxious and frantic, and she's always done everything to look out for him. It shouldn't surprise him that she's trying to look out for him now, but it does anyways, and it gets his attention.

"Yes, her," Aizawa nods and Shouto leans in a little more, almost completely forgetting about the media's involvement with his situation. He wants to hear about his sister, how she is and what she's been doing. "She apparently had no idea how to get in contact with us until she heard on the news that Hizashi and I are the ones taking care of you. She… she has no connection with your father, right?"

That's funny. There's no way Fuyumi would willingly be anywhere near their father if she wasn't trying to look after Shouto. When Natsuo had left, Fuyumi had stayed, but only for Shouto. He's well aware that Fuyumi is terrified of their father, flinches whenever he comes near her at all and becomes a stuttering mess on the rare occasion that he speaks to her.

Shouto just shakes his head, answering immediately, "No. She moved out about a month ago to be closer to her school. She doesn't talk to him unless… unless it concerns me, I guess."

"I see—she did seem a little protective," He thinks he can hear amusement in Aizawa's voice, but it's always so hard to tell. "In a good way. You mentioned her when you went out to dinner with me and Hizashi, didn't you? She's asking to come see you. She's somehow more persistent than Midoriya was about it."

Shouto believes it. The idea of his sister coming doesn't scare him. He pauses, expecting to feel the same anxiety he'd felt with Midoriya, but it doesn't come. Somehow, he's more comfortable with the idea of his sister coming. Part of it is the fact that she knows their father, lived with him for longer than Shouto has. She knows, understands as much as anyone can, and she's… different. It's different than seeing his friend. She's family, she understands, and even if he's being taken into a different household, she'll always be his family, no matter what.

Fuyumi's never hurt him. She's always understood, listened, and helped him. He wants to see her.

"Can she come?" He asks, taking a deep breath. "She's… different from Midoriya. The same thing won't happen with her. She hates my dad anyways, so it's not like she's going to talk to anyone who works with him."

He's trying to convince Aizawa. He's probably wary and hesitant to let anyone in Shouto's family visit him, given what he'd said about Endeavor's associates talking to the media. But… really, Endeavor is the odd one out of Shouto's immediate family. Through everything, even the isolation Shouto went through, his siblings care for him. Fuyumi looks after him as much as she can. Natsuo went away to college, but he still calls, texts Shouto, checking in on him. His mother is always happy to see him, listens to what he tells her about school and his life.

"She'd never talk to my father," Shouto adds on quietly, able to clearly remember all the time Fuyumi had pointedly avoided talking to their father. "She's probably really happy that he's in prison now. Or at least… maybe she's relieved."

"She mentioned that over the phone," Aizawa says, Shouto looking back at him. Aizawa-sensei's expression is always so hard to read, especially in the darkness and with Shouto not quite being able to observe things as clearly as he had before coming to the hospital. "We spoke for a while. She seemed happy that we're taking you in. I said that I'd talk to you about having her visit. If you'd like to see her, I don't see any reason to say no."

"She always took care of me," Shouto tells him, sitting back against the bed again. The thought of Fuyumi coming to see him—it makes him excited, almost. He hasn't given her much thought this entire time, given that he'd known she was safe through this ordeal, but he wants to see her, wants to tell her that he's going to live somewhere else now, wants to hear about her teaching job. He pauses again, thinking, and for the first time since waking up in the hospital, he has a real, coherent idea, "...You and Yamada-sensei are going to talk to the media, right? Can she stay with me during that?"

He hasn't really been without Aizawa and Yamada for a long period of time since waking up here. Usually, one or both of them is in the room, or at least around where he is. Today, they'd left the room a few times to talk about things, but Shouto had always been reminded that they were nearby, just not in the room. The thought of both of them leaving the hospital for a few hours…

He hates how nervous that makes him feel.

He tries to tell himself that he's independent, that he can be on his own and do things on his own, but right now, he can't. He's always been mature and a loner, practical and never understanding how to rely on people at all. Somewhere along the way, though, he's started to rely on having Aizawa and Yamada around. He's gotten used to them, to having them around, and it's weird to think about being without either of them for a few hours. He knows, of course, that they wouldn't leave him completely alone and would probably have the social worker or doctors sit with him, but that's different. He doesn't feel as at ease without them, but… having someone familiar could fix that.

Aizawa doesn't immediately answer and Shouto waits, watching him. He at least seems to be thinking about it, considering it, and that at least gives Shouto some hope.

"I'd like to meet her first," Aizawa finally says, filling Shouto with relief. He's fine with that—he knows Fuyumi and even if she's nervous at heart, she's a good person and has only ever just wanted to help Shouto. He wants to keep his relationship with her. Even though he's going to be living with Aizawa and Yamada, he wants to still talk to her and see her, though he isn't sure how it's going to work with him being outside the Todoroki household. If he can convince Aizawa to let her see him now, then there's probably a way to get him to let her talk to him and visit regularly, as well.

"Okay," Shouto agrees, nodding. It'll be fine. If there's one thing he's sure of, it's that Aizawa-sensei meeting Fuyumi will go well. He's not sure of a lot of things in his life right now, but that's one thing.

"I'll meet with her tomorrow, then. If things go well, she can come see you."

Shouto's more than satisfied with that. With everything going on and the uncertainty of his future, it's hard to look forward to anything. But this… this he can picture, can look forward to, and the thought of it relaxes Shouto enough, taking his mind of the media, that he's able to lay back, his mind finally at a temporary ease.

------

Aizawa keeps his promise to Shouto. It isn't hard to set up a meeting with his sister, though he makes it clear that he's not willing to leave the hospital. He'd talked on the phone to her, after she'd contacted Nemuri to get through to him and Hizashi and, while he'd been skeptical at first, it'd been easy to remember Shouto's comment about his sister, how she was a schoolteacher and familiar with Hizashi's charity, and had thought about how she, too, had had to grow up with Todoroki Enji as her father. He'd talked to her and though she was nervous, she did just genuinely seem concerned for Shouto and his wellbeing, and had genuinely seemed to want to help him.

Her phone call had been sudden but in truth, Aizawa's been expecting something like this. After all, he'd known that Shouto had siblings—three of them, a sister and two brothers, one of which has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth—but he'd known that none of them had made any appearances or statements to the media. No, it was all Todoroki Enji's side of the family and more of his associates, people who worked with and for him and were covering for him. None of the Todoroki kids or Endeavor's ex-wife had said a word. Aizawa had been willing to hear her out then because of it, and it's because of that conversation and the one he had with Shouto the previous night, that he's willing to meet with Todoroki Fuyumi.

She's waiting for him already, though Aizawa arrives early. They're meeting in the small cafe in the hospital, Aizawa having tentatively put Fuyumi on the list of approved visitors for now. Even though Aizawa's never seen her before, he knows who she is immediately, a tense woman sitting at one of the tables near a large window, hands folded in her lap, staring at him with grey eyes that matches Shouto's ice side. The snow white hair with red streaks, the eye color, the slightly rounded face, and the guarded expression—he can see Shouto in all of it, in every feature and every small movement she makes. He recognizes her immediately, even though there's a few other people in the small, quiet room.

Aizawa takes a breath, reminding himself that Hizashi's with Shouto and he's safe, even though Aizawa's left the wing and gone about as far from Shouto as he's willing to go right now. He straightens up and approaches Shouto's sister, her grey eyes focusing on him as he comes towards her. Recognition flickers in them and for a moment, Aizawa wonders if Shouto had talked to her about his media appearance for the press conference during the Kamino Ward attack.

He comes to a stop where she's sitting. It's a small, two person table, bathed in the grey sunlight of the winter afternoon outside. He can see the grounds from here, where Endeavor's associates had brought the media to the hospital's doorstep. He takes a breath and looks down, looking at Fuyumi, noticing the anxiety present in her tense, occasionally trembling body.

"Todoroki Fuyumi?" He asks her, his voice solid in the quiet murmur of the room. He's careful to not speak too loudly, given the fact that even the mention of the Todoroki catches people's attention with the media frenzy going on.

She makes a cut off, nervous sound, but quickly nods, her voice shaking it a bit even through her attempts to steady it, "I—Yes, that's me. And—you're… Eraserhead?"

It's almost amusing. Fuyumi cringes, eyes growing wide at her own words, as if she's mentally scolding herself. He doesn't blame her—even on the media, he's being referred mostly as his hero name, since that was how he'd identified himself during that press conference months ago. As much as Aizawa hates the attention, it's how the world knows him. He doesn't blame her for slipping up and referring to him as his hero alias.

"Aizawa Shouta," Aizawa says, a little more gently. He glances at the seat across from her and sits down, pausing before deciding on what to say. He's always been quiet, always tried to draw out his words to have meaning, rather than saying things impulsively, "I'd imagine that you probably have a lot of questions."

It's similar to what Hizashi said to Shouto yesterday, when they'd talked to him about the media. And like Shouto, Fuyumi is silent for a moment, and then shakes her head slowly.

"No…" She murmurs, her voice quiet, though she stares directly at him, her gaze unwavering. "I know my father. I know what happened. I've lived with him all my life. I don't have any questions about what happened. I… I just want to know how Shouto's doing."

She stops talking, but something tells Aizawa she has more to say. Fuyumi doesn't even wait, tips her head back and stares at the ceiling, her glasses slipping down her nose a little. She closes her eyes and looks back at him, and the room feels deadly silent when she does speak.

"I should have expected this."

Aizawa does feel a strong pang of sympathy for her. It reminds him a lot of Hizashi, of how he'd reacted to Aizawa telling him what his home life was like after he'd graduated and left. The guilt, almost comparable to survivor's guilt.

"There's no way you could've," Aizawa tells her simply, hearing her breathe in sharply at his words. "What happened that night… no one was expecting that. Not me, not you, and not Shouto. There's no use in feeling guilty about it now. Your brother's safe. He's injured, as I'm sure you know, but he's recovering."

"Can you tell me more?" She doesn't even pause, leaning forward. She's clearly anxious to hear more about Shouto. Aizawa gives in, not seeing any reason to keep information from her when she's only shown herself to be worried and concerned for her brother, like she's completely ignoring the media attention surrounding her family.

"Sure. Shouto has a traumatic brain injury. I'm unsure if you've read the reports that were released, but some of his injury is detailed there." Aizawa doesn't dare mention that he's the one to release the reports. She doesn't need to know that. "He's lost a lot of cognitive ability due to the injury, but he's working on it in therapy. We haven't been told when he can go home, but the doctors expect him to make a lot of progress. After he's released, he'll be coming to live with my husband and I."

Across from him, to his surprise, Fuyumi visibly relaxes, sighing and closing her eyes once more as her shoulders drop into a more relaxed stance, most of the anxiety clearing from her face. Her voice stops shaking, everything about her telling Aizawa that she's relieved, "...And with my father…? There's going to be a trial, right?"

"Yes." That's public knowledge, as well. Aizawa doesn't know if Fuyumi has been paying any attention to the media or if she's just confirming things she's heard second-hand. Either way, he respects her asking him, rather than making assumptions based on the media or what she thinks. "The evidence is solid, though. We've been awarded custody of Shouto for now and there's no reason why we'd be denied permanent custody. I did give Shouto the choice of where he wanted to live. I told him I'd find him another family if he didn't want to come with us."

"He chose you," It's not a question. Aizawa studies Fuyumi for a moment, looking for the hurt in her voice, her expression. He comes up with nothing. No, she doesn't look hurt at all that Shouto hadn't asked to come with her. Her lips twitch up into something that's almost a smile, but not quite, making Aizawa narrow his eyes curiously at her, "You know, Shouto talked to me about you a couple times. He's never said much about Present Mi—Uh, Yamada, but he's mentioned you a few times. It's always… seemed like he's really respected you."

She takes another breath and Aizawa's quiet, waiting for her to go on. She glances away, out the window, "Shouto doesn't talk very much. It's really hard to tell what he's feeling a lot of the time. But… I got the feeling that he looked up to you. I was really happy when I heard who was taking him in."

"I didn't realize he talked much about school," Aizawa comments softly. He knows what Fuyumi means—Shouto is a lot like him, how Aizawa is now and how he was when he'd been Shouto's age. Guarded, cold to the outside world, closed off. Aizawa's had twelve years to change himself, to try to get better in some way or another and gain control over his life, but Shouto's just out of the situation. He's exactly like how Aizawa had been.

He can clearly remember finding himself while in high school. Up until then, he'd had no friends, no real goals or wants and needs, no real personality or likes and dislikes. He'd seen himself as cold, almost emotionless—though he'd always known somewhere that emotionless wasn't true, that it was just a coping mechanism—and never understanding other people or relationships. Everything had changed when he'd gotten into UA, and Aizawa had found a purpose in what he found there. Friends helped him, things changed, and people made him want to be something else, made him want something other than total control over everything in his life.

Maybe it's the same for Shouto. Maybe that's why things changed that night—because of what Hizashi and Aizawa had done for Shouto. Maybe he'd finally, finally realized that things didn't have to be that way, and maybe that's why he'd fought back against his father.

They'd been in the process of trying to help. Aizawa had called in a police report that night on the abuse going on. No one had even gotten a chance to investigate before everything blew up, and Shouto placed that fateful call to Aizawa in the morning hours of dawn. He remembers giving his phone number to the kid, trying to tell him over and over that Shouto was to call him if anything happened, and he remembers Hizashi telling him that Shouto would, eventually, because Shouto respected him over anyone else.

He's hearing part of that echoed in what Shouto's sister is telling him right now.

"He never did talk that much about school. Or… I guess he didn't before UA. He was homeschooled a lot of the time and wasn't even in a real middle school for that long. He hardly ever talked about his middle school or tutoring. It always seemed like a sore spot," He can tell that Fuyumi is remembering as she talks to him, her grey eyes distant, her expression dropping to a nostalgic one. "Being tutored by Dad was horrible for him. Even the people he hired were strict and mean to Shouto and never really tried to help him at all. When he started at UA though, he mentioned his homeroom teacher a lot. He mentioned some others of course—Shouto's always liked All Might—but it was surprising to hear him talk about you."

He's more than a little taken aback by this. He's always paid attention to Shouto, always sort of suspected something from the moment he'd read the boy's name from his class roster. He's always done what he can to keep an eye on him. But he'd never thought that Shouto had paid much mind to him, since Shouto had always treated him like any other teacher. Shouto had always been quiet, reserved and seemingly content to just interact with his group of friends, not keen on straying away or focusing on other things, and Aizawa had just thought that until that night, the kid hadn't paid too much attention to him.

"I'm glad," He says, truthfully, his voice softening. Fuyumi is quiet, says nothing, but she continues to look at him, grey eyes reminding him of Shouto's mismatched ones. Aizawa pauses for a moment, trying to decide if it's the right thing to do, trusting her so quickly, but is against reminded of the fact that she's done nothing to make him distrust her, nothing at all, "...I understand you'd like to see Shouto…?"

She immediately brightens a little, her entire demeanor picking up the moment he mentions seeing her brother. Aizawa watches her, the smallest bit amused at the slight smile that comes onto her face. She nods slowly, "If that's possible, of course! With the media… I understand if it's not. Oh—um, I also have a letter from our mother for you."

Aizawa raises an eyebrow. He must have misheard her. "For Shouto?"

"No… for you and, um—Present Mic-san," Fuyumi glances away, looking through the bag on her arm before she finds an envelope. She holds it out to him, Aizawa's gaze dropping to the clean, light blue paper of the envelope. Aizawa and Yamada is written on the top of it, right in the center in neat handwriting, with the envelope sealed. Aizawa doesn't allow himself to hesitate, reaching out and taking it from her, eyeing it closer.

"This is from your mother?" He looks over the top of it at Fuyumi.

Again, she nods, "I'm sure you know, but our mother is still in the hospital… She's still recovering from Dad, but she's doing much better. She was happy to hear that Shouto was being taken in by someone else. We told her about some of the news. She'd like to—to talk to you two, if possible."

That's easy enough to understand.

Aizawa knows about Shouto's mother. So does Hizashi. Todoroki Rei is still a patient of a long term psychiatric facility, where she was put after she'd burned Shouto with a tea kettle and was subsequently determined unfit to care for her children or herself. That had been a long time ago, and he's also aware that Shouto's been visiting his mother—or at least he had been before all this had happened.

He tucks the letter into his jacket, "I'd be more than happy to speak with her. I'll read this with Hizashi later. In the meantime, Shouto has asked to see you as well, and visiting hours are only an hour."

The smile on Fuyumi's face brightens, widens, and she nearly jumps out of her seat to follow him as Aizawa starts to make his way out of the room and towards the ward Shouto's on.

------

Yamada had told him that there was a possibility Aizawa-sensei would bring Fuyumi up here, but nothing prepares him for the moment he actually sees her.

He sees her through the glass before she actually comes in. It's enough to make his heart rate pick up and stop listening to whatever Yamada's talking about. She's following Aizawa-sensei, looking slightly less nervous than she usually does and through the glass, he catches her eyes and she smiles at him.

It's like the opposite of when Midoriya came. He cares about his friend, and Midoriya is the closest friend he's ever had, but Fuyumi—Fuyumi is his family, the person who was there for him throughout his entire life. She'd been there after Mom had gone away, after Shouto had been injured and burnt by her, had stayed by his side through almost all of it. If there's anyone in his family he's close to, it's definitely his sister, and seeing her here in the hospital—it reminds him that while things are different, he still has Fuyumi, and he'll still have Natsuo and his mother, too.

Even if his father is going to prison, he still has some of his family left. He won't be living with them and they'll be going about their own lives, but they'll still be around. Maybe even—

Maybe even things will get better for them, too.

Part of Shouto really does wish that he could move around more. He's not one for physical affection, especially given what happened when Aizawa-sensei tried to touch him on the shoulder on that snowy night, but he at least wants to be able to properly greet her. Instead though, all he can do is just sit up and scoot himself forward a little on the bed. Even doing that much catches Yamada's attention, and he starts to tell Shouto to take it slow, but Shouto isn't listening, focusing only on his sister when the door to the hospital room opens.

"Shouto!"

Fuyumi's voice is loud, surprised, somehow excited. Fuyumi's always been incredibly easy to read, the opposite of someone like Aizawa-sensei. She wears her emotions written all over her face, her thoughts, feelings, and anxieties inscribed in her body language like an open book. He can read her easily now too, and while he doesn't exactly know how to smile in a situation like this, he's filled with an odd, almost foreign sense of warmth as he looks at her and sits on his bed.

The room is bright, bathed in the grey light from outside. He can feel the chill starting to seep its way into the room, the heat having turned on just moments before and buzzing away above them. Outside, snow is falling again, slower this time, in lighter clumps. Shouto hardly notices the cold. It's comforting—in the past, he's taken some comfort in the cold and the people it brought with it. His mother, his brother, Fuyumi… the three of them seemed to best suited for the weather outside.

"Fuyumi," Shouto replies, looking her over. She looks well, tidy and neat, dressed formally like she'd been expecting her meeting with Aizawa to be serious. She looks healthier, better. She'd moved out just a few weeks prior to all this with the intentions of being closer to the school she was starting to work at. She'd still been by a lot though, looking after Shouto and making sure he was well when he did go home, always checking in on him even while he was at school. There's more color in her face now, and her smile seems to come more naturally. To Shouto, the change is drastic, "I'm glad you could come."

He means it, even if it comes off as flat. Fuyumi doesn't seem to notice his affliction, glancing at Aizawa before she comes to his bedside. She doesn't get close, not like Midoriya immediately had. She instead keeps enough distance between them that Shouto still feels comfortable and close.

"Oh, gosh, Shouto—your head—" She doesn't reach out to touch him. She's fretting, pointing at her own forehead, making Shouto raise a hand to his, where he feels the bandage wrapped around him still.

"It's fine," He tries to assure her, doing his best to wave it off. It still hurts, still pains him, especially when he thinks too hard or tries to do things he can't yet, and he knows that a lot of the pain is being dulled by medication. Right now though, unlike yesterday, it doesn't feel unmanageable or impossible, "It'll be fine. The doctors here are helping me, and so are…"

He glances at Aizawa and Yamada. Both are silent. They're standing together again, both of them looking at Shouto and Fuyumi, watching them. They're worried, he guesses, after what had happened after Shouto's last visitor. He's fine, though. Fuyumi's different.

"...So are Aizawa and Yamada-sensei," He finishes, looking back at Fuyumi. He knows Fuyumi has met both of them. She just met Aizawa-sensei. As for Yamada—Fuyumi has a habit of helping out charities and events, and she'd helped out at an event that Yamada had been at as well, something that Shouto had mentioned when he'd gone to dinner with them. Obviously, Aizawa likes or trusts her enough to bring her back here to see Shouto. He'd never thought he wouldn't like her, though.

His sister is a good person. She's the type of person everyone likes. She's a mediator, someone who's done nothing but try to help him and their family. She's the type of person Shouto looks up to. There'd never been any question about whether or not his teachers would like her.

Fuyumi's voice softens, the smile staying on her face, "Yeah, I talked with Aizawa-san a bit. Shouto… It really does sound like you're in good hands. I'm sorry that I can't really… take you in."

Shouto just shakes his head. He's never expected that, never would. Fuyumi lives in a small apartment with another teacher as a roommate. That's all her salary can afford and their father hasn't helped her with her apartment at all. Fuyumi is just starting out as a teacher and she's busy, overworked, and lives in a small place already. Shouto could never expect her to take him in, not with everything going on in her life.

"I will be around for you though," She's an optimist, and it shows, the positivity returning to her tone. "As long as Aizawa-san and Yamada-san allow it, I'll visit as much as possible! And help out in any other way."

"As long as Shouto's alright with that, there shouldn't be a problem," Yamada adds on, matching her smile. Beside him, Aizawa just nods in agreement. Shouto lets out a small breath of relief, knowing that he can still keep in close contact with his sister. He trusts their judgement and being around Fuyumi… it's a lot easier than if anyone else were to come visit him.

"I'd like that," Shouto comments, forcing himself to try to admit some of his emotions. They're confusing and hurt to think about too much, but Shouto tries to sort them out, tries to pick one out of the flurry in his head and hold onto it. He picks out the warmth that he feels, the ease in having Fuyumi here. "There's some sort of… press conference going on tomorrow, I think. Could you stay here then?"

Again, Fuyumi glances towards Aizawa and Yamada and Shouto follows her eyes. He'd brought it up earlier, to Aizawa, and was told that he'd have to wait until he met Fuyumi to make a decision, but now Shouto wants to know. The press conference is nearing, and Shouto can tell even though Yamada and Aizawa are trying to not talk about it around him. He can tell, from the whispers and the hushed glances, the tones of voices and their body language. He's nervous too, and the last thing he wants is to be left alone with just the doctors and nurses while they speak to the media.

Aizawa clears his throat, speaking up for the first time since bringing Fuyumi in.

"That should be fine."

For the first time since waking up, Shouto feels real, actual happiness at that. It's the permission he's been waiting for. Yamada murmurs his own agreement, and Fuyumi grins at him again, smile wide.

"I'd love to come here during that—um, maybe we can watch it together?" Fuyumi pauses, then shakes her head, and carries right on, "We can talk more about that later! How's therapy going? Are the doctors here nice?"

------

Three hours later, Hizashi watches Shouto in the same therapy room that he'd shut down in just yesterday.

Above him, he can just barely hear the voices of the television, and with Shouto's voice in the room in front of him, he can't make any of it out. He knows what they're talking about, though. They've been trying to keep it away from Shouto's ears as much as possible, but the world is buzzing with the news of the press conference. By now, it's hit every major news outlet, and Aizawa and Hizashi have spent the past couple days preparing almost nonstop, both of them hardly sleeping and only taking breaks to take care of Shouto or things related to him. Besides that, they've just been going over things, talking with lawyers, and with Aizawa, practicing.

By now, Hizashi's just tired. It's time to get some rest, probably, but instead, Hizashi came down to the occupational therapy room with Shouto and Aizawa to watch the session.

The room is open, lined with large picture windows, letting Hizashi see the falling snow outside. Shouto sits at a table with his therapist, Aizawa off to the side, watching in case of any quirk accidents. They're going over flashcards now, the therapist trying to get Shouto to recognize certain words. It's slow going and after this, Shouto still has to do a session of physical therapy and talk with his social worker, but— it's definitely different this time.

Shouto's not getting so frustrated this time.

It's obviously difficult. Hizashi can't imagine that anything's easy with a head injury like Shouto's. But so far, in the almost two hours he's been here, there hasn't been anything even close to a quirk accident. Shouto hasn't gone up in flames or frozen half the room yet. He's about as calm as he can be and Hizashi can even see some of his personality shining through in the short remarks he'll occasionally make.

Shouto's sister had stayed the full visitation hour, talking to Shouto about the hospital and the things he did here. And now… Shouto seems calmer, easier to work with. It's relieving, given that the previous time they were here, Shouto had seen the news and Aizawa had had to stop him from setting himself on fire twice.

It's when Shouto finishes up this therapy session and starts getting moved to his physical therapy that Hizashi catches the therapist before she can clean up. Aizawa's going with Shouto and has to stay near him with the danger he presents to himself and the area, but Hizashi's free to go anywhere and talk to anyone, so he approaches Shouto's occupational therapist as she begins placing the flashcards into a box.

"Hello, Yamada-san," She greets him with a smile and a wave. "You were watching us, right?"

"Yeah," Hizashi looks to where Shouto and Aizawa are going, makes a note to catch up with them before he loses sight of them. "That seemed like it went well."

"It did," She informs him, standing beside him. He doesn't take his eyes off the tired-looking kid talking to a doctor, yawning and rubbing at his eyes. Shouto clearly needs rest as much as Hizashi and Aizawa do. His therapist goes on, voice upbeat and happy, "Todoroki-kun showed a lot of good improvement today. We'll keep working with him, but if things continue to go well, his doctors might be able to give you a discharge date for him soon."

------

"Are you ready for this?"

Hizashi asks him that night, when they're both still awake, sitting out in the hallway outside Shouto's room, the tile floor around them surrounded with papers, from the report, from the doctors, from the lawyers they're working with.

Aizawa looks up. He has his notes in his lap, notes that he's been writing ever since they started suddenly preparing. Everything feels so fast, and these last two days have gone by in a rush. It's like there isn't enough time in the day, and Aizawa almost suspects that he's been cheated out of the usual twenty-four hours in the day. This is the only time he's really stopped, the only time they've paused from doing anything, whether its preparing, keeping Shouto company, or discussing things with the medical team taking care of Shouto.

The clock in the hallway has ticked past midnight. Aizawa isn't sure how. It feels like the sun set only a few seconds ago.

The hospital is cold, the hallway even colder. Doctors or nurses will pass them occasionally, few and far in between and paying them no mind. The door to Shouto's room is propped open, dark and almost silent apart from the constant noise of the heart rate machine at his bedside. It feels odd, not being by his bedside at night, but neither of them can afford any time right now, knowing Shouto's safe. There's more that they haven't gone over, more that has to be done, and it feels endless.

Aizawa remembers just a few days ago, when Hizashi had returned to the hospital after Aizawa had released the reports to the press. He remembers sleeping, getting his first rest since coming to the hospital, and even then, it had only been for a few hours. When he looks at Hizashi, he can feel the sleepiness dragging at him again, his head starting to hurt from the fact that he hasn't gotten a single bit of rest since then. He's just had to push through it—there's too much to do, as nice as napping in his sleeping bag seems right now.

"I don't know," Aizawa admits, lowering his eyes a little. Hizashi's close to him, sitting close enough that their shoulders are touching. Hizashi's sitting cross-legged, his thigh brushing against Aizawa's hip, Aizawa having pulled his legs into his chest. He drops his head against his knees, letting his eyes fall shut, long black hair falling down to cover his face.

He's tired. So tired.

He's barely been out of this hospital. He has to stay, though. Leaving isn't an option, even if it's just to go home and sleep in his own bed for a few hours. He has to be here, has to keep going.

He's tired and if there's one thing that's become clear over the past 2 days, it's that he has no idea what he's doing. He knew this would be work, had remembered what preparing for the press conference after the kidnapping was like, but this is different, and Aizawa has no idea what he's going to do when he gets in front of those cameras tomorrow. All he can hope is that Hizashi will know what to do and he can just follow his lead.

He hears Hizashi move, and then feels his hand gently touch his shoulder. Slowly, Hizashi draws Aizawa's hair back, tucking it behind his ear and then running his fingers through the free locks. Aizawa sighs, leans into his hand, lets Hizashi brush through his hair.

"It'll be alright," Hizashi tells him, softly. Green eyes look at him from over Hizashi's glasses. He leans in, his lips warm against Aizawa's head as he kisses him on his forehead. Aizawa allows his eyes to fall shut once more, giving in for just a moment as he listens to Hizashi, "It won't be so hard once we get in front of the cameras. I'll do most of the talking. It won't even take that long, I promise."

Aizawa nods. He forces himself to open his eyes, too afraid that he'll fall asleep leaning on Hizashi like this if he closes them any longer. He tilts his head up, hunched over and leaning on him, and looks up at his husband. Hizashi just smiles.

"Jeez, Shouta, you really need to get some decent rest after this."

"I slept a couple days ago," Aizawa sits back up, rubbing at his eyes. He picks up the notepad sitting in his lap, but the writing on the page doesn't want to make sense to him until he squints at it and forces his brain to work again. "I'll be fine. Besides, you haven't slept much either."

Hizashi snorts, "I've been catching an hour here and there. You, on the other hand…"

"I'll be fine," Aizawa repeats, his voice a little quieter this time. It's not just Hizashi he's convincing anymore. "Let's get back to this and finish before dawn comes. Shouto's sister is coming in the morning again and I want to be ready before she gets here."

------

Morning comes. Hizashi nods off for about an hour. Aizawa stays up, meticulously going over his notes. It's all he can do, and by the time he meets with Fuyumi in the lobby, Aizawa can hardly think about anything else than the nerves he's feeling related to this. He takes her to Shouto's room and then, for the first time, he and Hizashi leave Shouto with someone else. It hurts, but Aizawa has to do it, and he and Hizashi leave to finish getting ready.

Nemuri meets them. The press conference isn't happening at the hospital, but in front of Hizashi's agency's office. This was best, they'd decided, since neither one of them wanted the hospital to be bothered by the press anymore than it already has been. At the same time, Hizashi's agency agreed to help out with the publicity and control the situation, providing them with a place to meet with the press.

Aizawa finds himself in the familiar lobby of Hizashi's hero agency, wearing an uncomfortable suit, shivering slightly from the cold that seeps in from the slightly ajar front doors, as Hizashi tries to force Aizawa's hair to cooperate with him. He's silent, both of them are, but the rest of the world is loud, from the media gathered outside to the people who staff the agency running around in attempts to get control over the situation. Nemuri stands next to them, looking completely at-home dealing with the media attention, but Aizawa isn't paying attention to anything she or anyone else is saying.

He hasn't been sure of himself this entire time, and he's definitely not sure of himself now.

He'd been convinced that releasing the reports was the right thing to do. It had been. He's still convinced it was the right thing to do. What hadn't been right was not talking to Hizashi about it beforehand, and he probably shouldn't have released everything, but it was the right thing to do to some extent. This, though—he has no idea if it's the right thing to do. There's no way to tell. Aizawa doesn't know the media, doesn't know how they'll take this, and because he doesn't know, it's like he has no control over it. All he can do is follow what he and Hizashi went over and just hope that it works like they want it to.

"Are you ready?" Hizashi asks him, stepping back once he's finally managed to pull Aizawa's hair into the same sort of half-bun he'd worn at his last media appearance. He smiles, like he's trying to reassure Aizawa. Beside them, Nemuri and the others fall quiet and even though Aizawa doesn't look at them, he can tell that all eyes are on him.

"No," He answers, truthfully. He glances out the tinted front windows of the building, looking at the crowd that's gathered there, with the reporters and cameras and microphones, all standing out there in the freezing cold. It's even snowing, small flakes slowly drifting down from the grey skies ahead. He doesn't understand why any of them would want to be standing outside for hours, on the steps of a hero agency, just to maybe get some footage of them and ask a question.

He sighs and shakes his head, looking back at Hizashi, "But it's too late to back out now, right? We should go."

Hizashi says nothing, but he reaches out and takes Aizawa's hand, intertwining their fingers together, holding onto him tightly.

------

"Oh! Shouto, it's starting!"

Shouto can't deny that he's curious. He is. It's a weird curiosity, though. He's never been interested in the media or anything they had to say, honestly. He'd grown up with it, with the media constantly reporting about his father's hero activities and his various missions. Over time, he'd just become desensitized to it, so when Aizawa and Yamada had told him that the media had caught onto this story like a wildfire, part of him wasn't really surprised.

But when Fuyumi pushes her laptop onto the hospital bed, almost in Shouto's lap, he can't help but to look at the video playing on it.

He hadn't seen much of the press conference after the kidnapping when Aizawa-sensei had given his statement. He'd caught some recordings of it after the fact, but beyond that, he hadn't paid much attention to it and all he'd known was that Aizawa had helped diffuse the situation then. He'd respected that, but he knows, especially now, how much Aizawa-sensei hates the media. He'd made that clear to the students, and both he and Yamada had worked almost non-stop these past two days to prepare.

Shouto is curious and honestly, he can't help but to feel a bit worried. It's been sitting heavy in his stomach, the feeling refusing to go away or leave him alone. Admittedly, he hasn't seen much of the news—and from what his teachers tell him, he doesn't really want to see the coverage about him and his father, would much rather leave Aizawa and Yamada to handle that—so he's not entirely sure what's going to be discussed, but he knows it'll be about him, knows that part of his future lays in whatever reaction the media will have to this press conference. That much, he can process, even if the future is blurry, muddled, and confusing.

Shouto glances up at Fuyumi and she meets his eyes. She doesn't really smile, but her expression is about as reassuring as anything can be right now. He nods, and looks back at the screen, not paying any mind to the nurse in the room with them.

He isn't sure what channel they're watching, but it probably doesn't matter, given that Shouto can see many other cameras in the shot. There's a lot of people and a lot of noise and it's hard to focus, the camera focusing on a building Shouto doesn't quite recognize—where the two people who have been taking care of him ever since that snowy night stand, hand in hand and not saying anything. There's a reporter talking, and it takes almost all of Shouto's focus to be able to listen to what she's saying over the rest of the murmuring noise coming from the speakers on Fuyumi's laptop.

"—Because of the reports being released from an anonymous source, we now know the names of the two UA teachers who intervened between Endeavor and his son. You may recognize one of the names but…"

"Are they always like this?" Shouto tunes the reporter out, managing to roll his eyes. He isn't really sure Fuyumi will have an answer for him and he doesn't necessarily want one, given that it doesn't change anything. He wonders, though, if this is the sort of thing the world has been listening to since the night the incident happened. The same thing, over and over, reporters sensationalizing it and dragging it on. Suddenly, he thinks he might understand the need for a press conference.

"Yeah…" Fuyumi's voice drops a little. She gives him a breathy laugh, and Shouto glances at her for a moment, noticing how bitter and nervous her laugh sounds, "They've been… Really obsessing over this. I don't know how much Aizawa-kun and Mic-san have told you, but it's basically been the only thing on the news. I guess they really need something to talk about, huh?"

"What's so interesting about it?" Shouto questions, narrowing his eyes at the screen. The reporter is just going on and on. There's no actual talking from Aizawa and Yamada yet. It's all babbling from the news reporter. Someone else is talking to his teachers, a woman Shouto thinks he recognizes, but can't quite place when she's dressed so casually. "It's so boring. Why do they even care so much?"

"Probably because Dad's a hero," Fuyumi makes a noise, a gasp, and then corrects herself, "Was. Was a hero."

Shouto just frowns at that.

Was a hero. Past tense. That doesn't seem possible. Endeavor can't be anything else but a hero. A shitty hero, in Shouto's opinion, but he can't be anything else. He's a shitty dad, too, that's for sure, but Shouto has no idea how to separate hero from father.

Endeavor losing his license…

His father being stripped of his status as a hero—

It all just seems downright impossible. There's no way. He can't be a criminal or a prisoner or even just a citizen. He's a pro hero. That's what he's always been. It's something that's been so heavily ingrained into Shouto's life. From the moment he could speak—from the moment he could think—he'd known that Dad was a hero, that Dad was above everyone else, that Dad was powerful and could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted to.

To think he was being punished for something, scolded and put in an adult time-out like a child—

It's almost laughable.

It's not really funny, though. Shouto can't laugh. Because it's a reality. Yamada had told him that when he'd saw his father on the news, handcuffed and looking beat up and scarred and weak—that he was being moved to a prison to await his trial. It isn't just a reality; it's already happening, right before Shouto's eyes, and there's no way he can believe it. He knows it's real, but he just—he can't believe it. His mind won't let him, and to hear Fuyumi just confirm it again—Dad was a hero, not is a hero—just brings him crashing back down to that confusing, conflicting reality that he can't even begin to grasp.

"Look, Shouto," Fuyumi motions to the screen. The reporter has finally stopped talking. The camera focuses in on Aizawa and Yamada as they begin their part of the press conference. Shouto leans in, listens, but there's a part of him that wants to tell Fuyumi to turn it off and not talk about it right now.

He knows he's going to have to hear more about his father and his past-tense status of being a pro hero in this conference. He knows he won't be able to grasp ahold of that. But he listens anyways, determined not to shut down again, his curiosity getting the best of him as the rest of the hospital room goes near silent.