Chapter 25 Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra

You know," I examined the destroyed remains of our house with a mixture of amazement and curiosity. Rei claimed that it had been a massive wave of ice on her part that had actually caused most of the , villain attack insurance also applied to self-defense, but, this was a bit overkill; even the house next to ours was likewise destroyed, or at least part of it. "I think I'm mostly going to miss our bed."

I paused and looked at my wife, the heavy winter coat she was wearing combined with the red scarf I had gotten her made her look extra cute. She smiled at me and pushed a strand of her silver hair out of her got a haircut recently, chopping off a few inches so that it was just above her shoulders. Now her hair bounced a lot.

It was mesmerizing.

Rei pointed towards where our bath had been. "You sure about that?"

"Home is where the heart is." I took the two steps over towards her and grabbed her hands, holding them between us and smiling. She raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to say the stupid thing I was going to say. "I'm home."

Rei let out a groan and fell forward, placing her head into my chest and laughing. "That was bad! Even for you!"

I laughed and pulled her into a hug, smiling ear to ear. Under normal circumstances we would have been devastated from our home being destroyed, but we were financially stable enough that we could afford to rebuild a home. Or purchase some new property. Ultimately, I was leaving the choice up to Rei.

Currently, we were staying at a condo in Might Tower, which meant that we were neighbors with All Might. Free rent too. Touya was excited that he got to stay at All Might's tower, and was asking Toshi a question every single time he passed by. It was actually really funny watching my son follow All Might around, and All Might being put off guard by it. Fuyumi took the whole house being destroyed in stride, and was actually more concerned about Kushina.

Apparently the woman had made an impression on her.

An investigation was started around Kushina, and a medical examination confirmed that she not only had a chip implanted into her, but that she had multiple quirks as well, one of which would cause her to go berserk if she was introduced to a certain frequency. This combined with the implant was what caused her to go on a rampage, amplified by her own quirk.

Currently, she was being kept as both a prisoner and a patient while they removed the implant and figured out some way to prevent her quirks from being triggered.

It really did a lot to justify my feelings over killing that man.

We turned and looked towards the shattered remains of our home once more and let out a long breath.

"Well," I asked, hugging Rei with just a single arm, my eyes going towards her belly. The heavy winter jacket prevented me from actually seeing her swell, but I knew our child was in there. I wanted to know so much about our unborn child, I could barely even contain myself. Rei wanted to keep everything about this child a secret, and I could understand Touya, Endeavour had a test done to Rei's womb nearly twice a month, but so far all we knew about our child was that there were no deformities and they they were healthy. "What do you think?"

Rei hummed, resting her head on my shoulder as she looked at what remained of our home. "I don't know. For a while, it felt like a prison, but, then it started to feel like a home." She shrugged and looked up at me. "I guess the location is good, but I wouldn't object to finding a new place."

"You don't get to be indecisive on this." I kissed her on the top of her head and watched her squirm.

"But why!" she whined, looking up at me and pouting. "Why do I have to make the choice about where we live! Shouldn't you have a say in this?"

I smiled and nuzzled her with my chin. "I'm not the one that destroyed the house."

I totally earned that swat.

"Besides, I do. I'm asking you right now if you want to build our own dream home here, or if you want to go and try and find our dream home out there." I gestured towards Tokyo, though admittedly I wasn't against changing locations. Just not Kyoto. "Hell, if you want to stay with—"

"We're not staying with All Might." Rei placed her hand on her head. "We need our own space where I don't have to worry about…" She bit her lip and blinked up at me. "Being overheard."

"Ahh."

"Besides, if we moved, then Touya would have to find new friends at a school, and while it wouldn't be quite so bad at his age, I'd hate to separate him now. Plus, this is a safe neighborhood."

"I think it's safe because I live here." I glanced at the pile of rubble. "Or was?"

Rei rolled her eyes. "That's not the point, but still, what do you want?"

"A large comfortable bath that I can spend all day in with you and not be judged too harshly, an incredibly comfortable bed that doesn't roll around too much or make too much noise, a cozy couch to watch movies on, and a gameroom."

"Alright, fine, we'll rebuild here!" Rei flailed her arms about. "But, why do I have to be in charge of it."

"How many hours do you have in animal crossing?"

"A lot."

"Exactly, but don't worry Rei, I'll help you however I can."

XXXX

December.

January.

February.

March.

April.

Due date.

I paced in front of her hospital room. I had been kicked out for panicking and nearly catching something important on fire. Which was for the best, maybe. I don't know. I had no problem fighting a villain, but seeing Rei in pain, pain that I couldn't do anything to relieve, kind of put me on edge.

It didn't help that our child was late and that they were talking about inducing labor, and a bunch of other stuff that I had no idea about It wasn't like I didn't have a bunch of books on fatherhood, and didn't pay attention during birthing classes or anything, but holy shit did none of that even remotely prepare me for the actual act of giving birth. It was a damn good thing there were good doctors here.

I stared at the delivery room for a few more moments, hands behind my back and I was well aware of the small patch of fire that had sprung up on my shoulder. It wasn't really quiet in there, but wasn't it supposed to be louder in there? Like, shouldn't Rei be screaming at me in bloody murder and threatening to chop my dick off?

Wait, she was calmer about all this than I was.

Was she okay? Was I okay?

Where was I?

Did something happen in there?

Should I go in?

When could I go in?

I should get Rei something to eat.

What would she want?

Either ice cream or a salad.

There was no inbetween.

Unless there was an ice cream salad.

Wait, that was just a sundae.

Why wasn't our house finished yet?

It had been months, maybe it was because construction was so bogged down during the Japanese winter.

Sure, it was almost done, and we could move in about a week once we got all the furniture and stuff in, which was good, but we weren't going to be able to bring the baby home. Well, we could, we'd just bring it to Might Tower and then All Might would gush over being an uncle to a newborn.

Wait, All Might could crush her on accident.

Why did I let All Might near my children?

Was Fuyumi already dead?

Touya was having a sleepover with Rumi, so he was probably safe.

Maybe.

Wait, why was I letting my son stay near Rumi?

We should move.

What was the safest place for us?

What was the safest place for us that had good internet?

Where did Rei want to live?

How was she doing?

Was she doing alright?

Maybe I could go in and—

A cry excited from the room.

The cry of a baby.

The cry of my child.

I froze. I was unable to move as I watched through those small windows built into the door, the doctors moving about in a hurry. They were carrying something, moving something, holding something. After a moment, the crying stopped.

I felt like I might burst into flames at any given moment.

I saw someone coming to the door and quickly snuffed the flames on my shoulders and stood straight.

"Endeavour," the doctor smiled at me from beneath his mask. "You can come in now."

I nodded, but it took me a moment to actually start walking.

Despite the sweat that poured down Rei's face, despite the tired look on her face, despite the fact that she was dressed only in a hospital robe, and despite everything else, she was glowing. I stepped into that room expecting to fall in love with my child, I did not expect to fall in love with my wife for the hundredth time.

She looked at me, a smile already on her face beckoning me over. Wrapped in a blanket, clutching her shirt, was our child. Our small, perfect child, with a tuft of hair that was half white, half red.

"Enji," her voice was but a whisper but it sounded like music to me. "Come meet our daughter."

Daughter.

I had a daughter.

I had two daughters.

I had three children.

The eldest, my son, Touya.

The Middle, my daughter, Fuyumi.

And now, my youngest.

I kneeled down beside the bed and smiled at her. Her blue eyes locked onto mine and a cute smile appeared on her chubby little face. Hopefully she stayed a happy baby. I reached out, giving her my finger, her tiny hands barely able to grab it.

"What do we call her?" I asked, completely enthralled by this small little creature.

"I made her," Rei leaned her head on my shoulder. "You name her."

I looked at our daughter for a moment, and smiled.

She was too young to be Natsuo.

She was too old to be Shoto.

And both of them were boys.

I laughed to myself and figured that I might already have the perfect name for her.

The name meant auspicious child, so that she might have a bright future.

"Shoko Todoroki."

Rei let out a long happy sigh. "Shoko, I like it."