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Chapter Text

~*~

The encounter

~*~

Momo recalled everything she had learnt about this latest villain she and her classmates had spent chasing for the better part of an hour. His name was unknown, as he wore a mask to keep from recognizing his face and his body bore no other identification marks. He wore a barely there pink skintight suit, covered in oil, slimy enough to not be able to catch. He had spent nearly two days terrorizing the residents and Pro Heroes of Musutafu, as his quirk involved releasing a type of powdery fume from any part of his skin. He was also smart, as he had fooled the agencies by only releasing the fumes from fingers, and then surprised them when he had released them from his nape. The fume was pink colored, putting the affected to sleep if they inhaled it, and giving them ‘visions of the future’ as he so proudly declared. The affected people were still asleep, even after two days of exposure, and Recovery Girl had said that her kiss won’t be able to awaken them. Only the passage of time would lessen the effect.

She leapt off the roof of another building, following his tracks. He was smart enough to lose himself in crowds and cramped residential spaces so other more open ranged heroes would not attack. She spied Todoroki-san and Iida-san, wearing masks just like her, enter a few buildings before promptly exiting and running off in the opposite direction. Momo swiftly followed them.

As soon as they had turned a corner, they met a victim starting to lose consciousness and decided that they were on the right track. Iida-san staying for a moment to get help. A fork greeted them. Momo nodded to Todoroki-san as she took the left alley, him going for the right.

Momo’s path turned out to be the correct one, as she noticed the villain’s shoe tracks and a few meters ahead, the villain himself.

“Shouto, the villain is in the left lane!” she communicated through the device.

“Alright! We’ll be there, Creati!”

Okay, let’s focus on him.

“Stop, you! Surrender and you’ll face a lighter sentence!”

“Like heck I will!”

Momo got to preparing the equipment for trapping him: a net, and a distraction.

She threw the boomerang aimed properly in his path, and as it cut his running speed and returned to her, she released her net, which snapped shut as soon as it wrapped him, catching the boomerang in time in one smooth move.

The bundle of villain and net came to a standstill, though he tried to break free - it was no use for the net was of a strong material.

“I have subdued him.” She informed Aizawa Sensei.

“Ha Ha Ha, bitch, do you think I would be subdued this easily? Your department doesn’t know much now, does it? Sending a kid like you to catch me, they must underestimate me too much!”

“I am a hero-in-training, Creati. If I may ask, what is your name?”

“I am never telling anyone my name, ever!”

“And why not?”

“Because I hate it!”

“But why are you committing these crimes?”

“I am tired of them, that’s why!”

“Tired of what?”

“The stupid dreams!”

The nameless villain let out a yell, before a releasing a gush of pink fumes from his hair under the mask. Momo instinctively took a few steps back, intending to protect herself, as she raised her arms.

“I was correct about you guys not knowing about my quirk!! You thought it affects only if you inhale the fumes, didn’t you? I fooled you there! They affect you even if they touch you, you know, Ha Ha, what a bunch of losers!” he guffawed.

Momo came to a standstill. She now realized she had come in contact with the fumes already. That means…that means that she has already become a victim!

The sounds of sliding ice and engines alerted her to Shouto and Ingenium’s presence. She created a glass wall in time to prevent the fumes from flowing in their direction. Through the comms, she said-

“Don’t come closer! His quirk does not affect only by inhaling! It permeates your skin! Please tell them to put on a non-breathing fabric and cover every bit of his skin and hair!” she pleaded, before knocking him out using a taser.

“I am already exposed.” she murmured after she heard Iida-san’s exclamation of shock and Todoroki-san’s yell.

“Yaoyorozu! Climb over the glass wall and come this side then!”

She followed his advice, barely making it over the wall, and instantly started feeling dizzy.

“Yaoyorozu!” she heard both of them scream, feeling someone’s arms around her as she lost her balance. It was Todoroki-san.

“Todoroki-san! Don’t- don’t touch me!” she said almost inaudibly, before fainting. Yet he did not leave her.

Unknown to him, though, she had carried a cloud of the powder of the fumes on her body, where Shouto had touched, and he too, came under the effect of the quirk.

Iida observed in horror as Todoroki lost consciousness a few minutes after Yaoyorozu, both falling in a heap in the alley.

~*~

The vision

~*~

Momo’s head ached, like a throbbing, building vibration in her head, making her feel sick. Pinpricks of light danced in her vision on a backdrop of black, as she willed the headache to go away and failed to open her eyes. She felt herself come to consciousness, feeling her face, her body, and the air around her. She recognized her body lying horizontally, soft bedding under her. She surmised she must be in the recovery ward. Maybe they found a cure before the quirk affected me properly!  But just then, the headache disappeared, and a new pain replaced it.

A full bladder.

Momo did not realize when or how, but she urgently wanted to go. No. Needed to go.

She tried opening her eyes again and succeeded, shocked by the darkness that faced her now.

Where am I? This is certainly not the ward! They know better than to turn off the lights like this!

Turning her head and trying to make sense of her surroundings, she caught sight of the digital clock next to her bed.

04:16 A. M. it read.

Huh?

Before she could focus on the fact that she was certainly in her quirk-induced dream, the sensation of urgent urination brought her back. Right! She needed to go pee! She tried to get up as quickly as possible and was faced with resistance…from her stomach?

Momo brought her hand down to her abdomen, to be surprised with a full, rotund, round belly!

Again, she felt flabbergasted. When had she gained so much weight? Does she become obese in future? Does she give up her hero career? Did she not exercise anymore? Did her quirk change? Had it evolved into something like Fat Gum’s quirk?

A million questions swirled in her brain as she cautiously tried to get up. Swinging her legs to the open side of the bed, she felt her back aching, her body swollen, face and hands puffy and slimy panties. Her face burned with the embarrassment she felt in the moment.

Spying a door with tell-tale white switches in the darkness, she made her way towards it. Switching on the light and turning the knob, she was thankful that it led to the bathroom.

Momo scrutinized herself in the mirror after washing her hands. The only thing that resembled her normal self was her hair. Everything else, about her, though, had changed.

Fuller face, fuller but still toned arms, a big belly, bigger breasts, bigger hips, swollen ankles and the most special, the ring hanging from her neck.

She wore a light blue negligee, which left her cleavage visible and, in the light, she could see the red marks riddling her jaw, neck, collarbones, cleavage and her breasts.

Love bites.

Momo blushed.

Her face visibly changed color in the mirror, as she realized the part of the future she had entered in.

She was most probably married and, the firmness of her belly signified that she was very pregnant.

Momo felt her mind go blank. She felt drowned by the increased heartbeat pounding in her ears, her entire body erupting in goosebumps and the red blush spreading over her face and upper body. She felt out of breath and took a seat on the decorative stairs surrounding the bathtub to recover.

She covered her face with her hands and bit her palms as the reality of her state dawned on her.

She was married. She was pregnant. She had made love before going to sleep. She was sleeping on one side of the bed before she woke up. Which meant someone was sleeping next to her. That someone was her husband. Who was still sleeping. In the same bed. As her. She would have to go to sleep next to him. She would have to wake up tomorrow. She would have to see her future husband’s face appear unfazed, smile, and wish him a good morning. She would probably have to kiss him, hug him, make out with him, she would have to stop him before it got too heated! She would have to say ‘Not now, darling, I am hungry’ normally, sans nerves, she would have to see him naked! She would have to see him dress up; she would have to-

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Momo told herself to calm her panicking self.

She had nearly started replaying herself in the scenes of those old dramatic soap operas when they show the newly married couple’s first morning after their wedding!!!

Clenching both her hands to her chest, she applied the techniques to calm herself in a nerve-wracking situation.

Inhale, hold, exhale, slowly.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5………...

She counted her breaths enough to slow down her beating heart.

She now had a challenge, and she had to face it. Whether this is her actual future or just a dream, she would make it out of it safe and sound!

Chapter Text

~*~

The vision

~*~

Awareness creeped upon Shouto’s senses as if he were being submerged in water. Slow and smooth. He felt his fingers and toes twitch. For some reason, he felt relaxed, as if he had had a night of good sleep. Wherever he was, the air-conditioning was damn fine. He opened his eyes leisurely, to see nothing but darkness surrounding him. It was interrupted by muffled light coming from down the room. He bent his neck a little to see the light spilling from glass crystals styled across a door.

The sound of flushing and water flowing made him realize that there was someone else in this room along with him. Shouto knew this wasn’t a hospital ward nor was it his room. It also did not feel like he had been kidnapped, surely any kidnappers would not provide him with such a good bed? Surely they would not leave him unattended in such darkness? Then, where was he?

Memories of what had transpired came back to him. Chasing Pink Fumes, Yaoyorozu trapping him, concern for her, her looking deathly pale behind the glass, supporting her when she stumbled and then overwhelming dizziness.

So he had gotten hit by the quirk. Shouto thought back to the information provided to them about Pink Fumes. A quirk not fatal but lacking in data.

Didn’t his quirk have something to do with dreams and future? If this is a dream, then why am I able to think? And act? Any dreams (though most qualified as nightmares) I have experienced always had a set storyline as far as I can recall. I never ‘did’ anything. All actions I ever took were reactive to the ‘unpredictable craziness’ that occurred in my dreams.

Shouto had expected there would be something like a slideshow presentation of his future or perhaps, something like a training montage, when he had first heard about this quirk!!! Instead, this feeling of complete control and consciousness in a dream seemed a novel idea for him.

Deep in thought, he brought his hand up to his face. A strange smell on his fingers caught his attention. What’s this smell? He bit his lips and felt a similar strange taste lingering on his tongue. What is this?  It smelt as if-if-if-

He sat up and stared at the door intensely, silently commanding the occupant to exit the bathroom and solve this mystery.

Get out, you!!

As if listening to his thoughts, the knob turned and a shadowed figure, looking like a misshapen blob presented itself.

Who?!

“Who is there?” he called out in the sternest voice he could manage.

He saw the blob visibly flinch, and what he assumed as hands, clench tightly in front of them.

A beat.

“Who are you?”

Another pause. Shouto had half a mind to walk up to-

“Sho-Shouto?”

The feminine voice hesitantly uttered his name, as if it were a sort of burden.

Within a second he recognized it.

“Yaoyorozu? Is that you?” Unbelievable!

Shouto heard her release a long sigh, as if she had been holding her breath for too long.

“Yes, it’s me, Todoroki-san,” she assured him in her usual calm voice.

Turning a little, she let the light from the bathroom fall on her face so he could see her properly.

“Oh.” Then, “Yaoyorozu, do you think the fact that I was holding you when the quirk hit is the reason why we are present in the same dream?”

“That’s……possible.”

“Oh.”

“Todoroki-san, could you please switch on the bedside lamps?”

“Sure.”

He turned and took a few seconds to find the location of the switch. However, the dim light only brightened the bed where he was situated, leaving Yaoyorozu still half-shrouded in darkness.

When he gazed at his immediate surroundings, he found what he had assumed to be a bed was actually a futon placed on a raised platform. A rich quilt concealed his lower half and tatami mats covered the floor. His eyes wandered over to Yaoyorozu, who had switched off the bathroom light. Curious, he wanted to examine her body and figure out why she looked different.

“Yao-”

But before he could finish, she had already turned, probing along a wall.

“Aha!” she suddenly exclaimed, before making a clicking sound.

Bright light flooded the entire room, and his eyes scrunched up, trying to get used to the sudden invasion. As soon as he recovered, his eyes darted to Yaoyorozu. And what he finally saw shocked him.

“What happened to you?”

His mind went blank.

Yaoyorozu’s belly looked five times bigger than normal. She wore, what he assumed to be light-blue lingerie, which barely reached the middle of her thighs. Her hair was longer and much thicker, cascading down her back. But everything about her looked fuller. Her face, her chest, her hips and her legs. He noticed the red marks along her collarbone as she brought her hands closer to her chest. Seeing her like this made his face heat up-

I may be dense, but not that dense, I am eighteen after all--

“Ah! You see, I am pregnant.” she stated as if it were the most obvious fact in the world, placing a hand on the upper curve of her bump. Shouto did not miss the blush on her face.

What in Seven Hells?!

“What?! How?! Why are you in-in-in-this condition in a dream?” Shouto’s flabbergasted self stammered through the words.

“Welcome to the future, Todoroki-san, a future, in which we are happily married and where, fortunately or unfortunately, you get me pregnant.” A heavy blush settled on her cheeks as she said this.

“M-Married? P-P-Preg…nant? What are you-?”

Unbelievable, utterly unbelievable!! I refuse-this-this-this is not a dream-it’s-

Her brow furrowed, “What I think is, Todoroki-san, the quirk brought us in a dream of the future, where apparently, we have full autonomy on our actions and everything seems normal, not like an unpredictable crazy dream. It almost feels like we have time travelled, albeit incarnated in our future bodies. Time-travel is a popular subgenre of Science Fiction, after all,” she explained matter-of-factly, as she tapped a finger on her chin.

-a nightmare!!

“But this IS crazy! Can’t you see?” Shouto yelled, shifting to get up when he heard a violent “NO! DON’T MOVE!” from her.

“Huh?”

She blushed as she murmured, “You’re…..naked.”

A pause.

Shouto looked down at his body and found that she was right. He was not only shirtless but also pants-less!

How did I not realize this?

In his defense, this was not his fault. In fact, the air-conditioning in this room was so comfortable, he had not felt that he was devoid of clothing. Besides, the fabric of the futon had felt so soft and velvety under his butt-

“Right!” he peeked over the bed in a bid to search for any clothing and saw a grey t-shirt and blue boxers strewn on the floor.

He crouched over the bed and stretched his arms. After catching hold of the clothes, he hurriedly put them on and finally escaped from under the quilt. He noticed that Yaoyorozu had turned her back to him to give him privacy.

“I…I’m decent,” he squeaked.

“Okay,” she responded as she faced him again.

Shouto stood next to the bed as he looked at her. He glanced at the red marks on her skin and to confirm his suspicion he asked,

“Are those…what they call…love bites or-or…hickeys?”

Say no!

“Yes.”

“And it was I who made them?”

Say no!

“N-Not you, the future version of you, made them, on this Future Momo’s body.”

But it was still me!

“Also,” she continued, “Future Momo has left a lot of hickeys on Future Todoroki-san’s body.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Uh.”

I do not even feel them. They look painful on you. I was so distracted by you, I forgot all about myself.

He doused the flame that flickered from his left cheek.

When Momo had opened the bathroom door, she had not been expecting to see a sitting silhouette of her future husband in the shadows. Seeing him had made her stop in her tracks in the doorway. Her brain had started formulating responses for any questions he might ask. She was sure she would not need to use his name. I’ll call him ‘Darling’ if the situation becomes desperate. Unless she could see his face or identify who he was, she would have to pretend. Since she could not be sure whether the actions committed in these dreams would change her future, she would have to be cautious.

Before she needed to say anything, however, her future husband himself demanded to know who she was. Momentarily stunned, to her great delight, it was no other but Todoroki Shouto’s voice! And he had asked who she was, so it was her classmate Todoroki-san and not his future version, who would have known that it would be Momo. Yet to be sure, she had used his first name.

How relieved she was when her supposition turned out correct! It was her Todoroki Shouto and not any other version of him nor any other man! He seemed to also have figured out why they were in a shared dream. Todoroki-san again proves why he is capable and reliable in any circumstance!

But then she had asked him to turn on the light. Because she had wanted to see him. So, she had no one to blame but herself when she witnessed the absolute sinful sight before her.

In the golden light, shirtless Todoroki-san practically glowed. If Momo were something like Mina, she would have used the word ‘delicious’ to describe him. Tousled red and white hair, visibly taller, broader in the shoulders, firmer pectorals, and bulkier biceps- all these features caught her eye. Yet the slight wide-eyed look on his face along with the sharp jawline and mild stubble made him look innocent and bold at the same time! Moreover, he was also riddled with hickeys!

I am never going to forget him like this.

This is unfair! No, ‘delicious’ was too mild… she thought of certain other naughty words Mina used, but decided she did not want to refer to a respected classmate that way. Not even in her mind. She was strict like that.

The dim illumination from the lamps seemed to render the scene romantic, which he was unaware of as he looked here and there. But poor Momo’s heart throbbed at this realization.

I need to turn on the brighter lights!

Then it was his turn to be shocked. She won’t deny that she felt amused seeing Todoroki-san’s wide-eyes and half-opened mouth as he stared at her. He looked cute, even with his enhanced masculine features. It made her want to tease him.

I want to see that expression a little longer…

And she did. She teased him. Quite brutally, she felt. Poor Todoroki-san! He blushed, stammered, and was flustered so visibly, it was fun looking at him as he tried to make sense of this madness. So few things rattled him, his extreme reaction to the possibility of them being married tickled her.

She walked him through her theories about this mysterious realm and alerted him to the fact that he was naked. And then proceeded to make him aware of the ring hanging on her neck and the platinum band sitting on the ring finger of his left hand. She heard him mumble ‘Unbelievable!’ numerous times under his breath.

Finally, he looked defeated as he covered his face in his palms, exhaled loudly and met her eyes.

“So, now what?”

“My feet are aching. I think it will be better if we sit before we discuss any further.”

“Alright.”

Momo walked gingerly towards the bed. It was disorienting, needing to handle this massive weight. She smiled as she noticed that it was a futon on a raised platform. Todoroki-san’s preference. She took a seat and Todoroki-san sat down next to her. He immediately folded, placing his forehead on his knees. She tilted her head.

“Exhausted?”

“Totally.” He sighed.

“These revelations are certainly hard to digest.”

“They are. Say, Yaoyorozu, does it hurt?”

“What does?”

“Your tummy. I saw you grimace just now.”

“Quite a bit. The pain seems to be concentrated in the back and a little at the sides. The center of gravity is also quite off. My-”

“I am sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“But I did this to you.”

“That’s the future you - not the current you.”

“It is still me.”

“I…I accept your apology.”

He lifted his head to give her a small smile. His cheeks still held traces of red. She saw him look at the wall and followed his gaze. A plan was beginning to take shape in her head.

But the large photo-frame on the wall made them gasp at the same time.

It was a photo of them, but along with them, three new members were present, sporting matching smiles.

The backdrop seemed to be of a room. On the left stood Todoroki-san, holding a boy and a little girl in his arms. On the right stood Momo, cradling another little boy in hers. The slight baby bump visible even then. All of them were wearing a color scheme of blue and white. The boys wearing a blue shirt and white shorts and the girls wearing blue-white patterned frocks.

“They look just like you, Yaoyorozu.” Todoroki-san stated in a deadpan voice, “All of them have black hair,” he continued, “Also, the girl and the boy you are carrying look the same age.”

He sounds defeated.

“The older boy, he has your eyes, Todoroki-san.” Similar mismatched eyes of blue and grey smiled back. “And the ….twins, they have my eyes, but the girl has red streaks in her black hair while the boy has white streaks in his.”

“They are our kids.” His voice was completely toneless.

For some reason, Momo felt guilty. “Yes” she answered quietly. There was no room for plausible denial.

Minutes passed where neither of them spoke. Todoroki-san seemed to be staring at the photo with no emotion on his face. Then he turned his head.

“So,” he seemed to glare at her baby bump, “you are our fourth spawn?”

“Todoroki-san!”

Chapter Text

~*~

The dream

~*~

Momo was indignant at Todoroki-san’s quip. “You shouldn’t use such words to refer to our baby!”

However, instead of apologizing, he stared at her face without blinking. Momo tilted her head in question. Yet, there was no reaction from him.

“Todoroki-san?”

He sighed then, and faced forward, eyes gazing at the floor. In deep thought, he rested his elbows on his thighs and interlaced his fingers.

“…”

Momo wondered why he had suddenly gone silent. The seemingly calm atmosphere between them tensed somewhat as the seconds ticked by. In order to prevent herself from panicking, she looked back up to find something to distract herself.

The wall was painted in a soft off-white color with a cherry-blossom tree in the background. Their family portrait hung at the center of the wall, its focal point. Lower, a floating shelf held a few potted plants and three more portraits.

The first picture displayed Todoroki-san and her wrapped in an embrace, evidently vacationing in the Swiss Alps. Both had wide-smiles on their faces and Momo could just feel the happiness radiating from their future-selves. The second picture showed their first son sitting at a small piano with a wide grin on his face. But it was the last photo that made her heart turn into a warm puddle and full of happiness. She recognized the Zen Garden from her own home. Todoroki-san, herself and their three children sat in a meditative pose next to each other, eyes closed. She could see the twins try (and fail) to press their tiny index fingers to their thumbs. Their round cheeks, chubby arms and their small body just looked so adorable!  Their children looked so tiny sitting next to them! She also noticed that their first son had a sly smirk on his face while the others had serious expressions, even the tiny tots. So cute! Our first is mischievous!

While Momo was gushing over their totally adorable, tiny and extremely cute kids, Shouto’s thoughts had spiraled into a complete mess in comparison.

Shouto’s anger stemmed from the fact that Momo was pregnant a third time, just after having had a pregnancy with twins. What sort of monster did he become in the future to be able to force such a burden on his wife without an ounce of remorse?

Shouto knew from the various textbooks that a twin pregnancy is usually more complicated than a singlet type. A person has to invest twice the time and care for twins, and, Shouto was sure, the mother would have to bear twice the pain.

Why in the world was future him forcing her to have another baby when she must still have been recovering from the previous ones?

He looked at the portrait again. The twins did not look older than three or four. Only a two-year gap? It was not enough. Maybe future him wanted a larger family, but this was no way to treat his wife!

The only other reason he could think of is that he had developed an obsession just like Endeavour. Maybe the Pro-Hero rankings got to his head? Maybe a severe jealousy against someone else? An obsession with wanting a child with the most power? What about Creati’s Pro-Hero career? These frequent pregnancies would have been such a huge obstacle for her! He knew that many women ended up sacrificing their careers for the sake of their families. Did future her also sacrifice her hero career to bear the perfect child for Shouto?

He had hoped he would never go down this path. Shouto wanted to be a good Hero and help others, just like All Might. He had focused all his attention on this one goal. But the classmates at U.A. had surprised him. They were competitive, but, excluding Bakugou, everyone else had only been supportive and encouraging to the others. All of them had good hearts. His friends: Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu had been such positive influences on his personality. He never wanted to revert to his earlier coldness, because, he discovered that he liked being a little social.

While he had these wishes and his dream of becoming a good Hero, he may have always subconsciously wanted a safe home to come to. A happy, loving family in a safe home. But that was always about his siblings and parents.

He thought sometimes, that, if his old man had not been this way and had really loved Rei, would Shouto have even been born? Most of his classmates were single children, only a few having siblings. Maybe they would have had just Toya and Fuyumi. Only two children. In such a world Natsu and him would never have existed.

Their mother had had to bear them out of compulsion.

No, scratch that, she even had to marry Todoroki Enji out of duty toward her family.

It was a marriage of convenience that benefited only the Himura family and his old man.

If someone were to ask Shouto what type of marriage he would prefer, he would answer: one born of love and genuine affection. But Shouto knew nothing about romance, so he did not think about such things. He also knew he did not have romantic feelings for anyone; thus, he always rejected any confessions he received.

Maybe he’d thought that he’d remain single all his life, like All Might.

But here he was, in the future, with a large family and Yaoyorozu Momo as his wife. What in the world had he done to deserve her? Was he deserving of her sacrifices? Of her pain?

Who gave him the right to treat her so cruelly? How could he have forced an unwanted pregnancy on the one who he had always respected?

He felt tears prick at his eyes. He was not a good man.

“Earth to Todoroki-san! Can you hear me?” a worried Yaoyorozu waved her hands in front of his eyes. She looked so concerned.....I don’t deserve her. Not now nor in future. Ever.

She was so intelligent, dedicated, diligent, pure, innocent. She deserved someone else, someone better, someone without his complicated past, someone who’d treat her right, maybe, someone like Iida…

“What is it, Yaoyorozu?” He tried to keep the pain from his voice.

“Todoroki-san! You…why do you have tears in your eyes? What happened? Did you feel that hurt by my admonishment? I am sorry that I did not appreciate your sense of humor! I am really, really sorry!” her concerned voice only made him feel more ashamed.

“No, Yaoyorozu. It is not because of what you said…..I was just wondering what turned me into such a cruel man.”

“Cruel…man? What do you mean Todoroki-san?” Somehow, the gap between them lessened.

“This baby. I am sure it is unwanted,” he said, pointing a finger at her bump.

Yaoyorozu’s hands instinctively came to rest protectively over her stomach.

Not an hour has passed and you are already attached, Yaoyorozu?

“Huh? Why?”

“Look, I know for a fact that twin pregnancies are difficult. I have read about them from the textbooks. The risks, complications, difficult labor. I am pretty sure you would have wanted to stop then, but here you are, again pregnant with a fourth child.”

“…”

“The Hero career is also not a job that allows you to have a good work-life balance, Yaoyorozu. This is your third pregnancy— which means you have effectively given up almost 30 months of your on-field career. Paperwork and strategizing are the only duties safe enough for you. And I doubt that is enough to get good rankings. Your desire to be a good Hero, your essential abilities on the field and your intelligence…all of them are being wasted. And only because of my selfishness.”

“To-Todoroki-san, you’re mistaken!”

“I am not mistaken. You have improved drastically from our second year. When you started having extra counselling sessions with All Might-sensei, practiced martial arts and combat techniques, stopped relying only on Bojutsu, developed your quirk use and well, changed your costume, I realized that you had become more confident and focused on your goal.”

“I know you are serious about your career, Yaoyorozu. I am pretty sure that you must have gone on to have a successful career in the future. But to throw all that away to have a family with a bastard like me? Someone who ties you down and makes you have unwanted children? Someone who treats you like a broodmare? I am no different from my Old Man!”

He felt teardrops roll down his cheeks.

Momo gasped when she heard Todoroki-san basically declare himself a wicked, worthless man. He had gotten it all wrong! He had misunderstood the situation! She scrambled to find the correct words to resolve his misjudgment: of himself and their family!

But then she had seen the tears.

Momo’s heart thundered. How could she forget Dabi, or Todoroki Toya’s quest for revenge against Endeavour, or the hell he had endured in his childhood. She felt her heart twist and tears gathered in her eyes as well.

It was obvious why he saw their future family being borne out of negative circumstances rather than positive.

“Todoroki-san,” she whispered, moving as close as possible, “you’re not a cruel man and you will never be one.” She rested a hand on his shoulder. He shuddered. Not caring, she moved him a little so that he faced her.

“Todoroki-san, listen to me. You are not selfish. Wanting a happy family is natural. It doesn’t matter if it is large or small. It is not selfish to want to have a happy, loving family.” Not knowing where the courage came from, she cupped his face in her hands and wiped away his tears. She heard him take a deep breath and he closed his eyes.

She noticed the scar.

It was not like Momo ignored the scar on his face. After three years of seeing him, she had simply gotten used to it. Only, it had started blending into the background when she started focusing more on what his eyes conveyed and what his mouth said.

But the scar on his older body had lightened. Where it had sharp borders before, they had now softened. Older Shouto was healing, she was sure, both emotionally and physically.

His eyes were still closed, and her palms still held his face.

“I understand why you thought that the future me is pregnant out of compulsion. Your mother had to go through this and that is what you have experienced. But I should inform you something, Todoroki-san. I am strong enough to make my own decisions. Future Momo won’t be any different. Do you think I would let myself endure such mistreatment? Do you think my parents would let me go through such abuse?”

At this, his eyes opened, startled.

“My parents love me, Todoroki-san. They love me a lot. My mother and father think the world of me. Why, my father wanted to make a documentary on my life when I am still so young! And they also have a lot of power. You think they would let you even be in my sight if I complained about you to them? You would have had lawsuits after lawsuits filed against you. The best lawyers from Japan would be hired to have you sentenced. My father and mother would leave no stone unturned to make the life of any man who hurts me a living hell.”

Momo gave him a smile.

“Look at our current states, Todoroki-san. This negligee, the hickeys and everything else. Our future versions are not in an abusive relationship. It is just that, you have not experienced the warmth of a normal family.”

A little flushed, she removed her hands and placed them on her lap, “If anything, the one responsible for the recurrent pregnancies must be myself.”

Shouto’s eyebrows shot up so high, they nearly disappeared in his hair.

“I’ve always wanted siblings, you see. Growing up in a large mansion with all adults—be they the butler, the maids, secretaries, my own parents—made me feel a little lonely. There was no one of my age to explore our sprawling mansion with! When I would ask for a little sister, mother would say that she doesn’t want to go through the pain again. Of course, I understood afterwards that her labor had been very difficult during my birth.”

“You have siblings, Todoroki-san. My condolences for Toya-san,” she bowed a little, “but you reconciled with your brother and sister. I imagine that my future version must have interacted with your family many times. And grown inspired to have a large family, for you.”

“As for my career, we still don’t know whether or not we have our own Hero Agency. Maybe the number of villains has reduced in our future, or maybe I was satisfied with my on-field performance before we had our family. But I think the biggest reason is this.”

Momo walked up towards the shelf and picked the portraits. She ignored the feeling of his eyes on her back and returned to her seat.

“Look at these photos, Todoroki-san! Look at how cute they are!” she squealed, unable to control herself.

Shouto looked at the photos she had brought. He was still rattled by all the things Momo had said just now. He had been berating himself and going on and on about himself, while she had broken down his misgivings so logically and calmly.

The first photo had future him and future Momo in a tight embrace with wide smiles adorning their faces. Seeing himself this closely, he noticed the mature look on his face and the much taller body. Momo looked the same as her current self, perhaps slightly taller. A heavy mixture of pride and embarrassment needled him.

The second photo was of their black-haired kid sitting at a tiny piano. Another pang. Their son’s smile resembled Shouto’s mum’s and Momo’s, somehow, at the same time. But it was also unique. A warm fuzzy feeling made a home in his chest.

However, the third photo somehow made him want to hug it to his chest! All of them, sitting in a line, him being the largest and the twins being the smallest, it felt like looking at a line of Momo’s matryoshka dolls. He noticed his and Momo’s serious expressions, their first kid’s smirk and their twins’ little pudgy hands struggling to form the seal. He held back a laugh but let a smile grace his face. “They are adorable.” He said, when he noticed the excited twinkling in Momo’s eyes. You are cute, too, he wanted to say but held it back as well.

All these portraits showed a happy, loving and cheerful family.

“You think so too! Don’t you? I am glad. I think the main reason we can’t stop having kids is because they are just too cute!”

Well, Momo realized the statement’s implications rather quickly and blushed prettily to complement it. “What I meant was, that, the future versions of us could not stop having kids because they are too taken with their cuteness.”

Shouto looked away, rubbing his nape. A blush rising on his cheeks as well.

“Hn.”

She coughed.

“Promise me, you won’t misunderstand this anymore.”

“Of course, I won’t. I won’t jump to conclusions in the future. I promise.”

“Good.” Then, “You can pass me the photographs, Todoroki-san; I will place them back.”

“You don’t need to. I’ll put them in their place—just—give me the directions.”

“Okay. Our photo on the left, piano in the middle and Zen at the right.”

“Yaoyorozu, it seems my face can unlock both the phones.” Shouto said as he walked towards the bed, carrying two phones and the files he’d grabbed from the cabinets in the room.

“Oh, it has facial recognition?” She brought the phones in front of her face. Both unlocked, again.

“It seems we are able to unlock each other’s phones.”

“Which one’s yours?”

“This one is mine. It has my account, see?” She held up a phone with black case.

That meant, the phone with the white case was his.

“April 21, 4:44 in the morning. It’s a Sunday.”

“From early October to April?”

“Yaoyorozu, can you see the year? It is blurred in my calendar.”

She launched the application in her phone, and sure enough the numbers where the year should be were blurred out.

“They don’t change even when I scrolled to the January of the next year!”

“This seems to be a condition of the quirk.”

“That is sound, Todoroki-san. It is so we cannot decipher how far we are in the future.”

“It need not be our future, Yaoyorozu. What if this is a construct of our own minds?”

“But the villain told me that he was tired of the dreams of the future.”

“Oh. Does this mean he gets dreams of the future?”

“Let us worry about that later, Todoroki-san. First we need to find out—” she opened a file, “the names of our children!”

“Okay.”

He leaned against her to read. It seemed to be a pediatrician’s files. Predictably, only the month and day were visible, the years redacted for their eyes. Then his eyes fell on the name.

“Todoroki Kaito.” Momo and Shouto whispered together.

“It is such a lovely name!”

“I agree.”

“We’ve used the characters for ‘God or Creator’ and ‘Love’ for his name. Todoroki-san, I think it highlights his Quirk of Creation as well as him being a symbol of our, well, of our future love.”

“It is beautiful. I think it suits him well.” He looked again at their first son— Kaito. Kaichan. A blithe name for a blithe boy.

“It is a miracle, Todoroki-san, look! I can see his age! He was seven years and six months old on the last visit, which took place on 12^th December!”

“So his birthday is June 12.”

“It is!”

“He’s a summer baby.”

“So cute!”

She turned the pages to find the Quirk Manifestation Report.

“Don’t be disappointed if he turns out to be quirkless, Yaoyorozu.” He eyed her.

The excitement in her eyes faded a little, before it came back.

“I won’t, of course! But his name suggests otherwise!”

“Hmm. If you say so.”

“Don’t tease me!”

“Alright.” There was a smirk on his face.

“Hmph!”

After flipping a few pages, she landed on the report. His quirk had manifested at the age of three.

Shouto read on.

Todoroki Kaito has inherited a mixture of both his parents’ Quirks. His body has tolerance to both heat and freezing temperatures. He is able to produce ice and fire from any part of his body, which differs from his father, Todoroki Shouto’s Quirk of Half-fire and Half-ice. He is also able to create items by using his ice and fire power, without needing the conversion of lipids like his mother, Todoroki Momo.

That was certainly a powerful Quirk. Shouto’s thoughts raced at the versatility this quirk offered. How it could be used in combat situations. How helpful it would be during disasters. It was suitable for long-range as well as close-range fights! He couldn’t wait to see this quirk in action.

Shouto looked at Momo to see why she hadn’t commented on it yet. But he found her hiding her face behind her hands, her ears reddened.

“What is it, Yaoyorozu? You have made no comment on Kaito’s versatile quirk.”

“I…I am Todoroki….Momo…” she whispered.

Oh, so that’s what she is embarrassed about.

“Come on, Yaoyorozu! You knew this would happen the moment you found that we were married.”

“But…seeing it in print…is making me feel…weird.”

Heh. She was too embarrassed. Sometimes, he did not understand her behavior. Flustered about a few written words but never ashamed when her suit ripped to pieces and her front was on full display. She was quite strange.

“Then, I’ll move on to the next file.”

“No! Todoroki-san, I want to read it too.” She slowly brought her face out from behind her hands, her eyes downcast. Her face was red as a rose.

“Here. Please do the honors.” He said as he handed the next file.

Momo opened the file, pouting a little sulkily. So cute.

Shouto realized that he had called her cute in his thoughts nearly twice now. The same fuzzy feeling swept through him again, though he did not quite understand what it was. But he felt that he liked it.

“Todoroki Reiji and,” she picked the next file, “Todoroki Reika.”

“Reiji and Reika?”

“I think, these names are a homage to Todoroki-san’s mother,” Shouto found her looking at him pointedly.

“I am sure.” He looked down, remembering his mum’s smiling face. She was much happier now, living with Shouto and Fuyumi.

“The characters for Reiji mean ‘Cold’ and ‘Second,’ perhaps as he is our second son. For Reika, the characters are ‘Beautiful’ or ‘Lovely’ with ‘Fire’ or ‘Flame’.”

“So Reiji has an Ice quirk?”

“Yes. He has a mixture of Creation and Ice quirk. His body has high tolerance to cold but also has some tolerance to fire. He is able to create tools using a mixture of lipids and ice power and channel ice through it.”

“And Reika has a similar quirk, only the ice is replaced by fire. Is that right?”

“That’s correct, Todoroki-san. And they manifested these quirks when they were three years and five months old.”

“That’s good.”

“Their birthday is 15^th of September.”

“The same month as you, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Then they are both summer and autumn babies?”

“Perhaps.”

“Exactly in the middle of the month.”

“Yeah. Now I need to see how far along I am,” she said picking up the last binder.

Shouto looked at her as she started reading from the beginning, her brow knit in concentration. Her black hair framed her face, and her skin looked soft. Her cheeks were rosy and chubbier. He wanted to know how it felt to pinch them. How soft her skin would be between his fingers, and how she would react. She might protest, her cheeks reddening demurely and her glittery obsidian eyes widening in surprise. Her cute button nose huffing silently. Shouto’s eyes lingered, then followed the curve of her graceful neck, where the red marks persisted. He wondered how it would actually feel to kiss such sensitive areas. How would it feel to be kissed on the neck? His hand ran across his own neck, feeling his Adam’s apple and the tender skin. Then his hand came down to rest on his thigh.

Momo’s negligee, as she had called it, revealed her cleavage quite a lot. Though Shouto was used to seeing her body due to her costume, seeing her in such sheer fabric felt too intimate. When he focused a little more, he could see smaller red marks on her chest as well. Feeling a little heated, he pulled at his collar. He looked away for some time to cool down, then glanced at her again. She was reading and turning pages without paying any attention to him.

His eyes slid over her body again. He noticed that the negligee parted in the middle, exposing her fair tummy to the light. That skin appeared smooth too, and a reflex in his body wanted to put his hands on her stomach to touch it.

But if he were to do that, he was pretty sure Momo would faint out of embarrassment. He remembered her unconscious quirk activation whenever she would be anxious. Creating mini matryoshka dolls or springs in large numbers and being unable to stop. He chuckled to himself as he remembered that.

Wait. He replayed everything since they had arrived here. Momo had blushed so many times, but not once had she lost the control of her quirk. Had she simply gotten over it as she grew older? But she hadn’t used it at all. He looked at her again. She was still deeply engrossed in reading. It bothered him that she could go from observing his every movement to completely ignoring him when she found something interesting to read.

“Care to tell me anything, Momo?” he quipped.

A pause. Her head whipped up.

“To-Todo-Todoroki-san! You just called me by my first name!”

“We are husband and wife, Momo. Therefore, as long as we’re in this dream, I am gonna call you by your first name. I suggest you do the same, Momo.”

She looked at him like she couldn’t believe he was being so cheeky. She huffed a little.

“Alright. Then, I’ll call you Shouto-san…..um, Shouto.”

“Thank you.”

She nodded a little shyly.

“About, what you asked earlier. I found out that my Quirk deactivated when I got pregnant.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I think it is a way to ensure essential lipids and body components are not lost from my body.”

“That’s…..good.”  

“Also I am 29 weeks pregnant. And, well, I have an ultrasound appointment tomorrow.”

“29 weeks means..?”

“Nearly seven months.”

Shouto took the chance to search ‘pregnancy at 29 weeks’ and tried to read through a few of the sites.

“Shouto, if it is okay, let us not do it right now. My planner says you have an off-day today. So you’ll be taking the kids to their art class. It is from 9 to 12. Then Kaito’s piano instructor will arrive at 4. There’s nothing else apart from this. So, we can take today slow and discover everything patiently.” She yawned, holding a hand before her mouth.

“There’s an alarm for 6:30 in my phone. Just an hour and half’s left. So let us sleep for now. I’m tired.”

“Okay, Momo.”

Shouto stacked the files and returned them to the cabinet. He saw her walk toward the switchboard. She turned the light off and again entered the bathroom.

He went back to the futon and laid himself on it. He stared at the ceiling of this room as he waited.

When she returned and laid down next to him, his heartbeat sped up. Her arm brushed his and he flinched a little. He shifted so that they’d not be as close. He heard Momo grunt softly, as she tried to adjust herself.

Then it seemed she had found a comfortable position, lying on her right.

He turned off the bedside lamps plunging the room into complete darkness.

Even if this nap was to last ninety minutes, he felt that they’d be the longest ninety minutes of his life.  

Chapter Text

~*~

The dream

~*~

Shouto leaned on his forearms on the tall balustrade of the balcony. He looked out at the morning sky. Clear blue skies and the sun just rising. His eyes trailed the expansive greenery beneath. Maple, cherry-blossoms (which were in bloom), cedar, ginkgo, bamboo, oak and pine trees were the ones he could make out from the many populating the gardens. He could see the boulders, the carefully laid stone-paths, koi ponds, stone lanterns, freshly cut grass, the water stream converging and separating and flowing with bamboo clackers; there was a purposeful placement of all these elements to form a cohesive and simple but nevertheless a beautiful, serene landscape. And this garden was large, extending until the horizon, on all the sides—he was sure he hadn’t even seen all of it yet. On his left, he could almost make out the structure of this mansion. Several balconies similar to the one he was currently standing in dotted the other rooms’ windows. His balcony itself held choice bonsai plants along with a bed swing complete with a plush mattress and cushions with a soft rug under his feet. There were also lanterns hung from the top. Everything about this design felt calming to him. He had a hunch that all of this were none other than future Momo’s doing.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt so peaceful that he almost forgot the building stress of his current predicament. The oxygen that reached his lungs made him feel rejuvenated from inside out. He flexed his fingers. The sensation travelled through him and everything about his body felt alive, awake and fresh. He could not believe that his actual body was currently unconscious, because everything felt so real.

This brought him back from his garden-gazing. Yeah! He had a mission to accomplish in this dream!

Shouto decided to take a stock of this place.

His gaze travelled back to the parts of the mansion he could observe. Judging by the arrangement of the windows below this room’s, he concluded that they were currently on the third floor. Looking above outside, another lining of windows at two levels indicated it to be a five-storey mansion. He turned to face the entryway of the balcony, where the sliding glass panes were shoji-screen-esque, with a high window framed by whitish curtains. From here, the closed door to this room stood directly in his line of sight.

He walked out of the balcony and looked at the room again.

The painted wall and portraits, the futon-bed, the headboard, the wardrobe stood at the front and his right. The cabinets, console table and the bathroom to his left. And then, the balcony at the back.

Momo was currently in the bathroom taking a shower. She’d told him that she’d replaced the toothbrushes with new stock—and that his would be a silver colored one. She’d also expressed relief at the fact that the (previously missed) wardrobe had contained wearable clothes. She’d taken out a deep blue maternity dress for herself, and a light blue t-shirt and baggy white sweatpants for him along with innerwear.

He looked at Momo’s files that he’d placed on the console table. He’d read through them after he’d awakened from the short nap and finally had some of his questions related to the pregnancy answered.

He had been relieved to see that Momo’s Quirk Deactivation was only temporary. It deactivates the moment the blastocyst gets implanted in her endometrium and it would reactivate the moment the baby and placenta get delivered. He had also tried to understand the ultrasound pictures, turning them this way and that. While in the beginning it looked something completely alien, as the months passed, he was able to make sense of the baby’s body in the black-blue ink. He wasn’t sure, though, he’d still need help to understand them. The doctor had also mentioned how this baby might possibly be larger and heavier than their previous ones, and he was instantly reminded of Natsuo and Enji’s larger than average body size, even at birth. There was no mention of the baby’s gender—so he assumed that they had possibly chosen to keep it a surprise for themselves. Momo’s health was also good, with the haemoglobin and other stats within proper range in the lab reports. The doctor had prescribed certain supplements such as iron, protein, etc. to be taken after breakfast for her. He’d have to hunt them down then.

Knock, knock, knock.

Shouto’s head whipped up lightning fast. Who could it be?  Was it one of their kids? A burglar brave enough to invade top Pros’ home? A villain?

Stop with these irrational thoughts, Shouto. Nobody would dare invade his home.

He assumed a defensive stance and let his ice come to life. He was ready to freeze the opponent in a block of ice before he had a chance to do anything else. So, he walked to the door and turned the knob to open it. A long hallway opened up in front of him with several doors at intervals, but the only moving thing that actually caught his eye was a man’s retreating back, walking to his right.

“Hey!” Shouto called out aggressively.

Instantly, the man’s suit-clad straight-backed posture lost its confidence. But what surprised Shouto was that the man hunched his back and started trembling like a leaf! The man muttered something and sweat started trickling down his neck. 

“What-”

“To-Todo-Todoroki-SAMAAA!!”

He whined, turned, as he bowed repeatedly, apologizing for something in incomprehensible words, reminding him of Midoriya. The actual dread Shouto saw on the bespectacled forty-something man’s face baffled him. Before Shouto could even form a response, he heard another scream from down below, and the next instant a wizened old woman with three girls wearing matching uniforms came rushing down the hallway.

“NO! WHY TODAY?!” She yelled, just like the Four-Eyes!

She came running forward and pushed the man back and bowed in front of Shouto.

“I am sorry, Todoroki-sama, that you had to face such a brutal rejection! But I assure you that she loves you wholeheartedly! I am sure you know this is just the result of hormonal mood-swings that Momo-sama can’t control!”

Shouto was now utterly lost. He did not understand a word that she’d said. Of course, he understood the words (they were certainly Japanese) but did not grasp the meaning behind them at all.

“What do you mean?” he asked, in the flattest tone possible.

“Oh, Todoroki-sama, you don’t need to do this! Suzuna, isn’t this the eighth time this has occurred?”

“Yes, Yes, Imada-san, this is the eighth time in four years!” the uniformed brown-haired girl supporting the currently unbalanced Four-eyes whined back, tears running down her face.

“How unfortunate! How unfortunate! We sympathize with you, Todoroki-sama! We empathize with you! But for today we assure you we’ll serve you your favorite cold soba just as you like! We’ll help you combat Momo-sama’s bad mood, we’ll also—” Imada-san continued relentlessly, folding her hands before him.

Though Shouto was still confused and still very much wide-eyed at their antics, he managed to say something sensible, in the same flat tone (unlike them),

“I don’t know what you all are going on about, but Ya-er-Momo’s not in a bad mood.”

Ugh! He couldn’t believe he misspoke when it mattered the most! Now they have a reason to get suspicious! In his defense, however, this was the first time he was ever going to refer to her by her given name in front of others! He had a right to be a little nervous!

That last second slip of tongue almost cost him his eardrums! The ladies and the man shouted again, even louder than Bakugou or Iida, repeatedly saying that they’re sorry for him and that she’ll come around, and that he didn’t need to divorce her, that they were the ‘bestest’ couple to ever exist, that he should think about his little adorable children, both outside and inside her belly, and that he shouldn’t be this heartless!

“Suzuka! When was the last time Todoroki-sama referred to Momo-sama by her surname?”

“Never! Imada-san! Never! Todoroki-sama has never called Momo-sama by her surname ever in these four years! Not from the time we have been employed!” another black-haired girl replied.

“Calm yourself, Todoroki-sama!” the hyperventilating grey-haired woman screamed. It looked she was the one who needed to calm down.

Now he was done with this bullshit. Gone was the peace and tranquility from earlier. He had obviously missed some vital cues, just as always. Alright, he should try to sort this out logically.

They definitely seemed scared of him. They also seemed to think that Momo was in a bad mood and that they had had a fight, fueled by his dumb almost-utterance of ‘Yaoyorozu.’

It was a mystery why they thought Momo had rejected him. So that should be the correct starting point to begin his questioning.

“Can you guys please tell me WHY you think Momo and I had a fight?”

The change was quick. All of the five stopped their racket and looked at him dumbfounded.

“Huh?”

“Answer me!” he sighed.

“Obviously…because…you are here? At the door?” Imada-san said.

“He,” Shouto pointed to the man, “had knocked. Was I…not supposed to open it?”

“That’s the problem! You only open the door when Todoroki-sama and Momo-sama have a fight!” the blonde-haired girl yelled.

“Quiet, Shizuka!” the old woman commanded. Then turned to him, “Todoroki-sama, you almost never open the door, because you and Momo-sama always take your baths together, early morning, every morning, at this time! How can you forget! Granted, it’s been months—”

OH!! Shouto covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head. Oh my God! That’s so dumb! But—wait! Did she say that they always…bathed…together?! Oh no! Exactly HOW much in love were they?! Like, everyday?! What about…privacy, busy schedules, anything?

I am so stupid. We are supposed to be a couple. Obviously, no privacy existed between them, judging from the last night. To think that they were so crazy in love to have baths together EVERYDAY like a routine, so much that it scared the living daylights out of their house-staff!

Ugh! His future-self had become unbelievably sappy! How is that even possible?

Ignoring his neck and ears that obviously flushed from embarrassment, he rearranged his face into a neutral expression and addressed them,

“Alright, guys. Don’t worry. Momo’s not angry at me. We did not have a fight. Only she wanted to…bathe alone today. She didn’t give any explanation as such so I figured it was better not to question her. I am fine with her decision, and I am also not feeling hurt or sad. I can adjust for my…wife, you know. I am not that. Needy. Okay?”

Shouto wanted to cringe at the words he’d spoken. But it was a relief to see all of them finally quieten down. They sighed, and Four-Eyes stopped sweating bullets. He was also able to properly stand, regaining practiced professional composure. Imada-san and the three girls huffed a little and stood professionally as well. It reminded him of attendants that work in luxury hotels and flights.

The ladies slinked back, and the man walked forward. He coughed in his fist, then said, “Forgive us, Todoroki-sama, for misinterpreting the situation. We promise never to repeat this behavior again.” He bowed smoothly.

“Our past experiences blinded us, we are sorry, Shouto-sama. We should not have jumped to conclusions.” Imada-san and the girls said in unison.

“It’s alright. It’s alright,” he waved his hand, “Uh, can you tell me why you’d knocked?”

“Oh! Its Shouto-sama’s schedule for today,” the bespectacled man said, picking up a book from the console table beside his doorway, which Shouto had not noticed until now.

“I always knock politely when I leave your schedule every morning, Shouto-sama. I had not expected you to actually respond,” he said sheepishly.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. And thanks. And ‘good morning’ to you all.” He gave them a genuine smile.

“Good morning, Shouto-sama. Please call us if you need assistance!” they all bowed and returned.

Shouto closed the door and locked it, the schedule in one hand. He leaned back and looked at the ceiling, sighing.

He still did not know the man’s name, who was presumably their butler. So, aside from Momo, Shouto and the kids, five more people lived with them in this mansion. Maybe there were more as well. Momo and he would need to find the list of staff employed by them, too. They would be needing to act before so many people; this was going to be a daunting task.

He had not missed the change from ‘Todoroki-sama’ to ‘Shouto-sama.’ This told him that they were trusted staff, and they were highly attuned to his moods. He hoped that this ill-advised first meeting would not become a cause for concern later. He slipped, sighed and sat at the door, and hung his head between his knees, the schedule dangling from his fingers.

Momo hung her used towel on the clotheshorse in the small balcony jutting out from the bathroom. She’d just had a long and refreshing shower. Any traces of the fatigue from last night and her newfound pregnancy had vanished, and she felt so much better.

Getting a last look at herself in the mirror, she approved her blue maternity gown. It was soft, flowy and airy, curving gracefully around her bump. Momo thought it made her look quite pretty. She hoped Shouto would feel the same. A blush matted her cheeks, but she ignored it. Turning the doorknob, she exited the bathroom.

When she turned and closed the door, Shouto’s sitting at the door made her stop for a moment. He was sitting crouched, his head between the knees.

“Shouto, why are you sitting like that?”

“Huh?” he looked up then.

“I asked, why are you sitting like that? And why at the door?”

“Oh! That’s because,” he got up and placed his hand behind his neck, “I had an accidental meeting with our house-staff. It was quite…overwhelming, to say the least.”

Momo’s eyes widened.

“House-staff? You mean we employ people at our home?”  

“Yeah. Obviously, we would need to, seeing as we live in a large, five-storey mansion with a whole-ass forest for a garden.”

“Really, Shouto?”

He gestured towards the window.

“Go on, Momo. There’s the balcony, have a look at it.”

Momo laid back in the cushions of the swing and gushed, “This is so wonderful, totally magnificent, absolutely brilliant, Shouto! Words can’t contain my awe and happiness! The architecture, landscaping and interior-design! It is like a mixture of Traditional Japanese and Modern Architecture! I love it so much! Mansion and everything! It is even better than my own home!”

“It certainly is very thoughtfully designed.”

“Is that all you have to say? Don’t you like it?” she raised her eyebrow at him.

“I do like it, Momo, but I don’t have a way with words, like you,” he answered simply.

She smiled at him, then sat up. She looked at him seriously. He returned her stare equally, so she sighed a little.

“That’s Okay, Shouto-san. Now, can you tell me how your meeting went?”

So he told her everything as succinctly as possible.

Momo could not stop laughing at the way Shouto described the dramatics, though she was as embarrassed as him to know that they bathed together, every day. But she couldn’t stop to think too deeply about it as she howled at the fact that their staff were scared stiff when it came to facing an angry Shouto.

Shouto stopped talking then, feeling sheepish. Momo couldn’t stop imagining scenarios about how the actual Todoroki Shouto behaved that their employees were simultaneously scared of him and concerned for him.

He waited for her to calm down, which she did after a while. That’s when she said,

“I think I know who Imada-san is, Shouto. She is one of the chefs my parents employ at the Yaoyorozu Mansion! Her full name is Imada Sachika. She is an excellent chef all-around, but her specialty lies in authentic Japanese food and desserts. Popular dishes? Local, elusive dishes? You name it, she’ll prepare them for you! She is a good person-disciplined, strict but also understanding and protective. Her Quirk is Taste-copy. When she touches someone’s hand, she is able to replicate their personal sense of taste and smell for a short duration. This helps her cook food that may suit everyone’s personal taste perfectly.”

“Imada Sachika, you say? Can’t say I have ever heard of her, but by the way you describe her, she seems trustworthy. Also, she has quite a helpful Quirk. I can’t wait to try her food. And interact with her properly.”

“Oh, Shouto, it is too funny,” she chuckled, once again remembering the meltdown.

“Stop giggling, Yaoyorozu. Also, what do you think of the butler, do you think he’s someone from your home, too?”

“I won’t be able to say until I see him, Shouto. And, be careful, don’t say my surname in front of others! If you do not want to experience that again,” she warned, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“I am Sorry. I was simply admonishing you, Momo. Wait, what do you think of the girls?”

“I think they are Imada-san’s cooking assistants.”

“Guess they are.”

There was a pause, with only the sounds of nature echoing in the atmosphere.

“Shouto, you should go for your bath.”

“Why, Momo, do I stink?” he playfully lifted his t-shirt and sniffed at the collar.

“You don’t, but you should. What example are you putting as a Hero?”

“I think it is a good example to skip a bath at times, you know, and save water.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, when we have you and your unlimited ice. Personal hygiene is important, Todoroki-san,” she said in her typical Class Disciplinarian voice.

“Hey, Momo? Now who’s ignoring their own advice? You must call me by my first name, too, or else they’re going to think we’re divorcing, just as you said.”

“Forgive me, Shouto. Now, will you please go for your bath?”

He handed her the schedule Four-Eyes had given him.

“Okay. I’ll always follow your commands, Momo-sama.”

“Shouto! Remember, we’ll be needing to go meet the kids after your shower’s done! Your Four-Eyes says we have a ‘BATH-DAY’ scheduled with the kids today, though I don’t know what it is! Also, don’t say stuff like that in front of our kids!”

‘We have a LOT to discuss, it seems’ thought Shouto with a sigh, as he headed for the bathroom.