Matters of the Family (Pro-Hero Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕔𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕖𝕤

It had been a few days since you'd gone to meet Shoto's parents. After that day, he spent a lot of time at your house, so much so that you gave him his key back. He'd come into the back of the shop after his patrols again while you refurbished the Café, which consisted of repainting and getting new seats while it was closed for summer, and look after Amai while you were busy. You'd got a decent amount of work in seeing as it was his day off today so he'd also been helping you with the work. You'd finally settled into the steaming bath, your aching muscles almost sighing in relief as the hot water tenderly caressed your paint splotched skin. Your heavy eyelids had just closed when a guttural scream had you bolting from the bath, only just slowing to grab a towel before you sprinted through to her room. As you swung yourself around the doorframe you almost bumped into Shoto who was swiftly carrying Amai out of her room, his face pale as snow as Amai sobbed into his chest. He spared you only a glance. "Get dressed, quickly." You didn't bother to ask what was wrong as the smell of singed hair filled your nose. You knew just from what you could see that there was definitely a problem. You hurried into your room, pulling on clothes faster than you ever had before sprinting back into the entryway where Shoto was pulling on his shoes. You did the same as Shoto looked down at Amai. "Sweety, you wanna go to Mama?" She nodded, the tears still falling down her cheeks. You held out your arms for your baby. your sweet, precious, crying baby who needed her Mama. She hugged you tightly as you held her in your arms as both you and Shoto hurried down the street. You knew exactly where he was taking you. You were heading in the direction of the hospital. You still had no idea why you were heading there, but you didn't question why. you had no idea what had happened, but you knew that if Shoto thought Amai needed the hospital, then she probably did. This man had witnessed so much injury and loss of life, both in his personal life and his professional one. You had no doubt in your mind that this situation was serious. 

Finally arriving at the hospital, Shoto spoke to the receptionist as you sat down in one of the chairs, Amai still tightly hugging your chest. You kissed the top of her head gently. "Baby what happened? Can you show Mama what's wrong?" Your voice was quiet and strained. You were terrified. This had happened whilst you were relaxing. You hadn't been watching over her and now she was hurt. She slowly removed herself from your chest, tears still spilling down her cheeks. "My neck..Mamma....my neck really hurts." Your eyes widened as you saw that the hair on the right side of her had been burned to just above her ear, revealing a bleeding, bright red burn up the side of her neck. You felt the blood drain from your face. "H...how did this happen?" Amai cuddled back into your chest again, sniffling. "I was just playing Mamma....I really didn't mean to do it....it just came out of my hand....it really really hurts Mamma...I'm really sorry." You hug her, stroking her hair gently, tears pricking at your eyes. "Shhh baby, it's okay. I'm not mad. I know it hurts, I'm sorry. I wish I could make it better but we're gonna go see a doctor and he's gonna fix you up. Okay?" You looked up as Shoto came to sit by Amai, gently taking one of her little hands in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles gently. You three sat and waited patiently. 

After a longer wait than you had hoped a nurse popped her head around the door. "Amai (L/N)" You stood quickly and headed over. Shoto followed close behind, never letting the two of you leave his sight. You sat down in the chair in the doctor's office, Amai still clutching your chest. The doctor tried to address her but she kept her face hidden in your shirt. You looked down at her. Your poor little baby. You fought the tears hard as you leaned down, speaking to her in what you hoped was a calming voice. "Can you show the doctor what hurts, Sugarplum? He can't help you if you don't show him okay?" You kissed the top of her head gently as she slowly moved back from you, spinning slightly so the doctor could see. "Could you possibly put her hair up? It'll make this a lot easier." You gently gathered her hair from her neck, trying to be as careful and gentle as possible as you tied it up with the bobble around your wrist. Amai held tightly onto your hand as the doctor examined her neck before moving back and typing some things out on his computer. He turned back around and nodded to the nurse who left the room before he turned back to you. "Luckily, it's not too bad. I'm gonna clean it up and dress it for you. Unfortunately it will scar, there's nothing I can do about that. Change the dressing every day for the first week then I'll have you come back so I can make sure everything's okay. I'll give some painkillers and antibiotics to make sure no infection sets in." You nodded as Amai cuddled back into your chest. The doctor gave you some forms to fill out because Amai wasn't on any of their records. She'd never needed to go to a doctor before. The last time she had been in a hospital had been the day she was born. Shoto helped you fill them out due to Amai being on your lap. Thoughts ran through your mind as you waited for the nurse to return with the things needed to clean up the wound. She'd obviously got a quirk. You'd hoped and prayed that she'd be like you, whether that was what she wanted or not. She didn't even know what a quirk was. It dawned on you that the only ever quirks she'd seen were those of the Todoroki family. From the fact that her injury was a burn you figured she'd inherited Touya's flame quirk. You were snapped out of your thoughts when the nurse came back into the room. Amai clutched your shirt tighter. She was scared, you could feel it. You felt so bad that you couldn't do anything for her. She tensed up as the doctor began to clean her would. You knew exactly what he was using because you'd had it used on yours before. You knew for a fact that it stung like a bitch but she didn't make a sound. She didn't cry out, she didn't try to flinch away or complain, she just sat there stiffly and let him clean the burn. 

You managed to get out of the hospital within three hours. Amai fell asleep on the way home, cuddled into your chest. You didn't blame her. You yourself were beyond exhausted but you knew for a fact you wouldn't sleep that night. You couldn't shake the heavy guilt that weighed on your chest. You couldn't ignore that tiny voice in your brain telling you it was your fault. If you had been watching her then you may have been able to help. The doctor had told you that this had most definitely been her quirk developing. Your heart had sunk. Even though it was the only logical explanation, a small part of you had hoped it wasn't true, that she'd get to live a normal life free from quirks. After getting home and putting her to bed, you flopped down onto the sofa, your mind plagued by the images of your precious baby girl with ugly white bandages wrapped around her throat. You jumped slightly as you felt Shoto's hand on top of yours. "Hey, are you okay?" You turned to him and nodded. "Yeah.....that was a lie...I'm really not." He pulled you into a hug as the tears you'd been fighting off all afternoon broke free, spilling down your cheeks as you hugged him tightly, huge racking sobs escaping your lips. He held you close, stroking your hair and comforting you as you cried and cried and cried until you eventually fell asleep. 

Shoto was there for you for the next few weeks. He'd called his dad and asked for some time off patrols. He'd only be called out on emergencies. You three spent a lot of days in your pajamas, watching movies and snacking. Amai's wound healed quickly. Touya came over at least three times a week to make sure that Amai was okay. He'd felt awful too when he found out she'd gotten his quirk. You three had done your best to try and explain to Amai what was going on. After a few hours she eventually understood what a quirk was and that she had the same one as her father and grandfather. Shoto showed her a little flame in his left palm too. Despite what she'd been through she was transfixed. She thought it was so pretty, asking a million question about why Papa's was a different colour to Roki's. You smiled for the first time in a few days as you watched her, finally back to her usual self chatting away to her dad and his brother. This was family. This was home.