Toga's POV
I shot up from my bed, trying to get a grasp of my surroundings. My bed in my room with Ochako by my side, still sound asleep. I steadied my breath, trying to calm myself down. And that's when I noticed that the door to the room was slightly open. Ketsu was stood in the doorway. "Ketsu? Are you alright?" She shook her head slightly. "Come here. Tell me what's wrong," I said, motioning for her to come into the room. She stepped in nervously, refusing to look me in the eye. "I-uh. I had a bad dream," she muttered. "Aww. What do you want me to do?" Ketsu looked up at me, still shaking slightly. "Can I..can I sleep with you guys?" "Of course you can, princess. Come on," I smiled. She quickly crawled into the bed, right in between me and Ochako. I laid back down, giving my hand to Ketsu to hold, as a reminder that I was there and she was safe. And, not that I would ever admit it, but as a reminder to me that I was safe. That no one else had to be hurt. It didn't take long for us to fall back asleep.
I was woken up at a more reasonable hour by Ochako knocking something over. "Oh, sorry Himiko. Didn't mean to wake you up," she apologised. I waved her off, yawning slightly. "Hey, I noticed Ketsu's in the bed. I want to assume she had a nightmare?" "Yeah. And honestly, she woke me up from a nightmare. What a coincidence is that?" Ochako rolled her eyes at me, pulling her shirt on. "So, doing anything today? I have paperwork and such from the agency to deal with," she asked. "Ah, do you? Then I think I have an idea." She gave me a quick glance before shrugging. "Okay, just don't get anyone hurt or killed." I nodded, watching as she gave me a little kiss and left the room, taking the keys from her bedside table with her. I shoved Ketsu awake, telling her to go get dressed while I got ready myself.
"Okay, Ketsu. You ready to go? It's only a train away, so we shouldn't be long." "Yeah! I'm excited, I wanna know where we're going," she smiled. I smiled back, starting the trip to my old town with Ketsu by my side. It didn't take awfully long since we weren't too far away, which left quite some time for us to wander. And I knew exactly where I wanted to go. I grabbed Ketsu's hand to keep her close to my side as I walked into a dark, abandoned alleyway. "Where are we going, mama? This place looks extremely sketchy, not that I don't trust you or anything." "Don't worry, I know where we are and what I'm doing. I'll keep you safe," I answered, searching for the rotting door I was oh-so-familiar with. "Bingo," I smiled as I spotting the door, pushing it open. "Yikes. This place has certainly seen better days. Ketsueki, welcome to the retired base of the League of Villains. This is where my life of infamous crime began. And how I met your mum and how I became what I am today." I let go of her hand so she could wander around the old bar. It had been forgotten for many years after the League's 'dispersal'. "This is really it? The all mighty League of Villains lived here? It's so small. And gross." I chuckled slightly, definitely understanding what she meant. "Ah, yeah. But, we didn't make much, honestly. This is the best we could do and we made it work. We took care of each other and that's all we really needed. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. But hey, it was good while it did last. This is also the place that Ochako lost her arm. It was brutal," I said. "Oh. How does this place not scare you?" "Well, I learnt to live with the fact that nothing I did could've changed the outcome. No matter what, dwelling on it no isn't gonna change anything. Speaking of, follow me. I've got another place to show you." She turned back and trotted out of the door by my side.
The next trip wasn't a short walk, but it was manageable. And the destination was worth it.
"Okay, why are we only visiting the most decrepit places?" "That, Ketsu, is my old home. Where I spent 13 years of my life with my parents." "Oh. Sorry." I smiled and nudged her slightly. "It's fine. I don't care." I guided her inside the graffiti-covered building. My old home didn't have the same of protection of being in an unknown area as the League's old base. "So...this is the place that screwed you up in the head?" "Mhm. My parents' domain. Where I suffered for 8 years. What made me Toga Himiko." She looked around in curiosity, taking in the odd atmosphere of the house. "Again, how are you not sent into some kind of spiral of PTSD?" "Again, I've accepted there's nothing I could do. I was born the way that I was, I couldn't help that. I couldn't change the way that they saw me, and I've learnt to accept that. I was bound to break eventually. And the same applies to you. Had you have stayed with your parents, I could only assume you'd end up down the same path. But I won't let that happen to you. I'll make sure you never have to go through what I had to. You'll never need to hide who you are, I promise," I smiled, pulling her close to me in a hug. "Thanks, mama. I love you," I smiled. My heart melted. "I love you too, Ketsu. Now, while we're here, what else do you wanna do?" I ended up being pretty much dragged around by Ketsu, using me as her guide around the old city. It was nice to spend some time together.
Boo. Thought I'd make something adorable for a 10k special. I like it. Hope you do too. From now on, the only thing I'll be doing is maybe a holiday special or two for Halloween and Christmas and such. Hope you have a lovely night, it's currently 2 am for me so I'm gonna go to bed. Enjoy my little hyena cubs, hydrate or die straight ❤️
