Silence Destroyed (MHA)

Life Shots 2

So, it turns out I screwed up with the last chapter and didn't add enough detail between Rei, Shouto, and Naoko, so I'm going to rectify that now! Also, after that, there will be a writeup on Naoko's quirk, so enjoy this!

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Naoko was nothing if not quick, she had grabbed lunch and practically ran back to the hospital, making sure not to drop the stir fry and soba in the process. There was no way that Naoko would miss finding out what happened between Rei and Todoroki simply because her legs only moved so fast.

She had been going there to get lunch for about three years now, and while it was rather far from the hospital, when she had heard that Rei's favorite food was soba, she scoured the area for the best soba she could get. The poor woman had been stuck with hospital soba on the rare days that it was even served, which was depressing to Naoko, so she did everything she could to get the best possible soba, and now every few weeks, the two shared a bowl of that and stir fry, which was Naoko's favorite.

The look on Rei's face when she ate the good food was more than worth the mile and a half that she had to go each way, her would be able to share her favorite food with her son. Rei did tend to keep anything that had to do with her family fairly close to her chest, but Naoko knew Rei well enough to know that this would mean everything to her.

Thankfully the ramen shop she went to seemed to sense Naoko's urgency, as they had two bowls ready for her only three minutes after she came in as the waiter smiled and chatted calmly with her. They knew her well enough to know she wasn't the most talkative person, but for some reason they enjoyed her being there anyway, judging by how the cook came out to personally bring Naoko her order.

"Tell the lady hi for me, like always!" The cook called merrily with a wave as she dusted her apron off. "It's been a long time since you've been here, I was getting worried!" Naoko simply shook her head as she promised to come in again sooner this time as she walked out the door and began to run, watching her cargo carefully. They were kind, but Naoko was in a hurry today, hopefully, Todoroki wouldn't have gotten spooked by Naoko being there, to begin with, and have left already

***

As Naoko slid open the door to the hospital room, she was comforted in seeing the mother and son sitting together in her usual spot by the window. Presumably, they were talking, but Naoko was at a bad angle to tell that, so she simply walked over to the table without saying anything and set the bags on the table.

As Naoko turned around, she was absolutely floored to see silver tracks running down Rei's cheeks which was an incredibly rare thing. Naoko had to fight the immediate desire she got to rush to Rei's side and pull the older woman into a hug, she didn't want to interrupt what had to be an intimate moment.

As quietly as she came in, Naoko turned to walk back out... She wanted so badly to be involved in this and it physically hurt to leave again, but now that she was in the room, it was impossible to justify staying. Naoko would have to console herself with going home and imagining what was happening here until Hasame got home and they could gossip about it together. Without her permission, Naoko's lip pouted out as she laid her hand on the door... The anticipation was going to kill her.

Just as she took a step out of the room, a hand circled around Naoko's elbow, stopping her from moving forward. Gentle pressure pulled her back into the hospital room and quickly enough, Rei's face came into view with the happiest smile on it that Naoko had ever seen the woman wear, "Leaving so soon?"

Naoko's eyes left Rei for a moment and fell on Todoroki, who was watching the two of them curiously, "I don't want to intrude, I can have time with you whenever I want and your son hasn't spoken to you in years. You two deserve the time alone."