A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Eighteen

"See? Easy!" Spinner nods to himself and hands Rei the controller. She takes the Nintendo Switch controller and looks down to the buttons and analog controllers. To be truthful, she had never really been into playing video games. As a teenager, she played on her older sister's Super Nintendo occasionally but that's about as far as her gaming expertise reaches. After she had gotten married, Rei never had time to play because shortly after her marriage- she fell pregnant and all of her focus fell to taking care of her small children.

Spinner gives her an encouraging smile and she returns the smile. Never in her life, had Rei thought that she was going to be in the same room with all of Japan's most wanted criminals. When Toga and Twice had brought her here a few days ago, it was so overwhelming and it took almost all of her willpower to not let herself get washed away with worried and anxious thoughts. After all, her two boys, Dabi and Natsuo are both part of this group, so the League of Villains can't be as bad as what the public says. Perhaps it's thanks to her isolation away from news outlets and anything that to do with the events that had happened during her almost eleven years spent in the hospital. From Rei's limited knowledge, she knows that they're a wanted organization but she really has no idea what they've done or what threats they have against both the public and hero society.

However, there are some things that leave Rei with a knowledge unknown to even the nosiest of journalists won't be able to unearth. Rei knows intimate details about the members. From knowing that Spinner adores video games to how Shigaraki has a sweet tooth and his favorite snack is ohagi. Rei also knows that Mister Compress has a soft spot for baby animals and even had a pet rabbit back in the day- she isn't quite sure if it's because of his previous career or simply because he enjoys keeping just as a pet. Rei has seen how patient everyone is with Twice and how one of his favorite hobbies is drawing, she even had the privilege to see some of his drawings and had he not gone down the path of villainy- he could have been an artist. She knows just how much Toga loves any and everything that's cute and even volunteered herself for Toga to do a makeover on.

Even though Dabi has disappeared since the day that she was grandfather claused into the League of Villains, they've always expressed concern over him. Rei had a feeling if they didn't care, they wouldn't have even planned out a means to liberate him from the hospital to begin with. They had been kind enough to even tell her some stories about Dabi. Rei had been incredibly relieved learning that even though her eldest is a villain, Touya is still present and to those closest to him- he holds them near and dear to himself.

What really surprises Rei is the relationship that her son, Natsuo, and Shigaraki share. She's seen the soft looks shared between the two and in a strange sense, it fills her with pride. Natsuo had grown up in an environment where many would swear off any sort of relationships, so, to see him with Shigaraki is enough to make Rei happy. Though, the idea of one of her children being with the kingpin of the League of Villains who's also the most wanted person in all of Japan and Eastern Asia, is one that makes her feel worried. Neither her nor Natsuo had taken the time to talk about the evolution of his relationship and Rei isn't sure how to even approach that sort of conversation. So, for now, she will stay silent and stay at the side to watch the continuing blossoming of their relationship.

"Missus Todoroki?" Spinner asks from next to her. Rei shakes herself out her reverie and smiles gently over to the young man.

"Please, just call me Rei." She can almost spy a soft blush that settles across Spinner's scales as he looks away. Her smile just grows more gentle as she patiently waits for him to find the words that he's apparently searching for. He lets out a huff and racks a hand through his dusty pink hair.

"Uh, right. Well, I guess it's only fair that you call me Shuichi then." Rei nods. She opens her mouth to say something when a loud voice cuts through the room.

"Hey! Stop hitting on my mom!" Natsuo is standing in the doorway, his arms are crossed but he wears an easy grin. If Shuichi had a light pink blush against his scales, he's a bright scarlet now.

"I am not hitting on your mom!" Shuichi's tone hitches up and his voice cracks. Rei watches in amusement as Shuichi sends a glare to Natsuo. "I would never hit on your mom! Ew!"

Natsuo's chest puffs up indignantly and he matches Shuichi's glare with one of his own.

"What do you mean 'ew'?" Her son asks. Rei simply stays silent, she cannot deny that she's curious how exactly everything will pan out. "Do you even know what you're talking about?! She was her hometown's greatest beauty and had won countless pageants before she moved down here. Maybe you just can't see right because she's not in the right light." Natsuo motions over to the window, where sunlight dances through half broken blinds.

"Maybe we should move over there! Then you can see her true beauty!" Natsuo exclaims. Next to Rei, Shuichi splutters and throws his hands up into the air.

"So do you want me to hit on your mother then?!" Natsuo fervently shakes his head and is about to reply when Mister Compress strolls through the room. He stops and looks from Shuichi to Natsuo and then to Rei. It's impossible to figure out what Mister Compress is thinking due to the white mask with looping black swirls. Both Rei's son and Shuichi stop arguing to stare back at Mister Compress before the masked villain lets out a cheerful laugh.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen. That's no way to behave in front of a lady." Neither of them seem to know what to say and Mister Compress lets out another laugh, shaking his head as if he had just read something amusing from the Sunday funnies.

Just seconds after Mister Compress's entrance, Twice and Toga follow as they're in their own loud bickering. Out of the corner of her eyes, Rei sees Shigaraki slink out from the other door and stands at Natsuo's side.

"All of you need to learn when to shut the fuck up." Shigaraki grumbles. Twice and Toga instantly band together and start to bicker with him instead. Rei hides a smile, from the wild mess of his hair she can only guess that everyone just woke him up from a nap. Shigaraki's crimson eyes flicker from everyone and goes to the television.

"Really? Out of all the games that you can show her, you choose Death Road to Canada? Lame." Shigaraki asks, his thin lips lifting into a crooked smirk.

"Oh and what? You wanted her to play your shitty Dark Souls? Please, she's a total rookie to gaming. She needs something that's easy." Shuichi pauses and glances over to her. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken." She's far too amused to even take offense to any of the chaos that's going on all around her. Shigaraki simply huffs and rolls his eyes.

"Well, then. Maybe it's time to see how well you taught her." He quietly announces. Before Rei even has the chance to tell him that she hasn't even played yet, everyone crowds around the sofa and she's left wedged between Shuichi and Natsuo. Shigaraki, of course, takes his spot next to Natsuo. Twice is sprawled out at everyone's feet and Toga is perched on one of the arms of the sofa. Mister Compress simply leans against the back, feigning disinterest.

Shuichi and Shigaraki are still going back and forth about what's even the best strategy to win the game when Rei presses start. That sends the two young men into a scramble to pick up their own controllers.

For the first time in a very long time, Rei feels actually happy. Even if her life is currently shrouded in a veil of chaos, she's happy and feels whole.