A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Twenty-One

It's late at night and Rei can't sleep. Though she's given a freedom that she hadn't tasted in years, she still can't keep the worry and anxiety from eating at her heart. It feels like she takes one step forward but is pushed two steps back. She's finally out of the hospital and has support and is reunited with Natsuo but on the other hand, she can't contact her other three children and she's a wanted person for assisting the League of Villains in breaking Dabi out and then destroying the hospital. Her desperation to protect her son had led to innocent blood staining her hands. Rei can't deny that she had a play in those deaths but on the other hand- Enji was the one that caused the explosion so in her eyes, he's just as much of a murderer as she is.

Perhaps even worse because of his status as a hero.

Regardless, she can't find the motivation to sleep. In fact, she's been having troubles sleeping much too frequently for her to be comfortable with. As of late, she stays up in the main room of the hideout and reads various books that are left around. It's strange. Each time she's done with one, it disappears and a new one appears. Almost as if some of the members know that she's homebound and they don't want her to be totally bored out of her mind. She appreciates the gesture and shows her thanks by mending threadbare clothes and taking the time to actually cook meals.

By the end of the first week of being with the League of Villains, she had gotten sick off of the cheap and most likely stolen packs of instant ramen, greasy snacks and overy processed sweets. Even the occasional and often stale convenience store sushi had left her with an upset stomach. Well balanced meals quickly replaced all of the junk food. Since then, top quality and fresh organic ingredients have found their way into the kitchen. Rei has the itching suspicion that Sako has something to do with that. He had been the only other one to complain about the rest of the League's terrible eating habits. He had told her once over a cup of wine that back in the day when Kurogiri wasn't in Tartarus, they would always eat healthy but after his arrest- Shigaraki wasn't bothered by the idea of eating junk food everyday and the others readily agreed with him. Apparently, Sako had broken out from all of the junk food. He had bashfully admitted that at his age, getting acne is beyond embarrassing. Rei understood with sympathy, she, herself had started to break out too.

Tonight is just like all of the prior nights. Rei is curled up against the sofa with a soft blanket draped over her lap as she gets lost in the most recent book she had found next to her spot. 'The Golden Compass', it's a very old book back from the time before quirks even came to be. Admittedly, it's a book that she most likely would have not picked out upon first glance but Rei is glad to whoever gotten it for her. She finds it interesting and captivating. As she gets further into the book, the more Rei wonders what her and her family's dæmons might have taken the form of.

Had she read the book years before all of this, Rei would have said that hers probably would have been a meek little mouse. Now, after everything, Rei would now say that hers is a lion. It had taken her years but she had finally managed to regain the confidence she once had and to take pride with how far she's come.

Rei had been so immersed in her book that she didn't even hear the front door of the base open. All she sees is a stretching shadow from the alley's light and she glances up to see a very tall and gangly man staring at her from the door's threshold. Before Rei can even make a sound, to her horror, the man's skin starts to slough off into viscous grey goop that puddles around the man's feet. In a blink of an eye, what greets her isn't some sort of monstrosity out of a classic horror trope but rather a beaming Toga. A beaming and naked Toga.

Wordlessly, Rei quickly gets up to wrap the blanket around Toga. The teenager blinks up at her with wide ochre eyes and her smile never leaves her lips. Rei had heard about the questionable side effects of Toga's quirk but had never seen Toga use her quirk until now. Now that she has, though, Rei is overwhelmed with a motherly concern. A young woman, a teenager should not be running around like this without some sort of clothing specifically tailored to adapt with her quirk. Has no one in this organization ever even given it any thought? Not even her two sons?