A Todoroki's Tale: Expecting a Hero

Chapter 12: Devastation

I woke up a leaf fell onto my face.

Then I remembered.

I sat up abruptly and looked at my abdomen.

Not even a scratch.

"Oh sweetheart." I sighed a breath of relief as I stood and realized I only had a few gashes on my arms and legs but nothing was broken. "You're all right." I reassured both myself and the baby as I rubbed my stomach and she kicked again, the slight movement reassuring me like nothing else.

"Can't you be nice to Mommy? Give me a few more minutes?" I laughed quietly as I looked around. Then I saw my phone on the ground. As I knelt down to retrieve it, I took a sharp intake of breath when a sudden contraction hit me like a freight train.

"Why now?" I muttered as I used the tree to balance and get back to my feet, just to be met with another contraction. "Can't you wait?" I muttered as I bit my lip.

With that, I felt a pop and a gush of liquid flush down my legs, soaking my torn-up and dirty dress.

"I'll—I'll take that as a no." I whispered in shock as I realized my water had broken in the stress. I reached for my phone to be met with disappointment and worry as I saw its broken screen and it refused to open.

"How am I going to find your daddy, firecracker?" I whispered as another contraction made it impossible to speak.

"HOOOTARUUUU!" I jumped at the sound of a familiar roar, accompanied by an explosion.

"Baby?" I quickly made my way to the road, carefully stepping over all of the upturned concrete and broken glass as I followed his voice.

"I swear, the law will be considered mercy to what I'm going to do to you!" I heard him snarl. "I swear, you so much as hurt a hair on her head, I'm going to tear you apart from limb to limb, rearrange your face so no one will ever recognize you ever again!"

"SWEETHEART!" I cried out as loudly as I could as I made my way down the destroyed sidewalk, carefully taking each step with the thought of a contraction happening at any moment.

Just then, the wind blew in my face as I saw Katsuki forcibly pulled off of one of the villains by Kirishima.

"I SWEAR, I'LL AVENGE HER!" He screamed as tears ran down his face and he fought Kirishima to try and get loose. "VILLAIN! YOU'LL REGRET THE DAY YOU SAW ME! I swear, I'll—I'll—"

My heart broke as I cried out again, reaching out to the dark figure in the distance.

"KATSUKI!" I screamed as loudly as I could from down the street, where I had reached a point it was so precarious I couldn't take another step forward. "Baby!" I choked as his own forlorn, broken tears rolled down his face, and the thought of how I would do anything to stop those tears from falling made my own eyes water up.

He looked up and around furiously until he set his eyes on me, his tears leaving tracks in the soot all over his face.

"HOTARU!" He cried as he exploded his way over to me. He grabbed me so closely all I could see and smell was black and burned caramel as I wrapped my arms around him and ran my fingers through his hair as he put his head on my shoulder.

"Shhhh." I reassured him as I felt tears drip onto my shoulder. "Shhh, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm safe. Just a few cuts, Katsuki-kun."

"I thought you were dead!" He snapped through his tears as he pulled me back slightly so he could see my face and my tears. "When the phone—"

"When I was running, I broke the phone. I'm so sorry, baby."

Katsuki sniffed and smiled as he touched my cheek and my belly.

"I was afraid I lost you two."

"You'd have to try harder to lose us." I laughed for only a second before another contraction hit me so hard I couldn't speak.

"Hotaru? Hotaru, what's going on?" He asked in horror and the contraction stopped long enough for me to try and explain.

"Katsuki honey, I'm in labor. My water broke and I need to go to the hospital right now unless we want our baby girl to be born in this mess." I gasped with a weak laugh as sweat began to pour down the side of my face and I smiled at him. "Your daughter has decided to show up early in all of this stress. Should have know only your child would cause this much trouble." I joked as I held onto him, grimacing as I felt another contraction come on.

His smiling face was replaced by one of worry as he picked me up and turned to Kirishima.

"Red, where's the nearest hospital?"

"Not too far, but the roads are pretty messed up and it'll take a bit of time to get there." He added with a look of sympathy as I winced again and held onto Katsuki during another wave of pain. "Which looks like you don't have a lot of."

"Whatever, we just need to go." Katsuki said in worry as I looked up and him and let his suit go.

"Sweetheart, I might have an idea." I whispered.

"What's your idea?"

"You're not going to like it."

"For crap's sake, Hotaru, you're in active labor, any idea is welcome right now. Spit it out, before the baby decides to come out!"

"You remember my ice castle and the chandelier?"

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Katsuki said in worry and frustration as he finished attaching the ice skates on the bottom of the boots I had modified for him a year earlier when we fought together.

"Just shut up." I panted. "We have to go before another contraction. I don't know if I'd be able to focus to keep the slide going, which is where your quirk comes in. Say your prayers, Katsuki!" I yelled as the white flames raced ahead of us.

Thankfully my persistent bugging him to learn how to skate came in handy as I formed tracks over the destroyed sidewalk, and he would emit explosions to keep us going whenever I'd have a contraction.

"Hey Bakubro!" Katsuki slid to a stop as Kaminari and Sero came running over.

"We got your distress signal, what's going on?" Sero asked.

"Kat—" I froze again as the pain started again, and I clutched Katsuki's arm as it washed over me.

"Is Hotaru all right?" Kaminari asked as I hissed.

"Not idiot, that's the reason for the distress signal! She's in labor because of the stress of a villain attack!"

"Hon—honey. Calm—calm down." I said as the contraction ended and I put my hand on his cheek. "Be nice."

"Calm down? Sweetheart, I don't think you fully realize you're about to push a full-term baby out of your body at any moment." Katsuki snarled.

"Let me take her, it'll be safer if I use my tape. We're only a few blocks away!" Sero said as Katsuki put me into his arms and Sero began to tape me to his chest. "You follow behind, Blasty, or better yet, go ahead and warn the hospital." Sero added as I let out an involuntary cry at the following contraction.

"And I'll get your stuff from your house! My car is near the office." Kaminari said, leading Katsuki to toss him his keys as he touched my cheek.

"I'll be fine." I promised him as he blasted ahead.

"We made it!" Sero said as we landed and he took off to the doors, where we were met by Katsuki and a nurse, who pulled up a wheelchair.

"Don't worry Mr. Bakugo, we'll check her over. Until then, ask the front desk to let you use their shower." The nurse reassured him as the nurse wheeled me to the elevator.

Katsuki hesitated as he continued to hold my hand.

"Go." I whispered as I kissed his hand. "Hurry up...my hero."

With a nod, he let me go, and ran down the hallway.