https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818468/chapters/66040222
The two of us sat in silence for a bit, drinking in the sounds of nature. Me more so than Shoto, who was undoubtedly enjoying the sensation of my fingers running through his hair. To this day my mind could not understand why he dyed it but nonetheless went with it. To be honest it looked good on him. Him and his two-colored eyes. We sat on Yua’s porch watching our group of friends and family play, get dirty, and wrestle through the dirt. I loved each and every one of them in their own way. That included the older people in our ‘family’. Thinking about this family brought my mind to the many unanswered questions I still had.
Why is everything a secret?
What is it that lingers around and tugs at me?
Living in Washington, let alone a town so close to the border of Canada it was 50 percent forest and more beyond the United States border and mostly protected by laws – laws that forbade many from trespassing on certain lands or deforesting. I never understood the importance of that until recently, the forests were our home. We were woodland people if anyone had to label us. I never understood why part of that many questions deal. We stayed away from the towns and people mostly. We’ve lived here in Spokane since we came to America.
In my time here I did notice many things, people steered clear of us. The other kids rarely spoke to us. We were labeled weird and barbaric for living in the woods and surviving the way we do. I’d like to think we were normal….mostly. We lived like anyone else, shopped for food, hunted for the winter, used furs to help warm us along with some luxuries. We just kept to ourselves. Like a tribe. Or a pack.
My mind raced, dark green bunnies zipping about on my life and questions that I barely heard the words that came from my best friend.
I took a breath and pulled my hand from his hair and looked down at him. “Sorry, mind bunnies.”
“I see that. What is going on in that head of yours?” He said as he turned slightly toward me.
“Would you believe me if I said absolutely nothing?”
Sighing I tugged the blanket around myself and up to my chin. “You know, we’ve been here for a long time.”
“I’m just saying. Anyway, it’s been what eleven years.” I said softly through the fabric while looking out at the slowly dimming light. Aizawa would most likely want me safely inside the house, and he would probably call Yua just for kicks to make sure I was home. “No one has changed.”
Shoto paused in his motion of attempting to get up and let his eyes shift toward me.
There was a long pause that made something in my head sound an alarm.
“Change?” he asked. “Change as in personality-wise or what? We don’t need to change who we are or what we do because here we are a family. We look after one another. Why change?”
Smooth Shoto Todoroki, real smooth.
“Yeah…” I agreed knowing full well he detoured the true meaning behind my statement earlier.
“Come on, worrywart. Let’s get you inside.” Shoto stated as he turned and lifted himself to his feet. He offered a hand to help me from my comfortable spot and sadly I took it mourning the warmth and comfort that I had at that very moment. Letting the blanket slip from around me ungracefully, I shoved it back into the chair and allowed Shoto to pull me towards him and ultimately toward the door.
“Aww look at you being a good babysitter. You brought me back home right at curfew.” I taunted. “I’m sure if you sit and give paw, you’ll get treats.”
Shoto just stared at me while I had gotten my keys out and had them in the door ready to open it. “Forget Aizawa and his issues,” Shoto said as he moved away from me with a small smirk on his lips. “You’re lucky I let you live past childhood.”
A snort gracefully slipped out of me, or as gracefully as a snort could. Before I could say anything Shoto swatted my backside and took off, off the porch, and along the path toward his family’s house. His agility to this day confuses me and makes me a little uneasy. Shaking my head I opened the door and walked in, toeing my shoes off at the front. The house Yua and I lived in was designed similar to a traditional Japanese house. Well at least on the inside. Shoes off at the genkan.
“Hang your jacket up!” Yua’s voice floated through the house from the kitchen. Her senses always amazed me, her knack for knowing who was in the house or what was going on was unreal, but hey I guess that is a mom thing. What’s funny is that I had been seconds away from just tossing my jacket either on the floor or on a chair.
Making my way to the kitchen I spotted the mother-to-be, or already mother… I don’t even know anymore. She was creating a concoction of things. Taking a sniff, I could smell a weird mix. “Onions, peaches, chocolate, noodles…” I paused watched her add pickle juice while she had a cookie shoved in her mouth. “I’m ordering take out.”
“Awww Izu, you don’t want some?”
I looked on in horror, surveying the dishes and chopped vegetables on the counter and the other empty containers. “Nope.” I declared. “You and your craving have just created a monster sickness in my stomach.”
Yua giggled and shrugged while she attended her…whatever it was.
With all the weird craving this woman had, there was always meat involved. Beef usually, ground and made into the perfect meatballs, or shredded and sprinkled over something. I swear the baby was a carnivorous beast and it made its mother eat weird nasty meat concoctions. Ah, the price of motherhood. Those dark, fuzzy, hopping creatures were back in my brain. Lately, weird things had been happening when it came to Yua, her abdomen would swelling and something it looked like the baby was having a party in there, other times her abdomen would be a normal size for someone who was as pregnant as she was. I had thought to ask but assumed it would go into the pile of unanswered questions.
“Hey.” Yua touched my chin. “I’m going to be okay.” I wondered briefly when I had zoned out long enough for her to waddle herself toward me.
“Mind reader.” It was like this woman knew me so well that my thought never escaped her.
Yua just smiled and pulled away from me with her hand pulled up into fists, like she was ready to throw a punch. “I’m a fighter, besides I’m just pregnant not…”
I didn’t want to think of anything happening to the one person aside from Aizawa that helped nurture me and raise me. For an orphaned child she has never met, Yua had given up being anything normal and risen to the plate of motherhood. She gave me a home and made sure of our places in this family. She stood up to many people when it came to me and my mischief, Aizawa included. You know I think that was why we were together like this because Aizawa saw her love and care and willingness to fight for someone she knew nothing about.
“You’re gonna be okay.” I whispered to myself, hoping that if repeated enough I would believe it. That if said enough like prayer, it would be true. Pregnancies are difficult, sometimes women die in childbirth. Especially if the family was insistent on home birth, those were difficult if there were complications.
“Alistair?” Changing the subject was the best considering where my brain decided to go. Stupid bunnies making my train of thought run wild. Yua’s husband, the man she left Japan for. He usually was glued to her side, never one to leave for fear of something happening. Hence the fear instilled into me. Besides, Yua could cook and he never missed her meals. Even if I was not fond of the man, he just gave me weird vibes, his absence was a bit strange to me.
“He won’t be home tonight.” She said as she waddled back and forth in the kitchen, messing with her mixture of food. “Try this.”
Having let the mind bunnies free to dash and hop I realized too late that I took the bite offer. I had regrets, major regrets. Never again was I allowing this woman to feed me. Her food, I wanted no part of any longer. “Disgusting!” I had spit it out in the trash and proceeded to drown my mouth with anything sugary to get the taste out of my mouth.
“Hmmm…” she said and spooned a portion into her mouth. “Your loss, I guess.”
I gagged and proceeded to take large gulps of the soda I had opened. “I’m gonna throw up.”
Yua shrugged and proceeded with her project. At this point there was no other word for it, the food was a project made for the science fair. It was a concoction made of pure pregnant evil.
“I swear, if I didn’t know you, I’d say you were evil.”
“Then you don’t know me very well.” She said as she took another spoonful.
“Yeah, on that note.” I left the kitchen in search of the takeout menus we had stashed somewhere for when Shoto and I had those boring nights of video games and crap talk. “Alistair isn’t home, even though he’s like your guard dog. Aizawa has given me a curfew and gave me babysitters. You’re messing around with me in hopes of distracting me from asking questions.” I yelled as I dug through the side table drawer in the living room. “What’s going on?”
Yua’s form appeared in the entryway of the kitchen leading toward the dining and living area. “Izuku, do me a favor. Stay out of it.” Her expression was one of pleading and I turned away from her face to look at the now found menus.
There was silence on my end. I couldn’t stay out of this, it involved me. I’m part of this family. I deserve to know.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would.” She sighed. “I’m stressed, Izu, I don’t think this is good for me so please.”
My eyes widened and I looked at her then. She struck where it hurt, my care, and worry for her. “You’re gonna be fine.” I repeated my statement from earlier. “Besides telling me to stay out of it, makes me want to know even more. It obviously must be big, and it involves this family. I am part of this family.”
Yua didn’t respond. Not a word. I couldn’t read her expression and at that moment, deep down I knew this was far bigger than I expected.
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