Rei-Demption: A problem and my solution (ft. Rei's trauma and Hori's bullshit)
Might as well give my shot at it.
My take on Rei's personality has always been based in suppression.
Rei's whole life has been a balancing act of doing enough to protect her family, while still staying within the lines to not get disposed of.
She's everything Enji isn't. An iron will, a golden heart and a strong sense of empathy.
So with that in mind, hopefully it she'd light on it thought process with this post
A theory I have is that Rei was aware of the hospital's corruption
These panels always felt off too me, it always made me wonder: "does she know?"
The wording is very specific.
"I told him I liked it, around the first time we met. But only once"
It always struck me as odd, We're talking about the man who looked at his eldest death and kept going, man who destroyed multiple lives for a redundant pipedream.
It's not even why would he remember such a small detail, but rather how?
Unless... the doctors are feeding him information.
Think about it, who pays for all this. Surely it's not Fuyumi, on account of this being a massive money sink.
You really expect her to pay for all that on a teachers salary?
It can't be Natsuo because Enji has likely cut him off from everything to his name.
And that's assuming Enji even bothered to save up a college fund for any of them. Plus Natsuo is a full time student of medicine.
If the doctors are watching her every move, looking for any sign of deviation from the narrative then it makes sense for her to disguise her words.
Of course there's still more
Having PTSD isn't something you can keep someone institutionalized for. Especially when Rei's is very proportionate, given what she's gone through. (No, Japan's stigma of mental health wouldn't justify this)
I mean what are Rei's triggers?: Enji and that's about it.
"But we still... haven't met face to face, I'm still too afraid"
That's a standard reaction to have to your abuser (especially when he raped you multiple times)
('Just stop' gets a whole lot darker when you consider it's context)
Not to mention she's no longer fearful of anything resembling Enji, just Enji himself. So there is no real reason to keep her there unless they are afraid she might speak out.
This whole thing makes me think she's trying to tell Natsuo and Fuyumi what's really going on, in a way.
Subtly and under the calm, complacent mask she's expected to wear, in case anyone else is listening. Anyone who could report back to him.
It might also be she doesn't trust them. Fuyumi or Natsuo could blab or say something within earshot that could set Rei back months.
And she can't have that, not with how close she is to finally breaking free. She loves her children, all of them but the trust just isn't there, how can it be when when they don't have all the pieces.
So here's my theory: The hospital staff are in Enji's pockets. Either taking bribes (as recent as Dabi's Dance) or they were given a large sum of hush money when Rei was first hospitalized, with the goal of keeping her there as long as possible and possibly molding her to either keep her mouth shut or (sickeningly) gaslight her into returning to Enji.
(Note how she was only released when they could no longer keep a lid on things, the moment Dabi frops the bomb. She's out, no struggle)
This paints a picture of grotesque corruption, sloth and apathy (the very same cocktail that created Shigaraki) even by Hori's narrative standards. Shedding light on just how deep MHA's despotic nature goes.
The anime makes this even more apparent. Rei's fake smiles make the whole thing that much more viable. She seems so dead, it's like she smothered her soul or something.
I've seen both the sub and dub of this scene. The sub is the correct translation, the same as the Manga panel above.
The Dub however, while severly off mark, adds it's own flavour of dread. Rei sound so hollow, it was jarring the first time I heard it.
It sounded like she was reading a script (in-universe). Like she'd rehearsed this in her mind a million times, staring at the same 3 white walls + the window and waiting for an opening to finally speak.
That was supposed to be Shoto, until the dorms ruined that. Suddenly Rei's lifeline is gone, reduced to letters that don't even tell half the story.
10 years, 10 fucking years reduced to lines on a page.
Can you imagine the despair, dear reader?
The frustration. The sheer vitriol coursing thorough her veins, far hotter than Touya could ever manage.
Having to do the same thing she's been doing even before she was locked away. As the the skeleton in the closet of a criminal with a license.
Wearing masks for so long you can hardly breath and in the brief moments you can take them off. You can hardly recognize yourself, how you once were.
It must be the truest form of hell.
The Rei-demption Arc
Rei's redemption arc takes the attention of our theoretical arc without overtaking it.
The arc would mostly focus on the more domestic aspects of our trio being: Midoriya, Shoto and Uraraka.
A few minor changes would occur. The dorms never happen, allowing the characters to exist outside of UA.
There is solid confirmation that Fujiya is corrupt and is keeping Rei institutionalized on illegal grounds (ie: not meeting the criteria set up to ensure her silence)
The dinner scene would still happen only it would bd framed for what it really was. A pathetic attempt at creating a moment that never existed.
There's no family with Enji.
Just a family held hostage and a tyrant. I have my own grievances with Fuyumi, but I'll leave that for the future.
The only difference besides Natsuo being properly portrayed as a victim acting well within his right, the reasons for our trio going would be for Shoto's emotional wellbeing, because he asked them to.
Uraraka could have a moment where she realizes that money is as much as good as it is bad. An actually decent shift into her change of goals.
Here Enji motivates her to "watch the watchmen". Her need for money is still a crucial part of her reasons for becoming a hero, but she also has a more front and center goal.
I'd imagine she has a moment parallel to Midoriya's during the Sports Festival.
Where (alone in front of the Dojo after the failed dinner) she rightfully calls out Enji for being a self pitying piece of shit and that "sorry" doesn't cut it.
"You've hurt them in ways you can't imagine." Would probably be the last thing she says before walking away.
She may not know the whole story but she knows it hurt them and that's enough.
Rei's ascent
Rei's biggest hurdle is accepting that she was also an abuse victim. She's furious but she's only furious on her children's behalf and what they lost.
Her unintentionally harmful actions weigh on her, be it her neglect or the night she scalded Shoto, these events have impacted her deeply.
She learns to reconcile with her past, improve her relationship with Shoto and even meets Shoto's friends at one point.
Eventually she finds closure but that's later on.
She also acts as an advisor at times, having given Shoto the idea of using Ice projectiles (as seen in the Licensing Exam)
The second half comes from the Hospitals corruption, as Rei learns that she is long overdue for release (by about 8 years) among other horrific practices. This would play out as the arc's B plot, building up to what I call "The Summit"
The Summit
Eventually Rei fights Hood.
After gathering the evidence, she escapes the hospital. Planning to go to Natsuo for protection. As she's walking across a crosswalk however, she hears what sounds like an explosion.
Eventually she hears screaming and is forced to use her quirk as a bus is suddenly sent hurdling in her general direction.
As of her body moved on its own, she envelops it in her ice. Stopping the bus and saving those behind her in the process.
Only to see Hood land on top. They lock eyes and Rei can't help but see Touya in Hoods ambition.
In response to Rei holding her ground, Hood dashes. Rei counters this by manipulating her ice to send him crashing into an empty building, impaling him on the glaciers end.
Hood is impressed by Rei's proficiency and chooses to fight her.
Rei having no experience, fights for her life. Where as Rei avoids Civilians, Hood has no care for them which forces Rei to play the role of hero.
Rei uses every weapon in her arsenal in order to stave off Hood, who only gets more relentless as the battle stretches on. The upside is Hood's regeneration struggles in the cold, which Rei is constantly producing.
Each side gets blows in, with Rei taking them surprisingly well but still being worse for wear. Hood notes this saying "as if y-you've done t-t-this before" (close, Hood very close)
Eventually Hood gets the upper hand, towering over Rei in a manner that triggers her PTSD and leaves her stunned.
One of the civilians (Horoshi Tameda) emboldened by Rei's efforts, picks up a loose chunk of pavement and chucks it at Hood's back. It hits, causing Hood to look back.
Civilians begin making loud noise, others begin picking up anything they can find and throw it at Hood. Further catching him off guard long enough for Rei to snap out of her episode and strike back.
From here the fight kicks into high gear, with Rescue heroes & paramedics arriving on the scene and a camera crew recording the fight from above. Overall I imagine the scene to be very uplifting, with the Orchestra swelling as Rei prepares a final attack.
The move rivals that of Shoto's, arguably even surpassing it. Hoof is incased in a prison of Ice, covering an entire city block worth of destroyed buildings. And the fight finishes with Rei collapsing to her knees.
From here on out things change. Rei's newfound fame leads to the hospital being forced to do their job. Because of this Rei gets out early (around the time the Internship arc would started had I not scrapped it)
As for what this could lead to I'll let you decide. I'd love to read some suggestions.
Bonuses:
Theories:
The reason they kicked Fuyumi from her job is because she covered an abuser's ass for years. While Fuyumi is a victim, it doesn't excuse her complacency in regards to Enji's treatment of Shoto before and after his "self pity" arc.
Natsuo didnt go to someone because he wouldn't likely be believed, being seen as bitter and untrustworthy (his time away from home wouldn't help with pinning evidence).
Extra:
Hood survived the fight, Rei opted to capture him as opposed to kill him. That doesn't mean he didn't get frost bite. Police found out it is very difficult to question a Nomu.
Out of all her trauma. Rei accepting she was never given a choice will be the hardest to accept.
Rei's family is not inbred, rather her parents ran away so her father wouldn't be forced into a marriage with his cousin. Only to ironically do the very same to their daughter.
Hiroshi still becomes a meme, his 'Can't you see speech' leads to him becoming a motivational speaker.
The reason Hood appeared is because Dabi lost track of him. He nearly had a heart attack when he discovered his mom was holding the Nomu off.
