Afterwards

I blasted out of the room, the extra weight added by the three people I was carrying being negligible to me due to my strength.

I knew where the heat was coming from - my mother. Her Quirk tended to act up when her emotions got out of control and I could only imagine the anguish she was currently feeling and how it would affect her Quirk.

Hearing a shouting voice and more heat, along with a pleading voice and a chilling wind, I knew Enji and Rei were working their best to suppress her. It was then that I realized I'd left Shoto there but he was close to his mother so I didn't give it any more mind.

'His mother would protect him, so let's focus on what I've got to deal with know...' I looked down at Ayako who had tears pouring from her eyes. She'd seen what I had - our father dying in All Might's arms - and I could only imagine how it affected her.

I'm a reincarnator, I've experienced the death of people before in my past life and yet, this still hurt me to my very core, let alone a 6-year-old who'd never experienced the death of a loved one before.

I came to a stop a bit down the corridor and I placed the three kids down. Fuyumi and Natsuo looked at me with surprised looks which quickly turned to thankful but guilty ones. It was probably because they had to rely on a child who'd just lost his father.

Ayako instantly latched back onto me, digging his head into my chest. I felt the tears build up in my eyes, what just happened finally catching up to me as the adrenaline from the earlier escape started to fade.

I put my arms around her and squeezed her further into me. Both for her sake and for mine. Ayako didn't reject it and I could feel the faint sobbing coming from her. The sobbing intensified before she was crying her eyes out, screaming her pain.

Usually, I'd try to stop her because her quirk was activating, making her soundwaves act like miniature blades which cut into me. But I didn't, I just stood there, activated my Quirk and absorbed all the damage she could dish out.

Luckily, my body muffled and absorbed most of the sound, so I didn't have to worry about Fuyumi and Natsuo getting hurt.

I felt my sister's pain, I felt my own pain, but I didn't throw it away. No, I wouldn't allow it to traumatize me. I'd use this as a reminder and I'd hold it in my hold, so tight that it burns, and I thought to myself, 'No one else will ever have to feel this pain...! Never again! Not on my watch...!' despite my strong exterior I broke down crying with my sister but I resolved myself.

I resolved myself to be a hero for two objectives. To stop this hollow feeling from spreading to any other people...and my second objective is to destroy every AFO has built.

My fists clenched until they couldn't clench any further, my nails digging into my skin. My sister had slowly stopped screaming and simply hugged me, knowing I was also in the pain she was in, 'She really has always been a clever kid...' I felt the tears coming from my eyes and I suddenly heard a voice behind me.

"Tatsuya, you'll be living with us for a while..." I turned to see my Uncle and Aunt with my passed out mother in my uncle's arms. Enji looked regretful about something as he looked at me.

Rei on the other hand quickly rushed toward me and Ayako before enveloping us in a hug, along with Shoto who was in her arms. 'I'm glad I at least have a semi-competent uncle and a loving Aunt..' I let myself be pulled into the hug, mainly for Ayako's benefit if anything.

And just like that, the day my father died was burned into my memory.

. . .

Opening my eyes I slapped my hand down on the alarm next to me.

'Haah~ I feel like shit...' letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, I dragged myself up into a sitting position. Feeling some extra weight on me, I looked down and saw Ayako latched onto me, her little face paler than usual.

From the look of her puffy eyes and the dried tears on her face, she'd had another nightmare and instead of troubling our aunt, she'd snuck into bed with me.

Not that I minded, however. Any help I could give her was worth it.

Sadly I couldn't stay here with her and I deftly moved away from her and left her on my bed. Thinking for a moment, I picked up a notepad and wrote out a message for her to read when she woke up. I didn't want her recurring fear of me disappearing like our mother and father to affect her this early in the morning. Or in fact, at all.

It'd been a year since my father had died...no, since my father had been killed by All For One. My mother, broken by the loss of her husband, had been admitted to a mental institute for those with dangerous quirks they can't control due to a deteriorating mental state.

Take what happened after my father's death - her nearly burning the house down with us in it - for why that was a necessary precaution.

The state, and her brother, or my Uncle Enji Todoroki, decided that she was fully unfit to look after Ayako and me, so he took custody away from her.

It was weird, because that was, up till that point, the only time I've seen my Uncle cry - when he had to break the news to his sister that she'd not only lost her husband but also her children.

Something seemed to have changed after my father died and my mother broke. My uncle didn't get too angry anymore, instead, he just seemed wracked with...guilt. Guilt at not being able to protect his brother-in-law. Guilt at not being able to protect his sister.

And finally, guilt at not being able to protect both mine and Ayako's innocence.

He was still stoic and a bit of a dick (understatement of the year) but he was definitely softer than he was in the anime. But that was only to other people. When it came to himself, he pushed himself further. Even further than he did when he tried to surpass my father and All Might.

I remember a few months ago when I woke up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. The contents don't matter so I won't explain them, but it was definite to say that I was spooked by the nightmare. So, I walked downstairs to go and get a drink only to walk past my uncle's training room and see him keeled over, throwing up from exertion.

It may have been because of the gagging, or it might have been sweat, but I'm pretty sure I saw tears of sadness and regret in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks.

As soon as I saw that, I knew he saw me from the corner of his eyes as he quickly stood up before turning to me and doing what he must have thought was an approachable face - a face without a scowl on it.

Neither of us asked why the other was up because we knew why: We were both struggling with loss.

It was from that day forth that I trained with my Uncle every morning in his gym. Nothing too heavy but I still pushed myself, knowing my advanced body could withstand the pressure.

Which is why I'm up so early right now.

Walking from my room, I walked to the bathroom, still feeling that the walls around me were incredibly unfamiliar despite having visited this house countless times and having lived in it for a whole year.

I didn't take too long getting to the bathroom and I only had a quick shower before brushing my teeth and getting changed into some fresh clothes; a pair of black shorts and a red tank top. A quick once over in the mirror and I was on my way to the kitchen where I knew my uncle would be waiting for me.

It was a Saturday so I knew no one else would be there, so I didn't need to go through the trouble of trying to smile. It wasn't that I couldn't smile, it was more like I could hardly find a reason to smile anymore.

Only times when I woke up to Ayako cutely trying to wake me up or when Aunt Rei and Shoto were being especially nice to me, did I crack a smile. Well, a genuine one at least.

Anyway, I was soon in the kitchen. On the table in front of me was a few plates of food, packed full of nutrition, but sadly not taste.

Sitting down I quickly started devouring the food in front of me. It was made by my uncle. How did I know this? Well, for one, he always made my breakfast on the mornings - something about me and Shoto needing as much nutrition as possible to surpass All Might - and also because like I said before, the food had no taste.

It was hard to explain. But it was food cooked objectively with nutrients in mind rather than for a nice taste.

Formal is how I'd describe it.

Finishing the mountain of food in front of me, I heard heavy footsteps behind me before a gruff voice spoke out, "Are you ready for the training, Tatsuya?"

"Mhm," with a curt nod, I stood up and turned to my uncle who was wearing similar clothes to me; black shorts and a red tank top.

But he surprised me when he placed a hand on my head and ruffled my hair about. When I looked up to see his face, it was already too late as he'd turned away and was walking to his training room. Sensing I hadn't moved, he stopped before looking over his shoulder at me, "Come, Tatsuya," though he spoke roughly and it sounded more like a demand, below his rough look, I could feel the care.

'He's definitely changing into a more sociable person, huh?' laughing to myself, I hurried after my uncle and went on to train with him.

It was around 6:10 in the morning and I had further training around 7:30 with Master and Aizawa. But for now, I just let myself get lost in the exertion of pushing weights.

I had Chiyo-neechan check me every few weeks to make sure the weight lifting wasn't deforming my body and it seemed the general consensus was that my body wouldn't be suppressed by just this. Either that or my body had adapted to it and continued to grow.

All I knew is that I continued to grow and I was about 156cm now - So, I was definitely taller than most, if not all, 10-year-olds. In fact, I was probably around the same height as the average 13-year-old.

So it was safe to say that I was much taller than Shoto and the kids in my class and also the classes above me. At least it stopped people from messing from me. There were some upstarts who thought their Quirks could close the gap but I slammed that thought away when I just laughed at this kid's attack as he tried to electrocute me.

...Sadistic little bastard.

Whatever. An hour quickly passed by and by the end of our workout session, my body was covered head to toe in sweat but not purely because of the workout. Glaring at my uncle who was flaring his flames, he looked over at me before...stifling a laugh?

Am I dreaming? The Stoic-faced Endeavor laughing?

After he regained his stoic look, he controlled his flames before looking over at me collapsed on the mat next to some massive weights. He picked me up and put me on my feet before dropping a towel on my head.

I truly began to wonder why he'd changed so much after I and Ayako had moved in a year ago.

'Maybe it was because I was another way he could surpass All Might...maybe it was because he was hurting just as much as I was at losing my mother?' scrubbing my hair free of sweat, I did the same to my face as I continued to think, '...Maybe losing my mom, his sister, to a mental break helped put things into perspective? And losing his brother-in-law helped him realize that no matter who you are, you can die...It's all just one massive butterfly effect started by my birth isn't it?'

Letting out a silent sigh, I let the towel fall from my face and onto my shoulder before I looked up and saw my uncle smiling at me.

Weird.

Before I could question him, he walked over and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "Your father would be proud of how hard you're training, and how you've not let his death deter you from becoming a hero. Most of all, I'm proud of your internal motivation and determination, Tatsuya, and I'm proud to call you my nephew."

Hearing what he said and seeing his smile, I felt something crack inside of me. If I were to describe it, it was like a dam breaking open and flooding its contents.

Translation?

A year's worth of hurt and sadness over my father's death and my mother's later admittance to a mental institute was now flooding out after some encouraging words from my uncle; someone I knew didn't give out praise often, if at all. So I knew I could trust his words.

It started with one tear rolling down my cheek, catching my uncle off guard. When he asked me what was up in a slightly worried voice, more tears followed until I was properly bawling my eyes out. Sobbing, snot, erratic breathing - all of that and then some.

It was quite embarrassing to think I was pretty much a grown man in a child's body and I was still crying like a child...'Let's just be glad no one knows that...' despite my mental jokes, I was still crying.

My uncle, not knowing what to do was crouched in front of me, looking for an injury of some kind but I just threw my arms around him, quietly thanking him in between sobs. He gingerly returned the hug and just let me cry.

Neither of us would ever admit to this emotional moment, but I'd have to say that it was something I dearly needed. You can't hold all your negative emotions inside yourself forever - they need to be released at some point otherwise you'd explode.

Unknown to the two of us, my Aunt Rei was looking through at this moment through a crack in the door and couldn't help but smile herself. Her husband and her nephew were really opening each other up and they were both the better for it.

She didn't overextend her eavesdropping session and just went to go and wake up her other children.

And with that, I finally felt a weight lifted from my shoulders and could go about my life in a more happy way. I wasn't completely over my troubles - and I don't think I ever will be - but it was a definite start.

When my uncle and I finally separated, he rushed off while rubbing his eyes, saying he needed a shower and for the first time in a year, I smiled purely because I felt happy with my life. Not with how I got here, but how it was slowly turning back into a happy life.