Archive of Our Own ^beta

Makio had pulled her brother out while icing his body in her ice, and they began to run off the mountain together. But the blue flames kept spreading the more that Makio and Touya ran, and Makio tripped some loose pebbles, then the flames engulfed her small form.

Touya had tried to save her from the billowing flames, but she was already burning to ashes before his eyes....

Touya got his sister out of the flames, but she was already charred to a crisp.

"Maki-chan! Hold on, I'll get Dad, don't die!!"

"T-touya, tell...Mama and Dad, Yumi, Natsu, and Shoto that I love them... I'm sorry, Nii-chan....."

With those words on her lips, Makio Todoroki died at 5 years old.

....Or so she thought.

The Todoroki family had a formal funeral for her, and it was aired nationally, with many fans of Endeavor giving him and his family condolences for their loss.

At the funeral, Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo were all sobbing, while Shoto still refused to accept his twin's death, but tears were streaming down his face regardless.

Enji Todoroki was present for the funeral, wearing a solemn look, and Rei was nowhere in sight.

That day, Makio Todoroki 'died', but was she really dead?....

3 years later 

Darkness.

Cold and dark, then light and warmth came.

Makio opened her eyes, and for a moment, she saw her siblings around her. She reached out a hand to them, then they vanished.

Makio opened her eyes fully, and she was in a hospital bed. Why was she here, and where was her family?

She must have asked this aloud, because a voice responds to her question.

"You're in my hospital/daycare, and you've been in a coma for three years, Makio. Honestly, I thought that I might have to pull the plug, but you're awake!" 

Makio turned to stare at the old doctor.

"What?!"

"What do you mean, I've been in a coma for three years?! What is a coma anyway?!"

"Oh, that's right. You're currently 8 years old, but mentally, you're still a 5 year old. A coma is when a person goes into a vegetative state, or when a person doesn't wake up from their sleep, but they don't die." The old man said to Makio. "Oh. Does my family know I'm here, and not dead?"

The old doctor sucked in a breath. "No, they do not know, and they think that you died 3 years ago. Oh! I haven't introduced myself to you yet, I'm Dr. Ujiko Daruma, but you can call me Daruma-sensei." Dr. Ujiko Daruma told her.

"Daruma-sensei, why do you keep saying I died? I'm obviously alive, unless I'm a ghost?" Makio asked the old doctor.

"Oh, you don't remember how you died.. Well, you died by being burned in your brother's fire after saving him." At those words, all of her memories about how she died came back to Makio in a rush, and the memories hit her like a punch to the gut.

Makio began wailing and crying, and the doctor handed her a yellow teddy bear, and Makio hugged it tightly while sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry, Touya-nii, for being so weak! I'm sorry for not liking Daddy, and for telling Mama that she was a meanie for hurting Sho-chan! I'm sorry, Natsu, Yumi, for not being alive with you!" Makio continued to sob, then the sobs turned into sniffles, and Makio stopped crying after an hour.

Ujiko Daruma came back from his underground laboratory after one of the nurses notified him that Makio was walking around aimlessly in the hospital. He went to the 5th floor where Makio's room was, and she wasn't there, so he checked the 4th floor and Makio was at the vending machines, trying to get a strawberry milk.

Ujiko got it for her, and he led Makio back to her hospital room. Ujiko sat down in his chair next to the hospital bed, and Makio sat on her bed, drinking her strawberry milk in silence.

After a few minutes, Makio broke the silence. "Um, Daruma-sensei?"

"Yes, Makio?" 

"C-can I see my funeral, please?" 

Ujiko nodded, and he turned on the TV, then he searched up, 'Endeavor's youngest child's funeral'. The video that showed up was of a little coffin being carried by funeral-goers, and then the coffin was placed next to the freshly dug out grave, and people paid their respects to the little coffin while the Todoroki siblings were crying next to Endeavor.

Makio was in shock. That video had been 3 years ago, and all of her family thought that she was dead! Makio had been saved by Daruma-sensei, but she wondered why he hadn't told her family about her condition. "Daruma-sensei, why didn't you tell my family that I was alive?!" Makio demanded.

He sighed loudly. "Because they wouldn't have believed me; after all, they all saw you burnt to a crisp! If it hadn't been for me, you really would have died, little girl, so stop pestering me about them!" Ujiko said exasperatedly. Makio's eyes filled with tears, and she hung her head ashamedly.

"I'm sorry, Daruma-sensei, I should have been more politer. So, my family thinks I'm dead, and now I'm all alone?" Makio asked with a trembling voice. "Well, unfortunately, yes. But my boss can tell you where you can get a new family! He'll do it if you do a favor for him," Ujiko Daruma told Makio.

"Really, I can get a new family?! If your boss tells me how I can get one, I have to do a favor for him?" 

"Yup!" "Then I'll do it, then. Where's your boss, Daruma-sensei?" Makio asked. Ujiko got up, then he took out a phone from his doctor coat.

"Sensei, she agreed to the proposal. Shall I bring her to you, sir?"

A gravelly voice came out of the phone. "Yes, Ujiko, bring her. I feel like this will be a good deal," the voice said.

Ujiko hung up the phone, then he turned to Makio, who was waiting expectantly. "Before you go see my boss, here's a few things to remember. One, refer to my boss as Sensei; two, don't look him in the eyes until he tells you to, and three, never tell any lies in front of him, because he'll know. Do you understand, Makio?" He said to her.

"Yes, Daruma-sensei," Makio replied back. "Good."

The two made their way to Ujiko's lab, and Ujiko turned the computer monitor at his lab desk, then it showed a screen with glitches in it, with the words, 'Audio Only'.

Then a voice started talking. "Ujiko. You brought the girl here, Makio Todoroki?"

"Yes, Sensei, she's right here. Shall I allow her to speak to you?"

"Yes, put her on," Sensei said. Makio felt chills go down her spine when the voice said that, but she braved it, and sat closer to the computer screen.

"U-um, Sensei? Am I really going to get a new family, sir?" Makio asked the voice.

The voice chuckled. "Yes, and a new name. However, I want you to do me a favor in the future," Sensei said in a suddenly serious tone. Makio then felt this immense feeling of intimidation and pressure, and she fell out of her chair in fear. "Y-yes, I will do it, Sensei, but what do I have to do?"

"Just a favor of my choosing in the near future. When I decide to cash in on my favor, I will have one of my subordinates contact you at the appropriate time. Until then, just enjoy your new life."

Makio furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why are you doing all of this for me? I'm just a nobody who isn't even alive in the eyes of the law, and and you're offering me the chance to have a new family and life?" She said incredulously.

"Because I see that you have untapped potential, and because you're a key part of my plan," Sensei said.

"Plan?" Makio asked curiously. "It's not important for you to know, but it involves your former family." 

"And if I don't accept your offer?"

"Then I'll have Ujiko kick you out, and leave you destitute with nowhere to go. Since I had your life saved, and I'm giving you a chance for a new life, shouldn't you be grateful and do what I ask in the future?" Sensei asked Makio.

Makio thought for a few moments, then she nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll do it."

Ujiko smiled, and the voice sounded pleased.

"Good girl. From here on out, your name is Maki Honbayashi. Welcome to your new life."

Four months had passed of Maki catching up to her peers in reading and writing, since she hadn't learned to read past a 5 year old's level, thanks to her three year long coma.

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Luckily, Maki was a fast learner, so by the time that her prescribed 4 months of learning had passed, she could read as well as any other 8 year old could, in fact, she could read books made for 5th graders now!

It was a sunny day in May when Maki's new parents came to the orphanage daycare to pick her up. Makio had been playing with another kid from the orphanage daycare named Kiyomi when her new parents arrived.

Her new mother and other mother both had red hair like she did, but her other new mother had green eyes, rather than blue, and her new mother had blue eyes!

"Hi, Maki! I'm Hiroko Honbayashi, and this is my partner, Mitsuha Honbayashi! We're your new parents!" Maki's new mother said.

Maki looked up, and she grinned. "Hi, New Mom! Hi, lady who may or may not be my other new mom!" The woman with red hair and blue eyes, Hiroko, looked a bit surprised at that. "You don't mind that we're not a man and woman couple?" She asked curiously.

"No. I think it'd be awesome if I had two moms! I hope that you'll take care of me!" Maki said cheerfully. "We'll try our best, Maki-chan! Let's go to our new home!" The woman with red hair and green eyes, Mitsuha said. The three of them left, and when they got in the car, Mitsuha turned around to look at Maki. "By the way, my pronouns are they/them, and Hiroko's are she/her, so please refer to us by our respective pronouns when talking about us, Maki," Mitsuha said to her.

"Why do you call yourself they, Other New Mom Mitsuha? Can I call you Mama Mitsuha?" Maki asked Mitsuha as they drove to their new house.

 "Sure you can call me Mama Mitsuha! As for the other question, I'm non-binary, which means that I don't view myself as a man or woman, so I use they/them pronouns to signify that." Mitsuha answered.

"Maki, we're going to buy you some new clothes first, before you see our house, so do you like any specific type of clothing?" Hiroko asked.

"Hmm…I'm not really sure what kind of clothes I like," Maki responded after thinking about it.

"Well, don't worry about it! You can pick out your own clothes when we get to the mall." Hiroko said as she drove.

Hiroko, Mitsuha, and Maki arrived at the mall, and then they had lunch first. Maki had a roast beef sandwich, while Hiroko had a salad, and Mitsuha had a veggie burrito. After having lunch, the three of them went to a department store to buy Maki new clothes and shoes.

"Maki, you can pick any clothes you want, and we'll buy them," Mitsuha said to Maki as they went to see what kind of shoes the store had. Maki went off to the girls' section, and she found a dress she liked, then she went to the boys' section and got a pair of overalls. She continued picking and putting back stuff until she was satisfied.

Mitsuha called Maki over, and they showed Maki three pairs of shoes that they picked out for her, a pair of sneakers, sandals, and a pair of dress shoes for girls. Maki tried them all on, and the dress shoes were too small for her, so Mitsuha measured her feet and got her a bigger size, then Maki picked out two other pairs of shoes, blue sneakers and crimson red sandals.

"I like these shoes a lot, Mama Mitsuha and Mom Hiroko!" 

"We're glad you like them, Maki-chan! Do you want to buy a stuffed toy before we go home? Hiroko asked.

"Yeah! I want an Edgeshot plushie, since he's my favorite hero!" Maki responded. 

During her time spent between the orphanage and the upstairs bar that Kurogiri and Tomura lived at, she had found Edgeshot dashing and cool, and her favorite parts about him were his Quirk, and his hero costume. Even Tomura had grudgingly said that he was an okay hero, and that he wouldn't hurt him unless Edgeshot tried to catch him, and Maki was relieved since she didn't want her favorite hero to be disintegrated into dust.

Maki and her new parents went inside the hero merch store, and Maki made a beeline for the Edgeshot section, which was incidentally next to Endeavor's. Maki remembered that her former father was Endeavor, but when she tried to remember anything else about her family, Maki found that although she remembered their names, their faces were blurry in her memories, and even then, she couldn't really remember their names the first few tries.

'Well, it's not as if my family cared enough about me to find me, so I won't try remembering them anymore. I have a family that wants me now,' Maki thought to herself, and she stopped thinking about the subject, and went back to searching for Edgeshot plushies.

Maki found two Edgeshot plushies, a normal sized one, and one the same size as her. "Mama Hiroko, can I get these please?" She said as she waddled towards Hiroko and Mitsuha, holding both plushies.

"Well, we can't get both, so put one back, okay?" Hiroko said.

"I'll keep the life-sized one then," Maki then raced back to the Edgeshot plushie section to put back the normal size plushie, and went to the cashier's register where her new parents were waiting.

Time skip~ at the new house 

Maki and her new parents arrived at their new house, and her new parents proceeded to give her a house tour. "Maki, this is our kitchen, and this is our refrigerator, and this is electronically controlled, so you don't have to open it with your hands if you don't want to," Hiroko said as she opened the refrigerator door by tapping on the screen on it.

Then they went to the living room, and Hiroko showed it off. "I bought this sofa from a thrift store, and I bought those three recliners from IKEA! And we have WiFi and internet of course, with cable!" She said happily.

Maki silently observed her surroundings, and so far, she liked it. Then Mitsuha showed her to the bedrooms. First, they pointed to the first bedroom on the right. "This is Hiroko's and my room, and the one across from it is yours! Do you want to see it?" She asked.

"Yeah!"

Mitsuha opened the door, and Maki bounded to her bed excitedly. It had blue sheets and a blue comforter with snowflakes on it. "You remembered my favorite color, Mama?" She said the last word almost unconsciously. "O-oh, I mean, Mama Mitsuha!" 

Mitsuha chuckled. "It's okay, you can call me Mama without using my name," They told Maki. "Then I'll call you Mama, and I'll call Mama Hiroko Mom!" Maki said cheerfully. Maki then noticed that she had a large dresser, a walk-in closet, and a desk with a lamp. Her room also had a full-sized mirror, and in her closet there was an Edgeshot-themed blanket set. 

"Wow, the latest Edgeshot blanket set! And I have my own nameplate!" Maki happily exclaimed. 

"We'll get you a tablet and computer as well, since you'll need it, and because we have the money. Let's go have some dinner!" Mitsuha said to Maki, and the two of them went to the dining room.

Hiroko had made spaghetti and meatballs, and she was making their plates. "Sit down, and wait for the food! That means no stealing meatballs, Mitsu'!"

Mitsuha pouted as they wrapped their arms around Hiroko. "Aww, babe, can't I get one? You know I love your meatballs," they said while nuzzling her neck. Hiroko just laughed, and placed a tomato sauce-covered meatball into Mitsuha's mouth. 

While Mitsuha was eating said meatball, Maki was confused at seeing two adults being so affectionate with each other. Her mom and dad had never done that back before she died at Sekoto Peak. Most of the time, her mom had usually avoided her father unless he talked to her. And when Maki looked at her former mom sometimes, her former mom would often look at her as if she was the most horrible person in the world, so Maki often avoided her if she could help it.

But her old mom liked her twin brother a lot, so he often spent the most time with her. Maki was jealous when Shouto would come in their room, talking about how he would be a hero that protected Mom from their father, and she would often think to herself, 'At least your mom doesn't look at you like you're trash every time you try talking to her.'

"Um, Maki? You've been staring at the table for 5 minutes now, are you okay?"

Hiroko asked as she placed the plate of spaghetti in front of her. The smell of the spaghetti and meatballs snapped Maki out of her lapse in memories, and she looked up at Hiroko.

"Mom Hiroko, why do you and Mama act so mushy around each other? It's kinda weird, no offense. My old parents never did that," Maki asked. Hiroko was surprised at that. 'Maki's parents never showed any affection in front of her? Is that why she looked confused when Mitsuha was nuzzling my neck?' She thought in surprise. "Well, usually when two adults are in love with each other, they often kiss and hug each other, and sometimes, they decide that they want to have or adopt children together. Your parents never acted affectionately around you?" Maki shook her head in response.

"Well, that's not very normal for people in love to do, so do you want to tell us how your home life was before you met us?" Mitsuha asked gently.

"Maybe some other time. It's kinda hard to remember, since it's been three years since I've seen them or my siblings," Maki said quietly, trying not to cry. Tears never solved anything back when she was Makio Todoroki, so she would cry by herself where no one could hear her.

"You can tell us anything whenever you want, Maki. After all, we adopted you so that you could have a home with us!" Hiroko said reassuringly.

The three of them finished their meal in silence, then it was time to go to bed. Maki went to the bathroom, and she brushed her teeth, then she changed into her new Edgeshot pajamas that her moms had bought her.

Maki went to her mom's bedroom door, and she knocked. After a few moments, Hiroko opened the door. "Um, can I come in, please, Mom Hiroko?" Maki asked in a small voice. "Sure, you can! We're here if you need anything, Maki," Hiroko said. Maki entered their room, and Mitsuha was in bed, sitting up, reading a book. They patted the space next to them. Maki climbed onto the bed, and she scooted next to Mitsuha.

"Mama Mitsuha, I'm sorry for being so gloomy at dinner. I'm sorry for not wanting to tell you and Mom Hiroko about my family; it's just really hard to talk about them without crying, since they basically abandoned me." Maki said while looking down at the sheets. They had a nice pattern, she noticed.

"Maki, it's okay to not want to talk about certain things. When you're ready, we'll be here to listen." Mitsuha said comfortingly. 

"And you don't have to be happy all of the time, you can get sad or mad when you don't feel happy." Hiroko said reassuringly while rubbing her back.

At those words, the tears started rushing out, and Maki let out her pent-up emotions.

She gripped Mitsuha's tank top as she cried, and Mitsuha embraced her in a soft, comforting hug, and Hiroko joined in. Maki sobbed and blubbered into the hug as she let out her anguish, sadness, grief, and anger until she fell asleep in between Mitsuha and Hiroko.

Hiroko had no idea what this child had been through, but she wanted to help Maki through it. From the little tidbit that Maki had said, she had gathered that Maki had lived in a home void of affection, so her previous home had probably been abusive as well.

Mitsuha felt very worried about Maki's mental health, so she noted to find a children's therapist later on this week. Maki was a very sweet girl, so she couldn't imagine how her parents would just abandon her. Maybe she had a dangerous Quirk, and they didn't want to deal with it? Maki hadn't mentioned her Quirk at all the whole day, and that was unusual for kids her age.

Usually that would be one of the first things a kid in elementary school would mention when meeting someone new. Not that Mitsuha really cared about her Quirk, but she had read online that it was important for new adoptive parents to know their child's Quirk since young children's Quirks often got out of control when emotions were heightened.

Hiroko and Mitsuha fell asleep with their various worries, and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

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