ATOMIC STRUGGLE

5「visit」9

(Another chapter!! Wooo! Comment goal is 19, so good luck and happy reading!)

"Thank you for coming with me," Todoroki said early Saturday morning. Him and Izak were on their way to the hospital that his mother was at for a visit.

"I did promise you that I would," Izak shrugged, holding the door open for the other male to go through. Nodding to him once without saying a thank you since it seemed like Izak didn't want to hear it, Todoroki went inside and the maroonette followed.

He waited off to the side as Todoroki checked in with the front office staff about their visit and soon everything was set. "Come on," the boy gestured to Izak. Going to the elevator, they were brought to the correct floor that the person they were there to see was on. They then were making their way to the door with the lettering of 'Todoroki' on it.

When they were finally standing in front of the door, Todoroki took one last look at Izak, just to make sure he was still okay with meeting his mother. As they made eye contact, Izak just raised an eyebrow at him, as if asking why he was just standing there. A smile slipped onto the boy's face at how Izak-like that action was, so he set aside his anxiety and slid the door open.

Inside, his mother turned to look at them. Her white hair was down, and her eyes were a clear grey that matched Todoroki's left side. She looked a bit smaller than what Izak was expecting, but he supposed that it was quite common for older people to shrink as they aged, so maybe if he had met her earlier, she would have lived up to his expectations.

"Hi, mom," Todoroki greeted softly as he stepped into the room. "I brought a friend with me, this is Morgan Izak."

"It's nice to meet you," Izak said with a slight incline of his head.

"Is he the one.." She looked between her son and his friend a few times, and Todoroki nodded with a shy glance at the maroonette. Izak frowned as tears filled the woman's eyes as she stood and came over to them. Taking his hands in hers, Rei smiled up at him like he was a god. "Thank you for healing Shoto, you have no idea how much that means to me, Morgan."

"...No problem," Izak responded carefully. While she hadn't exactly said it outright, the woman's atoms were buzzing about how happy she was that not only was her son's scar--that she had inflicted on him--healed, but his psyche and personality also seemed to have improved in her perspective. Well, Izak thought as he spared a brief look at the boy, I suppose he is more expressive than before, but I wouldn't say it's all because of me. Refocusing his attention, he squeezed her hand in turn. "Please call me Izak."

"Of course," She agreed, then invited them to come in and sit down. They did so, and soon mother and son were talking about things that families would, and Izak just sat there and listened boredly. At seeing this, Rei turned her attention to him. "Shoto tells me that you have a daughter."

"Yeah," Izak said. "Her name's Mihoko."

"That's a lovely name," Rei smiled, tilting her head. "It must be hard taking care of a child when you're also a minor."

"Not really," the maroonette shrugged. "She's well behaved and likes hot chocolate, so as long as I give her hot chocolate, she is pretty easy to take care of."

"I see," Rei looked down at her lap, folding her hands there. "And how old is she?"

"Seven," Izak supplied. "Her birthday is coming up soon, though."

"Really?" Todoroki was the one to voice a question this time.

"Yes, so is Shinso's. They're basically a week apart since his is July 1st and Mihoko's is July 8th."

"That reminds me of you and Touya," Rei said, sadly glancing out the window, though she had directed the statement at her son, whose mood was instantly dampered.

"Yes.." He agreed quietly. Izak blinked, looking at the boy for an explanation. "My older brother who died," Todoroki supplied at seeing the look.

"Ah, I see," Izak attempted to ignore the awkwardness seeping into the air. "Sorry for your loss."

"It's been several years," Rei said, her expression still sad as she shifted her gaze to the flowers on her desk. "But I don't think the pain of losing a child ever goes away," She sighed, then made eye contact with the maroonette. "I pray that you never have to experience this."

"Don't worry," Izak's entire countenance shifted as his expression darkened. "That won't happen."

"I'm sorry," Todoroki said a while later after they had left. "That wasn't how I wanted our visit to go.."

"It's fine," Izak waved him off. "But now I feel like I know you a bit better," He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing him to flinch and look at his trainer. The smile on his face caught Todoroki off guard. "You have a good mother, Todoroki. Make sure to cherish her."

"...I will," Todoroki promised, feeling his chest tighten when he recalled that Izak had never known the warmth of a mother of his own. But there was nothing he could do about that, and so the rest of their walk to the station was silent, and then they parted ways for the day.

~*~

"Whoa, your apartment is so nice!" Kirishima gawked as he and Bakugo came inside of Izak's apartment, taking a moment to slip their shoes off before following their host into the main room. There, Mihoko and Shinso were already waiting. "It's nice to see you again, Mihoko!" The redhead beamed with a slight bow.

"You too!" She waved with her own grin. It was afternoon, meaning the girl had already had her food and therefore had no reason to be hostile. Plus, she had a steaming mug of hot chocolate in front of her, so the little girl could not possibly be happier.

"Go ahead and sit down wherever," Izak directed as he sat himself down at the coffee table next to Shinso, who also had some hot chocolate beside some of his study materials.

"Sure!" Kirishima plopped down at the dining room table, Bakugo following suit with a brief glance at Izak. The tutoring session lasted for several hours, with Kirishima getting wacked several times. Mihoko thought it was quite fun, seeing the contrast to how Izak helped Shinso study by calmly answering any questions he had and pointing him in the right direction for each subject while Bakugo used yelling and smacking as his main teaching assistants.

But it was fun to watch, so Mihoko just enjoyed her hot chocolate and the spectacle while it lasted.