"Detective." 

It's a bland greeting but it's quite a pleasant one considering the circumstances. She doesn't snarl or curse or glare at them, the expression in her eyes dull and bordering on boredom. Toshinori doesn't offer one back, taking a page from Shota's book and treating her just as she is. 

A criminal. 

This isn't someone that Toshinori can help. This isn't someone who deserves his help. He'd maybe suggest professional psychiatric assistance but something in Toshinori's soul tells him that her condition is one caused by a filthy soul and not a chemical imbalance. 

She's pure evil. A completely psychotic sociopath. 

"Fujiwara. You look to be in high spirits for someone who's going to prison." He says flatly, taking a seat in front of her. She's handcuffed to the table so he's confident that he doesn't have to worry much about any sudden attacks from her. She cracks a smile---a devious one if Toshinori has ever seen one. The kind of smile that screams that she's up to no good. 

"You're so confident that I'm going to prison." 

"You attempted rape, murder, and endangered the life of an unborn child. You're going to rot if I have anything to say about it." 

Her smile spreads into something devious, bubbling into a cackling fit with a shake of her head---as if Toshinori is naive. As if she has the upper hand. 

"You honestly believe that Enji, the dumb slut, is going to press charges against me? And even if he does, do you honestly believe any juror in this city is going to side with an ignorant whore like him? I've killed three of our children and attempted to kill a fourth and I walked, Yagi. A free woman." Her tone is taunting, almost as if alluding to some sort of joke. 

What a sick woman. 

Toshinori feels naive for believing that the world has changed at all. 

But for the sake of his children---the sake of his grandchildren and future generations---he swears that he'll spend the remainder of his career making sure that they will be treated as equals. Not as property. Not as collateral. 

"Luckily for us, Mr. Keigo Takami is pressing charges on behalf of his husband." He discloses.

Her laughter comes to an abrupt halt.

Shota takes this moment to toss a file onto the table between them, flipping it open for her to see. Her eyes dart back and forth over the papers, brows knit together in visible confusion. 

"What is this?" 

"This? This is a list of charges being filed against you." The omega clarifies with a gesture towards the charges at the bottom of the list to make sure she doesn't miss any but her gaze is fixed on them now, hands trembling within the confines of the cuffs around her wrists. 

"Go on, read the rest of them." He encourages, sliding the file back towards Toshinori when she doesn't move---doesn't even blink. 

"No? Worried about what we've dug up on you?" He prompts, sliding another chair out with his foot and plopping down in it without ever looking away from her. "Don't worry, I'll tell you what they are anyway."

This is why SPD needed Shota---those goddamn intimidation tactics. 

"Where do we start? I mean you already know about your charges of attempted rape, attempted murder, and child endangerment but what about the charges of mental abuse? Physical abuse? Harassment---both sexual and none? Assault with a deadly weapon? Breaking and entering? Trespassing? Any of those ring a bell?" He rattles off and Toshinori can tell by Rei's increasingly panicked body language that she's quickly becoming overwhelmed and anxious. 

"I guess those could be forgettable in comparison to the other shit you've done, hm? That child and human trafficking must've really been a doozy." 

This is what sends her into a frenzy. 

She jumps from the chair in an attempt to attack him, table rattling as the cuffs keep her trapped in her current position. 

"What the hell are you talking about?!" 

Shota doesn't even flinch. 

"Oh? From that reaction, I can tell that you know exactly what I'm talking about. And to think you were so confident before---hoping that your ex-husband had been so conditioned by your abuse that he'd just let you slide this time. If he'd married a pushover, maybe. But Keigo's not gonna let this go. I thought you'd at least know that knowing that he almost killed you. How's that head injury, by the way?"

"Fuck you." She hisses, tugging at her restraints once more. She tries to spit on him but it falls short, falling onto the table instead. "You have no idea---"

"I don't? The Todoroki-Takami family gave me a pretty incriminating play-by-play of your disgustingly creepy behavior towards their son's boyfriend. And the fact that you were there the night that he went missing seventeen years ago. Those parties at the Bakugous really had to be somethin', hm?" 

"I don't know what you're---" 

"Insinuating? Oh, come on, Fujiwara. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Masaru Bakugou said you were there, too. At the 'party'. You know. The child prostitution ring party? Where you bid on Bakugou's infant son?" 

Any bite that Rei has left in her dissipates almost instantly, sinking back down into her chair.

It's then that Shota knows that the SPD has won. 

"I'm not speaking to you without my lawyer." 

"That's fine. We don't really need to drill you about your part in this anymore. We have several witness reports about what happened that night. Even down to the fact that you were one of the last two bidders. We even know who you lost to. But I'll tell you what, you tell us what we need to know about him and...well, we'll see about making a deal."

A cynical laugh. 

"This is why you braindead sluts don't belong in authority. You're here to prove something? You've still got milk in your tits from carrying. You should be at home, serving your family like you were born to do." 

Shota doesn't grace her with a verbal response but Toshinori can see the way that his body tenses. It's all he can do to hope he'll be quick enough to hold Shota in place should he give into any violent urges but much to his credit, he simply shrugs. 

"You know, for a bunch of fucks who claim to be the superior gender, you all whine like fucking toddlers. I've never met any one group of people who fucking complain as much as you alphas do." 

He stands, taking the file back and tapping it against the table.

"I'll give you time to think on our offer. You're going to prison either way. Whether or not you go alone is up to you." 

And with that, he and Toshinori take their leave. 

The ball is in her court now but even so, they can't stand around and hope that she'll take the bait and rat Chisaki out. Someone's going to have to do some footwork. Once they've gotten Chisaki, they can get started on the warrant for Mitsuki Bakugou's arrest. 

They owe Tomura an apology and a thanks. 

Shota has been looking into doing what he can to get a deal on Tomura's behalf as well. He's been looking into the things that he's told them, from his marriage to Kai Chisaki to the fact that his murders were allegedly done in self defense. 

The skin and blood found under Nighteye's fingernails did, in fact, belong to Tomura.

So Shota had the tapes from the security cameras in Tomura's home once he remembered that the younger omega did disclose that they'd been functional. 

And, as Shota had suspected, everything that Tomura said to them so far has proven to be true. 

He can understand why he hadn't called to report he'd been attacked by these people, especially after nearly being raped by a cop. However, he can't promise him that the jury would see it that way seeing as that it was bound to be full of alphas. Still, Shota has concrete evidence that Tomura Shigaraki was under attack for several days at a time and did what he had to do to protect his home. The only thing he couldn't help him with is the charge of child endangerment. 

But at least he won't die in prison. 

At some point, Shota became less obsessed with punishing him and more focused on reuniting him with Katsuki---not for Tomura but because he knows that Katsuki loves that man more than anything else in the world. They deserve each other---but they deserve it freely. 

Call him soft but it just feels like the right thing to do. 

"I've got something I need to look in on. Are you alright to look into the Overhaul foundation on your own?" 

Toshinori snorts in mock offense. 

"What am I, a rookie?" 

"Whatever. I was just trying to be considerate. Easy to forget things at your age, you know." 

"Ha ha. You're a real comedian." Toshinori says dryly with a roll of his eyes, lightly clapping Shota on the thigh with the folder that he was holding. "Should be done around three. Lunch at the tavern?" 

"Sure. Your treat." 

"Of course."

"Then I'll see you at three." 

#

"You want to go...to Australia?" 

Enji makes it sound like such a wild idea and that, in itself, annoys Keigo in just the slightest---the way that his mate is eyeing him with the quirked brow of skepticism. 

"Why'd you say it like that? That's my home, you know." 

"You're Australian?" Enji's tone quickly morphs from uncertainty to obvious shock and Keigo almost thinks that Enji is messing with him until it becomes very apparent that he is not. 

"What, you're gonna tell me you didn't know that?" 

"Um...yes, because I didn't." 

"Baby, I look Japanese to you?" 

"I-I mean...not completely but I just assumed it was because one of your parents was foreign." 

"What about my accent?" 

"I just…assumed it was an acting thing." 

"What? What kind of absolute asshole would walk around talking like this on purpose ?" 

"You, dad." Touya says as he passes them on his way to the fridge with a snicker. "Did I miss something? What are you guys fussing about now?" 

"We're not fussing. I was just trying to convince your mama to let me take you guys to Australia with me for the debut of this new film and he just told me that he didn't know that I was Australian." 

"You're Australian?" 

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" 

"I'm fucking with you, dad. Of course I knew you were Australian; everyone knows that." 

"Not your mum, apparently." 

"Ouch. That's a low blow ma, especially for as long as you guys have been together." Touya teases, popping the top of the beer that he fishes out of the fridge and closing the door with a bump of his hip. Enji sputters indignantly, unable to form a proper defense for himself. He's unsure of how he'd missed the fact that Keigo was Australian; maybe he just hadn't paid much attention to it but now he feels incredibly insensitive for not knowing. 

In hindsight, it was fairly obvious. 

Painfully obvious. 

"I'm sorry, alright? It wasn't on purpose, I swear. Are you really going to make me feel bad about this?" 

"No, because I'm not an angry, scornful twat. I'm just fairly surprised that you didn't know that very obvious detail about me. I know everything about you." Keigo points and even if it's not meant to draw the feeling of remorse from Enji, it does a grand job of it nonetheless. 

"Baby, I know things about you. I know important things about you---" 

"Except that he's Australian." Touya chimes with a snicker, simply serving to instigate things at this point. Shouto and Katsuki were doing some sort of bonding thing—shopping sprees or whatever the hell it is that omegas do when they hang out together. He wanted to come too but Shouto straight-armed him and told him that he wasn't wanted, to which he called immediate bullshit on because there wasn't ever a time that Katsuki didn't want to hang out with him but even his boyfriend has decided to abandon him for the evening, telling him that alphas were not allowed on this shopping trip. 

Whatever. It's not like he wanted to go anyway. 

Not like his feelings were hurt. 

Not like he didn't sit outside in his car to pout for an entire thirty minutes before finally coming inside. 

It's really not that big a deal. 

"So what are we going to Australia for, again?" He asks, smacking his lips when he checks his phone to see that he doesn't have any texts from Katsuki. Mina's asking about going out for drinks later and Tetsu wants to know if he'd be down to hop online and play some video games but Touya is fairly disinterested. There's even an unsaved number asking him if he's 'dtf' and that one is enough to have him snort out a laugh out loud before he promptly deletes it without ever even opening it. 

"You know that film I've been workin' on?" Keigo replies, rifling through the pots underneath the kitchen sink as he prepares to cook dinner---something Enji only agreed upon as long as he was able to be present and make sure Keigo isn't making a disaster out of his kitchen. 

"The one about the treasure hunter, right?" Touya offers and Keigo snaps his fingers in affirmation. "That's the one. We'll be finished filming it next month and we're showing it in Australia exclusively before it releases anywhere else. I wanted to take you all on the red carpet for the debut and show you around the place I grew up; I thought it'd be great! But I can't seem to convince your mother so maybe I'll just go at it alone or take Rumi." 

"You are not taking Rumi Usagiyama on the red carpet with you---are you trying to start a scandal?" Enji counters and Keigo throws his hands up incredulously. "What are you on about---I'm not gonna start a scandal by taking my best friend to a red carpet event!" 

"Do you honestly believe that anyone is going to see you together and believe that you're best friends?" Enji counters, using air quotations to drive his point of skepticism home. Keigo pauses, mouth slightly agape as he slowly turns to face his mate. 

Enji's face floods red the moment Keigo's wide open mouth curls into a grin. 

"Shut up, Keigo." 

"I didn't even say anything!" 

"You were thinking about saying it." 

"We'll, I mean, it's just that---" 

"I said shut up. " 

"Baby. I didn't know that you were seriously jealous of Rumi. She's like my big sister; you don't have anything to be jealous of!" 

"I-I am not jealous! She's just…" 

"Super hot, hella saucy and a walking wet dream?" Touya suggests and Enji groans in annoyance although he agrees. 

"And then I'm just---" 

"Incredibly lovable, insanely gorgeous, but kind of timid?" Touya adds and Enji goes to agree with him but pauses, hands falling into his lap. 

"Wait, you think that I'm pretty?" 

"You honestly think that you aren't ?" Touya asks, equally as perplexed as his mother seems to be. He'd known that Enji had some self-image issues as far as his lack of confidence and mousiness goes but he'd never imagined that his dam questioned his own attractiveness. Keigo turns to lean against the counter, silently watching for Enji's response. The redhead's gaze is glued to where his hands lay limp in his lap, shrugging his shoulders. 

"I-I mean...I'm not as young as I used to be and it shows, I think." It's meek, almost a whisper when it comes out and Touya sits upright in his chair. 

"...mom, for real?" 

"...y-yes?" 

"But like...why?" 

"I-I just...I'm old, Touya. I'm old and I've birthed seven children---about to birth one more. My body isn't like it used to be. I've gained weight. I have wrinkles. Gravity is working against me. Rumi is...full of life and youth still, even in her forties. She has an amazing body; she doesn't have wrinkles where she smiles and she's not scared of everything." 

Touya and Keigo are both staring at him like they've just witnessed the antichrist. 

"...Enji. Baby, have you been feeling like this all this time? Why haven't you said anything?" Keigo finally prompts after a moment of silence, arms dropping from their folded position over his chest to hang limply at his side. 

"How insecure does that sound; I don't want you to hang out with your best friend because I hate the way that I look?" 

"Why is being insecure considered something that my spouse should feel guilty about? If anything I should know when you feel that way so that I can reassure you, not overload you with ridicule. I'm just...I'm really sorry I didn't notice you felt this way sooner. Baby, did I do something to make you feel that way? Is it something that I said?" 

Touya stands abruptly, deciding to give his parents some privacy as this conversation seems to have taken a rather serious turn. He passes his father to walk around the table and press a kiss to his mother's temple. 

"I'm gonna give you guys a minute but I want you to know that you've always been beautiful, okay? You shouldn't ever have to feel like you aren't. I love you." 

Enji raises his head just enough to press his lips against Touya's jaw and tell the raven that he loves him more, watching him take his beer up to where he assumes is the living room sofa. 

Keigo is waiting, watching him expectantly. 

He looks so remorseful. 

"Keigo---" 

"No, baby, please don't try to blow this off. I'm really concerned right now and if I'm doing something wrong or mistreating you in any way then I need you to tell me so I can fix it. Please?" 

"But, honey, you're not doing anything wrong. It's not some that you did, I'm just...I can't compare to someone like Rumi. She's---" 

"An amazing friend but not nearly as special to me in the way that you are." The blonde leaves the counter to sit down in front of his lover, taking Enji's hands from his lap to hold them in his own. "I don't even know why you'd be trying to compare yourself to her. Sure, Rumi gets the rocks off for some folks but she's also abrasive, aggressive and extremely combative. Not an easy person to get along with but we grew up together so I manage. But you ?" 

He kisses the palm of Enji's hand. 

"You're the most loving, selfless little dove I've ever met---and an amazing nurturer. You're not mean and nasty just because you think that's the way that the world is, you kept your humanity regardless of how the world treated you and you let me love you the way that you needed to be. This amazing family that we have? We owe so much of this to you.

"And don't even get me started on how beautiful you are, love. I'm upset that you think having kids made you less attractive but I understand how such a thought could worm it's way into your head. Societal beauty standards and the shit we see on TV can be distorting." 

He flashes Enji a smile but it falls almost immediately, realizing that Enji is on the brink of tears.

Fuck. Is he just making this worse?

"B-Baby? Baby---no, please don't cry. Did I say something wrong? Was something I said hurtful? I swear I wasn't trying to be, I just wanted to---" 

Enji shakes his head, pulling his hands free to wipe his eyes. 

"I-It's not you. It's just...I haven't been able to look at my own reflection for more than thirty seconds before I start to get upset. I feel so disgusting , Keigo, and it hurts so bad---I feel so ugly ." 

Keigo can't believe what he's hearing. 

It's so unfair---for someone as beautiful as his Enji to be plagued with such loathsome feelings about himself. Keigo thought that he'd done enough by telling him how gorgeous he was everyday but he supposes that, in the end, it just wasn't enough. 

"O-Oh...oh, Enji…" 

"Just look at me, Keigo. I'm covered in wrinkles and stretch marks from my arms down to my butt---not to mention these stupid, ugly scars from those stab wounds. I've gone up three bra sizes in the last two years and all of my pants stretch because I can't stop fucking gaining weight and I don't understand why and---" 

"Enji, I am looking at you, honey. I've only had eyes for you for the last eight years." Keigo assures him in a soft murmur. "You don't have wrinkles, baby, those smile lines are just proof that you've been so much happier than you were so long ago. And I dunno why you're so upset about those stretch marks; I love your little tiger stripes---especially on your cute little booty. Just like I love those pretty, perfect tits and your sweet little tummy. I'd never change anything about you. You're so perfect to me." 

Finally, Enji manages a smile. Small, but a smile nonetheless. 

"R-Really?" 

"Really. If you're still unhappy about the way that you look then I'll do whatever it takes to make you happy. I'll take you to the gym with me so we can get you in the shape you want to be in. Introduce you to my esthetician. Take you shopping. Whatever it takes." It would probably be ideal for Enji to get out more anyway. He's a bit of a shut-in and while Keigo knows that leaving the safety of their home isn't something that Enji enjoys, he knows that a little vacation would do him some good. 

"Why don't we take a weekend and go to the spa, hm? You need to relax, babe. Then when we come back, we can get started on all that other stuff. What do you say?" 

"Y-You mean this weekend?" 

"Sure, why not?" 

"What about filming?"

"Rick will be fine without me for three days." 

"But the kids---" 

"Will be fine. Touya's a big boy; he can look after his baby brother for a bit. I'm sure he won't mind."

Especially not if it's for his mother's sake. 

Enji relents with a sigh, the smile on his face broadening. 

"Okay." 

"Good boy. C'mon, let's go sit on the sofa so we can cuddle and watch some TV, hm?" Keigo suggests, although the alpha is already lifting Enji into his arms to carry him off. 

"O-Okay, but what about dinner?" 

"Eh. We'll order takeout."

Comforting Enji is more important. 

#

Touya finishes his beer before he even makes it up to his room, instantly regretting the decision not to grab another before exiting. It was a little awkward, sitting in front of a lover's spat like that. It had been different with his friends but with his parents, it simply felt like intruding on something beyond his comprehension. Something way too intimate for his prying eyes. 

He hopes that Keigo is able to reign the situation in, at least. He's not sure he could walk around smiling with the knowledge that his mother feels so negatively about himself. 

He contemplates doubling back for another but pauses when he passes an open door---the door to the guest room that Masaru is staying in.

"Hey, mama. You good?" He asks, noting the frenzied way that Masaru moves about the room. The omega pauses, head swiveling around to face Touya with a jittery smile. "Hi, sweetheart. I'm okay, I'm just...looking for my wedding ring is all." He says a bit absently. Touya takes a bit of a peek into the room and notes that it's fairly bare, a suitcase sitting packed in the corner of the room. 

"You're keeping all of your things in that suitcase? You're free to use the furniture here, you know. You don't have to live out of a suitcase."

"O-Oh, I know. Um...it's fine, really." 

"...you sure? You not planning on running off on us, are you?" 

"..." Masaru doesn't answer right away so Touya steps inside, an ominous feeling prickling at the hairs on the back of his neck. 

"...Masaru." 

"I just...thought maybe I should go back to Mitsuki soon. That's all." 

"That's a horrible idea. And by 'soon', I certainly hope you don't mean running off in the middle of the night while we're all sleeping. Katsuki would be heartbroken; you know that." 

"That's why I have to do it when he's not here. I can't bear to see my baby's face if I let him watch me go---" 

"Then how about don't fucking go?" 

"Touya." 

"No. No, I'm not letting you do this to yourself. You're not going anywhere; give me the fucking suitcase." 

"W-What?!" 

"Fucking give it to me, Masaru!" 

"No! Touya, you can't keep me here!" 

"What's going on up here? Everything okay?" Keigo's voice comes from the staircase and it isn't long before Touya can see both of his parents coming up. They seem concerned---rightfully so. Touya doesn't say anything at first, giving Masaru the chance to stop what he's doing and reconsider. 

He doesn't. 

"Mitsuki is waiting for me. I have to go. But Touya won't let me---" 

"What the hell are you talking about, Masaru?" Keigo blocks the doorway with his body, arms folded over his chest. "That bitch is here? At my house? Are you out of your mind?!" 

Masaru's distress begins to sour his already anxious scent, permeating the room rather quickly. He doesn't seem as though he actually wants to leave, so why is he doing this? 

"You don't understand. Mitsuki needs me right now. And she's already told me that she's sorry and that she won't do it again." 

"How many times has she said that and I turned out to be a lie?" 

He doesn't respond, lips quivering as he presses them shut. 

"Please let me go, Keigo." 

"Masaru, stop this nonsense. You're going to upset Enji and it's gonna put strain on the baby. We can talk about this later, just...stop it. Please." 

There's a heavy, drawn out silence that seems to go on forever before Masaru finally steps down from where he's standing. 

"Please leave me alone now." 

Touya heaves a heavy sigh. 

"Masaru---" 

"Get out. Now." 

He throws his hands up and turns to leave, ushering Keigo out with him. 

"We'll come and get you when dinner is ready." 

Masaru, grips the door with a trembling hand---

"Don't bother." 

And slams it shut.