chapter thirty-three;

━━━━━━ "WHY'D YOU TAKE ME HERE?", DABI LOWLY growled, glaring at kisa, who was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"we're already here; there's no turning back. whether you step into the room with me or not is your decision", kisa said, putting on her warmest smile.

dabi hesitated, his gears turning as he debated whether he should enter with the girl or not.

a part of him denied entering this entire building at all, yet here he was, standing next to kisa in front of one of the many hospital rooms.

kisa interlaced her fingers with dabi's, giving his hand a light squeeze as dabi just sighed and nodded.

"fine".

kisa smiled even wider as she knocked on the door, to which she had heard light footsteps on the other side, leisurely making their way towards the metal door.

as soon as it had swung open, the white-haired woman had an utterly confused and perhaps even a slightly afraid look on her face.

     "you two are..."

     "good morning mrs. todoroki! my name's tamotsu kisa and this is dabi. may we have a moment with you inside please?", the fox girl smoothly greeted.

     the tired-looking woman hesitantly nodded, inviting the two in as she sat on her creaky bed, meanwhile the two took a seat in front of her.

     "is there...a reason that you two have come to visit?", todoroki rei asked, keeping a mellow expression on.

kisa handed the woman the bundle of indigo rindou, autumn bellflowers, that was tied together by a blue ribbon.

"thank you...", rei mumbled, accepting the flowers and putting them in a vase as she wondered how the couple knew of her favorite flowers.

     "of course mrs. todoroki", kisa replied, meanwhile dabi had trouble properly breathing, though his face contradicted how he internally felt.

     "so...how may I help you two today?", rei skeptically asked.

     "I just wanted to visit my mother-in-law", kisa smiled, to which dabi felt himself slowly wither away as rei had an utterly baffled look on her face.

the woman's tired looking brown-gray eyes suddenly turned wide as she choked on air.

"natsuo's? shouto might be a bit young to have gotten married...", rei muttered to herself.

'you'd be surprised. shouto has already gone through a divorce', kisa mentally laughed.

kisa simply shook her head, keeping on her smile as she couldn't wait to see the expression that rei would make when she told her.

dabi gave kisa a warning look, though the girl promptly ignored it.

"your oldest, touya".

at that, rei's face was completely drained of color now. the woman couldn't believe what she was hearing. perhaps she was feeling a bit disillusioned today, and these people were just messing with her.

she had learned that todoroki touya had died a long time ago. and even though deep in her heart she held onto that single string of hope, it had never wavered until today, this very moment.

"w-what are you—"

"madam, this is touya, your eldest son. todoroki touya is dabi, and dabi is todoroki touya", kisa calmly explained, glancing over at dabi who just had a lump in his throat.

the scarred male had clenched tightly onto his black pants, knowing that he should've just never stepped into the room.

"y-you're lying..."

kisa shook her head. "look at his eyes. familiar isn't it? we can even do a blood test if you wish".

rei swallowed harshly as she felt her lips become completely parched.

the middle-aged woman just simply couldn't believe it. all of this had felt like a scam, a joke, a sick prank.

"is...is it really you touya?", rei breathlessly asked, stumbling upward as kisa ushered the scarred male towards his mother.

dabi hesitantly nodded, as he felt his heart swell. this was never the way that he had imagined himself revealing his identity to his mother, but it was what it was.

rei had stared into dabi's familiar turquoise eyes with such disbelief yet such certainty, that it had hurt.

the woman wobbled forward as she shakily cupped dabi's face, still in shock as this was her oldest son, her first child.

"what happened to you all these years?", rei squeaked out, feeling tears brim her eyes as dabi adverted the woman's piercing question.

there was no way that he'd be able to tell her, to explain what had happened. there was too much, too much for him to be able to explain.

     "touya ran away for your unjust", kisa answered, making both todorokis turn towards the girl.

     "that night the fire combusted, touya had ran away and escaped to train to become a stronger hero for you, madam", kisa respectfully informed.

     "so you're a hero now? but I never see you on t.v.", rei confronted, to which dabi had looked over to kisa for help.

     kisa lightly chuckled, inching closer to the two todorokis.

     "madam, dabi's a hero in his own way...if that makes sense. after all, not all heroes you see on t.v. are necessarily...what they seem, as you probably personally know", kisa carefully worded, to which rei had lightly flinched at that comment.

     dabi held onto his mother's hand, having to have missed the warm motherly touch dearly.

     though as if something had suddenly hit rei, the woman's tears starting overflowing, draining her face as she held tightly onto dabi's hands.

     "touya...you have no idea...how hard it was to...to not see you and to have the whole world think that you've passed", rei cried, feeling her heart pulse quicken.

     "I'm so glad you're here now though...and...I'm glad that you've decided to come visit", rei smiled, slightly choking on her own words.

     "and I can't believe you're married now too", rei mumbled—a bit sad that she wasn't there for the wedding—to which dabi had let out a forced chuckle while wiping his mother's tears away.

     "kisa was it? say, how'd you two meet?", rei asked, taking a seat back on her medical bed as she forced dabi to sit beside her, still holding onto his hand.

rei invited kisa to sit on the other side of her too, to which the girl had complied, looking kindly at the woman.

"funny story actually, we met at my house", kisa bluntly stated, to which rei was now even more confused.

     "ah well...I suppose I should start from the beginning right? I'm a yōkai, a half-blooded nine-tailed fox actually. so I'm not from this world", kisa briefly explained.

     rei wasn't sure whether this girl in front of her was bluffing or not, but her fox ears wiggled a bit as if justifying her true identity.

     "and my father's the king...for now", kisa quietly muttered. "and certain humans gather with us every 10 years. hence how I met your son", kisa smiled, to which rei had hesitantly nodded in understanding.

     "I see...and you two are doing well I suppose?", rei asked, to which kisa had immediately nodded.

     "indeed! in fact, we've recently just received a really big investment", kisa lied, to which rei was quite pleased to hear.

     "I'm glad you two have everything worked out. is he's treating you right? don't hesitate to scold him for me", rei joked, to which kisa had chuckled, making dabi scowl.

     "no worries mrs. todoroki, da—touya treats me very well. he spoils me quite a bit", kisa said, making rei slightly frown.

"if you two are married, you should be calling me mother right? mrs. todoroki and madam are too formal", rei softly commented, to which kisa had awkwardly nodded.

dabi was intrigued. for once, kisa was speechless and seemed quite timid.

"then...mother it is", kisa lightly smiled, to which rei had given the girl a closed-eye smile.

"I do hope you two will visit often", rei quietly mumbled.

"we surely will. though I do hope you'll keep touya's identity a secret, as he's trying to wait a while before his long awaited reveal", kisa said, to which rei just nodded.

"I'm just happy that I got to see him and meet you. won't you two stay for a while longer?", rei asked.

"of course mother...", kisa answered, glancing over at dabi, who seemed to truly relax and seemed content for once.

"anything to please you".