Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia.

Author's Note: I struggled a long time with how to end this story. I originally planned to leave it with the Dabi vs Enji fight, because I wanted to leave it open-ended and let the readers decide whether or not Dabi murdered the Todorokis. Then, I had an idea for two endings. So, I'll post the first ending here and the alternate ending will be posted later as its own thing. Let me know what you think of the ending. Also, I want to thank rainbowrider1290 for beta-reading my story. I don't think I would have ever finished without her encouragement. Love ya, bud!

Natsuo fiddled with the hemodialysis machine, constantly checking the heart monitor. If it wasn't for this particular piece of medical equipment warming and recirculating blood in the body, the white-haired man doubted that Shoto would have survived being frozen solid. That was why Natsuo didn't ask his older brother how he got his hands on such expensive and invaluable device. In the background, the heart monitor beeped a slow beat, but at least it was finally out of the danger zone. He sighed in exhaustion and slumped in the chair next to Shoto's bed, leaving him with nothing to do but reflect.

In an ironic twist, he found himself dressed like an actual doctor, wearing a white lab coat over his T-shirt and jeans. Even, a stethoscope hung around his neck. The ex-medical student chuckled to himself without any , he would be an ex-med student now. He broke the doctor's golden rule after all: do no harm. Now, here he was pretending to be a doctor, in the hopes that he didn't accidentally kill his little brother.

Natsuo took some comfort in seeing the puffs of breath on Shoto's oxygen mask, but knowing that it was his own fault that his little brother required the humidified air in the first place ate away at him. Natsuo dreaded trying to explain to Shoto why it had been necessary to freeze him solid and put his life at risk like that, especially since it wasn't true.

They had a plan. Toya had a plan, but Natsuo panicked. He screwed up and now… He couldn't bear to look at the occupant in the bed, hoping it was a matter of when, not if, the patient woke up. He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Out of all of us, you're the strongest, Shoto." Natsuo remarked, reaching out to smooth one of the heated blankets. "Toya may not admit it, but it's true. I guess that scared me a bit… Because… Because, you two would have to meet again and…"

"You didn't want them to fight." Natsuo, startled, turned sharply towards the gentle voice. Standing in the doorway was a woman with white hair with rather long bangs over her face and brown-gray eyes. The perpetual exhaustion on her face from the last time he had seen her was gone. In place of her hospital clothes, she wore a yellow blouse and a white knee-length skirt. Seeing his mother wait for an invitation, the spiky-haired youth simply nodded and waved her in encouragingly. With a smile, Rei gracefully crossed the threshold before sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing a hand over her youngest's face, careful of the breathing mask.

"How is he?" She inquired, glancing at Natsuo. He seemed to shrink a bit under her gaze as guilt crawled through his heart.

"Shoto is making good progress. Once he wakes up, I'll take him off the hemodialysis machine and set him up with an IV of warmed intravenous solution of salt water." Natsuo stated in an almost monotone, focusing on answering her question. "And, see if he can drink some hot apple cider."

"Cider?" Rei repeated, surprised. He wished she would stop looking at him like that, as if he was a real practitioner of medicine.

"Yeah, he will need something warm, sweet, nonalcoholic, and non-caffeinated to help warm the body." He stood suddenly. "I think I'll… I'll just go get some."

"That sounds lovely. I can come with—" Rei began to offer, but Natsuo dart out the door before she could finish her thought. As he hurried down the hall, he cursed himself for brushing his mother off. He was doing it again, acting like him. Guilt turned to anger as he thought about his father, if the man could be even called that, had truly tainted his every action.

After all, Natsuo chose to be a hero like him. Sure, it was against disease, instead of villainy, but it was a hero's role all the same. With a temper to match, Natsuo was positive that he would just be another watered down copy of Endeavor. Thank god, Toya managed to save him before then.

Together, they planned to save all of them actually, starting with Mom. Natsuo entered the little kitchenette as the memories of those first few nights drifted through his mind. Mom had been by far the easiest to convince. Naturally, Natsuo assumed the same would be true with Fuyumi; only to be proven wrong when she clocked him in the gut. Toya was the one to eventually calm her down funnily enough. Well, after he revealed himself to be their eldest brother. That was an awkward conversation.

Natsuo chuckled to himself as he pulled the jug out of the fridge and poured a glass of apple cider. Seeing the murky liquid, the smile fell. They both knew Shoto was going to be the hardest. Their little brother had been the one to carry the brunt of Endeavor's legacy as the masterpiece, being brainwashed by the false heroes of U.A.

Natsuo would admit that when he first heard of Stain and his ideology, he was among those who labelled the supervillain as another one of the bloodthirsty fanatics plaguing the world. Then Toya explained it, showing the younger man how these false heroes were corrupting society and giving rise to more Pro-Heroes like Endeavor. All obsessed with being number one. Bakugo Katsuki from the Sports Festival was a prime example.

Natsuo placed the glass in the microwave, slamming each button with much force than necessary. With all this factored in, they knew Shoto was going to be the hardest. That's why the plan was for Dabi to attack the safe house while Natsuo drugged Shoto with stolen Rohypnol. The drug's paralyzing effects would have made it easier to sneak away with Shoto, but Natsuo forgot the effects of grief, which erased Shoto's appetite and made him more emotional and paranoid to handle than usual. Of course, like an idiot, Natsuo had run straight to Toya to change their timetable. He couldn't risk another phone call after Shoto almost caught the first one and instead, nearly exposed Toya in his panicked state. Natsuo looked at his hands. They were his mistakes.

The beeping of the microwave nearly caused him to jump out of his skin. Right… apple cider… He carefully pulled the drink out, practically burning his tongue with the first sip. He might have to let that cool a bit before giving it to Shoto, which shouldn't be a problem since he wasn't awake yet anyway. But, he will be. Natsuo was going to ensure it.

Maybe, we can have some cold soba. He glanced around the kitchenette, making a mental list of ingredients. While he doubted Shoto's favorite dish would be much help in earning forgiveness for being frozen solid, it might go a long way as a peace offering. He should text Toya to pick up the missing ingredients.

Speaking of his older brother, he had been gone for quite a while. Natsuo frowned as Toya had assured him last night that he would be back soon. Whatever he was up to, Natsuo hoped it wouldn't take much longer. After all, he was going to need all the help he could get with Shoto and it would be nice for someone else to escort Fuyumi to her bathroom breaks. It'd take some getting used to, but Natsuo was sure that they would learn to be a family again.