Shouto had always been pretty disciplined due to all the training he had as a child, but he supposed the fact it was summer break had made him more complacent than usual. Not having Endeavor breathing down his neck also helped with that.

He hadn't meant to sleep in until noon. It just sort of happened.

Even after waking up, he ended up lying in bed for awhile, staring blankly up at the ceiling as he drowned in his thoughts. The last few days had been a blur. Looking back, aside from the one day when he had visited his mom and attended Yaoyorozu's party, he really hadn't done much aside from sleeping, eating, and training.

It would probably be fortuitous to get up and train today as well. The last few days he had set aside several hours to work on his physical strength and agility as well as utilizing both sides of his quirk simultaneously. In fact, he had been so preoccupied with training, he hadn't gone to see his mom since the day of the party. He vaguely recalled Fuyumi mentioning she would try and visit her... today, was it? She had to be lonely, being cooped up in the hospital room all the time. Shouto wondered if she would ever be permitted to leave the hospital and return to their house...or if she even wanted to. This place had been more of a prison than a home to her, after all.

Thoughts of his parents' strained relationship brought to mind the fact he had shared a bit about it with Yaoyorozu. Maybe I shouldn't have told her…

In the moment it had felt right. But it was like opening a can of worms and meant that she now knew there was possibly much more going on behind his stoic facade. While he never liked being put on a pedestal, perhaps it would've been better for her to retain that perfect image of him she likely had. The last thing he wanted was her pity.

Shouto knew it was pointless to waste time dwelling upon these things. Training camp was fast approaching, and he really should've been making the most of the day to prepare. But the buzzing of cicadas and the hot streaks of sun through the window made him less motivated than ever to go outside.

It was only when it grew harder to see the ceiling that Shouto realized the sun was setting and he had inevitably fallen asleep again. This had maybe not been the best use of time.

His stomach growled, drawing his attention to the fact he also hadn't eaten anything all day.

He finally got up to make himself something. It was dinnertime and Fuyumi still wasn't home. Not that Shouto minded too much—soba was his favorite and easily his go-to meal whenever his sister wasn't around to cook for them all. He listened for any sign of life while the soba cooked. His father apparently wasn't around—or didn't want anyone to know he was. As such, Shouto figured it was safe to eat out in the dining area rather than the confines of his room.

The house was deathly quiet, aside from the slurping noises he himself was making as he devoured the pile of soba before him. He glanced down at his phone on the table, which had lit up with another of a long string of texts.

Mineta had apparently found out that the girls were sleeping over at Yaoyorozu's house and was messaging the 1-A guys chat. How the boy had managed to get this information perturbed—or maybe more accurately, disturbed —Shouto. Furthermore, his suggestion of sneaking onto the Yaoyorozu estate was downright stupid. From what Shouto could recall, it was a gated home with a security guard at the front (and perhaps more, for all he knew) and it would be near impossible to gain entry.

Luckily, Sero and Kaminari told him off since they had also been there before. Still, it bothered Shouto how perverted Mineta tended to be, especially towards Yaoyorozu. It wasn't like he himself hadn't noticed that Yaoyorozu had a very nice body. Anybody with eyes could tell. She was clearly very well-endowed. Thoughts of their exam came to mind, and the fleeting glance he almost had of her chest when she had created the special fabric to capture Mr. Aizawa—but at least I had the decency to turn around .

Besides, he didn't admire her for her looks. Sure, she was physically attractive, but on top of that the girl had a heart of gold and a brain to match it. The thought of Yaoyorozu's face—and the expression he saw quite often when he glanced over at her in class, the one when she was deep in thought—brought a small smile to his face. It felt like it had been awhile since he'd seen her.

That was another thing to look forward to at the upcoming training camp. Aside from the opportunity to continue strengthening both sides of his quirk, it meant he'd be seeing Yaoyorozu—and the rest of his classmates—pretty much 24/7 for the week.

Of course, that could be both a blessing and a curse.

The sound of the front door sliding open interrupted his thoughts. He tensed up, expression fading back into his usual look of indifference. It would be troublesome if whoever had just arrived saw him smiling.

"I'm home," Fuyumi said as she took of her shoes. "Sorry, I'm late—went to see Mom and ended up staying longer than I'd planned to."

"Welcome home." He relaxed a bit, relieved it was just his sister and not Endeavor. It occurred to him that he had only made soba thinking for himself and he could've accounted for Fuyumi as well—she was probably hungry given how late it was already. Luckily, there was still a decent pile of soba in front of him. He could afford to share some.

He held up the plate of noodles. "Soba?"

Fuyumi looked rather shocked by his offer. She held her hands up dismissively. "No no, it's ok, Shouto! I can just warm something up."

He didn't typically offer food to his sister. She seemed to be rethinking his offer though as he set the plate down and went back to slurping his noodles, never breaking eye contact with her. Her composure started to falter.

"Er—actually, can I have a bit?" She squeaked.

Shouto nodded, and Fuyumi smiled wider than she needed to. "Thanks."

He watched as his sister went to get a plate and a pair of chopsticks from the kitchen. She placed it on the table as soundlessly as possible and sat down across from him. There was silence as she took her time piling noodles onto her plate, Shouto watching her contemplatively.

Fuyumi couldn't stand awkward silences and was usually quick to speak up in situations like these. That was probably why she jumped slightly in her seat when he spoke up.

"How was your visit with Mom?" He asked as he carefully lowered the noodles on his chopsticks into the dipping sauce.

She blinked back at him, surprised—looking around as if to confirm he was actually speaking to her. He slurped his noodles in reply, looking at her pointedly.

"I-it was good!" she swallowed, still looking questioningly at him with wide eyes. He couldn't blame her. This was not at all typical of him, but since his mom had encouraged him to talk to his older sister more…he supposed it couldn't hurt to try.

"I was telling her about one of my students right now," she continued. "He reminds me of Natsuo when he was in junior high." She smiled, shaking her head. "This student is a very bright kid, but lacks motivation. There's no reason for him to be taking remedial classes if he'd just put more effort into his work." She sighed.

Shouto raised an eyebrow. "Are you calling our brother a slacker?"

His sister looked aghast at the accusation. "W-what!? No. " She waved her hands violently in front of her in denial. "I mean—well—" Fuyumi scratched the top of her head nervously. "Kind of? You probably don't remember too well, but Natsuo wasn't…the best student in elementary and junior high…"

"Oh." She was right—that was not something he knew about his brother. Their father had made sure of that. Shouto wondered what other parts of his siblings' lives he had missed out on during his childhood. While he knew bits and pieces about Fuyumi through her nervous chatter and attempts to fill silences at home, at this point he probably knew some of his classmates at U.A. better than his older brother. Brothers.

Fuyumi shrugged awkwardly, the silence clearly making her uncomfortable. "But I mean—look at him now! He's studying medicine at a top college, has a girlfriend, is overall pretty cheerful…" She sighed in relief. "It's a good thing he decided to shape up in high school."

Shouto's response was another aptly-timed slurp of noodles. He looked up at his sister and nodded in acknowledgement.

"How's U.A. going anyway? Are you enjoying it so far?"

So far... well, a lot had happened in their first semester. "Yeah. My classmates have really pushed me to try my best as a hero." He thought back to Midoriya's words at the Sports Festival. "It's because of Midoriya that I started visiting Mom again. I'm really grateful for that."

"I think she is, too." Fuyumi said gently. She seemed to be thinking about something that made her smile wider. "Mom talked a lot about you, Shouto. I think it really makes her happy that you visit so often."

Shouto felt his face heat up. "It makes me happy, too."

His sister hummed in delight at his reaction. Her expression changed as she seemed to be reminded of something else. "Does…Dad know you've been visiting Mom?"

He took a bit longer slurping his mouthful of noodles. "Does it matter?" Of course he hadn't bothered to tell the man. Whether or not Endeavor had taken note of his son's frequent outings and connected the dots was another question.

"I mean…" Fuyumi eyes darted to the ground nervously. The girl hated confrontation, and it looked like she was debating whether or not she wanted to say something. "It couldn't hurt to at least…try to talk to him."

Tch. Yeah, right. Shouto didn't even bother to grace her statement with a response.

"He is still our dad, you know."

"By blood only," he retorted. "Not in the same way Mom is our mom."

Fuyumi sighed. "He's...trying to do better, I think…"

The resounding slurp of his noodles was a bit more aggressive than the rest. He still harbored a lot of anger against his father. Shouto didn't even think it was about himself anymore. As traumatic as the harsh years of training under Endeavor had been, he had recognized that it had played a part in transforming him into the person he was now. That didn't make what the man had done right , but Shouto could say that his control over his abilities and the fact he had gotten into U.A. with recommendations—at least some of that was due to all the practice he had had as a child.

Regardless, the real issue he had with the man was how he had hurt Mom. Remembering how she had always been crying, how harshly he had spoken to her and the times that had played itself out physically—it still made his blood boil. He wouldn't deny that out on the field Endeavor lived up to his title as the #2 Hero. But he was still a rotten father and a terrible person. And Shouto still wasn't ready to forgive him for that.

"Oh, by the way—Mom mentioned you went to a party with a girl friend?"

The change of topic came from nowhere. Shouto almost spit out his noodles in surprise. He focused on swallowing before he turned to his sister. " What ?"

"Ah lady friend, sorry!" Fuyumi corrected herself quickly. "I didn't mean…yeah."

A suspicious glance at his sister confirmed what she had said was, in fact, a mistake and not her being a typical older sibling purposely teasing her younger brother. He didn't respond. The mention of the girl who he had ironically been thinking about a few minutes before made his face burn uncomfortably.

His sister didn't seem to notice. "Did you have fun?"

"I think so." By all accounts, the time he had spent at Yaoyorozu's parents' party could hardly be considered fun, but something about the night had still left a warm feeling in his chest.

"What's her name?"

"Momo Yaoyorozu."

"She's your classmate?"

"Yeah."

"What's she like?"

"I don't know." There were many words to describe Yaoyorozu. Too many. "She's a good student. Has the highest grades in our class." He narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Why are you asking me all this, anyways?"

"Oh, I don't know..." Fuyumi was giving him a strange smile. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "I hope I get to meet her someday..."

...Okay, maybe he had a vague idea.

"Well, I'm going to go get some training in before the day ends," he said as he stood up, taking the now empty plate and chopsticks to the sink. While he didn't particularly like their last topic of conversation, talking with Fuyumi was actually kind of nice. He was glad he had decided to heed his mom's words. Mother knows best, of course.

"Shouto! You shouldn't train right after you eat!" His sister chided.

While he was quick to follow his mother's advice, he had no problem ignoring his sister's.

"Nah, it'll be fine," he reassured her. He was already walking away.

She sighed loudly. "Please be careful, Shouto. And thanks again for dinner."

"No problem."

He turned the corner for the hallway…and almost crashed into Endeavor. Crap . How long had he been standing there? Had he heard everything he and Fuyumi had just been talking about?

The man peered down at him and Shouto looked back up at him defiantly. He had no desire to ask the man what he had heard, and continued walking past him. Shouto slid the door to his room open but paused when his father spoke.

"Momo Yaoyorozu?" The man uttered slowly, looking over his shoulder.

Shouto glared back. "What's it to you?"

"She also got in on recommendations, correct?" He continued, deep in thought.

"Yeah."

"Her quirk has quite the potential it seems."

"Yeah," he answered again, attempting to infuse as much attitude as possible into the one word.

"...it's unfortunate she didn't perform better at the sports festival."

Shouto didn't respond to that one. Trust Endeavor to judge his classmate based on her abilities. He knew there was much more to Yaoyorozu than whatever his father had seen at the sports festival. Sure, people could change, but Fuyumi was clearly deluded in thinking that their old man was making progress in the right direction. As far as he could tell, their father was still the same person he remembered from his childhood.

"There's more to people than their quirks," he muttered over his shoulder, giving his father a fiery look before sliding the door to his room shut.

A/N: If you guessed Shouto was a) sleeping b) eating soba c) training or d) thinking about Yaoyorozu then ding ding ding! You were correct =P

Shouto passive-aggressively slurping soba remains one of the most hilarious things in the manga to me. That one panel from Chapter 192 is my fav.

Based on Fuyumi and Natsuo's disposition towards their father, I imagine they went about handling his neglect very differently as children. Fuyumi seems like she would study hard and do her best at everything in hopes of someday gaining her father's attention whereas Natsuo's mentality was more "if he doesn't care about me and what I'm doing, why should I care?" (at least until high school). As for Touya…who knows...

Kaito1413 Thanks! In regards to chapter length~I could definitely throw in more about surrounding descriptions/details to make them lengthier, but I'm pretty happy with the amount of actual plot development/pacing per chapter. I also value being able to post consistently, and I'm not sure I'd be able to keep up weekly updates with longer chapters. I'll try my best, though!

Since this time of year is always super busy, I may not have time to post next week...just a heads up ^^; Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!