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Lala Norisu: Agreed. I'm more of the person that needs motivation lol. Thanks for the review.
Disclaimer in first chapter.
Spoilers to manga chapters 249- 252:
Chapter 12:
Shoto thought for a moment. There was only one park near them, so it had to be that one. Before pushing himself up, he wondered if it really was Dabi, and not someone who had caught air of this. He should really tell Dabi to sign his initial or something next time.
The teen resorted to wearing a jacket and tiptoed through the window, thank Dabi for giving him that idea. The nights were getting colder as winter was amongst them. He did one last thing before he stepped out, and that was to lock his room door—just a precaution.
As the younger waltzed down the empty streets in the dead of the night, he couldn't help but think, his brother really loved risky situations, didn't he? Though he bet Touya didn't even think or stop to consider such a thing. It was likely second nature for him.
Shoto spotted a figure right away, partially lit under the lamp post, in a black hoodie and black face mask. Recognizing the physique, he automatically quickened his pace. As soon as they were in each other's space, the two hugged for a greeting, as if it was the most natural thing to do. 'Wow.' The teen marveled. He hadn't planned on hugging the other right on sight, but he appreciated the feeling. That being the only warmth between them in the cold night.
Dabi took a step back, long arms still loosely hooked to Shoto's sides. "You okay?"
"Yes..." The dual haired teen responded, internally also trying to infer the purpose of this meeting, this late at night. "Are...you okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I mean, you called me out so urgently, so I was musing if something happened."
"What, no. I, uh, couldn't sleep actually." The raven haired rubbed the back of his neck. "Especially, after what that bastard did to you...I was wondering if you were hurting."
Shoto smiled, actually smiled. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
"You're strong." Dabi stared at him with proud eyes, raking one side of the other's hair. The teen gazed at him as well, but only making out black all around with the exception of gleaming turquoise eyes. It was an odd wish, but he wished he could see more.
"You're stronger." After all, Shoto wasn't the one who had to leave home, live on the streets and try to figure out life from scratch at the tender age of fifteen. Touya may be a villain now but he didn't stop at anything and on the contrary was a wanted person now.
The elder's eyes never left him, pulling his mask down to his chin and coming forward to kiss the younger's cheek bone. "Ah..." Dabi mouthed when he processed what he had down, but didn't show any signs of regret. Meanwhile Shoto's heart dropped to his stomach, albeit not hating it. If anything, he wanted his brother to kiss him more.
"Won't you...come home?"
"Not that again." Dabi frowned, closing his eyes and mood spoiled.
"No, I mean just for tonight—you said you couldn't sleep...my door's locked." Shoto insisted, passion, hope and all of the above dancing in his dual colored eyes.
The raven haired saw the look in his eyes, even before knowing what it was. 'This is dangerous.' The thought crossed him. "Not yet, now's not the right time." He pulled his mask back up and could see the other was disappointed. "But soon, I promise." The younger sighed.
"Are you really going to...kill dad and go through with this mission of yours', endangering innocent lives?"
"That goes without saying."
"No."
"What?"
"Please don't." It was futile to change his brother's mind when he was so resolute, but Shoto still tried. "If they arrest you, there won't be any escaping." The teen found it amazing that of all the reasons he could've purposed, that was what he used. One example being, how he could have stated as a hero, he wouldn't allow Dabi to put other's at risks or kill Endeavor.
"You don't have to worry your pretty little head over that. That's my job." Dabi snorted.
"But—"
"I'm sorry for callin' you out so late. I'll let u sleep now. Go, I'll leave after you." His older brother placed a finger on his lips and ended it with that.
Despite his feelings, the teen agreed that now wasn't the right time to argue about this. He nodded and walked ahead first, glancing back one last time. When he made it to his house, he climbed through his open window and lay flat on bed. However, instead of falling asleep right away, he took hold of his phone to carry out a dying search because he desperately needed help. "How to make someone love you back," was the title of the search as he typed it into the browser window. 'ugh, what was he doing?' Shoto felt ashamed of himself and threw the phone away instead. This was his brother for crying out loud! No matter how badly his heart was racing, he couldn't allowing these fleeting emotions to rule him. Who knew, maybe they were just feelings of rejoice instead? Or so he convinced himself.
One thing led to another and somehow, Midoriya and Bakugo ended up having dinner at Shoto's house. They ended the day training with Endeavor himself and next thing they knew they were standing in front of the Todoroki household.
"My sister invited you all for dinner." The dual haired teen informed. He was fine with the idea of a family dinner, even if Fuyumi had invited Endeavor and Natsuo to take part in it as well. Though it would have been ideal if mother or Toya was with them... Speaking of Toya, how much longer did he have to keep him a secret?
"But why?!" Bakugo screamed, while Endeavor also stood to the side.
"She wanted me to introduce my friends." Shoto answered calmly.
"Go tell her right now that we've never been friends!" Bakugo exclaimed.
"Kacchan!" Midoriya fretted. Soon Fuyumi came to the door, greeting them and thanking them for coming.
At the dinner table, the family didn't speak much, Shoto not being the talkative type either, leaving Deku and Baku feeling very awkward and tense. Shoto and Fuyumi sat on one side, while Bakugo and Midoriya sat on the other side across from them. While Natsuo and Enji were seated on each far end of the table. Midoriya chose to awkwardly break the silence and praise the delicious food.
"Well of course, ever since our house maid left, Fuyumi has been doing all the cooking." Natsuo added casually.
"Give yourself credit Natsuo, we take turns don't we?" The sister patted his silverette's brother's back fondly.
"Eh?! Then I've eaten your cooking too?" Apparently this was news for Shoto, but either way he felt blessed.
"I wonder about that. I might have been forced to stop. After my cooking failed to reach someone's standards." The silverette bitterly spoke, gaze directed towards a certain pro-hero. Deku and Bakugo could feel the food getting further stuck in their throats as the thick air clamped them.
Fuyumi pinched Natsuo's thigh, changing the subject instead. But to make matters worse, halfway through the dinner, Natsuo abruptly stood up and excused himself.
"Well I came like you asked. Can I go now?" He said. "Thanks you for the food."
"Natsu!"
"I'm sorry Fuyumi, but I still just can't...I can't pretend like everything is okay." The elder teen painfully said as he took his dishes and left the room. The rest of the dinner was carried out in silence.
"Haha sorry for making you all help out." Fuyumi mouthed as they all lifted plates and utensils, clearing the table in the living room.
"It's fine." Shoto expressionlessly consoled, being the only one there in the room.
The girl hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "It's not like I don't feel the same as Natsu... But we have a chance now...to make everything better...we can't hold on to the past forever... What do you think about father, Shoto?"
The teen looked up at her, before dropping his eyes back to the ground to formulate his thoughts into a sentence. "This scar...mother just endured and endured, she was eaten away from the inside out. I can't forgive him that easily. That said, mother is working hard to get over the past. To be honest...I'm not sure myself." He clenched his fists unknowingly. "I don't know what I should think about him. I still... Can't see anything different yet."
"Keep that shit to yourselves when you have guests over!" Bakugo busted into the room, not regretting his actions one bit. It just so happened, Deku and him were outside the room, returning from the kitchen when they overheard their conversation.
"S-sorry!" Fuyumi faltered. Meanwhile Midoriya felt terrible instead for Bakugo's rude outburst.
"But Todoroki-kun, you're preparing yourself to forgive him, aren't you?" The blunt question was out of the green haired teen mouth before he even knew it. After listening to Shoto speak that time, he couldn't help but feel that sort of vibe from his monologue. The half and half teen stared at him. "If you really hated him, I think it's fine if you never forgave him. But you're not like that. You're a kind person. That's why it looks like... You're waiting." While Deku was going on, Bakugo spotted Natsu approach the room, with his bag, ready to leave but approaching the room to say one last good bye. However, the silverette froze when he heard Deku's inference, a horrifying look washing over his features as he couldn't believe his ears. 'How could Shoto forgive him?'
'So, he's...waiting?' Unbeknownst to all of them, Endeavor was on the other side of the hall, holding the dessert as he overheard a bit of the conversation as well. He couldn't bring himself to enter and turned back around to the kitchen instead. During the small walk back, his mind wandered. He remembered sitting at the foot of Touya's altar, with the redhead's childhood photo dead in the center and musing, 'At this point, what can I do for my family? I've been dreaming the same dream every night now. At the dinner table, I see all of my family laughing, but I'm not there... I wanted you to be there too, Touya. What have I done?'
Natsuo left the house first, the winter nights were getting colder so he zipped up his jacket fully and stood outside, staring at his phone, breath turning into a cloud of fog.
The teens and Fuyumi relaxed in the dining room, taking the chance to explain Natsuo's attitude which was due to losing Touya.
"Your brother?" Deku asked, perplexed.
"Ah, so you haven't talked about him?" The sister faced Shoto.
"There was never any need to." Shoto wasn't one to talk openly about irrelevant things in the first place. And now, he couldn't just share that his brother was one of the wanted League of Villains.
"It happened around mother was hospitalized, as a result she even stopped seeing Shoto. But now, she's gotten over it and our family has been moving forward." The silverette girl reminisced. "Natsu is the only one who can't seem to let go. To this day, he believes that it was father who killed him."
"Alright, it's about time I send ya'll back to school. Shoto you going to see them off?" Endeavor returned to the dining room, a good while later. The teen nodded and they all gathered their stuff.
Fuyumi saw them out to the gate, saying their goodbyes and thank yous as the teens sat inside the car.
"Fuyumi. Thank you." Enji sincerely thanked without looking at her, before he opened the door to the front passenger seat. The girl only smiled, always trying to stay positive for the future.
While the teens all sat in the back, buckled up, they heard Endeavor say, "I'm gonna need you lot to strengthen up. From now on, in addition to weekends...I'm gonna have you work at least two weekdays per week."
"We still have to study for finals too..." Midoriya thought out loud while Bakugo was having issues with the car being too small.
The ride was going smooth until they spotted something up head. A villain? A tall deranged person in prisoner's clothing stood with straps coming out his body. Those said straps wrapped another familiar being in the air, like a mummy. "You've got a nice house, don'tcha, Endeavor?!" The villain screamed as Enji recognized an apprehensive Natsuo wrapped in the villain's hold.
"Natsu!" Shoto was the first to scream his name, as he peered towards the front seats. The driver swerved the car to safety and hardly had the chance to brake, but Endeavor was already in his hero uniform and flying towards the villain in full flames.
"Release him!" The hero demanded.
"Do you remember me, Endeavor!?" The villain cried. It took a second but Enji soon recalled him being a villain he had arrested seven years ago. "I admired you! I don't have anything left to protect. I'm going to kill this man!" The villain shaped one of his tape straps as an arrow and pointed it towards Natsuo, who was still held in air, fully wrapped including his mouth. "So, I'm begging you Endeavor! Kill me!"
While Endeavor stood internally conflicted, the teens took this opportunity to get into gear as they pulled their hero uniforms on. "Natsuo!" Shoto cried out again as he charged forward behind Bakugo. The blond's blasts threw the villain off balance and Shoto came speeding forward, left side igniting in all seriousness as he called out to Natsuo one more time.
"Let him go!" Todoroki sent a wave of flames his way. The villain managed to dodge that one. However, Bakugo caught him by surprise and blasted directly at him, flying in and grabbing hold of Natsuo. As soon as the coast was clear, Endeavor leaped towards them, hugging both teens tightly while Midoriya and Shoto finished the villain off.
"Are you hurt?!" Enji inquired immediately.
"As if! Get off me!" Bakugo growled.
All Natsuo could weakly utter was, "So hot..." Endeavor's heart was still pounding in his chest at the almost possibility of losing his second son. He planted a hand behind the silverette's head, pulling him close. Meanwhile, Bakugo couldn't tolerate the sentiment any further and escaped the hero's grasp on his own.
"Where'd that white line bastard go!?" The blond scowled.
"He's been apprehended." Shoto calmly stated holding him by the collar.
"Get awa—" Nastuo finally struggled out of his father's grasp, pushing him away.
"Natsuo!" His father demanded. "I'm sorry. For a moment, I thought, if I saved you back there, there was a possibility that you might never... Say a word to me again."
"What?" The silverette gawked at him confused, sitting on the cold pavement of the street.
"It wasn't my intention to shut any one of you out. I know I ran away from my responsibilities, away from Touya... And of course away from the fact that I killed him..."
"It doesn't matter if you were trying to shut us out..." Natsuo wanted to mentally deny it, but it was evident to anyone that his voice was shaking. "So what...? It won't change what you did...you can't ever take that back...Ever since that day, I've been hearing Touya's voice in my head." By this point, tears were clouding his vision and uncontrollably filling his eyes. "There will never come a time... Where I can forgive you. I'm not as kind as Shoto is."
Shoto stared at the silverette with concern but equal understanding.
"Even so, you came out today for Fuyumi's sake, right? You're also a kind person." Enji sat a feet away from him on his knees. "It's alright if you never forgive me. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, I just want to make up for everything I've done."
"...stop saying unreasonable things...all of a sudden!" The silverette's heart and head were in a turmoil of emotions now. "Fuyumi just seemed so happy back then, but...every time I see you face...why do I have to be the one to make an active effort to change?! You say you want to change but what can you do now?!" He cried.
However, before his father could respond, the villain's wails interrupted them and they noticed the hero police restraining him and take him away.
Endeavor dropped Natsuo back home. It was late, and after that incident, he deemed it was much safer if the teen just spent the night at home and left for his college the next morning. They had already sent Midoriya and Bakugo off to their dorms.
"You were attacked!?" Fuyumi shrieked. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah..." Natsuo scratched his head, having a hard time believing all that really happened. It was an indescribable feeling, knocking on death's door but then surviving.
"Fuyumi, I've already spoken with Shoto and Natsuo about this...but," Endeavor began speaking in a serious but composed tone. "you've been working hard to build a home that your mother can return to...but I can't rely on you anymore than this. So I've decided to do my part too. I'll find a plot of land close to you two's workplace and build a new house there. Please, welcome your mother home there."
"What about you, father?" Fuyumi had to ask.
"I'll remain here."
To Be Continued...
Some development going on there I see~. This was also for some reason one of my fav chaps from the manga.