WOW!

I wanted to talk about this during the last update already, but damn I really didn't have the time for it when I uploaded the chapter. So, now after the chapter, I'll fawn a little over the currrent chapters of the Manga. If you're not up to date and don't want to be spoilered, avoid and of chapters Author's note.


Brothers

Fuyumi rang the bell. The man who opened the door had grown quite a bit older since the last time they'd met at their father's funeral. Aiji had grown quite tall. Back when they were young, he'd always been short— but now as an adult, he was almost as tall as Enji, though not quite as broad. He was still a little fat though. Aiji filled the door frame in a different way than Enji did. Plus, his hair was now grey at the sides.

Aiji stopped short as he saw Fuyumi and Shoto, and then Enji behind them. He looked confused but, Enji thought, genuinely pleased.

"Enji, I didn't expect you to come after all these years."

"You sent an invitation," Enji answered, automatically getting defensive.

Aiji frowned a little. "Yes… Yes, I did. Right. I'm happy you came." He looked expectantly from Enji to Shoto and Fuyumi.

"Ah, yeah… Aiji, my brother, my children Fuyumi and Shoto," Enji introduced feebly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm sure Misa and Hiyori will be happy to finally get to know you two." He smiled. "My wife and daughter. Come in."

"Thank you for the invitation. Nice to meet you," Fuyumi said in a proper tone, as she quickly followed the invitation. Shoto seemed much more guarded as he entered after her.

Enji expected to not know anybody as he looked around, but there were quite a few familiar faces. He found three cousins lounging around, and an aunt. She was many years younger than his father, and barely older than Enji himself. That one year when he had lived with his father, she had always liked teasing him. Due to their proximity in age, she'd been around the house quite a bit.

That aside, the cousins were his uncle's children. Enji had never known him, but back then the brats came to visit once a month as far as he remembered. He'd never liked them. There were a few more he recognized from the family of Aiji's mother, and he never got along with any of them either. They weren't bad people. It was just that Aiji's mother hadn't liked him, so her family didn't like him, and it snowballed from there. It got to the point where even the children thought that there was something wrong with him. And he hadn't exactly tried to please them. So that was that. He didn't exactly look forward to reconnecting with them now. If it weren't for Fuyumi and Shoto, Enji would've already started looking for a way to excuse himself and leave the party as soon as possible. But he would endure for their sake.

A tall girl, with long, spindly legs, was immediately in Fuyumi's face, when they entered.

"Oh, I can finally meet you." she said. "That's so great!" The girl's grin was a little too broad for her face. "I'm Hiyori, nice to meet you! You're Fuyumi. I know all about you. And Shoto!" She looked over Fuyumi's shoulder to the younger boy. "We watched you during the sports festival. That was really awesome!"

Shoto blushed at the praise.

"Where's Natsuo? I really hoped to meet him. He's my age, right?" She looked behind Fuyumi and Shoto as if expecting a third person there.

"Right. I thought you had three children?" Aiji asked from behind Enji.

Enji was impressed how smoothly the lie came over his brother's lips. Enji had four children, and everybody knew that. The media had made sure that there was nobody in the country that didn't know about Dabi being his son.

"Natsuo didn't want to come," Fuyumi said in a slightly whiny tone. "I asked him too, but…"

"He doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to." Shoto's tone wasn't quite aggressive, but it left no room for argument.

"Yes, of course." Fuyumi nodded. She sounded sad.

It was as if Shoto had pulled the plug out of the conversation. It grounded to a sudden and definite halt. He had said just enough to remind everybody of the abuse that still remained unspoken about. They'd all of course followed the news cycle, so they all knew. Immediately, Enji wished himself away from the birthday party. He stepped backwards and oriented himself to a different, empty corner of the room.

If he'd feared that anybody would actually address the issue, of course, he should have known better. His father's family had a great talent of not talking about the more problematic issues. It was the one aspect he and Aiji's mother agreed on. It had driven her mad when nobody was willing to even speak about her husband's unfaithfulness.

"We watched you during the tournament," Aiji said, repeating what his daughter had just said before. "You were really impressive. A better showing than Enji during his first year."

Shoto's eyes glinted at that. "Did I?" He grinned at Enji. "You never told me. I only know you won in third year."

Enji had no interest in talking about the embarrassing first year at UA, but apparently both his brother and aunt thought differently. His aunt had gotten old, he realized, now that she sauntered closer, hugging Fuyumi and Shoto close as if they knew each other all their lives.

"He won both in second and third year, but in his first, he didn't make it past the first match of the finals." She walked up to him, and hugged him as tightly as she did the children before. His aunt wasn't aging well. Her face was wrinkled, and now that she was close, he could smell a faint note of cigarettes from her. "You never came to visit!" She said it in an accusing way.

Her tone immediately annoyed him. Just like her— to ignore that his father had kicked him out and never legally acknowledged him. His father hadn't cared until it was too late, and by the time he started to care, Enji hadn't cared anymore. So, while his father's siblings were biologically his aunt and uncle, legally they were unrelated.

He didn't deem her question worthy of an answer.

"Who did you lose against?" Shoto asked curiously.

"Nobody."

Shoto didn't look happy with the shortness of his answer. He also clearly didn't believe Enji. Frowning, he turned to Aiji.

"Oh, he didn't lose. I don't think so…" For a moment he seemed unsure as if the memory wasn't clear. "He got disqualified after attacking the judge."

Shoto snorted surprised.

"You attacked a teacher?" Fuyumi asked, flabbergasted.

"Not on purpose."

"They didn't disqualify you for accidentally firing a Fire Fist at him," Aiji laughed, obviously unable to let sleeping lions rest. Enji wished he could just shut up, but of course Aiji would continue. He poked Enji into the side with his elbow as if they were old friends, grinning widely. "No, they disqualified you, because you decked him in the face when he decided to penalize you."

Fuyumi shook her head in disbelief.

"Penalize?" Shoto asked, a bit confused.

"Back then matches were decided on points. Not just by KO," Aiji explained.

"Well, the teacher was overreacting," his aunt laughed. "15 seconds before timeout, he took most of your points. You'd have lost that match anyway."

"I shouldn't have hit him," Enji grunted, unable to defend his actions and otherwise unwilling to talk about it. It had made it a lot more difficult to get an internship in his first year at UA.

He was surprised they even knew so much about it. He wasn't even living with his father anymore at that point. Then again, he assumed almost everybody watched the UA sports festival. It was one of the biggest events of the year even back then. He didn't want to ask his brother about it anyway.

To get away, he turned towards the buffet— but instead of leaving him alone, Aiji followed. And of course, after him his aunt, Hiyori and the children followed as well. They all piled food onto their plates together, and even when Enji chose the most isolated, empty table in the furthest corner of the room, his brother didn't take the hint. He quickly sat opposite Enji with the rest of the family, taking up the remaining seats.

Hiyori and Fuyumi at least seemed to get along splendidly. Hiyori shared stories from her Taekwondo classes, while Fuyumi was openly stunned and entertained. With both Aiji and Shoto listening in on the conversation, at least Enji could eat the Onigiri he had chosen from the buffet in peace and quiet. However, after only ten minutes, apparently Hiyori ran out of Taekwondo stories, and Fuyumi – who had thankfully chosen the only spot beside Enji, putting Enji between Fuyumi and the wall – turned towards her uncle.

"Aiji sounds very similar to Enji," she said. It was a statement, but listening to her wondering tone, there was a question there.

"Well, we are brothers," Aiji answered with a kind smile.

Enji couldn't help but interrupt then. "It's a coincidence," he told his daughter.

Fuyumi seemed somewhat disappointed, but then again, Aiji had to butt in. "No, actually, it's not."

Enji frowned at him disapprovingly. How would Aiji know any of that. But before Enji could disagree, Aiji continued, winking at both Fuyumi and him, as if all this was a fond childhood memory.

"He doesn't know," Aiji said, "but it's quite on purpose."

"How would you know?" Enji asked, now seriously annoyed. "My mother chose my name. Father had nothing to do with it." His voice was gruff and unkind.

"Dad told me."

"Dad didn't name me." He spat the word 'Dad' out as if he hated its taste on his tongue. "How would—?"

"Your grandmother," Aiji interrupted, speaking to Fuyumi more than to Enji, still in this tone, as if this was a funny anecdote they shared from their childhood, "chose the name after Father told her what my name would be. She liked the idea of us growing up as brothers." He grinned at Enji. "Just after I was born, my mom found out about the affair. She was furious, ran over to your grandmother to tell her off, and your grandmother told my mother that she would like us to know each other."

Fuyumi smiled a little after the story, but she didn't react quite as enthusiastically as Enji would have expected. Instead, there was a curious and worried expression on her face as she glanced over at Enji. Shoto, who had until now spoken with Enji's aunt, now quieted, looking over to the two brothers.

Enji's face was rapidly heating up. He felt an angry blush creep up his neck, and realized that there was a small flame of fire dancing around his jaw. Furiously, he extinguished it, gritting his teeth. Hitting the table with his flat palms, he jumped up from his chair.

"Well, Mom didn't get what she wanted, did she?" he hissed at Aiji.

Both embarrassed at his outbreak and righteously furious, he climbed off of the bench. "Excuse me." There was no honesty in his voice as he left the table.

If his brother wanted to pretend, as if everything was great, as if they had always been close and as if he actually knew the first thing about his life, he was welcome to do so. But Enji wouldn't listen to that bullshit.

Hiyori stared at him openly. At least Shoto, Fuyumi and his aunt chose not to comment on his outbreak. Instead, they quickly picked up the conversation again as if nothing had happened. Aiji was – as always – not able to read the mood of the situation, and jumped up, surprised, running after Enji.

"Enji? Where are you going?"

Enji sped up his steps. Most of the guests were now staring at him, as if he was the prime attraction. He only wanted to get a quiet minute. Quickly, he found the way to the terrace door, and fled out into the snowy garden. Still, Aiji followed him here.

"What do—"

"What's that supposed to be?" Enji growled at him.

The confusion on Aiji's face was even more infuriating.

"We're not friends! We're barely brothers."

Aiji looked perplexed, then put off. Suddenly, his face closed off.

"I was surprised, why you suddenly came. I've been inviting you for years and you never even answered any of my invitations." Aiji's tone was much less kind and more confrontational now. "Thought you wanted to make amends."

"Amends?" Enji repeated angrily. "I don't have to make amends."

Aiji made a frustrated grimace. "I didn't mean only for you to make amends. But us, with each other…" He waved his hands, begging Enji to understand.

"You abandoned me!"

Aiji shook his head. "I was a child. We were both children. None of this is my fault."

If his fury was a balloon, Aiji had just poked it with a needle. It spiked, and then it was gone. Annoyed, Enji sighed, dragging his hand over his forehead in tired resignation. "I know," he said, visibly deflating, "I don't blame you."

"You don't? It sounds a lot like you do."

"I—" Pause. "I'm sorry," Enji said reluctantly.

"I've tried to get into contact with you for years. You just ignored me. And now it's my fault that we're not closer?"

"I'm sorry," Enji repeated, annoyed that Aiji wouldn't just leave it at that.

"So why did you suddenly take the invitation?" There was honest curiosity in Aiji's voice.

Enji let his hands sink again, feeling utterly frustrated with both Aiji and himself. "Shoto wanted to meet you and his cousin. He only now found out he had an uncle."

Thankfully, Aiji chose not to comment on the fact that Enji had evidently never spoken about him. Enji saw clear hurt in his brother's eyes. Enji wondered what Aiji would say if he knew that as far as Enji was concerned, had Shoto not found the picture, Enji would have been perfectly content to never tell his children about their uncle.

"Okay," Aiji said finally. "I understand." He looked lost, but then glanced back inside and to the other guests. "Will you stay a little longer, please?" he asked hopefully. "I have to take care of my other guests, so I can't bother you much anyway." He smiled a little. "You're right, we're not friends. But we are brothers. Even if it's a little messed up. So can you please stay a little."

Enji was reluctant to agree, but then he nodded. "I have to, anyway. I'm Shoto's and Fuyumi's ride home." They could just call a taxi, both men knew, but it was a convenient excuse and neither questioned it.

After heading back inside, Aiji quickly mingled with the other guests. Enji stood somewhat forlornly next to the terrace door. Still, alone as he was, he was much more comfortable than with any of his father's family around or – he imagined – being forced to entertain the other guests he didn't know. His eyes roamed the many unfamiliar faces, finally resting on one that wasn't unfamiliar at all. Automatically, he drifted towards the only other person he knew that wasn't part of the family.

"How is the search for Best Jeanist going?"

The young sidekick of the Genius Office almost jumped from surprise – Enji had basically snuck up on him. Out of costume, he didn't have his hair gelled and slicked back. Tightly curled black hair hung over his forehead, falling into his eyes. It was probably the reason Enji hadn't recognized Ebony Fall immediately.

"Todoroki," he greeted, surprised. "I didn't know you were related to uncle Yagura."

"Uncle Yagura?" Enji asked intrigued. "And yes, he's my brother. You… know each other?"

"His wife's been my mother's good friend since childhood," Ebony Fall said, nodding towards a petite black-japanese woman speaking amicably to who Enji assumed had to be Aiji's wife. Enji had only ever seen a picture of her, when Aiji had sent an invitation to their wedding many years ago. He knew she was a few years older than Aiji, but she didn't look that old. "We're always invited to everything." Best Jeanist's sidekick shrugged, turned halfway towards the buffet, and plucked himself a twig of grapes. "Never saw you at any of them, though."

"We're not close," Enji said to him, the same he had already told Shoto.

"It explains a lot though," the sidekick mused, but didn't elaborate further. Enji didn't ask, either. Maybe Aiji had mentioned him in the past, or bragged with a hero in the family… Enji wasn't keen to find out what exactly Ebony Fall meant..

"The search isn't progressing much, yet," Ebony Fall answered his initial questions finally. "Normally, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you anything, but since there's nothing to tell…" He shrugged again, but this time, it only thinly masked his agitation. He was clearly worried about his boss. "I took over the agency for the most part, but… It's hard."

As he spoke, Enji didn't think the sidekick was lying. The agitation and worry was clearly real. And still, Enji's instincts told him the young man wasn't saying everything.

Enji nodded in understanding. "I'm sorry about that."

"Not your fault," the sidekick quickly replied.

"It's one of the cases I had to leave open." It bugged him. He hadn't thought much about Best Jeanist ever since he had lost his license, but now standing opposite one of his sidekicks, he felt sudden and overwhelming regret. "I should have…" He left the sentence unfinished. He didn't even know what he had wanted to say that had prompted him to open his mouth in the first place.

"Again, it's not your fault." Ebony Fall sounded almost annoyed that he had to repeat himself. "You did your best, but they took your license. Nothing you could do."

Enji nodded, but he wasn't convinced. Of course there were things he could have done. He could have fought harder.

To just give up without a fight…

But he hadn't wanted to fight.


soooo, the current chapters! Spoilers ahead!

It's finally official, Dabi is Touya! To be honest, I'm a little worried (simultanuously excited) that Horikoshi will now do a lot of things before I can write them and I don't want to seem as if I'm just copying his story. On the other hand, my story is very much wish fullfillment in m any ways, so I kinda hope it goes like that. For example, Best Jeanist comig back now is just a chapter or so too soon for me.. and now I guess I spoilered that next chapter will mention Best Jeanist :D

God I really love the little flashback bits we're getting this chapter and hopefully the next few. Enji seems to be focussing mostly on the positive in this part, but at least it finally shows, that he didn't force Rei to have the kids in the first place and that he was a lot better in the early years of the family. That little bit of him saying that he didn't believe Toyua had actually died and searched for him for a long time, that really broke my heart.

I think I could fawn over these chapters for hours, but there's really no point in that.