14 Years Ago

Returning home Masaru entered the house to a painful almost silence. As Mitsuki appeared from the kitchen he opened his arms to pull her into a hug.

"Where's Shouta?"

"In his room, he hasn't said anything since we left the hospital."

"How's he doing?"

She shook her head.

Masaru sighed.

"Daddy!"

Katsuki ran over.

"Hey, buddy." Reaching down he picked his son up into his arms.

"Sho sad."

"I know bud; you need to let Shouta have some time to himself, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good boy."

He pressed a kiss to his son's head before placing him down, the toddler running off to return to the TV.

"He said he wasn't hungry." Mitsuki stated.

"I'm not surprised."

His wife scrubbed a hand down her face.

"What do we do here?"

"Have patience, we need to give him time to work through everything."

"He shouldn't be going through this alone." She sniffled.

"And he's not going to, he has us, and Inko, and the boys." Masaru rubbed a hand up and down her back in reassurance. "We're gonna' get him through this."


1 Week Later

"It's okay, baby, it's okay…" Mitsuki cood as she sat with Shouta's back against her chest, holding the teen's hair back as he emptied the non-existent contents of his stomach into the toilet bowl. "You're okay, you're okay, Shouta."

"'M sorry…" Came the weak, tearful response.

"Don't be silly, you're my son and I love you; you do this for the people you love." She pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Finally finished he leant back against her completely spent as he tried not to cry.

Mitsuki handed him a flannel to wipe his mouth and a glass of water before flushing the toilet.

Shouta swilled his mouth out before pausing.

"Hey, Kat Kat."

Previously unaware of her son's presence she turned to the doorway to see Katsuki nervously leaning against the frame.

"Is Sho Sho okay?"

He offered a soft smile.

"I'm okay, bud, you go back and watch cartoons with Zuku, okay?"

"Okay."

Little footsteps rushed off.

"You think you're okay now?"

He nodded.

"Okay then let's get some tea into you."

Shouta groaned.

"I don't care whether it's tea or water but you need to drink something otherwise you're gonna' get dehydrated." Her mother hen side came out full force.

"Tea please."

"Thank you, come on then."

Mitsuki helped him to his feet.

"Just take it slow."

He nodded as he followed her out of the bathroom.

"Fear not citizens, because I am here!" His little brothers acted along with the on-screen All Might.

Shouta couldn't help but smile at that.

A happy little gasp escaped Zuku's lips.

"Hi Sho Sho!"

"Hi Zuku."

"I'll go make the tea, you should sit down after all that, give your body a chance to relax a little."

He nodded before walking round to the couch.

"Bunch up."

His brothers giggled. It was obvious they were happy to see him, even more so that he was joining them after so many days of him being holed in his room. They quickly shuffled along before he felt a hand gently take his sleeve.

The TV changed from All Might Adventures to what sounded like Sesame Street; it seemed to be one of the usual Japanese language episodes rather than a learning English special with a pro hero.

Mitsuki returned a few minutes later armed with tea.

"Why don't you go and see Hizashi, I'm sure he wants to see you too?"

Shouta shook his head.

"What?"

"I texted him a few times and didn't get an answer so I tried calling; I did for a few days but in the end his Mom answered and basically told me to stop and give him space."

He could sense the horror in her expression.

"It's okay." He tried to put a brave face on it. "She wasn't being mean or anything she's just looking out for him, same as you're looking out for me; if he needs space then that's okay, I get it."

"Ohhh Shouta…"

Shouta tried to lie, to hold back those tears and pretend like it didn't bother him.

But he couldn't.

Mitsuki's arms tightened around him as he fell apart.


After that Shouta basically shut down. He either barely slept at all or slept the entire day, hardly ate, and was so painfully quiet that they missed the sound of his voice.

Katsuki was the only one he seemed to interact with. The little guy didn't seem to understand what had happened and instead just wanted his big brother to do stuff with him. Shouta obliged 80% of the time, which was something at least, but it usually stretched as far as watching cartoons on TV or making him something to eat if he was hungry.

He and Mitsuki had had attempted to ask him how he was feeling, and if he was okay, but always received the same copy and paste replies in response. Their son was hurting bad and it tore at them something fierce to feel like such failures in trying to help him.

And then the funeral was arranged.

Oboro's parents made it very clear that Shouta and Hizashi were not welcome, stating a disgustingly false claim as their reasoning.

At that moment he didn't know who was holding who back as both he and his wife were more than prepared to punch them right there on the spot.

So the boys didn't go and their friend was laid to rest in the local cemetery, the same one where Shouta's Mom also resided.

If Shouta had been quiet before, he was damn near a ghost on the day of the funeral.

And then the next day came and something seemed to change within him.

Suddenly he was determined to train and it was terrifying how dedicated he was to his new daily routine. Using the UA gym after gaining permission from the Principal they'd tried to talk him out of it but he'd clearly made up his mind and nothing was going to change it.

Hizashi ended up getting word of what he was doing and he too started accompanying him. Apparently they didn't train together though; the voice hero would simply just sit there while their Shouta pushed himself impossibly further, fuelled only by guilt and grief.

And then…


A knock at the door halted Shouta in his tracks.

Dressed in his gym kit ready to head over to the school to train, he answered it.

"Sho."

It was Hizashi.

"What is it?"

"I… I'm not going to just sit around and watch you destroy yourself anymore. All this training, it's too much, Shouta, you're killing yourself!"

He scowled.

Who was he to tell him what he could and couldn't do?!

"If you can't watch then don't, I'm going to the school…"

Hizashi growled.

"Why are you so stubborn?! Not everything that happens is your fault, I was there too, shouldn't I have saved him too?!"

He stilled before his expression darkened as he shot daggers at the voice hero.

"Don't…" Shouta declared warningly.

"Why?! I mean, it was my quirk that made the building collapse, it's my fault he was crushed…" A sob broke from Hizashi's lips. "I did all that, I caused everything, and I can't stop seeing it, over and over on repeat."

His expression changed to soften against his friend's broken tone.

"Zashi…"

"I'm sorry."

And with that, he sprinted off.

"Hizashi!"

Shouta's lip shook as he scrubbed a shaking hand down his face. Collapsing to his knees as the fight left him, he growled.

"Stupid…"

He slammed a punch hard against the wooden floorboards of the hallway, relishing in the pain that flared as he did so.

"Stupid…"

Again.

"Stupid…"

And again.

"Stupid…"

And again.

"Stupid…"

And again.

"Stupid…"

And again.

"STUPID!"

Shouta screamed, his tone shaking before a sob broke from his lips as he slumped forward to press his head against the ground, breaking down in tears.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" He heard his brother cry before little hands came to grab at his arm.

Sprinting footsteps followed.

"Oh my baby." Mitsuki's soft tone began as she knelt down and coaxed his head up from where it hung. Gathering him up in her arms she held him tight as he was overcome with emotion.

"You're okay… you're okay, we've got you… we've got you Shouta."

Masaru's hand came to rest reassuringly on his back.

Pressing his head against her chest he shook.

"I feel like I'm drowning, it's too much, I can't take it… I can't." He sniffled. "I don't know what to do."

"Shh, shh, shh, shh…" Mitsuki cood softly.

He fisted a hand in her shirt and gripped tight.

"Help me… please…"

Masaru stroked a hand through his hair.

"Of course we will, Shouta."

"Sho Sho!"

The small form of his little brother wriggled into the gap between himself and Mitsuki before hands pulled gently at his gym kit.

Shouta quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes and cheeks the best he could in an attempt not to scare Kacchan before reaching out and scooping the young boy into his arms. Getting to his feet with him, Katsuki almost immediately held tight to him, obviously more aware than he'd thought of just what had gone down in the last few minutes.

"Sho Sho sad?"

"Yeah, I'm a little sad, Kat Kat."

"Why sad?" Came a very cute voice in response.

"Because someone I cared a lot about isn't here anymore."

"Where go?"

Shouta felt a lump in his throat as he carried on. It was hard to think of how to explain it to a kid so small.

"Away."

"Ohh."

Seconds later a little hand came to rest on his cheek.

"Okay Sho Sho, me love you."

And with that the floodbanks reopened as he pulled his little brother close in a squishy hug before pressing a kiss to his crown.

"Thank you, Kacchan, I love you too, buddy."

A giggle followed.

"Sho Sho?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch cartoons?"

Shouta felt terrible.

"Have you been a little lonely, kiddo?"

"Yeah but Sho Sho happy again!"

"I'm still a little sad, Kacchan, it doesn't work as quickly as that."

"Oh, okay…" His brother seemed to stop and think. "Me make Sho Sho happy."

Shouta smiled.

It was moments like this when he couldn't believe how lucky he was.

"Hmmm, how could you make Sho Sho happy?…" He pretended. "I know, you could describe what's happening in the episode, I'll need to know what all the cool heroes do."

"And All Might!"

"Of course, sorry, how could I forget All Might?" Shouta smirked.

He heard Mitsuki and Masaru chuckle behind them.

Feeling Kacchan squirm he placed him back down before his little brother ran off towards the living room.

Shouta took a breath.

"Thank you."

Masaru replied a second or so later.

"What for?"

"For giving me this, and the chance to be a big brother to him; it might sound cheesy, but I would have nothing if you hadn't've taken me in that day. You gave me everything and more and even though I still feel like I don't deserve it, I'll try to work on that and get better. I want to be strong for Kacchan and Zuku and be the best big brother to them that I can possibly be."

Footsteps approached before a soft hand came to rest on his cheek, stroking a strand of hair away from his face.

"You're our son, Shouta, and we're as proud of you as we are of Kacchan, don't ever feel like you don't deserve happiness."

"You're going to reach the other side of this because you're strong, it's just going to take time; but we're here for you every step of the way, and we always will be." Masaru pat him on the shoulder.

He smiled.

"Thank you."