There is a shrine of a little boy within the house of the Todoroki Family. The ghost that hangs over the household. The name of the little boy is never spoken with their four walls. He is dead and gone if they wished to avoid incurring the wrath of the head of the household, Todoroki Enji.
Natsuo had only been close to Touya. It shouldn't have been any surprise that the little ghost decided to follow Natsuo. They could hear him walking around his house. They slip out the window, wanting to watch Natsuo from behind. The little ghost wanted to avoid being seen by him.
Natsuo knew it was a bad idea to loiter in front of Enji's house. He knew, but he thought no one would notice a middle schooler wandering around at midnight. Natsuo felt more connected to Touya by coming back.
He hated Endeavor for what happened to Touya. He had gotten in a fight with his father just like Touya used to. He still remembered how their last fight went.
Natsuo hears the sound of retching from his bedroom as he studies for his math test. His gut twists in knots at the realization that it is his little brother.
"Shouto, that wasn't good enough! You need to try better!" Endeavor's voice booms with the house as if he commanded the obedience of everyone within the household. Natsu hears the sound of shaky panting from the training room. Natsuo is only nine years old, but he has come to understand that this is not how a family should be. Touya, Fuyumi, and Shouto are his family, but Endeavor is their jailer.
He is smart enough to understand that Endeavor will only hurt any of them if they get in the way of his training of Shouto. After all, Touya is littered with scars for his precious little brother. He can't help but feel bitter that Touya, Fuyumi, and Rei all cared about Shouto more than him. It was an ugly feeling, devouring his affection for his little brother. He couldn't help the intense amount of jealousy he felt towards Shouto. All his life he was invisible to their parents while Shouto soaked up all their attention like a greedy little sponge.
God, Natsuo knew he should not be jealous. Poor Shouto was forced to carry the ambitions of Endeavor to be the Number One Hero. Shouto should not have to endure harsh training sessions from the man who should be his doting father.
His heart rate spikes when he hears the sound of the doors being kicked open. What a dramatic entrance. It could only be Touya. He hopes his brother does not do anything stupid. Touya had inherited his mother's frail frame and ice resistance. Touya would burn just like anyone else if he got too close to Endeavor's flames. Natsuo creeps out of his room, sliding the door open a crack.
"Leave Shouto alone! He is only five." Touya yells at Endeavor, pushing against Endeavor's immovable body. Shouto glances up at his savior, hoping that his older brother would rescue him.
"Only five? I started training you when you were two. If Rei hadn't coddled him so much, I would have started training him sooner!" Endeavor hardly cares about Touya's opinion. His sole focus is on surpassing All Might through his youngest child. Touya glares at the man who had hurt his little brother.
"Look at Shouto! He needs rest and proper quirk training. He should not have to handle your idea of training!" Touya stands in front of his brother in a fighting stance to protect him. Endeavor glare hardens as he stares at his two pupils. His beard and arms erupt in flames as he makes a fist.
"Shouto is fine! He can handle it!" The fight escalates when he attempts to punch Touya to knock him out. Touya is light on his feet and dodges his fist. Touya pushes Shouto into Natsuo's arms to get him to safety. Natsuo hadn't even realized his brother noticed his presence.
"He shouldn't have to!" Those were the last words he heard Touya say. Without looking back, Natuso carries his little brother to Fyuymi's room and hides with her in her closet. Fuyumi tries to calm them down with her humming and a bedtime story. He tries not to cry as he is reminded by their mother.
He is drifting off to sleep when he hears a voice screaming in agony. He nearly chokes from the awful smell emitting from the training room. Natsuo will realize that the voice was Touya's and the sound was burning flesh. He feels his gut-churning in unease as he holds his breath.
The sound of Endeavor's footsteps seemed, even more, intimidating as usual as he heard him leave the house. Endeavor started the car and left in a hurry. Fuyumi hugged Shouto's sleeping form closer to her chest.
Natsuo ignores Fuyumi's cry of warning to scramble into the training room. There are scorch marks on the walls and the floor. Signs of a struggle are evident. There is no injured Touya to bandage on the floor. His mouth feels dry as he struggles to breathe and not to cry. At that moment, he has never hated Endeavor more. Endeavor stole another person from him.
Natsuo could not focus after hearing those haunting screams from Touya as he died. He tries to study but can only think of how much pain Touya must have been in. Endeavor had killed his oldest son and wouldn't hesitate to kill the rest of them for his ambitions. With his heart filled with grief, he discarded the notion that he had a father. Endeavor had severed all ties with Touya and Natsuo by association.
The little ghost gazes at Natsuo from across the street. Natsuo was just staring instead of walking inside. He felt a lump in his throat as he approached the boy who was lost in his thoughts. The little ghost wants to appear to his brother, but he also thinks it will be a bad idea.
He knows that Natsuo's grief would hit him full force if he appeared in front of Natsuo. Natsuo had been the only one who had known that he had a plan to get out of the house. Because he wasn't sure if Fuyumi would try to stop him, he never told his twin that he was planning to leave Endeavor's house.
Touya was on his way out of the house, but he decided to stupidly stick his head out. He bitterly reflects on the fact that Touya could have survived if he had tried to stop Endeavor. What a bleeding heart. He laughed cruelly because Touya's actions had done nothing for Shouto.
He was just a rebellious fourteen-year-old who died from his father's indifference. During his last year alive, he had been so stressed that his hair had changed from Endeavor's red to Rei's white. He had always been jealous of Fuyumi and Natsuo for inheriting their mother's hair color. It had served as another reminder of his mother how much he looked like their abuser.
Natsuo is motionless, gazing at the modern house. It is an expensive house, but it is still only a building. There is nothing special about the building or the occupants. It is just a house. Natsuo can not help but feel the sinking feeling of guilt and shame.
The little ghost studies Natuso. He is older and taller than Touya was before his death. A part of him ignored the fact that Natsuo had grown into Endeavor's build. If Natsuo had red hair, he would be his spitting image.
The little ghost could not handle being around Natsuo anymore. They needed to get away from him. He moves through Natsuo, sending a chill down his spine. The little ghost movies in his old bedroom. His gaze is soft as they see an old family scrapbook. A pearl of laughter spills from their lips. One good day is captured by the picture with Shouto farting on Natsuo's face, Natsuo disgusted facial expression, Fuyumi's horrified face, and Touya's shooting water through his nose from laughing too hard.
Fuyumi swears that she hears pearls of her twin's laughter could be heard from his bedroom. She creeps past his bedroom, careful not to make a sound. She could almost imagine her twin is alive. She can almost hear his voice teasing her about being awake when it was past her bedtime.
"Don't you go to bed at nine on the dot?" Touya leaned against the door frame. His mocking little smile hid how much he missed his twin. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
Fuyumi rolled her eyes. "Don't act like you're my elder. I'm the older twin."
Touya laughed. His smile melts the knot of tension in Fuyumi's shoulders. "Okay, Grandma."
Fuyumi gives him a hard stare in disbelief. Touya holds his hands up in surrender.
"No one uses the word elder anymore." Touya quirked an eyebrow as if he was asking a question. Fuyumi just gives him another look.
"No kid," Touya stressed the word kid as it left his mouth. It didn't take a genius to figure out Touya was suggesting that Fuyumi was still a grandma. Fuyumi sighed, having given up on her twin's teasing words.
"It's okay, Grandma. We still got some Raisin Bran left over for you." Touya grinned in a clear invitation to have her refute the fact. Bitterly, Fuyumi wonders if he saw her as bland and stale as the cereal. Someone so useless you can easily ignore in favor of better options.
Touya fidgets a bit when he figures out that he must have done something wrong when she ignores him. He picks at the skin around his fingernails. He picks and picks and picks again, not noticing he has picked enough to bleed a little. She knows that Touya is distressed at the thought that he upset her. She swallows her concern for him and continues to let her thoughts wander.
Touya is small and dainty like her mother, but Fuyumi is truly their mother's daughter. She was always afraid of their father and of taking charge. He always seemed like he was the oldest brother with the way he carried himself. He had taken it upon himself to help their mother and to care for his siblings. Complete opposites.
She is the pushover in place of their mother. She tries to protect Shouto but fails. Too much like her mother. She didn't try to help Touya. After all, Touya could fend for himself.
The little ghost snaps in front of her face. Fuyumi freezes as the transparent hand waves in her face.
"Are you okay? Did I upset you, 'Yumi?" The little boy looks concerned, studying her face for any sign that she was upset. She flinched when he gently reached for her face.
She tells herself that she is hallucinating again. She is disappointed that she keeps seeing her dead twin as a little ghost. A little ghost that continued to haunt his house from the grave.
It defied reason and logic for him to continue to exist on this plane of existence. For the first time in her life, Fuyumi is tempted to pick up a book on the occult. For a fleeting moment, she wonders if it would be useful in getting rid of the pesty ghost, but she dismisses the thought as quickly as she had thought of it.
The ghost feels entitled to living within his former residence. She ignores the little ghost as he attempts to gain her attention. He is doing shadow pets with his hands and the flashlight in her hand.
The little ghost believed himself to be her twin. Her twin had been the only one to nickname her 'Yumi. She had been vexed about it at first, but it fit better than Natsuo calling her twin Toy. It sounded like he was trying to get a toy and not Touya.
The little ghost that was trying to replace her twin. The pricking feeling she felt on the back of her neck as if someone was staring at her. She tried to swallow, feeling like lead was stuck in her throat. The little ghost had a melancholic expression that briefly flickered across his face. He fixed an amused expression on his face.
"Do you think that I'm not real?" His voice trembles as if he didn't want her to think he was fake. heThe little ghost stood on his tiptoes, ready to move closer or further away. She didn't know why, but that fact bothers her.
"No, of course not." She cooed, trying to soothe the little ghost. The little ghost clenches his teeth, glancing at the bedroom that used to belong to Rei. She hopes he is not comparing her to their mother.
She used to stare in the mirror trying to figure out what features she got from which parent. Her white hair from her mother, her blue eyes from her father. She stares at her ghost as she wonders who he stole his features from. Her mother's white hair, her father's blue eyes, her twin's tiny form. Her twin had been born premature and had been smaller than most children his age. Her twin had been smaller than her, fragile like their mother.
Her twin had been born with his mother's ice resistance and his father's fire. The fire that burned was too hot and too bright for him to handle. She had been born with her father's fire resistance and her mother's ice. The ice that frosted was too cold for her to handle, but her ice had not killed her. It had frosted over her heart.
She knew it was ridiculous, but she felt that she was an ice statue who couldn't cry. When her brother died, no tears fell from her eyes. No waterfalls of tears like Natsuo or no sniffling like Shuto. She felt empty without her other half. It was as if someone stole an irreplaceable part of her that could not be repaired.
Fuyumi felt like she was floating through the day most days. She could not recall what happened over an hour ago. It was as if she was stuck in a permanent nightmare. A nightmare where his little ghost came back to haunt the house he had once existed in. It was their punishment for failing him.
Her twin's death was the catalyst for their household falling apart. It shattered into a million pieces when Endeavor killed her other half in a sea of flames. Touya had only been trying to protect Shouto from Endeavor, but that was only an excuse in Endeavor's eyes. Touya had paid the price and burned to death in the training room.
Natsuo refused to live in the same house as Endeavor and has been living in their grandparents' house. Shouto was more lifeless than before. He was unresponsive with dark circles under his eyes and swollen eyes from all the crying. Shouto has not been trained as much since her twin died. Rei refused to leave the mental hospital despite being close to being cleared and refused visits from her and Natsuo.
Endeavor could feel the resentment emitting from the rest of the family. There is a chasm between Endeavor and his children. They would not forgive him for their loss. His failure of a firstborn son was their oldest brother who loved to tell them stories, make hot chocolate on rainy days, and liked Star Wars.
The little ghost appeared to be about ten years old when he had been four years older at his death. He floated in front of her, hovering over their oak floors.
"You gave Endeavor quite an earful before dinner." He chuckles and flits into her bedroom. She pauses before following after the little ghost. She hadn't meant to blow upon him.
"Yeah, well, he deserved it. Being so insensitive about Touya's death that he suggests Shouto begin his intense training regiment." Fuyumi replies bitterly, trying to placate her tone. The little ghost plops on her white comforter on her bed. Despite being a ghost, his weight causes the futon to go down and her two white pillows to move.
"That asshole sure did." He grinned, patting the spot next to him.
"Language." She sighs but takes the spot anyway. "But the point still stands."
"Man, I don't know how he'll survive without you making food for him and Sho. Good for you, 'Yumi. You're not his maid." He leans back on the futon with an amused smile gracing his face. She rolls her eyes and looks at the wall in an attempt to hide her smile.
"He'll probably hire a real maid. Maybe even a nanny for Sho." She glances over at the little ghost. He hardly looks like the teenager he should be. He has bandages wrapped up in his little arms to cover his burns from training.
The little ghost sighs. "I wish he had done more for us. His other children. The ones he didn't want." He whispered as he stared at the ceiling to not see her face.
She stared at his blank expression as he continued to stare. Fuyumi wanted to scream at the little ghost. She cannot stop the rage bubbling in her like water boiling over on the stove. Their father cared for Touya in his way. He used to force protein shakes and a diet to bulk him up. He used to train Touya for hours before Shouto turned five years old. Their father abandoned his eldest son like he abandoned his other two children. Discarded like they were worthless. She takes slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm her down.
"Yeah, he only has eyes for Sho." She says wearily. It is difficult to not be jealous of Shouto who received their father's attention and love. She pities him for the training he used to suffer under, but there is a small part of her that wishes their father had taken the slightest bit of interest in her.
"No matter what I did, he would not stop hurting Sho. Sho deserved a better family." The ghost's eyes glistened with tears thinking of the youngest Todoroki. Fuyumi couldn't help comparing him to Rei. Their mother was always more worried about Shouto than her other children. The little ghost was probably filled with regret and guilt for not doing enough for Shouto. It was just their reality for everyone else in the house.
She wanted to smack the little ghost. What about her? Natsuo? Rei? Touya? Were they not worth protecting or were they lost causes? Everything was about Shouto. The rest of the family was invisible besides Endeavor and Shouto. Touya's death didn't even make headlines.
"Yeah, we all did." The acidic tone seeps into her voice. They all deserved better than the hand they go in life. Yet no one even looked their way. She immediately regretted taking her anger out onto the little ghost. The little ghost looked ashamed and silently shed a few tears.
"Yes, you all deserve better, but it is not Shouto's fault. It is Endeavor's. The neglect, the gaslighting, the abuse, and manipulation would not have happened if not for Endeavor." His voice cracked from the raw anger and emotion behind his words. She rubs his back to comfort him. She ignored the fault that her arm did not go through him and how odd that was.
"I know that it's not Shouto's fault. It's just everyone cares about Shouto and not the rest of us. We were always overlooked by Endeavor. I just wanted a happy family." What was left unsaid was that it was too late with Touya being dead. Exposing so much of herself to another person left her feeling empty and exhausted. She felt like she had given the little ghost pieces of herself that she couldn't get back.
"I know." The little ghost simply stated as if he completely understood what she meant. But how could he? He knew nothing about her childhood. The anger erupted like a volcano.
"What do you mean you know? You barely know me!" Fuyumi quietly yelled at him. Even when she was enraged, she was still considerate of others as she made sure not to wake up anyone with the sound of her yelling. The little ghost flinched at her sudden change in tone. She tried to ignore how uncomfortable she felt at making him flinch. Her mouth felt dry.
"I'm sorry." She forcibly mumbled out. The little ghost seemed a bit taken back, a slight glimmer of a smile hanging on his face.
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean to." The little ghost smiled sweetened the way her twin used to. Her gut churned and she struggled to breathe. They both knew he meant that she didn't mean to erupt on him. He scooted closer and patted her head.
Her smile felt more forced and stretched funny as she returned his with one of her own. She was tempted to try to rip her smile from her face. She didn't quite pinpoint what she felt about the little ghost copying her twin's mannerisms.
She still leaned into the ghost's touch and laid her head on his shoulder. The silence felt comfortable even if it felt like it stretched on. Just being in his presence was relaxing. She wondered if the feeling of safety was because he was copying Touya.
The little ghost must have a copycat quirk or something. Maybe he picked up the personality and appearance of Touya through his quirk. Touya no longer existed on the same plane of existence as she does.
Her eyelids felt heavy as she continued to rest on his shoulder. His body felt solid and real. He didn't feel anything like what most people call ghostlike. She wondered if he was an expectation of the rule. A ghost or hallucination would not be so real.
She slowly drifted off on his shoulder. The little ghost gently brushed the hair out of her eyes. He waited until her breathing evened out. He gingerly maneuvered her off his shoulder and onto her futon. He tiptoed out of her room and into her twin's old room.
It was pitch dark within the room, but he could perfectly picture it. The posters of his favorite animes on his walls that his father would have called childish if he ever bothered to step in his room. A little bonsai tree that was a gift from his mother on his bedside table. His clothes were piled up on his desk chair. His desk was neatly organized with each supply having its place. His bass guitar and his violin sit side by side next to his bookshelf of classics and manga.
This feeling of being detached from everything invaded his mind. Any small comfort he had felt at seeing his old room evaporated with how out of the place he felt. This was Touya's room and Touya was dead. Nothing felt like it belonged to him anymore.
The little ghost wondered why he kept coming back to his former residence. He still treasured his connections to Fuyumi, Natsuo, and Shouto, but he also desired to burn the bridges that connected them. He was no longer the older brother he had been. He wondered if he was just bringing more pain to Fuyumi instead of closure.
He drifted over towards the little bonsai tree that he still took care of. It was the only gift his mother had sent to him. He wished he didn't care about the tree as much as he did. The mother had not been there for Touya, but she had been there for Shouto. It shouldn't bother him.
Fuyumi and Touya were forced to take on the responsibility of looking after their younger siblings, taking care of chores, cooking, and looking after each other. Even before their mother was taken away, she was not capable of taking care of herself much less her children.
The little ghost decided to peep into the rest of the house. He tiptoed into the kitchen. A wave of nostalgia hit him as he recalled all his good and bad memories in this kitchen. He remembered Natsuo somehow managed to burn instant ramen. How much Shouto enjoyed baking with him. How Fuyumi always enjoyed a good cup of green tea with lemon.
He barely remembered his own mother's smile, but she used to like to make pork dumplings. When Touya was young, the kitchen was her favorite room and she taught him how to cook. It was one of the few warm memories he had of her.
He glanced into their dining room with six places. His eyes wandered around the room, but he kept looking back at Endeavor's seat at the table. The house still looked the same it had three years ago. His heartbeat felt like it got caught in his throat.
He would visit to see Fuyumi, Natuso, and Shouto, but he never came to visit Endeavor. The monster of his nightmares hurt his baby brother and left his twin and his favorite brother to fend for themselves. The bitterness seemed to rise within him as he thought of Endeavor. After all, Endeavor had severely injured him and left him to die.
The little ghost was startled out of his thoughts at the sight of a little shrine. He had not noticed that before. His breath caught in his throat at the realization that it was Touya's picture. The photograph was of a teenager with white hair and lifeless eyes. He wore his school uniform and appeared to wish to be anywhere but there.
The little ghost heard heavy footsteps. Only one person that it could be: Endeavor. His heart started to pound against his chest. The wood creaked as he continued to make his way over towards him. His hands began to tremble. He needed to get away from him. His throat felt too dry for him to swallow.
He started to panic and he felt that he couldn't breathe. It felt like something was blocking his airway. His stomach was churning and partially doing backflips when the door opened. Endeavor must have walked into the kitchen with a glass of water. He could hear his feet shuffling in the other room. He stopped breathing, listening to the thundering footsteps.
He thought his heart stopped when the footsteps approached the dining room. Time seemed to slow down as Endeavour turned the knob. The man who frequented his nightmares saw him for the first time since Touya's death. Endeavor froze in his tracks and dropped his glass of water in shock.
"Touya?" Had it been anyone else, their eyes would be brimming with tears. The shock on his face was the most emotion he had seen on his face besides rage and indifference. The little ghost shifted his weight from left to right and slipped into his usual facade.
"Hey, old man. Still the same bastard as always?" He smirked, leaning heavily against the counter. He ignored how his legs felt like jelly as he looked at Endeavor's imposing figure.
A wave of regret crashed in Endeavor. Endeavor had trained Touya harder for his attitude that he would not tolerate. The guilt he felt eating himself up inside was too late for his dead son.
"I wish I had been a better father to you, to Shouto, to Fuyumi, and Natsuo. I wish it had not taken your death and Fuyumi's rage for me to understand what I was doing is wrong." Endeavor wanted to hug his eldest son who was a gift that he did not appreciate until after he died. The little ghost could feel the guilt and shame in his voice.
Something clicked in his brain. It was the realization that Touya's death was not the turning point for his father. He regretted that Touya's death caused him to realize how lonely he is. None of his children loved Enji. Killing Touya had become all about himself.
It left a sour taste in his mouth. Endeavor was a villain just as evil as those incarcerated in Tartarus. The fact that Enji did not care as he destroyed the lives of the people who should have mattered most to him in an attempt to become the first-ranked hero.
Endeavor's eyes seemed softer as he approached the little ghost. The little ghost averted his eyes away from Endeavor, trying to focus on breathing. Endeavor gently places his hands on the ghost's shoulders. The little ghost misses the way his eyes almost seemed to widen in surprise. Endeavor realizes that he can touch the ghost.
The little ghost instinctively recoils from his touch. Endeavor ignores the twinge of hurt from the ghost moving away. Endeavor is confused by the fact that he was able to touch the ghost.
"Touya-"
"I'm not Touya! You killed Touya!" The venom in his voice stings as his murderous stare meets Endeavor. Tears are streaming down the ghost. Endeavor was still stuck on how he was able to touch a ghost.
"I'm sorry. I failed you." Endeavor whispered to the ghost. The ghost shook his head and crossed his arms. He could not come up with any reason that Touya would have a physical form as a ghost. Touya cackles, an unhinged laugh as he teeters on the blink of falling into a meltdown.
"Do you think your apology changes anything? You hurt the people you should have protected the most. Did you see how overwhelmed Fuyumi felt? How invisible Natsuo feel? Or how lonely Shouto felt? " The little ghost slammed his hands onto the table as he shook with rage. The little ghost felt his anger and hatred filling his lungs up like smoke, choking him as he struggled to breathe. Endeavor was paralyzed in fear as he heard the little ghost silently scream as upon Touya had in his last moments. Endeavor wanted to save the little ghost, but he knew it was too little, too late. Endeavor would not realize until later that each time a part of the little ghost disappears after every touch.
Endeavor resists the urge to hug the little ghost. The little ghost grinds his teeth together and glares at his monster. The little ghost holds back his tears. If he were still alive, this would be the point in the argument where he would yell back at Endeavor. His rage would boil over and his temper was just as bad as Endeavor. God, did that make him no better than Endeavor? He felt so close to hysterically laughing and crying.
The little ghost did not notice Endeavor's tears. Fake crocodile tears. His rage bubbled within as Endeavor tried to tell him he had changed. Changed because of him, not for him. Right, never for him. The little ghosts' flames burned down the dining room table. Endeavor only took two steps back.
The useless son is no threat to me is what his behavior said to them. The little ghost does not realize that Endeavor stepped back to give them some space. They see his grief and only see lies. It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. They had overstayed their welcome. Endeavor doesn't miss the way he taps his wrist or the grim determination edged into his face.
'Goodbye, Enji Todoroki." There is a note of finality in their voice. Endeavor quickly moves forward, reaching toward the ghost of Touya. The puzzle piece suddenly connects in his head.
"Wait! Touya, are you ali-" Endeavor's voice booms through the whole house, shaking the walls.
The little ghost poofs out the Todoroki household. And, once again, Endeavor is too late.