CHAPTER FORTY - A SUNDAY ROAST - PART 1
Shigaraki was nervous. No, scratch that, he was beyond nervous. He was downright terrified. It was Sunday and that meant he was going to meet Dabi's family for the first time.
Dabi had told him everything he needed to know about the Todoroki family; he knew Dabi had two brothers, Natsuo - who he had met briefly at Dabi's birthday party - and Shoto, and one sister, Fuyumi, who were all younger than him, and had even shown him a few pictures of the sibling trio.
In another photo, Dabi had talked about his parents. Shigaraki could tell he was extremely fond of his mother but his Father, Endeavor, was an entirely different story. Dabi did not paint a good picture of him which only made Shigaraki more anxious to meet him.
But he had met Endeavor before, hadn't he? At school, in the hall with Dabi just before they had officially started dating. Endeavor had come to pick Dabi up and briefly looked Shigaraki over before dismissing him just as quickly.
Would he do the same thing now? Or would it be much worse once he knew that his son was dating him? Another boy...
"Dabi?"
"Mm?"
When Shigaraki stopped walking, Dabi also paused on the sidewalk looking back over his shoulder at his clearly distressed boyfriend. He wanted to reassure Shigaraki, but he wasn't sure there were any words that would make him feel more content. He had tried. Physically, a hug might work, but touching him was out of the question, they were out in public after all and very close to Dabi's family's home. Shigaraki did not want to even hold his hand.
"Are you sure they're okay with me coming over?"
"Yes, I told them I was bringing someone."
"Someone."
Dabi snorted a laugh, "You have nothing to worry about." Dabi reached out and touched Shigaraki's forearm gently, giving it a little squeeze, "But if you're not comfortable with this, we can turn around and go back to the dorms."
That was his out. And Shigaraki almost took it, the words were right at the edge of his mouth, if not for the look Dabi was giving him. He knew Dabi was being serious about turning back, he would absolutely do that for him, but Shigaraki could also see the hope in his eyes that their plans would not suddenly change. Dabi wanted him to meet his family.
Shigaraki groaned and scrubbed a hand roughly down his face before he started to walk forward again. Dabi grinned and happily fell into step, snatching his boyfriend's hand and qucikly linking their fingers before Shigaraki had time to protest.
"It's going to be fine." Dabi lifted their combined hands and smacked a kiss against Shigaraki's knuckles. "They will love you because I love you."
"Tch." Shigaraki sneered and then drew his arm away, tucking both of his hands deep into his pockets. "I don't think it works that way."
… … …
The Todoroki family home was just as Shigaraki remembered. The lawn was neatly manicured and the shrubs and hedges trimmed to perfection so no leaf was out of place. Even the long stone walkway up to the front door was free of any dirt or debris. Picture perfect.
Shigaraki pushed the loose light hair away from eyes, pensive about going forward. He thought that maybe he should have at the very least gotten a haircut before he met Dabi's family. The garden looked a lot more put together than he did.
"You good?" Dabi asked as he unlocked the door and stepped into a spacious foyer, moving to the side so Shigaraki could enter after him.
"Yeah. I guess."
Dabi closed the door behind him and offered Shigaraki a supportive smile as he glanced about curious yet anxiously.
"I'm right here with you."
It was quiet in the foyer but beyond he could hear a TV blaring in the background and muffled voices chatting. No one seemed to pay much attention to their arrival until a soft, feminine voice called out from somewhere inside the house.
"Toya? Is that you?"
"Hi, mom." Dabi returned, using the toe of one shoe to pull off the other. Shigaraki did the same until they were both padding past the foyer in their socks.
There was some clinking of what sounded like a stack of dishes being moved around before Dabi's mom met them in the hall, a smile on her face as she brushed her hands down her cooking apron.
"I'm so glad you're home." She smiled again and then her gray eyes drifted over to Shigaraki who was half-shielded slash protected by Dabi's larger frame, "Is this the friend you keep talking about?"
Shigaraki arched his brow. So Dabi had mentioned him. As a friend. But only as a friend?
Dabi nodded his head and then leaned forward and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek in greeting. "Yes, this is Shigaraki Tomura. Tomura, my mom, Rei."
"Hi." Shigaraki smiled nervously and bowed his head, "Thanks for having me over."
"Oh," Rei replied, waving her hand dismissively at the gratitude. "I enjoy cooking for my family and their friends, you're welcome anytime."
Shigaraki felt a little less uneasy now, she seemed nice. He wasn't really sure what to expect from the spouse of Endeavor, maybe someone equally as intimidating, but Rei was like a polar opposite of the number two hero. She was a slight woman, with kind eyes, and a warm smile. What he thought a mother should be.
A timer went off in the kitchen and Rei swung her head in the direction of the buzzing then back to them. "And I should be getting back to it."
"Okay," Dabi said, grabbing Shigaraki's wrist and tugging him in the opposite direction, "Well we're going to go to my room for a…"
"Hang on," Rei requested, "Your Father will be home any minute now."
"Great." Dabi said sarcastically.
"So," She continued, fixing the collar of Dabi's jacket with a gentle, motherly kind of touch, "Everyone else is in the kitchen already. Come and get a drink before we eat."
Dabi gave Shigaraki an apologetic look. He wanted to get some alone time with his boyfriend before they joined the chaos of his family, maybe ease him into it before he was thrust right into the thick of it all. But it seemed like that wasn't going to be an option.
"Did you bring out the good stuff?" Dabi joked as they made their way down the hall.
Rei laughed softly.
When they entered the kitchen, three pairs of eyes immediately turned to greet them. They were all sitting around a large dining room table that was set off to the side of the kitchen, almost like a whole other room.
"Toya!" A small voice called out, a chair screeched against the floor and then from around the corner of the table his younger brother came hurtling towards him. He smacked into Dabi's legs and wrapped his arms around his waist.
"Hi, Shoto." Dabi said, petting gently over his little brother's two-toned head. Half his hair was white, the other red. "Did you miss me?"
"Yes!"
Shigaraki thought he was very cute.
"Who's that?" Shoto asked, glancing shyly over at Shigaraki with the same piercing blue eyes as Dabi's. Well, one piercing blue eye. Like his hair, his eyes were also two different colors.
"This is my… very good friend, Shigaraki. We go to school together."
"I thought Takami was your friend."
Dabi laughed, "I have a lot of friends."
At the table, Dabi's two other siblings chuckled and even whispered under their breath, "Yeah, right."
Dabi shot them a scathing glance.
"Are you going to be a Hero too?" Shtoto asked, eyes lighting up.
Shigaraki half-smiled, "Yes, well I hope to be."
"Cool!" He grinned, "I like your gloves."
"Ah, thanks." Shigaraki replied, rubbing one hand awkwardly against the other.
"Okay. Can I have my legs back?" Dabi asked, trying to pry his brother away. Shoto complied and immediately jogged back to his seat at the table, resuming the game he had been playing on a Nintendo Switch.
"Where's Hana?" Dabi asked his other brother, Natsuo, as he pulled out a chair for Shigaraki, offering him a seat at the table.
"She couldn't make it. Had to work."
"On a Sunday night, huh? That's rough." Dabi said as he sank down into his own chair. "You two have met before, right?" Dabi asked, looking from his brother to his boyfriend.
"Yeah, briefly. At your birthday party." Natsuo commented, "Hey."
"Hi." Shigaraki acknowledged with a nod.
"And this is my sister, Fuyumi."
"Nice to meet you, Shigaraki." She grinned over the edge of her phone and then flicked her gaze over to Dabi with a knowing grin.
"You know," Natsuo started, eyes narrowing as he looked at Shigaraki, surveying him, "You look different..."
"How so?" Shigaraki asked, brow arched.
"I don't know." He scratched at the side of his face, head angling,"It's your hair maybe. It's longer and a lot… whiter… Do you color it?"
"Nah," Shigaraki shook his head, "It's from all the stress." He was only half-joking. Actually, the subject of his rapidly changing hair color was a sensitive topic for him. He felt pretty self-conscious about it, like he was aging well beyond his years.
"Shit." Natsuo laughed, "Suits you though."
"Ah, thanks." Shigaraki replied, absently tucking a lock behind his ear.
"You fit in with this group," Rei added, placing two small hand-painted sake cups down on the table before Dabi and himself. A colorful sake carafe followed it. "Perhaps you could convince my son to stop dy-"
"Mom!" Dabi cut her off, shaking his head and Shigaraki raised one of his brows.
"Okay, sorry." She grinned, and then filled the boy's cups with sake.
Shigaraki already knew that Dabi dyed his hair black. That was not news to him so maybe Dabi's reaction had more to do with his parents nagging him about it than the colour itself. A small grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. He liked Dabi's black hair, it was a pretty compliment to his vibrant blue eyes.
"Mommy, i'm hungry." Shoto said from across the table, he looked up at Rei with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes.
"I know, baby. Your Father should be-"
And as if right on cue, a deep male voice called out from the foyer, announcing his arrival.
"Sorry, we're late."
Shigaraki's heart began to beat a little more rapidly and he swallowed hard. That was fucking Endeavor! He was about to share a dinner with Endeavor! Dabi, noticing Shigaraki's sudden discomfort, moved his hand to Shigaraki's thigh beneath the table, squeezing it gently. They shared a brief smile.
"And there he is now." Rei announced, setting the last plates and chopsticks out on the table and then moving out of the kitchen to greet her husband.
"Oh, Takami! What a pleasant surprise."
"Hi Rei!"
Shigaraki couldn't help from scowling at that bright honey toned voice. It was a natural reaction to hearing that damn golden bird… or seeing him… or talking to him. Fuck.
"Sorry, I didn't know he was coming." Dabi said, sighing bitterly.
"Does he come to your family dinners often?" Shigaraki asked.
"Yeah, but usually he tells me." Dabi explained, looking over his shoulder and laying his arm across the back of Shigaraki's chair. "But if he was with my dad, he probably got invited at the last minute."
"Oh."
Takami flounced into the kitchen with Dabi's parents in tow. Dabi consciously removed his arm and laid it back under the table.
"Yo!" He said, greeting the rest of the family but stopped when he saw Shigaraki sitting at the table. "Hey! Shiggy, didn't know you would be here."
"Takami, don't call him that. You know he doesn't like it." Dabi appealed before his boyfriend and best-friend started exchanging unkind words in front of his family.
"My mistake." His returning grin was just for pretense. He didn't really care whether Shigaraki liked it or not.
The bird boy slapped his hand on Dabi's shoulder, "Big night, huh?" He said under his breath before taking one of the empty seats at the table, next to Shoto.
"Shut up." Dabi returned, "Just, keep whatever you're thinking to yourself."
"What? I'm not saying anything." He said without looking over at the two boys, he started chatting with Shoto and asking him about his game he was playing.
"Fuck me." Dabi exclaimed, quietly. This was not something he had prepared for.
At the head of the table, Endeavor sat down, and Rei smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder as she poured him a drink.
Shigaraki felt his immense presence immediately, like storm clouds had just rolled in and it was threatening to rain.
"Who's this?" Endeavor asked, turning his stern blue gaze from Dabi to Shigaraki.
"This is Shigaraki Tomura. He is in my, our," He corrected, referring to Takami across the table, "Class at school."
'Another aspiring Hero," Endeavor started, "Welcome to our home."
Shigaraki's entire face felt much too warm in the presence of the number two hero. He nodded his head politely and managed to get out a couple of words, "Thank you."
"Everyone hungry?" Rei asked, setting down some dishes, family style, on the table. She walked back to the kitchen and then returned again with even more food. Enough to feed an army it seemed.
Shigaraki was glad for the distraction, he didn't like being the center of Endeavor's attention at all.
To be continued…