Shouto had been so happy when his quirk came. It meant he could be a hero, like his dad, like All Might. Even better, it was ice and fire. Both of his parents quirks! The day the fire sparked and flickered around one hand, ice creeping it's way up his opposite arm, he thought was the happiest day of his life. His mom started crying, though. Fuyu-née and Natsuo-nii were just quiet (always quiet unless Dad is gone and Shouto doesn't understand why). His dad is smiling but it's with too many teeth, too wide. It's not a nice smile, not like the ones Mom gives him or the ones his sister and brother give. It's a bad smile and it makes him shrink into himself, letting the ice melt and the fire sputter out. He doesn't want to see that smile.

The next day, Fuyu-née wakes him up. She looks scared and sad. There are tears on her cheeks and even half asleep, Shouto does his best to make them go away. She doesn't smile or stop crying. She just says sorry, over and over, as she makes him get up and get dressed.

"D-dad- Endeavor," and his sister cuts herself off, scrubbing at her eyes. Shouto stumbles after her, through hallways he's known all his (short, so very short) life. The training room is the room everyone in the house knows and avoids. It's where Dad stops being Dad (was he ever 'Dad'? Did he ever care?) and starts being Endeavor. Shouto doesn't want to go to the training room but Fuyu-née tugs him along and she's still crying, still saying sorry, but now she's getting quieter. Quieter like how she gets around Dad, not a happy quiet.

Shouto is scared, really scared, for the first time in his life and it's the fault of his Dad and his sister.

The day he got his quirk should have been the happiest day of his life but when he faces his own Dad, fire raging and smiling a too-wide smile with too many teeth, he quickly learned that it was the worst. His fire (fire he got from his Dad- from Endeavor) flickers and rages and burns. Shouto learns to be quiet, like his siblings, learns to fear the fire.

More than the fire, his nightmares star Endeavor, who was supposed to be a hero (his hero, his dad).


"Hello Shouto," the woman with red, red hair says too loudly, grinning so widely all he can think about is Endeavor's smile, with too many teeth. She's loud even though Endeavor's around but Fuyu-née and Natsuo-nii and mom seem happy that the woman is here, happy like they haven't been in so long, and Shouto decides he likes the woman, even if she's too loud.

"I'm Kushina, your aunt. Call me Kushina-née," she introduces, hands on her hips. Shouto can only offer a small smile, hand tightening on his mom's. She squeezes back, comforting, and Shouto doesn't hide behind her leg when Endeavor glances down at him.

"How long are you staying, Kushina-chan?" Fuyu-née asks, so quiet. Shouto almost can't hear her, not in the absence of Kushina-née's loudness. The woman hums, cocking one hip in way that seems only vaguely familiar (Fuyu-née used to do that, back before when Endeavor was still Dad, and she wasn't always so sad).

"Just for a few days. Minato and Naruto'll pick me up when they come through," she says and Shouto doesn't know who Minato or Naruto are but if they make his family happy like Kushina-née does, he thinks he'll like them.

Kushina-née, he finds, is nice. She's bright and loud but mostly she's nice. Not nice in the way his family is- she is overwhelming in her kindness and gives more than she takes. She offers and laughs delightedly when he accepts but never makes it his fault when he doesn't. They eat around steady conversation, now, instead of the awkward quiet Shouto's grown used to. Even Endeavor seems nicer. Shouto doesn't believe him, though. He's not a nice man and Shouto doesn't want to get hurt again.

It's almost too good to be true. Mom and Fuyu-née and Natsuo-nii are smiling and they're happy, even if they're still quiet. But Kushina-née is loud enough to make them sound not-so-quiet. Shouto has a bad feeling about it all, even if he's happy. Endeavor doesn't like stopping training and Shouto is scared.

Scared Kushina-née will still be here when Endeavor starts training again.

Scared she won't care.

Scared she'll let it happen and offer sad, sad apologies.

And Endeavor does start training again. The fourth day of Kushina-née's visit, Fuyu-née wakes him up. She's scared. She's scared and sorry and crying and Shouto knows. His break has come to an end and that means training and training means Endeavor.

Training's harder than normal. Maybe it's because Kushin-née's here now, in one of the guest rooms. Maybe it's because he could almost see Dad for those few, short days, underneath Endeavor. Maybe it's just because the training is harder. Shouto tries to keep up. He does but it's too much and he's too weak and he just wants to go back to yesterday and the day before. He wants those days forever- not this. Not training and the too-loud quiet and the tears.

There's a rush of golden-yellow fire. It's taller than he is and too wide for him to dodge. He needs to make an ice wall, needs to- to- do something- There's a flicker of red and Shouto can't tell if it's fire or blood or (red, red hair). The fire goes around him. It shouldn't but it apparently doesn't care about what it should or shouldn't do because it does.

Kushinia-née's in front of him. Her hands are spread and she's angry. But she's not angry at Shouto- she's angry at Endeavor and that's new. It's new and scary but Shouto doesn't care. He's tired and Kushina-née's here, protecting him, so he sleeps.

(Later, he'll remember the burns on his aunt's hands. Later, he'll remember the golden chains and blood-red not-fire. Later, he'll remember a lot of things.

Most of all, he'll remember how safe Kushina had felt and how nice she was. How angry she was when she found Endeavor training him.

And he'll remember all of this and he'll realize that Kushina, not Fuyu-née or his mom, Kushina is who he loves the most.)