"Sorry about that," he said, smiling once again. "Are you two alright?"
The two boys stared at him, then at the body of their father, then back up at him. "Is he… dead?" the younger one asked.
"No, little one, he is not! I strive not to kill humans!" Kyojuro noted how the children flinched back at his voice and withheld a wince. He knew he had always struggled with volume control but it had only gotten worse after his fight with the flute demon so long ago when he had ruptured his own eardrums.
Leaving the man lying on the floor behind him, feeling safe in the knowledge that his attack would keep him down and out for quite some time, Kyojuro slowly walked towards the children. He kneeled down to sit a few feet away from them. The older one, at his approach, stumbled to his feet to stand protectively in front of his brother once more. Kyojuro examined the boy, focusing especially on his poorly wrapped bandages and his already swelling cheek. "You were struck," he said, much softer this time, watching the suspicious blue eyes widen with surprise. "I am sorry I could not prevent this from happening. I do not usually fight humans so I was initially hesitant but that allowed harm to befall you and for that I am sorry." He bowed his head deeply to the boy.
After a long beat of silence, the child responded falteringly, "It's alright? You don't have to bow, most people wouldn't have done anything at all."
"Hm," Kyojuro acknowledged, internally disagreeing but still raising his head to smile comfortingly at the children. "My name is Rengoku Kyojuro and I am the Flame Hashira. What are your names?"
The younger one piped up this time. "I'm Shouto and this is my Touya-nii."
"It's very nice to meet you, Shouto-chan, Touya-kun!" Kyojuro exclaimed as quietly as he could, "Is this man your father?" He thought the answer was obvious but he figured he should still ask.
The two boys nodded, small and bandaged faces showing discomfort.
"I can not, in good faith, allow you to remain with your father," he told the children, allowing his smile to drop to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. "Can your mother or any other relatives take care of you? Would you be safe from your father with them?"
The boys shook their heads, the smaller one reaching up to cover his wrapped eye at the mention of his mother while the older one stiffened briefly in rage at the mention of their relatives.
Well, this certainly wasn't ideal. Kyojuro sighed through his nose, contemplating. "Do you have any friends who you could stay with?"
Touya shook his head. "No," he said shortly, "none that wouldn't hand us right back over to Endeavor." The boy looked bitter, like he had tried it before and learned that the hard way.
"Hmm." Kyojuro frowned, debating internally. He had no idea where he was or what was going on, the date was all wrong and he had the sinking feeling that his family was gone, but he couldn't just abandon these children to their fate. He had to do what he could to help them. He had to. "If you aren't opposed, I could take you with me," he told the boys.
Their eyes widened, obviously not expecting that. Seeing the disbelief setting in, he continued.
"I have combat training, as you've seen, so I can defend you. I also helped raise my brother so I know what children need in order to stay healthy and generally happy. Along with that, I truly can't allow you to stay with a parent who would abuse you or with another adult who would let you return to said abusive parent.
"I am completely willing to take the two of you with me," he told them, tone and face as serious as he could make them. "I am completely willing to do all I can to keep you safe and away from this man, as long as you are willing to come with me."
"...four," Shouto, the little one said.
"Four?" Kyojuro repeated questioningly.
Shouto looked up at his brother, quiet and shy. Touya fidgeted a little bit before responding. "We've got two other siblings. If you wanted to take us, you'd be dealing with four kids."
That changed… well, it would change a lot down the road, Kyojuro was sure, but all it did in the moment was make him even more determined to get them all out of the terrible situation they were currently stuck in. "Alright," Kyojuro decided, "they'll come too, I'll protect them too."
The two children stared at him, clearly shocked at his easy acceptance. "Just, just like that?" Touya questioned him, blue eyes intense. "You haven't even met them yet and you're already agreeing to risk your safety for them?"
Kyojuro smiled widely at the boy, straightening as much as he could while remaining on his knees. "Of course!" he declared. "I've risked life and limb for hundreds of people I've never met and I am not stopping now! Especially not when the safety of a child is at risk."
Touya's blue eyes drilled into his own red and yellow ones, visibly evaluating Kyojuro and what he had said. Kyojuro met his gaze with all the weight of someone who had died and would do so again, willing Touya to understand the truth held in his words. Eventually Touya acquiesced, nodding and helping Shouto to his feet.
"C'mon," Touya said to Kyojuro, "Come meet the kids you're gonna be helping."
Kyojuro looked at the four small faces staring up at him. This was… not at all what he had planned but he was determined to make the best of the situation.
"Alright," he started, clasping his hands together in front of him, "Here's the plan: we're all going to pack up some essentials and then we're going to find an inn or a hotel or something to stay for the night before we travel to a new location tomorrow. I can help you pack if you need it. That sound good to everyone?"
"Yes, sir, Rengoku-san," the four children chorused.
Smiling at them, Kyojuro chuckled. "There's no need for that, little ones! Just call me Kyojuro, or Kyojuro-san if you must use honorifics. Now! Let's begin!"
With that, the three younger children ran off to their rooms. Touya remained, though, staring up at Kyojuro with his blue, blue eyes. "Yes, Touya-kun? Do you need help packing?"
The boy shook his head, continuing to stare up at Kyojuro. Kyojuro kept smiling but it was quickly beginning to get quite awkward. Touya clearly had something he wanted to say but Kyojuro was at a loss as to what it was and why he wasn't saying it. Just before Kyojuro was about to ask again, Touya evidently decided he had made the flame pillar wait long enough.
"I already have a go-bag packed," the boy said, "but I don't have enough stuff for all my siblings as well. I wasn't thinking I'd be able to take them. I know the combo to Endeavor's safe, though, so I can open it for you."
"Oh," Kyojuro replied, blinking slowly, "that's very helpful of you! Why don't we do that and then check on your siblings?"
Touya started at him for another beat before turning and entering a different hallway opposite the one his siblings had departed to. Figuring that he was likely leading Kyojuro in his own, slightly disconcerting way, Kyojuro followed along behind him.
Walking from the living room past the kitchen, the pair entered a hallway full of closed doors, finally stopping in front of an identical, also closed, sliding wooden door. Reaching out and testing to see if it was open, Kyojuro found that it was locked. Before he could do anything else, Touya reached out a hand, placed it over the lock, and, in a quick few seconds, melted straight through the door in a flash of blue fire.
"Amazing! I don't believe I've ever seen flames that color! How did you do that?" Kyojuro asked, nearly bouncing in place due to his excitement.
Touya looked at him, frowning slightly. "It's not that impressive, it's just my quirk."
Kyojuro nodded. Earlier, in the midst of introductions, it became obvious that whatever had happened to Kyojuro had landed him in some other world or… something. No one was quite clear on what had actually happened nor did they have any ideas on how to find out. In short, Kyojuro had explained that he fought demons, which this world evidently didn't have, and used a technique that allowed him to manipulate fire. Upon hearing their explanation of quirks and heroes, he was certain that breathing techniques were different as theoretically anyone could learn them. Quirks, though, were unique to each person and they could only use the ones they were born with. Evidently, the people he had seen before that reminded him of demons were simply people with mutation aspects to their quirks, changing their bodies to look different from the "normal" human.
Even knowing about quirks and that the four children had them, Kyojuro knew it would take a while for him to get used to them. Still, they needed to continue preparing to leave, so he gestured for Touya to open the door.
The two of them made their way into an office, lights flickering on as they entered. The room was fairly large, clearly a multipurpose room that had been dedicated for use as an office for quite some time. There were papers and binders in somewhat organized stacks all over the room, almost all of which were some stage of singed. Touya stepped behind the large desk to a metal filing cabinet, pulling open the bottom drawer to reveal a black metal safe. The safe was rectangular and placed in such a way that the door was on top, allowing it to be opened without removing it from the drawer.
Touya crouched down and began pressing a long string of numbers on a set of buttons. Kyojuro only caught the first few numbers (0-8-0-8-) before he lost track. Glancing up at him, Touya explained. "It's Endeavor's birthday and then the date he reached #2 hero." Kyojuro nodded, grateful for the information even if it wasn't actually all that useful to him.
Finishing up the series of numbers, a green light blinked on the box and the door unlatched. Touya pulled the door open and Kyojuro's eyes widened at the large amount of bills in the safe. Touya started grabbing the stacks of money from the safe with both hands. He handed some up to Kyojuro to hold but kept a good amount in his own arms. Having emptied the safe of money, leaving some various papers and files behind, Touya stood and turned to Kyojuro. "I'm sure there are bags in Endeavor's room. We can use one of those to hold the money. Also," he added, looking Kyojuro up and down, "you should probably use some of his clothes. You're very… conspicuous."
Kyojuro nodded, still in shock at the amount of money he was handling. He knew his own family was quite affluent, as were a good percentage of his friends, but he had never seen this many yen notes in one location before. Leaving the office, they went to the room directly next door which Touya shouldered open to reveal the master suite. It was a large room occupied partially by a huge futon in the center and several dressers on the sides of the room.
Touya dumped his armfuls of money onto the bed and went over to the dressers to begin rifling through them. Kyojuro followed his lead, opening the drawer closest to him. He blinked, seeing a collection of jewelry and accessories clearly belonging to a woman. He would not have guessed this room had been shared by a couple otherwise as it had very little personality to it, nothing like how his own parents' room had looked when his mother was still alive. He saw several images that were clearly of the Todoroki children and their father alongside a pretty, petite woman who was likely their mother. Feeling Touya approaching, Kyojuro glanced back at him. "Do you want anything of your mother's?" he asked. He knew he would have wanted to take something of his own mother along with him had his father not hidden it all away, but he wasn't sure exactly how Touya or the other children felt towards their own mother. Their earlier responses had been… vague on that subject and he sensed whatever happened was still a touchy subject for the children.
Touya nodded, standing on his tiptoes to peek into the drawer, slightly too short to see inside it easily. He gently took out a beautifully crafted and jeweled silver ring on a matching silver chain.
"This was my grandmother's wedding ring," the boy said softly, staring down at where it rested in his hand. "She gave it to my mother when she married my father. Mother started wearing it on a chain after Endeavor first hit her. She stopped wearing it entirely a little after Shouto was born." The boy was quiet for a few seconds before looking up at Kyojuro. "She called my grandmother, my mother did. She said, "Please help me, help us, he won't stop hurting my children and he hurts me when I try to stop him," but that woman didn't care. Her family got money and prestige for being connected to such a high ranking hero, why should she care if her daughter or grandchildren got a few bruises?"
Touya's fist closed around the ring, fire burning in his eyes. "I hate her," he confessed to Kyojuro, staring unblinkingly up at him. "I hate all of them. They never did anything. They knew and they didn't do anything. Mother stopped trying to help us after the third or fourth time she was hit and just ignored Shouto's screams, my screams. She's the one who scarred Shouto, you know, who made it so he might never see again. I don't love her anymore, I can't, but…" He sighed, unclenching his fist and looking back down at the ring in his palm. "But my siblings still love her. I don't want to ever see her face again, but I don't think they'd forgive me if they knew I made it so that they couldn't either." Turning away from Kyojuro and his mother's dresser, Touya walked back over to the drawers he had been searching previously. "Pack whatever photos you like, I don't care. Try to avoid the ones with Endeavor, though, there's no point in keeping those ones."
Kyojuro looked at Touya's back, eyes wide. This poor child. This poor child and all of his siblings had been hurt for years and left to fend for themselves. Kyojuro's fists clenched by his sides. Not anymore, he decided. Now, he was here to take care of them, and he would never stand aside if he saw them hurting. He would defend them with his life. Nodding firmly to himself, he turned back to the drawer and sifted through the pictures, amazed somewhere behind his righteous fury at how clear and colorful they were. Selecting a few, mostly group shots of the children but also a handful that had their mother along with them, Kyojuro placed them on the empty top of the dresser before closing the drawer he had been perusing. Opening the next drawer down, he found more accessories, along with quite a few purses and other bags. He reached down and pulled out a large duffle bag, turning back to face Touya once more. "Is this what you're looking for, Touya-kun?"
The boy looked at him over his shoulder. "Oh, yeah, that works," he said, nodding decisively. "Here," he continued, holding up a pair of gray pants that Kyojuro could already tell would be too large for him, "Your top half isn't all that noticeable once you take off the cape, but you should put these on."
Kyojuro scooped up the photographs and brought them and the bag over to place on the bed next to the money before going over to Touya and grabbing the pants. He looked them over for a second before shrugging and pulling them on over his clothes. He had been right, they were made for a much taller person than him, so he pulled their drawstring about as tight as it would go and knelt to roll the ends to a more manageable length. "There!" he announced, standing back up. Kyojuro detached his cape and turned around to place it into the bag. Hearing Touya make a small, seemingly distressed noise from behind him, Kyojuro stopped, facing the boy once more. "What is it? Are you alright?" he asked, almost frantic.
"You'll need a jacket, too," Touya said, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Your shirt says "Murder" on the back, it's too noticeable. Here, there were coats in this drawer," the boy said, turning around and rustling through various pieces of cloth. "This one should work," Touya said, handing Kyojuro a black jacket with a little red fire symbol on it.
Kyojuro took it and put it on. It fit surprisingly well, likely an old jacket that Endeavor could no longer wear. "It fits well!" Kyojuro said. "Now, we should go ahead and pack everything up and then gather your siblings."
Touya nodded, turning to the futon and beginning to place the stacks of money into the duffle. Kyojuro picked one up, examining it closer. Each stack was less than an inch thick, held together by a band of paper around the middle. All in all, there must have been millions upon millions of yen in front of him. Seeing Touya hold his hand out expectantly, Kyojuro placed the notes into the boy's palm. He grabbed the pictures from the bed and wrapped them gently in his cape to hopefully prevent them from being damaged. Kyojuro placed the parcel on top of the money in the bag before zipping it up and swinging its strap over his shoulder. "Come now, Touya, let's find your siblings!"
Touya nodded slightly, turning and leaving the room with Kyojuro once again following behind him. They passed by the kitchen and through the living room once more before entering a different hallway, this one also lined with doors. The difference in this hallway, however, was that four doors were flung open with the noise of busy children coming from inside. Touya, Kyojuro could sense, moved into one of the rooms with open doors. Kyojuro was struck, not for the first time in the short while he had known the boy, by how quietly he moved. Had Kyojuro's senses not been as carefully honed as they were, he likely would have missed his motions entirely.
Kyojuro peeked into the open door to the left of him, opposite to the one Touya had entered. He saw Fuyumi, the second eldest and only girl, staring at some folded clothes in her hands. He knocked gently on the doorframe, gaining her attention. "You alright there, Fuyumi-chan?"
The girl glanced at him and nodded, humming a little in deliberation. "How many pairs of school uniforms do you think I should take? I have four, but I shouldn't need all four, right?" She looked back again, eyes wide with the innocence of youth.
Kyojuro wasn't sure what to say. He was certain that the children would not be able to return to the same schools but he knew that might be upsetting to hear for a young child such as her. Entering the room, he sat on the floor beside her futon where she was evidently placing items she was planning on taking with them. Deciding it would be best to be as straightforward as always, Kyojuro mimicked her earlier little hum before turning away from the bed in order to meet her gaze. "I don't think you should take any with you. If we don't want your father to find us, you kids aren't going to be going to the same schools as you're attending now."
He saw her face fall but she took a deep breath and quietly said, "That's understandable, I suppose."
His heart broke once more for these children. They had been forced to grow and mature much too quickly, losing a good portion of their childhood in the process. "It's alright to be upset," Kyojuro said quietly, "It's a big change for you and it's very sudden. I'll do anything you need to make it easier."
He watched as her bottom lip wobbled and it felt like the shards of his heart were being ground to dust in his chest. "It's fine," she said, sniffling a little bit. "If I cry now, I won't stop anytime soon and we really should be on our way. I'm just gonna…" she trailed off, turning back to her open bag and carefully taking the folded uniforms out from within, placing them back into the drawer beside her.
Kyojuro reached up slowly and carefully ruffled her hair. The strands felt just as soft as Senjuro's always felt and the way she tensed briefly before relaxing into it also felt just like Senjuro. Suddenly Kyojuro was the one with a wobbly lip. Standing and turning away from her, he discreetly wiped his eyes, briefly appreciating the presence of the left one once again. "Well," he announced, throat tight and voice thick, "I'm going to check on your other siblings, alright? You're doing a very good job packing and I'm proud of you, Fuyumi-chan."
He turned back to her with his standard smile on his face to hide his inner turmoil. She was staring up at him with warm gray eyes, surprise and awe written across her tiny features, clearly unused to praise. His smile turned a little softer at the sight and his heart hurt a little less severely as he turned to go help her brothers, leaving the girl to absorb his words on her own time.
Moving to the next open door along the hallway, he found that both of the youngest brothers were inside. The older one, Natsuo, whose hair was almost entirely white, was helping Shouto pack a child-sized red bag. "Go grab your tennis shoes, Shoutouto, I'll grab your raincoat from your dresser," the taller child instructed. The two boys turned to do so and noticed Kyojuro standing by the door. "Oh, hey," Natsuo said, smiling up at Kyojuro. "Did you help Yumi-nee finish packing already?"
"Not quite. She's still got a bit to do but she sent me away to make sure you guys were doing alright," Kyojuro replied, entering the room in order to get a closer look at what they had already gathered together. He blinked upon taking in their haul. Kyojuro laughed. "You should probably bring more than just some toys and a few pairs of shoes," he told them, beaming at their sheepish expressions. "It's good you remembered to pack rain gear, though, not everyone thinks about that!"
Natsuo beamed at his praise and the world felt brighter in the light of his happiness. "Thanks, Kyojuro-san!" the boy chirped, "What else should we pack, then?"
Kyojuro took a second to think about it. His usual packing list included a lot of weaponry and other battle supplies but he knew that wasn't the same for these non-combatant children. He thought about what he would have told Senjuro to bring if they had ever left their father behind. He had spent far too much time thinking about that, so it didn't take him long to respond to Natsuo's question. "You want clothes that fit you well. We'll likely be traveling quite a bit, at least at first, and so you want to be comfortable during that period. Along with that, you want to bring anything that is irreplaceable and important to you; things you wouldn't want to live without. Besides that, you want your sanitary items like brushes and such. I can help you gather those things, if you need?" Kyojuro hoped they would accept his help. Thinking about Senjuro stuck with their father without Kyojuro as a buffer made him feel ill and he didn't want to focus on it any longer.
Luckily, Natsuo was already nodding enthusiastically with little Shouto showing much more subdued agreement from behind him. "I'll go grab our toothbrushes and stuff!" Natsuo declared, rushing off and leaving Kyojuro and Shouto behind.
Kyojuro smiled at Shouto. The boy stared up at him, his one uncovered eye wide with curiosity. Kyojuro could tell he was quiet, like his eldest brother, but it was much less offputting with him as Shouto didn't seem like he was evaluating Kyojuro's worth like Touya did. "You'll help us?" Shouto asked softly, still staring up at Kyojuro with his pale gray eye.
"Of course," Kyojuro replied gently, kneeling down to be at eye level with the child, "I'll help you with anything you need. Do you want me to help you gather up your clothes?" He extended a hand for the little boy to take and Shouto did, nodding shyly as he reached forwards and grasped Kyojuro's calloused hand with his own, softer and much smaller one.
Kyojuro smiled at him, closing his fingers around the boy's. He stood, slowly, careful not to spook the child, and led Shouto over to his dresser to begin packing. Working together, the two of them managed to mostly fill the boy's bag with clothes and some toys, leaving room on top for shoes and toiletries.
"I'm back!" Natsuo announced, sliding into the room on slippered feet. The taller boy was holding a jumble of materials in his hands. "Here, Shoutouto! Your toothbrush and toothpaste! And a comb! I told Yumi-nee and Nii-san to grab theirs as well but I've got both of ours!" Natsuo stumbled over, moving entirely too fast with slippery shoes on the slick wood flooring.
As he reached them, he began shoving his load into the side pocket of the red bag. Kyojuro laughed at his enthusiasm, reaching forwards to steady the bag as Natsuo almost knocked it entirely off the bed. "Alright, alright, there you go. Great job, little ones! Shouto-chan, why don't you grab your shoes while I help Natsuo-kun finish packing his own bag?" The two boys nodded, smiling up at him again before Natsuo darted forwards, grabbing Kyojuro's hand in his own and dragging him out of the room to the one directly across from it. Kyojuro glanced down, something in his chest squeezing at the sight of the boy's fingers struggling to reach even halfway around his own.
"This is my room!" the boy proudly declared, grandly gesturing with the hand still holding his toiletries to the mess of a room in front of them. There were clothes and sports equipment scattered all over the room, drawers open with shirts hanging out of them, futon crooked and covered in stuff. "I already packed some things," Natsuo told Kyojuro, bouncing in place, "but then Shoutouto came and asked for help and he never asks me for help so I went and helped him and then you came and you helped him too and that was really nice of you and-"
"Slow down there, Natsuo-kun!" Kyojuro laughed, gently squeezing the hand the boy was still holding on to. "I can barely understand you if you talk that fast!"
Natsuo nodded solemnly. "I'll speak slower for you, then," he said, comically over-pronouncing his words.
Kyojuro beamed at him, greatly amused by how sincere the boy was in his attempts to accommodate him. "I appreciate that, Natsuo-kun. Now, why don't you show me what you've got and we can go from there?"
Bouncing in place yet again, the boy eagerly agreed, tugging Kyojuro along to the bed and explaining what he had already packed. Kyojuro was frankly stunned by how much the boy could say in such a short period of time. He didn't think he'd ever met anyone else who could do the same.
As he was helping Natsuo finish packing, he felt a presence near the door. It was Touya, once again walking soundlessly from place to place. Kyojuro looked over his shoulder at him, smiling and noting that the bandaged boy was now wearing a black hat overtop his hair. "Yes, Touya-kun? Do you need anything?"
Touya shook his head silently, a move that was already becoming familiar to Kyojuro. The boy's intense blue eyes slid over to Natsuo standing beside Kyojuro, happily zipping up his bag.
"Yumi and Shoutouto are ready," Touya said, voice soft and expectant.
"I believe Natsuo-kun is ready as well. Are you, Touya-kun?"
Touya nodded. "Here," he said, walking towards the two in the room, "Take this." Approaching his younger brother, Touya tugged a loose fitting cloth hat over the taller boy's red and white hair. He scowled up at him, tugging on Natsuo's fringe which was pushed flat by the gray hat. "You won't always be taller than me," Touya declared, "I'll get my growth spurt soon and your neck will hurt with how far up you'll need to look!"
Natsuo cackled, pulling off his older brother's hat to muss up his hair, mixing the red and white strands together. "Sure, pipsqueak," the boy teased, "and then I'll get my growth spurt and I'll be taller than you again!"
"Hey!" Touya yelped indignantly, snatching his hat back and replacing it mulishly. The pouting boy turned back to Kyojuro, meeting his gaze. "We should get going," Touya told him.
"We should," Kyojuro agreed. They had dawdled long enough, every second longer was another second Endeavor might wake up. Natsuo grabbed his bag and the three of them stepped out into the hallway to meet the other two children, also wearing hats covering their distinctive hair.
"Alright!" Kyojuro began, eyes scanning over the children in front of him, "Everybody got everything?"
They all nodded, Natsuo adding a cheery little "Yep!" as well.
Kyojuro beamed at them. "Great! Now let's get going!"
Natsuo cheered, turning and running ahead of them to the entrance, his siblings and Kyojuro trailing behind. Reaching the entrance, the siblings switched out of their house slippers into the other shoes there. Kyojuro opened the door for them and all five people left the manor, closing the door behind them with a sense of finality.
As they walked down the entrance path towards the front gate, Kyojuro sensed someone looking up at him. He looked down to his left to meet the uncovered eye of Shouto, the youngest of the siblings. Shouto quickly glanced away, embarrassed, before peeking up at Kyojuro once more. Ever so cautiously, Shouto reached up an open palm, extending it for Kyojuro to take. Kyojuro, never one to disappoint the fragile hope of a child, smiled brightly at him and clasped their hands together, swinging them gently as they walked.
Shouto looked at him with stars in his eye, the expression so similar to ones Senjuro would make that Kyojuro had to glance away to collect himself. When he looked back down at the child, he saw that Shouto was smiling at the ground, walking beside Kyojuro with light footsteps.
The other three children were a little ahead of the two, Touya and Fuyumi walking side by side and Natsuo walking backwards in front of them, enthusiastically telling them a story. The group was walking back in the same direction Kyojuro had come, heading towards the city.
About ten minutes after leaving the house, they came upon an intersection. Touya turned back to face Kyojuro. "There's a bus station to the left," he said. "It's a 24 hour station so a bus should come by relatively soon."
Kyojuro nodded, smiling at the boy as the group turned to follow the road going to the left. He glanced down to check on Shouto and found him still smiling as their interconnected hands swung back and forth.
After another ten minutes of walking, they reached a bench with a roof and a lit screen that showed a map of colorful roads. The sign next to the bench cheerfully proclaimed that this was a bus stop.
Fuyumi stepped over and primly sat down on the bench, pulling a book from her bag and beginning to read. Touya, on the other hand, walked over to the screen and began examining it while Natsuo began swinging around the sign post. Feeling a slight tug on his hand interrupting it's swinging pattern, Kyojuro looked down to see Shouto pointing at the bench where Fuyumi was.
"Can we sit down?" the little boy asked, staring with his wide eye up at Kyojuro. "I'm tired."
"Of course," Kyojuro replied, smiling softly. Leading the boy over to the metal bench, Kyojuro took a seat next to Fuyumi with Shouto plopping down on his other side.
"The bus should be here in two minutes," Touya told the group, turning away from the board. "We got here at pretty much the perfect time, actually."
"That's great," Fuyumi said, looking up from her book to smile at her brother. "I'm pretty tired, so I'm looking forward to finding a hotel and sleeping."
Touya sat on the edge of the bench next to Fuyumi. Neither Touya nor Shouto's feet reached the ground while they sat there so both of them were idly swinging their feet back and forth. Kyojuro smiled to himself. He didn't think either of them noticed what they were doing.
It was silent for perhaps thirty seconds before Natsuo decided he'd had enough. "I'm booooored," the boy whined, still circling the pole, round and round.
Touya groaned, dramatically flinging his arms into the air in exasperation. "The bus is like, less than two minutes away!" he complained, "Why are you so impatient?"
Natsuo stuck his tongue out at his older brother. "Maybe you're just too patient, Touya-nii, ever think about that?"
"No," Touya deadpanned, "I truly don't think anyone has ever called me 'too patient' before."
Fuyumi giggled from her place next to Kyojuro. "Hmm, I don't know Touya-nii, I think you're definitely too patient. Hey, Natsu, remember that time Touya set his desk on fire because he couldn't figure out a homework problem? Too patient, totally."
Natsuo snickered, spinning around the pole even faster in his excitement. "Ooh, ooh, or that time he tried to bake cookies with his fire so they'd cook faster and then burned them all to a crisp? Definitely too patient."
Touya's face flushed red, embarrassment spreading across his features. "I'll burn you to a crisp if you keep making fun of me," he grumbled, crossing his arms with a tremendous pout.
Kyojuro smiled, greatly amused by the siblings' banter. Hearing a tiny noise from beside him, he turned to see Shouto giggling quietly where he was perched on the bench, still clutching Kyojuro's hand. The gray-eyed child was turning his head back and forth, tracking the conversation as it bounced between his siblings. The little boy's eye was wide with wonder and Kyojuro's heart filled with love for this broken family.
In the midst of their laughter, the bus arrived. Gathering all the children together and ensuring they had all their bags, Kyojuro ushered them towards the open door of the vehicle. It was a lot different to what he was used to back where he was from, but similar enough that he could recognize it for what it was. As they entered, Touya stepped up and fed a few crumpled yen notes into a slot, pressing buttons that beeped cheerily at him before he made his way onto the bus. The bus driver sitting at the front didn't even look up at them, evidently too busy rummaging through his bag.
The group of five made their way through the rows of seats to the back where they sat in one long row. There were five seats in the row so it was perfect for their small party.
"Alright," Touya declared after they had settled down. He was beside Shouto on Kyojuro's left side, Fuyumi on Kyojuro's right side and Natsuo past her. "Alright," Touya said again, "we should be in the city proper in only three or four stops but it'd be better to get off at the fifth or sixth cause that's closer to more hotels."
Kyojuro nodded, seeing the rest of the children nod as well. Natsuo sighed, turning to stare out the window as the bus began moving. Fuyumi opened her book again, flipping to where she had stuck a piece of paper in between two pages to denote where she had left off. Shouto copied Natsuo, leaning forwards a bit to see past Touya and out the window. Touya looked at his siblings with soft eyes before looking up at Kyojuro, gaze hardening, still wary. Kyojuro smiled at him, turning back towards the front of the bus and humming a little tune his mother used to sing to him. He missed his own family, yes, but he was glad he was able to help these children.
Kyojuro knew they had been hurt, much more than any child should ever have to experience. He was determined to help them, though, determined to show them a good life. It was his new purpose.
A/N: This chapter fought me behind the local 7/11 several times. I said "I want x, y, and z to happen" and it said "no, fuck you, it'll take almost 7k words just for x to happen" so like,,,, I only wrote x happening lmao.
I still think it turned out fairly well, though, tons of fluff and adorable children make up for my struggles
Just some general notes:
- Otouto is the Japanese word for little brother so,,, Shoutouto
- The demon slayer uniform has the kanji for 'metsu' on it, which means "to annihilate" or, basically, "to murder", which is what I ended up using
- For those that don't know much about honorifics, some incredibly simplified notes: -nee is used for older sisters, -nii is used for older brother, -san is used generally, -kun is used for young boys/your friends, -chan is used for young girls and little kids (like Shouto!). IDK, they can kinda be confusing at first so I felt like an explanation would be nice to offer
