V

Natsuo went home without Fuyumi. While he used to dread the days without his buffer sibling, he felt like his father wouldn't be home until late tonight, after they were all asleep. He walked to the step, slipped off his shoes, and slid open the door. The nanny, May, greeted him at once.

"Is there anything I can get for you, Natsuo?" The elder woman asked. "Do you need help with your homework?"

"I'm alright," he declared at once. "Where are Teiko and Shoto?"

May smiled. "They're up in his room, playing with his new toys together."

Mom or Dad would never do that. "Thanks." He ran up and peered through the entryway. As was stated, the duo were on the floor. Natsuo nudged something with his elbow and heard blocks crash to the ground. "Oops, sorry!" He apologized at once.

"No, no, this is perfect," Teiko declared. "We're training. Now, Shoto, your base has been destroyed. Communications are out," she tossed her phone over her shoulder, "what do you do?" Natsuo stood dumbfounded. Where's the punch line? This isn't training. They're just having fun. When he looked around, all he could see was a jumbled mess. Streamers draped from the ceiling, toys were scattered about the floor with no possible rhyme or reason. Why's Shoto looking at this like it's a matter of life and death?

The thoughtful lad didn't smile. He seemed to delve enthusiastically into the test. "Can I use my ice to stop the debris in time?"

"No. It was a surprise explosion and you're a few kilometers away. You're in the middle of hand to hand combat, so you probably haven't even noticed yet. The villain knocks you down. What do you do?"

"I kick him!"

"Oh no, you missed! You've hit your head on the ground. Your elbows are bleeding because you fell on your own ice. Now your arms and butt hurt from the slip."

"Oh man, I've got to get better at walking on ice," he sighed. The defeat was only temporary, as his eyes shone with determination only a moment later. "I call for back up, but because communications are down, nobody can come?" Though he had started out firm, the end of his statement transformed into a question.

Teiko nodded. "Correct. Nobody heard you. You failed to counter the villain. You died. Better luck next time."

He didn't take the loss harshly. Shoto stood and began to clean up, his face thoughtful as he considered the mock battle.

What did I walk into? Natsuo thought to himself. Teiko was polite. "May I be excused to speak with Natsuo? Or would you like me to help clean up your toys first?"

"I've got it. Thanks for training, Auntie."

It's so age appropriate. He's learning how to think without getting punched in the gut.

"Thanks for having me. Bury your dead with dignity."

It was only then that Shoto laughed. "They're not dead, silly."

Teiko walked out into the hall, then down the stairs. When Natsuo didn't immediately follow, she paused and turned to face him. "Ah yeah, words, sorry." She admits to being wrong so easily. He admired the trait. It was better than an unbreakable iron will. "Would you like to come on a walk with me? We can talk, say nothing, or just go get a pre-dinner snack."

"Okay, let's go for a walk," he agreed.

They exited the grand home and began to stroll through the neighborhood. It was a wealthy area filled with other pro heroes and their families. The community was jokingly dubbed Hero's Corner. Thanks to its reputation, they had few villain attacks. Only the truly desperate or idiotic would dare touch a child in Hero's Corner or even show their face in the first place. Natsuo and Teiko meandered along in a casual silence. Though he had much he wanted to ask, he felt he didn't know where to begin.

Eventually, he settled on a topic. "Did hitting my dad make you feel strong?"

Teiko took two steps before she had her answer. "Not really. He was smaller, so he couldn't really put up a fight."

Why did I ask? The coolness of her answer only served to anger and intimidate him.

"As soon as we knew it was wrong, it was too late. If we both live to even our eighties or nineties, we'll be the siblings that throw creaky punches at each other." She turned and looked down at her nephew. "Has he ever pitted you guys against each other?"

Despite the tragedies he'd faced, Natsuo was terrified by the very idea. "No. Never. Toya, Fuyumi, and I play together all the time, but we've never punched or kicked."

"That's a relief. At least Enji remembers how destructive sibling battles can be."

They were already on the subject, so Natsuo dared to ask, "What was the worst thing you ever did to him? And what was the worst he ever did to you?"

Her first instinct was to tell him to wait for dinner. She opened her mouth to say so, but slowed herself. If she wanted to get to know each child individually, she realized she couldn't be so dismissive. "He couldn't and still can't do any terrible things to me. The most unspeakable things he's done was to marry one of my closest friends and drive her into such madness that she injured one of her children." She slid her eyes up to the sky. For a moment, she seemed lost in a memory. In actuality, she was trying to distract the boy from the second half of his question.

It worked. Natsuo honed in on the unexpected detail. "You and Mom were friends?" She nodded, so he continued. He knew traits about his mother, but little of her past. "She used to call her mom a lot. We'd sometimes hear her on the phone."

"I can guarantee that any time Rei gave her mom bad news, your grandmother felt an overwhelming amount of guilt. Rei's dad has a stiffer spine, but he wasn't heartless. They were impoverished and about to lose their farm. Enji knew it and had eyes on Rei for a long time. He flashed some money and, boom, there was a marriage certificate." She spoke frankly with the nine year old. As someone who wasn't around kids often, she had the misconception that they could think like adults. Natsuo didn't seem to have any further questions, so she decided to skate around the topic.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Now it was Natsuo's turn to stare into the distance. He regarded one of the shabbier, though still expansive, homes they passed. "Something that makes people feel good. I want to be there to see them become happy, too."

"It sounds like you should start building your charisma."

Natsuo tilted his head, clearly confused.

"Charisma is a sort of charm. It's a way of being open and inviting. If you want people to feel good about themself, you have to have a warm enough heart that you walk in the door and they can feel it in your presence."

I can do that, he told himself. "Everyone asks me if I'm going to be a hero."

"Heroes aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Natsuo winced. "No, they're definitely not." He developed a thoughtful frown and looked at his newest guardian. "Can we tell the police? About what's happened to us"

Teiko slowed, and then stopped. She dropped to her knees to get level with the boy. In that moment, she saw his unresolved feelings manifest in his eyes. She knew she only had one shot to explain the reality of it to him.

"If it would do any good, I would've already done it. As you've seen firsthand, your father cares more for his rank and ambition than he does his family. Enji would hire sharks for lawyers. You may get a moment of satisfaction where you see him handcuffed, but it will be short lived. If you do manage to get inside a courtroom, he'll use your mother as a scapegoat. He'll show that she was the one who burned Shoto. He'll turn his tale to put everything on her and declare you and Toya insane. He'll leave Fuyumi alone, so she can act as Shota's new mother figure, and get back to work on his training. You'd sue in my name, so when we lose the case, I'd have to go back to work and settle an incredible amount of debt." She straightened. "If you wait until Toya's of legal age, the debt can go in his name, but the result remains the same. If you wait until you're old enough to take on the burden, chances are nobody will want to touch what will hopefully be a series of painful memories that nobody wants to revisit."

In short, there was too much that not only could go wrong, but would. "So there's nothing I can do," he muttered, his voice thoroughly depressed.

"You can't change the past, but you can rise above it. Become a social worker, if you want. Then you can recognize the signs and save children from their silent suffering. Or become a lawyer and try to fight against the sharks that protect people like your dad."

The idea that he could help some future kid helped him. "Hey, Aunt Teiko?" He said quietly. "Thanks. I'm glad we went for a walk together."

"I'm glad, too. Even if reality's not what we want it to be."