VIII

Thus the family settled into their habits. Fuyumi visited her mother every other day, Toya returned home later and later every night, Natsuo worked on his charisma, and Shoto began to develop his own interest in training. July slipped into March with remarkable haste. For the first time in their lives, the sons felt safe. Even Fuyumi, in her state of denial, couldn't deny the wonderful peace that had descended upon their home. For the most part, Enji avoided the house. He slipped in to sleep and left before any of them awakened. Whether he was taking dozens of missions or chose to nap in a hotel, only Fuyumi and Teiko cared enough to give him a second thought. Often, the latter considered a quick visit to see Rei, but Shoto never expressed any interest in a confrontation with his mother. If Teiko were to leave the child home with May, the nanny, and her brother reappeared, he could take it upon himself to take part in some impromptu training. Though she was inwardly frustrated at the wait, she respected the Shoto's wishes. While Enji's torment had been constant, Rei's sudden shift to the role of assailant had to be a far more devastating blow than any of Enji's punches.

Teiko just finished cleaning when Shoto approached her with a determined look. Training again? All it had taken was a little time and an aunt with a weak will for the boy to amass a room filled to the brim with toys. While he spent most of his time using them as pieces for their strategy game, he proved to have as capable an imagination as any kid his age with heroic play-time. Thus far, all of their training sessions had revolved around his mind.

"I want to practice with my ice today."

Teiko had waited patiently for him to reach that conclusion. She seized the opportunity and immediately nodded to the front door. Once they were in the center of their private courtyard. Shoto turned to face his aunt, as if to fight. Teiko shook her head. "Not like that," she told him gently. She didn't want to press just how ready he was to enter in combat. All it would take is one wrong move to put him off hero work forever. She made sure to set a firm foundation of confidence. "Ice is a strategically handy element for immobilization. If you want to become its full master, you must first lean how to walk on it. Turn a portion of the lawn to ice." He pointed his hand and did as suggested. Teiko only expected him to manage to change a few meters. What he did was freeze so far that the edges of his frost touched against the corners of the house. A shudder of cold rolled down her spine. "Great job! Now, catch!" She used her terrakinesis to float a fist sized stone just over his head.

Shoto jumped and made a valiant attempt, only to slip and fall on his butt.

"Are you alright?" She asked, ever conscious of any triggers. The boy seemed resilient. He nodded and tried again.

Thus passed the next three days. Teiko and Shoto worked on his balance until he could run comfortably. He's advancing incredibly. I can see what Enji saw in him. Next, they advanced to jumps and elevation changes. "Step two," she declared nearly a week later, much to Shoto's enthusiasm. That meant he'd done well enough to move on with the next level of training. "Are you ready, or do you want a break?"

"Quit teasing me, Auntie!" He huffed, though it was done with a smile on his face. "You know I'm ready!"

"You know, I think I thought of your hero name. What do you think of being called Cool Beans?"

"Auntiiiie," he sighed. They both knew it was lame and that she was stalling to frustrate him.

"Sir Glacier has a nice ring…"

"Auntie!" He groaned, clearly exasperated.

"Oh fine, I'll tell you step two. You only have to do it if you want, okay?"

"I want to." He said at once.

"You don't even know what it is," she pointed out.

"Then surprise me, Auntie. I want to!"

"Alright, kid, I'm still telling you. I'm going to fire dirt clods and pebbles at you. There's no way you'll be able to dodge them all. Anything goes. You can use your quirk to stop them or incapacitate me. If you choose not to block, this exercise is going to help your observation skills. You'll have to learn how to avoid a pebble and take a dirt clod instead, or else you'll get whapped. This relates to fighting. When you're out in the world, you'll have harmful and harmless debris falling in more urban settings. You'll want to be able to make fast decisions on how and what to avoid."

It was moments like these that had Shoto question whether or not his aunt was really a farmer. He knew of her battle-prone childhood, but that couldn't explain some of the details she seemed to know like the back of her hand. "I want to move onto stage two." He had loved his mother and trusted her, but he couldn't count on Rei. He hadn't trusted or loved his father, but he could rely on a beating to come after every failure. Teiko gave him all three. He trusted, loved, and counted on the woman. In their past half year together, she'd come to dominate every aspect of his training, yet he hadn't ever felt a flicker of fear.

Teiko chuckled and ruffled Shoto's two-toned hair. "Then let's begin."

She hesitated only a moment, for the sake of Shoto's age. Once he had the spark of readiness in his eyes, she began to fire. As promised, a thick smattering of dirt clods and pebbles pelted effectively down towards the icy field below. He swept his arm over his head and created a small shield. He'd acted too fast for a quick fix over efficiency, and soon paid the price. Within two hits, the ice splintered, then shattered. A few dirt clods plopped harmlessly onto his head, while a pebble found his shoulder. The hit was soft, but motivation enough for him to try harder. Shoto used his newly found balance over ice to weave and dodge around. "Mind your footing," Teiko warned when the boy backed towards an incline and began to slide down. They continued for ten minutes, until Shoto stood panting and lifted his hand to signal a stop. Teiko obliged and ceased her fire. Experience with his father taught him that adults could and would run him until he was on the ground.

Once the two stood still, Shoto noticed Enji's thick silhouette watching from the kitchen. He stood, framed by open doorway, in his casual clothes; a pair of dark wash jeans and a white T-shirt. His cold eyes glanced across Shoto's landscape of ice. Some points were high, flat, or riddled with small dents. Pebbles and sprays of dirt were imbedded into most of the hills and loose on the straighter shots. Shoto had small red marks on his arms and dirt on his scalp, but a smile on his face. "We were training," The child declared arrogantly. "I learned a lot."

Enji took the tone and measured it against the achievement. He gauged how clean his son was in comparison to the messy planes of ice. "It looks like you did a good job," he said. The fire wielder turned and vanished into the home's many halls.

Finally. Teiko had known all along her little brother could come around.

After that, they adjusted their routine by setting a place for Enji. For the first time in months, the head of the family sat for his meal. Through their dinners, the children learned all about Teiko, save the worst thing she'd done to Enji, which was a question she assured them she would answer when they were old enough. Toya in particular hoped his day would come very soon. He'd come for the meal and companionship and generally leave afterwards to do whatever it was his heart desired.

Though everything looked the same as before, Enji could feel the changed atmosphere in his home. A part of him hated that he had to adapt for his family, but he'd learned to accept that he had been wrong. For better or worse, he wouldn't be rid of Teiko. Whatever changes she'd implemented were ones he had to accept, or risk losing his children, thanks to her damn recording. He didn't know if she was bluffing and didn't want to push her far enough to find out.

Fuyumi opened the night's conversation with an observation. "Mom really liked your present."

So he did it. Teiko didn't visibly react. Shoto's eyes went as wide as saucers and Natsuo fumbled with his chopsticks. Toya glared at the ground. Enji chose to focus at Fuyumi, who kept her smile casual. He felt weak, as if presenting her with a gift was him stooping to her level.

Even so, he couldn't deny the small spark that light in his chest. Maybe this could be his road back to her. The hope was feeble, but it still existed. He had mistreated her for decades and it may take twice as long for her to even face him again. "Thanks for delivering it." The man stated gruffly to his daughter.

"What'd you get her?" Teiko asked.

"Some candy she liked when we were kids."

"Melon flavored?"

Enji nodded, but would say no more. He felt his face redden and hated every minute. Teiko saw the caged beast in her brother's eyes. "Want to spar?" She was the only one who could handle him and he desperately needed an outlet.

"If you insist," he agreed as snobbishly as possible. A part of him knew she was doing him a favor, so he decided he'd reciprocate. He defaulted to the only thing he knew. Shoto was training with her. He turned to his youngest. "So. What does your aunt teach you while everyone else is in school?"

How it irked him when Shoto looked first at Teiko. He watched his sister give a subtle nod to the boy before his son would continue. "We talk about battle strategies a lot. We use my toys," Enji clenched his fist beneath the table, but kept his face calm, "to set up different situations and ready my mind."

Despite the knowledge that his son had extra play-things, Enji found the mental training to be favorable. "You're highly intelligent, Shoto. I bet you've done well with the mock scenarios."

The compliment was a perfect one-eighty to Shoto's last training with his father. He remembered how he'd been punched and called weak. "T-thanks." Though he wanted to sound tougher, the six year old was too stunned not to stammer.

Everyone ate their meal with only a smattering of small talk, mostly at Fuyumi's insistence. "I saw you caught Dust Buster today. Did he put up a good fight?"

The daughter was completely out of her element, but she had to try. Maybe if Enji spoke more, he'd manage to bridge some of the rift he'd created. "No, he was a weakling that was barely worth my time."

"I couldn't quite tell what his crimes were."

"He was a villain who used his quirk outside of the law. He called himself a vigilante, but all he did was get in the way and nearly obstruct justice." The fellow's tone hardened considerably, as if the topic was a point of controversy. After that, none of them tried to rekindle a conversation.

They all stopped eating one by one. Nobody had sworn that day, so they were unsure who would do the dishes. The family sat in quiet tension. "Oh fine," Fuyumi sighed. "Hell." She scooped up the bowls and took them to wash.

Everyone but Enji laughed at the newest development. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Teiko with obvious confusion and a hint of anger.

"I made a house rule where whoever cusses the most has to clean up." She explained.

"I'm surprised your bed hasn't been moved next to the sink." He knew her sailor's tongue quite well. A part of him considered berating her for letting his children develop such a nasty habit, but the promise of a decent fight kept his mouth shut. "Let's go."

Natsuo was stunned. Sure, his dad couldn't be all bad, but for him to make a joke was completely uncharacteristic. "C-can I watch?"

"Me too," added Toya.

"And me!" Shoto scrambled to wrap his arms and legs his aunt's leg.

Teiko stood still for a moment and let Shoto attach to her limb. As soon as he was secure, she began to trudge up the stairs. "Anyone that wants to witness is welcome to join. Fuyumi, should we wait for you?" The girl shook her head at once.

"Go on without me." There were too many bad memories in the room for her to face.

Natsuo and Toya raced to the top of the stairs. They seemed to have no reservations on facing the old hell. Toya wouldn't call Teiko an angel, by any means, but she seemed to be some sort of hellish fiend in their corner. The two sat just beside the door, as it was mostly out of the way. Enji entered next, followed by Teiko and Shoto-leech. Once his aunt stopped moving, he popped off her leg and skittered over to the wall.

Enji began to stretch. "If it gets too hot, you'll have to protect yourselves to keep watching," he warned. "Otherwise, get out." He had no intention of holding back against his sister, who he saw as a devil, though one he knew well. Teiko kept her expression indifferent, so the boys did their best to match her. Shoto nodded, but they were careful not to make too big of a fuss.

"Todoroki rules," she reminded him. Over one of their meals, she had informed the boys of their family code and how she'd treat them while training.

Natsuo muttered, "at least the house won't blow up."

Toya wasn't so sure. Two fire wielders were bound to make a mess. He almost felt as if he should be standing in case of an explosion.

There was no bell or spoken word, but the two siblings attacked at precisely the same moment. Enji charged in with raw strength. His motions were like that of a bull. Though he was swift, he was predictable and unable to change trajectory at short notice. All his motions had to be clearly pre-meditated.

Teiko was no spring chicken, but she wasn't fat or burdened with brawn. Her muscles were impressive, but athletic and lean. She shot a pair of rocks straight for his gut.

He couldn't dodge, there wasn't enough time. Enji blasted the projectile away.

Teiko used the cover of Enji's smoke to deploy some sand. Toya noted how her moves came in swift pairs or groups of three. She signaled her elements while keeping a safe distance back.

Enji rushed through with a battle cry. He bore down upon his sibling and aimed a predictable punch at her torso. Teiko cupped her hand and the sand dug into Enji's broad physique. Every inch of his exposed skin felt itchy and uncomfortable, but it wasn't unbearable. There was but a moment of hesitation. In that instant, Teiko ducked down. She slipped behind him with nimble grace and put her hand to her throat. While Enji had been wasting firepower and focused on the steady attacks, Teiko had created herself a fist-sized blade of glass. "Dead."

"Again!" Enji roared. They reset the stage. Enji dispelled his lingering flames and Teiko did likewise for her sand. "And the dagger," he warned, as if she was going to hide it on her person. She chuckled and made a show of dropping it on the ground. Enji kicked the weapon away and they began their second round.

He charged and she dodged, but this time he managed to get his hands on either side of her head. "Dead." There was definite triumph in his voice. They fought three more times. They matched ad two and two, but Enji won the tiebreaker.

Teiko could see the sweat on her brother's forehead. She knew he had been at work all day, fighting, and that an overuse of his fire would overheat him. "Looks like you win tonight, Enji." In all fairness, she was breathing heavily as well.

He felt better after letting off some steam. While the room was spacious, it wasn't nearly big enough for the two of them to fight in earnest. "Let's fight outside next time. Tomorrow." It was March and the weather was forecasted to be a bit cooler than normal. While it was uncomfortable for him in the short run, he would be able to equip his quirk for a little while longer.

"Tomorrow is Toya's birthday. I don't think he wants to spend it watching us fight."

Toya was surprised she'd remembered. He would be turning fifteen.

Enji paused and turned to look at his eldest. His son had matching turquoise eyes, red hair, and the same complexion. In appearance, he was a near perfect match to his father. There was a long pause before either could think of what to do or say. "What did you want to do to celebrate?" Enji asked. Birthdays were never cause for celebration the Todoroki home. Teiko and Enji had given each other birthday beatings, but there had been a certain lack of festivity to the tradition.

"I made special dinners for Shoto and Fuyumi." Teiko offered. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was just as out of her league with festivities. If anything, Rei should be celebrated. She's the one that gave birth to them.

Toya hadn't forgiven his father. He'd only watched the match because he would be an idiot to miss two fellow fire wielders coming to blows. "I wanted to go see a movie with Aunt Teiko." He made up the lie on the spot, but trusted she would go along.

Enji's lips pulled into a frown. "What kind of boy sees a movie with his aunt? Why don't you take a girl?"

Natsuo caught the fail and sniggered at once. Teiko feigned outrage. "Excuse me, Enji?" She radiated womanly sass. Too late, the hero caught his mistake.

"Ah, shit."

"Dad's doing the dishes tomorrow!" Shoto cheered.

Current Fanfiction Ages: Teiko, 41. Enji, 36. Rei, 35 (guess). Chizome Akaguro, 21. Toya, 15 (turning 15 next chapter) (guess). Fuyumi, 13. Natsuo, 9. Shoto, 6.