Tenko zipped up the stuffed suitcase and pulled it to stand on its wheels after he was certain everything was packed back up.
"That everything?" Touya asked, scanning the bedroom for anything left.
"Think so."
Izuku grunted as he shrugged the backpack on. "All ready!"
There was a light knock at the bedroom door and it opened a bit to reveal Fuyumi peeking in. "Your mom's outside."
"Thanks, Yumi!" Izuku smiled.
Fuyumi beamed back. She'd fallen in love with Izuku over the weekend and loved that she'd convinced him to call her by her nickname. "Of course! Thanks for coming, we had fun. Come again sometime."
"Sure thing," Tenko nodded at her before she shut the door back again and disappeared.
"I'll walk you both out," Touya offered, starting towards the door.
"Actually," Tenko said, making Touya pause and look back at him, "Izuku, you go ahead. I'll be down in a second."
Izuku looked between them both with wide, confused eyes, but eventually just shrugged. "Ok." Then he ran out the door. "Bye, Touya!"
After he said goodbye back, Touya turned to Tenko with a cocked eyebrow.
Tenko shifted on his feet and looked away, suddenly nervous. "You're still planning on tell your dad about your fire."
It wasn't a question, but Touya treated it as such, crossing his arms and eyes going a little darker. Neither had brought up the subject of the first night all weekend, but Tenko had never stopped thinking about it.
"Yeah. I am." Touya looked at him a bit tensely. "Is that a problem?"
Tenko bit his lip. "No. I know it's not my business, and I can't convince you otherwise." He looked up at Touya now, who was a bit more relaxed but still confused. "Just, please be careful."
Touya's eyes softened. "Why are you so caught up on this?"
Because your father has hurt you and will hurt you, and I don't want to see you hurt.
"I just- I have a bad feeling, for some reason."
That wasn't really a lie, he had been feeling almost sick all weekend with dread of something more than he knew. Like something way worse than he'd imagined was about to happen.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Touya tried for a reassuring smile. "I can handle myself, I have so far, haven't I?"
Tenko said nothing.
Touya stepped closer. "This is what I need to finally prove to my dad that I'm better than what he thinks. He'll believe in me again, and then everything will be better. Trust me with this, I know my dad better than you do."
No, I think you're desperate for his approval. But desperation never ends well, I would know.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again." Tenko was whispering, because his voice was wavering and he couldn't go much louder. "Why do you want to prove anything to him? He hurt you, and you hate him. What does his opinion matter?"
Touya looked hesitant, averting his eyes for a long moment. Tenko waited for Touya to think.
"I need this," the white haired boy finally muttered. "I'm sorry, I don't know why, but I do. I- I don't know what else to do." Touya's voice cracked at the end, and a small part of Tenko's heart did the same.
And, honestly, he couldn't really blame him for that. After all, wasn't Tenko the same? He constantly seeked his father's approval too.
"Ok," Tenko breathed, and weakly smiled up at his best friend, who he was significantly and annoyingly shorter than. "Can I give you a little advice then?"
Touya cocked an eyebrow but nodded.
Tenko took a deep breath. "Stop just letting him win. Fight back, or run when you need to. You can escape him. And then we can get revenge on him together. Ok?"
He smiled, and Touya looked away, seemingly thinking the idea over. Then he smiled back.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Tenko."
Tenko didn't like that he'd brushed it aside like that, but he just nodded, deciding to leave it alone. He grabbed the suitcase and pulled the bedroom door open, then turned back to Touya. "You coming?"
Touya hesitated for a second, then shook his head. "I'll say bye here. I need to think for a bit."
Tenko nodded understandingly. "Alright. See ya tomorrow, Touya."
By the time Tenko had said goodbye to the other three siblings, dragged the suitcase into the back, and hopped into the front seat of Inko's car, Izuku was already chatting mom's ear off from the back about how awesome spending a weekend with Shoto and Touya was.
Tenko stared out the window at the receding house as they drove away, thinking back to the first day he'd driven away from this house, and what he'd seen in the window.
Then he looked up to Touya's bedroom window. He'd once watched as his friend waved at him through it, and waved back as they drove away. Now he couldn't even see a silhouette.
His stomach twisted with dread again. Everything about this screamed wrong, more than what was reasonable. It put him on edge.
The face Touya had made the first night during their small argument, as the boy told him he needed his father to look at him, flashed through his mind then. Chills went up his spine.
Because that was the look of desperation, but different. The kind of desperation Tenko had imagined seeing in Rei Todoroki, had he ever met her before the incident. The kind of desperation he'd seen in himself at his worst. The kind of desperation that screamed this was the last straw.
And if it broke- when it broke, that would be it.
That's why Tenko hadn't pushed anymore that night. Why he hadn't been brave enough to bring it back up all weekend. That look scared him.
But he'd had to say something before he left, try one last time, even if he knew it was pointless. There would be no dissuading Touya from triggering what will likely break him, because he refuses to believe that it will go anyway aside from what he thinks he needs.
But it wouldn't, and even if it did, that wouldn't be what he needed. It would still hurt him. Endeavor would still hurt him. Break him.
But there was no getting that through to his friend. So he had no choice but to give him one last, desperate attempt at something to keep him sane.
Fighting back.
He just hoped it wouldn't end too disastrously.
—-
When Touya heard the front door open and close, followed by familiar heavy footsteps, he went rigid.
That was normal, he never liked knowing his father was in the house. It was so much harder to relax. But right now it felt even worse.
A part of him was bubbling with excitement, he couldn't wait to show his father what he'd learned. The other part was overflowing with nerves.
He'd been in his room since Tenko and Izuku left, thinking about what his friend had said. The advice he'd given him, and the argument for telling his father.
"Do you honestly think this will just fix everything he's done to you, Touya?"
No matter how excited and determined and stubborn he was being about this, he couldn't help the tiny, rational part of him that knew Tenko was right. This could end horribly.
But it was the only chance he had. This was all he had left. He had to do this.
Tenko might've understood him more than most, but he didn't understand this. No one did.
But he did. He understood this, and he understood his father. He understood that his father was power hungry, and needed someone who could best All Might. He understood that having fire hotter than his, hot enough to turn blue, would be enough to make his father forget about the burns. It would be enough to make his father look at him again. Really look at him.
And he needed that.
This would be fine. He knew it would be.
But first, he had to actually talk to his dad.
So, with an annoying amount of hesitance, he stood up and walked to his bedroom door, opening it up slowly. Silently.
He could hear his father's deep, terrifying voice down stairs. It sounded like he was talking to Fuyumi, who had been in the kitchen, cleaning or something.
He started quietly moving down the hall towards the staircase. He wasn't sure why he was so scared of making noise, he was going to talk to his father after all. Guess old habits die hard.
When he finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, he peeked out and saw his father walking out of the kitchen and down the hall towards him. He pulled back to where the man couldn't see him, and took one final, deep breath, before stepping out in front of his father.
"Dad! Um, can- can I show you something? I figured out this really cool trick I could do with my quirk. I think you're really gonna like it, and it'll make me a lot more powerful, I swear! Just let me show you, you'll be so proud."
He felt him self start to panic at his father's wide eyes, thinking back to what Tenko had said about the man not liking him using his quirk and burning himself. Then he thought of what Izuku had started theorizing about. "I- it could also maybe help, with the burning a bit? Like, um, well if I can show you you'll understand, but I think I can-"
He cut off his ramble of fast, panicked words, startled, as his father, in a flash, grabbed onto his shirt and pulled it up. On his chest were the burn marks from the first time he'd realized his fire could turn blue. He'd had flames coming off his chest, and it hadn't quite healed yet. They were plain and easy to see.
Touya gulped as his father's wide eyes turned angry.
"Touya! Have you been training with your quirk after I told you not to!?"
Oh no.
—-
Shoto could hear the yelling from his room. He usually could, Touya and dad's arguments were always loud and rage filled. It was normal, if a bit scary.
He'd never heard Hisashi or Tenko yell, at each other or others. He wished he had that.
Then the yelling started to grow louder, and lasted longer. This was new. Dad usually cut off arguments with Touya pretty short, thinking it not worth his time or something. But right now they were both going pretty hard at each other. The things being said were also concerning.
So he finally decided to venture quietly down the stairs to make sure his big brother was ok. After all, Touya always tried to help him when dad went too far. He needed to stop being scared and help too.
The argument was right below the staircase, so he stopped halfway down. He could see them both from here, but neither had seemed to notice him.
So Shoto watched and listened. And he almost immediately wished he hadn't.
"I hate you!" Touya yelled, loud and angry and hurt sounding. "I hate this family! I hate this life! I hate you! I wish you'd been sent away, and not mom! You're the worst dad ever! And you know what!? I'm done! With you and all this, I'm DONE!"
"And what are you gonna do? Run away? Kill me? I'm the number two hero, Touya! You have nothing on me, you are nothing to me! You can't do anything against me! YOU ARE NOTHING!"
A loud, cackle like laugh bubbled out of Touya, a broken sound. His eyes were wide as he grinned, and he looked almost crazed. Shoto hated it. He hated that look. He almost ran down and over to him in that moment, but he couldn't move. He'd never been so terrified of someone other than his father. Much less Touya.
Dad seemed to feel the same, taking a startled step back.
"YOU WANNA BET?" Touya's voice broke and rose in a way Shoto had never heard before. Like he wasn't really there. Like that wasn't Touya anymore. "ILL SHOW YOU! IM NOTHING, HUH? THEN WATCH ME. WATCH ME, A NOTHING, AND WATCH WHAT I DO!"
Then the grin somehow, impossibly, widened, and the voice came out so suddenly quiet, it was jarring. "Dad."
The single word echoed around the suddenly silent house, as everything seemed to go still. The world seemed to stop moving in wake of Touya and- whatever, he was currently radiating.
Then the white haired teen was gone, out the door before anyone could react.
"Touya!" Shoto seemed to recover first, sprinting to the door to follow his big brother. But before he could, a large arm grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
He looked up to see his father, still seemingly shocked and unsure how to react, but certain in his firm grip. "Leave him."
Shoto looked back to the front door, left half open, and out into the night where he couldn't even see Touya anymore. The silence had never felt so wrong.
But he nodded in acceptance and resignation, because he couldn't go against his father. Not like Touya just had. He wasn't that brave.
And honestly, he was terrified.
But he'd forever regret that choice, because it was a mere few minutes later that, from his bedroom, he saw the blaze of blue fire among the trees turn orange before spreading through the woods.
But by then it was too late.