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Of Butterfly Wings

Chapter Thirty-Four: Proposal

Touya listened as Kagome finished her explanation. By now they'd circled the Ferris Wheel three times yet none of them felt inclined to move an inch. The operator was beginning to get annoyed with them, but they hardly paid them any mind.

Kagome had tried to only give them a basic overview of the plot. However with each prodding question they threw her way, she ultimately ended up divulging every plot point and twist she'd written.

"So they cut contact with each other to live separate lives?" His sister sniffled, dabbing at her eyes.

Kagome nodded in response, "I felt like that would be the most natural ending."

Touya felt himself agreeing with her.

The plot of her novel was about two sisters who were born for the sole purpose of improving their parents' quirks. Their mother had contracted their father in an arranged marriage in order and used cutting edge technology to create the "perfect" child that they were seeking. What the parents hadn't anticipated was a second child being split from the first's embryo and having a set of twins. Although identical in appearance, the twins developed two separate power sets.

The story that followed catalogued each girl's journey through their childhood and early adult lives as they tried to navigate what their roles were supposed to be in this superhuman world. A daughter that was the result of cutting edge technology and the poster child of quirk marriages. Then another child that was neither expected nor wanted that did not inherit the 'desired' quirks that their parents wanted.

In the ending Kagome had crafted, the family dissolved itself from the inside out. The sisters could not reconcile their differences and went their separate ways. Their father became overridden with guilt for the strain he'd placed on his children and divorced the mother. Both sisters have a contentious relationship with him and he was still striving to become a better father to them both. As for the mother, both daughters completely cut contact with her after a final confrontation—unleashing onto her all the pain they both felt growing up in her house for all those years. It's the one time the sister's work together and he'd found it to be a nice tie up to the storyline. It wasn't picture perfect but it was real.

Fairy tale endings weren't always possible in the real world.

Touya leaned back in his seat.

It was a controversial topic sure to get people talking about the ethics of marrying solely for the sake of improving one's bloodline.

He glanced down at his arms.

He was one such failure born from that very ideology.

Touya blinked as Kagome's hand wrapped around his own, "What do you say we do something else? I saw some arcades that looked pretty fun!"

A smile played upon her lips and he found himself returning it in full.

"Sounds good to me," He helped her to her feet as they circled back to the bottom of the Ferris Wheel.

They each climbed out of the capsule as they gradually made their way towards the food stalls.

Hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn and an array of other traditional fare was put on display. Shouto immediately pointed towards the cotton candy, amazed by the fluffy appearance of the treat.

He'd almost forgotten that Shouto had never tried it before.

A small smile pulled at the corner of his lips. He quietly took out his phone, switched on his camera and began recording as he bought his youngest brother the dessert.

He watched as Shouto took his first bite, his eyes lighting up instantly.

"It melted!" Shouto exclaimed, looking between him and the half-bitten piece of cotton candy as if it were made of magic.

Touya laughed, "That's what it's supposed to do."

Kagome swiftly drew Shouto's attention towards a stall full of animal-shaped balloons, "Did you want one of these too?"

He followed after them, enjoying the way Kagome and the rest of his family laughed. He honestly couldn't remember the last time they'd had an outing like this. There was always a heavy atmosphere to the Estate and that only followed them wherever they went. For the first time, his siblings looked truly happy. Especially Shouto.

The boy clung onto Kagome's hand as he pulled her to different arcades and stalls, paying careful attention to not force her to run after him.

"Careful Touya," Fuyumi teased him, "At this rate Shouto might just steal her from you."

He rolled his eyes at the comment, "He can try."

It wasn't like he felt threatened by his baby brother. The child had missed having someone in his life that he could count on. Even before their mom had a mental breakdown, it wasn't like she'd been able to protect any of them. Kagome taking on Endeavor that morning without an ounce of fear must've left quite the impact on Shouto. Regardless of how mature he was for his age, he was still a child that needed someone in his corner to defend him.

He laughed a little as he saw the boy tuck himself behind Kagome's legs as a a ball of confetti exploded from one of the arcades they were playing—signaling that she'd won the game.

Touya strolled forward. Well if she was going to win Shouto over with her arcade skills, then he supposed that he could do the same.

The hours passed by in a flash. They hit up every stall, game and low intensity ride that they could. At one point, they'd all decided to compete to see who could win the most prizes.

Touya scowled as he hauled three oversized dolls over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry one? I don't mind." Kagome furrowed her brows with concern.

Touya rolled his shoulders, "It's not heavy, just awkward. You just hang onto Shouto."

He'd won nearly every game but at the cost of being forced to carry all the prizes. Natsuo and Fuyumi laughed at him for taking it so seriously, while Kagome was naturally concerned about him trying to take on too much on his own. Not that he could ask her to take one off his hands even if he wanted to. That injury was going to take time to recover from.

His brows furrowed at the thought.

He still wasn't sure what to do about Kagome's situation at home. They could only keep her at the Estate for so long. She'd eventually have to go back to the Shrine whether he liked it or not.

Touya shifted to the far side of the group, carefully positioning himself and the oversized dolls in such a way that their faces remained hidden from the eagle-eyed reporters waiting for them just outside the park.

Kagome and his siblings huddled up against his side to avoid being noticed. People stared at them, covering their mouths and laughing at the awkward image they must've made. Honestly the stares no longer bothered him at all. Not so long ago it'd make him bristle and resent the world at large. Now? He hardly bothered with them at all.

Touya led his family down the familiar streets back to the Estate. By now night had fallen and he knew that they would have to make a decision soon about what to do for Kagome.

He waited as Natsuo opened the front door, allowing Kagome, Fuyumi and Shouto to enter inside the house first. Natsuo then grabbed one of the oversized dolls from him and gave him the chance to enter into their home as well.

"You should brush your teeth after all the candy you ate," Kagome ruffled Shouto's hair, "You wouldn't want to get a cavity."

The child beamed up at her.

He had to admit that she was a natural when it came to children. She had no younger siblings of her own but she seemed to adore his youngest brother as if he were her own.

Although he refused to admit it aloud, it was nice to see her getting along with his siblings so well.

"Kagome, are you staying over for the weekend?" Fuyumi clung onto her hand and shot her a pleading look.

Touya fell silent as Kagome shifted on her heel.

That was a question none of them knew how to answer.

"She can stay." A familiar voice boomed through the entryway.

All of them turned to find their father awaiting their arrival. His expression wasn't set into a scowl like it was this morning. Instead, he looked more contemplative rather than angry. Touya quickly moved forward, placing himself between Endeavor and the rest of the group.

"I watched the whole Sports Festival," The older man began. "She can stay here for the weekend. I've already spoken to her mother."

Touya heard more than saw Kagome shifting uncomfortably behind him.

"She'll need to return home after school Monday but she did send over some clothes for her." Endeavor gestured towards a small bag near the front door that they'd missed, "Touya, we need to talk."

Kagome stepped forward but he held her back by putting out his arm. He cocked his head over his shoulder and shot her a reassuring smile.

"I'll be fine."

It wasn't a lie either.

Their dad was acting different somehow. Perhaps the shame she'd heaped onto his shoulders had been enough to force him to do some self-reflection. Regardless, he'd hear the bastard out.

Touya followed after Endeavor. At first he believed that he was leading him to the training hall. That was the place he always took them whenever he was angry or for 'training'. However the man cut a sharp left, taking him out to the inner courtyard.

Their mother had requested it when the house was first built. She always found comfort in it, stating that it was like a mini sanctuary that she could go to whenever she was feeling overwhelmed. Autumn bellflowers dotted the courtyard in their shades of blue, adding some measure of color to their dreary home. He could understand why she liked it here at least.

Endeavor stopped as he reached the center of the courtyard.

The man kept his face turned away as he began to speak, "How's her injury?"

Touya blinked, was he really asking about Kagome right now?

He folded his arms over his chest, "It'll heal."

What was the old man playing at here?

"Son, do you still want to be a hero?" Endeavor's tone was grave, as if it'd taken him hours to muster up the courage to ask him that question.

A cold fury flooded Touya's veins.

After all these years, only now he was asking him that?

"If you're only asking me this because my ice quirk finally surfaced then you can piss right the fuck off." He snarled at his father, "You weren't interested in me or my life when I was a 'failure' to you, so you don't have the right to walk back into it because I'm suddenly the masterpiece you wanted."

Touya continued, "You know something, old man? I only wanted to be a hero just to hear you say 'I'm proud of you'. It took me too damn long to realize that and I ended up hurting mom and Shouto in the process." His hand clutched at the front of his shirt, "During the Sports Festival I finally had someone say those words to me. I finally found someone who could look me in the eye and not feel disgusted by my injuries."

His voice raised with his fury, "So don't you dare come walking back in here acting like you give a damn! You've shown me these last sixteen years that the only thing you care about is your career, which even that is going up in flames." His eyes hardened, "The way you treated us is the reason you will never be number one. So no, I have no interest in following in your footsteps. Not in my career or my future. I will never be like you."

Touya watched as his father's face became stricken. For the first time, the man truly looked hurt. It felt strange to see such an expression on his face after everything he'd done, however he was in no mood to offer him mercy.

He sucked a breath through his nose as he turned on his heel.

"You know," Touya began, "Ever since I met Kagome things have honestly turned around. For the first time I feel happy. I even got to see Shouto laughing today." He turned his head to cast his father a piercing glare, "She doesn't have a quirk good for battle but she was still brave enough to face you down for our sake. She's been the only person who's ever defended any of us." His fingers curled into white-knuckles fists at his side, "So I want to return the favor. Whatever she's going through, whatever her mom is trying to do, I want to protect her as well."

He turned his back on his father, "Also you might as well get used to seeing her around. She could end up being your daughter-in-law in a few years time."

That last shot was just to throw some extra salt on the old man's proverbial wounds.

Touya paused as he stepped back into the hallway and found all three of his siblings plus Kagome staring at him in a mixture of shock, excitement and embarrassment. Had they been listening the whole time?!

Kagome's face remained red as she peered up at him.

Touya felt his face flame. Rather than running from the awkwardness of the situation, he reached out and laced their fingers together.

"Just so you know," He proclaimed, "I'm not taking it back."

He watched as her face turned a shade of red he'd never seen before.

Touya smiled as he captured her lips in a quick kiss. Kagome barely made a sound as he swiftly turned her towards his sister and gave her a gentle nudge. Fuyumi took his cue and quickly raced down the hall with her friend in tow.

Natsuo shot him a deadpan look.

"What?" Touya shrugged his shoulders, "At least she knows."

And he wasn't going to pretend like he hadn't mean it either.

His brother simply sighed, "You two are crazy."

Touya laughed, "Like you didn't know that."