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Of Butterfly Wings

Chapter Forty-Two: Earnest Wish

Touya sighed, drawing back from his girlfriend. Kagome's face was flushed while the evidence of their tryst dotted the top of her shoulders and the lower half of her collarbone.

It'd been ages since they'd last had any sort of privacy together. If they weren't being followed by his siblings, then they were being hounded by Jaken. Even when they managed to escape for some private dates on the weekend, they never really had a chance to simply spend some quality time alone together. Even his own father was beginning to hover around them more often. Partly out of his desire to try to bond with him and partly to prevent them from being alone together.

Just this once they'd managed to get lucky.

His paternal grandmother was back in town and had demanded to see all of them. She was generally a cantankerous old woman that only showed her affection for her grandchildren. His father did everything in his power to avoid her and today was no different. Touya paid the old woman a quick visit before he'd convinced Fuyumi, Natsuo and Shouto to stay the night at her place. Once the suggestion was placed, none of his siblings had been able to escape. He simply told the older woman that he had plans and would see her again tomorrow. So he'd skipped out before the others could complain. His dad would be working late tonight to avoid his grandmother and being that it was the weekend, Jaken wouldn't arrive to take Kagome home for another two or three hours.

So it was just the two of them at his family's estate for once.

He'd been careful not to leave any marks that would be visible when Jaken did eventually arrive. Sesshoumaru had told them that they couldn't do anything in his house but he never said anything about it being elsewhere. Although to avoid that fight altogether, they would keep their activities as discreet as possible.

Touya lifted his head as he captured Kagome's lips once more.

How long had it been since they were last able to spend time together like this? He couldn't remember.

He felt Kagome bury herself into the crook of his neck. He curled his arms around her waist as he held her steady. They hadn't gone too far as neither of them wanted to take any unnecessary risks, but he could confidently say that his burns would likely take on a significantly lighter shade by the time she was due to return home that night.

"Hey Touya," Her voice was muffled against the cloth of his shirt. "What neighborhood do you want to look at in Fukuoka?"

He gave a small snort of laughter.

It looked like he wasn't the only one thinking about the future right now.

"Probably somewhere with a low crime rate and an ocean front view." He offered her a playful smile, "You can't work on your next big hit if you don't have a good environment to work in."

Kagome didn't tell him how much exactly her book had earned in its first quarter. However he knew that it had to be immense. Especially if she were bringing up the neighborhoods they should consider moving to after graduation.

Touya pressed his forehead against her shoulder, "Tomorrow I'm going to go visit my mom."

He felt her shift but he held her steady, refusing to meet her eyes.

"You saw that scar on Shouto's face, right?" Touya questioned. He felt her give a faint nod before he continued, "Our mother was the one who did that. As you know our dad has always been a piece of work. He practically bought my mom out from her parents in order to get his hands on her quirk."

He'd never told anyone about his parents before. Not Kikyou nor anyone else that dared to try to get close to him. Kagome had witnessed Endeavor's behavior firsthand and shamed him for it. She'd ingratiated herself into their family and whether she realized it or not, she became the catalyst to each of them subtly changing and trying to do better. He no longer treated Shouto coldly and Endeavor himself seemed to be trying to become something more than a monster.

So it was only fair to Kagome if he told her the whole truth.

"Dad wanted to have a child with both quirks. So that's how we were all born. As you already know, I inherited a stronger version of my dad's quirk and my mom's resistance to the cold. So I was always burning myself." He kept his face buried in her shoulder as he pressed on, "Mom tried her best but dad wouldn't have anything to do with raising us. He saw it as the woman's duty to rear children and I wasn't making things any easier for either of them since I couldn't give up on being a hero back then."

Honestly he really had put a lot of strain on his mother during those days. His desperation to be acknowledged by his father had destroyed not just himself but his mother too.

"She tried several times to get me to consider other options and I know she was just worried about me, but I snapped at her. I wasn't kind to her and I said things that I regret." He still found it difficult to tell Kagome that he'd thrown his mother's circumstances back in her face because he'd been angry. Just hearing her tell him to give up had triggered a visceral reaction in him—one that he was not proud of.

"Eventually dad's abuse wore her down to the breaking point. She'd called Shouto's left side unbearable before she threw a pot of boiling water on his face." Touya pulled Kagome closer to himself as he pushed on, "Mom wouldn't stop apologizing to him right afterwards. She used her quirk to try to heal the burn but that just made it worse. Dad sent her to a hospital after that. It wasn't long before I burned myself at Sekoto Peak. I haven't had the courage to face her since then."

He hadn't realized he'd been shaking until Kagome combed her hand through his hair and traced soothing lines down his back.

"I want to talk to her. I want to apologize." He spoke after a long moment. "I want to help her get out of that place and start fresh. Like the rest of us are trying to right now."

It was his earnest wish.

Regardless of whether his mother forgave him for how he acted all those years ago, he wanted her to have the chance to move on with her life. Out of everyone in their family, she was owed that opportunity the most.

He heard the faint beating of her heart and he felt his own begin to settle.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Kagome held him closer, "I won't go in the room with you two if you don't want me to, but do you want me to wait in the lobby at least?"

Touya nodded his head once, "I don't think I can do this without you there."

She'd been his rock through everything. If he was going to go see his mother, then he would need her support the most in order to gather up his courage.

"Then I'll be there."

Touya closed his eyes as he leaned into the warmth of her embrace.

Somehow, those words were the only thing giving him strength.