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Of Butterfly Wings

Chapter Ninety-Three: Wrong Medium

Kagome perused through the rows of game titles. Each one looked interesting but she wasn't quite sure which one to choose. She wasn't exactly knowledgeable about games and was currently flying blind in her search.

Her youngest child gave a small sound as she shifted him higher on her hip.

It'd been several months since their fifth and final child had been born. Just as she promised, she'd gotten a c-section done and gotten her tubes tied. She'd originally wanted her ovaries removed but she'd been convinced to tie her tubes instead as a permanent birth control method. The doctor had initially tried to convince her not to go through with the procedure, but after she'd showed him a picture of all her children, he quickly agreed.

Haru giggled when Hina made white crystals in the shape of a cat. Meanwhile Yua clung onto her leg as she scowled at the crowd of elderly women that cooed over how adorable they were. They were both in their terrible two's and it showed. If the girls weren't arguing with each other, then they were tormenting their brothers with their mixed element shards. They would often hurl the shards at Katsuo and Tatsuo when they were arguing. Recently, Yua and Hina learned that they could combine all of their quirks into a single attack. They'd put their hands together and created a shard infused with Yua's azure flames and Hina's ice. The result was a pale blue shard that first burned the skin before icing it over. They'd since started using their combo attack as their main weapon to terrorize their big brothers and any poor passerby who happened to look at them wrong. They were especially prone to attack whenever they believed Hoshi and Haru were being insulted.

Touya jokingly called their daughters future menaces to society. She couldn't bring herself to disagree. They were a handful but she loved them all the same—chaos and all.

Haru kicked his feet and giggled happily.

Unlike their other children, Haru had come out as a near replica of herself. With black hair, blue eyes like her own and even a restoration quirk. The first time Shouto had picked their infant up, their baby had grasped onto his finger and the scar that'd marred his face healed over instantly. She and Touya both marveled at the strength of Haru's quirk but chose not to tell anyone about it yet besides their immediate family. Healing quirks were in high demand and they had no desire to paint a target on their youngest child's back.

Katsuo had taken to trying to hold Haru whenever he wanted to use his quirk. Although he wasn't as wild as his sisters, he still liked to challenge Tatsuo to sparring matches with his flames. The first time she caught him throwing fire with his baby brother strapped to his back, she'd nearly had a heart attack. Touya had to pull Katsuo aside and give him a stern talking to about using his brother as his personal healing machine. Touya then spent the rest of the night showing their son how to alter his output so he wouldn't burn himself. It'd been a pleasant memory for their oldest son and she hoped that it would mean better things for him in the future.

"You need help finding anything?" The clerk from behind the counter gave her a once-over. His dark eyes shifted from her newborn to her daughters that were now chasing each other throughout the store.

"Yua and Hina, get your butts back here!" Kagome called out to her children before focusing her attention on the clerk. "Actually, I do need some help."

She then pulled out her phone and showed him the text thread between herself and Kikyou.

"My brother-in-law's birthday is coming up soon and he's a huge gamer. Problem is that I have no idea what he has and what he doesn't. My sister sent me over a picture of his collection." She lifted her phone for him to look at. "Do you think you could help me find something with this?"

By now Yua and Hina returned to her side, each of them clinging onto one of her legs. Despite their chaotic antics, they preferred not to make her upset. The last time she'd gotten angry with them, she'd banned desserts for three days. The meltdown they had afterwards had been one for the ages. Touya then had to tell them that if they kept crying then they wouldn't get any desserts for the rest of the week. After that they'd calmed down some.

"He has good taste." The clerk glanced at the collection with no small amount of appreciation. "I can say that since he's got most of the new releases, you could try going for a classic. Hang on, I've got just the thing."

He stepped away for just a moment before he returned with an old console that she recognized from her own youth and a game that seemed vaguely familiar. Had it been popular when she was a child?

"This should do the trick." He set it down on the counter in front of her. "It's pricey because it's a collector's item now but I think it'll be right up his alley."

Kagome beamed up at him, "Thanks so much! I was totally lost without your help." She blinked, "Oh! I never got your name!"

That time he jumped as if surprised that she was even interested in knowing who he was.

His eyes shifted away from her, "It's Shimura Tenko."

She grinned even wider, "That's again Tenko! I'll be sure to come again when I need to buy something for my brother-in-law." She then cocked her head to the side curiously, "If you don't mind me asking, what made you pick up a job here?"

He couldn't be more than a few years younger than herself. However something about him seemed somewhat defeated. As if all of his hopes and dreams had been crushed long ago.

Tenko scratched at the side of his cheek. His dark hair fell over his shoulders as he turned his head away from her. It was fairly long in length, reaching down just past his shoulders. It'd look nice if he kept up with it a bit more.

"I like games," He then shifted on his heel. "And there aren't many places willing to hire someone who's quirkless."

Kagome purses her lips into a thin line.

So that's what it was.

"You know," She started, holding Haru closer to herself as he wiggled within her grip. "I actually didn't know that I even had a quirk for a long time." Her smile turned into a bright grin, "But I found a career I enjoy and a husband who accepted me even before we discovered my power."

Kagome lowered her hand onto Yua's head as the girl began to whine.

"Being quirkless shouldn't mean giving up on the things you love." She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You know my brother-in-law has been trying to write a story for a long time but he hasn't found much success. Looking at these, maybe it's the medium that's wrong for the story he wants to tell." Kagome offered Tenko a short smile, "With your knowledge and his storytelling, maybe the two of you could make something completely new."

She then paid for her items and gathered them up into what little arm space she had left.

"But feel free to ignore me. I'm a regular nosy Nancy." Kagome laughed at herself.

"I'd like to talk to him." Tenko spoke after a moment, "If that's alright."

She grinned in return, "I'll message him and ask if he's okay with me giving you his number."

If this could help both Tenko and Shuichi in the long run, then she didn't mind being the busy body everyone often teased her for. Taking care of people who were down on their luck was just something she enjoyed doing.

Kagome smiled as she placed a call to her brother-in-law.

She hoped that this would work out for them both.