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Touya couldn't believe what was happening right now.

"Wh… What?"

None of this seemed to be real as Nakamura elaborated further on what he wished for them to do.

"I never told you how it was I lived, did I?"

Nakamura placed his shirt upon the jacket he left on the ground before walking over to a spot opposite to where he wanted Touya to stand before they fought. Too much mental stress caused the boy to become a bit out of it as he slowly put the pieces together.

"I'm quirkless, kiddo. You think being unable to understand your classmates was hard enough? Imagine them trying to drown you, burn you, beat you, cut you, or even choke you without mercy. All the while being completely powerless to save yourself."

Something in the way that Nakamura spoke told Touya that this man had been through all this and then some. It slowly came together in the child's head as certain pieces of evidence that backed up the man's story were now being remembered. How Nakamura never flinched in the face of his father, a bonafide hero with the power of fire. Why it was that Haru never seemed like he was losing when he fought Endeavor. Evidence that all pointed to the reality that this man lived a life that had him fight for his right to even live.

It finally dawned on Touya why he never saw Nakamura use his quirk. He never had one to begin with. How he never realized that until now felt like a genuine mystery to the boy.

Coming back to reality, it was clear that Nakamura had no intentions of just letting the young Todoroki walk away without consequence. What felt different about this situation was how the man challenged the boy. He genuinely left the choice to face Nakamura up to the young lad, despite the serious nature of the challenge.

What Touya felt for the first time in his entire life was the pride that came with facing someone who respected him. He didn't get up and stand in position for the right to be a successor to his father. No memory of the past few years of obsessing over his quirk existed in his mind as Touya squared off against Nakamura. Facing this man, only he and his opponent existed in this one pocket of time and space.

Seconds passed on the clock as these two stared down one another. Despite the fear and shame he felt a few moments ago, nothing else mattered as he faced off against someone who wanted to see what he was made of.

For the first time in his entire life; Touya finally felt like he could just be himself in this one encounter.

Haru struck at the boy first. Seeing Nakamura's speed in work caught the young teen off guard with how much the man exceeded the youth's expectations. Flames were produced to fan out and create distance between himself and Haru. The fire he worked so hard to produce dissipated to reveal nothing in front of the boy. Not a single piece of evidence that proved that Nakamura was even in front of him even existed. Touya felt something jab into the side of his neck twice with a gentle enough force to prevent it from being uncomfortable.

"Got you."

What ended the impromptu match was Nakamura getting behind Touya and using the tip of his thumb as an analog weapon. This proved to be more than effective enough to prove the point that Nakamura wanted to show Touya.

So much weight had been relieved off of the boy's shoulder as he just collapsed onto his ass. All the tension in his body released for the first time in a very long time. He even let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding in. Nakamura even sat down with his back against Touya's as they spoke in earnest.

"... Haru-san?"

"Hm?"

"... What was it like?"

He knew what the child wanted to know. No point in being coy now.

"Hard. Everything felt like an uphill battle. None of it felt fair or reasonable… But here I am."

Hearing Nakamura speak so earnestly made Touya feel like he misunderstood the man who he once thought was invincible. Hearing his somber tales of survival put a lot into perspective for the young child.

Nothing that Nakamura said comforted the child in the least about what his past entailed. Recounts of his childhood were nothing but tales of Haru scrambling for survival. At the same time, Touya felt something that also relieved him of his own stresses. Stories of Nakamura's fables in his childhood were those of great hardship overcome with only Haru's life being the only consolation.

All these years, he never understood that the one person who did their best to be there for him had their own pain. Pain that they survived almost alone for so long. Not even Touya was certain that he could survive such an ordeal like Nakamura's.

"... After all that pain, all that blood, all those tears… Do you know what I learned?"

Silence told Haru that the child didn't know what to respond with.

"I learned that there's always a next day. Another day to see what happens. I thought that beating those kids would fix everything. It was all I could think of. Day after day I obsessed over getting them back… And when I did…"

This time it was Haru who remained silent for a moment. Touya silently held his anticipation for the conclusion that Nakamura had to share.

"... All I saw in them was fear. Fear that I once felt… I didn't triumph over evil. I survived. That's when I knew, then and there, that my life could be more. Who these people were didn't matter to me anymore. I became stronger and moved on because of it."

Some of the message got lost in translation, though Touya could feel something deeply moving inside of him. It felt almost religious in a sense.

"I know you feel empty and hurt. It's something many people go through despite everything. We can choose to let it make us who we are…"

A hand gently pat Touya on the head and stroked the white locks of hair. It had been an uncountable amount of time for the boy since he last felt something akin to what he felt as Nakamura offered his support.

"Or we can choose to make what it means to us. I know for certain that you are a kind child that had his purpose ripped from him. You feel so painfully empty that it feels like you're always starving for something, yet can't feed that hunger."

Tears started to prick at the edges of the boy's eyes. He curled up into a tighter ball as Haru kept striking the nail on the head.

"I'm sorry I can't do much more than this for you. To see you feel so helpless hurts me to the core. Just know I also see something even better in you that makes people call those people on tv heroes."

Turning to Nakamura, he looked up at the saddened eyes of the one who finally saw through him. The once joyful face of this man looked so terribly painful as he looked into Touya and saw the loneliness he knew existed. Lacking personal knowledge didn't mean he couldn't let the boy know that his suffering wasn't as valid as anybody else's.

"You're kind to a fault, kiddo. Remember that there are bigger things waiting for you than what you could possibly imagine now. Even if this one thing feels so important to you now; wait till you see what tomorrow has in store for you."

Haru got up on one knee and hugged the child in earnest. If he couldn't take the pain away, he would help in any other way he could.

"You don't have to walk alone. I'll be here if you need me… Just, don't stoop to your anger. Your hatred. I know what embracing that kind of darkness leads to… Promise me you'll at least come and talk to me before you take another step towards that path…"

It wasn't the words that shook Touya. The hug wouldn't have affected him all that much either. What the boy remembered the most that day was how Nakamura, the once invincible mountain of a man, shook as he held the boy. Someone who he thought embodied confidence and knowledge past anybody else in life felt so scared and insecure as they held him. Touya didn't want Haru to be this way. To see someone he idolized so vulnerable because of him awoke something deep inside of the child.

For the first time in his entire life, he didn't feel alone in his pain. There was someone here who wanted to make sure that he was okay, even at the cost of their own wellbeing…

Haru held in his tears as Touya unloaded even more tears. Holding the boy until he finally tuckered himself out, he carried the child back home and tucked him in after ignoring Endeavor and passing by a silent Rei. Tucking in the boy felt strangely nostalgic. Haru hoped that he would no longer be the one to do this for the family. Maybe someday in the distant future, this family could heal and learn to grow from their conflict.

A naive hope that would continue to fail in becoming real.

Several Weeks Later

"Why didn't you stop him?!"

Endeavor blew up in a fury over the fact his eldest son still had scars on his body. Rei did her best to explain that those marks on his body weren't from recently, which Endeavor saw as nothing more than an excuse. Despite telling the truth, the father had too little information to see that what his wife was saying was indeed exactly what it was.

Weeks had gone by after Nakamura brought the boy home. During that time, the first thing that came out of Touya after an extended silence was an apology to his mother for all the things he said. Neither could hold back their tears as they finally reconciled what had happened out of their oversight.

Natsu had been the one to apologize first for the fight they got into that one night. Without another moment to lose, these two also reconcile their differences.

It took more time for Touya to muster up the courage to speak to his father. Days passed by one after another before he finally psyched himself up enough to talk to his father.

It fell into a complete disaster of misunderstanding after that.

Approaching his father in the hall, Touya nervously asked if his dad and him could spend some time over the holidays. He wanted to ask his dad to just come up to the mountains nearby to just have a camping trip that would be between the father and son. That place that once had such a painful context was somewhere he shared a precious memory with someone. His desire for this trip was so that these two could also have another good memory at that spot.

In a panic, Endeavor suddenly lifted up his son's shirt to reveal the healing scars on his son's torso. Due to him barely speaking to his other children, he didn't realize that these marks were from weeks ago. This misunderstanding then sent Endeavor into a rage.

"Why?! After all this time, why are you still doing this to yourself?!"

"D-dad, I just-"

"Do you think this is nothing but a game?! What on earth were you thinking?!"

All the rage and remorse he managed to quell erupted in a single moment. Touya didn't want to hear all this when he was the one who wanted to make amends for the past few years. A responsibility that didn't even fall upon him in the first place.

"A game?! You think I fucking did this to myself over a game?! I killed myself because you stopped giving a shit about me! Nobody matters to you except whatever you want!"

Then came the moment that Endeavor would forever regret. Too much of this felt overbearing on the man as things were. By reflex, his hand suddenly struck his son in the face. Nobody even moved for several moments as the ugly truth of what just happened settled over them. Endeavor just stood there as he looked at Touya's retreating form, leaving him by himself in the hallway.

Now he was in one of the rooms where Rei had Endeavor bearing down on her. Accusations of her not being the one to stop their son from harming himself spat themselves at the distraught woman barely able to even stand up. His thunderous yelling had the middle children cowering in the corner while Shoto did his best to stand up for his mother.

"Stop bullying mommy!"

"Get out, Shoto! This doesn't involve you!"

He refused to budge from where he stood. Feeling like the world was after him pushed Endeavor's already delicate mindset into lashing out more than he already did. More yelling and abusive accusations over Rei's lack of parental responsibility were interrupted when Endeavor felt someone grab his right wrist. The whole world spun before he flew through multiple walls and doors before hitting a weight bearing wooden pillar. It cracked under the weight of the impact behind Endeavor as he hit the dense wood with his back.

His body wouldn't shut up about how much pain it was in after being thrown. He laid on his side while the sounds of someone crunching through the shrapnel approaching the stunned hero. Looking up at the person now standing above him, Endeavor felt the point of a knife prick the bottom of his jaw as Nakamura looked at him with a deep seated hatred that shook even Endeavor a little.

While pointing the curved knife at Endeavor, the words spoken next were more than carefully selected as he threatened the abusive father.

"You talk, I cut your tongue in half from beneath…"

By instinct, the hero didn't even move to get out from under the blade. Every crawl of his skin told Endeavor to just stay still as the piercing glare from Haru bore through his very soul.

"All of this is your fault. Your fear pushed them all to the brink. If anything happens to that child…"

Between just killing Endeavor in front of the family and finding Touya, the answer was more than obvious. He left the paralyzed man on the floor with two cracked ribs as he exited the estate to go looking for Touya.

Rei had actually called Haru when she overheard the altercation between her son and husband and watched as Touya took off out of the house. She just wanted her baby back and panicked enough to call someone she knew her son wouldn't run from when they found him. That led Nakamura to enter the home shortly after and find the father already on a borderline violent tangent about how his wife was the one at fault for Touya's current state. One man could only stomach so much before he's pushed over the edge.

The children all embraced their mother while Endeavor still couldn't stop himself shaking. For the first time in his entire life, someone had made Endeavor genuinely fear for his life. This would then lead into the deep hatred he had for Nakamura. That day the man caused the great Endeavor to feel fear would forever scar his delicate pride.

Sekoto Hill

Up in the mountains, Touya sobbed uncontrollably at the horrid treatment his father subjected him to. Loneliness overtook the child in the lowest point of his life.

After years of holding onto resentment, all he wanted from his dad was just a decent conversation with him so that he could ask him to go camping together. Being rebuffed by his father so violently pushed the last bit of stability he thought he had over a cliff. Wose of all, he felt like a failure for feeling the way he felt.

Someone trusted Touya with the wisdom that they wanted to guide the boy. Feeling this weak made the misery far more unbearable. Not only did he feel alone; he felt like a failure at fault for their own shortcomings. If only he could be more. What he was is a failure. Nothing he had was enough.

Not enough. He needed more.

Flames started to erupt from his body. Trying to control the flames only caused them to burn even brighter. Rather than a typical orange and yellow fire, this heat produced blue flames that started to consume the child. Agonizing pain seared his flesh as Touya screamed into the night while burning in the fire that consumed his fragile form.

It won't stop! It hurts! Someone save me!

Scared didn't even cover how helpless Touya felt. His mind frantically called out to anybody that could even reach him through impossible means. Anybody would do.

Haru…

"TOUYA!"

Present Time

After Endeavor filled in the police with what he saw, it then fell on them to inform the rest of the family about the potential survival of the once thought to be dead Touya. An inevitability of the truth that he wanted the rest of the family he sired to know. Faced with the ugly truth now, to know that his son now felt nothing for his father left Endeavor… empty.

Trials of being a father were not what he overcame. None of his children saw him as a better man after all he did for them. Not a single action he took had been for them. He only saw what he thought was good for them.

So much of his life had him chasing after a dream that grew out of his disillusion of his constant failures as a father. He finally felt the weight of his mistakes bear down on him as he finally began to cry at the pain he ignored for so many years.