Enji was a bastard.
Natsuo always knew that, but god did that man like to shove this fact down his throat whenever he could.
He had always expected the asshole to disown him one day, even if he hadn't made a big public display of it.
Though it showed just how much Enji actually paid attention to him when he had his lawyers draft eviction papers and send them to him.
Natsuo had moved out and into the teacher's dorms when Nezu-San offered him a room along with the teachers in the teachers' dorm.
Something about wanting one of the medical staff onsite at all times but Natsuo was more than happy to take the rat up on his offer.
Sure, he missed being able to see Shouto on his runs but soon the two of them would be able to do whatever they wanted together.
Not having Enji's money also sucked, but he had been able to pool more than enough money to keep himself afloat for now.
But that wasn't the part that pissed Natsuo off about this whole mess.
No, it was the timing of it.
There was no way it was a coincidence that the same day the results were sent out that he was being disowned officially.
And of course, when Mic had told him about how Shouto basically shut down after he got second during the physical and asked him if his brother was doing okay it confirmed Natsuo's suspicions.
Enji. Was. A. Bastard.
Natsuo cursed the man under his breath over and over again.
Shouto was probably spiraling and there was nothing he could do to comfort his baby brother.
The best he could do would be to ask Fuyumi to pass on a note to Shouto about not worrying about him, he could probably lean on her to do it even though Enji would tell her not to.
Who knew Natsuo would be thankful for Fuyumi's desperation to be a 'proper' family.
Still, with all of this bullshit happening Natsuo just wanted to strangle someone.
Which is what led him to ranting to Taira, the only person he really trusted not to go running when he told him about his family situation.
"Do you want to go get a drink together?" Taira suddenly offered and Natsuo stopped to stare at his phone in disbelief.
"You're like, ten." Natsuo replied incredulous of what he just heard, and Taira huffed.
"I wasn't talking about alcohol dumb-dumb, and even then, I'm thirteen thank you very much, and a two-toes. I could drink if I wanted too." Taira corrected and pointed out.
"Taira." Natsuo hissed.
"Hey, I didn't say I was going to, watching dad trip over his own feet when he comes back from the bars is a better PSA than anything the government ever put out." Taira defended.
"But I'm serious that you need to take a night for yourself before you burn out Natsuo, it doesn't have to be drinks, take a spa day or something else before you give yourself a stroke." Taira insisted.
"You've got enough to deal with between college and U.A, just give yourself a night off for once." Taira told him and Natsuo sighed dragging a hand down his face, collapsing on a chair.
"Taira it isn't that easy, I've got exams coming up and I can't afford to take a day off if I want to pay off the loans I'll need to take out." Natsuo told the boy.
"I'm not asking you too, you could head down to the store and get yourself a cheap bottle of wine, a smutty romance book, and some bubble bath for all I care. Just give yourself one night where your number one okay?" Taira asked.
Natsuo huffed shaking his head.
"Should I get some scented candles too?" Natsuo asked rhetorically.
"If it helps you to relax, then yes. I know what's going on really sucks, but you're doing all that you can and that's enough Natsuo." Taira answered.
Natsuo's shoulder hunched up and he crossed his arms.
"I know that... it just doesn't feel that way." Natsuo confessed.
Shouto was stuck with two of the worst members in the family thinking they'll never see each other again, and here he was whining on the phone in the nicest apartment he's ever lived in.
"It never will... but Natsuo believe me when I say the fact you are even trying will be so much more than Shouto ever expected, you've done a lot more than most people ever would." Taira promised him.
"I… thanks Taira." Natsuo told the boy.
"No problem, and if you need anything just call, any time." Taira replied.
"I will." Natsuo promised before saying goodbye to his friend and going to make himself something for dinner.
Natsuo wasn't quite sure how he ended up in this position.
He and his class had just finished their exams and his classmates had asked him to come out with them to a bar.
Normally Natsuo would never entertain them, especially since he knew they only wanted the clout of partying with a Todoroki.
But Taira was right, that he was getting burnt out and needed to let off some steam.
So, Natsuo went with them and called back to U.A. about staying out a couple hours longer than he thought.
And now he was sitting in a bar in a corner with a beer in hand that he hadn't even sipped at because he was too anxious to try it.
And frankly, Natsuo would absolutely blame this on the post-exam brain.
At least the rest of his classmates were too busy with themselves to pay him much attention.
He really didn't want to be involved with their drunk shenanigans.
Especially since one of the girls decided to try and ride around on one of the guys' shoulders.
He likely was going to regret coming here and maybe he should head back to U.A. before he did something stupid.
"Are you doing alright?" someone asked and Natsuo looked up to see who it was that asked.
Natsuo blinked when he saw who it was, his mind blanking for a moment.
The person standing there had long white hair and even though their eyes were blue he thought they might be related to his mom.
The Himuras white hair, thin frames and pale skin were all rather recognizable when you've known them so well, the only odd trait was their thicker eyelashes.
He had been the only one in his family to have Enji's frame and tan skin.
"Um yeah. I'm alright." Natsuo replied his mind working to try and remember if there were any distant cousins on his mother's side.
"Would you mind if I joined you then?" he, they sounded more like a guy, asked.
"Uh, sure go right ahead." Natsuo answered still a bit off kilter seeing someone that looked so much like his other family members but couldn't place.
The guy settled across from him, taking a moment to adjust before returning his attention to him.
"I won't insult your intelligence and pretend that I don't know who you are." He told him, lightly waving his hand.
"So instead, I'll introduce myself, I'm Geten." 'Geten' said offering one of his hands to shake.
"Nice to meet you, I'm sorry for assuming, but are you related to the Himuras?" Natsuo couldn't help asking.
"Unfortunately. I assume I look like your mother?" Geten guessed.
Natsuo nodded, and just a little like his sister too.
"You've got good eyes then, most people don't notice, which is how I prefer it. Being an affair child and all that." Geten causally informed him.
Ah, that explained why Natsuo didn't recall him.
"Moving on from our family, I didn't think that I'd ever meet you, much less a place like this even if it is a college bar." Geten brought up.
"Finished exams." Natsuo replied flatly.
It would be believable and even if Geten was family, he didn't feel like spilling everything to him right away.
"Ahh, that would do it. Classmates bring and ditch you?" Geten guessed.
"Not initially, I was able to slip away and they're too drunk to notice." Natsuo commented pointing over to where his classmates were.
"What about you? Are you a regular here?" Natsuo asked.
"Nah, had a local client and they picked the place to meet. And the guy liked to relive his college days. Couldn't relate, college wasn't the best time in my life." Geten explained, rolling his eyes, taking a sip from his glass.
Natsuo made the elective decision that he wasn't quite sure he wanted Geten to clarify what kind of client wanted to me him in a college bar.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to-" Natsuo tried to apologize but Geten waved his hand.
"I've already finished closing my deal with him, so I'm free for a little while before I have to go back to work." Geten assured him.
"So why don't you tell me how your studies are going? I know you're in medical school." Geten inquired gently turning the topic to something else.
Natsuo began to talk about his recent grades, Geten being a surprisingly good listener and they ended up exchanging stories about some of their worse teachers.
It was kind of nice to not think about his larger problems, to complain about the smaller things with a relative stranger.
He did notice that Geten was careful to avoid bringing up his current job or asking anything about U.A. unlike his classmates, even his teachers had tried to ask him about the inner workings of the best hero school in the county.
Maybe Geten didn't know but Natsuo doubted that.
Geten Eventually moved the conversation to be about the books they've both read recently, with there being more than one book Natsuo would think of looking into.
"Say, do you know any other languages? Cause there's a book I think that you might be interested in reading that came out recently." Geten asked, one of his fingers tracing a circle on the table.
Natsuo hummed lightly sipping at his drink.
"I think I took a course in French back in middle school, but I couldn't speak it now, much less read it." Natsuo answered.
Geten looked disappointed but merely shrugged saying "Well that's a shame, I guess I'll keep an ear out for when a Japanese version comes out eventually."
"How are you liking that?" Geten asked pointing to the bottle Natsuo was holding, Natsuo looked down to the bottle he'd only had a few sips on since talking with Geten and grimaced.
"Not really, I bit too... apple-ly I think? One of my classmates bought a bunch of these for everyone and I couldn't turn them down." Natsuo told him, looking down on the label to remember what it was.
"I can drink the rest if you want, I'm not driving home, and we can get you a mock-tail or some water." Geten offered, his glass almost empty aside from the salt blocks that acted like ice cubes.
Natsuo considered it before passing his bottle over to Geten and stood to go and get himself a soda or something from the bartender.
Natsuo made sure to keep an eye on the glass the bartender poured for him before he returned to the little corner booth.
Geten frowning after sipping from his glass after it was filled with half of the contents of Natsuo's old bottle.
"I can see why you aren't a fan." Geten commented as Natsuo settled down back across from him.
Natsuo huffed, sipping his glass not feeling bad at all for Geten, he had been the one that offered to drink the rest of the bottle.
"Yeah, way too apple-ly right?" Natsuo asked, Geten nodding and grimacing as he took another large drink of his glass.
"So, how much longer do you plan to stay before going home?" Geten inquired, shaking his head at the taste.
Natsuo checked his phone and blinked at the time.
"Um, I actually need to probably get a ride back to U.A. campus, like right now." Natsuo answered a bit surprised at how time had slipped away from him.
"Shame," Geten muttered, digging around in his pocket until he got a pen out and grabbed a napkin, writing down his number before passing it to Natsuo.
"If you ever want to hang out again, here's my number." Geten informed him.
"Uh, thanks-" Natsuo began to say but Geten held up his hand.
"You don't need to give me yours, just take mine. If you want to meet up again just text me and we can arrange to see each other somewhere nicer than a college bar." Geten told him.
Natsuo was a bit taken aback and he wasn't sure what to do with that fact, since even if Geten was technically family, albeit distant family, he had been so used to people trying to use him as a steppingstone to someone/something greater.
Having someone just give him their number and not ask for something in return was… different.
"Um, cool." Natsuo replied, not wanting to say that he'd contact him later since that was a bit too much commitment for Natsuo to agree to at this time.
"I hope that we can see you later, Natsuo. It was nice to get the chance to talk with you." Geten said offering his hand to shake.
Natsuo did so out of politeness and then walked over to the exit and opened an app to get himself a ride back to U.A. grounds.
Hoping he'd be back before curfew, but it would be a near thing.