Chapter Text
Everything came as fragments of sensation-
Wind, cold and biting through too-thin fabric.
Light, bright and blinding against the darkness.
(A light overhead-)
Pain, clawing at his limbs and head from the inside
Time, slipping past in glimpses of light and dark and motion.
(Coaxing voices-)
Hunger, sharp and heavy, making him stumble.
Skin, tight and stinging and numb -
(Refusal-)
A street.
A house.
(A white hallway-)
A door.
Key?
( Grabbing hands-)
Hands, patting his hips for absent pockets.
No. No key.
(Roaring flames-)
He lost his key.
On the mountain?
(Running-)
A fist, poised to knock.
No. Don’t. Dark- It was dark.
(Out-)
It was nighttime.
If he knocked, everyone would wake up. Then he…
(-A silhouette)
He… he shook himself, trying to clear the fog that clung to him, fragmenting thoughts and memories into splinters.
The back- He could go around the back. No need to wake anyone.
His feet dragged and threatened to trip over nothing. A hand on the wall steadied him.
The wall- he’d have to climb.
That made him falter. Could he really climb right now? The pulsing ache in his muscles protested the thought. Maybe he could go back and just knock. He’d wake everyone up, but-
No.
(- How pitiful-)
No, he wasn’t a failure. He could get back inside himself, and he’d rest and explain everything in the morning. Things would make more sense in the morning, when he wasn’t shaking from pain and exhaustion and hunger.
His hands found the familiar branches of a tree he’d climbed so many times before. The bark tore at his hands and the shredded soles of his feet as he pulled himself up. His limbs felt heavy and icy, but instead of numbing the pain, it just made it lick through him like creeping ice. He swallowed a whimper as the pain made his head spin, but he kept moving. He couldn’t stop. If he did, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to start again.
Teeth gritted against the pain, he pulled himself up the scraggly tree and pushed himself to just go.
Muscle memory took him up and over the wall.
Gravity brought him back down the other side.
He hit the ground among the bushes.
(-Pouring sweat)
His knees buckled.
(Smoke and ash-)
His chest ached.
(-Burning!)
His fingers dug into the ground, gripping the grass just to keep himself anchored. Time slipped past as he wheezed breath back into lungs that didn’t want to work right. His head spun worse than before.
Ow.
He coughed once, twice, then spat into the grass. It tasted like blood.
Ow.
He had to bite back a low whine of pain as he pushed himself back onto his unsteady feet. Come on, he was almost there. Just to the other side of the yard, then he’d be home. He could do that. He wouldn’t fail again.
Using the wall as a crutch, he slowly made his way down the far side of the backyard until he had to turn off and stumble in the open down the path, then across the bridge over the gravel creek. He didn’t look back, but he could feel the wet footprints he left on the wood.
There it was - home. He was almost home.
His legs gave out just as he reached the raised walkway along the back of the house, and he hugged a pillar to keep from hitting the ground again.
Come on. Just a few more steps.
A sound inside made him pause and glance up through an open window. He just caught a glimpse, but it was enough to make him move again, because he had to get closer.
Fuyumi.
Her hair was shorter now - to her shoulders instead of down her back- and she wore just the shirt and skirt of their school uniform. She looked… different. He couldn’t tell what, but there was definitely something different, other than her hair. She sat on the floor in front of the butsudan, talking quietly. Why was she… they never used the butsudan. There was a picture of Mom’s brother and grandparents in there, but none of them ever left offerings.
Why was she leaving an offering?
Who…
“-test next week. It’s only for practice, but I’m still nervous. You’d… probably make fun of me for that, but… I want to do well on it, so I’ve been studying a lot. It…” She paused. There was a strange waver to her voice. “It feels weird.” She paused again and sniffled once, looking between her hands clasped in her lap and the altar, where a small cup and a plate with a few slices of fruit sat. “I shouldn’t… it doesn’t feel right that I’m-” She cut herself off with a shuddering breath.
His heart clenched. Oh. Oh no. Was she crying? He hated when she cried. He never knew what to do, even though he was supposed to. That’s what heroes were supposed to do. Then again, Dad was awful at that, and half the time she cried because of something one of them did. Had… had he done something to make her cry?
No, he hadn’t done anything this time. He hadn’t even gone inside yet.
Another wave of dizziness passed over him and made him blink spots from his eyes. A deep tremor started somewhere in his core, and cold sweat beaded on his temples. Right. Inside. He should probably go inside now.
Before he could push off the pillar, another bit of movement inside drew his eye.
Natsuo stepped into the room, the collar of his school uniform hanging open in a way Dad always hated. His eyes flicked to the butsudan for just a second and his brows furrowed.
“What are you doing?” he asked, just barely loud enough to hear.
Fuyumi stiffened and pointedly kept her eyes forward. “Leaving an offering. And talking to him.” Her voice was sharp - it didn’t waver this time.
Natsuo let out a short huff and shook his head. “Waste of an apple,” he muttered, then turned to leave.
Fuyumi slapped a hand down on the floor. Everyone froze.
“Cut it out, Natsuo,” she snapped, just barely shy of yelling. “If I want to leave tea and apples, that’s my business. You don’t have to, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t!”
“He’s not there , Fuyumi,” Natsuo said, voice still low. “It’s just a picture.”
“I know,” she said. “I know it’s just a picture. He’s gone and the urn just-” she cut off with a choked sound.
Silence fell, and it rang in his ears.
After a long moment, Natsuo spoke. “He didn’t even like apples.” He sniffed. “He liked strawberries.”
His stomach sank. He didn’t like apples.
Did they think that he-
His tremors deepened, and he didn’t think it had much to do with the cold wind biting through his thin shirt.
Fuyumi let out a wet sounding laugh and pushed herself to her feet. “We don’t have any strawberries. We have apples.”
Was she leaving them for-
Oh god.
He took a shuddering breath as, on the other side of the window, Natsuo stepped closer to Fuyumi and bumped his shoulder against hers. She wiped at her nose with the back of her wrist.
“I shouldn’t be older than him,” Fuyumi whispered. “We can be the same age, but not… He’s supposed to be older. I’m fourteen and he’s… he’s never going to be.”
“Yeah,” Natsuo said. He swiped the heel of his hand across his cheek.
Silence fell again, and this time, he shook himself from his stupor and lurched towards the stairs, ignoring the pulsing pain through every part of him. He had to get inside. He had to show them that he wasn’t dead. He had to say sorry to Mom for what he said. He-
He tripped.
His foot caught the tread, and he let out a yelp as he slammed into the walkway. The sharp pain in his legs rattled up his spine and made his head pound in time with his heartbeat.
He heard Fuyumi gasp and looked up to see her and Natsuo looking out at him. Natsuo stared with wide eyes, but Fuyumi leaned forward, almost leaning out of the window. A moment later, recognition lit her face up and she gasped again.
“Touya?” she breathed.
Their eyes met for a moment, then Natsuo’s face fell, and he yanked Fuyumi back and out of view.
A door inside slammed. Natsuo yelled for Dad.
That was good. He didn’t think he could get up again. Maybe he could crawl to the door, if he really needed to, but… But Dad would be here in a minute. He needed to get up. Dad couldn’t see him like this. Mom could, maybe, but not Dad. Never Dad.
He ignored the ache in his knees and hips and everywhere to pull himself upright again. Vertigo washed over him again and he grabbed for the pillar at the top of the stairs to stop himself from toppling backwards. He just managed to steady himself when the back door slammed open. Light and heat poured out, both from the house and from Dad. He stood in the doorway, hair alight and staring at him with a familiar anger.
“Who are you?” Dad’s voice was sharp and unyielding, and Touya almost stepped back in confusion.
He’d known he would be mad that Touya had gone out to Sekoto, but…
“H-” Touya started, but the sound sputtered out into a rasping cough.
“It’s Touya!” Fuyumi insisted from somewhere behind Dad.
“It’s not!” Natsuo replied just as insistently.
“How did you get in here?” Dad demanded without letting Touya answer the first question.
“I climbed-” Touya started, but Dad closed the distance between them in one step and grabbed his arm.
Touya cried out as a new stab of bright-hot pain bloomed under Dad’s hand. “Let go!”
Dad’s grip just tightened. Heat prickled threateningly under his palm.
“Dad, stop!” Touya rasped.
Something warm began dripping down his arm and he grabbed at Dad’s wrist with his free hand. Touya’s quirk flared up and wavery orange flames sparked around his fingertips. Dad shook him and the flames sputtered out as he shouted in pain again. His head spun and his legs threatened to give out. Only the grip on his arm and the pillar at his back kept him upright.
“Who are you?” Dad demanded again, and panic flared in Touya’s chest. “How dare you-”
“You’re hurting him!” Fuyumi yelled from the doorway.
Natsuo grabbed her around the waist and pulled her backwards. He stared at Touya with anger and sadness and a fierce protectiveness he’d only seen during Mom and Dad’s worst fights.
“Dad, it’s me,” he hissed through teeth gritted in pain. “It's Touya. Please let go!”
“Liar!” Natsuo yelled.
“Get back inside, both of you,” Dad said over his shoulder before turning his attention back to Touya. “I will ask one more time. Who are you?”
Touya’s eyes stung, but no tears welled up. “I’m Touya,” he said again, panic making his voice tight and almost shrill. “I’m Touya! They took me but I got away and I came home, please-” He knew he was babbling, but he couldn’t think clearly enough to say it any better.
Dad leaned in, looming over him with the kind of cold fury he gave to the worst villains he tracked down. Their eyes met and Touya froze. He’d seen his dad angry, furious even, but this… never like this. Never in a way that made him feel like cornered prey. Dad’s eyes flicked over his face, calculating and merciless.
Suddenly, his expression smoothed to a detached sternness, like he always wore at work. His grip slackened but he didn’t let go.
“Fuyumi, Natsuo,” Dad said, his voice low. He didn’t take his eyes off Touya. “Go call for an ambulance.”
“But-” Natsuo started to protest, but Dad shook his head once.
“Go,” Dad said, and Fuyumi vanished back into the house with Natsuo at her heels.
Dad put a hand on Touya’s other arm to steady him and just stared for a few moments.
“Touya,” he finally said, halfway between a statement and a question.
Relief washed through him like a bathtub with its plug pulled. Touya swallowed hard and nodded, which made the world tilt a bit. Dad nodded back and let the flames in his hair peter out.
“Can you walk?” Dad asked.
Touya glanced down and saw- or maybe noticed- for the first time that his feet looked… wrong. They were caked with dirt and something dark and muddy that he didn’t really want to consider right now. Still, he’d come this far. A little more couldn’t hurt.
He nodded again. “I can.”
“Inside, then.”
Dad let go of Touya’s arm, but he kept a hand on his elbow as they walked inside- well, limped, in Touya’s case. The moment they passed the door, heat washed over him enough to make him gasp and set his head spinning. For half a second, he thought either he or Dad had set him on fire, but no. There was no fire. It was just… heat. Just being in from the cold felt hot.
That probably wasn’t good.
Between the warmth pricking his skin and that he wasn’t pushing forward with single-minded intensity, he truly felt the pain he’d been pushing to the edges of his awareness for… uh. For however long it’d been since he escaped. Every step felt like walking on glass and he pursed his lips to stop himself from wincing.
Another glance down told him he was still leaving wet footprints. In the light, they looked reddish.
He glanced up at Dad out of the corner of his eye. His face was still blank and serious. There was blood on one of his hands - there was blood on Touya’s arm, too, where Dad had grabbed him. Touya looked away.
Something tight and uncomfortable coiled in his stomach. He’d just known he had to get home, but… he hadn’t really thought through what he’d do when he got here. Long term, yes, he knew he still wanted to show Dad his fire and prove that he could control it enough to become a hero, but that didn’t really help much in the short term.
Luckily it seemed like Dad didn’t really know how to react either, so at least they were both in the same awkward boat.
“Sit,” Dad said once they reached the couch.
Touya let his knees bend and all but dropped onto the cushions. Even that short drop jarred his bones painfully and set his head pounding again. Dad stayed standing and took a step back.
Neither of them said anything for a moment, but before the silence could become uncomfortable, Fuyumi ran back with her cell phone up to her ear. Natsuo followed just a few steps behind her like a suspicious shadow.
“They’re coming,” she said, tilting the phone away for a moment. “I didn’t know what to tell them, so I just said that he was hurt.”
Dad held his clean hand out to her and she handed the phone over quickly. “Stay here,” he said, glancing between all three of them then stepping out into the hallway with the phone to his ear. “This is the hero Endeavor,” he said, then rattled off his license number and started giving a report of the situation. The door slid shut behind him and his voice became muted as he walked away.
Touya stared after him, his heart sinking. He just… left. They thought Touya was dead, and right when he found out that wasn’t true, he still walked away?
“Touya…” Fuyumi said. “You. You’re bleeding.”
She took a few hesitant steps closer, her hands fiddling with the hem of her shirt now that she didn’t have anything to do with them.
Touya glanced down at his arm, where a streak of red soaked into the sleeve of his dirty shirt. He pointedly didn’t look down any further
“It’s fine. I think it already stopped.”
The fabric stuck slightly when he tugged it up to reveal one of the scarred patches. The seam where it met his normal skin had split open, and it was still bleeding sluggishly.
“Mostly,” he added. “It doesn’t really hurt.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but considering how much everything else hurt, it was a small pain.
“How… How are you alive?” She asked.
Her eyes traced over the patchy scars down his forearms, but they kept skittering away from his face. He’d seen the giant, purpley marks on his arms and the smaller burnmarks that littered the normal skin around them, but he hadn’t gotten the chance to see himself in a mirror yet. Based on how tight the skin around his mouth felt, it… probably wasn’t great.
“Yeah,” Natsuo cut in, “How did you get out of a fire that burned down the whole mountain? They found your jawbone, Touya. But you still have one, even though it’s ugly.”
“Natsuo!” Fuyumi gasped in horror. She looked ready to smack him, but luckily for him, he was out of reach.
Natsuo opened his mouth to snap back at her, but Touya spoke first.
“They…”
Even that one word made them fall silent.
“I don’t know who they were, but someone took me off Sekoto. I was going to show Dad some new stuff I figured out with my quirk, but he didn’t come. I lost control and. Uh. There was a man- I didn’t see his face. And when I woke up, I was in this… clinic? Or something. It’s kind of. Um.” He waved one hand in a vague gesture. “I don’t remember a lot.”
“Convenient,” Natsuo said, his face twisting into a sneer.
“Cut it out,” Fuyumi hissed.
“No! How are you buying this? Touya’s dead - they found his bones , but some guy with a scarred up face shows up and you just believe him? I bet he didn’t even know Touya’s name until you said it.” Natsuo turned his glare on Touya. “Who are you, really? And what do you want, huh? Money? Attention?” He barked a bitter laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“Shut up!” This time, Touya was the one who snapped. “You have no idea what happened to me, so-”
“And apparently you don’t either!”
Touya’s stomach twisted. Natsuo was right about that - he didn’t really know what happened to him while he was gone, but he did know who he was. His eyes prickled again, but still they stayed painfully dry.
“I know I didn’t end up in that urn you were crying over!”
Natsuo took a threatening step forward. Fuyumi threw herself into his path and threw her hands up. Tears ran down her face.
“Natsuo! Leave him alone!”
“You’re not Touya!” he yelled, ignoring her completely.
“Yes I am !” Touya tried to jump up from the couch, but his legs buckled and he fell back with a shout of pain. Flames licked down his fingers and scorched black marks into the fabric.
“Stop it! Both of you!” Fuyumi yelled.
The door opened and Fuyumi whipped around to look. Natsuo didn’t take his eyes off Touya, and Touya glared right back.
Dad stood in the doorway, phone in hand and face impassive. “Enough,” he said sharply. “This is not for children to be arguing about.”
“You believe him too?” Natsuo yelled, face scrunching in anger. “You’re all crazy!”
Dad silenced him with a sharp look. “Enough!” he repeated, but Natsuo just snorted and stormed past him.
“If he kills you all, don’t come crying to me!” Natsuo yelled over his shoulder.
Fuyumi let out a sob and clamped a hand over her mouth. Touya just stared.
Fuyumi and Natsuo never argued like that before. They fought sometimes, sure, but never like that. Fuyumi was closer in age to Touya, but she and Natsuo had always been better friends with each other than with Touya. Now he’d seen them fighting twice in just a couple minutes, all because of him.
The trembling started up again. Or maybe it had never really stopped.
For one moment, he wondered if things might have been better if he stayed away, and the chill of that thought extinguished the flames on his hands.
Fuyumi killed that thought quickly. “I’m so sorry, Touya,” she choked out and hurried the last couple steps so she could throw her arms around him.
He held back a wince as her arms pressed against painful spots on his back - it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to ignoring burns. He settled his arms around her, but he didn’t squeeze like she did.
“It… It’s okay,” Touya said hesitantly. “Um. I’m sorry too. For-”
For being so distant. For fighting so much. For getting hurt and scaring her and disappearing. For her having to take care of him and Natsuo so many times. For making her have to take on the eldest sibling role, even before all of this. For making her cry.
“For a lot of things,” Touya finished, the details dying in his throat.
“I’m just happy you’re okay,” Fuyumi gave a choked sob into Touya’s shoulder.
Dad’s jaw tightened slightly, and he just kept staring with that flat, unimpressed look. Touya looked up at him over Fuyumi’s shoulder, and their eyes locked.
Dad blinked first.
“Fuyumi,” he said, making her twist slightly to look at him, though she didn’t let go of Touya. “The ambulance should be here soon. Go wait for them and show them in.”
Fuyumi started to protest, but another sharp look sent her on her way. Dad took her place on the couch, though he sat stiffly and much further away.
“Touya,” he said, his voice as flat as his expression.
When he didn’t continue, Touya nodded slowly and said “...Yes?”
“You’re going to have to tell people what happened to you. Doctors, police, heroes. It’s important that you tell the truth. Do you understand me?”
Another awkward silence fell.
“... Yeah, I figured I would. I don’t remember everything, but… I’ll say what I do remember.”
“Good. Then let's start from the beginning. Where did you go before all this happened?”
Touya blinked at him. “I. I was going to Sekoto, like I told you. I wanted to show you something, but you didn’t come.”
Endeavor’s expression hardened. “And what did you want to show me?”
Touya fought the urge to shrink away from him. “My… my quirk. It changed. And I wanted to show you what I could do.”
“It changed?” Endeavor echoed.
“Yeah,” Touya said, looking down at his hands in his lap. “I had been practicing, and I-” he cut himself off and shook his head slightly.
Dad said nothing and just waited for him to continue.
“Look, I know you don’t like me using my quirk, but I figured it out. Strong emotions, strong flames. And.” He flexed his fingers and made a trembling flame in his palm. It started orange, but within a few seconds, a core of blue began to grow. “I can make it blue- ”
Dad’s hand snapped shut over Touya’s, smothering the flame and making Touya flinch.
“Don’t.” Dad said, his eyes going sharp and dark.
“I’m not going to do anything! I lost control on the mountain, but I’m not-”
Dad’s grip tightened slightly.
“Don’t.” He repeated.
Touya’s heart sank. Oh. Now he understood.
“You don’t think I’m me, do you?”
They just stared again for another long moment.
“I’m not sure.”
“ Dad !” Touya protested.
“We will find out at the hospital. In the meantime, do not use your quirk. Do you understand me?”
Touya scowled and yanked his hand away. “Why would I lie about that?”
“Why wouldn’t someone lie to try to get access to a hero and their family? I’m sure you could think of plenty of reasons, revenge the least of them. Blackmail. Extortion. Or even just attention.”
“You were listening when Natsuo was-”
“Of course I was,” Endeavor all but shouted as he stood to tower over Touya. “Did you really think I would leave my children alone with someone who might not be-”
“Oh, so now we’re your children? Cause all- all you cared about before was Shouto, your precious little perfect experiment, replacement for the three disappointments you got stuck with before he came along!”
Smoke rose from Endeavor’s hair and his lip curled in the beginnings of a snarl. “Enough!” he barked. “My children are not part of this conversation.”
“Yes we are! But you don’t want to have that conversation. You never did. I don’t even know why I came back. I should have expected this kind of… of-” His throat tightened like he was going to cry, but still his eyes stayed dry. “Since you don’t want me here, I’ll just go.”
Touya pushed off from the couch again, and this time, he ignored the pain in his feet and knees. They tried to give out, but he didn’t let them. Why did he ever think that Dad would be happy to have him back? He wasn’t good enough before all of this, so what would change about him coming back from the dead?
“Sit down,” Endeavor ordered. “You’re not going to leave.”
“Why? Apparently I’m not your son and I’m just here to be a threat to your children on top of a disappointment!” Touya’s voice cracked.
He tried to storm past Endeavor, but a hand grabbed his arm and forced him to stop. It hurt, just like everything else did, but it wasn’t nearly as tight as it was the first time.
“Let go!” Touya cried, but Dad didn’t let go.
“No,” Dad said, his voice suddenly lowered but just as unyielding. “Stop this tantrum and sit back down. I am not going to ask again.”
“No! I-”
A sob racked through him- a deep, chest-aching sob that shook his whole body and clawed at his throat like fire on the way out. He yanked his arm one more time, but he didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. He was just so tired, and everyone thought he was a liar. It was all just too much. He sagged in Dad’s grip, and he didn’t protest as Dad guided him back to the couch and made him sit back down.
Maybe Dad was right. Maybe he was a mistake.
“I need Mom,” he choked out.
Dad went very still and didn’t answer.
“Where’s Mom?” Touya insisted. “I have to talk to her.”
He was crying, he knew he was, but there were still no tears, and Dad still didn’t answer. Why wouldn’t he answer?
Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him.
“Please,” he tried again. “Please, did… did something happen? Is she- did she die?”
“She is not dead,” Dad said, and Touya nodded shakily. “But that’s enough. We will talk about this later, not here, and not now.”
Touya wanted to yell at him again. She was his mother , how dare he not tell him what happened to her! But after what he said to her, did he really have any right to know? What if… what if she hated him, or-
“She’s in the hospital,” came a voice from the doorway.
When Touya looked up, the shock was enough to halt his sobbing immediately, though his breath still came in ragged gasps.
He was taller than the last time Touya had seen him, but that split hair was unmistakable.
Shouto.
Dad’s perfect successor.
He hovered in the doorway, one hand on the door frame and a look of faint confusion on his face. He had on a set of button-up gray pajamas that looked entirely too ironed for something that should be slept in. Shouto’s eyes didn’t quite meet Touya’s, but they skittered over him, assessing and analyzing in a way that left Touya feeling uncomfortably exposed.
Touya couldn’t take his eyes off that scar.
It was massive, covering nearly a quarter of his face, even though Shouto’s fringe hung down to cover part of it. That was probably intentional, since it looked longer than it was before. How had that happened? Had he lost control of his fire? That was always possible, but it didn’t look quite right for that, and it was too isolated. There would have been more burns if he lost control badly enough to leave a scar that big- Touya knew from experience.
It looked… intentional.
Who did that?
“Shouto,” Dad said warningly.
Touya’s eyes flicked to Dad for just a moment, then back to Shouto.
“What?” Shouto asked, tilting his head ever so slightly. “Everyone was yelling, so I came to see what was happening. The walls are very thin.”
“Why is she in the hospital?” Touya asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Shouto started to answer, but Dad interrupted. “Go back to your room.”
Shouto closed his mouth and fixed Dad with a flat stare edged with resentment. Touya’d never seen him look like that, not that he’d seen him all that often before. Had that changed while he was gone, or was this something even newer than that?
“Okay,” Shouto eventually said, then turned to leave. He paused momentarily and looked back over his shoulder. “Happy birthday, by the way.”
Then he vanished.
Touya blinked. Was it his birthday? That would be bitterly ironic- coming back from the dead on his birthday. He let out a shaky laugh. Dad gave him an odd look, which just made him laugh again.
“It’s my birthday,” he said, through quiet, tight giggles.
Down the hall, a door opened then closed, and Fuyumi came rushing in a moment later. The paramedics hurried a few steps behind her, rolling a gurney along with them. One was a shorter man with just a bit of stubble on his chin and a green tinge to the skin on his hands and neck. The other was a woman just a little taller than her partner with broad shoulders and tufts of feathers streaked through her hair.
Fuyumi stopped out in the hallway and let them come in, but she gave him a concerned look, probably because he couldn’t stop giggling.
“Hello Touya,” the green guy said, taking a knee next to Touya. “My name is Morita, and this is Hata-san.”
The feather lady- Hata, apparently, nodded and gave him a quick smile.
Morita continued. “Is it okay if I take a look at you?”
Touya recognized it for what it was- get on the same level, speak quietly, and don’t look like a threat. He’d seen it outlined in so much of his research on heroics over the years, but he never thought he’d be on the receiving end of it.
He let out a hysterical giggle-turned-hiccup and nodded.
“Thank you,” Morita said with a smile.
He pulled a pair of gloves out of his work bag and very delicately began examining Touya, starting with his arms. Touya flinched slightly when they brushed past the seams on his scars. His giggles slowly died down, but the trembling that had been isolated to his core began to spread to his limbs too. Was this some sort of shock or was he just actually losing his mind now?
“These look like old burns,” Morita said quietly. He looked up to Touya, waiting for him to elaborate.
Touya nodded again. “They are, about a year, I think? They don’t hurt much,” he lied.
“A year?” Hata asked.
“Yeah, um. Did Fuyumi not tell you that…” Touya trailed off and looked past the gurney to Fuyumi, who still stood anxiously in the hallway.
She shook her head and hugged her arms against her stomach. Touya scowled at her. Great. He was already going to have to say what happened over and over again, and she couldn’t even tell them the little bit she knew to make it easier for him. She-
Touya sighed and dropped the scowl. She didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t know enough to tell them much, and it wasn’t fair for him to blame her. He already had enough to apologize for, so no need to make it worse by being a jerk again.
“Why don’t you go ahead and tell me yourself, just to make sure we know what happened,” Morita said.
“I.” Touya started, then stopped.
Where did he even begin? With his quirk? With the clinic? At Sekoto?
“Take your time, Touya, it’s okay,” Morita said.
Touya frowned. That tone was really starting to get on his nerves. And so were all the eyes bearing down on him - Dad, the paramedics, Fuyumi, and it wouldn’t surprise him if Shouto was lurking somewhere on the second floor of the training wing, staring at him through the window too.
“So. Uh. I was trying to train, but I. Lit the mountain on fire instead.” Touya said haltingly. “I couldn’t get out but there was… a man. He just came out of the fire and grabbed me. That. Uh. That’s the last thing I remember until I woke up at this… I don’t really know what it was. It was like a clinic, but there were a bunch of kids there, and this creepy guy with a flower head? I.” Touya paused and looked off. “I don’t know if that flower head part was real, actually. It’s all kinda…” he gestured vaguely. “Mixed up. Um.”
He chanced a look up and cringed away from the eyes still all trained on him. Fuyumi looked on the edge of tears. Morita kept staring at him with such simpering pity that Touya wanted to slap him. Dad’s face was blank, but his eyes were just a little bit wider in a way that either said he was about to start yelling or turn around and walk out again. Hata was the only normal one, and she just looked like she was starting to put the pieces together.
“That was a couple days ago, I think? They said… they said it’d been a year, so. I. I don’t really know all of what happened while I was asleep. This was all-” he gestured vaguely again. “All them. Other than the original burns, those were my fault. And the. Uh. The feet. That happened while I was walking home. They didn’t… I didn’t have shoes.”
“This too?” Morita asked, gently touching the area around where Dad had opened up one of the scar seams.
“No, that was Dad. He grabbed my arm.”
Hata lifted one eyebrow ever so slightly and flicked his eyes towards Dad. Dad shifted uncomfortably and Fuyumi clamped a hand over her mouth. Morita gave a slow nod that was probably supposed to be encouraging but just felt condescending.
“Can you tell me more about what happened after you woke up?” Morita asked.
“They didn’t want to let me leave,” Touya admitted. “I had to. Um. I had to fight them. I got away, obviously, and I… I just came home.”
Morita smiled again and gently patted Touya’s knee. Touya pursed his lips slightly and shifted away.
“It sounds like you went through a lot, Touya, but you’re very brave,” Morita said.
This time, Touya didn’t even bother hiding his annoyance.
“Do you have to talk to me like I’m stupid?” he said, and Morita pulled back.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Touya. I don’t think you’re stupid,” he said, his tone still gratingly gentle.
Touya glared at him, his fists balling in his pants to resist the urge to smack him. Still, he could feel the flames prickling at his skin and threatening to light up again. Luckily for both of them, Hata stepped in.
“Thanks for telling us all of that,” she said. “The good news is that I don’t think you’re on the verge of death. Bad news is we still gotta go to the hospital to make sure about that, cause this is a bit more than we can handle in the field.”
Touya let out a long, slow breath and forced himself to unclench his hands. That was pretty much what he’d expected, but it was still nice to hear that he wasn’t about to come back from the dead just to actually die immediately afterwards.
“Okay, fine,” he sighed.
He pushed himself back up off the couch and had to shrug past Morita’s offered hand. He made it a few steps towards the door but stopped in his tracks as Hata angled the gurney and started to push it through the doorway.
“I can walk,” Touya protested.
“Nah, come on, let’s use the gurney,” Hata said. “We already brought it out, might as well make it useful.”
Touya fixed her with a flat look that wasn’t quite a glare but was pretty close.
She gave a wry smile and nodded once. “If you fall, who knows what could bust open. You probably could walk out front, but it’s just safer if we use it, and also I don’t want to get in trouble for policy violations. So-” she patted the gurney. “Hop on up and it’ll be over quicker.”
Touya stood still for a moment, then heaved a resigned sigh and limped the last two steps over to Hata and her damned gurney. She waited a moment to see if he wanted help, but when he handled the process of getting on by himself, she busied herself with putting the back up so he could at least sit up instead of laying flat.
“Alright, seatbelt time, and yes, it’s mandatory.” Hata pulled a black strap out from underneath the gurney and waggled it. “Policy again, cause if you topple off while we take a turn, you will probably bust your head open, and the only good thing about that will be that you’ve already got paramedics on site. No one wants to add a concussion on top of everything else.
Touya dropped his head back against the backrest and nodded his reluctant permission.
“Great, give me just a minute and we’ll be ready to hit the road.”
Morita, meanwhile, pulled Dad aside and had a whispered conversation. It was kinda funny to watch, honestly. Endeavor was taller by at least a foot, so he had to hunch over a bit to listen. Touya couldn’t help but start to giggle again. It wasn’t really funny enough for that, but once he started, he couldn’t stop.
Hata didn’t do more than give him a quick glance as she buckled the belt into place, but Fuyumi came up to the side of the gurney and gave him a concerned, almost wary look.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
She started to reach for his hand but then thought better of it. Touya giggled a few more times as he thought about it. Was he okay? Was he really okay?
“Um,” he said, just to buy time.
He’d just had the worst few days of his life, even if there was technically over a year separating some of them. His dad had ignored him again, he’d burned almost to death because he got careless, and then he’d been kidnapped and experimented on and-
“No,” he giggled. “No, I don’t think I am. I don’t even know why I’m laughing. I. I think I’m going crazy.”
Fuyumi grabbed his hand and squeezed it without hesitation this time, and her concern only deepened. Hata buckled the second strap over Touya’s knees.
“That’ll be the shock talking,” she said while gesturing for Morita to wrap up his conversation. “I can’t guarantee you’re not actually crazy, but if the fact that you’re laughing is your only evidence, then I think you’re probably okay.”
“Then why am I still laughing?” Touya, predictably, laughed.
“I’m not a psych doctor, but in layman’s terms, you went through hell, and you’re finally out of fight or flight and reacting to all that stress. It’s ‘cause you know you’re safe now.”
“I. I feel like I should be crying. I kinda feel like I am crying, but there’s just no tears,” Touya said breathlessly.
“Emotions aren’t logical. Don’t try to logic them - that’s how you actually end up feeling crazy.”
Hata smiled at him, and that smile didn’t make Touya feel like punching anyone.
Morita came up behind Hata, bag slung over his shoulder, and gave a smile that brought the urge back.
“Right, so, the three of us are going to go in the ambulance, and Endeavor’s going to follow in his own car, cause I don’t think the ambulance would be all that comfortable with all four of us jammed in there. Does that sound okay?” Moria said.
Fuyumi said a quiet “What?” before Touya could say something mean. “Can’t I come?”
Dad shook his head. “You’re staying to look after your brothers.”
Touya’s giggles died suddenly. Her brothers. Right. Because he ‘wasn’t sure’ if Touya was actually his son.
“Natsuo’s old enough to take care of himself, and Shouto’s already asleep,” she protested.
That wasn’t quite true - Shouto had definitely not been asleep just a few minutes ago, and it wasn’t likely that he’d fallen asleep since then. Even if he had been before, how could anyone have slept through all the yelling and the ambulance screaming up to the house? Still, Touya found himself feeling oddly proud. If Shouto was sneaking out of bed, then what other rule breaking was Perfection Incarnate getting up to? Maybe he wasn’t quite as perfect as Endeavor hoped, even if he wasn’t a disappointment like the rest of them.
“Please,” Fuyumi begged, “I want to come with you.”
“Fuyumi.” Dad said warningly.
Fuyumi closed her mouth with a sharp click of her teeth and straightened up. She said nothing, but the resignation was clear on her face. Still, she stepped closer and gave Touya a quick hug. The angle was awkward, but he hugged her back.
“I’m so happy you’re alive,” she whispered.
“You might be the only one,” he whispered back.
Her grip tightened slightly. “Then… then I hope that’s enough for now. They’ll come around, I’m sure of it.”
He made a noncommittal sound and let his arm drop. She held tight for just a little longer than he did, until Dad’s hand on her shoulder made her straighten back up and step away.
“I may not be back before you go to sleep. Ensure your brothers go to bed at a reasonable hour.”
“I will,” she said flatly.
Dad nodded once and turned towards the door.
“Are we ready, then?” Morita said, that stupid, placid smile back on his face like he was completely ignoring all the family drama that just played out in front of him.
Hata answered for Touya with a quick nod, and a moment later, they navigated the gurney through the front door and down the front walkway. The ambulance’s flashing lights weren’t running, but apparently it had drawn enough attention on the way in to have the neighbors watching through their windows, which was completely stupid. The lots were stupidly huge, so they were way too far away to be able to see anything but shapes, especially in the darkness.
Fuyumi hovered just outside the front door, silently watching as the paramedics loaded Touya into the back of the ambulance. Dad said nothing the entire time. He just stood there with his arms crossed, eyeing Touya suspiciously. Touya met his gaze initially but ended up being the first to look away. When Dad turned and walked towards the garage without a word, Touya only saw it as motion in the corner of his eye.
Hata and Morita exchanged a few silent, meaningful looks, then Hata climbed into the back and Morita walked around to the driver’s seat. That was probably for the best.
Just before they closed the doors, Fuymi waved. Touya couldn’t really see details, but the motion was unmistakable when silhouetted by the lights inside. He waved back, but he knew she probably couldn’t see it. Another motion caught his eye - another silhouette, this time in the window at the corner. Probably Shouto. He was always lurking and watching them from a distance. Or… he did before. Maybe that was another thing that had changed in the meantime. He’d come into the living room earlier, so maybe his lurking days were behind him.
“And we are just about underway,” Hata said, checking something on some piece of equipment. She clipped some sort of sensor on Touya’s finger, then sat back. “You wanna go lights and sirens?”
“Um,” Touya said. “No, that’s fine. I’m not dying, right?”
At least he hoped he wasn’t. The prickling of cold limbs warming up wasn’t fading like it usually did. If anything, the pain was just getting worse. It wasn’t unbearable, so the ‘not dying’ prognosis was probably right. At least he hoped it was. The faint blurring at the edge of his vision wasn’t giving him much confidence in that, but he’d already said no sirens. Besides, he’d already gotten enough attention just from the ambulance arriving. He didn’t need to be more neighborhood gossip fodder.
“Stealth mission it is. Just sit tight, and we’ll be there in about-” she checked another piece of equipment. “Fifteen minutes.”
Touya made a noncommittal sound and looked through the small windows in the back door. Dad’s car pulled out of the driveway and began following behind the ambulance, but by the time they got out to the main roads, Dad’s car had vanished into the crowd.
A hollow feeling expanded in Touya’s chest, and his throat tightened. His vision blurred a bit more. Still, there were no tears.