Chapter Text
In due time, Izuku returns to university to complete his second semester, and Shouto returns to the forest.
Izuku visits when he can - a weekend here and there, the end-of-term recess in March, an extended stay in August - but ultimately, they have separate lives and separate affairs to take care of. It takes months for the forest to start healing from the effects of the solstice, and it will be many more before the scars of the battle have fully faded. After recovering from his injuries, Shouto spends his days helping the flora regrow and guiding stray youkai who request his assistance. He replaces his father’s house with a small vegetable garden.
To his surprise, Touya visits the domain more often than Izuku. They generally stay out of each other’s way, but Shouto can pick up his brother’s scent whenever he enters the forest. At first, the trees whisper their misgivings about his brother and warn their neighbors at his approach. However, over time, they recount anecdotes of Touya righting fallen saplings and defending the space from malicious intruders. The trees start to trust him.
And if the trees trust Touya, then Shouto can trust him, too.
Towards the end of autumn, Touya seeks him out. He asks, “Don’t you drive yourself mad, talking to yourself and a bunch of trees all day?”
Shouto shrugs. “Sometimes. But I’m used to it. I don’t have many memories outside of this forest to compare it to.”
Since freeing himself from the curse, Shouto has occasionally wandered around Izuku’s hometown, or some of the other small villages near the forest perimeter. But Shouto has nothing to do, and no money to spend, so the outings are short and uneventful.
Shouto catches Touya’s confused expression, then realizes how much had transpired after his brother had already left. “The old man put a curse on me, twelve- thirteen years ago. It wouldn’t let me leave the forest. So I’m used to it.”
Touya snarls a series of vulpine expletives, then gives Shouto a careful look. “Do you... want to leave?”
Shouto shrugs. “Maybe. Not forever, just out of curiosity more than anything. But I’m the keeper of this domain, and the forest needs me.”
Touya says, "You've been stuck here for way too long. And you deserve a chance to see what’s out there.” He lowers his eyes and ears in submission. “I could babysit the trees for a while, until you're ready to come back."
Shouto places a hand on a great beech tree, towering and wise, to ask for her advice. She tells him that she cannot sense any ill intent from his brother, and that he’s earned the approval of most of the forest flora. Then he asks himself what he wants.
“Let me think about it,” Shouto says.
Izuku returns to his hometown on the morning of December 21st, exactly one year after Shigaraki’s challenge. Shouto meets him at the train station, and they walk to Izuku’s home, then into the forest.
A few meters into the woods, Touya is waiting for them. Izuku stops stiffly in his tracks.
“I challenge you to the Todoroki domain,” Touya drawls, half-sarcastic.
Shouto follows through with the motions. “I accept your challenge. And I surrender. The domain is yours.”
There's a warm flash of light between them, and suddenly the inside of Shouto's mind feels a lot emptier. Lighter, but emptier.
Izuku gives him an apprehensive look, until Shouto rushes into his brother’s arms and Touya returns the embrace. "Thank you, nii-san," Shouto says into his shoulder. "I will return soon."
Touya ruffles Shouto's hair, then says to Izuku, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
Shouto takes in Izuku’s relieved smile and takes his hand. They walk back to the house.
Shouto borrows a pair of socks and sneakers from Izuku’s closet, then they take the next train back to Shizuoka. At a department store near North Station, Izuku buys Shouto an olive-green parka with a white fur trim lining the hood. Shouto isn’t cold, but some of the passengers on the train had given him odd looks for wearing nothing but a yukata in the middle of winter. On their way to the university, Shouto wears the coat unzipped, but he keeps his knit hat on for the entirety of the trip.
Shouto marvels at the train ride, the speed that can be achieved by sitting down. He marvels at the skyscrapers and automobiles, and seeing dozens of people milling together like ants in a rainstorm.
Izuku can sense when he starts to get overstimulated, so they take a meandering walk through the open, snow-dusted lawns on campus. Izuku tells him that the university is mostly empty, since classes have paused for the winter break.
Shouto asks, “I appreciate you bringing me to your university, but... is there something you wanted to do here?”
"We’re going to the library. There's someone I want you to meet."
Once they enter the main campus library, Izuku walks up to the front desk. “Is Himura-san working today?” He asks.
“She’s in the staff room. I’ll let her know Midoriya’s back again.” The employee disappears behind a door that says Librarians Only .
A different woman returns to the front desk, wearing a soft woolen cardigan, checking over several books in her arms.
It's Fuyumi.
She looks up. The books hit the library carpet. Fuyumi hurries to the other side of the desk, hugs him, and immediately starts crying. After getting over the shock, Shouto hugs her back.
Izuku explains, “Himura-san helped me out a lot with one of my research papers this semester. I kind of saw the family resemblance, but then she told me about how she hadn’t seen her youngest brother in a really long time- and then I knew.”
Fuyumi calls off the rest of her shift. Outside of the building, she calls Natsuo and tells him to meet her at the library. "I don't care if you have more experiments to run! It's urgent. It's... a family emergency."
Soon enough, Natsuo rushes over, backpack precariously hanging off one elbow, out of breath. "What happened? Are you- is Mom okay-"
Then he sees Shouto. The backpack falls to the ground.
“You- You idiot." Natsuo thickly clears his throat and pulls at a spot near Shouto’s collar. "Your coat still has the tag on it."
"It's new. I got it today. Izuku bought it for me." Shouto wonders if it's normal for older brothers to call their younger brothers stupid, as a term of affection.
“How do you and Midoriya-kun know each other?” Fuyumi asks.
“He saved my life.” They both declare this at the same time, unrehearsed. “I live near the Todoroki forest,” Izuku quickly adds.
Fuyumi smiles. “I’m glad you made a good friend, Shouto.”
Behind her, Natsuo is doing something strange with his eyebrows. The meaning of the gesture is lost on Shouto, but whatever it is makes Izuku blush.
Fuyumi continues, "Both of us live together, with Mom, in an apartment close to Natsu's lab. Do you want to see her?"
"Does she... want to see me?"
She tells Izuku to come along, too. As they walk to the Himura residence, Fuyumi explains that she and Natsuo inherited none of their father's fire or foxiness, and very little of their mother's ice. They've been living as human-passing in Shizuoka, ever since their father banished them. All this time, they had no way to reach or contact Shouto; they hadn't known for sure that he was still alive. They had no idea their father had lost the domain, or that their banishment had been lifted.
Shouto fills them in with the major events in his life from the past two years. He doesn’t mention Touya, and neither does Izuku; Shouto isn’t sure if his oldest brother wants their siblings to know about his reappearance yet. When Natsuo asks who has control over the domain now, Shouto simply says, “someone I trust.”
At the front door, Shouto hesitates. "What if Mother is still... afraid of me? What if she still thinks I'm-"
His mother opens the door. To his surprise, she’s shorter than he is.
There’s a beat of stillness. Then his mother slowly, carefully wraps her arms around him. She murmurs into his ear, "Shouto- my wonderful, beautiful Shouto."
"Mother- how did you-"
Natsuo pulls out his phone and waves it in the air, feigning nonchalance. "I texted Mom on the way here, to let her know all of us were coming. Just to make sure she was okay with it." Then he smiles softly. "And it looks like she's definitely okay with it."
His mother lets them in for assorted snacks and warm barley tea. The five of them talk about all sorts of things- after all, they have thirteen years’ worth of memories to catch up on. Whenever the conversation strays into parts of the human world Shouto is unfamiliar with, Izuku squeezes his hand under the table.
At one point, his mother turns to Izuku and says, "Thank you so much for bringing Shouto back to us." Then it’s his turn to squeeze Izuku’s hand under the table.
That year, Shizuoka prefecture has a record-breaking snowfall, but Shouto's winter is remarkably warm.