Chapter Text
The rush of the Sports Festival left the entire family on an unimaginable high which led to them all getting a big hotpot restaurant dinner to celebrate Shoto and Himiko’s big wins. Dad even thought ahead by having some dollar store disguises to give to the most recognizable out of them to avoid attention being brought upon them. It resulted in a lovely, hectic dinner with no interruptions apart from Natsuo and Himiko fighting over the soy sauce and fighting to get the biggest piece of meat on the grill.
The only downside that twisted up her stomach was a notification on her phone that informed her that Ingenium had been a victim of the Hero Killer and was now in the hospital.
Her heart has jumped to her throat at the headline, thinking back to the two separate occasions he had interacted with him. There was nothing bad about the turbo hero. He was so nice and such a gentleman. He did not deserve to be hurt in such a way...
But she had to quickly tuck the hero’s incident away in her thoughts when Touya leaned half his weight on her to reach the plate next to her.
Right, she had to focus on her family, this was the time to celebrate and rejoice. She could not bring the mood down by focusing on something else.
After dinner, every member of their family ended up staying at the main home. And just like before around the USJ time, the whole family camped out in the living room with futons, roll out beds, and blankets strewn about like a giant nest. At one point, Himiko pulled out face masks for everyone to wear which resulted in some bouts of laughter since Tenko and Natsuo got the animal printed face ones.
The whole weekend was a whirlwind of celebration from what Fuyumi can remember. The next morning, she woke up and started to prepare a brunch to feed everyone. Luckily, it didn’t take long for her movements in the kitchen to wake up her dad and her oldest brother.
Of course, her and Touya took care of everything that needed to be cooked while her dad was given the tasks away from the open flame. And by the time everyone was awake, a whole brunch spread was placed around the dining table.
So in the very late morning, all of their family doesn’t curl up in the living room with fruit, mini waffles, crepes, eggs, bacon, sliced sausages, rice, and more.
Natsuo and Himiko fought over which television show to watch until the family settled on some animated movie that was playing.
Tenko tore into his melon pieces between bites of his crepes with a tub of whipped cream he grabbed from the fridge. Tenko poked at Natsuo with his knee from where he was laid out on the floor. He said, “So Natsuo, how are you and your little girlfriend?“
Natsuo looked up with his cheeks filled with fried egg. He held up a finger as he chewed until his mouth was empty. He replied, “I’m trying to take things slow and casual.” Natsuo paused to take a swig of his fruit juice in his thermos. “We both have classes that we need to focus on most of the time. But we scheduled our times to spend together.”
Natsuo would probably be heading back to his university earlier next morning because he had some assignments that he wanted to get a headstart on.
Fuyumi relaxed her back against the couch behind her with Himiko taking the moment to snuggle up beside her with her freshly cut strawberries and plate of crepes.
“Speaking of, we are going to partner up in a dance competition that the college is hosting.” Natsuo continued, looking away while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. He shrugged, “It’s nothing big. It’s just a small event with a few prizes for the winners.”
“Aw.” Himiko spoke with a smile, pointing at him with her fork that still had a piece of strawberry speared on the points. “Can we come watch?”
“Um, sure?” Natsuo looked taken aback then looked contemplative. He tilted his head as his thoughts trailed away for a moment. Her brother hummed. “I think you can, but it might not be that exciting.”
“If you’re a part of it, it is to me.” Hisashi added. “I want to get it all on video.”
“We’ll take the pictures,” Inko offered, gesturing to her and Rei who was smiling at the topic.
“I’m not sure if we can make it since it might depend on our patrol times.” Touya replied. He gave a look over to Tenko who nodded at his answer, not adding to it since his cheeks were stuffed with food. “But I’m sure we can schedule around it. Just text us the details.”
“I will, I will,” Natsuo grinned then turned his attention back on their dad who had taken the moment to scroll around on his phone. It looked like he was double checking his camera app because she could see a glimpse of it from where she was sitting.
Natsuo turned the conversation on the man who let out a puff of gray smoke from his mouth after a large bit of sausage. “So how’s work, dad?”
“Ugh. Same old, same old.” Hisashi waved his hand in the air. “There is nothing much for me to do most of the time except reviewing details before a contract is made. It’s just boring business stuff as usual.”
The conversation eventually went from dad to both mothers who talked about how well their daily routine was going and how they wished that Tenko and Touya stayed over more often. Fuyumi had to hide a laugh when the focus went to both boys in question.
After the eventful brunch, Fuyumi grabbed the large trash bag before anyone else could and made her way outside to the bin where everyone on the same apartment level took their trash.
She threw in the bag with a loud thump as it slumped on a torn canvas with a bunch of doodles painted on it like those weird modern abstract art she remembers from art history. The ones with random lines and shapes that artists hundreds of years ago were making.
She frowned at the canvas before shutting the lid of the bin. It wasn’t her favorite art that came from that period.
Just as she was walking out, she passed by their neighbors Aizawa and Yamada. Yamada, for some reason, stopped in his tracks and turned to her while Aizawa kept walking.
“Hey, Fuyumi!” Yamada greeted cheerfully which made Aizawa stop in his tracks and turn around to return to the other’s side.
“Hello there, neighbors.” Fuyumi greeted them warmly. She looked down at their casual wear and the reusable bag draped over Yamada’s arm. “What are you going out for? Groceries?”
“No. A hospital visit.” Concern gripped her chest making her next breath come out in a squeak. Were they okay? It must be Aizawa since he was the one hurt from the USJ. Although it does not look like he is wearing the amount of bandages that he should!
Yamada quickly clarified since her gaze was locked on the minimal bandaging around Aizawa’s face and arms. “Not for us!” Fuyumi let out a sigh of relief at his words. She looked over at him who was adjusting the pair of red glasses further up his nose. “Our friend ran into some trouble during work, so we were going to go visit him.”
“Oh, that kind of work does he do?” Fuyumi almost facepalmed herself after she uttered that question. They both worked as heroes so it was most likely to be a hero or at least connected to the hero job or their teacher job at UA at the very least. Fuyumi clears her throat. “Is he a hero also?”
“Yeah. It happened yesterday.” Yamada scratched the back of his ends then muttered out of the side of his mouth. “You, uh, might know him.”
“Mic...” Aizawa trailed off in warning.
Fuyumi looked between the two of them in confusion. “What? I don’t know many heroes apart from you two and my brothers.” Fuyumi paused as her thoughts wandered to the article she had seen last night. The article headline that caught her attention and squeezed at her heart. “Oh! I saw the news report about it yesterday during dinner. Are you seeing Ingenium? Are they alright?”
She didn’t check for a new article yet but she hoped that he was okay.
“They are still recovering.” Yamada smiled, gesturing to the bag on his arm. “We are going to go see him and bring him some fruit.”
“Wait a moment.” Fuyumi said before she could stop herself. It wouldn’t feel right to let them go without offering something. Yet it felt a bit too personal at the same time. She hesitated before asking, “Would it be too forward to offer him something?” She watched as Aizawa seemed taken aback while Yamada looked curious. “He had helped me before, so I think it’s the least I could do. But I don’t want to make things awkward.”
“Oh?” Yamada said. Aizawa looked like he was about to say something before the relaxed blonde waved at him with a vague ‘shh’ motion with his fingers which made the dark haired man roll his eyes. Yamada leaned back on his heels with an easy grin. “Anything from you could cheer his day up if our beautiful faces don’t do the trick.”
Well, as long as they were okay with it, then it should be fine. Alright! She still has some cookies leftover from her last batch. Maybe he would enjoy something sweet and homemade like them? She won’t know unless she tries! Fuyumi nodded, “Okay. Wait right here!”
She turned in her heel and rushed back to her home. She has to get in, explain while she packs up the cookies, and then run out before she gets held back answering questions.
Okay! Here she goes! Fuyumi rushed in through the unlocked front door which drew a few of her family member’s attention especially since she headed straight for the kitchen instead of relaxing back down in her spot.
“What’s the rush?” Touya called out to her from where he had somehow gotten Natsuo into a loose headlock. It was more like he was hugging his head since their younger brother was just casually scrolling on his phone.
Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything. She could explain as soon as she came back. Fuyumi paused when she reached for the one empty tub of whipped cream that they used for leftovers. What happens if they follow after her? Himiko might just be nosy enough to question it. Maybe she can say something simple before leaving.
She switched over to a plain plastic container and reached for the covered plate of cookies that she had baked recently. Four should be a good number since the cookies were a good size. Plus, she has no idea if he is clear to have something like this in his diet—maybe the cookies were a bad gift?
AH! She had no time to think about this! If anything, he could possibly sneak a bite.
“Why are you taking some cookies?” Tenko added. He leaned forward where he was laying down to survey her. “Are you still hungry?”
“I see a container! Someone’s getting cookies,” Himiko commented, rising up a little where she sat and tilting her head back and forth to try and see what was going on in the kitchen.
Fuyumi breathed out, pushing down on the container to close it tight to keep the cookies fresh. “One of our dear neighbor’s friends is in the hospital, so I wanted to send them off with this.”
“But we aren’t that close with any of their friends,” Izuku piped up.
From where she could see, Shoto was narrowing his eyes at her like she was part of a controversy he needed to pin down. “So why are you packing away some homemade cookies for someone we don’t know...?”
Slowly, Fuyumi made her way out of the kitchen with all three parental figures in her like sending her knowing looks. And then, Natsuo slumped out of Touya’s arms with a suspicious look growing on his face. “...Unless you do know them.”
Fuyumi didn’t say anything. Instead, she smiled at her family as she opened the door with the container of cookies in her other hand. I’ll be right back!”
“Yumi!” Touya shouted out her name as the door closed shut behind her.
Fuyumi rushed out before any of her siblings could get up and quickly made her way back down to the duo.
“There.” Fuyumi said while placing the small tupperware of cookies into Yamada’s hands. “It’s just something small, but I hope he can enjoy it.”
“He will absolutely love them. Thank you.” Yamada smiled, placing the upper ware inside the bag while Aizawa gave him the most tried look he could manage.
Fuyumi earnestly said, “If you can, please pass along that I’m wishing for his quick recovery.”
“Will do!” Yamada cheerfully responded.
“Thank you, Fuyumi.” Aizawa sighed before a notification chimes from his phone. He looked down and checked the screen with a scowl. “Come on, Hizashi, our car should be waiting downstairs.”
“Yeah!” Yamada fist pumped in the air while Aizawa turned on his heel to walk towards the stairs. Both men turn to her to say farewell with waves over their shoulders. The blonde called out to her, “See you later, Fuyumi!”
“Have a good day! And be safe on the roads!” Fuyumi responded loudly, making sure her message got to them as they started to run down the stairs to get to the ground level.
Hah... now it’s time to face whatever kind of interrogation she is going to have at home.