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For the most part, Natsuo didn’t question his big brother. Touya was three years older than him and had spent time training under their father before Shouto’s quirk manifested, so he knew more things than him. Sure, he’d never been to school before until recently, but he was still pretty smart even if he sometimes did stupid things.
He was bolder though and did things that Natsuo would be too afraid to try. He liked that. Even though he was sometimes a big bag of dicks, Touya could also be pretty cool when he wanted to be. He wasn’t always moody. He didn’t always hide in his bedroom or sit in the corner by himself. Ever since he’d stopped training with their dad, he was able to spend more time with them, but it was like he had to learn it all over again.
Sometimes, he was awkward - other times an ass - but he was also a big brother.
Which was why Natsuo’s eyes lit up and he didn’t question him when Touya flashed their father’s credit card and proclaimed, “I’m taking you out for your birthday.”
He knew he should - Fuyumi would most definitely not approve and would scold him and their mom would probably be upset - but neither one of them were around. Their mom had taken Fuyumi to the eye doctor and Shouto was with his tutor. It was just Natsuo and Touya. They didn’t spend a lot of time one-on-one together, which was mostly Touya’s doing, but it was impossible to argue when faced with that excited grin on his older brother’s face.
Birthdays weren’t a big thing at home. Their mom usually brought home a dessert for them and maybe they would go to the park or the movies, but that was about it. Natsuo had thought about asking if he could have a party with his friends, but then he didn’t know where. A few of them had asked if he was going to do something at his house, but he knew his dad would never allow it. He’d been down about it since, which was probably why Touya got it in his head to do this in the first place.
Natsuo would never be able to describe the fear he’d felt when Touya snuck into their dad’s room. No one ever went in there. It was unheard of. He knew their dad was at work, but he was terrified their old man would just sense Touya doing something and would pop out of nowhere behind him. The thought of his father’s flames alone was enough to make Natsuo sweat during the few minutes Touya was rummaging around the bedroom.
Now that they were out of the house and on their own, Natsuo was a lot happier. He’d never left the house without their mom, but since Touya was older, he could take him. It was so cool. Touya was brave like that. As soon as he figured out that he wasn’t under their dad’s thumb anymore, he got a handle on public transportation and often left the house on his own. Natsuo could stay at home by himself, but he wasn’t allowed to leave like Touya.
Of course, he wasn’t sure that either of their parents knew Touya left the house and wandered the city by himself, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. Their mom didn’t really pay him much attention to him and their dad outright ignored him unless they had a fight.
“So,” Touya asked once they got on the bus, “where to first?”
“I...don’t know?” Natsuo furrowed his brow. Touya had said they were going out for his birthday, but he hadn’t thought much further past that. What did he want to do for his birthday? He wasn’t hungry yet, so they should eat last. He wanted to do something fun, something that other kids got to do. School was out for summer break. What was there to do besides go to the pool? “What do you think?”
“It’s your birthday, not mine.” Touya leaned back in his seat. “We can go to the mall later to find you the best present ever so we don’t have to carry shit around.”
Natsuo was positive that just hanging out with his big brother was the coolest present ever, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud. He’d probably look like a weenie or something, and he wasn’t. Even though he was only ten, he was already taller than Touya and Fuyumi. It irritated Touya to no end that most people confused him as the younger brother, but he usually tried not to get mad at Natsuo about it.
“Oh, I know!” Natsuo exclaimed. “Let’s go to the arcade!”
Touya smirked. “Hell yeah.”
The arcade was about twenty minutes away, which they passed by watching videos on Touya’s phone. His mom had said something about getting him one this year, which would be nice since neither his older brother or sister liked to share theirs. So mean. If anyone thought it was weird that two young kids were on the bus by themselves, no one said anything, and Touya glowered at anyone that looked at them curiously. He had a talent at making people look away from him.
Once they arrived, they excitedly scrambled off the bus. Natsuo wondered how they could possibly get away with using their dad’s fancy credit card when it was obviously not Touya’s, but his brother had already planned around that. He used an ATM machine, punched in the pin, and withdrew an absurd amount of money that made Natsuo gawk in shock. And he did it all without even hesitating. Natsuo would have never been able to do that. Even taking a handful of cash made him nervous.
His big brother really was brave - that or he just didn’t care. It was hard to tell some days.
They used a machine to exchange money for coins so they didn’t even have to deal with an adult. With their pockets filled, they made their way through the arcade, playing as many games as they could. The place was dark, but the bright, flashing lights of the games made it easy for them to figure their way around. It took them a few minutes before settling on their first game and then they went to town.
Touya was a lot better at games that involved aiming, taking the bad guys out almost systematically while wearing a faint grin on his face. He took particular pleasure in shooting any villains that crossed the screen, even to the point where he would shoot the guys on Natsuo’s side of the screen and stealing his points. Natsuo was better at fighting ones since he figured out the combos while Touya resorted to button mashing and swearing in frustration.
Neither of them was good at racing games. Not only did the computers beat them most of the time, but Touya fell off one of the fake motorcycles when he leaned to the left too much. They didn’t even try to go for DDR or games like that. Touya wouldn’t touch them and Natsuo knew he’d look stupid.
After they played what felt like every game in the place in between getting bubble tea and candy, Natsuo figured they could go to the mall since they were already here. They’d spent a lot more time in the arcade than either of them had expected, but Touya didn’t seem to mind. Natsuo was a lot more nervous about spending money out here since it was in the open and a ton of people were around, but Touya didn’t hesitate to hand over cash at any of the stores.
By the end of their shopping trip, they had a handful of bags that they stuffed into two. Touya had told him to pick out whatever he wanted, so he did. He got three new video games, a headset so he could play online with his friends, a super cool leather jacket even though it was summer, a few action figures, two water guns, and a new helmet for his bike. Touya offered to get more things, but Natsuo already felt like he was pushing it.
They settled on takayaki for dinner. This time, the employees at the restaurant did look at them strangely. Natsuo found himself wishing he was shorter so he could hide behind Touya, who stood tall and proud. The haughty expression on his face was strange - it made him look a lot more like their dad, although he knew not to say that - but it made him look older too.
“It’s my little brother’s birthday,” Touya told the manager in a serious tone. “My father couldn’t leave his agency to take him out, so he left it up to me. He’s going to be very disappointed.”
“His...agency?” the manager repeated carefully.
Touya took out his phone and held it out. “The Endeavor Agency. He really tried to get off work, but things have been busy lately.”
“And your father is…?”
“Endeavor, duh.” Touya flashed one of the rare pictures of them together as a family. The manager didn’t have to look at it for long to recognize the two boys standing near the Number Two Hero. Natsuo wasn’t sure why Touya even had it when he hated being around their dad. Hearing him bring up that Endeavor was their dad was a shocker too. He never talked about it with anyone. He didn’t like people knowing.
The manager paled and changed his tune on the spot. “Oh! You’re Endeavor’s sons! Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Right this way!”
Touya slid his phone back into his pants pocket. “Well, I didn’t want to be rude and presume favoritism. I just wanted to treat my little brother to his favorite food for dinner.”
Natsuo tried hard not to gawk at his big brother, but it was impossible. He was speaking so formally too. It was so unlike him! He knew Touya hid things - like how he felt and what he was thinking - but he hadn’t realized he was such a good actor too. It was totally surreal, especially when Touya glanced back and shot him a wink.
“No, no, it was very rude of us to assume…” That two kids wouldn’t be able to avoid a meal? He didn’t really blame the guy.
“It’s okay. I know what we look like. It felt wrong to use my father’s name. I don’t want to be arrogant.” Touya was laying the guilt on so thick that the guy was practically shaking when he sat them at a table. One thing was for certain: no one wanted to piss Endeavor off for any reason. “I appreciate it.”
“Thank you for choosing us to celebrate this day. We’ll add on a complimentary dessert!”
Touya smiled. “Great! Thanks!”
“Awesome!” Natsuo agreed, even if he was completely bemused.
As soon as the manager left, Touya doubled over and put a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter. Natsuo would’ve laughed too, but he honestly wasn’t sure what had just happened. When Touya finally got a hold of himself, he leaned back in his seat and sighed happily. “Did you see the look on that guy’s face? I thought he was going to piss his pants when I dropped Dad’s name. I think that’s the one good thing he’s done for us.”
“You were so cool, Touya!” Natsuo exclaimed. Touya waved him off, but he shook his head. “I mean it. This was… This was the best birthday ever. Thanks.”
His face flushing red, Touya turned his head away. “Yeah, no problem.”
Natsuo didn’t know why he was so uncomfortable all of a sudden. Touya really had made this an amazing day. He doubted he’d ever forget it. He had no idea what their dad was going to do when he found out - because he always found out about everything - but he didn’t think about that now. He was still having lots of fun.
Touya cleared his throat and then picked up the menu, still sitting sideways in the chair and not looking at him. “You ready to eat? I’m starving. I’m ready to destroy some food.”
“Hell yeah!”
“Hell yeah.”