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Shouto was pretty sure this was hell, but no, it was a vacation.
He was happy to spend time with Fuyumi and Natsuo. They weren’t the problem. Honestly, he was still shocked that Natsuo had agreed to come in the first place, but apparently he was on school break and he’d jumped on board once he realized the entire thing was on their father’s dime. While he worked hard for scholarships in order to pay for his schooling on his own, he decided to make it a game to see how much he could blow on vacation. Considering that he could eat almost as much as their father, it was...a lot.
Fuyumi was probably regretting it right about now, but aside from sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose, she made no comments about Natsuo’s passive-aggressive behavior. He wasn’t like that the entire time. Honestly, the trip wasn’t so bad all the time. He and Natsuo got to hang out and do brotherly things that they’d never done before, just the two of them. It was cool. Fuyumi actually got the break she deserved. They’d forced her to get pampered, which had been way harder than it should’ve been.
No, Shouto liked spending time with his siblings on vacation. That was fine.
His father accompanying them on vacation? Not so much.
Shouto supposed it was too good to be true to wish for a family vacation without his father, but the man was paying for everything. He didn’t think the Number One Hero ever took breaks, but he was trying out this new thing called “being a father” and apparently that meant spending time with his kids – all of them. There was no training involved, no brutal exercises, no heroics lessons, no specialized diets. It was just good ole family fun.
More than once, he spotted Fuyumi frowning at her camera. He guessed they weren’t creating the family memories for the photobook that she dreamed of, but honestly, he didn’t know what she expected. It wasn’t like he, Natsuo, and their dad were going to pose on the beach while eating ice cream. They weren’t going to go surfing together or snorkeling or whatever else people did on vacation at the beach.
Being around each other was awkward enough as it was. For the most part, they went their separate ways. While he had taken a week off (well, he was on call and could jump in if something happened near them), their father didn’t spend a lot of time with them. That was also okay with Shouto. The one and only suggestion he’d made had been met with awkward silence, but he also mistakenly asked while Fuyumi was getting ready in her hotel room. With no one to back him up or be enthusiastic, Natsuo and Shouto had bowed out none-too politely.
Shouto...did feel sort of bad. He spent most of the vacation with Natsuo, which was fun, but that meant Fuyumi was either alone or with their dad. If he hung out with her, that meant their dad and Natsuo were alone because they most definitely would not be in the same room together without Fuyumi or Shouto around. He’d even gotten three separate rooms so that the boys could have one, Fuyumi could have her own, and then him.
This wasn’t the family vacation that Fuyumi wanted. All three Todoroki men could tell, which was why, on the last day, they took one look at each other over breakfast at the hotel and sucked it up. One day. They could handle one day. Maybe. Possibly. Shouto had known it was going to be awkward, but he hadn’t anticipated how weird it would be too. Stuck all day doing family events with other families, all of them smiling and happy and having a great time while they fumbled through the simplest of interactions.
It was absolutely brutal. Shouto was ready to suggest training instead.
By the end of the day, all three men were exhausted to the bone. They’d gone on a boat ride with other families that involved games, went out for lunch and dinner, hung out at the beach, played a far too aggressive game of volleyball that ended with Fuyumi apologizing for them, and a few other things that Shouto wanted to block from his memory. It was mentally and physically draining, but they ended it with a picture altogether on the beach at night.
Honestly, Shouto cared more about his bed than anything else. He did not want to think about his dad playing those stupid games on that boat. It couldn’t be more humiliating. He was positive that his father wanted to forget as well, but he’d sacrificed a bit of his dignity for his daughter. That was more than he’d ever done before. While Shouto knew that his father was truly grateful for Fuyumi, it was still sometimes too little too late for his taste. The little sacrifice he made today couldn’t amount to all the sacrifices she made in the past.
Shouto was ready to turn in when he saw Fuyumi sitting on the patio of her hotel room. She was curled up on a chair, her legs tucked underneath her and her phone in his hands. He assumed she was texting someone or scrolling through social media when he caught sight of the picture on the screen. It was the one they’d taken twenty minutes ago on the beach, probably one of the few photos in existence of all four of them. Not a complete family photo – there would never be one of those – but something they hadn’t had before.
Neither their father, Natsuo, nor Shouto was smiling, all of them looking their best to not walk off. That was to be expected. She couldn’t ask for more. What he didn’t expect in the picture was her crying. He’d been so busy thinking about how uncomfortable he was and didn’t want to be there that he hadn’t even noticed her tears. She’d stayed in front of them the whole time so none of them could see her face.
His heart plummeted into his stomach. Shit.
“It’s okay,” Fuyumi said, having noticed his presence. He could’ve easily used his ice quirk to jump over to her patio, but he didn’t move. She kept her eyes on the photo, a sad smile at her lips. In the dim light, he could see more tears shining in her eyes. “I didn’t even expect to get this if I’m being honest.”
Shouto frowned. “It sucks.”
“Yeah,” Fuyumi admitted with a light laugh. “It kind of does.”
Not knowing what else to say, Shouto blurted, “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be,” Fuyumi told him. “I’m sorry you all felt like you had to do this today. I knew you weren’t enjoying it. I kept planning on pretending to get sick so you could go your separate ways.” Her lip started to wobble, but she bit down on it to keep from crying. His stomach turned. She’d really thought to do that for them? “I shouldn’t… I’m really sorry, Shouto. You, Natsuo, and Dad were miserable, and I made you suffer through it for nothing.”
Somehow, Shouto knew to stay on his side. She didn’t want him comforting her right now. Physical comfort was something that other families did, not theirs, but he would have done it for her. It wasn’t his thing, but he would do anything to get her to smile again. Shit, wasn’t that what vacations were for? To make people happy and bring them together? Sometimes he forgot how alone she was, especially when she hid it so well.
“I don’t know why I keep hoping we can be a normal family.” Fuyumi set her phone down in her lap. “But I saw all those other families, and I realized that we were just faking it, even me. It wasn’t fair of me.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Shouto lied.
Fuyumi snorted. “I’m naive, not blind or stupid.”
“I’m sorry it wasn’t what you wanted it to be,” Shouto told her honestly.
“Yeah, me too.” Fuyumi set her phone aside and leaned over to pick something up. When she finally turned to him, she waved a whole bottle of alcohol at him and grinned. “Nothing this 110,000 yen sake can’t fix.”
Shouto choked. “Fuyumi.”
“You said to pamper myself so I’m doing that!” she exclaimed defensively, hugging the bottle against her chest. Okay, so she might’ve already had some. He raised his hands in defeat and bid her goodnight. They had all told her to relax and enjoy herself, so he was going to let her do that. He couldn’t give her the family vacations of her dreams, but he could give her a night to act out. She’d never done that before, but she deserved it.