Chapter Text
It almost didn't feel real as Touya walked up the stairwell to their new apartment. Shouto was already up the stairs chasing Natsou down the hallway with an All Might action figure. Touya let out a rare real smile at the loud giggles Shouto made as Natsou picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. Fuyumi was behind him, carrying a few final boxes up. Everything felt so different as he looked at the reddish orange sunset. The divorce was finalized a little over a month ago and now they had their own house away from him.
He grabbed the handrail to help him climb the stairs, wincing as the action pulled at the burn scars littering his arms. A part of him wished that this "new start" could restart his body, no more burn scars would be littering his body. The thought was nice, but not reality. Touya sighed as he climbed up the last new stairs, walking behind Natsou to the door. Shouto's chubby face was lit up with a smile still as he lifted his head from his brothers back. Touya ruffled the toddlers hair.
"It would be real nice if you two could have helped me." Fuyumi huffed, setting a box labeled kitchen down. Her scowl was playful as she looked at her bothers.
"Where's mommy?" Shouto's voice called out as he wriggled his way out of Natsou's grip.
"She'll be here in a second. There was a few blankets still," Fuyumi said, leaning against the wall. Right on cue a flash of white hair came visible. Touya noticed how clearly exhausted her face looked even through the grin she was wearing. The redhead moved over, taking the blankets. His mother gave him a nod and smile that said thank you.
"Sorry I keep you guys waiting," Rei said, pulling out a key from her jean pocket. "Who's excited to see the new house?"
"Me!" Natsou yelled. Rei unlocked the door, letting the door swing open.
Natsou rushed in first, followed by Fuyumi. Rei shook her head at the two already yelling about bedrooms as she went in. Touya took a step before a sharp tug drew him to the ground. Shouto looked a little frustrated, his face scrunched up.
"Whats wrong?" Touya asked, knelling down to his level. Shouto's face was still drawn into a emotion Touya had no idea how to interpret until tears welled in the five year olds eyes. They started to fall down his face and he was obviously trying not to make a lot of noise. Touya's eyes widened, he wasn't exactly the best at dealing with toddler emotions. He opened his arms and Shouto stepped into the hug, his face squished against the redheads bony shoulder. He could feel the tears but there wasn't a lot of noise. Touya knew how angry crying made Endeavor. He might not have hit Shouto as much but the emotional "rules" cut just as much as his flames.
"I don't want dad to come here."
Touya squeezed him tighter. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that? The divorce wasn't explained to Shouto like it was to him, Natsou and Fuyumi. All that was told was just mom and his siblings were gonna live away from dad.
"He's not going to. Mom won't let him come near here." Touya finally said. That seemed to help as the tears seemed to stop and eventually Shouto pulled away, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
"Ok."
Both of them went inside, closing the door behind them. Touya looked around the living room, it was nice. There was enough space for all of them so his fear of being cramped slowly faded. Rei was in the kitchen, pulling glasses out and setting them on the counter. Her eyes softened as she looked at Touya.
"Its nice isn't?." She asked tone cheerful. Touya nodded, giving the space another good look. Shouto had walked off to the couch, flopping down on it.
"It's wonderful. You did such a good job, mom."
Rei gave a genuine smile, still unloading kitchen items. They were slowly coming back, but it was still so much progress.
The redhead started to walk around the rest of the apartment. There were three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms, much bigger than he was expecting them to be able to get. Maybe the oldman signed a prenup? He walked down the short hallway where his other siblings were yelling in their shared bedroom. He leaned against the door frame, an amused grin on his face.
Natsou was jumping on one of the beds, pelting Fuyumi with pillows as she tried to make her bed up for the night.
"Touya! Get him to stop before I freeze his ass!" She yelled as a small stuffy hit her head, jarring her glasses. Touya held up his hands in a 'don't get me involved gesture'.
"Awe your lame!" Natsou yelled before throwing yet another pillow at his brother. The plaid pillow hit Touya's head and the room went quiet for a moment before the oldest picked up the cushion and chucked it right back causing the white haired boy to stumble.
"That's how you wanna play, huh?"
Fuyumi giggled as Natsou regained balance. It turned out to be a free for all pillow fight until all three of them were too tired and had made too much of a mess. The sound of laughter was infectious, even to Touya who was almost always on high alert any time he emoted. Rei poked her head into the room, raising a confused brow at the mess her children had made.
"Dinners ready." She called.
"Well, bye." Touya said, jumping off the floor. He started walking out, ignoring the cries that he should help pick up too.
"Hey I didn't start it and I'm older than you, so don't boss me."
Dinner was something calming and enjoyable now. Everyone talked, handing around food without fear of repercussions. This was another thing Touya didn't think was real. For as long as he could have remembered dinner was some type of tense, even if Endeavor wasn't eating with them. Rei and Fuyumi helped clean up the dishes while Touya put up the leftovers. Natsou went and helped Shouto with his nighttime bath.
As Touya moved, his sleeve rolled up. Bandages covered his arms on the worst part of the burns, but the first degree ones still showed out brightly against his pale skin. His stomach twisted, his entire body seemed to freeze as he saw them while trying to put the food in the refrigerator. The memory of the last training session flashed before him, all the screaming and pain. A slim hand reached out and touched his shoulder, he jumped back dropping the container. Fuyumi quickly retracted her hand, eyes wide.
"I-I'm sor-" She started.
Touya swallowed thickly. "It's," He started, "Its fine."
He quickly picked up the container and placed it into the fridge, leaving the kitchen for his bedroom. Shouto was already in his bed on the other side of the room, either asleep or doing a very good job at faking it. Just before Touya closed the door, he could hear Fuyumi soft crying.
"I didn't know that would happen," She said. There was some softer talking he couldn't figure out until Rei's voice came through.
"-He's been through more than you know...might take a lot of time..."
He shut the door. Good going, dumbass. You made your own sister cry because you cant handle your own damn emotions. Fucking failure.
He felt like a robot as he flipped the covers off his bed, crawling in. His blue eyes stared at nothing through the window.
Sleep, apparently, did not come any easier than it did back at the old house.