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The second eldest sister, Fuyumi stared at the satchel dubiously which carried colourful sparklers, which now swung within the confines of the cheap cotton bag. Her brothers Touya and Natsuo stumbled briskly to the river towards a small footpath that licked the river's bank and another small hand gripped hers which she held firmly.
Fuyumi was a sensible child, any complaints or need for attention were tucked away methodically with her ability to investigate for the answers herself-whatever the situation, she was an avid reader far beyond her years, and too smart for her own good. She knew that as non-adults, they should not be playing with fireworks, but when she had found that her mother, Rei, in fact, was the one that bought the sparklers (through the convincing of Touya), her moralistic mind was met with an emotional dilemma. Her mother told them to be careful, and that she trusted them to be sensible enough to not get hurt. The trust her mother gave them filled her with a proud warmth in her stomach, and then when her mother told her that they could take Shouto with them too, her warmth turned into bubbling excitement, and lastly, when her mother told them all that this was only their secret, Fuyumi’s excitement turned into a rapid thrum in her chest- She was not rebellious, But, a little bit of mischief, especially when backed by their mother was too good of a chance to let by.
Along the bank were lots of other children. Older, younger, some with their parents and some without, lighting sparklers which they dangled from their fingers at the edge of the river. Natsuo grabbed an old miso bowl from the bag and filled it up with water. Touya had ripped open the bag and slipped eager fingers into the golden packaging, pulling out three battered thin rods, Passing two to Natsuo and one to Fuyumi.
‘I can’t light this when looking after Shouto’ Fuyumi swayed to the left to nudge towards Shouto, who’s large eyes seemed to be endlessly wondering over the scene of laughing children and bursting lights, whilst pressing into Fuyumis’ leg.
Touya grinned, ‘I wouldn’t be giving one to you if I didn’t think you’d be sensible enough not to burn Shoutos’ hair off’
Touya chided, with the unsuspecting face of an angel, and the tongue of a devil.
‘Right Shouto? you can easily flick the match stick into the water if it starts to attack you and Fuyumi.’
Touya grinned when Shoutos’ gaze passively shifted towards him for a moment. His sister grabbed the unlit sparkler from his hand and with her other hand, pulled Shouto closer towards the water.
’Touya, light them with your finger!’ Natsuo pleaded, Touya's’ brow furrowed but cupped the end of the splint, his index finger trembled and eyes tensed. Like the spitting of a stove, a small flame jumped from the tip of his finger and burned quickly in flickering successions, and the sparkler burst to life with a dancing crackle. Then he lit the other with the same expression there mother had when trying the push a thread through the eye of a needle.
Fuyumi's was next and then Touya lit his own. Shouto, much like Fuyumi, was a sensible and quiet child, who was never much for neediness or tantrums and was content with patting the water in the miso bowl as the three other siblings pranced with their sparklers.
Natsuo turned his back and gave a low rumbling laugh.
‘What are you doing, stupid’ Touya sniggered and with that Natsuo spun on his heel, the two sparklers placed on either side of his nose to mimic a mustache.
‘Unacceptable! You can not be my children with such a weak quirk! You will never be able to surpass All Might with such tiny fists and without a beard as ridiculous as mine!’ Natuso hollered in an operatic voice, as a young child did when impersonating a grown man.
Touya spluttered, and Fuyumi stifled a chuckle, Shouto stopped stroking the water surface and graced Natsuo with his attention, a perplexed look and paused.
‘Father’ he stated.
And the three siblings sniggers grew into heaving laughs.
Touya grabbed another sparkler, lit it quickly and took a stance,
‘We meet again Endeavor, This time you will be kicking the bucket!’ And plunged at Natsuo as the two proceeded to mimic the clashing of swords and exploding beams at one another.
Fuyumi laughed and turned to Shouto whose lips were clenched in an awkward mix between a smile and a scowl.
’Shouto, keep guard of that bowl, we might need to throw it at them if things get too heated’.
--
The trip home felt it came too soon, the sparklers had been diminished swiftly between the four siblings and it was starting to get too dark. There was also the added dread that if their father did indeed find out that they had gone out without his direct permission, then there would be a restless night of punishment for all of them.
At the front door, Touya took lead and slowly slid it open, the corridor inside was cold and quiet.
Touya learned at an early age to not fall prey to the presence of false calm, caution was a skill that he improved as instinct favoured hopeful security. He stepped slowly and could make out the shadow of his mother sitting on her knees behind the shoji door at the end of the corridor. He looked back and motioned to his siblings to stay back until he knew for sure the coast was clear. He tapped softly at the shoji panel which he presumed was closest to his mother's ear, whilst maintaining distance from the door itself. He saw his mother lean forward into an arch, and a hand came to clench at her mouth as though stifling a noise. Suddenly the door swept to the side, a ladder of sounds of wood hitting wood until it slammed open. His mother gasped in sudden laughter and made a grab for Touya in a crushing hug and lifted him into the room.
‘Welcome home, how were the sparklers’ His mother beamed, laughing at Touya’s still shocked visage as he scrambled backward. Fuyumi, Natuso and Shouto stumbled inside hastily and gathered around their mother.
Natsuo and Fuyumi replied to her in excited shrills, telling her all about the river bank and the silly games they played, Shouto also murmured a few words about how he saw a child accidentally trip into a bucket of water and begin to cry when their sparklers’ flame went out. Their jostling and excited conversations trickled to a stop when their mother took notice of Touya who had yet to pitch in a word.
A hard stare to the floor and fingers clenched in his lap. ’You scared me, I thought something terrible was going to happen’ he murmured.
Rei, slowly leaned forward and placed a hand on his, ‘I am sorry I scared you Touya, I was not thinking. I heard your laughter through the door and thought that maybe I could...’ She stopped. She understood, and she felt a moment of regret. Both she and her son were sensitive and cautious people- they both had developed a heightened sense of danger living amongst the paper shoji corridors, which carried the tremors of cries and their memories far too well to feel like stable walls of an innocent home. But such a happy moment, hearing her children laughing after the rarity of having gone out altogether, made her suddenly forget, and she had acted upon pure glee.
’Touya, nothing happened. Come here, tell me what it is that you did today too’ She opened her arms as best she could, as 3 pairs of hands clung onto them, and Touya slowly crawled closer. He stopped before her but did not lean into her hug. He did not need to be coddled.
’I threw water at Touya’ Shouto intervened with a small smile and Touya glanced at him.
This was, in fact, the first time Touya and Shouto had spent time together without the supervision of their father. His fathers’ regime with him had began wavering as of late, a few too many evenings he was left unattended, giving him these moments to reach out to his mother and siblings. All the whilst they felt the heaviness cast by a palpable shadow of apprehension. Touya did not know how to feel towards his youngest brother; hopeful, disappointment or opportunity.
He softly scoffed, ‘Too bad, you missed’ and then sneezed.