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Fuyumi doesn’t know how she managed it, really. Natsuo didn’t find an excuse to skip, Shouto had a day off school, and she convinced her father to bring Hawks along as well. All things considered, Fuyumi should be worshipped as a god for her abilities to get everyone into the same room and keep a relative peace.
Of course, that relative peace also included Shouto and Natsuo glaring at their father and slurping obnoxiously on their soba, all the while Hawks was looking like an extremely out of place chicken (Seriously, is it healthy for his eyes to be that wide and his feathers to be that fluffed up?). While Enji sat awkwardly at the end of the table, poking at his food.
It took everything in Fuyumi to not lose her goddamn mind at her brothers and father. She took a deep breath, disturbing the slurp-filled silence slightly.
“Boys.” She sent a sharp glare to her brothers. “We have a guest . You can at least try to be respectful.” Her words were hissed through gritted teeth. God, she needed a break. “You’re worse than my students.”
Hawks laughed, his feathers settling. “Don’t worry about it- “ He visibly hesitated, He couldn’t call her Todoroki, as they were all Todorokis, excluding Hawks himself, although-
“Just Fuyumi is fine.” She said with a small smile. “So, Shouto how has school been?”
Shouto in question looked up from his noodles quickly, as though he hadn’t been expecting the question. “Oh. It’s fine.” He blinked, and suddenly he looked as out of place as Hawks had seemed.
“How’s that kid you were telling me about? What was his name?” Fuyumi asked as she passed a plate to Natsuo.
“Broccoli kid? His name was Midoriya, wasn’t it?” Natsuo said.
Enji’s expression seemed to darken slightly at the mention of Shouto’s classmate. Fuyumi shot him a look that seemed to mean, ‘ Don’t say shit ’, meanwhile Shouto’s own expression turned considerably pinker.
“Uh- Midoriya, yes. He’s- good.” Shouto stared into his noodles, his cheeks pink and his eyes wide.
Natsuo grinned at the sight of his little brother's obvious embarrassment. “Does our little brother have a crush? Oooh, Fuyumi you know what this means.” His eyes gleamed in child-like glee, excited at the idea of teasing his little brother.
Fuyumi pointedly ignored her brother. “You should bring him over again, Sho. He was a very sweet young man.”
“Well, I can’t believe little Sho’s got a crush. I always took you for the type that focused more on school than friends. What happened to the whole, ’I’m not here to make friends’ thing?” Natsuo continued, focusing back on his food.
Shouto sighed. “He told you about that?”
“Of course he told me about that. I’m your older brother, I get blackmail rights. At least someone gets that.” Natsuo said.
“ Natsuo , just because you’re his older brother doesn’t mean you get to tease him.” Fuyumi scolded, she looked every bit like a disappointed kindergarten teacher.
Natsuo didn’t look the slightest bit fazed. “No, it’s because I’m his older brother that I get to tease him about his boyfriend.”
Shouto’s head snapped up to glare at his brother. “He’s not my boyfriend!”
Natsuo rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure.”
“He’s not!”
“Since we’re on the topic of relationships; Natsuo, how’s your girlfriend?” Fuyumi smiled sweetly, and honestly, thank god for this woman, she’s the only one that keeps everything from descending into chaos.
Now it was Natsuo’s turn to freeze and turn pink. “She’s- uh- she’s good. We hung out at her place yesterday.” He glanced briefly at Hawks, who was watching the exchange with casual interest, and a hint of amusement.
“Didn’t you say she had roommates? Were they there as well?” Fuyumi spoke with only a faint tone of innocent curiosity, while Natsuo looked like he was trying to be a very unsuspicious bird, but failing and only looking more conspicuous.
“Uh- Yeah. We played Mario Kart. She won, for the most part. I won a few rounds.” He looked a few seconds from leaving and never coming back.
Fuyumi hummed. “That sounds fun. I’m glad you’ve been getting out there, Natsu.”
Neither Hawks nor Enji had spoken much throughout dinner, and it seemed that Fuyumi was determined to make Hawks feel welcome, so she turned the conversation towards him, “Are you seeing anyone, Hawks? The media seems to think that you don’t spend enough time outside of work.”
And oh boy was he not expecting that , his feathers fluffed in surprise. “Oh. Have they? I haven’t been keeping up with the media often recently, trying to make a world where heroes have free time, all that.” Despite his well-worn phrase, he looked completely, and utterly, uncomfortable. “I guess- Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t seeing anyone, but y’know, we’re trying to keep it quiet.”
Fuyumi perked up a bit and Enji scowled. “You’re dating someone?” They said. In unison. Which was a little terrifying, seeing as one voice was deep, manly (I'm so sorry Kirishima) and full of confusion, whereas the other was excited and high pitched. Natsuo, Shouto and Hawks stared at the two of them, and they stared at each other. Silence descended, and you could practically hear Hawks’s heart trying to beat itself out of his chest and the pure terror of the Todorokis finding anything out about his love life.
Natsuo held back a laugh as Fuyumi recollected herself, and turned back to Hawks. “Uh- are- are they another hero?” Shouto stared on with absolute confusion, mixed with terror at the sight of his sister stuttering.
Okay, there was a lot to unpack there, and thoughts were flying through the youngest Todoroki’s thoughts like a whirlwind.
First: Enji said the first thing he’s said all night, and it seemed to be genuine confusion, and maybe even concern? Of course, it wouldn’t be strange for coworkers to be at least somewhat updated on other coworkers' love lives, but it was definitely strange to see Enji be even the slightest bit confused or concerned . Back to the concerned thing, why would Endeavor be concerned about Hawks’ love life? The man hadn’t cared about his own children’s wellbeing for years (granted he’s trying now, but the point stands) and yet here he was, concerned for someone else. Or perhaps Shouto was hearing things, and there was no concern in his father’s voice.
Second: His sister never lost her composure, unless, of course, the topic of conversation turned to their father (the siblings would fight and Fuyumi might lose it then, but that was hardly ever), or Touya. Neither of which happened, but here was Fuyumi, stuttering and in shock at their father. Not that Shouto blamed her, we just went through this.
Third: Hawks looked about 5 seconds from a mental breakdown, or worse. His eyes were wide and his feathers kept twitching uncomfortably. And Fuyumi didn’t seem to notice, instead she seemed to have a genuine interest in everything he was saying about how ‘ yes- yeah, they’re a low profile hero’ and then asking what their quirk was.
At this point, Shouto figured Hawks was panicking. “He- uh, They have a- um, fire quirk. It’s- hot.” The look in his eyes told Shouto that the hero was as dead inside as Shouto himself felt most of the time.
Natsuo laughed. “Yeah, that’s fire for you,”
“Tell us how you met! Oooh, was it a mission or something together?” Fuyumi grinned like she was watching one of her shows instead of asking the number 2 hero about his love life.
“It- uh, well- uhm see it’s- I mean- I guess you could put it- that way.” Hawks said as he locked eyes with Natsuo, who sent him a look that said, ‘ don’t say anything’.
Fuyumi grinned, and Natsuo thought that he’d never seen her look as gleeful as she did now. “What are they like?”
Her eyes practically sparkled . Yeah, Natsuo was going to have to talk to his sister about keeping her nose out of other people’s love lives, even if it was a pro hero. Especially then. It was a wonder Natsuo had managed to hide his own relationship with a simple, ‘yeah, they’re good’ whenever Fuyumi asked about his ‘Girlfriend’, she’d assumed everything else on her own. Like the fact that they were a girl friend, or that ‘she’ was in one of his classes.
Hawks stumbled with his words for a second, as if he was debating saying anything at all. “Uh- well, they’re kind of a jerk.” He chuckled to himself and slowly, his eyes glazed over and his thoughts were far away. “He’s sarcastic, and he’s definitely got a mean streak. In public he’s a bit of an asshole, to be honest, but when it’s just us, he’s sweet. He cares about me. We’re both a little lonely, so it works. He doesn’t show it often, but he’s got a good heart.” Hawks’ features had softened and a small smile could be seen. Affection filled his eyes.
Natsuo rolled his own eyes as Fuyumi said, “You seem to really care about him.”
Hawks’ smile deepened, and he glanced up. “Yeah, he’s- I don’t want to say perfect, because he’s not, but he’s everything I need. Touya- He’s something else.”
The room went dead silent, and Natsuo groaned internally. The deafening silence was made worse by the fact that Enji, Shouto, and Fuyumi were staring at Hawks with wide eyes, and Hawks himself had eyes wider than the three of them combined.
Oh, he fucked up. Oh, he fucked up big time. Shit, Fuyumi was going to fry him, closely followed by Touya.
“Hawks, please tell me this is some kind of sick joke. Sure, fire quirks are common, but- but a fire user with- with that name? Tell me you misspoke, or tell me you’re joking.” Fuyumi’s words were hardly loud enough to be heard, and they wouldn’t have been, if not for the silence. She’d grown incredibly still, and her face was almost as pale as paper.
Hawks let out a string of quiet curses. “I’m so sorry, Fuyumi, all of you. I think-” He cleared his throat, looking every bit like a terrified chicken. “I think I should go. But, before I do; yes, your brother is alive, he’s my boyfriend and I love him very much. Goodbye.”
Hawks proceeded to vault over the table and down the nearest hallway, faster than his wings had ever carried him before. Not a second later, the distant crash of a window shattering with the full force of an overgrown chicken being hurtled into it sounded from across the estate.
Natsuo leaned back in his chair with a bored look, and surveyed the room. Fuyumi looked like she’d seen a ghost, and honestly? It was a valid reaction to finding out that your previously dead older brother was, in fact, alive and currently
fucking
dating the Number 2 hero, and their father’s- coworker? Peer? Associate?
And Fuyumi didn’t even know that their dead brother was also one of the most wanted men in Japan.
Shouto currently had his brow furrowed in thought, his face screwed up as he tried to connect the dots as to what just happened .
And Enji looked like he was about to combust. And maybe he was. Or maybe he would fly down the hall after Hawks, grab the younger hero by the ear and drag him back inside to explain. Most surprisingly, Natsuo also saw glimpses of disbelief, relief and mostly regret in his father’s eyes.
The silence only grew longer, and Natsuo’s will to live grew shorter with each passing moment of silence. Natsuo secretly thanked whatever god that may or may not be out there when his phone rang with an incoming call, one which he very happily answered and stepped outside to take.
Meanwhile, Fuyumi was confused, and angry, and her younger brother stepping out to take a call after finding out that their brother was alive did not quell that anger in the slightest bit. Her face suddenly went from incredibly pale to incredibly red in anger, and now it was her that looked like she was about to drag someone back by their ear.
Perhaps Fuyumi and Enji had more in common than expected of the small, friendly girl.
She took a deep breath and stood, excusing herself to follow Natsuo. He was just outside the front door to the house, laughing into his phone. Fuyumi made her presence known by clearing her throat and making Natsuo flinch so hard that he dropped his phone.
The phone landed on the ground face up, with it’s screen lighting up to display a contact name.
‘Hand-some✋’
Fuyumi glanced at the phone, and then at her brother. He seemed to understand as she moved. She was barely faster than her brother, and snatched up the phone before he could.
“Who is this?” She asked sternly, eyes glued on Natsuo.
“Fuyu, please just let me have the phone.” He whispered.
There was a moment of hesitation on the other end of the phone before a young man’s voice crackled through, ”Who wants to know? Are you the sister?”
Fuyumi let out a sound that Natsuo could only be described as a growl of sorts. “Yes, I’m
the
sister. I just found out that my previously dead brother is still alive, and dating Hawks. Hawks, the number 2 hero and the person I’m definitely charging for the window he just broke. I have every right to lose my damn mind right now. So, excuse
me
if I want to know who my brother is talking to.” She let out an angry huff as silence descended.
Natsuo took a tiny step forward. “Fuyu, please, just give me the phone. Let me handle this.”
The phone speaker crackled as the person on the other end started speaking. “Your dead brother is dating Hawks? Am I on speaker phone?”
Fuyumi hit the speaker button. “Now you are.”
“Fantastic. Natsu, your sister isn’t, by chance, talking about the same Hawks that hangs around playing Mario Kart and making out with my second in command?” The voice sounded pissed, and honestly, Fuyumi couldn’t blame them, she was pissed too. What the fuck was tonight?
Natsuo coughed. “Yeah- Yeah, same Hawks.”
They stood in silence as the voice on the other end took a deep breath. “Dabi, I swear to god if you’re a Todoroki, I can and will dust your sorry ass!” The phone had to be held away a little, as the yelling was muffled slightly.
Fuyumi stared at Natsuo. “I’m sorry, Dabi? From the League of Villains? Who is this person’s second in command. And this person is labeled ‘handsome’ in your contacts. Are you dating the leader of the League of Villains? Is Hawks dating a villain ? Is our brother a villain? ”
Natsuo honestly didn’t expect her to put that together so quickly. “That’s a lot of questions.”
Fuyumi raised her eyebrows and something about her expression absolutely screamed, ‘ Are you really going to fuck with me?’ Not that Fuyumi would ever say, ‘fuck’.
Natsuo swallowed. “...Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
“You’re telling me that the answer to all of those questions is ‘yes’?” The words were venomous and Natsuo winced.
“Yes.”
Fuyumi took a deep breath and said, “I will buy you a new phone, but I swear to god, am I the only one that has nothing to do with villains? You’re dating one, Touya is one, Shouto almost got killed by a few different ones and our father arrests them on a daily basis.” She promptly threw the phone against the sidewalk, smashing it to bits.
Natsuo watched quietly as his sister fumed. “You- uh, you don’t have to buy me a new one. I’ve got one of Endeavor’s credit cards.”
Fuyumi threw her hands up in the air. “That’s it. I’m done.” She laughed. “I can’t fucking handle this anymore. Go home Natsu, go make sure your boyfriend isn’t murdering our brother. Also, invite them both to dinner next week. I’m sending Shouto back to the dorms tonight.” She sighed and walked back into the house.
Oh, guess who can say the word ‘fuck’?
Fuyumi, apparently.