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Todoroki Touya still doesn’t know how he got to this point.
Political buzzing from the worn-down car radio spreads itself out through the suffocating vehicle. Touya assumed that no one was actually listening to the rambling, so he figured it would be okay to change the station. Upon turning the dial, Touya hears an irritated grumble poking him from behind.
“I was listening to that,” says Shouto in a low, hushed tone.
“Oh. Sorry.”
Touya changes the station back to the previous one and shares a glance with Natsuo, who is mainly focused on the road (as he should be). He reads his brother’s face as feeling hopelessly awkward, and to be completely, unapologetically honest, Touya can relate to that. Fuyumi fell asleep over an hour before, leaving the Todoroki boys to their own devices. It was like when the teacher left the classroom for a few minutes and suddenly every student forgot how to act like normal members of society. Fuyumi is the teacher.
Tearing his eyes away from Natsuo, Touya questions how he even ended up in this position.
Natsuo was slouching on the couch while the television ran through its usual news cycle. Touya relegated himself to the complete opposite end of the couch where he was fiddling with the phone in his hands. It still felt wrong to interact with the rest of the family as he normally would, so he remained complacent and quiet. There was pressure on Touya’s calf, he flicked his eyes to Natsuo, who was now sitting straight up.
“Dad’s on the news,” Natsuo said, his words being clipped and emotionless.
Touya turned his attention to the channel where their aforementioned father stood. The picture of his estranged father shrunk into a box that remained in the corner of the screen while a well-dressed young man was speaking.
“...Endeavor’s trial is scheduled to take place anywhere from a month to — ”
The remote was in Touya’s hand when he looked down. He didn’t even register flinging his arm to the remote lodged under Natsuo’s foot, along with shutting off the television with excessive force on the power button. Touya blinked at his reflection in the blank screen, surveying the emotion on his face.
“What gives?!” reacted Natsuo almost immediately.
“I-I’m not going to listen to this,” Touya grunted, his teeth grinding.
His resolve to remain complacent was fading impossibly quickly. Of course, he wanted the jerk to rot in prison for the rest of his middle-aged life if Touya could help it. But, thinking about having to revisit his childhood made Touya feel sick to his stomach.
“Well! You don’t have to go and be a dick about it!” Natsuo yelled in response.
Before Touya could begin to form a retort, Fuyumi made herself known in the kitchen where she was preparing lunch.
“Road trip!” Fuyumi shouted in a booming voice that caused both brothers to flinch. She pointed a judgemental metal spoon at the two Todoroki brothers on the couch.
Touya had forgotten that Fuyumi was even there, if he was being honest. Fuyumi had quietly been cooking while listening to the station and her two older brothers. She was tense in her whole body, even if Touya could only see Fuyumi from the hips up. The bowl for their lunch would lay abandoned while she would almost certainly start to berate the two for fighting with every part of her 160 centimeter, pajama-clad, messy-haired body.
Fuyumi stuttered, as she probably didn’t have any sort of thought before yelling that out. But, she quickly composed herself. “Yes! A road trip. Don’t we all need to stop thinking about all this bullshit with Dad?! Since Tou came back, I don’t think we’ve had any opportunities to bond as siblings! Shared trauma bonding!
“Shou is coming back from the dorms anyways for his spring break, so we could do it this weekend. We’ll just have Natsu drive, since he’s the only one with a license, and we’ll go somewhere fun! I don’t think we’ve ever taken a road trip before too.”
Touya and Natsuo blinked at their sister who had paused to take a breath. Touya was completely ready to tell Fuyumi how stupid of an idea that was, but of course she needed to open her mouth one more time.
Fuyumi threw her hands up in the air with the metal spoon almost flying out of her hand. “We can be a normal family!”
There it was. A pang of guilt knocked the wind out of Touya’s lungs like a punch to the gut. Fuyumi would bend over backwards five times over if it meant that it would let them be a normal family. Trying to argue against that would make both Touya and Natsuo feel like the world’s biggest dickheads. They turned to make brief eye contact. It was a shared sentiment.
Touya halfheartedly forced a smile. “Can’t wait, Yumi.”
Asking Keigo to help Touya with something that was even remotely productive was the worst idea ever, and Touya was the fool who even dreamt it to be possible.
Touya was dutifully trying to pack his few belongings into a duffel for the trip. It wasn’t like he had a lot of personal belongings to begin with, but Touya would feel pathetic if he was able to pack his entire life away in a bag. So, he was picking and choosing important things to bring with him, but Keigo seemed determined to distract Touya however he could.
“Your fingers are cold, get ‘em off me!” groaned Touya as he swatted his boyfriend’s hands that were moving under his shirt. They weren’t actually cold.
“Not my fault you’re so warm and cuddly.”
He almost flicked Keigo in the forehead, almost. But, he ended up not doing so because his mind was completely a disaster and resembled an incoherent mess. Ever since Fuyumi impulsively planned a road trip for himself and the family he barely knew, Touya had been constantly overthinking. Even to the point where he found himself with a splitting migraine. His anxiety and the medication for his migraines paired together to create that incoherent mess that occupied his head. Said incoherent mess wanted cuddles and serotonin, and there was a boyfriend right there to fulfill that.
Touya dropped the scar cream he was holding into the duffel and whipped around to tackle the snide hero behind him. He relished in Keigo’s golden eyes flying open as saucers in surprise as he moved to attack the lips that always seemed to be in a permanent smirk. They slotted together as imperfectly perfect as they always did, lost in the feeling of each other’s lips. Touya felt his brain shut off and focus on Keigo.
At some point, Touya felt Keigo’s hand work itself into his hair. He felt his spine register a chill while caressing the plush feathers of Keigo’s wings. Growing impatient, Touya tugged at Keigo’s shirt. Surprisingly, he was met with the loss of contact and a look of concern on a tanned face.
“Touya, babe, my love. As much as I very much enjoy where this is going, are you alright? You don’t seem like you’re all there, hot stuff.”
He was right, of course. Keigo and his stupidly high emotional intelligence. After peeling himself from Keigo, Touya sighed and dragged a hand down his scarred face, slumping backwards towards the foot of Keigo’s bed.
“I’m not all here, yeah. I keep thinking about Shouto and shit. I haven’t even properly sat down with the kid. This would be the first time I’d be interacting with Shouto as Touya and not ‘ Dabi the evil villain ’ trying to deep fry a group of already traumatized children. What am I supposed to do?” Touya got tired of holding himself up with his elbows, so he laid down with his head at the foot of the bed. “Interact with him like a normal human?”
Keigo leaned over Touya and rested his head on his palm. “Interact with him like a brother. I mean, he’s your brother, ain’t he? Just treat him like you do me. Well, minus the obvious stuff.”
Keigo chuckled to himself after the last sentence. Touya still rolled his eyes obnoxiously, but let out a pent-up sigh nonetheless.
“I don’t know. Can I even do that?” The last thing Touya wanted was to snap at Shouto and prove everyone’s point.
Keigo pushed the side of Touya’s head to face him. “Look, I know you can do it and I’m never wrong. Don’t defy the laws of nature, babe.”
Even though Touya ended up flicking Keigo in the forehead for that retort, his words still stuck with him.
Blinking a few times, Touya ceases his idle thoughts to find Fuyumi awake and alert. She points out the cars that have a funny shape to Shouto, who gives her a monotone response. It’s entirely unknown whether Shouto is amused or annoyed by Fuyumi’s antics. Touya can’t read Shouto and it bothers him.
Touya realizes he hasn’t spoken at all since the beginning of the trip, excluding when he muttered to Natsuo about giving directions, which ended with Natsuo simply using his phone for directions. He had made uneasy eye contact with Shouto while getting into the car, but that was the most of it. So, he figures he should at least say something to the kid.
“So, the weather is nice,” Touya speaks. Small talk, a classic.
“Yes! It’s so sunny today and hopefully we’ll have a cool night!” Fuyumi remarks.
“It’s going to storm,” responds Shouto, the answer clipped.
Touya’s face scrunches into annoyance, but he knows that Shouto can’t see it. But he’s probably right, and just being overtly blunt.
“Rain can be nice too, I like the rain,” mutters Touya.
“That’s stupid. Wouldn’t that hurt all your scars? They’re all over your body.”
He hears Fuyumi hit Shouto in the shoulder with a scold, but he doesn’t have an audible reaction. Touya rolls his eyes over to Natsuo to gauge his reaction. His jaw is clenched and the knuckles on the steering wheel tint white. Touya scoffs, wanting nothing more than to jump out of the moving vehicle. He settles for dozing off instead.
A dreamless sleep ends when Touya picks up on whispering. Despite regaining consciousness, Touya keeps his eyes closed and body limp. He lets himself listen to his siblings’ whisperings.
“I just don’t get why I have to spend time with him . He tried to kill me.”
“People change! Plus, you don’t know what happened….”
“God, Shouto, I’m tense too but you don’t know what Dad put him through. He was my best friend for fuck’s sake.”
“Well, how am I supposed to interact with him?”
“Shou, what about as a human being!”
Touya stifles the anger threatening to creep up his face. “I wasn’t asleep.”
Hearing Fuyumi let out a quiet gasp, Touya opens his eyes slowly to see Natsuo glaring at the road. Touya decides to turn in his seat to face Shouto, where his face remains annoyingly unfazed.
“Do you need me to leave?” Touya growls with sarcasm dripping.
“Preferably,” Shouto whispers.
“Would it kill you to treat me like a normal person?” Touya feels himself slipping.
“What? Like you tried to do to me?”
“Shou, Tou— Please,” Fuyumi begs.
“Well! I’m kinda wishing I did right no—”
“For the love of everything that is damned, SHUT UP!” Natsuo screams.
Natsuo punctuates his outburst by slamming his hands onto the steering wheel. As if on cue, the car begins to slow down dramatically. Without thinking, Natsuo pulls over to the side of the desolate road where the car anticlimactically breaks down.
“For fuck’s sake!” Natsuo kicks the door open to inspect the hood of the car.
Touya watches his brother yank open the hood and yell in frustration. Along with Fuyumi and Shouto, Touya steps out of the car. He squats besides the car.
“I’ll call my boyfriend,” he mutters while digging his phone from his pocket.
Fuyumi and Natsuo both gawk in disbelief while even Shouto shows surprise on his face. Touya receives a response from Keigo with a bunch of emojis, so he puts his phone onto the ground.
“He’ll be here in an hour.”
“How?! We’re like, four hours out!” exclaims Natsuo.
“Kei’s fast. He’ll fly over here in no time.” Touya shrugs.
“Kei. You said he’d fly. Your boyfriend is Hawks.”
Shouto has joined him on the ground. He seems to be considerably less stiff.
“Yeah.”
Fuyumi squeals and grabs Touya’s cheeks.
“A boyfriend?! A hero boyfriend?! Why didn’t you tell me!” squeaks Fuyumi.
“Didn’t seem like a big deal,” Touya mutters offhandedly. He didn’t think any of his siblings would care about his romantic life.
“My ass! Why wouldn’t you tell your bro!”
Touya feels Natsuo messing up his hair. He swats Fuyumi and Natsuo off of him.
“Does he act the same at home?” Shouto asks.
For the first time, Touya is able to read Shouto’s face. He is genuinely curious. Touya feels his gut untwisting.
“Yeah, he’s still a douchebag…”
Fuyumi and Natsuo interrogate him the most. Shouto mainly asks questions about Keigo’s hero career. Touya almost smiles at his genuine interest. Somewhere along the line, they find themselves talking idly.
“Leonardo is obviously the best. He’s a great leader,” Shouto argues.
“Yeah, but Mikey is so much more fun!”
“I like Raph,” adds Touya.
“I can see why. I don’t know, he reminds me of you,” Fuyumi teases. Touya flicks her shoulder.
“If he was a lot meaner, he’d be like Dad,” laughs Natsuo.
“I guess so. But Raph isn’t constantly on fire.”
They find themselves joking about their childhood, mainly about Enji. Touya is surprised at how much looser he feels by the time Keigo comes around.
“So, the good looks run in the family, huh?” quips Keigo when he lands.
Touya doesn’t get to flick Keigo for that, because Shouto does it for him.