Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shouto knew what good days and bad days at home were like. Of course he did. He’s lived in this old farmhouse for twenty two years. 

It’s a small mercy, waking up to a good day like today. His father was already out of the house tending the cattle. He could hear the sound of the kitchen’s radio going, despite the early hours, Fuyumi making breakfast at the stove. He could feel the heat from it warming up the house, despite not being in the room. He set his ceiling fan at a higher speed, then went down the old farmhouse’s steps. He didn’t look at the family photos as he went down them. No. Certainly he did not, not that they really hurt to look at anymore.

What he didn’t expect was the chatter coming from the kitchen. 

Turning the corner to stand in the archway, he wasn’t exactly surprised to see Midoriya at the house. Not really. Midoriya stood next to the coffee pot with a mug in his hand. His non-official official mug he always used when he came over. (Not that he came over often, and even less so did he come inside the actual house.) 

He didn’t catch what Izuku had said, but whatever it is Fuyumi was laughing about it.

“Midoriya, it’s four in the morning, Why are you here?” Shouto said, walking right past him to open the cabinet containing all the mugs and coffee cups that reside there before pouring himself some coffee too. The sun still wouldn’t be up for an hour, and even though Shouto was used to getting up this early, he wasn’t exactly used to visitors coming by this early.

He stood so his back was touching the counter, a little too close to Izuku. Their shoulders bumped while Shouto took a drink of the hot liquid, but they stayed in the same place. 

“You wake up this early every morning, Shouto,”  Their spare hands brushed but neither made a move. Not right now. “Plus I brought eggs.”

Enji Todoroki had had lots of animals. While they primarily raised cattle, that didn’t mean their farm didn’t do other things as well, although they rarely ventured out anymore. They had sheep every summer for 4h growing up. There used to be ducks in the pond on the property. All three four of them have horses. Natsuo and Touya had bunnies. Fuyumi still feeds the barn cats every day after she gets home from work. Enji Todoroki had had lots of animals, but never chickens. Said they never liked him.

Shouto was inclined to think they were a good judge of character. But that meant they had to go into Greenhill and get eggs with the rest of their groceries.  The town is maybe a fifteen minute ride away along the dirt roads. Small. No more than three hundred people counted on the census. Really, just built off the road between the highway and another slightly bigger small town about twenty minutes east across county lines. Big enough to have a convenience store and a highschool that feeds from the other towns in the area, small enough to not have a gas station.

“Where’s Natsuo?” Shouto asked

“He stayed over at his girlfriend’s last night down in Hulson, said he would be back tonight before the riding started, wanted to go to the bike shop up there,” Fuyumi cracked an egg with one hand and placed it in the pan.

“Does Mrs. Hana know he’s seeing someone?” Izuku asked, grinning to himself as he took a sip of his coffee. 

“Nope, and it’s better she doesn’t, I really don’t want to hear to start hearing things about my family again from Greenhill’s gossiping circle,” 

“Don’t worry about me,” Izuku said, gesturing up with one hand and his mug, “I won’t tell Mom,” 

“You better not,” Fuyumi said with no malice in her voice, teasing Izuku right back, “I have some good photos of you that would be very fun to look through with them. Like the one when you came over after detasseling when you were fourteen and passed out on the front porch swing, very good material,” 

“I thought you forgot about that,” Shouto adds while Midoriya stutters. He hadn’t, when Fuyumi had sent him that photo, Shouto had used that photo of Izuku as his phone’s contact photo for him for two years. 

“I never forget anything, now, you two can eat without me,” Fuyumi says, pointing with the spatula in her hand, before placing it in the sink. The eggs were set on a plate, ready to be portioned out. She took some and an apple from the basket next to it. “I’m going to take my breakfast up to my room to finish grading assignments for my summer school kiddos.” 

“Alright, good luck with that,” Midoriya says. “By the way, Miruko says hi!” 

“Oh! Tell Rumi I say hi back, I mean, hopefully I’ll see her tonight but still, if I don’t!” Fuyumi says as she slipped up the stairs with a plate in hand. Shouto isn’t quite sure where the nickname ‘Miruko’ came from, but that’s the same with a lot of names really. 

It was silent for a moment, only the sound of the radio still playing filled the space between the two boys. Then they heard Fuyumi’s door shut.

“So what-”

“Alright-” They spoke at the same time. 

“You go first, Izuku.” Now that Fuyumi was gone, Shouto switched over to using his given name. 

“Okay so,” Shouto ate while Izuku talked. He didn’t like interrupting Izuku’s tangents, his voice was always nice to hear. “You know how my Dad bought those calves from auction last month right? You and your Dad were there, anyways, he bought like six, Well we were planning on tagging them earlier this week, but then, Dad, he’s been in and out of doctors appointments because he decided to get up on the roof alone - might I add- to fix the rain gutter and the downspout because something must have bumped it, anyways, he’s been told to rest for a few weeks-as he should be god that man worries my mother sick , never taking any for himself breaks ever- anyways the doctors said he landed on his arm wrong and has a mild concussion and normally I would just ask Kacchan for help but he’s just got home yesterday and he’s busy hyping himself up for Greenfest tonight, since it’s his first time working the circuit this year and his first time riding at home in front of people and I’m rambling now aren’t I but could you come over and just help me with it?” 

When he was a child, he used to watch his father with the help of Touya brand their cattle. He never particularly liked the process, It reminded him a bit too much of the scar on his face. But when he was old enough when Touya left he started helping too. It was just something that needed to be done. And he’d rather help with tagging them than branding them any day. 

“Yes I can help, I’m pretty sure Moe is going to be around here helping with father today,” Although Shouto isn’t officially employed by his father like Moe Kamiji, he’s spent most days since graduating high school helping him anyways, and since he’s done that Enji had started writing him checks for pay. Pretty okay thing for him to do since Shouto was expected to do it as long as he lived in the house ( and would eventually inherit it ). 

“You sure? It’s totally okay if you have other things to do today, what with Greenfest getting ready. I know a lot of other people are prepping stuff” Greenfest is the three day weekend that happens just before September every year. Rodeo to kick it off the first night, county fair the next few days, dancing in the town square every night, fireworks on the last day. 

“You act like we both have to have our sheep judged this year.” Neither of them entered animals in the fair anymore, too old to do it with any club. The last year before they had both aged out, Shouto had gotten second while Midoriya had placed first on their sheep. Shouto hadn’t been exactly happy about his red ribbon. But looking at Izuku with a smile on his face, the excitement in his eyes, and a blue ribbon in hand, he was alright with coming in second. Shouto knew however, that his father wouldn’t be. So instead of being lectured all night, they had ducked out before he could say anything or drag Shouto back home for the night to be lectured. Izuku had grabbed his hand and ran back out into the fairgrounds, and they had spent their night playing games, winning a matching set of small plush rabbits, and riding rickety rides. Shouto stayed over at Izuku’s that night. 

(much to his father’s dismay, he kept the small stuffed rabbit on his desk)

“Still y’know… wanted to make sure you were okay with coming over and helping, with all the stuff you do around here I would understand if you didn’t want to help at home,” Izuku said, fidgeting with his right hand, scrunching up the tablecloth. 

“Izuku, it’s six cows. We can get it done quick then do something else, just let me water my tomato plants real quick and we can go,” Shouto snaked his nondominant hand across the table and set it on top of Izuku’s, noting how the vase on the table would obscure the view of anyone who could happen to walk past the door. Izuku quickly turned his palm upwards so Shouto was holding it. 

“Thank you,” He said, a soft smile on his face. 

“Izuku, you bribed me with breakfast.” Shouto said before taking another bite of his eggs. 

“Fuyumi cooked not me!” He said defensively. 

“Uh huh,” was the last thing Shouto said before finishing breakfast and going up to change into some work clothes. 

When he came back down, Izuku had washed the plates and was outside, sitting on the house’s concrete steps with a filled watering can. 

“I’m gonna wait in the car, you do what you need to,” Their hands touched a minute too long to be friendly without prying eyes before Izuku started to walk up the driveway again towards his rusted pickup. Shouto dug through his pockets to pull out his phone quickly. 

Shouto: cover for me please

Fuyumi: Are you going over to Midoriya’s 

Shouto: yes. 

Fuyumi: Okay. I’ll tell him that you’re at Iida’s

Shouto: thanks.

He tucked his phone back into his pocket and walked over to his tomatoes.

They didn’t sell any produce, but Shouto liked having plants in the summertime. He liked growing. So, he had a small plot of land behind their house, away from the barnyard and pastures, with around ten plants. Most of the tomatoes for this year were gone already, but there were a few green ones left to ripen over the next week before they were gone. He quickly watered them and jogged back up to the truck. 

Shouto slid into the passenger seat. Izuku smiled at him for a moment before looking out the windows, checking to make sure the coast was clear before quickly leaning over and kissing Shouto on the cheek. The windows of the vehicle were tinted, but you could still see through them if you were looking at them. It was safer here than in the house, where there were eyes what felt like everywhere, but it never hurt to double check.

 The Todoroki’s didn’t need another kid disowned. 

While they made their way over to Izuku’s, he rested his hand on Shouto’s leg where Shouto held it with his own, lacing their fingers together, watching as the sun rose while driving past the farmland.

~~~

As Todoroki expected, it didn’t take long to finish the task, even when they had to take the time to replace some tags that had fallen out of other cows ears since they were tagged earlier in the year, and so they walked from the barn to go sit on the Midoriya’s couch and watch tv, something that wouldn’t happen in the Todoroki household. His father refused to place one in the living room. When he was younger, the argument used to be about corrupting his brain, now it’s just spitefulness. Jokes on him though, as soon as they got working internet (it was for business, Enji said), Shouto started watching all the tv shows he wasn’t allowed to growing up and actually knew what his peers were talking about. 

Shouto had his arm slung around Izuku’s shoulders, carding through his hair mindlessly as Izuku leaned on him, their free hands connected. Izuku commented on the show every once in a while and the other listened more to him than what they were watching together. 

“Boys come try this!” If there was a door to burst through instead of just an archway into the kitchen, Midoriya’s Mom would have done it, tripping over her own feet while doing so. 

Shouto tensed. He shouldn’t have but he did. It wasn’t like she didn’t know they were together. She did. But old habits die hard. 

It didn’t help that Midoriya Inko was a key member of the small towns gossip ring. Over at the Bakugou’s every Sunday for “book club”. But she wasn’t one to give out other’s secrets like most of the club’s. Always listening, rarely sharing. Shouto wouldn’t be surprised if Mrs. Midoriya knew every secret this small town holds.

“What’d you make?” Izuku asks, ignoring how Shouto was relaxing back down next to him, calming his own nerves from the reaction. 

“Well, I was making muffins for the Bakugou’s, you know how their Katsuki’s back in town and Mitsuki’s already so stressed with the store,” Bakugou Grocer’s. The one small shop that’s in town. “But then I had all the stuff out, so I decided to make some pie, should be cool by now-”

She was going to continue speaking, but her son cut her off, seeing right through her explanation. “Mom, you know you were banned from the pie making contest four years ago. Stop trying to sneak back into the competiton.” 

“It wasn’t my fault Izuku!” She immediately protested. The annual pie making contest held at the fair was a riveting topic for her. 

“Miss Kayama disqualified you-” 

“For being too competitive! How insane is that! It’s a competition!” She all but yelled. Still bitter about the prior events. 

“You threw a competitor’s pie at my father, Mrs. Midoriya.” Shouto stepped into the argument between mother and son. Rest in Peace, Mrs. Yaoyorozu’s banana cream pie. 

“I’ve told you a thousand times, Call me Inko, hun,” She calmed for a moment, smiling at him. “Anzu Yaoyorozu cheated and everyone knows it. Who uses Jello-o packets as a base in a competition? She should have been disqualified.” 

That’s the part the judges got hung up on. ‘Slandering an opponent and destroying their pie’. Shouto is still relieved that she wasn’t disqualified for the part where Izuku and him snuck into the pie room being tailed by Enji. For Izuku to tell his mom to create a distraction and her panicking, picking up her competitors pie and throwing it at the man’s face to buy time. Then, covering for her son and his soon to be boyfriend, she had spilled what she heard at book club the previous week. The Yaoyorozu’s prized pie recipe. 

Another tally on why Enji Todoroki doesn’t like the Midoriyas. 

"Okay Inko I'm sorry, I'll try to remember," He said, her name always feels foreign in his mouth. Like it wasn't respectful enough.

"It's alright, Shouto dear." She said before returning to her rant, "What isn't fine is how Anzu got away with it! I swear-"

“Didn’t realize this wound was still fresh, Sorry Mom,” Izuku did not sound sorry. 

“You little shit.” Midoriya Inko didn’t swear in malice, her words were fond. He’s too old to have his hair rustled, but the short woman does it anyway, then proceeds to do the same to Shouto. “Go get some pie then go drop off the Muffins. If you want to stop by I think your father’s at the bar.” 

“Yes Ma'am,” Izuku says. “Just remember, you can’t enter with an alias again like you tried last year!”

 He grabs Shouto’s hand, darting past her into the kitchen, because the mother and son could have bickered for hours about this. They ducked into the kitchen, grabbing two small plates and cutting into the pie made from the mulberries that grow in a tree behind their home.

Chapter Text

The ride into town was quick. Izuku, speeding down country roads he had known since he was a small child until he hit the connecting highway that led the two miles it took to get into town.

Greenhill, as stated, was small. One main strip of road spanning two blocks was the main street, which fizzled out into a residential street for the next four city blocks before ending at a cornfield. The Bakugou’s home was the one at the very end of that street. Midoriya took the two other side streets to get there, ignoring the main street as others set up for the dancing later in the night, after the rodeo.

As soon as they got out of the car, Todoroki heard yelling. “ZERO! Get fucking back here!”

And that was all the warning Shouto got before a dog bounded through the back gate and trampled him.

Zero was the Bakugou family's dog. A little on the smaller side for the breed, but when you aren’t expecting it, she can knock you over in a second. Shouto really should have braced himself as soon as he stepped out of the truck. But now he lays on the grass, the red border collie wagged her tail as it licked Shouto.

“Zero stop it!” Izuku said, jogging around the truck. At his voice, she relented, finding a new target. She bounded to him and when he crouched down, she got as close as possible for maximum petting.

“Fucking traitor,” Katsuki stood next to Izuku, leaning down so he could pet her face. “I fucking swear, I leave for the summer and she likes you two asshats more than me, how fucking rude is that?”

“I think it’s perfectly rational.” He deadpanned. Despite what anyone has ever said about Shouto, he does in fact have a sense of humor. And if that sense of humor includes making fun of Katsuki, so be it. Especially if it earns a snort of laughter from Izuku.

“Shut up. What are you two doing here anyway, huh?”

“Mom sent us, said she made Auntie some muffins, although I believe it was just a clever ruse to get us out of the house and make sure that we didn’t get in the way of attempt three of getting back into the pie making competition,” Izuku didn’t look up from Zero, where she had flopped over so he could pet her stomach.

“She’s not getting back in, after what she did to Anzu’s pie, even if seeing your shitbag of a father get pied was the funniest fucking thing, God, I wish I was there and didn’t have to see it from the photos the hag took,” At the time of the incident, Bakugou had been with Uraraka playing the rigged game of ring toss. Jokes on them though, they managed to win the grand prize: one of the five foot tall stuffed bears hanging on the stall.

“We know.” Shouto said.

“Don’t let her know you think that Shou, she lives on that hope.” Izuku said.

“Noted.”

“Anyways, where’s the rest of the rodeo?”

“Staying at the motel up in Hulson while the crew makes sure everything's set up at the fairgrounds for tonight, Should all be in town by five” Bakugou said before adding, “Why? Need a job? We could use a new clown.”

“Really funny, Kacchan.”

“I’m just in town to see the folks, make sure they haven’t burnt down the store in the two months I’ve been away.” He says, standing up. “Why’s Scarface with you?”

It took Todoroki to realize that Bakugou was like a little kid when it came to emotions. Meaning: the more he insults you the more he cares. Still the first time he heard that one he saw red. That was one fight in the junior high lunchroom that ended them both in their principal's office. Not that Shouto was the best with emotions either.

“Helped with tagging this morning” Izuku supplied from the grass. Shouto hesitantly moved over so he was closer before sitting down and petting the dog's snout. Zero licked him again.

“Gotcha,”

“Where’s Ochako? Would have thought she’d be over here since she has the day off and you’re in town.” Izuku asked. Uraraka had taken the job offer from the Bakugou’s when Katsuki left for the summer, working for the general store. She was always at the store on shipment days beforehand anyways, because although nobody would ever admit it to his face, that woman was stronger than him when it came to lifting heavy objects and had the biceps to prove it.

“She’s already in the backyard,” Bakugou said, motioning through the gate.

Izuku grabbed the plate holding the muffins from the truck. Bakugou made eye contact with Shouto, his mouth was a bit open, like he wanted to say something. His face was scrunched like he couldn't find the words. When Izuku slammed the car door, Bakugou looked away and the moment was gone. 

Then they walked through the grass, into the back. There wasn’t any real path to the gate. Only grass that was matted and deader than the rest of the lawn, a desired path made through time.

“‘Chako! What’s up?” Izuku says as soon as he sees her. She’s sitting in a green lawn chair, her feet in a small plastic kiddie pool. There’s a few other chairs scattered around the pool as well.

“Not much, helped with deliveries earlier, didn’t wanna drive home and then just come back later,” They had met Uraraka years ag0, when they had to start driving to Springfield for high school because Greenhill didn’t have one.

Hearing her voice, Zero zipped over to her and laid down at the feet of her chair. No one said anything at that, Uraraka was at the top of her hierarchy.

Shouto trailed behind the other two as they made their way to the other lawn chairs sitting around the small pool. Bakugou puts his bare feet back in as he sits down next to Uraraka and Midoriya takes the place on her other side, leaving Shouto sitting next to him. He didn’t take off his shoes, instead moving the chair back a bit so he can plant his feet firmly on the ground.

“Oh, I see,” Izuku says.

“Plus, I haven’t seen Katsuki all summer! How rude is that?” Ochacko says, squinting her face at Bakugou.

“Oi, you come into my house, take my job, then you complain you don’t see me? What the hell, round face?” If Shouto hadn’t known Katsuki for over a decade, he would sense hostility in those words. However angry he was, it was all bark and no bite. And this was not a situation where Bakugou was angry. Izuku laughed at him while Ochako splashed him with the water.

Shouto smiled a bit, watching as Bakugou decided to retaliate against Izuku, sweeping his arm down and hitting him with a full blast of water. Izuku yelps and holds the plate of pastries up in his hands to avoid them getting drenched.

“Kacchan!” Izuku said, his voice was full of dramatics as he jumped up and moved behind Shouto, “You’re the closest I have to a brother! I brought muffins and you do this to me!”

“If he’s so upset about me usurping his life, can I have his muffin too?” Ochako asked innocently.

“Of course, you’re my favourite interloper, I cannot deal with this betrayal!”

“I’m not afraid to get your fucking human shield wet too Deku! There will be casualties.” Is all the warning Shouto gets before he is also splashed with water. Unlike Izuku though, Shouto bends down and does the same attack, leading to a string of curses. Uraraka is caught in the blast and she kicks her feet in the water, hitting both Katsuki and Shouto. Bakugou proceeds to wail on her with the water, no mercy given.

Zero hears all this and her ears twitch up. Katsuki stops his relentless attack. The world seems to freeze and they all watch her eyes as she processes the information, before stepping over the foot tall pool and into its water and deciding now would be a perfect opportunity to roll onto her back and splash around. Everyone scrambled away from the pool as she thrashed around, making the water go everywhere and lapping up as much as she could in the process.

“She won that one huh,” Shouto says quietly, leaning towards Izuku.

“Like hell she did! She’s on my team!”

“Oh, there were teams?”

“Yeah, Whatever you and fucking Deku were playing at, and me and Zero.”

“What about me!”

“You started this war without allies and that’s how it ended.”

“That was hardly a war, Kacchan.” Izuku said, “Plus didn’t you just say Zero’s favourite was Ochako?”

~~~

Shouto was the first one inside. Going to the familiar bathroom and grabbing an old spare towel from the closet. He quickly toweled down, trying to get the most water he could off of him and his damp clothes. Running around in damp jeans didn’t sound like the best gameplan for the rest of the day.

When he was dry enough that the outdoor humidity wouldn’t make the rest of the process any harder, he exited the bathroom and was going to walk outside when-

“Oi, Todoroki.”

Bakugou was standing next to the storm door in the kitchen, the plate of muffins laying on the counter. His stance wasn’t quite confrontational, as Bakugou was looking out the glass, not at all looking at him. Instead he was watching the other two with the hose, spraying the dog who was enjoying it immensely.

“Have you heard anything about tonight?” He asks. Shouto had been to the Bakugou’s house a million times at this point, between hangouts and study sessions in highschool and Izuku wanting to walk Zero, but Shouto and Bakugou were never ones to have one on one chats. Not one that felt as tense as it did currently.

“No. Why?” Shouto asks.

Bakugou shifts slightly, moving his weight from one foot to the other. He’s quiet for a beat longer than needed. “Apparently Yamada is announcing alone tonight,”

“Oh. Doesn’t Mr. Aizawa usually help him with that?” 

“Not this year I guess.” And with that Bakugou is opening the back door and heading outside. Shouto doesn't really think that that's why Katsuki would pull him aside, but he'll let it slide. This is the closest that Katsuki gets from running from a conversation.

Not knowing what to do alone in a house that isn’t his, Shouto follows him into the backyard again. As soon as he was out the door again, the tension from whatever that conversation had meant to Katsuki was gone.

“Motherfuckers! I have to get ready, I can’t be the one to wash the fucking dog today!”

Chapter Text

Izuku and Shouto left the Bakugou’s about the time that Katsuki decided he needed to get over to the fairgrounds. And by that, they meant standing in the front yard for about a front hour talking and saying goodbye again and again until someone left. Uraraka said that she would bath Zero after they left, who at that point was more mud than dog after their misadventures with the hose. 

The walk from the house to the bar was short, only crossing one street. They didn’t hold hands, too many eyes in a town so small. Shouto wished he could. But instead, they settled like they usually did next to one another, close enough that they ran into eachother every other step on the sidewalk. Close enough to catch Izuku if he fell on the uneven pavement like he often did. 

It wasn’t really a bar as much as it was the only place in town that served food. The place just happened to have a liquor license Aswell. It was in an old brick building connected to the post office and the hardware store on either side.  He wouldn’t call himself a regular, but he was there often enough for lunch with Fuyumi most Saturday afternoons, or sneaky not dates with Izuku that he hoped would come across as friendly hangouts to outsiders. 

That is to say, he wasn’t surprised when the bartender greeted them. 

“Todoroki! Midoriya! Nice to see ya,” Shirakumo grinned. 

Izuku stepped forward, always the more sociable of the two during any interaction. “Nice to see you too, is Ms. Kayama around?” 

“Oh, yeah, Nemuri’s in the back helping my mom with dinner,” Shirakumo smiled. Ms. Kayama had always helped around the bar in the summer and on the rare weekend. She said she always needed to keep busy when she wasn’t teaching.” It’s cute you still call her ‘Ms. Kayama’, she hasn’t been your teacher in years now,” 

“It would be disrespectful!” Izuku flushed a bit and Shouto laughed at him silently, not daring to do so aloud, seeing as he still called her Ms. Kayama too and that would be a bit hypocritical in the current situation. 

“Sure kid, sure” The bartender segued “Need anything to drink, you’re not here to pregame the rodeo, are you?” 

“No, not today,” Izuku said. “Just checking up on Dad, can you get us some pop though?” 

“Yeah I got you,” He finger gunned before setting two glasses on the counter and filling them. “Yagi’s over there by the way,”

“Thanks!” Izuku handed Shouto the glass from the counter and they walked across the room to the table that his father was sitting at with Aizawa and Yamada. 

“Hey Pops,” Izuku said, placing his hand on his father’s shoulder. 

 The man turned in his chair to see the two of them and smiled, Toshinori’s eyes were soft. “Hello boys, what are you doing here?” 

When Shouto had first seen Toshinori he had been eight. His own family was at an auction for livestock and Midoriya and his family just so happened to be there too. Shouto had thought that he was the biggest man he’d ever seen, and that saying something living with his own father. He was easily intimidated by him before he ever spoke. The thing that caught him so off guard was how much he wasn’t like his father. Toshinori wasn’t Izuku’s biological father, but you’d never guess by the way he acted. Always proud of Izuku, no matter what. It didn’t take long to warm up to the man, who even if he was tired would make snacks for his son and his friends or get caught dancing with Inko in the kitchen. When they started unofficially officially dating, Shouto got a new wave of intimidation from the man who didn’t know about his son’s partner, but that was easily batted away by how he acted and how much he cared about all of his son’s relationships, platonic or not, and how invested he was in his son’s happiness in general. 

As a child, Shouto used to think about what that would be like. If his dad wasn’t really his dad. If he would act the same way. As he grew up, he realized how wrong that was. Toshinori had always been Izuku’s dad, blood didn’t matter. He didn’t really think that would apply to his father. 

(He now often thought about what would happen if Toshinori knew, it would be okay.)

“Mom sent us, wanted to make sure you weren’t wrecking up the place” Izuku said. 

“Ah, you know me, I’m just getting ready to dance on some tables.” Toshinori said before eating something from his plate. From the looks of it Shouto guessed it was a fried pickle. “You boys hungry?” 

“Nah, we had pie earlier,” Izuku says at the same time Shouto says “I’m really looking forward to concessions.” 

“Let me know if you change your minds,” Toshinori says, “Pull up a chair though and sit down,”

There’s only one spot left at the table, so he sits down while Izuku takes one from the empty table next to them and sits on the corner between his dad and Shouto. 

It’s not exactly weird talking to Izuku’s dad, at least not as weird as it had been when they started dating. Back then, the man had definitely noticed that Shouto started acting strange around him out of the blue before getting a grip on the situation at hand and back to normal. But it still felt weird, wrong, that he was such a big part of Izuku’s life and yet he didn’t know. 

“Where’s Eri?” Shouto asks, changing his train of thought away from his boyfriend’s father. He wasn’t exactly good with kids, but he had been around enough that he knew her well enough. 

“She’s off showing off her new boots to Nemuri!” Yamada says, “She was so excited when I got them for her this morning,”

“I would have been too, I loved mutton busting as a kid,” Izuku says with what Shouto can only describe as a dopey smile on his face. 

“Yeah, you did up until you fell wrong and broke your arm,” Toshinori teases.

“Dad, I was six!” Izuku expression changes, more out of embarrassment than anything. Shouto stealthily bumped their knees together in reassurance. 

“And you cried when your mother didn’t let you do it the next year, I know.” He had a wiry smile  in general, Toshinori. It wasn’t as though he said it with mischief in his voice though, just nostalgia.

Izuku changes the subject. “Speaking of my mother did you know-” 

“About the pies? Izuku everyone knows about her pie scheme.” Aizawa butts in. Todoroki cringed inwards in the middle of that sentence ‘ Izuku everyone knows’   but the words he was expecting didn’t come. They never do. ‘Izuku everyone knows about what happened that day’, ‘Izuku everyone knows that you two are together’. No one ever mentions how they were together, because they didn’t and it was just the paranoia that had set in that made him think that. Aizawa continues as Shouto relaxes again. “We just don’t know her plans for this year.” 

“Any ideas, Dad?”

“Yeah, any ideas? Come on Yagi, you must know what she’s planning?” Yamada piles on. 

“None,” Toshinori says in between bites of his food. “And if I did, I would be sworn to secrecy on a level of trust I cannot break.” 

The door to the kitchen burst open, although it’s partially drowned out by the chatter of the people surrounding them. Shouto turns when he sees Yamada wave. Kayama is in the doorway smiling through her glasses, which are covered in steam from what he’s guessing to be the stovetop. She waves back to him as a little girl rushes forwards. 

“Dad, Papa, guess what!” Eri says as soon as she gets back to the table, her hands jittering with excitement. 

“The sky is blue.” Aizawa says flatly. 

“No! Well, yes, but no! Guess!” She huffs. 

“I don’t know cowgirl, what happened?” Yamada prompted her.

“Auntie Nem gave me this hair tie! Look!” The girl did a spin to show off the red scrunchy in her pale hair, giggling. “She said I should wear it to keep my hair out of my face tonight.” 

“Did you thank her?” Aizawa says. 

“Yeah! What do you think?” She asks.

“You look wonderful, kiddo, I can’t wait to watch you from the announcer’s box.” Yamada ruffles her hair and she struggles away, trying to preserve the updo she had.

It’s not that there aren’t gay people in and around town. There are. Aizawa and Yamada are married and have a kid together, for heaven sake. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t looks every once and a while. He’s heard the things said behind their backs. And hell, if it weren’t for his father he probably wouldn’t mind it. But he can’t get rid of Enji. He’s already had a preview of what that would entail. 

“Can I come sit up there with you, Dad?” She asks as she sits down on his lap. Looking back, Shouto probably stole her seat right next to Yamada. She doesn’t say anything about it though. 

“Of course kid, you and your papa both can after you get done.” 

The conversation, like it often does, splits into a few different conversations. Aizawa and Toshinori talking about the turtle race that’s happening that next day and how hard it was to find a turtle for Eri to enter. Izuku and Eri talking about the book that she’s reading. Leaving Yamada and Todoroki to fend for themselves. 

“So, have you seen Bakugou today?” Yamada started, there were nerves in his voice. 

“Yeah, why?” Shouto tilted his head a bit. 

“Did he, I don’t know, talk to you about anything?” He continued, staring at his own soda on the table.

“No, not really. He mentioned Aizawa wasn’t helping you announce this year, but that was about all we talked about,” Is what Shouto said, but what he wanted to ask was Why are you bringing up Bakugou?

“Ah yeah! Had to basically pry him away from the microphone to go support her!” He laughed at his husband, who wasn’t even close to paying attention. The only reason that he ever did it was so that his husband didn’t have to sit up there alone, half the town knew that. And like that the conversation continued, leaping from person to person. “She’s really excited. Wants to break her record from last year, we keep telling her that 4 seconds is good, but she really wants to go for longer….” 

~~~

He wouldn’t compare it to a bomb going off. Quite the opposite. The front door to the bar opened and a hush fell over the room. Shouto would compare it to those old western movies, where the outlaw walks into the saloon and everyone goes silent. 

Because that’s basically what happens When Keigo Takami walks in. 

“I haven’t seen him since-”

“Does Todoroki know-” 

“What’s he doing in town-”

“Well I heard that-”

Whispers and hushed talk whip around the room. Shouto does not take his eyes off him, even at the mention of his father. He didn’t listen to whatever the latest gossip on Hawks was. 

“Hey Hawks! Your order’ll be ready in a minute, let me let Nem know you’re here already.” Oboro says walking from the bar to the kitchen. 

He lives alone a little outside of town, on an old family property. But Takami rarely visited. From what Shouto knew, he preferred to go up to Hulson or Springfield for groceries. He flits in every once and a while, but it’s rare. The last time he had saw him was probably around christmas, and even then it was just for a moment. 

“Right-o Oboro,” He rhymed. He was so nonchalant about it all, always had been. His hands behind his neck in a relaxed position, sunglasses resting on the top of his head.

Shouto wonders how he could be so calm about it all. After everything. After Touya left. 

He thought for sure his father would have killed him. 

“Takami! Come over here,” Toshinori waved him over and just like that, he was standing at their table.

“How ya holding up, old man?” He grinned so wide his eyes crinkled.

( After all this time, Shouto didn't know how to feel about him. At one point, all he felt was an anger towards the man. Now it's more dull than anything, numb really. Hawks used to be by the house often, with or without Touya. Then they were just gone. It's weird to think that he lost the both of them at the same time. )

“Doing just fine,” Toshinori said before taking a sip of his drink. He ignored Izuku’s complaints of how he shouldn’t have driven down here today because the doctor told him to take it easy. “I could however use the help every now and again from you though, that job offer’s still open.” 

Once upon a time, Takami had worked for a summer on Toshinori's farm. From what he could remember, Shouto thought it'd been a good summer. But it was the last Touya was around. 

“Wish I could, but I can’t. The ladies are needy, I swear that Chiquititia gets broodier by the day.” Since the internet lines had been set up, Takami had taken to working from home for some company, but he still kept up with his chickens. He sold fresh eggs at the farmers market in Hulson every Saturday morning. 

“That’s a shame, let me know if that ever changes, you got that?” 

“Will do sir,” He finger gunned at Toshinori. 

“Hey Hawks! We got your food!” Oboro yelled from behind the counter. 

“Be over in a minute,” Takami yells over his shoulder before turning back to the table. “Hey Todoroki, are you excited for tonight?” 

“Meh, I’ll get some nachos and watch Bakugou fall, sounds pretty good to me,” Shouto said and Izuku smacked his arm softly. That got a laugh out of most of the table. 

“It’ll be a good night for sure, Todoroki Shouto.” And with that he walked away. If Shouto had to guess the man was probably speed walking away from the conversation he had just started. 

If it wasn’t for the use of his full name, Shouto wouldn’t have thought anything of the interaction. But no. That was the third person to ask him about the rodeo. Once is a one-off event, twice is a coincidence, but three times? Something’s happening. 

He looked over at Yamada, who was pointedly not looking back, instead concentrating very hard on braiding his daughter’s hair in the scrunchie. Aizawa was already back to talking to Toshinori again. 

“I’m not the only one who thought that was weird right?” Izuku leaned over a bit, inadvertently bumping their knees together again. 

He felt validated in being able to say, “No, no you weren’t, I’m pretty sure something’s happening tonight.” 

The only question was what.

Chapter Text

“We could just leave now,” Izuku and Shouto walked down towards the fairgrounds towards the small stadium where the rodeo was set up. Further past them were workers setting up for the rest of the county fair that started tomorrow. Once again, they walked closely together. “Think about it, just us, we could walk back to the Bakugous’, grab my truck, and drive back to my place and have some more pie.” 

“I would love to,” Shouto said. “But you just paid the entry fee,” 

“That doesn’t matter and you know it, Shou,” Izuku said, bumping his shoulder, “I don’t know what Hawks was talking about, but he was all weird about it.” 

“Me neither, but that’s the third person to mention the rodeo like that. Not in an ‘I’m excited to see Katsuki’ way or an ‘I’m really excited for this weekend’ way or even a ‘I can’t wait to see some guy get bucked off of a horse way too fast’ way,” Shouto stops talking for a second to breathe, “They’ve mentioned it too much for me just leave now and not learn what’s going to happen,” 

“Okay,” Izuku says calmly, “Whatever it is, we’ve got this.”

“Yes we do.” Shouto said, trying not to feel as tense as he felt, trying to relax his shoulders and walk less stiffly. He wouldn’t often call himself a paranoid person, but something felt wrong. Not with him. Not with anything. But with everything he’s heard today he couldn’t help but feel there was something he didn’t know, and with how Izuku had validated that feeling, he couldn’t help but feel more aware of his surroundings. It felt like he was doing a puzzle, but someone had walked by and swiped a piece randomly so they could come back again later and have the honor of putting the last piece in. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the feeling. 

They walked in silence until they reached the makeshift stadium that was ready to be torn down by the end of the weekend. On one side of the arena were two sets of bleachers, the other was a hill, groups clustered with people on blankets sat on it. It wasn’t that big of a turn out compared to rodeos in different cities, but usually it pulled in all the locals and a few from the surrounding towns. Both sets of bleachers were usually only half full, but they always put two up just in case. 

 When they reached the ring, Izuku spoke again. “Ochako said to meet her up at the usual place, let's go meet up with her, yeah?” 

She wasn’t hard to find. She was sitting on a flannel picnic blanket, wearing different clothes than she was earlier since they had been soaked in the impromptu water fight. Her hair was up now, trying to combat the hot sun on her. She wasn’t alone, Iida was sitting right next to her. Shouto couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about, but it calmed him to see them talking so animatedly. 

“Ochako! Tenya!” Izuku yelled as he started up the steep hill. Their conversation stopped as the two turned their heads and they turned to see him. 

Quickly, the two made it up the hill. Only for Uraraka to get up from her spot and hug Izuku. 

“Deku! It’s so good to see you again!” She said hugging him. 

“How’d it go with Zero?” Izuku asked. 

“Badly. I had to clean the bathroom after cleaning her.” She says, letting go of him. “With how much he likes water outside the house you would think he could deal with a bath inside the house, but of course not. That’d be silly.”

“Tenya, I’m glad you could make it down. Haven’t seen you in a bit.” Midoriya greeted his other friend. 

“Of course, I came down for Greenfest. If everyone else is in town than I can take a vacation day and come as well.” Iida stated. He hadn’t been in town for a while either. Between his last year of university coming up and the kids he supervised in the summer while detasseling, he was busy year-round. “It is good to see the both of you.” 

“Good to see you too, Iida.” Shouto said. 

“So, back to the topic at hand! Tenya! Can you please go get concessions! I have money-” Uraraka turns to him again, a bounce in her step. Now that they’re closer, Shouto can see the dollar bills in her hand.

“You paid last time! I cannot in good conscience let you pay again!” He moved his arms in a chopping motion. 

“No, you paid last time and said I paid the time before again! Let me pay for once!” She huffed.

“Can you get mine and Shouto’s too?” Izuku chimes in before Iida can say anything. 

“Yes, what do you need?” Iida takes the out easily. 

“Two nachos and a pop, wait, Shou do you want a pop?” He turns his head to look at Shouto who quickly replies with a no . “Yeah, two nachos and a pop.” 

“I’ll be back,” and with that, Iida walks away from the conversation. 

“Why’d you let him do that Deku!” She shakes him by his shoulders. 

“Why not, he seemed pretty insistent.” Shouto said. 

“Because he always pays! Let me pay for once,” She points at herself. 

“Oh, you will.” Izuku says, pulling out his wallet and giving her another bill. “Here is a twenty, our goal is to have Iida distracted, pickpocket him, and then place the money in his wallet.” 

Immediately catching onto the scheme, Ochako grinned and pumped her fist. “That’s such a good idea, I’m so down.” 

The three of them sat back down on Ochako’s blanket. Shouto listened to the other two ramble back and forth as he stretched his legs out, his head tilted up watching the clouds overhead. They weren’t anything bad, just strolling across the endless blue. But the ones in the distance that were supposed to hit around midnight were in view on the horizon line. 

Only for the view to be blocked by someone’s face. More specifically Fuyumi’s. “Hi Shouto, can Rumi and I sit by your little group?” 

“Sure, go ahead,” He says and she smiles with the confirmation. 

“Thanks! Miriko wanted to sit with Hawks, but he told her last minute he wouldn’t be here,” She starts to fan out her blanket and sits down on it when it’s properly laid on the ground. “I called Natsuo from the landline before I left the house, said he wouldn’t make it down here for the rodeo, his girlfriend and him got held up running errands, but he’d meet me and Rumi at the bar after if you want to come too.” 

“Izuku do you want to go back to the bar tonight,” He turned to him to ask the question. 

“Yeah sure we can do that later,” Izuku smiled. “Pretty sure that’s where Kacchan wants to go later anyways,” 

“That’s what he was saying earlier,” Ochako says. 

Fuyumi starts talking over him with Izuku and Uraraka, thanking Izuku for the eggs he brought that morning and asking how their days were. Shouto continues what he was just doing, watching the sky and listening to the voices around him.

Iida returned right before the event kicked off, carrying exactly two nachos, three bottles of soda, and two boxes of candy. 

“Hey hey HEY! Nice to see y’all in Greenhill tonight, Ladies and gentlemen! We’ve got a show for you! To start things off I’d like to thank Red West Rodeo Company for sending us these GREAT cowboys and cowgirls and Yaoyorozu ranch from right here in Greenhill for supplying our bulls and steers for the evening! Now let’s start and get this show on the Road!” Yamada’s voice came bursting out of the speakers. “For our kiddos who signed up for Mutton Busting, please come down to the gate so we can check y’all off and get this going!-” 

~~~ 

Eri got a time of five seconds point three seconds and no injuries while riding on the sheep. Which Shouto considered very good when she came up to Izuku to tell them all about it. 

“Were you scared?” Izuku asked her. 

“No waaay!” She giggled “The scrunchie I got from auntie really helped! It was lucky!” 

It felt normal. Pressing up close to Izuku so that they could all sit scrunched together on one blanket. Watching as the people in the arena all eventually wiped-out riding bareback on horses or as the roping teams compete to get the lowest times. 

He almost didn’t catch the exchange, but Shouto saw as Uraraka pulled Iida’s wallet out of his pocket in one swift motion while he was busy watching the saddle buck riding. She placed the two bills in his wallet and then, realizing she didn’t have anywhere to put it, she set it right behind him and then watched the rodeo again for a minute.

“Hey Tenya, your wallet fell out of your pocket,” She pretended as if she had just glanced behind him. 

“Thank you for telling me Ochako!” He smiled and shuffled so he could place it in his front pocket this time. The only way Shouto could describe the eye contact between Izuku and Uraraka in this moment was smug . Their little plan had worked, hook, line, and sinker.

Shouto snickered to himself as quietly as he could and Izuku quickly elbowed him in the ribs. 

“Shouto, look,” He said, his gaze back on the arena, taking his attention away from their exchange in the most natural way Izuku could have thought of.

The rodeo hands were setting up for the next event, a bull was being herded into the chute. A figure was sitting on the metal fence waiting for the bull to be properly positioned to get on.

“Alrighty everybody! Time for this last event of the night! And THIS is the one y’all’ve been waiting for! We have three bull riders competing tonight! Our first rider, you may not be able to see his face under that helmet but you’ll sure as hell recognize him! This is HIS hometown. Welcome to the ring, Bakugou Katsuki!” Yamada yells through the speaker. “You know the rules folks! We’ll release him and the bull from the chute and he’s gotta try and stay on for eight seconds!” 

“GO KACCHAN!” Izuku and Uraraka screamed as the crowd erupted cheering for him. Fuyumi and Usagiyama cheered next to him as well.  Shouto almost wished he brought earplugs.

He leaned over so he could whisper in Izuku’s ear. “I give him four seconds.” 

“Todoroki Shouto! Be nice to your friend,” Izuku laughed while he scolded him. 

They watched as Bakugou got onto the bull and a signal was given. The hatch to the chute opened up and immediately it was off. 

“Wooo! Buck that bitch!” Miriko yelled at the same time Fuyumi yelled “You got this Bakugou!” 

This part of the rodeo worried Shouto every year. But it was different knowing someone could get hurt and a friend could get hurt. It was different knowing that his friend could get hurt while doing this, and different when he knew he had the possibility of seeing his friend get hurt while riding a bull. When Izuku grabbed his hand, he squeezed back. He concentrated on Bakugou out there watching the thing buck and try to flip him off. It didn’t feel like just a few seconds, it felt like a lifetime. 

The bull combatted him, kicking up with it’s hind legs and Bakugou went flying. He gripped Izuku’s hand hard as Bakugou fell into the dirt. He was down for what felt to Shouto like it was too long with the bull’s hooves dancing around his body. Bakugou rolled over and away from the bull and sprung back up. 

The bull fighters surrounded the bull immediately, ushering it back into the pen which it ran into bucking and jumping. They slammed the gate behind it. 

Shouto released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He relaxed as Bakugou took off his helmet and walked over to jump the fence out of the arena. From where he was sitting, he could see the triumphant smile on his face. Proud of himself, No matter what the time was. Shouto imagined that riding a bull would be quite an adrenaline rush. 

“Just got that time back folks! Give it up to Bakugou Katsuki with SEVEN POINT THREE seconds!” Yamada yelled through the speaker as the crowd cheered. Bakugou raised a fist up to the audience as he grinned. “Next on the roster-”

“I’m going to go see him!” Ochako says, with a smile on her face. “You guys watch the blanket!” 

“Me too!” Izuku says at the same time that Iida says, “I will come with you,”

“You okay watching the blanket Shou?” Izuku says. He was less looking for confirmation and more looking to see if Shouto wanted to come with them. 

“Yeah, go ahead, I’ll be here with Fuyumi and Miruko,” Shouto smiled. 

They walked away quickly, hunched over so they wouldn’t obscure anyone else’s view of the show from the hill. There was less hype for the next contestant than there was for Bakugou, but she held up just as well. Even with Miriko cheering for the bull to knock her off just like she had for the first. 

“What a show! Everyone give a round of applause to Haneyama Kazuho for FIVE POINT EIGHT seconds!” The girl bounced up and down, cheering for herself. “Now our last contestant for the night! Going by the name Dabi! Let’s hope he can finish this night off with a BANG!” 

There was a figure sitting on the fence, waiting for the bull to properly get into the chute so they could mount it. He was wearing a black button shirt that’s sleeves were folded up to his elbows, showing off the tattoo sleeves on both arms. Shouto wondered if the women from the book club were talking about them and how they shouldn’t be on display. Not that he particularly cared, but they seem like the type to. 

The man got onto the bull, the signal was given, and the chute opened. 

“Get his ass!” Miriko heckled loudly. 

 This next bull seemed like the worst yet, thrashing and bucking violently trying to get the man off, even still, the rider kept on, spurring his feet into it and keeping his free hand in the air.

But, as it always happens, the bull lurched, and the man was cast down on his side. His shoulder hitting the helmet around his head. Anxiety pooled in Shouto’s stomach as the bull stomped around the man, barely missing his torso. 

The man got up slowly but hurried over to the fence all the same. He climbed up and over the metal gate and out onto the worn dirt. The rodeo hands lead it away properly and back into it’s pen. 

“That’s gotta hurt,” Miriko said, “That fall was rough,” 

“Oof, yeah it was,” Shouto watched the man slink over to the other two bull riders who were waiting for them. Shouto could see the rest of his group, almost over to where Bakugou was standing with the pink haired girl and the other man. She slapped the man on his arm and gave him a thumbs up, from what he could see she was talking cheerfully but he couldn’t read her lips from so far away. 

“And what a show that was!” Yamada spoke over the speakers, “Dabi, with EIGHT POINT THREE seconds! Let me say that again EIGHT POINT TWO SECONDS! Knocking him up to first place for our bull riding tonight and wrapping up this show for you folks!  Thank you all for coming out…” 

Yamada wrapped up the rest of what he was saying, telling people to come to the fair this weekend for other events and to be safe and have a good drive home.

That’s when the man took off his helmet. 

Fuyumi gasped and grabbed onto Shouto’s arm, she pulled her glasses closer to her face as if they got it wrong the first time, as if they could magnify what they were seeing. 

From this distance, he had plausible deniability. The hair was a different color than he remembered. It wasn’t red, it was black. 

It had been just over a decade since Shouto had actually seen his brother. During the first few years however, he saw his brother in what felt like every stranger’s face he looked at. From the teenager with bad posture he saw walking down the street to the kid with red hair in the grocery store sometimes with their mom. He saw Touya everywhere those first few years. It’s crazy to think how much he had mourned someone who was still alive. It wouldn’t be the first time he saw his brother in someone else. 

He would have written it off, some part of his brain was telling him he should write it off. That it couldn’t be. That it couldn’t be Touya. Even with the weird comments today, he wanted to deny what he was seeing.

Have you heard anything about tonight?

Did he, I don’t know, talk to you about anything?

It’ll be a good night for sure, Todoroki Shouto.

Confirmation came from Izuku, who had better sight of the man in front of him. Midoriya, who he had grown up with. Midoriya, who he had fallen in love with. Midoriya, who had walked through his family’s house and saw the photos on the wall from when he was a child with three other siblings instead of two. 

From where he was sitting, Shouto could see Midoriya freeze dead in his tracks when the man took off his helmet. Iida and Uraraka paused around him. Looking in between the man and Izuku. From his vantage point across the stadium, he could see Izuku barely say something then, as quickly as he could, bolted. Like a bullet from a gun, Izuku started running. Shouto could only assume it was back to him.

“TOUYAA,” Shouto could hear his father screaming from the top of the bleachers, the name full of malice, he could see him as he started across the bleachers to stalk down towards the group of bull riders. 

(Somewhere along the line he had grabbed onto Fuyumi as well.) 

Time seemed to speed up. From nowhere, Hawks was standing in the group right beside Touya, Uraraka and Iida running up to Bakugou, trying to understand the situation better. Their father was trying to get down the steps of the stands, but it was filled with everyone else trying to leave. Hawks pulled on Touya’s arm, and they started walking towards the cars that were parked, his father yelling at them as they walked away. 

He heard Miriko curse and he was snapped out of it. He turned away from the scene going on in front of him and towards his sister. Fuyumi’s eyes were wide, still watching. Her knuckles were white in his grip, both of them holding each other, he could feel her nails in his skin. 

He untensed his hand, but Fuyumi’s was locked in a death grip and he couldn't pry her off of him, emotionally or physically.

“-Yumi, Fuyumi, hon, breathe,” Usagiyama was on her other side, her hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly. “You’re leaving marks in your brother’s arm.” 

“What the fuck,” He didn’t even register he was the one who said it. Fuyumi finally looked over to him. They made eye contact and he knew that Usagiyama was looking at him as well. He felt more eyes on him too, from other people. From residents of Greenhill who knew exactly what was going on and what they were watching, ready to tell each other and gossip about it later. But at this moment, Fuyumi and Miriko were the only ones close enough to him that mattered. 

Chapter Text

“What the fuck,” Shouto didn’t even register he was the one who said it. 

“Someone’s gotta call Natsuo.” Fuyumi unclenched her hands and released from him. She pulled out her phone, in the moment forgetting the fairgrounds was one of the cell service dead spots that littered the town. She tried dialing his number but it wouldn’t go through. “He doesn’t know. He doesn't know. Oh god he doesn’t know.”

“Shouto,” Izuku ran back up the hill, almost faceplanting with how quickly he threw himself at the blanket “Did you-” 

“Yes, I-” 

“Damn it!” Fuyumi rarely cussed. She held her phone up higher, trying to reach for a signal that wasn’t there. “We need to get to the bar before anyone else does, Natsuo’s waiting, and he doesn’t know.” 

“Let’s ditch the car and I can come back for it later,” Usagiyama says, “Everyone’s trying to drive out right now,”  

“Good idea,” Fuyumi pocketed her phone, “Shouto are you coming? I’ve gotta hurry, he doesn’t know about Touya and the bar’s about to be flooded with people who do,” 

He knew that he should. That this was important. That it was time sensitive, but he couldn’t get his voice to work again. Instead, he shook his head. 

“Okay, call me when you leave, I love you. Midoriya stay with him” She wrapped her arms around him quickly then she got back up again and left as quickly as she could, Miriko keeping pace with her. 

“Will do” Izuku yelled although he was still out of breath from booking it around the outside of the ring as he watched the two women take off. Turning back to Shouto, his tone softened. “Are you with me?” 

Shouto looked around, when did the place become so empty? 

“Barely.” 

“Okay, I’m going to list out our options and you can tell me if you want to do any or none of them.” Izuku says, Shouto makes eye contact with him. Izuku is trying to be calm about the situation, but Shouto can tell he’s worried. Ready to be there for him if Shouto isn’t okay. “Option one, we follow your sister to the bar, we don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to, if you want to stick to our original plan for the night we can, I can play bodyguard. Option two, we leave and I take you to your house, although I would prefer not to leave you there, your dad's pissed and I don’t want to leave you there with him. Option three, we go back to my house and you can crash there for the night, that way you I can stay with you-” 

Izuku keeps talking, giving choices for how they might want to navigate the rest of the night. He doesn’t want to go meet up with anyone, he doesn't want anyone looking at him. Judging him. Starting the Todoroki rumor mill up again. He doesn’t want to go to the bar. Option one is definitely out. 

He doesn’t want to go home. It’s been a while, but this isn’t the first time that his father’s rage has made the house unapproachable. It’s been a long time since he fought with his dad, anymore it’s easier to just let the tension build up, then separate and pretend like it never happened. A small part of his mind hoped that this would be the same. That his father would be mad, Shouto could avoid him for a few days, and then it would blow over and they could pretend like it never happened. But he didn’t know. He didn’t know what the old wounds would bring back up again. That small part of his mind hoped that Touya would go away again and never come back, never upset his father like he had when Shouto was a child. It was a numbing, hateful feeling. 

“Let’s go to yours.” Shouto says. He isn’t confident in his choice, but it was the best that the two could have thought of at the moment. 

“Alright, are you ready to walk back to get my car?” Shouto hadn’t even thought about how the truck was still at the Bakugou’s. How they’d have to walk through town. How the main street would be alive with square dancing and drinking. How people were probably already talking about what happened, dredging up the past as if it was a story and not something his family went through, what he went through. 

“Side streets?” He says. 

“Side streets.” Izuku confirmed. 

They got up and Izuku folded the blanket, holding it in his arms. Shouto wished he could hold his hand right now more than anything. He wanted the strength and stability it would bring him. Ground him into reality when it had just been turned on its head. Instead, as they walked away from the fairgrounds, he put his hands in his pockets. 

~~~

The further away they got away from the bright lights and the music that could be heard throughout the town, as they walked through the side streets without any streetlights, Shouto pulled one of Izuku’s hands away from the blanket in his arms and intertwined it with his. 

When they got back to the old pickup, Shouto opened up his phone. It wasn’t a surprise to see there was no signal. 

“Why don’t we go inside, and we can use their landline and pet Zero?” Izuku suggested. “I don’t think anybody’s home, lights are out, I don’t think any of them will be home for a while.” 

“Good idea.” 

The front door was locked, but Izuku knew where they kept the spare key, in the bushes under some rock in front of the porch. He quickly picked it up and unlocked the door. Zero was at the door when they walked in and Izuku bent down to pet her for a second. 

“Hi girl, let me get to the phone and then I’ll give you all the pets you want,” She however, was a dog and didn’t understand a word he said. She did let him walk Shouto into the kitchen and to where the phone sat on the counter. 

Shouto dialed his sister and she picked up on the third ring. Izuku sat on the floor, starting to pet the dog. 

“Shou, thank goodness, where are you?” She said, skipping the hellos . He could hear music coming from the other line. 

“I’m at the Bakugou’s using their phone right now,” He said. 

“Nice. What’s your gameplan for the night?” She asked, not stopping “If you go home, I’ll go home. Natsuo is currently on the phone with his girlfriend talking about going back up to Hulson, If you aren’t going home, I think I’m staying at Rumi’s.” 

She didn’t sound mad or upset. Fuyumi sounded focused. If Shouto had to guess what she looked like she probably had perfect posture as she spoke, straight faced too. When Touya first left she had been fifteen, bearing the brunt of it. She had held her head up and remained calm when her brothers weren’t. He used to think it was cold, mean. But now he realized just how wrong he was. How she held them together as closely as she could without really knowing how. How strong she must have been. 

Shouto was glad, relieved really, that both of his siblings were planning on staying away for the night too. “I’m gonna stay at Izuku’s.” 

“Okay good, you do that. Natsu just got off the phone and wants to talk to you I’m handing the phone over to him, drive safe, okay bye Shou,” 

“Bye-” He responded, but she was already handing the phone off, the sound of shuffling it over to his brother could be heard. 

“Shouto, I haven’t missed a rodeo since I was twelve, I miss ONE and Touya comes back?” Natsuo sounded agitated. 

“You’re telling me,” Natsuo’s voice broke him and Shouto almost laughed. The situation was too much. “Fuyumi says you’re going back to Hulson,” 

“Yep! Exiting from the situation! Just got off a call with Yoko, I’m headed up as soon as I get off the phone with you.” He could hear how tense Natsuo was. Shouto could picture him on the street, his shoulders stiff and his nondominant hand clenched into a ball at his side as he stood off from where people were dancing, Fuyumi right next to him.  

“I’m going to Midoriya’s” Shouto repeats. He usually didn’t tell people when he stayed over there. Instead opting to leave after the household was asleep and wake up before the sun rises to help at the ranch the following morning. It was a sharp contrast to what he felt now. He needed his siblings to make sure they knew he was safe and away for the night, the same way he needed to know the same about them.

“That’s good, stay out of the old man’s way for the night.” Natsuo said. “I’ll text the groupchat when I reach Yoko’s alright?” 

“Okay, have you seen dad?” Shouto asks. On any normal year, their father would be at the bar after the rodeo, drinking. This isn’t a normal year though.

“Nope! Nobody’s seen him since he left the fairgrounds apparently, probably went home to sulk.” He could hear his brother’s loathing for him through the phone. 

“Good to know,” He felt like he was just parroting himself, saying the same phrases over and over again. But what do you say? When your disowned brother comes back to your hometown? 

“I’m going to let you go now Shouto, I’ve gotta get going so I can get back to Hulson before midnight.” 

“Drive safe okay, watch for deer,” He tells Natsuo.

“I know, I know, you too, alright? Stay safe,” 

The line went dead after they said their goodbyes and Shouto put the phone back down on it’s receiver.

Shouto looked out the backdoor. The kiddie pool was still set up in the backyard with lawn chairs around it like it had been earlier in the afternoon. It wasn’t a mind breaking revelation, but a slow drip. 

“Bakugou knew.” Of course he did. That’s what he wanted to talk about earlier. Katsuki knew that Touya would be there tonight. He worked with him. And still he didn’t say anything. Shouto thought he should have felt angrier than he did with that revelation. Bakugou knew about it all and he didn’t say anything. 

To be fair, Shouto didn’t know what he would have done with the knowledge if he had been given it earlier. 

“He did, apparently, and I’m not going to justify Kacchan’s actions right now, Shouto.” Izuku said. “I do think that it’s messed up, he didn’t say anything, but he must have had a reason, whatever it might be.” 

“Oh well then,” Shouto says, moving from the spot he stood. It was weird to be there, when he had had a conversation right there earlier that could have given him a heads up on the situation that was going to unfold instead of being left in the dark. “You ready to go?”

“Nope, I need to call Mom and you need to sit and pet a dog for a minute.” Izuku said, getting up and reaching for the phone. 

When Shouto looked down, the dog tilted her head at him before nudging his hand. That’s all the encouragement for him to bend down and scratch her behind her ear. He heard Izuku speaking to his mom through the phone. He could hear Inko’s voice faintly as well, although he wasn’t really listening. Instead he watched Zero, focusing on her soft fur.

 He sat down so he could lean his back against Izuku’s legs, and the large dog immediately climbed into his lap, not realizing she wasn’t a lap dog. Shouto didn’t exactly care though and continued to card his hands through her fur. 

~~~

Another reason that Todoroki Shouto wanted to go to the Midoriya’s was an entirely selfish one. An entirely nosy one. Because just down the road from their farm was the home of one Takami Keigo. Where the Midoriya’s lived three miles out of town, Hawks lived only two. Meaning that since he chose to go home with him, Shouto would get to see if he was home yet. 

He had no intention of having Izuku stop at the small home. Really . He didn’t. Not when it first occurred to him when they were talking through options for what to do for the night. Not when they were walking back to the Bakugou’s. Not when either of them were on the phone or when they both climbed into Izuku's rusty orange truck. 

It was dark now. The sun must have set while Shouto was playing with Zero. They drove under the speed limit out of town, not knowing if there would be anyone walking home in the street yet. Izuku once again took one hand off the wheel and into Shouto’s, connecting them. Shouto squeezing it as they drove down the dirt road towards the Midoriya’s. 

He hadn’t had any intention of stopping at Takami’s. Really. He swears. But as soon as he sees the lights on in the house his voice betrays him. “Izuku stop.” 

Izuku slows down and stops on the road next to the driveway to the home, immediately understanding what Shouto was about to do even when Shouto himself didn’t. “Are you sure? I’m with you whatever way you want to do this, but I don’t know if this is the best idea.” 

“I want to understand, really, I’m grasping at straws here, If there’s one person in this town that knew- knows my brother it’s Takami.” Shouto notes how weird it is to talk about his brother in the present tense, instead of it just being a memory from childhood. “He has some explaining to do for what he pulled earlier at the bar too.” 

Shouto can see Izuku’s face scrunch, even in the darkness. Like he’s thinking about it. 

“Okay. I’m with you, let’s go pay a visit to Hawks.” Izuku’s voice is neutral, but Shouto could hear the faint negativity of the statement. Still, he pulls into the gravel driveway,

As he exited the truck, Shouto could smell the rain. It wasn’t there yet, but he had no doubt it would be soon. The warm evening was quickly dropping in temperature, whether that be from the sun going down or the storm fast approaching. 

They walk up to the door and Shouto hesitates. He doesn’t know if he really wanted to do this. To be so confrontational. He looks at Izuku, when he can see him better under the porchlight. He has a tight smile on his face. It’s not natural. Forced. But Izuku places his hand on Shouto’s shoulder, reassuring him in his choice. 

He could walk away right now. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s getting late. 

But still, he lifts his hand to the door and knocks. 

The door practically swings open. Shouto flinches and Izuku takes his hand away. The door opened too quickly for someone not to have been standing there waiting. 

“Aw Enji you finally- wait you’re not Enji.” Hawks looks them up and down. Surprised. “Was not expecting you two tonight. What are the honors, boys?” 

“You know why we’re here Takami.” Shouto says. 

“Yeah, yeah I do.” He admits. “Want to come inside? I have coffee.” 

“Isn’t it a bit late for coffee?” Izuku says. 

“Chill, It’s decaf.” And with that Hawks steps away from the door and into the house. With no other choice, the two follow. 

In hindsight. Shouto should have expected it. But by the time he stepped into the house he was exhausted. Whether that be physically due to being up so early, or emotionally because of the night he had had. He was tired. 

That’s to say, when he saw his brother for the second time in one night, the same emotions he had felt earlier didn't appear. He didn’t feel that same numbing adrenaline from earlier, and he didn’t feel the grief of mourning that had hit him like a truck many many times. 

He felt like boiling water. Left on the stove for too long unchecked. Bubbling over and evaporating as it hit the stove top. He could feel his jaw clenching, his chest felt tight as if something had coiled around it. 

Touya sat at the kitchen table. A damp washcloth in his hand against the side of his head. He could see him more distinctly now than he could from across the rodeo arena earlier. Touya’s hair was black, yes, but Shouto could faintly see where the roots were starting to appear again. Just as red as it used to be. The tattoo sleeves were expansive, covering all the skin on his arms and from what Shouto could see, up to his neck. He had snake bite piercings on his lips and a large septum ring in his nose. Shouto could imagine their father comparing it to a bull. 

“What are you doing here?” Is probably not what he should have gone for, but it was the first thing out of Shouto’s mouth. It felt like venom. A small part of him still felt like a child, wanting to burst into tears and run to his brother. He pushed that feeling as far down and locked it away as best he could.

Izuku grabbed him by the wrist loosely, giving Shouto the choice to shake him off. He didn’t. Instead, he thought of the last time he saw Touya, when he was still twelve. He thought of the yelling that night. He thought of his father screaming in the cool air of the early morning. He tried not to dwell on it long, or else he would be gone for the rest of the conversation, simply on autopilot. 

“Me? Oh, I’m disinfecting my ear. It got bumped tonight.” Touya said, unceremoniously, brushing aside his brother’s anger.

Takami swatted at his shoulder. “Someone shouldn’t have been wearing his earrings. It’s almost like they have rules against that for this exact purpose.” 

Ignoring the fact that his brother was in the room, Touya took the bait. “Hey, I didn’t want them to close up,” 

“Did you want keloids instead?” 

“Don’t plan on getting them, birdbrai-”

“That wasn’t what I was asking and you know it,” Shouto raised his voice so he could speak over his brother, interrupting their bickering. When he got the other two’s attention, he began talking again. “What are you doing back?” 

“Have you checked the itinerary? The rodeo was tonight.” Touya deadpanned. 

“And what were you doing in it!” His voice was sharp, clipped. 

“What did it look like?” In most memories Shouto has ( read: treasured ) of his brother, he’s kind. He had almost forgotten how much of an ass he could be. How many times he had been told he could play on the Wii next only to never get that next turn or how often he would play hide and seek with him only to let Shouto hide for an hour only to go do something else. How Touya often cheated at card games only to plead the fifth and say something along the lines of “maybe you’re just bad, Shou” . It was becoming abundantly clear that that part of Touya hadn’t changed, and if anything, had gotten worse. 

Shouto groaned, frustrated with the conversation. Frustrated with the situation. Frustrated with his brother.

“What are you doing out here anyways? Shouldn’t you be getting home to the old bastard by now?” Touya asked. Shouto noted how the words ‘old bastard’ came out like a sneer, like they were acidic. Shouto couldn’t blame him. 

“Nope, I’m not. No one is,” Shouto finished that sentence in his head ‘because somebody decided to rile up father’ . He couldn’t find the breath to continue the sentence. 

“Oh, staying at your boyfriend’s then?” Izuku’s hand around his wrist clenched down hard and Shouto could feel him tense. Hawks jumped a bit at Touya’s words, not expecting them. 

“Oh fuck off. Genuinely,” Like Fuyumi, Shouto didn’t usually curse, but right now was an exception. He could tell that Touya was just trying to egg him on, trying to rile him up. But Shouto still let him, continuing, because if that's what Touya wanted, then he would give it to him. “You know what? I am! I’m staying at ‘Zuku’s because Dad’s pissed you’re back. On another note, I don’t think you have any room to comment on that seeing as you’re here with your ex.” 

How dare he? Shouto thought. Touya left. Sure, it wasn’t his choice but still he left. He’s been gone for ten years, and he thinks he can come back. He could have stopped by, said hello, at any time. Could have called to make sure Fuyumi or Natsuo or I were okay, but he didn’t. 

“Who said anything about any exes?” Touya asked, ignoring the first half of Shouto’s statement. He finally took the towel off his head and sat up properly. Sure enough, Shouto could see studs riddling his ear. A little inflamed from the fall earlier, but still in pretty good shape. 

Shouto groaned again, mad, knowing this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. He filed away the information that he now knew, that Takami and Touya were still together, and he tried his question again, “Once again, why are you in town?” 

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m pissing off the old man.” Touya stated, not looking at Shouto. Instead opting to fold up the washcloth. 

“And how long do you plan on being here, pissing him off?” If Shouto felt like he was water boiling over earlier, now he felt like the burner that had turned it to steam as soon as it hit the stove. Touya came back, not for Shouto or any of their siblings, but to anger their father. That fact hurt in an indescribable way.

“Just the weekend. Still doing the rodeo for the year, I’ll be gone again before you know it.” 

“ Good. ” The small child in his mind was still there, conflicting with his statement, saying that it wasn’t good. That he wished that Touya would stay. That he wished he would get to know his older brother as an adult instead of the gangly teenager he knew from his memories. But Shouto wasn't listening to it, instead letting the anger boil. “Izuku, I think I’m ready to go. Takami, it was nice as ever to see you. Touya, call your sister, she would love to hear from you.” 

Satisfied he got the last word, he finally let himself run away and get as far away from the situation as he could. He dragged Izuku out of the house, back through the living room, and slammed the front door behind himself. 

It wasn’t until they got to the truck that he breathed again. Letting the feeling of anger fade.

“I just outed us, didn’t I?” He realized with a start. The feeling of anger from the conversation scabbing over. 

“I think you did,” Izuku said. "We didn't even get any coffee."

“I’m sor-”

“It’s okay, I don't like decaf anyways.” Izuku cut him off, turned the keys in the ignition. “Besides, I don’t think Hawks would ever say anything,”

“Not just about that,” Shouto started. “I’m sorry tonight was so bad, I’m sorry that you have to deal with all of this, I’m sorry that I dragged you in there when you were so unsure about it, I’m sorry that this all happened.” 

“Shou, I want you to listen to me,” Izuku says, making sure his voice sounds clear. “None of this is your fault. I told you earlier, I’m playing by your rules tonight, I would rather be here right now than you be alone in all of this, and I mean that.” 

“Still, it’s so shitty,” 

“It is, but you heard him, he’ll only be here for the weekend.” Izuku turned out of the driveway, towards his own house. “Besides, we’re in this together still, you got this.”

Chapter Text

It finally started raining when they were pulling into Izuku’s driveway. The two hurried inside, trying not to get soaked. 

“Do you want to call Fuyumi and tell her?” Izuku asked as he took off his shoes by the door. He says this quietly and Shouto can only assume that his parents were already asleep. Touya had been right there. He had talked to his brother for the first time in a decade. And within the span of a few minutes managed to storm out of the house he had been in. 

“Not particularly but she should know,” Shouto replied in a whisper. Fuyumi should know. If Touya’s around, Fuyumi should know. Especially if he’s staying at Hawk’s. “I might just do it in the morning.”

“Yeah, it is getting late.” Izuku says. 

It was barely eleven, but Shouto felt like he had been up for days. He was drained. The last few hours had been draining. 

“Shower then bed?” Shouto says. 

“Sounds good. Me or you first?” 

“I’ll go.” If they were alone in the house Shouto might think to ask Izuku to join him, if only to have someone wash his hair instead of himself. But he’s tired and Izuku’s parents are home so he decides against it. 

Instead he showers quickly, washing the grime for the day off of his body. He lets the hot water relieve some of the day’s tension from him. He lets the hot water pelt down on him, the steam of it making the air thick. He turns off the faucet and towels down. And then he makes his way to Izuku’s room down the hall. 

“Hey” Izuku says when he enters, he's not really focused in the moment, instead sitting at his desk reading something. The window is open in the room, letting the smell of rain in. The sound of it hitting against the rooftop working as background noise.

“Can I borrow clothes?” Shouto asks. 

“You know you have a drawer here right?” He looked up from what he was reading.

Of course, Shouto knew that he had a drawer in Izuku’s dresser reserved for him. The middle right drawer had a few sets of clothes that he used to sleep in and a few that he could wear out the next day. 

“Please,” He said. It wasn’t that his weren’t comfortable, they were. But he didn’t really want any of them at the moment. “I’m literally standing here in a towel, ‘Zuku.” 

“Yeah, Shou, It’s no problem.” Izuku gets up and rifles through his own disorganized drawers in the dresser and comes back with an oversized, well-loved t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. “I’m going to go hop in and hope you didn’t take all the hot water,” 

He kisses Shouto on the cheek and then Izuku left the room for his own shower. Shouto quickly changed and made himself at home in Izuku’s bed like he had many times before, underneath the large comforter and an even bigger quilt, he tangled himself in the blankets. With the sound of the rain falling overheard, exhaustion quickly took him. 

He didn’t stir when Izuku re-entered the room and joined him.

~~~

The thing about traumatic incidents is they can disjoint the timeline. Flashbulb memories. Sure, you can remember the actual event clearly, however the smaller details fade away. 

Shouto doesn’t remember what day of the week it was when his brother left, although looking at the calendar said it was a Tuesday. He doesn’t remember what they had for dinner, but Fuyumi insists she had cooked that night. He didn’t remember what time Touya had snuck out of the house, but it couldn’t have been before dinner. 

He doesn’t even know for sure if that night was one of the nights that he saw Touya slinking out of the house. He wants to say it is, that he remembers it, but he doesn’t know for sure. 

In his memories it’s summer and Shouto is laying on the couch after dinner, his father gone for the evening. Touya comes down the staircase quietly, wearing ratty jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe he says goodbye. Maybe he doesn’t, but Shouto can’t remember. He wants to say he did, even if it’s for his sake. 

But Touya walks out the door and Shouto can still visualize the lights from his brother’s old sedan flicking on before he reverses and leaves. 

The next thing he remembers seeing is Fuyumi at the base of the stairs with Natsuo standing a few steps up. Natsuo is already taller than her, but He’s holding her shoulder with one hand and the banister with the other. Shouto can see how wide Fuyumi’s eyes are as they peer over the railing.

And that’s when Shouto remembers he heard the yelling. If Shouto pieced this together correctly in his mind, he must have fallen asleep after dinner downstairs, he guesses that the yelling must have woken him up. He doesn’t hear what exactly is said but it sounds angry, and it sounds like father, and-

Fuyumi rushes towards the window in the living room, the one that can see towards the barnyard. Shouto doesn’t remember walking to join her or when Natsuo joins them. But he remembers Fuyumi’s hands shakily opening the window. He can vividly remember how the window’s screen looked at that moment. With moths and other small bugs trying to go towards the light of the room. How the southern wind blew the evening air into the house. 

It was dark out, but the image he saw was etched into his brain. He could recreate it without any effort if he had any skill in art. Down by one of the barns- the one where they stored hay, the one that they had raised barn cats in his entire life there were three figures standing. Takami was standing behind Touya, hand in hand, as Touya and his father screamed back and forth at each other. 

As a twelve year old Shouto didn’t get it. It didn’t exactly click that they were together. Looking back on it, Shouto thinks he could of probably spotted it from a mile away but then again, who knows. Maybe they were just good at hiding it. Hindsight is twenty-twenty after all. 

He heard what his father said, Shouto thinks that anyone within a mile radius might have heard his words- full of hate. Full of Malice. He doesn’t often think about the screaming match he heard between his brother and his father consciously, really the worst of it comes when he doesn’t expect it to. When he’s trying to sleep at night, when he’s trying to focus on something important. Some days it feels like all he is a twelve year old still, listening to his father call his brother derogatory names, what feels like every queer slur in the book. 

Every time his father would step towards the two they would take a step back. Shuffling back towards the house, back towards the driveway. Everything was loud, from the father and son's screaming match to the steps they took away. If Shouto now had to guess what had happened that night, he probably would have said that Touya had gone to pick Hawks up and they had hidden in the barn to get the safety and privacy that his room couldn’t provide. That they had gotten caught out there when their father made his evening rounds to check the property. Bad timing. 

“Don’t you DARE leave, boy,” They shuffled to another window to get a better view. The two were walking away quickly. Almost running. Shouto can vaguely make out the car keys in his brother’s hand. 

And still Touya turned to yell back at him, “And WHAT are you going to do about it?” 

Shouto gripped the curtain. 

“IF YOU LEAVE DON’T EVER THINK OF COMING BACK!” Their father roared. 

“FINE THEN! I WON’T,” Touya screamed back. Hawks separated from him and quickly walked around to the passenger side and hopped in Touya’s old car.

Touya climbed in the driver’s side and slammed the door behind him. The car’s ignition started and roared to life, clunking as it did so upset by the rough handling. Touya reversed so quickly to turn around he almost backed into the ditch beside the house. But he made it out onto the dirt road and didn’t take a second glance back at the home he grew up in. 

“We need to go upstairs now.” Fuyumi said. 

“But- Touya- He just-” Natsuo fumbled. 

“Dad’s upset, we need to go to bed and pretend like we never heard any of this.”  She spoke quickly. She reached out and tugged on both of their arms. 

Out of shock, both of them followed her. Up the stairs into their respective rooms. He’s sure that they could all hear the cursing coming from downstairs that night. That they all waited until the house quieted or until Touya came home before falling asleep. 

Silence came first. 

~~~

Shouto is awoken in the morning by the sun streaking through a window. He’s not quite sure where he is for a moment until his memories catch up with him. The day before, the rodeo, how none of his siblings went home, talking to Touya for the first time in a decade. 

He wakes up to Izuku’s bed empty. Usually, he’s the one to leave first, to get home before the sun is up. Before His father’s four thirty alarm. It’s odd for his internal clock to let him sleep this late, but he guesses he needed it. Quickly he goes to his drawer in the dresser and changes into something else, before venturing towards the kitchen. 

Inko’s in the kitchen drinking coffee. She sees him in the doorway and her eyes soften. 

“Hey hun, how you holding up?” She says, trying to cast a reassuring smile on her face. Sometimes when Shouto sees her he can pinpoint exactly why Izuku is the way he is, and this is one of those moments.

“I don’t know,” He shuffles his feet. 

“I don’t really know what to say right now, this whole situation with Touya is tough,” She said, shifting her eyes down to look at her cup. “But I have coffee ready and if you want creamer it’s in the fridge. Izuku’s helping Toshinori feed the cows right now, but if you want I can make some pancakes real quick?” 

It was weird, hearing his brother’s name again. He supposed if the world decided to keep on turning, if the days continued to come like they had yesterday, then he would hear it a lot more this weekend. 

“That sounds lovely, thank you.” He got coffee from the pot sitting on the counter and sat down while she moved around the kitchen, getting out the mix and starting work on breakfast for the two of them. 

"No problem, Shouto, that's no problem at all," She said as she measured out the milk.

It was silent for a while, only the sound of the coffee pot dripping and Inko cooking. It was a comfortable silence while it lasted.

“I knew your mother well,” She stated, not turning around from what she was doing. “I was so frustrated with her when she left y’know? I didn’t understand how she could leave all of you kids. I ended up calling her sister up in Reliance trying to track her down.” 

If until recently Touya was a distant memory, his mother was an even more unattainable thought. Shouto knew that she had left when he was three and that the divorce paper were served soon after, but he could never get Touya or Fuyumi to talk about her. Natsuo didn’t remember her much either. He liked to think that he had memories of her- laughing on Christmas morning while they all opened presents or holding him close until he fell asleep, but he doesn’t know if that’s just because that all he could get out of Fuyumi or if it was actually what he remembered. 

“You were so small, Shouto. So, so small. It upset me that she could leave you. So, I talked to Yuki and eventually I got your mother’s mailing address from her and I wrote her. I was so frustrated it made me want to cry because I could never imagine leaving Izuku, not after Hisashi passed.” She continued. “I don’t think I’ll ever get what she did, but her letter back told me that she thought she might go insane if she stayed with your dad. That he wasn’t the man she married, that he horrible to her. She regrets leaving you and your siblings, but she’ll never regret leaving him. When Touya left I thought about that a lot. I see her a lot in you. Similar personalities, and you look a lot like her.” 

“I didn't know that,” Shouto didn’t know any of this. He didn’t know he had an aunt in Reliance, or any of the reasoning his mother left besides the rumor mill he had heard. His father took down any family photos from when she was around, he didn't often think about how he couldn't visualize his mother's face. “I wish I could have known her better.” 

“She said she wrote letters,” Inko said, “But she thought that Enji might have been intercepting mail.” 

“Ah,” His father seemed like the type. 

“We lost contact sometime when you boys were in elementary school, the letters just stopped coming.” She flipped a pancake. “Whatever she’s doing now, I hope she’s doing well.” 

“Mhmm” It was a noncommittal response, but Shouto didn’t know how to respond to that. So when Inko got the syrup out of the fridge and served the pancakes between the two of them, he ate in a contemplative silence.