Chapter Text
When he was little, Iida Tenya had always hoped that he could be an older brother. He wanted it more than he had wanted anything in this life.
As time went on, however, he slowly started to realize that maybe being an older brother was out of his reach. His parents didn’t want any other kids, besides Tensei and himself. Even Tenya himself wasn’t really wanted. Tensei was a whole 15 years older than he was, even Tenya knows that means his parents hadn’t planned on having him.
But, Tenya was okay with that; he had Tensei to take care of him. Except, since Tensei was 15 years older than him, and already in high school, it was hard to have any amount of interaction with his older brother that didn’t happen on the weekends. Time that he had to share with his parents.
So, Tenya accepted that maybe being lonely was just a part of his life, that maybe he didn’t get to have a deeper relationship with his brother, that maybe he would never get to be an older brother. He thinks, maybe he wouldn’t want to be an older brother, if this is what his little sibling would feel like.
But it was okay. Even if his parents didn’t like him, they still loved him, and still took care of him. That was all he could really ask. That didn’t mean he didn’t want his parents to like him, though.
Tenya constantly sought their approval, he learned how to read and write by the age of 5 (it wasn’t perfect, he could only really write his name and a couple other words, and couldn’t read anything with words bigger than “anatomy”, but it was more than his peers), his quirk was really strong all ready, and he was well behaved.
He was five, when he realized that all of that was in vane. It was parents day at his kindergarten, and he was really excited to see his parents. He was excited for them to see how smart he was (maybe then they would like him).
However, as the parents started to trickle in, his were nowhere to be found. He waited for what felt like hours, but the last parents had arrived ten minutes ago.
Slowly, Tenya resigned himself to the fact that his parents weren’t going to show up. As the parents of the other kids started chatting with their children, Tenya hid his embarrassed flush by putting his head against the desk and wrapping his arms around his head. He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes.
Suddenly, there was a hand at his back. Tenya startled, sitting up straight and bonking the back of his head on someone else’s nose.
“Ow, Ten!” The voice of his older brother chimed in, and Tenya turned around to look at his older brother in surprise.
“Tensei!” Tenya cried, throwing himself out of his seat and into his older brother’s arms. The older simply smiled and hugged the younger back.
After that, the two of them were inseparable when Tensei was at home. Tensei had recently moved out of the family home, and into an apartment, but they were only a ten minute train ride away, and Tenya found himself making the trip to Tensei’s apartment more and more.
Anything to get away from the crippling loneliness at home.
But then, when Tenya was seven and Tensei was 22, the older brother made a breakthrough in the hero industry. He went from someone’s sidekick to a top 50 hero, seemingly overnight.
Tenya had never felt more proud than in that moment, watching his older brother on live television.
However, with the fame came time. Tensei was always busy. Tenya often felt busy just talking to Tensei, so he couldn’t imagine how the older one felt.
The busier Tensei got, the less time he had for Tenya. Which meant that Tenya stayed at the family house more often than not (he ignored the small part of him that thought of Tensei’s apartment as more of a home than the one his parents lived in). He started to move his things out of Tensei’s apartment (it wasn’t much, just a pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, and a stuffed animal).
So, Tenya was back to being lonely. And it was fine, everything was fine. It’s not like Tensei was obligated to spend time with him. Hell, just two years ago, Tenya had barely known the older of the two. So he shouldn’t be so upset that he was losing his older brother. It’s not like he couldn’t go back to how it was before.
The year slowly progressed, until it was the winter holidays. Tenya had always liked these times, it meant his parents and older brother spent more time with him.
The one thing he hated about this time of year, though, was the parties. All the time, you had to get dressed in fancy clothes, pinchy shoes, and slicked back hair. His parents almost always forced him into a pair of contacts instead of his preferred glasses.
However, it was at one of these parties when he met them.
Normally, he would stand still at his fathers or mothers side, watch as Tensei hung out with a few of the older kids, and silently sulk about not being allowed to do anything else.
This time, there was another kid, someone new. He was smaller than Tenya, with ash blond hair and red eyes. He wore the same type of suit that Tenya did, only the bow tie was missing, and he left the top two buttons undone.
Tenya ignored propriety, and stared directly at the kid. The kid was loudly complaining about being there, rolling his eyes and huffing. Some of the faces the kid made caused Tenya to scrunch up his face in disgust.
Unfortunately, it seemed the boy had seen Tenya looking, and began to stomp over to him.
“What are you looking at?!” The boy angrily leaned in closer to him, gritting his teeth and jutting his jaw out.
“You were being loud and making weird faces.” Tenya says, straight forward as always.
“Huh?!” The boy peered up at him. “You’re kinda weird, y’know?” The smaller kid said, a grin beginning to form on his face.
Tenya had no idea what was happening. First, he thought he had insulted the boy and that the other was mad, but then he was grinning up at him. Suddenly, a hand appeared near Tenya’s chest.
“Bakugou Katsuki.” He introduced himself. Tenya, while still bewildered, always tried his best to be polite (he ignored what had happened earlier).
“Iida Tenya.” He introduced himself back. The other kid’s eyes widened, and he began to jump up and down, excitedly.
“Like, Ingenium, right? Holy crap! That’s so cool! Can I meet him?” Bakugou gushed. It seemed as though his whole personality changed, going from grumpy and serious to excited puppy in a matter of minutes.
“You shouldn’t use such language!” Tenya scolded. Bakugou just rolled his eyes.
“But you are related to Ingenium, right? Why else would you be here?” The blond mumbled.
“Uh, yes! Ingenium is my older brother. He’s not here tonight, sorry.” Tenya felt a glimmer of pride for his brother.
“Cool! He’s so fast!” Bakugou smiled at him.
Tenya never had anyone smile at him like that before.
“Yeah! I actually have engines on the backs of my legs, too. Maybe you would want to get a closer look at them?” Tenya suggests, dropping all sense of formality and maturity, now that he had someone paying attention to him.
“Sure!”
—
Momo was an only child in a big house.
From a young age, she got used to being spoiled. It was a given.
Her room was bigger than some people’s apartments, she had an ensuite bathroom, wore expensive clothing, and had maids and butlers to do almost everything she needed.
However, her life wasn’t all that glamorous.
Her parents were always busy, and never really had time for her. Hell, she barely knew what they sounded or smelled like - wouldn’t know what they looked like if it wasn’t for the numerous paintings of them around the house.
She had to spend all her time taking lessons that taught her how to be a “perfect lady”, and rarely got any freetime. She was forced to study the chemical structure of different materials in order to utilize her quirk to the fullest.
And being rich meant going to stupid parties. All the time.
Her only interactions with people outside her household were with rich adults. The older women loved to talk to her about dresses and jewelry and hair. The older men loved to talk about what she would look like in ten years, how pretty she would be. It always left her feeling icky.
She remembers the first time it happened her parents had been furious.
Some guy had put something funny in her drink. It made her feel dizzy and tired and like she was going to throw up. She had turned to tell her parents, but then she was in the hospital.
As it turns out, the guy had dosed her with enough of the drug to knock out a full grown woman, not a five year old. According to her parents, she had suddenly collapsed. They had rushed her to the hospital, where they did a blood test and found out she had been drugged. The security footage showed who it had been.
The man had been arrested, and Momo’s parents coddled her for the next three months. She didn’t have to go to another party, if she didn’t want to.
But, this one was different. This one was important because the famous fashion designer Bakugou Masaru was going to be there. Her mother loved his work, and wanted to meet him more than anything.
At least Bakugou Masaru had a son near her age. The kid's name was Bakugou Katsuki. He was older than her, but only by a few years.
And the Iida’s were bringing their youngest son with them. Iida Tenya was always nice to her, even if he was a bit blunt. He let her observe his engines, and sometimes would let her ride on his back as he ran around.
So, maybe this party wouldn’t be so bad.
Her dress was a good one. She rather liked it. It made her feel pretty, but not in the icky way that some of the dresses made her feel. It was a light pink dress that frilled out at the waist and ended at her knees. The shoulders were puffy, and tickled her face whenever she turned it left or right. To accompany her dress, she wore white baby heels.
Her hair was her favorite. Normally she had to wear her hair down, curled into soft waves and neatly framing her face. However, since it was her first time at one of these parties in a few years, she was allowed to wear her hair in the normal ponytail. She liked it that way - out of her face.
The party so far had been boring. The Iida’s had arrived early, but the Bakugou’s were still not here. A newer addition to this party’s guest list was Endeavor, or Todoroki Enji. He even brought his youngest son with him!
Momo only caught a glimpse of him, before he was pulled into a conversation with some adults. He looked sad, Momo thought.
She caught Iida-chan’s eye, and smiled at him. He smiled and waved back at her. Before she could walk up to him, she was tapped on the shoulder, and had to turn to talk to one of her parents' friends.
It was only after the Bakugou’s had arrived (and the son, Bakugou Katsuki, was really loud), that she was able to escape her conversation. The lady that was talking to her went to talk to Bakugou Masaru, and Momo was left alone.
She started to search for Iida-chan again. Finally she spotted him, only he was in a rather unusual predicament. He was seated in the corner of the ball room, showing off his engines to another kid. This wouldn’t have been particularly interesting, except the other kid was Bakugou Katsuki.
From what she had seen, the other kid was loud, which was one of the things Iida-chan hated. However, the younger of the two (she had researched the Bakugou’s and found that the son was older than both her and Iida-chan), was talking animatedly with the blond, excitedly explaining everything about his engines.
Momo decided that she liked this new, excited Iida-chan. She had not seen him like this in a few years.
As she walked over to them, she took the time to observe Bakugou. He was small, despite being the older of the two. He was paying close attention to Iida-chan, which was unusual as most kids would get bored of Iida-chan’s explanation and leave. He was dressed in a nice suit, but it was missing the typical bow tie and had the top few buttons undone, so that nothing was touching his neck.
Momo decided that she liked this new, excited Iida-chan. She had not seen him like this in a few years.
As she walked over to them, she took the time to observe Bakugou. He was small, despite being the older of the two. He was paying close attention to Iida-chan, which was unusual as most kids would get bored of Iida-chan’s explanation and leave. He was dressed in a nice suit, but it was missing the typical bow tie and had the top few buttons undone, so that nothing was touching his neck.
He seemed weird, Momo thought. But, if the usually stoic Iida-chan was smiling and laughing and chopping his arms, then maybe he was okay.
“-and then they can get even stronger! It doesn’t take too long for them to come back, either-” Iida-chan cut himself off as Momo walked up to him. He gave a rare, sweet smile.
“Yao-chan! It’s good to see you. This is Bakugou Katsuki!” Ever the gentleman, Iida-chan introduced the blond to Momo.
“Hello Bakugou-san. I’m Yaorozu Momo.” She did a small curtsy, trying to be polite, even though she hated the way the dress would ride up her legs.
“Tch, don’t call me Bakugou-san, that’s my old man. Call me Kacchan.” He said, looking her up and down.
“In that case, call me Yao-Momo.” She said, using the nickname that her parents gave her. Iida-chan cleared his throat.
“Then, if we are dropping formalities, call me Tenya. Both of you.” Iida-chan - Tenya - gave her a look, as if knowing that she would want to continue calling him Iida-chan.
“Great, now that introductions are over, let’s get back to our conversation!” Bakugou-Kacchan dismissed her, turning back to Iid-Tenya.
“Yes, what were you talking about?” Momo interjected herself. Tenya smiled at her, and began talking about his engines once again. He was incredibly detailed when talking about them, answering all their questions.
Eventually, the conversation moved onto that of other quirks, where Momo learned that Kacchan’s quirk was to sweat nitroglycerin from his palms and explode it.
“Wow! Is it just the sweat on your palms, or is it the sweat on your whole body?” Momo asked, completely forgetting politeness in the face of learning something new and interesting.
“It’s just the sweat in my palms. The sweat glands everywhere else in my body are normal.” The other boy answered, letting off tiny explosions in his palms. They were small and quiet enough that nobody noticed, but they still looked so magnificent to Momo, like tiny fireworks.
“Anyway, what’s your quirk?” Kacchan asked, turning towards her.
“Ah, it’s called Creation! I can create any non-living object as long as I know the chemical composition of the material!” Momo explained.
“Can you show us?” Kacchan asked, bluntly. His eyes were sparkling in a way that showed he was excited. Momo decided that, yes, she could show him.
She looked around the room to find something to make, and her eyes landed on the tiny serving spoons. She thought they were pretty.
Slowly, she focused on producing a similar version of the spoon.
Turning to the other kids, she found them both starting in awe at the spoon. She offered it to Kacchan, and he grabbed it, peering at it.
“It’s really made from metal!” He exclaimed.
The awe remained as the kids began to talk about different things. Occasionally, Kacchan would look over at the spoon clutched in Momo’s hand. Momo wanted people to look at her like she was amazing all the time.
—
Katsuki’s life had been significantly harder since he stayed friends with Izuku. Kids took every opportunity to bully Izuku, and by proxy, Katsuki. He had yet to tell his parents about it, since they were often too busy to deal with him.
He had found that his anger levels went down. Being friends with Izuku meant that Katsuki often had to be in touch with his sensitive side. Knowing what you were feeling and why made it easier to deal with the anger he felt so often. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t feel angry about the world, about society abandoning Izuku because he was quirkless, and abandoning Katsuki because he stayed friends with him.
Being surrounded by rich snobs that were obsessed with getting more money, or breeding perfect children was not on his list of “fun things to do”.
But, at least his parents let him skip the bow tie and unbutton his shirt, a little. He hated having anything on his neck and had been this way since he was an even younger kid.
The first thing he noticed as he walked into the room was that the adults loved to ignore the children. This became apparent by the way that the other kids stood listlessly at their parents' sides, staring off into space.
That was how he caught another kid’s eye. He was taller and broader than Katsuki. His hair was a boring shade of black that almost looked dark blue, and his eyes were blue. He stood at his parents' side, just like all the other kids, only he was looking directly at Katsuki and making a weird, scrunched up face.
Feeling vulnerable at being noticed, Katsuki decided the best course of action would be to march right up to him, and say hi. So that’s what he did.
“What are you looking at?!” Katsuki angrily asked. Okay, he did not mean to snap at the poor kid.
“You were being loud and making weird faces.” The kid says, blunt and to the point. Katsuki kinda liked him.
“Huh?!” He peered up at the taller boy. “You’re kinda weird, y’know?” Katsuki began to smile. He could see the confusion cloud the boys face.
“Bakugou Katsuki.” He introduced himself.
“Iida Tenya.” The boy introduced himself back. Katsuki knew that name - hell, anyone who knew anything about Pro-Heroes knew that name.
“Like, Ingenium, right? Holy crap! That’s so cool! Can I meet him?” Katsuki gushed.
“You shouldn’t use such language!” Tenya scolded. Katsuki just rolled his eyes.
“But you are related to Ingenium, right? Why else would you be here?” The blond mumbled.
“Uh, yes! Ingenium is my older brother. He’s not here tonight, sorry.” The other boy looked proud of his brother.
“Cool! He’s so fast!” Katsuki smiled at him.
“Yeah! I actually have engines on the backs of my legs, too. Maybe you would want to get a closer look at them?” Iida suggests, dropping all sense of formality and maturity, now that he had someone paying attention to him.
“Sure!”
They slowly found themselves in the corner of the room, Iida showing off his quirk to Katsuki. The blond was coming up with ways to use the quirk to cause mischief.
He lost track of time, just enjoying talking about a quirk with someone else. It was the first time in a while that he got to share something like this with another person.
Izuku always got a little upset every time Katsuki brought up his quirk, so eventually, Katsuki stopped bringing it up. He didn’t tell Izuku about how he could now suppress his explosions to the point of making them look like fireworks, or about how he could make himself fly for a short period of time by using his explosions to propel himself.
Izuku never spoke out against Katsuki when he talked about his quirk, but Katsuki could see the heartbroken look in his eyes, the longing. So, most of their conversations stayed in the realm of heroes and villains, TV shows, books, school work, etc.
Izuku especially loved to talk about Pro Heroes. It was a good thing that Katsuki was just as obsessed as he was, otherwise it would have gotten boring, fast.
However, these limited conversations often left Katsuki desperate to talk to someone about his quirk. His parents rarely had time to talk about it, always too busy with work, the kids at school didn’t want to talk to him because he hung out with Izuku (and Katsuki didn’t want to hang out with someone who treated his friend like trash).
This was his chance.
He tuned back into the conversation when Iida mentioned taking out the engines in his legs to make them grow back stronger.
“-and then they can get even stronger! It doesn’t take too long for them to come back, either-” Iida cut himself off as a young girl walked over to them. The other boy gave a sweet, small smile.
“Yao-chan! It’s good to see you. This is Bakugou Katsuki!” Iida introduced.
“Hello Bakugou-san. I’m Yaorozu Momo.” She did a small curtsy, and Katsuki could see the way she winced.
“Tch, don’t call me Bakugou-san, that’s my old man. Call me Kacchan.” He said, looking her up and down. Normally, he didn’t like anyone using his nickname, especially not some random person, but he’d rather that than “Bakugou-san”. For some reason, he felt like Katsuki would be weird coming from her.
Katsuki took the time to try to analyze the girl. She was smaller than Iida but slightly taller than him. Her hair was up in a ponytail, practicality was good. She seemed polite and sweet. And Iida seemed to like her, so maybe she was okay.
“In that case, call me Yao-Momo.” She said.
“Then, if we are dropping formalities, call me Tenya. Both of you.” Iida - Tenya - said. It seemed they had all jumped from super formal, to super informal in a matter of moments. Katsuki decided he liked these kids.
“Great, now that introductions are over, let’s get back to our conversation!” Katsuki said, eager to get back to the quirk conversation.
“Yes, what were you talking about?” Momo interjected herself. Tenya smiled over at her, and began talking about his engines once again. He was incredibly detailed when talking about them, answering all their questions.
Eventually, the conversation moved onto that of other quirks, when Yao-Momo asked about his quirk. He slowly explained it to her, beaming with pride.
“Wow! Is it just the sweat on your palms, or is it the sweat on your whole body?” Yao-Momo asked, completely forgetting politeness in the face of learning something new and interesting.
“It’s just the sweat in my palms. The sweat glands everywhere else in my body are normal.” Katsuki answered, letting off tiny explosions in his palms. They were small and quiet enough that nobody noticed, but they still looked pretty, like tiny fireworks.
“Anyway, what’s your quirk?” Katsuki asked, turning towards the girl.
“Ah, it’s called Creation! I can create any non-living object as long as I know the chemical composition of the material!” Yao-Momo explained.
“Can you show us?” He asked, bluntly. His eyes were sparkling in a way that showed he was excited.
She looked around the room to find something to make, and seemed to see something she thought looked good. Out of her arm, she produced a tiny silver spoon.
She offered the spoon to Katsuki, and he wasted no time in grabbing it, eager to see if it was a real spoon, so just a hologram.
“It’s really made from metal!” He exclaimed, getting excited.
Time seemed to drag by quicker than before. Katsuki made sure to keep an eye on the time, not wanting it to get too late.
It was as he was observing the room, that he caught the eyes of another kid. He was short, shorter than Katsuki. He seemed to be split in half, with the right side of his body being pale, with white hair and a gray eye, and the right side of his body seemingly tan with red hair and a turquoise eye. However, the most noticeable thing about him was the scar around his left eye. It was round and red, it looked irritated.
The boy was folded in on himself, hands clutched into his chest and shoulder drawn in. Katsuki knew this pose as one that Izuku wore when he was nervous and scared. Something about the boy made Katsuki’s protective instincts rise up.
He waited for the boy to look his way again, and when he did, Katsuki motioned for him to come over. The boy looked around hesitantly, then took a step towards him.
—
His entire life, Shouto had been under the control of his father. From the moment he was born, he was destined for a certain fate. If he didn’t succeed, then he would die by his father’s hands. It was what happened to Touya.
After his mother was taken (You’re left side is unsightly!-) his father had extended his control to almost everything Shouto did. That included where he went, how he dressed, what he ate, who he talked to.
It had been over a year since he’d said anything to Fuyumi or Natsuo. Shouto ignored the small (not so small, it was consuming him-) part of him that felt angry at his siblings for not making an effort. They couldn’t talk to him, Father would just hurt them, too.
Shouto still had a hard time seeing out of his left eye. The doctor said that it was permanent, that maybe the scar would begin to fade with time, but his eye was permanently damaged (I’m so sorry sir, there was nothing we could do-). He could see colors and light from the eye, but that was it.
Shouto ignored the part of himself that felt victorious for destroying his father’s perfect creation (that dark space was scary, he didn’t want to fall into it).
It had been less than a year since the accident (hot, hot, hot, HOT), and he was still self-conscious about going out in public with his scar in full view. He hated the way the adults looked at him, as if he was weak and disgraceful, but also something to be pitied.
But, no matter how much he hated being in public, he wasn’t given much of a choice. He was forced into a slightly loose-fitted, boxy suit, built to make him look bigger than he actually was, and dragged to the party.
It was loud, and the lights were too bright, and the people were too stuffy, and everything hurt his head, but he was forced to stand in complete stillness. He wasn’t allowed to move from his father’s side.
The grown ups always touched him, a head pat, and shoulder touch, a hand on his back to make him move. He hated it. He didn’t want them to touch him, their touch felt itchy and it burned through the thick suits.
Sometimes, his father was nicer, and would let him stay at home for the party, if he had been good that week (meaning he lasted longer than five hours in training, and managed to hide his throwing up enough that Father didn’t notice). Tonight was not one of those nights.
The bruises across his arms and back burned and ached whenever someone touched him. He just wanted tonight to be over, all ready.
Across the room from him, huddled away in the corner, were three kids, chatting animatedly about something. They were loud, but not in the bad way that Father was. They were loud, but excited, not angry. They were happy (that’s what Fuyumi and Natsuo and Touya sounded like when they played in the courtyard). Shouto wanted to join them.
His father was loudly talking to some other adults about hero work. It was a boring conversation, but Shouto was supposed to pay attention to them. He tuned back in.
“-right over there, actually. Would you want me to introduce you?” The lady asked, pointing to the left of the small group.
“Yes, that would be good, thank you.” Father always managed to turn up the charm in front of other people. As Father began walking away, Shouto made to follow after him, only for the man to stop and turn back to face him.
“Shouto, stay here.” He said, words thick with venom and a threat of punishment should he disobey. Shouto nodded minutely.
So there Shouto stood, in the middle of the large ballroom, surrounded by adults, and all alone. He tried to remain strong, tried to keep his shoulders back, but was unable to keep it up. Not long after his father left, Shouto’s shoulders slump inward and his hands come up to his chest. He wraps his fingers around each other and tries to pay attention to the way his fingernails curve, instead of the fact that people are bumping into him.
Suddenly, a loud sound draws his attention over to the corner he last saw the other kids in. They are laughing about something.
Then, just as he’s about to look away, he catches the eyes of the blond boy. The other gives him an assessing look that has Shouto squirming, and turns to make eye contact with him again. The blond boy gave a little smile, barely noticeable, and beckoned Shouto over to the group.
Shouto hesitated, looked to where his father was still talking with the other man, and looked back. Maybe a few minutes with the other kids wouldn’t hurt.
Shouto stepped forward, then stepped again, and again, and again. He was walking to the kids. He would be in so much trouble if his father found out what he was doing, but Shoto ignored that thought, and focused on the kids.
Finally, he made it to the group, and looked at them. A girl and two boys. Rich, with powerful quirks (he didn’t actually know if they had powerful quirks, but it was the lie he would spout to Father if he asked).
The blond one that beckoned him over spoke first.
“What’s your name, Half-n-Half?” His voice was gruff, but in a soothing way. It put Shouto at ease.
“T-Todoroki Shou-Shouto.” He said timidly. After all, he didn’t want to make the others mad at him. Then they would angry yell, and hate him, and tell his father that he was bad.
“Todoroki-san,” The girl said. “I’m Yaoyorozu Momo, but you may call me Yao-Momo.” Her voice was calm and gentle, kind. She had offered for him to call her so informally, as Yao-Momo, instead of Yaoyorozu-san.
“I am Iida Tenya, but please, call me Tenya!” The boy with black hair siad, chopping his arms. He was a little weird, but so far unthreatening. He was allowed to call this boy Tenya, not Iida-san.
“Bakugou Katsuki. Call me Kacchan.” The blond said. He was also a weird one, with his bow tie missing and top buttons undone, but Shouto felt an odd peace with him. He felt safe.
“Then, c-call me Shou-chan.” Shouto said, staring down at the floor. Maybe he had misinterpreted their invitations, maybe they were just trying to trick him into being impolite, and then they could tell his father. But-
“Shou-chan, what a cute nickname! We were just talking about our favorite animals. Mine is a Dog, Tenya’s is a cheetah, Kacchan’s is a tiger. What about you?” Yao-Momo asked, smiling encouragingly at him.
Shouto remembers a time when a stray cat had nested under the porch. Father hadn’t found out about it, and Shouto got to see the little baby kittens. One of them had a speckle of brown over its left eye, and Shouto left a sort of camaraderie with it.
“I like cats.” Shouto says, and Yao-Momo relaxes. Then, she turns to the rest of the group and starts a new conversation about games.
Shouto drifts for a while, mind put at ease by this group of kids his own age. He will occasionally add to the conversation, but mostly he’s content to just sit and listen. He likes these people. A lot.
Before Shouto knows it, his father is storming over to the group, and roughly grabbing Shouto’s hand. The young boy is startled out of his calm-fuzzy headspace, and immediately goes into damage control.
However, his father doesn’t yell, doesn’t shout or scream or hit. He just leads Shouto away from the group and towards the exit.
Shouto turns to look at the group, one last time. They are standing now. Kacchan’s arm is outstretched, as if to reach for him, as if to take him away. They all look sad.
Shouto manages to give them a small wave before he’s outside the room and down the entry hall. He’s outside before he can blink, and in the car before he knows what’s happening.
Later, in his room, back raw from the whip of a belt, and wrists burned up to the elbow, Shouto allows himself to think about those kids.
Maybe, those parties weren’t so bad.