Chapter Text
“Shoto...” Natsuo whispered, a lone arm reaching out. With tears rolling down his cheeks, his hand grasped and tugged at the air, trying to find his brother in the darkness and bring him back.
“It’s too late, Brother,” the younger Todoroki mumbled. If the way his voice trembled didn’t convince him, the way his eyes held so much sorrow, so much regret would prove otherwise. Shoto loved his brother, his family, his home, but none of that was to be.
They were on opposite sides of the war.
“You can come back!” Natsuo pleaded.
“No, Brother. You know as well as I do that there is nothing to ‘come back to’. We believe in different things. You and I are on different sides, Natsuo."
“What happened to ‘Natsu’? Why is it ‘Natsuo’? Do you truly hate me that much, Shoto?” He was past the point of crying. He was sobbing now.
“Of course not, Brother! If I did... if I did... if I did why would I be crying?!”
Natsuo’s head shot up and his eyes met his brother’s. It was true; Shoto was crying as hard as him, if not harder.
“I want this as much as you,” Shoto breathed out, hand clutching his aching chest. “I want this as much as you."
”Shoto."
No response.
“Shoto."
Silence.
“Shoto, I love you, lil’ bro."
And that’s when the cries and screams Shoto had desperately been trying to hold back spilled out, piercing both Natsuo’s ears and heart.
“I love you, Shoto. I love you."
He couldn’t even stop to respond. He just remained there, kneeling on the ground, rocking his sword, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“I love you, Shoto, but I’m sorry,” Natsuo whispered as he stood over his brother, knife in hand.
I’m sorry, bro.
And then he brought the knife-
Suddenly, the lights turned on and both boys’ eyes immediately switched over to the doorway, where an annoyed Toya stood.
“I tell you to do your homework and this is what I find? Some drama?"
“I think it’s wonderful that you two found a hobby!” Fuyumi giggled, coming up behind her brother, phone in hand. “I even recorded it all!"
Natsuo was the first to respond at the outrageous confession. “What did you do?!"
“Sis, you recorded that?” Shoto asked, standing up. His stone-cold voice failed to betray how fast his heart was beating. “You recorded that?"
“I did,” she said innocently, tilting her head in confusion. “Why? Is something wrong?"
“Everything!” Natsuo cried out, hands reaching up to rip his hair out as his knees buckled. “How could you do that?! Betray our trust like that?!"
“What’d you mean?"
Toya grinned, understanding why his brothers were acting in such a way. He chuckled, stealing his sister’s phone and throwing it up... and down, up... and down, up... and down. “Sis, what you got here is priceless."
Fuyumi was only more confused. “What do you mean, Toya?"
“This here? This here is called blackmail,” he told her, laughing manically.
“TOYA GET BACK HERE! GIMME THAT THING!” Natsuo roared, chasing his giddy brother down the hall and leaving Fuyumi and Shoto to look at the dust.
“Well now,” she started after some time.
“Well now,” Shoto agreed.
“Well now,” Fuyumi said brightly, beaming at her brother. “Do you need help with your homework? Dad’s going to get mad if you spent the entire afternoon acting instead of working, yes?"
“Oh, okay. Um, I’m doing this right now.” He brought out a stack of books easily four feet tall and slid them over to his sister. “I’m having a hard time understanding it."
Hiding her dread at Oh no, not math again! she sat down on the floor and adjust her glasses. “You’re going to have to be more specific, Shoto. ‘This’ can be a lot of things."
“Good point. I need help on this, this, this, this, this, this, this...” With each “this” Fuyumi felt dizzier and dizzier, eyes trying to follow the huge stack that kept growing and growing. In the end, he only succeeded in getting rid of one book.
“Well now,” she laughed nervously. “Let’s get started, shall we?"
me: come help me
[4:37 PM]
half annoying half ok: can’t sry
[4:37 PM]
me: WHYYYYYY
[4:37 PM]
me: do u want toya to have blackmail!?!?!?!?!?
[4:38 PM]
half annoying half ok: sry im doing homework
[4:40 PM]
half annoying half ok: not that u would understand tho
[4:40 PM]
half annoying half ok: high school dropout
[4:40 PM]
me: FOR THE LAST TIME I DIDN’T DROP I GRADUATED
[4:40 PM]
me: if u keep saying that im going to change what I saved you as
[4:41 PM]
half annoying half ok: be my guest
[4:42 PM]
half annoying half ok: anyway bye gtg do homework
[4:42 PM]
half annoying half ok: good luck
[4:42 PM]
Natsuo shoved his phone into his pocket angrily, breaking his promise of changing “half annoying half ok” to “half annoying half annoying”. “TOYA GET BACK HERE!"
His brother only put a hand in the air and Natsuo was sure he was mocking him.
“It’s always like this!” the white-haired boy shouted after him. “Always!"
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re too slow, little dude,” Toya said, not stopping his sprint.
Suddenly, Natsuo stopped running. His knees buckled and he found himself kneeling on the ground, hands covering his tear-stained face. “It’s always like this,” he whispered. “Me... me chasing your back... and you... you leaving me behind."
Okay, nobody could blame Toya. He was the oldest. He had three younger siblings to protect from incoming cars, curious - and angry - dogs, and lots, lots, lots of strangers during his parents’ work trips. He was their guardian, their light, their rock. He was taught to support them during any trial, tribulation, or mix of the two. He was taught to be the big brother.
So naturally, Natsuo’s crying made his heart break, made him turn around, and made him kneel down in front of his brother.
“Natsu, dude, don’t cry,” he said soothingly, patting his younger brother’s back comfortingly.
“You wouldn’t get it. You’re awesome, amazing, awfully obedient... and I’m just... me. I know Dad and Mom like you better. Everybody does. You’re just... too good."
”Natsu, you know that Dad and Mom don’t think like that."
“They do. They do think like that. Everybody does.”
“Hey, hey, Natsu, look at me. Natsu, you know something? You know you’re my hero, right? You’re my little brother, my hero, my-"
Before Toya could comprehend what had just happened, Natsuo had grabbed Fuyumi’s phone and was already sprinting down the hall where Shoto and Fuyumi were doing homework. “Gotcha!” he called back. “You sucker!"
And of course, Toya couldn’t stay mad at his brother.