Chapter Text
Enji Todoroki didn't wake much earlier than his wife. He was an early riser partially due to his job demanding fluctuating work hours and partially because why not? Early birds get the worms.
Rei too, left her room relatively early to prepare for the day- food, waking the children-
And that's where the first problem arose. She didn't intend to wake anyone yet, not at 5 in the morning. She simply saw that Touya's door was open.
She then went to check Natsuo's room- perhaps Touya slept over?
But no. Shouto wasn't anywhere either.
What was a mother to do in this case?
She was hesitant to alert her husband too. How would he react?
Truth is, even if his job was to help people, he was no saint and he was unpredictable. It was its own kind of hell and Rei only saw potential for eruption.
Of course Enji loved his children- or, at the very least cared enough to keep them alive.
The barest of the minimum. But wasn't that the agreement? She takes care of the rest while Endeavour trains the golden child to surpass a legend. That's the sole reason for their family's existence.
So, if it were to turn out that said golden child(ren) went missing overnight, would he get angry? At whom?
He was a man with a stubborn obsession, so maybe he would feel deeply for-
For his children? Or does he only view them as little dolls to put on shelves? Touya must've felt like one. Did he convince Shouto to run away with him? But why would he leave? He probably craves his father's attention; it would make sense for someone his age to get it in such a way.
"Rei? Is something the matter?"
The lady turned around to face her spouse, clutching her skirt in unease.
"Ah...dear, look... there's a bit of a..."
"Well? Spit it."
"Touya's...gone."
Enji's eyes widened.
"Shouto too. They-"
Before she could've finished talking, the man rushed towards the door.
"Keep Fuyumi and Natsuo here- do not leave the house!"
He remembered Touya asking him to meet at Sekoto peak. He knew Rei also knew of it-
If that child burnt anyone-
He did try to sear his brother once. He's also terribly adamant on turning himself to a crisp. Endeavour couldn't understand why-
Rather, somewhere deep down he did. He just didn't want to face it that in trying to give the best of his ambitions and feelings, he ended up pushing his worst traits onto his son.
And Shouto...his birth was a dream come true.
Both of them were a priority. So he kept up the march uphill until he found two boys stumbling between the trees, smelling of burnt skin, smoke and melted plastic (a courtesy of Touya sizzling his own coat).
Endeavour didn't know how he felt when he saw the kids- fatherly relief? No, he wasn't one for such things.
It must be a simple assurance about the fact that this isn't the worst case scenario.
Still, whatever positive feelings he may have had were overridden by the absolute anger at this entire situation-
There better be someone to blame for this. If it's him- then he'd be the same weak man he was trying to change from.
He turned to Touya- who looked... happy?
"Dad! You came after all! Look, look-"
He thrust his hand out, blue- blue flames erupting, before being extenguished.
Enji grabbed his arm firmly.
"Touya- stop! What do you think you're doing? And why is Shouto out this early? Why are you-"
Why did he look at him like that?
"It's....always about Shouto... isn't it?"
"Don't stray off topic-"
"I'M NOT! I'M RIGHT TOO, AREN'T I?! IF HE HADN'T FOLLOWED ME, YOU NEVER WOULD HAVE COME-"
Enji didn't have a response. Or time. It was cold and early-
So he did what he would do best and shut down any further complaints.
"We'll talk later. I'm not doing this out here-"
He then grabbed Shouto's hands and started dragging them along, ignoring Touya's words. He's a teen now, surely, he could wait a bit?
Rei sat at the kitchen table, preparing to rake the kettle off the stove when it would inevitably start wheezing.
Wheeze. When had she last laughed? When had she last seen any of her children laugh?
Tea. She liked tea. Didn't everyone in the house like tea? It was such a warm comfort compared to her cold hands and Enji's searing presence.
Surely the little things- like cups- could accummulate to create something that would even out the pain of disalignment?
The kettle made a high-pitched, elongated sound. It was time for Rei to stand up.
Just as her hands reached for the kettle, the front door swung open-
And there stood three people with quite the dejected faces.
Rei ran right over, looking at her sons.
"Oh, boys... are you okay? Touya, why is your coat like that? Shouto, why were you out-"
"I'm going to get ready for work. Could you watch over them?"
Rei nodded reluctantly.
"Ah...of course, yes. Come now-"
Touya turned to Enji, ignoring all that was said just now.
"That's it? That's all we're worth?! You-"
"Touya! Listen to your parents for once-"
"Why would I? It's not like you'll look at me anyway!"
"You're 13! You can look after yourself just fine- plus, you've got your siblings and mother. So why-"
"Because you were the one to tell me to burn!"
Enji tensed up, fists and jaw clenching. Rei picked Shouto up in a haste, trying to minimise the impact of whatever may come next on the youngest.
Enji kept staring at his eldest and Touya had a pained look in his eyes.
He seemed to slowly realise that he set something off, backing away a bit now.
"Touya..."
He ran. He ran- past his father, out of the door-
He wasn't usually scared of his dad at all, but this time a lack of sleep and mental overwhelm was doing a splendid job on everyone around him and of course, he himself.
"TOUYA- COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT-"
But the boy just kept running out to a world that was no less hell than the house he just left.