Chapter Text
Half-and-Half: I hate my oto-san.
Woosie-Doos: who doesn’t
FARFIS-eye: i call troll to perfect grammar
Half-and-Half: Does everybody really hate their dad?
FARFIS-eye: troll on a coffee run
Half-and-Half: Why do you keep bringing up mythical beasts? I’m trying to have a serious discussion. I really do hate my oto-san.
FARFIS-eye: narf troll pretending not to be a troll narf
…
Shoto frowned, “What is with this person bringing up trolls? I honestly don’t understand, but I thought this allowed for anonymous discussion?
…
Woosie-Doos: okay i’ll bite kid what has you so upset with daddy
FARFIS: don’t feed the troll
Half-and-Half: Why feed a troll? In stories, they’d just eat humans. That doesn’t make sense. Oto-san isn’t who everyone thinks he is. He’s why oka-san hurt me and had to be sent away. He wouldn’t stop being mean to her.
FARFIS: troll-lo-lo ya fed the troll
Half-and-Half: Why do you keep bringing up trolls?
Woosie-Doos: kid kids always come on making up shit
Stars-367-Shine: kid you do understand that if there’s signs of abuse, we have to report it to the proper authorities
Half-and-Half: Never mind. I lied.
…
Except he hadn’t, Shoto felt empty, watching FARFIS and others jump all over the troll, his mind still not understanding what the significance of that was. Star-367-Shone defended him, yet the fact she said the way he backed down as fast as he did indicated he was worried about his father finding out—
“That’s actually true,” Shoto thought to himself. “He’s always been angry. But he also already knows I hate him. And he knows I blame him for mom. It’s the getting the police involved when they’ve better things to do than some kid hating their dad.”
A private message popped up.
…
AO-FLAME-BOY: I believe you.
…
Shoto frowned. “He believes me?”
…
Half-and-Half: What is there to believe?
AO-Flame-Boy: That ya have a shitty dad, but what is this about oka-san hurting you? That doesn’t sound like her.
…
Shoto let out a sigh, not quite thinking through the way the person worded things, simply thinking…
…
Half-and-Half: No. That’s not what moms do. I’ve heard enough from my classmates to understand that’s not normal. He kept bullying her, so when she saw the left side of my face, she poured boiling water on it. And then she realized what she did and used her ice Quirk on me which Oto-san says made it worse. He said he doesn’t understand why she was so foolish, like she was some kind of idiot, but he was the one who bullied her.
AO-Flame-Boy: Fuck. When did this happen?
…
Shoto’s eyes blinked, thinking it over, and then
…
Half-and-Half: Right before nii-san went away.
AO-Flame-Boy: What is that supposed to mean?
Half-and-Half: They don’t talk about nii-san. I know he’s dead? Something to do with a fire. I think it happened because Oto-san locked himself in his room and the dojo after oka-san was sent away. He yelled a lot. Fuyumi-nee said to leave him alone. I think it has to do with the fact that when he gets mad, his fire Quirk goes ballistic, but there were flames all over the dojo, and you know he’s pissed off when that happens.
AO-Flame-Boy: Yup. Flames all over the place. Makes sense, he lost it. He wasn’t training you though?
…
Shoto frowned. “He knows about the training?” But then…
…
Half-and-Half: You guessed because I mentioned a dojo?
AO-Flame-Boy: Right, right. Dojo means old family, major fucking family legacy. Fucking fun, isn’t it?
Half-and-Half: It isn’t. I hate training. I hate him. So I don’t use my fire side.
AO-Flame-Boy: From the moniker, ice is the other? Using only one side has drawbacks, you know. Like, fire side buns, ice side burns as well.
Half-and-Half: I melt my ice. That’s it. It pisses him off and that makes me feel good.
AO-Flame-Boy: That’s good for you.
Half-and-Half: You asked if he trained me. No. But that wasn’t fun either.
AO-Flame-Boy: Because you could, like, feel his flames?
Half-and-Half: No. I wanted to play with nii-san, but couldn’t find him. Fuyumi would cry when I asked. I think she was worried what Oto-san would do if he found out I was taking advantage of him holing himself up in the dojo to play with nii-san. But no Oka-san. No nii-san.
AO-Flame-Boy: You must really like your nii-san.
Half-and-Half: I barely know him. It’s not fair.
AO-Flame-Boy: And why’s that?
Half-and-Half: Everyone else got to know nii-san. I do know what his favorite music is though.
AO-Flame-Boy: And hows that?
Half-and-Half: I borrowed his music. Oto-san doesn’t know I took them from the box either.
AO-Flame-Boy: Good job doing something under the old man’s nose, but borrowed? You borrowed your dead nii-san’s music?
Half-and-Half: I like pretending he’ll come home, and I get to give them back. I like pretending he lent them to me, rather than me taking them from the box. I’ll have something to talk about him, besides asking him what his favorite things are.
AO-Flame-Boy: And what’s the first thing you’d ask?
Half-and-Half: What his favorite food is. Mine’s soba.
AO-Flame-Boy: Hillarious. So’s mine. Hate fish though.
Half-and-Half: What about the sides?
AO-Flame-Boy: That’s fine. It’s a broth. It’s the texture I can’t stand.