As if the flaming moustache taking up half of his screen was air, Fuyumi's youngest brother nods at her, only her, with face as straight as a die. "Nee-san, I'm fine."
"I'm sooo glad you picked up!" Fuyumi chirps, clasping her hands together. "Natsu said hi and sorry for not coming because he's attending classes at uni. He asked me to fill him in about you later, though."
"Shoto, I heard you defeated one of the villains!" Enji, their father, exclaims afterwards, taking the focus off her by grabbing the monitor closer. "As expected from my successor! With the right training you'll be able to surpass All Might for sure!"
"Tch." Turning a deaf ear to him, Shoto rolls his eyes, then speaks to her instead. "Please tell Natsu-nii I'm okay. Don't worry about me. I'll return in a few days."
"Great! I can't wait until you go home!"
"Did you use your fire in the fight?" Enji's volume increases, eliminating the possibility of Shoto not hearing him. "When you return, you should come and train with me! There's a lot I can pass down to you, Shoto. With my power, you'll be the strongest hero like no other!"
Sadly, it barely makes a dent on his son's unresponsiveness. "..."
Ouch, Fuyumi winces upon a disgruntled groan rumbling from Enji's throat. He is intentionally ignoring Otou-san.
She has to admit, it's painfully awkward to see the contrast between Shoto's demeanor and their father's. She gets a secondhand embarrassment solely by watching them interact.
Enji jumps into this call with a level of enthusiasm that matches her students' when they get released early from school, while Shoto reciprocates with the amount of interest they exhibit for a homework: zero, almost negative even.
Enji's extra attention is not only unrequited, but also unwanted. Their interaction reeks of a one-sided relationship where one person does all the chasing and the other does all they could to steer clear.
Although the call has just begun, tension has steadily built up between them. What choice does Fuyumi have besides being a mediator?
"Uh..." A wry smile plastered on her face, Fuyumi glances at the sulking father in front of her. Well, simply involving him in their talk won't hurt anyone, right? "You know, Shoto? The first time Otou-san called you, a girl picked it up. We thought she was your roommate."
Despite the peculiar subject she brings to the table, after a short delay, Shoto's answer comes in a flat "oh". No curiosity, no bafflement, no denial. Without changing his position, he merely sits there, one hand clutching the blanket on his lap. Calm as ever, except for the wary glint in his eyes.
Is he worried that we will accuse him of it?
"Well, of course we know it's not true!" Fuyumi sends him a reassuring grin, then shifts the spotlight back to Enji, who is glaring at the computer monitor. "The call must've been misdirected somewhere, right, Otou-san?"
"Why is it a twin-bed room, Shoto?" Enji's cyan eyes dart to the other bed. It is vacant, with a brown blanket set aside untidily. On it lays a toppled cat-patterned water bottle. "You took care of the villains for them, yet I-Island gave you this second-rate facility? That's disrespectful. If I find out All Might got a better—"
"Don't go causing problems under my name." At last, Shoto gives a response to Enji, although it's oozing with displeasure. "I was the one who requested this arrangement."
"You did? Why?"
"Are you going to talk about something important next," Shoto snaps, tone as cold as ice, "or shall I end the call?"
Their call obviously doesn't go as Fuyumi planned it to be. She knew that it's impossible for them to get along like best buddies, but she was hoping that at least they could hold a civil conversation. It doesn't matter if it's only for one minute. As long as the call ends on a good note, it's a step forward in her book.
Dear god, don't tell me that even a single normal video call is beyond our family.
"Shotooo, don't end it now!" Fuyumi interjects, waving her hands in dismay. "We won't meet for another couple of days, so let's talk a little more! Just for a very short while, okay?"
Peacekeeper. That's her role in this family.
While the others are settled on cutting each other off their lives, she is busting her ass to glue them back together. Not because she manages to get over what Enji has done to all of them, but because if she doesn't do it, there'll be no re-attaching their family into one piece.
We're broken enough as we are. Isn't it a decent reason for us to stop cracking each other?
She's doing all she can to minimize the damages and preserve all the remaining links—no matter how fragile they are. So that, if a chance ever presents itself, they all still can return and bring back what was once theirs: a family. A normal one where everyone holds each other dearly. Despite how improbable it is.
Yeah, but that's her role—one she takes upon herself in the name of family—and her dream. Not her youngest brother's... and definitely not her father's. Since when has he ever cared about peace or family?
Their serenity isn't his top priority, if it's one of his priorities at all. That must be why it doesn't cross his mind that now is clearly neither the right time nor the right place to put Shoto on the spot.
"I saw the book you've been reading, Shoto," Enji gruffly remarks, much to her horror. For once, she wishes she could bash the CPU to his head to make him stop talking. "If you wanted to improve, you could go to me—"
Shoto's reaction is instantaneous. His voice raises with each word that spews out from his mouth, irritation flares along the coarse edges. "My book? How did you know? I don't remember giving you permission to enter my room, old man. Is the basic concept of privacy very difficult for you to understand?"
"Wait, Shoto!" Fuyumi flails in panic, her eyes flicking back and forth between the stunned Enji and him. "That's not what Otou-san—"
"Nee-san, don't defend him." Shoto's dark glare promptly bores into her, and she recoils as if it actually pierced her through a mere computer screen. His fist is clenched on his side, half-hidden under the covers, yet she can discern the tense muscles spreading to his forearm. "This time he has crossed the line. Why do you constantly spring to his defense when—"
Before his temper fully slams her, it comes to an abrupt halt. For reasons unknown to her, Shoto's gaze falls on the blanket on his lap, then his white-knuckled fist makes a complete disappearance below. The fabric rustles softly and for a moment there, it nearly seems like he is holding on to something underneath.
Eh? Fuyumi blinks, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses. Was I imagining it?
The sound of a heavy exhale moves her focus back to Shoto's face. Somehow, the blazing ire in his grey-cyan eyes has cooled down, its cinders showing in the form of lukewarm skepticism.
Huh, that emotional control... Has my little brother matured a bit?
"I didn't mean to attack you, Nee-san." A drop of guilt tinges Shoto's tone as he resumes speaking in a more composed manner. Still, when he gets to address their father, it's not difficult to perceive the hint of iron in his timbre. "Just so you know, I won't tolerate any breach of privacy again."
"It's okay. No offense taken!" Fuyumi chimes, hoping that the atmosphere will brighten if she sprinkles enough smiles here and there. "But, you have to understand, Shoto. This is simply a misunderstanding. That's not what happened."
"I never went into your room." Enji snorts as his son throws him a scowl in disbelief. "That book was on the dining table."
"What?" Shoto's frown deepens as he jogs his own memories.
"Do you remember taking a phone call before you went to the airport two days ago?" Fuyumi prods him gently. "You were reading that book—the one with glow-in-the-dark cover, right?—when a call came in. You didn't return to the dining room to put it away. Then, Otou-san stumbled upon it when he came back from the agency that night."
Thanks to his sister's explanation, now Shoto remembers. It was that call, the last-minute one Aizawa made to ask if he was okay with Arata tagging along with him to I-Island. The thought of book dissipated from his mind soon after, as he went to re-check his travel belongings.
Crap, I've falsely blamed that old man.
"So..." he trails off, feeling somewhat foolish for his outburst.
"Yeah," Fuyumi continues, carefully keeping her tone neutral, "you totally forgot."
"Pft." A small snicker—barely inaudible through the thick blanket; courtesy of the girl hiding under it;—reverberates beside his thigh, he can feel its light vibrations through his jeans.
Great, she's laughing at my expense. Groaning, Shoto twirls a finger around Arata's ponytail, then tugs it lightly. What kind of friend are you, Ara?
His mischievous doing evokes a muffled sound of protest from her. It doesn't take long until her hand catches his wrist, keeping it away from her hair. She softly rubs her thumb against his veins, as if to encourage him to own up his mistake.
Well, to be fair, this one is on him. He has accused and condemned the wrong person over his own fault. Admitting it to Enji is an issue, though. There's a part of him that's opposed to eat his own words, mainly because his father has never apologized for hurting him either.
However, the current state is the result of his error. That's the truth.
Suppressing a grumble from coming out, Shoto forces out the closest thing to an apology he can muster, "I... was mistaken."
Like it isn't awkward enough as it is, his old man gapes in surprise. Uncertain what to do, Shoto puts on his standard glare again. "But, I mean what I said. Don't meddle in my private affair or whatever."
"Hmph, fine." Enji crosses his arms and backtracks to their previous topic, "Shoto! I see you've grown an interest in your fire quirk. Rather than reading a book on fire applications, why don't you learn a couple of fire techniques from me? I'll make sure you'll be the best there is!"
"No."
"Why not? I can teach you everything! Rapid cooling, cauterization—" Once Enji mentions the last word, Shoto can sense Arata's body go rigid next to him. "— All the techniques named in the book!"
Normally, he will be quick to spit something rude back to his old man. But, not this time. Right now the first one that enters his mind is Arata. He can't see her expression, but he believes her mind is currently playing the same memory as his is: their first contact, with his fire as her sole lifeline.
Yes, cauterization, Shoto gives her hand a firm squeeze, reminiscing how he had initially picked up that book to verify the correct technique for cauterization, distraught that he might have mishandled her fatal injuries.
Do you understand now, Ara?
To Enji, he retorts back, "I've started reading up on fire, but don't take it as a sign that I've forgiven you. I haven't made my decision and I want nothing to do with you at the moment. I'm going to explore my quirk on my own, so back off."
"Gee, Shoto! Take it easy!" Unable to risk another escalation of the situation, Fuyumi slaps a cheery smile on top of her unease, then steps in between them. "Otou-san is only offering, right? There's no pressure?"
Neither agreeing or disagreeing with her, Enji grunts and nods to Shoto on his monitor. "You know where to find me." Without saying anything else, he stands up, passes her, and steps outside.
"Otou-san...? Uh..." Fuyumi grimaces as the sliding door closes with a creak. "Oh well, I guess this is it, Shoto. Sorry it wasn't entirely enjoyable. I'm happy to have talked with you regardless! Natsu and Okaa-san will be glad to learn that you're okay. Thank you for not declining Otou-san's call in the first place."
"Thanks to you too, Nee-san."
After exchanging goodbyes and ending the call, Shoto holds up the seams of the blanket, making way for Arata to crawl out. "Hey, it's over. We're in the clear."
"..."
"Ara? Why aren't you coming out?"
"I was thinking... Um, Shoto-san?" Arata's head pokes out and her green eyes fall on him, tracing his face. "I... didn't know you've been reading up on fire. Like, willingly, in your free time."
"Is that so surprising?" Keeping his voice monotone, he unveils the covers from her, letting them slink down her shoulders.
"I mean, to me, it looks like you've always favored your ice side."
"Isn't it obvious? My mother didn't like my fire half, it's natural I was partial to my ice side. But then, you didn't like my ice. I guess it balanced them out. Maybe now I don't like them both."
"Hey! Don't pin this on me!" Arata pouts and tosses the blanket over his head, which he deflects with a pillow, chuckling. "No, seriously. What made you change your view on your fire quirk?"
"I don't think you need to ask, but just to be clear. Meeting you showed me that my fire quirk is not only capable of destroying." Shoto plops the pillow on top of her head, positioning it carefully so it won't topple down even though he releases his grasp. "It can also save… and protect someone, if I know how to properly utilize it. It's a balance I have to learn."
Something in the way Arata's green eyes gleam and one hand over her abdomen—where the burn scar from him is—takes him back to half an hour ago. Back when they were shining with tears, her voice boiling over with desperation because she thought her presence didn't have a meaning in his life.
"Now you have the proof," Shoto murmurs lowly, letting the gravity of his words sink in. As deep as it can submerge inside her soul. "Do you understand now? You have an impact on me, Ara. You have had it since the very first time."
──────────
Following the video call with Shoto, Fuyumi thought Enji was going straight back to work. But, no. She finds her father standing in front of the cupboard, staring at the various containers their family has.
Quirking an eyebrow, she approaches him and asks, "Otou-san? What's up?"
"Fuyumi, does Shoto have a cat-patterned tumbler?"
"Huh? I think not. His are all solid colors and made of aluminium. Why?"
"Including the one he's bringing to I-Island?" Enji cranes his neck to glance at his daughter, who nods as a reply.
Strange, he grumbles in his own mind as he checks the remaining tumblers one by one. If so, then whose bottle was it that I saw in his hotel room?