Living A Lie

Chapter 17

Once outside and away from everyone, Shouto has the chance to think about what happened. He's angry, and he knows that his anger is justified, but was it really necessary to yell at Raven? Sure, they hadn't been there for the wedding, but he also knows that the Hero Commission was everywhere at the wedding. Raven's been avoiding the Hero Commission finding out that they're around in case they find out that they're the vigilante from hundreds of years ago. They wouldn't have been safe at the wedding. And Raven's been giving him more and more space at school since he's not under Endeavor's thumb anymore, so is it really that surprising that they felt safe enough to stay with Touya for now? Someone would have to keep the Commission and the police from trying to lock Touya up if it's really true that he was Dabi. If only there was a way for them to communicate when the two of them are separated so that he doesn't feel so alone without his companion.

Once he's calmed down enough that he thinks he can handle seeing his brother again, Shouto makes his way back to Touya's room to apologize. Raven didn't deserve being yelled at, hell, they barely handle Shouto being yelled at, so he can only imagine how they felt being yelled at directly.

"So he has absolutely no memory of his time as Dabi?" Shouto hears Hawks ask Fuyumi as he opens the door.

Fuyumi shakes her head. "The detective who read his memories says he might get those memories back as he gets older. He says the memories are there, but it's like they're blocked behind a barrier. He told Natsuo and I that he's going to use the memories to build a case against our father and nullify the marriage arrangement between you and Shouto." She sighs. "If he's successful in nullifying the marriage, I'll be made Shouto's guardian. I'm the only living family member old enough to have custody of both him and Touya."

Shouto feels bad for his sister, she's already had to raise him as it is, despite Endeavor being in the household, but she shouldn't have had to, and as soon as there's a break in the conversation between Hawks and Fuyumi, he decides to announce his presence so that he can find Raven. He didn't see them when he entered the room, and he needs to apologize for yelling at them.

"Where's Raven?"

Fuyumi points to a door that Shouto doesn't remember seeing before. "They rushed through there after you left." She stops him before he can start towards the door. "Shouto, Raven was crying when you left. They love you as if you were their child, and they've been worried about you."

He made Raven cry. He didn't mean to. He was upset and overwhelmed, but he never meant to hurt his best friend in the whole world. The boy takes a deep breath to steady himself. He doesn't do well with tears, never has, but this is his fault. He has to make it better. Nodding, Shouto gently pulls himself from his sister's grasp and heads through the door.

On the other side of the door is another hospital room not unlike the one where his brother is being kept, but in this one is a boy with wispy sky blue hair. The boy is sleeping, and despite his curiosity as to who he is, Shouto walks past the bed, following the sound of whimpering coming from the corner on the other side of the bed where he finds Raven, back in the wolf form they were in when he had arrived in the first place.

At first Shouto freezes, staring at the person who has been his best friend, and somewhat of a parent to him, since he was four. He doesn't know what to do. He's never actually had to console anyone. That was Fuyumi and Raven's job. Consoling him when he missed his mother and his brother. Consoling him when Endeavor's training of him had been too much, and each of them had their own way of doing it, but he can't exactly turn himself into a cat to cuddle up against Raven the way they would for him. He knows Raven doesn't like to be touched too much, something he's sure only gets worse when they're upset, so he can't hug them like Fuyumi would for him.