You're Alive

four

Maybe Natsuo was right.

Enji hoped Touya's return could aid him in taking another step forward to repairing what he could've had and what Fuyumi so desperately wanted.

He wanted to be a good father, he wanted to make amends.

Enji stepped into his home, taking off his shoes and replacing them with slippers before making his way to where he heard his children talking.

He opened the door to the living room, and the laughter that came from Natsuo dissipated. Fuyumi looked over to Enji and stood up to greet him, a smile on her face although her eyes were nervous.

Why had he asked them all to come home? Was this about why he had been acting so weirdly the previous night? What had happened?

"Welcome home, dad!" Fuyumi spoke, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you, Fuyumi." Enji spoke.

The hero closed the door behind him and moved to sit down on a couch, a breath leaving him as he prepared himself to speak.

He could feel the eyes of his children on him.

"Why did you call us here? What's going on?" Shoto questioned, taking in the expression on his father's face.

Enji looked between his children, seeing how Natsuo stood to the side of the room. Enji could see how uncomfortable the young man looked.

"All of you sit down." Enji spoke, voice level. "I need to talk to you about something."

Fuyumi glanced nervously between her brothers, taking a seat next to Shoto. Natsuo was a little apprehensive about doing what he had been told, but he decided not to argue due to the tone of his father's voice.

Natsuo finally moved to sit down, taking his place on the other side of Shoto.

"So, what is it?" Natsuo questioned, leaning back and folding his arms over his chest.

Enji took a breath, trying to find his words. The tension in the room was thick, practically suffocating. His children's blue and grey eyes were fixated on him.

"It's.." Enji began, pausing. He cleared his throat before speaking once again. "Touya's alive."

It was silent.

A sudden coldness washed over the room. A small patch of ice appeared from the floor, stemming from Shoto's foot. Natsuo stared at Enji in shock, Fuyumi's hand moved to cover her mouth, her other hand lightly grabbing hold of Shoto's shoulder.

"W-What?" Natsuo stammered out. "What do you mean?"

Natsuo leaned forward, his hand moving to hold onto the armrest of the couch.

Enji knew he had said it too quickly, but how else was he meant to tell them their big brother was alive?

"Yesterday, Eraserhead found Touya unconscious in an alleyway." Enji spoke, his eyes scanning the faces of his children. His eyes lingered on Shoto for a moment, the ice still present on the ground. "He was hit by a quirk, by Eri's quirk."

"But she can't control her quirk." Shoto spoke. A sudden realisation washed over him. "Does that mean she reversed Touya into a child?"

Enji shook his head. "She somehow reversed him so that only a certain part of his appearance changed." He took a breath. "His scars."

"Oh my god." Fuyumi spoke, her hands trembling lightly. "The fire.." Her voice turned into a whisper.

Natsuo was trying to hold back his tears, unable to figure out how to feel about the news. His big brother, his best friend, was alive?

"I don't know about what really happened to him or where he has been all this time." Enji spoke, looking down at his hands. "He hasn't said anything about it just yet."

There was a silence as the three siblings tried to process it all. Touya was alive, but how did he survive the fire?

Enji stood up to leave. "I will take you to see him tomorrow."

As he went to leave, Fuyumi turned to Shoto and hugged him tightly. Enji lingered in the doorway, watching the interaction. His eyes wandered towards Natsuo, seeing a tear fall from his eyes.

He understood they'd be confused. It would be as if they were grieving all over again, even though this time they were being told Touya was alive.

Enji forced himself to look away, taking a step out of the room and closing the door behind him.

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A/N: Updates may slow down, I've not been doing so well recently, and I've not been sleeping because of it. I will try and get the next update out soon as I don't want to discontinue another book.

Hope you all have a great day/night!!