"DIE!"
Katsuki pointed his gun at Denki's face. His water gun, that is. He pulled the trigger and a large amount of water shot toward his friend like a geyser. Denki let out a half shriek, half giggle as he fired right back at Katsuki with his own Super Soaker.
Eijiro and Hanta sprinted down the driveway, Hanta chasing Eijiro and dousing his back with water. Eijiro ran past Katsuki and Denki and headed for the faucet on the side of Katsuki's house.
"Shoot them, not me!" he said. "I need to refuel!"
But then, all three boys pointed their water guns at Eijiro and fired. Not that he wasn't wet already (they had been playing for the last thirty minutes), but now he was drenched. His black bangs stuck to his forehead as bits of water got in his mouth. For the entire time Eijiro refilled his water gun, neither Katsuki, Denki, nor Hanta let up on him even a little.
It was the perfect activity for a hot Saturday in June. Going swimming was fun, but Katsuki preferred having water gun and water balloon fights with his friends, and neither of those were permitted at their community pool. The Bakugou family also had a slip and slide in their backyard, which the boys utilized earlier today. The only downside to spending the day at his house was Mitsuki popping outside every so often to remind the boys to apply more sunscreen.
Eijiro, now with a full tank, showed no mercy as he whipped his soaker back and forth, ensuring he hit all three of his attackers. Katsuki jumped ship and joined Eijiro's side, turning this into a proper two versus two battle.
Their fight only stopped once a car pulled into the driveway. Katsuki recognized it as Rei's minivan and stood on his family's half of the driveway awkwardly. Ever since the night Shouto yelled at him and stormed out of his bedroom, he kept his distance from the Todorokis. None of them brought it up to him, though he figured Shouto must have told them at least in some detail. Which was fine, seeing as he already got multiple lectures from Mitsuki after Shouto rushed out of their house full of tears.
The only thing more awkward than Rei's car momentarily interrupting their water gun fight was when both Rei and Shouto piled out of the car, both carrying shopping bags. Katsuki avoided eye contact with the boy, pretending he found something interesting on the ground. However, since he hadn't informed his friends on what went down between the two of them, all three were oblivious to any sort of tension.
"Hey Shouto!" Denki said.
Shouto gave a weak smile. "Hi."
"Do you want to join our water gun fight? Katsuki has an extra if you don't have one."
Shouto quickly glanced at Katsuki, then immediately looked away. "Um, that's okay. I'm not feeling so well. I think I need to lie down."
Eijiro flashed his signature smile. "Well if you feel better, you should join us!"
"Yeah," Shouto replied, tilting his head down. "Okay."
With that, he followed his mother into their house, not looking back. When they were gone, Hanta slumped where he stood.
"How come he never wants to hang out with us anymore?"
"Maybe he's still mad at me for beating his Rayquaza with a Raichu," Denki said.
Eijiro didn't appear convinced. "That was over a week ago."
"So?" Denki answered with a frown. "It was a Rayquaza!"
Katsuki groaned. "Hey, can we just go back to what we were doing? If Shouto doesn't want to join us, he doesn't have to."
"Sure," Hanta said, "but it'd still be nice to know what his deal is."
Katsuki pressed his lips together. He was surprised his friends hadn't put the pieces together yet, but he also wasn't. Katsuki always served as the brains of their operation, the other three usually offering nothing more than color commentary. But still, Shouto wasn't just distant with them when they were at Katsuki's house. He avoided them at school too, at least when Katsuki was around.
Katsuki hated all of it. Never did he think he'd ever be in a position where he'd miss having Shouto Todoroki around, but here he was. Was it because he felt guilty for confronting Shouto about something extremely personal, or did he just want to see the boy smile again and know he was okay? Or was it both? He couldn't be certain.
What he was certain of, however, was that he couldn't apologize. There was no point. Shouto was the one who drew the line in the sand. He was the one who pushed Katsuki away and said never to speak to him again. Overstepping that boundary would probably make things worse.
So Katsuki did the next best thing: kept his feelings about what happened bottled inside and hoped they went away on their own. It worked well for the most part these last few weeks, as long as his mind was occupied enough on other things. And right now, a water gun fight was the perfect distraction.
He didn't offer any warning. Instead he fired right at Denki, as Katsuki always found it the funniest to target him specifically. Denki cackled before returning the favor, and soon all four boys went back to their game. Since Eijiro's soaker had the most water in it, he overpowered Denki and Hanta, the latter two retreating to the backyard. Eijiro ran after them, and Katsuki would've followed had he not turned his head at that moment.
Looking to his right, Katsuki's eyes locked with another set of eyes from behind the window. One blue and one gray, even the sun rays reflecting off the glass couldn't hide Shouto Todoroki staring back at him. The boy immediately dropped the curtain, concealing his identity from view, but that split second was all it took for Katsuki's breathing to halt.
Shouto was watching. Did he actually want to come play with them? If so, why didn't he? It wasn't like they didn't invite him.
Then again, it was Denki and Eijiro that asked him to join. During their exchange, Katsuki hadn't said a word. Maybe if he had...
No, now he was doing the exact opposite of what he was supposed to be doing: pushing Shouto out of his mind and enjoying his time with his real friends. So Katsuki, now left in the dust, ran off to assist Eijiro in obliterating Hanta and Denki. He didn't look at any windows, he didn't look at any doors, he just stayed focused and rejected the idea of going to Shouto's doorstep and apologizing right then and there.
Even though deep down, he really, really wanted to.
*
Shouto sighed as he stepped away from the window.
A water gun fight sounded like a lot of fun right now, his thought confirmed as he watched his classmates laughing and running as they fired water at each other. He wasn't trying to spy on them, but he was curious to see what he passed up on. But of course Katsuki caught him, and now he felt mortified.
Not too much time had passed since he screamed at Katsuki in his bedroom, but even less time had passed before Shouto regretted losing his temper on him. Had Katsuki accused Enji of abusing Shouto a few weeks before that day, Shouto wouldn't have batted an eyelash. But Katsuki just had to bring up Shouto's father on a day Shouto was at his most vulnerable.
He wanted to apologize for a while now, but kept quiet. Even if he said he was sorry, it wouldn't change anything. Before Shouto blew up at him, Katsuki was going on about how the two of them weren't even friends, even when Shouto was under the impression that they were. In a way, Shouto figured he helped Katsuki by pushing him away. It wasn't like Katsuki wanted Shouto around anyway.
Shouto exited the hallway and entered the living room, immediately scrunching his face as he observed the scene laid out in front of him.
"Hey," he said, "get off my sister."
Fuyumi stopped kissing Keigo Takami at once, her face flushing red. Keigo chuckled as he fixed her glasses before smiling at Shouto.
Shouto didn't smile back. Sure, he accepted the fact that his sister had a boyfriend now, even if it happened to be Touya's best friend. At first he thought it was weird that they started dating only a few months after Touya died, but when they explained to him how much they leaned on one another to overcome their grief, he supposed it made sense.
Still, that did not mean Keigo was allowed to touch Fuyumi the way grownups touch each other. They could hug or shake hands. That was all.
"You know Shouto," Fuyumi said, "Katsuki and his friends are outside playing together. Why don't you join them?"
Shouto shook his head. "I can't," he answered weakly.
"You guys still fighting?" Keigo asked.
"Kind of," he muttered.
Just then, Rei appeared in the doorway. "It's a beautiful day outside, Shouto. You shouldn't spend all of it inside."
Shouto pouted and pointed at the couple still looking awfully snuggly on the couch. "Shouldn't you be telling them that? They've been sucking face all afternoon."
Rei held back a laugh. Since they moved into their new house, Shouto noticed how much better off she seemed. Her face had color in it again, and she gained back some of the weight she lost. In fact, his siblings seemed better off too, Natsuo especially. Fuyumi looked happier, but Shouto figured that had less to do with Enji out of the picture and more to do with the fact that Rei allowed Keigo at their house more often than he was allowed at their old house.
No longer interested in discussing why he won't join Katsuki and his friends outside, Shouto retreated to his room. He was greeted by Kori, the Persian cat Rei adopted earlier this week. Kori was technically the family's cat, though she usually gravitated toward Shouto. Rei was fine with this as out of everyone, Shouto was the one who was struggling the most recently and could use a new friend. And so far, Shouto did just fine taking care of her.
Shouto plopped on his bed, Kori jumping in right after him to snuggle. She rested her head on Shouto's thigh and nuzzled into him. Shouto smiled as he caressed her head. He wanted a cat for so long, it was still unbelievable that he finally had one. He was happy that Kori was as affectionate as she was and that she fell in love with him as quickly as he fell in love with her. If only Touya was alive to meet her. They would've gotten along well.
Shouto only realized he drifted off when Natsuo emerged into his room without knocking. Staring at his brother with half closed eyelids, Shouto wasn't pleased.
"What are you doing?" Natsuo said. "It's the middle of the day."
Shouto grunted. "Nothing."
"That's my point. All you do these days is hang out alone in your room. Do you even draw anymore?"
"I'm not alone," Shouto countered. He tilted his head toward the cat sound asleep on his leg. "Kori's with me."
"Sure, completely ignore what I just asked you."
Natsuo gently sat on the edge of Shouto's bed, careful not to wake Kori. Shouto sat up a bit, again, careful not to wake Kori. Not that either had to try hard. Their new friend was quite the heavy sleeper.
"Come on," Natsuo said, "talk to me. What's going on with you? You miss Dad or something?"
Shouto swallowed hard. "N-No."
Natsuo shrugged. "It's okay if you do. Just cause I don't, that doesn't mean you have to feel the same way. Have you talked to Mom at all? You know she'll let you see him."
Shouto glanced down and shook his head. "I don't know if I miss him or not. I don't know if seeing him will make anything better."
"Won't hurt to try."
Shouto pondered. He knew Natsuo had a point, but he didn't know if he was ready to believe it for himself. In the last year, his life had undergone so many changes and he was always playing catch up. While he wanted to see his father, he feared that'd only set him back further from where he wanted to be.
"Well," Natsuo continued, "no one's gonna be mad at you if you decide to visit him, so don't let that influence your decision. Is that why you haven't been drawing? Cause of everything that's going on?"
Shouto pursed his lips. "Not exactly. I just..." He paused to rub his eye. "I can't draw without thinking of Touya. Everything I ever drew, even if I thought it looked bad, I still always shared it with him. I still love art, but it hurts. It's like Touya was my inspiration and now I don't have that anymore."
He didn't mean to sound so morbid. Though in the months since Touya's passing, he got more comfortable talking about it, with Natsuo at least. They leaned on one another, mainly because they didn't have many others to turn to. Although Touya and Shouto had the closest bond of the Todoroki siblings, Natsuo admired Touya just as much as Shouto did, and the two confided in each other a lot. While Natsuo might not have been as outspoken about his feelings the way Shouto was, he knew his big brother was still mourning the loss of someone very special to the both of them.
Natsuo gently tapped his finger to Shouto's forehead. "Then it sounds like you just need some new inspiration."
Shouto tilted his head to one side. "What do you mean?"
Natsuo patted his leg, the one that Kori wasn't using as a pillow. "Come with me."
Shouto slithered out from under Kori. She was bound to get upset when she woke up and realized Shouto was gone, but she'd get over it. He followed Natsuo out of his room and down the hallway until they stood before Natsuo's room.
Shouto had never been in Natsuo's bedroom. Everyone was banned except for Rei when she dropped off Natsuo's laundry. Shouto thought to comment several times how it was hypocritical how he wasn't allowed in his brother's room yet Natsuo barged into his room as much as he wanted, but as the youngest he had to choose his battles wisely.
Natsuo beamed at his little brother. "Wait until you see this."
Shouto's heart rate accelerated as Natsuo opened the door, not knowing what to expect on the other side. Something cool most likely, given the excitement on his brother's face. But when he was met with reality, all Shouto felt was confusion.
"That's it?"
Natsuo's mouth hung open as he let out a yelp. "What do you mean 'That's it'? I spent a lot of money building this collection."
"Collection?"
When they stepped inside, Shouto peered around. The only thing that could possibly be considered a collection in Natsuo's otherwise painfully average bedroom was the large assortment of books across three bookcases against the back wall. Shouto was impressed by it, to be fair, but that was mostly because it never dawned on him that his brother actually knew how to read.
"So you like books," he said. "So what?"
Natsuo scoffed. "Books? BOOKS?" He raced over to the middle bookshelf and pulled one out at random. When he walked back over to Shouto, he held it up beside his head. "This isn't a book, idiot." He pointed at the cover. "This is a manga."
"Oh." Shouto nodded. "So you like picture books."
Shouto swore he watched Natsuo pop a blood vessel. All the blood in his brother's body rushed to his face, transforming it to a deep red.
"I'm trying to help you here and you're just insulting me," he said. "You need new inspiration for your artwork that doesn't tie you to Touya, and I'm telling you this is your answer."
Shouto grabbed the manga volume from Natsuo's grasp and read the title on the cover. "Attack on Titan?"
Natsuo snatched it right back. "Oh, actually, you may be a little young for that one. Here, gimme a second." He returned the manga back to his bookshelf as he rummaged for a more age appropriate one for Shouto. When he landed on one, he smiled and brought it over for his little brother to peek at.
Shouto studied the cover of two boys playing volleyball, one with red hair and the other with black. Haikyu!!, the title read. Shouto didn't know the first thing about volleyball, but he wasn't about to reject his brother so harshly when he was trying to help him out.
So, he flipped through some of the pages as he sat on Natsuo's bed. And while there was nothing wrong with the story itself, it was the artwork that captured his attention.
For someone who loved to draw as much as Shouto did, he rarely took the time to observe anyone else's drawings. It was a solo hobby he did for pleasure, not necessarily to get better. But after only a few minutes of skimming this manga, he wanted to pick up his colored pencils again and try something like this.
"This is awesome," he said. "Using your art to tell a story."
Natsuo grinned, pure elation encompassing his face from his brother's approval. "You think so?"
Shouto nodded. "You know...Touya used to tell me that I had a good imagination to be a writer one day. Tell my own stories. But I always liked drawing better. But I guess I never thought that I could do both at the same time."
"That'd be cool."
Shouto felt lighter, hundreds of story ideas rushing to his brain at once. It was overwhelming as he had no idea where to start, but it was better than having no ideas or inspiration at all.
He locked gazes with his brother. "Can I hold onto this for a little while?"
"Duh," Natsuo said, "that's why I gave it to you. When you're finished and if you want to read the next volume, I'll swap with you. As long as you don't rip any of the pages."
"I won't. I promise."
Shouto smiled as he read on, stopping every so often to point out character designs to Natsuo or just to ask him questions about the plot. It was exciting, both bonding with his brother and gaining a piece of himself back. A piece he had lost when he lost Touya.
Would this turn into a forever thing? There was no way of knowing that. But Shouto was sure that this enthusiasm building inside him would turn into something.
And that was good enough for now.
*
The following evening, Shouto relaxed in his bed with Kori as he read through another Haikyu!! volume. He was still captivated by the artwork, but he was also deep enough into the story that he developed a deep appreciation for the characters as well. Who knew a story about volleyball could be so entertaining?
However, he was broken from his trance when he heard a knock at his bedroom window.
No, that couldn't be right. His bedroom was on the second floor. No one could be knocking at his window. It was probably a bird that didn't know how to fly properly.
But then, he heard it again. And it was a clear knock this time.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as his first thought was an intruder, but he quickly nixed that theory. Why would an intruder make his presence known? Well, he was about to find out.
He approached the window where the knocking came from, paused briefly, then pulled back the curtain. And when he saw who was on the other side of it, Shouto screamed.
Katsuki screamed back, loudly enough to be heard even with a window as a barrier. The sound of both boys yelling startled Kori awake and she retreated under Shouto's bed.
Shouto took a few seconds to catch his breath and try to piece together why Katsuki Bakugou was outside his bedroom right now. More importantly, how did he even get up there?
Rei knocked on his door. "Sho, you alright in there?"
"I'm fine, Mom!" he called out. How thankful he was that he locked his door this time. "Just saw a spider. But I got it."
When he heard Rei's footsteps move away from the door, he opened his window, rested his arms along the ledge, and stuck his head out. He let the summer breeze hit his face, though not without raising a brow at the boy in front of him.
"Hey," Katsuki said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"What are you doing?" Shouto asked. "How'd you even get up here?"
Katsuki pointed below him, to which Shouto glanced down. Then he understood. The way Shouto's new house was designed, there were multiple roof pitches. The room directly under Shouto's room, the main office, stuck further out than his bedroom did, so there was a roof right beneath his window, providing a safe ledge for Katsuki to stand on. The roofing was on a downward angle, though not too steep for him to lose balance.
"Why didn't you just knock on the front door?" Shouto said.
Katsuki looked at him with innocent eyes. "Well, then I wouldn't be able to show off my cool ninja skills."
"Oh. Okay." When the two stared awkwardly at one another for several seconds without anyone talking, he spoke again. "Um, why are you here?"
Katsuki cleared his throat. "Right. Uh...look, what I said about your dad-"
But Shouto cut him off. "I'm sorry."
"Wait, what? Why?"
"I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just, my family's been going through a lot and I snapped."
Katsuki nodded. "Yeah, well, um, I shouldn't have said that stuff to you either. So...yeah."
Shouto sucked in his bottom lip as he processed that he just received what was probably Katsuki's attempt at an apology. But why? Katsuki said they weren't friends. So why did he care enough to apologize?
Still, it brought some comfort to Shouto, so the boy didn't hesitate to open up a little.
"My dad's never put his hands on me," he clarified. "But he's done some bad things when I was growing up. My parents, they just got divorced. That's why we moved here. That's why you haven't seen him."
Katsuki's eyes softened. "Oh."
"Also, m-my scar, it was just an accident."
That was a lie, but he wasn't comfortable enough to share the truth. Had his father given it to him, he might've. But he didn't want Katsuki to get the wrong impression of his mother, so he kept that detail to himself.
Katsuki's expression implied he didn't believe Shouto, but he nodded anyway. "Okay."
Another long pause without anyone speaking. Yet somehow, it wasn't as awkward as it could've been.
"Listen," Katsuki said after half a minute, "Eijiro, Denki, Hanta, they all miss you. So like, you should hang out with us at recess tomorrow. You can bring Tenya and Deku if you want."
"Izuku," Shouto corrected him.
"Whatever. Still, just come. They want to see you."
"Well what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you want to see me?"
Katsuki pouted and looked away. "It wouldn't kill me, I guess."
Shouto leaned further out the window and puffed his cheeks out. "I'm not saying I'll go unless you say you want to hang out with me."
Katsuki groaned, but didn't protest. "Fine," he mumbled. "I want to hang out with you."
"I can't hear you," he teased.
"I want to hang out with you," Katsuki repeated.
Shouto cupped his ear. "A little louder, please."
"I WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU!"
Shouto held his hands out in surrender. "Geez, all right, fine. No need to yell."
Katsuki furrowed his brows. "Tch. You're so annoying."
But Shouto only smiled. "So does this mean you think of me as your friend now?"
To Shouto's surprise, Katsuki smiled too. It was a small one, to be fair, but a smile nonetheless. Then, even more surprising, Katsuki leaned forward and ruffled his hair. "Dream on, Halfie."
Shouto blinked. "Halfie?"
"Yeah. Your hair is half red, half white. Halfie. Get it?"
"Oh, I see. So do I get to come up with a nickname for you?"
"Depends what it is."
Shouto tapped his finger to his cheek and he looked up at the night sky. What was a name that perfectly signified Katsuki Bakugou? The word came to him rather quickly.
"Oh, I know!" he squealed. "Tsundere!"
Katsuki scrunched his face. "What? That's not even a real word! You just made that up!"
"Yeah it is," he insisted. "Natsuo taught it to me yesterday. He was better at explaining it, but it means someone who starts out mean but over time gets nicer."
"Eh? That's not me!"
Shouto giggled. "Yeah it is. How about I call you Sunny? You know, as a nickname for Tsundere?"
Even in the dark, Shouto could see the pigmentation of Katsuki's skin flush red. "I'm not letting you call me some wimpy nickname like-"
"KATSUKI BAKUGOU!"
Horror then encompassed Katsuki's face. "Uh oh."
He turned around as Shouto stared on. Sure enough, Mitsuki Bakugou was leaning out of the window from Katsuki's bedroom window, the one directly across from Shouto's.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT! IT'S TIME FOR YOUR BATH!"
Katsuki clicked his tongue in embarrassment before turning back to Shouto. "I gotta go."
Shouto, still smiling, just nodded. "Okay." He gave a small wave. "Bye Sunny!"
Katsuki stopped, just before he was about to climb down the roof. He had his back turned, though Shouto still detected from his body movements the slightest chuckle that escaped his lips.
Katsuki looked over his shoulder and offered a slick grin. "See you tomorrow, Halfie."