"Dad, Dad! Look!"
Touya held his arm out, letting his quirk erupt as bright red flames swam up his arms.
He smiled excitedly as his dad looked in shock, slowly grinning as he came for a closer look.
"This is incredible Touya..."
Touya grinned as Enji ruffled his hair, "With that kind of firepower you'll be able to surpass me one day. Maybe even..."
Touya tilted his head as his father gave a sharper grin, his eyes glinting something he couldn't name.
Touya yelped as his father grabbed his wrist, "Come on. We need to start training it as soon as possible. Who knows how far you'll be able to go once your older."
Touya frowned as he was dragged along, "But I promised Fuyumi I would play with her..."
He paused as his father turned back to look at him, "You can play with Fuyumi later. Training takes priority. You want to be a hero don't you?"
Touya flinched, "Of course I do! I want to be strong like you are and fight bad guys."
He jumped excitedly at the thought of being super strong one day. Of saving people as his dad did.
"I'll fly around and lock bad guys up. I'll be the best hero ever!"
Enji felt a swell of pride as his sharp smile softened, "Well then you're going to have to train hard you know. That way you can become the best hero ever right?"
Touya tilted his head as he thought about it.
I guess I can always play with Fuyumi later... Plus I do want to fly so...
Touya nodded, "Ok dad. I'll play with Fuyumi afterward."
Enji grinned as he gave a supportive pat to Touya's head, "Good. You're already shaping up to be a great hero."
Touya giggled as he flew past his dad to the regular training area, unaware of his father's calculative gaze behind him.
"You'll be the best hero there is."
..............
"Mom! Fuyumi's being mean!"
Rei flinched as her son came to her, narrowing in on the bruise on his arm.
"Touya... Let's bandage you up first then you can tell me about Fuyumi."
Touya nodded, sitting still as his mom wrapped a single bandage around his arm.
"Touya, what happened?"
Touya looked away guiltily, "I tried flying as dad does..."
Rei huffed, "You shouldn't do that Touya. You know what you're dad does is hard. You could get hurt."
Touya huffed, "It wasn't that hard... I got it on the first try. The only thing I messed up on was when ai got in the air."
Rei looked at him in surprise, having finished wrapping his bruised arm.
"You got it first try?"
Touya nodded, "I just did what dad did and it worked. It wasn't that hard."
Even if staying in the air is pretty difficult.
Rei felt an odd sense of discomfort at her son's explanation. Feeling wary for a reason she couldn't put her finger on.
"Well, still be careful."
Touya hummed in agreement, secretly planning to try it again later.
Rei moved on to his earlier qualm, "So Touya, what was that about Fuyumi being mean?"
Touya huffed, "She got mad at me when I told her about my hero training."
Which is unfair. I'm going to be a great hero, she should be thanking me.
Rei sighed, "Touya, that just probably means she wanted to play with you. You've been busy with hero training with dad, right?"
Touya nodded, "He's helping me become a hero. That way I can fight bad guy's."
Rei laughed, ruffling Touya's hair, "Well Touya that isn't the only way to be a hero."
Touya looked at her oddly, "What do you mean?"
Rei put her finger to his chest, right above his heart, "Your Fuyumi's big brother, Touya. A big brother is supposed to look out for their little sister. That makes them a hero too."
Touya's eyes widened, "I didn't think of it like that..."
Rei chuckled, pushing Touya toward the door, "How about this? I'll make dinner while you go get Fuyumi. You two can help me so she can spend some time with you."
Touya nodded, stalling as he asked his mom, "Do you think I'll be a good hero mom?"
Rei paused, feeling an odd sense of worry as she looked at her son. Her son looked so much like his father.
He's not Enji...
"Your such a good brother Touya..."
She smiled, her son unaware of her hidden thoughts.
"So I know you'll be a great hero."
..............
"Hey, Natsuo. I'm your older brother, Touya."
His little brother gave him a giggle as he held his finger, his tiny hands barely able to cover it.
"No fair Touya, it's my turn with Natsuo."
Touya turned back to his sister, her white and red hair in contrast with his pure crimson. Her grey eyes were like moms. His blue eyes are like dads.
Touya huffed, "I don't know what you're talking about. You must be imagining things."
Fuyumi felt a tick of annoyance, kicking her stupid older brother in the shins for lying.
"Hey! That hurt!"
Fuyumi rolled her eyes, "So what, aren't you training to be a hero? You can take a shin kick."
Touya retaliated by stepping on her toes, sticking his tongue out at her as Natsuo watched gleefully.
"Hahaha"
The siblings paused their play fight as they turned to see Natsuo smiling at them, his toothless gums blaring in a wide smile.
Touya and Fuyumi looked at each other, giving a silent nod as they agreed to a truce so they could play with their brother.
"Ahahahhhaa."
They laughed as Natsuo gave a happy squeal, stilling as they heard the door open behind them.
"How is your brother?"
Touya and Fuyumi turned to see their father, having walked back in from talking with the doctor.
"He's adorable dad, you should see him."
Fuyumi stayed silent as their father looked over their shoulders to look at Natsuo, knowing that he wouldn't answer her even if she asked him.
He has no problem answering Touya though.
She huffed as Enji looked toward the baby boy.
Not this one either huh...
Natsuo's eyes showed clear signs of his mother's gene, his pure white hair only adding to that fact.
We'll have to try again. Rei will need to rest for a couple of years though.
He scowled at the thought, his impatience and frustration building.
This wouldn't be taking this long if she could just get it right...
Touya tilted his head at his father's frown, "What's wrong dad? Is he sick?"
Enji looked with guarded eyes as his son checked over Natsuo, making sure that no part of his body was hurt.
Enji felt his frustrations fade a little, sighing as he ruffled Touya's hair.
Well, I guess it isn't the end of the world if the next one isn't a success. Touya's already on his way.
He chuckled, "Nothing's wrong with him Touya, I just thought he looked a little small, that's all."
Touya let out an understanding 'ah' as he looked back to his brother.
I guess he is a little small...
He tilted his head, "Hey dad. Were me and Fuyumi small too?"
Enji felt his eyes widen, thinking back to Touya's birth.
"No, you were about the average size..."
Fuyumi felt her breath catch in her throat as her father turned to look toward her, not used to his attention being solely on her.
"Fuyumi was a little smaller, but not nearly as small as Natsuo."
Fuyumi felt her eyes go wide as her father gave her a pat on the head, not even recognizing Touya as he gave her a smug grin.
He noticed me...
Enji felt a stab of guilt as he watched his daughter look at him like he just gave her the moon.
I guess I have been a little negligent of her, haven't I...
He hadn't meant to be, but Touya was growing in his training. He wanted to make sure he progressed properly.
"How about we go get some Ice Cream? The doctors said that your mom will be asleep for a couple of hours since she's resting, and Natsuo needs to stay here since he's so little."
Fuyumi's eyes widened in shock, turning back to Touya as he gave her an excited nod.
"Come on Fuyumi! We get Ice Cream all the time after training. You'll love it."
Fuyumi felt a swell of disbelief and excitement as she rapidly nodded, earning a smile from her father directed at her.
"Ok!"
Fuyumi followed them out of the hospital, holding her brother's hand as she whispered in his ear.
"Thanks, Touya."
Touya looked at her oddly, shrugging his shoulders as he saw her wide smile.
"Your welcome, Fuyumi."
.............
Touya walked tiredly back into his room, exhausted after another day of training with dad.
"Hey, Touya, what's up?"
Natsuo greeted him like usual.
Touya shook his head, "Just a little tired. Dad didn't go easy during training today."
Natsuo huffed, annoyed that he didn't get to train with Touya and dad.
"So sorry you're tired..."
Touya narrowed his eyes at Natsuo's sarcastic tone, shaking his head as he remembered his brother was still only 4.
I guess he is just a little upset... he just got his quirk and he can't train with it. I can't get mad at him for that.
Touya gave his brother a comforting pat, "Hey, don't get so bummed Natsuo. You wanna have a snowball fight, that always cheers you up."
Natsuo perked up, forgetting his previous qualms.
"Ok!"
Touya fell back as Natsuo got a surprise hit on him, getting his tired body up so he could chase him around the house.
"Get back here Natsuo!"
"Never!"
As he barreled to the front yard, Natsuo sprinted out of the house, already in his winter jacket.
Touya quickly slipped on a winter coat and followed him, refusing to let his little brother win.
They laughed as they threw snow at each other, Natsuo cheating by making more snow with his quirk.
They fell back into the fresh snow in their front yard, breathing heavily as they grinned at the sky.
"That was fun Touya."
Touya nodded, "Yeah it was."
"Boys! Time for dinner!"
They perked up as their mom, recently into her fourth pregnancy, called them to eat.
"Race you there!"
Touya groaned as Natsuo sprinted into the house, not even entertaining the idea of his aching body being able to win the race.
That little runt...
He huffed with a fond smile as he walked toward the house.
He paused as he made it inside, realizing that he left his shoes inside and had been barefoot in the snow.
Weird... it wasn't cold.
"Touya, you're gonna miss dinner!"
Touya shook his head, deciding not to worry about it as he went to get his plate.
It's probably nothing.
..........
"Touya, why's your hair white?"
Touya tilted his head in confusion at his father's question, pulling a strand of hair to see it was white.
"Woah... how'd that happen?"
His father looked at him oddly, touching his hair where a patch had become white instead of its usual red.
"That's odd..."
Touya nodded, "It might be cool though, I'll have both your and mom's hair."
Enji stilled as Touya spoke, giving a heartfelt chuckle at his son's excitement.
"I guess that would be cool."
Touya smiled, earning a pat on his head as his father stood up.
"All right, let's get started training. We can go light today since Fuyumi and Natsuo are waiting."
Touya nodded, lighting red fire to his fist like he'd done a thousand times before.
Enji watched in appreciation, feeling content with his son's progress.
He's getting better. It'll only take a couple more years for him-
"Ow!"
His eyes widened as Touya let go of his fire, looking toward his wrist with surprise as he saw the burn on it.
Touya looked toward his dad, freezing as he saw his eyes cloud over in dissatisfaction.
"Dad?"
He watched in confusion as his father left the room, not bothering to answer his unsaid question.
What's going on?
.............
"He's still ending up with burns Enji!"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it Rei? I've stopped trying to train that failure! He's doing it to himself!"
"That isn't the problem and you know it!"
Touya listened in silence, shuddering breaths as he scratched his burnt arms. Begging them to get better. Begging them to stop hurting so much.
Why... they never hurt before... my fire never...
'Crack'
He flinched as a sharp smack rang from the other room, his father's voice coming with cold clarity.
"You want me to pay attention to him. Fine. I'll make sure he isn't crippled by your weakness."
Touya trembled as he heard his father stomp up the steps, slamming the door open with a bang.
"Get up Touya."
Touya gulped, standing up shakily as he followed his father to the old training room.
He spoke shakily, trying to find the old excitement he had whenever he used to enter this room.
"What are we doing today?"
He looked up at his father, freezing as he saw his cold glare.
"Dad-"
'Squelch'
Touya felt his insides shift as a hard fist landed in his gut, his earlier meal flowing backward as he vomited from the force.
He looked up shakily, eyes wide as his father reared another hit.
"Training."