Fuyumi offers her father a tight uncomfortable smile.
“I won’t be here for dinner tomorrow but I’ll leave something in the fridge for you to warm up.”
He grunts in acknowledgement, not bothering to look up from his food. She almost resents the way he doesn’t bother to even ask where she’s going. It’s for the best of course, she would hate the kind of scrutiny that Shouto suffers the rare times he comes around these days, but there are still times she wants to scream at him. Yell at him to pay some attention to the only person in his life still interested in having any kind of relationship.
She very carefully avoids glancing at the scar around his eye. That’s certain to get her some attention, the wrong kind of attention.
He was furious about it when it happened. Fuyumi doesn’t think he cares about his looks but rather what it means. Every day the public is going to look at him and remember.
The League of Villains did that, they did that right before they escaped from the most powerful prison in Japan with who knows how many allies in hand.
It makes him look weak, like a man doomed to fail.
Knowing what she does now she almost wonders if Touya did that on purpose, if there had been some sick satisfaction in the way he now matches Shouto.
She doesn’t know, she isn’t going to ask.
Not when she only just got him back.
Instead she allows a soft sigh and goes back to her food, the quiet clicking of chopsticks the only sound penetrating the stifling silence.
-
Fuyumi really hopes her brother isn’t hanging out in an abandoned grocery store.
She checks her phone a third time and sure enough, she’s in the right place.
She’s fairly certain she saw a rat skitter past her at one point.
A dark void opens up and Fuyumi almost cries in relief, of course her brother isn’t staying in an abandoned grocery store! It makes sense they don’t trust her enough to tell her the real location of their base.
A gangly young man with light hair walks out.
“Hey.”
“Hello!” She hopes her smile isn’t too obviously strained, it’s not her fault villains make her nervous.
“You’re Dabi’s sister right?”
“Yes, I’m Fuyumi, it’s nice to meet you…” Her grip on the food gets a little tighter.
“Shigaraki Tomura.”
“Shigaraki.”
“I’m Eri!” Another voice pipes up, Shigaraki muffles a curse and spins around to reveal a little girl previously hidden behind his legs.
“Eri! We talked about this!” He hisses.
“I wanted to see Dabi’s sister! Himiko said it was fine.” She whines.
“Himiko,” he starts slowly, “is not in charge.”
She nods sagely. “I asked Kurogiri, he said it was okay.”
“He’s not in charge either!”
“He’s not?”
“No!” Comes the exasperated answer.
Fuyumi chooses to quietly pipe up.
“It’s nice to meet you Eri, I’m Fuyumi.”
She knew of course, about the little girl the League has… kidnapped? Stolen? She’ll have to ask, but Fuyumi will admit that she’s never been very… interested in the news. It always upsets her to hear about children being threatened and after a certain point it all felt very… exploitative. All the speculation started to feel a little… voyeuristic instead of respectful. It makes her uncomfortable and she avoids it whenever she can.
Her interest in heroes generally begins and ends with knowing enough to converse with her students about their favorites.
Eri is a very cute child, perhaps a little younger than her students. It puts Fuyumi at ease to hear her arguing with Shigaraki, the villain that’s threatened her own little brother on more than one occasion. She’s not afraid of him.
It makes Fuyumi want to giggle a little hysterically.
She never would have argued with her father at that age, too afraid to dare.
Touya wouldn’t gather the courage for another year at least, Natsuo would wait until his teens.
She’s broken out of her musings by Shigaraki sighing.
“Fine then, come on.” He gestures her over dismissively and disappears into the void, pointedly tugging a waving Eri after him with four fingers.
Fuyumi takes a deep steadying breath and follows.
-
Touya doesn’t hang out in an abandoned grocery store.
He does hang out in what honestly should be an abandoned bar.
Fuyumi grimaces at the overhead light fixture, flickering and tinted orange by likely years worth of grime and dust.
The only saving grace from what little she glances of the building is that the bar itself looks clean.
Thank goodness.
The room is quiet, uncomfortably so and Fuyumi has to fight to keep from shrinking under the attention. She doesn’t see Touya anywhere.
Finally, unable to bear the awkwardness any longer she holds up her offering slightly and asks. “Uh, is there anywhere you’d like me to set this?”
“Oooo, what is it? Is it yummy?” A teenager bounces over, Toga, if Fuyumi remembers right.
“Ah, it’s some dessert. I thought it might be nice to have some cookies after dinner.”
“Wow, you’re really nice Dabi’s sister.”
“Thank you.” Fuyumi smiles politely, trying to shake off the terrible nerves she’s been dealing with all day. “Um, you don’t have to call me Dabi’s sister though, my name is Fuyumi.”
“Oh! That’s a pretty name! Dabi wouldn’t tell us, said you might want your privacy. My name’s Himiko!”
“It’s nice to meet you. Himiko's a lovely name.”
Her grin gets even wider, showing off very sharp canines. “Thanks! I think so too! ‘S why I kept it!”
Fuyumi doesn’t know how to respond to that so she doesn’t, just subtly readjusts her grip on the cookies to get them back on track.
“Oh, right! I can take that to the kitchen for you! Dabi’s cooking tonight! It’s really exciting!”
Toga takes the plate from her and starts leading her down a hallway.
“Oh?” She inquires, grateful for something to talk about.
“Yeah, he used to cook sometimes before he moved out to stay with his-” she rolls her eyes and if she wasn’t holding the cookies Fuyumi thinks she would be putting finger quotes around the word, “-roommate, but it was always easy stuff. He’s been in there like all day and he keeps yelling at us when we ask what he’s doing.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah!” She stops right outside the kitchen and turns a very unnerving grin to Fuyumi. “He must care about you a lot.”
There’s something in her expression. Fuyumi can tell, she’s been a little sister before, a big sister too. She’s wanted nothing more than to protect her brothers too.
“I care about him a lot too.” Toga only hums, a soft neutral sound before perking up again.
“Same! He’s the best!”
Twice? Yes, that’s Twice. Twice rushes past chasing a giggling Eri around. Toga sets the cookies down and runs off to join them. Fuyumi takes the opportunity to make her way to the bar, standing out of the way.
She sighs a little and jumps at the sound of a glass being set down next to her.
Kurogiri slides the glass of water a little closer.
“Thank you.”
She thinks he tilts his head a little in acknowledgement. “Of course.”
“I’m a little nervous.” She admits. She needs to tell someone, even if that someone is a notorious villain.
“A natural feeling.”
“I thought he was dead for so long and… I don’t know what to do now that I have him back.”
He pauses in cleaning a glass for a moment.
“I think being here is a good first step.”
“Yeah?”
“He’s been fretting all week.”
Fuyumi can barely imagine that, Touya always seemed so… She isn’t even sure anymore.
“Fuyumi! Play cards with us!”
She sets the water gently down and goes to join them.
-
Dinner is… an experience.
It’s loud and wild in a way her siblings had never dared to be.
She’s used to stifling silence and meals eaten as quickly as possible.
Twice barely makes sense to her.
Mr. Compress snatches up pieces of meat in between quick-witted comments.
Spinner complains half-heartedly about missing some show.
Shigaraki growls at Toga’s pointed teasing but there’s no threat in it.
Kurogiri maintains the balance of peace in his own subtle way.
Eri giggles at all of them, pure adoration in her eyes.
Touya… Touya laughs.
It isn’t loud and he’s careful not to grin too wide and pull at his staples but… he laughs.
He’s made all her old favorites and he catches her eyes too often not to be nervous.
He’s happy.
These people are his.
They make him happy.
She lets herself relax just a little.
-
They meet after dinner in the kitchen.
Touya doing dishes, wearing long rubber gloves to protect his arms.
Fuyumi leans back against the counter and closes her eyes.
“Thanks for having me.”
“Sure.”
“I mean it, I said I want you in my life and I meant it then and I mean now.”
“Even with the League?” He’s tense. It makes her want to reach out and squeeze his hand. She doesn’t.
“Yes, I want to know your new family too. Even if I’m not sure what to say when Toga tells me all about how pretty Shouto’s friend’s blood is. Even if I have no idea what Twice is talking about. Even if I really don’t know how to handle Shigaraki talking to me about anything that isn’t like… murder or massive property damage or something.”
Something shudders in his frame at that.
“Good, that’s-, I’m glad.”
“I don’t really know how to… handle all this but… I care about you and… I want to try.”
“...Me too.”
She nods and they just stay there in silence for a while.
Fuyumi is used to silence, the horrible oppressive silence of fear.
This is a nice silence, a little awkward but... peaceful and interrupted only by vague thumping noises from the other room and the clinking noises of washing dishes.
He hands her the dishes as he finishes them and she dries them.
They used to do this, she realizes.
A lifetime ago, when things were still a little simpler.
They didn’t feel simple at the time but… they were.
They put the dishes away together, Touya quietly murmuring where things are kept.
She bumps his arm a little when they’re done, like she did a lifetime ago and he bumps back. A little tentative, a little uncertain, but there nonetheless.