It was another tense dinner at the Todoroki house, with Natsuo and Shoto glaring Enji down. Fuyumi, of course, being caught in the middle of this ceaseless aggression. She was used to needing to be the one to comfort Natsuo around Enji’s neglect – and having to give Shoto support after one of his “training sessions”. But this was a new type pressure, the pressure to put the family back together. Ever since Enji had gotten that Number 1 hero spot he had been trying to make amends with them, and while Fuyumi was more then happy to extend this olive branch both Natsuo and Shoto held onto all the hatred that had built for their entire life. She couldn’t blame them of course; it makes since that they would despise him after all that has happened. Maybe she should hate him as well, but she could never bring herself to do so. She still had those memories of when things were better, when he was less distant. She wanted that back, and if that meant leaving the past in the past then she was more then willing to accept that. Her brothers…not so much. So everything was tense, all the time – only to get worse during dinner.
“S-so,” Fuyumi started, clearing her throat, “how was work dad?”
“It was okay, had to stop a few robberies but no one got hurt. Overall the common affair.” Enji answered.
“Well, how did that go?” Fuyumi continued, desperately trying to keep the conversation going so they wouldn’t go back to the tense silence.
“It went well. No casualties, minimal injuries, and no one got away.” Enji answered, not noticing the need to replicate the conversation.
“W-well, I’m glad that it all went over well. Uhm, anything else happen to you today?” She pushed, struggling to shoulder the conversation.
“Not much of note. Had to go to the store to get some things, had to shrug off Haw-“ He started.
“Oh my god, just ask a question back!” Natsuo interrupted, standing up and slamming his hands onto the table. He was getting sick of the pitiful and disrespectful display.
“N-Natsuo!” Fuyumi panicked, really not wanting a fight to break out.
“What?! We can’t act like everything is normal after everything he’s done! He’s not even willing to hold a conversation with us!” He raged.
“That is not true!” Enji snapped back.
“Then why don’t you ask a single question back!? Why is she the only one doing the work to keep it going!? The only one that you bother trying to actually talk to is me and Shoto because we don’t want to act like everything is fine! I may not be able to speak for Shoto, but I sure can say that you can fuck yourself and things will NEVER be good between us!” Natsuo yelled, snatching his plate, putting it in the sink, and then leaving the house with a door slam.
“To be clear,” Shoto started, finishing up his soba, “things won’t be okay between us either.”
He put his own plate in the sink and started to leave the house as well.
“I’m going over to Izuku’s place. Thank you for the meal Fuyumi, it was good.” He said as he left, with his typical monotone voice.
Enji just got up quickly and stormed off to his room in a rage, leaving Fuyumi alone in the room. She put her head in her hands and let out an exhausted sigh. She just wanted them to be a family again, why was that so much to ask? Sure their father would need to put a lot of work into mending what he broke, but neither Natsuo nor Shoto were willing to given him the chance. Things were a mess…well, they were always a mess, but it almost felt messier today then normal. She eventually got up to go for a walk – wanting to cool off from all the stress.
She took a hike out to the nearby woods, enjoying the sounds of nature and the fresh air. But the words form their earlier conversation kept ringing in her ears – along side her own rude thoughts. It was overwhelming to deal with, leading to an outburst of sorts.
“Just shut up!” She yelled at herself, punching a tree.
Fuyumi jumped back in shock of her reaction. What she was more shocked was the fact that it…actually made her feel better. Sure, it hurt her hand, but the voices had finally gotten quite. She tried punching the air and it made the voices even quieter. She kept on going, with every negative thought and memory getting quieter with every hit. It was weirdly relaxing to punch air – it likely shouldn’t be, but it was for her. She continued on for a couple of hours, until she was caught by someone.
“Hey. What ’cha doing?” They said, startling Fuyumi causing her to turn around quickly to see whoever it was.
There stood Mirko, leaning against a tree and giving her a smile. She was out of her hero uniform and was instead wearing what appeared to be a hiking outfit. She was wearing a blank tank top with the image of a blue bunny that was surrounded by blue flowers on it, blue cargo shorts, and a red backpack one could only assume had food and water in it.
“Oh! Uhm, h-hi Mirko. I’m not doing much.” Fuyumi answered, doing her best to calm her nerves.
“Really? Because it looks like you’re punching air.” Mirko joked, getting an awkward laugh from Fuyumi.
“Well…yeah, that’s what I was doing.” Fuyumi admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Hey, no shame. I used to do the same until it, you know, became my job to kick ass. Now it just reminds me of work.” Mirko explained.
“Yeah, that makes sense. So you go on hikes to calm yourself now?” Fuyumi asked, getting a nod from Mirko.
“Yep! Not exactly the hobby you’d expect from the badass Mirko huh?” She asked with a hardy laugh, “My actual name is Usagiyama, Usagiyama Rumi.” She extended her hand for a handshake.
“Todoroki, Todoroki Fuyumi. But you can just call me Fuyumi.” She introduced with a smile, accepting the handshake.
“You’re Endeavor’s kid, right?” Usagiyama asked.
“Yep! That would be correct.” Fuyumi laughed, silently happy that she didn’t meet with Natsuo or Shoto. If she had recognized either of them as Enji’s kids they would’ve gone on some type of tirade.
“Well it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” Usagiyama joked, catching Fuyumi off guard.
“Did he mention me?” She asked hopefully.
“Not really, but the few times he managed to drag your brother there he’d bring you up.” Usagiyama explained.
“Oh…” Fuyumi muttered, dishearten. She was hoping that he would at least talk about her around her coworkers – it would at least make the dismissal earlier a little bit easier to cope with.
“By the way, I got some equipment back at home that I could share with you if ya want. It would be better for you to be well equipped after all.” Usagiyama offered.
“Is that really necessary? I mean…I’m just punching air.” Fuyumi pointed out.
“Eh, yeah. But that’s not really the best method to go with. You see, when your punch contacts a target it returns some of that energy back – but when it doesn’t land that energy just releases into the air, so you’ll get tired quicker. Plus, punching air can bloody hurt in the joints!” Usagiyama explained, Fuyumi nodding in response.
“Well…I guess that makes sense. In which case, uh, yeah- yeah I would like to borrow some equipment.” Fuyumi agreed.
“Great!” Usagiyama replied, taking out a piece of paper and writing something down before handing it to Fuyumi, “Here’s my number. Next time you need to let out some steam, just give me a call okay?”
“Okay.” Fuyumi answered with a nod, already putting the number in her phone.
“Also, I might end up training ya a bit.” Usagiyama joked.
“Huh, what’s wrong with how I do it now?” Fuyumi asked, confused.
“Your form is terrible! Seriously, if you were actually hitting something you might have actually hurt yourself.” Usagiyama laughed, “A little bit of proper training wouldn’t hurt – if anything it would do the exact opposite.”
“Well…yeah, yeah that would be true.” Fuyumi chuckled, not knowing how to feel about this offer. It certainly was something that if she was a little bit more bitter she would’ve taken up, but felt like it was a little much for someone just wanting to blow off steam. Usagiyama seemed to sense the discomfort.
“It’s fine for you to train, even if it’s only for stress relief. It’s not like you’re going to go out fighting thugs or somethin’. It’s just a way to stay safe while calming down.” she explained.
“Well…alright. I probably could use some training then.” Fuyumi agreed.
“So, do you want me to walk ya home or would you be fine?” Usagiyama asked awkwardly.
“No, no! I’ll be fine! I’ve been to these woods before.” Fuyumi dismissed, not wanting her father see her with his employee.
“Eh, alright. If ya say so.” Usagiyama replied, turning around to leave, “Stay safe, see ya soon.” She said as she left.
Fuyumi also left – towards home. This, despite everything, was a good day.
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