Blossoms of the Dark

LXVI Shouto: Despicable

Trigger Warning:

- mention of domestic abuse

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"Shouto, are you all right?" I hear my sister exclaim the moment I step through the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Sis."

"It's all over the news. A gang of villains attacked you and your classmates at the simulation joint. And they brought a creepy monster with them! Did they hurt you? Please tell me they didn't hurt you."

"Sis, I'm fine. They didn't land a scratch on me. Instead, I beat them at their own game. Froze the bunch of them."

She breathes a visible sigh of relief. "That's good. Natsuo is coming over tonight. He wants to check up on you. Make sure you're safe and ... that Dad hasn't been extreme with you."

"If there is one word to describe Endeavor, it's 'extreme.' Moderation isn't a word in his vocabulary," I grumble miserably.

"I know. But he wants to be a good big brother to you."

"I don't have a problem with that. But speaking of Endeavor, will Endeavor be dining with us tonight?"

"No, he was called for some hero work just an hour ago. He said it was regarding today's incident and that he won't be back tonight or tomorrow morning." Dammit! I had wanted to confront him tomorrow morning during training.

"Did he express any concern for his prodigal son when he found out about the incident?"

Fuyumi hesitates. "Shouto, ..."

She doesn't need to console me. I understand. "It's fine. After all, it would be out of character for Japan's Number Two hero to feel anything but anger and dominance toward someone. Even if it is his own son." Quickly dismissing myself, I stalk toward my bedroom.

I spend the next few hours completing my homework and studying for the upcoming science test. Just then, Natsuo arrives.

"Hey, Shouto!"

"Good to see you, Natsuo."

A few minutes later, Natsuo, Fuyumi, and I are sitting at the table, dining on katsudon pork cutlet bowls, plain rice with nori, miso-based soup, and yaki nasu. And because Natsuo has come after so many days, Fuyumi has prepared cream puffs as well. We make small talk for a while. Studies, hard classes, difficult professors, obnoxious children, dumb classmates, and the rest. Then Natsuo brings up the U.S.J. attack. "Are you all right, Shouto? You were safe, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I and a few of my classmates confronted the villains. We managed long enough for All Might to arrive."

"Is the monster thing true? Those villains brought some bioengineered creature to take down All Might?"

"That thing was hideous. Imagine a mad scientist made a cross between a bird and a human and gave it steroids. It was something straight out of a sci-fi movie."

"Damn. Did you fight that thing, too?"

"I froze its arm and leg. Decayed the whole limb structure, but the monster just regenerated it like it was nothing. One of my classmates punched the monster. He has a super-strength quirk, but it did absolutely nothing at all. It was like the abomination was made of rock or something."

Natsuo wants to ask me more, but Fuyumi's sullen face stops him from doing so. He changes the subject. "So, Shouto, did you make any friends?"

I wait a moment, considering just what I should and should not reveal. "Yeah, there's a girl. Hanada Selene. She's in the same class as I am. In fact, our seats are right next to each other. She walks with a cane, wears expensive, fashion-brand clothes, and decorates her hair with flowers, but she's a complete genius. A few days ago, the class had to participate in a mock battle trial. She challenged All Might and volunteered to be the villain. She ... she nearly won." I saw the last sentence with some wonder.