Leave Your Mark | Various!BNHA x Reader

47: Acceptance

It's funny how things change. Before, whenever Endeavor saw you in his house, he would throw a fit and scream at the top of his lungs, treating you as if you were some kind of intruder. Which you kind of were, but that's beside the point. He made a real fuss, every single time. He may not be a good father, but he sure is good at being loud.

That doesn't happen anymore, though. Now, whenever he walks into his house and catches a glimpse of you, he barely even reacts anymore. He's honestly more taken aback when you're not here.

"Hi, Mr. Endeavor," you greet happily.

"Yes, hi," Endeavor grumbles back, but scarcely a few seconds later, his eyes go wide.

It's not just you and Shouto. Apparently, Natsuo came home for a bit, because you're all gathered around the table and playing cards together. Fuyumi is there, too. His entire family is here, apart from his wife, Rei. And of course... Touya.

Except Touya is already gone for good.

As Shouto's best friend, it goes without saying that you've run into his siblings on quite a few occasions. Natsuo is a college student, and he lives on campus in order to avoid coming home as often as he can. On the rare occasion that he does come home, he scorns Endeavor pretty much any chance he gets.

"Ugh," Natsuo mutters in distaste. He even throws his cards down, irritably. "And just like that, my mood is ruined."

"Natsuo, stop it," Fuyumi urges, and she does her best to smile towards Endeavor. "Hi, dad. How was work today?"

"The same as usual. No major incidents. I ended up doing a bit of paperwork, since it was such a slow day..."

Endeavor's jaw clenches. He looks uncomfortable. He always looks especially uncomfortable around Natsuo, who is by far the most vocal about his hatred for him. You know all too well what kind of troubled past the Todoroki family has, and you can't blame Natsuo for resenting his father so much, but he also doesn't spend much time here. He has yet to realize that in this world, Endeavor has begun to change, much earlier than he was supposed to in canon. He doesn't try to order Shouto around anymore. He doesn't insist for him to train regularly, and it's also been several years since he's tried to push Shouto towards becoming the Number One Hero. Nowadays, he mostly just minds his own business. His conscience prevents him from trying to control Shouto, the way he used to.

And you're the one who helped him change for the better.

Granted, he would've come to this realization eventually. It just would've taken a lot longer, which also means Shouto would have had to suffer for longer. But Natsuo doesn't know that. He probably doesn't even realize that Shouto's dislike of his father, although it definitely hasn't disappeared entirely, has noticeably lessened. You can't even remember the last time Shouto complained about him, which is really saying something.

"Mr. Endeavor, do you want to play with us?" you ask.

"[Name], stop it," Natsuo grimaces. "He's already put me in a bad mood by being here. And there's no way he'd want to play cards anyway. The only thing that he cares about is becoming stronger. Everything else is a waste of time. Isn't that right, dad?"

Endeavor doesn't respond to that, but based on the crease in his chin, and the way his bottom lip trembles ever-so-slightly, it's obvious what Natsuo just said isn't true. Some people make mistakes in life, and there are certain mistakes that won't ever be forgiven, no matter what happens. Not everyone is like you, willing to give people a second chance. After all, if you weren't willing to believe in a person's ability to change, you would never have followed Chisaki out of the orphanage that fateful day. You would never have chosen to believe in him, even after all the poor choices he'd already made.