A Song to Come Home to

Chapter Thirty

Natsuo can't stop the trembling in his hands. He doesn't know what to feel. Anger? Sadness? Relief? Does he want to leave the room and cry as he screams out in frustration or does he want to gather his siblings into a tight hug and apologize for everything they've gone through? Natsuo honestly doesn't know and he doesn't have time to sift through the churning of his mixed emotions.

What he needs to focus on is his sister.

Natsuo's skin prickles. He can feel the unblinking and furious gaze of Shouto behind him. His little brother hasn't even moved once or said anything to him since Natsuo had ushered him into this room. Shouto doesn't even need to say a single word because Natsuo can feel the animosity that rolls off of Shouto in waves. It makes it almost impossible for Natsuo to focus and he wishes he can turn around and tell Shouto to stop staring at him.

He wants to tell Shouto that he had nothing to do with this and if he could, he'd send them to an actual hospital in a heartbeat. Sadly, everything is already said and done now and Shouto knows where their hideout is. There's no way that Tomura would let Shouto or Fuyumi leave alive now. Now they're a part of the League of Villains by proxy. Something that both of them have been accused of since this whole mess started and that makes Natsuo feel like shit and he wants to cry out in frustration about it.

Instead, Natsuo clenches his jaw and tries to blink back the tears that threaten to spill. There's a tightness in his chest that hurts every time he breathes. Each strained inhale comes as a stutter. His eyes begin to sting and his vision blurs when he can no longer hold back his tears. They slowly roll down his cheeks and fall on Fuyumi's soot covered face.

A wet cloth appears and gently cleans off the dirt and Natsuo's tears from Fuyumi's face. Thinking it's Shouto, he quickly wipes away his tears before glancing up- only to be greeted by Toga. She smiles serenely, kindly not commenting on his crying. That despair in Natsuo's gut twists into something akin to irritation. Natsuo is keenly aware of the furious glower that's boring into the back of his head now and it makes his skin crawl. For now, Shouto is quiet and staying out of the way so Natsuo will deal with his brother's rage after Fuyumi is looked over.

"Why? Why did you bring Fuyumi and Shouto here? Don't you know how dangerous this is?" Natsuo asks, his voice is thick and wrought with pain and betrayal. Bright ochre blinks up at him and Toga tilts her head, tapping a finger against her chin. Under the bright luminescent lights, her hair almost gleams a heavenly gold.

"Natsuo," Toga smiles, her canines biting into her lower lip. "It's dangerous out there. They almost died." Natsuo swallows thickly and looks down to his sister. He studies the faint red blotches of telltale bruises that adorn her pale skin. It doesn't take a genius to see that Fuyumi might have actually died if Shouto wasn't there with her.

"Why didn't you take them to an actual hospital?" He hisses. Guilt gnaws at his heart. Natsuo doesn't have the proper equipment here to make sure that Fuyumi is okay. He doesn't have X-ray vision to see potential fractures or internal bleeding and he doesn't have Recovery Girl's quirk. He's not even a doctor yet. Having a person's life, his sister's life, in his hands is enough to make him feel sick. This is beginning to feel like it's too much for Natsuo. Nobody else in the League probably even knew what a vaccination was before he joined up with them. He's only an undergraduate with no one to guide him through this besides his prior experience and history. His confidence wanes by the second.

Toga gives him a weird look before answering that they would be safer with them. Natsuo closes his eyes and counts to five. They fall into a moment of silence and Toga returns to wiping away the dirt on Fuyumi's face. She hums lightly under her breath and the growing tension from Shouto makes Natsuo gently move Toga's hands away from Fuyumi. Toga makes a noise in protest, giving Natsuo the classic puppy dog eyes. Shouto has been complaisant so far but letting Toga be near Fuyumi will burn through Shouto's patience.