Heroics or Villainy

Cracks Begin Forming

            The resolve I had earlier to discuss the matter of me taking the U.A. entrance exam with my father completely vanished. I was tense. I was nervous. How was I going to approach this? My father was completely oblivious to my shot nerves as he walked into the living room and Mom headed for the kitchen to finish dinner.

I followed behind my father as I made my way into the kitchen to begin setting the table for dinner. Dad stopped in the living room to take a seat on the couch and rest, but every so often I would catch a glimpse of him grimacing or hear him coughing. These actions after a couple times insighted my mother to call from the kitchen, "You did that to yourself Toshinori." I noticed the awkward smile he gave towards the kitchen before he fidgeted with his long, blonde bangs. It was a wonder that my father found that something to smile over considering.

However, time passed with Dad resting on the couch to catch his breath, Mom finishing dinner in the kitchen, and me helping out my mother when I could. Once everything was set and ready, that is when the real challenge began. I left the kitchen to call in my father, he got up and made his way to the table as my mother placed the last plate. I took my seat as my parents did, we gave our thanks for the meal like usually, and that's when my father had to open his damned mouth. "So, Hana, you wanted to talk about schools when we were at the store. Why don't we talk now? Any high schools you have in mind, my Sunflower?"

I jolted, nearly dropping my chopsticks as I kept my head down, my eyes searching for an answer to the question. A way to avoid it. As I looked up with hesitation, I saw my mother was now engaged in the conversation, or rather, she was curious about the conversation. I gave an awkward, toothy grin as I glared daggers at my father, "Dad...you said you'd bring this up after dinner."

Just by saying that, I had signed my pathway to doom. My mother immediately chimed into the conversation now. "After dinner? Why would you talk after dinner? Am I not allowed to be part of this or something?" After a moment, I noticed a look in my mother's emerald eyes I hadn't noticed before. It was for a second, but it was realization. Her gaze turned from inquisitively focusing on me, to staring at my father. The tone of voice was familiar. It was the voice she used when I was in trouble...or when Dad was in trouble. "You didn't..." I could see the fires burning behind her eyes as she tried to remain composed, the grip on her chopsticks demonstrating her restraint to not shout. "We agreed Toshinori."

I looked from my mother's intense, angered start to my father, whose body had gone rigid under my mother's menacing stare. Still holding his chopsticks, he lifted his hands and waved them in a soothing manner to try and calm his heated wife. "No no Sweetheart. I haven't broken my promise. N-No encouraging. It's still completely out of the question." He smiled tenderly, my mother cooling down a bit as he spoke with that deep, bass voice "Hana wanted to talk about schools when we were at the store, at least that was before–"

"Before you ran off to go safe people like an emaciated moron." My mother shook her head and crossed her arms for a moment. The agitation I noticed subsiding a bit. She took a breath and sighed before turning a gentler gaze upon me. "Well, what were you thinking, Sunspot? Did you want advice from us about schools, or discuss some schools you had in mind?"

I had both their attention on me. My mother was giving me a patient and kind smile as she waited and my father was doing the same. The pressure was unbearable. The Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace and his short, argumentative, and confident wife both boring holes into me with their gaze. It was a wonder I made it to fifteen with this kind of pressure. I tightened my grip on my chopsticks, thinking of how to answer them and glad for once that One for All was not in my possession yet.

It was at this point that I felt a calloused, scarred, and comforting hand upon my head as it ruffled my hair. "Sunflower, is everything all right? You seem tense."