Inside Your Mind

117 - Natsuo Todoroki

Reminded me of when we were kids

Natsuo Todoroki wasn't even sure how to talk to his little brother. They had been pretty much kept apart for such a long time that he barely even knew him. And because Shouto wasn't even home normally due to the new dorm system, he hadn't really been prepared to see him around at all.

But here he was. His professor had dropped him off at home, so he could get some family time after everything that had happened with their dad. So Natsuo - awkward as he was - kept his eyes fixed on the TV which had a cooking show on while he was slurping his noodles.

"Add your raw egg, and... the dish is done!" the woman on the TV said, just as the door opened. All three of them immediately looked over and saw a large, hulking man walk in. He had a big scar over his face from getting burned. It was their father. Enji Todoroki. Natsuo narrowed his eyes.

"Great work, dad!" his sister Fuyumi said, as she greeted him with a big smile. His father gave them some sort of a half-smile, like he was trying to smile, but couldn't quite get it right, as he kept standing in the sliding door.

"Been a while, huh?" he just muttered. Been a while. Yeah, sure. That was a way to put it. Natsuo could feel himself getting resentful. It had been quite a while since his birth, but his father just never had wanted to have anything to do with him. Or any of his other kids that he saw as not good enough.

"Shouto got special permission to come home! I invited his professor too, but he refused." Fuyumi replied happily. How did she do this? How was she just so happy after everything he had done?

"Anyway, amazing job out there!" she finally said with the biggest smile on her face. Shouto started slurping his soba noodles and mustering his father's face carefully. Natsuo started slurping his soba as well.

"Nasty scar you got there." Shouto then said, before slurping more noodles. Their father gave Shouto a slighted look, but he didn't seem fazed. Neither was Natsuo. They both just stared at their father, emotionless, slurping their noodles. It seemed kind of childish, but it felt so damn good not to give him the time of the day.

Unfortunately it seemed to make Fuyumi nervous as hell. Her smile was slowly faltering, especially since there was complete silence now (except for the slurping). She kept looking back and forth between Natsuo and Shouto and looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Hey, you two? Feel like congratulating dad, at least? We promised to play nice, didn't we? Especially since he's making an effort to reflect on family matters. At least don't look that scornful." she whispered to them. Weirdly enough they both just kept staring at their father while slurping their soba.

"I can still hear you." their father just said. Natsuo sighed and put down his bowl, before getting up.

"Sorry, sis. I just can't do it." he replied.

"NATSU!" she protested, her eyes widening in shock and her voice sounding strict and stern. Uh oh. That was her teacher voice. Natsuo walked up to the sliding door which his father was still standing in. He was just about to squeeze past him when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Natsuo. If you got something to say, then say it." his father told him. Natsuo's eyes narrowed, as he turned around slowly. God, he hated this guy. Father or not - he really hated him.

"Say it...? That's rich, coming from a guy that's never even looked me in the eye. Listen to this... I didn't know Shouto loved soba until today. Why? Because you never let him play with us failed experiments." he growled. Shouto glanced over at him and stopped slurping his soba for a while.

"Natsu..." he muttered, a little shocked at his brother's outburst. Natsuo looked down at the ground. He couldn't stand looking his father in the eyes. He just couldn't stand it whatsoever. He made him sick.

"I get the feeling that mum and sis here want to forgive you. But all I see is the same maniac who is all of a sudden getting rave reviews. You might look like a changed man, but you're not. You abandoned us as failures. Left us to hear mom's screams. Shouto's cries. And big bro Touya, too... You being the top dog and beating some big baddie can't erase any of that."

Natsuo thought he had said it all and was ready to go, but then he felt a wave of rage surging through him and he just couldn't stop himself anymore. He slammed his fist against the door frame.

"Did you decide to have a change of heart?! Think we can just hug things out and make up?! It's sickening! Don't you fucking get that?!" he yelled at him. His father looked down, looking sort of upset. It wasn't nearly enough.

"I'm trying to make amends, going forward." was all he said. Natsuo scoffed.

"IS THAT SO?!" he shouted, before quickly moving through the sliding door into the hallway. He stuck his head back in the room for a second and looked at his sister, who seemed shocked beyond belief.

"Sorry, sis! Thanks for the food at least!" he quickly said before moving back into the hallway and making his way towards his own room.

"Natsu!" Fuyumi called after him, making him feel somewhat bad for her. She hated it when they were all fighting. But he couldn't stand having his father there. Maybe everyone else had forgotten what he had done, but Natsuo hadn't. He hadn't forgotten his older brother or his mother or how Shouto was basically a stranger. He hated his father's guts.