Chapter Text
Fuyumi sips her tea in silence, sitting stiffly on the couch in the common room. She looks jarringly out of place in the dorm building even though she's been to visit before. Maybe it's the circumstance?
Katsuki sits across from her, fidgeting awkwardly and honestly a little pissed off that she interrupted his botched confession. Not that he can be too upset at her, she came here sobbing after all. He's more upset that every ounce of courage evaporated from his body as soon as she showed up and it has no sign of returning anytime soon.
Shouto returns from the kitchen with a plate of fruit sandwiches and sets them on the table, even though none of them particularly feel like eating.
"Why did you come?" He asks after a moment of tense silence. "Did he get violent?" Fuyumi shakes her head and sets her mug down, sniffling.
She's looking at Shouto in that strange, delicate way, and he feels his stomach sink.
"Natsuo told us what happened. After dad said... What he said." He stays silent as her eyes bore into his, the guilt that had finally subsided bubbling back up in his chest along with a slight anger at his older brother. He promised not to tell anyone, what happened to that? "Why didn't you reach out, Shouto? Why didn't you say something?" She looks almost hurt that he didn't come to her, and his guilt doubles nearly instantly. Fuyumi already worries so much about them, and Shouto has just added to that mountain.
"I didn't know I wanted to do it until I was on the roof." He says flatly, settling back into his chair and staring down at his lap. He fidgets with his fingers, wondering exactly how to word this. "I was just... tired of always causing problems. i just wanted air, I didn't know until I was already falling." Fuyumi stills, taking a deep breath and looking away from her brother.
"You actually jumped... oh my god, Shouto, I'm so sorry I should've-"
"It's not your fault." Shouto interrupts, causing her to look back up at him. "It was just... a really bad night." He says. He wants to say more, but he doesn't exactly know how, so he looks up at Bakugou for support like he normally does in situations like these. The blonde in question picks up on his struggle and takes a breath, rolling his eyes like he always does. It has to be some kind of wrong for Shouto to find that endearing.
"What IcyHot means is your old man's fuck ups are not your responsibility. He's the one who made his son wanna take a little trip to Hadestown. You're not his parent. It's not your fault." He says. And yeah, it was a rude way of explaining, but he got his point across well enough he thinks. "And in my not-so-humble opinion, had you not been there for him he would've probably tried a long time ago." Shouto nods enthusiastically at that, smiling slightly at his friend. The room is silent for a moment, and then, of all things, Fuyumi giggles.
"You have a translator now?" She sniffles. It's not much, but at least she's not hysterical anymore, so it's a step in the right direction.
"Evidently." Shouto says. "Bakugou is just better at explaining things than I am."
Katsuki is briefly hurt that they're back to surnames, but he brushes it off. There's no reason for him to feel like that. It's not like they're dating or anything, much to his annoyance. Then again, he can't really blame Glasses here for interrupting him. He'd do the same thing if Deku tried to kill himself.
"Oh my gosh! Where are my manners! My name is Fuyumi." She extends her hand for Katsuki to shake, which he accepts out of habit.
"He's not gonna call you that." Shouto says, smiling faintly.
"What Half n' Half said." Katsuki agrees, leaning back into his seat. "Katsuki Bakugou, wish we met under better circumstances." He says, well aware of the undertone of this conversation.
"Me too." She mutters, shaking her head. "Anyway, I really should be going. I'm not supposed to be here this late right? Oh I hope you guys aren't gonna get in trouble for this." She says, sniffing and wiping her nose.
"You can stay as long as you damn well please, lady." Katsuki says flippantly. Honestly, given the context he wouldn't be surprised if she moved in just to keep an eye on her little brother. Fuyumi shakes her head though, and the three of them stand in unison.
"We'll see you out." Shouto says, carefully avoiding her gaze. "As thanks for coming to check on me." Fuyumi has been here often enough to know her way around by now, but nevertheless she lets Shouto lead the way back to the gate, and where Shouto goes so does Katsuki, so neither of them pay any mind to him pulling up the rear.
Fuyumi hugs Shouto so tightly it almost hurts when they get to the gate, but Shouto lets her do it. He knows she worries about him, and he just added even more stress on top of everything else, so if his sister wants a hug she'll get one.
Then she turns and bows deeply to Katsuki, who was absolutely not paying attention and is confused by the gesture. He's about to ask her what the hell that's for, but apparently she's a lot better at reading people than Shouto.
"Thank you for looking after my brother in my absence. If there's any way I can repay your kindness, please let me know." And then she turns, gets in her little red car -Which surprisingly hasn't already been towed or ticketed- and waves one last time before speeding away.
Katsuki looks over at Shouto, perplexed.
"Did your sister just thank me for being a decent fuckin' friend?" Shouto shrugs and turns around, starting along the path back to the dorms.
"I don't have a lot of friends." He turns back around to beckon the other boy forward. "Are you coming? Curfew is soon." Katsuki rolls his eyes but starts forward anyway, shaking his head.
"Since when did you care about curfew?"