Bakugo
10 years ago
It took Headset a long time to heal after the war. We took it step by step. Needless to say, our relationship took years to get to where it is now.
She had a lot of questions that were difficult to answer. As for what happened to her brother, it's complicated. It's a story for another day.
Thing is, I didn't just work hard to become a hero. A whole generation and I worked hard to shift the system, make it as just as we could rather than continue on in one where too many were left behind.
Tomura Shigaraki was proof of its past failures. Tenko Shimura may have been salvaged from the ashes, but for all the pain he caused, to the rest of the world, he remains dead.
His memory isn't one I like to think about. Neither is the war. The past is a place fraught with bittersweet. Though I haven't anywhere near forgotten it, any time before my children, I find myself troubled to go back to.
Headset barely can. If she does, there's a lot of pain associated with the unburial of such unpleasant recollections. I choose to not put her through it. I choose to not put Yuki and Ame through the burden of hearing it either.
Last night was the first time I ever had to truly think about it. Yuki asked her mother over dinner why she didn't call Enji and Rei mom and dad. She asked why mom has a booboo on her back, a scar, withered and mournful under light. She even asked why mom doesn't have a special superpower like dad and uncle Shoto.
I wasn't sure what to say. Neither was Headset.
Our exchanged glances across the table while Yuki stares with her bug eyes and messy mouth says more than any answer could. Ame looks at his sister, mimicking her posture before turning back to us.
"I was adopted, remember, honey?" Yin reaches across the table, wiping at Yuki's lips with a napkin. Ame's face is clean (he's a picky eater), but he still leans forward, wants to be included I assume. "My family passed away. I needed a new home, the Todorokis gave me one."
"But why did your family pass away?" Yuki goes on, her legs dangling off the chair. "Grandpa Enji and Grandma Rei are still your mom and dad right? Why does dad not like Grandpa?"
"Dad doesn't mind grandpa." I swiftly correct. Enji taught me a lot of indispensable skills and life lessons. He plays father to Shoto and Yin as well as he can. But his past isn't one I forgot either.
Headset smiles a sad smile. She tucks Yuki's hair back, cups Ame's face in afterthought, dragging a thumb over his cheekbone, before sitting back in her seat.
"But you don't hug grandpa," Yuki says.
"Dad doesn't like hugs."
"You were hugging mommy in your bed this morning. That's what you said the noise was."
Headset chokes on her water.
"That's a different type of hug. It's a special hug adults give each other."
"When do I get to give special hugs!?" Yuki protests, crossing her arms and frowning at me.
Headset coughs some more. She can't catch a break and neither can I.
"Never! Not until you're 30!" I yell, pointing a fork at her.
"Ew!" Yuki sticks her tongue out at me, banging her fists on the table. "I'll be old!"
"I'm 30, you brat."
"Dad, you're old. You and grandpa should definitely like each other." The girl scolds me, raising a finger in the air and closing her eyes smugly. "I mean, you have so much in common."
