Chapter 157 - Interlude

- Shoto ?

I froze in the doorway, helmet in hand, shoes on the verge of being put on.

Even if I'd barely heard it over the last few years, I'd recognise that voice anywhere.

- Can I talk to you for a bit ? It won't take long

I didn't answer, preferring to turn my head ambiguously towards the front door.

- Just give me a minute

I hesitated, my fingers digging into the foam of my helmet, my eyes going to my watch : I had lunch with Hawks in thirty minutes....

- Please

I sighed and put my shoes back on the shelf and the helmet back where it belonged.

She didn't smile when I turned to her, just nodded and turned on her heels in a way that clearly meant 'follow me'.

So I followed her, a little farther back, strolling lazily.

She was small, frail, so fragile that I could have broken her simply by pushing her.

I wasn't sure why I was following her.

Maybe out of pity, certainly out of curiosity.

She took me to the west wing, a place I hadn't been in eleven years.

The moment we crossed the last corridor of the 'common' section between the east and west wings, the scenery changed.

The previously empty walls were suddenly filled with picture frames. Hundreds of them showed Rei, Fuyumi and Natsuo skiing, diving, singing at a karaoke, climbing up a mountain.

Fuyumi holding a starfish, Natsuo in a plaster cast, Fuyumi in a pink taffeta dress with fairy wings, Natsuo having a mud fight with another unknown child, Rei eating meat kebabs, a terrified Rei skydiving, a crying Natsuo in straps on a bridge, clutching what looked like a bungee instructor while Fuyumi, her hair dishevelled, laughed at him.

The east wing smelled different to ours, smelled of four different people, but none who weren't Todoroki.

There were no staff on that side of the house, just Rei and her children.

We passed by a living room that was smaller and more cosy than the one in the main building : a board game lay abandoned on table, salad bowls and glasses were piled up in the sink of the tiny kitchen.

No chef cooked here but Rei and maybe whoever else felt like it.

They had to eat their meals as a family every day, sitting around this tiny three-seater table, elbow to elbow, telling each other about their days, laughing and getting angry when their knees bumped into each other's too much.

There were silly drawings and reports on the fridge door, a blanket left on the sofa, cushions thrown carelessly on the floor, a pile of books next to the television.

Their house was just an extension of ours, barely a hallway away, and yet I felt like I was in a completely different world.

We had photos too, but since it was Teka who took them and Teka who insisted on keeping them... neither my father nor I were the type to ask for copies.

Sword and Cross hadn't been the type to hand out certificates to hang on fridges, and I wasn't sure I'd have liked to see my various middle school expellings framed, lined up and displayed for all to see.

We'd taken a few trip here and there, but we'd stopped when we realised that every holiday would end in either an abduction attempt (for me) or an assassination attempt (for my father).

Leaving aside the bad times, I had a whole life full of happy memories, moments that made me smile when I thought about them - my life was good, but it was the antithesis of what they had lived.

Their life had been easy, peaceful, full of sunny days and public parks.

A long time ago... a long time ago I would have blamed them for living such a quiet life while I...

Even I could see that this reasoning was selfish and egocentric.

I wasn't the main character in a tragic play, I wasn't the protagonist of this world, I wasn't the pitiful child who thought he was lucky, that he was different, that he could live his life as he saw fit.

Whether I died or not, the earth would continue to spin and the sun would continue to rise.

What I'd been through was not their fault, let alone their responsibility.

I looked again at the photos of laughter and happiness, captured at the perfect moment.

A long time ago I would have felt resentment, probably even a little jealousy.

But now...

I smiled.

Good for them.

Rei stopped, one hand on the shoji, glancing over her shoulder as if to make sure I was still there.

She pushed open the sliding door, leaving her slippers inside before entering.

- Close the door behind you, please

I stepped inside, my eyes scanning the room.

Rei sat in seiza behind a low table with a teapot and two cups.

The linen walls were empty, the decor sober.

I had half expected to see Touya beside her.

I sat down opposite Rei, my left leg as if I were sitting cross-legged and my right knee raised, my outstretched arm resting on it.

She served us in turn, pouring two spoonfuls of sugar into her cup and setting the other aside.

- You like your tea plain, if I remember correctly ?

I nodded and took the cup.

She smiled softly, her eyes downcast, the creases at the corners of her mouth deepening.

- Just like your father

Her fingers were clasped around her mug.

She still wore her wedding ring.

I waited for her to speak; she took another sip of her green tea in silence.

Keeping my eyes on her, I raised the cup to my face. Her head was still low.

She was old like my father, but in a different way.

Her wrinkles weren't from stress and fatigue, but from laughing and smiling. Her skin wasn't pale, but parchment from spending too much time under the sun. Her hair hadn't been cut with kitchen scissors by her son, but by a quality hairdresser who knew what he was doing.

Her fingers weren't stained with ink, her shoulders weren't heavy from the worry I caused her, her hair wasn't prematurely white from the stress I inflicted her.

She smelled of shampoo, flour and mint.

She smelled like my father should have smelled if I'd been a better son.

With one finger I pulled my mask down over my chin, put the cup in front of my face and pretended to drink.

When my mask was back on and the cup barely in place, she began to speak.

- You know... I've thought a lot about you these past few years.

There was a silence.

A long time ago I would have had the audacity to think she was waiting for me to respond something along those lines, but now I knew she just wanted to talk and for me to listen.

- To tell you the truth, I don't think I've spent a single day of my life since you were born without worrying about you.

She smiled and there was something sad in her expression.

- You were a quiet child, you know ? Even as a baby, you only cried when you wanted me to feed you

Eyelids lowered, she looked down at her tea and smiled at her own reflection.

- I'd had three children before you, so it wasn't hard for me to understand that you were different. Of course, for a while I thought you were ill, or that there was something else wrong with you. But in the end, you were just a precocious little boy. I didn't love you any less for that, quite the opposite

I wanted to wiggle uncomfortably, but I forced myself to stay still and stared at Rei as if I was seeing her for the first time, because in a way, this was really the first time I'd had a conversation with Rei Todoroki.

- As soon as you could walk, you ran after Enji. I remember it well : the second he crossed the threshold, you were at his side, tugging at his trousers to make him pay attention to you. Touya, Fuyumi and Natsuo always left him alone because they knew he was tired, but you... no matter how many times I made you promise to leave him alone every day, you just said 'yes' and kept coming back...

She smiled... fondly at the memory.

- I think your father really liked knowing that someone was waiting for him like that every day. He always found it hard to cope with all the shouting and noise, but because you were so quiet... (She paused for a moment) You soon became his favourite, you know ? He used to listen to you talk about your favourite comic strip - do you remember ? It was Princess Sarah - for hours on end, read you stories in the evenings when he wasn't home late, picked you up from your cot when you were asleep to hold you on his knee while he worked in his office. Enji told me he was trying to create someone more powerful than him, and at first I thought it was because your hair was-

She shook her head.

- But it was much deeper than that. Over time, he even stopped talking about All Might and his ambition, and... for a while, we were a very happy family. It was more than I could have ever hoped for.

Rei seemed calm, at peace.

Then her face wrinkled, worry creasing her forehead.

- Touya eventually noticed the preferential treatment and took it personally. He was angry all the time and no matter how much I told him that the way Enji treated you didn't mean he loved him any less, he told me I was lying. Looking back, I think he was right.

*

Author's note :

This cut at the end of the chapter is horribly abrupt, I know, but I couldn't find a satisfying way to split this part up and it was way, way too long to make it one chapter, so sorry everyone.

If you want to support the story AND read ahead of schedule up to 27 chapters, go check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !