Chapter Text
The snow is falling around them.
Shouto doesn’t mind at all, though. He loves the snow; it’s very pretty, he thinks. Gentle. Plus, he has natural, inborn temperature regulation; so, it’s not as though he minds this delicate cold. He’s had much worse, been in harsher situations- but he’s in a better place now, and this feels... clean, and calming. He embraces it.
Next to him though, Izuku is shivering, face all pouty and red.
Shouto thinks it’s adorable; but still, he laughs. “I told you that you didn’t have to come with me.”
His boyfriend’s head shakes vigorously. “No! I told you, I’m coming to say goodbye!”
He tilts his head. “But you’ll see me again soon, Izuku. We made plans already for over the break. Our first Christmas Eve, together-”
“I know!” Green eyes roll, even as Izuku turns even redder. “But I’ll still miss you until then! I’ve gotten used to living in the same space as you, you know? It’ll be weird waking up, without you coming back from the gym, with your hair all messy, and…”
Izuku’s voice trails off, and Shouto feels his cheeks heat; he huffs, and gently shoves the other boy’s shoulders. “Shut up.”
“Mm.” Izuku grins at him, as the train finally arrives in the station. His boyfriend leans in, then, and kisses him softly; even now, after several months, of them, it still manages to make his blush deepen. “Goodbye, Shouto.”
(Izuku’s still blushing too though, as he pulls away; so Shouto considers them even.)
In her cat carrier, tucked into his not-shaking arms, Soba lets out a loud meow. Izuku snorts, and bends down to look at her too. “I didn’t forget you, silly. I’ll see you soon too, okay?”
His cat meows again, and next to them, the train lets out a loud chiming noise; it’s almost time to leave. So, with a sigh, Shouto says his final goodbye and pulls away, boarding the train, with his cat and his bag, safely nestled in close.
Izuku waves from the station platform, as the train pulls away; and with that, Shouto’s finally off.
It’s been almost two months, since his father’s trial. Almost two months, since Endeavor’s conviction on all charges and subsequent imprisonment, and a lot has happened, since then.
He’s gotten his provisional license. He’s gotten a boyfriend. He’s reconnected with his mother. He’s gotten closer to his classmates. He’s recovered well from his coma, to the point where his limbs barely shake anymore, and he’s gotten his control over his quirk back. His family name has changed; he’s a Yukimura, now. His nightmares, his fears have lessened. The HPSC has fallen. Their society has undergone massive, history-making changes, and still is, even now.
History rarely happens quickly, after all.
But, right now, U.A. has just let out for winter break. And he’s excited, because he’s never had a real Christmas before; Endeavor would never have allowed it. He’s never gotten to do any of the traditional celebrations, never had anyone around, except his cat.
Most importantly, though, this is the first break from school that he’s had, since his coma, since everything that went down, in his life.
And for the first time ever, Shouto’s going home, to stay.
______________________________
Keigo watches in minor amusement as Touya glares at the stovetop.
Frankly, it all looks delicious, to him. But his boyfriend has never been one to cook anything less than his best; and according to Touya, the roux in the cream stew is slightly overcooked.
It’s not. Keigo, though he’s not a chef or a cook at all, can still tell himself. Touya’s cooked it perfectly.
Touya’s agitation has nothing to do with food, Keigo knows. Rather, it’s because Shouto’s coming home.
The kid texted to say that he was on his way; so, any minute now, he’ll be here; can let himself in with the key that they gave him. And Natsuo and Fuyumi should be over soon, too; they promised that they wanted to be here, for this.
So, Keigo hums, and leans closer, digging his fingers into tense shoulder muscles and kissing the line of Touya’s neck. “It’ll be fine, baby.”
Touya huffs, but doesn’t lean away from him, still staring at the stew. “I- I know. I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
Keigo nods. He can’t deny that he’s nervous too, a bit, because-
This won’t be Shouto just coming for a visit. The kid is coming to live with them, for the next few weeks, and it will be a lot to adjust to.
But at the same time, he’s excited, and he knows that Touya is too; his boyfriend is just allowing his nerves to get the better of him. So, he tries to break that tension. “Hey, if you start to feel too tense, just tease Natsuo. You know Shouto will join right in.”
Touya snorts, relaxing minutely. “True.”
After all, as they’ve found over the past months, Shouto can be a savage little shit, once the kid comes out of his shell enough to be purposely funny. And Shouto and Touya make a brilliant tag team against Natsuo.
Keigo grins, then, and moves in closer, so that he can reach a finger down around Touya and into the pot on the stove, scooping up some of the white sauce. “And hey, I mean-”
“Stop that!” Touya glares at him, lunging for his arm as he waves it around. “No poking your hands in, you heathen!”
“Too late!” He cackles, and makes to stick his finger in his mouth, aiming for that delicious little taste, but-
But Touya gets there first. His lover smirks, snatching his hand away at the last second and popping Keigo’s fingers in his own mouth. Keigo squawks. “Hey!”
“Mm.” Touya hums, swirling a wet tongue around Keigo’s fingers, gently dancing over the talons, and- oh.
He pushes his hand in a bit further, enjoying the sensation, and the way that Touya’s eyes blow wide, but eventually replaces his fingers with his tongue, backing Touya up against the stove and pressing them further together.
Underneath him, Touya lets out a loud moan, panting. “Kei- we don’t have time- oh yes- wait-”
“Are you sure?” He raises an eyebrow, and starts to nip at the line of a long, slender neck, already trailing his hands downwards-
The doorbell chooses this exact second to ring, and there’s also the sound of a key in the lock. Touya snorts, gently pushing him away. “Told you so.”
Keigo groans, but straightens himself out, as they turn to leave the kitchen.
Later. Though they’ll have to be careful, what with Shouto living here, now. They don’t particularly want to scar the kid the way that they’ve accidentally scarred Fuyumi (and Natsuo, to an extent), so many times in the past.
Out in the hallway, Shouto is taking off a rather thin-looking coat (temperature-resistant, how lucky), while Natsuo and Fuyumi also seem to have arrived. Natsuo grins. “Guess who’s here!”
Touya snorts as they walk forward, shaking his head. “I can see you just fine, Natsuo.” The eldest bypasses Natsuo completely, going in to hug Fuyumi as Natsuo sputters indignantly.
Keigo, on the other hand, heads right for Shouto, eyeing the kid and the cat carrier resting on the entryway table. “Good to see you, chickling.”
“Thanks.” Shouto nods, looking at him curiously, as Keigo takes a deep breath and opens the cat carrier.
Soba meows at him, before pacing outwards, and shoving her head into his hand, purring.
Keigo grins triumphantly, taking it as the sign of submission that it obviously is. “See! She has acknowledged me- we’ll learn to get along just fine!”
Shouto snorts at him. Rude.
Touya smirks and walks over, kissing him on the cheek. “And we’re all very proud of you, Kei.” His boyfriend reaches out, ruffling together red-and-white hair, and pulling Shouto into a hug. “Hey, baby brother.”
Shouto smiles back. “Hello.”
______________________________
Touya stares in bemusement, as Natsuo produces a large bag from under a rather thin winter jacket. “What is that?”
His little brother shrugs, grinning proudly. “Supplies!”
He rolls his eyes. “For what?”
“For s’mores, of course!” Natsuo’s smile only widens, as his little brother reaches out to gently shove at his baby brother’s arm. “I told you we’d have a party when Shouto came home!”
Shouto shuffles closer and peeks into the bag, before looking back up at him with solemn blue-and-gray eyes. “You did promise.”
And now Fuyumi’s looking at him too, gray eyes amused, and Touya throws his hands up; though, he can’t help but smile, too; after all, he did. “Fine! But only after we’ve eaten dinner.”
He supposes, that the cake that he made will just have to wait.
Keigo drapes a wing over his shoulder, grinning. “Yeah. Afterwards. After all, we wouldn’t want to spoil our appetites, would we-”
Touya shoves the offending birdbrain back, and manages to corral his unruly siblings and boyfriend into some semblance of order, until his whole family is all seated around the dinner table, ready to eat.
Well, no. They’re not all here- Mother is still in the hospital, of course.
But she’s getting better- custody for her care has been transferred to different doctors, ones that aren’t being bribed, and her divorce proceedings have almost finished going through. One day, she’ll be able to join them here.
For now, though, it’s just them. And he’s gone all out for dinner; he made cream stew, and karaage, rice, dumplings, soba, more soup-
He may have gone slightly overboard, if he’s being honest.
But that’s fine. None of them really mind, anyways; the more food, the merrier.
Besides which. There’s a curious cat at their feet, begging for scraps; and even though Soba can’t eat all of the things he cooked, she can certainly nibble on some and-
Her pleading eyes should be weaponized.
(That cat is going to be so spoiled.)
______________________________
Shouto watches in fascination, as Touya expertly roasts the marshmallow.
It’s so precise. Touya’s flames are hot enough to turn bones to cinders; and yet here they are, delicately toasting a marshmallow to a perfect golden-brown.
Next to him, Natsuo snorts, in the face of his awe. “You should have seen his first attempts at this, Shouto. It was nowhere near this controlled-”
Touya huffs, removing the marshmallow from the stick and plopping it onto a graham cracker, before covering it in a chunk of dark chocolate, melting that too just slightly, and sticking another graham cracker on top. “Seeing as how you can’t do this at all, Natsuo, you have no room to talk.”
His big brother then hands him the thusly-named s’more. “Alright, Shouto. Here you go. First one’s yours.”
He looks around them, at all of them gathered in the living room of his new home, at Soba being kept away from the chocolate by a stray red feather, and bites down.
Oh.
It’s so sweet. The marshmallow is gooey-ooey, and the chocolate is rich and warm, melting in his mouth, and it all pairs really well with the crunchy graham cracker-
Across from him, Fuyumi snorts. “I think he likes it.”
Shouto nods distractedly, mouth full, and a small cheer goes up around the room.
“Well come on, then!” Natsuo smacks Touya on the back. “Make some more, s’mores maker!”
Shouto smiles as Touya growls, but moves to comply. Fortunately, Fuyumi also pulls an electric blowtorch out of the bag, and moves to help Touya; together, the two of them are efficient, roasting multiple marshmallows at a time and toasting them efficiently.
It’s fun. And Shouto’s happy.
Later that night, when Natsuo and Fuyumi have gone home, he finds himself alone in his new bedroom, purring cat on his chest.
His new room looks a lot like his old one, but it’s different too. There’s no harsh memories, associated with this one; some of the décor is different, and he finds that he can breathe, as though he was choking all his life before, but has finally sucked in clean air.
A quiet knock comes on the door; Touya pokes his head in. “Shouto?”
He blinks, turning his head. “Yes?”
Touya hums at him, expression gentle. “Just wanted to say goodnight, again. That’s all.”
“Oh.” He bobs his head in thanks. “Goodnight, then.”
Touya’s face softens further, and his big brother breathes the words out. “Yeah. Welcome home, baby brother.”
The door closes quietly behind Touya, and Shouto smiles.