My home-world called me back for a bit; right to the moment I'd last recalled, but it's more than I can explain just yet—things about Toya-nii's past and my own; I realized I'd need to begin from the start, or nothing I say will make sense either way.
[An address comes next (coordinates from a small, traditional home in the Sunwaning sect), and Shadow will find him brooding in place, still, rigidly perched on edge of a backyard engawa. A modest garden hiding a pond, a path, unswept maple leaves littering stones across from moss, trees, and iris. Not showy, though he's put a lot into making his home a space of calm made for two.
I've only explained it to sensei, myself; but I was surprised when you'd asked what it meant—who I'd been chasing up until now...
[A hesitation, small as it is-]
I'd just been wondering where to begin. Toya-nii's world was different from mine; like we'd watched each other through glass, much as it seems we'd never truly met—
[Not like siblings; not the way he's hoped so much, always dreams about.]
You could... say the root's this power of mine. We call them "Quirks" where I've come from, so... any powers you could imagine, you'd probably find them in time if you looked; but like anything else, they can still be abused. Just like Heroes exist in our world, we still see Villains in equal amounts- And just as true, my father was strong; our lives were full of people like that—professional Heroes wherever you'd look; and there's always only been one at the top; someone stronger than anyone else that even my old man couldn't surpass...
[Always ranked at #2-]
Always second where All Might was first; but knowing as much, it drove him insane...
[Enough to hurt, become the most rotten, contemptible Villain ever ranked a named Hero-]
So, my father hatched another scheme. We have our limits to what we can do, and father possessed such incredible flames... Flames that could burn him alive if he'd pushed, but things like ethics were never a thought. Pushing a boundary or two, if he could... [or three, or four, whatever it took,] So, he "found" a woman with ice; someone without much choice in her life. Someone desperate who wouldn't reject—
[It makes him ill...]
—a suitor possessed with power and wealth; whose family sold her, just like that... As if she was forced for the sake of her clan, but it wasn't a family he had in his mind- In hopes of creating a child with both: powerful flames just like his own, but ice to shatter those limits of heat; those inherited issues behind his own Quirk— What I'm saying is, I was the fourth. Toya-nii was the first of those "tries".
[Shadow nods. He will stay and listen. He is glad he is. Listening to the story of his father, this man lagging behind a greater example, a greater hero. There are similarities between himself and Sonic in this. Yet not to this extent. The extend his man went to. To find someone with a power opposite his own, to try and create the ultimate quirk. At least, as far as he saw it. Four attempts. Four children.
Four born into Hell. His fist closes and it's the only sign of his emotions.]
And you were his Ultimate creation, am I correct? And your brother, Toya, the one you are looking to catch up to. He was the first.
Right. ["The masterpiece creation".] The so-called "weapon" to take down All Might; but I've always— [he stalls, swallows an ache he's very nearly forgotten-] always admired him in my heart, even knowing what my existence meant.
[To rival a man before he could walk...]
But Toya-nii was different from that. He only saw one man in his eyes, and father poured all the weight of his dreams—those wants in his head till it drowned out sense, so he'd never considered looking at anyone else. Not even All Might compared in his mind, so you can imagine the way that he'd felt; but all he'd learned was to turn up his heat, making a kindling of out himself; flames that surpassed even father's, before, but that's the danger in mixing our Quirks... Limits born of the frost in his blood—or rather, his ice wasn't nearly enough; and to balance a heat containing that strength, you'd need a capacity more like mine— [hence, the search for "half and half",] but Toya-nii couldn't bear it at all; meaning once father saw what he was, he was looking instead at what he wasn't.
["Toya's case was... regrettable"-]
The day I was born, I think... He knew. Father was looking at him less and less; same as rescinding a "birthright" in ways: all his hopes of becoming his best; inheriting all our father could do; it's like he'd snatched it right out of his palms, lighting a flame just to leave it to burn— [A heat-based Quirk; consuming all sense-] He'd tried attacking me soon after that—but father placed me away like a doll; unable to play, or eat the same foods, keeping me separate like something reserved...
[Three on one side; the boy on the other-]
We lived entirely separate lives, separate worlds beneath the same roof, and somehow Toya-nii saw it all, too— All that "training" to make me the knife; the same things beat through me day after day, to shape that iron through force of his flames; maybe that'd looked like more than it was, but far as he knew, I'd replaced him myself, so it's no wonder he'd wanted me out of his sights.
[But, he knew. He's said he knew.]
What he was, what father had planned; in quieter ways, it broke him too, and when mom couldn't stop him from chasing those flames— [again, the pause, his stalling to make things a little more palatable-] father "lashed out" as same as always; blaming Toya-nii's injuries on mom, ignoring his parts in everything else; and there wasn't a thing we could do at the time, but we—each of us knew what we were, even then...
["The puppet", "forgotten", "discarded", "the tricked".]
[Shadow's face softens. He listens and watches Shoto closely. He tries to read his reactions, his body language, and decipher his tone. To be separate was something he understood. Being separated from people one wanted to be with wasn't so familiar a feeling for the hedgehog. Still, the injuries, his brother trying to hurt him, their father unable to recognize his own actions and their effects on his own family. Familiar but also different. Crueler. The professor had wanted to help and lashed out when betrayed, when they both lost someone good and decent.]
If I am being honest, it sounds like everything became clouded before your Quirk. Your birth and your quirk merely escalated the issues already there. Because you had a quirk that he desired all along. Had Toya had it, he wouldn't have tried for more children. The fault lies with your father.
[Shyly, he keeps his eyes from meeting the other's, though he half considers the shapes of trees, a little koi pond, his palms. Anywhere else-]
Probably... Yeah. I guess that's true.
[It does makes sense.]
But just being born wasn't nearly enough; and mom was completely worn down at that point, to where just looking at us made her sick— [He makes a vague, half-gesture circling a rust-colored eyelid.] But then our hair, our faces, even our eyes were more like his; and mom couldn't bear it as long as she had, saying she wasn't as fit to raise us; how she couldn't stand my left—
[Always crying, whispering, cornered, afraid-]
Things were bound to boil over like that...
[A brimming, steaming, screeching kettle loops in mind like an echo.]
If you're wondering about this too; I think of this burn as something of "his", rather than anything mom did herself.
[Which is to say, he isn't holding anything grudging against her...]
[The scar on Shoto's face is a question Shadow never asked. Given his world, the powers, and his training to become stronger, it could have come from anywhere. Truthfully, Shadow had wondered if it was his father who gave it to him. No. It was his mother, pushed to the breaking point. She scared her own child because part of him looked like his father. The man's cruelty spread even to his children through their appearance. Their very DNA.
Shadow's ears lower ever so slightly at the thought and revelation. Yet Shoto didn't blame her. No, he blames his father. Something he caused.]
She sounds as much a victim as you and your eldest brother. And the rest of your siblings, I would imagine. Perhaps more so.
[This time, the boy does manage to lift his eyes for some moments. He's heard "murderer"; naturally. "Madman". "Victim" layers; acknowledges.
He sinks his face.]
No one's... said it of Toya-nii, like that...
["As much as", he means.]
Mom endured it as much as she could, but like I said, we had our limits; being strong, but still human inside—
She completely broke down after that, but it was our father who put her away, and nothing resolved for the next 10 years. Toya-nii never gave up on things, once, but by then was completely ignored—burning himself again and again; like making it brighter would mean new results, even though father kept looking away...
["Ain't lookin' after him", he's recalled.]
Toya-nii... burned to death, asking like that; the night he'd gone to the mountains, alone; begging our father one last time, being ignored that one last time. We'd found his jaw, and we'd "buried" just that-
[And slowly, the boy reclines until he's flat instead, backwards. Bright eyes shut.]
Our old man lost every inch of his mind. It took 3 years, but in truth, it'd dissolved. All that rage into "training" my Quirk; having something to show for it all... It's like he couldn't turn back at that point. And I— was lost before I knew it. Every lesson he'd burned through my left, I put into practice with just my right. Waiting the way my brother was, too-
[Just like Toya. Angry. Bitter.]
I was same as him, boiling with hate... Only, Toya-nii wasn't deceased. "Someone" found him, kept him alive. But by then, he knew nothing changed— Just how pointless all of it was- [His birth; returning at all-] "Toya died, and 'Dabi' was born".
[Resentment and hatred are feelings Shadow is all too familiar with. He's still angry about so many things. It doesn't die down. A fire that refuses to cease burning. He watches Shoto lie back and follows suit, laying next to him. He stares up at the sky and is quiet as he thinks of what to say.]
...You want to catch up to Dabi now, don't you? To close the gap. What do you want to do when you finally catch up?
[Something dies when he recalls. His eyes prick, first, and there's a too-warm, foggy sensation he means to suppress, but... The boy keeps still, and then he's debating on whether it's worth mentioning at all. The gap's been "closed". The question stays, since he's answering to stillness of a cooled, night air.]
"Soba".
[Simply.]
I thought we'd eat it together, just once-
[Doesn't matter, since Toya's charred, dissolving "remains" could barely lift his jaw to speak. It's truly over; all of it.]
But I went home—and I did catch up; but all I got was that one, single word-
[It'd be weeks, maybe. Months.]
All he'd learned was to turn up the heat; and even I can't follow him, now... [Slow, dark, lingering death.] I can't.
[Shadow listens and looks at Shoto as he explains. Soba. He had hoped to eat it with his brother but now, it was impossible. Dabi had been able to grow his flames hotter than Shoto could but at what cost?]
Perhaps you can't. But what you can do is honor him. Eat Soba for him. And make sure others don't befall the same fate. If you can't catch up to him now, make sure no one else is driven to do so. That is what I would do.
[Given Shoto knowing some other universe's version of him, it makes sense. Shadow nods. At least the other him Shoto knew had sense. Any version of him without it would not be him at all.]
Finding purpose, new purpose, can be difficult. We will continue training together. I will teach you and perhaps you will find new purpose simultaneously.
You are powerful, Shoto. Control, sharpened and precise control is where we will focus. Turn the avalanche into a blade. Focus your fire to a welding torch. Build on the foundations from your training in your world. We'll protect Ellipsa together.
[This time, he's nowhere close to confusing one for the other. He's met two Shadows; trusts one fully to share too much in entirety; but there's less than zero difference in the wisdoms of both. "Cold hands, warm heart" as sayings go. He looks back dazed, and then he's thinking of Toya who'd always had too much to say.]
Control the "calamity"... right?
[It's what he's heard, though Toya's words were whittled thin, sharp, mocking observation spat in the heat of a fight. You have it all, so use it all. What Shadow's proposing's a fine-edged sword. His Quirk's an Emitter; an S-class; a natural disaster on the widest of scales, but...
He's all-too-thoroughly swept away by what the other suggests. He's feared ambition so long, and he's spent a lifetime dodging Endeavor's magma-pooled footsteps, but—his path's evolved; his Quirk's evolved; he can't go half, and it's plain truth he's still unaware he's reached a fourth of his strength. He's 17: he has no limits he hasn't imposed on himself. The Ultimate Lifeform's offering more; but more than deeply, brightly, he's seeing his friendship first...
He likes "together".]
Okay.
[Softly.]
My Quirk's in your care, if you don't mind.
[It'd... very likely... kill anyone else-]
I can't just go all out on sensei now...
[If Hijikata trains soul and sword, then Quirks rest safely with Shadow. It just makes sense.]
You could say he's my purpose too, in a way.
[The boy cranes up, and there's the slowing, hushed sound of approaching footsteps making their way towards them both. An outwardly elegant man's, at least; though maybe Shadow can see he's the same size as Shoto. A child's knight.
[Before Shadow got here, before the events back home, he knows he wouldn't be offering this. Offering to help Shoto control the calamity, like he said. An strong turn of phrase and description. Ellipsa has changed him. Losing his world has changed him. Now? Some may say he's a different person. Shadow knows he is still himself. He has simple found new motivation. New purpose.
He nods to Shoto.]
I understand the weight of that responsibility. I won't fail you.
[He is about to ask about this Sensei when Shoto speaks and then the footsteps approach. The hedgehog sits up and looks at the approaching person. He nods to them in greeting but doesn't say anything first.]
[Hijikata, back from work, isn't surprised to find his mentee outside in the garden eternally teetering between summer's last warmth and autumn's first chill, but he is surprised to see that he has company. Has he ever really brought a friend home with him before? But given the recent events, chances are he needed to talk to someone besides just his mentor.]
Why, Shoto-kun, I see we have a guest. Shadow, right?
[Whether he's seen the hedgehog on the network or his reputation as the ultimate lifeform simply precedes him is anyone's guess, but either way, in lieu of offering a hand, Hijikata holds up a plastic bag.]
We had leftover pizza bread at work. It's still warm! Let me get some drinks, too.
[Even with Shoto perking up at his appearance as usual, he can tell that the boy is exhausted - but also calmer, less emotionally stirred up. He's been through a lot, and Hijikata is grateful for any support he gets. After briefly dipping back inside to fetch whatever the others would like to drink, he'll sit with them, assuming that they may fill him in on what they were discussing.]
[To be this reticent, it's less his need for companionship, now, rather than pressing urge to explain his scattered whereabouts these last few weeks. Though maybe it's telling how Shadow's his first exception, too. It's never occurred to bring a guest to the house. He likes Rinku; sees Jean and Mukuro nearly as much as he wants; but he's never actually chanced a visit before. A burrow's a burrow still, hidden or not. Only his sensei who's, to this point, been privy to things he'd normally keep and secretly hoards for himself; and even now, the youth seems naturally drawn into some quiet place internally fixed. Though, the immediate kinship Shadow's evoked is more or less a feat in itself. He's practically buzzing between them both once Hijikata's joined them too.
And, of course, he's eyeing the snacks he presents...]
Ah. [Yes, yes-] Shadow's... here because I asked. We were training before, so I had to explain—
[Shadow looks to Hijikata when he appears. He stands and eyes the food then the man. He gives a respectful nod at the offer and allows Shoto to explain why he is here. He notes the man knows of him already. He is the Ultimate Lifeform. It isn't outside the realm of possibility his reputation proceeds him. Also, Shoto may have talked about him to his teacher.]
Thank you for the offer. I would be glad to stay and eat with you both.
[Shadow has a new appreciation for pizza thanks to Sonic, honestly. He'll accept a drink. Something bitter if they have it or water.]
And things with Dabi. [Shadow finishes for Shoto. Not a lie but not acknowledging the ending part.]
[Water ends up being the easiest option for while they eat, but afterwards, Hijikata will make some green tea (hopefully the Cat Pot will behave!). At Shadow's question, he shakes his head.]
No, I'm with Nightwake's police. We just sometimes order food to the station, and today there was a bunch of leftovers.
[He may have complained a lot about being "grounded" in the office until the end of the year, but it isn't entirely without its perks!]
So you guys had been training before Shoto-kun was called home? What's your season, Shadow-kun?
[Given that Shadow's picked up on the honorifics, he's going to include him in turn... alas, he's defaulting to what feels appropriate to him. Shadow is a cute hedgehog lad!!]
[Shoto nods mutely, inclining a little when the man next speaks. He answers partially, if only because he's busied himself with savoring crust, spice, and sauce. His diet's far from odd restrictions now...]
If Harrison cared what he had on his hands, sensei might be deputy chief by now—
[Much as honorifics exist, his tone does make it implicitly clear he isn't especially sweet. The disrespect is hard to miss, suggests the boy cares just for this "cop" while masking disdain for his boss. Clearly, his sensei does no wrong...]
...
Sorry...
He's an instructor, like you. I already knew he'd show me a lot, but then my Quirk barely fazed him at all- [His cheeks puff, full.] So to be honest, I was annoyed... Even though I went all out—
[The seasonal question's for Shadow. His teeth flash white, tear a huge and sulking piece of soft-baked bread, cheese and garlic.
Anyways-] You're both a lot harder to fight than you'd think...
[A compliment, too, since there's the softening of his voice that seems to hint at something else. His taste for combat can't be polished enough.]
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Text; un: shoto
Date: 2024-09-10 04:32 am (UTC)Re: Text; un: shoto
Date: 2024-09-11 12:43 am (UTC)Re: Text; un: shoto
Date: 2024-09-14 11:49 pm (UTC)My home-world called me back for a bit; right to the moment I'd last recalled, but it's more than I can explain just yet—things about Toya-nii's past and my own; I realized I'd need to begin from the start, or nothing I say will make sense either way.
Re: Text; un: shoto
Date: 2024-09-16 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-17 05:22 am (UTC)[An address comes next (coordinates from a small, traditional home in the Sunwaning sect), and Shadow will find him brooding in place, still, rigidly perched on edge of a backyard engawa. A modest garden hiding a pond, a path, unswept maple leaves littering stones across from moss, trees, and iris. Not showy, though he's put a lot into making his home a space of calm made for two.
He sets out tea.]
It might be a bit before sensei's back...
no subject
Date: 2024-09-19 03:38 pm (UTC)[He is fast enough to arrive. He walks over to Shoto and sits with him. He takes a cup of the offered tea and watches him for a moment.]
Then we have time. And I can stay until he returns, if you want. [He sips the tea.]
General cw: familial abuse
Date: 2024-09-28 01:55 pm (UTC)[The long pause settles.]
I've only explained it to sensei, myself; but I was surprised when you'd asked what it meant—who I'd been chasing up until now...
[A hesitation, small as it is-]
I'd just been wondering where to begin. Toya-nii's world was different from mine; like we'd watched each other through glass, much as it seems we'd never truly met—
[Not like siblings; not the way he's hoped so much, always dreams about.]
You could... say the root's this power of mine. We call them "Quirks" where I've come from, so... any powers you could imagine, you'd probably find them in time if you looked; but like anything else, they can still be abused. Just like Heroes exist in our world, we still see Villains in equal amounts- And just as true, my father was strong; our lives were full of people like that—professional Heroes wherever you'd look; and there's always only been one at the top; someone stronger than anyone else that even my old man couldn't surpass...
[Always ranked at #2-]
Always second where All Might was first; but knowing as much, it drove him insane...
[Enough to hurt, become the most rotten, contemptible Villain ever ranked a named Hero-]
So, my father hatched another scheme. We have our limits to what we can do, and father possessed such incredible flames... Flames that could burn him alive if he'd pushed, but things like ethics were never a thought. Pushing a boundary or two, if he could... [or three, or four, whatever it took,] So, he "found" a woman with ice; someone without much choice in her life. Someone desperate who wouldn't reject—
[It makes him ill...]
—a suitor possessed with power and wealth; whose family sold her, just like that... As if she was forced for the sake of her clan, but it wasn't a family he had in his mind- In hopes of creating a child with both: powerful flames just like his own, but ice to shatter those limits of heat; those inherited issues behind his own Quirk— What I'm saying is, I was the fourth. Toya-nii was the first of those "tries".
[His "failed creation", in his words.]
All of us, born into Hell in that house.
Re: General cw: familial abuse
Date: 2024-09-28 08:55 pm (UTC)Four born into Hell. His fist closes and it's the only sign of his emotions.]
And you were his Ultimate creation, am I correct? And your brother, Toya, the one you are looking to catch up to. He was the first.
Re: General cw: familial abuse
Date: 2024-10-16 08:14 am (UTC)[To rival a man before he could walk...]
But Toya-nii was different from that. He only saw one man in his eyes, and father poured all the weight of his dreams—those wants in his head till it drowned out sense, so he'd never considered looking at anyone else. Not even All Might compared in his mind, so you can imagine the way that he'd felt; but all he'd learned was to turn up his heat, making a kindling of out himself; flames that surpassed even father's, before, but that's the danger in mixing our Quirks... Limits born of the frost in his blood—or rather, his ice wasn't nearly enough; and to balance a heat containing that strength, you'd need a capacity more like mine— [hence, the search for "half and half",] but Toya-nii couldn't bear it at all; meaning once father saw what he was, he was looking instead at what he wasn't.
["Toya's case was... regrettable"-]
The day I was born, I think... He knew. Father was looking at him less and less; same as rescinding a "birthright" in ways: all his hopes of becoming his best; inheriting all our father could do; it's like he'd snatched it right out of his palms, lighting a flame just to leave it to burn— [A heat-based Quirk; consuming all sense-] He'd tried attacking me soon after that—but father placed me away like a doll; unable to play, or eat the same foods, keeping me separate like something reserved...
[Three on one side; the boy on the other-]
We lived entirely separate lives, separate worlds beneath the same roof, and somehow Toya-nii saw it all, too— All that "training" to make me the knife; the same things beat through me day after day, to shape that iron through force of his flames; maybe that'd looked like more than it was, but far as he knew, I'd replaced him myself, so it's no wonder he'd wanted me out of his sights.
[But, he knew. He's said he knew.]
What he was, what father had planned; in quieter ways, it broke him too, and when mom couldn't stop him from chasing those flames— [again, the pause, his stalling to make things a little more palatable-] father "lashed out" as same as always; blaming Toya-nii's injuries on mom, ignoring his parts in everything else; and there wasn't a thing we could do at the time, but we—each of us knew what we were, even then...
["The puppet", "forgotten", "discarded", "the tricked".]
Everything clouded once he had my Quirk.
Re: General cw: familial abuse
Date: 2024-10-19 10:28 pm (UTC)If I am being honest, it sounds like everything became clouded before your Quirk. Your birth and your quirk merely escalated the issues already there. Because you had a quirk that he desired all along. Had Toya had it, he wouldn't have tried for more children. The fault lies with your father.
General cw: burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-10-27 05:52 pm (UTC)Probably... Yeah. I guess that's true.
[It does makes sense.]
But just being born wasn't nearly enough; and mom was completely worn down at that point, to where just looking at us made her sick— [He makes a vague, half-gesture circling a rust-colored eyelid.] But then our hair, our faces, even our eyes were more like his; and mom couldn't bear it as long as she had, saying she wasn't as fit to raise us; how she couldn't stand my left—
[Always crying, whispering, cornered, afraid-]
Things were bound to boil over like that...
[A brimming, steaming, screeching kettle loops in mind like an echo.]
If you're wondering about this too; I think of this burn as something of "his", rather than anything mom did herself.
[Which is to say, he isn't holding anything grudging against her...]
I think, I probably couldn't blame her for that.
Re: General cw: burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-10-27 10:53 pm (UTC)Shadow's ears lower ever so slightly at the thought and revelation. Yet Shoto didn't blame her. No, he blames his father. Something he caused.]
She sounds as much a victim as you and your eldest brother. And the rest of your siblings, I would imagine. Perhaps more so.
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-09 05:06 pm (UTC)[This time, the boy does manage to lift his eyes for some moments. He's heard "murderer"; naturally. "Madman". "Victim" layers; acknowledges.
He sinks his face.]
No one's... said it of Toya-nii, like that...
["As much as", he means.]
Mom endured it as much as she could, but like I said, we had our limits; being strong, but still human inside—
She completely broke down after that, but it was our father who put her away, and nothing resolved for the next 10 years. Toya-nii never gave up on things, once, but by then was completely ignored—burning himself again and again; like making it brighter would mean new results, even though father kept looking away...
["Ain't lookin' after him", he's recalled.]
Toya-nii... burned to death, asking like that; the night he'd gone to the mountains, alone; begging our father one last time, being ignored that one last time. We'd found his jaw, and we'd "buried" just that-
[And slowly, the boy reclines until he's flat instead, backwards. Bright eyes shut.]
Our old man lost every inch of his mind. It took 3 years, but in truth, it'd dissolved. All that rage into "training" my Quirk; having something to show for it all... It's like he couldn't turn back at that point. And I— was lost before I knew it. Every lesson he'd burned through my left, I put into practice with just my right. Waiting the way my brother was, too-
[Just like Toya. Angry. Bitter.]
I was same as him, boiling with hate... Only, Toya-nii wasn't deceased. "Someone" found him, kept him alive. But by then, he knew nothing changed— Just how pointless all of it was- [His birth; returning at all-] "Toya died, and 'Dabi' was born".
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-13 05:05 am (UTC)...You want to catch up to Dabi now, don't you? To close the gap. What do you want to do when you finally catch up?
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-18 06:39 am (UTC)"Soba".
[Simply.]
I thought we'd eat it together, just once-
[Doesn't matter, since Toya's charred, dissolving "remains" could barely lift his jaw to speak. It's truly over; all of it.]
But I went home—and I did catch up; but all I got was that one, single word-
[It'd be weeks, maybe. Months.]
All he'd learned was to turn up the heat; and even I can't follow him, now... [Slow, dark, lingering death.] I can't.
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-21 01:08 am (UTC)Perhaps you can't. But what you can do is honor him. Eat Soba for him. And make sure others don't befall the same fate. If you can't catch up to him now, make sure no one else is driven to do so. That is what I would do.
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-21 05:09 pm (UTC)His last words stick.]
That sounds like... something you'd say. [If that makes sense.] I'd been wondering what I should do; with everything left, I mean-
[The light of Phosphor, the culmination of heat and cool in laced, harmonious flux. To "grow" that light-]
I want— I think I'd like to keep training, together.
[He blinks damply, quiet.]
I trust you. And I like this world. There's no reason not to protect it, ourselves.
Re: General cw: death, burns, familial abuse
Date: 2024-11-26 03:54 am (UTC)Finding purpose, new purpose, can be difficult. We will continue training together. I will teach you and perhaps you will find new purpose simultaneously.
You are powerful, Shoto. Control, sharpened and precise control is where we will focus. Turn the avalanche into a blade. Focus your fire to a welding torch. Build on the foundations from your training in your world. We'll protect Ellipsa together.
Tag order: Shoto, Shadow, Hijikata work?
Date: 2024-12-02 08:59 pm (UTC)Control the "calamity"... right?
[It's what he's heard, though Toya's words were whittled thin, sharp, mocking observation spat in the heat of a fight. You have it all, so use it all. What Shadow's proposing's a fine-edged sword. His Quirk's an Emitter; an S-class; a natural disaster on the widest of scales, but...
He's all-too-thoroughly swept away by what the other suggests. He's feared ambition so long, and he's spent a lifetime dodging Endeavor's magma-pooled footsteps, but—his path's evolved; his Quirk's evolved; he can't go half, and it's plain truth he's still unaware he's reached a fourth of his strength. He's 17: he has no limits he hasn't imposed on himself. The Ultimate Lifeform's offering more; but more than deeply, brightly, he's seeing his friendship first...
He likes "together".]
Okay.
[Softly.]
My Quirk's in your care, if you don't mind.
[It'd... very likely... kill anyone else-]
I can't just go all out on sensei now...
[If Hijikata trains soul and sword, then Quirks rest safely with Shadow. It just makes sense.]
You could say he's my purpose too, in a way.
[The boy cranes up, and there's the slowing, hushed sound of approaching footsteps making their way towards them both. An outwardly elegant man's, at least; though maybe Shadow can see he's the same size as Shoto. A child's knight.
Ah.]
Sensei—
Re: Tag order: Shoto, Shadow, Hijikata works for me
Date: 2024-12-03 03:12 am (UTC)He nods to Shoto.]
I understand the weight of that responsibility. I won't fail you.
[He is about to ask about this Sensei when Shoto speaks and then the footsteps approach. The hedgehog sits up and looks at the approaching person. He nods to them in greeting but doesn't say anything first.]
Same here!
Date: 2024-12-03 03:05 pm (UTC)Why, Shoto-kun, I see we have a guest. Shadow, right?
[Whether he's seen the hedgehog on the network or his reputation as the ultimate lifeform simply precedes him is anyone's guess, but either way, in lieu of offering a hand, Hijikata holds up a plastic bag.]
We had leftover pizza bread at work. It's still warm! Let me get some drinks, too.
[Even with Shoto perking up at his appearance as usual, he can tell that the boy is exhausted - but also calmer, less emotionally stirred up. He's been through a lot, and Hijikata is grateful for any support he gets. After briefly dipping back inside to fetch whatever the others would like to drink, he'll sit with them, assuming that they may fill him in on what they were discussing.]
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Date: 2024-12-06 07:08 pm (UTC)And, of course, he's eyeing the snacks he presents...]
Ah. [Yes, yes-] Shadow's... here because I asked. We were training before, so I had to explain—
[Putting it briefly-]
The starts of things with Toya-nii, I mean...
[The ends, he doesn't want to say.]
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Date: 2024-12-08 05:09 am (UTC)Thank you for the offer. I would be glad to stay and eat with you both.
[Shadow has a new appreciation for pizza thanks to Sonic, honestly. He'll accept a drink. Something bitter if they have it or water.]
And things with Dabi. [Shadow finishes for Shoto. Not a lie but not acknowledging the ending part.]
Do you work at a restaurant, Hijikata-san?
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Date: 2024-12-08 05:10 pm (UTC)No, I'm with Nightwake's police. We just sometimes order food to the station, and today there was a bunch of leftovers.
[He may have complained a lot about being "grounded" in the office until the end of the year, but it isn't entirely without its perks!]
So you guys had been training before Shoto-kun was called home? What's your season, Shadow-kun?
[Given that Shadow's picked up on the honorifics, he's going to include him in turn... alas, he's defaulting to what feels appropriate to him. Shadow is a cute hedgehog lad!!]
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Date: 2024-12-08 09:15 pm (UTC)If Harrison cared what he had on his hands, sensei might be deputy chief by now—
[Much as honorifics exist, his tone does make it implicitly clear he isn't especially sweet. The disrespect is hard to miss, suggests the boy cares just for this "cop" while masking disdain for his boss. Clearly, his sensei does no wrong...]
...
Sorry...
He's an instructor, like you. I already knew he'd show me a lot, but then my Quirk barely fazed him at all- [His cheeks puff, full.] So to be honest, I was annoyed... Even though I went all out—
[The seasonal question's for Shadow. His teeth flash white, tear a huge and sulking piece of soft-baked bread, cheese and garlic.
Anyways-] You're both a lot harder to fight than you'd think...
[A compliment, too, since there's the softening of his voice that seems to hint at something else. His taste for combat can't be polished enough.]
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From:[Apologies to you both; December's dragged me all over]
From:It's all good. December was indeed a month.
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