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Post by ghostmytoast on Nov 12, 2023 1:52:38 GMT
Daichi led the way to his home, leading Tomatsu by the arm in an attempt to get him used to physical contact. His face was flat and unreadable as always. He had invited Tomatsu over for a Friday night dinner and hangout. The upperclassman probably wasn't expecting the short first-year to walk into the second-year doems, grab his arm, and lead him off campus without a word. Most of his dorm-mates were probably confused. Daichi didn't care. He never seemed to care too much about anything really. He always just went with the flow of whatever was happening.
Tomatsu by now though, had probably picked up on some small ways to tell what the quiet teen was thinking. Little barely noticeable tells in his face and posture. Especially when he is in exceptional pain, there were slight twitches in his brow that gave away when his headache was getting too much to bear. There was even a point when they were in the cafeteria when he just got up and left without a word. When Tomatsu found him, he was in a bathroom stall with his knees up to his chest, his hands over his ears, a slight tears of pain in his eyes. Yet, he refused to take his medication. Apparently, when he was only ten, he almost became addicted to them. He wasn't willing to risk that. Toma so far was the only person at school who had seen the extent of the pain his quirk caused. He had quickly become Daichi's best friend. So it was only natural to have him over to meet the full family and hang out like friends were supposed to.
As they approached, Tomatsu would see the massive manor from a mile away. It looked like it could belong to the Emporer if the Emporer for some reason needed a backyard with a couple of acres of land, a huge swimming pool with a large water slide, and who knows what other kinds of fun things. For all, Toma knew there could be a whole damn amusement park back there.
Coming up to the gate of the estate, two ferrets came scurrying over and slipped through the bars to circle around them. As expected, they were interested in the newcomer. However, Daichi gave them a stern chitter about leaving him alone if they didn't want to be skewered and cooked over a campfire. They left quickly. Daichi wasn't a fan of Hermes and Mercury. They were annoying troublemakers, even more so than the twins. Funny and entertaining at times, but still annoying.
Standing at the gate for a moment, he pulled out his phone and began to type. I think everyone is home tonight. They all wanted to meet you. Sorry for the noise. And most likely the intrusion of personal space.
As he held his phone out for Tomatsu to read, he spotted an older teen walking over with a hood pulled over his head and his hands shoved into the pocket of his jacket. The teen spotted him, stiffened, and pulled the hood tighter over his face as he came closer and began to open the gate. Daichi let Toma take his phone and grabbed the teen's wrist. The blond was pulled to face him, revealing for a quick moment a pretty bad-looking black eye and earning a look of concern that Toma only recently learned was a look of concern.
"Back off Dai!" He yelped, pulling his hand away a bit too forcefully so Daichi was made to step into Toma. The teen's face contorted into a look of guilt instantly as he saw the other UA student. "Shit that was today." He mumbled under his breath and pulled his hood back over his eyes to cover them before pushing a smile onto his face. "Daichi, I'm okay. I promise. Let's show your buddy a good time, okay? Okay! Here, I'll open the door."
"Habi-"
"Door's open! Come on in! I'm Habiki, nice to meet you. Imma just go shower real quick. I'll see ya at dinner." And with that he ran up the stairs followed by a huge dog the size of a miniature pony with a spiked collar that came skittering out of the living room.
Daichi's shoulders slumped. Seemed even in a house of riches and luxury with a loving family there was still trouble in paradise. But the younger student shook his head to try and forget about it before looking back to Toma and taking his arm again to lead him in. He began showing him around the foyer and into the living room which was the size of a movie theater, then brought him upstairs to show him his room. They passed by rooms with whiteboards on the doors, each with a name written on them. On the way, he saw a tall man in a white button-up that had been untucked, a tie that had been untied, and a pair of slacks. Adjusting his glasses, he knocked on a door that was labeled "Habiki" written as though he had given an autograph with a star next to it. "Little brother, Habiki. Please open the door. I saw your eye."
"Fuck off Goro! I'm fine!"
Daichi stopped and looked up at the tall man who noticed him and looked down at the two, forcing a smile when he saw them. "Oh! Little brother Daichi! And this must be your friend!" He gave a low, traditional bow. "I am Goro Chiaki, the eldest of us siblings. Thank you for looking after our little brother at school." He then stood tall and continued his very obviously fake smile. "Not to worry. Little brother Habiki is fine, and will be joining us for dinner, correct?" He looked at the door as it stayed closed for just a minute before getting creaked open.
"Y-yeah. I'm always okay. You know me, nothing can hold me down. So just... have fun with your friend k?" And with that, an arm came from the crack and pulled Goro into the room. Before it slammed shut, a bruise could be spotted on the wrist. But Daichi sighed. Goro could handle it. He was always the best with Habiki. So, he pushed it back and continued down the hall to his room.
His room was plain, or as plain as a room in this place could be. It was still big and extravagant, with fancy black and white furniture and a massive bay window with soft, comfortable cushions and lots of books to read on a shelf next to it. There was a huge TV across from the canopy bed with the latest Xbox, PlayStation, and the latest Nintendo system plugged into it. There was one empty shelf where Mushu's tank used to be, he had yet to figure out what to put there. His room was the only one with carpet that Toma would have seen so far.
Daichi finally released the upperclassman's arm and made his way over to the bed which he hopped onto and looked at him expectantly. He had books, games, movies... whatever Tomatsu wanted to do was fine with him. Plus, now he needed a distraction anyway.
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Time
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Post by Time on Nov 12, 2023 19:40:40 GMT
Despite how he hadn't been to UA consistently due to some approved special training to help him catch up with his second year classmate, Tomatsu still lived, and rested in the dorms like any of the other students, usually with a day's worth of books and classwork he had to catch up on.
There was plenty of time for other things in life. Rest days were needed, and that was when he usually checked in on Daichi as he promised, or got dragged along. This was becoming routine for Tomatsu, but now that he had gotten use to the boy, he noticed various things. Namely when he was in pain, curious, or depressed. There was also a smile, but Tomatsu felt it was forced more often than not. Still, he had made a promise, and he'd keep it.
Of course this weekend he had brought Tomatsu to a massive mansion estate. At first Tomatsu felt startled and astonished, mainly because he'd never seen such a thing before. Then there was the question of who it belonged to, which was quickly answered by daichi's message. His face quickly changed from worried anxiety to genuine wide eyed surprise. He barely knew anything about Daichi outside of his school life, so this was a surprise.... Well, he knew about his famous influencer twin siblings, but he was certain they didn't earn THAT much money, did they?
The rest of what happened was kinda a blur though, as Tomatsu was introduced to the first person who had Tomatsu somewhat concerned, Habiki. A quick tour of the place barely gave him time to memorize things when they met Goro who seemed genuinely concerned for his little brother.... Actually, how big was daichi's family now that he thought of it? Tomatsu was in Daichi's room before long, as the boy sat down on his bed, looking expectantly.
Tomatsu had noticed the bruises..... Well, rather it was that he couldn't NOT notice them. Being around Daichi, he instantly became more alert, but the problem now wasn't that. Daichi had been in contact with him for a long period of time, so soon the nausea induced by his quirk would kick in if he didn't create space. "I uhm... Why don't we watch a movie? What do you like to watch?". Tomatsu asked, taking a seat not on the bed, but rather distantly on the floor as he looked at Daichi's collection.
His mind was busy at the moment, and he had yet to fully reveal his quirk. A secret he had been hiding from mostly everyone he could by lying that his quirk was to make people feel sick. In reality, he was horrified by his quirk, and even worse what it might do to poor Daichi should Tomatsu accidentally summon so many of them at once.
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Post by ghostmytoast on Nov 12, 2023 23:53:49 GMT
Daichi just nodded and hit a button on a remote by his bed to turn on the TV. The icons for Netflix, Hulu, and anything else Tomatsu could imagine were available to him. With another push of a button, the drawer under the TV slid open on its own, revealing his collection of DVDs. A few of them were in other languages, but most were in Japanese. Daichi seemed to have a wide taste in movies. There were some horrors, some actions. Surprisingly enough, the ones he had the most of were rom-coms. Princess Bride was sitting on the top of the TV stand as though it had been recently watched. Seemed Daichi was a romantic, despite his inability to show emotion.
As he let Tomatsu look through the movies, his eyes would wander to the open door. Habiki looked pretty bad this time. Hopefully, he dumped whoever did that to him as soon as it happened. With him though, who really knew for sure? His eyes then were drawn downward to a huge hound with a spiked collar as it slowly meandered into the room with his tail between his legs. Akuma whimpered, coming up to the bed and putting his head on the younger UA student's leg.
Master is hurt.
Yeah. Daichi whined back, patting the head of the Central Asian Shepherd. This thing was the size of a miniature horse. It looked like it could kill someone with one bite. Yet it was there sadly whining to the young hero in training instead.
Master won't let me in.
Don't... want... worry.
Want master.
Daichi scootched over so the dog could hop onto the bed with him, which he quickly took him up on. Laying across Daichi's legs like a lap dog, it was a miracle the small boy didn't go instantly numb. However, he wasn't about to push Akuma away. He was worried too after all.
After a moment, he looked back to Tomatsu to see if the other student had decided what movie to watch.
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Time
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Post by Time on Nov 13, 2023 1:03:49 GMT
Tomatsu looked at the collection and more so noticed the stark number and variety of movies, specifically though he noticed the Rom-Coms. Most of which he hadn't seen before. He felt his gut turn a bit as he kept remembering about the bruises he saw.
But... It was none of his business right? Right?
Turning slightly to see a large almost horse of a dog laying on Daichi's lap, Tomatsu saw how Daichi looked worried. Tomatsu looked at the movies, before closing his eyes for a bit.... Then he sighed and decided to get it over will. It's easier to rip the band-aid off than to pick at it slowly. "so.... Who did that to Hibiki?". Tomatsu asked, looking through the dvds and checking a few of them. He didn't think it was a long standing matter. Common place domestic abuse cases that lasted long term usually had injuries inflicted on spots where bruises could be easily hidden. Something about the black eye and bruise on Hibiki's wrist imply that the person likely didn't care if their abuse was known. "Bullies?". He asked, concerned that despite Daichi's family's fame, some of the ire could be backfiring on other members.
Of course this could just be him overthinking things.
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Post by ghostmytoast on Nov 13, 2023 3:01:59 GMT
Daichi pet Akuma slowly, but snapped to attention (as much as he ever snapped to anything) when asked about his brother. He was quiet for a bit, but not in the way he normally was. This was more of a contemplative silence, before he finally sighed. Well, this was a good way to practice full sentence he guessed.
"Habi.... has..... bad..... taste..... in...... men....." He managed slowly one word at a time. "This.... is..... number..... four.... in..... three.... years.... He.... is..... too...... loyal..... Too..... Trusting...."
He silenced for a few minutes, switching to dog to asked Akuma to get off for a moment so he could reajust. Flipping around so he was laying on his stomach, he put his head on the large animal and hugged it like a big pillow.
"We... all.... worry.... Tell... him.... to.... break... it.... But.... he... keeps.... saying.... things..... will..... change...."
With another sigh he added, "He... doesn't.... think.... he.... deserves.... a.... better..... partner..... Habiki.... Puts.... on.... a good..... show..... but.... he.... has.... low..... self..... worth..... Hides..... it.... well..... Normally...."
The dog whimpered and Daichi hugged onto him more. "Akuma.... is.... his..... dog..... he.... is.... worried.... Wants.... to..... stay.... here...."
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Post by Time on Nov 14, 2023 20:51:12 GMT
Tomatsu sat still as Daichi explained the issues that his sibling had. Personally, Tomatsu had no experience in such a relationship. If anything, his only relationship was.... Well, he wasn't sure what it was. He hadn't made any attempt to call her because of how busy he was, as well as how busy she was as well.
Still, Tomatsu knew it wasn't a good thing to hear this. It was habitual from what he was hearing, and Hibiki had some reason for wanting to stay with this person.
On one hand, intervention was needed, and not just that, but a mental check up of Hibiki was probably necessary. Picking up a copy of thirty shades of grey, Tomatsu frowned. "It sounds like Hibiki is desperate for something.. He stated, before looking at his underclassman. "In all honesty, I can't say whether you and the family should intervene, but someone needs to find the root of what Hibiki wants from a partner. Even if he doesn't know, respect can't be build on fear.... Otherwise you start to feel stressed. I-". Tomatsu stopped as he realized he might be giving Daichi a headache.
Taking out his phone, Tomatsu texted his friend synopsis of what he wanted to say.
[Hibiki could be following the loss fallacy side of reasoning. Investing time despite nothing changing. Any slight change made could feed this desire, even if it's only a temporary change that reverts back.]
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Post by ghostmytoast on Nov 14, 2023 21:15:52 GMT
Daichi nodded with what Tomatsu was saying, pulling out his phone now as he decided this topic wasn't best for quirk practice.
We know what he wants. He's shown it time and time again around here, even if he doesn't say it. Habiki is a very... clingy... person. And when he finds someone he likes he falls fast and hard, and typically its anyone who shows even a remote interest in him and the things he likes. We don't know where this self-esteem problem came from and we've tried to get him to counseling. All of us have therapists we see once a week. But Habiki refuses to, saying he doesn't need anyone poking around in his head.
He sent the message with a concerned sigh, petting Akuma more as he continued.
These guys come into his life and give him some sort of hope somehow I guess. He thinks they love him. He thinks they care. Until they show their true colors. But but then, he's already convinced and often won't leave them until it's too late. Habiki plays the tough bad-boy rockstar persona, but he's honestly the kindest one of all of us I think. And people abuse that kindness and overly trusting nature of his all the time. We're all just worried that one of these days someone is going to take it... too far...
Daichi sent the next message as a tear began to streak down his expressionless face. The thought of someone convincing Habi to do something unthinkable was a concern that crossed everyone's head now and again. The family knew he was smart enough not to... or at least... they hoped he was. But even then, what if he refused and the person ended up being more violent than he'd known. What if one of these days he goes out with some psycho and never comes back. It was always a possibilty. He hated that possibilty.
Burying he face into Akuma's back, the large animal twisted around to lick at Daichi's head and sooth him. Though the dog's concerned whines for both his master and now Daichi didn't help. Everyone in the family knew of Habiki's scandels. They always had to cover it up if things leaked to the public about his tendency towards abusive men. No one understood how these awful people kept working their ways into Habiki's life, but it was torture to watch it happen. It was even worse that they couldn't do anything. Habiki wouldn't let them help. It felt like he was getting further and further out of reach.
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Time
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Post by Time on Nov 16, 2023 10:49:16 GMT
Tomatsu gripped the side of the drawer. He knew at this point Habiki was likely to continue the cycle. Something needed to not only convince Habiki to stop that, but to enforce good habits. Typing he sent the message to his worried friend.
[Habiki likely doesn't want to admit he was wrong, and worse he's likely not wanting to drag anyone with him.]. Tomatsu stated, as he recollected his own problems and past. He was so focused on his thoughts on how to say things that he hadn't noticed something crawling on his arm from the darkness of the drawer. It's body and multitude of long skittering legs dancing on his bandages as a house centipede began to pay attention to the teen.
[It's also that sometimes asking for help can be just as painful emotionally as getting physically hurt. It's bearing yourself to the world. While most people don't consider this, it's like letting people into your personal space when you don't feel comfortable with anyone being in there. Does that kinda make sense?]
Tomatsu didn't know how else to explain it. Ultimately even he had his own personal demons he didn't want anyone to know. To the point where he actively asked the principal to withhold his quirk details. He thought he'd be more comfortable talking about his quirk in full, but lying was only making things worse...
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Post by ghostmytoast on Nov 17, 2023 0:46:35 GMT
Daichi nodded, reading his message and sighed as he used Akuma as a tissue to wipe his face. The dog didn't seem to care much and just continued licking the younger student's face.
The problem is we can't do anything if he refuses to listen to us or accept help. We've offered it without him asking, he just snaps at us. Until he comes to the conclusion on his own, not much can be done. That's what my therapist says at least.
He sighed, using his palm to whipe at the last streaks of water that cut down his face like a knife made of guilt and regret. With a sniffle, he sent another adding, All we can really do is pray it doesn't take the worst case scenario to open his eyes to the levity of the problem. Until then, we can only wait and show our support, openess, and willingness to help if he needs it. It's up to him to accept the offer.
Finally, he propped himself up on Akuma's back with his elbows and used his hand closest to the large creature's head to pat him and simultaneous push his head away to stop the licking. After a moment to cycling through things he was able to bark out that he was fine and that Akuma should go scratch at Habiki's door until he let him in. The teen may refuse to ask for help or take it from his family, but an animal companion always cheered him up at least. The dog hopped off the bed, letting Daichi fall onto his chest on the soft matress, and trotted out the room. Daichi gave a soft whine and Akume pushed the door shut with his nose on his way out.
With another heavy sigh he typed, Sorry for the heavy conversation. It wasn't how I planned for this night to go. I promise dinner will make up for it. Until then, which movie do you want to watch?
As he looked up to see his friends responce, he spotted the centipede on his arm. The smallest, barely noticeable shiny appeared in Daichi's eyes as his brows raise a bit, a sign of amusement and a nice change from his sombre mood that had before.
I think you made a friend. Your arm.
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Post by Time on Nov 20, 2023 7:07:20 GMT
Tomatsu shrugged in defeat as he put a dvd back down into the drawer where it was. Nothing was ever simple in cases like these..... And intervention could always end things in a worse situation than it started. Looking through the videos, he decided that something funny could work, as he noticed a movie called The Princess Bride. He wasn't particularly familiar with this; it being an American movie; but clearly with how Daichi's quirk worked; the language barrier wasn't exactly a concern. Well, not in a general sense. Pulling it up, he looked at Daichi in curiosity as the first year texted that he had a friend on his arm. Looking at himself, it took a second to realize what was going on.
To be honest, Tomatsu sensed it before he saw it. His eyes drifting over to the hypnotized insect. Tomatsu leapt back, "Bwha!" Swatting the creature off of his arm. A bit stunned and discombobulated, the house centepide scurried in a circle for a moment, before settling in the shade of the drawer that was still extended. "Ha...Ha.... Ha........ Oh.... Sorry...." Tomatsu said, adrenaline pumping as he was surprised how he hadn't noticed the creature before. It was a problem with his quirk. When he became extremely focused on his emotions; he would begin to lose control. A trait he was all too familiar with. Still clutching onto the DVD, Tomatsu sighed. "At least it wasn't a spider.... though it's a bit troublesome to see a House Centipede here. It generally means that there are pests, though the centipede itself isn't one. It tends to hunt them down." He said, before focusing and sending the creature on it's way to hunt. The critter quickly moved, as though it suddenly remembered it had an appointment to attend to; skittering away as Tomatsu passed the DVD of the Princess Bride to Daichi. "I've never seen this before. I've been getting into some of the folklore of my father's home country, and I've noticed that the cover art kinda reminds me of those types of tales." Tomatsu explained.
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Post by ghostmytoast on Dec 31, 2023 0:09:23 GMT
The corners of Daichi's mouth upturned in a way that only those who knew what to look for would recognize as a smile, amused by his friend's reactino to the critter. Slowly pulling himself off the bed, he meandered his way over and nonchalantly scooped the centipede right up before making his way to the window.
"Family.... Likes..... All..... Animals." He managed as he opened the window up and set the centipede on a branch of the tree next to his room. He had gotten better at making in through full sentences since starting his practice sessions with Tomatsu, though it meant the pauses between each word were much longer.
Closing the window again, he made his way over to see him holding Princess Bride in his hand. Taking the DVD, he nodded, looking at it fondly. "Parody.... Romance..... Very...... Funny." Wait... that wasn't Japanese. Arabic? "Fun-" Russian. "Fu-" Vietmese? At least we're back in Asia. "Funny..." That was it. He sighed, tired out from the roulette, before opening the DVD case only to remember it was already in the player. He stared at the empty case for a second at the realization, before placing the case back down and just flipping the TV to the DVD setting and turning the player on.
Crawling back until the bed, he grabbed the remote and skipped to the menu of the movie. He put on the Japanese subtitles and hit play. This was one of his favorites and a true classic. He was sure Toma would like it.
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Post by Time on Dec 31, 2023 1:21:31 GMT
Tomatsu noticed daichi's actions, but didn't say anything. The common house centipede was a critter that stayed inside dwellings, and without a doubt the creature would eventually find it's way back inside hopefully before it got too cold. It was strange. With how Moonbeam had taught him how to use his quirk, he felt as though a part of himself wanted to connect with these things... then he remembered why he hated his quirk and decided to file the thought away.
As Daichi spoke, Tomatsu smiled. It seemed their chats had helped a bit... at least before Daichi spoke in a different language. It immediately was noticed though, as Daichi quickly attempted to correct himself. "There you go Daichi. At least it's getting better. You were kinda just jumping to random languages mid sentence, and without realizing it too. But now you're realizing it." Tomatsu said after seeing Daichi sigh in exhaustion from rouletting his language again. "You're making progress, even if it's a small amount. But sure, I'd love to watch it then." He finished giving his encouragement. Daichi was the kind who needed to be reassured from what Tomatsu noticed. Kinda like he did. It was important to at least hear validation that progress is being made. It did wonders when Moonbeam trained him.
Sitting down beside Daichi, Tomatsu listened, or rather he read. English was common, but sometimes there were words that he didn't know, or grammar that seemed confusing, so reading the subtitles along with the words helped him. It was a strange movie at first. He had been expecting dark woods, and perhaps headless men riding horses. Instead, he got princesses, a pirate, a giant, a swordsman, and a cliche' and exaggeratedly evil and controlling king or prince. The idea was a bit weird, but he enjoyed the movie.... though one thing did catch his attention.
It was the dynamic of the princess and the antagonist. The man was manipulative, overly evil, and honestly scummy. It reminded Tomatsu of Daichi's brother's problem. Was it that he was ignoring it, or was he actually unaware that he was being used, like how the king and queen didn't realize until the end? He had plenty of support trying to make him see straight, but nothing was working.... so how did one overcome such things? Tomatsu found himself thinking back to his mother's hospital. There were a few domestic abuse victims who had lost eyes or even fingers in extreme cases.... if not worse. His mother's quirk helped a lot.... he considered calling her. For now though, he shifted his focus back onto the movie, enjoying it and the odd comedy it had.
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Post by ghostmytoast on Feb 9, 2024 19:10:21 GMT
Daichi nodded in agreement, a hardly noticable glint of pride flashing in his eyes. As the movie went, he let himself get districted by the humor and romance unfolding. He always wanted a partner like Westly, bold and loyal, willing to do anything for him. That seemed like a selfish dream now that he was trying to shed his lazy nature.
Just as the movie ended there were small scratches at the door. Looking over, two tiny pink nosed could be seen trying to squeeze under the door. After a moment, the ferrets successfully managed to slip through and scurried their way up the sheets hanging off the bed. The two weasels began running across the bed, hopping on top of the boys and squeaking excitedly about dinner.
Daichi gave a tired sigh as he pulled himself off the bed, forcing Hermes to dangle from his chest. "Dinner." He noted, pointing to the door as Mercury tried to leap from the bed and join the other ferret. He missed entirely and Daichi had to dive to make sure the small creature didn't smash to the floor.
On the way down the hall, he saw Habiki's door open and the older teen step out looking brand new. If the UA student didn't know better he'd guess that what he saw before had never happened. His older brother had gotten real good at make up iver the years.
The rocker spotted them and jolted back for just a second before gaining his composure and giving them a massive grin. "Hey! Sorry about before. Forget about it, ok? Everything's fine!"
Daichi clearly wasn't convinced.
"I'm starved! Lets get some grub." And with that he raced down hall and slid down the stair rail. Earning a reprimand from his mother when he got down.
The younger teen sighed again, wishing he could forget what he saw. Unfortunately his memory had always been good. But he decided to just go with it and try, gesturing for Toma to follow him downstairs. Once there, the table was full for once. The dining room looked like something out if a magazine with any elaborate chandelier and tall ceiling.
All of Daichi's family could be models in their own right. A young woman, Atsuko, sat with her hair in a messy bun and her face in a law book. The twins that Tomatsu had met before were discussing their next video idea and playing with their camera. Daichi placed the ferrets on their heads and he passed then toward his usual seat. His father, the definition of a silver fox, sat next to his eldest daughter helping her review. Goro was on her other side lending a hand as well. As the UA student took his seat, Kota and Honoka came running in laughing. They still had their uniforms from middle and elementary school on.
Finally, the woman of the house walked in with little Kaori in her arms, followed by Habiki who still sported that grin of his. The woman pouted and handed Kaori to Habiki so she could clap and get everyone's attention. "Itachi, Hitomi, no tech at the dinner table where it could get ruined! Kota, Honoka, take your seats please. Atsuko and Goro, no work at the dinner table. This is family time. And your too dear! Honestly, you're such a bad influence!" All of them murmured apologies as they got themself set and ready for dinner.
"You must be the friend we heard so much about." The young woman noted. "I'm Atsuko. Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Kota!" The little boy declared, jumping in his seat.
"I'm Honoka!" The girl followed, seeming to play some sort of mimicry game with her brothers.
His father nodded a formal greeting with a kind smile. "Kenji, and my wife is Asami. Thank you for helping our Daichi at school. We know he can be a handful at times."
Asami chuckled and nodded, "Funny how our quietest can cause such a hassle."
All the talk of him got Daichi pouting, which earned him a hair ruffle from Itachi sitting next to him as the rest of the family laughed. Even Habiki was chuckling away as he placed Kaori in her high chair. "Yeah even Kaori thinks Dai's a pain, right?" He stated, tickling the baby's chin who laughed and swung her arms around. All was well until the baby accidentally smacked Habiki in the face and he flinched back with a yelp, covering his eye. The room went quiet as the attention went to the rocker. Habiki stated back for a moment before waving it off with a laugh. "She just got my eye. No worries."
Asami came over with concern to check and make sure she didn't scratch him. "Mom. She's a baby. Seriously, I'm-" Asami's finger wiped at the fresh cover up as she held her son's face and he winced from the touch. It didn't remove the makeup, but she could tell he was wearing it. Her concern became fear. "Habi... Were you... With Kyoya last ni-"
"WHAT'S FOR DINNER!? I'M STARVING!" And with that he slammed himself into his seat, leaving Asami worried. However, she nodded and put on a smile. "Yes! Of course! Let's not keep out guest waiting."
Asami went to the kitchen and began helping staff bring out the meal and boy was there a TON of it. Scalloped potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, sauteed green beans, beef, chicken, sweet potato, and plenty more. The family began serving themselves and Asami encouraged Tomatsu to do the same as she stopped Daichi from filling his plate with only carrots and sweet potatoes. The energy was clearly stiff despite polite chatter about work and school. All the older people in the room clearly had something to say but weren't about to say it. Lucky, you can always count on a child not to read the room.
"You're gonna be a hero like big brother right?" Honoka asked excitedly with her mouth full.
"What's you're quirk!? Is it cool!? Can you shoot lasers!?" Kota added.
"Is your hero name cute!? You should make it cute!"
The tensioned eased as the children filled the air with their questions. The rest of the family started laughing along at their antics. "Give the boy a chance to respond." Kenji commented with a grin, "And don't talk with your mouth full, Honoka."
"Sorry, Papa." The little girl said after swallowing her food. Seems things were settling down. Good. Hopefully the rest of the night can just be normal.
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