The room is several degrees colder than the rest of the house, as if even the heating system knows to leave it untouched.

It 's a mausoleum when he enters; the air is thick and heavy with dust, despite the household 's dedicated cleaning staff. Even they don 't dare to come in here often, as if instinctually shying away from the sorrow and regret that drenches the room. For some reason, he expects it to be bloodstained and dirty, as cursed and wretched in the physical world as it is in his mind, but it 's a perfectly normal room.

He almost lost his wife in this room, and he hadn 't even known it until hours after the fact. Hadn 't even realized she 'd been unwell for months ' maybe even years, maybe even the entire time he 'd known her ' until he 'd gotten a call that his wife was in the hospital. He almost hadn 't even picked up the call, dismissing it as an unneeded distraction during his patrol. This particular assistant had been hired to deal with his personal affairs, and should have known better than to reach out to him with issues from his personal life during his work hours. He 'd only picked it up to reprimand him for using his emergency hero line for family news, when the poor man had frantically blurted out the situation.

He doesn 't have to wonder why it was this room in particular that they 'd found her in, pill bottle in hand.

Rei shouldered as many regrets about Touya as he did, it seems.

The contents of the room haven 't been touched in over a decade. Endeavor isn 't even sure if he 's ever once stepped foot in it, even when it was occupied. He 'd never made an effort to know or care about his eldest ' or any of his children ' beyond what their quirks could offer him. He 'd certainly never taken the time to look around his room, see the physical memorials to all his hobbies and interests, get to know his son as a person, and not just an object he 'd created to further his own ambitions. And by the time he 'd changed, Touya was long gone. Touya was the

reason

for that change. If he hadn 't confronted him that day, hadn 't upturned his entire life in that irreverently arrogant way of his, he might still be that selfish monster who only ever cared about himself. After that, the mere notion of his eldest was a lancing wound across the remains of his family, the circumstances of his death too raw to ever heal fully. So Endeavor hadn 't touched the room. He 'd left it as it was, a hollow monument to all his sins.

Knowing that Touya is still alive doesn't really change that.

It doesn 't change the fact he 'd been a cruel and dreadful person to his son, just like his own father had been to him. But Enji had grown stronger than that wretched man, and so too had he fashioned his son to grow stronger than him. Then fate had dealt him a stinging hand; Touya had been born too weak to surpass him. This only made him harder on the boy. Touya had to be strong, to carry on his pride and ambitions. If he had been born weak, then Enji would merely need to reforge him into something stronger.

But Touya had never been weak at all. Enji had merely been blind to his strength.

He 'd hated his attitude, his utter disrespect, his disinterest in Endeavor and heroes. The way the boy would talk back to him never ceased to infuriate him beyond rational thought ' if Enji had ever spoken to his own father like that, he 'd have been beaten until he couldn 't walk. And for this weakling, this pathetic child of his that couldn 't even handle his own quirk, to talk to him in such a way? It was unfathomable. He 'd raged constantly at the boy, a ghastly reflection of his own father; unlike Enji, Touya never so much as flinched at his father 's wrath. He held his ground every time. Beneath all his fury and violence, there had been a part of Enji that had feared the boy too. There had always been something unknowable about him, something Enji could never quite grasp, yet unsettled him nonetheless.

Now he knows what it was.

That power that lurked beneath the surface of that small and frail mortal shell; that power that could turn men into gods. He 'd gotten a taste of it when Touya had rescued his youngest brother and destroyed the dojo, even if he hadn 't realized it at the time. It wasn 't a quirk ' that he knew for certain. Touya had been to dozens of quirk specialists as a child, and they 'd all unanimously said the same thing. He was a boy with a preternaturally strong fire quirk and a body that could never hope to handle it. But this power ' it was something else. Something

more.

As an adult, his mastery over it was sublime. Dabi could cause untold levels of destruction and yet control it to a meticulous degree. As a child he could incinerate the family dojo without harming his brother or himself. Now fully grown, he could warp himself across the world and take on an entire army with nothing but his own two hands.

After all his fervent research on the cremation villain these past few weeks, he could describe those god-like powers of his in great detail.

But to describe the boy himself?

He doesn 't know the first thing about him, not the boy he used to be nor the man he has become.

The room isn 't particularly forthcoming in that regard.

He 's not entirely sure what he 'd expected to find coming in here. This place hasn 't been used in years, and even when it belonged to Touya it was in name only; his eldest spent most of his childhood out of the house. Endeavor had never cared where it was he went. He 'd long since given up on trying to ingrain any kind of respect or sense into the child, and so long as Endeavor wasn 't being called to fish him out of jail, once Shouto was born he 'd dismissed the boy to his own devices. The drawers of his desk are empty but for old math worksheets and assignments, never turned in or even written upon. Touya had never cared about school, either. That he hadn 't been expelled for truancy probably had more to do with Endeavor 's reputation than his attendance.

There are old clothes and shoes in the closet, things Endeavor never remembered buying. He would have assumed Rei had been responsible for dressing their children when they were young, but after what he 's learned about the woman 's mental health at the time, he 's not sure that was the case. Was Touya the one who took his siblings shopping for new clothes when they grew out of theirs? How had he even known how to do that, at that age? Touya had always been inexplicably good at everything, even as a small child, but he still had to have learned it all at some point. And if it hadn 't been Rei, then who had taught him all that he needed to know? Had he just learned it all himself? Had he been alone, even then?

The only other thing of note in the room was the guitar case propped in the corner by the bed.

He doesn 't remember Touya playing the guitar. But he doesn 't remember a great deal about Touya, on account of never being in the boy 's presence for anything longer than a training session. Was he any good at it, he wonders? Has he kept up with it all these years? Enji never learned any instruments, although not due to any particular lack of interest. His father considered music and arts as worthless pursuits, only befitting for weaklings. Back when Touya was young, Enji would have held a similar belief. If he 'd ever found out about Touya 's guitar, he would have berated the child and raged at him, and it likely would have come to blows.

It was probably for the best, that they had already been so estranged by that point. Enji is not a good person now, and he was an even worse one then.

' 'Dad?

Dad? '

Fuyumi 's voice echoes down the hallway, followed by her footsteps. There 's a falter in her steps where she must take note of the opened door to a room that almost always stays shut, then she 's hurdling down the hall.

'... Dad, ' she says, faintly, when she stumbles into the open doorway.

Her eyes are very wide as she takes stock of him, standing alone in Touya 's old room. Her expression is difficult to read ' there 's worry in the furrow of her brow, but something tense to her shoulders and in the thin line of her lips.

He expects her to remark on the very uncharacteristically maudlin position she 's found him in, but instead she draws herself back and says; 'You left your phone in your office. It 's been ringing nonstop. '

That too is remarkably uncharacteristic of him. He never forgets his phone. He 's always available when his agency or his sidekicks need him ' a far cry from his track record with his family, when he 's never there when they need him the most.

'Thank you, ' he tells her, gruffly, and with a nod in her direction leaves her standing in the hall.

//

I think we should meet up,

she sends, after deliberating on the message for the past twenty minutes.

Me, you and Natsu.

Endeavor left the house in a hurry ' apparently for the same case that 's been having him coming back at all hours and staying for days in Tokyo ' Natsuo is on campus and Shouto is in the dorms, leaving Fuyumi alone in the cavernous estate. She doesn 't mind the silence all that much, usually putting on music or a daytime television show for background noise, but right now it fills her with an unsettled disquiet. She still feels shaken, seeing her father standing in Touya 's room. What had he been doing in there? And why now?

Could he

know?

It 's very possible. With Dabi at the forefront of the international media, whatever can be found on his history is coming to light. She 's not surprised to hear he 's been an asset to the police almost since his debut as a villain. Although she

was

surprised to hear he 'd been working with unofficial Number Two Hero Hawks on the Humarise case. Also surprising her was the lack of recognition from fans of

No Scrubs.

Although they might all still be in mourning over the band 's ' breakup. And then again, with the elaborate outfits, the crossdressing, the dim concert lighting and just the general absurdity of it all, connecting the two identities might take some time for even the most diehard of fans. Fuyumi knows it's inevitable though, with Dabi 's profile as public as it is now.

Touya must know it too, if his silence on twitter is anything to go by. That might even be the reason the band broke up. Had he known all his secrets would unravel like this and preemptively split them up, or had it just been an inevitability he 'd always kept in mind, finally paying off?

At any rate, she needs to see him. She 's been worried sick, watching the news.

Touya had mentioned he 'd be out of town, but he hadn 't specified where or why, and Fuyumi hadn 't pressed. They 'd only just gotten in contact again, and it was shaky ground between them. She wasn 't certain what she was allowed to ask, how much of him she was allowed to see before he 'd start pushing her away. Seeing his unmasked face suddenly all over the news had been a shock. The name had been even

more

shocking ' Gojo Satoru, Pro Hero Six Eyes. The name and quirk were all wrong, but the face was unmistakable.

She 'd desperately wanted to reach out to him, in the aftermath of the Humarise incident. But she 'd told herself he wouldn 't appreciate it ' he was probably so busy dealing with the fallout of the mission and the unveiling of his 'identity ', he wouldn 't have the time or energy to deal with her worries. She 'd resolved to wait until things calmed down a little more before reaching out to him.

But then Shouto called the other day and said he 'd visited Mom in the hospital, and now Dad was standing alone in Touya 's room with an expression she 'd never seen before, and she couldn 't stop herself from reaching out.

She didn 't want to be a burden on him, but she needed the reassurance of seeing him for herself, of knowing this stranger on television with his unfathomable eyes was really still her brother.

Ru-kun:

Sure. When?

She frantically tries to recall what she knows of Natsuo 's schedule. It 's a weekend, so he should be free. Even if he 's not, she knows he 'll make time for this.

Yumi-chan:

Are you free tonight?

Nevermind her or Natsuo ' Touya is the one with the unpredictable schedule. From what she can tell from the news reports, he 's been bouncing back and forth between here and Otheon ever since the Humarise mission. Is that difficult for him to do, even with that strange teleportation power of his? She hesitates to call it a quirk, since she knows with personal certainty that Touya was born with a fire quirk, but she has no idea what else to call it. If he was in Otheon right now, could he come back just to meet up with them like this? And even if it 's possible, would it be worth the trouble? What if it

hurts

him to teleport like that? She doesn 't know the first thing about his mysterious powers. Maybe it endangers him to use it somehow.

Maybe this is all a bad idea. Maybe this is too much, too soon. A month without seeing him might seem long to her, but he 's been on his own for all these years. Maybe he needs his space.

She 's about to call it off when her phone lights up in her hands.

Ru-kun:

Yeah I 'm in town. Should we meet up for dinner?

Fuyumi sighs, relieved.

Yumi-chan:

Yes! Let me check with Natsu and get back to you on the details.

Ru-kun:

??

//

Gojo stares

up

at his little brother with a disgruntled expression.

'You 're

taller

than me, ' he says, aghast.

He was well aware he was a bit shorter than he 'd been in his last life, but that fact had never been

thrown in his face like this before.

How dare his

little

brother be taller than him? This is outrageous! It 's unfair!

Natsuo takes one look at his petulant expression, and then bursts into full-bellied laughter. The restaurant is dead empty at this anomalously late dinner hour, so luckily no one 's around to start paying attention to the white-haired duo seated at the table in the back and their equally white-haired companion in sunglasses who just arrived.

In addition to being taller ' by a mere handful of centimeters, but it's the principle of the thing ' his younger brother is also built like a giant, all broad shoulders and barrel-chested, packing plenty of muscle all across his frame in a manner similar to their father. Gojo very obviously favors their mother 's build, slim and lean with the kind of metabolism that means he 'll never have the kind of musculature stature his father and brother have, no matter how much he tries. His premature birth and childhood health issues hadn 't helped him either. It still takes him aback to remember his

soul

might be unequivocally that of Gojo Satoru, but this body, despite all of its remarkable cosmetic similarities, is completely different than his last one.

I was still taller than him in my last life,

he thinks pettily, as Natsuo continues to laugh.

'That 's what eating sweets for your entire life does to you, ' Natsuo teases, grinning.

Gojo rolls his eyes. 'You 're just an absolute giant. '

'You 're

both

giants, ' Fuyumi cuts in with an exasperated look.

They both turn to look at her with matching smirks. In comparison to her one hundred and sixty centimeters, they both tower over her pretty easily.

'Hmm ' you think Shouto will be taller than us? ' He asks idly, as he slides into a chair.

'I wonder ' ' She says, tapping her chin. 'He 's not tall for his age, but he 's not short either. '

'I was already one of the tallest in my class by the time I hit high school though, ' Natsuo muses. 'The volleyball team would never leave me alone, always nagging me to join them. '

'Nacchan must have been the heartthrob of his high school~ ' Gojo grins impishly. 'How many valentines did you get every year, Nacchan? It must have been in the hundreds! '

He means it as a joke, but Natsuo 's expression falls a little as he says, flatly, 'You would have known for yourself, if you 'd kept in touch. '

'N 'Natsu! ' Fuyumi hisses, as the tentatively lighthearted mood they 'd started on shatters at his words.

'No it 's fine, he 's right. ' Gojo shrugs. He flags over the bored looking waitress leaning against the hostess stand and filing her nails. He 's definitely going to need a drink or two for this conversation. 'I 'm the one who left, after all. I can 't exactly come back a decade later and act like a brother now. '

Fuyumi frowns. 'That 's not '

The waitress wanders over to their table, and Gojo throws up three fingers as he says, 'Can we get three shochu shots? Melon if you have it, thanks~ '

Natsuo chokes. Fuyumi makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat.

'What? ' Gojo blinks at both of them. 'Look, I 'm already allergic to feelings. I 'm not drudging up all this childhood trauma without at least

some

alcohol involved. '

Natsuo is shocked into a startled laugh as Fuyumi dons a consternated expression. Notably, she does not dissuade him from this course of action, and when the waitress comes back with their shots, downs hers all in one go without even waiting for them to cheers. She blinks up at the waitress and says, solemnly, 'We 'll take another round. '

'Well shit, ' Gojo laughs, holding out his glass. 'Yumi 's gonna drink us under the table if we 're not careful, Natsuo. '

Natsuo snorts, but diligently clinks their drinks together before downing it. 'You can still call me Nacchan, ' he mutters, as he wipes his mouth. 'It 's just plain weird otherwise. '

'You 're still our brother, Touya, ' Fuyumi says, seriously. 'No matter the circumstances. We 're family. '

Gojo blinks, tilting his head. 'And is that how you feel about Dad too? ' He asks, as he tosses his own shot back. It burns all the way down, and the heat that lingers in his throat is oddly galvanizing.

Fuyumi purses her lips as Natsuo scowls. 'Yes, ' she replies, steadfast.

'Don 't expect me to agree to that, ' Natsuo scoffs, crossing his arms. 'I still think we 're all better off without him. '

'But he 's here, and he 's trying, ' Fuyumi returns, with an air of diligence to her. 'I 'm not saying anyone needs to make amends, or even forgive him, but I don 't think it 's good for any of us to hold onto this pain. '

'How can you expect us to just

move on

from it? ' Natsuo counters, angrily. 'He

ruined

this family, right from the start. How can I just accept what he did to Shouto, to Touya, to Mom? How am I supposed to

not

hate him for that? '

'Touya doesn 't hate him, ' Fuyumi says, doggedly.

Natsuo turns shocked eyes his way. 'Seriously? '

'Well ' yeah, ' he says, nonchalantly. 'I don 't care enough about him to hate him, to be honest. '

'After everything he did to you ' how can you say that? ' Natsuo asks, bewildered.

'Everything he ever did to us ' that 's on him, y 'know? Those were his choices, his sins to live with. Frankly, I have enough of my own sins to regret without bothering with his. '

Both Fuyumi and Natsuo stare at him with wide eyes.

'No matter how much he 's 'changed ' these days, I 'm never going to forget what he was like back then. And I 'm not interested in forgiving him for it, either. But I 'm also not interested in holding on to all that trauma. ' He shrugs. 'I think Fuyumi 's right. We need to find a way to accept it, or we 'll never be free of it. '

He said it more for Natsuo 's benefit, but he wonders if he 's truly as exempt from these circumstances as he likes to think he is. Sure, he 's never really thought of Endeavor as his father, and can 't exactly say there was any kind of betrayal of trust between them when Gojo had never trusted either of his parents to begin with, but he 'd still had to live in that man 's house and deal with his abuse. Even if he was far better equipped to handle it than any of his siblings, it hadn 't made for a pleasant experience.

'Is that what you 've been doing this whole time? Finding a way to accept it? ' Says Natsuo.

Gojo waits until the waitress has dropped off their second round of shots before replying. He orders food for them as well, because he 's apparently a reasonable adult these days who can acknowledge that drinking alcohol on its own is inadvisable for his health, no matter how much he 'd desperately like to get blindingly drunk right now.

'Nope, ' he says cheerfully, holding up his glass. 'I 've been running away from all of my problems, and it feels

great.

Kanpai~ '

'Running away from your problems straight into a life of villainy, huh? Honestly, I can 't say I 'm all that surprised. ' Natsuo rolls his eyes, tapping their glasses together with Fuyumi.

Once again their sister clears her shot well before they do, leaning back with a long sigh as she sets her empty glass down before Gojo 's even finished swallowing. Clearly his newfound alcohol tolerance in this life runs in the family.

'It does seem to suit you, weirdly enough, ' 'Fuyumi agrees with a hiccup. 'But ' but you 've been okay, right? No one 's given you any trouble? '

Gojo laughs. 'No one 's strong enough to give me trouble, Yumi-chan! I 've been fine. '

'What exactly have you been up to all these years? ' Natsuo asks, looking genuinely curious at the prospect. 'I mean, besides being a villain and all. '

Gojo toys with his glass, tilting his head. 'Well, not much I guess? I 've terrorized plenty of police chiefs into early retirement; I unintentionally started a band; I accidentally ended up the mentor to a bunch of hero students; and I guess I 've somehow become a hero myself, nominally at least. And I also made a rather ill-advised home purchase? As it turns out, I really don 't know the first damn thing about owning property. '

'Not much, he says, ' Fuyumi echoes with disbelief.

'Yeah, okay, I 'm going to need more than that, ' says Natsuo. 'I need details. Most of that I 've heard a little about ' but what is this about hero students? And a house? '

So Gojo laughs and goes about regaling them with some heavily edited exploits of his life.

He makes sure to tell them, in meticulous detail,

exactly

why Shouto hasn 't figured out he 's his older brother despite giving the kid so much evidence on a silver platter. Natsuo almost snorts liquor up his nose from laughing so hard; the idea of their father finding out Shouto 's laboring under the assumption that Touya is so powerful because he 's

All Might 's

son has him in tears. Fuyumi is just as amused, but also equally as concerned over him consorting so closely with U.A. ' what if they find out who he really is? Gojo assures her that 's not really an issue, especially not anymore. She also corners him on what he 's been doing fraternizing so much with a top hero like Hawks ' apparently she 's been reading the official Humarise reports ' which has him admitting they 've done a great deal more than just fraternizing. He figures he may as well tell them; they 've kept his secrets for this long already, what 's one more?

'But ' seriously? He 's the Number Two Hero! ' Fuyumi hisses with wide eyes, gaze darting frantically around the empty restaurant as if expecting a reporter to jump out of the bushes outside with a microphone. Gojo would try to assure her that his Six Eyes would let him know if they were in danger of any eavesdroppers, but he 's a little too buzzed right now to do the subject justice.

'And

the Number One in looks ' he just won Hero Beat 's Best Smile Award for the third year in a row, ' Natsuo says approvingly, raising his hand for a high five which Gojo enthusiastically meets.

Fuyumi 's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates as she connects some dots in her head. 'Wait a second ' that week he was out, and you were asking me all those questions about taking care of sick people '

that was '!! '

Gojo puts his finger to his lips with a wink. 'Let 's maybe keep this all under wraps for now, huh? I might not be a wanted criminal anymore, but I 'm still not particularly well-liked by the hero industry or the Commission. '

She nods slowly, brow furrowed as she palms her sake glass. They 'd made the executive decision to switch from shots to a bottle of sake halfway through Gojo 's riveting tales of criminal enterprising, unanimously agreeing that while they 'd all prefer to be a bit drunk for this conversation, they 'd rather not be totally

wasted.

Which was a good thought, but probably about three shots too late.

'Sure, ' Fuyumi says, still looking as if she has no idea how to process this revelation. 'But I 'm still so confused ' are you guys ' together, then? '

'Uhhh ' can I take a rain check on that question? That 's a bit complicated. '

Natsuo rolls his eyes grandly.

'Soooo

you 're friends with benefits. ' He summarizes.

Fuyumi blushes. 'Oh.

Oh. '

'That 's ' ' Gojo intends to protest, before thinking it over. Is Natsuo really wrong? He knows there 's something

there,

between them, something a lot more than an easy fuck. If sex was all either of them were interested in, there were plenty of less complicated and more available people they could get it from. 'Like I said ' it 's complicated. '

Fuyumi 's distantly bewildered expression colors into one of concern. Gojo cuts her off before she can give him the whole 'I 'm sorry you 've complicated things with your own feelings, but maybe you should use this opportunity to take a step back and consider whether this is a relationship you should pursue ' song and dance. He 's well aware of how bad of an idea this dalliance is.

'Anyway, I guess he and Endeavor have something of a rapport these days, ' he adds, offhandedly, deciding to steer the conversation back to lighter waters. 'And Endeavor 's been asking some, hmm,

interesting

questions about me. '

Fuyumi frowns, nodding. 'That seems in line with what I 've noticed from him. He 's been different. '

'You think so? ' Natsuo snorts into his glass. 'He seems like the same old asshole to me. '

'He was in your old room today. Just standing there. I wasn 't really sure what to make of it, ' Fuyumi adds, hesitantly.

'Maybe he was just having a gay crisis and needed somewhere quiet to think, ' Gojo says, grinning viciously. Then he reveals, with relish; 'Hawks apparently asked him point blank if he was obsessed with me because he wanted to bone me ' he didn 't take it well, I hear. '

Fuyumi 's mouth drops open.

Natsuo laughs so hard he flails out of his chair and upends the table and gets them summarily kicked out of the restaurant. All in all, Gojo would call the outing a sibling-bonding success.

They all decide the night is too young and their collective childhood trauma still too unresolved to call it quits now, so Fuyumi hastily searches for any establishments in their immediate area still open and selling booze at this hour. They 're in a part of Tokyo that's unfamiliar to Gojo, so he amiably lets her lead the way while he and Natsuo stumble behind her with the arms slung around each other. He learns Fuyumi picked the izakaya they 'd been booted out of because of its proximity to Natsuo 's campus, and they spend a couple minutes walking around in the brisk air sobering up and talking about Natsuo 's school. He 's a med student, which Gojo already knew, and apparently also the ace of the volleyball team, which Gojo did not. His younger brother is perfectly happy to prattle on about his clubs and his friends, and Gojo 's not sure if he 's warming up to him or if it 's just the alcohol making him generously friendly.

His question is answered when Natsuo leans heavily against him after finishing up a story about attending his roommate 's track meet, Fuyumi a few paces ahead of them frowning down at her phone. Gojo steadies him with the arm he has tossed over his shoulders. Natsuo is silent for a moment before he admits, quietly; 'I didn 't mean what I said, earlier. '

'When you said what? ' He replies, confused.

'When I said you 'd have known all these things about me, if you 'd just kept in touch, ' Natsuo mumbles. 'That wasn 't fair to you, and I 'm sorry. '

'You have nothing to apologize for ' it 's the truth, after all, ' he returns, automatically.

Natsuo shakes his head. 'No, it 's not. You were just a kid too, even if you always seemed so cool and grown-up to me at the time. And ' none of us were okay, back then. Not even you. You needed to do what you had to, to heal and be safe, and it was never your responsibility to shoulder all the burdens of our family. '

'Nacchan ' ' He says, surprised.

He wants to protest that on principle. He seemed so cool and grown-up because he

was

a grown-up, just stuck in a tiny body at the time. But alcohol has loosened his iron grip on his own emotions, and he 's drunk enough to admit there 's a part of him that agrees with Natsuo. He 'd made the best out of his situation as a kid by detaching himself from his new reality and distancing himself from his new life and everyone in it. He 'd put up walls as strong and impenetrable as

Infinity

and refused to let anyone in. He 'd refused to accept this life he 'd been reborn into as anything other than an unfortunate circumstance he was forced to endure.

It had taken leaving that house and finding his own way to cope with this new life for him to finally drop his barriers. It had taken Makoto and Kenji and Yui, all the Toman guys, Izuku, and even Eraserhead and Detective Tsukauchi. Without them, he wouldn 't have been in a place where he could have accepted Shouto back into his life the way he had, he wouldn 't have been able to accept his own burgeoning feelings for Hawks, and he

definitely

wouldn 't have been able to reach out to Fuyumi and Natsuo again.

He sighs. 'I 'm sorry I wasn 't strong enough to protect you guys. '

What a joke. He 's the strongest, the honored one, and yet he couldn 't even protect a couple little kids. And to think, there were actually people right now calling him the 'World 's Hero '. As if he was ever capable of saving anyone. As if Gojo Satoru hadn 't been born to be anything but a cursed weapon, a perfect killer, a tool made only of death.

'That 's not something you ever have to be sorry for, ' Natsuo returns, resolutely, jarring him from his depressing thoughts. 'You

did

protect us. If you hadn 't stopped Endeavor when you did ' I don 't know what would have happened to Shouto, let alone the rest of us. I hate to even admit it, but he definitely did change, after that night. '

Natsuo pulls a face. 'Not that being a shitty absent father is all that much better than being a shitty abusive one, but at least he isn 't hurting Shouto anymore. '

'Um, guys? ' Fuyumi interrupts them, turning around with a sheepish expression. 'I ' think I 'm lost. '

Gojo pauses and takes stock of their surroundings. He actually ' has no idea where they are, either. He usually has incredible spatial awareness ' comes with the territory of his Six Eyes ' but he 'd been so distracted by his conversation with Natsuo he 'd barely been paying attention to their surroundings. They seem to have ended up in a rather questionable looking alleyway, the garbage bins propped by all the doors mixed with the earlier on and off rain creating a rancid smell.

Natsuo stares around in bewilderment. 'Where exactly were you trying to lead us to, Fuyumi?

A sex dungeon? '

'It was supposed to be a top-rated speakeasy, but the directions were so confusing! ' Fuyumi protests, looking around anxiously.

Gojo is about to reply that they 've definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere long before this, because there 's not a single soul his Six Eyes can see in the surrounding buildings, when he stops before he can even open his mouth. He untangles himself from Natsuo, taking a step forward until he 's standing directly between him and Fuyumi, frowning upwards.

'Touya? ' Natsuo squints at him. Both he and Fuyumi are looking at him in confusion.

'One second, ' he says, distracted, which only serves to confuse them more.

Then they both shout in surprise as a blur shoots between them. Gojo ' having sensed a figure hurtling towards them on the roofs above, judged the distance between the end of the building and the start of the one across the alley from it, and planned accordingly for this inevitable interruption ' just opens his arms up and uses a bit of his Limitless technique to stall their fall.

'Hey kid, ' he says, to the surprised bundle in his arms. 'Hasn 't anyone ever told you flying is for droids? '