“I assume you had girls all over you all the time?” you asked him.
“Unfortunately, yes,” he replied.
“I know what it’s like,” you replied.
“So do I,” Shoto added and you and Syril chuckled understandingly.
You then had some more light talk for a little longer until Rose came back in to announce that dinner was being served in the dining room, and Syril nodded.
“Wyen, thank you so much for coming to see me. I do appreciate it,” he said formally, “I can see Deathborne in you,” he added, “you have the same presence as he did.”
“I do?!” you asked with surprise, “I’m definitely not anywhere near what his level was,” you said sheepishly.
“You have read his diary, haven’t you?” Syril asked as he handed it back to you, “then you will know how human he was. I know he has been raised to a god like status especially since his passing, but trust me. You and he are very similar.”
“Well, thank you,” you said as you took the diary from him and then smiled, “do you mind if I come back to visit from time to time?”
“Please do,” Syril said, “and your boyfriend is always welcome,” he added.
Shoto gave a small bow.
“Thank you,” he said, “my name is Shoto, sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”
“Shoto. Is that your given name?” Syril asked, “May I have your family name?”
“It is Todoroki, sir,” Shoto said.
“A Todoroki,” Syril said with surprise, “my.”
“Do not tell me I am like my father,” Shoto then said with a bland expression on his face, “I wish to be better than he.”
“You will go on to do many great things in your own way,” Syril said with a knowing smile, “the shadows are speaking to me of you.”
“Oh,” Shoto said with another bow, “thank you.”
You and Shoto then took your leave and left, with your heart feeling even lighter than before.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had so many emotions happen in such a small timeframe,” you commented to Shoto as you left the retirement building and headed back to the station, “yesterday I was so down. Like, really down, and wanted to… do bad things to myself… and then was super stressed about dad seeing me holding your hand, then I upset you and I felt bad, then today I find out more things about grandpa and… wow. Feels weird, I’m actually so relieved I want to cry.”
“You can cry,” Shoto said.
And for some strange reason you just did.
You burst into tears of relief and turned and sobbed into Shoto as he stopped and held you.
So much had happened but there was still so much to happen, but having that little pressure relief valve set off for a second would prove to have been very helpful at that moment.
On the train home you made up your mind to tell your dad about your and Shoto’s relationship.
“Better that I just tell him now, rather than leaving it,” you thought as you held Shoto’s hand on the way back to the station near your house.
You were very quiet on the ride home and Shoto wanted to ask if you were ok but most of the time you looked deep in thought so he decided to leave you be. You had a lot on your mind, given the conversation you had had with Syril just before.
At your station you bid Shoto farewell and left, getting off the train and heading to the exit then walking off down the road.
As you walked you pulled your phone from your pocket.
“Hey dad,” you typed, “I’m on my way home now are you home?”
“Yeah bud,” came his reply.
“Ok,” you sent back, “see you soon.”
Your dad saw that you were on your way home and let out a deep sigh.
“I guess I better say something when he comes in,” he thought to himself, “it’s best if we get this out in the open. I don’t want this to be another thing that brings him undone.”
You got to your front door, a good few minutes later, and entered.
“Dad?” you called out as you walked in and put your bag down then took your shoes off.
“I’m in here packing, bud,” your dad called and you could hear him putting things down and then he came out into the living room.
You both stopped and looked at each other.
“Dad, there’s something I want to tell you.”
“Bud, do you have a minute?”
You both said at the same time.
“Sorry, you go ahead,”
“Sorry, what did you want to say?”
You both said again.
You let out a nervous chuckle.
“Go ahead,” your dad said, gesturing to you.
“Uh…” you said nervously, “umm… did you, uh, see Shoto take my hand yesterday?”
Your eyes quickly found the floor, it was like an invisible magnet had snapped them to that position. You couldn’t look your dad in the eye right now.
There was a second of silence and then your dad spoke.
“I did,” he said, “I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”
“Oh,” you replied.
Silence hung for a long time, then you spoke again.
“There’s no easy way to say this dad so I’m just gonna say it,” you said, “Shoto and I are more than friends, dad. We’re… in a relationship,” you said.
You wished you could have just evaporated at that point.
You had said your piece, it was out in the open, and so now you just wanted to disappear.
“I uh… I had been thinking that might have been the case but it’s still a shock to hear it,” your dad admitted trying to force a little chuckle from his lips but it came out more like a choke.
You just remained silently looking at the floor.
“Bud, do you remember what I said to you in the back of the cop car? About no more secrets and me being on your side?” your dad asked you.
“Yeah, I remember,” you whispered to the floor.
“Well this is the time for me to make good on that promise,” he said.
You slowly looked up at him.
He had tears in his eyes and his arms out, and for the second time that day you burst into tears of relief and walked straight into his open arms.
“You’re still my son and we’ll be ok,” your dad said as he held you, “that must have been hard to tell me,” he added.
“Yeah… I didn’t know how you would react,” you said, your voice still having a bit of a hitch in it from the crying earlier.
“I’m not exactly used to it, the idea is still foreign,” your dad admitted, “but I want you to know that I still love you as my son and that I’m here for you. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
What a relief!
You had had this whole spiel in your head about how you had spoken with Syril and had found out that he was gay and that your grandfather was gay too but that had all flown out the window when it came to crunch time and now you were wondering if you should drop that bombshell too.
“I think I won’t,” you thought, “dad has had enough of that for one day. And plus, it’s something Syril should probably tell dad not me. It’s not my secret to tell.”
And so you decided to keep that under wraps.
The air between your dad and you was much more clear that night and you felt refreshed.
There were still a lot of things that needed to be wrapped up, like the move and the court case, along with what to do about your mum, but at lease two major things that had driven your life for the longest time were out in the open, that was something!
You slept really well that night, and then the next day was school.
Naturally, you told Shoto what had happened and he was happy for you.
“I need to tell my father now,” he said.
Welp, that was something you had completely forgotten about, good old Enji Todoroki knowing about your and his son’s actual status.
“I don’t know when I’ll see him again though,” Shoto said, “he’s been away a lot lately, and there still a lot I need to work through with him. Me telling him I’m gay is just one of a few things we need to clear.”
“Fair enough,” you replied with a nod, “I guess we’re both still in the trenches, hey?”
Shoto looked down at the ground.
“No Shoto… not literally,” you sighed, “honestly though you would make an amazing comedian.”
———————
The next 2 weeks were very busy for you, you and your dad moved to the new apartment and set yourselves up, the court case loomed overhead and a lot of meetings were set up to make sure that you felt comfortable with what would be required of you on the day.
You made it perfectly clear that you didn’t want to see your uncle ever again so they made sure this would be the case, and then the day arrived.