I thought for a long time whether I should add a trigger warning for this. I don't think I need one, and the people I asked also said I wouldn't need one, but just to be sure I'll add one anyway. So there's a slight homophobia trigger warning, although I don't think it actually applies.


Gossip

The weather report predicted the first snow of the year in the coming days; there had been two minor attacks in Musutafu alone. In Osaka, four people had been severely injured in an attack by (as of yet) unknown villains. It was getting worse again.

There had been a spike in crime after All Might's retirement, and then again when Natsuo's diary was published. That new increase in villain activity had been with an agenda: a specific motivation to destroy Endeavor's career — and if necessary, the entire Hero Association, if they protected him or it turned out they had enabled him.

Maybe the Association had hoped to smooth the tides. Maybe they had even been successful — as at least Enji himself had not suffered another attack targeted at him specifically. In any case, it seemed his retirement had led to another increase in crime. At least, that was his perception. It didn't surprise him.

He wasn't particularly interested in any of the news of the day. He put the paper away, took his phone out, and put the phone away again. It was too early. Shoto was either still sleeping or getting ready for classes. He should call in the afternoon.

After breakfast, he started working again. If it would start snowing in the coming week, he should at least try to fix the roof as well as he could before then.

Climbing up the scaffold, he heaved his body over the roof gutter. The metal bent dangerously, as he put too much weight on it. The wood of the roof creaked, equally unstable. He started a careful balancing act, trying to make his way further up on the roof to get a firsthand clear view of the damage. Quickly, he had to give up. Enji had to crawl on all fours to contribute his weight over the tiles. He didn't like the way some of them shifted under his hands and knees, as the fire had loosened and damaged the tiles really badly.

There was one part where the roof had even caved in. He could see through both the true roof and the second roof all the way into Natsuo's old room. As he tried to crawl further to inspect the rest of the damage, the material finally gave out under his knee. He only barely caught himself.

Carefully, he pulled his leg out of the hole on the roof, and slowly made his way back to the ground.

It was too dangerous. Sure, he wasn't afraid for his own health: he had survived worse things than a short drop from the roof, but he'd damage the house even more rather than repair it.

Coming up with a plan for the roof was difficult. The only thing he could think of was upgrading his one mobile scaffold unit to a full set, which would ensure safe passage over the entire roof. Or, he assumed, he could demolish the entire roof. What was left of it, at least. Then he'd have to painstakingly build the entire structure again from scrap. Some more solutions then ran through his mind, though none of them caught his favor. Too expensive, too difficult, too time-consuming, too much work for just him…

He decided to make a break then, but looking at the clock, he realized hardly any time had passed. It was still early.

Enji didn't know what it was that made him leave the house that day. Maybe it was the still-lingering fright from his nightmare, or the fruitlessness of his labor, that made the silence of the house even more difficult to stomach. In any case, he put on a pair of sunglasses, and a ball cap to hide his face, and left for a walk.

His feet automatically dragged him towards the river, where he would normally go whenever he left his house. But today, he didn't want to see the river again. The mere sight of it was still haunting him.

So, because of that, he purposely changed his trajectory and walked towards Musutafu Central. He didn't want to buy anything, and wasn't particularly keen on the people he would inevitably meet there, but at the moment, he was even less keen on being alone.

He walked for half an hour, hands shoved deeply into his pockets and eyes firmly glued to the pavement where he didn't have to acknowledge the people around him. Then he shortly considered taking the bus back home or somewhere else. Nowhere in particular, just anywhere.

He almost jumped off the sidewalk when his phone rang. The display showed an unknown number, but he recognized the first digits as likely belonging to the bureau of the Hero Association in Tokyo.

"What do you want?" He snapped. He did not feel particularly kind towards them.

"Todoroki, this is Hamamatsu O—"

"What do you want?" Enji repeated, not caring in the slightest for the man's name.

On the other end, he could hear the man sputter in a flustered manner. It almost amused Enji, if he weren't getting increasingly impatient that the other still hadn't found his wits to respond.

"Ah… excuse my sudden disturbance, Todoroki, but I want to talk about your former employee." It was just a statement, but the way Hamamatsu's voice tilted in the end almost made it sound like a question.

Enji's eyebrows quirked curiously. If he weren't so interested in why the man was calling him, he'd have just told him that his former employees were not his business anymore. Unfortunately, curiosity won out.

"Which one?"

"All of them, I guess." It was a stammered non-answer. "But most of all, your former sidekick, Silent Tracker. You left the agency in her hands?"

"Until we find a permanent solution," he said. Hamamatsu didn't really need to know that, but it would probably be unfair to Silent Tracker to leave her to deal with all the Association's shenanigans, when she had so clearly not wanted the position for any lengthy period of time. "What is this about?"

"We asked her to finally refrain from her constant inquiry about Takami Keigo. She—"

"Hawks?" Still, he did not care that he was rudely cutting Hamamatsu off. Maybe a few months ago, he would have at least acted placably around the representatives of the Hero Association. Now, however, that his license was already suspended, he didn't feel the need to lick their boots and appeal to them anymore.

He wouldn't say that he was angry that they had taken his license. When they had finally decided to cave under the public pressure, he had felt almost relieved at the suspension notification. But he was still disappointed. The way they had just thrown him away after so many years…

"Yes," the man coughed slightly, "Hawks, yes."

"What about him?"

There was a short pause. "It's not about him. Your former sidekick just needs to stop investigating him." His tone shifted from business-like to worried as Enji snorted at his statement. "I'm sure you understand that we can't tolerate—"

"It's not my business. If you want her to stop, why don't you answer her questions?" It was a rhetorical question. Of course he knew they wouldn't just tell Silent Tracer what she wanted to know.

"Todoroki!" The man adopted a strict tone. "I'm sure you understand—" he tried to repeat.

"This has nothing to do with me. Talk to her or don't, but leave me out of this. I'm not involved anymore."

"You can't be serious." the man said incredulously. "She was your former sidekick. We both know that she's doing it for you out of some misguided sense of justice, or maybe loyalty. She could get herself in danger."

There was an urgent pleading in Hamamatsu's voice. Enji himself remained quiet for a long, dragged-out moment.

"Was that a threat?"

"Of course not!" Hamamatsu quickly answered, albeit in an annoyed tone. "Listen, her accusations are ludicrous. And so were the ones you made three weeks ago. You two cannot truly believe that Hawks or the Association had anything to do with Fukuoka. That's laughable."

Enji was about to throw his phone away in anger. "No, listen!" His voice was loud and demanding. Enji's eyes roamed the street, but, curiously, he realized that his raised voice did not make the people stare or get closer to listen in. Instead, they seemed to hurry out of his way as if he was a social pariah. He rather liked it, apart – maybe – from that one particular woman who threw him poisonous glances before basically running away.

"I'm in public," he explained, in an almost threatening manner. "I don't think you want me to talk about what I think about Fukuoka!" He frowned darkly at nothing.

It wasn't even so much the betrayal. The moment he found out about Hawks, he'd called the Hero Association and shared his suspicions. They hadn't seemed the least bit surprised, but instead told him that he was being ridiculous and not to share his suspicions with anybody. He had soon realized that Hawks had not really betrayed him. Or rather, maybe he had betrayed Enji personally, but he had not betrayed the heroes of Japan.

Whatever he had done was either under the command of, or at least approved by the Hero Association. He understood that, and if it were just that, then he maybe would've seen past it — even if he had almost died during the incident, and was still carrying the scars. The property damage in Fukuoka had been massive and it could have just as easily turned into a bloody massacre, but Hawks and he had been there to stop the threat.

What he had known then, was still true now: Hawks had saved his life that day. They'd both put their lives on the line. That was their job. He was not angry at that part, really. But...

Did they think he was stupid? It was quite clear that they didn't trust him. Nobody. Not the Hero Association, nor Hawks. All that, despite the fact that he was the hero with the most cases solved in history. They had used him, almost killed him, and now that he was asking questions, they just pushed him out and cut him loose!?

He was still carrying the scars, but they were absolutely ridiculing him for his suspicions. Not only Fukuoka — Hawks had been the one to send Natsuo's diary to the public. Hawks had destroyed him. For… what? To infiltrate the League. His whole family had suffered for that.

And they wouldn't even answer his questions!

Hanamatsu cleared his throat. "What you are implying—"

However, Enji was distracted by a sudden loud cracking noise.

"Good day!" Enji ended the call without giving the other any chance to protest. He sped up his step, turned around the street and—

Somebody ran right into him, the force of the clash almost throwing him over. He caught the adult male in a surprised daze. "What's going on?"

But the man simply waved behind himself, then pulled out of Enji's hold and ran away. Enji followed the direction he had indicated. More pedestrians were running from that area, but there weren't many people to begin with. Enji heard loud noises coming from there.

Then he saw the villain.

The villain kicked a trash can right across the main street as he stepped out of the narrow alley.

"Is there nobody to face me?" His voice was loud and screeching, as he screamed for a challenge. "Where are all the heroes? You're all wimps!" He laughed like an ugly bellow. "All cowards, you are!"

Enji stared right at him: a broad man with a chunky build. His skin was grey, rough-looking, almost like stone. He was bigger than a normal human, bold as an egg – but a very grey and coarse one. The last of the civilians who were trying to run to safety were now past Enji, leaving him standing alone and facing the villain.

"Where are you!" the villain screamed. Enji had never seen this one before. "Face me, you cowards! Is there nobody left!" He didn't even look at Enji. His eyes were roaming up and down the street, scanning the sky, waiting for a hero to swoop in.

I'm here…

"Where are the heroes?" Somebody whispered behind him. A small group of people was huddled together in a kiosk. Maybe they had hoped to find refuge there and only now considered that such a small room would not offer much protection against a power-type villain, who was with each step getting a little closer. "What's taking them so long?"

I'm right here!

But his body was frozen in the moment. Not from fear, he realized. It was something else that held him here. He wasn't allowed to act…

Instead, he just stood there, glaring through orange-tinted glasses, at the villain who was still looking for a challenger. When he'd finally see him, if he came to him… then he'd defend himself, Enji decided. He would not engage, but if the villain was so stupid to attack him…

Finally, the stoneman seemed to see him. It was ridiculous how he had not even noticed Enji at all for so long. Even if he was looking for a hero in costume, even if compared to the villain, Enji seemed small, just like a normal-sized human, even if Enji did not outright challenge or attack him, it was almost funny, how long the villain needed to finally consider his presence.

"What are you doing here?" the screeching rough voice asked. It sounded like smashing rocks together.

Enji was about to answer, stunned that the other had not immediately recognized him as Endeavor. Though he was wearing the ball cap and sunglasses, he was difficult to mistake for anybody else. How stupid was this villain? Or did he have bad eyesight? Enji was so surprised by this that he didn't answer immediately, nor did he move at all.

And that was all the time the heroes needed to swoop in and save the day. He quickly stepped away as they engaged in the battle, but stayed close enough, just in case. His help wasn't needed, however.

He looked at his watch, registering that it would be time to call Shoto soon. If he hurried now, he'd be home just in time for Shoto's lunch break. He turned towards the next convenient store to buy a bus ticket. Enji was just walking past the isle with the magazine when something caught his eye.

No… he must have imagined it.

But as he looked again, it was still there. He made a grab for the magazine, crumpling it in his hand from how much force he was using.

There, right on the cover, was Fuyumi. She wasn't on the center of it, but in a small circular segment at the bottom-right corner on the front page. She was shown in profile, kissing another girl. There wasn't much detail visible on the picture, so he quickly leafed through the magazine to a small article somewhere in the middle.

Todoroki Fuyumi's Secret Lover?

The only daughter of the former number-one hero Endeavor was seen in the Aldera Bird Park acting close and intimate with a young woman. Is this love affair the reason for her sudden moving out of her parent's home?

For a while, it seemed like Todoroki Enji's relationship to his daughter Fuyumi couldn't be better. At age 23, she was still living at her parent's home despite working full time as an elementary school teacher. When her own brother Natsuo's diary was published on various news channels, detailing the abuse the Todoroki children and wife Rei suffered under the former number one (see our November issue), many speculated why daughter Fuyumi was still so close to her father.

She moved out of her father's house two months ago. At first, this seemed to be a reaction to the public scandal, but is this really the entire truth? Fuyumi, who herself denied any interview regarding the abuse or her father's more recent failing and losing his license, was recently seen talking amicably to him. Maybe the true reason for her sudden rush to independence is something else entirely.

Although growing up in the eye of the public, as the daughter to the former number one, the Todoroki children were all kept sheltered away from the media for a long time. This has changed only recently, when the Todoroki's family situation garnered the public interest and since her brother Shoto started on his own path to becoming a hero, greater than his father. He is now interning with Gang Orca in Yokohama (follow up on Shoto, the Son of Fire and Ice, in last week's issue).

Enji stopped reading.

Instead, his eyes moved back to the picture, the same picture as the one on the front cover. Or maybe this one was slightly different, but it was of the same scene — only here, it took up half the page. The girl who was kissing Fuyumi was Azumi. He immediately recognized the tall and slender woman with the plain face. She was so much taller than Fuyumi.

Fuyumi had never formally introduced them. The few times Enji visited her in her new apartment, Azumi had either not been there or just quietly left the apartment the moment he appeared. He remembered seeing her weeks ago, when he had first addressed the public about the abuse accusations. Back then, she had been standoffish, outright challenging.

His thoughts now weren't stuck on her. They had sputtered to a complete halt. Fuyumi was…kissing a girl. Fuyumi was not… lesbian. She wasn't! He knew that! He knew that, because… because…

She would have told him.

She would have told him, right?

His feet were carrying him all by themselves. Without thinking about it, he purchased the magazine and a bus ticket, not to drive home, but to go see her. He needed to talk to her. If he knew nothing else, that much he knew!

Enji still hadn't thought about what he actually wanted to ask her, or tell her, or even talk to her about, when he stepped out of the bus just five minutes away from her apartment. He was already on the driveway to the front door when he suddenly stopped.

It was only a few minutes past noon. She would still be at work. His hands subconsciously crumpled the magazine even further. It was thoroughly messed up now; he had flipped through it, folded it, rolled it up, crinkled it, and compressed it in his fists more than once. He shook his head to himself, because he had no business being here.

So, his daughter had kissed a girl? So, she hadn't told him about it? It? Not about the girl or the relationship or her sexuality to begin with.

Well.

He probably had no right to that information, anyway, he tried to tell himself.

Then why… Why did he feel so betrayed? As if she had lied to him, withheld something he had a right to know.

He turned on his heel and—

There she was. Stood right in front of him, frozen on the sidewalk leading up to the driveway. She stared at him, as if he were a ghost, as if she had expected anybody but him. And he stared right back, caught like a deer in the headlights. He had just decided that he had no business here, that it was probably better if he didn't come barging into her life, messing things up— and now here she was. He couldn't even turn away because she was blocking his exit route.

It was Friday, he remembered too late. Friday, her classes ended early.

"What are you standing there for?" A female voice called from a bit further down the road. Then he heard a car door fall shut audibly. Azumi came walking around a silver Toyota only seconds later. "Fuyumi? Did you forget your… keys?"

The last part she only said to finish the sentence. She was already looking at Enji, obviously seeing the reason why Fuyumi had stopped in her tracks. Then, Azumi gave herself a push and she walked up to Fuyumi, then past her, searching in her pockets. Enji could hear the keys jingle as she walked past him to the front door.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Fuyumi finally caught herself. There was a nervous edge in her voice, or maybe Enji was just imagining it. In her hands, she carried a small, white, pastry box. She switched the box over to just one hand, as she walked up to him.

Only as he was already holding the magazine out for her to take, did he realize that she had come in to greet him with a hug. He grimaced slightly as he registered how rudely he had rebuffed her.

Fuyumi took it with grace, though. Quietly, she grasped the magazine from him, and glanced at the title. "What is it?" she asked. "I didn't even know you read this gossip stuff." She glanced up at him, then back at the magazine cover to see what he was showing her.

"I'm not," he replied evenly.

"Okay?" she sounded confused, but laughed lightly. Suddenly, her face froze. "Oh." It was such a quiet noise, barely audible. She looked back up at him.

"Do you want to come inside, Todoroki?." Azumi held the door behind him, looking expectantly between Enji and Fuyumi, but neither of the two even noticed her.

Fuyumi looked right at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but then something made her draw back in on herself. There was no explanation. Instead, she just said, "I'm sorry."

His brows furrowed. For a second, his anger and disappointment yielded to confusion. "For what?"

In that moment, finally, Azumi turned back and walked past him to Fuyumi. She took the magazine out of Fuyumi's hands without question and only needed one brief glance on the cover to know what this was about.

"Those assholes!" she cursed. She didn't even look at Enji, instead throwing one arm over Fuyumi's shoulders and drawing her into a half-hug without squishing the pastries between them. "Are you alright?"

Enji felt like he was intruding. She spoke so quietly, almost whispering her concern for his daughter, that – although the question was harmless – it seemed so private; he just knew it wasn't meant for his ears. He took a step back to give them some privacy, to process everything.

Clearly, they had not known that they had been seen — never mind that their picture was published on one of the most notoriously pulpy magazines in the country. If it hadn't featured a picture of his daughter on the front cover, he would not have picked it up, even if his life depended on it.

Instinctively, he was already stepping back more, to get out of this uncomfortably private situation, when he stopped short. Why should he move? Enji had come to speak to his daughter! He was not intruding here. No. This woman was. She was basically a stranger.

"Can I talk to my daughter?" he asked, his voice pressed tightly, annoyed, that Azumi was even here. He didn't want to talk in front of others.

Something in his voice must have bugged her the wrong way. "You're talking to her, aren't you?" she snapped back.

Enji glared at her.

"Alone."

She stretched her spine while she was still half-hugging Fuyumi, as if trying to make herself taller, as if trying to intimidate him. Once more he realized that she was almost his height. Glaring at her, he met her challenge.

"I won't leave her alone!" she declared pridefully.

His stare only intensified. There was little he could do to force her away. Instead, he craned his neck a little, to look past her to Fuyumi.

"Fuyumi. Tell her to leave us alone for a moment."

Fuyumi looked at him, but instead of telling Azumi to leave, instead of doing anything, she just stared in silence.

"Fuyumi!" he pressed more forcefully.

"Leave her alone," Azumi snapped.

"You stay out of this! It has nothing to do with you."

She laughed humorlessly. "Yeah? Cause I feel like it got more to do with me than with you."

He made an angry step towards her. He didn't even know if it was a challenge, a threat, or just an attempt at getting Fuyumi's attention again. To make her finally respond and send her annoying friend away. Well, girlfriend. However— the way Fuyumi almost cringed, almost shrieked, almost pulled back entirely, made him freeze mid-motion.

"I just want an explanation," he said.

"What's there to explain?" The way Azumi forced herself into this conversation annoyed him, frustrated him. It had nothing to do with her. He just wanted to talk to his daughter!

"Please…" Fuyumi's voice was small and quiet and so insecure. Enji hardly recognized it. Immediately, both he and Azumi shut up and looked at her. "Not here. Can we go inside?"

Enji's eyes flitted over the driveway and the street to the open door behind him. There was nobody to watch them or listen in. He couldn't even see any paparazzi close by.

"Of course," Azumi said in a soothing tone. She glared at Enji, beckoning him to step aside.

And he did. He drew back completely, stepped two steps to the right, to let the two girls pass by him. He turned, his eyes following them to the door. Fuyumi turned to look at him for a moment as they went in. He didn't know what she wanted. Did she want to be left alone, or did she want him to follow? When he didn't move immediately, Azumi closed the door behind them. He just stayed where he was.

When he arrived back home, he realized he had forgotten to call Shoto, so he sent a short text instead. Just before he pressed 'send', though, he hesitated. It would be better to call. More personal. And he could actually talk to his son. Shoto was so busy, these days, he never got to see him or talk to him. Enji's knuckles were itching. Irritated, he scratched at the skin there.

A five-year-old. Red and white hair. The face caved in and bloody.

He sent the text without further hesitation. On second thought, he didn't want to talk to Shoto, right now.


So yeah, nothing can ever work quite right with this one. So, Enji was not very sensitive here. Don't worry though, they will get to talk a little later, just have some patiencce.

I did not intend for Enji to come of as homophobic here, still I thought it was probably best to add a trigger warning just to make sure. This scene escalates because of the very different issues the three characters involved have, which lead to this disaster. Enji is not bothered by Fuyumi being homosexual, but deeply hurt that she would not tell him, when in his mind she had all the oportnity too, as recently they have been meeting and talking more often again. I his mind, Fuyumi was maybe the only one in his family that he thought had forgiven him and did trust him, and that she would not tell him something so important is like a proof that she did not trust him after all.

Fuyumi is very distraught, not because she expects her father to react badly, but... well, I guess because she does not know how he would react and she is very much used to pushing everything that might lead to a conflict with the family as far back as possible, to the point where I think she ignored many of her own issues and problems. She's used to always seeking harmony and the path of the least resistance, putting all her energy into apeasing her brother's and father, while putting her own well-being on the backburner. The mere possibility that now her sexuality MIGHT lead to some conflict is terrifying for her, even if maybe logically she knows she doesn't really have to fear anything.

And Azumi is used to being judged and downspoken by people, so she can't interprete Enji's behaviour any differently than in a negative 'homophobic' way. So in many ways, while Enji is actually very self-depricating here, thinking he did not deserve his daughter's trust after all, Azumi interprets it in the worst possible way and challenges him. With those two fighting it's basically Fuyumi's nightmare coming true...