Hello! This week I celebrated my birthday. Again a year older... At least now I'm certain that I'll be finished with this story before my next birthday.

I also have a lot of stuff going on, having to learn for exams. So I don't get as much writing done as I want to. I'm still making progress getting slowly but surely closer to the final chapter. Because that's such a daunting task - however - instead of actually writingt he final conflict I'm still wastig time with less important short filler chapters...

Also I'm getting all kind of ideas for new projects. Both more Endeavor stuff... (especially the last few mha chapters made me really want to write some family fluff...but then again, I only want to make Enji suffer - cause I'm cruel like that - so I don't think I'll write any real fluff...However, I think after this I'll be done with writing Enji so close to the canon timeline for a while... maybe I'll go writing a cruel childhood for him...or a fluffy grandpa!Enji story? I've thought about a story ten years in the past, when the Todoroki kids were just kids, as well...but then that would just be the same 'trying to atone'-story...And I think after that I'll need a break from that... In any case, tell me if you're have any idea :D)...and other stuff from other fandoms. (I actually did start writing and posting a HP/Naruto crossover on a second AO3 account that I created because I feared that a certain troll I have to deal with on my original AO3 account, would spill over... so if you'Re interested. The name is SayItAll and the story is called Padfoot and Hound.)

Other than that, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

A Kind of Hero

"Hey, that's him! Endeavor!"—"Why did they give him his license back after all he did?"

"I'm just glad he's back."

"No, Baby… He's not a hero to look up to."

"I feel safer already."—"Look at him!"

"God, I'm so tired of the topic…"

"Did you hear he didn't do anything during Yaku?"—"Did you hear he saved those kids in the museum?"

"So, abuse is okay now?"—"Why is he not in prison?"

"I heard he went crazy!"

"He's back!"

"He's back."

"He's really back…"

He hadn't missed the whispers. Yet, Enji realized, he was slowly getting used to them. The burning shame from before was now only a numb ache in his mind, and he could live with that. He could work that way…

It was already getting dark when he could finally leave the agency to go to Nasadaa. Enji had called the Commission and the police department that had first engaged Rhinocerus, before talking with Nakamura about the whole thing. He was relieved that he had a course of action in his mind now.

Nasadaa hadn't changed much since the time of his youth. Which seemed absurd, because the world had changed so much since then. Had All Might's shining light never reached here? Or had everything reverted to how it was before, as soon as he was gone? Enji couldn't say. He'd lived in Musutafu all his life, but after turning his back to Nasadaa after his mother's death, he never thought about it again. He had solved many cases here – the most crime-riddled part of the city – but he never bothered to keep an eye on developments.

Of course, crime had gone down with All Might's rise and then increased again drastically with his retirement. He didn't know about Nasadaa specifically though.

He remembered his childhood in this part of the city fondly, but that was because of his mother, not because of the city surrounding them. Nasadaa had always been a shitty place.

The streets were still the same. Even the rundown pub where the teenagers in his youth had started drinking way too soon and the gym where a ring of Yakuza had run an underground fight club were still the same. He wondered if the fight club was still there as well. The apartment where he had grown up in would be two blocks further south, he knew – though his mother's quirk had severely damaged it. It was never quite rebuilt, as far as he knew, but for a moment he considered walking the extra mile to see if the walls were still charred.

He discarded that idea again. It was almost 36 years ago… Surely, somebody would have restored the building by now.

Enji turned to the opposite direction. The address of Rhinocerus' family was close to the big Nasadaa shopping mall; that one hadn't existed in his youth, he knew. It had been built 20 years ago, to bring some business and money into this part of the neighborhood.

The Hairo family lived in a big, barrack-like apartment building. There was a park on the other side of the building once, Enji remembered. A small and busy place. There had always been teenagers lounging around, and police patrolling along the edges and glass shards from broken beer bottles on the playground. But that aside, it had been green and mostly nice. It was here that his mother burned a park bench when he was still a child. Now the park was gone, and instead there was the big parking lot for the shopping mall.

He looked for the name Hairo on the bell system and pressed the right one. He just hoped it was working.

What kind of hero rings at the door of the villain they want to apprehend? A voice asked in his head. It sounded suspiciously like the part of him that wanted to just storm in, take the villain down, cash in the money and be done with it. He hadn't solved the most cases in the history of japan by wasting time asking questions.

"Yes?" A young female voice came through the bell system. There was a constant static noise that was distorting her words.

"Good evening," Enji said, "I'm looking for Hairo Sai." It was worth a try, he decided.

"Get lost," the answer came immediately. Not even a breath of hesitation. He sighed. Well, so much for asking nicely.

"There's a warrant out for him, and I'd rather not fight if we can…talk…" he bit his lip. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't good with words. Barging in had always been the easier option for him, not just because it was quicker – and he was impatient – but because he wasn't a sweet talker. He had no way to make this girl open the door.

There was no reply from the other end.

"Listen, can you just buzz me in, so we can talk?"

He knew it was futile. Sighing and very annoyed, he pressed his index finger against the button up top. Then he ran down the many buttons with as many foreign names on them.

"I told you to get—" the girl's yelling was quickly interrupted, when one of her neighbors spoke through the same system. "Yes?" By that time, somebody had already pressed the door opener, and Enji pushed through the door.

Fourth floor, he knew, but before he had even reached the stairwell—

He stopped.

Apparently, luck was on his side. Who knew? That must have been the first time something went right for him. There, right in front of him, stood a tall and burly man with a head like a rhinoceros. He stared at Enji as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Endeavor!" he bellowed,as if the name was forcing itself out of his mouth. The leathery grey skin wrinkled in fright. Then he turned on his heels and burst right through the window out into the parking lot.

Annoyed, Enji jumped after him. The man was surprisingly fast for such a burly, heavy statue, but then again, mutant-types were strong. With a quick burst of his flames, Enji caught up without problem.

He had no interest to hurt the man, so instead of smashing him right into the ground, he blocked his escape with a wall of red fire.

"Are you done running?" Enji asked. He came closer slowly. Wearily. Just because he didn't want to fight, didn't mean the same was true for Rhinocerus.

He could see the man's hands ball into fists. Big hands, with the same leathery skin. The nails were thick and dark grey, but the shape was human. Four fingers and a thumb.

"I won't go to jail!" The man yelled out, turning on his heel to punch Enji's face. Quickly, Enji took a step back. Rhinocerus swung at him again. Enji dodged nimbly.

From the way he moved, Enji thought he might have participated in some street fights in his youth, but it was obvious that he had no formal training and was thoroughly out of shape. Enji didn't want to risk getting hit – certain that the rhinoceros-quirk could pack a punch. But although he was clearly strong, he wasn't very agile, and from the way he moved, Enji was certain that he had back pains.

"I just want—" he started, before avoiding a powerful kick. "Stop that!"

"Is that the former number one's strength?" Rhinocerus mocked, but there was confusion in his voice. He had to know that this couldn't possibly be Enji's full strength.

"Rhinocerus!" Enji yelled out. "Stop this, so we—"

"Don't call me that!" Rhinocerus interrupted him. "Your people came up with that name! But my name is Hairo Sai."

It wasn't a self-chosen villain name?

"Who gave you the name, then?" Confused, he almost failed to evade the next punch.

"Beats me! Paper Cut just called me that." Rhinoce—Hairo Sai panted from exhaustion.

Paper Cut, Enji remembered, was the name of the hero whose ribs he had broken. "You broke two of Paper Cut's ribs, you know that?" he asked.

"What do I care?!" The man's voice rumbled in his chest. "He attacked me. I was just defending myself."

"Dad!" A young voice screamed from behind him. It was a boy, with a similar mutation quirk misshaping his face. It wasn't as severe as with Hairo Sai. Clearly, this had to be his son. It was difficult to guess his age, Enji thought. Might be 12, might be 15. "Get away from my dad!" The boy glared at Enji.

"Stay back there," Enji ordered back at him, pointing at a point beyond the cage of his flames. He didn't want the boy running into his Hellfire.

"Houn! Come back!" A taller girl came running after the boy. Unlike the other two, her skin was light brown, but she too, had a horned face. The daughter, Enji knew immediately. She must have been the one to answer after he rang the bell.

She only caught up with the boy when he was already standing in front of the wall of fire. He had his arm raised to shield himself against the heat, but didn't back away. Instead, he was looking for a way through. At least he had stopped, though.

"Houn! Hidzume!" Hairo Sai bellowed his children's names. For a moment he stopped trying to punch Enji, instead looking at his children with wide, terrified eyes. He looked very human then, Enji thought. "What are you doing here? Get back inside! Go back to your mother."

"We won't let them take you away, Dad!" Houn screamed, fighting against his sister's arms as she hugged him close. The girl, Hidzume, was trying to pull him away from the fire, but Houn struggled.

The presence of his children seemed to give the father more strength. He kicked at Enji, and this time, he almost hit him. Enji had enough. With a sweeping kick, he took the mutant off his feet and smashed him to the ground.

"Argh!" The man yelped, hitting the ground hard. For a moment, he laid there panting and wheezing. Then he started struggling again. He reared up powerfully.

"Let him go! He didn't do anything!" the boy and girl screamed from outside his flames.

"Fuck you!" Hairo Sai cursed.

Enji gave a warning burst of his flames. He shoved the man down, twisting his arm behind his back. There was a shocked cry from the children, at the sudden burst of fire.

"I didn't come to fight," Enji started, but in that moment, he heard a surprised yelp, and steps rushing towards him.

"Houn, the fire!" the girl yelled.

Enji immediately extinguished the fire cage surrounding them, knowing that the boy was running right through. He wouldn't roast a boy on his first day back on the job. The man below Enji tried to get up again. With his mutation quirk, he was naturally stronger than him. Enji had overwhelmed him, but keeping him down without injuring him – which meant keeping him down without his quirk – was more difficult than he had thought.

Somebody attacked him from behind. Instinctively, he built up heat in his body to repel the attacker who was trying to get him into a chokehold. Then he heard a squeaky cry close to his ear. The boy… he was just a kid. The fire from his costume was burning him. Enji extinguished the flames, and then grabbed with his bare hand, to lodge the boy off his neck. He was strong for a kid, but after a sharp tuck, he had to let go. Enji threw the boy to the ground. He wasn't particularly nice about it, frustrated. He'd come wanting to avoid a fight, and now he was fighting children!

"Let them be!" The girl demanded, coming at him from the side.

Enji evaded easily and tripped her. "Enough!"

"Stop it!" That was the father speaking. He had struggled to his feet. But instead of attacking Enji as well, he pushed his children behind himself. "I told you to go," he said in a breathless voice.

As he looked back at Enji, Hairo Sai seemed pale and afraid. "They didn't…" he started, his voice trembling.

"Dad, what are you doing?" the boy asked, trying to push his dad away. "You have to run, Dad. We can keep him busy."

"No!" The man exclaimed. "No… You shouldn't have… What did you think, attacking a hero?" He turned to Enji. The massive grey jaw was trembling. "Please, Endeavor, they didn't know any better. I'll come with you—but—"

He was protecting his children. In the middle of Nasadaa, a parent protecting their children…

I've seen that before…

Not too far from here, his mother had protected him from a mutant-type villain with overwhelming strength. It was as if the roles had changed.

Enji took a step back and massaged his neck. The boy had a powerful hold. Thank the gods nobody had ever taught him how to do a good chokehold, or Enji might've had to use his quirk to get rid of him. And he really didn't fancy burning children.

"I'm not here to get your kids into trouble." He reactivated his flaming mask and beard that he had turned off when the boy had jumped him. "I just came to talk."

Hairo Sai looked confused, but he gave a simple nod. "Of course." He hesitated. "Can they go home?"

"What? Dad, we won't leave," the girl said. The boy had hugged his father tight from behind.

"Yes, you will. You'll have to take care of your mother." Hairo Sai turned to his children, put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Go, I'll take a while."

"Liar," the boy whined. "I'm not an idiot. I know where he's taking you."

"Sorry, Houn. Just… don't get into trouble, okay? Take care of each other."

As he watched the scene, Enji felt intrusive. He would've turned away if he didn't fear Hairo Sai might use the chance to flee. There was a warrant out and a bounty on his head. If Enji didn't bring him in, somebody else would.

Still, the least he could do was not stare at them… His gaze traveled along the darkened parking lot. Their little scuffle hadn't caused any damage.

"I thought you heroes are supposed to protect people,"the girl said.

"Hm?" he turned back to her. His father was gesturing for her to shut up, but Enji was curious what she had to say. "What did you say?"

"I said, I thought you were supposed to protect people. My dad is a good man. You just came here, waving some fake charges around, trying to arrest him, and when he didn't follow – because why would he? – you attacked." Her jaw was trembling a little, but her voice was firm. Enji looked from her, and her vigorously nodding brother to her father, who seemed close to a panic attack. "My father is a good man. A better man than most. Just because he looks different—"

"I'm sorry," her father interrupted. He looked embarrassed and angry, but mostly afraid, clearly thinking if his kids just annoyed Enji enough, Enji might press charges after all.

"What for?" Enji shrugged. "She's right." He scrutinized the man with narrowed eyes, then both children. He nodded to the girl. "Even I can see that. I'll bring your father back in a few days."

The girl looked confused.

"What?" Hairo Sai's voice almost left him. "Don't…" but then he stopped, as he seemed to reconsider his words.

Turning to his kids, he kissed each of his children on the crown of their heads and sent them home. They left reluctantly, throwing Enji wary glances, but at least they finally left.

"That was a nice little lie to calm them down," Hairo Sai acknowledged with a tired sigh when they were out of earshot.

Enji was already ruffling in his pocket for his phone. Looking in the contacts for Matsuura, he gave the rhinoceros-mutant a tired smile. "It wasn't a lie." Somewhat unhappily, he added, "at least I hope so."

He found Matsuura in his contacts and quickly texted him the location of the parking lot.

Hairo Sai snorted. "I might be ugly, but I'm not an idiot. I know the charges… resisting arrest? No, assaulting a hero." He nodded heavily. "What's the prison sentence for that?"

"Two broken ribs?" Enji waited for the confirmation that Matsuura had read the text. Then he put his phone away. "I'd say ten years."

The man looked at him in shock. "It's worse than I thought," he grunted. But to his credit, he didn't try to run.

"What happened?" Enji asked. He was curious. While the lady from the Commission who he had asked about the events had been very forthcoming regarding Paper Cut's wounds, she hadn't said much at all regarding the initial incident that had set everything in motion.

"My fucking face happened." Hairo Sai growled in frustration. Then he glanced at Enji. "Not like you would believe me. But I was playing with my son, and suddenly there's a knock at the door. I open it. There are two officers. One of them just jumps, points a gun in my face, and tells me to raise my hands. I panic. Close the door in their face, and one of them gets it against his nose." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe his own story. "I didn't even see that. Thought they were long gone, but suddenly, somebody kicks my door in. He yells out 'Rhinoceros' like I'm a fucking animal. My kids scream. My wife is sick in bed, so naturally I swing at the guy. Think it's a villain. He doesn't say anything, and just sputters as I smash his ribcage. And then I hear the police call me through a megaphone that I'm under arrest. So, I run."

Enji didn't say anything after the explanation. It all sounded so absurd now, hearing it from his perspective. It mostly fit with what the woman from the Commission had said, though of course, in her tale, Paper Cut had yelled out his own hero name and job instead of 'Rhinoceros'. Of course, in her version, the man had assaulted the officers and resisted arrest instead of closing the door on them.

"Told you, you wouldn't believe it." The mutant turned when Matsuura drove onto the parking lot with screaming tires. "Thanks for asking, though. I guess that's our ride?"

"Yes." Endeavor watched as Matsuura pulled up close. He opened the door to the Mercedes and let Hairo Sai inside, with Endeavor following him. It wasn't the limousine, but there was room enough for both men to stretch their legs without getting in each other's way.

"I have to admit," the mutant started, wiggling his toes. Enji only now realized that he had fled his apartment barefoot, "I didn't think I'd be arrested with such a nice ride. As far as I'm aware, Endeavor, you're not known for such…cordial arrests. I've heard different stories."

Enji frowned. "I'm not interested in the stores you've heard." He had enough of the stories told about him. "But you're right. This is not my normal course of action. Normally, I would call the police, so they can make the arrest."

Hairo Sai looked surprised. "What's different about me?"

Enji shrugged, stretching his legs a little. "I don't know. I got your file this afternoon, and I decided I didn't feel like beating you up."

The other man stared at him. He blinked multiple times before speaking again. "That… doesn't sound like the great Endeavor."

There's nothing great about Endeavor.

There was a time when he thought that Endeavor was the best part of him – but at the end of the day, Endeavor was just a name he'd given himself. Endeavor was Enji, and Enji was Endeavor. He knew that now. The sins of Todoroki Enji were also Endeavor's to bear – they were equally rotten... And equally trying to get better.

"I might not be a hardened criminal, but I've lived in Nasadaa all my life. I come around. You're not known for asking questions first." He said it in a careful tone, as if he was expecting an angry reaction. Enji noticed that his tone had changed drastically since his kids left. The subdued fear was gone; there was a bit of cursing and mocking here and there. But apparently, he still saw himself firmly in Enji's hands and didn't want to provoke him unnecessarily. "So, what changed?"

Yes, what changed?

Enji looked at the ceiling of the car. His fire was all extinguished. The only light in the car was coming in from the street and traffic lights outside.

"I've recently had a lot of time to think about what kind of hero I want to be," he answered eventually.

What kind of person…

"And?" Hairo Sai sounded curious.

Enji didn't quite know what to answer. Then he gave a simple shrug. "Maybe for starters, one who doesn't beat up people for their looks."

The words hung in the air for a hot minute. He could hear the other man whistle out a long sigh of relief. "You believe me."

"I do." Enji agreed. "You're not actually under arrest yet. We're driving to my agency, and you'll talk to my lawyer there. And then we'll call in the police to make the arrest."

As they passed the next streetlight, it reflected brightly off big grey eyes. Very human eyes, Enji thought. There was a wet cough.

"I can't afford that."

"I'm paying him a full salary, so he's agreed to take you on as a charity case. He has a passion for these things." Enji held tightly onto the armrest as Matsuura took a turn too fast.

Hairo Sai still sounded disbelieving. "What things?"

"Before he started working for me, Nakamura focused on cases against heroes. If you need to prove that a hero misbehaved or didn't do their job right, he's the best man for it. That's why I hired him. Couldn't afford to have him work against me." He chuckled to himself.

There was a small scratching noise. Fingernails against leather.

"Please don't leave scratches on the seat," Enji said automatically. He liked the car.

The scratching stopped immediately. "Why?" For a second, Enji was confused. Was Hairo Sai asking why he shouldn't leave scratches on the leather— "Why help me like that?" he asked. "You don't even know me."

Enji was taken aback. "I told you—"

"Yes… about the kind of a hero you want to be. Bullshit! It makes no sense. What do you want from me? I can't pay you back. I don't have any sway over your public approval. I wouldn't even want to show my face in the news like those kids you saved to tell them about how you've changed."

Did people really believe that? "I didn't save them so that—"

"I'm sorry." Hairo Sai cut in. "That wasn't what I meant. I just… don't get it." There was a low thud as he kicked the seat in front of him. A bit like a petulant child.

Enji heard the girl's voice in his head. "You're a good man. Your daughter said that."

Heroes should help good men, he thought. That would be the kind of hero Shoto could be proud of.

"Of course she would say that. I'm her father. She loves me." Hairo Sai said without thinking, without hesitation. He was scoffing a little.

The words stung.

One had little to do with the other, Enji knew. Fuyumi loved him, he was sure, but he didn't know if she'd ever go as far as to call him a good person. Natsuo was his son, but he neither loved him nor would he ever call him a good person.

Enji looked outside. They were closing in on the agency now. The great, flaming 'E' was bright in the night.

"I didn't mean— I'm sorry about that," Hairo Sai said sheepishly. He hesitated. "I was surprised to see you. I didn't know you were back. If I had found out about it through the news, I think I'd be mad at it… Never liked you, and even less, after…" He looked to the window. His rhinoceros-mutation was reflecting off the glass. "I guess now I'm the idiot."

Enji had no interest to speak about his comeback or the other man's feelings about him. "Do you have a job?"

The change of topic was anything but smooth. Hairo Sai sputtered, and stared at him as if offended by the question – but then he just hung his head, avoiding his gaze.

"Of course not. Villain status and an open warrant makes it difficult."

Enji snorted. Smartass. "What about before?"

"Have you looked at me?" There was deep-rooted frustration in his voice.

Enji had to agree that it would be difficult to work any jobs with customer contact with a mutation like this. People were getting more and more accepting of different mutant quirks, he knew, but that was a slow process. He remembered Fumihiko with his spider-fanged mouth. And this man… his entire family.

"There are plenty of jobs without customer contact," Enji tried.

"I didn't finish high school." There was the scratching noise against leather again. Enji was about to say something when it stopped. "No higher education, no craft. I was an idiot for skipping it, but I thought, 'who's gonna take me anyway'. Should've made me try extra hard, but it didn't." He gritted his teeth.

"That's why I make my kids try extra hard. Makes me sick to know they'll face the same bullshit." Somehow, he had changed to topic, Enji noted, though he didn't interrupt. "Sometimes I think…" He stopped there, and dragged his hand over the grey skin on his face. "I shouldn't have…" But he shook his head and stopped again. Enji knew what he wanted to say.

"You're a good father," he said. Because he was certain of that after just seeing him interact with his kids for a few minutes. He might have passed on the rather unfortunate looks to his children, but he was a good father. Enji had spent too much time during the last few months thinking about fatherhood to not notice that.

"Yeah? If your prized lawyer loses my case, I'll be an absentee father."

Enji could have said that Nakamura wouldn't lose the case. He was fairly certain of that, but he didn't guarantee it. "There's still worse," he said instead.

Thankfully, the other man didn't comment on that. Instead, he used that moment to come back to the original question.

"I try to get every job I can. I work at the docks whenever they need more hands for heavy lifting – that's where my quirk comes in handy."

"That's where the back pain comes from, huh?" Enji guessed.

The other man stopped and frowned. "You noticed that?" he asked incredulously. "Yeah, it's backbreaking work. Barely pays for rent."

Enji nodded. "Your wife is sick, you said?"

At this, Hairo Sai finally had enough, just as Matsuura drove into the garage of the agency. "What is this?" he glowered, "I'm not your charity case."

Enji stared at him. He hadn't seen the outbreak coming, but now he thought he ought to. If he'd been in the other man's shoes he wouldn't have spoken so freely, and would have long fled the conversation. Hairo Sai was either a much better person than him, or just more patient. Or maybe the fear of leaving his family was just too big to risk Enji getting angry and going back on his offer regarding the lawyer.

He didn't apologize, though. Instead, he waited for the car to stop, and took the other man to Nakamura's office. They didn't speak another word the entire way there.

Just as Enji was about to open the door to Nakamura's office to let him inside, Hairo Sai spoke again.

"I am grateful," he declared. "Don't want you to think that I'm not."

Enji frowned. "I don't care," he said back. And he really didn't.

So this was a bit of an interlude. it wasn't actually one of those 'writing random stuff to distract myself from writing the finale'-chapters, but it's still sort of similar. I just really wanted to write Enji as a good kind of hero who for once doesn't solve a problem by punching it into submission.