This is the author again.

My site is now three chapters ahead if you want to come check out the story ahead of what is published here. Includes the end of the sports festival arc.

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Eliminate spaces and semicolons to visit site. Add http colon forward slash x2. This site really is against hyperlinking.

Ten Years Ago

Sunshine is something that most people would associate with a positive connotation. A sunny day for most people means that they can expect whatever they have planned can happen wherever and whenever they want with little fear of something going awry. At the very least the weather won't be a factor to consider. It was a little warm with a strong sun beating down and making it hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk. On a street nearby a more traditional part of the city was a black Volkswagen food truck with its owner cleaning up his work station after serving seafood pasta. Shrimp, clams, lobster, oysters, all sorts of different shellfish tossed with the appropriate seasonings and cooked to perfection.

Reasoning for being in this part of town was because of something that had been concerning Haru for quite some time now. It kept him in this part of town at times. Once in a while he awaited the arrival of a certain individual and whoever else happened to be with her as she made her way past his food truck. A daily routine that she never broke as she enjoyed the sight of the river as she came to and from her errands.

The sight of the waterfront made it ideal for a plate of something salty like the ocean. Not a very busy area for business, but the company was pleasant enough for Haru with the few people who stopped by for a quick lunch. Wooden countertops and steel fixtures were all wiped clean and ideal for him once the next order came in for him. There was no need to rush as he took a few steps out and lit a cigarette and enjoyed the breeze softly passing over the river. A pair of light tan khaki pants with white dress shoes and a blue polo was all Haru had on with the heat and the addition of a jacket feeling a bit much for the heat.

He just took in the sights and let the time pass him by. Burning to the end of the butt was the cigarette he was smoking now coming to the end of its usefulness. He snuffed it with the heel of his shoe and flicked it into the waste bin when he caught the sight of a woman in a summer dress and a sun hat leading a small boy by the hand. Haru took a post at his kitchen and simply waited for the mother and child to approach him before saying anything. They truly took their time approaching his van and it started to make him wonder what was happening.

Popping his head back out made it obvious that the woman was hesitating and looking off to the side as she got closer and closer to the food truck. This was getting nowhere fast as he took the initiative and approached the woman. She hesitated and made her son realize this man was making her uncomfortable. He vigilantly stood to defend his mom and confronted Haru with his arms creating a small barrier of sorts. He took no offense to the boy's challenge of trying to protect his mom. Instead he knelt down to the boy and made his introduction to put the son at ease.

"Hello, you must be Shoto. I'm sorry if it looked like I scared your mom. I know I can be a bit scary sometimes."

A smile that felt genuine and kind as the strange man with hair the same color as his mom and with a beard. The boy was acting far shyer than he had just a moment ago. What he had been expecting was a big and scary stranger coming to hurt his mom; not a kind and gentle giant who seemed nice enough based on what he saw so far.

"I'm so sorry, Nakamura-san. My son is rather protective of his mommy and was just a little frightened."

There was a little bit of indignation from the boy at the claim it was him that was scared and not his mom. Her hand took the boy's smaller one and gently guided the boy back to her side after bowing in slight apology to Haru.

"Hey, he just wanted to do the right thing. Gotta say, that's brave of you to try and protect your mom that way. I'd say I'm impressed, even."

Shoto acted bashful after receiving the compliment from Haru. His mom and Haru began to speak to one another and most of the conversation sort of went over his head with a lot of bigger words making it somewhat confusing to follow. Haru had called his mom by name several times while she was trying to cover something up with her hat. It was sort of odd to see his mom being so normal with somebody he didn't know since his mom was often a very mindful and elegant woman most of the time.

Here, it was like she was ashamed and trying to cover something up from Haru. They both looked upset and were trying to keep their voices from raising too much for Shoto's sake. After a few more moments of going back and forth the both of them ended the conversation looking like they both wanted to say sorry at the same time. One was scratching the back of their neck while the other wiped away her tears after agreeing on something he didn't understand in its entirety. Only that he made her promise to call him if something happened.

Haru saw they had left the boy out to hang and dry while he and Rei were trying to come to an understanding over what to do about her husband. It was a matter of respecting his boundaries that kept things as they were with Rei doing what she can to convince Haru that her husband can and will change. He wanted her to realize that by the time he does it may have been too late. Neither were budging and it hurt both of them to do this to the other person.

With another kind smile and meeting Shoto's eye level by kneeling, Haru included the boy into the conversation by asking the boy something he wanted to give to him.

"I'm sorry for leaving you worried like that. Me and your mom are old friends and we tend to argue about stuff once in a while. She's still my friend and I hope that I'm still hers."

The boy looked up to his mom and she gave him a sad smile as she just nodded yes. Shoto gave his mom a hug by the leg and just tried his best to make his mom feel better. Her hugging him made things feel better, so by doing the same it should work in reverse. It did help the mom feel better; but the issue was still very much there. Haru offered the family lunch at his van and asked the child what he wanted. Another compliment floated his way when Haru said how mature he was for liking soba. Since then, every soba he's had from that day on has lacked the taste that Haru's had whenever he invited the boy for a meal.

Over One Year Later

Torrential downpours were a common occurrence in the summer months. So much humidity coupled with mountainous regions led to some heavy rainfall that could drown a rabbit for simply standing out there too long. Nobody bothered to go out and it served Haru well enough with how he had nothing but the rain and a nook he bought on a whim from yesterday. By no means was it a well structured novel with all sorts of literary devices to enhance one's mind. It was cheap to purchase with a little bit of heart in it's story as the adventure the main character goes on was just the right amount of simple for a night like this.

A beer and a cigarette made the night ideal as he scanned the words of the book and just drank and smoked at his leisure. He finished his cigarette and elected to drink for a little longer without a cigarette out of now wanting to get up for his pack just yet. The amber light from his van, still technically open for business, was a lantern for the darkness that had no other light to illuminate the space around for quite some distance. Perfect was the evening so far and it couldn't have been more ideal.

That ideal evening then began to ever so slightly backpedal as he felt somebody out in the rain was getting closer and closer. It didn't feel like a customer since they were moving a bit too slow for somebody looking for a hot meal. No hostility since the sound was actually beelining a little and seemed as though the person was stumbling more than they were walking. There were other opportunities for drinking and reading as Haru got an umbrella and a flashlight to see if he could help if they needed his assistance.

Out in the darkness was a nearly deafening amount of rain coming down on the streets. Shining the light was more for the benefit of whoever it was getting closer and closer to help them see him approach. They were just a short walk away as who he ran into was a woman with white hair suddenly collapsed onto him. It was something he really wanted to be a coincidence since the Todoroki was up the road from where he was parked. Moving the hair out of the way revealed Rei who was looking around all dazed in her house clothes.

"Rei?! Rei, hey! What's wrong?"

She took one long look at Haru and stroked his face while staring into his eyes. Her soft breathing had the stench of hard liquor and it was all but luck that kept her from getting sick with the rain being warm rather than frigid. He picked her up bridal style and brought her back to his van to help her dry off and get a straight answer from the woman.

Ten Minutes Later

Haru had Rei out of her wet clothes and in a large towel sitting next to a heat lamp he plugged in for her to warm up next to. The clothes were left to dry on the bar counter with the overhead heaters working to evaporate the only clothes he had for this fully grown woman. He finished with them and had to help get something into Rei's stomach as she clearly had a sickening amount of what was likely sake and had downed enough to make her wander out into the night in just her clothes and nothing else.

He set up a pot on the backburner and was going to start preparing clam miso for her when he felt that his shirt was rather soaked by the rain. He set the ingredients onto the countertop and got to remove his shirt in favor of a dry one. The wet article was left off to the side while he dipped down to get a fresh one and was suddenly pushed down by Rei. His shirt was still off and the woman was still in her underwear as she straddled Haru's waist while burying her face into his neck.

"Rei?!"

"Mmmm, you smell sooo good."

She tried to burrow further under his beard while letting her fingers roam around his bare chest. This got an involuntary reaction from the pinned man as his lower half started to push up against his jeans. Putting more weight on his crotch only made it obvious that she wasn't going to be disappointed.

"Rei!"

She wasn't listening anymore as she took his earlobe into her mouth and played with the soft piece of flesh by sucking and nipping on it. The moans from here were desperate as she kept pushing for this to happen. It wasn't that Haru was being swept up by the desires of this woman; her status as a quirk user gave her above normal strength and it was difficult to try and move her off of him without hurting her. Her grip on him was solid and if he did anything to brash she could cut her alabaster skin.

"Don't you want me? Am I not good enough?"

More and more effort went into her trying to seduce the man on the floor of his kitchen. A fear at the back of her mind kept pushing her for more and more as the possibility of him resisting and saying no would only serve to mortify her. She had already committed to ruining a friendship to have just one night where she didn't feel painfully lonely. Now it was time for her to go for broke as she scooched down to try and unbutton Haru's jeans. This moment was what he needed to take control of the situation.

He clasped both of her forearms and held her at arms length as he looked straight into the woman's face and attempted to reason with the woman through her drunken state.

"Rei! What the hell is this?! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!"

Even as she's trying to have her way with him and ruin what they have as friends; he still cared to stop things from going too far and ask what it was she needed from him. Realization of what was happening followed by the memories of what had happened caused her to start breaking down and sob miserably into Haru's chest. He just lied there and allowed the woman to let out aloof her pent up sorrow while being half naked and pressing up against her almost taked body.

This was far from the ideal way he wanted to comfort her since he still was as stiff as ever; at lest she wasn't trying to fuck him in his van anymore.

Thirty Minutes Later

It was getting late and Rei had finally calmed down enough to sit idle and still. Her clothes had managed to dry off enough for her to wear them before getting back home. In her hands was a bowl of clam miso soup to help with the inevitable dehydration she was bound to face tomorrow and to help sober her up just a little. Next to Rei in the driver's seat was Haru sitting faced towards her and patiently waiting for her to speak as he asked her to take her time in explaining why she was stumbling out in the rain while stupid drunk. He did wait as promised and was rewarded with Rei finally breaking her silent vows.

"... I, em… I don't… Know… uh, wh-where to start…"

Already she was feeling ashamed and embarrassed as she just sat there and felt as though she was too weak for Haru's kindness. The man just gave her another piece of advice before she started to cry uncontrollably again.

"Well, why don't we start with the drinking that just happened? What made you take that bottle down?"

Her breathing steaded itself as she recalled the way she felt all day. A feeling of just being stuck and taking on more and more from her husband that simply uses her how he sees fit. No feeling of freedom or even breathable air with her life boiling down to doing what her husband ordered or being trapped within the home all day. When he came home he would either neglect or just fuck despite her attempts to say no. There was barely any communication between her parents and herself and it was nowhere near as bad as it was with her social life.

Endeavor had her in the palm of his hands and it felt like she was gonna crack any day now. What was at first a relatively normal marriage slowly evolved into something she didn't even recognize anymore. An inherent fear of her husband was ingrained into her as to not allow her any sort of resistance when Endeavor wanted something out of her. More and more her story poured and just when it looked to be endless; she finished explaining.

There wasn't much Haru could say for the woman as it were. There was the fact that her husband was the number two hero in the nation and had quite the leverage to do what he wanted. On the other hand, some of this was Haru's fault for doing the supposed honorable thing and respecting her desire to keep him from getting involved. He built everything up on his own and to shrivel away now would be spitting on Rei and her kids. His mind was made up as he asked something of significance from the still woozy Rei.

"Rei, I need you to do something for me."

Attentively she nodded to the request. Haru had both arms in his hands and it still made her feel giddy to feel his grasp.

"Take the kids and go to your parents. I need to call a few people and pull in some favors. After that it's all on me."

He didn't accept no as an answer as he drove her home to make the preparations to get the innocent family to safety.

The Todoroki Household

"Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

Rei simply nodded as she reentered the home on wobbly legs to get ready. There was still the matter of making a few calls now to get the ball rolling. His mobile came to life as he stood out under a gate to make the call. It took less than two seconds for the call to be picked up with somebody seeing to his immediate need of forged travel papers sending Rei and her children to the UK.

Interior

Inside the family home; Rei was still a bit out of it when she decided to put on some water for some tea she wanted for the road. Being drunk still didn't help in making her realize she was wasting time. The kettle started to boil after a few short minutes and the steam coming out of the pot caused it to whistle and let her know that it was done. It was still a little hard for her to walk in a straight line as she turned the heat off and reached for the kettle.

"Mom? Is it you?"

A small voice came from outside of the kitchen entrance. Her youngest had been woken up by the kettle and was coming down to inspect the source. Without thinking the boy approached his mother while still sleepy and unaware of his surroundings. To her there were far too many thoughts going through her head.

Just outside the family home was her ticket to safety for her children and herself. She had never been this drunk before and had a bit of a problem making judgment calls; the tea brewing the most recent offense. Pure terror of her husband ingrained onto a level so deep that it scraped the foundation of her mental palace. All of these caused the perfect storm of mindless fear and uncontrollable recklessness.

Shoto didn't even realize what was going on before his own mother lifted the kettle full of freshly boiled water and dumped it on the offspring that had half of her and half of her husband. The side with her husband's quirk needed to go.

Outside

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A blood curdling scream from inside the home startled Haru and caused him to leap into action immediately.

"Shoto?! Shoto!"

He could recognize the voice as the youngest son. Through the front door and into the kitchen in a second and what he saw sent shivers down his spine. Rei had a steaming kettle in her right hand that was opened up for the water to pour. On the ground was the youngest Todoroki rolling around on the floor, screaming his lungs out while clawing at the left side of his face. The water was still steaming hot on Shoto's face with the water still steaming from his skin. Like breaking out of a trance; Rei looked down at her hand and recoiled in horror at what she just did. There was no time to ask twenty questions for Haru as he dove for the boy screaming in agony still.

"It's okay, Shoto! It's okay! I'm here! I'm here!"

No matter how much Haru tried to get a look at the injury, there was just too much struggling from the child for him to get a proper read. Looking back at Rei just made Haru see how the woman was now catatonic with eyes unfocused and vacant. It was too much for the abused mother to come to terms with.

"I gotta move you, okay?! I gotta get you some help; so just hang on for a second!"

Being careful with the boy as Shoto kept writhing in pain and now was wailing with a raspy voice with how loud he had been screaming.

"I know it hurts, Kiddo! I know it hurts! Just stay with me, okay?!"

Futilely trying to comfort the boy while he carried the boy to his van was all he could do before he got his hands on the med kit in the van. He burst in through the back and shucked off his jacket to place under the boy while he retrieved the sizable case filled with all sorts of necessary medication and other surgical needs. His phone was already connected to a call while he retrieved a vial of what he would need for Shoto's pain.

"New W-"

"MEDIVAC ON ME NOW!"

"S-sir!"

"Todoroki Shoto; does he have an allergy to mepivacaine?!"

"... No sir!"

That was good enough for Haru as he took the syringe he filled with anesthesia and injected the needle into the boy's arm. The numbing effect was already doing what it needed to do as the boy was starting to calm down and fall into unconsciousness within a matter of seconds. His job wasn't over as now he needed to control the situation back inside the home.

He gently cradled the unconscious boy into the kitchen with the medkit where Rei was sitting on the floor on her knees. There was no time to check her as Haru still needed to prevent infection on the wound. He was already pulling up the necessary medical information on his phone now that he had some time to breathe. No major allergies and the antibiotics he was using were all safe for the boy. He got the drugs administered and moved to dress the wound. All he could hope for was that the eye was still okay after all that damage.

"H-Haru-san? Wha-"

It was Fuyumi who called out from the kitchen door with a look of shock on her face. Her mother was sitting near a kettle dropped onto the floor while Haru had her brother up on the dining room table with her brother lying unconscious. This wasn't something a girl of her age could properly process in a single moment. Haru had to leave the boy on the table for a moment to help Fuyumi through this traumatic event.

"Fuyumi, listen to me. Okay, just look at me and nothing else."

The girl did as instructed and looked into Haru's eyes as he instructed her to follow along.

"I need you to be brave for me and just wait here, okay? Just do this one thing and I will forever be grateful to you. Just don't look into the kitchen, okay?"

The only thing the girl could manage was a nervous nod to say yes to Haru's request. He had already moved Fuyumi out of the room and sat her looking away from the kitchen with her back to the wall next to the door. He couldn't leave her on her own for fear of what could happen if he wasn't able to get to her in time. Just as he got Shoto wrapped up; the ambulance arrived to retrieve the boy and get him to a hospital.

Fuyumi was with Haru as the ambulance also retrieved the catatonic mother and put her on psyche watch while they treated the boy. Every step of the way, Haru could only wait to see what the results were going to be after the doctors finished their work with the child. All he could do was wait. He couldn't have felt more useless if he tried.

Five Days Later

Out front of the Todoroki Household sat a miserable man drowning his sorrows with a massive liter glass bottle of hard liquor at his side. The same rain from a few days ago was starting to come down during the middle of the afternoon and painting the sky a dark gray. This was his fourth bottle since this morning and was about a fifth of the way filled with liquor. The rainwater did dilute the brew by a relatively small amount, but Haru had been pounding it back nonstop since last night. This was the second to last bottle he had before he was officially out of alcohol and would be forced to sober up for the rest of the mine he would spend stuck here by himself.

By some miracle; the eye underneath the scalded section of Shoto's face was completely fine and would be perfectly functional for the rest of his life. It was the smallest of consolations out of this hellish scenario. The anestesia the hospital administered kept the boy in a medically induced coma while the skin healed enough for most of the discomfort to naturally go away. The grandparents of the children arrived to pick them up while Haru remained behind to keep an eye on the unconscious boy. He barely left Shoto by himself during the first three days he was under.

What got Haru to leave the hospital was the lack of a phone call or any sort of contact from Endeavor. The first day then turned into the next, still nothing. On the third day of his stay; the man was absolutely fucking furious. The nurses checking in on the boy were even found tiptoeing around him when he thought he was alone to brood. His informants gave him the updates he requested as to the location of Endeavor as his wife and child sat in the hospital because of his abuse and neglect.

Public meets and press conferences with luxurious accommodations wherever he went to interact with the enamored public who were in love with the image he sold to them. What Haru saw was a whore. A cheap and disgusting degenerate who would sacrifice their whole family for another fifteen minutes of fame. All sleep evaded Haru as his hatred of this man just grew by the day.

The fourth day was mostly spent just waiting out front of the Todoroki home with nothing to do but to wait for Endeavor to return to his house. Everybody inside took the time to speak with him and catch up with the friend of the house matriarch. That night he started to drink to ease his nerves from the lack of sleep. He drank through the night and kept at it while just letting the rain soak him through with his booze running low along with his patience.

Far above the home came a sound that was akin to the roar of a jet engine or rocket. Circling a few times before landing was the one person Haru wanted to see the most for the past four days. Endeavor was able to stay dry by using the heat of his flames, evaporating the rain on contact and making him steam like a nuclear exhaust tower. Seeing Haru sit in front of his home with a bottle of open alcohol made the hero sick to his stomach.

They absolutely fucking hated each other. From the very start it hadn't always been the case. They mostly ignored each other and it was a respectable distance for the most part. It was when Shoto came into the picture things started to shift from indifference to hostility.

While Endeavor went about his business with his children and family, Haru could see through the outer levels and kept confronting the man face to face about the way he interacted with his family. He told Haru to go fuck himself while Haru was getting ready to cut Endeavor wide open. No matter how hard he tried to scare off the quirkless man; the persistence of Haru just didn't back down.

Now that all this came to head with Rei snapping and scarring Shoto; something told Endeavor things were past just talking between them. Haru slowly got to his feet and stumbled slightly as he grasped the neck of the bottle and pounded the rest of it before chucking it violently at the feet of the man he hated the most at that moment.

"Five days… Five fucking days and not even a phone call or text to check on them… You have some fucking balls on you…"

There was no desire in wasting time on a drunk version of the annoyance he wanted to drown to death.

"More than you, at least. Now, leave my home before I call the police on you."

This was a huge waste of time in Endeavor's eyes. He didn't even want to get near enough to the wasted Haru to get into his own house. A simple ploy was thrown in Haru's direction as the man was still a bit wobbly as his speech was just as unsteady.

"She was so fucking scared… And so depressed, that she thought her own son was YOU for a second. What is a faggot like you still be considered a living thing? You should be rotting in a septic tank, prick. THAT'S where you belong. Sinking to the bottom of a tank filled with shit."

He really was asking for it now. The heat was steadily rising and making even the ground and Haru himself start to steam. The drunk looked to have barely noticed as Endeavor was just about close enough to commit murder right in front of his own home out in the open without remorse. The water around his feet had completely evaporated from the road and was not acting like a skillet with water being splashed on it. Anybody standing where Haru had been would have been well on their way to a hospital with how much heat was building. Eyes like two bottomless pits were licked onto Haru and were waiting for the first sign of something to give him a reason to reduce this arrogant asshole to dust.

"Oh, and speaking of balls; seems like your wife had a hard time finding them on you. Luckily, I happened to be in the neighborhood."

What was a barely contained rage was now pure fucking wrath as the heat started to send the air flying away in a massive gust of heat. He already decided to kill Haru here and now. What came out of the drunkard's mouth was what made Endeavor see nothing but scarlet red.

"Y'know, maybe if you were able to make your own wife cum; she wouldn't have to come looking for someone like me."

The next half second went by in a sudden flash of heat and light, followed by a loud slam and a burst of destruction as the road to the left was cracked and smashed with a large body tumbling to a stop. He didn't know what happened as the one intent on killing his opponent was suddenly sent flying off to his right hand side. From out of the cloud of steam blocking the road came Haru; now slipping a second set of brass knuckles made from steel rather than the softer metal of brass. His body was still hot enough to create steam like Endeavor in the rain.

"I'm not gonna make this complicated…"

He knocked the steel knuckles together hard enough to produce sparks and had a look of absolute hatred in his eyes as he just unleashed himself on the inside.

"I'm just gonna keep hitting you with these until you're dead."

Endeavor got back up and stood to face off against this psychopath. What he was getting confused about was that he was certain this guy was quirkless. How is some normal guy able to not only survive the heat of his quirk, but also send the hero flying with just one punch? Now wasn't the time to second guess as he had a fight to win right here and now. This was something he was looking forward to for some time now. Both men looked at each other like the other with nothing but cruelty intended for the other. Even the sound of the rain began to fade away as the air was thick like liquid gold with the malicious intent these men had for the other.

The charge they made towards each other was faster than what most people were able to see. They met in the middle and threw their first attack of the fight. Endeavor threw out a blast of pure heat to atomize Haru and was certain he caught the man in the attack. What proved him wrong was the sudden stabbing pain coming from right under his sternum. Haru had been going fast enough to lower himself as close to the floor and slip under the attack. Endeavor had been flying and gave his opponent enough clearance to just dodge the attack with his speed alone.

Not only that; Haru stopped where he wanted and landed an uppercut straight through the hero. The knuckles buried themselves into the abdomen and were yanked loose just as quickly. For the second time that fight Endeavor was sent tumbling to the ground rather painfully. Choking on nothing for a few moments before he was able to breath, Endeavor was certain that he was definitely justified in killing Haru now that the man pissed him off past the point of sanity. He flew up and decided to take to the air and see what sort of damage he could do from above.

His ascent became a violent descent as his ankle was caught before he got too far off the ground. One single swing into the asphalt took the air out of the hero's lungs and shook the streets with the deep impact Endeavor had just made with his back. It didn't end there for the hero now pinned to the ground. Haru took the opportunity to plant his knee on the man's chest and start mercilessly wailing on the skull of his opponent. A constant exchange of counters and punches went on for about a minute before Endeavor managed to plant his feet on the ground and use the thrust of his fire to flip himself and Haru over to escape the mount.

While Endeavor had a face all cut up and bruised by the steel adorning Haru's knuckles; not a single cut or scratch marred Haru as his fists and weapons were stained with blood. The rain wasn't proficient enough to rinse away all the blood stuck to Haru's hands. This was starting to be a little more one sided than what Endeavor had expected this to go. His only advantage was his range and flight; both were being knocked out of his arsenal of available moves as the distance was constantly being closed before he knew it.

Going for broke and just enveloping the entire area was the next best strategy. A little collateral damage to show this fucked up asshole a thing or two about knowing ones place was-

The entire world started to flip backwards out of nowhere in Endeavor's eyes. His confusion was cut short when the back of his head went right into the hard asphalt. Not even a single moment after Endeavor decided on a strategy he was once again countered and sent to the ground painfully. Stopping here felt too nice for Haru to allow for Endeavor. He soccer kicked endeavor right in the middle of his abs and made a solid impact that sent the hero back and into a wall behind him. The cinder blocks came loose and all toppled on top of endeavor.

The pile of destroyed masonry steamed and blew up and Endeavor was rising in a roar of cataclysmic fire enveloping him. A solid blow to his head stopped the comeback from fully developing and made the hero stumble over a bit as Haru kicked the man in the head and actually made Endeavor bounce once off the street. Another left uppercut made the hero stand up by force, only to be caught by the front of his costume and brought down for a headbutt into his jaw. Endeavor was quite tough and had to be beaten as far as he was now to start feeling the effects of all those attacks.

Haru lined up his body to be squared up with Endeavors and unleashed a nonstop storm of punches that kept breaking something every few punches or so. The hero fell back limp and unconscious from all the punishment he took to his head and torso. This wasn't enough for him to simply knock out Endeavor. Haru grasped the front of the costume and just kept swinging into the unconscious hero with his right set of steel knuckles.

His blows just kept getting sloppier without losing any of their power. The face of Endeavor was beaten black and purple before Haru stopped. What made the man stop wasn't the possibility of killing Endeavor. Behind him was someone he didn't want to kill Endeavor in front of.

Opened over Fuyumi was a clear umbrella as she simply stood behind Haru and looked at everything that had come to pass. There was nothing left for Haru to do. Killing this rotting piece of human waste would only deprive the family of a father, even if that father was an abusive monster. None of this would have happened if he had just acted sooner or said something earlier. His complacency and sense of common decency had done nothing but lead him here; beating a man within an inch of his life right in front of his daughter.

Tripping once while getting off the unconscious body only made Haru look far more pathetic than he already felt. The rain pouring down all around him just felt heavy as he stood out in the open, feeling empty once again. Behind him, Fuyumi actually reached out and held Haru's hand with her right one. This twelve year old girl was comforting him after he had beaten her father into pulp.

His right fist clenched so hard down on the steel knuckles that the metal adhered to the shape of his closed fingers. The left hand was shaking and far too weak to return the gentle grasp of the girl who was crying silently at the sight of her dad being given his retribution. A man who hurt her family, yet was somebody she still loved as family. The rain came down on Haru's face as he felt so useless and miserable with how he couldn't even help a little girl dry her tears.

Months Later

Endeavor had to take time off to recover from a fight he had with a nameless villain he had yet to identify for the public. Such a prideful man to let Haru walk after beating the man's head until his face was mush. Revealing the identity of his opponent would have brought into question the validity of his heroic image of Endeavor. The hospital TV was turned off in favor of the quiet of the lobby where elderly and other patients were all resting and reading.

To Haru's right was Shoto. They were both here to visit his mother while she was admitted to the mental ward of a hospital. Shoto still needed to have some form of dressing over his eye while the skin was still healing to produce scar tissue. The two of them had become friendlier since Haru picked up the boy from the hospital after the accident. Haru was a welcome presence as he made it easier to handle the loneliness by offering his own time whenever Shoto called.

Rarely did Shoto call Haru for something. This visit to the hospital was a request from the boy he wasn't keen on honoring out of fear of what would happen if the two were to see each other again after such a short amount of time. There were a significant number of phone calls to some more reliable sources to see what could be done to prevent something too extreme from occurring. Most experts explained that the mother be heavily medicated or expose the child to different images of his mother before they made the visit. This was mostly for Haru to try and make himself feel better as he already knew what he was going to do to reunite them.

Both were just waiting for the medical staff to return with the mother since she was still catatonic after the event and has required assistance with the day to day. There were moments of clarity for rare moments every few days or so; though those were brief as they were rare. In this case, Haru really was hoping for her to just remain under her mental fog while her son came to visit. He felt a tugging sensation on his right sleeve and saw Shoto lightly grip his long sleeve gray shirt with his head hung down.

Being careful as to not break the boy's grip; leaning forward, he gave Shoto a pat on the head to help ease the boy's nervousness in seeing his mother. Children had this inherent need for their parents that even after what Rei did, her son missed her dearly. Down the hall from where the two were sitting closest to came a white haired woman wheeled in with a nurse pushing the wheelchair for her. Haru's gaze drew the attention of Shoto and made the boy almost leap out of his chair excitedly before Haru put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

There needed to be some caution as to not allow things to get too out of hand. Shoto was a little confused as Haru led him by the hand and guided them towards the catatonic woman. With a subtle look to the nurse, she confirmed that the mother was not heavily sedated as per protocol normally for the visitation standards for mentally unstable patients. There could be no mistake in this as he needed them to be there as they were to make things at least somewhat better.

"Okay, Shoto; can you be a good boy and listen to some rules? Could you do that for me?"

Down on one knee to face shoto face to face, Haru wanted to make sure Shoto at least had some understanding of the situation. Being gentle at this point just felt like pissing into the wind for Haru. There was no hesitation in Shoto with how easily he accepted the request.

"Your mom is a little sick right now. It's a different kind of sick than what you're used to, so try to be careful and gentle. Can you promise me this?"

A very serious nod yes from Shoto helped put him at ease that at least Shoto was here because he wanted to be here. Shoto tentatively approached his mom like an injured animal and slowly reached for her hand. It looked to be okay for now with no visible reaction from the woman. Next came shoto lying his head on her lap and closing his eyes. This was good enough for Haru as he helped lift the boy onto his mothers lap. Having no reaction from Rei was a bit of a painful reality for him and her son, but this was the best they could hope for until things got better.

The nurse gave them all privacy as the three of them were seated in the lobby and trying to make the best of things. Having this reunion in the mother's hospital room was just a bit too much at this point. Haru took a seat and just occupied the space next to the mother and son's rather depressing reunion. All Shoto could get from his mom was to sit on her lap and just snuggle up to her unresponsive body.

A few minutes of this passed before Shoto asked for the restroom. There was one right next to them in eyeshot and despite offering to go with him the boy refused and just said he could do it. Haru didn't argue since he just wanted a few moments alone with Rei as well. He waited until he was sure Shoto was inside the restroom before he spoke his peace.

"... It's been a while, Rei. I hope they're treating you well here. I did my best to get you the best care I could find."

That was no stretch of the imagination. He indeed did take the time to find competent medical staff to personally attend to her needs and paid them all off to ensure nothing but the best care went to her. For what little that counted for at this point.

"Anyways, your family is good. Shoto barely seems to remember what happened and just kept asking for you, so that's good."

Haru kept looking forward and spoke indirectly to Rei, who was still staring off into space in the same direction as Haru.

"The others are hanging in there and have some time to get away while all of this is starting to settle. So don't worry too much. They'll pull through…"

Nothing. It hurt to just keep talking without a response, but he had some responsibility in this and kept himself speaking regardless.

"... Uh, I-uh… I confronted Endeavor. It was five days and he did nothing… Not a fucking thing… I just… I'm so…"

This wasn't about him. He stopped himself from getting too emotional. Elbows on knees and rubbing the back of his head, Haru took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"I am so sorry, Rei. I said some really unforgiving things about you when I faced him. I can't even begin to tell you how much I regret saying the things I did about you. None of it was true, I was just too drunk and angry while trying to get him to swing first…"

None of what he said could never be forgotten as well as not true in the slightest. It was him that felt dirty. He could still remember her scent mixed with the humidity of the rain. How soft she was as she desperately wanted him. Her eyes choked with tears and sorrow; asking for anybody to save her from him… Still, there was a small part of him that didn't want to stop her. To let things play out and just run with the family to safety and protect them from the savage that was supposed to be their protector. Wishful thinking. Nothing but wishful thinking…

"I acted rashly and beat his head into ground beef. He's still alive, but… Fuyumi saw me do it… And you know what she did? She tried to comfort me. Can you believe it? What grown ass man needs a twelve year old to comfort him after beating her dad's face in?"

All he could manage was a sigh of disbelief and just chuckle at how pathetic it all felt. The only consolation that Haru had was knowing he beat the man's stomach so badly that he couldn't even shit properly without some sort of tube stuck into him. That was something he felt was the only thing he could take pride in.

"She's a hell of a girl. Whoever gets to be with her better be ready for that sort of strength…"

This silence was almost maddening. He couldn't help but look to his right to see Rei once more. Even when she was several months looking like she was; he thought she really was a beautiful woman. His desire to touch her hand and hold it was interrupted with the return of Shoto. He didn't see what Haru was about to do since Haru could hear the footsteps coming from far away. The rest of the visit went on as planned and ended with Shoto heading to the van while Haru lagged behind a little for one last moment alone.

When he reached for her hand this time, he stopped himself and just retrieved the outstretched limb and returned it to his jacket pocket. One last sad stare to her unresponsive form before he spoke the truth and left.

"Maybe if we had met earlier… Maybe things could have been different…"

At least he could imagine a life where she wouldn't have been tortured by that absolute sack of wasted flesh and bones. Where she would have everything he could give to her and be happy with a life fulfilled. To give her a life where he could make her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world… All he had for her was the promise to take care of her family and protect them to the best of his ability while she was stuck here. A look that could have melted the polar ice caps adorned Haru's face as he left the hospital with a sworn pact that would be his personal mission to Rei. It was all he had left for the woman that he felt responsible for.