A/N: Here we go, here we go, here we go. Chapter 46 is here!

I've very much enjoyed the reaction to the last chapter, let me tell you. I was never going to hold the "Dabi is Touya" reveal in Incident Zero for too long, certainly not after the manga confirmed it within a few chapters of this fic being released. And to me it felt a lot more natural for Dabi to try to capitalise on all the attention that the USJ had gained, in order to exploit that for his own end. Plus, I rather take pride in the fact that I have tried to give a number of characters their own development and arcs besides my own protagonist Izuku; having them react to the USJ and to each other's events feels both right and believable, like the world we have here is more whole as a result of that.

Anyway, I digress. Dabi made his own reveal, and we have others to check in with as a result of that. This is (IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT) the penultimate chapter of Act 2; next week will be the last of the Act, before I take a break from this story over the holiday period. More on that in the end note, but just giving you a heads-up here.

We heard from two of Endeavor's pet projects at the end of last chapter… how about the third?

(***)

Touya Todoroki was alive. Worse still, he had become the wanted criminal Dabi, a name connected to a number of killings over the years; criminals, heroes and everything in between had fallen to the Blueflame. Even worse still, he was now harbouring Shoto Todoroki as well, the wayward prodigy who had abandoned Endeavor in the aftermath of Incident Zero and chosen to rebel.

The two brothers were alive, well, and on the warpath. And Katsuki Bakugo had barely been able to hold back his anger as he had listened to them on the TV, set up in the cramped room above his father's studio.

After recruiting Kyoka Jiro onto his and Burnin's mission to track Slidin' Go and see if he led them to the freaks in the Meta Liberation Army, the next priority had been finding somewhere to act as a home base. Endeavor had been clear to them that the mission was their responsibility, and so running it out of the Endeavor Agency was a non-starter; the building was always under attention from someone in the media, and so a recognised celebrity like Kyoka arriving regularly would have raised eyebrows. It was better for their undercover mission that they were away from prying eyes somewhere.

After what Dabi and Juhyo- no, Touya and Shoto- had pulled on the news, Katsuki couldn't help but feel even more glad that they were away from the Agency. The media would be swarming there, right now.

The decision had been simple enough, in the end. The Agency was out due to the covert nature of their mission, and after the way the slimy bastard had creeped him out at their last meeting, Katsuki had vetoed any consideration of staying at the same bar Giran was working out of. The broker might have been useful, not just for Kyoka, but the smile on Giran's face when he had called Katsuki 'Kacchan' had gotten under his skin a little too much. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction again.

That had led them to Katsuki's father. Katsuki would be damned if he introduced the old hag to Burnin and Kyoka any time soon, but Masaru was a safer option. It was one that had worked, as well; Masaru had spared them some space above his design studio, a flat which he only ever used if he was coming back from travelling away. It was out of the way and functional enough, and had the TV to keep track of what was going on in the outside world, something Katsuki did religiously; it helped him know what other Heroes were doing almost as much as it helped him spot trends for where the more ruthless villains were operating.

That was the first Katsuki Bakugo had heard of the attack on the Unforeseen Simulation Joint at UA.

Normally his reaction to any news story about UA was to switch off. That dream had been taken from Katsuki a long time ago, by idiots who wouldn't recognise what it meant to be a Hero if All Might himself had punched them in the face. He didn't need reminding of the fact that without Endeavor, he might have lost every chance to be as strong as All Might. Today though, when the news had led with an attack on UA's fabled training facilities, and reports that several students had been heavily injured, Katsuki sat up and took notice. Mostly because when the reporters broke the story, they had made it clear that the first-year class had been the victims.

That… would have been him.

The news had shown footage of several of the villains being led away by the Police in the aftermath, and Katsuki had sneered. They hadn't looked all that, and Burnin had picked out a couple as being petty crooks well-known to the Endeavor Agency and to the Police. He could have taken any of them. But the fact they would have even tried had resonated with him somehow; UA was supposed to be the cream of the crop, and so these idiots had targeted the students, the next generation of Heroes. This was what it meant to chase the top and become the best Heroes, wasn't it? That people would come after you wherever you were, that nowhere was safe? UA had found that out the hard way… but if morons like this tried to challenge him like they had UA, he'd show them. He'd put anyone in their place if they tried to stop him becoming Number One.

Briefly he had scowled at the sight of a familiar face on one of the recordings. A girl with green-hair who looked completely worse for wear, in a strange purple (Burnin was adamant it was blue. Burnin was an idiot) bodysuit. He knew her. Of course he did; that was Tokage, Deku's cousin. Of course people like her, propping up weaklings and frauds like that bastard, had made it into UA while he had to suffer outside. But the brief moment of anger was put aside before Burnin could question him on it. People like them didn't matter, because if they were the best UA could find, they would be no competition to him. What mattered was beating down the Meta Liberation Army, so that nobody would dispute he was the next best thing after All Might.

Then the footage had changed, and Endeavor's sons had blindsided everyone, himself included. He had been silent, aware that Burnin looked like she was witnessing a car crash in front of her eyes, as all the fury of the two boys had poured out into their announcement. As what sounded like years of abuse were poured out onto the screen, Katsuki took the time to follow the link on the screen; some secure website with a load of documents detailing the extent of collateral damage that Endeavor had caused, and lawsuits which had been silenced until now. They'd really gone all out, and Katsuki guessed that solved the mystery of who had robbed one of Endeavor's allies, like the old man had asked them to check.

It was a shame it didn't change a damn thing about how he felt, though.

"I…" The brothers had stopped talking a little while ago, their broadcast terminated (whether by choice or by force, Katsuki didn't know). It had taken some time, as the news anchors parroted their message and threw more headlines out about the leaked Uraraka Construction documents, fueling more backlash against Endeavor, but Burnin finally spoke up. "I… didn't know."

"About what?" Katsuki looked up from his phone and was briefly surprised by how pale the sidekick's face was. "About Touya?"

"He never told me… there was one older than Natsuo." Burnin laughed, but it was hollow and humourless. "All those years with him… I was his number two, y'know? I'd have thought maybe he could trust me with it."

"..." Katsuki didn't know what to say in response to her. 'Sorry' didn't seem right, somehow. "Guess he's not dead, after all."

"You… he told you, didn't he?" Burnin sagged slightly as Katsuki said nothing, confirming his answer through silence. "Dammit, I-"

"He didn't say much. Don't think he even meant to say anything, it just… slipped once, when we were training." It was the truth, after all. He wouldn't sugarcoat anything to make Burnin feel better, and he trusted she would know that. "He thought he was dead. Didn't say much more than that Touya lost control, and didn't agree with his methods."

"No shit. The kid burned down the whole of Sekoto Peak and became a murderer." Burnin's eyes were heavy with shadow underneath them, her flaming hair flickering languidly as she spoke. "The boss can be a hardass, but… to push someone to that? I didn't think he'd go that far."

"You're sounding like all of them." Katsuki jerked a thumb to the TV screen. "Blaming the old man for all this. Sure, Endeavor's an asshole to fight against, but this? Nah. I'm not buying it."

"You don't have to buy it. Everyone else will." Burnin's eyes flicked briefly to the screen, which was showing a comparison picture of Dabi against a young Touya. "Endeavor pushed him over the edge. That's what they'll all believe."

"He probably did. Doesn't mean that everything that crispy bastard says is the truth." Katsuki allowed some of the anger he had stored up as they listened to come out now. "So what if he had a shitty childhood? Do you think he's the only one out there who went through it? Dammit, you and I could find a hundred orphans out there who ran away from their abusive parents. We could find a hundred kids who still live under the roof of someone who beats them, or won't feed them, or demands impossible shit out of them. Not all of them turn into murderers. Nah. Pretty much most of them don't."

"Not all of them are the son of the Number One Hero, Katsuki." Burnin shot a baleful look at him. "People won't see that-"

"Probably not. But if they don't see it, they're idiots." Katsuki snarled. "He's projecting. So what if the Number One Hero was a shitty dad? Maybe he's right. But he hasn't used that to spend years trying to get revenge against Endeavor, he's just killed whoever he wants, and only now wants to use Endeavor as a scapegoat for all that. As if any of that is him 'getting back' at Endeavor. It's pathetic."

"Yeah… I know." Burnin nodded, sounding slightly distant. "And whatever the boss did or didn't do to him when he was growing up, I can't accept what To-Dabi has done. But… it's not just him we're dealing with, is it?"

"Heh… no it isn't." Of course that was her issue. If it had just been an announcement made by Dabi, then the amount of validity attached to his words was small- one crazy murderer railing against the Number One Hero wasn't big news. But the face next to him on that screen had been one of the most distinctive faces in the country, a face which gave Dabi's words some credence simply by his presence beside him. "It's Scar, isn't it?"

"Scar? We've gotta work on your nicknames, Bomberman," Burnin replied, most of her usual spunk gone. "But yeah. That's… that's Shoto. That's the little guy I babysat for when I was just starting out at the Agency. And he's sitting next to a murderer calling out the boss, for all the world to see."

"Yeah... " Katsuki didn't know the answer to his next question, and he was sure Burnin wouldn't either. It didn't stop him from asking. "Do you think he could do the same as Dabi? Do you think he could kill someone?"

"Hell no." Her reply was vehement, and quick. There was clearly no doubt in her mind. "If they play it back… look at his eyes. Shoto, he… he was kinda dense as a little kid, but that's not what it is. The only time he looks angry is when he talks about Endeavor, but when he's talking about being with his brother he's… I don't know. Detached? Not really there?"

"Like he's fallen in with the wrong people." Katsuki understood. "Like he's only really gone to Dabi because he wants the chance to get at the old man."

"Exactly. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't that what they say?" Burnin's hair flared slightly as she said that. "It's like he isn't as committed to what Touya has done-"

"Except that's not gonna matter to most people, is it?" Katsuki felt a little angry as he said that. "The damage isn't the stuff they stole from Uraraka Construction. Most of the documents and everything they published online are all about collateral damage and Endeavor hurting people in the line of duty. None of that's a surprise because…"

"Because that's shit everyone else was already saying about Endeavor even without the proof," Burnin finished, coming to the same conclusion as he did. "This is just confirming what they all suspected."

"Right. Everyone 'knows'-" Katsuki paused to make sure she heard the change in his voice, the skepticism in his reference to knowledge. "They 'know' that he's like that. He's had to hear the rumours for long enough that people believed they were true anyway, so that's not the problem… the problem is those two. Both the fact that his kids are the ones who turned on him and proved everyone's point, and the extra ammo they've given people."

"They're a proven symbol now for everyone to pin all the hate they have for the boss onto, and ride with it." Burnin clenched a fist as she said it; Katsuki pretended that he couldn't see it shaking. "For all of us to endure."

"The Number One Hero and a bunch of people who don't call him out on anything he's done, who follow his orders, versus his two kids who gave everyone evidence to trust that they aren't crying wolf? You know exactly who they're all gonna trust." Katsuki tutted, not liking the situation one bit. "They're not good odds."

"Two of his kids," Burnin corrected. "He has two others, remember?"

"You about to tell me that they're also fucking murderers like Dabi, or does one of his kids actually like him?"

"Natsuo's studying to be a carer, and Fuyumi's a trainee teacher. Natsuo may not like his old man, but it's never as bad as this. Fuyumi…" Burnin briefly smirked, although it was fleeting. "The most evil thing she'd do is give harsh marks to a kid who gave her a bad day. She's not like that."

"Heh. No wonder he adopted me as an Apprentice." Her brief smile was enough for Katsuki to relax, and feel like they were getting back to how they normally were with each other. "Half his kids are lame and half of them are off the deep end."

Her eyes widened, and to his relief some colour came back to her cheeks, a glint of something in her eyes. "Oh? And you're not already off the deep end, Sparky Boom Boom?"

"Fuck off!" There was a loud and annoying blast of music that interrupted his insult back to her, and cut across her laughing at him. His eyes flicked to the table, where her phone was now buzzing obnoxiously. "That's your ringtone? The fucking theme song to the documentary they did about the Flaming Sidekickers? You're not serious-"

"Hey, it's not every day you get to be on TV!" Any brief flush of embarrassment on her face was immediately dispersed as she picked up the phone and looked at the name on the display. "... It's him."

Of course. Who else would it be with timing like this? Of course Endeavor was calling them. "You gonna leave him hanging or what? Of course the old man wants to talk to us after that all went out on live TV."

"Right!" Burnin clicked to answer the call and turned the speakerphone on, and Katsuki noticed how her usual peppy tone sounded slightly forced as she pressed the buttons on the screen. The respect she usually had… wasn't fully there. "Sir. We're both here."

"Good." Endeavor's voice was heavier than usual, and gruff as ever, as he didn't waste any time. It was clear he had intended to call to speak to both of them, and Burnin had seen right through that. "I expect that you've both seen the news. Did you watch the broadcast live, or have you caught up-"

"We saw the whole thing." Katsuki spoke up, leaning forward towards the phone as he did. "I've looked at the stuff they put online too. I'm guessing you have."

"I have. All of it from Uraraka Construction…" It sounded like Endeavor was grimacing as he spoke. "I suspected that something was strange when I heard they had been robbed. To think that something like this could have been done by those two… they must have had help."

"Sure. Whatever. Whoever it was, it doesn't change where we are now." Katsuki shook his head, not willing to dive into speculating unnecessary shit. It didn't matter now that everything was out there, and if Endeavor had called to pick their brains about that, it was just a waste of time. "There's nothing we can do."

"I agree. The more important matter is… my sons." It took Katsuki a second to process the sound that Endeavor made on the other end of the line, somewhere between a sigh and a snarl. "I'm sure you both have a lot of questions-"

"Yeah, I do. One big one, boss." Katsuki wasn't expecting Burnin's voice to change like it did, or for her eyes to widen in anger. "Why the HELL didn't you tell me?!"

There was a pause on the end of the line, and Katsuki could tell that the old man hadn't been expecting this at all, not least from the woman who was clearly his favourite sidekick. "... Kamiji. I'm sorry, what-"

"You damn well heard me, Todoroki!" If Katsuki wasn't used to Burnin shouting, he would have flinched, and he very nearly did at the fact she used Endeavor's actual name. She never called him by his name- any other nickname about him being the boss was fine, but it was almost like his name was off-limits to her. Not today. That was clearly how angry she was. He hadn't expected this. "Why couldn't you trust me? Or Kido, or Onima, or any of us? Why did none of us get to know what happened to Touya, or why Shoto was so unhappy to train with any of us?"

She paused briefly for breath, but before Endeavor could answer she carried on. "What more could we do to prove ourselves to you, when we stood by you for all those years no matter what everyone said about you, about the Agency? How much dirt do we have to drag ourselves through, how many sacrifices do we have to make because of how close we are to you and how willingly we support you, to mean anything in your eyes? And now all this gets to blow up on us, when you didn't tell us a damn thing-"

"That's my family, Burnin." Endeavor had finally got a word in to say something. "It will reflect on me-"

"Oh, don't give me that! You think it won't reflect on us? We're the ones standing by you right now, acting on your orders- you can't be that stupid to think we won't pay the price too!" Burnin snarled, and her hair had flared, the heat around her scalp going lighter and blazing hotter than Katsuki had ever seen it. "Or did you forget that I babysat Shoto when you pushed him too far? That I was the one who led the search to try and find him, while you needed to sleep? Did none of that mean anything to you?"

"... Of course it did." Endeavor's reply sounded so heavy, so haunted. "I… it did."

"Jeez, you could sound a little more sure about that." Burnin threw herself back in her chair, and it was a miracle nothing caught fire as her head hit the back of the seat briefly. "I dunno how true half of what Touya said was. I kinda suspect how true Shoto's bits are, but… come on. All of us have been here for you and we don't get a single bit of trust in return, only for this to happen."

"What could I have done?"

"You could have told us something so we could have done more. Those of us who wanted to stick around and help would have known the whole truth, and anyone who didn't want to be dragged along could have gone. Now they don't get a choice. None of us do. It's our careers that could go up in smoke because of this too, not just yours."

"... I won't hold you back, if that's your concern." Katsuki blinked, not expecting that answer from his boss and remaining silent. "Moe, I… I will keep to my bargain. If you want to leave the Agency, then I will make sure that your registration as a Pro Hero is completed. If you are angry, then… I won't stand in the way of you leaving if you want to-"

"Like hell I want to," Burnin bristled, glaring at the telephone. "Do you honestly think I'd run away? I can't and I won't, boss."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Burnin folded her arms underneath her chest as she spoke, shooting a look at Katsuki. "I can't because of who I am. Look at me. I'm your number two, the head of the Flaming Sidekickers, and the highest-ranked sidekick in Japan since Sir Nighteye. I've been with you the whole way through all of this, right there at your side, so even if I did walk outta here because of this, it's too late. I'm always gonna be stained because I was standing beside you when Touya Todoroki came back to life."

"You said can't and won't." Endeavor was blunt, and made no attempts to deny that any of what Burnin had said would be true. The realisation of that infuriated Katsuki, to the point that he had to grit his teeth and pop a small explosion in his palms to release. "Explain."

"That's can't. But yeah… I won't." Burnin's shoulders sagged briefly, exhausted and tense. "You're the one who gave me the chance, but I'm not staying because I think I owe you anything. I don't. If anything, you owe me a lot of things, probably starting with an apology. But I won't go because I'm not a coward, y'know? This is a lot to deal with, but I wanna prove to people I'm good in my own right, and I wanna prove to that murdering little shit you call your first son that not everything Endeavor-related is bad."

"... I see."

"So yeah, I'm not going anywhere." Burnin's face twisted in a grimace. "But I'm not happy with you. And you need to do a lot to change that."

"... I will. I don't want to lose you, Kamiji. Not after everything." Katsuki could hear how clearly shaken he was; it would have been embarrassing, but for the fact that Katsuki also didn't want her to leave. She was annoying as fuck, and way too peppy in the mornings, but she knew her stuff and didn't hold back, and could be relied on. He'd learned as much from her as he had from Endeavor, really. "I will apologise, properly, in person. We have… a lot to discuss. But I called with a purpose. We need to deal with that first, before any… atonement."

"Let me guess." Katsuki finally spoke up, watching Burnin slump a little and feeling like he needed to carry some of the conversation going forward. "It's about the mission. The Army."

"In a sense, yes. But also, it relates to what you saw this morning." Endeavor made a funny noise on the other end of the line, almost like he was clearing his throat. "We can't pretend that any of this is good-"

"No shit," Burnin muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Katsuki to hear but just quiet enough for Endeavor to miss it.

"And that means a certain amount of… damage limitation needs to take place." It was all Katsuki could do not to bark a laugh at hearing Endeavor saying that. Half of the documents that were released online were about him causing collateral, and not thinking of damage limitation, after all. "We are going to be under a lot of attention. Most of it will be focused on me, but I accept what Kamiji has said about a certain amount being directed towards the rest of the Agency. Perhaps to both of you. People are going to wonder where you both are if you aren't visible and out in public."

"There's a lot of missions the public don't know about. Secret stuff like this." Burnin frowned. "You can always just tell them that it's classified, you know."

"I do, and I intend to. But they won't take that for an answer, and you know it. They will press for where you are, or worse, they will begin digging. Perhaps it may even alert the Meta Liberation Army that you both have something else planned, and they may yet track you down themselves." Endeavor grunted, angry. "That's even without you making any moves on them. If you do get caught, or expose something about them, public opinion is not with us right now. It could backfire on you and me, and the Army could easily scapegoat me to deflect publicity or outright avoid scrutiny. Suddenly I'm the topic of conversation again, and we won't win the battle for public affection. I… I have seen to that myself."

"You fucked up, you mean." Katsuki knew that he sounded caustic, like he was sticking the knife in. He just didn't care. "So what? We hold fire?"

"I don't want to lose leads, or compromise our best chance of learning more about them. So… that may be wise. If you both suspend any mission to track Slidin' Go, and confirm whether he is part of the Army." Endeavor coughed to himself. "Let me put it another way. It is not certain that Slidin' Go is a member of the Meta Liberation Army, no matter how great our suspicions. Even if our intelligence turns out to be good, and we can provide hard evidence, right now any attempt to discredit a Pro Hero in the Commission will not have the outcome we want. It will either serve to hurt me by making me look as if I am desperate, trying anything to deflect from what Touya and Shoto have said about me, or the Commission by undermining the work they are doing whether or not there is a bad apple in their ranks. Either of those are outcomes can only benefit the Meta Liberation Army, and consolidate the views of their members."

"Yeah, sure, makes sense. Only…" Burnin was clearly suspicious, and she wasn't about to let this go easily. "What's your alternative? You said to suspend the mission, which doesn't mean that you're asking us to come back off the undercover side of things. You want us to stay undercover, but doing something that you're happy might be exposed to everyone. What-"

"Isn't it obvious?" Katsuki was furious as he worked it out. It was practically insulting that Endeavor couldn't come out and say it himself, but the realisation of what the old man wanted them to do felt so hollow. "He wants us to lead on finding his brats. Or am I missing the point?"

"No, Bakugo. You… you are right. That is what I need you to do." Endeavor's voice was firm now, unwavering. "I need you to find Shoto and Touya. Do whatever it takes, and when you find them… bring Shoto to me. Touya… no, Dabi. Dabi is too far gone after everything he has done. But by whatever means necessary, I want my youngest son captured, and brought back to me alive. I can still fix this."

"You're fucking kidding me." Burnin could swear like a sailor when they were on missions together, but he wasn't used to her doing it around their boss. "You can't be… your own son-"

"Dabi lost the right to call himself that with the amount of blood on his hands," Endeavor growled, the slightest hint of his rage creeping into his tone. "All those people who died at the hands of the Blueflame… all those are names he has tried to pin onto me. He has killed before, and he will kill again if he isn't stopped, all because he knows how much harm he can do me by not holding back. He needs to be dealt with as a priority."

"Neither of us are gonna argue with that!" Katsuki looked up as Burnin replied. It was bold of her to say that without speaking to him first. "But you said it like you don't care what happens to Touya as long as you get Shoto back. So what? You want us to kill Touya if it gets you back the little guy?"

"Don't be melodramatic. I would never order you to kill anyone. But he needs to be dealt with. However that may be, Dabi must face justice for his crimes, and you need to do whatever it takes to rip his influence away from my son-"

"You think it's gonna be that simple? Clearly those two get on well enough if they've both agreed to out you like this together. Whatever we do to Touya, however he gets 'dealt with'-" Burnin made the most furious air quotes as she said this- "Shoto will still see him as a brother! How do you think he's going to react if you do this-"

"What do you think could happen if we do nothing at all?" The snarl made the phone line crackle. "Shoto was weaker than I wanted him to be… not because of his power, but because of his own thoughts. But if there's one thing I recognise from training him, it's that Shoto was stubborn. He refused to change and do things my way no matter how much I pushed him, so forgive me if I think I know my son well enough to know that he would never allow himself to be a killer."

"Even with Dabi as company? Even after everything you put him through? How much he clearly must hate you?"

"My answer doesn't change. Shoto always wanted to be a Hero. He just never accepted that he would become a Hero my way. He ran away from me because he despised my methods, but that doesn't make him willing to kill." Katsuki tutted, not loud enough for Endeavor to hear as he spoke. Soft. Rose-tinted goggles and then some, if he believed there was absolutely no way his son could change like this. "There's still hope for him, if you can bring him back."

"I… see." Burnin paused, closing her eyes for a second as she clearly thought about her response to that. "Well-"

"We're not fucking doing it. End of."

There was a long and stony silence after Katsuki opened his mouth, finally voicing his opinion, and for a second it was almost as if Endeavor had hung up the call. It took a little while for the Number One Hero to return, and when he did the smouldering fury was barely disguised. Funny. Katsuki had expected he'd erupt immediately. "... Bakugo. What did you say?"

"Ah, shit, yeah." Katsuki kicked up his feet onto the small coffee table in front of him (not that Endeavor could see it), and didn't budge. "We're not fucking doing it, sir. End of."

"Bakugo-"

"Don't even try to convince me otherwise. This is your family mess, not mine, not hers." Katsuki shot a look over at Burnin, and couldn't read her face. "It's your mess to fix. But not now."

"Oh really?" The rage in Endeavor's voice bubbled, like lava in a volcano crater. "My Apprentice dares to tell me what I should be doing? You would refuse to help me save my family, catch a murderer, save a prospective hero in the making. Why?"

"Because it's not what we should be doing right now. Simple."

"Not what we should be doing?" Endeavor's voice grew louder, as if it was a shout. "I understood that I was the Hero, and you were the Apprentice, doing as I told you, Bakugo-"

"And if your Apprentice has to be the one to tell you how fucking terrible an idea it is, then you really don't deserve to be the Number One Hero!" Katsuki had decided that enough was enough, and shouted back, the combination of his raised voice and the crackle of Explosion in his palm enough to overpower Endeavor's voice. "Look outside! Look at all those people watching your two brats tell the world you're a shitty father and a shitty Hero! They all hate you right now, and you're damned whatever you decide to do because no matter what you do, they'll think you're the worst."

"If that's the case, they won't care if I take this time to prioritise my family-"

"Of course they'll care. What, just because they've made their own minds up, you think you get to go and prove them right?" Katsuki leaned forward, angrily. "Going after that crispy bastard and your weak little kid does just that. The Number One Hero, too busy to care about anyone but yourself-"
"You think you know what it means to be Number One more than I do, Bakugo?" Endeavor bit back, clearly still fuming. "You understand the burden better than me?"

"Right now I fucking do." Katsuki's fist pounded against his chest as he spoke. "The point of being Number One is that you take on every villain wherever they may be. The point is that you do whatever it takes to become the best. Did you ever hear about All Might running away from a fight, because he had domestic shit to deal with and thought that was more important? Hell no! All Might never stopped taking on villains to try to save people, and never got distracted by personal stuff, never let that get in the way of doing his damn job. You… you really can't live up to him if that's what you think is okay!"

"Bakugo-"

"No, I'm not done!" There was no point in holding back any of it, not if he was going to get through to Endeavor somehow. "The Number One rank means a lot of things. One of those is that you can't get distracted by petty shit like this. Your two kids want you dead and buried? So what? You wanna drop everything good you're doing as Number One and go to hunt them down on some personal agenda?"

"I'm not dropping everything-"

"But that's what it looks like, and you know it!" Katsuki snarled, mind flashing back to the past, to the days after Endeavor's fateful news conference that changed the face of Heroics as he knew it. The day that Endeavor played a part in tainting the legacy of All Might. "Did you not learn anything from the past, you big fiery bastard? I remember. You reacted to Scar running away by putting a bounty on his head for someone to find him. Look how that turned out for ya. Nobody found him, you kept all your money, and the whole public hated your guts for deciding to do that about your own brat. This is just you repeating the same shit again, but this time you're gonna throw me and Bad Hair Day under the bus with you too. And I'm not doing that."

"You…" Endeavor seethed, still not backing down. "I'm not… I'm aware of my responsibilities. Believe me, I am aware of what I've done. I have lived a life filled with the consequences of my own actions."

"Then I shouldn't have to say this to you. You and I both know that nobody is gonna think you have your priorities sorted if you do this. You're just gonna prove everything that they say about you is right, if you really wanna waste your time on these two idiots." Katsuki tutted, unhappy. "You wanna make sure they know you're the Number One Hero? Then be the Number One they fucking need you to be. Focus on that shit and beating down villains, because I don't know if you noticed, but there's a few too many of them around right now. Kinda the point of the whole mission you sent me and Shitty Hair on."

"I maintain what I said about the Meta Liberation Army, Bakugo. Dabi and Shoto have done enough damage to make any mission against them right now too risky-"

"You don't think I know that? I'm just not willing to give up, like you are." Katsuki sat back, irritated that the old man wasn't seeming to want to listen. "There's too much at stake to leave them alone anymore. Dammit, if you wanna go and save Prince Zuko yourself down the line, I can't stop you. But me and Burnin have bigger shit to deal with than your family. And so do you."

"He's right, boss." Burnin's agreement was not something he had expected. This was her boss as much as it was his, and no matter how angry she had been with him at the start of the call, Katsuki was still aware just how fiercely loyal to him she was. In spite of that, she was speaking out against him. Alongside Katsuki. Thank god his partner had a brain in that thick head of hers. "I didn't wanna say it, but Katsuki's put it better than I could. If he ain't giving up on the Army and this mission… neither am I."

"... Moe." Endeavor using her first name was unexpected to Katsuki, as was the lack of change in his tone. Even if the pause betrayed his surprise at hearing her side with Katsuki over him, Endeavor was still angry. "Not you, too."

"Yeah, me. We told you before we were gonna see this out until the end, and we shouldn't be forced into it now. Even if it is Shoto…" Burnin paused, face wrenching with emotions Katsuki didn't pretend to understand. "It's one person against hundreds, thousands even. We could stop two guys with a grudge against their father, or we could keep going to try to win a war against a group who want to take control of the country and change the world. That's… easy maths, boss."

"You looked after Shoto when you were little."

"I know." Burnin couldn't hide the wince at the emotional blackmail turned onto him, but to her credit she didn't falter. "But this is bigger than him. I'm not giving up on this boss, not when so much else matters. I know how much of a threat the Army is from everything you've said, so… even if you want to get him back more than anything, that doesn't change our answer. Right, Bomberman?"

"Hell yeah." He looked over at her, and he could see in her eyes how much the decision to side with him was tearing her apart inside. Even despite her loyalty to the boss, she was willing to stand by him and put herself in the firing line, to try and hammer some sense into the old man. Together. "It's our decision. We refuse."

"And what if that was an order?" The question came immediately, and before Katsuki could open his mouth, more followed. "Would you refuse to follow an order? Would you defy me and carry out an unsanctioned operation against the Meta Liberation Army? Knowing that Heroes have sacked apprentices and sidekicks for less?"

"... You'd never make the damn order, and you know it." Katsuki felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a smug smile, even despite the poorly-disguised threat that had been levelled at him and Burnin. "Sure, I'm your Apprentice. I need you because they banned me from the Hero schools, so it's not like I can get into Heroics any other way. If you fired me for saying no, you'd ruin me."

"... But?"

"But you'd ruin yourself too. You need me as much as I need you. You trained me to be their replacement, and yours in time. You know I see through Dabi's bullshit, and would still support you." Katsuki nodded at Burnin. "So would she."

"Just not on this, clearly."

"Yeah. On everything else, we're your closest allies. And because we're that close, we're too valuable for you to lose, knowing what we do about the Army and all the other shit that's gone on." Katsuki laughed bitterly. "And you don't want to cut people loose when you're under pressure like this, because that just gives people more to tear into you about."

"... I can't lose you." Katsuki breathed out, trying not to grin at hearing Endeavor cave. They had won, even if it hurt Endeavor to acknowledge it. He would never explicitly tell them that they had a point, but... "You don't need to remind me of that. And I won't order you to change your mission."

"Good. Because you could give those two an order, probably. But me? I don't answer to you, Towering Inferno."

Katsuki turned to stare at the other side of the room, and tried not to let his irritation show that he hadn't heard Kyoka arrive. He knew that she was lithe, and surprisingly quiet for someone so completely punk rock, but he thought that his situational awareness was better than to let her arrive unnoticed. "When the hell did you get here?"

"Just after you two picked up. Not my place to interrupt, though." Kyoka had a jack twirling around one of her fingers as she stared at him, one thin eyebrow quirked as if considering what had just been said. "Sounded like some people had a lot on their chest."

"You're the one they brought in to help with the mission, aren't you?" Endeavor sounded unimpressed. "Not that it should have taken that-"

"Really? You're the one who put two of the most loud and obvious people in all of Japan on secret agent duty, boss." Katsuki tried not to laugh at how much sarcasm was poured into Kyoka's use of his rank. "You're lucky they realised that they aren't exactly subtle. And lucky that I'm happy to help with the whole Meta Liberation Army problem. This would be a lot more difficult otherwise."

"Tch." Endeavor didn't bother to deny her words. "You heard all of what was said. You side with them?"

"Absolutely. I'm not one of yours to crack the whip and come running, and none of what you said changes why I'm here. This is too big to give up on, just like that." Kyoka shook her head. "If you got your head out of your ass, you might see that too, and be a little grateful I showed up to help."

"Manners cost nothing, girl." Endeavor didn't sound impressed. "And I'd be more grateful if I knew who you were. Who I was dealing with-"

"Plausible deniability, Burning Man. If this goes wrong, I can take the fall for these guys and for you. It's better you don't know who I am, so it can't be linked back to you and get added to the pile of shitty things you've done that people hate you for." Kyoka's lip curled up in a smirk. "I thought that might have been obvious to the Number One Hero."

"I still need something to call you by. A codename-"

"Call her Earworm," Katsuki piped up, smirking. It fitted, what with the way some of her earlier songs had been written. "That'll do, right?"

"What, no!" Kyoka hissed at him, deflating all of a sudden. "Wh-why would you pick that? Talk about a bum note-"

"I didn't see you with any better ideas about your vigilante name," Katsuki huffed back, lowering his voice enough so Endeavor couldn't hear. "Last one I heard was Earphone Jack. Seriously? Naming yourself after your own Quirk isn't obvious enough?"

"..."

"Exactly." Katsuki raised his voice before Kyoka could say anything. "She's Earworm, boss. That's all you need to know."

"Fine. Earworm?" Endeavor addressed Kyoka, oblivious to Katsuki's laugh at the anguished look on her face at his naming choice. "These two have made their minds up for me."

"It's the right thing to do." Katsuki ignored the glare from Kyoka, but couldn't resist sticking the boot into Endeavor once more about the fact he had relented. It shouldn't have taken so long to convince him, and Katsuki wouldn't let that go. "Those bastards need to be dealt with."

"Remind me, young Bakugo, why I hired you as an Apprentice?"

"You saw yourself in me, apparently." Katsuki's nostrils flared. "I'm stubborn."

"... That I agree with. And so am I."

"Boss…" Burnin blinked twice, staring at the phone and working it out a second ahead of Katsuki. "You're not giving up, are you? Even if you tell us you're gonna focus on your Hero work…"

"I can't promise that I won't look for Shoto, Kamiji… and you know that." Endeavor's voice sounded so heavy now. "No matter what happens, these are my sons. When it's family… when you have your own one day, you'll understand. But I won't take you from your original mission, and… I won't forget myself, either. I don't need your reminders that I am the Number One Hero-"

"Could have fooled me," Kyoka muttered, just quiet enough to not be overheard, before she spoke up. "You do your thing, and we'll do ours."

"You had better. If you're going ahead with this, then we need results to turn the tide back in our favour, and fast. I'm counting on you." There was a strange noise on the other end that made Katsuki frown- had Endeavor just sighed? "I need to go. I have things to take care of, after that announcement. The Agency line won't stop ringing-"

"Civilians telling you how shitty a person you are?" Katsuki saw Burnin shoot him a look for that. It was a joke… mostly. "What?"

"Not civilians, but our partners. Several sponsors have already demanded meetings, most likely to cancel their sponsorship of the Agency. Detnerat's CEO was the first to email me to reassure me that nothing would change in terms of our relationship, but… if only everything were that simple." Endeavor grunted. "I will need to meet with the Urarakas. Clearly they were targeted once already by Dabi and Shoto… I do not want them to be targeted again because of me."
"We'll leave you to it, boss," Burnin said, taking the hint and reaching for her phone. "We'll update you when-"

"Update me as little as possible. Even if you are getting good results… Earworm had a point about plausible deniability." Endeavor paused, most of the anger fading from his voice. "Good luck. I'll see you soon; I have much to think about in the meantime."

"Can't we come up with something other than Earworm-" Kyoka was ignored, as the phone clicked off, and the second that the call ended she picked up an empty can of soda from the coffee table and threw it at Katsuki. "Dammit. You proud of yourself, Baka-go?"

"Genius. Never heard that one on the playground before." Katsuki dodged the can lazily, and grinned at her. "Admit it. You're mad because it's a good name and you didn't come up with it."

"That couldn't be further from what I think!" Kyoka turned to Burnin, shaking her head. "How do you put up with… him. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I think so." Katsuki had never heard Burnin stutter once in the time that they had been buddied up, so confident and so peppy that she could take anything in her stride. This was the first time he'd ever heard her sound at all brittle, like something had cracked in her usual facade of bluster and ferocity. "I just-"

"We've got a job to do now, partner." Katsuki wasn't good at this sort of shit. He understood it, sure, all the emotions she would be feeling right now about their boss and what he was putting them through because of his parenting. But the important thing for him right now was that he had Burnin fired up with him, and not getting distracted. "I get what you're thinking about. I don't blame you. But I just told the old man to fuck off and let us concentrate on the mission, so don't go breaking on me yet. You and I can talk about the future after we've blasted the Army to pieces, got it?"

"You and I, huh?" Burnin looked up at him, and her eyes flickered underneath her flaming hair, a glint of something in there. "And what if I told him I quit? After all this mission is done… if I quit and set up my own Agency, away from him. Would you come with me?"

… Huh. That wasn't an easy question. As much as she annoyed the shit out of him, Katsuki had to admit that he had spent much more time working with Burnin than the old man. They were effectively a double act now, and so if she really did leave then he would have a choice. Whether to stay an Apprentice with the old man, and take the flak with him but learn at the hands of the Number One, or to go with his partner and be free of that negative influence, while also losing out on that training… that would not be an easy choice.

Katsuki shook his head, clearing those thoughts. Whatever. That wasn't his problem right now, and he didn't want her dwelling on it. "... I'll think about it. Later. As should you."

"Heh, fine." Burnin's grin returned to her face, as did some of the colour in her face. "Hear that, Kyoka? That's Bomberman being a tsundere and not admitting he wants to."

"I'm not a fucking tsundere!"

"See?!" Burnin clapped her hands together and laughed, and as much as he cursed her outwardly, inside he was glad his partner was back on track again. "Right, Meta Liberation bullshit. Kyoka, you've been tracking Slidin' Go, right?"
"Already?" Katsuki was surprised by this. "We only just started out on this-"

"What? You thought I was gonna wait? I might be the supporting act here, but I figured as much as we could get information-wise would help." Kyoka raised an eyebrow at him. "I had a little help from other sources too."
"Giran…" Katsuki knew exactly who she meant, and he didn't like it. Slimy bastard better have found something good. "Where's Slip and Slide going when he's not on usual duties?"

"A few places. There's a lot around his Agency obviously, which is totally normal for any Hero. But he's making some long trips away more than he should."

"I like options," Burnin replied, sitting back in the chair. "Hit me with 'em. We can come up with a couple of plans for each."
"If you're gonna rule out anything random or one-off, then…" Kyoka gestured to the phone. "You heard Endeavor mention Uraraka Construction. Apparently he's taken an interest in there and gone a couple of times-"

"That's miles out of his patch in Kansei. Huh. Weird." Burnin shook her head. "Why would the Commission send someone like him to investigate when they have more local Heroes?"

"Don't ask me. But yeah, he's also been to Shoowaysha Publishing a couple of times recently. I guess it's because of the article that ran on Justice Daily about him last night."
"Shoowaysha is where that Kizuki woman who interviewed works, isn't it?" Burnin asked Katsuki.

"Yeah… she's the one the old man thinks was part of the Army." Katsuki grit his teeth, not enjoying the reminder of being ambushed as he was by her. "That's a good lead."

"Maybe, but if she's a loyalist and she's working high up in Shoowaysha, we'd be idiots to walk in there to try to confront them both." Burnin, frustratingly, made a very good point. "There could be loads of others there who are also in the Army. We'd basically be signing our own death sentence to try that."

"So that's out." At least they had other options. "Guess the old man gets his way, and we're going to Uraraka Construction after all."

"Not necessarily. There's one more place he keeps going." Kyoka spoke up, blinking when both his head and Burnin's snapped to stare at her. "Okay, that's weird. Anyway… he keeps making trips to some place with a weird name. Deika City?"

"Deika?" Burnin frowned. "Ain't that in Aichi Prefecture? That's hours away from here. And from his actual Agency. Who the hell is he going out there to meet up with?"

"That's the thing. And that's why I kinda feel like you're gonna like the sound of this." Kyoka grinned, sliding onto the arm of the sofa as she spoke. "I've not been there. I was relying on Giran finding out. And Giran… doesn't have any intel from in Deika City."

"Any intel about Slidin' Go?"

"Nope." Kyoka popped the end of the word, slightly smug. "Any intel on any of the players in the city, at all. It's a complete information blackspot for him."

"... There's your damn target." Katsuki knew better than to question it. Whether he liked him or not, the broker knew too much information about too many things. If there was an entire city which was in the dark to him, then it was too suspicious to be left alone. He must have been meeting people there who he didn't want to reveal. "We're going to Deika."

"What even is there in Deika…" Burnin wondered. "There's the head office for that satellite TV company, Feel Good Inc-"

"Good enough reason for me to visit," Kyoka snorted. "I appreciate a good reference. And that name rocks."

"But that's it. Not exactly a tourist hotspot or anything." Burnin nudged Kyoka with an elbow, as the rocker pulled her phone from her pocket. "Any ideas on how we're gonna get you in? Preferably one that means we might actually have a good reason to join you-"

"Way ahead of you." Kyoka tapped a couple of icons on the screen, and turned the phone around to reveal a poster for something. "My management got sent this a couple of days ago."

"The Phoenix Festival…" Katsuki grinned, seeing the perfect opportunity. "Shit name. But I guess if your band can put up with playing at something so embarrassing…"

"I'll suffer for my art, just this once," Kyoka snarked back, and he couldn't help but laugh at how easy it was to get on with her. "Let's see if this gig's a hit or not."

"Hell yeah!" Burnin crowed, and Katsuki couldn't resist a grin either. Even with everything else going on with Endeavor, they were gonna be alright. They were gonna go to Deika City, find out what the hell was going on with that slippery bastard Hero, and prove to Endeavor they were right to not give up on the Meta Liberation Army after all. Him, Burnin and Kyoka against one Army… he'd take those odds.

"So how are you gonna sneak Katsuki into your gig, Kyoka? Gonna claim him as your date?"

"You what?! Why is that where your mind goes for something like this-"

"Hey, I'm just saying, you keep shooting him the eyes like that, and you've just got yourself an opportunity! Perfect excuse to give him a backstage pass!"

"What the fu-"

Katsuki's eyebrow twitched and he clenched a fist, as Burnin dodged Kyoka jabbing at her with her jacks at ease and cackled like a witch. Maybe he shouldn't consider jumping ship on Endeavor so casually, after all.

(***)

A/N: Funny story. The full track name of the song which this chapter is named after is "The Strength of the Man Who'll Become the Number One Hero". It doesn't fit on this website, but does on AO3. So you have the full context of why it is named that way... there you go. Does it apply to Katsuki or Endeavor, I wonder?

I wanted to have this chapter focus on Katsuki's crew for three reasons. Firstly, because we were due a chapter on them before the end of this arc anyway, and there was no way I was going to miss their reaction to the USJ and to the Touya reveal. Secondly, because the one thing I wish we saw more of in the manga was the wider reaction to the Touya reveal and the backlash to Endeavor; I felt Katsuki would be smart enough to not immediately take Dabi at face value and to try to ground Endeavor back to what he should be doing, hence this chapter. And thirdly because one of the things we didn't really see was how those closest to Endeavor, his sidekicks etc, reacted to the Touya reveal in canon. Burnin has become a favourite of mine the more I write, and I wanted to make it clear that even those loyal to the Number One have a hard time with all of this. Hopefully, it's worked…

As a reminder, this is the penultimate chapter of Act 2. There's one more to come, on December 11th, before I take a break for Christmas and January. I want to work on a few side projects (a RWBY fic, a Pokemon fic, new updates for Decay and My Hero Killer Academia, and possibly even a collab with one of my favourite authors, in the distant future), and I want time to fill in the map for the route ahead in Act 3. There's some big stuff on the horizon, and I want to get it right, but I also want to enjoy Christmas- hope you can all understand. At least we'll see the villains before I break…

Anyway, if you have not done so already, please favourite and follow- this is nearly the most popular AFO!Izuku fic on , which staggers me. Any reviews for this chapter are appreciated, as long as they are not flames- it takes two minutes to be constructive with criticism rather than swear, call something shit without offering me any understanding why you feel that way, and remove any validity I might otherwise consider. And to all those who reviewed last chapter, please accept my apologies for not PMing my reply- I have had two exams this week around writing this chapter and will get back to you soon.

Thanks, y'all, for making me love this story so much. Until next time.