Chapter Eleven

Emiko's foot slammed against the center of a pair of old, rusted double-doors, kicking them open with a startling bang, making the men loitering inside jump and look around.

She entered the hideout seething. Her hand ached, her throat burned, and there were ash stains on her sweater and new shoes. Someone was going to pay, and she had a feeling she knew who.

The hideout was one of the old, abandoned Detnerat inc. warehouses littered around the country. Detnerat had been Re-Destro's company that made everything from clothing to support gear for Quirk users of all body types. It had also been a front for villainous activity, not all of which was directly MLA related, so many of his warehouses had gone unmarked, listed under false names, and had managed to escape the purge after his death and the subsequent seizing of his property.

These unmarked, secret warehouses had made perfect shelters for displaced MLA members after the war had ended, and it was in those shelters that Emi had spent the bulk of the last ten years. Oh, she had fake IDs and had worked a number of part-time jobs in the intervening time. She'd even finished high school. But she, just like everyone else who migrated between these shelters, was still a member of the MLA through and through. And she'd never forgotten that fact.

A few minutes later, after making her way through the cluttered, unkempt hideout, descending two flights of stairs, and entering into the dusty basement, she found her quarry.

They were seated in what they called 'the break room', as though the hideout was a boring modern-day office building. It actually was an office of some kind, probably the warehouse manager's, complete with cheap white wallpaper, acoustic ceiling tiles, and dirty linoleum flooring. They'd removed the desk and filing cabinets sometime back and hefted a pair of decades-old refrigerators, a moth-eaten camelback couch, a tv, and a plastic folding table with an assortment of mismatched garden chairs into the room to make it feel more 'homey'. It didn't really work, but hey. A room was a room.

The lights overhead glowed an eerie phosphorescent blueish white that threw off the contrast of everything in the room. When she entered, she felt for a moment like she was stepping back in time to those summer nights when she'd come downstairs and find Denki asleep on the couch, the only source of light being the tv that he'd left on. However, it wasn't her brother she was coming for. Not right now, at least.

Hotaru Ueda was a spindly woman in her early thirties with wavy scarlet hair that she always wore in a high, tight ponytail. She had an angular face like a fox and eyes as black as charcoal, which had always seemed to mirror her sneaky and heartless personality. The two hadn't gotten along from the moment they met.

At her side, as always, sat her underling - Yaso Takeuchi. Yaso was an idiot, full stop. He was a short, bony little man with a too-big head and lips like a fish. He rarely acted on his own, instead choosing to follow Hotaru around and heed her every beck and call. They had an almost cartoonish master and servant relationship that would be comical if she hadn't found them both to be so repulsive.

There were two others seated at the table with them. Daigoro Fujimoto, a taller guy who looked like an earthworm, and Yuu Ohno, a fifteen-year-old with short dark hair and wide eyes who Emi had been practically looking after since the war had ended.

It was Yuu who noticed her first when she entered the room, turning away from the TV as it broadcasted the news about the fire, and his face lit up with familial affection.

"Oh, Emi! Welcome ba-"

He cut off as Emi slammed both of her hands down onto the rickety tabletop, sending a sharp stab of pain up her injured wrist and accidentally upsetting Daigoro's beer can as she glared down at Hotaru and Yaso.

"What..." she breathed, her voice still painful and raspy, "the hell… was that?"

"Oh look," Hotaru drawled, slowly turning her head to shoot Yaso a look of dull surprise, "the little imp survived. What a shame."

Yaso giggled like an inebriated baboon, but she ignored him, keeping her eyes on the one with enough brain cells to keep the conversation going.

"We had a plan!" she growled, hitting the table again to punctuate her point (this time with her good hand), earning a disgruntled look from Daigoro as he had to secure his beer can again, and Hotaru rolled her eyes.

"Plans change."

"Then what was the point of all of it?!" she exclaimed, trying to shout and being forced to stop and cough violently into her arm. Hotaru watched with fake sympathy while Yuu reached out to gently pat her back.

"Me going to see my brother again," she continued once she'd regained her breath, "putting the idea into his head of me being hunted, me risking getting arrested - you threw all of that down the drain today! You could have ruined everything!"

"I'm terribly sorry, dear," she simpered, idly examining her nails as though she couldn't be bothered to give Emi her full attention. "It was an honest mistake. Accidents happen. You know how it is."

"How was that an accident?! Denki was with me, several blocks away! You were supposed to pretend to attack us so that I could 'help' Denki fight you off and win his trust-!"

"Yes, yes, I know all about your 'plan', Emi darling," Hotaru butted in, waving her hand airily. "And I'm terribly sorry about that, truly. It's just, Yaso here must have missed seeing your brother leave, and we thought it best to attack when he was least expecting it. It was an honest mistake, but we knew you'd be able to clean it up for us."

Emi was grinding her teeth so hard she was worried they would snap off. This bitch… she didn't care about any of that, she was just mad that her part in the plan had her pretending to 'lose' in a fight against Emi and her pride wouldn't allow it!

"Still," Emi said, trying to get a grip on her temper, "your target was Denki and he was with me! The only thing attacking that house did was draw more attention to ourselves than we need right now!"

"Are you sure you're not just mad about that kid almost being torched?," Yaso cut in, his lips quirking into a knowing smirk.

For a moment, Emi just stared at him.

Then she punched him in the face.

He reeled back in his chair, losing his balance, falling backward onto the cold, dusty floor. Daigoro burst out laughing. Yuu looked horrified.

Hotaru merely watched with a bland expression on her face, unwilling or unable to care.

She should have used her other hand, she thought absently as she examined the bandage the EMT had given her. Her cut had broken open again and was stinging like crazy, her blood staining through the beige fabric.

"What-?! What the hell, Emi?!" Yaso blathered, struggling to get up while also cupping his now bleeding nose.

"I'm mad because I'm the one who almost got torched, you son of a-!"

"Emiko," a deep, soft voice cut in from behind her, "that's enough."

Emi stopped, turning together with everyone else to face the newcomer as he entered the room.

Ten years in prison had changed Emi's father.

Once, Renjiro Kaminari had been a man of bright smiles and heartwarming laughter. He was soft-spoken, supportive, caring, and told the worst jokes known to man. His overprotectiveness could be annoying at times, but it was no secret that he'd adored his children, and she adored him in kind. After Shigaraki had taken over, with her brother gone or intentionally isolating himself and her mother embracing the League whole-heartedly, her dad had been the only person she could turn to.

Now, however, the man was almost unrecognizable. His hair had gone fully white, hanging down in unkempt tangles just past his shoulders, which, together with his close-cut facial hair, really cemented the reality that he had aged. His eyes, once so full of warmth and life, were now cold and hard, accented with heavy lines. He rarely smiled nowadays, and when he did, it chilled her.

She kept telling herself that he just needed time to adjust. He'd been on the inside for so long, alone, without his family… but the more time went by, the less and less she believed that.

"Dad," she began, unwilling to throw away her anger even for him, "did you hear what these idiots did?!"

"Yes, Emi, I heard," he said, his voice softer than she remembered. He came to a stop at the table and looked down at everyone, tickling her arm with the edges of the cloak he'd taken to wearing to hide the battery packs he kept strapped to his sides. Yuu looked away uncomfortably. "Hotaru, Yaso, your adaptability is to be commended. You pulled off a greater feat today than anyone had been expecting."

Yaso smiled stupidly, blood still dripping down his lips, staining his teeth red. In the blueish light, he looked vampiric. Hotaru, for her part, preened like a smug cat, with the air that the praise was normal and to be expected.

Emi tried not to splutter.

Commended?! They'd nearly ruined everything!

"However," he continued as though he could read her thoughts, "I think we can all agree that my daughter is the true hero of the hour."

As he spoke, a smile graced his face, but it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. Emi held his gaze but took note of the familiar cold light inside them. The same one she'd seen in her mom's eyes shortly after Shigaraki took over the MLA. One that reminded her of a dangerous, self-destructive drive.

"Emiko's actions today truly represented Destro's ideals. How many men and women crowded around that burning building and did nothing? Even if they had the strength to assist, they could not, because of the foolish laws society has been shackled with. But Emi was not afraid to use her strength to assist, and in so doing, has proven once again how flawed society has become.

"But more than that, she was able to take advantage of this unique situation Hotaru provided, and by risking her life to save the child who was trapped in that building, she was able to gain more of Denki's trust than she would have been able to otherwise. Thanks to your combined efforts, I believe we will be able to expedite our plans."

Hotaru flashed Emiko a condescending smirk, but Emi hardly noticed. Her father's praise had seemed notable on the surface, but to her, it just felt like he was paying lip service not just to her and Hotaru, but to the MLA as a whole. His obsession with getting revenge on Denki was consuming all other parts of his life.

He and the others who they had broken out of prison all seemed to share that singular, all-consuming hunger for revenge. She supposed that's what happened when you were isolated from the rest of society for a decade and were forced to do nothing other than sit and stew in your regrets.

It wasn't that Emi and the others didn't want revenge, too. It was just… they'd been out, living their lives for the past ten years as close to 'normal' as was possible. Sure, many of them still harbored regrets, but many of them had also not liked the direction Shigaraki had taken them in the first place. They'd seen enough of violence and war. Those who still sought for reform had chosen to do so through slower, more pacifistic means. Rare were the free MLA survivors who still wanted to fight. It had been a chore to gather enough of them together in the first place, let alone convince them to help her break her father out of prison.

"Now that you've made direct contact with that boy, however," her father continued, "I think our plans may deserve some tweaking. We'll need to discuss this tonight with everyone, but Emi, you're going to be the linchpin of this plan. It would be useful if you could do your best to find out more about those kids in the future. Rest up for now. You'll need your strength."

And then he turned and walked away.

Part of her wanted to chase after him, to ask him if he was really sure he wanted to do this, to remind him that 'that boy' who she'd pulled from the fire was actually his grandson and didn't he care? But that thought only reminded her that that meant that the body of the unconscious child she'd pulled from that burning building was her nephew and that she was partially to blame for hurting him. She could still feel the weight of his tiny body in her arms, the feeling of actual dread that had coursed through her when she'd found him unresponsive beneath that dense, burning cloud of smoke.

She didn't like that she was feeling sympathy, but she knew what it was like to be a child pulled against your will into your parents' war. That kid had done nothing wrong. She could never forgive Denki for what he'd done, but the boy was innocent. Did her father feel that way? Or did he, like Hotaru, consider him to be nothing more than collateral damage?

Hotaru and Yosa left right after Emi's dad, Yosa casting her a sinister glare that she ignored. She collapsed into one of the free chairs a moment later.

Now that she was seated, the aches in her body seemed to return with gusto. Nothing was as bad as her hand, however. She tried her best not to let her discomfort show on her face. She'd need to get someone to look at it. That EMT had said she might need stitches...

Daigoro, who had gotten to his feet, pulled a bottle of water from the fridge in the corner and tossed it in her direction. She caught it with thanks and took a grateful sip. Her throat still burned, but she was dying of thirst, so she drank it down.

"Look, for what it's worth, I'm with you, Em," the human earthworm said, earning a surprised look from her and Yuu. "Give me a Pro or a cop to fight, and I'm there, any day of the week. But a kid? I don't mess with kids. I may be a villain, but even I've got standards."

He threw them a lazy wave before walking away, leaving Emi alone with Yuu.

As soon as they were alone, he launched into his questions.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yuu-"

"I can go get the first aid kit!"

"For what?" she asked, chuckling gently. "You gonna put a bandaid on my lungs?"

He frowned, realizing she was right, and then changed his angle of attack.

"You need to watch out for Yosa. I think he's going to want to get back at you for hitting him."

Emi rolled her eyes. Yosa was stupid enough to try, sure, but they both knew she could kick his ass all day any day. His Quirk was horrifying, it was true; it was called 'Agony', and did what it said it did. He could, just by touching you, make you feel excruciating pain. But it was all in your head, so if you knew that, it was easy enough to push through with enough will power. Plus, if she had juice in her, she could just shock him the moment he made physical contact.

Hotaru was the one to watch out for. She could manipulate fire. She couldn't create it herself, but she could move it around, make it grow. Emi had known the second she set eyes on the blaze that it was Hotaru's handiwork. She'd seen it in action often enough.

Still, she wasn't likely to attack Emi directly. That wasn't her style. She was more of a 'behind the scenes' sort of player.

Besides, the one who was more at risk here was Yuu. 364 days out of the year, he was basically Quirkless. And everyone knew she had a soft spot for him.

Yuu was a decade younger than Emi, but she was something of a cross between his surrogate mother and big sister. A… cool aunt, maybe? He'd lost both of his parents in the war, and in the months following the end, when MLA survivors had been gathering in hideouts around the country to try and make do, Emi and Yuu had met and she'd sort of taken to looking after him. It was good for him, because he was five at the time and small and weak and easy to overlook, and it was good for her, because she needed a distraction to stop herself from fixating on everything she'd lost.

Thoughts of scared, crying, five-year-old Yuu morphed into the image of her nephew unconscious in her arms, and Emi shuddered, looking away.

Yuu's concern cranked into overdrive.

"Emi, are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, bud. I just… need some rest."

That was what her father had said, right? She needed rest before they met to change up their plans once again? He'd also said something about Denki's kids and Emi being the linchpin, which made her incredibly uncomfortable. She would worry about that later.

For now, however, she'd find an old, dusty couch or cot to crash on, maybe get something for her throat, and try to sleep. Sleep, and not fixate on the well-being of a nephew she didn't even know.

She couldn't let herself become sentimental now.

Rai woke sometime early the next morning, delighting his parents and befuddling the nurse when the first thing that came out of his mouth was that he was hungry and wanted salted eel for breakfast.

They'd been visited by a volunteer with a healing quirk in the middle of the night. She was technically a paramedic, not officially employed by the hospital, but a friend of hers who worked there had mentioned there was a four-year-old in the ICU and she decided to swing by before her shift.

Healing Quirks were rare. Most people nowadays seemed to think that having a flashy, powerful Quirk was the fastest route to fame and success because it meant you could be a stand-out Hero, but the truth was, having a Quirk that could heal was more than a fast track - it straight up put you there the moment the government knew what you could do.

It meant guaranteed admission to any medical school in the world, regardless of your grades, at no cost. It meant tax breaks if you volunteered your time. Over a hundred million people lived in Japan, and healing Quirk users could be numbered at around thirty-seven, and like all Quirks, they couldn't use their gifts indiscriminately. They had limits, a set amount of stamina, just like everyone else. Having one visit you in the hospital was a stroke of tremendous fortune.

Denki had actually felt somewhat guilty. After the paramedic had seen to Rai, she'd turned to Kyouka and, blushing profusely, had asked for an autograph, to which Kyouka had immediately agreed. He couldn't help but wonder if her being here had less to do with altruism and more to do with his son being the child of a famous person… but then again, the paramedic had left to visit other patients after seeing to Rai, so even if his son getting her attention had only been because of his famous mother, at least other patients were benefiting from it as well. That made him feel a little better.

Thanks to the expedited healing, Rai was cleared to leave the hospital the next day, and, at Yaoyorozu's insistence, rather than taking him home, they brought him over to the Todoroki estate to stay with his sister and grandparents while the Pros continued the search for Denki's father.

Having his kids stay with the Todoroki's for the time being was ideal for multiple reasons. First, security was tighter there than it was even at his apartment. That was because Shouto and Momo could afford to shell out for the best - and as both were consistently ranked in the top ten, and considering who Shouto's father was and how many enemies he'd had, they really needed that security more than most.

Second, their estate was significantly larger than Denki's four-bedroom apartment. Originally built at Endeavor's command only a few months before his untimely death at the hands of the League, it was supposed to be a home for his children and estranged wife after she was finally released from the hospital. As such, the multiple-acre plot of land in the middle of the metropolitan city contained a spacious flower garden, a small orchard of fruit-bearing trees, and a veritable three-story mansion that was large enough to house Shouto, his two siblings, and his mother, and all of their families, and still have room to spare.

Finally, keeping his kids with their grandparents as well as Yaomomo's daughter was an excellent way to distract them from the attack and the goings-on of the world while Denki and the actual Heroes focused on catching the PLF survivors once and for all.

Not even ten seconds after fully entering the auspicious house, while they were still in the entryway removing their shoes, Aika came tearing around the corner, sliding on socked feet across the smooth wooden flooring, crashing wildly against the wall.

Denki opened his mouth to chastise her out of habit, but before he could speak, she'd already reached them and captured her little brother in a flying tackle-hug.

"Rai! You're ok!"

As cute as the scene was, particularly since Aika was usually so reserved, Rai had just been released from the hospital so it probably wasn't a good idea to let his sister squeeze him to death. Not that he looked bothered by it, hugging his sister back just as fiercely and giggling for all the world like he hadn't nearly died the day before. To be fair, he still hadn't seemed to realize exactly what had happened to him. He probably just thought his sister was being unusually friendly.

While Denki pulled his kids to their feet, trying not to let too much concern over Rai show on his face, Aika was followed by Denki's in-laws, both beaming with joy and relief, and then a moment later by her best friend, Rei, who looked torn between her excitement and concern for Rai as well as her innate need to constantly seem polite and in control. She'd inherited that from her mother, as well as her complete and total lack of poker face.

Rei Todoroki, named after her paternal grandmother, was a cute kid - but then, considering how attractive both of her parents were, that was a given. She was unusually tall for her age, only three months younger than Aika yet standing eight or nine centimeters taller than her, with her mother's cobalt irises and her grandmother's snow-white hair that undulated down past her shoulders in waves. She'd inherited her ice Quirk from her father's side of the family but was able to make the ice form into much more complex and intricate shapes than her father could, the control for which she'd likely inherited from her mom - something Denki had learned the hard way the previous winter during a snowman building competition that he had handily lost.

While Rai was busy being smothered by his sister and grandparents' affection, much to his delight, Rei took the completely unnecessary time to bow politely to Denki and Kyouka and welcome them into her home, all the while staring anxiously at Rai as if she too wanted to be hugging him.

Denki snorted and reached out, ruffling her hair.

"Why do you always say hello to me like you don't know me?"

She flushed, embarrassed, and mumbled an apologetic "Sorry, Uncle Denki," before accepting a side-hug from Kyouka.

The commotion in the entryway finally drew the attention of the house's owners, and Yaomomo and Todoroki appeared, along with the elder Rei, who greeted them all with familial warmth. At Momo's bidding, Rei and Aika took Rai off to play, both girls fussing over him more than they ever had before, and after exchanging the normal pleasantries with Todoroki's mother and making sure that everything with his in-laws was settled, Denki and Kyouka agreed to stay for dinner.

It was a rambunctious affair, much more so than usual, with Denki's entire family plus his in-laws crowding around the table. Shouto's sister Fuyumi had already been visiting with her husband and two boys, and while that should have made things feel chaotic, really, it just felt like a big family gathering. It was almost enough to make him forget that he hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours because terrorists had almost killed his son.

After dinner, while his wife stayed with the adults to socialize and the kids were off doing whatever and hopefully not breaking anything, Denki took the chance to sneak out onto the porch where he could be alone and collect his thoughts.

The garden at night was lovely, lit with the orange glow of traditional Japanese lanterns, the sound of evening cicadas thick in the air. It was humid, almost uncomfortably so, but anything was better than the claustrophobia of staying inside, pretending to smile and be happy when he knew, deep down, that all of this was his fault.

His kids and in-laws would be safer here, he knew, but that also meant that Todoroki and Yaoyorozu and their family would be in more danger because they were sheltering them. The guilt he felt warred internally with his gratitude and did nothing to ease the anxious pressure constricting his chest.

Somewhere out there, right now, his father was reacting to the news. Did he feel anything at all, knowing that he'd nearly killed his grandson? And what were his thoughts on Emiko saving him? Granted, the news hadn't reported on her identity, and she hadn't been caught on camera, but if whoever had set the blaze and had been in the area had seen her…

The door opened behind him, a second person joining him on the porch, and Denki turned, expecting to see his wife.

Instead, he was surprised to find Todoroki stepping up beside him, leaning against the warm mahogany porch railing with his forearms, nursing a drink in his hands.

The adult version of class darling Shouto Todoroki looked very little like his famous father. Where Endeavor had been a solid, swollen wall of muscle and rage, Shouto was leaner, more reserved. He still had his father's broad shoulders and towering height, but while also muscular, his was more the body of a sprinter or a gymnast, not a brawler like his dad. This was probably because Shouto typically fought from a distance and rarely ever exchanged fists when dealing with violent criminals.

Other than a more pronounced jawline, his features remained mostly the same as well. He'd tried going for facial hair once, but the way his heterochromatic hair made his mustache look had made him the laughing stock of their friend group, so he'd thankfully decided to forgo it.

It was better that way, Denki thought, seizing him up out of the corner of his eye. Shouto's selling point to his fans had always been his quiet, austere nature and coolness under pressure. That was better emphasized with a prettier face.

That, and Momo didn't like a lot of hair on her man, but Denki wasn't supposed to know that.

Denki and Todoroki had never been particularly close, but while he wouldn't call the man his best friend, they still got along well enough. It helped that Kyouka and Yaoyoruzu spent so much time together, which naturally resulted in Denki and Todoroki spending more time together as well, thus improving their bond. Still, Denki hadn't expected Todoroki to be the one to search him out.

It... was a little awkward, if he were being honest.

Finally, after several minutes of reserved silence, Todoroki began to speak.

"I know this is out of the ordinary," he began in that familiar quiet monotone he'd always had, "but I wanted to talk to you about your father."

Denki sighed, straightening up and struggling to push down his annoyance.

"Look, Todoroki - Everything I know, I already told the police. There really isn't anything else for me to say."

But Todoroki started shaking his head before Kaminari could even finish his sentence.

"No, you misunderstand. I just meant… I know what it's like to see your father as your enemy, that's all."

Denki stared, stunned speechless.

Was Todoroki actually going out of his way to have a heart-to-heart with him? He normally only ever talked to Momo or Midoriya about things like this.

Well, then again, this wasn't Todoroki opening up about his problems - this was Todoroki trying to get someone else to open up about theirs.

His friends. Always the Heroes.

After a slight pause, Denki forced a chuckle, trying to sound as natural as possible.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. We kinda have a lot in common."

Todoroki grunted, though whether that was an affirmative or a negative grunt, Denki couldn't say.

"But in a lot of ways," his friend continued, "our situations are like mirror opposites."

Denki shot Todoroki a questioning look, and he began to explain.

"My father started out evil." He paused, then shook his head. "No, that's not quite right - but to me, it always felt that way. I have no memories from my childhood of him being anything but a monster. It wasn't until I got older that I began to see that there was good inside of him, that there was a part of him, a part that was growing stronger every day, that regretted the man he'd been and was actively trying to make amends."

Denki hadn't learned the truth about Todoroki's family until after the war with Shigaraki. How his father's obsessive need to surpass All Might had led him down a path of neglect and abuse, both physical and emotional, so intense that he'd not only hospitalized his wife after a nervous breakdown but also 'allegedly' brought about the deaths of one of his children.

How on earth a man could ever redeem himself from that kind of life, Denki didn't know. And no one ever would.

Endeavor lost his life in the line of duty, trying to save civilians from Shigaraki's evil reign. His life was cut short before he could finish his transformation. And it was that that had hurt Todoroki more than anything; not just that he'd lost his father, but that he would never know if his father could have pulled off that seemingly impossible redemption he'd been working so hard for.

"It was different for your father, wasn't it?" Todoroki continued, jolting Denki out of his reverie.

"Y-yeah…"

Yeah, his father had been different. The father Denki knew was kind, he loved to laugh, he doted on his kids with excessive zeal, and loved his wife so openly that it was an embarrassment whenever they were out in public. He wasn't the smartest, the strongest, or the most talented - in fact, he tended to shrink back and leave major decision making up to his wife. But he was a man of passion, who lived his life with his heart on his sleeve.

Even when Shigaraki had taken over the MLA, even when they were openly at war, he still did his best to support his wife and keep his family together. And in the end, that was the problem.

He refused to see, or maybe couldn't see, that his wife was wrong, that what they had gotten themselves into was wrong, and that the best way to actually protect his family would have been to have gotten them all out of there. Instead, he stood silently by, refusing to question as his wife led them all down the path that would bring about inevitable separation and destruction.

But even at the end, even after what had happened in that last battle, Denki would have never suspected that his father had it in him to make an attempt on his grandchildren's lives. Something, either a decade in prison or the weight of what had happened to his wife, had changed him. He was unrecognizable from the man Denki had grown up knowing and loving.

And in that way, he supposed, his and Todoroki's fathers shared another similarity and a difference.

Both men had begun to change in ways their sons had never suspected they would be capable of.

But where Todoroki had been forced to see his father's arc cut short before completion, Denki was seeing his father's in its fulfillment. And he didn't like what he was seeing.

"Did you…" Denki cleared his throat gruffly, turning away, staring up at the sky, almost entirely devoid of stars thanks to the light pollution from the surrounding city. "Did you love your father? There, at the end?"

All was quiet for a time. There was a slight breeze, rustling the leaves among the flower bushes and alleviating at least some of the summer humidity.

Finally, Todoroki answered.

"...Yes. Or, at least, I… wanted to. I wanted him to become the kind of man I could love. The kind I could be proud of." After a moment, he turned to Denki. "And what about you? Do you still love your father, even after everything that's happened?"

Denki wanted to say no. How could he? How could he possibly love a man who had tried to kill his son and daughter? Who'd tried to take away from him that one last pure, untarnished piece in his life?

But the fact of the matter was, without having seen him in years, it was difficult for Denki to merge the ideas of the escaped convict Renjiro Kaminari with the man he knew as his father. The man who used to let him stay up late so they could watch horror movies together on the couch. The man who would take him and Emi camping in the summer. Who'd taught him to swim. Who would dance with their mother in the kitchen in the evening when they thought no one was watching.

Swallowing thickly, his voice choked with emotion, Denki answered.

"I… I do…"

That man, Denki would always love. Just like his mother. Even if it was just the memory of who they had been and what they used to be. What they could still have been if things had been different.

And it was that man Denki would stop at nothing to put back behind bars. Because as much as he loved him, he loved his children more. And he didn't want his father's name marred with any more stains than he'd already earned.

Todoroki left him on the porch not long afterward. Sometime later, Kyouka came to get him, and they returned to their apartment, leaving their children with Denki's in-laws in the Todoroki estate where they would (hopefully) be safe.

The next morning, after giving his kids a call to check up on them, Denki stepped out into the street with a new resolution burning in his chest.

He would put an end to this quickly. He would do whatever it takes.

Barely five minutes after leaving, while passing a group of middle schoolers playing some game on their phones, he was joined by a familiar blonde.

At first, they didn't speak, merely walking together down the road.

Finally, Emi asked, "...Your kid. Is he…?"

"He's fine," Denki replied tersely. "We got him to the hospital. He's already been released."

"Oh, good. I'm… I'm glad."

And, strangely enough, she actually sounded it.

There was another pause as the estranged Kaminari siblings continued on down the road, pace out of sync, neither making eye contact. He still didn't know if he could trust her. All signs had been pointing to her trying to lure him into a trap, but if so, why had she rushed into that burning building…?

It was Denki's turn to break the silence.

"You saved his life," he said softly, just barely loud enough to hear. "Thank you. I owe you... more than I can say."

Emi tried to smile, but it came out lopsided, only a corner of her mouth lifting up. Clearly, she wasn't any more comfortable around him than he was around her.

"Just consider it a lifetime's worth of missed birthday presents from his aunt."

She blinked as the word 'aunt' left her mouth, as though she hadn't accepted her connection to the boy until she'd voiced it aloud, and Denki smiled in spite of himself at how nostalgic that look of bafflement on her face was.

Together, they turned a corner, heading deeper into the city.

Woo! We're halfway there, guys!

Thank you all so much for your support so far! I know I don't respond to every comment, but I really appreciate every comment or read I get. Things will start to ramp up a bit moving forward. I hope you all like what you've read so far, and that you will like what's coming even more!

Keep it Zesty!

ZC