It was Natsuo that broke the silence. Of course it would be him.

"You... you bastard. Is there anything you did right in your life?!"

No.

"Wasn't what you've been doing to mom enough for you?! ...I can't believe I came here for you. I can't believe I-, I-," he stopped abruptly, turned and left, slamming the door.

Natsuo's words hang in the silence that followed again. Enji heard Fuyumi's quiet sobbing. He could imagine how she was feeling right now. Her hopes for them to be a whole family again were finally definitely irrevocably shattered. By Enji, of course.

He finally forced himself to look at them. Fuyumi was crying. Shouto was just staring blankly, his mind probably still processing how low his father had fallen.

But it was Rei that was the worst. Because she wasn't angry, she wasn't broken, she wasn't sad, she wasn't shocked. She wasn't surprised.

So, this was how she saw him, always? A man who would coddle other women, but abuse his own wife?

He wanted to tell her it happened once, just once!, but he knew everyone said lies like that. Nobody would believe it. And it didn't matter anyway, not really. Once, not once, he's done it.

She actually smiled weakly.

"Huh, and here I always thought you were into men and married me only because of the children..."

"No," he murmured. "I'm not really into anything," he admitted dejectedly.

"Well, apparently you are enough to make a bastard!" Natsuo might have left the room, but was still listening. Now he opened the door again, fuming. Enji saw Hawks and Best Jeanist standing behind him, clearly listening.

Hawks.

Another person he's gonna lose now. Hawks has been always telling him how Endeavor was his favorite hero and that it had not changed for years. That nothing could change the fact he would always support Enji. Well, Hawks shouldn't have underestimated Enji's power to ruin everything good he had in his life.

Enji got back to watching his own hands. He expected them to leave now, but, to his surprise, Rei got closer and gently put the flowers on his bed.

"For this, I don't blame you. That part... it never really worked for us."

"No, don't justify it. I shouldn't have ever done that." He clenched his fists. Oh, how he loathed himself. He's never been anything but a failure. His mother was right all along.

"Enji," Rei sighed and very slowly, hesitantly, laid her slender, so fragile looking hand on one of his. He could imagine how much it cost her to touch him. "You're not the only one who's been seeking that warmth somewhere else back then."

His head shot up as he stared at her.

What?

What?

Rei?

She'd?

His eyes leapt to his appalled children before he realized what he's doing. He immediately turned back to Rei, but it was too late. They all saw it, in that one second, his question, his suspicion. Of course they were his children, all of them had some features of him in them, sadly. But they would never forget him this one moment of doubt, he knew that.

Rei noticed all that too, of course.

"No, I've never laid with a man. Never really liked men," she sighed.

Natsuo left the room with a face of someone who would never recover from everything that he had heard and saw today. Fuyumi was still crying. Shouto seemed to be summoning all his willpower not to let his emotions take him over; whatever those were, hidden from Enji as usual. Hawks seemed sad, Best Jeanist grave. Enji felt bare and raw and everything hurt and he just wanted to die. But no, he didn't. He couldn't.

"I'm sorry, Enji, I'm sorry I wasn't better than that."

"No, don't- Don't. Don't. It's all my fault."

Her hand squeezed his lightly.

"Past is past, Enji, but it is the future we need to think about."

He nodded. He knew why she had come here in the first place. "Touya."

"Yes. Don't let Shouto fight him alone. This is our responsibility, Enji."

"Mom," Shouto tried to protest, but she shook her head.

"I know," admitted Enji. "I won't run away. Not anymore."

She stroked his hand lightly and smiled.

"You need to rest. We all need you." She really seemed to say that genuinely. Tears started to drop again as he looked at her, at her gentle, tired smile. How many he still had inside? How many had amassed through all these years?

But he had to get himself together. There was an important thing he wanted to tell her. The thing he wanted to tell her for many years now, the reason why he kept leaving her the flowers, hoping she'd finally agree to meet him, so he could tell her.

"Rei... ...I've prepared the divorce papers."

Her eyes widened.

"I want you to be free. I want you to live with our children happily. I've built you all a house."

The look she was giving him now, so surprised... and then there it was, the hope rising in her eyes, the light he hasn't seen for so many years. Hope for a better life.

Shigaraki's stabs were less painful than this.

"I made sure you'll have all the money you need."

She squeezed his hand again and she looked more determined now, the feelings from before gone.

"Enji, this is not the time. You-"

"No, this is exactly the time. It's high time. For you to be free. I am calling my lawyer and I can sign the papers in the hospital."

"Enji, you're still-"

"No. You've suffered long enough, tied to me."

And there they finally appeared, one, two, three, more and more tears started to fall down her once so pretty face that now looked much older than it should. He did this to her. He had stolen so many years of her life.

At least this was the first time ever she cried because of something good he did for her, not of despair and pain he had always bestowed upon her before.

888

When they all left he actually cried himself to sleep, like a weak failure he apparently always has been. But crying was a better outlet than anger, his therapist always said. Would he be proud of the progress Enji made? Doubtful. Some progress that was, from an abusive monster to this.

It took him a moment to realize it was a hushed but rather intensive conversation in his room that had awoken him. He turned his head towards the source and saw Shouto sitting in one of the chairs with a very displeased nurse by his side.

Hawks was sitting in another chair and smiled, radiating all the warmth he could through his eyes, the rest of his face hidden in the breathing equipment. Was that D- Touya's doing? Enji knew people were wearing those machines in case of severe burning of the respiratory system.

"Hello, Endeavor-san," he typed on his phone. The text to voice function sounded all wrong, even if it imitated Hawks' voice. It wasn't at all how the boy always pronounced his hero name, like he enjoyed every single syllable of it.

"Your son should be resting," said the nurse sternly. Shouto's face entered the mullish mode Enji was most familiar with.

"I'm fine," he croaked, his throat burned during the fight.

"Yes, you're splendid, I wonder why we still keep you in the hospital," the nurse rolled her eyes.

"I just want to speak with my father."

"Make it short. You both need to rest," she glared at Shouto. Like the boy who grew up with Enji wasn't immune to glaring.

The nurse left and Hawks stood up to follow her. "I'll leave you two to each other."

"Like you're not gonna be eavesdropping," stated Shouto flatly. Enji's brows rose at the cheek, but, well, the boy was so right about this part of Hawks nature.

Hawks just shrugged, pure innocence in his eyes.

"You can stay. You're close with dad, right?"

"Oh, I wish," Hawks winked.

Enji stared. The bird would not leave his antics even in such a situation. But a part of him was relieved. One person, it would seem, decided not to change their attitude to Enji even if he damned well deserved having backs turned on him.

Shouto brought his chair nearer and sat down. Now that whatever the conversation the boy had in mind was about to begin his son looked awkward and unsure of himself. Like Enji, he never was good at people. Though it did seem to improve since he entered U.A. Was it thanks to Izuku?

Whatever was the case Enji was beyond grateful Shouto came back to speak with him. That he did not decide he had heard everything he needed to hear and no longer wanted to have anything to do with his despicable parent. He wanted to tell him that. He wanted to apologize again and again. He wanted to say how much he loved Shouto. That even if he was created because of Touya it still was the best decision Enji would never regret.

"Shouto." That was all he decided to say. He no longer knew what he could say that would not make his child irritated or angry or uncomfortable.

The boy watched the beautiful blue sky visible from this floor for some minutes. Enji followed his eyes and waited patiently.

"So... ...what about this other child? What kind of father are you to them?" Shouto finally revealed what was on his mind.

He sighed. "Absent," he answered.

Shouto was now looking at him scrutinizingly.

"Why?"

Enji thought about it for some time. "...When she got pregnant I told her it was all up to her. She can go public with this. She can inform my family, or make me do it. She did not want that. She saw that..." His throat squeezed painfully as he again saw Izuku, this perfect child with a golden heart in his mind. "...that I did not want the child. I already had a family."

Shouto said nothing to that, just kept listening.

"So she decided to bring him up on her own."

"With no help from you?"

"I've been sending the money and calling her regularly. But, yeah, with no help from me."

"Why are you calling them if you haven't made them part of your family?"

"Just... to be sure they're alright. That they don't need anything. Sometimes I even have some good advice, unbelievable as it seems."

To his surprise there was a shadow of a smile on Shouto's face. The boy... his child... did not hate him, he realized. He should, but he did not. Good that he had apparently used up all the tears he was able to produce cause he would be crying again now, no doubt about it.

"Well, that is some help then."

"Not really, no. I wasn't there for her."

He wondered if Shouto was thinking that had actually been a good thing. He certainly did think so himself.

"Does this boy know about you?"

"No. When he was younger she kept telling him his father works in the US. By now I'm sure he guessed it's not true. He must know his father left them."

Shouto frowned. "Wouldn't it be better if he had known you've always been in contact? It must have been tough for a child to think their dad left them."

"I have left that decision to her."

Shouto was still frowning. "Decision? More like no choice. She saw you did not want to be there, so what else could she do? She is apparently too decent to want to break our family apart. But I don't think you should call it a decision."

That was harsh. But Shouto was probably right.

"...yeah. I did not want my family to fall apart even more."

"It happened though."

"...yes."

But Shouto did not seem condemning, more like trying to understand, bless him. That was more than Enji could ever hope for.

"Does he have a new dad?"

"No, I don't-" he hesitated. He always assumed Inko was still single. She never mentioned anyone else in her private life, and he also back then overheard Bakugou saying Izuku had no dad. But maybe she had someone, maybe they just did not pretend before Izuku that this new person would be his new dad. He actually did not know. And had no right to ask these kinds of questions anyway.

"I don't think so," he ended awkwardly.

Shouto was pondering some more about this all.

"How is he? Is he like you?" he finally asked, actual curiosity visible in his eyes.

"No, he is nothing like me. Neither physically nor in character." He hesitated. "Well, maybe he is as stubborn and determined as me."

Now it was Shouto's turn to hesitate. "...and you're sure-"

"Yes," he snapped, angry on Inko's behalf. "Sorry," he apologized immediately. "It's just she isn't that kind of woman."

"She slept with a married man with children, dad."

"She.. she was my fangirl, and young, and..." He wasn't sure how to put it in front of his own child. "...inexperienced."

There was a pause and Shouto dropped this line of conversation.

"And what kind of life does this halfbrother of mine have now? He is the same age as me, right? What is he doing? How does it look like to be your child without you around?" Again, no accusation, just innocent curiosity. Shouto was really better than most people he knew, better than himself, most definitely.

"He's-" he stuttered suddenly, realizing where this could lead. Revealing that he had an extramarital child was one thing, but completely different would be to say who exactly that was. He would have to speak with Inko about it first. But still... he so much wanted to continue speaking with Shouto. He so badly wanted this conversation to last. And didn't he own the answers to his own son? Maybe he would not connect the dots. "He's actually learning heroics."

"What?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "He wants to be like All Might."

Shouto stared.

"...okay, so he really is your son," he replied.

Enji smiled weakily.

"Is he a fire user?"

"No... his quirk came from the other side of the family."

Shouto nodded, lost in thoughts. There was a longer silence and Enji thought that would be it, when suddenly Shouto's eyes widened in realization.

Oh, no.

"It's Midoriya, isn't it."

Enji's heart skipped and he forced a nod.

"Please, don't tell anyone yet," he asked, his voice suddenly hoarse. "I need to speak with his mother first. I don't want him to be connected to me, not now, he doesn't deserve all this." He vaguely gestured to the people still protesting in front of the building.

But Shouto did not seem to hear him, his eyes wide, unseeing, the information sinking and causing some turmoil Enji could not understand. He was like that for the longest while, drowned in his own thoughts, before he finally looked at Enji again.

"Huh, so I wasn't that off mark. He is the Number One's secret love child after all," he said, but there wasn't any humor in his voice.

"I thought you were good friends," said Enji, unsure what to make of Shouto's reaction.

Shouto gave him a long look.

"Yes. Yes, we are good friends."

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, Enji wondering what exactly was happening in his Shouto's heart now that he knew his best friend is his halfbrother.

"I understand you need to talk to Mi- Izuku's mom first," said Shouto finally. "But I think he deserves to know. He should know. He won't hate you. He isn't like that."

"I know," Enji murmured. "He is too good for this world."

Shouto smiled lightly, a rare warmth appearing in his eyes. "He is." Then he added,

"So that's why you went so crazy during the fight with Shigaraki? You were suicidal back then."

"Shouto, Shigaraki was specifically after him! You could retreat, and you also have long ranged attacks, but Izuku? That madman would follow him anywhere! I couldn't!"

"I know." The warmth was gone, replaced by steely determination. "We won't let him get Izuku, old man. We won't. He's not gonna lay one finger on Izuku, we'll make sure of it together."

"Shouto..." he sniffed, and there they were again, stupid tears.

888

Light knocking on the door jerked him out of his uneasy dreams. He slept almost all the time since his surgeries, his body never before brought to such a disastrous state as now and needing its rest.

"Come in."

She got older, obviously, it was more than a decade since he actually saw her, plumper, completely different taste in clothes than before, much lighter make-up, but he would still recognize her everywhere. He would recognise these eyes that were identical to Izuku's everywhere.

Inko.

What? Why? Did she know already he told his family the truth? Did Shouto tell her? Was she angry? She did not seem so. She shot a glance at Hawks, who was still? again? here, working on his laptop. She got a little pink for some reason.

"Ah, Endeavor-san, I just wanted to thank you for your service! You saved my s-"

"Hawks knows, Inko."

"Ah."

Hawks stood up.

"No words can describe my pleasure to meet the woman who managed to achieve what I can only dream about," he typed winking.

"Hawks!"

She chuckled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hawks-san, you're even more handsome in reality than in the media," she said jokingly, but the pink intensified. Huh, a Hawks fangirl now? Well, no wonder, he's always been the most popular hero among, well, everyone.

"Maybe because you can't see half of my face." They both laughed, then she turned back to Enji.

"I won't be bothering you for long, you need your rest, but I was visiting Izuku..."

"How is he?"

Her face paled and the worry dispelled previous lighter mood.

"He has not awoken yet-"

"WHAT?!" The doctor said they were alright! If he hasn't got back to his senses yet it could mean only one thing... brain damage. No, no, no!

"The doctors are saying he is alright, and so does All Might. He says it's something to do with his quirk."

"What? That makes no-" Unless Izuku overused his weird quirk and it damaged his brain as it used to damage his limbs. "No." he groaned.

"Enji, calm down, I'm worried myself, but All Might seems to be sure."

"Please, could you send him here? Please." He needed to grill All Might himself about this strange quirk his son had.

"Uh, okay, I think he is still with Izuku."

"I should be there," he murmured guiltily.

"Oh, Enji, you were there when he needed you most. During that horrible nightmare."

"I wasn't enough."

"Enji, they're alright, all of them, you protected them."

He really didn't feel like that.

"Enji... I saw what people say about you. I saw... Touya's broadcast. You need to know there are people who'll always remember how many lives you saved during your whole life. And that you sacrificed a lot for strangers. We know that. I know that. There will always be people grateful to you. Please, don't give a fuck about these idiots out there."

Enji stared at her. He never ever heard her saying fuck in his whole life.

"I thought you're not swearing in your household," he smiled weakly.

"Sometimes situations force us to make tough decisions, Enji," she grinned. "Okay, I'd better not be spending here too much time, or else-"

"Inko," he hesitated, unsure how to put it, but there was no easy way to convey he did something so consequential without consulting her. "I- My whole family came here- about Touya- they've wanted- we needed to... talk about everything candidly, so that- I mean-" he sighed, rubbing his temples.

"You told them."

He hung his head. "I should have spoken with you before, but... I didn't know... I don't know if we ever get together again to talk, all of us. But I didn't tell them who exactly my child is. Shouto did guess though. I asked not to tell anyone."

"Why?"

He stared at her surprised. Really?

"Look at them, Inko," he gestured to the protesters. "You don't deserve this, not you, not Izuku."

"Aren't we family, Enji? Of sorts, not really your typical family, but aren't we?"

Enji fell quiet.

"I won't do anything you don't want me to do, but I think Izuku should know. And it should be up to him to decide whether he wants the world to know you're his father." She thought about it for a moment. "Though of course I understand you don't want to fuel additional hatred towards you among-"

"IT'S NOT THAT!" She looked at him surprised. "I deserve all the hate I get."

"No, you don't," she said so sternly that for a second he almost believed her.

"I just- I mean, I want what;s the best for you two."

"I think the best for us would be to let Izuku make his choices."

"...okay."

"You really okay with it, Enji?" she asked gently.

"I am. It... it pains me to see him and know he... thinks he has no father."

She smiled at him softly. "It is going to be alright, Enji."

"Ah, right, I almost forgot." She rummaged in her bag to retrieve a small plushie. An Endeavor plushie.

"Aaaaaaw, I've got exactly the same!" Hawks beamed.

"They haven't been produced for years. I was so much younger and prettier when I bought it," she chuckled.

"I got it when I was a little kid, it was the only hero merch I had for years. I loved him, took him with me everywhere" replied Hawks very fondly. "Probably that's why yours is in much better state, though."

Enji had no idea where this was supposed to be going until Inko put the plushie on the small hospital bedside table.

"I hope you won't find it ridiculous, but... I want you to have it. To remind you you are a hero to us, Enji. You are no saint, but you are our hero, Endeavor."

888

"Don't you have anywhere to be?" he asked with no hostility in his voice.

"I've told you, Number One, I will always be there for you," replied Hawks, smiling with his eyes, as he always did. Always angry Number One, always pleased Number Two. That's how the media painted them and it was true.

"Hawks..." he thought about Touya's broadcast. He thought that Hawks' burden was even heavier – some have been calling him a murderer now, the fools. The bird saved so many innocent lives with that one death! And yet he was here, stubbornly deciding Enji's problems were more important than his own. "I don't know how I can repay you."

"A date would be nice, now that you're almost divorced," Hawks eyes alight, sparkling, never serious.

"I mean it, Hawks."

The knock on the door interrupted them. It was All Might.

Izuku.

"Endeavor. Oh, Hawks. Hello. How are you two feeling?" The man looked tired, worried, and it made Enji's heart drop.

"You're telling me right now how is Deku doing or I swear to all I've ever-"

"He is fine," replied All Might with the reassuring, though much too weak to Enji's liking, smile.

"His mother says he's still unconscious!"

"Yes, about that..." All Might dropped down on the empty chair and his face went serious. "The nature of young Midoriya's quirk was supposed to be a tightly kept secret few know about. However, in the current situation, with All for One on the loose, it only makes sense the top heroes should fully understand the situation."

"One for All," Enji suddenly recalled what he heard from Tomura.

"Yes, this is how young Midoriya's quirk is called. It's a transferable quirk that also stockpiles quirks of all its previous users. It was originally made by All for One himself. I am not sure what was his original aim, but my guess is that it had to do something with his younger brother, the first user of OfA. All for One was obsessed with him, I've found the files suggesting he kept him locked. Whatever was the original purpose, in the end it actually served as a best quirk to defeat All for One. I know this, because I've been the one who has won over AfO using this very quirk."

Now everything clicked in Enji's head. Izuku's sudden acquisition of a quirk, All Might's tutoring, quirk similarities between the two, the weird illogical nature of Izuku's abilities.

"You gave him this quirk."

"Yes, I saw something in the boy... and the quirk saw something in him. I knew he was the right person."

Enji sat up in his body, fury clouding his mind.

"You've painted the target on the back of a fucking child!"

"Endeavor-san," Hawks tried, but Enji wouldn't be stopped now. That old fucker made the greatest villain of all time, capable of crippling All Might himself, go after his son!

"Couldn't you give it to someone else?! An actually experienced and successful hero?! An actual adult?! Were you grooming him for your purposes?!" Looks like he was absolutely right in hating that man all this time.

All Might faced this with not a shadow of guilt or anger in his eyes.

"This is not a normal quirk, Endeavor. The moment I saw the boy I knew it chose him and it knew young Midoriya would be the best person for this job. For the sake of the world it has to be him."

"You've got no right- you had no right to make that choice yourself! He is only fifteen! You had no right to push a child onto these tracks-" Suddenly he saw his five years old Shouto, on his fours, vomiting, because he had a job to do, because he had to save Touya, because this was what Enji decided. "...you are no better than me." He spat bitterly and turned his face away from All Might, to the window. The sky was cloudy, the protesters relentless.

All Might sighed. "I am no saint. But do you really think young Midoriya would be safe in a world in which this quirk is given to the wrong person and All for One triumphs?"

"Cause he doesn't triumph now?"

Japan was in shambles, they had thrown everything they had to defeat the enemies and what? Both Tomura and All for One were on the loose while the best of the best were licking their wounds in this hospital.

"The situation is grave, but it would be even graver if I gave this quirk to the wrong person," repeated All Might stubbornly. "You're not the only one who agonizes over what the boy is going through."

Enji shot him a mad glare. 'You know nothing! You have never had children!'

"I also, at the first moment, refused to accept it should be given to him. But One for All insisted, I felt it. And when I got to know the boy better, I knew they were right."

Enji fell into hateful silence.

All Might hesitated. "I'm sorry, Endeavor. ...Midoriya-san told me... ...young Midoriya is your son."

What? Why would she- Then he realized All Might probably would never reveal any of this to Endeavor, of all people. That Endeavor who always despised him. But he would to Izuku's father.

"I'm really sorry all this has fallen on your shoulders, but young Midoriya shall be safe. He shall win. We shall win with him. I believe in this."

"If he dies, I'll reap you to pieces," answered Enji simply.

"Fair enough," sighed All Might. He looked even more tired and sick than when he came here.

"Why is he unconscious?"

"Ah, as I have told you, this is not a typical quirk. Shadows, vestiges of previous owners' minds dwell in it. They can connect with the current user, support him, help him, bestow their experience and knowledge."

"Vestiges of dead people?"

All Might hesitated. "I don't fully understand it either," he admitted.

Enji clenched his fists. "So you gave my son a quirk you don't even understand," he growled.

All Might admittedly looked guilty now. "OfA always worked well for me, you saw that yourself."

Enji couldn't argue with that, though he really truly wanted to. But indeed, All Might was undefeatable for years. Forever.

"So, he is unconscious..?"

"...he is speaking with them now."

"So, you gave him a quirk along with voices in his head."

"They only appear when there is a dire need for that. I've never heard them myself."

"...you do realize he'll never have a normal life, with that kind of quirk?"

"Does any true hero have one, Endeavor?"

888

It took him a long time to be able to fall asleep again, his head in turmoil over everything revealed by All Might, but his body finally reminded him of its state and forced his lids shut. He had a feeling he was out for many hours when finally another weak knocking brought him back to the world of living.

"Come in."

The door slid open and his heart stopped.

And then it raced.

He realized he was terrified, stupid idiot that he was.

It was Izuku.

The boy said nothing for an eternity that probably actually was a minute maybe, his eyes penetrating Enji's very depths of soul. He felt like a goddamn prey facing its predator, pale, shaky, panicked, so panicked of what was going to happen now. It was a ridiculous, emotional reaction, a logical part of him was trying to whisper that this was Izuku after all, but he just knew, just knew the boy's gonna hate him, he just knew.

They stared at each other and then Izuku smiled. The warmest, most comforting, most reassuring smile Enji had ever seen anyone giving him.

So, of course, he did what apparently he was best at recently.

But, seeing his tears Izuku did not run away like Shouto had; he wasn't brought up by fucked up Enji after all. He closed the door, sat down on the chair by Enji's bed and rested his still awfully bandaged hand on Enji's hand.

They sat like that, with no words from the boy, until finally Enji calmed the fuck down. Some parent he was, breaking apart on his teenage son that was currently carrying such a huge burden on his shoulders he really did not need to carry his father's breakdown too.

"And here I thought I got the crying from mom."

Enji smiled weakly.

"How is the recovery going?" asked the boy.

"I'm gonna be fine."

"That was some fight." The smile faded now, Izuku's eyes grave as he seemed to recall the confrontation with Shigaraki in his mind.

"Would be better if it was over."

"Yes, we still have to see it through."

"You don't have to," replied Enji immediately. Fuck All Might and his theories and ideas.

But the look Izuku gave him was one of steely, unshakeable conviction. Enji realized nothing he could say would stop the boy.

"I'm not seeing this again, dad. People dying around me. Almost dying. I shall not let this happen again."

Dad.

Dad.

The effort Enji put into not starting to cry again was inhuman.

"Izuku..."

Izuku just smiled again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you. I'm so sorry you were fatherless all your life. I know apologizing means nothing and changes nothing, but I'll do everything I can to make things better, I swear, even if it's so late..."

"...I wish I at least knew you've been in contact," admitted Izuku with no ill feeling in his voice. "It would be so nice to know all that time you cared. Mom told me today you were calling all the time." 'All the time'? More like once in a couple of months. Inko was too good, just like this boy. "But you don't have to beat yourself over us. We've always been a very happy family with mom. She told me you provided us with freedom to be together."

Enji wasn't sure what Izuku meant by that and it showed on his face.

"I mean, mom never had to worry about working in any shitty place which would force her to work overtime, she always had time to spend with me. And, well..." Izuku hesitated, a little uncomfortable now. "I know I wasn't exactly planned, you could have, with your position, well, try to, well, for-"

"Do you even hear yourself?!" What was wrong with this child?

Izuku stared at him startled.

"Don't you ever thank me, or anyone else again, for goddamn basic decency!" What the hell! "I gave you the basic minimum and I owe you so much more! Don't you dare think like that again! I bet your mother never told you anything like that!"

"No, she did not, but, well,"

He now wanted to shake this son of his. How could anyone think like that? He should hate him not thanking for not... Enji now felt sick. It occurred to him this golden heartedness of Izuku was also a sign of his issues; it went way too far.

"Izuku! Never ever again say anything like this to me! You don't need to thank me for anything! If you want, thank all the time your mother for bringing up you so well, but you got from me so much less than you deserved and never forget that! Don't you dare think so lowly of yourself! You don't owe me anything, you deserve everything from me!"

Izuku was staring at him now with wide eyes and Enji wondered if this rant of his wasn't ridiculous, if maybe he had misread things. Maybe these were all wrong words to say. He never knew the right ones, after all.

But then Izuku stood up and simply enveloped him in a hug. Enji did not remember when was the last time anyone did that.

"I'm so sorry, my child," Enji whispered as he melted into it. "You shouldn't have to go through all this. I shouldn't have treated you two worse than my... other family. I'm sorry for all these years."

Izuku kept him as tight as his damaged arms allowed. Enji could feel the boy's tears falling onto his short red hair.

"It must have been hard, " he finally heard Izuku's quiet voice.

What?

"What do you mean?"

"For you."

Oh, Izuku.

"Stop thinking like that! Stop thinking more about others than yourself!" he replied angrily into Izuku's chest, against his quickly beating young heart.

"But isn't this what heroes do?"

Enji sighed. This child was beyond salvation. All he could do was try to protect this pure, gentlest, most considerate kid that ever existed until the day he died.

Izuku finally sat back down, his eyes still red, but smiling nevertheless.

"Every time I met you, you've always been giving me encouragement," he said warmly.

"I wasn't giving them because you're my son, I was giving them, because you deserved them. You are a great hero. Better than me, better than All Might."

Izuku laughed. "Oh, I still have a long way to go to reach any of you..."

"I meant what I said," replied Enji firmly.

Izuku's smile faded.

"Some hero I am... you all almost died there. I didn't stop Shigaraki."

Oh, god, so he does have some of Enji in him. At least Enji truly was a failure and had reasons to blame himself and this child was fifteen and already better than most heroes he knew.

"Izuku, you're fifteen. You barely got your quirk. You barely started learning how to be a hero. And you've already fought on par with all of us. We would be dead if not for you."

Izuku seemed to be drinking every word of his now, but he still replied "I should have done better. My quirk was specifically intended to stop AfO. I should have-"

"Your quirk was given to you by an asshole-"

"All Might's not-"

"-who chose a teenager to burden him with fucking saving of the world," continued Enji undeterred, cause damn if he's gonna let this ever slide. Fucking All Might. "But it's never - never, Izuku! - like that. Saving the world is on everybody's shoulders. If the world ever tries to put everything only on one person, it's not worth saving."

Izuku smiled.

"If you were in my position, would you be really thinking that, dad?"

Enji shut up for a second and then he mumbled, "Maybe you should have already noticed I'm not exactly the best role model." He sighed and added, "All I want to say is that you're not alone with this, saving the world and fighting Shigaraki." No. "I won't let you be alone with this," he corrected himself.

Something mullish appeared on Izuku's face. Maybe Enji was a shitty parent, but he still was a parent and he knew damn well when a teenager had already decided to follow through with something stupid.

"Do you hear me? You're not doing this alone. You're not doing anything alone."

Izuku was about to protest, so he added "Or I'll beat up All Might to a bloody pulp."

"...All Might is not an asshole," murmured Izuku, clearly irritated.

"No, he isn't, but he doesn't think things through well enough. You're a teenager, and if you really want to save everyone, you're not doing this alone. Do you understand me? How well would the fight with Shigaraki go if you were alone, not with me, Ryukyu, Eraser Head-"

"Fine," replied Izuku somewhat sulkingly. He did not know this child was even able to sulk.

"Good. Don't do stupid things Izuku, please." 'Cause I won't be able to handle my child dying.'

"...fine," murmured Izuku.

They sat like that for a while, Enji appreciating with all his heart that this son of his did not end up loathing him.

"Oh, I've got something for you, actually," said Izuku suddenly. "Am not sure you're gonna like it..."

'I'll love it.'

Izuku pulled out from somewhere inside his hospital robes an extremely worn All Might plushie.

All Might plushie.

Enjie groaned internally.

"I know your attitude to All Might is...complicated, but from what Shouto said he's always been... the important propeller in your road of a hero. I saw what the media were saying," he looked genuinely pained over what Enji was going through."I wanted you to have it for the moment, until we're gonna get through all this, to remind you... ...of your goals. And also," he hesitated. "It's always been my favorite toy, it's very precious to me. I want you to give it back to me when we defeat All for One. So... if you want me not to do anything stupid, don't do it either, dad. I'm not getting it back from hands other than yours."

He put the plushie by Inko's Endeavor ...and a Hawks brand new plushie apparently? When did this get here?

"Thank you," he croaked. "I shall treasure it. I promise I'll give it back to you"

888

"He gave you an All Might plushie," stated Shouto calmly.

"He said it's been his precious toy."

"He gave you an All Might plushie," a smirk started to dawn.

"Shouto," he mumbled, irritated.

"It's even better than him coming to your agency in an All Might scarf."

"What? I haven't even noticed."

Shouto rolled his eyes.

Author's Notes:

So, we still have two chapters left, lol. This is getting so long XD.
Anyway, I've shamelessly stolen the idea of Endeavor getting an Endeavor plushie while in the hospital from the fic called Handprint by surveycorpsjean. I recommend their endhawks fiction, especially Liquid Nitrogen (but be warned, it contains a lot of rough sex), but also Handprint (very sweet romance) and Where The Archangels go (typical hurt/comfort, Hawks slightly ooc I'd say, but still cool). This author is the reason I got into Endeavor at all.
I promise that when I finish this I'll give myself a couple of weeks and then come back to this to reread it again and remove all the mistakes I missed, cause I always end up with million of them. Really sorry for that. As usual searching for English native beta.