The media, of course, sniffed out the state of things almost immediately. That the Number Two, the Flame Hero, Endeavor divorced because of an extramarital child was not only on first pages of every disgusting crappy tabloid, but also on every hero group, forum, in comments under every mention of his hero activity since two days ago, when the first article appeared. He never had been a likable hero - snapping at people, never buttering up harsh truths, tearing into many things, media and beloved by everyone All Might including - and now his critics had a field day. The always harsh and demanding Endeavor cheating on his wife, and not even thinking of contraception. These were such merry days that came. But it was nothing he wouldn't have expected. He could only imagine how much worse it would have been if he followed through with his braindead idea to fight for his children in the court. He would be torn to pieces as an abusive man, would lose his hero job, and now he knew well he would have not only lost Rei's children, but Izuku too. He saw that now with crystal clear clarity.

"So, just really wanted to thank you," he said awkwardly. His people skills was one of innumerous problems he was working on during his freshly started therapy. And apparently showing appreciation in words, not only deeds, was one of the things to try to put into action.

Mishima smiled an actually genuine smile.

"I'm just doing my job the best I can, Todoroki-sama, the same as you. I don't know if you realize, but you saved my daughter and wife fifteen years ago, during the train incident on the outskirts of Musutafu." The other man's eyes showed a rare affection. Or maybe it was there before? Maybe Enji just did not see it before? His therapist told him people tend to see in others what they expect to see, not necessarily what really is there.

"You, you've never mentioned."

"I know you're a busy man and not very much fond of chit chatting, even about things like that."

Yeah, that was how people saw Enji. Well, that was how he was. He hated hero worship and used to be even worse than now in accepting appreciation. He never knew what to say, how to behave, never trusted it to be sincere. In that train accident, years ago, many people had died. If it wasn't for him, everyone would have died, but he still hadn't managed to save them all. When families of survivors had approached him with teary happiness and shaky words of gratitude all he could have thought of had been the families of those who had died because he hadn't gotten there quick enough. So he had stood there, angry, and wishing they'd just leave him alone. Had Mishima been among them back then?

"Um, once again thank you. If I had followed through with my stupid emotions, it would have been exactly as you had warned me."

Mishima, to Enji's surprise, did not seem nonplussed by his uncanny behavior, even though this was an exact opposite to Enji's usual one.

"These were not 'stupid' emotions, Todoroki-sama. I can only imagine the horror of losing custody over children. And I am glad I could help you out, I always am."

He got back to the main floor. He could feel the atmosphere here changed as well. Normally people would be busy working, noses in the screens, trying hard to always prove they were worthy of having a place in one of the best agencies in Japan, doing their best not to bother or annoy their strict and short-tempered boss. But since the media storm arose, he was getting smiles. Normally he'd think they're smirking at him, pleased that it had been proved always so rigorous Endeavor also did make mistakes sometimes, but even he knew they wouldn't dare to openly sneer at him. So, no, they weren't derisive. They felt or pretended to feel sorry. And were making sure he'd see that.

He shut the door to his office loudly, full of irritation. Did they really think they could ingratiate to him like that? By showing him openly their pity? He hated it and they should know that. The way to ingratiate with him was through hard work only!

He was grumbling angrily while accessing his email when he heard a light knocking.

"Yes!" he snapped.

There was a tiny pause, whoever the person on the other side of the door was they clearly were having second thoughts about bothering him now, but it lasted maybe a second and his secretary came in, looking a bit timid, but with a weak smile on her face.

"Yes?"

"Um, I'm sorry for prying-"

"Don't do things you claim be sorry for," he snarled before he recalled the therapy was for a reason.

She looked wary, but much less wary than people usually were around him when he was 'in one of his moods' (the expression he had overheard years ago. And had very gladly walked in on the talkers, almost giving them a heart attack. It had been so satisfying).

"I mean, I know this is a horrible time for you," she continued, now quite rapidly, as if trying to dissuade him from any more interruptions, or maybe wanting to see it through before the courage left her. "but you know I'm a single mom too. If you needed any sort of help, advice, anything, I will gladly-"

He got red, furious. "I've raised four kids. What kind of father do you think I was to them if you think I can't handle another?!"

She paled.

"'All I meant is I owe you a lot. I don't know what I'd do if your agency did not have a nursery and preschool open 24/7. It's... hard to be a single parent, even with money" she replied in a weird tone he couldn't decipher. Maybe it would be easier if his mind did not drown in shame. Why did he jumped down her throat like that? What the hell's wrong with him? He remembered his therapist's words 'We tend to see in other people's words what we're afraid to see, what we hate to see'. Is the therapy even working if he's lashing out at people like that? Maybe it is, if he noticed at all something's wrong, he thought grimly.

"Sorry,"' he grumbled.

She actually genuinely smiled. With real, reaching her eyes, warm smile. After he just behaved like an utter dick towards her. He didn't get it.

('The therapy is to help understand the processes in you and in people surrounding you, Todoroki-sama')

"It is alright, Endeavor-sama, I can't even imagine how horrible it is to..." she hesitated.

"I'm fine. Thank you for the concern. I'm busy now." Smooth. But he had no idea what to say and he wanted this whole horrible conversation to be over. He did not want their pity. They should just get to work and stop thinking that Enji's... 'A terrible father. A terrible husband. Such a great hero, and such a pathetic human,' whispered the tiny voice in his mind, sounding awfully like his mother's.

She nodded and left.

888

It was the next morning that Sparkle unceremoniously entered his office.

"What's the emergency?" Enji was already on his feet, reaching for the accessories to his hero costume that laid nearby.

"Boss. You will fire me, but first you'll listen to me and you'll shut up until I finish."

His brows rose almost to the line of his hair, he was sure of that.

"Excuse me?" he growled. Sparkle being a great hero or not, everyone should know their place in the agency's hierarchy.

"Shut up, I said."

'So he's leaving,' realized Enji. 'He's leaving and decided that this is his moment to regurgitate everything he ever thought of me'

"You are the best boss we could have and we all care about you and want to support you in any way possible. So stop pretending to be tough around us, cause you don't have to. Would be nice if you didn't snap at people who just offered their help. Why the hell do you need to flex so much in front of everyone? It doesn't hide your insecurities, it highlights them."

What the hell was happening.

"Listen, we all know it's just a shell under which you hide your sweet soft core."

"What is this bullshit?" That was much too overwhelming, to suddenly be talked like that to, and he couldn't, honest to God, think of any better retort.

"Endeavor, when was a time when you didn't cover for one of us if needed? If in any other agency someone would want to take a leave because of their kids or parents or a goddamn cat they'd hear they're heroes and this is the job they decided on. And you just grumbled all the way from here to fucking Sun and still were there covering for us. Instead of being with your family. Do you think people don't feel guilty? Okay, we thought, guy's a workaholic with a good heart, the best kind of boss you can have, but now your family's gone and don't bullshit us that it wasn't our fault for having been using you like that whenever the need arose. So, I just want you to know, we all are with you, despite all the flame the media gives you, and despite your need to prove to us you need no one's help."

Enji closed his marginally gaping mouth.

"...have you lost your mind, Sparkle?" he finally asked, because this was the first and most important thing that appeared in his mind as a conclusion of this speech. "Have you been in contact with any mental Quirk?"

Sparkle rolled his eyes.

"You are beyond help, boss."

They stared at each other for a moment, Enji at complete lack of words.

"So am I fired or what?"

Enji stared and stared, his mind completely frozen, unable to process the whole situation, because it just made so little, no, absolutely no sense, he'd think he was in a coma after a mission gone wrong.

"You... you all blame yourself for me taking over your shifts?"

Now the real guilt became obvious on Sparkle's face.

"Yes, but also for never supporting you when your son died."

Enji went absolutely still. He loathed more than he hated All Might when people tried to talk about Touya with him. Yet, there was such a genuine guilt on Sparkle's face, he couldn't get angry now. But why the hell should Sparkle feel guilty at all?

"You've been always a good boss to us, annoying as fuck and stricter than Tartarus' safety measures, but we would never leave this agency for another one. And when you lost your son, when you were obviously drowning in pain and madness- 'obviously'? 'madness'? - "we all were too... scared to approach you, we all made hundreds of excuses to leave you alone. Some heroes we are."

Sparkle stopped, apparently waiting for an answer, and Enji vaguely knew it was the moment he should put his thoughts into words and tell the idiot he was being ridiculous, that Enji's private life was Enji's private life, and Enji's mistakes- no, not mistakes, Enji's sins were Enji's and only Enji's sins. But nothing seemed to be able to escape his mouth.

Sparkle realized that quickly. They knew each other for some years, after all. "Well, we won't let it happen again, boss. You're not being left alone, and if you hate it, then this is our payback for all the times when you were sneaking up on us to check whether we're working," he joked and grinned pleased with his joke. This conversation was a rollercoaster.

It occurred to Enji he really truly should say something now, something moving, deep, reassuring, grateful, something that would be an appropriate response to his people, good people who apparently cared for some reason for him, Number Two, known devil for a boss, utter dick and bastard.

But of course he said, "You're not fired. And you're going to stay those 15 minutes you spent here longer after your shift." Better stick to the familiar ground, or else he would say something stupid, for certain.

"You should get your watch checked, boss," Sparkle grinned.

888

His Izuku looked down after the Bakugous left. It happened often after he had played with Katsuki, but he still stubbornly claimed 'Kacchan' was his 'best friend' and insisted on the family visiting them. The feeling did not seem to be reciprocated though. While both parents were most eager to see 'their Zuku' and every reunion was all but tears, little Katsuki always seemed grumpy, sometimes downward angry. The way he bossed his Izuku around and derided his precious boy when they played, obviously showed he, a hero fanboy just like Izuku, had to be jealous that his childhood friend had Endeavor for father. And it wasn't Enji's guesswork; the main theme of their discussions always seemed to be Katsuki spilling a stream of arguments why Number One is better than Number Two. Of course his mother was doing her best to try and enforce better behavior, but it always just ended with a lot of shouting on both sides. Which reminded him of another responsibility he felt he had – delicately trying to help the Bakugou boy. He thought about it every time they'd been meeting and everytime he failed to find proper words and proper moment to bring up the sensitive subject. How do one politely yet persuasively suggests another their parenting method are appaling? He knew from his own experience that only the shock of divorce, Fuyumi's tears and her born from pain words made him open his eyes. And even then, even now, he wasn't sure what exactly was wrong or right on a difficult path of being a parent. The more you thought about it the more complicated these things seemed.

Anyway this wasn't the time for this kind of pondering.

"Why is my broccoli boy sad?"

A little smile appeared. Izuku had come to love that nickname. Honestly, it was the first thing that came to your mind, when you looked at this green bushy hair. It faltered however as he answered, "Kacchan said-"

Of course the little asshole said something to upset his Izuku. He really needed to speak with the Bakugous to work with the boy using better methods than those that not only were wrong but did not even bring any kind of results.

"-that new people will live in my home. Cause we were renting it. With mum." He looked so down.

Enji smiled however.

"No, they won't."

"But Kacchan said-"

"He is wrong, because he doesn't know one thing."

"What?"

"I bought your home."

Izuku looked at him, apparently not really understanding the implication.

"I bought the home you had lived in with your mom. It's yours. You can go there whenever you want. It's gonna be your little place, only yours. Like a house on the tree, but bigger. And not on a tree."

Izuku's eyes were as big as saucers now.

"Mine?"

"Yeah. But you're too little to live there now alone. But we can go there together whenever you want."

"And... will it always be there? Like before?"

"Of course."

"Nobody will take it away?"

"Nobody."

Izuku was taking it in for a moment, then in a split of second he was hanging from Enji's neck, doing his best to encircle with his short legs the much too big for it chest.

"I love you, dad!"

Everything melted in Enji.

"Can we go there now?"

888

"Can we go see Kacchan?"

Enji sighed. True, the Bakugous lived just a few blocks from here. Still, he wasn't sure whether he wanted Izuku to see his childhood friend again today, especially when Izuku was in such a joyful mood after revisiting his old home. The meetings with Katsuki always dampened his child's mood, after all.

"They've just visited us, love, we can't bother them too much."

"Okay," replied Izuku with sad eyes.

Oh, dammit. It had always been difficult for Enji to be strict with his kids, but he used to grit his teeth and persevere in enacting rules and punishments, for the sake of raising them right. Now, that he had lost them all and only Izuku was left, he realized he was losing his backbone in this area, the horrible thought that he might be a bad father to this kid too always in the back of his mind. So he bended more often than not to Izuku's wishes.

Well, honestly, he had yet to have a 'than not' moment.

That was how they ended up being welcomed by slightly surprised and quite amused Katsuki's mother.

"We were in the neighborhood."

"Dad bought me home!"

"Home?" Bakugou looked at them both surprised.

"YES! My mom's home!"

Bakugou stared at him. He shrugged.

"This is an important place for him."

"...so you just went and bought it."

"Well." He'd go much further for his son, honestly.

Bakugou actually started to laugh.

"You're unbelievable!" she grinned. "You've got some good dad there," she added ruffling Izuku's hair.

"I know!" Enji's heart immediately melted, which was nothing new around Izuku, but also he again felt uncomfortable, apprehensive of the conversation that he needed to hold one day with the Bakugous.

"Where's Kacchan?!"

"Outside, playing with the other kids at the nearest playground." Izuku shot out of the house.

"He's so fond of Katsuki," said Enji.

"Well, they were always like brothers to each other, both single kids, and Zuku spending a lot of time at our place."

Enji got himself in gear and said, "He seems to be a difficult child."

Bakugou started to laugh, "That is the understatement of the year!"

"I don't want to seem prying, but family counseling does wonders."

Bakugou stared at him. "Don't be ridiculous, this is just how he is. No counseling will change that. Some kids are just a barrel of energy."

"He might have an ADHD, BPD-"

"Geezus, Todoroki-san, he's just a kid, he'll grow out of this. Nowadays everyone is seeing mental disorders in every single kid."

"But what if this is the reason for his behavior?" Enji doubted it. But he hoped it would push Bakugou to go see a specialist who would be better qualified and have better experience in telling people they're shitty parents.

"I don't want him to go through his life expecting to have special treatment, cause he has a disorder, Todoroki-san! He'll have to learn to socialize like everyone! Life's too tough not to."

So, this wasn't going to go smoothly. Well, better to drop the subject for the time being and let the topic simmer a bit.

"Well, just think about it. I myself am seeing a therapist and it helps a lot."

"Well, it did not help you with your family, right?"

Now that was a blow he did not expect. He bristled immediately.

"Sorry, but it just shows shrinks are good for nothing."

"If I went to the shrink earlier, I would not have lost my children," he hissed angrily.

"Todoroki-san, our family is not your family. I appreciate the concern, but we're fine."

888

"What's this?"

"Ah, we played."

"Played?"

"Yeah, and you know Kacchan's Quirk."

Enji frowned.

"He has to be more careful than this. Your skin is all bruised and burned."

"I'm okay, dad."

Author's Notes:

So yeah, not only good parent Enji, but also good boss Enji. This is me hugging this character and stroking his head, basically. Also, Burnin really did not seem like a person working for a horrible boss, so maybe he's not that bad in his agency. And yeah, the therapy barely began, so he still behaves like an idiot sometimes despite knowing there are Some Better Things To Say then those he chose to say. Ah, and also next chapter Eraser Head decided to sneak into this story. Who could have foreseen that? Certainly not me. But it is also Enji's fault, cause he truly is a bakaoya, he is, especially now that he has only one kid to pour whole his love unto.