"Everyone said they had loved my birthday, dad!"
"I'm glad, Zuku. I'm happy you're getting along with your classmates," replied Enji as they sat on the balcony of his agency's cafeteria, watching the streets so far down, small part of Enji as usual on standby for any accidents that might occur nearby, the rest of his attention completely on his Izuku.
"Tenya-kun asked if we could train together, dad," Izuku's eyes went into pleading mode. After almost two years of living together Enji developed some resistance to it - he had to for the child's sake -, but it never was an easy feat.
"I don't know, Izuku, he has a very specific Quirk. His family knows best how to train it."
"But isn't Quirkless training important for everyone? You said that."
"I did," admitted Enji.
"We were thinking-" 'We'. He noticed sentences in which young Iida appeared recently started to more often than not begin with 'we'. It had made him relieved. Finally Izuku seemed to have found someone to replace his Kacchan as the best friend, and Enji couldn't be more glad. Tenya seemed the most polite, obedient, hardworking, kind, enthusiastic about heroing kid, even if he was also a bit of a martinet and know-it-all. Well, no one was perfect. What was most important was that he had watched the two boys interact during the party and he could see they were a very good influence on each other. He had been worried that Izuku would again be drawn to someone toxic like Katsuki, that he had this kind of abusive friendship imprinted, but thank gods it didn't seem to be the case.
"-that you could really help him with changing direction while using his Quirk, you do it perfectly when you fly, and it's pretty much the same, isn't it? What with..."
Enji couldn't help but smile as Izuku entered his rambling about Quirks' specifics mode. The boy was merely seven, but he was extremely smart for that age, especially when it came to Quirk analysis. He would be a perfect Quirk counselor if he ever changed his mind about becoming a hero. Which Enji doubted, but still, it was good to have other options in the far future.
"...so, dad? We promise we will be training, not playing with each other!"
The truth was, a side of Enji - the selfish, emotional, stupid side - really did not want to train anyone other than his Izuku. He did not want to impart his knowledge to any other future hero, since it would be helping Izuku's future competitors. Which was ridiculous, he knew that, the greater number of competent heroes would be out there, the better it would be for everyone – civilians and heroes, including his Izuku, alike. But still... a tiny, maybe still a little childlike part of him wanted only Izuku to have the advantage of being trained by the Number Two, especially with the disadvantage the boy already had.
Also, there was a part of Enji that was scared to train a kid that wasn't his own. Truth be told, he was still afraid to properly train even his own child. So far, more than a year after they had started the training, he still couldn't bring himself to proceed to anything that would require actual physical interaction between the two of them. He remembered Shouto's face all too well, whenever a hit had connected.
"Tenya-kun said he's training with his brother the actual martial arts too!" added Izuku, as if he could read Enji's mind. "I could train with them, maybe? Since we never do that?"
Well, that would be some solution... To let the other, more objective, hero train his son, if he himself couldn't. And he knew Tensei Iida, he was one of the very few people whom he actually genuinely liked. The young man was authentically good-hearted, polite, non judgemental, quite good at heroing too. And he wasn't one of those heroes who would be drawn only to big cases that would bring them money and fame, which Enji respected more than anything.
...who was Enji trying to fool, there was no way he'd let anyone else train his Izuku instead of him. No one was as good as him in this field, maybe apart from All Might, and Izuku needed to be trained by the best. Which left him in the conundrum.
"Pleeease, dad! It would be good for me, I could learn from a different hero!"
Enji sighed. "I'll talk to Tenya-kun's parents first, Izuku."
Izuku beamed.
888
"Unfortunately it is difficult for me to be a competent judge in this matter, Enji-sama. I am not a hero, I have no experience in training anyone in martial arts," said Kazama in his usual kind, sympathetic - in a very professional way - voice.
"I... I just don't know anymore," complained Enji. "I have no idea how far I can go in the training before I hurt him, I mean on an emotional level. You know I'm rather tough that way." Kazama's eyes went a little graver. Enji knew the man thought 'toughened' not 'tough'. He continued nevertheless. "I always believed it only makes sense if you go all the way, that you should learn through experiencing actual pain, and the younger the better, to have best results. I'm not talking about a hero ladder, I'm talking about future survival, Jun'ichiro-sensei."
"I believe that in theory you are right. The best way anyone's body learns, is to learn to react on instinct alone, but remember that it will also learn that your hands bring pain, not comfort anymore."
"Can't my hands bring both?" he murmured knowing he sounded like a petulant child. But Kazama always encouraged him to be completely open with his reactions during their sessions, not to filter them through the image he tried to maintain, through insecurities he had, through the things his mother taught him when he had been a kid. It was supposed to help them both understand Enji. So he let himself be petulant and complaining here, though it took a lot of sessions to reach this point.
"That's not really how it works with kids, Enji-sama, you sadly learned that."
Enji lowered his head, dejected.
"Maybe you should try to find a compromise here? If you don't want to let anyone else replace you as a trainer, but at the same time you're wary of training him yourself, why don't you supervise his training with another hero?"
"I don't think any hero will agree to that, Jun'ichiro-sensei. You don't know that proud bunch-"
Enji's eyes suddenly alit. Kazama smiled.
"Then again..."
There was one person who'd met all the conditions - he'd agree, he wouldn't go too lenient on Endeavor's son, he knew very well how to fight Quirkless.
"I don't know why I didn't think about it before," he complained.
"Speaking with someone often helps us find solutions on our own, I've been telling you that, Enji-sama."
888
The key to success often laid in finding yourself with right person in right circumstances. Enji knew very well who was the right person and now just had to wait for right circumstances. Right circumstances happened quite often, but on irregular basis, so Enji wasn't sure how long exactly his Izuku would have to wait for the whole training situation to develop, but knew better not to press things. That would definitely spook his prey. If the plan was going to work, all the conditions had to be met, so that the victim would be bent to Enji's will on all conscious and subconscious levels. Enji would have never become Number Two if he couldn't painstakingly plan and precisely conduct difficult operations.
So, he patiently waited. He knew it wouldn't be too long.
And, indeed, three days later both him and Izuku found Aizawa in the small building on Enji's residence grounds that had served as a temporary home for homeless cats for almost a year now.
"Hello, Izuku. I've brought two more cats," Aizawa immediately got to the point. "I have already given Yachie-san necessary information about their treatment, since both are elderly. I found some chap from Minami-ku that wants to adopt Star and Sun. I'll bring him tomorrow."
Enji beamed.
Aizawa froze.
It was quite satisfying that the roles reversed for once, Enji thought vindictively.
"I am really happy that luck brought us together on that night, months ago, and that I could help you with this endeavor, Eraser Head," Enji smiled his kindest, friendliest smile.
Aizawa slowly stood up from his crouch where he was petting five cats at the time, all his posture screaming of wariness.
"Yeah, yeah, Eraser Head-san!" Izuku chipped in, grinning sincerely.
But Aizawa's eyes did not leave Enji's face for a second. The man was a prohero after all. He could smell the peril.
"What do you want, Endeavor-san?"
Ah, straight to the point? Okay, Enji could deal with that.
"For you to train my Izuku."
"And Tenya-kun too!" added Izuku immediately.
Aizawa just stared at Enji.
"Why would you need me to train him? You're the Number Two," he asked, genuinely surprised. It was nice, thought Enji. Apparently Aizawa had him in high esteem, which meant something, coming from this young but already very smart and strict man. "I finished Yuuei just a couple of years ago, I have no agency, no experience in teaching."
"Ah, that's why I'd like you to train him here, under my supervision."
Aizawa frowned. "But why not do it yourself?"
"Surgeon doesn't operate on his family, right? I wouldn't be objective."
Aizawa paused, obviously considering all this. That he hadn't said no immediately was already an unexpected success. Maybe it was going to be easier than Enji expected.
"I'm not trying to judge anyone, Endeavor, but these kids are seven. Isn't it a little early for them to be trained by a prohero?"
Very nice roundabout way of saying 'I've got no idea how to train a child as young as that.', thought Enji.
"You know well that the sooner the better. They're future survival is at stake. The younger you are, the better you learn."
Aizawa went pensive. Enji could practically see the cogs turning in the young man's mind as his eyes rested on all the cats surrounding him. Enji made mental preparation to seem surprised, even slightly irritated.
"I suppose I could help you with that..." Aizawa uttered finally, dragging his words. "...however it will cost me my precious time. With prohero work and volunteering I don't have it in abundance."
"What do you mean?" Enji did his best to sound clueless.
"With proper funding we wouldn't need that many volunteers in the shelter."
Enji rolled his eyes. "I'm already funding it," he said irritably, to make sure Aizawa would not sniff out the trapping pit.
"Well, it certainly helps us a lot, but still isn't enough for us to become more independent from volunteer work."
"Oh, fine," groaned Enji. "But I expect a realistic cost estimate."
Small smirk appeared on Aizawa's lips.
'Oh, boy, you are smart, but I was a prohero when you were still in preschool,' Enji also smirked, internally, but did not let any crack in his facade.
"Also," added Aizawa to Enji's surprise. "I want you to train me too."
"Train you?" Now, this was completely unexpected. Not many heroes would ask for getting trained by other heroes. Most were too proud for that.
"Of course. You're the Number Two after all."
It was really hard not to like Aizawa, once you got to know him better.
"You're on a higher level than most heroes I know, but you are right, one should never stop self-improvement." Enji knew that best, in many areas.
Aizawa smirked again. "We'll see how you will fare without your fire, with my Quirk."
Enji couldn't help but chuckle. "I am sure I am going to be defenseless like a little baby."
Aizawa grinned.
"So, you shall train us?" Izuku was bouncing in place now.
"Apparently so."
"Thank you, Eraser Head-san! You're the best!"
Aizawa's face softened minimally. It was the equivalent of an enthusiastic hug in case of this man, Enji knew.
888
"Ah, it's probably the Iida brothers."
"Tenya's here!" Izuku rushed through the garden towards the front gate. Enji and Aizawa followed him in a more dignified way.
Indeed the car standing in front of their residence belonged to smiling pleasantly Ingenium who was standing by Tenya. The boy was currently on the receiving, a little stiff, end of Izuku's enthusiastic hug.
"Hello," Ingenium's eyes were bright and friendly as always. He had never looked at Enji the way many other pros did, with distaste, jealousy, irritation. The young, very polite man always treated everyone the way he wanted to be treated and Enji liked that. "Thank you for granting my Tenya a chance to train under two such talented heroes."
Little Tenya immediately drew up like a rod. "Thank you so much!" he shouted a little too loudly and then bowed very deeply. Enji smiled fondly. Such a well behaved kid. "I will be in your care now! Douzo yoroshiku onegai itashimasu!"
"Please, take good care of my little brother. Tenya, be good," he added, humorous sparkles in his eyes, as he ruffled little Iida's hair.
"I'm always good, niichan!" replied Tenya, obviously offended. Ingenium just chuckled. "I'm really happy he is friends with your Izuku, Endeavor-san. You've got a great kid!"
"You're a great hero!" Izuku immediately piped out. Little Tenya looked like he was about to burst out with pride for his older brother. Such a good child, thought Enji again.
"I don't want you arguing who is a better hero, Izuku's dad or me, Tenya," Ingenium added in a pretend-scolding voice. Tenya became pink immediately.
Enji snorted lightly, amused. "I'm glad my Izuku is friends with your Tenya too. I am sure they both will be great heroes one day."
Tenya immediately preened with pride, while Izuku grinned widely.
"I will pick my little brother up at seven. Please call me, if any need arises, Endeavor-san. Once more thank you very much, Eraser Head-san."
They have exchanged goodbyes and Ingenium left.
"Oniichan ruined my hair," Tenya murmured disgruntledly. Aizawa's brow rose.
"If you expect to keep a perfect hairstyle all the time, the hero job is not for you."
But little Tenya would not be easily intimidated, even by Eraser Head. "Best Jeanist does it! His hair is perfect all the time!"
"My hair is never perfect," complained Izuku dejectedly.
"I love your hair," Enji assured him.
Aizawa had a face of someone who suddenly had second thoughts about the whole idea, to Enji's amusement.
"Listen, kids," he said coldly. "I won't be playing heroes with you. You're going to be serious about it or you're going to go back to your hero figurines, because I will not let you waste my time during which I could be saving other people."
Harsh. Past Enji would approve. Present Enji no longer was sure how to tackle serious matters with children. He once more felt glad for Aizawa's objective presence.
Both kids drew up again, their eyes burning with determination, whole aura beaming excitement and eagerness.
"Of course, Eraser Head-san!"
Aizawa shot the both sparkling with zeal boys one glance, and looked exhausted already.
"Think of the cats," said Enji quietly with, hopefully, an evil glint in his eyes.
"Remember I'm sparring with you later," Aizawa warned.
"Ah, scary."
"We shall first start with warming up. Show me your warm-up routines," ordered Aizawa when they had settled in the garden.
Tenya, as expected, was as well prepared as his Izuku, apparently having eagerly trained with his brother since he could walk. There was no exercise that both boys couldn't do, which made Aizawa obviously pleased. Still, he said, "That level is to be expected. I'm glad you're not disappointing me." Both boys looked as proud as Enji felt, which actually was ridiculous - of course Number Two's son would be perfectly prepared to train with a hero barely out of Yuuei. Okay, maybe a prodigious hero barely out of Yuuei, but still. No reason for the Number Two to be stupidly pleased with Aizawa's opinion on Enji's training.
"Have you trained for any actual villain situations?"
"Oniichan taught me how not to get caught!" Tenya immediately replied smugly.
Aizawa grinned his trademark, scary, mad smile. Enji had seen it a couple of times and even he found it creepy as hell.
"Great! Because we'll be doing exactly that today!"
Izuku shot a furtive look towards Enji.
"We haven't trained anything like this yet," Enji helped his son.
"Izuku is a fast learner, right?" replied Aizawa serenely.
"Um, right!" agreed Izuku a little worriedly.
"You need a little more self-confidence to be a hero in this crappy world, kid."
"Right!" replied Izuku, now much louder.
'Is that so?' wondered Enji. Whole his life he had been thinking exactly that – that you need to overcome your insecurities, or at least never show any of them to anyone. Did it really work? He had become Number Two, but was that because or in spite of that? He didn't know. He recalled Sparkle's words, 'Why the hell do you need to flex so much in front of everyone?' He recalled one of his teachers' words, 'You'll never get far, Enji, if you'll be cowering like that in front of people.'
"This shall be easy," smirked Aizawa. "I'll attempt to grab you in one move, using only one hand. Try to avoid it."
Tenya grinned. Ah, the confidence of a seven year old, smiled Enji.
Izuku was thoughtful, though. "Will you be using your capture weapon?"
"No."
That cheered Izuku up.
'Oh, Izuku, you have no idea,' thought Enji.
Half an hour later neither Tenya nor Izuku managed the feat, though he had noticed Izuku's got better and better timing with every try, obviously paying attention to Aizawa's movements. Tenya however started to sulk. His boy immediately noticed his friend's mood.
"Tenya-kun, you need to-"
"I don't want you to help me, Izuku-kun!"
Aizawa's brow arched. "And why not, Tenya?"
Tenya stared at the hero disbelievingly. "I want to get there on my own!"
"If you want to get there on your own, why do you let me teach you?"
It occurred to Enji that Aizawa's attitude might be a little too adult for little kids like that. They needed explanation, not ironic remarks. Aizawa's attitude... was actually a lot like Enji's, once. It was quite enlightening, to see it from the side. He could see some of his errors now. Still, he wouldn't comment now. He didn't ask Aizawa to teach the kids just to undermine his authority now.
"But wouldn't it be cheating?" Tenya was not the one to easily relent.
"This isn't a school, Tenya. This is training to be able to save people. When you fight with villains, do you think it's better to try to do everything alone, without listening to anyone?"
Tenya got pink, clearly ashamed.
"No... oniichan always says cooperation is important."
"Your oniichan knows well what he's saying. You have an objective here. If you can't do it alone, you definitely should work together."
Tenya was still visibly disgruntled. Enji knew very well why. They weren't much alike, this kid, and kid Enji, but this one thing he understood well.
"Tenya-kun, are you afraid that if Izuku will prove better, it will prove my training is better than your brother's?" He asked straightforwardly.
Tenya's eyes widened and he got even redder. Right on the mark, obviously.
"I used to think about things like that too. But it doesn't matter, Tenya-kun, who is better. The only thing that matters is whether you'll save people. Someone's mums, dads, brothers. Your brother is a great hero and while there are things in which I'm better than him, there are things in which he's better than me. You'll learn things from Izuku and Izuku will learn from you, okay?"
"Um, okay," agreed Tenya quietly, but he definitely perked up after hearing the very Number Two admitting his beloved older brother was a great hero.
He felt Aizawa's long penetrating stare on him.
"Sorry, didn't mean to interfere."
"Don't be ridiculous. You're much more experienced than me. I'll gladly learn from you, Endeavor," he added the last sentence with a meaningful look at Tenya.
"..it's just... I trained exactly this with my brother," Tenya admitted quietly.
"Your brother took into account you're a kid, and went easy on you, because he loves you and doesn't want to see you sad," replied Enji. "Eraser Head here is treating you like adults. Much harsher, that is," he shot a glance towards Aizawa telling not to overdo with harshness.
"Oh," that actually brightened Tenya up. "I didn't think about it. Oniichan is kind like that."
"Ok, we had a little chat, now Izuku, what did you want to tell Tenya?" continued Aizawa.
"We need to watch Eraser Head's legs, not his eyes!"
"Very good," Aizawa grinned. "However..."
They trained like that for another hour, until both boys managed to avoid Aizawa's grip. In Enji's eyes that was quite a feat, Eraser Head wasn't going easy on them. The road up might have been tough, but the satisfaction on both beaming faces was enormous. Enji smiled at both boys proudly.
"Alright, the next part will be you both watching me and Endeavor-san sparring and trying to spot any mistakes we make."
Both boys nodded eagerly as they sat down on the grass in a safe distance from pros.
Aizawa barely positioned himself opposite Enji when Enji exploded with fire and rushed towards the man with all the speed he had. His Quirk died out as Aizawa activated his Erasure and shot his capture weapon at Enji's legs to bind him, but Enji expected all this, letting the scarf catch only one of his legs. It tightened so much, it would have cut off circulation on a less muscular man, but Enji needed nothing to fear, at least for a short time.
The problem with using a weapon like this was you were basically granting access to it to your opponent. Enji's hands were on it the moment it contacted and one powerful pull sent Aizawa towards him and to the ground. Only a second he needed to get back up and it was enough for Enji to get to him. Aizawa aimed to evade the expected punch, since everyone knew Enji was a puncher. And Enji knew they knew.
A powerful kick sent the younger man meters away.
Both boys gasped.
It winded the young man, but he was up immediately. Impressive. Lesser men would have broken ribs by now. Enji rushed again, not giving Aizawa any time to rest and think. Even if the man was young and not experienced as Enji was yet, Enji knew better than to underestimate him. This time Aizawa evaded both his punch and a kick and quickly moved to his left, something glinting in his hand. Fuck. Enji wasn't able to avoid the blade in this position.
"Blaze!" he shouted, fake terror in his, focused on a point Aizawa couldn't see, eyes.
Aizawa froze for a second.
It was enough.
Enji pinned him to the ground.
"Oi," said Aizawa irritably.
"Can't believe you fell for that."
"You are a horrible person. They were right about it," sighed Aizawa.
They both got up and turned their eyes to boys watching them with both eyes and mouths wide open.
Izuku rebooted quicker. "THAT WAS SO COOL! YOU BOTH ARE SO COOL!"
Tenya blinked. "This was such an even fight! You both are so good!"
"Oh, really? You think it was even?" Aizawa asked frowning.
"Yes?" Tenya was unsure now.
"I couldn't do a thing against him," stated Aizawa with zero emotion in his voice.
"But if you hadn't got distracted..."
"If I hadn't got distracted I'd scratch him with a poisoned knife and hope the dose would be enough to put him down before he'd put me down. Which was quite unlikely."
"You have a poisoned knife?!" Tenya was scandalized.
"Kid, if this was a villain, I'd be dead. And it's not a lethal poison, it's a sleeping drug."
Tenya hesitated.
"There are heroes that fight with swords and knives, Tenya-kun," added Izuku.
"Yes, but they fight with them openly! They don't suddenly draw them from their sleeves!"
"Tenya, if your brother died, because I was playing honorable, and the villain who slaughtered people survived, would it really be heroic?"
"I," Tenya looked a little broken with all this.
"Your brother is a very good person and wants you to be a very good person too, but in a fight a hero needs to survive to protect civilians, Tenya."
"...okay," Tenya did not look convinced yet. Enji wasn't surprised the kid needed a little time and maybe speaking with his older brother. This was much for a seven year old.
"Alright, I lost. What was my mistake?"
"You got distracted," said Izuku immediately.
"True. There will be many things happening in your fighting area and you need to be fully concentrated on everything. It is difficult, but achievable. We'll work on that. Anything else?"
"You let Endeavor-san deceive you," added Tenya.
"True, I should have known better than that. Villains will always try to deceive you. Anything else?"
Both boys fell silent, deep in thought, but time dragged on and they couldn't come up with a thing.
"Alright, I'll tell you. In an actual fight if I could I would have never engaged a villain like this from such a short distance. An enemy with Fire Quirk, and also obviously capable in Quirkless fight? Always better to deal with things like this from a distance if possible."
"But it's not always possible," the boys said in unison.
"True. But it is important not to rush into the fire without thinking first."
"But sometimes there is no time," protested Izuku, while Tenya nodded furiously.
"Still, you always need to use your head. You won't help anyone dead if you're dead."
Ah, that really was... much for little kids. For his Izuku. Mentioning death all the time. Yet Izuku seemed merely serious and concentrated, soaking up Aizawa's words, instead of down and broken Enji feared he might be.
"So you knew you won't be able to beat Endeavor-san?" asked Tenya curiously.
"Of course. I also came here to learn. You should learn all your life, this is very important in every field." Tenya looked pleased with that conclusion. "I am hungry, Endeavor-san, let's take a break," concluded Aizawa.
The boys immediately raced towards the dining room.
"Do you think I'm too harsh on them?" Aizawa asked, surprising Enji.
"I honestly don't know, Eraser Head. You seem to forget they're not adults, but then again... kids are smarter than we give them credit, right?"
"Exactly. When I was a kid I hated how people treated me, like I didn't understand what was going on around me, spinning some stupid lies, sugarcoating reality. I was glad I had one uncle who would always explain to me everything truthfully."
"And reality can hit them sooner than we would want to," agreed Enji, thinking of Izuku's loss.
"True. I think this is better. I hate how All Might makes a huge show out of hero work, while in reality it's grim and dangerous."
He really liked this man. He truly did. Aizawa was a great choice for his Izuku, Enji decided. He again felt a long stare on himself.
"What is it, Eraser Head?"
"...you have really changed a lot. I never believed people could truly change. I've always been a pessimist by nature. I suppose it is nice to be proven wrong."
Enji decided not to say that this implied Aizawa had had a negative, or at least much worse than now opinion on him. It stung a little, he always thought they were more or less similar, always angry, always blunt to the point of being rude, always realistic bordering on pessimistic.
Also, it really wasn't Aizawa's place to judge Enji, reminded the old part of him. Past Enji would have immediately voiced this. Present Enji just shut up. It was a compliment, he would concentrate on that.
"I don't think you can change yourself, not really," he replied instead. "But you can work on controlling... worse aspects of personality."
Aizawa hummed. "Seems to make sense. Still, impressive. Wish more people would work on themselves like you do. Apparently you haven't chosen 'Endeavor' by accident."
"Did you choose Eraser Head by accident?" Enji couldn't help but smirk.
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "Never gave a shit about hero's names. It's what you do that matters, not how you call yourself. Besides, I always wanted to be an underground hero, so I had no interest in PR, marketing, selling yourself for the highest price."
Enji nodded. "When I have chosen my hero name, plenty of people were telling me it's a bad choice, that it won't sell well, it won't get me any popularity."
"It's a very good hero name. Very in touch with the heroing reality."
"I know. So, why Eraser Head?"
"Ah, Mic chose that name for me. Thought sexual innuendo would be hilarious on a hero like me."
Sexual innuendo? Enji never even noticed. Wasn't even sure he saw it now, when explicitly told it was there.
"Hero like you?"
"Well, the last person to be interested in sex."
"You're asexual?" Enji asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"Ah."
"Ah?"
"Nice not to be alone in this."
Aizawa exhaled with mock relief. "Good, I was worried I just broke your hopeful heart."
"Brat."
"Don't call me that, you couldn't be my father."
"If you think teenagers don't have sex, I've got some bad news for you."
Aizawa dared to roll his eyes on Enji, then his gaze stopped on Blaze who was dozing off in a square of sunlight.
"Honestly, I've been giving this cat a couple of months, maybe half a year back then. Look at him now."
"He's tough."
"He's got good care." There was a genuine warm smile on Aizawa's face, for once. Of course it disappeared the moment he noticed Enji's look.
"You don't have to pretend before me. I know you're full of catshit," smirked Enji.
"Cat hair, I'd rather say."
888
"From what Tenya said, Eraser Head had taken things very... seriously. They're only seven..." Ingenium hesitated. "I haven't intended to introduce too mature matters to Tenya yet..."
"I apologize, we should have talked things through with you beforehand."
"No, no harm done." Of course Ingenium would say that. Enji still felt guilty. It was his brother. He had the right to keep the kid sheltered a little longer if he wanted to. "It's not bad for him, I see that now. Maybe it's hard to be objective with the kid you love. You want him to be kept safe from reality as long as possible."
"It's not bad to think like that," said Enji hesitantly, his memories again on Shouto, Shouto whom he trained so roughly, so harshly, even though the boy had been only five. And what had it brought him?
"It's not bad, but in the longer perspective your approach will be better for him. ...just don't be too hard on his little idiosyncrasies, he doesn't have as high self-esteem as he seems."
Enji's heart warmed seeing all the love Ingenium had for his little brother.
"Of course. We want him to be a great hero once, after all."
888
Enji missed the times when Izuku had been going to his agency's preschool, allowing Enji to eat lunch with his son. Now Izuku preferred spending the lunchtime with Tenya and other kids, which probably was good for him, even if Enji wanted to spend every free second he had with his beloved boy. But the therapist had warned him against exactly that – that losing his whole family and pouring all the love onto this one child of his might actually end up harming the kid. It was, apparently, a single parent syndrome, or something like that, when a parent would not give his kid enough space and freedom, flooding them with parental feelings to a point of suffocation. It was tough for Enji, but his therapist's advice had been nothing if not beneficial so far, so he would suck it up and sit on the agency's roof eating his onigiri with Sparkle instead. Which wasn't bad – Sparkle genuinely liked Enji and showed it all the time. Enji wasn't used to this kind of behavior from people, had felt awkward and unsure how to behave for a long time, but now he finally came to just accepting it and even basking in it, though he'd never show that being the younger man's boss. But he always was fully aware there weren't all that many people who'd care about him as much as Sparkle did and he felt gratitude.
There was a pause in the conversation that had been mostly about some new faces joining the hero scene in Musutafu.
"You seem relaxed, boss."
Enji shrugged. "It's a nice day, nice company."
Sparkle gasped. "Who are you and what did you do to my boss, villain?!"
"Shut up," Enji took a sip of his jasmine tea.
"I'll never forget this day and these words, not until I die, boss."
"You're hopeless."
"My middle name, yes," grinned Sparkle.
They have watched the traffic from high above for some time, before Sparkle, of course, broke the silence,"And... how's the family, boss?"
Enji hated when people breached the topic, but Sparkle was no longer people. Sparkle was a friend, as weird as it was to Enji, who never had friends, not even in his childhood.
"Same," he sighed. 'Same' really did not convey the dull pain resounding in his heart when he thought about his boys. It lost the sharp edge it had had in the first months after the divorce, but at the same time somehow became more overwhelming, as the reality started to sink in, a reality in which his boys did not intend to ever see him again. So many months had passed, after all, and he hadn't seen his Shouto or his Natsuo even once.
Sparkle looked genuinely sad for him, but said nothing, for which Enji was grateful. What words were appropriate when you lost most of your kids? And had no one to blame but yourself? None.
"Is Fuyumi-chan thinking of high school already?"
"She wants to be a kids teacher, preschool or primary school, in the future. Have done my research and Shuyukan seems to provide best general education."
"Wow, that's some prestigious high. Well, nothing less expected from a kid of yours."
"She's very smart," admitted Enji proudly, the thoughts of his daughter dispelling the previous cold in his heart.
"And kind. And pretty. You better tell her all about the bees and flowers, boss."
"She's fourteen, Sparkle."
"Exactly."
"What I mean is, she's not a little kid anymore and we're not living in medieval Japan. She has internet, and sex ed in school, and National Geographic, and everything."
"Oh, I don't know, I wouldn't leave my kids to National Geographic," chuckled Sparkle.
"Still better than hearing about this stuff from your parent," he remembered the talk his mother gave him. It was horrible. He'd give much for it to never have happened.
Sparkle gave him a curious look, but did not comment on that. He said, however, "Speaking of flowers and bees, what about you, boss?"
Enji actually spat out his tea.
"What about me?"
"Wouldn't it be easier not to be alone with all this?"
If this was anyone other than Sparkle (and his therapist) Enji would carbonize them on the spot. Well, verbally, but still. However it was Sparkle. The question came from heartfelt care for Enji, not from intrusive nosiness and the need to share freshly baked gossip.
"I am not really... a relationship person," he murmured more bitterly than he intended.
"Have you tried, or are you judging this based on your marriage?"
It was really hard not to get irritated. Getting easily angry with people had always been Enji's thing, well, it still was, he just tried to control it more now.
"Sparkle, I know you mean well, but drop it."
"Sorry," said Sparkle, but was drilling him with the most scrutinizing look.
"I don't have anybody, if curiosity is killing you."
"No, I guessed as much as that, but I just thought, isn't it easier to have someone to be with you, to support you?"
"Isn't it selfish to get in a relationship with anyone just because you want to burden them with your problems?"
"In a way that's the whole point of a relationship, isn't it though? To carry each other's burdens?"
Enji shrugged irritably. "Mine would crush anyone, smother them. Nobody-" he stopped himself, realizing how pathetic it would sound.
"I'm pretty sure there would actually be somebody."
"Then they're idiot. Don't know who I am."
"I'm pretty sure they do."
Enji suddenly realized Sparkle is not speaking in general. He stared at the younger man surprised and confused.
"You really mean it?"
Sparkle fell into suspicious silence.
"Someone at the agency is actually interested in me?"
Sparkle looked amused for some reason. It rankled Enji, but he reminded himself Sparkle wasn't a person to deride him.
"Yeah, they do. They know you quite well."
"No, they don't." Nobody knew what actually had happened with Rei. Nobody knew he had been a monster.
"Oh, you're so stubborn, boss. What I want to know is do you, yourself, forgetting about what's right and wrong, what's good for others and what isn't, just purely selfishly, want to be with someone?"
"What got to your head today, Sparkle?" asked Enji irritably.
"I am just very unhappy that a man like you is wasting themselves."
Enji barked a short laugh. "Ah, yes, such a great loss for humanity."
"Well, maybe not for humanity, but for some people definitely."
Enji replied nothing. Maybe if he shuts up Sparkle will leave the topic be. He rarely pressured Enji into speaking about things Enji did not want to speak about. They sat like that for some more minutes and indeed Sparkle said nothing more about the subject.
"Okay, time's up. Let's get back to work," Enji finally decided.
"Sure."
They got up and headed towards the roof door, when Sparkle suddenly said, "Boss."
"Yes?"
"Tell me if you change your mind."
"Change my mind?"
"About relationships."
Enji sighed. "Tell that person to get on with their lives and stop waiting for people who are not interested."
Sparkle watched him carefully.
"'I think that person-" Suddenly something changed on the other man's face, irritation mixed with determination dawned. Worry crept into Enji's heart. What did he say wrong this time?
"Oh, fuck this shit, boss. I may be an idiot to say it here and now, but I am that person, boss."
Enji stared. And stared. And stared. His mind overloaded for a small eternity.
Then it clicked – all those times Sparkle had been there for him, smiling, supporting, asking, helping, playing with his Izuku. All those times it had been... because he was interested in Enji? A part of him, for some reason, felt disappointed. Was all this because Sparkle was thinking with his dick, like most people?
Sparkle sighed. "Okay, I get it. You don't have to say anything, your face has always been easy to read. Well, it was- I just wanted to-. I hope I haven't ruined our friendship just now." Sparkle's eyes avoided Enji's now. It never happened before. "Don't dwell upon it, please," Sparkle added and turned to the door.
"You're just going to leave after you just told me this?"
"And what do you want me to do?" It wasn't angry; the question sounded pure and... somehow helpless, vulnerable? It was so unlike Sparkle to sound like that. And Enji honestly had no idea what he wanted from Sparkle now.
"All that time," it was risky but he felt he owed telling Sparkle how he felt. "I thought we were friends. I thought you've been there for me, because you cared for me. Not because you desired me."
"Ah, you think I've been deceiving you?" Sparkle actually brightened up. What the hell. "I thought you made that face because the very idea of being with me is repulsive to you."
"I'm being serious," Enji did not growl, but it was a close call, with all the emotions whirling in his head and wanting, as always, as always, to be translated into the easiest one, the one Enji knew how to handle, anger.
"Boss, some people would say loving is the highest form of caring."
Enji tried to think of a sensible answer to that and, of course, failed. All this was so outside his life experience. No one – apart from some mad fans – ever confessed to Enji. Ever.
"Listen, don't dwell too much on this, boss. I mean, dwell on it in a healthy manner, okay? I won't break if you don't want me. But if you'll say no for some stupid reason, then I'll be really mad."
"What stupid reason?"
"I don't know, that you are not good enough for anyone?"
'Well, I am.'
"This is totally what you're thinking right now, right? I know you better than you think, boss," sighed Sparkle. "I assure you, you're perfect for me."
"You don't know me," Enji heard himself saying hoarsely, Rei's face before his eyes, his kids' faces before his eyes.
"Oh, boss, I told you, you have no idea-"
"No, you have no idea," Enji interrupted and then turned back to the edge of the roof. He sat down heavily. Sparkle followed him.
Enji was silent for some time, before he got all the emotions in the proper words. Sparkle should know. He should know what Enji was. He thought Sparkle had been deceiving him, but who actually had been deceiving whom? He unknowingly let the other man fall for him, because he hid his true colors.
"Sparkle, my wife left me because I was abusing her," short, simple, truthful. "I abused her a lot. My children hate me for a reason. I am not whatever you think I am."
Sparkle's eyes widened a bit. Fair. No more hiding.
"And what, you think yourself to some undeserving any love villain now?"
Enji blinked. "Do you- do you even begin to imagine what kind of person makes his wife's life a nightmare?"
"I can imagine that kind of person would not be guilt ridden right now. They wouldn't give a shit. I know abusive men. They don't feel no remorse, they don't see anything wrong, they aren't in pain over what they had done, they don't feel undeserving of better future."
He sounded so much like Enji's therapist. But Enji knew better.
"Ah, yes, I am a good man who just happened to treat his family in a monstrous way."
"So long in heroics and one'd thought you'd learn life is not black and white, boss."
"These are just pretty words. The reality is-"
"The reality is you're a good man. Was it about Touya?"
Enji flinched, taken aback. How could he guess?
"I thought so."
"This- this is no excuse."
"No, it isn't. I'm not saying whatever you did, boss, doesn't matter. I am not saying it did not happen or that someone else did it, but... I know you, boss. I know you. You're a good man. Look me in my eyes and tell me you do not strive to be a good man?"
"I try," under Sparkle's dark blue intent eyes Enji's voice came out surprisingly small.
"Only a good man tries to be good."
Enji wasn't sure, wasn't sure about anything anymore, here and now, under blue summer sky, high above his beloved hometown, with one of the best men he ever knew by his side, telling him...
"And besides, I've never been into villains, so you can't be one, boss."
And the worst thing was... The worst thing was that he really truly wanted that. He wanted to be loved like that. He always had. Even when he married Rei he stupidly thought they could work their way to loving each other. Not in a stupid, emotional, vehement way people fell in love with each other just to break each other's hearts soon after, but with love that would rise from their everyday life, from supporting each other, from raising the kids together. It, of course, did not work. Would this work? Could this work? With Enji?
"...you're an idiot."
"Don't you want to have an idiot? They're useful," Sparkle tried to lighten the mood, but Enji could hear how hopeful these words were.
"How long have you..."
"Does it matter?"
Enji felt he had no right to pressure, but Sparkle sighed and added,"Quite a long time. But you were married and it wasn't like... I wasn't really into you, not when I knew you had a wife and kids you loved so much. I've been meeting men, it never really worked, and when it ended I always thought 'damn, isn't there anyone like him out there?"
So, it's been like that for a long time. It meant Sparkle was decided. It made the decision a little easier. If he was into Enji for a long time, then it wasn't like anything Enji'd say would change that. He should see for himself who Enji really was.
"...okay."
Sparkle stared.
"'Okay', what?"
"Um, we- I suppose we could... date?"
Sparkle stared and stared and then beamed. "You sure boss? Cause you have a face of a person who is made to jump head down from this very building Quirkless."
"Don't be stupid, I am sure," he mumbled irritably.
"Ah, that's more like you, for a second I was afraid I broke you," grinned Sparkle. "No, wait, you- you really want to date me?"
"Well, better you than anyone else," murmured Enji.
"Ah, you bet! Definitely better me! ...but, I just confessed and you're just like 'okay'? You're not doing this for any weird reasons? Like you feel you owe me anything or you want to prove to me you're a terrible partner?"
"Christ, Sparkle, and I thought I am the person overthinking things here."
"I'm only overthinking things, because I know you are, boss."
"Enji."
Sparkle beamed some more.
"Is this what you want, Enji?"
"Yes. But... I don't know how good I will be at this. I... am not all that much into... sex."
Sparkle's smile shrank a bit. Of course it would. Enji was such an idiot. He should have started with that. Everyone's life revolved around sex after all.
"I would like us to talk about it, Enji. Not now of course, but one day. I want to know what you hate, what you don't want to be doing, and I swear to all shinto gods if you're going to be forcing yourself to stuff you loathe just for my sake I'll burn all your Sports Festival medals."
Enji blinked. That wasn't what he expected.
"I want to be with you, Enji, not with a gorgeous fuckable body of yours. I am not saying sex isn't important to me, but I want us to talk, okay? To work things out together."
'I don't deserve this. First Izuku, now him,' realized Enji.
"...okay," he replied, putting all his acting skills into not showing how moved he was.
Sparkle grinned.
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Additional small scene :D
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As usual, faces rose from the screens when they entered their floor ...and everyone stared at Sparkle, who was a couple of steps behind Enji. The eyes quickly jumped between the two of them and suddenly everyone was unbelievably concentrated on their computers, typing wildly. Enji shot a quick glance at Sparkle, who had a wide grin on his face and a thumb up.
"Sparkle, with me to my office."
"What is the meaning of this," he barked when the door closed.
"Aw, come on, b- Enji."
"Have you been speaking with everyone about your... feelings?!" Unbelievable.
"B- Enji. I never did it on my own. But people would approach me."
"Approach you?"
"Yeah, apparently I've been obvious."
"Obvious?"
"Yeah."
"You weren't obvious! I've never noticed a thing!"
"Um, I don't know how to break it to you, Enji... but you're not the smartest people-wise."
"Ridiculous. Are they going to be gossiping now?"
"Of course. But those will be very supportive gossip. I promised them all nomihodai if I ever-" Sparkle shut up.
"You ever what?" asked Enji menacingly.
"Ever get my hands on you," admitted Sparkle a little guiltily.
Enji sighed. "This is not going from our agency's budget."
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Notes:
So long and barely anything happening. Wow. And I intended to describe first date and get back to Kacchan and make Enji accidently meet his family (they live in the same city after all) and look it's 8k already, almost a one-shot. Wow.
Anyway you might be wondering where the hell Iida came from but I've been thinking about this period in Izuku's life and it was obvious to me Enji would put him in some sorta prestigious heroic primary school (in Japan school prestige is everything, since primary school, as far as I know) and it would made sense Tenya would be attending it too, what with his family being into heroics for generations. So, the disaster squad, also called the dekusquad, is slowly forming. Also I think these two together as a primary schoolers are bound to be beyond cute. And I also love the idea of Aizawa having to train these two overzealous little shits 3.
Thank you for your favs and follows!
