Song of Fire and Broccoli

by ashika pl

It started as a self-indulgent story in which Endeavor is not only Izuku's dad, but also has to raise him, since Inko died, and ended up as a monster of a story about Enji becoming a Good Dad (tm) to everyone who can't run fast enough, and in which everyone gets a cookie in the end. Be warned: 1) Shigaraki's cookie is very Special, 2) Touya's very small, but still is (sorry, Touya

42. The Fire

"So, are you both ready?" asked The Girl, smiling.

Izuku and Enji nodded. They both had their smartphones on which The Girl saved her phone number. How was it supposed to work considering she was from the future, Enji had no idea. It made no sense. But if she claimed it would work, it probably would. They also had a tiny sigil on their thighs that would immediately send them back if it was touched or focused on. Enji also had a lengthy list of groceries and utensils to bring back here, given by Kurogiri.

A message came, from Oboro, standing literally two meters from them.

'Bring the best Belgian chocolates for Kurogiri.'

"Was that from Oboro?" Both Enji and Oboro froze, hearing Kurogiri's voice.

"No," lied Enji.

"Yes, it is," said calmly Kurogiri. "Is it coffee?"

Oboro's eyes widened.

"Because you both know Oboro needs a lot of rest, right? Coffee is the last thing you should be thinking about right now," continued Kurogiri mercilessly.

Enji'd swear there was a slight panic in Oboro's eyes, so he just showed Kurogiri his smartphone.

"Oh," said Kurogiri in a moved voice. "Ah, Oboro, don't be ridiculous." But everyone could tell he sounded happy. So one more person here had a sweet tooth, just like Enji and Izuku.

There was gratitude in Oboro's eyes now. So, coffee was to be their shared forbidden secret. Enji truly felt like a parent with a (new) kid right now, hiding something from the Mother.

"Anything else, Oboro?"

Oboro shook his head. "You just focus on surviving there. I bet people will have a million questions and suspicions."

"You sure you want to leave to me the freedom of deciding who to tell what?" It was better to make sure of that.

Oboro shrugged. "Sure. I don't care."

"And it's not like people are going to believe us, anyway," added Izuku.

The Girl just smiled at that and it made Enji suspicious. "...is that right?"

"What do you remember happening?"

"Um, well..." Well, the sky... become something absolutely uncanny, Enji recalled. And Oboro came back from having been decayed. And there were those flowers? Okay, so maybe people did realize something most unusual happened. "Well, it was weird."

"The Awaking of an Overseer is an event that usually happens only once in the whole history. The whole universe felt it. People will realize something big happened," explained The Girl. "You'll see."

"I hope it won't end in worldwide panic," murmured Enji grimly.

The Girl sighed. "What do you think, knowing humans?"

Enji sighed too. So the leisure time was over, it would seem. The world he was going back to was going to be in turmoil, despite their win over All for One. Damn. But at least he would be back to his family.

"Make sure I come back to Skyrim to this point in time," he told The Girl.

Oboro rolled his eyes. "Yes, absolutely make sure of that, because who knows what I am going to do without constant supervision."

The Girl's smile reappeared at that as she regarded Enji and Oboro warmly. "Alright. You are ready then?"

"We are."

The darkness fell and they reappeared in the air, above the area specially constructed to fight Oboro, that is, former Shigaraki controlled by All for One, with all his destructive Quirks. The time was stopped, Enji could tell by the effort any movement cost him. He could see Shouta and Monoma boy down below, and his Hawks in the air. Damn, he realized how badly he missed him.

"I need to make the state of your suits identical to how they were before and put you in the previous positions," The Girl informed them. Damn, Enji hadn't even thought of that, his suit cleaned as if he just started a new patrol. "That way most people won't notice you were gone and it will be to you to choose whom to tell."

"Thank you," they said in unison.

Their bodies moved on their own and Enji could see Izuku's suit covering in dirt and a little blood.

"Okay, then," The Girl smiled. "See you again, Enji, Izuku."

They nodded, she disappeared and suddenly the world became normal again. As if stunned silence on the battlefield was normal. Enji glanced towards the sky. It looked perfectly normal. He looked down – the white flowers were still there. What was up with them? He forgot to ask. Everyone was staring either at them or at the place in which Ob- that is, Shigaraki for them, should be.

"Enji," he heard Hawks voice, and the bird was immediately by his side. "Are you okay? What did they do to you two? Izuku?"

Enji hugged his love very tightly. "I'm fine. I truly am fine. We will talk more later."

"Good." He could hear the relief in his husband's voice. Then he noticed.

"Your wings."

Hawks smiled the warmest, happiest smile. "They grew back when this... singularity? Happened instantly, the prosthetics falling off. All my wounds closed too."

Was it future Shimura's work? Or did it happen because they were near the Awakening? Well, never mind, what mattered was that his bird had his wings back. He leaned to kiss h-

"THE FUCK'S GOING ON, NERD!" Katsuki's holler tore the air. Enji shot a worried glance at Izuku but his boy seemed completely used to this kind of behavior. Such a difference between this and what he and Hawks had. It was worrying. Still, it was a problem for later.

He flew down to Shouta and the other heroes, everyone grim and looking at him for answers for some reason. Ah, right, they probably heard those words about 'future Shigaraki'. And, yeah, he had been able to use Decay. Ah, fuck, apparently one jail for Endeavor, former Number One, please.

"So," said Shouta. "So those fanatics were right?"

"Apparently," murmured Enji.

"The ultimate Quirk exists and... it is Shigaraki who has it, of all other possible human beings? Or is it All for One now?" The heroes surrounding them went even whiter, now that someone said it out loud.

"No, All for One is dead. They both were killed actually, and the Quirk brought back only its user, O- Shigaraki."

'They both were killed'. Enji could see in their eyes they all were reminded about how exactly they were killed. He could see how they waited for an explanation. Enji heard Yokumiru's voice in his ear. "I understand everyone is very upset right now but we are heroes. We have a task to do. We have defeated All for One and from my sources I know we do not have to worry about Shigaraki and most of his lieutenants. Still, the fighting continues, and people are panicking. You will receive every explanation that is not classified after we have made sure the civilians are safe."

Thank God for Yokumiru, thought Enji, as heroes immediately got back to their working mode, listening to Yokumiru dispatching everyone to places that needed their abilities most. Enji and Hawks were sent against Spinner who, apparently was leading a whole army of heteromorph villains to sow chaos in Tokyo and bring down the building of parliament in an attempt to completely devastate the Japanese spirit. Enji could hear his Izuku (and Katsuki), Shouta, and Monoma boy were sent to Kamino, which meant to Touya, and that worried him. That was a very powerful squad. What was Touya doing out there? Without doubt, he had to be furious he was sent away by Oboro, furious Oboro did not want to help him with killing Enji and Izuku, and in his state of mind...

"Enji," Hawks said gently.

"I know," he needed to concentrate on the task before him. They were warped to Kokkaizentei garden, near the parliament building, and their ears brimmed with a clamor of shouts, shots, and explosions coming from its direction. They rushed, Hawks much quicker than Enji himself, his feathers preceding them both.

"We have to try to keep Spinner alive!" shouted Enji, thinking of Oboro. Hawks' eyes met his and the bird nodded shortly. Merely seconds later they saw a crowd of villains armed with all sorts of melee weapons, guns, and support items, the police and heroes putting up a good defense, despite all main heroes drawn away to fight All for One.

"Number One is here!" One of the villains cried loudly.

"Number One!" Thrilled shouts from heroes repeated it louder. The villains' attacks slowed down, many visibly hesitated.

"NO!" roared Spinner, their leader. "WE NO LONGER STAY SQUASHED UNDER THEIR FEET! THEY'RE JUST TWO HUMANS! WE ARE HUMANS TOO! GIVE UP NOW AND THEY'LL GLADLY KILL YOU OR TAKE YOUR FREEDOM FOREVER! THEY SHALL HAVE NO MERCY FOR YOU! THIS IS NOW OR NEVER FOR OUR NEW WORLD! THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW AND YOU KNOW IT!"

For fuck's sake, he was good. "ALL FOR ONE IS DEAD!" roared Enji letting his Quirk burn brightly. "I KILLED HIM!"

That worked. Everyone fell silent, adrenaline dropping at the world-shaking information, the heads turned to him, fight ceasing. So they didn't know, just like Enji hoped. "WHY DO YOU THINK I AM HERE TO DEAL WITH YOU?! WOULD THEY SEND ME HERE IF YOUR LEADERS WEREN'T GONE ALREADY?!"

The anxious whispers rippled through the crowd like waves on the lake and Enji noticed some of the villains in the back dispersing and running away. Hawks' feathers followed them discreetly.

"Spinner?! Is that true?!"

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT NOW!" shouted Spinner again. "SHIGARAKI ISN'T DEAD! HE-"

A feather that seemed to come out of nowhere embedded itself into Spinner's neck. "YOU TRAITOROUS HERO!" roared Spinner.

"There, there," said Hawks loudly. "You know well further fighting may cause deaths. Do you want to be detained as disrupters or do you want to have murder charges? Is it really worth it?"

"We can't win against Endeavor," a voice came from one of the villains. Enji noticed more and more villains trying to discreetly disappear in the adjacent streets. Good. As Hawks said, there was no need for any unnecessary deaths, and with a crowd this big if the fighting continued it would probably end with someone getting killed.

"NO! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! THIS-" And Spinner collapsed.

That did it. This was no professional army, just a crowd of desperate, and thugs, and greedy. A show of abilities from the Number One team, both very well known to them all for their fighting abilities and powerful Quirks, and most started running away. Admittedly, a couple of bullets were shot toward Enji and Hawks but their suits stopped them.

The other heroes cheered as they started pursuing the villains.

"Okay, that went well," smiled Hawks.

"Crowd is emotional. You take control of its emotions, you win," said Enji.

"Good that the police and other heroes fought so bravely before we came though," replied Hawks. "If they easily defeated our forces, it would certainly raise their spirits and they wouldn't have panicked just with this little display of ours."

"True. We have to thank them. Mera, things are getting under control here. Shall we stay and help the forces?"

"No other choice," he heard Yokumiru. "The warp is no longer active for us."

Ah, right, Kurogiri was no longer here.

"Alright then," said Enji, trying not to think about Touya. "We're cleaning Tokyo."

888

"All fighting areas has been cleared. The situation is under control. We won. The civilians are safe in the shelters. You all have fought well for which the whole of Japan is grateful. You are truly the pillars of society," They all heard Yokumiru's voice. His tone was surprisingly grim considering the words he was saying. No wonder; now that the fighting ceased what everyone had witnessed started to sink in. "Now please go back to your assigned safe buildings and wait for further instructions. Everything shall be explained at the conference." There was a click. "Endeavor. We need you with the Commission, without delay."

Ah, right, time to explain friendship with future Shigaraki, and having multiple Quirks, including Decay.

"Touya? That is Dabi?" he asked, fearing the answer.

"Tranquilized to sleep and put into the maiden. Eraser Head's presence helped avoid the more..."

"I get it. Thank you."

"Yokumiru wants me at the CC," he told Hawks.

His bird's lips went tight. "It will be fine. Micchan will ensure that."

"I know I will be fine," sighed Enji. "The problem is whether I will be fine labelled still as a hero or as a villain."

"Enji. After my dead body someone will make you a villain."

"Don't say such morbid things."

"Do you know what my feathers heard?"

"What?"

"When... the singularity, or whatever it was, happened, or awakened... everyone got healed. Everyone, Enji, in the whole world. Cancers, cut-off legs, AIDS, every single thing."

Enji missed his step. "What?"

"Yes. It wasn't only my wings. Whatever happened, the whole world felt it. They all saw the sky too."

Holy damn. "...isn't it good?"

"Shigaraki healing the whole world?"

Oh fuck. Enji thought of all the sects that worshipped the Singularity Quirk user and awaited his coming. Thought about all the sects terrified of him. Thought of all the villains who could now use Shigaraki as some sort of savior, who would claim the wicked heroes attempted to kill a merciful God or something along those lines. He thought of all the religions waiting for their Messiah to return.

"The war is coming, Enji."

"Fuck," growled Enji. "But they don't know what exactly happened. They don't know who has done it. They just know the sky changed and someone with a powerful Quirk appeared. Only we know it was O- Shigaraki."

"And Spinner. And probably the rest of the League, who just disappeared? And Shigaraki himself."

"We'll have to make sure nobody says a word." Still, would it stop the religious fanatics? If the world changed like this... The future seemed bleak, again.

"How can you stop Shigaraki?" asked Hawks worriedly. "He wants to destroy this world. So does future Shimura. All this..."

"I... He is not going to rush anything."

Hawks' brows rose at that but Enji just shook his head. This was no time to explain everything, now, that they were rushing to the Command Center. So Enji just said, "If he wanted to do it, he'd do it already. He can shape reality, time, and space. We're still here, the world isn't decayed, he isn't killing off heroes. I think he realized everything he used to be was All for One's lie." Enji would tell the whole truth to Hawks later.

"True," sighed Hawks. "What a way to groom a child..." he added quietly.

At the CC everyone was watching Enji grimly, eyes narrowed with suspicions, politicians, police officers, members of the commissions, carefully chosen experts. But he could see their deep concern too. They all were worried about the fate of the world. They all have been watching the fight with Shigaraki, they all heard The Girl's words. So, of course, their nerves were as taut as ship ropes during a storm.

"Mera-san is in the conference room," said All Might. "You did amazing, Endeavor. You did what I failed to do years ago," he added loudly. That guy, showing his support even now.

"It's literally my job," he said in an equally strong voice. He'd thank Toshi later.

Toshinori smiled warmly, the only person here doing that. Right, he was All Might, after all, of course he would smile. "They are waiting for us, me, you, and Hawks."

Enji nodded.

There was every member of the Commission in the room, there was the Prime Minister, there was the chef of the police, and there was Nezu. The eyes were sharp and angry, apart from Yokumiru and Tsuragamae who both were simply grim but at the same time looking somewhat determined, and Nezu whose face betrayed exactly nothing. At least the table was round, not making it look like an interrogation.

They sat down, everyone's eyes unfalteringly on Enji.

"I know you all expect an explanation," Yokumiru's voice, clear and strong, completely unlike his usual persona, made the faces turn towards him. "I must ask you for your understanding of the fact that I have kept our asset in secret before every single one of you."

Now everyone's brows rose, including Enji's, which was the fact that no one, luckily, noticed.

"Especially I address those my words to you, Prime Minister Sato, and to you Police Chief Tsuragamae. I am fully aware it is my duty to answer truthfully all your questions and provide all the essential information. In this case, however, our success depended on me heeding our asset's wish to keep our cooperation undisclosed to anyone."

"You knew about it!" said Sakazuki, a bald always angry-looking member of the Commission.

"I knew a villain with a powerful Quirk and a fierce grudge against Kokushibo Shigaraki was willing to help us bring All for One's demise. Considering the balance of power this was not the offer to be refused. Do you disagree?"

Sakazuki looked fuming but said nothing. The others stayed silent too.

"The help was supposed to be granted to us on the condition of absolute secrecy. We knew he had the face of Tomura Shigaraki and we had our suspicions about his power and identity."

We had? And, why, all of a sudden, Yokumiru was doing all the talking? Not that Enji wasn't grateful, the man was smart and experienced in dealing with people with power, he without doubt knew what he was doing.

"You suspected," said the Prime Minister calmly. "This villain had a... so-called Singularity Quirk?"

"No. We suspected it was an extremely powerful Quirk, like All for One, or maybe even a copy of it."

The Prime Minister nodded.

"So, we were approached by him, and cooperated with him, in order to put an end to Kokushibo Shigaraki's plot and life. Is everything clear?"

Everyone nodded, saying nothing, to Enji's surprise. There were so many details omitted, so many questions to be asked, after all.

"Do you find my decision wrong?"

"In normal circumstances, I would find it unacceptable that the President of the Commission cooperates with a villain without approval and in secret," said the Prime Minister sternly. "These weren't the normal circumstances though. Going against... who was it then? Future Tomura Shigaraki?"

Yokumiru nodded. "It was not clear to us then, though."

"Going against him would surely tip the scales against us."

'Tip the scales' Talk about the understatement of the decade. That would lead to their utter defeat, more like.

"Still, we need an explanation of the events that transpired. We all had seen... the awakening of the Singularity Quirk. And it is in a deranged villain's hands. Did we erase All for One's existence only to exchange it for a much more powerful and much more unhinged adversary?"

"We all have heard what All for One said. Tomura was nothing but a puppet. We know he had come to hate All for One for it, that is why he came back in time to help us. From what he said during our encounters he wants a better world and finds this one corrupted. It is not unlikely we would be able to persuade him to cooperate. We can show him the road leads not through destruction."

A lot of eyes went alight at that. Such a powerful Quirk, working with them, for them? Enji could imagine the cogs in their heads turning.

"Is it even possible?"

"So far," Toshinori interjected hesitantly. "Instead of destroying the world, he healed everybody."

"Isn't it merely a side effect of the explosion of power we witnessed though?" asked Nezu in his usual kind tone.

Enji was silent so far. Yokumiru was leading the discussion skillfully, better than Enji would ever be able to. The question now was whether he should share the fact he had left for an artificial universe and became Shigaraki's, that is, Oboro's - hopefully - friend? He recalled Oboro's words.'Let the world wait in terror. Let it sink in, what happened.' This was Oboro's wish. And if Enji wanted them to keep being friends, if he wanted them to cooperate for the sake of this world, he knew he should respect that. So he decided against sharing. Still, the last thing they needed now was the Commission and government deciding Oboro was the enemy.

"I think," he said, and immediately all eyes were on him. "If he wanted to destroy us, he would have done it by now. He can time travel. He has all the power he can get now. He can wipe out the whole of Japan easily." Faces paled. "But we're still here, alive. Spinner is detained. T-Dabi is detained." Touya. His horribly burnt Touya Enji had not seen yet. "The army of villains and noumus defeated. I think he waits and thinks. And it is up to us to affect his decision. He wants a better world and was manipulated by All for One to think it can only happen through destruction and only with the help of villains. We need to show him otherwise. There is no other way."

Tsuragamae sighed. "You can't just change the world. We can't snap our fingers and show him we made society less corrupted, less violent, less abusive. If he hadn't realized what we've been doing before I doubt he'll appreciate it now."

"We still have to," repeated Enji decisively.

"We were doing our best all this time," replied Tsuragamae, sounding tested which was rare. "If he wants to destroy this world..."

"...then we won't be able to stop him," said Enji. "We literally can't do anything to stop him if he makes a decision. But we can affect the very decision. He used to hate heroes his whole life. This was what All for One taught him. But, ultimately, All for One proved himself to Shigaraki to be a backstabbing liar."

"So," They heard Nezu's voice. "He is now hesitating. Rethinking his life and his choices. Endeavor is right. And let us not forget the fact that his future self approached heroes, not villains. It was Endeavor that was given multiple Quirks, not any villain." Everyone's eyes widened at the implication. Enji was so grateful for Nezu and his intelligence. "And, like I said, he is from the future. He knows how the thing will have unfolded."

"What if he is just avoiding a paradox?" asked the youngest of the Commission's members, Sengoku. "What if he did all that because he knew it had happened but from now on he is free to do as he pleases?"

"As Endeavor said before," said Nezu firmly. "If he turns hostile there is little we could do. What else do you propose other than convincing him the heroes are right?"

A grim pause fell.

"Exactly," Yokumiru sighed. "All we can do is work our hardest to prove to him the better world can be achieved through our means, not through villainry."

"This world can never be perfect," said Tsuragamae. "We all know it. You can't eradicate poverty and violence. Haven't we tried?"

Nezu smiled, which was quite an eerie sight during this conversation. "Ah, but he can. He can. He has the Singularity Quirk. We all dread and none of us looks at the possibilities."

"He is a broken, unhinged villain, Nezu," said Tsuragamae grimly.

"He is a broken child who was nothing but a puppet all his life," replied Nezu.

"So he certainly won't let himself become our puppet next," came Yokumiru stern voice. "My advised course of action is to continue on our road. Help civilians, eradicate corruption and hidden villainry in our ranks. We can't do much more."

"Is he in regular contact with you?" asked the Prime Minister.

"No. He decides when to appear and it is rare. I am certain though that he is and will be observing us," responded Yokumiru.

There was a longer pause.

"Fine," the Prime Minister said after almost a quarter of grim consideration. "It seems that, as much as I hate to admit it, there indeed is not much we can do in this matter. Still, we do have a country in turmoil. We have to concentrate on bringing back peace and order. I do expect you, president Mera, to inform me from now on of every contact with Shigaraki. We need every information about his plans and activities."

"Of course. If he shares anything with me or contacts me again. Now that All for One is defeated he might not need Endeavor's cooperation anymore."

"Still."

"Of course, Prime Minister."

"We need to issue a public announcement regarding the phenomenon everyone bore witness to, that would prevent widespread panic." True, they hardly could tell people a godlike creature was born. "The reports from overseas are unsettling." Funny choice of an adjective for the fact that many people were healed from terminal diseases but yeah, Enji could imagine what would follow now.

"I don't think we can avoid disclosing a powerful Quirk had to be born. We do not need to state that it had anything to do with our domestic war," said Sengoku.

"Indeed. A particularly gifted child could be born somewhere in the world at the same moment," agreed Sakazuki.

"What about the skies then?" asked Nezu brightly. "A child with supreme healing Quirk was born, and it also, incidentally, had a second Quirk allowing everyone to feel the whole cosmos? Not to mention the Quirks with worldwide range simply do not exist."

"How about we tell them it was a temporary singularity effect, resulting from All for One's desperate use of all his Quirks to survive? He did have many of them. It could have affected reality."

"It is plausible but what shall we do if Shigaraki comes back and shows everyone the truth? We shall be completely discredited," responded Yokumiru.

"We can't just-" started Sakazuki irritably.

"No," agreed Yokumiru. "But lies that can be easily put to light will cost us more than the truth, in the long term. That is why if we cannot tell the public the truth, we still should not tell them fabricated lies. The most reasonable course of action is simply stating we do not know what has caused the phenomenon. We might add it is a possible effect of All for One's accumulation of Quirks but I strongly advise against blatant disinformation."

"All this truly does not look good," said Sengoku gravely.

"No," agreed the Prime Minister. "But, like Endeavor said, what we can do is very limited. What else can you tell us about future Shigaraki's motives?"

"He hates this world as it is, where children are being used or abused, where necessity turns people into villains, where the rich and powerful have more privileges than normal citizens. He wants it to change. This is all I know. He is not exactly oversharing."

The Prime Minister nodded. "At least he has ideals. You have to work on him, Endeavor."

Hah, if they knew. Though Enji knew well what Prime Minister meant – you need to mold him into a shape desirable by us. As if Enji was one of them, a politician willing to groom people.

"I will do my best," he said nevertheless.

888

'Call me, Enji.' The text was from Shouta.

"What is it?" asked Hawks curiously.

"Shouta. He hadn- Shouta?"

Silence responded. Enji immediately decided he didn't like it.

"Shouta, what happened?" Hawks and Toshi were watching him and his phone worriedly now.

"I'm so sorry, Enji."

No.

"Who died?" Enji asked hoarsely. Hawks hand was immediately in his, Toshi also moving closer.

"Is there anyone with you?"

"Yes, tell me who died!"

"...Touya."

No. No.

How?

He was alive!

They had him in the maiden!

He was asleep!

"Shouta," his voice croaked.

"He woke up sooner than expected and... he committed suicide. He just burned himself to death in the maiden. I am so sorry, Enji."

No, no, no, no! Touya wouldn't! He had his plan! He wanted to exact revenge on Enji-

...and he did.

The phone slipped out of his hand, caught immediately by Hawks, and he hid his face in his hands, kneeling on the ground.

Touya.

His Touya.

Dying again, because of Enji.

Again.

He could hear Hawks saying something that sounded soothing but the words held little meaning to him.

Touya.

His child whom he had completely broken.

His Touya.

The despair tore at his heart and he wanted to howl, he wanted to rip his skin from his face, he wanted to drive knives into his thighs, he wanted to bite his fingers off, he wanted to die.

He killed his son.

Again.

He wanted-

Oboro.

Oboro.

The sigil.

His thigh burned and the darkness swallowed everything.

A split second later he was in the forest, birds' songs reaching his ears as if through a layer of water, the colorful flowers in the grass not catching his eye even for a second. Nothing mattered, nothing mattered now that-

"What the fuck happened out there?" growled Oboro irritably. "The fuck those assholes did to you over there?!"

"He's dead," croaked Enji, his voice breaking.

"Izuku?!" Oboro's eyes widened.

Enji shook his head. "Touya." It physically pained him to say this out loud. He realized he was still on his knees. Good.

"Please," he said, putting his hands together pleadingly. "I beg you, you can change it!"

Oboro actually took a small step back, looking both appalled and deeply torn. He shot a look at The Girl who was still there.

"Oboro!" Enji didn't shout but it was close. "I beg you!" He bowed deeply, head touching the grass. "I beg you!"

"Stop fucking doing this," came a whisper, a slight tremble audible in it. "I- What do you want me to do?"

"Save him," Enji's voice was quieter now. "Please, save him, please, don't let him die on me, don't let him die because of me, don't make me a murderer of my son, let me help him please, help me help him, I beg you."

Silence responded and a moment later a small hand gently touched his head, tender fingers slowly stroking his hair.

"Enji," said The Girl's voice. "We will grant you your wish but you need to take your time and calm down. You don't want to make such a decision when emotions are ravaging you."

"Decision?" Was she mad? "Do you think I should calm down and rethink whether I want my son alive?!"

"Your son will be alive either way, Enji," The Girl responded gently. "We have reincarnation in our part of the multiverse, Enji. Do you really want us to take his own decision away from him?"

"What?" Were they mad? Did they hate him deep inside? Was all this some elaborate plan to destroy him and drown him in despair for everything he had done to Shigaraki as a hero, to everything he had done to villains?

"He decided to die, Enji. This is his life and his decision-"

"NO ONE SANE MAKES THAT KIND OF DECISION!" he shouted at her, his head now up, looking straight into her black eyes, completely forgetting his position in all this. Oboro and Kurogiri were watching them, looking deeply distraught.

"No," she agreed kindly. "But we'll bring him back, and?"

"And-! And I'll help him!"

"Endeavor," he heard Oboro' quiet voice.

"I will!" he shouted desperately at the blue-haired boy. Oboro just glanced at The Girl.

"Enji. Look at me. Will he ever accept your help? Will he ever accept anyone's help?"

"No! You can't make me give up on him! He needs medicaments! He needs-!"

"No," came Oboro's voice, suddenly strong and decisive, more Shigaraki, the man who had decided to destroy the hero world, than the broken, quiet boy that had slept in his arms fretfully. "No, Endeavor. I hate him, so I would gladly grant this wish, but you do not hate him. Do you really want him to spend the rest of his life stuffed with downers, stuck in a mental facility?"

"But-!"

"You think about yourself right now, Endeavor, not about him. You think about having to spend the rest of your life with guilt, not about him having to spend the rest of his life in a cage, full of hate."

"But- but-" And Enji completely broke, tears first escaping then completely flooding his face, and he curled up into himself.

He heard Oboro's voice again but it sounded completely different. "You bunch of useless dicks are fucking worthless!" Oboro growled. "I fucking can't believe I had to come back here while you fucking pathetic bitches are around! ...not you, Kuro," he added quieter. Arms surrounded him the best they could and squeezed him tightly. "I'll fucking make sure he has the perfect family next time, Enji. I'll fucking make sure he will have the best genes possible."

"He has a black soul..." came The Girl's hesitant voice.

"Still! I'll do my best and you all suck at comforting people, you pathetic failures!"

"So... you're... future me?" came Oboro's voice.

Enji blinked and looked up. He saw Oboro but with white hair, not blue. Another Oboro, blue-haired was standing by Kurogiri.

"I will," said future Oboro looking at Enji, determination in his eyes. "I swear to you I will give that asshole of a child of yours the best future possible. I promise. The Girl will show you, right?" The last sentence was laced with menace.

"Of course," smiled The Girl.

The future Oboro squeezed him once more. "You have my permission to beat them up, those useless fucks, letting you just cry your eyes out like this." And he was gone.

888

Enji was standing quietly, The Girl, Oboro, and Kurogiri by his side, watching a small child shouting happily to his gently smiling mother. The child's room was cozy, there were plenty of hero figurines and toys and plushies. The mother seemed patient and caring, and Enji could see the true love in her eyes. The sound of the keys made the small boy race toward the door.

"Papa!"

"Hey, little one!" A tall, black-haired Westerner hugged the kid. Enji could see love in his eyes equalling that of the child's mother. "What have you been up to today?" He was speaking a foreign language, some of the words slightly reminding Enji of English. The weird thing was, Enji still understood everything.

"It was great at pre-school, Papa! We met Angel! She told us all about her job!" Wait, wasn't Angel a Number One Hero in the Netherlands? "She was so nice! But I told her lawyers are better!"

The man chuckled. "Oh, Mads, it's not a very nice thing to say."

"But you are a lawyer and you're the best, Papa!"

They looked so happy. Enji couldn't feel or spot the slightest hint of anything being off. The child who once used to be his Touya was eagerly talking about his friends, asking his father about the day at his job, he looked much healthier and social than he remembered his son to be. Still, tears started to fill up his eyes. This was probably for the best, this was what the very overseer of many universes had told him to be the best future for his child, and yet, yet, having to agree to his own child's death...

"Okay, we can go back," he croaked.

The cozy home was replaced by the familiar forest. "I- Maybe you're right- But I can't just say yes to- my son-"

"I know," he heard Oboro. "That is why I am the one making that decision for you. I am not going to save him. I am sorry," he added quieter. "You can hate me. It is fair."

"No, I don't, I won't- I don't hate you." The tears started falling again and he sat down, his legs giving up. A small furry body wiggled into his lap and started licking his tears. A moment later a hesitant, quite stiff pair of arms surrounded him too.

His Touya was dead. He died because of Enji. He had killed himself because of Enji. His whole life had been a mess because of what Enji had done to him. He had ruined his own son.

The tears wouldn't stop.

If he could just speak to him once more, at least once more, to-

"Oboro," he croaked.

"Yes?" the boy immediately went alert, and Enji could see the readiness to help in his eyes.

"You said the souls retain for some time their-"

"Yes. You want to speak with him."

"Yes, please."

"Endeavor, he..."

"I know but I need to do it, please, it's my child, I did it to him, I-" he choked on his tears again.

Oboro glanced worriedly at The Girl but she just nodded in response.

"This isn't a good idea," murmured Oboro. "But fine. We'll go when you're ready."

"Now, please."

"Endeavor-"

"Please."

"You're not in a state-"

"I'll never be in a state right to say goodbye to my dying child!" shouted Enji, meeting Oboro's eyes.

Oboro murmured something defensively, which was completely unlike him, and nodded. "Fine. But he's gonna hurt you."

"Oboro."

The reality disappeared and they reappeared in one of the jail cells, in which the maiden stood open and Enji could see-.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

Then opened them again. This was what was left of his oldest child. This was what he had done to him.

Oboro was standing by his side, watching him intently, and an irritated murmur came from him again. "This wasn't your fucking-"

"Please don't speak. Please."

Oboro looked incensed by it by obediently stopped talking.

Policemen were rushing back and forth frantically, often through them, nobody noticing a thing.

Then Oboro nodded to himself and Enji saw a translucent body reappearing in the air. The soul of his Touya. His boy looked around, looked at his charred body, grinned, and then noticed Enji and Oboro.

"Oh, no, are you two dead too? Now this is bad news. I wanted you, my dearest father, to live long and anguish over my death. Or did you commit suicide when hearing about my last little act of revenge?" He grinned madly.

Enji kneeled and bowed his head to the floor. "I am so sorry, Touya, I am so sorry for everything I have done to you." The tears started to escape his eyes again. "I was a terrible father to you and I hurt you so badly, I broke you completely, and you are right to hate me, and I will always hate myself for what I have done to you. I would do anything to help you, Touya, anything."

Touya just tutted, sounding very pleased. "A little late for that, my dearest father, isn't it? I'm dead and there is nothing you can do anymore! Though... actually there is a little thing, a little thing that will help me leave this world in peace."

Enji raised his head to look at his child who was smiling at him venomously.

"Anything, Touya, anything." Oboro moved by his side anxiously, brows frowned, lips tight, anger in his eyes.

"Do you really love me, dad?" There was a terrible note in those words, madness, and loathing that was piercing Enji through.

"I do, Touya, I always did, I could never forgive myself- I could never forget the flames that devoured you and-" He choked on his tears again. Touya's eyes widened with maniacal, insane pleasure.

"Good. If you truly love me as you claim, you should never be happy again. I want you to always love me and always hate yourself for what you have done to me. You are right, you have broken me and ruined me, and if you're going to just go back to your happy little family, forgetting that you have murdered your own child, then all your love is just a lie. After all, what kind of father gets over killing his own child?"

"You killed yourself," Oboro finally snapped, fury laced with madness in his voice. As broken as Enji was he noticed the danger.

"Oboro, you promised."

"Oh, now you're besties with my dear dad? And here I thought you should be hating parental figures by now?"

"You shall go on," said Oboro coldly. "I will give you the best life and family and I will show it to your father,"

"No," hissed Touya.

"Yes. He shall see you're safe, and healthy, and happy in your new life."

"It doesn't change an iota of what he's done to me!" shouted Touya furiously.

"Fuck you," Oboro snapped back and the darkness swallowed them again.

Enji felt anger overcoming him. "You were supposed to shut the fuck up!" he shouted at Oboro. "Take me back!"

"It's enough," replied Oboro, his face surprisingly emotionless.

"Take me back! I need to apologize better, I need to tell him-"

"He. KNOWS!" Oboro suddenly shouted back. "He knows you love him and he knows you suffer! He knows that!"

Enji fell silent.

"It's over," said Oboro quieter. "It's over. He'll have a better life, okay? He will. I promise. But if I see him again, or see him talking like this to you, he won't, Enji."

Enji was quiet, looking at Oboro who despite just having shouted at Enji, looked plainly sad and tired like Enji had never seen him.

"You'll make sure it will be a good life and good family," he finally repeated, wiping away the tears still in his eyes.

"I will. He is a black soul, so he will always be trouble but-"

"What, like people are inherently evil?! This is-"

"No. A black soul is a strong soul. It means it will always seek to be... what it used to be before. Affecting the gene combination during fertilization so that the character would be as similar as it was before. So... he'll always be trouble. But I'll give him the best life, I promise."

"You do that," whispered Enji and sat on the grass heavily, Mon-chan immediately back in his lap.

"...you want me to leave you?"

"...No," he reached out with his hand, and Oboro hesitantly took it and sat by his side. "Thank you. I am sorry I shouted at you."

"Don't be stupid," said the boy quietly. "This is how parents... should be."

Enji squeezed Oboro's hand saying nothing. They sat like this, with no words, for a long time.

Notes:

I hope Dabi fans won't hate me but this is the best cookie I could give him. I just didn't see any other way in this story. Also, I have my own personal (pretty much shared with Tenko/Tomura/Oboro) reasons to have the same attitude to Dabi as Tenko/Tomura/Oboro has.
Also, if anyone was confused, that was a glimpse of Dabi's future reincarnation.