"So, I'm calling it a day. A great day, too," grinned Sparkle.
"Um, okay." Enji got a vague, but nagging feeling that he should... um, say something? Do something? Instead of just letting Spar- Heihachi leave, considering they were - cause they were, right? - dating now.
There was an expectant pause on Sparkle's side, not big, but Enji'd swear it was there, and he had no idea what to do. Things like these seemed to come so easily for other people, and he? He was a child in the dark, a grown up man that he was. Pathetic.
"Well, if you want to rethink what you said before..." started Sparkle, watching him carefully, and Enji panicked to his own surprise. Just this morning he hadn't even considered for a second any relationship, just hours ago he had been sure this was going to be a disaster and never could work, not with Enji, and now he could feel his heart thundering as if he was some infatuated teenager; he was so scared of ruining this, like it wouldn't crumble soon anyway.
"No, no!" he cursed the emotions that had bled into this rushed reassurance - the desperation, and fear, and that low self-esteem they had been talking about many times with his therapist. "Um, but I suppose, I mean, what about the date?" he heard himself saying. God. Just die, Enji, die already.
"You sure? Cause this is probably the first time I see you terrified, Enji."
"I'm not terrified," lied Enji bravely. "Don't be stupid. I'm 37. I've been on dates." Two. He had been on exactly two dates during his whole life. Still, it was plural. Lucky for him not having to lie.
"What, like on two?"
Enji stared at him.
"Was it really two?"
Enji got red, embarrassed, anger raising his head instinctively, for years his default reaction to any uncomfortable situations. Why couldn't he hide his emotions better? Why did Heihachi just have to read him like an open book?
"Hey. I don't care if it was two or two hundred. Stop being so distressed. I know you married young. Nothing wrong with having little experience in dating." Heihachi's voice was soothing, his smile kind and sincere, the eyes warm and caring. Enji felt like a fool.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"What exactly for?"
"...generally being an idiot," he admitted.
"You're too hard on yourself. Always have been. So, this weekend, maybe?"
"Friday evening?" Saturdays were for Fuyumi, and on Sundays he trained with Aizawa, Izuku and Tenya.
"Cool. Right after work?"
"Okay."
"My place?"
Enji stiffened. Heihachi, of course, noticed this. Of course he would. "We don't have to do a thing, Enji. Just thought maybe we don't want all the paparazzi to know yet? I mean, I don't care, really, but-"
"Yeah, your place."
Heihachi's smile widened. "Good. And stop fretting. It is only going to get better, I promise you."
888
All hell just had to break lose on Thursday. It just had to. In the morning an unknown villain had called the Musutafu's police informing about the bombs he had installed in every public space and demanded one million dollars to be brought to the place indicated by him. To ensure he would be taken seriously he sent them the coordinates of one of the bombs, and the police found a nightmarishly large package of explosives capable of destroying a small building.
So the whole day was spent on helping evacuating people from shopping centers, metro and schools, and making sure they would stay in their homes, while the police negotiated with the villain. Then a huge explosion tore through one of the lower floors of the huge apartment building as the negotiations evidently failed. So, it wasn't only public spaces, the bombs could be anywhere. A day like this was a material from Enji's worst dreams. He, and every person in his agency worked incessantly hour after hour, Sun going down, then going up again until finally, on the Friday morning, the villain had been captured and all bombs found. All that was left was some infinite amount of reports that always had to be done when there were civilian casualties, the bulk of which Enji took upon himself, sending most of his exhausted employees home.
"You sure I should go, Enji?" Heihachi asked.
"Yeah, rest a bit. There is nothing for you to do anymore. I'll see you at your place at five."
"Come as soon as you finish. We can nap together."
"I have to drop by home, Izuku hasn't seen me since yesterday morning."
"Well, then, see you at five. Don't chicken out."
Enji shot the younger man with a glare very heavily dulled by exhaustion.
He was done with the reports sooner than expected and rushed to his Izuku.
"I'm sorry I'm again not spending the afternoon with you, broccoli boy." He said for probably a tenth time, a couple of hours later when he shot himself a last glance in the mirror. He felt awful lying to his boy, but he wasn't going to tell him anything yet, not when he had no idea whether this would last.
"Does it have something to do with today's villain?"
"Yeah... we're going to make sure he was working alone."
"Okay, dad. Be safe." His little boy hugged him tightly goodbye and Enji again felt a wave of remorse that he was leaving Izuku alone two days in a row.
"Be good to Yachie, Zuku."
"I'm always good!" Enji smiled. He didn't think Izuku was aware he had started to copy some of Tenya's expressions. It was amusing and undeniably cute. He ruffled the green, always unruly hair and shot a look at Yachie. "Call me if anything happens."
"Of course, Todoroki-sama."
He gave his boy the last kiss, appreciating the child still loved them, not yet in the phase when kids hate physical affection from parents, and rushed towards Heihachi's apartment.
...only to pause middleway when he noticed something.
It was stupid.
Men didn't like things like that. It was only Enji who had always been different.
...but then again it was Heihachi. He was... well, definitely different if he decided he liked Enji.
Still, wouldn't it be ridiculous? Wouldn't it make Enji look like a fool who had watched too many stupid romantic movies?
But then again...
' stop fretting', he heard Heihachi's words again.
'Oh fuck this shit', he decided and entered the florist's.
Half an hour later he was standing before Heihachi's door with a bouquet of sunflowers and brown roses he had hastily put together, having second thoughts about it again. Well, too late now.
Heihachi opened the door, almost literally, nomen omen, sparkling with joy, definitely not with an aura of someone who had spent the majority of the past 40 hours overworking themselves. He paused as he saw the flowers.
Enji immediately felt horrible, just in case.
"I love sunflowers," said Heihachi and Enji felt so ridiculously relieved as if he just passed his provisional license exam, not simply managed not to make a fool out of himself on a date with a kind man who already liked him. "They're both pretty and edible."
"Um, I don't think those-"
"I know, Enji, it was a joke," Heihachi grinned as he invited Enji inside, taking the flowers into his hands.
"Sorry."
"Stop apologizing."
"You... have flowers."
"Yeah, I love cut flowers. Don't have a gift for potted, though. They all die. But this bouquet is particularly beautifully made. Where did you buy it, if it's not a tightly kept secret?"
"I... made it myself."
Now Heihachi gave him a proper stare.
"I... took both ikebana and western floristry lessons when I was a kid." He loved them. Also, giving his mother a bouquet he had arranged himself had sometimes granted him a peaceful day at home. Not always, often she'd throw it at him, but at least once in a while he had had a respite.
Heihachi was still staring at him and Enji felt increasingly uneasy.
"Du- I mean, Enji. Like I'm gonna believe that. You're just doing this because you've overheard that I love cut flowers and you're too embarrassed to admit it."
"Do you think I could learn to make a bouquet like this in a couple of days?"
"You're nothing if not ambitious," Heihachi grinned. Enji rolled his eyes.
"Now I feel bad I didn't cook anything myself. Only got take-out, though from the best restaurant I know."
"Do you even know how to cook?"
"Just some basic things. But they're delicious! Proper Okinawan food!"
Enji decided not to mention every sane person knew Okinawan food was a disaster. He hoped with all his heart Heihachi had not ordered anything Okinawan. Their sweets however...
"Can you bake chinsuko?" he asked as he sat down watching Heihachi put the bouquet into a vase colored in warm pastels and glanced around the very cozy place that mixed Japanese and Western style surprisingly well. There even was an electric fireplace here.
"Of course! But I thought you were past your sweet tooth phase."
Enji decided not to share he used to drown problems in sugar, which had roots in his childhood, and it was always a struggle to cut it down.
"We have a strict healthy diet with Izuku. We eat sweets only one day per week."
Heihachi hummed as he handed Enji a huge portion of beef udon, still in a take-out container.
"Um, want me to pour it into a proper plate? I kind of feel stupid now, you came with the bouquet, and I haven't prepared anything, not even a goddamn candle, nor plates."
It was a weird feeling to see someone else nervous about a date with Enji. That is, nervous as in worried it wouldn't be good enough, not as in 'what the hell am I doing here with this monster?'.
"Don't be stupid. We've known each other for years. I hesitated a lot on that bouquet."
"Aw, that's cute. Were you standing in front of the florist's for an eternity? Were you pained over which flowers to chose?"
"Heihachi."
Heihachi winced. What? Admittedly this was the first time Enji called him by his first name. Did he hate it? But weren't they dating? Was Enji-
"I hate this name."
Oh.
"Really?"
"Yeah," admitted Hei- Sparkle? as he gave Enji a beer and opened his own. "Itadakimasu. Both my ma and pa used to love that old fighting game. Gave me a horrible name with horrible kanjis after some old geezer of a character."
Enji snorted before he could stop himself.
"Sorry. It must be so difficult for you."
"Oi. It is horrible!" Sparkle winked. "I really hate it. Don't tell my ma, though, she'd be so devastated. If you continued calling me Sparkle, I'd be eternally grateful. Well, not in front of ma, though."
"What kind of parents do you have?" asked Enji and immediately cursed himself internally. Great, Enji, bravo, bring up difficult topics during this important date, so smart and sensitive!
"Awesome. But both workaholics, so mostly my grandma had been taking care of me. But they're great. Well, pa is gone, actually. Didn't want to give away valuables to a villain." Sparkle sighed. "Ma could never forgive him for that. She loved him so much. But he just," Sparkle shrugged. " He never understood the concept of bowing down to anyone. And also he probably did not think the villain would have it in him to actually murder someone." Sparkle fell quiet, but he did not seem particularly down. He evidently made his peace with the past. Enji felt envious of that.
"Is that why you decided to become a hero?"
"Yeah. I always remembered how brave pa was. Wanted to be fearless like him, but, you know, also to have abilities to back it up. To not die on anyone."
"Wise."
They've been eating for a moment in silence, Enji enjoying the delicious udon, impressed that Sparkle had remembered this was one of his favorite dishes.
"And what about you, Enji?"
Ah.
"My mother had been always saying I would become a villain-"
"No." Sparkle actually seemed appalled for Enji's sake. It was moving, even if Enji wouldn't show that.
"-and father was killed by a villain in front of me." He stopped at this and shifted his concentration onto devouring udon, hoping Sparkle would understand he did not want to elaborate.
Sparkle just nodded, looking simply sad for Enji. He always hated when people felt sorry for him, but in Sparkle's case... he seemed so genuinely caring for Enji, Enji couldn't be irritated. He definitely felt he did not deserve the man.
"And what Izuku's doing today? Was he okay with you leaving? How is his training?"
Enji immediately brightened at his favorite subject.
They have spent a surprisingly pleasant time jumping from topic to topic, moving onto the couch with beers and some sashimi, tempura, and simmered vegetables to munch leisurely through. When the conversation dried up Sparkle offered to show Enji some old movie he loved. A part of Enji was very grateful for Sparkle's consideration, for the complete lack of pressure to move things into any sort of physical direction. However, this was a date. Enji'd feel terrible not to give this man anything.
"Wouldn't you prefer to... make out?" The word sounded so alien on his tongue. Everyone was using it, it was only Enji that felt like a goddamn alien in a human world.
A brow rose. "You look so very excited at the prospect, Enji," smiled Sparkle.
"I'm-" His mind went blank. What could he say? That for some reason he hated kissing with tongue? That what was natural to everyone, was disgusting for Enji? Sparkle's words came back to him, 'if you're going to be forcing yourself to stuff you loathe just for my sake...'.
"I'm not- I don't like kissing," he finally admitted, feeling somewhat angry at himself, for not being normal. Oh, his therapist would be mad at him, for thinking this about asexuality, but let's face it, it really wasn't completely normal, one shouldn't lie to themselves. "But I won't break. I don't want us to never do things you like. I'm not traumatized or anything."
"Still, I'd prefer if we didn't do things you don't like."
"Don't be ridiculous. We can kiss."
"Well, maybe one day, but let us at least not start with things you don't like, okay? It would be a way downhill from there, Enji."
"I'll be okay," grumbled Enji irritably.
Sparkle grinned goodnaturedly, then went a little more serious, though the usual warmth and kindness did not stop radiating from him for a moment.
"Do you like anything physical, Enji?"
Enji didn't know. He was 37 and he honestly did not know. Pathetic.
"Massages. Massages are great," he shot desperately. He knew massages, at least. He was going to a physiotherapist regularly, to the man's despair. Enji's huge muscles were a hell to work with.
Sparkle grinned again. "Want us to do some? You could give me a massage and I'll repay the favor. God knows I'd use one after those two days."
Enji felt relieved, back in familiar territory, and quite confident in his abilities too, with the strength his hands had, and having pretty much memorized what his physiotherapist had been doing.
Then it occurred to him, and he cursed internally his asexuality, lack of experience, lack of interpersonal skills and general stupidity.
"Um, will you be fine getting naked? Um, that is..." he trailed off, unsure how to put it. For normal people getting naked in front of your crush was supposed to be something big, he guessed.
"Enji, you saw me naked not once and not twice in our changing room."
"But this is different?" Changing at the agency was something completely disparate from getting naked on a date, right?
"Will this make you uncomfortable?"
"Well, no, but normal people-"
"Enji. There is no such thing as normal people. Everyone has their own rules and issues and boundaries. I'm fine." Sparkle started shedding his clothes to prove his point. Enji had a vague feeling that maybe he should at least try to pretend to be leering at the man's muscular body, but it did not feel right.
"You have beautiful hair," he said instead. It was true. Sparkle's hair was long, sleek, lustrous, its color brownish with red and gold undertones depending on the light.
"Thanks. You have no idea how much money I spend on high-quality hair products, or else it'd look like shit."
"I find it hardly believable."
"Oh, you have no idea, it either looks like a bird's nest, or like someone poured cooking oil on it. ...you sure you want this?" Sparkle added as he sat by Enji, only in his underwear.
"Any oil you've got?"
Sparkle got pink.
"Um, yeah, um. Yeah."
The oil appeared to be a lube actually.
"It can double as a massage oil," said Sparkle, all red. Enji was definitely a bad person if Sparkle's embarrassment made him feel much better with his own insecurities.
"On the couch," he simply replied as he took the towels from Sparkle and spread them on the bed. Sparkle followed the order without any more comments, but Enji noticed how the veins on his throat throbbed, betraying the other man's thumping heart. It was so bizarre to think Sparkle, such a great person, always grinning, always so full of confidence, so likable and popular, would be nervous and excited to be with Enji, of all people. That he probably worried he'd fuck up, that he probably couldn't wait for Enji to touch him. It was so bizarre. And it was so soothing, dispelling, at least to some point, Enji's own worries and nervousness. It was almost as if Enji was a normal person in a normal relationship.
He let his hands wander for some minutes all over Sparkle's back, the feeling of other man's body relaxing and melting into his touch almost intoxicating. Nobody ever enjoyed Enji's touch. Maybe Izuku, but this was a completely different thing. He started to put some strength into his rubbing, started pressing fingers into the knotted muscles, and he heard Sparkle's sighs.
"You're amazing at this." The murmur came. "Much better than my physio, really... You've got an alternative career path here, Enji."
He smiled. "Glad you like it."
"Like it? That is an understatement of the year, Enji," Sparkle sighed again. The sound was doing wonders to Enji's insecurity. So he dared to plant a light kiss on Sparkle's neck. The other man tensed immediately. Stupid idiot, he should have asked for consent.
Sparkle turned to him slightly. "You don't have to do this."
Oh. So Sparkle wasn't irritated.
"I know."
"I mean it."
"Do you hate it?"
"No, but-"
"Then shut up. It's nothing much." He laid another kiss on Sparkle's muscular shoulder.
"Oi." Now Sparkle turned onto his back. "Now you make me want to touch you back."
Enji smiled. "Good."
"You sure?"
"Of course." Enji wasn't sure to what exactly he was agreeing, but he'd agree to anything anyway, he realized. He so badly wanted this date to be a success, even if it was going to be the last one in his whole life.
"Okay. Um, the shirt is in the way?"
Soon they both were almost naked, hands traveling on each other's bodies, light, chaste kisses planted here and there. To his surprise Enji realized his body relaxed far better than after any of the professional massages he had ever had, and they weren't even putting much strength in it. He could clearly see Sparkle liked it too, he could see it in his eyes, in his smile. ...and,well, he could feel it whenever he'd accidentally brush against Sparkle's lower abdomen. A part of Enji felt sort of guilty, felt he should do something about it, but he decided there was no rush. Meanwhile he concentrated on what he was feeling. It was lazy, slow, a lot of gentle stroking, fingers drawing abstract pictures on the bodies, fleeting sensations of lips pressing against the skin. Enji closed his eyes to soak all this in better. He was 37 years old and no one had ever touched him like that. Midoriya had tried, she had, he remembered that, but he had been too buried in his own head back then, too blinded by all the negative emotions raging, to make it work, to help her make it work. Wasn't it pathetic? But he couldn't, perhaps for the first time in many years, bring himself to be bitter about his past, about himself. He felt too good. He felt too happy.
It was so unreal.
888
Enji awakened with a start. For a moment he had no idea where he was, the rare occurrence that immediately alarmed him. Then he recognised the faint scent of Sparkle's shampoo or conditioner or whatever the man was using.
Oh.
Oh shit.
He had fallen asleep.
Fuck. He had fallen asleep in the middle of them petting. He promised himself he'd do something really nice for Sparkle, since it had been hard not to notice the other man had been aroused, and aroused for Enji, and he had fucking fallen asleep. At least Sparkle was also dozing off on Enji's chest.
Another ding came from his phone. Ah, that was what awakened him in the first place. Sparkle stirred and opened one sleepy eye.
"Moving to bed?"
Enji realized he had no idea what time it was. He reached for his phone. It was past 9 PM and there were two texts from his Izuku asking when he would be back and whether everything was okay.
"No, I have to go back to Zuku. It's enough that I wasn't at home last night."
"Ah, okay." Sparkle did his best to smile with understanding for single dad problems, but Enji noticed the disappointment tinting his voice. Something moved uneasily in his heart and he hesitated. His children would always take first place, before everything and everyone, always, and a part of him felt guilty for even hesitating instead of simply rushing back home. But then again, if he wanted things to work with Sparkle, with anyone... In his relationship with Rei everything had been always about their children; since they had appeared on this world he had stopped paying attention to her needs, to her problems in any way other than relating to their kids. That had been a mistake, to say the least. He knew well now that between love and devotion to his kids, and a time and mind consuming work he would have to cut out more space for his romantic partner.
"Hey, don't worry about it," said Sparkle. "Go home. It was an awesome evening. Just, don't fly there, you look like you could fly head first into a skyscraper, tired as you are."
Enji made a decision. He called Izuku.
"Dad, how's work?"
"Um, it's fine, Zuku. But we still have some things to do. Will you be alright for another night?"
"Of course, dad, I'm already seven!" A blatant lie - Izuku might have been seven, but he still loved sleeping with Enji, curled up against dad's much bigger, warm body. Another wave of guilt washed over Enji, but he was determined now to make this date with Sparkle right. There was exactly one person in this whole world that was mad enough to want to be with Enji and he was going to do his best to make it work.
"Okay, then, broccoli boy, see you tomorrow."
"Be back soon! Say hello to Sparkle-san!"
"You really didn't have to," Sparkle looked worried.
"I wanted to. Don't worry, he has good care, Yachie is great with kids."
"Still. I know you're a dad and-"
This was exactly why he so badly wanted this to work. He leaned and planted a chaste kiss on Sparkle's lips.
"Where would I find someone like you? I am so lucky."
Sparkle's eyes widened and his ears got pleasantly pink. He laughed, nevertheless. "We barely had one date! Don't count tanuki's hide, right?", but he seemed so happy with Enji's simple words. His therapist was right, as always, words were important.
"I've known you for years. I couldn't hit better." 'I don't deserve you,' he didn't add.
He didn't think he'd ever seen Sparkle that happy.
888
Enji lifted one heavy lid at the sound of the alarm. He had never been a morning person by nature, it was only the sheer willpower that was making him get up every day early enough to be at the agency at a decent hour. Today was Saturday, so at least-
Ah, shit. His hand was already on his smartphone. Damn, Fuyumi was supposed to come at 9 today and they all were going to Tokyo to see the newest flower garden that had been opened to the public. He set his phone to 7, but did not take into account he would have to allocate some time to going back from Sparkle's to his house. Hopefully Yachie would remember to wake Izuku in time.
"Christ, Enji, it's seven. It's free Saturday. Is this how you live on your free weekends?" yawned Sparkle.
"Sorry," said Enji as he got up and activated his Quirk to clean his body in seconds.
"Now, that's useful. So much time saved on showering," commented Sparkle watching him with interest. If he was watching the Quirk or Enji's naked butt, Enji decided not to dwell upon now.
"We're going to that new botanical in Tokyo with Fuyumi and Izuku."
"Cool, wanted to see it myself."
Enji bit his tongue at the last moment. He shouldn't invite Sparkle to family time yet, after one date. Who knew whether this would last? And he had no idea whether Fuyumi would approve at all that Enji decided to start a new relationship. That is, she was a good person, so she probably would be okay...
"Okay, have fun. Sure you don't want to grab some onigiri?"
"Flying and eating is only good when you want some additional proteins," replied Enji, rolling his eyes.
Sparkle snorted. "True." Then he went serious. "Are you... okay?"
Enji blinked at him, surprised, halfway into his pants. "With what?"
"You really didn't have to."
"I wanted to. It..." It was so satisfying, not in a sexual way for Enji, but still. 37 years old and he had finally managed to... please somebody. "...I liked it. We already talked about it."
"You're so weird," commented Sparkle in a good natured way. "Tongue in your mouth is disgusting, but-"
"Shut up."
Enji finished his rushed dressing up and shot a final look at Sparkle. He opened his mouth, but Sparkle was quicker. "Thanks. It was an amazing date. I loved every minute of it."
Enji of course had to go red, like some teenager first time in love, of course he had to.
"Thanks. I- I meant everything. Let's meet again."
Sparkle started to laugh. "We surely are going to meet again in your agency, boss."
"You know I meant 'date again'. Slip of tongue." It was hard not to have that kind of slip of tongue, if you never used the d word before. "You can drop by my place tomorrow if you're free. We could train together."
"Wow, this is escalating so quickly - yesterday first date, tomorrow meeting your kid!"
"You already know my kid," Enji rolled his eyes again, but couldn't help a small amused smile.
"I'm not sure if this pace of things isn't too much for me!" grinned Sparkle.
"We've known each other for years."
'Yeah, so many years you could have been together, if you never married Rei,' whispered a tiny voice in his head. He shook it away internally. At least he had wonderful kids with Rei, he would never regret that.
He awkwardly planted a kiss on Sparkle's mouth, somehow, ridiculously, feeling a little less brave than yesterday night after some beers, and was off to home.
On his way back he realized his heart never felt as light as now. It was so weird. His son was still dead, he still was a wife-abuser, two of his kids still hated him, he still sucked at people (though maybe a little less than before he had started his therapy), the dim pain was and always would be present in his soul, but he still felt so light. A guilt tugged at the hems of his heart for feeling that way - he did not deserve it, he should not be so happy, with everything he had done. His eldest child was forever denied experiencing falling in love and first dates, because of him, after all. He really shouldn't feel that happy. But for the first time in his life he didn't have it in himself to let his guilt and self disdain mar positive feelings. What did the therapist say? That he had to be good for himself to be better for others?
Before he could finish his pondering he was landing in his garden.
"Hey, Zuku!" he called the boy changing into clothes carefully chosen by Yachie.
"Dad!"
They've eaten a quick breakfast, Izuku peppering him with questions about the case on which they were supposedly working with Sparkle, Enji answering guiltily and vaguely, hating lying to the boy. Before they finished he heard Fuyumi's happy voice and they both rushed to hug her tightly and got a beaming, warm smile in response. God, she had changed so much over those couple of years. He was smiling for her, hugging her, praising her, saying how much he loved her a lot, and it really worked wonders. She no longer was the same frightened, stiff, nervous child that used to live with him before. It did pain. It was proof of how terrible a father he had been. But it also made him happy he had been able to, hopefully, apparently, undo the damage. And especially today his heart seemed particularly prone to concentrate on an optimistic future, rather than grim past.
"You look particularly cheerful today, dad." Fuyumi of course noticed, as Kurumada was taking them to the train station.
Enji and cheerful? Nobody had ever called him that before.
"Um, well, I'm happy to be here with you two."
Fuyumi's eyes narrowed a bit scrutinizingly.
"You're smiling a lot." Was he? "Did something happen?"
He felt nervous. Would she gue-
"Are you dating someone?"
Of course he froze, betraying the secret. Of course he would. Unbelievable. He managed to keep this from his kids for exactly, what, four days and one date?
"Really, dad?!" She sounded surprised and happy.
"What, you're dating someone, dad? Why didn't you tell me?" pouted Izuku. "Wait, is that Sparkle-san? Were you sleeping with him tonight?"
"Izuku, you're seven!" uttered Enji, absolutely horrified.
"Is that why you lied to me? Because I'm too young to hear about sex?"
"You're seven," Enji whispered, completely devastated. What kind of parent he was if his seven years old kid knew about sex already? And he knew nothing about that fact?
Fuyumi looked completely enthralled by the spectacle, grinning mercilessly.
"Is that why you lied, dad? That's really not nice! I'm not a little kid anymore, dad! I know about a lot of stuff!" Izuku pouted some more.
"Okay," Enji took a deep breath. "Um. Who told you about... these things?"
"We read with Tenya on Wikipedia."
Of course they did.
"Um, you want to... ask something?" Enji wished Fuyumi would stop grinning madly, it was horrible enough without her amusement.
Izuku shrugged, "It was boring. It's more interesting with mantises," he added to Enji's growing horror. Other kids had not- or had they? Had they asked about sex so early, but he simply had not known about it? They wouldn't have come to him, after all... Had he himself known about sex when he was seven? "Anyway, is Sparkle-san your boyfriend?"
Enji felt he was growing pink, small flames igniting all over his head.
"Y-yeah."
Izuku's eyes widened. "Sparkle's gonna be my dad too?!"
"Um, we just had one date, Zuku. But I... hope so?"
"Dad, oh pleease, I want Sparkle to be my dad, pleeeease! He's so cool! He always plays with me and teaches me and he's so funny and he's a great hero!"
"Izuku," said Fuyumi kindly. "You have to give dad and Sparkle-san a little time. They both are great, but it... takes something special for people to get married."
Izuku frowned. "But Sparkle-san is so awesome, dad!"
"Um, I'm going to do my best, Izuku."
"Me too!" replied Izuku most eagerly as he started to type fervently on his phone. Definitely sharing the grand news with Tenya.
"Izuku is always saying such sweet things about Sparkle. He seems an extremely nice hero in the media, too" Fuyumi looked at him curiously.
"He is... he is great. I... I really don't know why he likes me."
"I hope it is going to work for you, dad. You really are... emanating happiness today," she smiled approvingly.
"Thanks, Fuyumi," he mumbled, a little awkwardly. A text came and he glanced at his phone. It was Sparkle. Speak of the devil...
'Your Izuku is the best wingman ever 3 :D'
Enji sighed. "Zuku, what did you text him?"
888
It was an exceptionally lazy day. It was 2 PM and he already was completely out of work – no mails, no reports, no requests or applications, even the patrol proved to be completely uneventful. And Sparkle was in Okinawa, having taken a cooperation request and using the opportunity to visit his family. Truly nothing was left to do here, realized Enji with some suspicion. It was too good. And what was the day? Ah, Wednesday. Izuku was leaving the school at two today. So perfect. Too perfect.
Well, whatever's gonna fuck up, 's gonna fuck up anyway, so he can as well use the never happening opportunity to pick up Izuku after school. He always ended his shifts hours after Izuku finished his lessons, and was long back home, or spending after school time with Tenya, or was already in his agency, eagerly learning what he could at his age.
"I'm leaving," he informed Uryu. "Call me if anything arises." With this he was off, rushing towards Izuku's primary. He was just nearing the school when he noticed his boy and... Katsuki Bakugou. Their relations were supposed to be better recently, as his Izuku claimed, boys even training together after school, apparently. However...
...however this did not look like training.
Enji crouched down on the nearest roof and observed, feeling his blood pressure and body temperature raising as he recognised the familiar, hateful voice of the blond.
"...bullshitty failure, that's what you are!"
His Izuku replied nothing to this, his eyes firmly on the ground, approaching Katsuki in an attempt to pass him. The blond was blocking his way towards Enji's agency.
"Don't you try to ignore me, Deku!" The explosion ignited in one of Katsuki's hands and he could see the slightest flinch his boy made. He should be there in a second, but he found himself frozen to the spot, anger boiling too hot for him to get there right now. It would not end well. He had to calm himself down.
Izuku continued forward in silence.
"You little bitch, you'll never be a hero, maybe your daddy will buy you your hero license and pay people to watch your back, but you'll never be a real hero. And you'll never best me, you bastard! ...OI!" Katsuki's face twisted in ever more anger, as Izuku tried to walk past him. "Don't you ignore me!" The explosion hit his Izuku right into legs, sending his boy on the ground.
Enji didn't even register having jumped down.
Katsuki shrank back a little, but his face was the same relentless fury Enji had seen a moment ago.
"Dad!" Came Izuku's voice somewhere through the haze of his blood rushing, thumping, burning him up. "Dad, wait! We're just-"
"...training, I know," he finished coldly.
"Dad, I-"
"It's okay, Izuku," he said, his voice soft, dripping with venom. "It's okay, you're a good kid, I know. You wanted to protect this piece of trash."
"Dad!"
"I'm not a piece of trash, you cheati-" Katsuki stopped as Enji raised one of his hands, his flames blazing all around his body.
"DAD!"
Of course, he wouldn't burn the kid. He wasn't stupid to go that far even if the little monster deserved it, even if his anger blazed as it hadn't blazed in years, whispering to him, tempting, clouding his mind. But seeing the little shit scared was satisfying enou-
"Fuck you! Fuck you both! You're both losers!" shouted Katsuki to his surprise, despite the clear fear visible in blond's eyes. Apparently the boy was even more retarded than expected. Enji moved slowly towards him, and one thing he had to give the little bastard was that he didn't move back. He was like a tiny dog, barking loudly and relentlessly at everything it feared.
"You're so finished," he said quietly as he got close enough to tower over the boy. "Your hero career, your family life. You'll learn to pay for trying to fuck my boy up. It's going to be a precious lesson from Number Two hero you'll get for free. I'm that kind of a charitable man."
He turned away from Katsuki to find Izuku just behind him, tears in his eyes.
"Dad..." his boy croaked pleadingly. It was an almost inhuman effort to quell his flames.
"We're going home, Izuku. You don't worry about a thing," he tried to speak in a calm, soothing voice. He reached out to Izuku and the boy took his hand with head hanging low, dejected. They were walking slowly towards his residence, Enji taking his time to calm down and hoping the very same time would clear Izuku's mind too.
It was more than half an hour later that Enji finally broke the silence.
"I know you wanted to protect him, Izuku." He felt so angry at himself. He had known Izuku sometimes was bringing back burns and scrapes from school that evidently had looked like Katsuki's Quirk. Why had he been buying Izuku's words? Probably because it had never occurred to him the boy might lie to him. So stupid. "But this is not the right way. If someone doesn't react now, it will be tougher for him to change later. And he might actually truly ruin his hero career one day."
"So... you're not going to do it?" asked Izuku hopefully.
"...no. He's just a kid. All this is his parents' responsibility. However it cannot be ignored. I shall speak with your aunt."
"So... you're not going to make him expelled?"
"...no. But if I don't react at all, Zuku, some other parent of a bullied kid may, and he will, indeed, be expelled."
"He just-" Izuku abruptly fell quiet.
"He just?"
"It- it's not a big deal, dad. I'm so sorry I lied to you. But it really... It really is like training. Learning to deal with pain, and to react to- to control your emotions, um."
This was horrible. And there was something familiar in it, something Enji-like, and, unsurprisingly for Enji-like features, it wasn't good.
He crouched down by Izuku.
"Zuku, love. This is very important, what you are talking about. Learning to react to physical pain and to hurtful words aiming to provoke you is very important. However, training must be done supervised by someone experienced. Or else you can end up seriously hurt, Izuku."
"Cause I'm Quirkless?" Enji's heart squeezed. He had thought they had worked this through. But obviously the boy must have been hearing hurtful words about his lack of Quirk a lot from the little bastard.
"No, Izuku. I told you even with Quirk you can hurt yourself badly. I have told you that Touya died that way, right?"
Izuku looked conscience-stricken now. "I- I'm so sorry, dad. But I wouldn't die! I promise you I won't die!" Enji took his boy into his arms.
"It's okay. Just... talk to me about these things, okay? You can tell me."
There was some silence as the two of them remained in a tight hug.
"...I don't want Kacchan in trouble, dad."
"I'll do only what's good for him, I promise."
888
Bakugou was clearly surprised to see him on her doorstep. Even though she still called them regularly, if not too often, they hadn't visited each other for more than a year. "Todoroki-san, what brings you here?" Then she frowned, as she took a better look at his grim face.
"Let's speak inside."
She let him in and he noticed the boy hovering around the stairs on the second floor.
"I thought I have made myself clear that you should seek a specialist to help you with Katsuki," he said coldly, right to the point.
"And I thought I have made myself clear you should stop behaving like you possess all the parenting knowledge there is," she snarled back.
He'd bet he heard snickering from upstairs. It didn't bother him, he knew in a moment nobody shall be snickering in this household.
"Your Katsuki is completely out of line. You have absolutely no control on his behavior-"
"This is bulls-"
But Enji wouldn't be stopped, not now, not anymore. He might have reached some semblance of calm, for the sake of his emotions not driving him astray from his plan, but the fury was still there, underneath, burning white.
"-and your pathetic parenting methods will destroy the boy, and may destroy other vulnerable kids too."
"What the he-"
"I shall not let him bully my Izuku. You will see a specialist, both for you and for the boy, or Katsuki is not only out of his school, not only can forget about his hero dream, but I shall send social services to your house, take the matter to the court, and make sure they're going to take him away from your abusement." That was a ghastly, revolting, monstrous thing to say, Enji knew it well. He knew how he had felt when he had lost his kids. He knew that drawing this particular vile weapon against anyone proved that there indeed was a part of him that was villainous, that was evil. But he wouldn't hesitate now. It was for Katsuki's sake, horrible as it might seem. And for Izuku's sake. He would never let anyone hurt his boy. Not yet at least, since he had no delusion that one day, grown up life will bring his child a lot of pain and sadness, because that was what life did to everyone. But not yet.
Bakugou went white as a sheet, staring at him as if not comprehending his words. He heard thunderous steps rushing down the stairs and little Katsuki was in seconds with them, throwing hands full of explosions at Enji, who didn't even flinch.
"YOU FUCKER! YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME AWAY FROM MY MUM! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU-"
Bakugou snapped back to reality.
"Katsuki, back to your room!" she shouted.
Enji liked Katsuki's reaction. Apparently the boy loved his mother, so she couldn't be that bad. Enji hated his own.
"I AM NOT GOING NOWHERE, I'LL KILL HIM, I'LL-"
"GO TO YOUR ROOM!" She raised a hand at Katsuki and hesitated. The hand never dropped. Good. She looked back at Enji.
"You. You get out of my house," she hissed venomously. "Never ever fucking take a single step in here, you understand?!"
He snorted. "I will if I wish to. With social services."
"You. Won't. Take my child away!" Her fists were clenched, pupils so dilated you could not see the ruby of her irises, teeth barred ugly. "I'll never let you do it! Over my dead body!"
Enji kept calm. "I am a licensed hero. I did it many times before. Saving kids from their parents. I'll do it again. That's my job."
"Get the fuck out of my house!"
"You remember my words. You beat up your kid again, and I'll take him away."
"Get. OUT!"
He left. He didn't feel happy about what he did, he felt disgusted at the threats he had made, but if it could make Bakugou finally rethink her methods, then it was worth it, even it meant losing friendship of people who were dear to Izuku and who helped him a lot in those difficult first weeks after Izuku had moved into his house.
He sighed. All this reminded him why he hated his job. But even more he hated that people kept making this job necessary.
888
Days turned into weeks of Enji being in a proper romantic relationship. It was so new and surreal. He would receive texts from Sparkle during his shift when Sparkle was out on patrol and Enji sitting in his office. Texts like 'I miss you, big guy', 'The day is beautiful, can't wait for lunch with you on the roof!', 'What awful weather, wanna be by your side asap'. And he would stare at each one of them for minutes, always, without fail, before texting back, typing something similar, feeling even more surreal writing things like 'Miss you too', 'Your hair must be amazing in this sun', 'We're gonna cuddle at home'. Cuddle. The word did not exist in his dictionary before Izuku. Now Sparkle joined the little circle of people that were capable of making him... what? More like a normal person.
It was so weird.
It wasn't like anything he had experienced before.
He loved it so much.
Of course, some things hadn't changed. He was sitting before Touya's butsudan everyday. Fuyumi was still the only Rei's child willing to see him. What he had done to Rei would never change either. So the dull pain was always there, always tinting everything he felt, but still a space for feeling happiness seemed to have been created in him, even if tainted with guilt. But he knew they deserved better than him sulking, drowning in the past, they did, Izuku, Fuyumi, Sparkle. So he would let himself be happy.
"Alright, wanna add anything?" Aizawa's voice brought him back to reality.
"Ah, no."
"Were you even paying attention?" asked the insolent young hero.
"Of course. I wouldn't get where I got without having the ability to multiprocess," he spat back without any malice.
"I have to head back home then. Got a patrol tonight."
"You still could eat out with us," grinned Sparkle.
"Trust me, I'd prefer that, but Mic said if I won't meet him today for dinner, he'll come drag me himself," Aizawa sighed. Enji felt sorry for him. Mic was the worst type of extraverted friend, as far as Enji could judge from the underground hero's stories, the most horrifying thing that could happen to an introvert like Aizawa.
"Alright. Thank you as usual."
"Thank you, Eraser Head-sensei!" came the unison of Izuku's and Tenya's high voices.
Aizawa nodded and left.
"And you're visiting your grandma today, right, Tenya?"
Tenya saddened. "Yes, she... the doctors say not to worry, but I can see they are too grave."
Enji didn't know what to reply. He hated empty reassurances, promises everything would go well, when you had no idea what the future could bring.
"We all hope she will get better soon, Tenya," replied Sparkle with a kind smile.
"Yes, I hope so too," said Tenya, his shoulders a little hung, completely unlike his usual posture. Poor boy. He was such a family kid, it had to pain him so much to see his grandma in hospital.
Kurumada appeared in the training courtyard.
"Tensei Iida-sama has come to pick young Iida-sama," he announced.
Both boys exchanged quick hugs and warm goodbyes, and soon Enji was again left only with his tiny family. It was much smaller than the family he had been used to, but it also was much more serene and affectionate than he had been used to.
"So, Amerikan Doriimu?"
"YES!" shouted Izuku enthusiastically. Enji sighed internally. Well, at least Amerikan Doriimu had food of the highest quality, so he'd survive.
"And then Mono no Aware?" added Sparkle looking straight into Enji's eyes, reading his mind as usual.
Enji swallowed. "We're all gonna get so fat," he commented just for the sake of maintaining his image of a man treating his body like a temple.
"Mono no Aware it is," grinned Sparkle to Izuku's enthusiastic jumps.
Couple of hours later Enji was halfway through his double portion of "Chocolate Fantasy'', though it probably should rather be called "Diabetes Fantasy". Still he couldn't make himself regret a single spoonful. The thing immutably had always been better than sex. He had been coming here for years, first with Rei's kids, then with Izuku, had this dessert hundreds of times, and his opinion about it was immovable.
"I'm gonna burst, I will," sighed Sparkle from over his "Fudge Mountain".
"Should have eaten less in AD."
"Never," chuckled Sparkle. "These muscles need energy to be maintained, right, Izuku?"
"Of course!"
"Sure, I'm cert-" he stopped dead in his tracks, his whole body freezing.
Sparkle immediately went serious. "A villain?" he asked very lowly, hand immediately on Izuku's shoulder.
"No," he whispered hoarsely as his eyes fixed on the group of people who just entered his favorite cafe. Well, it used to be their favorite cafe too. No wonder they finally came here. Every time he had been coming here with Izuku he had been wondering if they wouldn't be here. Now, they finally came.
"Oh," said Sparkle as his eyes followed Enji's, who immediately dropped his. They wouldn't want him to stare at them. They wouldn't want him being here at all.
Enji drilled his stare into his dessert, all the appetite gone in a second. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but his ears strained against his will, and he could hear their low conversation. Apparently they noticed him too.
"...so what? We can eat wherever we want. I don't wanna never eat here, because he always eats here!" It was his Natsuo.
"I don't wanna eat here," came the pouting voice of his Shouto.
"Shouto, don't you want 'Strawberry Crown'? You love it, remember?" Fuyumi's voice, conciliatory as always.
"Shouto, sweetheart. Both your sister and brother very much want to eat here. We're going to sit on the second floor, okay?" This was Rei.
Enji's view blurred. When was the last time he cried?...It had been his first Saturday with Fuyumi, yeah. Since that time the pain sometimes intensified enough to force him to choose between anger and sadness, and his therapist taught him to choose sadness, but it never was to the point of actually crying. But hearing his children's voices so near, speaking about how to deal with the fact their hateful father happened to be in the same place, deciding to sit as far as they could, treating him as-
"I think I'm full," said Sparkle gently.
"Yeah, me too," immediately replied Izuku, watching Enji.
Enji forced himself to get a grip. "Don't be ridiculous," he said hoarsely. "Let's stay."
"Nah, we're gonna get too fat, right, Izuku?"
"Yes, I don't want to be fatter than Tenya-kun!" They both were smiling, but he could see their worried glances aimed at him, their smiles were miles from genuine ones. He decided he didn't have it in him to argue further.
"Okay, let's go then."
He had paid on autopilot, all his consciousness fixed on his kids' presence here, on the fact that Fuyumi did not say 'hello' (of course she wouldn't, they probably hated the fact she was meeting him at all, she wouldn't want to make it worse, to make a scene, they hated him after all), on the image burned out in his mind of his Shouto and Natsuo, so much bigger, it had been two years, it had, and Natsuo seemed to look more and more like him despite having white hair and steely eyes, and on the pain, pain, no longer dull, pain intense as if he just lost them yesterday, and he hated himself, oh, he hated himself so much.
He didn't even know where Sparkle had led them until he found himself seated on a bench at the small shrine nearby, hidden from passersby' gazes, from the noise of a big town, among beautiful flowers, some of them Rei's favorites-
He finally broke into sobbing, hating himself for ruining Sparkle's and Izuku's afternoon, hating himself for ruining his children's childhood, hating himself for ruining his wife's marriage, hating himself for everything he had ever fucked up in his life.
Two pairs of arms encircled him the best they could, never an easy feat with Enji's posture, and he could feel their hands – one pair big and strong, second small and weaker, stroking him gently, reminding him there still were people to live for.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't be stupid," said Sparkle as he kissed one of Enji's hands covering his wet face.
"It's okay to cry," his Izuku assured him.
"Sorry," he repeated, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I don't know why I... reacted like that, sorry."
"Oh, god, Enji. These are your kids. And you're a good guy-"
"Yeah, you're a good dad now!"
"-it would be much stranger if you didn't react like that."
Enji started to wipe out his eyes and then recalled he had a fire Quirk, goddammit, he and his stupid emotions, making him incapable of thinking, so he raised his temperature, evaporating all the tears.
"It's really okay, Enji. You can cry all you want. It is better."
"Yeah, mum always said there is nothing wrong with crying."
Yeah, Izuku's mum was dead. His boy would never see her again. And yet, he wasn't crying anymore, like stupid Enji whose family was still alive. There was still a future for them. Even if they hated Enji, Enji would always be there if they ever needed anything.
And there was also Fuyumi, the child that didn't hate him.
(And there was also Touya, who was dead, dead because of him).
The pain screamed again in his chest. The arms tightened around him again.
"It's okay, Enji. It really is okay. You don't have to be tough all the time for us."
"Yeah, dad, you were with me when I was crying after mum, I'm gonna be with you too now!"
"...I love you both so much," he croaked and started crying again, stupid idiot that he was.
888
Weeks started turning into months. Sparkle would send him small warm smiles during their shifts (funnily, their schedule was awfully similar, he suspected it wasn't an accident), they would eat their lunches together, Enji would casually mention Sparkle can come over for dinner, to Izuku's joy, they'd check Izuku's homework together, watch some series together, train together, discuss everyday events together, and soon it was dark, and it was pointless for Sparkle to get back home, he could just fly with Enji to agency in the morning, it would be quicker, less waste of time, right? It was like that almost every day and at some point Enji realized Sparkle had pretty much moved in. It was a surprisingly quick pace, but then again they knew each other for such a long time, and Enji didn't mind, and Sparkle didn't mind, and Enji was so happy with this new family life he got, the dinner table no longer only him, Izuku, and Yachie who loved Izuku, but had seen and remembered how Enji had been treating Rei (Enji saw it in her eyes, always polite but with clearly visible cold distance towards a huge man that had been abusing his slender, sad wife). Sparkle was only one person more, but somehow he managed to fill the void just the right way – two parents and a kid, like it should be. Of course, Enji would always ache after his boys, and he would never, could never forgive himself Touya, but somehow it was hard not to be happy despite the dull pain that was his constant companion.
The months were passing like that, with this little happy family, and before Enji realized, he was on the plane to Okinawa, to properly meet Sparkle's mum and grandma, nervous as hell, even though he had been speaking with them plenty of times already, Sparkle calling them on video chat everyday, and dragging reluctant and horribly self conscious Enji into it. They were absolutely kind and sweet towards him during those conversations, but he knew what he was in their eyes – a cheater. Who would want a cheater for their beloved single son? So he was pretty sure they were so kind, because Sparkle was there - they wouldn't say a word in presence of their boy who was so obviously blindly infatuated with Enji. In their house however? They'd find the moment to tell him what they really think, to warn him against hurting Sparkle.
But it didn't happen. They treated him like being their boy's boyfriend automatically had made him into their boy too, and he was hugged, and stroked, and warmly smiled at, called ' their little one' (Enji many times bigger than them both combined, but there was not a trace of mockery in their voices), and stuffed with horrible Okinawan food and delicious Okinawan sweets and fruits, and even made completely drunk for the first time in his life (first time in his life! And it had to be on his first visit to his boyfriends' family! He agonized over this horribly to Sparkle's amusement and Sparkle's grandma's – whose fault it had been – smugness that she had better head than a hero from Kantou) and.. ...and he didn't know family meetings could be like this. Relaxed, non judgemental, supportive, kind. It made sense how Sparkle had become such a great human being.
And before he realized he was staring at a ring he had spotted while shopping with Fuyumi, a ring so perfect for them – the color so close to Sparkle's hair, the metal twinkling slightly, reminding him of Sparkle's Quirk, and the whole ring formed in a shape of flames. Fuyumi of course noticed that - it was hard not to with Enji standing there transfixed, feeling stupid, since buying a ring seemed like jinxing things, with Enji's horrible luck - and she of course dragged him inside and made him buy one. Actually two, cause he wanted them both to wear them, matching. Actually four, cause he panicked they might lose one of them. Actually five, just in fucking goddamn case. Fuyumi lost her supportive composure at that point and she'd been laughing at him the whole afternoon. And somehow he ended up with goddamn five rings, one always in his pocket, just in some stupid case of who knew what, cause it wasn't like he'd ever gather courage to a-
"So, aren't you getting married?" asked Izuku.
Enji choked on his tea. Fuyumi seemed amused. Sparkle grinned. "I don't know. Are we, Enji?"
Enji felt horrified, his heart thumping in his broad chest, resounding as it was ten times bigger than it actually was.
"Is this horror on your face a 'omg never marry again' type of horror or 'what to say not to make Sparkle run away' type of horror?" chuckled Sparkle.
"It's not nice to make fun of socially dysfunctional people," Enji got a grip, even if his heart rate was still as elevated as a goddamn tepui.
"I'd love to marry you, Enji, but if you don't want it, it's okay too," said Sparkle simply. Enji was always so grateful he kept things straightforward, plain, easy for Enji to understand, not letting Enji spiral into pessimistic scenarios.
Still, this was the moment, right? Some part of him, a part he'd fervently deny existed, always imagined in the back of his mind it is going to be in some special circumstances, not during the normal Saturday family dinner.
"Um, yes, I want to. Um, let's do it right," he reached for his kinchaku to get the ring. This was so surreal. However the moment Sparkle saw the box he protested, "Oh, no, no, no."
"What?" Now Enji was utterly confused. Did he somehow misunderstand Sparkle?
"No, we're doing it properly. We have an anniversary in a couple of months, and I want you to propose to me like in the movies, during our trip to France, in some unbelievably romantic French garden among roses and stuff."
Enji blinked. "You idiot. You almost broke my heart for a second there."
"You should have known better than that. I'd never break that fragile, sensitive heart of yours."
"...s'not sensitive."
"Sure."
Then he noticed Izuku pouting. "What's wrong, Zuku?"
"But I wanted to be there. While you propose."
Ah. He had decided not to take Izuku with them on their anniversary trip. Enji had read it was a common mistake for single parents to force their new partners to spend all the time with their kids, forgetting they might want some time alone, only with their lover.
"Izuku, the anniversary is a very special time for two people in love, we have talked about it, remember?" said Fuyumi kindly. Ah, so Izuku had been complaining to her they didn't want to take him? It was really hard not to feel guilty towards his little boy.
"I know," murmured Izuku dejectedly. "But I won't see dad proposing, with a ring, on the knee, and everything. Wanted to take a photo." He sounded so unhappy it pained.
"Sorry, Izuku, lo-" he felt a kick under the table. He stared at Sparkle.
"Maybe we could take both Fuyumi and Izuku?"
Enji blinked, surprised.
"That way we could spend some time together, all of us, and some time we could spend only the two of us, while the kids would do something fun."
That would sound like a perfect plan if not for one little detail Sparkle, a single child, didn't understand. It wasn't Fuyumi's duty to look after Izuku. Enji would absolutely never drag her to Europe as his kid's babysitter. But if Sparkle wasn't against taking Izuku with a babysitter...
"We can take Yachie with us. It's her job after all."
To his surprise now Fuyumi looked displeased. "I can take as good care of Izuku as Yachie," she claimed.
"Love, I can buy you a trip to Europe anytime you want. You don't need to come with us," assured her Enji.
"Ah, so only Izuku will get to see you propose."
Enji fell quiet, not getting anything anymore. Sparkle was grinning into his Pepsi.
"I'm not- It's not like- I just thought you- You know I don't want to burden you with anything, Fuyumi."
"Izuku is not a burden, he's my brother, and I love spending my time with him."
Izuku beamed.
Enji sighed. "So what, I'm the bad guy now, cause I didn't want my kids to go with us?" he mumbled irritably. And he had been so proud of himself when he had told Sparkle they're going to France together, only the two of them, he had been so proud he had overcome his need to take Izuku with him everywhere.
"Well, you did not want to take me," pointed out Izuku accusingly.
"Your dad loves to drag you with him everywhere, you know that. He just thought I might want to have more space, right?"
Enji did not reply, feeling overwhelmingly irritated and frustrated. He just wanted to balance things out, and now Izuku was thinking Enji considered him an obstacle in his life.
"Enji, stop sulking. We know you meant well."
Enji uttered a noncommittal murmur.
"Izuku, our dad just wanted to devote one week only to Sparkle-san to show him that he doesn't love you more than he loves him."
"I do love you more than anything, children," Enji protested before he could bite off his own goddamn stupid tongue. It was the truth, it was right and normal, but maybe shoving it into Sparkle's face wasn't the most considerate thing to do, he thought belatedly. "I mean I love Sparkle a lot too, I mean-"
"Enji, stop fretting," smiled Sparkle. "And Izuku, your dad will never smile again if you won't forgive him."
"I'm not angry!" replied Izuku indignantly. "I could never be angry with dad! It's okay if you want to go on a trip together, but I just wanted to see the proposal, like in those movies, and I wanna throw petals during your marriage, too!"
"Okay, you will, I promise," Enji had no idea in which culture kids were throwing petals during marital ceremony, but if his Izuku wanted to do it, he would do it. Izuku beamed. Enji got red as suddenly the whole conversation hit him fully. He was discussing marriage. Another marriage. With Sparkle. He suddenly was certain something would go wrong. It had to go wrong. It couldn't be like that, not with Enji.
"Hey," said Sparkle gently.
"Sorry, I just- It's just- I'm just scared life can't be this good," he admitted quietly.
"It can. It will be. I promise."
He shot a glance at Sparkle and met with loving, warm eyes. Both of his children were looking at them fondly. So, maybe... maybe Sparkle was right. Maybe it would be okay. If he believed in God, he'd pray for that everyday.
"I love you all very much," he murmured awkwardly, receiving even wider, more affectionate smiles, seeing on their faces clearly the feeling was mutual. He discreetly evaporated the moisture in his eyes.
"So, Sparkle-san, so if dad is the one proposing, what about your ring?" asked Fuyumi with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"You- you have a ring too?"
Fuyumi covered her amused smile with her glass of juice.
"Well, of course."
888
Notes:
Yeah, Enji's still has some issues with accepting his asexuality, it's just him, not me (I'm ace too).
Also hope the scene in cafe doesn't clash too much with the narration, but I just wanted to remind you can never really get over the fact your child died because of you, like ever, the pain might seem somewhere in the back, but then something happens and you lose control and cry.