"Parallel Processing!" Deku Chirps. He Proceeds To Blather On At The Reporter Until Bakugou Slaps A Hand

"Parallel processing!" Deku chirps. He proceeds to blather on at the reporter until Bakugou slaps a hand over his mouth and drolly condenses it down.

"He figured some shit out the last time we worked under Endeavour, and he's hopin' to do it again."

"And what about you?" The reporter asks.

Bakugou Katsuki sneers.

"That old man can't teach me shit."

Then why, Enji wonders, are you here?

The impromptu interrogation only gets worse from there, until Deku steps in, gently stealing the reporter's microphone and pretending to interview Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight himself.

Bakugou has a little more patience for Midoriya than for the general population, but Midoriya soon says something that makes Bakugou shout, lunging for the 'little shit' and causing the green-haired boy to duck behind Shouto with a grin.

Bakugou does not immediately shove Shouto out of the way, which says a lot about how much he respects Enji's son if you know him well.

Enji has been obliged to know Bakugou Katsuki a lot more than he cares for.

The boy is the most irritating person in all of creation. However, in the past, if you had taken Shouto off the table and asked Endeavour to, objectively, choose the child most like himself, Bakugou Katsuki is, reluctantly, the one he would have chosen.

Enji knows better, now.

Midoriya Izuku hides it well behind his smile, but the boy is driven by a wrath equal to Endeavour at his worst.

All Might does not understand how badly it could have turned out. Nor, Enji believes, does he truly appreciate how lucky they are that Bakugou Katsuki was able to be salvaged. That the boy saved All Might’s life is irrelevant; it’s what would have happened when the battle was over and Midoriya was forced to face a world without his ‘Kacchan’ in it.

A world in which in he had failed to save everyone.

Deku, like Endeavour, is driven by a singular furious ambition. That he believes that he wants to save everyone for everyone, well...

Well. Enji's self-delusions were never half so grand, but in the end...

In the end, all is well. Bakugou Katsuki got back up, Deku came down on Shigaraki like the wrath of God, society was saved, and Endeavour is still granted the title of 'hero' by the public.

Endeavour is still granted the title of hero by the public. Todoroki Enji has faced no true punishment for the things he did to his sons... And his daughter...

It's hard to tell, sometimes, with Fuyumi. She has always put on a smile for him, and in the past Enji had not cared enough to look further into how she might be feeling. Or listen, on the rare occasion that Fuyumi dared to open her mouth, to how he was hurting them.

He should... apologise to her as well.

Natsuo meanwhile has gone no contact, as is his prerogative, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt. Enji would have liked to meet the young woman who had caught his eye, and just generally…

Well. Natsuo is still speaking to Rei, so he isn’t totally devoid of the parental support long owed him, and Rei is kind enough to let Enji know that their son is doing well.

…

Enji has never deserved that woman. He should have let her be from the start, should never have dragged anyone else into his obsession, should have simply been a better man, but it’s not like he has a time machine.

It’s just another reason that he must live his life in atonement. He will draw the heat, he will draw the fire and, God willing, his family will be able to live in peace.

Away from him.

------

There’s one more member of the mess that Enji made, and he is farther now from Enji’s reach than all the rest.

Todoroki Touya, Dabi, the flame villain, succumbed to his injuries six months after the total defeat of the League of Villains.

It was much longer than any of the doctors had predicted. Enji did not find it within himself to be surprised. All of his children had inherited his stubbornness in one form or another.

At least this time they all got to say a proper goodbye, not that Touya had seemed to appreciate it. He’d spat insults at them and swore to come back to haunt them as Dabi once again.

But this time there was no Garaki and his cursed miracles. Todoroki Touya was turned to ash for the final time.

Enji still visits him regularly, as he’d promised, and thinks of how things could have been.

------

When Enji shakes himself off and glances over, Bakugou and Shouto are still engaged in a standoff and the reporter is taking advantage of the stillness to try and get their microphone back from Midoriya.

Midoriya, without looking like he's doing it on purpose, shifts the microphone to his other hand and leans over to Shouto's other side.

Enji has been obliged to know Midoriya far too well as well. Somehow this particular reporter has pissed the boy off, likely when they were questioning Bakugou earlier.

Midoriya is quietly, obsessively, over-protective of the lauded Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, final defeater of All for One.

The reporter is not going to get their microphone back.

It doesn't matter. Endeavour can afford ten thousand microphones, if need be, and there are worse ways to show your displeasure. So long as the boy doesn't make a habit of it, it's barely Enji's problem.

It's time to wrap this up.

"Shouto." He calls.

His son doesn't look away from where he is staring blandly into Bakugou's eyes. That's... Fine. Enji's lucky that he wanted to do his work study with him in the first place.

"Deku! Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight!"

Bakugou doesn’t offer him so much as a side-eye. Midoriya is the only one to make it look like he's giving Endeavour his attention, but he is almost certainly paying more mind to the reporter's repeated attempts to snatch back their microphone.

"We need to complete our patrols. Thank everyone for their time and follow me."

Midoriya gives the reporter and their cameraman a signature Deku smile. He speaks into the microphone before holding it out to Shouto and Bakugou in turn.

Bakugou reacts like he's been handed a live rat. Someone will need to beat interview protocols into his head before he graduates, but it's not something Enji has ever particularly cared for either. It can be UA's job. It should be UA's job.

…

Enji resigns himself to an unpleasant attempt at conversation with the boy later, and turns to fire away. There's a boom and a crackle and a hiss behind him.

It’s time to go.