Work Text:
Are you seriously that fucking naïve?
You had the audacity to play the part of a heartbroken father, pretending the tear that slid down your cheek was real and not just a ploy. The audacity to not only destroy me but to destroy my siblings as well. The audacity to call me a failed experiment and cast me aside, throwing two others into the garbage until you had the "perfect" one. And then you had the audacity to abuse the shit out of him.
I looked up to you, you know. I used to. For those first few years, you were my shining father, the best dad I could ever ask for. A leading hero, one of the strongest in all of Japan, maybe even the world. I could look at you and be proud. I could say "that's my dad. that man, that strong hero, a hero who doesn't lose, that's my dad", but that clearly didn't last for long. You got bored of me.
Like a bratty child, you loved me until you broke me, and demanded a replacement. You watched as I burned alive from the inside out, like a witch at the stake, on trial for false crimes. You watched my skin char and peel, watched me bleed through the bandages, watched me fall apart. You let your son kill himself, and you still had the audacity to cry. I wanted to be like you so much that I destroyed myself to be like you. But you weren't satisfied with that. You weren't satisfied with me . I wasn't enough for you.
I was barely fifteen when I set myself on fire for what you thought would be the final time.
You know, I actually feel bad for Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shoto. It's not like we really knew Shoto, but he's still our brother, right?
Almost every night, I went crying to Natsuo. And Fuyumi took over the role of oldest when I could no longer hold the burden on my shoulders. And Shoto endured the most of your abuse, possibly the worst of all.
Do you even remember, Enji?
Do you want to know why I joined the League of Villains? Because they didn't take one look at me and decide that I wasn't good enough. Even when they didn't appear to care, I know they did.
Do you care?
You say I abandoned you, but in reality, you killed me. You threw me away and then threw a fit when you couldn't find me in the trash bin. Life sucks sometimes, sure, but I'm happier than I ever was with you.
I found a family of my own.
And although you seemed to hold no love for me, something in the pit of my heart always wanted me to come back here and say all the things I left unsaid, burned up with what you thought was all my ashes.
Even when the League failed, we tried again.
We've been through so much together. Friends and family. We've ta ken care of each other, watched each other's backs, even when it almost got us killed. We knew that sacrifice was necessary to live the lives we wanted to live.
The beauty of the League is that you'll never find anything like us.
Tomura, who was cast out at the age of four, maybe five, and raised by the worst villain in history, but hasn't destroyed himself yet.
Himiko, who despite going through all that she did, being turned away by not only family but friends, still manages to smile and laugh.
Atsuhiro, who still makes us smile with a magic trick, who cracked a joke when he lost his arm, and makes sure our inner child never dies.
Kurogiri, who watches over all of us, who listens when we're sad, who keeps us in check, doing all the things for us that he wished he could've done for his friends back then.
Twice, who struggles, but he is kind at heart.
Spinner, who can't drive for shit, but who keeps us inspired, reminding us what we're working for.
Magne, who was like a big sister to all of us, and we miss her so much.
Even the ones who were only with us for a short time, we remember.
And you could barely remember your own eldest child .
How are you still so selfish?
Have you ever genuinely apologized to any of us? I'm surprised this pressure hasn't killed us all already.
Never forget, Enji.
Because I won't.
After all, Enji…
The past never dies.