Chapter Text
Todoroki Enji liked to consider himself an observant man. After all, observation was a tried and true tactic to succeed in his chosen profession. The difference between a run-of-the-mill Sidekick and a top-ranking Pro Hero really came down to just how much attention they gave their surroundings. After all, if you were paying attention, you could often stop a calamity when it was just starting to cause ripples in the pool.
But there were often wild card elements thrown in as well.
And one such was standing on his doorstep, pearly white smile plastered on and seeming unfazed by it being nearly nine at night.
“What are you doing here, Hawks?” he asked, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh.
The blonde merely smiled wider before clapping his hands together in front of him, closing one eye while pleading with the other. “Endeavor, my favorite fellow crusader of justice! I need a teensy, tiny, itty bitty baby of a favor!”
He felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation. “Spit it out already,”
“I need a place to stay for a few days. Mind putting me up?”
“Absolutely not,” And, with that, Enji swung the door shut with a firm yank. He groaned and shook his head. While he did hold some amount of respect for the younger Hero, the idea of letting him stay in his house was absolutely aggravating. He was still an obnoxious, cocky little brat. He dealt with enough of that with his wet-behind-the-ears son and his two little friends at work; he didn’t need it off the clock, too.
He moved to head farther in when Fuyumi’s head poked around from the corner of the sitting room. “Father? Who was that?” she asked, one hand on the doorframe as she stepped farther out. Judging by her hair still being cinched up in a messy pile and a few colored pens sticking out of it, she’d most likely been grading her student’s assignments or compiling some other necessary reports.
He felt a small pang of guilt at having probably disturbed her when he slammed the door. “Nothing to be worried about, Fuyumi. Just a pest,” he said dismissively.
And then there was pounding on the door, followed by the pathetic whines of “Endeavor! Please, help me! I’ll melt if you don’t help me!”
“Is that Hawks-Sama?” she asked as she made her way over to the front door. Enji tilted his head back and blew out a slow stream of steam through his nose. He really should have been quieter about excusing the other man off the property.
When she opened the door, Hawks was instead leaning one arm against the doorframe, one cheek resting against the fist of the propped hand and a lazy grin on his face. “Ah, hello, Todoroki-Sensei! Lovely evening we’re having tonight, isn’t it?”
“Personally I’d prefer if it was a little bit cooler outside,” she hummed, “but it isn’t unbearable, I suppose. What did you need my Father’s help with?”
“He doesn’t actually need help; he just wants an excuse to be a freeloader,” Enji quipped as he stepped back over, standing behind his daughter to stare the younger man down.
Fuyumi tilted her head up at him in confusion before turning to peer back at Hawks expectantly. “Well, as I was trying to explain a moment before,” he drawled, eyes flickering up at Enji before returning to Fuyumi, “the cooling units at my apartments are all busted. Almost every single unit got messed up due to some vandalism or something, apparently. Since so many were damaged, the complex needs some time to get the units repaired. So, my options are either let my goose get cooked in my apartment, or find some place to stay with working air conditioning.”
Enji quirked an eyebrow. “Couldn’t you just rent a suite at some hotel or something?”
“I could, but then there’d be security concerns,” he said with a wave of one hand. Ah, that was a fair point, he supposed. Between concerns of the media finding out where he was staying and leaking it to fans and whether or not the room could be more easily compromised by a Villain looking to get the jump on one of the top ten, Hawks would need to be meticulous in finding a place. Not only that, but he’d also have to be exceptionally meticulous while staying there, too, so he could spot any security concerns the second they arose. A small part of him was grateful the younger man had his head on straight in regards to resolving his predicament, at least. “Besides, I figured it’d be easier if I stayed here with you, considering all the collaborating we’ve been doing as of late. Would make business a little easier for a few days, wouldn't you say?”
That, too, was a true point. As loath as Enji was to admit it.
“Um, Father?” Fuyumi chirped, causing him to perk up and glance up at her. She was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. “Allowing Hawks-Sama to stay here… That shouldn’t be a problem. I mean, there’s plenty of extra rooms. And it’s normally just you and I here so it wouldn’t be like he’d be interrupting anyone else’s routines.”
Enji blinked before letting his shoulders slump. He could see how the idea of having someone else in manor was making Fuyumi’s eyes light up, gleaming like the turquoise the color took inspiration from. Sure, Hawks was also a Pro, so he wouldn’t be around much more - if at all - than Enji himself was, but there was clearly a comfort in that. He could deal with the little brat… If it would make her happy. Enji glared at Hawks, whose lips were twitching like he was trying not to widen his grin over his apparent victory. “What kind of timeline are you looking at for this?”
“A week; two tops. The complex just has to wait for the new units to come in. They ordered them today and were told 4 to 7 business days for them to be delivered,”
Ugh, not an ideal period of time, but he could power through. “Fine. You can stay so long as you agree to help out; both financially and with the house work. I’m not going to let you just loaf around my home without getting some kind of compensation,” he warned.
“Of course! Why, I’ll be such a great help, you’ll be begging me to stick around!” He gave a wink and salute as he spoke.
Enji had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. “Well, I’m sure you’ll want to go get some things to get you through your time here, so,” he trailed
“Oh, I already took care of that!” In a snap of his fingers, a suitcase being toted through the air on a small cluster of feathers slipped past the two Todorokis to hover inside. “And don’t worry; I only packed the essentials. Just some clothes and toilettries. You'll hardly even notice that I'm taking up one of your spare rooms!”
“Great,” Enji groused under his breath.
Fuyumi was quick to perk up, getting the visitor slippers out. “Here, Hawks-Sama. You can go ahead and get comfortable in the sitting room while I prepare one of the spare rooms for you,” she encouraged.
“Are you sure? I can come help you with it. I mean, I am the one imposing,” he said with an innocent tilt of his head. Enji was tempted to point out that it was only by his agreement that Hawks was going to be staying, but he decided against it. Fuyumi would be the one making their meals and tending to whatever housework she selected herself, after all, so… The gratitude should be laid at her feet.
And with that, the week with Hawks began.
Much to Enji's surprise, though, Hawks was true to his word. When he had checked the spare room on his day off after Hawks had left for his own shift and after three days present, everything seemed to be neatly tidied up and folded away. The futon had been folded back up so meticulously that it almost seemed like it had never been undone in the first place. His clothes had been hung up while the ones from the previous two days were tucked inside the suitcase, most likely until he had a chance to do laundry proper. He didn’t go snooping around further than that before moving along, satisfied with what he’d already seen.
And then there was how he had been true to his promise of helping out with everything around the estate. On his second day staying with them, he had presented Enji with an envelope with more than enough yen to cover the minor uptick in the bills that would most likely present itself at the end of the month. On his fourth day, he had an early shift and hift.joined Fuyumi when she left the school to do groceries. And then, after dinner, he’d taken the time to help put away the leftovers and tidy up the dishes from the meal.
Enji remembered watching the two of them as they stood together athte sink, passing dishes between hands and then having them tucked away in their proper places by his feathers.
Then, two days later, on his day off, Hawks had taken the time to make dinner that night. It wasn’t a five course meal or anything like that, but the miso nikomi udon had been a nice meal. The idle chatter between the younger Pro and Fuyumi had been interesting enough as background noise, too, and he found himself reminded that Hawks was just a few weeks younger than Fuyumi was. They mades jokes comparing the behaviors of primary schoolers and common Villains, then shifting over to more complimenting one another’s cooking and such. Some of the jokes they told went over Enji’s head but he wagered it was just something with young adults in their age bracket. Hell, Hawks would even sit with her to watch some of her shows or keep her company while she worked on this or that. Sometimes the television wouldn’t be on and they’d simply be listening to soft music or nothing at all, seeming to just relax in one another’s presence.
There was something relieving in seeing Fuyumi sit with someone else and just… exist. Enji knew that sometimes Fuyumi’s upbeat and bubbly demeanor was a front, an act constructed to try and help keep others comfortable, and he oft worried about her. He didn’t like the idea that she never had a moment where she could simply breath and exist without it feeling performative. Despite his misgivings about the man, Enji was actually a bit glad to have Hawks there, if only because of how delighted their evening conversations left his only daughter. He wouldn't say he was interested in keeping him around, but he had certainly been a better house guest than he’d been expecting.
To an extent, he decided as he walked through the door, that a little reward was in order. Hawks had told him that the units had arrived and the complex manager informed him he'd be good to return in just two more days. So, why not do something nice before he left? Sushi would be nice, he decided, and he’d offer to treat the younger two. A nice way to round out the time they’d spent living in close quarters and what not.
He paused when he heard a quiet noise come from the sitting room, something akin to a contented sigh. A sigh that sounded somewhat feminine. It must be Fuyumi, he thought, fawning over one of her little romance shows. He walked closer and peered around the corner curiously.
Instead, he was greeted by the sight of Hawks, reclined on the couch, with Fuyumi settled in his lap. His wings were spread out to their full length, dipping over one end, and he had a small grin on his lips. “I told you this would be fine, Yumi,” he hummed happily.
Fuyumi’s cheeks were a bit pink and she shook her head. “This whole thing was so risky, Keigo… I mean, if Father were to figure out you were just doing this to see me, he’d be furious!”
“It wasn’t all a complete lie,”
“You accidentally-on-purpose broke your own AC unit just to have an excuse to stay here,”
“In my defense, that thing had been loose for a while. Wasn’t secure enough in the first place, so I was just getting the inevitable out of the way. I did something technically bad for the greater good of spending some time with you. I think that was well worth it,” he hummed, looping arms around her waist and pulling her closer. “Mmm. You feel so nice and cool. So nice for snuggling in this miserable summer heat.”
“I swear, you just get greedier and greedier with each passing week we’re together,” she tutted quietly. His only answer was a small, self-satisfied smile, as if proud of her accusation. She opened her mouth to say something else, but cut herself off with a small squeak when he instead tipped his head down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. His head then dipped down towards her neck, pressing a quick kiss to her collarbone as he nuzzled into her. One of her hands clutched at his shirt while the other moved somewhere Enji couldn’t see. Either into his hair or to grab the back of his shirt. “Keigo,” she breathed out.
Hawks chuckled softly, fingers working little circles into her hips as he leaned back to glance up at her. “Ah, your Quirk is acting up a little bit. Then again, that’s not all that different than normally when we get all close and cuddly,”
“I-It’s just because… I don’t really have formal training with it,” she mumbled back.
“It’s a good thing, I think. Plus, it’ll let us do a nice exchange,” he said, lifting his head to look at her properly. He grinned as she blinked at him, still seeming a bit caught up, before moving one hand to gently slide against the side of her neck. “You can keep me nice and cool through the summer, and I’ll help you stay nice and warm through the winter.”
Suddenly, everything clicked into place for Enji. And, with everything in place to show the truth, he was filled with anger.
The pair visibly jumped as he slammed a fist into the frame leading to the room, taking up the entryway to block any easy escape as he did. Fuyumi’s face turned a right shade of red, eyes wide in mortification. “F-F-Father!” she yelped.
His eyes swept to the interloper quickly, however, and he could feel flames crackling to live along his jaw. The young blonde looked just as flustered as Fuyumi but had plastered on an uneasy smile. “O-Oh, hey there, Endie! Looks like you, uh, got off work early, yeah?”
That was what he wanted to focus on? Try and distract from this flagrant disrespect? To come into Enji’s home under false pretenses to engage in salacious, unsavory behavior with the man’s own daughter? After apparently having some kind of secret affair going on behind the scenes before this? Never asking for permission for Enji or any of the other Todoroki family members before pursuing her?
The sheer gall of it all! He couldn’t let it slide by!
“Hawks,” he gritted through his teeth, taking a step into the room, “I suggest you run.”
Taking the only warning he was gonna get and running with it, the man known for being a little too fast jumped on the attempt to escape. Not like Enji would let him get that far, really. The Todoroki compound was huge, but Enji knew it better and he had a cold fury on his side. He would catch that damn, overgrown pigeon and pluck every one of his damned feathers off. Perhaps that would teach him a lesson about forging a situation just to canoodle with a girl behind closed doors and without a proper blessing.
But, he did appreciate that he had set Fuyumi on the couch gently, out of the way, before the chase started.