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Now, listen, Enji will admit that he definitely prefers flashy fights out in public, they not only raised his reputation as a hero, but also allowed him to scrutinize and analyze his mistakes he might make, considering they're more properly recorded. But he also has to admit that there's something so calming about taking on covered cases by himself, being trusted so wholly to take care of A-tier villains the best he could. It was the most anybody's trusted him with in ages, although he could understand why to an extent. There was always a nagging voice in the back of his head, one that tried convincing him that he'd done nothing wrong, and he'd been doing his best to ignore it.
As of now, Enji was on the search for a fresh villain that had been popping their head up every now and then in Fukuosa, so that's where he was rooming for the time being. He hadn't missed the relief on his daughter's face when he had told her that. The villain that Enji was looking for, Sweetpea, was anything but from witness accounts. She was a vile woman, from what he had heard, who uses anything to her advantage, especially one's deepest insecurities. Everyone on his team, and two handfuls of the other greatest pros, had volunteered him to go after her, due to recent events. He figured they were trying to punish him for his past actions, which is likely the only reason he agreed to take on her case.
Enji sat impatiently in his hotel room. Sweetpea only showed up at night, as most villains would, so he had to wait. And wait. And wai- Knocks on his door tore his attention away from the moth he was staring at that rested on his room window. "Room keeping!" The voice seeped through in a thick American accent and broken Japanese, although it was a clearly faked one. He called back to move on, he didn't order room keeping when booking the place anyways and he never trusted someone who faked an accent. "Oh, so sorry, I cannot understand you sir!" The door opened moments later, leading Enji to leap to his feet and ready himself for an attack.
All the lights in his room turned off in seconds, the only luminance coming from the slightly-open window, and Enji immediately started lighting flamed on his shoulders so he could see better. "What is the meaning of this?!" The larger hero demanded, arms posed in front of him for a fight of any sort, especially now that he couldn't see anyone at the entrance. He started moving in a circle, tossing glances over his shoulder in case the intruder tried to strike from behind. Or perhaps this was all an elaborate prank, although he doubted that since he could still feel eyes on him, now if only he could pinpoint where they're from.
"Boo." Came from above Enji, and he looked up to be met with a shower of red and orange dust raining down on top of him, causing him to have a coughing fit after he accidentally inhaled some of it. He tried looking to his left after he heard someone land there, but his eyes were watery from him coughing. "Sorry, not sorry. You were way too easy of a target, seriously, hasn't that bird taught you that you need to look up too?" The voice from earlier, now a more natural Canadian accent and proper Japanese, taunted him.
All he could see in the blobs was pinks and purples covering the woman who stood proudly before him. "Now, I'm not a total bitch, unlike you, so I'll offer you a deal. You get the justice my client wants, and you can arrest me. I'll even show up at your doorstep, Todoroki."
Enji had finally stopped coughing and could remove his own hands from his throat, now using them to wipe the tears from his face. "Why the hell?" Was all he could ask.
As her face started shaping properly, Enji could vaguely recognize his target, as best he could from the witness sketches that is, and her face was contorting into one of contemplation and sinister intent. "I won't monologue right now, I think you deserve a little break. Just know I was thinking of retiring and free meals and a free roof sounds lovely right now." Sweetpea's face instantly went back to serious, eyes as red as his fire staring into his own turquoise ones. "I'll be watching, no hints, the game is funnier this way." She saluted him before breaking off into a full sprint out the door and down the hall.
It'd been only two days since Sweetpea had gotten away, and Enji was really starting to feel the full effects of that dust she had poured on him. Well, it was pollen apparently, and part of her quirk too. You see, Enji had not only been unable to tell any lies in the past two days, but he's been feeling like he should tell the whole truth. He wished he could have cut out his own tongue after he informed Hawks he actually enjoyed the occasional lunch they shared together, the squeal from the bird-brain had given him a headache the rest of the day.
You'd think mild humiliation was the extent of Enji's bad luck, but no. Because the universe seemed to want to make him suffer for his past mistakes as well. He had to do a QnA, something a few of the more secretive heroes were being forced to do, such as himself and Vlad King. It was happening today, too, and Sweetpea's quirk lasted at minimum a week, so Enji would have to answer completely truthfully.
Gang Orca was the first hero up during the QnA. Most of the questions helped ease Enji's nerves. 'How does your quirk work', 'can you legally be hunted', 'who do you plan on taking on as an intern over the summer', ridiculous 2nd grade questions like that, and he was certain he'd be able to handle those if his were the same as the water-based hero. Gang Orca's section took up less than half an hour, apparently the aquatic hero wasn't too keen on sharing much about his life and kept his answers short and sweet.
"That certainly was riveting," The QnA host laughed as Gang Orca stepped off the stage. He was staring directly into live cameras that were streaming the entire event to at minimum five channels. There was a group of people just behind the cameras, random civilians for a 'rapid fire' question session, where they could ask whatever they wanted in a few minutes and where whoever was being asked could cherry pick what they answered. "Guess we can't expect much from Mr. Killer Whale himself, huh?" Mild chuckles followed the host's comment, probably to keep the air from going dry. "Alright, let's welcome up the next victim! Hothead and Number 1 himself, Endeavour!"
At his call, despite his contempt for that title the host so-lovingly gave him, Enji stood up from the tiny waiting seats and started following the carpet up to the stage. He hadn't been in public or on live television since the reveal, the one that had crumbled his reputation. Did more than that, but that's the part people will care about. That's the part his old self would care about, at least now he recognized his own emotions. "Haruto, thank you for having me." The words felt foreign on his tongue, the simple politeness, sheesh he really was a dick wasn't he?
"Thank you for coming, Endeavour!" The host, Haruto, chirped in response, now lounging on a much more cushioned chair and gesturing for Enji to mimic him on one that was practically the same save for in size. "I didn't think you'd join us, especially after the scandalous revelations recently! In fact, people were assuming you'd quit hero work for good after that!"
There it was, the words dancing on his tongue as he couldn't fight the urge to speak them. "I would never give up hero work, I have put my entire life into this, I'm not just going to leave it behind so soon."
A devilish look appeared in Haruto's eyes as he smiled at Enji. "It seems you haven't just put your life into this, isn't that right? Given the villain's words were right, that is!"
Enji had to give him credit where credit was due, the host certainly knew what to say to pull more words out of him. Perhaps he was the client Sweetpea was speaking for, it can't have been a coincidence. "He was speaking the truth, yes." He confirmed. "Mostly, there were some one-sided comments."
"Ooo, did you hear that, folks?" Haruto all but purred, glancing towards a mix of the crowds and the cameras. "I think we should start with the difficult questions then, don't you all?" Cheers came from the crowd, many shocked and hurt, as if they themselves had been affected by Enji' recklessness. Parasocial relationships, for god's sake. Then again, perhaps they were affected by it, maybe their own family and property had fallen to Dabi's hands because Enji couldn't control his own. Haruto started shuffling some postcards, his show was known to be more 'old-fashioned', so Enji should've expected such a stereotypical method. "We'll start with this one! Enji Todoroki, would you suggest quirk-splicing families like your own for the better of our future?"
Would Enji suggest hurting people the way he had for the hope of a better future? What kind of question was that? "Absolutely not." At the look from Haruto, he realized he was expected to provide a fuller answer. "It's never for the better, sure you could produce a hero such as my son Shouto, or a skilled Doctor such as Natsuo, but you can also mess up a family badly this way, and end up with Dabi."
A group wince flowed through the crowd at his blunt words, but they were asking for the reasons behind it, and he wasn't ready to confront the emotional aspect of that.
"You really are a business-only man." There was an awkward noise from Haruto before he started viciously flipping through the index cards he held. "Where is Mrs. Todoroki now? Her condition has been hidden from many people."
A vile taste found its way to Enji's tongue. He didn't want her to hate him any more than she did, but if he wasn't careful he might let her location slip. "She is in a hospital," He sat and chose his words slowly. "A place to get better. I will not be disclosing the name of the hospital, paparazzi will only worsen her condition."
Haruto stared into his eyes, he would even say into his soul if he were a poetic man, and he felt like he was going to regret ever showing up to this damned show. "Do you want her to get better as quickly as possible so you can go back to trying to get the perfect child?"
"WHAT?" Enji roared after the initial shock wore off, standing up from his chair as he felt his own flames licking under his skin once again. Most of the crowd had leapt back in fear at his sudden aggression, and Enji winced at that. A proper hero isn't a feared one. He sat back down with a grunt and just glared at Haruto. "I want Rei to get better so she's better."
There was a slight noise of disbelief from the handful of the crowd who didn't jump away from him, and Enji frowned deeply at that. "And how about your children?" Not a single moment's break with this one, apparently. No wonder Miruko and Hawks refuse to come here.
Enji eyed him suspiciously. "What about my children?"
"You seem to hold some care for your wife now after all these years. So what about your children? Do you care for them?"
The world seemed to stop spinning for a moment as Enji held his breath. Had he ever cared for his children? Shouto was really just a means to an end, and he had considered Natsuo and Fuyumi mistakes for the longest time. Until recently, that is, and he'd come to appreciate the dinner that would be laid out on the table every time he came home, he'd come to appreciate the snarky remarks from Natsuo who wouldn't take his shit anymore, although he did miss seeing the red in Natsuo's hair. But does that mean he cares for them? Can he care for them after all he's done?
"At first, no, I didn't." Enji finally said after Haruto had cleared his throat. "I was caught up in trying to surpass All Might as the number one that I refused to care for them, but I do care for them now. I hope they will accept it," He glanced at the cameras briefly. "Natsuo, Fuyumi, Shouto, I am so sorry for everything I have done to hurt you all. You deserved better than that, and I wish I had learned that when you all were younger."
The crowd didn't seem to like that answer, it wasn't every day a parent admits they didn't care for their child, that they had no emotional connection, but before any fits of rage could be spout at him, a voice rised from the crowd. "And what about Touya? Did you care for him? Do you care for him, even after seeing the monster he's become?"
Without even a second of hesitation, because Enji had known the answer to this one for years, "From the second he was born, and every moment since." Silence fell upon everyone around, even upon Enji himself, as people were processing this, but he didn't stick around for the fallout and quickly left the stage, shoving past the heroes who tried talking to him.
It was the next day, now, or you could say next night as the sun was setting past the buildings as Enji just sat there on his porch. He'd taken a vow of silence, at least until the quirk wore off, and he'd even avoided his family today. Not that it was hard, he hadn't even seen Fuyumi and there was no food already laid out, so he's assuming his apology went over her head. Not that he wouldn't blame her, that is.
Footsteps are what caught his attention next, not just one set but two, and Enji would be lying if he said a groan did not escape him at the thought of socializing after yesterday. "Oh, I thought I would be welcome here!" A, rather annoying, voice reached his ears and he finally looked up to see Sweetpea standing in front of him. She had a sick smile on her face, but what intrigued him the most was how her arms were twisted behind her back, being held in place by the one and only villain, Dabi.
"I figured you deserved a break." Dabi said after a moment, breaking the silence between them. "And she was about to hop on a plane back to Canada, but we don't break deals." He shifted her arms behind her just enough to cause her pain.
Sweetpea glared behind herself at the stapled and scarred villain. "Well you hadn't gotten in contact so I wouldn't know if you were satisfied with the interview or not!" She went to slam her heel on his boot but was stopped by the slightest bit of heat on her wrist. "Damn, okay, okay, I'll behave!"
It was at this moment that Enji decided to speak up himself. "Touya-"
And was instantly cut off. "No, you will not use that name." Dabi interrupted, letting go of the truth-pollen villain and shoving her to the ground in front of Enji. "Consider this a peace offering, for now. I don't think you'll change, but Natsuo-nii thinks you can, so I'm doing this for him, not you."
Enji watched as Dabi started walking off. He knew he should arrest him, knew he should attack or do something, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. "Thank you," Was tossed over Dabi's shoulder as he stalked off down the sidewalk. "Oh, and Seika, stop using your quirk on him, you've gotten your pay."
It seemed that just as Dabi disappeared, and just as Enji had gotten up and put his own restraints on the villain he was given, more footsteps were heard. Three sets, to be exact.
"Did you mean it?"
Not even a second to breathe as Natsuo stormed up to him, shoving Sweetpea aside again - she was probably pissed at this point - and dug his hands into Enji's shirt. "Did you mean what you said yesterday? All of it?" Tears were hanging on the edge of Natsuo's eyes and Enji frowned at it, the frown deepening at being confronted like this.
"Of course he meant it." Sweetpea griped from the floor, she had landed awkwardly on her side in a way that meant she couldn't get up. "Truth pollen, numbnuts, he couldn't lie even if he wanted to. Now as sweet as this is, I'm either getting on a plane in the next hour or heading to jail, I don't care which it is, but I am tired of you all."
Fuyumi, who was standing just a few feet away, laughed lightly through her own tears and knelt down to help the villain up. "I'll take her inside, me and you have already said our peace to each other." Fuyumi dipped her head to her father and then lead the villain inside.
"Listen," Enji started now that he was finally given time to speak, and he finally felt like his words were his own after the days spent with that pollen. "I'm going to go hand Sweetpea over, then I'll come back and make something for dinner and we can talk about this." He was, however, taking the bird brain's advice on this. "I feel like we all have a lot to say."
He was met with a suspicious look from Shouto who had been standing back from everyone, and was met with a brief glare from Natsuo, before they both looked at each other and nodded. "We won't forgive you, not yet, but we're willing to listen."