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All Might had been hesitating outside of the Todoroki household for just a few moments too long. Just long enough for Fuyumi to notice he was standing at the door with his fist raised and swing the door open before he could knock a single time.
"Oh! All Might! What a surprise!" She gasped.
"Hello! I am here to talk to your father about young Shoto!"
"Oh, of course! But, um..." She glanced back into the house nervously before continuing, "I can take you to our dojo, but I can't guarantee that dad will be willing to speak with you."
"That should be fine, he really just needs to sign a school form agreeing to the new dorm system."
She nodded and invited him in, leading him down a labyrinthian series of hallways and corridors. He could tell when they were approaching because the entire house was rumbling with the force of explosions. All Might wrinkled his nose against the smell of smoke.
"Ideally, Shoto would be present for this meeting so he understands the details as well. Do you know where he is?"
Fuyumi beamed at him easily. "I'm sure I can find him in a jiffy! Maybe you can... Get him to stop yelling before I bring him over?" She gestured inside of a pair of doors, stopping and turning to face him.
"Oh! Of course!" Toshi resisted the urge to puff out to his muscle form as he hyped himself up to open the doors. As a belated thought, he wondered if he was actually the right man for the job, considering. Fuyumi disappeared down a corridor in a flash of silver hair and fluttering parchments. So he was really on his own then. He sighed in defeat. Then decided to get it over with, rapping on the door decisively before walking in.
The newly christened number one hero was sitting on the floor amist the smouldering wreckage of his own furniture and equipment. The scene of absolute destruction almost made Toshi's step falter, but he soldiered on. Endeavor didn't immediately turn to face him, but his eyes flicked to him and then remanied glued to his own. The rage apparent in his glacial stare nearly pinned All Might to the spot. He unconsciously clutched his broken arm over his scar.
"Endeavor. I'm here on behalf of UA to-"
"How dare you." Endeavor growled over his shoulder. His flames wreathed his face in unnatural shadows and lights.
"I-? I'm sorry?" Without context he really had no idea to which of the two hundred grievances the man had with him, minimum, he was referring to.
"You lied to everyone. To the public. But really, you're weak." He spat the word like it tasted foul on his tongue. Toshi felt himself deadpan, slightly annoyed.
"You can choose to be not currently on fire. Does that make you a liar when you are?"
To Toshinori's surprise, Enji's entire back stiffened in rage, rising taller.
"I'm not talking about your quirk you airhead! You're weak and you pretended you were strong! You're pathetic and attention seeking and you stole the number one spot from me!" The elder Todoroki rose, his flames licking around him, but he still refused to face him.
"What?" All Might cried, "But you're in the No. 1 spot right now?? You are the number one hero, Endeavor!"
The man was on him before he knew it, one hand around his throat. Endeavor's flames were fierce and scalding. He shook him, as though torn between picking him up or shoving him backwards. All Might was suddenly so aware that the room only had a single exit.
"That was because you failed!" Endeavor roared. "You were weak and you lost! I never beat you!" All Might blinked in confusion, at a loss.
"Yeah you did, you outlasted me? You beat me because I had to retire, and you're still strong." Endeavor just growled.
"Why are you so optimistic? Are you TRYING to piss me off?" He yanked the teacher's face in close to his own, his fingers hooking around his neck, boney jaw, hollow cheeks. Toshi tried not to gasp, feeling like a fish on a line. He wore his confusion and indignance clearly, his crystal eyes searching his former colleague's for answers. None of Toshi's friends had treated him this way since-
"What? I don't want to piss you off, I just want you to like me."
Endeavor's eyes widened. His grip went slack.
"You're seriously that airheaded? It wasn't an act?"
Toshi deadpanned, "Okay pick a lane, am I a liar or sincere?"
Endeavor's face was suddenly split with a sinister grin. The hand around his throat came back at full force and he felt the back of his head hit the wall hard enough to make him see stars. Piece of cake, he'd fought AFO and walked away, he told himself as he coughed and fought to regain his breath. The hand around his throat made taking a lungfull feel impossible, but he forced himself to be calm, to be cool, the same hero Enji had been expecting all these years. His grip on the hero's wrist did nothing but give him the illusion of control.
"You're sincerely on my nerves. Let's see what other secrets you're hiding." Pinning him to the wall by the throat, he used his other hand to begin deftly undoing the buttons of his dress shirt. Toshi squeaked and slapped at his hand with his only free arm.
"What are you doing!?"
"Defensive, huh? What are you hiding?" Endeavor repeated sinisterly as he pushed one knee up between Toshi's thighs, lifting him somewhat painfully a few inches off the ground. Toshi stretched his toes inside his dress shoes, scrambling for purchase, but Endeavor had released his throat, using the hand to pin his free arm high above his head, limiting his range of motion to helpless wiggles. As torn up as his body was, even lifting his legs to push his colleague away was agony. Endeavor returned to his task and Toshi averted his face in shame as his scar was exposed to the cold air. Toshi coughed harshly, a crimson line of spittle catching on his lips. Endeavor trailed his fingertips down the exposed frail sternum, then across the starburst pattern of gnarled pink flesh making up Toshinori's left side. The touch was too intimate in a place Toshinori was too sensitive. Endeavor harrumphed, but Toshi didn't understand it's meaning. He wanted this to be over. He could pretend he was sitting on a bicycle if it weren't for all this inappropriate behavior. He couldn't understand what Endeavor was so angry about in the first place. Endeavor, though, apparently still wasn't satisfied. He trailed further down still, with maddeningly light padded fingertips, as though he was afraid too strong a touch would crack him like fine glass. Toshi felt his trousers button pop open. He closed his eyes and swallowed heavily.
"Why are you doing this?" Maybe he could talk him out of it.
"You have to be hiding something. I'm going to find it."
"Your kids will be back any minute. Do you want them to catch us like this?"
To his dismay, Endeavor laughed. Mercifully, his scorching flames died down a lick.
"To catch me dominating the former number one hero? Ha ha ha! Now that's an image I want them to never forget." He pulled open his fly, yanking on the elastic of his underwear and positioning Toshi's hips with his knee until his junk was all hanging free and resting on the flame hero's thigh. Endeavor wasted no time wrapping a hand around it, squeezing and tugging experimentally. All Might bit down a yelp, arching against the wall as he tried to escape. He was injured, and worn down, and he had been taking a cab everywhere because even just walking took a lot out of him. He fought his hardest, but his hardest was utterly unnoticed by his iron muscled captor. Panting and exhausted, he could only twitch and squirm away from the touch, trying not to cry out as he got hard.
"What an excellent idea, All Might. It's probably the first you've had in years. Imagine what Shoto would say to the other students. Your precious reputation would be destroyed."
"So would yours, along with your career." Toshi pointed out.
"Like anyone would believe a stupid windbag like you. Did you really think your empty platitudes meant anything all these years? You're worthless now, your voice wouldn't carry past tabloids. Besides, with how badly UA has been treating the students, who's to say I couldn't spin a better story? The former number one hero taking advantage of his students, now that's a much more enticing read than your repeated shortcomings. You know why you always fail? Because you're stupid, and you don't think things through. Everyone says it."
Toshi felt some of the fight leave him as he went slack. Yeah, he had made a lot of mistakes, especially in his final years. He deserved that. He turned his face further to the side, his bangs hiding his shame. He knew his coworkers talked smack about him. It was just another thing to hear it in person.
"You're inadequate. The idea of a pillar is a joke. You couldn't even protect one boy in the end and yet you called yourself a hero." For some reason the past tense hurt the most. He was still a hero.
"Let's see how inadequate you are." Endeavor was hard in his suit to Toshinori's shock. He pulled out his own member, lining it up side by side to compare. Toshi tried not to look, his hair obscuring the view, and all he could see was Endeavor's face. A face that was contorting somehow further into rage, he realized in fear.
Suddenly he was slammed backwards against the wall again, hard enough to leave him seeing stars. The bandage across his forehead fluttered undone and began slowly unwinding, strips of fabric falling down his face. It was what Toshinori's brain latched on to as the hellfire burned through his clothes. Rough, calloused fingers began groping and probing but Toshi couldn't understand where through the black spots dancing in his vision and the clouds of searing pain drifting through his brain. He coughed harshly and felt sticky lines of heat drip down his chin and chest.
"Pathetic. Pathetic! PATHETIC!" Endeavor screamed, working himself into a rage.
"You're less than a shadow of your former self. There's nothing here but skin and bones! You're a hollow excuse of a man." Endeavor popped his thumb inside roughly, catching his nail on the rim as he shoved further in.
"Ah no!" All Might cried out in pain, "You've made your point!" He struggled hard, trying to rip his hand free.
"Crybaby. You'll take what I give you." Endeavor growled, pulling out and drawing back his fist.
The first blow didn't land, Toshinori's reflexes ducking him out of the way, the wood next to him exploding into flaming splinters. Endeavor growled in rage, a wall of flames surrounding them both, and let go of Toshinori's wrist to snatch up as much blonde hair as he could. Toshinori immediately started jabbing him in the eyes as hard as he could, and almost simultaneously Enji's fist made contact with his face.
The world went dark and quiet, but it wasn't peaceful. The blazing, crackling flames burned on.
Toshinori's back was full of splinters. He blinked up into the oppressive heat, a leering grin looking down at him. His body hurt, and he didn't understand why he was moving. His head was jerked to the side by the hair and he felt a blistering heat scorch the skin of his neck. He struggled for distance, trying to put any space between him and his assailant, but he was stuck in multiple places. There was something huge inside of him, ripping his insides like a rock, and his free hand did nothing against his assailant's chest, eyes, throat. He couldn't believe how much hatred and malice filled the air, but it reminded him of All For One, the burning rubble of Kamino Ward. He whimpered involuntarily at the pain, fighting not to hyperventilate, but it only made Enji sneer and grab his face, forcing it towards his own by the cheeks and hair.
Toshinori couldn't call it a kiss, not when it was all gnashing teeth and blood, but Enji seemed to enjoy it based on the way he moaned and the stutter in his hips. Toshi coughed blood from deep inside and Enji tasted that too, flames licking and scorching until his belt buckle clattered to the ground in a loud death knell. Something deep inside him was knocked loose, and Toshinori realized he needed to go to the hospital, sudden cold then hot then electric tingles radiating from the twist of flesh that never quite sat right anymore. A familiar emergency, too soon after a major battle.
"Please, stop, please," And he would be more embarrassed of the tears streaming down his face if they were in front of a camera but this was supposed to be his coworker, Endeavor was supposed to be a hero.
The hellfire masked face leered closer, licking his lips.
"Why should I?" He growled mockingly.
"Please, you'll break me, please stop," And the blood wouldn't stop, in a steady bubbling up from his lung, from his guts, from his scalp, soaking the cast Endeavor had kindly left unburned from his body. The black spots made up more of his vision than sight, and dazzling fireflies in every color were dancing across the unseen field. He felt his head go to the side, unsure if he was slurring his words because of the thundering in his ears.
"Good. I want you broken." Endeavor smoldered.
"You sound like a villain," All Might spat, realizing that if he was going to die here, he'd rather die fighting.
He brought his head up with as much speed as he could muster, cracking his forehead against Enji's before the man could pull his hair taught. The man winced, Toshi thought, although he couldn't really see. He struggled, kicking his legs out against the torso against him and ripping his hair from his scalp with his free hand, worming his fingers under Endeavor's to try and tear free.
Endeavor's forehead sent his head through the wall, the crack echoing in his head as it lolled through the splintered wood. The shards sank deep, thin and probing, and as soon as he could move Toshi began struggling again. He managed to rake his scalp back through the hole, hot points of paper thin slices folding open in the searing air. One of his eyes was blurred red and he realized the wet heat on that side was gushing quickly. He bit out at the closest flesh he could find, biting down as hard as he could and then twisting his head sharply, and Enji cried out but then moaned, and Toshi tasted costume instead of blood.
He was beyond thought. He needed to maim. As the assault continued Toshinori found his strength, making vain struggle after each struggle in vain. Flailing, desperate limbs had no effect on the wall of muscle trapping him, and new burns were added continuously. Each caress of a hand, each bruising grasp left red prints as rising welts and blisters. The tears streaming down Toshinori's face were as much from the smoke and salty blood as they were from pain. A part of him remained very detached. It was a disgustingly unsanitary situation, and the sheer number of hours he would be removing splinters big and small would remind him of the event for days, which was really unnecessary because he actually had a ton of paperwork to get through. He was grateful Endeavor wasn't his direct coworker anymore, the teachers at UA being angels in comparison. Maybe Aizawa was right that they hadn't needed to split up after all. It sure would be nice to have some backup right about now.
Instead Endeavor continued for some time, moving them onto a weight bench and ignoring Toshinori's vacant stare into a blank corner as he coughed up blood. When he finished it wasn't spectacular, just a flicker in his flames and a harsher groan before he finally fell still. Then the man sneered at him and laughed. He pulled about half of Toshi out with him as he stood, the sudden burst of blood keeping him quiet until he made a dismissive sound and turned away harshly. Toshinori fought to stay awake, knowing the amount of blood he lost was too much. He struggled to breathe, a gurgling in his chest telling him that his floating rib certainly punctured his lung. The heavy footfalls reverberated across the room, then slid open a door.
"Shoto, clean him up."
A few lighter footfalls, then heavy ones retreating further. The door scraped closed.
A soft hand rested feather light on his shoulder and Toshinori jerked back. Concerned heterochromic eyes gazed into his.
"I'm going to start icing those, okay?" Shoto told him. Toshinori nodded, his head falling back down. Shoto didn't even look surprised, just disappointed. The detached part of him wondered if the sire Todoroki had done this before. If he did it often. If he'd done it to his family. The ice was jarring and freezing, waking him up some and soothing the worst of the burns. Shoto's face was a mask of concern and concentration, using a thin layer of frost to wash some of the blood so he could see what he was doing.
"So," Toshinori swallowed, his voice coming out rough, "I actually came here with some forms, but I think he burned them."
"You gave them to Fuyumi. We signed them while he- While father was busy." Shoto explained, and the edge in his voice was so subtle if you didn't know him you'd likely miss it.
"Oh. cool." Toshinori replied in a daze.
Shoto clenched his jaw.
"I'm sorry father did this."
"You don't need to apologize for him. I knew you were different as soon as I met you, I just didn't know how. I don't think his behavior reflects on you." Toshi said it almost automatically. Shoto and Enji's personalities were like night and day.
"I don't know why he thinks it's okay." Shoto tried again, choked up.
"He'll get his comeuppance. Mistakes have a way of working back around, even if you try to run from them." Toshinori said, thinking of Shigaraki.
"You're really brave, All Might."
Shoto threaded his cold fingers between Toshi's and Toshi smiled softly. The man pulled the fingers to his face, pressing them against his burning forehead.
A feminine gasp and then a, "I-I'll go get a towel and a robe!" filtered in from the doorway, and Toshinori realized he was drifting. His cab should be outside still. He just had to make it inside and tell the driver to drop him off at an emergency room. He just had to be somewhere where he could bleed out in safety.
"Were they fighting? There are other ways to settle your differences, boys." Fuyumi returned, handing Shoto the towel with naked concern. Shoto wrapped the towel around the gashes on his head as Toshinori sat up, swaying as he pulled on the robe.
"Are you going to be okay?" Shoto asked, a hand on his shoulder steadying him, concerned gaze watching him close.
Toshinori could only laugh.
"I'll live, although I am certainly going to seek medical care immediately." He chuckled out. He reached over and plucked the series of forms from Todoroki's hands.
"M-medical care!? Surely dad wouldn't go so overboard, he's a hero after all!" Fuyumi cried, "Let me get the first aid kit!"
Toshinori stood, swaying, vision blacking out, and then returning with the vengeance of a headache. He stooped near the wall and picked up his belt buckle.
"Farewell, Todorokis." He murmured.
"I'll walk you out." Shoto was behind him, a hand on his back.
They walked back through the twists and turns of the house, a stumbling maze, terrifying in the uncertainty of what, of who, could be around each corner, until the front door. Shoto and Fuyumi's concerned eyes watched him stumble into the taxi. He managed the word "hospital" and then it all went blissfully dark.