….
"You were his father."
Jin-Ho cut in sharply. "Past tense. You gave up that right when you left him to burn on Sekoto Peak. Being a biological parent doesn't grant you ownership over someone's life, Endeavor. It doesn't work that way."
The flames around Endeavor flickered, uncertainty slipping into his expression for a moment.
"You want to know what you need to do?" He opened his index finger. "First, stop attacking people and destroying property. That's step one, basic human decency.
Then his ring finger. "Step two, earn Toya's trust back, if he even wants to give you that chance. Which, considering you just tried to burn down the only safe place he's had in over a year, seems increasingly unlikely."
He paused to let the words settle. "Trust isn't something you can demand, Endeavor. It isn't something you take by force or intimidate into existence. It's earned, slowly and painfully. Through actions, not excuses. Through proving you've changed, not insisting you have."
Endeavor backed down slightly, still wreathed in flames but no longer attacking, his expression conflicted, anger battling with something that might have been shame.
"...." The silence stretched between them, broken only by the crackling of dying flames.
Jin-Ho knew how this looked from the outside. Standing between a desperate father and his lost son. Preventing a reunion that should have happened. From certain angles, he absolutely looked like the villain in this scenario.
Man, if I don't look like a villain who just stopped a father-son reunion, he thought with dark irony.
But he also knew Toya.
Knew the kid's trauma, his fragile mental state, the way he still flinched at the mention of his father's name. Throwing them together right now, especially after Endeavor had just destroyed the one place Toya felt safe?
That wouldn't heal anything. It would just create more damage.
"Leave." Jin-Ho said finally. "Come back when you have figured out what kind of man you want to be. When you are ready to actually listen to what Toya needs instead of what you want. Until then, stay away from this place and stay away from him."
Endeavor's flames began to die down, his massive form seeming somehow smaller without them. He looked at the destruction he'd caused - the burned restaurant, the damaged street, the fear he'd instilled in the people who'd fled the area.
For a moment, Jin-Ho thought he might attack again. But instead, Endeavor just stood there, silent.
"This isn't over." He finally said, but his voice lacked its earlier conviction.
"No." Jin-Ho agreed. "It's not. But how it continues is up to you. You can keep being the Endeavor who solves problems with fire and force. Or you can try being Todoroki Enji, a father who actually gives a damn about his son's wellbeing more than his own pride."
Endeavor turned and walked away, his flames extinguishing completely as he disappeared into the smoke-filled streets.
Jin-Ho stood alone in the ruins of his restaurant, surveying the damage with weary eyes.
"Fuck."
He had just prevented one disaster only to be immediately hit with another.
Lady Nagant's assassination attempt, now Endeavor's destructive confrontation. The HPSC tried to eliminate Toya to protect Endeavor's image, while Endeavor himself was willing to burn down half the city to reclaim him.
The irony was almost funny. Almost.
He looked at the smoking ruins of his restaurant one more time, then sprinted away.
There was a lot to handle. Toya would need to be told that his father now knew he was alive. Jin would need reassurance that their safe space would be rebuilt. The HPSC would need to be dealt with before they tried something else.
"I really need a vacation."
Behind him, the restaurant continued to smolder, a monument to the complicated mess that happened when heroes, victims, and people trying to help all collided in the worst possible way.
But it could be rebuilt. It would be rebuilt.
Because that's what you did when flames destroyed everything you'd worked for.
You started over.
Again.
….
Endeavor was dealt with.
Jin-Ho stepped back into the Fairy Cafe and paused.
He let the silence hang a second, then smirked. "Giran, you have got more work than usual, as our cafe just got turned into a barbecue pit by the Number Two Hero."
Giran glanced up from propping a shelf, chest steady. "Not this again. Kid, you have the worst luck with property."
"Tell me about it." Jin-Ho sighed.
In the shadowed corner, Jim and Keigo were righting tables. Stain stood with his arms crossed, watching the newcomer like a blade at rest.
Lady Nagant, now untied, stood still.
Toya was the only one who laughed at Giran like it was completely normal.
Jin-Ho went to Toya and tousled his hair.
"Good job, kid." It was the kind of praise that never landed soft, but Toya soaked it in anyway; today he didn't answer with his usual mouthy retort.
Jin-Ho turned to Lady Nagant. His voice was flat but unyielding. "Like it or not, you are staying under my custody for attacking one of my people."
He issued it as a warning.
She inclined her head once, almost respectful, without pleading or hostility. Just the calm, cold patience of someone who had endured far worse.
Toya's grin faded. "What are you gonna make her do?"
"Who are you worried about, brat? She just tried to assassinate you." Jin-Ho's irritation flared.
Knowing her past and future, Jin-Ho could indeed empathize with her. And honestly, that alone was the reason she wasn't dead already.
But that was the limit of his mercy.
It didn't change the fact that she had tried to kill Toya - and had almost succeeded.
Maybe she will change someday or she already has. But Jin-Ho had no way of knowing that. So for now, all he could do was keep a close eye on her and decide what to do later.
Toya opened his mouth again. "Yeah, she did, I guess, but I am still aliv—"
Jin-Ho cut him off. "Because of me. You are alive because of me."
He didn't soften his tone. "Otherwise you would be dead meat by now."
Toya started to argue but hesitated. "I could hav—"
"No, you couldn't." Jin-Ho said, calm and absolute.
Behind them, Stain moved on instinct under Jin-Ho's command, drawing his blade to cut the ropes.
Giran stepped forward, hands on his hips. "Okay, boss… I get you don't want her walking free. But like Toya said, what do we actually do with her?"
Jin-Ho folded his arms, a faintly cruel smile touching his mouth. "Give her a room, three meals a day. She works for her keep. All the odd jobs - cleaning, deliveries, mending, whatever keeps her useful. And if she earns it, she gets paid."
Yet the way he said it somehow made it sound sinister.
The room went silent. Toya stared at him as though he had entirely missed the concept of morality. Jim and Keigo exchanged glances. Even Lady Nagant blinked, unsure whether to feel insulted or grateful.
Only Giran burst into laughter, loud and unrestrained, while Stain froze mid-motion with the rope in his hands.
"What?" Jin-Ho asked, genuinely confused. "Was that too harsh?"
Toya raised an eyebrow. "You just described… a job."
Jin-Ho frowned. "No, I didn't."
"Yeah, you did." Toya shot back. "You are literally employing her."
Jin-Ho scowled. "Call it what you want. She attacked one of ours, so she works here now until I decide otherwise."
Giran understood the real reason Jin-Ho wasn't killing her.
He believed without hesitation that if Lady Nagant showed even the slightest threat to anyone present, Jin-Ho would eliminate her without blinking.
But the key detail was when she chose to attack Toya.
Jin-Ho had already said Toya would have died if he hadn't been there.
And that mattered.
Giran was certain that in the assignment she received, the report would have listed Toya as the target. A professional like Lady Nagant would know it was smarter to strike when Jin-Ho wasn't present.
But she didn't.
She attacked when he was.
As if she wanted to be caught.
Regardless, once the confrontation was resolved, life began moving again.
Within two days, the cafe was repaired, restored to its original shape.
And everyone else slipped back into their usual routine.
….
(Several Weeks Later)
The morning of Toya and Keigo's first day of high school at U.A. came far too soon.
The entire crew gathered in front of the café as if they were attending a farewell ceremony.
Jim kept fussing over their ties.
Stain filmed the moment on his phone. Even Giran had shown up early, holding a disposable camera like a proud uncle.
It looked less like they were being sent to class and more like they were being deployed to war.
"You all act like we are never coming back." Toya muttered, half amused and half embarrassed.
Jim's voice cracked slightly. "Just… behave, alright? Don't cause fires."
"Yeah, don't kill or burn anyone. Also, no suspensions in the first week. Keigo, always keep an eye on him."
Jin-Ho added from the doorway to which Keigo nodded immediately.
"Hey, why would I do that?" Toya asked.
"Because you do." Jin-Ho replied.
Toya hesitated, then smirked. "Fine. If you are keeping such high expectations, I can't disappoint you. What was it? Boss, father, landlord?"
"Caretaker of strays." Jin-Ho said evenly.
Everyone laughed.
Giran grinned. "And don't flirt with your teachers."
Keigo rolled his eyes. "I am not you, Giran."
"Hey, it's called charisma." he shot back.
Jin-Ho waved them off. "Now get going."
Behind them, Lady Nagant watched quietly from the back corner of the café. Her hair was tied back, her apron neatly in place, a tray still in her hands that she had forgotten to set down.
She didn't say anything. She simply observed the bizarre little family sending off two of their own with a warmth she hadn't witnessed in years.
It felt alien.
For a month now, she had lived among them, doing the simplest tasks - cleaning tables, brewing coffee, learning to greet customers.
She glanced at the group and felt something strange stirring in her chest.
It was so normal that it felt wrong.
Did she like it?
She didn't know.
Because they were strange.
All of them.
Especially the leader.
He was still a youth in his early twenties.
But he didn't act like one… except in moments like this.
Sometimes, while wiping the counter or refilling sugar jars, she caught herself wondering if this was what life could have been like had she never joined the Commission.
She still didn't know if she liked it.
But she couldn't deny one thing: For the first time in years, she didn't feel like a weapon. She caught herself smiling for half a second before forcing her face to neutral again.
"Something funny?" Jin-Ho asked, having caught her expression as he turned back inside.
"Just… unfamiliar." she said quietly. "You all live like none of you deserve to."
He paused. "Maybe we don't. That's why we try."
She didn't respond. She just went back to wiping the tables.
….
Just after a hour after of Toya and Keigo went of to their first in U.A–
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[Ding–! Mission Completed]
| Task - 1: Save Toya Todoroki from the path of a villain. (Completed)
| Task - 2: Become a Pro Hero. (Completed)
-> Rewards: Click here for rewards to reveal!
….
[Note: User can go back to his World after 24 Hours of completing his Mission]
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….
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[To be continued…]
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