….
Endeavor stepped back. "Do not make me regret this."
"Just keep the path clear."
For the next twenty minutes, they worked in silence and being professional heroes their efficiency was remarkably higher than the police forces who had arrived.
Endeavor would identify hot spots or use his flames to stabilize sections that might collapse further, while Jin-Ho handled the delicate work of extracting people from the debris.
Several hours passed as they had cleared the site and confirmed no one else was trapped, both men were covered in dust and sweat.
Endeavor's flames had dimmed to a low flicker around his shoulders, and Jin-Ho's telekinesis had left him with a dull headache from the sustained effort.
"That was good work." Endeavor said, and it sounded like the words cost him something to say. "Your quirk control... impressive."
"Thanks." Jin-Ho replied flatly, lacking the deferential stutter most people adopted when addressing the Number Two Hero.
The area around them was already flashing with microphones and cameras - the press had arrived, their cameras zooming in from behind the police tape, hungry for a statement.
Endeavor ignored them for the moment. "If you are affiliated with the U.A., I should be aware of your registration."
"New join."
"Your Quirk is impressive–"
"I am flattered." Jin-Ho cut him off, not stepping back. "But I am not interested in being one of your sidekicks."
The rejection hung in the air, direct yet casual. A nearby rescue worker paused in coiling a hose, eyes widening. You didn't just interrupt the Flame Hero. You certainly didn't turn him down before he finished the sentence.
Endeavor's left eye twitched. "I wasn't offering. I was attempting to verify your identity for the official incident report."
"I already gave my ID to the police. Jin-Ho. Assistant Teacher, U.A. High. Quirk: Telekinesis and Physical Enhancement." He recited. "There's your data. Anything else?"
"...."
Endeavor stared at him. The crowd had gone eerily quiet, waiting for the explosion. The Flame Hero was known for his temper, for his obsession with hierarchy.
But the explosion didn't come.
Instead, Endeavor let out a short, sharp sound - a bark of laughter–
"You have the nerve, I will give you that. People usually don't speak to me so... directly."
"Most people are intimidated by you." Jin-Ho said, meeting his gaze steadily. "I am not."
Something shifted in the hero's expression. It wasn't quite respect - Endeavor was too arrogant for that - but it was an acknowledgment.
"U.A is fortunate to have you on staff." He finally conceded.
"They are." Jin-Ho agreed without false modesty.
He turned on his heel, leaving the Flame Hero to face the swarm of reporters. He knew Endeavor hated the press, and the inane questions, but Jin-Ho didn't care.
That was the Number Two's problem.
He had a more important investment to secure.
He headed toward the ambulance where the paramedics were finishing up with Tomie and Keigo.
As he approached, Tomie shrank back against the vehicle. Her floating eyes darted nervously, her posture collapsing into meek submission. She looked like a woman waiting for the next blow.
Keigo didn't shrink.
On the contrary, the boy stepped forward.
He placed himself between Jin-Ho and his mother, his small red wings flaring slightly. His golden eyes were sharp, devoid of the tears from earlier.
Jin-Ho paused, looking down at the child.
There it is, he thought.
He wasn't looking at a boy. He was looking at the unhatched form of the hero known as Hawks.
Honestly, the boy's personality unsettled Jin-Ho.
It was not in a bad way, but in the sense that he already knew too much about who this child would become.
Keigo Takami, Hawks, the future hero was, in Jin-Ho's mind—
The most realistic Hero in this world.
Right, the future him is not a noble Hero like All Might, nor an egotist like Endeavor.
And he certainly wouldn't be self-serving like Jin-Ho.
Hawks would be the "Realistic Hero."
The man who understood that society was built on a foundation of necessary evils and dirty compromises.
Until now he had grown up watching a criminal father and a broken mother, forced to use his feathers to steal just to survive.
He had learnt early that the world wasn't black and white - it was just varying shades of gray ash.
But even then, he didn't hate his mother or father, instead he understood their circumstances that pushed them to the limit, and instead tried to change things, even if it meant dirtying his hands.
Keigo knew the Hero Commission used him, and he let them - if it meant he could save the future generations from what he had experienced.
I can't let the system eat you whole, Jin-Ho decided. Not without giving you a choice.
He wasn't trying to reform Hero society.
He wasn't delusional enough to carry that weight. But he could help the people who might someday change it themselves.
He shifted his gaze to Tomie. He didn't offer comfort this time. He didn't offer kindness. He offered the only language she currently understood.
"You want money, don't you?"
Tomie's floating eyes widened. The fear remained, but it was instantly overlaid with recognition and a flicker of desperate, greedy calculation.
She didn't deny it. She didn't act offended. She just looked at him, waiting for the number.
She is ready to sell him, Jin-Ho realized with a cold lack of surprise.
Keigo seemed to realize it too. The boy's eyes narrowed at Jin-Ho, wary, alert, and heartbreakingly intelligent.
"Guess you do." Jin-Ho pulled a second hand smartphone from his pocket and pressed it into her hand. "Keep this charged. My lawyer will contact you within twenty-four hours to handle the custody transfer and the... compensation. Make sure you answer."
He didn't wait for her to thank him. He looked down at Keigo.
The boy was tense, his small fists clenched at his sides.
"You want to be a Hero, right?" Jin-Ho asked, his voice losing its edge, becoming serious.
Keigo nodded, slowly.
"Good." Jin-Ho said, casting a glance back at Endeavor dealing with the press. "Then get ready. Because I am going to show you just how difficult that path really is."
With that, he stepped back.
The paramedics lifted the stretchers, carried the two away, and the ambulance pulled away with sirens.
Only then did he exhale, rolling the relief out of his shoulders.
He pulled out his phone.
[To: Giran] Success.
The response came quickly:
[From: Giran] You owe me a bonus for this one, boss. That was some impressive timing with the building collapse.
Jin-Ho frowned, thumbs flying across the screen.
[To: Giran] You didn't know the building was going to blow.
[From: Giran] No. But I know why it did. The father sabotaged the gas line before he left for the robbery. He was aiming for an insurance payout. Instead, he is getting a murder charge.
Jin-Ho's hands tightened around his phone.
So the father had been even worse than he had thought. At least Keigo and Tomie had survived, and now there was a chance to change the child's trajectory before the HPSC got their hooks in.
He looked back toward where Endeavor was finally freed, and certainly prepared to leave.
Jin-Ho had deliberately antagonized him, and had been disrespectful in a way that would make the man remember this encounter.
He pocketed the phone and melted into the crowd, vanishing before the news crews could shove a microphone in his face.
….
With that, his day settled back into its usual pace.
Jin-Ho returned to 'his' apartment.
Inside were the familiar misfits of his current life:
Toya sitting on the couch, Jim sorting through leftover groceries, and Tom the cat sprawled over the TV remote like a tyrant claiming territory.
The next forty-eight hours moved fast.
And as predicted, the woman was ready to sell her son.
The conversation was brief and…. depressing.
Contrary to fighting for her son, she had pushed him toward Jin-Ho the moment she realized there was financial support involved.
Earn money however you can, she had told him.
Her selfishness was repulsive, but it made the separation clean. Jin-Ho set her up in a cheap apartment two towns over, keeping her comfortable enough to stay quiet, while Keigo stayed here.
On the other hand, Giran worked his magic on the paperwork, smoothing over the legal cracks with bribes and forgeries.
Keigo's introduction to the misfit people was simple.
"Toya, this is Keigo. Keigo, Toya."
Both boys were thirteen, standing at the height of adolescence.
"Your job is to study," Jin-Ho told them flatly. "That's it."
Obviously, Toya wasn't thrilled, resentment flickered under his quiet obedience, but he accepted it.
Keigo was the opposite.
He didn't complain. He didn't scowl.
He just watched.
His golden eyes tracked everything - Toya's mood, Jin-Ho's body language, the exits in the room. He flowed into the household dynamic like water, surviving by adaptation.
Also, Jin-Ho didn't hide Toya's surname.
"Toya Todoroki."
Keigo didn't react. He didn't know the name yet. He didn't know he was sharing a room with the son of the man he idolized.
Jin-Ho's plan was straightforward.
Make them home school for their middle school, and directly apply for U.A., to continue their high school.
That timing aligned with his own goals.
•-------•
[-> Task - 1: Save Toya Todoroki from the path of a villain.
-> Task - 2: Become a Pro Hero.
-> Rewards: ???
-> Punishmint: None]
•-------•
Task 1 was a long game.
Still, getting Toya into U.A. and keeping him off the streets was the bulk of the work.
Task 2 was practically on autopilot.
A year or so as a U.A. teacher involved in high-profile incidents would naturally transition him into Pro status.
For now, the roadmap was set:
Stabilize the kids.
Prepare them to get into the U.A. academically and physically.
And the most important one is to focus on increasing his own strength.
Sigh, Jin-Ho closed the interface and looked at the two boys - one burning with revenge, the other desperate to serve.
Lets see where this takes them.
….
.
[To be continued…]
★─────⇌•★•⇋─────★
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