The blaze of the forest fire was excruciating, Enji Todoroki rushed into the fray. His mouth was an open wordless gap.
He had instituted his wife Rei after she had a mental breakdown and subsequently boiled Shoto's face with scalding water. Her mother, the Himura matriarch had called him in a flurry during his patrol and he had rushed home, aborting his earlier hero activities for the day. He found himself intruding on the chaotic aftermath of the incident; the paramedics and police that were on the scene didn't help the matter. And after he spent a larger than average amount of his financial assets to snuff out the drama that would have no doubt made headlines. The process had taken the whole day, her faculties had left her and he was unwilling to have her near the children. Despite his efforts the added help around the house was useless, the situation had spun out of control.
Endeavor was at his wits end, his agency suffered under the lack of manpower, in spite of his postings for new hires. His rankings on the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart had fallen, and he was drowning in a sea of paperwork. Now… even when the workday had ended, he was forced to suffer under his wife's ineptitude.
…During the dry winter after his wife's institution, Tōya had gone up to Sekoto Peak in secret and after Endeavor's reprimand. It was a regular lakebed where they had trained together once. The teenager was too impulsive to know that the conditions were not right and so he had perished that day in that same training ground.
He had forgotten his son's request after his wife's episode. Endeavor didn't know what to say to Tōya. He was so much like him that it unsettled him. Tōya would never amount to much, a career as a professional hero was a pipe dream. Support gear would only go so far, he could never reach the heights of All Might. And he couldn't afford to make time for his son anymore. The boy did not suffer the circumstances Enji had… His mother was still whole, they just needed more time for her to recover. And he still had his other siblings.
Tōya did not abruptly lose his civilian father as a teenager to a villain in a desperate attempt to save a little girl… and he was not isolated with a lack of warmth.
…So why?
Why couldn't he stop, when there was a world out there to explore?
Endeavor walked out of his home with heavy steps on that dreary evening, the sky was dark on account of the noxious smoke in the air.
When he had asked the new caretaker from the same company, where his children were before he left for the day to carry out his nightly duties as a hero. He was met with a surefire response that indicated that all his children were tucked in.
…And yet Endeavor felt a familiar chill creep up, like when he knew that he forgot something but could not recall exactly what it was.
He stormed back into his estate and opened the door to each of his children's bedrooms. Inspecting them despite the possibility of waking them up. Shoto tossed and turned with that fresh scar. And Fuyumi was thoroughly unconscious as she snored.
However as his heavy boots crossed the flooring he couldn't help but rush to the final room. The bedroom his older boys shared was at the end of the hall. Natsuo was woken up from his loud intrusion, however the futon that Tōya was under was listless. The clump under the bedcovers was full, too large for his small thirteen year old frame. And as Endeavor roughly pulled at the comforter, he found a stack of clothes in the shape of a body.
"Huh? what are you…" Little Natsuo began to ask, but Endeavor's fuming gaze scared the boy, and he hid behind his bedcovers. The middle aged caretaker at the door looked frightened as her eyes locked into the empty spot that his son should have been under. Endeavor was a moment away from kicking them all out, the useless lot of them!
"My son is gone!" Endeavor yelled after he slammed the door shut behind him. His arm waved in the woman's direction as another caretaker walked into the hall. "Gather everyone up, start packing! because when I'm back. I'll be demanding a new agency because this one is inept enough as it is!" He added as he briskly crossed back to the front entrance of his estate.
The dark sky was red rimmed because of the fire and he had completely forgotten about it on account of his son's late night escape from his room. Endeavor observed the growing fire that at first looked small, before it grew wildly out of control from a familiar ridge on the mountain.
…It was Sekoto Peak, and his eldest son had snuck out. He was stone-faced for a moment. Endeavor put two and two together and he exploded out to the center of the forest fire. His pace increased as he flew over the buildings, sweat fell from the nape of his neck. It was winter and the day lacked the humidity that his son was accustomed to. But no, it should have been fine, his fire was stronger than Endeavor had hoped. But it could never amount to the intensity required to start a fire even with the wetness of the brush in the forest floor near the lakebed.
A nagging feeling was there. He had never taught Tōya how to put out his flames. Endeavor had cancelled their training so early in Tōya's life on the suggestions of his primary doctor that he never saw a need to.
As he reached the street right before the outcropping of the trees at the foot of the mountain. The people around were gathered at the edge of the division. Endeavor pushed past them even as the scalding flames licked at his limbs. He couldn't hear anything besides the rush of the blood within his ears and the crackle of the fire on the branches. He ran past the large falling limbs of the trees.
One of the branches nearly clipped him and he sent out a punch to shatter it. Endeavor cupped his mouth and yelled out with every fiber of his being within the cauldron.
"Tōya! Tōya! Where are you!?" His screams were getting drowned out. But he continued his calls within the claustrophobic forest, as he sprinted deeper. Enji felt lightheaded but he forced himself within the mountain despite his burns. Endeavor debated rushing up to the sky but it would be useless because the smoke that filled it would choke him out. His mind told him that he couldn't stop the search. And yet his body protested until Endeavor shot off back to the edge despite his wants, his body couldn't take anymore. His lungs were filled with smoke. Again and again, he couldn't afford to stop, his son was in there… alone.
He should have gone up after him when Tōya first asked, the weather would have been perfect. But he didn't… It wasn't an excuse because Endeavor had truly forgotten how to interact with his firstborn after neglecting him for so long. He had spent so much time filling that void that his father had left him. That his pursuit to become the number one hero was all that he could think of.
And yet as Endeavor lethargically walked amongst the charred remains of the forest on that accursed peak hours later. He found that he couldn't stop his pursuit or it would all be for nothing.