My SI Stash #63 - Why am I on Fire? by Yojimbra (MyHeroAcademia)

-Only time where I will stand the MC blabbing about getting isekai'd/

Synopsis: Waking up as Enji Todoroki would be inconvenient at the best of times. Now, I must struggle to adapt to being one of the top heroes in Japan while trying to fix my new home life and try to ensure a better future. I'm going to need a lot of help. Endeavour Self-Insert 1st P.O.V.

Rated: T

Words: 17K

Posted on: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13646925/1/Why-am-I-on-Fire (Yojimbra)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I didn't have an alarm clock.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I know I didn't. I hadn't had one in a long time. Just hadn't needed one. So, then, why exactly was I staring at an alarm clock as it blared at me? I don't remember buying an alarm clock; I don't even remember setting an alarm clock. Why was there an alarm clock? Normally it was just waking up dead tired that woke me up.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Also, why the hell did I actually feel well rested? That was actually new. No headache, no grogginess, just, actually being fucking awake. The fuck?

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Okay, enough of that! I brought down my hand and tapped on what I thought was the snooze button. But what I saw wasn't my arm. Not in the slightest. My muscles were never that big, even when I worked out extensively. My hand never looked that big either. Come to think of it, this wasn't even my room. The bed was too close to the ground, the style was Japanese, and where the hell was my computer?

I sat up, looking around and trying to figure out what the hell was going on and how much of this was a dream. One thing was for sure though, I was fucking huge. Like I could out-bench Gaston easily. Though, he would have more hair than me. Wait, where was my chest hair? I looked at my body, moving the red tank-top—which I didn't remember ever owning—to the side and finding a few red chest hairs.

A jolt of pain shot through me when I plucked one and brought it up to look at it. "Holy crap, I'm a ginger?"

I brought my hands to my face, trying to see if I could feel something similar, not that I knew how my face felt, but I did notice one thing that stood out. My glasses. I was seeing without my glasses. Perfectly. That was pretty cool.

"Okay," I slid my hands down my face and looked around the room trying to figure out what exactly was going on. I couldn't come up with anything. Not a damn thing. When I attempted to scratch my chin I noticed something about my hand. It was on fire.

No wonder it was so warm.

When I tried to flick it out the fire did nothing. It stayed there, clinging to my skin like a thin glove. If anything, it got larger, spreading up my arm! I tried to put it out with my other arm but it was on fire too! Why was I on fire!? Quick! Stop drop and roll!

I did that, still fire!

I rolled again! Still fire!

There was more fire!

Still more fire!

I brought my arms up and stood touching my head and hoping that there wasn't even more fire there. "Why am I on fire?"

"Dad?" I looked towards a sleepy looking red haired child looking at me. His name came to me instantly. Touya. He. He was my son. "Why are you screaming? Didn't you want to train me?"

Never had a kid before.

I glanced around the room, hoping that I wasn't the only one in here. I was. Realization hit me like a truck as memories surged forth. Anger, lots of anger, lots of drive, motivation, of desperately trying to be better, to do better, to be stronger, faster, and all those other things as I strove to surpass All Might.

"Umm," I swallowed, quickly using my quirk to put out the flames that covered my body, even the ones on the ground dwindled quickly—no burn marks!—"Do you want to train today?"

That shocked the sleep out of his eyes. There was a bit of fear in his eyes as he looked at me. "No?"

"Oh, well, you can go back to bed, then, I'll see about breakfast." Crap, did I even know how to make a Japanese breakfast? More importantly, crap! I didn't know the first thing about Japanese culture! Sure I knew a bit, but that was basic weeb stuff and no way applicable to their whole culture. I didn't even like their cuisine! I couldn't even read Japanese.

Wait. I looked at Touya's pajama shirt, which was of some cartoon, and realized I could make out the characters well enough, and could even read them. Convenient.

"I can?" Touya asked, his eyes lighting up as he all but bounced on his feet.

I nodded. "Yeah, unless you're too excited."

"Can I go get Fuyumi and watch cartoons with her and Mom?"

"Is today a school day?"

"No, it's Saturday!"

Great! One less thing to worry about! I smiled and nodded. "Then sure, go ahead. But don't wake your mom up if she's sleeping alright?"

"Okay!"

I waited for him to leave before I started to freak out again. Part of me knew exactly where everything was in this house. It had been mine for years now, a large traditional Japanese style house right in the center of Tokyo. I had bought it after I saved someone from a villain attack and they offered it to me for cheap.

Though, I really shouldn't say that I bought it. I wasn't the original owner of this body.

I stepped into the bathroom, hoping against hope that I wasn't who I thought I was.

The man that stared back at me was Enji Todoroki.

The abusive asshole that was so driven to beat All Might that he forced a woman into marrying him to produce powerful children, and just a real grade-A jackass. As far as I could tell this wasn't a dream—I could still feel everything and I even had to use the restroom—but there wasn't much of Enji's personality left in me. Sure we were both a bit on the angry side, but I wasn't him.

"Okay," I splashed myself with some water and tried to think. I remembered everything I could about myself, this world, and who everyone was.

Twenty-five years old, father of two, husband to Rei, avid workout-er, and the number two pro hero in Japan. Twenty-five years old, so Fuyumi was three? And there were talks—demands���with Rei about another child, that would be Natsuo wouldn't it? That meant I was about twenty years from canon.

In five years, Izuku and Shoto would both be born, and it would still be more than a decade before I knew what was going on. That was twenty years of butterfly effects to screw everything over. Hell, there was no way of even knowing when exactly I was supposed to have sex with Rei to make sure Natsuo or Shoto were born.

Trying to keep things the same would be impossible. "Besides,"—I rolled my neck and smiled at myself in the mirror—"I always did say canon was boring, right?"

That sounded cooler in my head.

"Still, one thing is for certain, I can't do this on my own. I need to talk to All Might." I blinked, stroking my chin. Were we even friendly at this point? I could check my phone. "And Nezu… if he's alive at this point."

What were my options? What would it take to make that happy ending? Hopefully I remember everything right.

XXXX

What kind of tea did Rei like? Was it too early for tea? What was I thinking? It was never too early for tea. Still, the question was, what kind of tea did Rei like? I searched through Enji's half of the memories and found that when it came to what his wife actually liked it was pretty much limited to that one flower, and one thing that made her―

I felt my cheeks warm and stowed that thought for later. Much later. Which tea was the most used? Or which one did we have the most of? I checked the pancake, smiling at the pancake making device that they had; it made those really fluffy looking perfect pancakes like no one's business. I already had three done, though I doubted that Fuyumi could eat a whole one at her age. Could she even eat a pancake?

Should I have trusted Touya with her? It was better than trusting me with her.

"Hmm, let's go with this one." I grabbed one of the boxes that we had four of for some reason. The open one was almost out of little tea packets and I started the process of brewing some up. I could recall Enji being a coffee drinker, and I could feel my tongue shrivel up at the thought of drinking something so bitter. Apparently, I didn't inherit his tastes.

Which was probably a curse. A big big curse. I was probably going to starve in Japan.

From what I could tell, Enji left the cooking up to Rei. How was he not poisoned? Oh, right, money. And Rei was actually a nice person.

I let out a sigh as I thought about Rei. She had a strong quirk, as powerful as my own, and she had wanted to be a hero. But her health was poor, poor enough that she'd need medical treatment to keep living. That was how I got her. Money. Money for the treatment that gave her a normal life, at the cost of being a slave to Endeavour.

I stared at the tea for a moment as I thought about what to do.

"Enji?" I looked up and found myself struck dumb by Rei standing in the doorway. Her long white hair was full, giving her a cute almost pixie-like quality, while her face was just plain beautiful, and her grey eyes struck a nerve in me. A good nerve. Endeavour was a fool. Despite her beauty, Rei looked haunted, a ghost of fear loomed behind her as she took a careful step forward. "Why are you here?"

She tilted her head, one eyebrow raised. "And why are just your eyebrows on fire?"

Because I was really bad at controlling this thing and it's a miracle half of Japan wasn't currently on fire.

"Uhh," I swiped my hand over my eyebrows and extinguished those flames before placing some tea down on the table and gesturing towards it like it was some grand prize. "Good morning Rei, I made you some tea. I'm not sure if it's the kind you like." I held up the box I pulled it out of and smiled. "I also made pancakes."

Rei's mouth dropped, but she moved closer, heading towards the tea cup as she watched me with suspicious eyes. "What happened to training Touya?"

"He said he didn't want to train."

She shook, and grabbed the cup tightly. "Oh. I'm sorry. I should have―"

"He asked if he could watch cartoons with Fuyumi and I said yes." I scratched the back of my head, turning away from her as I felt an odd combination of adoration and guilt as I looked at her. While Enji hadn't hit her―yet―there was a tension between us. And why wouldn't there be? She was effectively a breeding machine to Endeavor. "Is that okay?"

Again Rei's mouth dropped and she held the cup a bit tighter before shaking her head. "No, that's fine, I... Thank you... For giving him a break."

"Don't mention it." I placed a cooked pancake in front of her and shrugged. "I don't really know if you like pancakes but―"

"No," she blinked and shook her head. "I mean, I do, I just." She shook her head again, staring at the plate. "They're fine. Thanks."

"I'll go get Touya and Fuyumi, I'm sure they'd love to eat with their mom."

Their father, on the other hand. I couldn't remember ever even holding Fuyumi. Endeavour judged her too quick; she was a female, and that made her weak. Damn, I really ended up in an asshole, didn't I?

"I'm still thinking about having another kid," Rei whispered, still looking at her cup of tea. "I'm sorry, but please, give me more time."

"Oh," I blinked, scratching the side of my cheek as I glanced at her. Such a haunted beauty. Sure, Rei had smiled before, but it was never because of Endeavour. "Don't worry about that, we don't have to if you don't want to."

Rei gasped, "I, what? Are you sure? Didn't we―"

"Yeah," I paused before she brought up much of the past. I already felt guilty for everything. "You might find this hard to believe, but I'm not going to force anything on you. Besides, I'm not sure if I want another kid either."

I didn't even want the first two.

"Oh," Rei blinked, she took a sip of her drink. "I see."

I saw it then. For the first time as Enji, I saw her do something wonderful. She smiled. It was small, confident, charming, and made my heart beat faster. She was way out of my league. "Well, I'll go get them."

"Your hair's on fire." She called as I left the room.

I needed to fix that ASAP!

I found Touya and Fuyumi in the living room, Fuyumi laying on the floor staring up at her big brother while the little redhead sat way too close to the T.V. He wasn't watching anime. He was watching the news. All Might had saved a bunch of people.

Again.

"Hey―" I started softly.

Touya jumped and quickly changed the channel. "Uhh, sorry dad I, Fuyumi just―"

"You like All Might, right?" I asked walking over to scoop Fuyumi up. This was another first for Enji. Was I supposed to carry three year olds? She wasn't a baby, just like a big toddler right? I should have paid more attention to my child development classes in college. Still, she could talk. Right?

"Dad?" Fuyumi asked, looking at me confused. I knew so little about her. But she wasn't struggling. That was good.

Now to try and pretend I didn't write several stories of my now daughter in romantic relationships with some punk that wasn't even born yet.

Touya on the other hand looked scared. "No, I mean, well yeah, everyone likes him, he's the best hero, but I think that―"

"You don't have to lie to me, Touya, you can say you like all Might. I won't get mad."

"Really?" He asked with wide eyes. "I don't know what happened to you, Dad but you're awesome today! After breakfast, can we train? I wanna be a hero like All Might one day!"

I laughed and nodded. "Sounds good! Now hurry up and get to the kitchen, there's pancakes."

Kids were easy. I watched as Touya bolted out the door and headed towards the kitchen.

Fuyumi followed him with her eyes.

"Do you want me to put you down?" I asked her.

Her head spun and she looked at me with wide blue eyes before nodding.

I unleashed the Fuyumi and watched as she did that awkward toddler waddle-run.

They would probably appreciate some alone time with their mom. It wasn't something that I should pollute at the moment. Besides, I could eat my pancake in a minute. But right now I needed to make a call.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through it looking for All Might's number. I didn't have to look far. There was at least one missed call each week from All Might. It was almost like he was my ex-girlfriend.

Quick memory check proved that was a no. Thank god.

I hit redial, and listened to the phone ring for a few moments. Would he even pick up? Should I wait for him to call me? How did that work with All Might? He seemed goofy enough that he'd be really excited that I'd be calling him. He might even—

I turned the news on again and watched as All Might fought a villain, I could see him scrambling to pick up his phone.

I hung up. He'd call me back after he was done.

Before I could even take a step away, my phone started ringing. It was All Might. I sighed, watching him fight the villain with his phone pressed to his ear. Sure he was the best hero, but wasn't this showing off?

I answered.

"Endeavour!" All Might shouted into the phone. "Sorry I missed your call earlier! I was fighting a villain and was a bit distracted!"

"You're still fighting a villain."

"What? No I'm not, what makes you―"

"I'm watching you on the news right now."

"Oh that? This is just some fun! But what can I do for you?" I watched as All Might all but obliterated the villain on the T.V. and even pausing to flash the camera the peace sign all on the phone with me.

"Do you think we can meet in person soon? There's a lot we need to talk about." I tried not to laugh as I thought about All Might acting like this. It was somehow both out of character and in character for him to just be so lax about actually fighting crime.

"Certainly! I know just the place! We can even do lunch if you prefer. How about at—"

"Do you know a Nezu?" I asked before he could get to set on a place. "And is there a place we can meet with him as well?"

A semi awkward silence followed. "How do you know about him?"

"It's why I want to talk."

"Right. Meet me at U.A. at 3."

"Okay."

I glanced towards the clock. That gave me five hours. Five hours to figure out exactly what I wanted to say.

Chapter 2

In general, my life goal was pretty much just to not die, something that was pretty doable as a shut-in. However, given how my current occupation was that of a pro hero, that goal felt much more difficult to achieve. Especially as Endeavour, of all people. Underqualified was a great way to sum up how I was feeling.

I let out a low growl as I examined Endeavour's hero suit; he'd wear it under everything when he went out, a classic workaholic. Though that wasn't the whole truth, Enji thought of himself more as Endeavour than he did as Enji. But in a world where being a hero is a full time job, it probably wasn't uncommon. No doubt Toshinori thought of himself as All Might first and Toshinori second.

I placed the suit back with its counterparts and stared at them for a moment more. In theory, all the training that Endeavour did was still in my mind, ready to be recalled at a moment's notice. But his instincts weren't. And my instincts were roughly the equivalent of a peanut butter sandwich in a room filled with begging dogs.

"Do I own a single tie that doesn't have flames on them?" Each and every single one of my ties were some basic color with flames at the bottom. Even a white and black one I thought looked good turned out to to have a black base with a white flame. Where was the fun!? Screw it, there had to be a tie with pink on it. There wasn't.

Rei stood at the doorway as I finished the last few buttons of my more professional suit. Ideally I'd be able to show up in a set of basketball shorts and a T-shirt, but this wasn't just a casual meeting between friends.

"Is there something happening?" Rei asked, her hand barely touching the door frame.

"I have a meeting with All Might."

That made Rei's eyes go wide. She gripped the door a bit harder, her hands shaking as she bit her lip. She was afraid. I wasn't used to seeing people be afraid of me, especially someone sweet like Rei. I hated it. But that wasn't something that was going to be fixed overnight. Any nice gesture I did for her might be suspect of having ulterior motives. Besides, I still needed to figure out exactly what I was going to do.

"Would it be alright if I take the kids to see my mother tonight?" Rei barely managed to squeak out. Any previous time that Endeavour had met with All Might, he had come home angry. Angry enough to scare Rei.

I smiled at her, and for a moment, surprise replaced her fear. "If that's what you want, sure. I don't really know when I'll be back, so I was going to suggest you didn't have to cook for me. But going to see your mom sounds like a great idea."

Hopefully in the future when I surprised her, she'd be smiling.

Rei stopped shaking, her head tilted to the side for a moment as she looked rather confused, somehow I feel like this whole day had been more confusing for her than it had been for me. And I was the one that had woken up in a giant flaming asshole. Seriously, I went from never married to a wife and two kids faster than I could have in Vegas.

"I, we, yes. We will. You. Umm. Thank you." Rei shook her head and bowed again, her soft footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Now back to struggling with my arch nemesis, tying a tie.

I still needed to figure out what I was going to say, and what I was going to do. There were way too many moving parts for me to act, and even if I did, would I be able to do anything? Sure, I was Endeavour, but at the same time I wasn't. What could I even do today?

List of heroes, list of heroes.

Hawks was probably still in diapers. Or wait, wasn't he closer in age to Fuyumi or Touya? What even was his first name anyways? Should have paid more attention to him. Burnin was like, six or something, Miurko was about that age too. Eraserhead was probably being a problematic preteen somewhere in the world. Who else was there?

Gang-orca? He looked old but I honestly had no idea what his age was.

I miss the wiki so much right now.

Gran Torino might still be active, or more active at least. Should have asked All Might to drag him into this too. Hopefully Nezu and All Might would be able to help me with this.

Then there was Natsuo. He was close to twenty. That would mean Rei would likely have to be pregnant with him soon.

The man in the mirror looked back at me, short red hair, blue eyes, and one hell of a resting bitch face all stuffed into a well fitted suit and sealed with a badly tied tie. I looked like a mess. A bit of fire was on my head that was quickly snuffed out with a finger. A hot mess. Rolling my shoulders I set out for U.A.

"I'm sorry Natsuo, but I won't force myself on her." Though, his character probably would have been okay with that.

XXXX

Thanks to my experience with playing Persona 5's intro at least a dozen times, I had a decent idea of how the train system worked. I still almost got lost. Somehow, I managed to find my way to the U.A. gates.

The locked gates.

I moved over to the large keypad and scanner and stared at it for a moment. Endeavour had been here before; he was an alumni after all, having been from the first generation of heroes to graduate from the school after All Might's rise to fame. And what a rise to fame it was. The first year alone the crime rate dropped 10%.

"Look out below!" All Might's cheerful voice told me that I was standing in completely the wrong spot as he came shooting down from the sky and landed right next to me. Honestly, the fact that I was 6'5 now really didn't make All Might's towering height and mass any less impressive. With any luck, that would be All Might's form for a long, long time. The man greeted me with open arms and a wide smile. Much like myself, All Might had elected to wear a suit, the same one he later wore as a U.A. teacher, yellow pinstriped, and practically bursting from raw muscle. "Endeavour! It's good to see you, I see you're as punctual as ever!"

I nodded. What the hell was I even supposed to say? Hi, I'm not really Endeavour and god you're huge? "Thanks for agreeing to this."

"My pleasure! Though I must say that I am rather curious as to what this is all about." All Might opened the door with a few quick key presses. "But we can talk inside, shall we?"

The bustling school life of U.A. reminded me that here in Japan a six day school week was considered the norm. Did Touya lie to me? Why didn't Rei say anything? Why were there Saturday morning cartoons if there was Saturday school? Was that just for middle and highschool?

Anime did not prepare me for this.

"I must say the students here at U.A. are getting better every year." All Might walked with his shoulders back, as he exuded confidence. Just being next to him made me want to adjust my posture and stand tall beside him. "What do you say later we show them what some real pros can do?"

I blinked, and briefly saw death flashing before my eyes. All Might would completely destroy me, hell, half these students would destroy me. I didn't even know if I could fight, I could barely keep from setting myself on fire.

"Ahh, Enji, you uhh, have a bit of flame on the top of your uhh-" All Might held up his hand as though he was whispering, his blue eyes were focused on top of my head. He blinked and then reached out and I felt him snuff out a flame. "I'll just, take care of that for you."

"Ahh, sorry about that, and thanks." I probably shouldn't have said that let alone say it like that nor smiled, because it made All Might's hand drop and he looked at me oddly. "Right, well, Nezu is this way right?"

All Might stood and shook his head, "Not at all, he's on the top floor. He was getting ready to make himself known to the public, so I'm still a bit concerned as to how exactly you know of him."

"I'll explain what I can once we get somewhere private."

All Might's smile was replaced with a frown for just a moment. "Did something happen to you?"

I only nodded.

The way All Might treated me changed slightly, from an overeager puppy that just wanted to play, to how a concerned father might act. In a way, it was sweet. In others, it just made me miss home.

I had been to colleges before, sprawling campuses built on any flat spot they could find in the valleys and mountains of my home. But, none quite compared to U.A. The main building itself was like someone tried to turn an entire college into a skyscraper and succeeded, to say nothing of how absolutely small the ceilings made me feel. They had to be at least 20 feet high, maybe more.

The view from the top made me all the more impressed by U.A's general size, a campus so large that buses were often needed to go from one end to the other. It felt so fantastical, and amazing.

All Might lead me to a cozy looking meeting with a set of couches flanking a coffee table. Nezu stood on the table, handling a large―comparatively―tea pot with both hands as he poured a wonderful brew that had a bit of a crisp spicy niceness to it. Though, seeing the equivalent of a stuffed animal pouring tea was a bit on the odd side.

"Hello, Nezu," I bowed politely as I entered, staring at the creature perhaps a bit more intently than I should have. In person, Nezu was a lot less whole than he normally appeared. There were patches in his fur that were thin enough for his spotted skin to be seen underneath. That, or this Nezu had yet to fully recover from his past.

Nezu placed the pot down carefully, before wiping his hands off on a cloth and looking up at me. He placed both hands behind his back, the suit he was wearing was well fitted, though the boots he wore reminded me of Izuku's gigantic red pair. "I was reluctant to agree to this meeting, but Toshinori claimed you could be trusted, so my question to you is how do you know me?"

"That," I began, "is a long story, and I do plan to explain everything to you. To both of you." I looked back to All Might and gave a half shrug half smile and gestured for the seats. "I'm going to need both of your help with this."

"I see." Nezu placed his paw over his mouth and then hopped from the table to the couch. "Well then, have a seat, and let's begin, shall we? I must say, I'm rather excited now that I've spoken to you. There must be so much on your mind for you to want to meet with all Might."

I took my seat opposite the two of them All Might towering over Nezu as the two took a sip of their tea so in sync that it might as well have been practiced. I took a sip and found that the crispness of the tea calmed me instantly.

With a long, steady breath I thought about how to say this. I had been thinking about it for the longest time, but no way seemed good. It felt like no matter how I put the words that it would constantly fall flat on its face and leave a sour taste in my mouth. Well, it wasn't like I ever planned any of my stories to start with, might as well just talk and see what happens.

One of the most important parts of telling a story was the Hook. The thing that grabs the reader, listener, or viewer and sucks them in. Fortunately, I had a lot of hooks up my sleeve and All Might and Nezu were looking like very eager fish.

"I'm going to start with this." I took a deep breath and felt my hands shake as I prepared for the truth. "I'm not the Endeavour you know. I'm not actually any Endeavour, really, I actually just woke up in his body this morning, I don't know how or even why, but the truth is that I'm not the man you know."

They were both silent for a moment. All Might shifted in his seat, glancing at me with concern while Nezu folded his hands in his lap.

"Then what happened to Endeavour?" All Might was the first to ask.

I shrugged, "I honestly don't know, I have his memories inside of me, and I can find his feelings in there, but as far as a persona there's only me in here." Felt good to use the word persona in a conversation not about the game. "But, that's not all. You see, I'm not just some random person from this world that switched bodies with Endeavour, or even someone that took him over."

Deep breath. Deep steady breath. It was time for the real wild part.

"In the world I'm from we don't have quirks, everyone is just a normal human." Mostly, "But, in my world, there's a Manga, one called My Hero Acadamia. It's set in this world, twenty years from now and it follows your successor, All Might."

"Successor?" Nezu questioned, looking up towards All Might.

The color drained from All Might and I saw the first hints of the skinny malnourished man he could end up becoming. "How much do you know?"

"About One for All?" I asked, watching his eyes go wider. His hands were balled into a fist, he was shaking. "Probably more than you."

"Excuse me, what exactly is One for All?" Nezu asked, raising his hand. "I feel like understanding that would help me believe this is not some elaborate hoax."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. Twenty years from now Nezu knew about One for All, he was one of the ones trying to get All Might to pass on the quirk to Mirio after all. I looked towards All Might, and extended a weak hand in apology. "Sorry, I thought he knew."

All Might let out a long sigh and relaxed. "It's alright, I'm sure if what you say is true, then he must eventually know. Though I find a lot of this hard to believe. Is there something more you can tell me?"

"Your name is Toshinori Yagi, you were born quirkless but still wanted to be a hero and thought that Japan needed someone strong enough to be a pillar of peace and justice." I took a deep breath and maintained eye contact. "You left an impression on your late master, Nana Shimura and she gave you One for All. Do I need to go on?"

All Might frowned. "This is not at all what I had in mind when you said you wanted a meeting"

Was All Might pouting?

"So, if I'm understanding this correctly." Nezu looked up towards All Might and gave him a speculative glance. "You possess a quirk that can be passed down from one person to another?"

"Yes, that's the gist of it, I can explain more later, but why don't you continue, uhh, I'm sorry what exactly should we call you"

Enjimbra?

"Just, call me Enji." It was close enough to my real name anyways, if I played with the letters a bit. And the sounds. Okay, so it had two similar letters but that was close enough. "It'll make things easier. Or Endeavour, it is who I am now, kinda."

"Well then Enji, it appears as though, you've gotten All Might to believe you." Nezu took a long sip of his tea finishing the drink with a content sigh. "And while that would be enough for me normally, I'm still a bit suspicious. You're claiming to have knowledge from twenty years in the future in the form of a manga you read. It seems a bit convenient, so what are your goals?"

"Long term? I don't really know." I shrugged showing both of my hands as I leaned forward onto my knees. "For my personal goals it's to make sure that the family I found myself in is happier than the one I know. But, beyond that, I don't know. That's why I came here, not only are you two of the smartest people I know, but you're also both firmly on the side of good. And if I'm wrong about trusting you, then I'm wrong about a lot of things."

"So, if you want to know what my goal for coming here is? It's to get your help. I'm not asking anything for what I know. I'm not even sure what I know will even be of any help right now, most of it is in 20 years from now, and things are already going to be different." I looked at my hand and stared at it for a moment. "I'm not Endeavour, I'm not a hero. I don't know if I could save the people he saved; I can barely go five minutes without setting myself on fire! So, that's my goal, my goal is to trust you two."

I looked at both of them and gave my best smile. "So please, help me."

All Might's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Fear not Enji! We can team up for a while and I can get you into heroic shape in no time flat! This will be great! The two of us teaming up! Can you imagine all the good we'll do?"

When I looked at Nezu, I made certain that I looked like the most pitiable person on the planet in hopes that he would save me. Part of me, a large large part of me, just didn't want to be a hero. That wasn't who I was as a person. I panic, and the idea of me being responsible for someone's life or death made me light headed.

"Perhaps." Nezu gave a sadistic smile. Right, he was sadistic. "But for now, Enji, please, tell us all you know."

Chapter 3

ThuwwBwhammThonk!

This felt a lot like highschool.

A red rubber ball slammed into my face with enough force to put my face onto the ground and my ass up in the air. I glanced across the court towards All Might as he winced at the result of his throw. That was apparently him going easy on me. But, I should have known better, he was still probably frustrated over everything. Being told by both myself and Nezu that we would have to wait.

I knew that Tenko was born this year, but I didn't know exactly when, never paid much attention to stuff like villain's birthdays. Hell, the only reason why I knew his age was because I was surprised he was actually kind of young. Still, we had five years to intervene. All Might just wanted to work on a faster time scale.

Which was fair.

I'm not exactly patient either.

"Ahh!" All Might gasped, running over to me, his shoes squeaking against the gym floor that had been leant to us for a brief period of assessment. The principal―who was grooming Nezu to be his successor―had been more than amiable and even made sure to keep it a secret that the number one and number two pro heroes were playing dodgeball. "Sorry Enji, I thought you could handle that."

I accepted his hand as I stood, the room was ever so slightly still spinning as my head reeled from what felt like a rubber train hitting me in the face. I placed my hand on his chest and smiled, mostly to steady myself. "Don't worry about it, I don't think you gave me a concussion."

All Might grabbed my hand and lifted my arm up, his dark blue eyes burning into my soul as he inspected me closer. The frustration was written all over his face. "You weren't kidding when you said you didn't have any instincts."

He wasn't really wrong, really the only instinct I actually had was flailing my hand in front of my face when I heard an insect. "I've never even been in a fight before."

I looked at my hand, how many times had I dreamed of having magical abilities? How many times did I cast fireball as a Wizard in D&D? Countless. With a deep breath I reached into Enji's deepest memories, finding that first moment. For him, it had come naturally, from the moment his quirk awakened the flames were under his control.

I did not have that luxury. I focused on my hand, picturing a flame on it. My hand ignited into a bonfire that nearly singed All Might's eyebrows off. "I said it before, I'm not a fighter, I'm not a hero. I'm just some guy, in a rough spot, that wants to do the right thing. But, that doesn't mean I don't want to learn my quirk. So please, All Might. Have some patience with me."

All Might gave a fierce smile and placed his hand on my shoulder before moving his other hand to put out another fire in my hair. Why was I constantly on fire? "Ha! Well said Enji, well said. Though to be honest, I have no real advice on how to learn how to use a quirk, it just came naturally to me."

Right, he sucked ass at that, didn't he?

"That's fine, I normally like to figure stuff out like this on my own." Mostly due to stubbornness. "But even then, I still have a lot to learn and not much time to learn it."

"Hmm," All Might crossed his arms and tapped on his chin, "I understand your goal well enough, but I have to be honest, I'm confused about what role you want to play. You say you're not a hero, but, you also want to do the right thing."

"That's nothing new, most people struggle to find their own place in life." I stretched, looking at him in the eye. Even though I was so much taller as Enji than I had been All Might still made me feel small. "Weren't you the same?"

"Nope, I've always known exactly what I wanted to be." All Might struck a pose and beamed with energy. "A pillar of peace and justice."

"But, before that."

He blinked in surprise, his pose deflating.

"I don't mean this in a bad way, All Might. But, you know this struggle as much as anyone. And you'll know it again, once you pass it on." I scratched the back of my head. What the hell was I doing lecturing All Might? "I mean, when you were in middle school, did you not struggle because your dreams were far larger than your own capabilities? Didn't you ever feel lost because of that? And you only found your path because of Nana?"

"You," All Might let out a sigh that nearly sounded like a growl. "You're far wiser than Endeavour ever was."

Not really, I just study storytelling and know how character arcs are supposed to work. At least in theory.

"Right then. Enji, I've made up my mind, if it's fighting you need to learn there's only one man we can turn to." All Might shook a bit nervously. "You know him right? The one who taught me how to fight?"

I was never good at dealing with angry old people.

"Gran Torino, right? Sorahiko?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"That's right! I can give you his contact information and his address, he's currently living out in the countryside so you might even be able to-"

I walked forward and placed a hand on All might's shoulder. "All Might, one of my goals is to make sure that you know how to actually teach a bit. So, you're coming with me."

All Might paled, and looked completely unlike the great hero he was at this time, I saw the first hints of his struggling character I was familiar with. "But why do I have to go? There's no need for it so-"

"Nope, while I'm learning how to fight, you'll be learning how to teach."

"But he'll be even more annoyed by that!"

All Might, the number one pro hero and a man that could punch with the force of a nuke was whining. Part of me took a great deal of pride in that. It was amazing what you could do when you understood a character's background, motivations, and fears.

"You're going to have to talk to him eventually, don't you want to talk to him about Nana's kid?"

All Might let out a long huff and his shoulders deflated. "I'm going to have to get used to you being right, aren't I?"

"You and me both."

"Alright then, we'll head for his cabin tonight!"

"Tonight?"

"Better late than never, if I called him to tell him we were coming, he'd be annoyed that we weren't already there."

For one of the fastest men alive, that made a lot of sense. Also, better late than never? Wait, was he referring to how he was too afraid to even call Gran Torino? I'll let it slide, but just why? "Wait, wouldn't he be more annoyed if we did show up unannounced?"

Once again All Might deflated. "Good point."

"Right, well, you call him, I need to make a phone call." Though, given the current situation, she might not even answer, or even be bothered that I wasn't coming home tonight. So many memories of Endeavour staying late hours and never contacting Rei for anything. She really was just an object to him.

"Call? Who?"

"Rei, my wife. Touya and Fuyumi as well," I scratched my neck; training to become a hero might delay the whole being a good father plan I had going. But, I'd make up for it.

"You sure do care for them, even if they aren't really your kids. That's admirable."

I shrugged. "Not really, I'm just-"

All Might's hand fell on my shoulder again and he gave me a rough shake. "Enji, learn to take a compliment."

XXXX

Riiiiing ~

Riiiiing ~

Riiiiing ~

"Hello?" Rei's soft spoken voice was less than a whisper over the phone, especially after I spent so much time talking with All might recently. It was actually nice, I generally preferred the quiet. "Enji?"

Her voice had a bit of shake to it. Maybe a few extra days away from each other would help her calm down?

"Hey Rei," I said in my own hushed tone. I caught a glimpse of myself in the locker room mirror. The U.A. gym suit that I had been lent was snug, but fit well. "How are things with your mother?"

"Huh?" I could hear Rei shifted. "She's well."

A pause.

It's not like I could expect much more, that would be my response as well.

"And the kids?"

Another pause. I could feel her discomfort through the phone. Maybe I was trying too much? My lack of relationship experience was probably hurting me here, but it was easy to tell that Rei didn't want this phone call.

"My dad is playing badminton with Touya, and Fuyumi is just about to take a nap."

"I see, well, I guess I'll have to talk to them later." Thought it might have been a good idea to at least let them know what I was doing, better to hear it from me than their mother. Or maybe not. At least that's what I would have preferred. "But, I'm just calling to let you know that I'll be out of town for a while."

"Oh, I see." Rei's voice was soft.

"Yeah, it's just going to be a training trip with All Might," was that too much? Rei didn't seem like the gossip type, especially not about me. "So, the house will be pretty empty for a while, but, when I get back, why don't we all go out to eat?"

"Sure?" She sounded confused.

"Great, I'd hate to leave it to you but can you help me pick a restaurant that the kids might like as well? We can invite your parents as well."

I heard her gasp through the phone. "Are you suggesting a family dinner?"

"Nothing that formal really, just, well, yeah, together, as a family, one where you don't have to cook."

"I… Sure, I'll talk to my parents about it."

"Great." I scratched the back of my head and frowned at the lack of a timetable I had for current events. Few things annoyed me more than not being able to give a set date. "I don't know when we'll be back, but I'll try to let you know ahead of time. Oh, and Rei."

"Hmm?"

"Tonight, when you're reading Fuyumi her story, why not have Touya read it with you? I'd do it but I won't be home." Memories of reading the stories to my little sisters stuck out the most from when I was Touya's age.

"Oh, umm sure." Rei paused again. "Umm Enji?"

"Yeah?"

"What. I. Um. No, never mind."

"Alright." She probably wanted to know what happened to me. There was a time and place for that. And over the phone wasn't it. I needed to tell her sooner rather than later. "Take care, Rei."

"Thank you. Enji."

The phone went silent and I stared at it for a few moments. The kids, I wouldn't need to tell, they probably wouldn't understand anyways. Well Touya might. My first night of being a father and a husband and I was already going fishing for the weekend. Still, I didn't have much of a choice. I was a hero, not even by choice.

Kind of shows how boring adults were. Now that I was a hero, I was dreading the idea of it.

What was that about character arcs earlier?

Fuck.

I stood and walked back out towards the gym.

Time to get my ass kicked by All Might at dodgeball, before we set out for Gran Torino's cabin.

When we exited the gym I saw a student looking at me; abnormally tall, plain looking, lanky, with sharp glasses and green hair marked with yellow. It was Sir Nighteye, but younger. He was wearing a school uniform as well. Miri? Mirai? Which one was it?

I was about to wave to him, but he darted away. What were the chances that he was such a massive All Might fanboy that he was too shy to come say hello?

XXXX

I learned several important lessons on my way to Gran Torino's cabin. The first of which was that All might couldn't drive. The quick to follow second lesson was that in Japan, they drive on the left side of the road. The third, was once again All Might-related as he wasn't exactly the best at directions. It was already dark, and we had gotten lost twice.

"Alright, I'm positive this is it!" All Might pointed towards the small dirt road that was going up into the mountains.

I would say that if he was wrong this time he'd be carrying the car back down the mountain, but he already did that. It was terrifying. "If you're sure."

We took my somewhat nice car up the road and gave a light twitch when I heard the gravel hit the undercarriage. A brief flicker of light alerted me that I was on fire again, and once again All Might put it out. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, sorry for getting lost." All Might relaxed in the back seat of the car. Largely because we discovered quickly that between the two of us, it was cramped in the front and that I wouldn't be able to see out of my left window with him scrunched in there. Apparently, he didn't have the ability to freely switch between forms. "Say, Enji, why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself?"

"Like, what?" I kept my eyes on the winding gravel covered road that was partially reclaimed by nature. It was one of those roads that looked like it had been carved by a car, with a ridge of grass in the center and two ruts filled in by gravel. It made me feel like I was trying to drive on two very narrow roads.

"Well, you're vastly different from Endeavour, so why don't we start with your occupation?"

Oh joy. Sharing. Well, it wasn't like I had my old life to be private about anyways. Besides. I really wanted All Might to trust me. "Well, I actually had several jobs. I suppose two were actually important. I actually worked in IT, err, with computers, like what they do at I-Island just more boring and completely different." Come to think of it, all that information is probably going to be completely useless in this world, it was very likely that the languages I was used to operating on were completely outdated. That, and there was a good chance that this world was filled with anime bullshit computer science. "But before that I was a teacher."

"Oooh?" All Might sat forward a bit, smiling. "A teacher? What subject?"

"Math; it was only for a year, but I was a bit too young to handle a job like that." I laughed as I remembered that hellish year. Generally speaking, I tended to not stay with a job that gave me a black eye. So why the hell was I going to be a hero again? The good news was that math was math. It was really really hard to change how math worked. So at least I had that. "But, what I really wanted to be was an author."

"Oh, were you ever successful?"

The remainder of the trip was spent telling All Might about myself, and when it came to an end, at a lone cabin in the middle of the woods near a lake, I swear I could hear All Might shit himself as I saw a very annoyed, and much taller Gran Torino standing there glaring at us.

"Get out of that car!" He stomped his foot and glared at us. "You two would have been here quicker if you had ran here! So now we're going to run around the lake! Get going!"

Fuck.