Chapter Text
Many thoughts went through his mind as he felt the crushing weight of rubble on his back, suffocating in the dust and pain. They were not of the schoolgirl he had just tried to save, who was unconscious beside him, nor of the numbing pain in his left arm, nor even of the fear for his own life.
Enji, was all he thought of.
Enji, his thirteen-year-old son.
Enji, who he hadn’t had the time to say goodbye to this morning, because he had to leave early for work.
Enji, who, if he died, would be alone.
As Haruo Todoroki laid helpless and on the brink of dying under the ruins of the school he worked at, having been attacked by a villain, all he could think of was of his son Enji.
And how he hadn’t done enough for him. Hadn’t been present enough, had let his young son seen his own father struggle and stress for years, how he must’ve made him feel like a burden, how he must’ve blamed himself for his mother leaving before he could even remember her and how, in all this time, Haruo hadn’t once reassured him it wasn’t his fault.
Todoroki men struggle expressing themselves. And even when they do, it comes out wrong.
Haruo had never found the confidence to have a conversation with Enji about everything. Had told himself he would, but whenever he tried, he backed out. Maybe it was cowardice, or nervousness or simply embarrassment at not being a better man, but Haruo could never find it in himself to speak honestly to his only child.
He couldn’t die here. If he did, Enji would have no one, no closure, no support, no knowledge of just how much his father genuinely loved him.
He really hadn’t ever said how much he loved him, did he?
Too busy with his own work and typical adult struggles, Haruo had never fully noticed just how much Enji had been doing for him. How he did the chores around their small apartment, how he knew how to look after both of them despite being barely a teen, how he never gave Haruo a reason to worry about him.
But now, as Haruo could feel his lungs filling with dust and his vision blurring, air becoming hard to breathe, Haruo realised just how alone Enji was. He never spoke of friends, he had no siblings, no mother, all he did was work hard and be efficient. Just like how Haruo did, every. Single. Day.
They had missed out on so much. Haruo never had the time to take Enji on outings, hadn’t taken him to the park or out to eat since he was barely a toddler. He couldn’t remember ever attending a parent-teacher conference, being a teacher himself, he’d just be sent the details by email from his colleagues.
When was the last time he took Enji to school personally?
When was the last time he properly hugged his son?
When was the last time he had fully looked at him?
His vision darkened.
No, no, no no no no, he couldn’t die here. Not like this, not when he had so much he needed to make up for, not now that Enji had just started middle school, no-
“Over here! There’s to more!” A voice cried as light suddenly engulfed and blinded him. Haruo winced and coughed at the fresh air, heaving against the earth as hands pulled and grabbed at him.
“The…the girl…” He wheezed out, only just remembering the ten-year-old schoolgirl he had tried to protect. A student from his class he had been teaching in the gymnasium when a villain attacked out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, a common happening these days, with the crime rate being so high.
“We’ve got her, she’s breathing.” One voice reassured, letting the tall Haruo lean on them as they carried him out from the rubble. “Just concentrate on yourself, you’re going to be alright.”
That’s how he found himself sitting on an ambulance stretcher, doors of the said ambulance open behind him as first responders and medical aid ran around the destroyed school grounds, pulling survivors and the dead alike from the rubble.
Somewhere in the distance, he saw the girl he had tried to protect sobbing into her parents’ arms. He had been told she was fine. Scratched, bruised, shaken and traumatised, but physically, she’d recover. Haruo had been the one to take the brunt of the damage, his back a cascade of cuts and bruises, his left arm was broken in a sloppy sling, and they’d need to do checks on his spine and ribs once they got him to the hospital.
But he could sit, and he was stable, and he was breathing.
“Father!” A familiar voice cried out.
Snapping his head up, he saw Enji running at full sprint towards him, having ducked under the barricades the police had put up.
The horror and terror in his bright blue eyes, that was something Haruo never wanted to see in his son’s expression ever.
“E-Enji!” Haruo stuttered out, instinctively reaching his right arm up to his young son. When had Enji grown so much? He was already at shoulder height to him, and Haruo was six foot tall. How did he just notice this? “You were here?” The thought that his son had witnessed him being crushed by a building terrified him more than the experience itself.
Enji faltered for a moment, his eyes catching the various injuries on his father’s face before landing on the broken arm.
Before Haruo could properly react, Enji had lunged forward, wrapping his surprisingly strong arms around him tightly, burying his face into his father’s chest. The pressure hurt Haruo’s unseen wounds, causing him to wince, but he couldn’t bring himself to push Enji away, needing the comfort just as much as his red headed child did.
“Ow! Enji, careful-!”
“Y…You could’ve died…” The thirteen-year-old mumbled against his father’s chest, voice slightly muffled. Haruo placed his right hand on his boy’s back, eyes widening as he heard the shakiness in Enji’s voice. “And I couldn’t do anything…”
Enji’s shoulders shook every so slightly under Haruo’s touch, before his son lifted his head, and he saw watery blue eyes meet his own tired blue ones.
“I’ll get strong!” Enji promised like it was a declaration. “And become a Hero! And I’ll protect you! And this won’t happen again!” With every sentence, his voice broke with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes.
No child should have to make such a promise to their father.
He was the one meant to protect Enji.
But he was a weak man, wasn’t he?
In all these years, he hadn’t even been able to honestly speak to Enji.
And here was his son, thirteen years old, with every reason in the world to be angry with him, for not being enough of a dad, keeping it together like no child should be able to, and who only had the desire to protect his father.
Haruo didn’t deserve that. Didn’t deserve him.
He loved his son so much.
A small, warm smile tugged at Haruo’s cheeks, the first real smile in an awfully long time.
He moved his hand from Enji’s back to the base of his head, and brought him against his chest again, hugging him best he could. He nuzzled his son’s red hair as tears of his own threatened to spill.
“Thank you, Enji.” He said, voice tight with emotion. “I…I promise I’ll do, be, better…”
This was a second chance.
And he had to take it.
For Enji’s sake.