Third person pov

"Wow." Hoshi said, blinking in a relatively dumbfounded manner at the flushed pro hero before him. "And here I thought I was a piece of shit."

"Thank you for your words of encouragement. That's just what I wanted to hear." Endeavor couldn't recall the last time he'd been this openly sarcastic with anyone. He couldn't even remember if he'd ever been able to talk to someone in the way he had with Hoshi Kansai, the broke, stoner college student who just so happened to be his soulmate. The flame-hero sniffed slightly, shoving an entire muffin in his mouth without shame. He just felt so relaxed and... he didn't know. There was something about being in a small coffee shop without someone you couldn't help but be completely lax around that made him melt like a crayon in a hot car.

"Hey, in my defense..." Hoshi trailed off, and Endeavor watched his brows furrow as he tried to come up with something witty. He'd been here for hours now, the both of them sitting near the back so they could maintain some form of privacy. No one had come up to the Number One Hero, so Enji assumed it was working. Hoshi finally snorted. "I have no defense. I'm ust obnoxious."

"I don't think so. I would've left, if you were." Endeavor said truthfully, because he really would've. That was simply the type of guy he was. Hoshi probably should've irritated him, at least a little. But he just... didn't. There wasn't anything more to it. His unstructured ramblings full of disorder and the dumbest topics, filled with the most idiotic memories and bizarre stories, were something Enji felt he could listen to for hours upon hours on end. In fact, he wanted to listen to them for hours upon hours on end. He'd messed up things so horribly with Rei and with his family. He'd kept secrets and had been, in general, total shit. Now he wanted to be open. It felt right to pour it all out, and it was like a weight off his chest.

"You're my soulmate. Nothing you say counts." Hoshi said in a matter-of-fact tone. "That shit doesn't matter now. You're fucking hot and clearly a good person deep, deep.... deep down in there somewhere, so-"

"What does me being hot have to do with anything?" Endeavor interrupted, smirking in a cocky manner. Hoshi stared at him for a moment, unperturbed, before decidedly ignoring him and continuing.

"Anyway, I'm going to help you with your anger issues and uh... coach you." Hoshi waved a hand about as though that explained things. Endeavor felt doubt well up inside him, his lips pressing together as he thought about it. He'd learned a lot about Hoshi in the past few hours, and vise-versa, but they still didn't know each other. Not really, anyway. How good would he be at helping, truly? Maybe it was rude of Enji, but he somehow didn't have much faith in the skills of someone who quote-on-quote 'only had one brain cell', soulmate or not. That being said, what other options does Enji have?

Something in him almost wants to resign as a pro-hero. He lost so much in his endless pursuit to gain, but with All Might's fall fresh on everyone's mind, heroes, civilians, and villains alike, him admitting to being a total piece of shit would probably snap society like a stale pretzel. People are counting on him to be good. To be better. All Might left a mess in his wake. Crime rates have skyrocketed since he retired, and Endeavor has been working overtime with other heroes to try his best to combat it and help maintain peace in Japan. So how does he atone for all he's done, if not confessing in the court of law?

"Don't worry. I watch enough anime to know how to deal with this." Hoshi's words instilled absolutely no confidence in Endeavor, but he leaned forward to listen closer anyway as Hoshi cleared his throat. "This is going to be a long road. We're going to have to start with a few things."

"What kind of things?" Endeavor sort of wanted to brush some of Hoshi's curls out of his face. Were they soft? Fuck, and to think he'd been a homophobic piece of shit before this. Was this what they called a gay-awakening? He needed to apologize to Shoto as soon as he could... as if his son would ever believe it. Besides, he wasn't even allowed to see the teen right now... he'd really fucked things up, hadn't he?

"Well, from what you've said, you and Fuyumi had a... moment." Hoshi and Enji both cringed horribly at the shorter male's way of putting it. Endeavor nodded through the pain. "Right, so you're going to sit her down and apologize for that. I know you haven't talked to her since it happened, and she's in the process of moving out, but you said she's the most understanding, right?"

"Right, right." Enji nodded, a sigh present in his tone as he sat up straighter. He ran a calloused hand through his crimson hair, frowning to himself. How did he apologize? A simple 'sorry' wasn't going to cut it. Endeavor couldn't look back and remember a single time he'd sat someone down and given them a genuine apology. And this was his daughter they were talking about. She deserved a lot more than a simply apology. "What about... dammit, I just get so pissed off, sometimes."

"You're not channeling your anger in a healthy manner." Hoshi shrugged, as though that explained it all. It did, in fact, not explain it all. Enji rose an eyebrow.

"And how do I go about doing that?" Enji asked. Hoshi's blue eyes lit up, sparkling like fresh blue pools of water in the summer. Endeavor tried not to think about how breathless he felt staring into them. He was a grown man. The Number One Hero. He did not get flustered because of eyes. Even if they were large, and round, and undeniably pretty.

"I know just the thing." Hoshi breathed, as though he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life. "How do you feel about baking?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Takashi hummed to himself, walking down the street happily. Touya was meeting with the principle and UA's media team. They were all stuck between telling the world about Touya and the misunderstanding he'd gotten wrapped up in, or keeping it a secret. He hadn't left UA's grounds since coming here in the beginning, and shockingly, his presence hadn't been leaked by any of the students. Touya was kept away from the prying eyes of the other classes anyway, but even so, the threat of expulsion hung heavy over the heads of the other students. If nothing else, those who made it into UA High were serious.

Nobody had to know about Touya, technically. The parents of 1-A and 1-B both had been contacted and talked to. Faith in UA wasn't all that high, but per the wishes of their children, most parents had come aboard willingly. Especially 1-A and their guardians, after meeting Touya. Takashi certainly helped. The man's uncanny ability to control his rage and keep a smile plastered on his face impressed even Nezu, who considered himself a master of deception.

The streets here were dirty, and the alleys full of abandoned trash nobody bothered to pick up. The sidewalks were scuffed up and not as well maintained as the ones further in the city, and the cracks in the old asphalt made any cars that happened to lumber by clunk uncomfortably. Everything seemed so monotone, Takashi being a pop of color in a dull area. It felt like there was another homeless person every few feet, signs begging for sympathy and a bit of cash to get them by held in tired hands. Takashi kept his head held high, offering the brightest smiles he could muster up. If not for Touya, that could've been him, after his grandmother died. He got lucky.

In his arms were three boxes, all warm in a toasty way. The smell of baked goods emitted from them as he bobbed along. His donut earrings matched the contents of his cardboard containers, and he couldn't help but grin to himself just a little. Things here felt so sad, but he couldn't help but feel happy. There was so much to appreciate. How could he not be happy?

With the implementation of the Foster Care System, orphanages had fallen out of favor and, for the most part, really didn't exist. That didn't mean there weren't still homeless kids out there, stuck without any sort of structure in their lives and in desperate need of loving families. There was a good chance Takashi and Touya would never be able to foster children legally. Maybe Takashi could if he were on his own, but that wasn't going to happen. Takashi didn't want that to happen. There were, however, other alternatives.

Quirkless shelters were few and far between. Kids without quirks didn't make it in the system, and it was as simple as that. Takashi had heard Izuku ramble about it again and again, now quite knowing why. It was a touchy topic for the freckled boy, but Takashi never pushed, and neither did Touya and Shoto. They let him rant passionately, and soaked up the information. Quirkless shelters were the places 'reject kids' went, as Izuku had so harshly put it. But that's what they were. They'd been thrown away by society, and that was the sad truth.

Takashi wasn't in much of a position to take children in at the moment. Though Touya could be without him for short periods of time, his "reform" was far from over. There were a lot of steps he had to go through, and the fact that his father may never get what was coming to him due to Tsukauchi and Rei being soulmates was gnawing at them all. It caused tensions to rise, and tension meant Touya's quirk had been more volatile as of late. Aizawa had been forced to cancel it twice during the last training, and Touya had resigned himself to sitting sadly in the corner like a kicked puppy.

Still, Takashi had found himself straying into this area despite himself, the donuts he'd gotten for 1-A in tow. His brown hair bounced with each cheer-filled step he took. His mood didn't go with the feeling in the air. He got a lot of questioning looks. A silent question rose in the eyes of anyone who looked at him for more than two seconds. Takashi could practically see the "what's someone like you doing here" resting on their lips as he skipped and twirled past, humming happily. Eyes trailed after the boxes he held. Takashi wondered if someone would shank him for a couple dozen donuts.

The quirkless shelter was a sad brick building with a tin roof. The white paint was faded and chipping off the reveal washed out grey beneath it. The doors were glass, leading into a small lobby where the air conditioner whirred just a little too loudly. Another door, this one wooden, led back further into the building. Takashi looked around for some sort of secretary or adult, but found none. There was no bell to summon one either. It made him frown. Most quirkless shelters had primarily children. Could just anyone walk in?

Shifting the boxes to one arm, he found himself reaching for the knob leading to the back room. It wasn't locked, but it did give an uncomfortable squeaking noise as he turned it, as though something inside had rusted. Touya glanced at the patchy ceiling, full of water stains. He wondered if those were before the tin roof or not. He hoped not. If there was water coming in every time it rained, then that meant mold. And that... well, it wasn't healthy, to put it simply.

It was... almost eerily quiet. All eyes snapped to him as he stepped in, an explosion of color in the drab room. Steel bunk beds with mattresses better reserved for inmates were lined up methodically. The only bright thing in the room was a multi-colored, checkered carpet in the corner, with a few toys on it. There were two four year olds sitting there, a teenager with bags under his eyes with them. Everyone was kids, all of them looked dead tired, and none of them smiled. It hurt Takashi's hard. These were children! They deserved to be happy.

"Hi!" Takashi ended up chirping, not letting the dead-eyed stares faze him. There were only about twenty kids in here, give or take, but they all looked so beat down. There was an eight year old girl with red rimmed eyes who looked sick, pale and sweaty. The teenager by the four year olds seemed to be the oldest one present, a pillar amongst a sea of young, hungry faces. Their cheeks were gaunt, and they just looked... tired. So, so tired. Takashi's heart twisted, and with it, his rage. He continued to smile nonetheless. "My name is Takashi Todoroki!" 

"What're you doing here?" The teen spoke. His eyes sparked with guarded defiance, and he rose to his feet, easily twelve to thirteen inches taller than Takashi. He had to be around seventeen, maybe even eighteen, though that would technically make him an adult. Him moving seemed to be the catalyst for the rest of the kids. They all shifted so that he was in front, and they were behind. They allowed him to be a wall between them and Takashi, who was the invader of their small haven. They scooped up their bags as they went, almost as though ready to run. Takashi shoved his anger down deep. Who would let kids live this way?

"Well... that's a good question. Believe it or not, I just sort of wandered over here." Takashi admitted sheepishly, optimism shining in his green eyes. He offered the boxes. "Donuts?"

The teenager stared for a long moment, taking in his beaming face. At the offer of food, several faces popped into view. One of the younger boys who'd been on the carpet waddled forward, his little nose twitched at the smell of the freshly made breakfast pastries. The teen didn't stop the boy, but his shoulders did tense like a guard dog ready to strike, watching Takashi carefully to see what he'd do as the small boy gazed up at him with brilliant violet eyes. Takashi smiled down at him, resisting the urge to coo.

"Wha's a donut?" The boy asked with as much confidence as he could muster, placing his hands on his hips in a proud manner in an attempt to make himself seem bigger, maybe stronger than the little kid he was. Takashi almost lost it right there, melting down to his height. The boy blinked. "They smwell good.'

"Smell." The tall teenager corrected, eyeing the boxes suspiciously. Takashi opened up to reveal an array of perfectly frosted donuts, some jelly filled, some creme, and some regular old ones with the hole punched through the middle. The brunette could see their ring leader hesitate just slightly at the sight, clearly wanting to cave.

"It's like cake! But breakfast cake. They're super yummy." Takashi took a plain glazed one out and took a bite, glancing up at the teen from where he was crouched. He could almost see him deflate, his guard somewhat dropping when he realized they weren't being poisoned. "Do you like chocolate?"

The little boy beamed with all the joy a child his age deserved to possess, still untainted by the world, and still holding the same innocence most kids his age held. Takashi wondered how hard it'd be to find a house big enough to accomodate all these children.