Endeavor took a step forward.

"Sho-"

Shoto suddenly appeared, panting, carrying half a dozen people on his shoulders.

All of the civilians in the near vicinity turned to look at him, startled.

His skin was dripping with sweat, his hair slicked back for the wind - generated by his speed - had blown it back.

He slowly knelt - his thighs shaking - and laid them all on the ground.

Men and women wrapped in blankets blinked in surprise and looked around in disbelief.

"How...?"

Their eyes darted back and forth between Shoto, the crowded square and the remains of the blast they could still see in the distance.

A woman caught her husband's eye.

"Darling, isn't the noise and fire going on in the direction we're living in... ?"

The man, still stunned at appearing nowhere in the middle of the night, took a few seconds to answer, his dumbfounded eyes turning to Shoto.

"Are you the one who saved us ?"

Shoto was breathing like a laboring ox, his shoulders rising and falling quickly, his chest swelling like a balloon before suddenly collapsing.

He nodded sharply, head down, then coughed vigorously, hands on his shivering knees.

His muscles were hot and aching, his vision blurred, his mind fuzzy.

"You... you saved us all by yourself?

Disbelief and wonder.

People crowded him ; he was too weak to tell them to back off.

His headache had spread like a fever through his body : he'd never felt so weak, not even in Nagano.

He felt like he was on the right path for another chakra exhaustion.

Shoto wanted to answer and stand up ; instead, his legs gave out and he fell to his knees on the floor.

His body lurched forward ; the world shook and the ground came abruptly closer to his face.

A hand caught his shoulder.

Shoto blinked.

Rain - or perhaps it was sweat - trickled down his hair, making it hung limply around his face.

He was pulled back to his knees and only allowed to be held this way for the man holding him had the radiance of the sun.

"You're a mess"

If he had the strength, he would have smiled.

It was exactly what his grandmother would have said to him if she'd been there.

His shoulders were dusted.

His clothes were smoky, black wisps rising in curls around him, soot staining his skin and ash covering his hair, as if the explosion had been on his heels, about to slam its maw on his ankles like a fiery monster, and he'd barely been quick enough to escape.

"Glad got here in one piece," he breathed

For a brief moment he had thought he wouldn't be able to escape ; he'd entertained the possibility of leaving behind the last group of civilians in the neighborhood, just as he'd done with their pets - without any qualms.

"What's that noise ?"

A strange sound echoed in his ears, as if a multitude of people were running.

Even in this altered state of mind, Shoto sensed that his father was smiling.

He squeezed his shoulder with emotion.

"Applause. They're clapping for you, son"

Shoto blinked.

It took a few seconds for his brain to reconcile his father's words with the sound he was hearing.

Then the absurdity of the situation hit him hard, and he let out a wheezing laugh overcome by a sudden coughing fit.

Endeavor, smiling softly, patted him on the arm and then looked around.

There was a brief fuss and some words were exchanged that Shoto didn't bother understand ; a few seconds later, his father handed him a bottle of water and pulled out three bags of sugar from his pocket

"Drink, no one's looking"

Endeavor used his large body as a shield between his son's exposed face and the rest of the world.

Without checking to see if he was telling the truth, Shoto lowered his mask and drank the bottle in one gulp.

His throat felt like it was on fire.

Thanks to his Quirk, he filled the bottle to the brim three times in a row and drank just as fast.

His hands were shaking.

Enji looked at him, tore open the sugar packets and put them into his hands.

Shoto mumbled a thanks then swallowed the three of them followed by a sip of water.

He then rested his forehead on his father's shoulder and breathed in through his nose several times to calm himself, eyes closed.

The world stopped spinning beneath his feet.

Stolen story; please report.

He didn't pull up his mask for now : the cold air and the rain did him good.

Absent-mindedly, he remarked to himself that he'd once again lost control of the storm he'd created.

"All for one" he muttered. "I need to-"

"You don't need to do anything," his father interrupted him calmly and firmly. "The only thing you're going to do is stay here and rest"

Shoto frowned but didn't lift his head from his father's shoulder.

The warmth emanating from him soothed his mind and chased away his headache.

He protested :

"The attack was perfect, he must-"

His breathing was still a little ragged.

"There's little chance he'll make it. All I have to do is deliver the ultimate blow and then"

"I have no idea what you've done to cause this explosion," Enji said in a low voice, making sure no one was listening, "But right now there are more serious things to worry about than finishing off All for One. Did you think for a second how easy it would be for him to take care of you if you went back there in your condition ?

Shoto grunted.

"He's a mess too…"

"I remember vividly the state you were in after the Tokyo Giant incident," Endeavor said. "If you have to end up in a coma to win, it's not worth it. No fight that require your death is worth it, I hope you do know that"

Shoto, eyes still closed, smiled slightly.

It had been a long time since he'd been chastised by a worried, sanctimonious dad.

Endeavor, eyes still wary, wanted to hug his son yet the curious - if respectful - looks of the civilians prevented him from doing so.

He hated public displays of affection - and Shoto did too - and they were already doing a lot.

He just rubbed his back lightly, like anyone would for a friend who'd puked and was about to do so again.

"I don't know how you managed to save all those people so quickly," Endeavor muttered, "But I'm infinitely grateful to you"

It had taken Shoto only ten seconds to evacuate an entire neighborhood ; not even Hawks could boast of clearing an area that quickly.

Still, he didn't like to see him so weakened.

Shoto murmured so quietly that Enji almost didn't hear him :

"Are you proud of me ?"

"Of course" he replied matter of factly

As if it was something new.

Shoto smiled and Enji, looking at him, noticed it immediately.

He knew that he should have been organizing the evacuation of the civilians until his subordinates arrived, but his son needed him.

"I'm glad," Shoto said. You took so much shit because of all the stupid things I've done..."

Shoto rambled on, his tongue loosened by fever and exhaustion.

"You didn't do anything", Enji countered.

He'd suspected that Shoto was feeling guilty about the media fallout from the hangar video released a few months ago, yet he hadn't been sure for his son had avoided the subject every time he'd tried to bring it up.

"Don't lie to make me feel better"

Enji never lied to him.

"Now people know that I can be a good person, too"

The hand that was rubbing Shoto's back stopped abruptly : Enji squeezed his shoulder, unable to answer.

His son was a good person.

It hurt him that he was incapable of seeing it himself.

He opened his mouth to answer ; suddenly, Shoto froze.

Endeavor gave him a worried look.

"Is something wrong ?"

Eyes wide open, Shoto abruptly pulled his mask up over his face.

He jumped to his feet in fright, eyes roaming over their surroundings.

Enji followed him a second behind, glancing around uneasily.

"They're here"

There were only noisy civilians gathered in groups, making a slow, lazy exodus toward the shrine's staircase.

"Who ?"

Shoto's eyes were locked on something high behind him.

"Look"

Enji followed his gaze.

In front of them - on top of the building - stood a huge, black creature, covered in shining scales like a knight's breastplate.

A Nomu, but a Nomu unlike any he'd ever seen.

On either side of it opened half a dozen portals, black and misty.

Endeavor's hand - still on his son's shoulder - tightened.

Buildings, shops and skyscrapers surrounded the shrine ; Shoto's head slowly turned around, eyes surveying the area.

Looming high, and enclosing them in an iron vise, were thirty-eight Nomus.

*

A/N : If you like the story and want to read ahead of schedule, go check the story's P@treon, Nar_cisseENG

See you in the next update everyone !