I was struck by a sudden surfe of Inspiration last week, so unless I decide to rewrite everything tomorrow - which is unlikely - this and the next three or so chapters were all written in a matter of two or three days! Wow! That also puts me in the comfortable position that I don't need to finish each new chapter last Minute. It's a part of the story I really was looking forward to in a while. sort of the accumulation and finale of this current arc in the story. I hope you like it, tell me what you think!

Before

"How does this go so fast?" Enji asked, rubbing his temples where a light headache started to bloom. His eyes scanned over the words, but he was on page four and it was late. He could hardly concentrate anymore.

"Exceptional circumstances," Nakamura replied from where he sat on the other side of the desk. His hands calmly rested on the table. Watching Enji read the divorce agreement was obviously boring him, because he had started playing with the pen in his hand. The regular clicking was a little distracting for Enji.

Enji threw an annoyed glance at the lawyer's hands.

"Uh… sorry," Nakamura muttered.

The hero just raised an eyebrow, putting the document back on the desk without having read it completely. "Exceptional circumstances?" He made a face at how mild that sounded. "You mean the abuse?"

Nakamura shifted almost imperceptibly on his chair. "Your wife's lawyer deems this a matter of urgency," he explained. "Her doctors too, and I'm inclined to agree," he added almost as an afterthought.

Instead of asking again, Enji's eyebrows just rose a little higher in a silent invitation to continue.

"Because of your wife's health," Nakamura explained. "It's expected that the divorce will have a positive effect on her healing," he shrugged somewhat sadly, "or rather, that a prolonged and dragged out divorce procedure would have a negative effect. Rei made considerable strides in her recovery, recently."

Enji's brows furrowed in thought. "And you assume she might relapse if this drags on into the new year." It was more a statement than question.

Nakamura shrugged again. "That's Yaoyorozu's fear at least, and it seems reasonable. For that matter, it would be best if we could submit the signed divorce papers to the City Hall early next week."

"And that's it?" Enji asked doubtfully.

"With the abuse being a public scandal by this time, it may be that the family court decides to review the papers, but I doubt they will prolong the procedure from their side either. So, yes," he nodded slightly, "that's it."

Enji nodded looking back to the document where he had stopped reading. So far none of the terms were unexpected. Most of these things he had already more or less verbally agreed to in his conversation with Rei herself. It had just been a matter of deciding on the amounts of alimony he was supposed to pay. "What about the house?" he asked, remembering the fire.

"The house," Nakamura repeated looking at his copy of the document and flipping some pages, before circling a paragraph of the agreement with the pen and turning the page so Enji could read it. "The fire was unexpected," he admitted. "Your wife is due 50% of the total value of ground and house as well as all assets inside that currently belong to both of you – excluding only your dojo. The fire destroyed the outer front as well as big junks of the roof, significantly reducing the overall value. That said, most of that is covered by the insurance. We decided you should not have to deal with the repairs together. You offered to buy her half of the house, so that's what we will go for." Nakamura looked up at him. "Both your insurance and the expert we consulted expect the damage to be in its entirety repairable, so Rei will sell both her share of the property and her claim against the insurance company to you. You might have some added administrative expenses, but overall, that seemed like the cheapest solution." Maybe Nakamura detected a slight frown on Enji's face, because he quickly added. "You stated you wanted to repair the damage, that's why I agreed to this. Rei has no interest in it."

"No, it's okay," he sighed unhappily. This would get expensive. The house was one of the most valuable family homes in the entire city. He had bought it after their marriage to have a family home, and now it was damaged from the fire and nobody lived there anymore, most of his family seemed to actively resent it – even he did, if he were honest – and still, he felt attached to it.

"And the…," he hesitated, "evaluation?"

"This morning. I was told it went well. I have a verbal assurance that Rei would be a magnificent mother. Especially since – and I quote – 'she has a solid support system to fall back on and after talking to both sons in question it seems there is no concern about her ability to take full custody.' I expect a copy of the written assessment by Friday."

Enji smiled sadly. He glanced back at the document, not really caring about the exact specifics, trusting that Nakamura had both his and the agency's best interest in mind, as he and Yaoyorozu crafted it. Slowly he flipped through the last few pages until he arrived at the very last one. His brows furrowed in concentration as he stared at the empty line at the bottom.

"What day is it?" he asked almost automatically, even though he knew.

Nakamura answered anyway: "The 19th."

Enji already scribbled the date into the empty field. He stopped suddenly, glancing up at Nakamura. "I see you've worked very hard to make sure I'm a divorced man by Christmas."

Nakamura smiled back almost sympathetically. "I'm not Christian," he said in a mild voice.

"Neither am I. But I hear it's a… rather couple-y festivity." He looked somewhere between amused and dejected.

"As far as I know you will work anyway," Nakamura offered.

Enji sighed. "True." And within an instant he scribbled his name on the document. "New Year too," he added. Which was much more celebrated than Christmas.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Nakamura said, still in a sympathetic voice.

"Don't be," Enji waved it off. He pressed a button on his intercom on the desk to call Inari in.

"Ah, you're finished." Inari said the moment he came inside. "It's getting late, I was about to pack up."

Enji looked at the clock again, for the first time registering how late it was. Both Inari and Nakamura were working overtime again. He shook his head, tiredly. For the first time in years – if ever – Enji felt like he needed a vacation. Though, of course, what would he even do then? Sit around at home…? Well, maybe he would decide to go and repair the house himself. He could never sit around doing nothing for longer than a normal weekend, if that.

"What are your plans for Christmas?" Nakamura asked back at Inari as if he was actually interested in the subject.

Inari's brows furrowed in confusion. "Christmas?" He repeated, looking from the lawyer to his employer and back. "I will work, I assume?" he glanced questioningly at Enji, who simply nodded almost feeling bad about it although they had talked about it before.

Nakamura stood up from his chair with an amused chuckle. "We're a rare trio, huh?" he asked with no regret in his voice. "You're married, right? I thought maybe you had at last some plans."

Enji didn't know if he should feel slighted for being so casually counted as 'not married' already, as if he and Nakamura both shared in being single, when he was very much still married. Inari seemed to think similarly, because he looked at Enji questioningly before he visibly caught up to the meaning of Nakamura's words. Thankfully he didn't pry. After all he knew the reason or their late meeting anyway.

"Uh, sure, I have plans for a late dinner with my wife. I will only work until four on Tuesday."

Enji nodded again as if Inari was asking for permission to leave early, when in truth it was already arranged and agreed upon.

"We booked a table at a nice Restaurant just down the 23rd." Inari looked a little uncomfortable speaking about his private life like that, Enji thought. No wonder, it made Enji uncomfortable too. He didn't speak about his family either when he was at work. At least not until recently when his family had become front and center and he couldn't escape talking about it, even at work. Enji only got used to it very slowly.

"Just your wife?" Nakamura asked, oblivious to Inari's discomfort and to the fact that Inari had just been in the process of packing up to go home and probably didn't want to get roped up in a lengthy conversation about Christmas plans of all things. "What about your daughters?"

Inari shifted a little at the door. "Yuu has a date. Mina spends the entire vacation on Kyushu with my sister-in-law and her family," he answered. He made a face as if he could imagine a thousand things, he'd rather do than visiting his sister-in-law. Enji, who had never visited his sisters-in-law in the 27 years of his marriage to Rei, thought he could relate. Then again, the reason he never visited was not because of some personal dislike.

"What about your youngest?"

And it was only then that Enji realized why Nakamura felt so comfortable asking private questions, while Inari did not. Obviously, they were talking about Inari's family regularly. Nakamura apparently knew the names of Inari's girls, even their ages apparently, while Enji only ever knew that Inari had three daughters. It was probably not the questions themselves that made Inari uncomfortable, but Enji's presence. It made sense, he decided. Both Inari and Nakamura worked very closely with each other almost all day every day on this floor of the agency, while Enji himself was in and out for patrols and individual incidents, only really spending prolonged time in the office when he was needed to put his signature on some document or another. Of course, they would talk about other things than just work during all these hours working together.

"She doesn't know yet," Inari answered, tapping his foot impatiently.

It was the cue for Endeavor to interrupt the conversation. He stood up, collecting the divorce agreement from his desk. "Can you make sure these are sent to Yaoyorozu Machi?" He briefly sorted through the papers to make sure it looked tidy and nothing was crumpled, before handing them over to Inari. "The address…"

"Is in the computer," Inari finished the sentence grabbing the document and leafing through the pages himself for a few seconds. "I'll get it done."

When Inari apparently accepted the tidiness of the documents, he turned to leave Nakamura and Enji alone.

"Right," Nakamura said after a moment of awkward silence, knocking on the desk. "Good evening." He bowed shortly and left after Inari.

Enji leaned back in his chair. Outside he could hear Nakamura and Inari continue their conversation for a few moments until one of them – he assumed Inari – finally left. Enji listened to his retreating steps. It got quiet again.

His shoulders sagged a little. It was done. He had signed the papers, now it was out of his hands. By tomorrow, he assumed Rei would have signed as well, then they only needed to wait for the written statement by the psychiatrist who had evaluated Rei and by Monday next week, when Yaoyorozu would deliver the whole package to the City Hall. He had no real hope that something would suddenly change and Rei would reconsider, or the expert would reconsider in his assessment of her or City Hall would for some reason reject their request for divorce. It was done.

Should he feel relieved that it was essentially over? He massaged his temples. The headaches were getting worse, he noted absentmindedly. He tried to relax, but no matter how often his doctor told him that he had to relieve stress to combat his high blood pressure, Enji had no idea how to. So, after a few minutes, he essentially jumped out of his seat.

He was already in the elevator pressing the button to ground level, when he remembered annoyed that his house was still not repaired and he still lived in one of the agency departments. Frustrated, he pressed the button to the 26th floor multiple times, but the elevator had already passed it and like the useless machine it was, it drove all the way down before turning direction to move back up. Enji was about to smash the panel in, when a woman from Support joined him in the elevator. She glanced at him, bowed in greeting and then rode down to the ground floor with him. He nodded back and then essentially shrank against the elevator walls, embarrassed at his childish impatience.

In his apartment he realized that while it was late for Inari and Nakamura to still be in the office, it was actually not that late all things considered. It was just past nine. He was tired because of days of bad or no sleep, and it was already dark outside because it was the middle of December, but it was not actually time to sleep.

He turned the TV on, switched through the channels until he found a comedy he didn't actually care about, but at least it was not the news. He didn't watch anyway, it just served as background noise. He took a quick shower. Although he had all the time in the world and the agency could easily afford wasting a bit of hot water, he only enjoyed the cool spray of water for fifteen minutes before stepping out of the much too narrow shower, not knowing what to do with the rest of the evening.

There was laughter from the TV. A laugh track or maybe even a live audience, he didn't know.

Restless, he went to the kitchen, considering if it was too late for dinner, before making a pack of instant soup. It was about all the food in the apartment. He hadn't gone grocery shopping, but the agency provided a measly offering of non-perishable packaged dishes for all the apartments.

He didn't cook often, and he wasn't particularly good at it. He also, if he were honest, didn't particularly care for soup, but he would manage. Instant soup was easy to make, even for him.

It made him think of Fuyumi again. He missed her cooking. He even started to miss Irina's Russian stews, he realized somewhat surprised.

It took ten minutes to make the soup and then just as long to gulp it down, still boiling hot. He didn't even register the heat in his throat until it laid uncomfortably but not painfully in his stomach.

Thinking about Fuyumi he looked at the clock again. It was just before ten now. Not too late to call, he realized. And they were back on speaking terms, so there was nothing stopping him.

He pushed the empty bowl aside and closed the offer he had open on the table from a construction company regarding the restoration of the façade, he had scanned while eating.

Over the phone Fuyumi sounded a little tired and muffled, as if she was yawning while greeting him.

"Hey Dad," she mumbled a little. He heard odd noises through the line, like she was brushing the phone against cotton. He imagined her sitting on the odd couch in that odd sitting corner of her tiny apartment were no furniture would fit to the next. She was probably getting comfortable there, that might have been the cause for the sounds coming through the line. Or maybe she had been watching a late movie before going to bed. He wondered if she had moved the sunflower by now, so it could get some light.

He decided that was as good a question as any to start casual conversation.

"Hello Fuyumi, how's that sunflower doing?" he asked with a smile, even though he was almost a bit embarrassed at his inept way to start a conversation.

Maybe she realized that too. "You call to inquire about the sunflower?" she asked amused. Again there were sounds he couldn't quite place. "I didn't move it," she admitted. "Wait, let me… Azumi!" She called out to her house mate. He assumed she had a finger on the speaker, because her voice was more muffled now, but if she didn't want him to listen in, she did a bad job at it. "I moved the flower." There was an unintelligible response. "Yeah, it's my dad." Again Azumi answered something.

"Azumi wants me to greet you," Fuyumi told him.

Again there were sounds he couldn't place.

"Thanks," he started, but he realized she wasn't listening when there was no reaction from the other side. Patiently he waited until she picked the phone back up again. When he heard her slightly heavier breathing, he spoke up again. "Tell her thanks," he said. He didn't know Azumi at all, only met her once and the only thing he remembered was how tall she was and her bad attitude toward him. "So, the sunflower is in the sun now?" he asked amused.

"Dad, it's dark," Fuyumi laughed, making him blush in embarrassment a s he glanced outside. "But he will be as soon as the sun comes up."

"He?" he asked, confused.

"It," she corrected immediately. "He… Azumi named it All Might." She sounded a little subdued for a moment, as if anticipating his reaction, but then quickly perked up again. "Because it's so bright and yellow."

"No, I can see it," Enji muttered with a slight smile shaking his head. "It's a fitting name."

Fuyumi giggled. "I told her it fit."

"Does she name all the plants?" he asked despite not really caring for Fuyumi's house mate.

"Uh… yeah?" there was an embarrassed pause. "But the names keep changing, so I don't know how they are called now. Only All Might stays the same."

There was a short break, because really, he didn't really care that much about the plants or Azumi or the apartment in general. If these cowards of JfN hadn't put his house on fire, Fuyumi would have already moved back in with him.

He realized she was waiting until he said something, stating the reason for his call. If he waited any longer, she would probably ask.

"I signed the divorce agreement," he blurted it out without her having to ask.

She stayed quiet for a moment. For a second he thought she wouldn't respond at all, when he heard her quiet voice.

"I'm glad."

There was something in her tone. She sounded oddly subdued, not like she was anticipating a reaction of him, just… muted, in a way.

"Are you?" he asked doubtfully.

Again, she needed a moment to respond. "Of course."

He sighed, closing his eyes. Why did he only realize this now? "We never asked you, did we?"

"Huh?"

"What you thought about us divorcing. We never asked you for your opinion." He felt bad about it. When Rei asked for the divorce, all he had done was call his children to tell them of the already made decision. He hadn't even asked them of their thoughts. Granted, it hadn't been his decision to make. If he were the one to decide, there would be no divorce, he was still convinced of that, even if now he slowly started to accept that it might be the best option.

"It's not my decision to make," Fuyumi said sadly. "And if I'm honest, back then, I would have probably agreed." There was a little regret in her voice. "I was still mad at you."

Enji had to agree. "Still…"

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It's not my decision, and it's probably for the best. For Mom," she hesitated briefly, "and you too, I think."

"Hm," he hummed undecided whether to believe or doubt her. He was lonely, he knew. This divorce would just make him lonelier.

"Don't you think?" she asked in a worried tone. "You were as chained to her as she was to you, right?"

Again, he just hummed his agreement. But again, he didn't know if being 'chained' – as she so aptly put it – to a wife he couldn't see was better or worse to the alternative.

"The holidays are coming up," he said, not sure if it was a sequitur to their discussion so far, or if he simply remembered his conversation with Nakamura and Inari earlier.

"Yeah," she replied sadly. "The timing is awful." He could basically hear her apologetic smile. "It's the last week of school," she perked up a little. "So then, I will have two weeks of free time."

"You can come visit at some point," he invited her. "My interim apartment here is tiny, but it still beats your glorified student dorm," he laughed.

"Hey," she cried with a mixture of petulance and humor. "It's not so bad."

"Any plans for Christmas or New Years?" he asked.

He didn't even know why he was asking. Was he prying for a dinner invitation knowing he would have to decline as he would have to work on both days? Or was it the memory of Inari talking about his daughters and realizing he had no idea what his kids were planning for the holidays.

"Eh… I thought I…" she stammered sounding embarrassed. "Hey, how about you visit for dinner on the 26th?" she asked, distracting from his question.

He didn't really linger on it. Obviously, she had plans she didn't want to talk about. Well, she was 23. If she had some date she didn't want her old man to know about, maybe it bugged him a little, but no reason to make a scene.

"Can't," he answered immediately. "Work."

"Dad, you can't be working the entire time?" she cried, a little exasperated.

"I'm afraid I gave too many Sidekicks off for the holidays," he explained. "Someone has to take up the slack. So, it's work and sleep, work and sleep." He sounded tired, he realized. He was tired.

She didn't pick up on it, or maybe she just didn't mention it. "You're impossible," she reprimanded.

They talked a little longer, about the house, about her work and about Shoto's coming up internship with Gang Orca. It still bugged Enji a little that Shoto had not even asked him, really. He understood it, after he had basically refused to teach him Flashfire and with all the media attention on Endeavor, never mind the new problem surrounding the JfN… Enji would have to reject him anyway, as he had no time for an intern at the moment, but it bugged him anyway, that Shoto hadn't even asked.