"Sorry, Bakugou, but I searched and there haven't been any statements from the rest of Endeavor's family. And there aren't any charges against him at the moment," Iida told the blond over the phone.

      The four had gotten home and Izuku had already started on his homework as Shouto watched. Katsuki started to help the bunny, but when his phone rang, Kirishima offered to help him instead.

      "Alright, thanks for looking into it for me," The blond responded with a sigh. He had made sure to go into his own room when he heard the other's voice to avoid the kids overhearing them. Hopefully Izuku was too busy with his homework that he wasn't paying attention.

      He hung up the phone and let out another sigh, something he seems to be doing a lot lately. There's just something off about Endeavor. Something that rubs Bakugou the wrong way. That, coupled with the statements from Shouto really did paint the number two in a bad light. But, he can't even do anything about it without evidence. Too bad he wasn't a vigilante like the character from that story he's been reading to the boys, he could've just gone after flame-head right now and worry about the consequences later. Sometimes, being a hero can be so restricting. After thinking about his options for a few minutes, he decided to leave the room and join the others.

      "So, the dog 'what' over the fence?" Kirishima asked Izuku.

      "'Jumps'?" The greenette responded, unsure of his answer.

      "Close, but this is past tense. So it'd be..."

      "'Jumped'?"

      "There ya go."

      The child then wrote the answer down. "J-U-M-P-D."

      "You forgot an 'E'."

      "Oh, ok. J-U-M-P-D-E."

      Bakugou let out a laugh, making everyone turn to him. "Sorry, couldn't help it," He said as he sat on the other side of the struggling child. "The 'E' goes in between 'P' and 'D'."

      "Oh, ok." The bunny then wrote it correctly, saying the letters out loud once again.

      "Alright, so next, sentence is..." Katsuki leaned over to look at the bunny's paper, with Eijirou doing the same.

      Shouto started to get a funny feeling. He didn't really know what it was though. It's just that, he suddenly felt upset when he saw the two adults spend all their attention on the rabbit, but none on him. In the past, that was something he hoped for while under the care of Endeavor, but now, it makes him feel sad. Worse, with the way he was behaving before, he didn't think he even deserved their attention now. Maybe he could make up for it? He decided to get up and walk to where the blond was sitting.

      "Hey, Shouto, need something?" Bakugou asked when he saw the cat walking towards him.

      "Umm..." The kitty just played with the bottom of his shirt, acting nervous. An emotion that Katsuki didn't even know the boy had.

      "You lonely?"

      Instead of answering, the boy just nodded.

      "Come here." Bakugou opened his arms and Shouto hesitantly walked into his embrace. The blond scooped up the little cat and placed him on his lap while hugging him. "If you're upset about something, don't hesitate to ask me for help, ok?"

      The boy didn't really answer, but just nodded his head and leaned into the hug. He swore he could've just went into a catnap right then and there. But he tried to force himself to stay awake, just in case.

      While Shouto was sitting in Bakugou's lap, the blond continued to help Izuku with his homework along with Kirishima. The greenette was done in no time.

      "Can I play now?" The little bunny asked.

      "Sure. I should be starting on dinner soon anyway," Katsuki responded as he stood up, making sure to keep a tight hold on Shouto so that he didn't fall. He noticed that the cat had actually fallen asleep, despite his best efforts to stay awake earlier. "Sheesh, didn't think he'd go to sleep that fast. Hey, Kirishima, mind taking him off my hands?"

      Kiri just nodded and took the little tyke, gently placing him on the couch and putting a blanket over him.

      "Izuku, make sure to be quiet, you don't want to wake Shouto up."

      "Got it," The bunny responded as he took his toys to his room, hoping the distance would be enough to not wake the cat. Bakugou just smiled as he went to the kitchen.

~***~

      Dinner was eaten, the kids were in bed, and Bakugou and Kirishima sat on the couch to relax a bit.

      "It seemed like Shouto started to open up a bit today, didn't it?" Eijirou asked as he looked at the other adult.

      "Yeah, I wonder what got into him," Katsuki responded. "Either way, I'm glad."

      "I guess Endeavor really messed him up, huh?"

      "Yeah, but unless I can get some actual evidence, I can't do a f*ck*ng thing about it. And I don't think the police will arrest him based on the testimonies of a four year old."

      "Yeah, you're right... So then, what are you going to do?"

      "I'll keep my investigation open and get a few of my coworkers to keep an eye on him. Maybe even track down his kids and get statements from them."

      "And about Shouto?"

      Bakugou didn't answer. Instead he just looked up at the ceiling and thought about his options. It's the same problem with Izuku all over again. But this time, he already has a kid he's taking care of, and taking in one more, especially one with a lot of trauma, might just be too much of a handful. But he didn't know if he could trust anyone else with the child.

      "Hey, don't worry too much, ok?" Kirishima snapped the blond out of his thoughts. "Remember, if you ever need anything, I'll always be here for you. Just say the word and I'll come running."

      Katsuki let a small smile come onto his face as he looked at the redhead. "Thanks, but unless you move in with me, there's very little you could actually do to help."

      "Consider it done."

      "Wait, what?!"

~***~

Sorry this is short, but I thought that this was a good stopping point at the moment.

BTW, remember way back when, when I asked about making a spin off One-Shot book about this story. Well, I finally have a few chapters done. I'm not going to publish them quite yet, however. I want to get a few more finished before I finally show it. So, I hope I don't keep you waiting too long.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all in the next chapter. ^^