Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Touya Todoroki was three years old when Fuyumi was born. He didn’t know much, but he knew that he loved her. She was so small and perfect, and Mom smiled at him when she saw the star-struck look in his eyes. Most people would probably think of hard, cold things when they saw the color gray, but Touya thought that his mom had incredibly gentle eyes. They weren't like his father’s scary blue ones.

Rei laughed softly, looking at him with tears in her eyes. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Touya was too young to understand why Mom sounded a mix of happy and sad, but later he’d learn that she was afraid for Fuyumi when she saw the red streaks in her white hair. For now, Touya just nodded enthusiastically.

“You’ll be a good big brother for Fuyumi, won’t you Touya? You’ll protect her from anyone that tries to hurt her.” Touya nodded even harder, a big smile on his face.

“Mhmn! I promise.” It was just him, Rei, and baby Fuyumi in the hospital. His father wasn’t there --he was probably busy doing hero stuff-- but Touya didn’t mind. His father had started to scare him a little.

Touya’s quirk had come in recently, and he could make white flames. He thought it looked pretty cool, but it always made his skin sting when he used it. Touya didn’t like using his fire very much. Father didn’t let him take breaks when it started hurting. He’d make sure that Father didn’t make Fuyumi do stuff like that.

At three years old, Touya Todoroki became a big brother. Everything that came after was shaped by that moment.

-

Touya Todoroki was six years old when Natsuo was born. He’d learned lots of things now, and most of those things made him very afraid for his baby brother. Touya knew that Father may tolerate his fire quirk, but it wasn’t what his father wanted. Father was very angry when Fuyumi’s quirk manifested.

He thought it was cool that his little sister had an ice quirk! It didn’t hurt her to use it like Touya’s fire hurt him, and Touya just wanted Fuyumi to be safe. Father wanted a blend of fire and ice, though, so he’d decided that they were getting another sibling. 

Father had hit Touya when he asked why he and Fuyumi couldn’t just work together. Heroes had to be strong all on their own, and Father was determined to have the perfect child for heroism.

Touya wished that his father wasn’t here with Mom, Fuyumi, little Natsuo, and himself. He seemed unhappy when he saw the wisps of white hair on Natsuo’s head, and Touya wondered if it was because he looked so much like Mom. Father yelled at Mom a lot, so that would make sense to Touya. He didn’t understand why Father yelled at Mom in the first place, though. She was very nice to them.

Father stomped out of the hospital room, and Touya saw his mom flinch back a little. He understood. Touya flinched when Father was loud too. He looked over to where Fuyumi was sleeping in a hospital chair, and then he slowly walked over to Mom and Natsuo. He gently laid his hand on his mom’s arm.

Rei turned to Touya with sadness in her eyes, and in that moment, he wanted to make her happy more than anything else in the world. “I’ll protect him too, Mom. I promise.” 

Touya startled when his mom burst into tears, though, luckily, Natsuo didn’t wake up. Touya remembered what a nightmare a crying baby could be. “What is it, Mom?”

“You shouldn’t have to, Touya. You shouldn’t have to.” Touya rolled his eyes with all the sass that a six-year-old could muster.

“Don’t be silly! I’m the biggest, remember? It’s my job to protect them.” Touya didn’t understand that families weren’t normally like this, not yet, so he also didn’t understand why him saying that only made Mom cry even louder.

At six years old, Touya Todoroki started to hate himself, just a little, for how often his mom cried whenever she looked at him.

-

Touya Todoroki was eight years old when his father arrested a thief with the last name Takami. This wouldn’t have been a particularly important thing to make note of, but Takami had a son that was Fuyumi’s age. Thankfully, said son still had a living mother, but he still kept insisting on coming by to thank Endeavor. Touya overheard his father grumbling about how it’d be good PR --whatever that meant-- so the Takami kid was coming over.

Mom, Fuyumi, and Natsuo weren’t there, and Touya was a little afraid of being alone with his father. Being alone with his father usually meant training, and he couldn’t quite get that fear out of his head, even when he knew that they wouldn't be training today. He didn’t like training. Touya hoped that the Takami kid showed up soon.

Thankfully, he did. Father took Touya outside when Takami got there, saying that they’d be taking pictures in front of their house. Takami had wings that were the same shade of red as Touya’s hair and said wings fluttered in excitement as soon as Takami saw Endeavor.

The three of them were stuck outside taking pictures for half an hour, but it felt much longer to Touya. Posing for photos was exhausting, and he didn’t much care for the suit Father had forced him into. Once everything was finished, Takami gave a wide smile and a bright thank you to Endeavor.

Touya just wanted to go back inside, but Takami rushed over to him too, a smile on his face. “My name is Keigo Takami; it’s nice to meet you! I know that you’re a Todoroki, obviously, but what’s your first name?”

“It’s Touya.” Takami seemed utterly unbothered by his curt response, only smiling even wider. He chirped --which was kind of cute-- before he started talking again.

“It must be so cool to have such a strong hero as a father!” The look in his father’s eyes made it clear that Touya needed to nod and agree with whatever Takami was saying.

“… Yeah, it is.” The lie tasted like ash on his tongue. Touya had to grit his teeth and bear it as Takami prattled on and on about how Endeavor was his idol now, and after twenty minutes passed, he had never been so relieved to see someone who wasn’t his father leave him alone.

The next day, the article about how Endeavor saved the life of a young, aspiring hero was published. Touya didn’t understand how no one saw just how fake those pictures looked. Things continued as normal after that, but a couple of months later, the same paper released another article.

Takami had saved a family’s life with his quirk. His feathers could be controlled telekinetically --which was unfairly cool-- and he was able to use them to save that family from a collapsing building during a villain attack. The article went on to explain that Takami was now being sponsored by the HPSC, and something about that just felt off to Touya.

At eight years old, Touya Todoroki committed the name Keigo Takami to memory.

-

Touya Todoroki was ten years old when Shouto was born, and he understood why his mom cried this time. Shouto’s perfectly split hair told him that his baby brother was exactly what Father had been hoping for. Touya loved his baby brother, he loved all of his siblings, and he was terrified for him.

Touya knew, with a haunting certainty, that Father was going to train Shouto once his quirk came in.

Touya cried with his mom this time. Father marched into the room, and both Fuyumi and Natsuo shrunk down behind Touya. They’d both learned that Touya could distract Father from them if they stayed out of sight and stayed quiet. Touya hated that they couldn’t just be kids. Fuyumi was seven and Natsuo was only four, and it just wasn't fair that they were already so afraid of everything. 

It didn’t occur to Touya that what he was going through wasn’t fair to him either.

Touya saw the hungry gleam in his father’s eyes when he looked at Shouto, and he hated it so much. “Ah! Finally, a promising child. You may have just given me my masterpiece, Rei. Take care of him until his quirk comes in. Until then…” 

Father looked Touya in the eye. “It doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan.” 

His father walked out of the room, and Touya was shaking with tears in his eyes. For the first time, it wasn’t because he was afraid. His fists clenched.

At ten years old, Touya Todoroki realized that he hated his father.

-

Touya Todoroki was thirteen the first time that his mother mistook him for his father. It wasn’t the last time that she did, but it was the worst reaction that she ever had to him. He was bringing her lunch --homemade soba that he learned to make just because it’s her favorite-- when it happened.

He gently opened her bedroom door --Touya knew that it was easy to startle her-- and Rei flinched back when she saw him. “I brought you lunch! You haven’t come out today… Are you okay?”

Rei looked him in the eyes, and Touya shuddered at the slightly unseeing fogginess of them. Through the fog, Touya could only see one emotion: fear. “Please wait just a little bit longer, Enji! Shouto is promising, remember? He’s not going to be like Natsuo, not with his appearance. Sometimes strong quirks take a little longer to manifest! I’m sure that he’ll get it when he’s four!”

Touya sat the soba down on his mother’s nightstand and gentled his voice. “What… What are you talking about, Mom?” Rei pulled at her hair and sobbed, curling in on herself as she laid on top of her bed.

“Please Enji, please… I’m not ready for another one! And don’t… don’t do that. Don’t pretend to be kind; that just makes it worse!” Touya slowly walked toward his mother, not quite sure what to do. He decided to do what he’d always done before: he gently laid his hand on her shoulder. It was the wrong move.

She jerked to the side, grabbing the vase full of rindous that Touya liked to buy her because the flowers always make her smile, and threw the vase at him. He barely ducked out of the way and backed off, eyes wide. Rei was shaking and crying, and she screamed at him.

“Don’t touch me!! Don’t touch me, Enji! Stay away from me!” Touya felt the tears well up in his eyes, but it was obvious that he was only upsetting Mom more by staying with her. He ran off to a bathroom, heaving, as the implications of everything that his mom just said washed over him.

‘Fuck! Fuck… She really thought that I was… And that means that my father…’ Touya threw up in the toilet, trembling and crying the entire time. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, but he was eventually able to flush the toilet and wash his hands and face off. He pulled at his red hair with agony in his eyes. The same blue eyes that looked exactly like his father’s. Touya was realizing that he looked a lot like his father. If he wasn’t so tiny, then people might even think he was a clone of him.

At thirteen years old, Touya Todoroki decided that Fuyumi should be the one to check up on their mom from now on.

-

Touya Todoroki was fourteen years old when he realized that they couldn’t keep living like this. Shouto had recently developed his quirk, and it was everything that their bastard of a father ever wanted. Now Touya was barely being trained at all, and Shouto was suffering because his big brother kept failing him. He had to change this. He just had to.

A few months after the incident with his mother, Touya had bought a camera. It had taken some time for it to sink in, but he knew that there was something horribly wrong with their family. He had taken pictures of all the bruises and burns that training left him with, pictures of any injuries that Fuyumi or Natsuo got for being in their father’s way, and pictures of all the times that little Shouto got hurt in training too. They were steadily getting worse. Touya knew that he needed to act quickly.

So --on a day where Touya knew that the flaming bastard wouldn’t be back until late-- Touya headed out to the nearest police station. People always talked about how these kinds of problems had to be taken to the police, so he went out into town on a mission. He used a self-operated photo station to get all the pictures printed off, and he gathered all his photos and walked to the station with them in his hand and his camera tucked away in his bag. He didn’t want to risk them needing to take his camera away for photo evidence; Touya needed it.

Touya was trembling as he walked into the police station, an envelope of photographs clutched in his shaking hands. A man with black hair is behind the desk, and it was so early that virtually no one else was in the station. The man cocked an eyebrow at him. “You need something kid? Lose your parents or something?”

Touya grimaced and shook his head. His voice wavered as he spoke, but he managed to spit the words out. “My father is… He’s hurting us. He’s hurting us, and I’m so scared.” The officer jolts upright, looking at him with pity now.

“Ah… What’s your father’s name kid? We’ll help you.” Touya sat the folder on the officer’s desk, still shaking with nerves. ‘Why is this so hard? I know that what he’s doing is wrong, so surely…’

“Enji Todoroki.” The officer’s expression transformed in an instant, and Touya knew that he just fucked everything up. The man was scowling at Touya with a hard look in his eye, and he scoffed as he threw Touya’s envelope away. He was suddenly very glad that he decided to print off the pictures.

“Get lost, kid. Endeavor is a hero . You’re either doing this on a dare or you’re a spoiled brat that just wants attention, but don’t waste an officer’s time with your lies!” Touya could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, but he desperately held them back.

“B-but I’m not lying! I promise! You said that you’d help me!” The officer just stood up and furrowed his brows as he scowled at him. Touya recognized that stance as the same one that his father used when he wanted Touya to feel small.

“I said get lost , kid. Leave or I’ll put this incident on your record.” So Touya left. He couldn’t afford for this to get back to the bastard before Touya found someone who was willing to do something about it.

At fourteen years old, Touya Todoroki had a seed of distrust for all authority figures planted within him.

-

Touya Todoroki was still fourteen when he worked up the courage to try reporting his father again. It was a month later, so it had been an agonizing waiting game for Touya. Finally, Endeavor was going to be gone for two whole days!

Shouto finally got a break, and Touya could take his pictures --including the concerning number of new ones that had been added in the past month-- to a police station that was farther away from Endeavor’s patrol routes. Even if Endeavor was the number two hero, a station as far away as Hosu would surely hear Touya out.

Touya made some onigiri for everyone to eat later --Mom hadn’t been up to cooking lately-- and ruffled the hair of each of his little siblings before he headed for Hosu. He was jittering with nerves the entire train ride, clutching another envelope of photos with him. This time he’d make sure that they looked at the pictures before he told them who his father is. They couldn’t deny it if they saw proof, right?

So why was he so nervous? He was still asking himself that question as he opened the door to Hosu’s police station, and he waited in line until an officer with a dog head motioned for him to step forward. “What do you need help with today, woof?”

Touya read the officer’s badge --he’s a police captain named Kenji Tsuragamae-- and felt hope well up within him. He may not have been the chief of police, but in a station as small as the one in Hosu, Tsuragamae was only one step down from that. Touya straightened up, evened his voice out, and held out the envelope that he was carrying. “I’m here to report a domestic abuse case.”

Tsuragamae’s ears moved forward, alert, and he nodded. “Lieutenant Koushi, watch the entrance for me. I’m going to talk with this young man in my office.” Relief started to well up within Touya as they walked deeper into the station, and he sat down across from Tsuragamae with the hope that things could actually change. He put his envelope of photographs down on Tsuragamae’s desk and started to wring his hands.

“I… I took pictures. He’s good at hiding things, so I just… Can you look at them first, please?” Tsuragamae does so, and Touya heard a low growl coming from the man as he flipped through dozens of pictures that documented a wide array of injuries.

“This… this is serious, kid. What’s your name? I’ll need it for the investigation’s record.” Touya was so relieved that there was going to be an investigation that he forgot that the hardest part was getting someone to believe him once they know who he was, who his bastard of a father was.

“Touya Todoroki.” The look that took over Tsuragamae’s face was so instant that Touya could feel the regret washing over him as soon as his name left his mouth. ‘Stupid! I should’ve refused until they actually…’ The man in front of him sighed and pulled out his cellphone. Touya felt dread rising within him.

“Wait, no- Don’t!” The words flew out of him, uncontrolled, in a moment of hysterical fear. If that bastard ever found out about what Touya was trying to do… He didn’t want to think about what Endeavor would do to him.

“Kid, listen, you obviously don’t understand the weight of that kind of accusation. I need to speak to him to make sure that you are who you say you are. False accusations against heroes are a serious issue, and I see no reason why Endeavor’s child would be in Hosu alone.” Touya’s heart sank, and he knew, unquestionably, that this man would never believe him.

Would anyone ever believe him?

Touya sank into his chair as Tsuragamae called his father, trembling with tears in his eyes. He only tuned back in once he heard a click --the phone being put on speaker-- and his father’s voice. Endeavor’s voice sounded calm and level-headed on the surface, but Touya knew his father’s voice and the subtle tones that it could take. He was furious.

“Tsuragamae-san, I apologize for the inconvenience that my eldest has caused you. Apologize, boy!” Touya grumbled out an apology, but it was obvious that he didn’t mean it. He couldn’t be sorry for telling the truth. A heavy sigh came from the phone, and Touya wondered how someone who probably has enhanced hearing couldn’t tell that it was rehearsed. Fake. Like everything people saw in his father.

“Touya has… a troubled mind, Tsuragamae-san. I love Rei, but her family does have a history of it. Those photographs… well, his quirk burns him. He likes to make up stories about how he got them, but Touya can’t tell the difference between real and imagined once he puts an idea inside his head.” That was a lie! It wasn’t even a good lie, but Tsuragamae believed it. It didn’t even matter that there were photos with big, hand-shaped bruising around arms and throats. It was easier to believe Endeavor, so the officer did.

“I understand, Endeavor-san. Children have incredible imaginations, but that must make things all the more difficult for Touya.” He was going to be sick. He was never going to be able to protect his siblings. He wasn’t going to be able to keep the promise he made to his mother.

“Indeed. I would appreciate your… discretion in this matter, Tsuragamae-san. He’s a confused boy, but he doesn’t need the mark on his record. I’ll oversee his punishment personally.” Terror shot through Touya’s very being, and Tsuragamae only agreed and said his farewells. The man looked at Touya with pity, and he hated it even more when it was for all the wrong reasons. Touya decided that he hated Tsuragamae too. He knew that his report wouldn’t ever even make it into the system.

He was driven home by Tsuragamae, and he broke down the instant that he was alone. Great, hiccupping sobs echoed throughout his room, and Touya looked up and wiped at his eyes when he heard his door slide open. He tensed, but he slowly relaxed when he saw that it was just Natsuo.

His little brother walked up to Touya, sitting next to him and snuggling close. “Nii-chan? What’s wrong? Did Father hurt you again!?” Natsuo sounded so righteously angry as he asked the last question that Touya couldn’t help smiling at him.

“Father isn’t home, silly.” Natsuo just blinked before snuggling even closer to Touya and grumbling.

“He’s always hurting you, though… What happened?” Touya shook a bit, ruffling Natsuo’s hair with a carefully neutral expression. He may have heard him crying, but Touya didn’t want to make Natsuo feel any worse than he already did. 

“Don’t worry about it, Natsu-kun… Just don’t trust police officers, okay? They’re liars.” Natsuo looked up to him, grey eyes far too knowing for an eight-year-old. They’re haunted eyes, eyes that Touya saw in a different color every time that he looked into a mirror. Eyes that he saw on the rare occasion that Mom was doing well enough to see him. Eyes that he saw as Fuyumi trembled at the edges of a room, deathly quiet. Eyes that even baby Shouto had by now.

“… You showed them the pictures. They didn’t believe you? Why?!” Touya gave Natsuo a bittersweet smile, wiping the tears out from under his eyes.

“I don’t really know why, Natsu-kun. I guess it was easier for them to believe Endeavor than it was for them to believe me.”

Touya could practically hear how Natsuo ground his teeth together at that. “I hate him. I hate father, and I hate the stupid police for believing him.”

“I do too, Natsuo… I do too. Just don’t let him hear you say that.” 

His little brother insisted on staying with him that night, and Touya indulged him since Endeavor wasn’t home. They slept next to one another --Touya carefully laying between Natsuo and his door-- and all seemed peaceful.

The next morning was anything but. Touya jolted awake to the sound of heavy, stomping feet, and he shooed Natsuo away. His little brother was still sleepy, but years of needing to hide at the drop of a hat had him out of the room just in time.

Touya, however, would see no such mercy today. He froze up when his father stood before him, fire beard on full, intimidating display, as always. “If you want my attention so badly, Touya, then I’ll just have to start training you again.” It was clear that this was going to be his punishment --he probably planned to make him so tired that Touya couldn’t think of fighting back-- and he knew better than to struggle when Endeavor grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the training room.

He stumbled as they entered the room, barely dodging out of the way as his father hurled a ball of fire at him. Touya submerged himself in the routine of moving, dodging, and taking burns as he tried, desperately, to fight back. He couldn’t though, not really.

Touya was heaving on the floor thirty minutes after they entered the training room, desperately trying to regulate his breathing. Endeavor scoffed at him. “Pathetic, really. I obviously didn’t go hard enough on you. I’ll have to rectify that with Shouto.” He should just be quiet and wait for it to be over --he knew he should-- but he was so tired of cowering to Endeavor. Something inside of Touya snapped . 

He stood up and glared at his father. Then, he screamed, “You’re no hero! You’re just a fake! Do you really think that you could ever be number one when you’re like this?!” Endeavor backhanded him so hard that he hit the wall. Touya looked up at him, defiance lining his every feature, with watering eyes.

“Honestly Touya, do you think that world out there will treat you any kinder? I am doing you a kindness by preparing you for it. If you’re going to continue to show such weaknesses…” Touya stilled as his father held his face in his absurdly large hands. His thumbs rested just under Touya’s eyes.

“Then I’ll just have to burn them out of you.” Touya screamed.

A week later, the burns under his eyes had healed up as much as they ever would. His tear ducts were irreparably damaged, and no amount of desperation in his eyes could convince the doctor that helped him to look beneath the surface. He pulled up something on his phone and read an article that talked about the new police chief in Hosu. It was Tsuragamae, and Endeavor was interviewed for his part in recommending the promotion.

At fourteen, Touya Todoroki learned that anyone could be bought off for the right price. He desperately wished that he could cry at the revelation.

-

Touya Todoroki was still fourteen, barely, when he decided to try reporting his father one last time. He wouldn’t be going to a police station --he couldn’t trust those bastards ever again-- but he had been doing some research lately. The Hero Public Safety Commission was run by a board of civilians, and their whole job was to balance out how much influence heroes had over ordinary people. Surely, they’d help with Endeavor. It was part of why they existed, after all.

He had even more proof this time. Touya was too afraid of pictures not being enough again, so he secretly bought a couple of recording devices that he set up around the house in untouched corners. It wasn’t a lot --too much of what happened was in a room where anything else put in there would go up in flames-- but it could help sell the story. Touya hated that he had to work so hard to convince people of the truth.

Regardless, Endeavor was away on business right now. He was far, far away from Tokyo, so Touya wasn’t going to get a better opportunity than this. Shouto was already being trained into exhaustion. Touya wasn’t sure how much longer he had before Shouto started getting hurt as badly as Touya had been over the years. He didn’t want to see his baby brother marred by scars, especially now that Touya knew that Endeavor wasn’t above leaving them on purpose.

The Hero Public Safety Commission’s building is menacingly tall, and Touya stood in front of it for a moment, intimidated by the fact that he couldn’t even see the top of it. He took a deep, calming breath, and walked inside. 

It was loud. There were people everywhere, and there was a certain frantic energy to the staff that put Touya on edge. He rocked back and forth on his heels --carefully keeping himself from bumping into anyone-- while he waited in line.

It took about twenty minutes for him to get to the front of the line. The secretary pulled out her pen and looked at him, seeming confused about something. “What do you need, sweetie?” Touya took a deep breath, stood taller, and looked her in the eye.

“I need to report a hero for abuse of their position.” The murmuring people around him go dead silent, looking at him with skepticism in their eyes, but the secretary’s reaction is more interesting. Her face paled, her entire expression became pinched, and she started to aggressively twirl the hair around her finger. Touya chewed his lip. ‘Maybe I should’ve been more subtle than that? But she looks so busy, and I didn’t want to waste her time…’

Her expression shifted as she laughed nervously, and Touya watched as a mask firmly slid into place. He felt guilty for making her so uncomfortable that she felt like she had to do that, but he didn’t know where else to go. 

The secretary grabbed the phone off her desk, speaking into it with a voice so quiet that Touya couldn’t hear a word that she said. She turned back to Touya with a troubled expression on her face. ‘Huh, that’s weird. She almost looks like Natsu-kun does when he helps me bandage burns.’

“That’s a pretty serious accusation sweetie, but you can talk to Madame President if you’re sure…” She made a gesture to a man in a suit --probably some sort of security-- and he stomped over to Touya. He tried not to flinch back from the heavy clunking of the man’s boots, but the secretary’s sad expression told him that he hadn’t been successful. He wouldn’t be scared away though. He couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to someone so high up about this. Madame President, whoever she was, might be the only person who could do something about Endeavor.

Touya nodded, stone-faced. “I’m sure. I brought proof and everything.” The secretary just looked resigned, but he tried not to think about that as she nodded to the security guard. He followed him into the elevator, anxiously tapping his foot as it climbed up for what felt like forever.

Not a single word was said as Touya followed behind the security guard. He almost missed the fact that they were outside of the room that he needed to go into, but Touya managed to stop himself from running into the back of the man. He glanced up to the nameplate outside of the office; it read: HPSC President Benika Ahina. “Bring him in, Fuyuhiko. Then you may return to your station.”

Touya stepped into the room, shuddering as he looked at the president’s cold, blue eyes. They weren’t as bright as his father’s, but there was something about them that looked just as cruel. 

“Touya Todoroki… You’ve been causing me no small amount of trouble, you know. Sit down.” Any hope that Touya had of Endeavor facing the consequences of his actions died at that moment. He did as she ordered, knowing that he’d just get into more trouble if he tried to leave without talking to her.

She gave him a condescending smile. “Well, at least he’s taught you to respect those in charge. He just seems to be an exception to that rule.” The president locked eyes with him, and her own flashed a toxic green for just a moment. Touya couldn’t move an inch. He could feel himself desperately trying to move, to even twitch a finger, but he couldn’t do anything. 

It felt like he couldn’t ever do anything.

Ahina stalked forward and yanked the folder Touya brought with him out of his hand. She opened it, took out the recorders, and threw the folder and pictures through a shredding machine. She then looked him in the eye once more as she dropped the recorders on the ground and smashed them with her heels. Her eyes flashed green once more, and Touya knew that he’d be able to move again if he tried. He didn’t.

The HPSC president returned to her seat behind her desk and stared Touya down. “Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Todoroki. Endeavor is too valuable an asset for us to lose. It will be in everyone’s best interest for you to cease this rebellion.”

Touya felt the burning in his eyes that he always did when he’d usually be crying, and he hated that he almost wanted to thank Endeavor for making sure that he couldn’t show that weakness to her. “Heroes aren’t supposed to be like this! They’re supposed to help people, not hurt them!”

Ahina only chuckled and shook her head, tsking sharply. “How pitifully naïve of you. Heroes hurt plenty of people; they’re just usually called villains. I’ll make this simple for you. Endeavor puts away so many criminals that he, by extension, saves thousands of civilians every month. The wellbeing of his family --only five other people-- is an easy sacrifice to make for those numbers. There is no scenario where you get to play hero for your mother and siblings, Todoroki. Stop fighting it.”

Horror rose within him. This wasn’t right. If they were so quick to write off Touya and his siblings, then how many others did they do this to? The horror was overtaken by anger, and Touya finally found the strength to stand again. 

He clenched his fists so tightly that he could feel the blood trickling down from where his nails were digging into his hands. “You can’t do that! It’s wrong, and if people knew… I’ll tell them! I will!”

The president outright laughed at that. “Because that’s been going well for you so far, hasn’t it?” Touya froze. ‘She’s… not wrong. No one would even listen about my father. Why would anyone listen to me about something as big as the HPSC?’

“I see that you understand now.” He understood that there was something broken about their society. He understood that it was just as broken as his family was. “Make things easier for the both of us and accept your lot in life, Todoroki. No one will ever believe you, and your recordings are destroyed. It would be child’s play to get your photographs slandered as photoshopped images designed to tarnish Endeavor’s image. Go home. Go home quietly and I will do you the kindness of not mentioning your visit to Endeavor. Just remember… we’ll be watching you.”

And really, what else could he do?

At fourteen, Touya Todoroki learned that the Hero Public Safety Commission was just as corrupt as the heroes they protected. He worried for the fate of Keigo Takami.

-

Touya Todoroki was fifteen years old when his mother shattered. He’d seen the signs of it coming for a long time, but that was because he looked so much like his father. He had never expected her to hurt Shouto.

Now he was regretting not making things more obvious to his siblings, and Shouto was probably going to wind up with a scar just as prominent as the ones beneath Touya’s eyes. Endeavor was outraged that Mom had hurt his masterpiece, and despite how horrified and regretful she obviously was to have done it, Endeavor had her admitted to a mental hospital.

Touya was used to helping take care of his siblings, and he didn’t trust the maid that their father had hired with their safety; she looked the other way when their bastard of a father hurt them, after all. He’d just have to work even harder to protect them all.

Touya learned how to cook even more of the recipes that his siblings loved, and then he was learning ones that they had never tried at all. He started taking on even more training sessions in Shouto’s place --at least whenever he could convince Endeavor to do so-- and the dozens of bruises and burns only furthered his determination. He’d never feel bad about giving his baby brother time to heal.

Speaking of his baby brother, Shouto was growing angrier with their father. A small part of Touya was proud of him, but an even larger part was terrified for him. Endeavor’s temper kept flaring up around Shouto lately, and Touya quickly learned that he needed to be around to run interference. If he yelled and screamed at Endeavor louder than Shouto did, then the bastard would hurt Touya instead.

It was a sunny afternoon --their father was gone for the day, and Touya was responsible for looking after Shouto in their mother's absence-- when Shouto came to him. It had been a few months since Mom was taken from them, and Shouto's scar had finally healed up as much as it was going to. His left eye looked slightly different though...

Touya had been worried about how closed off Shouto had been lately, but the pondering expression on Shouto's face as he joined Touya in their family garden alleviated that fear just a little.

"... Nii-san? What's a hero to you? I don't want to be someone like Father. I don't want to hurt Mama!" Touya's eyes widened as tears ran down Shouto's face, and he moved to hug his baby brother. Shouto tucked himself into Touya’s arms, and Touya was stricken by just how small he was. He seemed way too small to be training like Endeavor had been forcing him to do.

"You can be your own kind of hero, Firefly. A hero that protects people like Mom. Don't let him convince you that the only way to be a hero is by hurting people. You're a good kid, and I know that you'll make an amazing hero one day. Just don't forget that you're your own person; you don't have to be anything like him at all." Shouto sobbed even harder, clutching Touya's shirt in his tiny hands.

"Mama said something like that! I'll... I'll be a hero who doesn't use fire at all! I'll be like Mama instead." A bolt of fear ran through Touya, and he knew that Shouto would only get hurt worse by going down this path. He gently tilted Shouto's chin up with his right hand, and he brought up a tiny ball of white flames in his left.

"There's nothing wrong with having fire, Firefly. Look." Touya had perfected this trick as an exercise in control, and their Mom had always loved watching him do it. Slowly, the flames began to take on the general shape of a rindou, and Shouto's eyes lit up in awe. 

Touya smiled at him and continued. "You see? Fire can be a beautiful thing too, and it can be used in good ways. Fire isn’t bad, Firefly, just how our father uses it. Use it to be kind. Use it to protect people and to keep them warm, not to hurt them."

Shouto nodded with a small smile on his face, and they both spent the next hour relaxing by the pond and watching the clouds travel through the sky. Touya wished that he could spend more time with Shouto, but he was happy to have these little moments too. It'd just be better if he didn't have to worry about Endeavor stealing Shouto away. 

A little snuffle caught his attention, and Touya glanced over to see Shouto asleep on the grass. He smiled as he carefully picked him up and took him back inside, tucking him into bed.

At fifteen, Touya Todoroki fully dedicated himself to protecting his siblings. No one was ever coming to save them. Touya would keep them safe and make them as happy as he could, or he would die trying.

-

Touya Todoroki was sixteen -- it was his birthday actually-- when he sat down to talk with Fuyumi. She’d been getting increasingly skittish lately, especially whenever Endeavor was home, and Touya was worried. He never saw the bastard hurting Fuyumi, but he knew better than to assume that it wasn't happening.

Endeavor was gone --though he would only be away for a couple of hours-- when Touya managed to pull Fuyumi aside for a talk. She was shaking with nerves as they sat on the floor in her room, and Touya took special care to gentle his voice for her.

“Yumi… Please talk to me. Is father hurting you too? I can protect you Yumi; please don’t lie to me…” What kind of older brother was he if he just stood by as his siblings were hurt? He needed to protect them even more seriously now that Mom wasn’t around; they’d never get a break otherwise. It was obvious at this point that Mom wasn’t coming back any time soon.

Fuyumi sobbed and buried herself into Touya’s chest, arms around his shoulders. “Touya-nii… He, he… Ever since Mom got sent away, sometimes…” Fuyumi was trembling from head to toe, and Touya held her even closer. Her next words were only a whisper, but they sent a spike of rage through Touya.

“Sometimes… Father comes into my room at night, and he… He touches me. Because Mom isn’t here anymore, and I’m the only girl. He says that I owe him that much, but--” Fuyumi looked up to Touya with tears in her blue eyes --eyes that she must hate just as much as Touya hates his own-- and sobbed harder. “It hurts Touya-nii. I don’t like it! Make him stop… Please make him stop!”

Touya would be crying too if he could, but he was almost grateful for his inability to do so in this moment. It made him look stronger than he actually was. He nodded to her, carefully keeping the rage off his face so that he didn’t scare her even more. “I will, Yumi. You go hide before he gets home --twenty minutes before he does, just in case-- and I’ll take care of it, okay?”

Fuyumi looked at him like he had hung all the stars in the sky, and Touya felt guilt writhing within him. He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to change anything at all, not really, and if Endeavor was doing this because she was a girl, then Touya couldn’t offer to take her place like he did with Shouto. Touya had been trying to find a way out of this hell for two years now, but things were slow going when he couldn’t risk asking for help again. He wasn’t sure what the HPSC would do to him if he talked, but he knew that he didn't want to risk finding out.

For once, the fact that Touya had training as soon as Endeavor got home was a good thing. They tossed fire at one another in the training room, and Touya was far more aggressive about it than he usually was. Endeavor noticed that.

“Hm. You’re unusually spirited today. You might actually improve if you keep working this hard. What’s motivated you?” Touya was having none of his father’s placatory bullshit today. He tried to fight past the tiny bit of pride that he felt for impressing him even a little --reminding himself of exactly what kind of person that Endeavor was-- and he allowed the anger to flare out of him, knowing that not answering would get him just as hurt as pissing off the bastard would.

“Are there no evils that you won’t stoop to, you disgusting bastard!?” Endeavor’s flames burned even brighter, but Touya was too furious to stop at that warning.

“How could you!? How could you!? Fuyumi is only thirteen! She’s your daughter!” Endeavor rushed forward, knocking Touya into the wall. Touya wasn’t aware of this now, but Natsuo was standing just outside of the training room watching, in horror, as Endeavor’s hand wrapped around Touya’s throat.

“You forget your place, boy. None of you are more than a legacy to me, and I may do whatever I damn well please with the lot of you. If you break, then you were never going to amount to anything regardless.” Touya knew that Endeavor would always get away with this, but he couldn’t just ignore what was happening right in front of him.

“I was wrong.” 

“Good to see that-” 

Touya refused to let Endeavor interrupt him. He wasn’t holding Touya’s neck hard enough to make it impossible to talk, so he would talk .

“I was wrong when I called you a fake. Not because you aren’t, but because you’re so much worse. You’re not just a fake hero. You’re a fucking monster! You’re worse than any villain you’ve ever put away.”

Endeavor’s face contorted in rage, and his hand began to squeeze and burn. “You need to learn when to shut up, boy!”

Touya gritted his teeth as he felt his flesh start to burn. He wouldn’t give his father the satisfaction of screaming --he was too used to burns for that-- but Touya was starting to panic. Endeavor wasn’t letting go. He wasn’t letting go, and the fire was only getting hotter. He was going to die .

He went supernova.

At sixteen, Touya Todoroki burned blue for the first time. His fire was so intense that Natsuo darted away from the room before being spotted, and Touya was immediately taken to the hospital.

-

Touya Todoroki was sixteen when he opened his eyes to the harsh, bright white of the hospital. Everything that he could feel hurt, and at first, he couldn’t remember how he got there. It slowly started coming back to him in bits and pieces.

‘Oh… Right. I made him so angry that I probably just made things worse for Fuyumi… I’m such a fuck up!’ He didn’t understand why he had so many bandages though. He felt raw all over, but he only remembered Endeavor burning his throat.

“Oh! You’re awake.” Touya’s eyes darted over to the door of his room, and he relaxed a little when he saw that it was just a nurse. At least she wasn’t going to hurt him even worse. He hummed in question, but doing so made him feel like he was gargling knives. He cut himself off with a choked noise.

“Be careful on your throat, sweetheart. I’m Chie Eniko, and I’ll be taking care of you. I’d ask for you to call me Eniko-san, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to talk right now. You had a horrible accident.” Touya gently shook his head back and forth. He didn’t care how bad an idea it was for him to talk right now; Endeavor had proven that he had no qualms about killing Touya. Telling someone who could see the proof of what he did could be the only chance he would ever get. It wasn’t like things could get much worse.

“N-no accident.” Eniko furrowed her eyebrows. Her brown eyes looked at Touya with confusion that slowly morphed into sadness.

“Sweetheart… Did you mean to do this to yourself?” Touya shook his head again, wishing that it didn’t hurt so much to talk. There was nothing for it, though.

“H-he’s… gonna kill me. I’m g-gonna die.” Eniko froze. Her face went sheet white, and her voice came out in a whisper.

“Endeavor did this to you? He hurt you, and it’s happened enough that you…” Touya looked up to her, and though he didn’t know it, his eyes were one of the most broken things that Eniko had ever seen.

“You… b-believe me?” Something in his voice --as raspy and weak as it currently was-- still managed to convey the shock and hope that he was feeling. Eniko nodded with watering eyes, and she slowly walked over to pluck a single hair from Touya’s head. He tilted his head in confusion, unasked questions written all over his face. She glanced around the room --ensuring that they were alone-- and whispered the answer.

“I do believe you. And I think that I might be able to help you.”

No one else in the building knew that Touya was awake, and no one else in the building would think that he ever woke up. After all, Eniko had a quirk that allowed her to make someone look like someone else entirely, provided that she used the DNA of another person to do so. Everyone assumed that she could only use her quirk on living people, but that was a false assumption.

Touya was snuck out of the back door under the guise of being taken to the morgue, and Eniko handed him a piece of paper with the address of an underground doctor written on it. Touya fled into the night, knowing that she would make an unclaimed corpse that was scheduled for cremation into a fake body for him. It would wear off in a day, but Touya knew that his father would insist that they burn the body here. He wouldn’t want anyone to ask any questions, so no one would ever know.

And he was right. A couple of days after he woke up, Touya read an article covering his own death. He had been training on his own when he made his fire too hot for his own body to handle. Nothing of his body remained. It was an absolute tragedy that had people sending their condolences to Endeavor from all over the nation.

At sixteen, Touya Todoroki died. Someone new, someone who would one day be known as Dabi, rose from his ashes.

Chapter Text

Dabi was twenty-five years old when the video of Stain went viral. He hadn’t been going by Dabi for long, but his old name, not Touya that name has been dead for a long time, felt sullied now. He’d spent nine long years on the streets, going from city to city, and he had managed to avoid committing many serious crimes outside of vigilantism.

It had been about two years ago that his previous activities got him into hot water, and Dabi had been laying low and staying out of trouble since then. In that period of time, the name that he used changed just about any time that he talked to someone. It was only now, after the hunt for him had finally died down, that he dared to take on a more permanent name. Not that the heroes knew who they were looking for. He just couldn’t risk using his fire for a while.

He had only invented Dabi about a week ago. He was actually meeting up with Giran --specifically for some forged papers for his new identity-- when he saw Stain’s video for the first time. Giran was smoking, like always, and he waved his phone around in front of Dabi, rabbit case and all.

“I know that you don’t get many opportunities to watch stuff like this, so while you’re here…” Giran hit play. “The Hero Killer really is the man of the hour.” 

Dabi was intrigued as he watched Stain preach about false heroes. His ideology held too much faith in the actual system for Dabi’s tastes, but he could at least get behind the need to see corrupt heroes brought down. If more people were going to talk about the problems with hero society, then Dabi could tolerate the more extreme supporters of the man that would inevitably crop up after this.

Giran noticed his interest --of course he did; it was practically his job-- and chuckled. “Figured that he’d get your attention. He doesn’t seem too unlike you, really. He’s a man with morals, a goal, and the willingness to get his hands dirty to achieve said goal.” Dabi sighed. ‘You know damn well that I didn’t want to kill that bastard, no matter how awful he was. I didn’t have much of a choice though. If I hadn’t…’

“What do you want, Giran? You wouldn’t be buttering me up if you didn’t want to collect on a favor.” Dabi was smart enough to not trade in favors anymore, but he hadn’t had many choices back when he first found himself out on the streets. He’d already done some disposals for a few of Giran’s higher-paying clients, but the man was too smart to not hold a few favors over Dabi’s head. Especially since Dabi himself had so many contacts in the underground now.

Giran chuckled and took a drag from his cigarette. “You know me too well, Dabi. One of my clients is looking for recruits. Now, you’ve been laying low for a while, so if you happen to be running low on funds…” Giran hummed. “Well, I’d be willing to cut the cost of your identification in half if you meet up with them and consider joining their group, just this once.”

Dabi’s eyes narrowed. “Would that use one of your favors too, or is it just for the price cut?” He could afford the papers --he wasn’t stupid enough to meet up with Giran short of what he’d need-- but this could make it easier for him to find a place to crash and afford food.

“This would be asking a lot of you, so I’ll agree to use up a favor as well. You’ll still owe me two regardless.” That sounded like a good deal to Dabi, but it also wasn’t like Giran to give in so easily. There had to be more to this than Giran was telling him.

“What’s the catch, Giran? Just be direct with me; there’s obviously something that you don’t want to tell me about this. Does it have something to do with who your client is?” The twitch of Giran’s eyebrow told Dabi that he was right on the money, and he smirked at just how put out Giran looked. 

The man sitting across from Dabi sighed. “Yeah. I’m asking you to go meet up with the leader of the League of Villains, Dabi. I know that you lean far more toward vigilante, but…” Giran locked eyes with Dabi. “They might be useful to you too. You want to take down corrupt heroes, right? I doubt that they’ll have any problem with that, and the League has a particularly well-connected backer. No one will be out of your reach. I’m not asking for a guarantee. I’m asking that you go to an interest meeting, that’s all.”

If these years on the streets had taught Dabi anything, then it was the fact that things weren’t nearly so black and white as everyone liked to believe. There was more to it than just corrupt heroes; there were genuinely good people who get slapped with the label of a villain too. He didn’t like that the League attacked UA, that they attacked Shouto, but it wouldn’t hurt to go to an interest meeting, would it?

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Giran.”

He knew that there was no way he could take Endeavor down on his own. Dabi would’ve done it by now if it was possible. He’d have to be a fool to pass up an opportunity like this.

Dabi wasn’t sure how long his siblings could afford to wait for him, after all.

-

A few days later, Dabi headed out to Kamino to meet up with Giran. He had sent messages to a few of his more trustworthy contacts, so he knew that they would know where to find him if things went south. Whether they’d find him injured or dead was another matter entirely.

Dabi was nearly at the bar that they were meeting at, and he noticed that Giran wasn’t standing there alone. The blonde girl that was with Giran was pretty small, and she was wearing a school uniform to boot. “Is the League recruiting children now too, Giran?”

Giran sighed, and the girl puffed out her cheeks in a way that only proved Dabi’s point. “Work with me, Dabi. I walked her here, and it’s not like I’m going to keep her from fighting for her future if she wants to. You weren’t much older than her the first time that we did business.”

That may be true, but it wasn’t like Dabi had much of a choice in the matter. ‘Maybe she doesn’t have much of a choice either.’ 

“Whatever. Just be sure that this is what you want, kid. You can’t exactly go back and change your mind later.” His voice came out far more concerned than he had intended, but he couldn’t really help it. She had to be close to Shouto’s age, and it was horrifying to imagine his baby brother doing the things that Dabi has had to do over the years.

The girl tilted her head at him with a calculating look flashing in her eyes before she painted a big grin on her face. Dabi mentally took note of the fangs that he saw. ‘Quirk discrimination then? It definitely didn’t help.’ 

“Well, you aren’t cute at all, but you just smell worried so… I can forgive you! My name’s Himiko Toga. It’s nice to meet you Dabi!”

He just nodded because Dabi had a reputation to maintain. He couldn’t risk looking too soft in front of anyone he didn’t know. Giran chuckled and leaned down to fake whisper to Toga with a smug smirk on his face. “Don’t let his ugly mug fool you, Toga. Dabi’s got a real protective streak when it comes to kids, strays, and especially stray kids. He came to an information exchange with kittens in his coat pockets once.”

Dabi could feel his face --at least what little of it wasn't horribly burned-- flushing with heat. There went any chance of maintaining an aloof villain persona in front of Toga, at least. “Shut up, Giran!” 

The man just laughed --probably happy to get one over on Dabi after he had called the broker out on his bullshit last time-- and Toga joined Giran with delighted giggles. 

“Oh! Dabi is actually kind of adorable!” Toga’s yellow eyes gleamed with amusement, and Dabi let out a long-suffering sigh. ‘The things I put up with to get shit done.’

“Aren’t we supposed to be meeting this guy soon?” Giran lit a cigarette --Dabi still finds that gun lighter of his ridiculous--before nodding. Toga was still visibly excited, but she also straightened up, clearly alert. ‘Good. She might just survive out here after all.’ 

Giran knocked on the door before opening it. “Shigaraki. I’ve been spreading the word and doing some recruiting. You said that you needed numbers for your next big mission, right?” Giran leaned back against the door, holding it open for the two of them.

Dabi and Toga both walked in, and the guy sitting at the bar --who Dabi assumed was Shigaraki-- turned to face them both. “Well… Who are they?” It was hard to tell through the whole hand thing that the guy had going on, but Dabi was pretty sure that this guy wasn’t even his age.

“Huh. You’re younger than I expected a villain leader to be.” It wasn’t a lie, but he probably shouldn’t be saying that sort of thing to a potential boss. Thankfully, Toga’s enthusiasm distracted Shigaraki from his statement.

“Whoa!! This guy is Mr. Stainy’s friend, right!? I wanna join too! Let me be a part of the League of Villains!” Shigaraki looked incredibly unimpressed, and Dabi couldn’t even blame him.

“Kurogiri. Warp those two out of here. They’re the two kinds of people that I hate most… A brat, and a guy with no manners.” Dabi’s eyebrow twitched at the hurt-sounding “Huh?” that Toga let out, and he cursed himself for being weak enough to be affected by it.

The guy surrounded by a dark mist --presumably Kurogiri-- appeared to be the more rational of the two. “Come now, Tomura Shigaraki. They’ve both come all this way to meet you; it would not hurt to humor them with a conversation, at least. What’s more… if Giran is the one introducing them, then we can be certain that they are competent fighters, if nothing else.”

Giran took a long drag of his cigarette, blowing a thin line of smoke into the air. “I get my finder’s fee either way, so…” And now Dabi knew why Giran was so willing to cut the price if he agreed to come to this meeting; the odds were that the finder’s fee --however much it was costing the League-- was making Giran more money than Dabi’s new documentation would have anyway.

“Now, when it comes to those introductions…” Giran pointed his right thumb in Toga’s direction. “Let’s start with this high-school sweetheart. The media has kept her name and face under lock and key, but she’s responsible for a string of deaths by bloodletting.”

Toga had regained her smile by this point --though Dabi could tell that it was a strained and fake one-- and she introduced herself with so much exaggerated energy that Dabi felt tired just watching her. “Hiya! I’m Himiko Toga. Life is too hard, so I wanna make a world that’s easier to live in! I wanna be Mr. Stainy! I wanna kill Mr. Stainy! Please let me join you, Tomura-kun!”

“I don’t get it. What kind of weirdo are you?” Dabi was feeling less and less inclined to stick around for this meeting by the second.

Giran noticed that and hurried to continue through the introductions. “She has a similar goal to you Shigaraki. I’m sure that she’ll prove useful.” Giran gently laid his left hand on Dabi’s upper back. The touch grounded him and helped him keep a handle on his temper, and Dabi took a deep breath before Giran introduced him. “Next, this young man doesn’t have much of a criminal record, but he really goes big when he goes for it. He’s the one responsible for killing the Sound Hero: Vibration a couple of years back. Not that the pros ever figured out that he did it.”

That caught Shigaraki’s attention. Dabi sighed. “I don’t know… You know that was an exceptional situation, Giran. I want our society’s corruption to be purged, sure, but I’m not so sure that I want a part in the wanton destruction that has been this group’s M.O. so far.”

“Oi, don’t act all high and mighty. You’ve killed a hero, so it’s not like you’ll be seen as any better than us. Are you at least going to give us a name?” Dabi sighed, but he may as well humor Shigaraki while he was here.

“I’m going by Dabi these days.” Shigaraki shook his head.

“Your real name, not an alias.” Dabi just chuckled. Did Shigaraki think he was some kind of fool? Names held power in the underground. It wasn’t like Dabi could give him his name, even if he wanted to, but no one willingly gave away that much information before solidifying a deal. It would give other people too much leverage.

“I’ll tell you my name when you need to know it. Not even Giran knows, so don’t feel like I’m slighting you here. All you need to know is this…” Dabi paused, staring into a single, blood-red eye. “My mission is to take down corrupt heroes and the system that backs them. Anything else is irrelevant.”

Shigaraki stood up with a voice furious enough that Dabi prepared to move at a moment’s notice. “No need to answer a question that I didn’t ask. Everyone is all Stain this and Stain that these days and you two are no different! I’m-”

Dabi scoffed, and Shigaraki paused in his tirade. Before he could continue, Dabi spoke up. “Did I mention Stain? He’s not that special. I’ve been on this path for nine years, and his ideology has nothing to do with my own. Does he have a point? Yes, of course, but he also places far too much faith in an irreversibly corrupt system.”

Shigaraki hummed, and it sounded far more considering now. Dabi’s lack of a mental-verbal filter seemed to be benefitting him, for once. He should’ve assumed that it would with how impulsive Shigaraki seemed to be. “You don’t like him either, then?”

“I don’t think that he’s some sort of visionary for seeing obvious flaws, no. He’s painted a trail of blood behind him, but what has he actually accomplished beyond that? Most of his targets were fairly small-time heroes, and his most prominent --Ingenium-- survived. Besides, there are plenty of heroes out there who deserve to be purged far more than anyone Stain has ever targeted.” Dabi’s tone became dark at the end, and Shigaraki only seemed more intrigued now. Dabi wasn’t sure that he liked the way that Shigaraki was studying him.

“Why did you kill Vibration, Dabi?” He watched Toga tilt her head, apparently just as curious about that story. Dabi was willing to bet that she was hoping it would be a bloody one. Giran was just smirking in the background, and Kurogiri was too difficult for Dabi to even attempt reading. 

“Vibration was the leader of a human trafficking ring that targeted individuals with mutation quirks. The vast majority of them were kids. There’s no telling how long it had been going on, but it definitely wasn’t a new operation. I raided the place with a few of the people that I trust, and the rest is history. Heroes can get away with a lot of illegal shit if they have enough money and are recognizable enough that a scandal would affect the image the sheep-like masses have of heroes. Stain chose his targets just because they didn’t live up to his definition of a hero. It’s kind of pathetic, really. He saw things in black and white just as much as heroes do, despite being a vigilante first.”

Dabi glanced at Toga, and her eyes were gleaming with something that he couldn’t quite place. “There’s nothing wrong with taking the core of his ideology and making it your own, of course. We all want change --none of us would bother doing what we do otherwise-- but you have to acknowledge Stain’s flaws too.”

Shigaraki chuckled, and Dabi tensed at the harsh, echoing sound. “I think that I might like you after all. If you’re so blunt about what you think of everyone, then at least I don’t have to worry about you being a suck-up.”

Toga giggled, turning to Dabi with a fanged grin. ‘Her eyes… Oh.’ The way that they were shining right now reminded him of how his little siblings used to look at him. “Wow… Dabi is cool! I like Mr. Stainy because of how bloody he is, but I really do just want my life to be easier.”

Shigaraki turned to face her, letting them all wait in silence for a few moments, and then nodded. “That works for me. If you both still want to join… Making an easier life for yourself, creating change in a broken society, and destroying the status quo. Our motives are aligned.”

Dabi hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should do this. This was something that he couldn’t turn back from. Toga cheered --jumping up in her excitement and reminding him so much of how his little siblings were on the few days that they could all just play together-- and he knew that he had already made his decision. He nodded.

Toga chimed in, waving her hands in excitement. “Oh, I know!! I have a friend in middle school that would probably love to join! Can I invite him, Tomura-kun?”

Shigaraki sighed, but he nodded in agreement. ‘He’s probably hesitant to bring any more kids into this. Another point in his favor when I consider just how young kids are when they start hero training.’

“Yeah. Just make sure that he can handle himself. Don’t let him get in over his head.” 

Shigaraki turned to Dabi with a questioning look. “Can you think of any of your people that might be interested?”

He definitely could. “Yeah, I can think of a few that might be. I’ll reach out to them.”

By the time that Dabi left the bar, he was feeling much better about his decision to work with the League of Villains. Now he just needed to see if any of his old group wanted to run with him again.

-

Dabi was honestly surprised by just how many of his contacts wanted to meet up with him about joining the League. His underground network was extensive --he couldn’t have survived on the streets for as long as he had without knowing people-- but that didn’t mean that he could trust many of them. He was wary of sharing too much information even with the ones that he did trust as much as he was capable of.

Regardless, he had been scoping out some discreet meeting places in Kamino lately, and three of his contacts agreed to meet up with him in an abandoned warehouse that was about twenty minutes away from the bar. Dabi could only travel so far, after all. Kurogiri’s quirk only worked if he knew where to pick someone up, and Dabi wasn’t too keen on letting the League track his location just yet.

Dabi was leaning against the wall of the rusted, old warehouse when the first of his contacts showed up. Dabi nearly laughed when he saw what he was wearing. “You a Stain cosplayer now, Spinner?” Spinner’s tail lashed back and forth in a mixture of agitation and embarrassment.

“Come on, man! He’s kinda cool, and it’s not my fault that he wore such practical gear. It’s easy to get this stuff in stores and not have anyone look twice now.” Dabi chuckled and dismissively waved his hand.

“It’s whatever man; I don’t care. Glad to see that you’re doing alright. Sorry that our first big bust together went so sideways.” Spinner firmly shook his head.

“Don’t worry about that Dabi. Vibration wouldn’t have stopped, and it’s not like the heroes ever would’ve arrested him. Even if they had, he just would’ve got out of it in court. We’ll just have to work together to create a world that holds its heroes to higher standards, right?”

“It’d be even better if we could get rid of the concept of heroes and villains entirely, but having decent heroes would be a damn good start.”

“Yo! It’s good to see you two again!” Dabi turned to meet turquoise eyes --only a shade or two lighter than his own-- and grinned. The newcomer continued before either of the guys can interject. “I still can’t believe that you chose Dabi, of all names, to go with, though!”

He scoffed. “Like you have any room to talk, Eria.” Dabi knew full well that her name was inspired by her quirk too, after all. She huffed at him.

“My name is at least clever, and it’s misleading too! Yours is literally just what your quirk does.” Dabi sighed as he looked to the ceiling. He knew that naming himself cremation wasn’t exactly clever, but he’d been cycling through names for years. He didn’t care about what he went by at this point.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s good to see you too.” He wasn’t lying when he said that; Eria was the closest thing he had to a real friend. ‘It’s probably the shared trauma.’

“Hey, you know that I’m just looking out for you! Spinner, have you been doing alright?” Dabi directed his attention to the entryway while the two talked, standing guard. He couldn’t guarantee that there wouldn’t be any extra visitors, and he wasn’t going to let them all get caught like this. Thankfully, they didn’t have any surprises. Ten minutes later, the final person that they were waiting for showed up.

Mr. Compress had always been hard to read --largely due to a combination of his mask and dramatic nature-- but the man had been stealing medical supplies for Dabi for years. Not for free, obviously, but that still counted for something. Dabi would probably be dead by now if it wasn’t for him.

“Hello, friends! It’s a lovely evening we’re having, no?” Dabi snorted.

“It’s raining, Compress. And you’re late, though that’s nothing new.” Mr. Compress laughed --flippant as ever-- and spun his cane around.

“You’re as direct as ever, Phoenix. Oh, pardon me! It’s Dabi now, of course.” Dabi rolled his eyes, but he was still glad that Mr. Compress showed up. His quirk would be very helpful for the League’s plan.

Now he just needed to introduce these three to Shigaraki. Hopefully, they’d pass muster, though Dabi doubted that Shigaraki could afford to be too picky right now.

Dabi would prefer to have a few people around that he trusted to watch his back in a fight, even if they might want something for it afterward.

-

Apparently, Dabi’s previous experience in working with a group --alongside the fact that he brought so many members to the League-- made Shigaraki decide that Dabi should be the leader for the League’s next mission: attacking UA’s summer camp. The summer camp that Shouto would be at. He didn’t want to do this, but he needed the League’s resources to take down Endeavor. 

‘Shouto will be fine. At least I’m in a position to make sure that this attack hurts as few people as possible.’

He steeled himself, and now he stood on the top of a cliff with a few members of the League, looking out over the forest that the hero kids were training in. Dabi needed to figure out how to keep any kids from dying without completely failing the mission. He couldn’t afford to upset Shigaraki here, not if he was going to use the League to take Endeavor down.

“Come on!! I’m itching to go!” Muscular was probably one of his biggest problems. He was the member that Dabi was the most nervous about; he was certain that there would be a bloodbath if he sent Muscular over to the kids. There had to be a more isolated location that Dabi could send him to.

“It’s too soon. Besides, we don’t need to do anything flashy just yet,” Mustard chimed in, and he was also a concern of Dabi’s, though for an entirely different reason. He would probably have Eria watch over him; she was the only adult of their group that wore a gas mask, so the kid’s quirk wouldn’t affect her. She would make sure that the kid got out of this okay.

“Mustard’s right. This is a signal flare. A warning. We just have to make them take us seriously. All for the sake of a better future.” His eyes flicked over to Toga as she fiddled with her own mask, huffing in frustration.

“This thing is no good. It’s not cute at all!” Mustard hummed at her, though his mask distorted the sound into something far more menacing.

“Our benefactor has planned everything out carefully. Regardless of its appearance, I’m sure that your mask has a purpose, Toga-chan.”

“I know that, Mustard. I just wish that it looked cuter, is all.” Eria giggled as the kids talked to each other, looking just as secretly fond of them as Dabi was. Muscular, on the other hand, was practically vibrating out of his skin in his eagerness.

“Who the hell cares about any of that? Let’s get down there already! My blood is pumping; I’m ready to go!” Dabi sighed and turned back to face Muscular. It was difficult for him to look the man in the eye.

“Be quiet. We need to wait for all eleven of us to be here. Don’t fuck this up by going in blind.” Dabi wondered if there was a way for him to make sure that Muscular didn’t come back with them. ‘I don’t like how eager he is to hurt a bunch of kids. He reminds me of Endeavor, honestly.’

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Dabi glanced over and saw Magne --who Eria seemed to know, judging by how quickly her face lit up-- walking up to their group. Moonfish --a creepy fucker that Dabi also wanted to keep an eye on-- and Spinner followed behind her.

Dabi hummed. “It’s fine. You’re not the last to get here anyway. Compress and Twice won’t be able to join us with the Nomu until tomorrow.”

The eight of them set up camp far away from the areas of the forest that the Wild Wild Pussycats patrolled. They would all be busy with training the kids, but Dabi didn’t want to risk being discovered too early. Plus, an extra day would give him enough time to figure out how to keep any kids from being too badly hurt.

Dabi wouldn’t be able to bear it if he became someone just like his father. No real peace could come from the suffering of children, and that was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He just wanted to live in a world where he didn’t have to fight anymore.

-

The next night, everything seemed to be going according to plan. Dabi rested his hand against a tree --mentally apologizing to the animals who called this forest home-- and set it ablaze. He had told everyone else that his flames would act as a signal to start, but the main reason he did this was to alert the heroes on site. Bright blue flames were sure to get their attention, after all.

“It’s time to get this started.” Everyone was in position, and Dabi could only hope that Muscular and Moonfish didn’t run into anyone. He trusted Eria to keep Mustard safe, and Spinner should be able to keep Magne from going too hard on the kids. The Nomu was listening to Dabi’s orders, so at least he knew that it wouldn’t be killing anyone tonight. Dabi just had to put faith in Mr. Compress getting their target as quickly as he could so that they could get out of here.

He looked over to Twice --who seemed nice enough-- and hummed. “Would you mind creating a clone of me? I have to stay here, but my quirk could be put to use elsewhere too.” He wanted to warn the teachers of this attack directly, and Twice had explained how his quirk worked to the League. There was no other way to get the measurements of the entirety of the Vanguard Action Squad without it seeming weird, and Twice seemed to be strangely sensitive about that sort of thing. It was obvious that he cared about what people thought of him.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan! Ugh, if I have to.” Dabi had learned to focus on the first thing that Twice said whenever he talked; the second thing tended to be either a direct contradiction or an exaggerated reluctance to do whatever he had just agreed to. 

Twice made a clone of Dabi without further commentary, and Dabi wasn’t sure that staring at a perfect, blinking replication of himself would ever stop being unsettling. It wasn’t Twice’s fault, but Dabi tended to avoid looking into mirrors as it was. Seeing a living reflection of himself was just bizarre. 

Two pairs of bright blue eyes locked onto each other, and Dabi nodded. Understanding flashed through the clone’s eyes and Twice looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Well, that was weird. It was perfectly normal!” Twice turned to the clone. “I know that you have a lot of memories up there, so it’s probably pretty confusing. It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out! But you’re a clone, so we just need you to go do what Dabi wants you to do. Or fuck around for all I care!”

The Dabi clone just nodded, heading toward the main building of the campsite without a word. Dabi watched on, grateful that he went out of his way to learn even more about how Twice’s quirk worked.

Clones had the memories and personality of the person that they were modeled after. Dabi knew that, above all else, he wanted to make sure that Shouto stayed safe in all of this. His clone would know what to do.

-

The rush of memories made Touya, Phoenix, Dabi reel. Screaming, crying, burning, begging. No one ever believed him. He had a family that he needed to protect; he had a family that he needed to save from a monster masquerading as a hero. Clone --it was easier to think of himself this way than to try to figure out what name to use-- thought back to the way that Dabi looked at him. He was asking for help. Clone knew how often he had been failed in that regard, so he wanted nothing more than to help him. He needed to make sure that Shouto was safe, and alerting the UA teachers to the situation was his best chance of doing that.

He ran through the forest as quickly as he could, hating that his scarred and broken body couldn’t move any faster. Clone lit more trees on fire as he ran, and then he waited. It wouldn’t be long before one of the heroes noticed him surely, and he was counting on that. Eraserhead came running out of the main building, not seeing Clone as he hung back and watched.

“This is bad…” He seemed to genuinely care. Clone needed to be sure, though. Too much was riding on this for him to accept someone seeming to care; Clone knew how good people could be at pretending.

“You’re always worrying about others, huh Eraserhead?” Clone held out his left hand with a false smirk tugging at his lips.

The hero screamed out a “VLAD!” and Clone let a torrent of blue rush forward. Clone didn’t have to worry about Dabi’s quirk burning him, after all. He wasn’t going to be here for long.

“Do me a favor and stay out of my way, Eraserhead. You’re not the one I’ve got a problem with.” Clone knew that the hero would never do that, but this test of character was important. Shouto’s safety depended on it. If he could plant seeds of doubt here, then the real Dabi could have an easier time of things later.

He glanced up --noticing that neither Eraserhead nor the ashes of him were where his flames hit-- and smiled. “Well… I guess that’s a pro hero for you, huh?” Eraserhead was standing on the awning of the main building, having tied his capture weapon around the balcony a story above it.

Clone moved to use Dabi’s fire once more, but Eraserhead prevented him from doing so. ‘Right… What a pain.’ He felt the capture weapon tie around him, and he could only think one thing as Aizawa flew down toward him, bringing a knee to his face. ‘I am very glad that I cannot feel pain.’

He hit the ground, hard, but he only noticed the degree of impact because of the way that dirt flew around him. “Your objective, numbers, and positions. Tell me them.”

Clone chuckled. Dabi was no stranger to heroes pushing him around, so Clone was hardly going to let Eraserhead do so. “And why would I do that?”

Eraserhead dislocated his left arm. It was more of an annoyance to Clone than anything else, but it still irritated him. It reminded him too much of before. “Because of that. Your right arm is next, so be rational about this. I don’t want to make a hassle for the arresting officers, but I’ll go for your legs after your arms if I need to.”

He hummed. “Something has definitely gotten under your skin, Eraser. Are your students so precious to you?” The hand on the back of Clone’s head gripped him tighter for just a split second, and that was all the answer that he needed. 

“Good. I can’t tell you much, Eraserhead. But I’ll talk.” The hero’s grip goes slack for just a moment, and Clone used that moment to stagger to his feet. He would only be able to take one more hit before dissolving, so he needed to say it now.

“What do you-?” Clone shook his head as an explosion went off in the distance, and Eraserhead did nothing more than glance in that direction. Clone assumed that Eraserhead didn’t want to risk Clone being able to use Dabi’s fire again.

“I don’t have much time. Your students need you. I tried to send the most dangerous members of the Vanguard away from where the kids would be, but I didn’t expect the students to be running around the forest. What a fucking mess…”

“Sensei!” A group of kids ran out from the forest, and Eraserhead’s capture weapon wrapped around Clone again. He held up his hands.

“I’m not in this to hurt kids, Eraserhead.” Clone sighed. “Promise me something, will you? Your students will all need you, but one of them in particular… He needs you more than you know. Save him for me, will you? I never could.”

The capture weapon tightened as Eraserhead spoke. “Who are you? You’re being suspiciously cooperative now.”

Clone felt himself begin to dissolve, and he turned to Eraserhead with tormented eyes. Clone’s memories felt far fresher than to him than they did to Dabi, and he didn’t know how to cope with them. Clone knew that Dabi didn’t either, but he was at least better at pretending.

“I can’t tell you that, Eraserhead. They’d kill me.”

Then, Clone knew no more.

-

Dabi and Twice were still standing in a relatively fire-free clearing with a new clone of Dabi patrolling the area when the message came through.

“Vanguard Action Squad! Our target has been successfully captured. It was a short one, but our mission has come to its close! As planned, make sure that you’re at the extraction point within five minutes of this message!” Dabi switched the radio channels to the line that the Nomu was connected to.

“Nomu, cease fighting the students. Make no further attempts to attack them, and ignore them if they go after you. Head toward the extraction point that I previously told you about.” Dabi heard a faint groan on the other end of the line, switched back the main channel, and turned to Twice. He jerked his head to the left.

“Let’s get a move on. Don’t wanna get left behind, do you?” The two of them started walking back to the extraction point, and Twice was excitedly chattering to him the entire time.

“This is pretty exciting! Mr. Compress sure got the job done quickly, huh? It felt like he took forever! I’m getting sleepy over here.” Dabi laughed, realizing that he was already growing fond of Twice’s mannerisms.

“Yeah, he did a good job. You can always count on Compress to get the job done; it’s just a matter of how much showboating he’s going to do in the process. Now we just need to wait for everyone else to show up.” Dabi looked around the clearing, and his eyes narrowed as he took in the lag of smog.

“This spot was meant to be concealed by my fire and the outer reaches of Mustard’s gas, but I don’t see it anywhere… I wonder if he and Eria are doing alright?” Dabi certainly hoped so, but Eria was primarily meant to ensure that Mustard got back to extraction. If he was being particularly stubborn, then she may have thought it was safer to let him get knocked out by some hero kids before snatching him and waiting for the signal.

“Now there’s no way that we can follow the original plan… Hell yeah! Everything is going perfectly!” Dabi heard a rustle in the bushes and looked over, barely catching sight of blond hair. He hummed. If the kid didn’t do anything, then he wouldn’t have to fight him. Dabi wasn’t going to bring attention to a scared kid.

“Hey Dabi? This isn’t really important, but why did you ask that Nomu to not fight back on its way to the meeting point? It is important! What a weird order.”

“Shigaraki told me a bit about those things. They only respond to a specific person’s orders, but they’ll also fall back on old ones if they’re not expressly told not to. I don’t want to listen to Shigaraki bitch about me losing it, so I’m making sure that it doesn’t get distracted.” And Dabi really didn't want that thing to hurt anyone. He already felt gross enough about ordering it to capture Ragdoll alive. It would’ve been too obvious that the nomu was pulling punches if he hadn’t done so after the hero engaged it.

“That makes perfect sense to me! Sounds pretty dumb.” Dabi and Twice both went quiet after that, remaining alert for any of their teammates or heroes that might crash their party. Dabi nearly sighed in relief when he saw Eria carrying an unconscious and de-masked Mustard.

“Good to see that you’re alright, Eria. Is Mustard stable?” Eria nodded with an apologetic expression on her face.

“He’s just out cold. I’m sorry. I couldn’t see through his gas very well, and he ditched me since he can feel everyone inside of his range. I focused on heading toward where the gas got thicker, but by the time I got there he had been knocked out. Fired a few shots too, but thankfully it was at one of the hardening kids. Mustard will be fine, and the hero kids will be too.”

Dabi sighed, but he knew that Eria couldn’t have done more to wrangle the kid. “You did your best; don’t worry about it. It turned out alright in the end. I’m just glad that he didn’t actually wind up killing someone… This whole child soldier thing is part of the reason why I’m fighting against heroes in the first place. I don’t want any kids to get hurt.” He glanced back over to where the hero student was hiding, though he couldn’t see if the kid was still there from this position. He hoped that they were listening, whoever they were.

“Yeah… kids shouldn’t have to deal with this sort of thing.” A rustle from the right cut Eria off. The three conscious members of the Vanguard looked over in that direction, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. Toga smiled at them, and Dabi felt the last of the tension in his shoulders leak out of him. ‘At least both of the kids are alright. The others are old enough to look after themselves.’

“Is it only you four so far? Thank you for taking care of my friend, Eria!” Eria nodded and gave Toga a warm smile, and Dabi turned to Toga with a tilted head.

“Did you get any of that blood that Shigaraki wanted you to? How many people?”

“I only got some from one.” Considering that this was bad news, especially with how excited Toga had been about collecting some blood on this mission, she seemed to be in oddly high spirits. It was strange.

Twice cried out at that. “One!? But didn’t the boss ask you to get at least three!?” Toga just shrugged.

“I tried, but too many students showed up. I thought that I was gonna die. I couldn’t fight them all on my own, and Dabi told me to prioritize escaping. I can always get more blood later!”

Twice nodded, before asking the question that Dabi wanted to. “Wait a minute! You look really happy Toga. What has you so upset?”

Toga did a little spin with a massive smile on her face. “I think that I made a new friend. She’s super cute, and I wanna see her again. I met this really cute boy too!”

Twice gasped dramatically. “Really!? It’s not me, is it? I’m too old for you; it’d be weird!” Toga giggled and shook her head. As happy as Dabi was to see everyone getting along, they were making him nervous by being so loud.

“Both of you quiet down. We can’t afford to give away our-” He heard the wind rustling through the trees, and he looked up to the sky. Dabi paled as he watched Mr. Compress get tackled to the ground by three hero students. There’s Shouji, Midoriya, and… Shouto. He was tall as Dabi now. Dabi thought that he’d probably be crying right now if he was able to. 

“Hey, I know those brats! Who could they be!?” Dabi raised his left hand, ignoring the way it trembled at the prospect of sending fire toward Shouto.

“Compress. Dodge.” He would have to be incredibly careful here. He couldn’t burn them. He couldn’t burn Shouto. Dabi refused to be like Endeavor. Luckily, Dabi had always cared more about precision than power.

“Roger!” Dabi’s blue flames rushed forward, and he carefully manipulated them around the dodging UA students as Mr. Compress compressed himself and a large chunk of the ground into a marble.

Twice yelped and danced backward. “That’s cold you idiot!” 

Dabi just focused on easing off the flames. He felt his stomach drop when he noticed that Twice was suddenly gone, and his eyes found Twice again just in time to see Shouto throw a wall of ice at him. He would have to trust that Shouto could hold his own, and he doubted that Toga would hurt the Midoriya kid too badly. Probably. The kid had already done a pretty good job of hurting himself from the looks of things, and that could make things harder for him. Dabi would get Toga to back off if he needed to.

Mr. Compress pops out of the marble that was hidden in the indent of the ground, dusting off his coat. “Well, that was unpleasant. To think that they’d chase me by air… They really are the type of students destined to soar to their futures.”

Dabi groaned in exasperation. “That was bad, even for you, Compress. You got Bakugo, right?”

Mr. Compress nodded and dug into his coat pocket. “Naturally!” He paused, and Dabi didn’t like the sudden silence on Mr. Compress’s behalf. Shouji called out to Midoriya and Shouto.

“Come on you two. It’s time to run!” Mr. Compress turned to face Shouji, and Dabi had a sinking feeling in his chest. Shouji continued talking. “I’m not entirely sure what your quirk is, but considering the way that you were showing off earlier…”

Shouji held out his top left hand. “I know that these marbles are Bakugo and Tokoyami. Aren’t they, magician?” Midoriya cried out Shouji’s name in relief, and Mr. Compress clapped his hands together twice.

“Oh ho! How wonderfully done, and so quickly too… Having six arms makes you quite adept at pickpocketing, little hero student.” Shouto darted away from Twice, and Dabi could only feel relieved about that. Even still… It didn't feel like Mr. Compress to keep the marbles in such an obvious place.

Dabi turned toward Mr. Compress with a cocked eyebrow. He gave Dabi a slight nod of the head, and Dabi was relieved that the mission hadn’t been a bust after all. Suddenly, Kurogiri swirled into existence.

“It’s been five minutes since the signal. It is time to retreat, Dabi.” Kurogiri didn’t have to tell him that, but Dabi waited for just a moment longer. He needed to make sure that everyone got out of here. Eria was the first to go through the portal, and she took Mustard with her. Twice and Toga go afterward, but…

“Kurogiri, have you already picked up Spinner? He and Magne never made it to the meeting point." Dabi couldn’t care less about Muscular or Moonfish, but he was fond of Spinner. Dabi was not about to let their second operation together go sideways on Spinner too.

“Yes. You do not need to worry, Dabi. I was able to find him and Magne with their communicators. Unfortunately, both Muscular and Moonfish’s were destroyed.” Kurogiri used his portals to keep Midoriya, Shouji, and Shouto from running off just yet. Dabi stood guard as the Nomu dragged Ragdoll through a different portal, and he briefly wondered where it was taking her.

Mr. Compress --unable to help himself, as usual-- decided to make a show of things before he left. “You students seem oh so pleased with yourselves… I suppose that I should give you a little prize. This is, admittedly, a bad habit of mine. One of the big rules in magic is this: flaunting a particular object means, inevitably, that said object is part of the trick.” Mr. Compress took his mask off his face --though the vast majority of it is still covered by his balaclava-- and stuck out his tongue. Two marbles rested on it.

Both of the marbles in Shouji’s hand exploded into chunks of Shouto’s ice. “You see, that ice attack was the perfect opportunity for me to create a couple of decoys! That way, when you saw me put them into my right pocket, you would assume that your fellow students were right there. I knew that you’d never think to look any further.”

Mr. Compress bowed. “And this is where I must bid you farewell” Suddenly, a bright beam of light burst out from where Dabi saw the hero kid before. Mr. Compress’s mask shattered, and Dabi almost froze up when he watched Mr. Compress lose both marbles.

Thankfully, Kurogiri was willing to assist. The marble by Shouji was too likely to get Dabi’s arm snapped, but he grabbed the one right in front of Shouto thanks to Kurogiri’s portal. As he looked into his brother’s mismatched eyes, Dabi couldn’t help but notice the fact that Shouto’s left eye seemed a bit paler than it used to be. It had been a long time though, so maybe he was mistaken. Maybe Shouto’s eyes had never been as bright as his or Fuyumi’s. His next words were meant to sound taunting --Dabi had to play a part until the right time came-- but he ended up sounding more sad than cruel.

“How unfortunate for you, Shouto Todoroki.” Dabi shook his head and stepped back into the portal, only remaining partially outside of it because Mr. Compress is. “I’ve got him, Compress. Go ahead and release them.”

Mr. Compresses grumbled. “Where on Earth did that laser come from? It completely ruined my show.” Personally, Dabi was glad that they weren’t going to have more than one UA student at the base. He wasn’t the one calling the shots here, and he wasn’t so sure that he’d be able to convince Shigaraki to spare an extra kid. Only one kid was needed as a hostage if they refused to join, after all. 

Both of Mr. Compress’s marbles popped, and Dabi kept both of his hands on Bakugo’s shoulders. It would probably be easier to hold one around his neck, but he just couldn’t do it. He refused to share that with Endeavor.

“It all turned out alright in the end, Compress.” Dabi stepped backward into the portal and dragged Bakugo through with him. Midoriya was desperately trying to reach the kid, but Bakugo warned him off.

“Stay back, Deku.”

Dabi tried very hard to not feel sick about the fear that he could hear in Bakugo’s voice.

-

A couple of days later, the League of Villains, minus Muscular and Moonfish, were taking a breather in the bar. Most of them were just glad that things went well --it appeared that Dabi wasn’t the only one that had been uneasy about the other two recruits-- and Shigaraki was finished letting Bakugo stew in silence. At least Dabi had been able to convince Shigaraki to keep Bakugo fed and hydrated in the meantime.

“Well… you’ve had plenty of time to think over things, so let’s get down to business Katsuki Bakugo. Do you want to join us?”

Bakugo wasn’t having any of it. “You can take your offer and shove it, Handjob.” The vitriol had Dabi snorting --which Shigaraki noticed if the unamused look in his direction said anything-- and Shigaraki just sighed before turning on the television in the bar. It was currently playing UA’s recorded press conference.

Shigaraki turned to face Bakugo and held his hands up in a gesture that screamed ‘what can you do’. “They’re awfully quick to criticize the heroes, aren’t they? They didn’t do anything wrong beyond doing too little too late. Even if it is their job to save people, you can’t expect them to never fail. Why does everyone expect heroes to be perfect? No person is perfect; that’s just a fact of life. Heroes sure do have it rough… don’t they, Bakugo?”

Spinner --who was leaning against the wall of the bar-- nodded. “Heroes lost all moral standing the instant that protecting people started coming with a paycheck. Stain taught us that.”

Shigaraki wasn’t above using Spinner’s words to further his point, regardless of how much he hated Stain. “Exactly. You save someone, and suddenly you get money and fame. Doesn’t that sound strange to you? Our society has stopped questioning itself. The rules are absolute, and those who are crushed beneath them… Society doesn’t cheer for the underdogs and victims anymore. They blame them.”

Dabi could be wrong, but Shigaraki sounded affected by his speech. Dabi suspected that he’d been through some shit --Shigaraki wouldn’t be leading a group of villains so young if he hadn’t-- but it was clear to him that Shigaraki was actually speaking from the heart here. ‘Even if he is only doing so for the sake of manipulating Bakugo.’

“Our war is based on a few simple principles. What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society really what’s best for the people? Once we get the greater population thinking about that sort of thing, we’ve won. And they’re already going to be talking about it after this. I know that you like to win, Bakugo. Don’t you want this sort of victory? A complete and total, moral victory.”

Honestly, if Dabi wasn’t planning to stick with the League, then he’d consider himself sold now. “Dabi, untie him.” That didn’t mean that he thought Bakugo was sold, though. The look in his eyes was unsettling. Dabi hated that he kept seeing his father in other people’s gazes.

“There’s no way that he won’t lash out, you realize?” 

Shigaraki just nodded. “That’s fine. We want to treat him as an equal here, you know? Besides, there’s no way that someone good enough to get into UA doesn’t realize that he can’t win against the nine of us who are here.” That didn’t mean that Dabi wanted to get anywhere near a kid that could make explosions. He was one wrong move away from becoming a giant open wound on a good day, so he wasn’t going to risk the kind of damage that Bakugo could do to him.

“Can you do it, Twice?” Twice jolted upright.

“You want me to do it? No thanks!” Twice moved to untie Bakugo anyway, so Dabi was going to assume that the first sentence was more of a statement than a protest.

Mr. Compress started talking in the lowered, soft voice that he used to help Dabi calm down sometimes. “We do apologize for our forceful methods in bringing you here, Bakugo. We just need you to understand that our group isn’t just a bunch of evildoers causing chaos for the sake of chaos. Things are never quite so simple as that. We didn’t decide to spirit you away by random chance.”

That much was true, at least. Dabi wanted to have a serious talk with whoever decided that it’d be a good idea to chain and muzzle a child. Bakugo made him a bit uneasy, but he was still just a kid. 

Mr. Compress continued. “We all have different stories to tell, but none of us would be here if we hadn’t suffered. Whether that’s because of other people, unfair laws and regulations, or heroes themselves… We’ve all felt suffocated and helpless before. You --more than anyone else in UA-- should understand that feeling. Especially after how they’ve treated you.”

Twice finished untying Bakugo shortly after Mr. Compress stopped talking, and Shigaraki strode toward Bakugo. The second that the kid was done rubbing his wrists, he launched an explosion straight at Shigaraki’s chest. Concussive blow or not, Dabi felt a surge of anger and fear as Shigaraki stumbled back. Dabi could smell the burns.

Bakugo scoffed as he staggered to his feet. “Finally got you idiots to shut up. I thought that I’d die of old age before you stopped running your mouths. I can’t stand people like you. Honestly, is it so hard to get to the damn point?” Twice ran up to Shigaraki, calling out his name in concern, and Bakugo just kept talking. 

‘For someone who was complaining about monologuing, he seems to be doing a lot of it himself.’

“All you’re really saying is ‘We want to cause trouble. Be our friend.’ What a fucking joke! You don’t get me at all. I’ve always admired All Might’s triumphs. He beats the odds, no matter what, and he always wins. That’s the kind of hero that I’m going to be, and nothing that any of you losers can say will change my mind about that.” Dabi’s eyes narrowed.

The drone of UA’s press conference continued to play in the background, but Dabi wasn’t going to let a statement like that slide. “You want to be the best of them all, then?”

“Is your brain burnt too, Frankenstein!? That’s what I just fucking said.”

“If you’re going to insult me, then at least do it properly. I’d be Frankenstein’s monster, not the doctor himself.” 

Dabi rolled his neck and straightened up. “I know someone who acts a lot like you, kid. I’d take a long, hard look at the path that you’re going down right now before you wind up becoming the type of man that burns a sixteen-year-old alive.”

Eria was nodding, having known this much about Dabi for a few years now, but no one else --not even Mr. Compress-- had any clue that Dabi’s burn scars weren’t self-inflicted. And they weren't, not in any way that counted. His quirk wouldn’t have evolved like it did if he hadn’t been in real, mortal danger to begin with.

There was a long, horrified silence. Even Bakugo paused in his tirade, and Shigaraki left his face-hand on the floor. Dabi’s new boss turned to him, red eyes just a little wide. “Dabi, what the fuck?”

Dabi blinked. “Did you all just assume that this shit was self-inflicted? Do I really seem like the kind of person that would put enough effort into training my quirk to do that to myself?”

Mr. Compress’s voice was so low with agony that Dabi nearly flinched when he heard it. “I’ve been your acquaintance for six years Dabi, and you never… Am I so unapproachable? I would have done more to help you had I known, Dabi; I swear it. I could have at least ensured that I charged less for your medication…”

Dabi shook his head. “Nothing is free in the underground, Compress. I wasn’t going to play the pity card. I’ve been taking care of myself and others for far longer than I’ve had these scars. The fact that you went through the trouble of getting non-addictive pain medication is more than I could’ve asked for. It would’ve been easy for you to get me hooked and dependent if you had felt so inclined.”

Mr. Compress made a noise that sounded like a strangled cat. Dabi looked at him in a way that he hoped could convey the fact that Dabi knew that Mr. Compress wouldn’t do that to him; it just needed to be said. Nezu’s voice carried over the now silent bar, declaring that UA would retrieve their missing student.

Bakugo’s voice was a bit unsteady, but he still commented on it. “That’s UA for you! Look at them standing up for me against those media vultures…”

Dabi looked to Bakugo and hummed. “You know that what they did to you is wrong, right?”

“Hah?!”

“Even when considering how dangerous the path that you’re going down is, you are still a kid. So, tell me why, exactly, UA thought it was a good idea to chain and muzzle one of their students? Their restraints were obviously heavier and less comfortable than what a bunch of low-budget villains could manage, too. Does the award ceremony matter more to them than your own feelings and safety? Did they not think, for even a moment, that any obstruction to your breathing could send you into a panic attack? Especially considering the whole incident with that sludge villain.”

Bakugo snarled, but he looked more defensive than anything else now. “I-I’m not fucking weak! They believe in me; they know that I have what it takes to be a hero!” 

Dabi’s eyes softened. “I never said that you were weak, kid. That sort of shit affects you. You’re strong for surviving it, not for pretending that it never happened to you at all. I still can’t let anyone else put their hands anywhere near my neck without freaking the fuck out. You almost died. That shit sticks with you; I’d know.”

“It doesn’t matter what you say, Patchwork! Nothing that any of you fucks say is going to sway me. I technically still have permission to fight back, you know?!” He said that, but something that Dabi said got through to him. He could see the tiniest bit of doubt in Bakugo’s eyes.

Magne hummed. “This kid really understands his position, huh? He knows that we aren’t going to kill him.”

Eria chuckled and shook her head. “Not like it’d take much for him to figure that out, Magne. We’ve been keeping him fed --thank you for cooking, Dabi-- and well hydrated, so it’s fairly obvious that we wanted to keep him happy.”

Bakugo looked at Dabi like he was a particularly absurd puzzle that he couldn’t quite figure out, maybe one that was missing a few pieces, and Toga pointed one of her knives at Bakugo with a shine in her eyes. “Can I stab him? Pretty please? I think he’d look cuter with a bit of blood on him!”

Dabi sighed and it was a deep, weary, thing. “No, Toga. Leave him alone. We don’t kill kids.”

She pouted at him. “But I’m a kid!” Speaking of children, Mustard finally shuffled into the bar, wearing a new mask to protect his identity, and started fidgeting with the edge of his shirt.

“And I can’t keep you from fighting with us, but I can keep you from stabbing other children. If you need blood, then we can work out another way to get you some.” Dabi would even be willing to give her some of his blood as long as she promised not to transform into him.

Toga sighed in an obviously exaggerated manner and laid her head down on the bar. Mustard looked to Eria, and though the mask makes it impossible to read his facial expressions, the hunch of his shoulders suggested that he was uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, Eria. I shouldn’t have left you behind. I just wanted to prove myself, and I thought that if someone was with me… It doesn’t matter. I could’ve got myself arrested. Thank you for saving me.” She smiled and nodded at him --her past irritation with him water under the bridge now-- and Mustard turned to Dabi.

“And thank you for making sure that someone would get me back to the checkpoint, Dabi. The League is a better option for me than the yakuza, so I’m really glad that I didn’t mess this up. My parents probably would’ve got me out of prison if I got arrested, and I really don’t want to go back… At least here I’m safe. I would’ve been left to the wolves by my parents’ new boss, and it was just a matter of time.”

Dabi smiled at Mustard --as much as he ever could without tearing staples loose-- and laughed softly. “Don’t worry about it, kid. If they ever come after you… I won’t let them anywhere near you unless you want them to be. I know plenty about shitty parents.”

Eria cut in with a solemn nod. “Quirk marriage kids.”

He nodded in return. “Quirk marriage kids.”

Bakugo was watching them all with a strange expression on his face. Despite his bold words, he hadn’t moved to fight any of them. ‘That’s smart considering that, determined to keep him alive or not, we could easily just knock him out.’

Dabi could hear the smile in Mr. Compress’s voice when the man turned to speak to Bakugo. “They’re all such sweet children, honestly. I don’t understand why you didn’t simply pretend that we won you over, Bakugo. It would have been easier to break free if you got us to let our guards down first. Misdirection is useful for more than just magic.”

Bakugo just shook his head. “If I don’t feel like doing something, then I’m not gonna waste my time lying about it. I don’t wanna hang around this boring dump with you losers and your fucking sob stories for a moment longer.”

Dabi hummed. ‘The fact that he’s acknowledging that we have sad stories at all… Maybe he isn’t too far gone just yet. At least he’s not denying everything that we’re saying. ’

Shigaraki’s hand twitched, and Kurogiri called out to him. “You mustn’t do anything rash, Tomura Shigaraki. Please restrain yourself.” Shigaraki locked eyes with Bakugo, and Dabi could see how the kid tensed up in fear when he did.

“I know that Kurogiri. This kid is an important NPC. It’s not uncommon for recruitable units from the other side to fight you at first… I can’t say that it isn’t disappointing, though. I thought that we might understand one another.”

Bakugo snorted. “Nope. You’re not going to change my mind.”

“That’s a shame. I can’t afford to waste my time convincing you. Not with the heroes actively looking for you.” Shigaraki turned to the now blank television screen.

“Master… Will you lend me your power?” Dabi watches as the TV screen flickers for just a moment, and he shudders.

Bakugo laughed. “A master? You’re not even your own boss, and here you are trying to preach freedom to me. How disappointing!”

Shigaraki hunched over, and Dabi couldn’t be the only one to see how exhausted he looks. “Kurogiri. Mr. Compress. Let’s just put him to sleep again. We don’t have time for this.”

Mr. Compress heaved a sigh. “It’s actually impressive how unwilling he is to listen to reason. I’ve spoken with more cooperative toddlers.”

“Oi! If you wanted me to listen, then maybe you shouldn’t have gone the kidnapping route! Shut your fucking mouths and go to hell!” Dabi would love to go into detail about how some rescue missions were actually government-sanctioned kidnappings, but the door to the bar was knocked on before he could.

“Hello? Kamino Pizza delivery!” Dabi jolted upright. He was cooking again tonight --he didn't mind doing that as long as he had something to work with-- so no one would have ordered anything. The door was smashed in, and Dabi felt the blood leave his face as he watched several of his teammates get knocked down by the impact.

“Kurogiri! Warp us!”

“Preemptive Binding… Lacquered Chain Prison!!” Dabi strained against the wood surrounding him. He was hesitant to start a fire in a bar, but it looked like Kurogiri couldn’t warp them out right now. When Dabi saw how terrified Toga and Mustard looked, he decided that he would risk blowing the bar sky-high, but he was kicked in the head before he got the chance.

“Not so fast! You’ll want to take it easy for a while… for your own sake.” Dabi’s ears were ringing, and he groaned, fighting the urge to get sick, as he glanced at the rest of the League. He kept his body limp and head down, knowing that the heroes would think that he was out cold. He needed to get it together. The ringing in his ears was too loud to hear anything that All Might was talking about, but he managed to focus just in time to catch what some other hero that came into the room said. He couldn't risk looking up to put a face to the voice just yet.

“This raid… is more than just those of us in here. Endeavor is out there, and there are several other skilled heroes and the police with him. You’re surrounded. There’s no hope for escape.” Dabi had to very carefully remain limp. He wasn’t ready yet. Seeing Shouto hurt, but that was because Dabi missed his baby brother. Dabi couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t have a panic attack if he saw Endeavor right now.

All Might turned to Bakugo. “This must’ve been scary for you. You did an excellent job holding out for us, young Bakugo. I’m sorry that we took this long, but you’re okay now!”

Bakugo trembled, ever-so-slightly, but scoffed anyway. “Scary!? Hardly. These losers didn’t scare me at all.”

Shigaraki’s voice was thick with agitation when he spoke. “After all of our effort... The final boss just shows up on our doorstep. I suppose that it can’t be helped, then. Kurogiri… bring over all of the Nomu!”

Dabi felt like he might actually be grateful for those creepy things, but then… “I apologize, Tomura Shigaraki. The Nomu that were set aside for our use… They’re all gone.”

This was starting to look very dire. Dabi couldn’t wind up in jail, dammit! He’d never be able to save his family from there. All Might laughed, and for once, it wasn’t a reassuring sound.

“It looks like you still have a lot of growing to do, Shigaraki! Your league of misfits has taken a few things far too lightly. Young Bakugo’s undefeatable spirit, how relentlessly we would search for him, and our rage at your atrocious actions!!” Dabi barely kept himself from scoffing. As if the number one hero had any room to talk when he didn’t do anything about Bakugo being chained to a podium.

“Your troublemaking has gone on for long enough, Tomura Shigaraki! It ends today!” Spinner was shaking as much as their bindings allowed him to, and Dabi hated seeing fear on his companion’s face.

“All Might is really here… He’s the only hero that Stain has ever approved of. The pinnacle of heroism.” Shigaraki scoffed, and Dabi could see his teeth grinding together from where he was bound.

“It all ends here, huh? Don’t be so arrogant. We’re only just starting, All Might. Justice, peace, heroes, and villains… How soon you forget that it is our society that dictates these things. People have overthrown corrupt governments countless times throughout history, and any country that would label people undeniably evil for the most desperate and petty of crimes, for the things they’ve had to do to survive, and even just for the poor fortune of being born with a so-called villainous quirk… Can you even pretend to call that justice?”

Shigaraki chuckled. “Your righteousness makes me sick. Make no mistake, we’re only just beginning. Kurogiri!” Dabi’s eyes dart over to Kurogiri, and he nearly blew his cover when he watched the man slump over. Toga cried out.

“Kurogiri! I couldn’t even see what that was… Are we all going to die too?” Dabi hated hearing the fear in her voice, and he glanced over to Eria. Mustard was near her, but he couldn’t do anything without knocking out the rest of the League too. Eria looked into Dabi’s eyes for a brief moment --averting her eyes to avoid giving them away-- and he watched as a few bottles of alcohol twitched. Message received. They just needed to wait for the right moment.

“He’s not dead. That man was just the biggest threat of your group, so he’s going to nap for a little while.” He could see the hero now --he was called Edgeshot if Dabi remembered correctly-- and the man gave Bakugo a thumbs up. “I thank you for exposing his weakness back in the USJ.”

The old hero --the one that kicked Dabi in the head-- bared his teeth in a grimace. “It’s like I said. You’ll all be better off if you just give in here. Kenji Hikiishi, Atsuhiro Sako, Shuichi Iguchi, Himiko Toga, and Jin Bubaigawara … Even with next to no intel and even less time, we were able to find most of your civilian identities.”

Spinner snarled. “Don’t deadname Magne, you ass!” The old hero seemed completely unaffected by Spinner’s outcry, but Dabi noticed that Kamui Woods looked distinctly uncomfortable for a moment. Old Geezer --because it was true and the name amused Dabi-- looked to Eria and Mustard.

“We couldn’t find anything on you two, though. Or your scarred companion. Care to share that information with us?” Dead silence. Old Geezer turned to Shigaraki instead. “You have nowhere left to run. Tell me, Shigaraki, where is your boss?”

The sheer number of guns pointed in their direction had Dabi worried. Shigaraki sounding about five seconds away from a complete breakdown only made that anxiety more prominent. “You’ve gotta be kidding me… This can’t be… This can’t be it. No way! Get out of here!”

“Where is he, Shigaraki!?” Dabi had never heard All Might’s voice sound so angry before. All Might wasn’t the only one that was pissed off though.

“I hate you!!” And suddenly, two nomu flanked Shigaraki. They were brought in through a black, sludgy teleportation quirk. ‘If someone is sending nomu here, then…’

Eria obviously had the same idea as him. Dozens of bottles of liquor and whisky went flying toward the heroes. Dabi jerked upright before he sent a tiny lick of blue flame out toward the spilled alcohol. That spark was all they needed.

A massive wall of flames exploded upward, and Kamui Woods had to let go of the League or risk losing his arms. The Nomus --and more and more of them were coming now-- kept the heroes too busy to notice that Kamui Woods wasn’t holding them anymore.

Black sludge started pouring out of all of their mouths --Bakugo included-- and Dabi grinned. He was consumed by a wall of sludge, and the heroes before him cried out as the League disappeared.

-

Everyone was gagging when they teleported in front of Shigaraki’s boss, but Dabi was no stranger to pushing through this kind of nausea. He looked up and froze at the sheer presence that All for One radiated.

“Master…” Shigaraki’s tone was reverent, and something about it made Dabi feel uneasy.

“You’ve failed again, Tomura… But don’t lose heart. I will give you as many chances as it takes for you to succeed. That’s why I brought along your new team and even the boy who you have deemed to be important to your cause. You just have to try again. That’s what I’m here for, after all. Everything… it’s all for you.”

Something in All for One’s tone was really creeping Dabi out. He talked to Shigaraki like was some beloved pet instead of a person, and Dabi had the sinking feeling that he and Shigaraki had more in common than he had realized.

All for One paused for a moment before chuckling in amusement. “I knew that you’d come.” And All Might threw two fists at All for One as he attacked him from the sky. All for One caught both of them.

“It’s time for you to finally face justice, All for One!”

“Are you here to kill me again, All Might?” All Might grit his teeth with determination, and then there was a massive shockwave that burst out from the two of them. The entirety of the League was blown back, and Dabi was definitely going to have to replace some staples after this. He didn’t think that he could get back up.

Dabi was glad that he didn’t even try when another massive blast of force sent All Might flying. ‘The sheer level of destruction that All for One is causing… He’s on another level entirely. I don’t want to be anywhere near this shit.’

“You need to flee from this place, Tomura. And take Bakugo with you. Kurogiri will still be able to aid your escape.” Dabi looked up just in time to see All for One jab Kurogiri with five strange, extended fingers. He could hear Magne asking All for One a question, but his head was pounding too much to focus on what she was saying.

One of Kurogiri’s portals opened up and Mr. Compress walked over to him. “Can you move Dabi?”

He tried to push himself up, but Dabi regretted that action immediately. He bit back a scream. “No. That landing tore too many staples in my legs. I’ll bleed out if I try.”

Mr. Compress nodded and gently reached toward him. Dabi’s awareness faded away into blue, and blue was a far more comforting color when it was the same shade as Mr. Compress's marbles.

-

A few days after Kamino, Dabi had finally recovered enough to move around again. They were holed up in a small, dirty base, but he had crashed in worse places while still managing to stave off any infections.

Generally, most of the League seemed content with the fact that All Might could no longer operate as the Symbol of Peace. Multiple news sources had confirmed that he would never be able to fight again, but Shigaraki was obviously unsettled by the fact that All for One’s imprisonment was the cost of All Might’s retirement.

The loss of that kind of power was irritating, but Dabi was more worried about how things would be handled on the hero side of things. He kept a carefully neutral expression as he thought about what All Might's retirement meant for Endeavor. The fact that the bastard was getting the number one position like this would make him furious, and the odds of him taking that anger out on Dabi's little siblings were far higher than he was comfortable with. It could wind up being the catalyst that resulted in another one of them being killed, for real this time.

No amount of schooling his expression could keep Toga from smelling how he actually felt about everything, though. She had mentioned something about how pheromones affected how she perceived other people before --quirks were weird-- but that didn’t mean that Dabi liked being unable to hide his emotions behind a blank face. “Are you okay Dabi? I understand why Tomura is upset, but you smell angry. Angry and scared.”

The entirety of the League looked over to Dabi, and he was surprised that they all looked varying levels of concerned for him. Shigaraki was still in a foul mood, but Dabi didn’t let the way that Shigaraki snapped at him bother him.  “You got something to say, Dabi?”

There wasn’t any way around this. Dabi needed to take Endeavor down, and springing the truth on them alongside the general public was a risk that he wasn’t willing to take. He didn’t want to lose their trust. They were all exactly the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to help him take Endeavor down, and he knew that he could use their help. 

He tried to take a deep breath, but it turned into a shaky gasp about halfway through. “You know how I told you that I’d tell you my name when you needed to know it?” Shigaraki was paying attention now. 

Eria jolted upright, having previously been hunched over some papers. “Dabi, are you sure? I’ve known you for seven years, and you never even told me your name. You’ve said a few basic things, but you never gave any details. What makes it so important for us to know who you are now?” Everyone was paying attention now, and Dabi sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck.

“With All Might retired for good…” He hated how hard it was to say this. “The number one position goes to the current number two by default. It won’t be made official until the Billboard Chart Japan announcement, but…”

The others didn’t seem to get it yet, but he could tell that Eria understood. She was the kid of a hero that had a quirk marriage too, after all. Her eyes widened in shock. “Dabi? Don’t tell me that… This makes too much fucking sense. How didn't I see this sooner?”

Twice looked between the two of them before speaking up. “What? What is she hinting at? It makes perfect sense to me!”

'Why is it so hard to open up to people?' Every instinct that he had was screaming for him to shut up --that he and Eria could handle this on their own-- but then he thought of how much Fuyumi had been suffering since he died. How long Natsuo had been completely ignored. Not even Shouto was safe right now. If Endeavor lost himself to his anger while training Dabi's baby brother, then there was only so much that Shouto could do. 

Dabi shuddered. He looked Shigaraki in the eye as he finally began to speak “My name is Touya Todoroki. Endeavor bought my mother in a quirk marriage when she was only sixteen years old, and they had me within the year. He made her have three more kids after that. Made her have kid after kid until she finally gave him what he wanted with Shouto.”

The silence was suffocating, so Dabi desperately tried to fill it. “I tried reporting him, you know, but no one ever believed me. It didn’t matter how many bruises and burns, photographs, or audio recordings that I brought with me. ‘It could be faked,’ they would say; ‘You’re just trying to get attention,’ they would say.”

Dabi’s voice was practically a growl. “Endeavor is a hero, and heroes don’t do that kind of thing. Except, obviously, they fucking do. The HPSC was my last chance, you know? But they already knew. They knew, and they made damn sure that I’d shut up about it.”

He wavered for a moment before soldiering on. “I… I confronted Endeavor about… He’d been hurting my sister. Hurting her in ways that no one --especially not a fucking thirteen-year-old-- should ever have to experience. He was not happy with my attitude.”

Dabi huffed. “A fucking understatement, there. He put his hand around my neck, and I burned alive. Got taken to the hospital, a nurse believed me when I said it wasn’t an accident, and she faked my death. Touya Todoroki died in a tragic training accident. He was trying out a new technique alone and went too far. He never went to a hospital. There was nothing left of his body.”

He couldn’t cry, but his voice still managed to sound watery. “Do you realize how horrifying that is? To realize that, even if he didn’t actually kill me, thousands of people apologized to my murderer for my death, and no one ever suspected a damn thing.”

Shigaraki looked thunderstruck, and Dabi knew exactly why. This was exactly the kind of information that they could use to reveal just how ugly hero society was behind the scenes. People couldn't ignore this kind of story, not about their new number one. “This… This is fucking huge, Dabi. You realize that, right? If people found out about this…”

Dabi nodded. “That’s always been my plan. To create a scenario where Endeavor and I are fighting, to draw it out long enough to get live news coverage, and then, when they can’t even hope to cover it up, I would tell all of Japan what he’s done. Everything. I just have to bide my time. If the HPSC knew that I was still alive, then they’d make sure that I wasn’t for much longer. This can’t get out too soon.”

The entirety of the League nodded at that, and Dabi was grateful that they understood the severity of the situation. One by one, they all started making promises to him.

Toga had murder in her eyes. “I’ll stab him for you, Dabi! He deserves to bleed out nice and slowly. I don’t want to make him cute either, though…”

Spinner was indignant. “To have a fake hero --no, a monster-- as the face of all heroes… Stain wouldn’t want this, and you don’t deserve to live it, Dabi. I’m behind you.”

Twice was sobbing. “That’s so awful Dabi! Not like I care! We won’t let him get away with this! What could we hope to do against him anyway?”

Magne’s voice was soft. “If facing him on your own is too hard… I’ll be there for you too, Dabi. I’m always ready to bust some heads. Especially heads attached to abusive assholes.”

Mr. Compress sounded angrier than Dabi had ever heard him. “That disgusting cur! He will rue the day that he even thought of abusing his power like this Dabi, I assure you. He’ll never lay a hand on you again.”

Mustard’s voice was far too solemn for a kid as young as he was. “If there is any way that I may assist you… I would like to return the promise that you made me in the bar. He will not take you away from us.”

Eria’s eyes are wet with tears, but her voice was as steady as ever. “We already planned on killing one abusive asshole of a hero together, so what’s one more? I’ll stand beside you Dabi, just like always.”

Kurogiri’s voice was as comforting as ever, but there was a strained undertone to it that told Dabi just how affected the oldest of them was by this. “You are one of our comrades, Dabi, and the horrors done unto you by heroes… We will ensure that they pay for them. I will aid you in any way that Tomura Shigaraki allows.”

They all turned to look at Shigaraki in unison. Their leader hesitated for just a moment before removing the hand that typically covered his face. He looked Dabi in the eye and smiled. For once, it wasn’t a creepy one. It seemed sincere.

“Your trust in us is not misplaced, Dabi. Anything that has to do with the end of Endeavor will go through you first, and we will take him down. I’d prefer to wait until after the official announcement of his new position, but I could be persuaded otherwise.”

Dabi shook his head. “No, that’s fine. More people will be watching what he does by then anyway. Just… I hate to ask this of you, but can we not…”

“As of today, any Todoroki, barring Endeavor, is on the no-kill list. You don’t have to worry about your little brother, Dabi. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Attacking UA was never about more than drawing attention to the League. Our fight for real change starts now.”

Dabi was surrounded by the smiling, earnest faces of people who would walk through hell for him. He realized that he would do the same for them. For the first time that he could ever remember, he felt completely safe. His chest heaved with dry sobs, and the entire League crept forward to comfort him, putting him square in the middle of a giant group hug. 

‘It's so warm.’ Even Shigaraki --who was being incredibly careful with his hands-- joined the group in what was now a floor cuddle pile. Dabi hadn’t done anything like this since the day he ran, and even then it was only on the rare nights where he could get away with spending time with all of his siblings.

At twenty-five, Dabi realized that he had found a second family while striving to save his first.

Chapter Text

Shortly after the League fully recovered, they all split up and went in different directions. They needed to lay low for a while, and Dabi was no stranger to staying below the radar. None of them were. That was why Shigaraki was able to give them all jobs to do while they were separated from each other.

Toga got assigned to the Provisional License Exam, and her mission ended in successfully obtaining some of Midoriya’s blood. Eria was researching potential threats from other villain groups, and Mustard was sticking with her since they needed to make sure that his parents didn’t find him. Mr. Compress was out securing funds and resources since the League needed to recover from the loss of most of All for One’s contacts.

Magne and Spinner were both just laying low --Magne had too many priors to not be recognized and Spinner’s quirk made him easily identifiable-- so that left one job to both Dabi and Twice. They needed to look for more recruits. They couldn’t do that together, but Dabi had been traveling from city to city for a while.

Dabi was currently cutting through a back alley in Chiba when he saw a group of three men cornering a girl that was wearing one of the local school uniforms. It could be something as simple as a mugging, Dabi couldn’t fault people for doing what they needed to do to survive, but the look in their eyes painted a different picture. Dabi saw red.

“Oi, fuck off!” The leader of the little group laughed. He started turning to face Dabi as he spoke with a cocky tone that Dabi was ready to burn out of him.

“Hear that boys? Sounds like someone is trying to play hero--” The man cut off with a strangled gasp as he took in Dabi’s appearance. Wanted bulletins had been plastered all over Japan, and there weren’t many people out there that were as heavily scarred as Dabi was.

“Holy shit. You’re with the League of Villains! Uh…” The man looked at his two buddies. Dabi cocked an eyebrow and blue flames radiated from his hands, ready to turn the bastards in front of him to ash if they tested him. They didn’t. They all bolted the second that they saw his blue flames, and Dabi listened to the sound of pounding footsteps as they echoed in the distance. He refused to drop his guard until he was sure they were gone. They could always decide to double back if they were cocky enough.

Dabi sighed. “Man… now I’m gonna have to skip town again.” He rolled his neck and looked over to the girl. She was trembling from head to toe, frozen up and looking away from him in fear. He crouched down in front of her, and she flinched away from him. He tried not to let that sting.

He gentled his voice. “Hey… It’s going to be alright. I’m not going to hurt you, kid. They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

Surprised, purple eyes met his. “Why would you…? You’re a villain, so…” Her hands fidgeted with the edge of her skirt, trying to pull it further down than the fabric could go, and Dabi very pointedly kept eye contact with her. He didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was, no matter how much he instinctively wants to keep an eye on all of her sudden movements.

He smiled at her --careful to keep it small so that it didn’t pull his staples and freak her out-- and kept speaking, voice barely any louder than a whisper. “Villain or no, I’m not a monster, kid. I can’t just stand back and pretend that I don’t see bad shit happening in front of me. That’s what got me into this mess to begin with.”

Dabi held his hand out to her, and she hesitated for a moment. He was surprised when her hand met his --he had expected her to ignore it-- and Dabi could feel her trembling as he pulled her up her feet. “Do you need help getting where you’re trying to go, kid? I can make sure that those assholes don’t come back for you.”

The girl shuddered and pulled her uniform jacket closer to herself. “Um… Maybe to the main road? I’m not far away, but…” Dabi just nodded. It was completely understandable that she wouldn’t want him to know where she lived or wherever she was going, especially since she recognized him. The two of them walked through the back alleys without any interference --though Dabi did nod at a couple of the homeless people that he recognized-- and the girl turned to face him once they got to the edge of where the alley reconnected with the main street.

The light coming from that direction allowed Dabi to see that the girl had dark brown hair, just a few shades lighter than the black that he dyed his own. She straightened up and looked him in the eye, posture stiff for all that she was obviously trying to be brave.

“Thank you, Dabi. Um… I’d give you a name, but…” Dabi just shook his head and chuckled.

“Do you think Dabi is my real name? Don’t sweat it, kid. Just be more careful from here on out, okay? I can’t be everywhere.” The girl nodded at him and waved farewell. Dabi ducked back into the back alleys and melded with the shadows.

Dabi wasn’t going to be able to find anyone here without risking arrest now. Grateful or no, there was almost no doubt in his mind that the girl would report this encounter. If she didn’t, then the group of punks that he had stopped probably would. He decided to call up Giran, and he got some very interesting news when he did.

Twice had made contact with Overhaul, of all people. Shigaraki was asking for any members that could manage to get to Ichihara to attend the meeting. They would be gathering at an abandoned, isolated factory two evenings from now.

He would be able to get there with several hours to spare as long as he started walking in that direction now. Dabi told Giran to let the others know that he would be there. He had some information on Overhaul that might come in handy, after all.

-

Dabi arrived at the meeting place mid-afternoon on the day that they were meeting up with Overhaul. After making sure that he didn’t have a tail --it wasn’t paranoid to check every minute if people really were out to get you-- he ducked inside the building. There was a huge room that was empty of everything but a few old crates and the dust that comes from years of abandonment, and Dabi wasn’t the first one to get there.

Of those that are planning to be here, only Magne and Twice were still missing. Toga cheered when she saw Dabi. The sound echoed throughout the room, and Dabi heard some disgruntled squeaking. It was probably coming from bats that were sleeping in the rafters, though rats were also a possibility.

“Dabi! I’m so glad that you’re here! I got to see Izuku-kun, you know? He’s pretty cute when he’s all determined!” Dabi just chuckled and ruffled Toga’s hair as he walked past her, moving to lean against the wall near Shigaraki.

“I’m glad that you had fun.” Toga squawked in protest and started fixing her buns, huffing at Dabi while she stuck her tongue out at him. 

Shigaraki looked over at Dabi with a smirk on his face. “You know that this is why we all had you pegged as an older brother, right?” Dabi just laughed at that. Being a big brother was one of the few things about himself that he didn’t have to hide from anyone, so others picking up on it was among the least of his concerns. He was worried about something though.

“You said that Twice was planning on bringing Overhaul here, right? I hope that you’re prepared for this to go sideways.” Mr. Compress --who was already sitting on one of the more stable platforms in the building-- tilted his head.

“Do you know something about this Overhaul character, Dabi?” Toga also tilted her head in an adorable mimicry of Mr. Compress and made a high-pitched, questioning sound. Shigaraki looked over at Dabi.

“Any intel that you have on him would be useful. I know that he’s the new head of the Shie Hassaikai, but little beyond that.” Dabi wasn’t surprised that they didn’t know much about him. Overhaul had been fairly quiet ever since he took over the Shie Hassaikai, but the circumstances leading up to that point were what had drawn Dabi’s attention to him.

“Yeah, I’ve got some dirt on him, assuming that he cares enough to be bothered by that. I imagine that he’d be in trouble if word got out to the majority of his underlings, though, so it’ll be useful to take him down a few pegs.” Dabi hummed and slid down the wall. 

‘I may as well be sitting for this. We’ve got a few hours before Twice will show up anyway.’

Magne joined all of them before he could continue talking. Toga immediately ran over to her and threw her arms around the taller woman. “Mag-nee! I can’t wait to talk to you about Izuku-kun! Oh, oh, but Dabi has some information about the guy we’re meeting today.”

“Oh really?” Magne smiled at Toga before walking toward the platform to Dabi’s left. She hopped up there, sat her magnet down beside her, and turned toward Dabi. There was still a faint echo bouncing around the room by the time that Magne got comfortable and had her chin resting in her hands. “Don’t stop on my account, sweetheart. Anything is helpful, and you’ve got… a surprising number of contacts.”

Dabi nodded. He didn’t think that the number of people he knew was all that surprising, but most of the people here hadn’t been involved in the underground for as long as he had been. Not without civilian personas to take the heat off or a place to regularly crash, at least. 

‘If I hadn’t figured out how to thrive in the underground, then I probably wouldn’t have made it to twenty. I had to sink or swim, and my siblings couldn’t afford for me to drown.’

He cleared his throat, shaking his head to clear it of his errant thoughts. “Right. The odds are high that Overhaul isn’t here to play nice. I’d be willing to bet that he’s hoping to absorb the League into the Shie Hassaikai --which isn’t going to happen, obviously-- and thus take our notoriety into his group. No one wants to fund that dying breed of a criminal organization, especially not after the suspicious circumstances surrounding the previous head’s sudden illness.”

Toga beamed at him, eyes practically sparkling with glee. “Spill the tea, Dabi!” Dabi hated that he understood what she meant.

Dabi rolled his eyes, but he still obliged her. “You’ll need some key information first. Overhaul named himself after his quirk, and his actual name is Kai Chisaki. He hates that name, so don’t use it unless you want to piss him off. I’ll put it bluntly. You can’t let him touch you. He can completely deconstruct and reconstruct anything that he touches with his bare hands, and he doesn’t need five fingers to touch you like most contact-based quirks do.”

Mr. Compress’s voice sounded strained. “Oh dear… that is both a very useful quirk should it be on our side and a very dangerous one for us to go up against.”

Dabi nodded. “Exactly. The thing is… About two years ago, the last boss of the Shie Hassaikai was perfectly healthy. Then, suddenly, he fell into a coma, and Overhaul was declared the new leader. What’s really interesting was that the medications that the ex-boss needed while on life support were ordered before the man ever fell ill. I wouldn’t be surprised if Overhaul used his quirk on the past boss and kept it quiet. From what I hear, he has enough control to only target very specific things in a person. I’d also be willing to bet that the vast majority of his underlings are unaware of the fact that he did so.”

Magne gave him a feral grin. “Do you think that we can turn them against him?”

Dabi hummed, making a so-so motion with his left hand. “It’d depend on how fanatically loyal they are to the Shie Hassaikai itself, I suppose. Overhaul definitely wouldn’t want the word to get out though, so don’t be afraid to use an allusion to that pharmaceutical purchase against him. Don’t outright state it, of course, but hinting to the fact that you know what he’s done should make him uneasy, especially since people don’t know anything about what we’re planning to do next.”

Dabi looked up toward their leader from his spot on the floor. “Speaking of… don’t tell him anything about what we’re planning. I doubt that you would, but make it clear to him that we do have a plan. If he thinks that we’re directionless, then he’ll probably think that we’re easy pickings.”

Shigaraki nodded so slightly that Dabi almost missed it, but he couldn’t have missed the rasping chuckle that escaped his boss if he had tried. “I appreciate this, Dabi. Are you sure that none of your informants would be willing to work for the League? How’d you even get one that knows so much about the Shie Hassaikai?”

Dabi shook his head. “Not for now, at least. They’ve got their own things going on, and it’s safer for an informant to remain neutral in these matters until a clear victory is in sight. As for my informant in the Shie Hassaikai…”

He chuckled. “Rappa is certainly an interesting character, but he’s only in the yakuza at all because Overhaul defeated him in battle. I ran into him in the Underground Masquerade, and he decided that he liked my character. I think that he said something along the lines of ‘you have an honorable heart, though a weak body’. He’s kept in touch since then, though it’s mostly to boast about fights that he’s won. It takes some careful directing to get any useful information out of him, but he’s come through for me a few times. I don’t think he even realizes what he’s giving me. He certainly never asks for me to return the favor.”

Toga covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggles, but the echo chamber that came with the large, empty room gave her away. “Dabi acts like such a lone wolf, but he’s got a lot of friends, huh?” 

There were a few murmurs of agreement, and Dabi could feel his face getting red. ‘At least it’s too dark for any of them to see me blushing, ugh.’

Shigaraki sighed before soldiering on. “Well, in any case, your information is especially useful here.” Dabi watched his boss turn to face one of the factory windows, and he saw that there was a beam of light shining through it. Two of them, actually: headlights.

Dabi got to his feet and leaned back against the wall again, aiming for a carefully nonchalant impression. ‘Guess it’s showtime.’

-

Everyone collected themselves, and Dabi snorted when he noticed that Toga, Magne, and Mr. Compress were all moving into poses that screamed rehearsed. He understood their desire to look cool and collected here though, so he just stared dead ahead as he listened to the echoing footsteps of Twice and Overhaul.

Twice had a skip in his step as he entered the meeting room, and Overhaul looked every bit like the pretentious asshole that Rappa had been whining to him about. “Hey Shigaraki! This guy seems like a pretty valuable addition to the team, you know? He gives me the fucking creeps!”

Shigaraki just chuckled, playing the role of a cool and collected leader with remarkable aplomb. Dabi could almost forget the fact that he watched Shigaraki disintegrate one of his Joycons back at the bar after losing a Mario Kart race against Spinner. Almost. “You’ve reeled in quite the big fish, Twice.”

The dangerous glint in Overhaul’s eyes told Dabi that he was already getting pissed at them, which was probably a sign of just how little their groups had in common. “A big fish? Are you being deliberately disrespectful, or are you just unaware of who I am?”

Dabi, Shigaraki, Toga, Magne, and Mr. Compress all smirked at once, and Twice quickly looked between them and Overhaul. “What did I miss? Not like I care!”

Shigaraki stood up straight and stared Overhaul down. “Of course we know who you are, Kai Chisaki.” Overhaul’s eyebrow twitched violently, and Shigaraki grinned in satisfaction at his obvious reaction. ‘Right. I should’ve assumed that Shigaraki would try to piss him off right away. Overhaul is way too uppity for the League.’

“It’s Overhaul, and you’ve made your point. I suppose that I shouldn’t expect anything less from All for One’s chosen successor…” Dabi doubted that All for One did much to prepare Shigaraki for the underground, but it benefitted all of them to let Overhaul keep making assumptions. Dabi loved when people underestimated him; it made duping them so much easier.

Magne looked over to Overhaul with a hum. “So what are you meeting us here for? The yakuza were barely scraping by under All Might’s watch, so shouldn’t you be out celebrating his retirement?”

“No. This isn’t about All Might. All for One has always been far more important to the underground. Right now, both the heroes and villains are leaderless. The question is who is going to step up and start leading?” Dabi’s eyes widened just a bit, and he was honestly surprised that Overhaul would say that to Shigaraki’s face. At least they didn’t have to worry about him being a backstabbing snake with them. He was already being painfully apparent.

‘Seriously, do none of these people understand how the underground works? No wonder Overhaul is floundering with the connections that the Shie Hassaikai had before he took over.’

Shigaraki’s voice was tight with anger. “I almost can’t believe that you have the nerve to say this to my face, knowing who my master is. Are you trying to challenge me? That answer is obvious. The next leader is me. Our forces are gathering, and our operation is expanding by the day. We’re going to use our power and resources to end hero society. For good.”

Overhaul tilted his head, and the slant of his eyebrows suggested that he was wearing a smug smile under that mask of his. “And have you got a plan to achieve all of that? Because a goal with no plan just makes you a bunch of daydreamers. I don’t buy into daydreams.”

Shigaraki outright laughed at that. “Did you seriously think that we didn’t have a plan? We’ve got things in the works already, and the heroes won’t know what hit them until it’s too late. We just don’t go around sharing the details with people that we don’t trust. Timing is critical for these things, as you should know.”

Overhaul seemed to be thrown for a loop for a second, eyes widening ever-so-slightly, but he soldiered on. “Plan or no, your previous plans haven’t actually gone too well, have they? What are you going to do once you’ve expanded your group? How do you plan to manage your organization? You’ve already lost three valuable members.”

Overhaul holds up a finger for each name that he calls out. “You started with losing the Hero Killer: Stain, and then you lost both Muscular and Moonfish at the training camp raid. Those were three heavy losses, and those members, in particular, were such heavy hitters that it should’ve been next to impossible to lose them. It’s almost as if you had no idea how to properly utilize them. There’s no point in recruiting more members if you can’t control them.” Dabi wanted to say that losing those two was very much part of his strategy, though he knew he couldn’t interject just yet. He didn’t have to; Shigaraki was on the same page as him.

“First of all, you’re making the same false assumption that everyone else did about Stain. He may have been operating in Hosu at the same time as us, but he was not truly a member. He wished to see where we would go, certainly, but he insisted on going it alone. The League doesn’t believe in forcing membership.” 

Dabi nearly laughed at that. ‘Considering how Overhaul recruited his higher-ups, that one had to sting.’

Shigaraki tilted his head. “As for Muscular and Moonfish… they were deemed unsuited to long-term membership. No powerful quirk is worth retaining members that are bullheaded and incapable of listening to reason. They would have only dragged us down, so we left them to be taken out of the picture. No chance of them wanting revenge for being kicked out, and no more being a drain on League resources. It was a win-win situation.” Dabi knew that Shigaraki certainly hadn’t thought that directly after the raid, but the League’s general view of the two arrested members of the Vanguard Action Squad had either rubbed off on him or he could at least understand their perspective enough for it to be used against Overhaul.

Overhaul just shook his head. “All I’m hearing are excuses. Any true leader knows how to make a subordinate cooperate. What kind of organization are you running if a little defiance has you rejecting a useful pawn altogether?” Dabi was practically vibrating with the need to take this arrogant ass down a few pegs, and Shigaraki noticed it.

His boss’s nod was a clear handover, and Dabi cleared his throat. Overhaul looked his way, and Dabi almost laughed at the impatience lining his features. “I believe that you have a critical misunderstanding of how the League operates. We only want members who truly believe in our cause, and loyalty achieved through fear is no loyalty at all. They will always turn on you eventually. It is better to have a smaller, elite team than it is to have a bunch of easily compromised lackeys. Information travels fast in the underground, and scared voices do the most talking.”

Dabi looked up at Overhaul with an amused glint in his eyes. “You should already know that, though. The Shie Hassaikai is filled to the brim with people eager to sell you out, Overhaul. Getting information about your goals and numbers wasn’t even difficult. Or expensive, for that matter. Your little operation is running really tight on money, huh? I guess betrayal is what you get when you treat all your members like replaceable pawns. It doesn’t exactly inspire loyalty.”

Overhaul growled in response, and Dabi felt smug satisfaction thrumming through him. ‘It was even easier to get a rise out of him than I thought.’ 

Toga and Mr. Compress had to muffle their laughter with their hands, and Overhaul’s eyes narrowed as he took a long look at all of them. “Well then. I can see that none of you have any intention of being cooperative.”

Shigaraki scoffed. “Don’t play dumb. You had no intention of joining us from the beginning. You thought that you could latch on to our name and use it to benefit a dying organization filled to the brim with sellouts. If you want to work out an actual partnership, then I’d be willing to consider what you have to offer. But don’t come here to criticize my leadership when you clearly can’t handle your own people.”

Overhaul hummed. “Very well. I did not take you as seriously as I should have. Here.” He threw a business card to the floor. None of them were dumb enough to move anywhere near where Overhaul was standing. His eyes narrowed even more. “I underestimated you. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Overhaul walked out of the factory, and each member of the League that was present heard Overhaul’s words for what they were: a threat.

-

Shigaraki came back from his meeting with Overhaul in a strange mood. Dabi watched on from his position on one of their temporary base’s metal bed frames. “Toga, Twice, Dabi… I need you three to run an infiltration mission for me.”

All three of them perked up, and a wild grin spread across Dabi’s face. “Did you figure out whatever plan he came in wanting to sell us?”

Shigaraki nodded. “He’s got these quirk erasing bullets. He wants to control the world by taking quirks away permanently instead of trading in them like Sensei did. He thinks that quirks are the reason for the yakuza’s threatened extinction, so he wants to reverse time in the only way that he can and put the yakuza back on top. We can’t let that happen. We’d never live freely in a world like that. But if he thinks that there’s any way to win you over… We may be able to learn more about what he’s going to do, and then we can put a stop to it.”

Toga nodded with a grin. “A mission with Twice and Dabi!? I’m in! Let’s stick it to those yakuza jerks!” Twice was desperate to redeem himself for bringing Overhaul to their door at all, so he didn’t hesitate to accept the mission either.

All eyes turned to Dabi and he simply nodded. “I’m in. It’ll help that I already have a rapport with one of his higher-ups, and it’s obvious that he’s trying to chip away at our power and stealth here. He’ll get complacent if I’m within his reach, and I’ve always been good at sneaking around overbearing assholes. We can figure this out.”

Everyone started preparing to send the three of them out, and Dabi stretched as he stood up. Eria gave him a brief look before leaving the room, and he knew that she was going to be sorting through any notes she had on the Shie Hassaikai.

Even Giran was present for this meeting, and he dipped out to make a few calls immediately afterward. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he was calling in a few favors in the Shie Hassaikai. He seems oddly attached to our group for an information broker.’ 

Mustard walked up to Dabi with concern written all over his face, mask nowhere to be seen. Brown eyes bored up into his, and Mustard’s face was framed with light brown hair that somehow made him look even younger than he already was. “Dabi… Please be careful. You know a lot more about Overhaul than he’ll like, so don’t anger him too much. I can’t guarantee that he won’t kill you.”

Dabi’s eyes softened and he crouched down in front of the kid. He had gotten back into that habit embarrassingly quickly, now that he thought about it. “I’ll be careful; don’t worry. I’ve got a few cards up my sleeve for him, and I know better than to intentionally anger someone with a short fuse.”

Mustard nodded, looking oddly shy before jolting forward to give Dabi a brief hug. He took off immediately afterward with a blush spreading across his face. ‘He’s kind of shy underneath that cocky mask, huh? I wonder if the mask helps him play the part? I’ll have to ask him later.’

Eria re-entered the room with sad eyes and a dark expression. “I’ve got something that you’ll all want to know. I needed to see if we could get any more information about the Shie Hassaikai, I couldn’t be sure that I wasn’t just projecting, but it’s starting to sound more likely that… I’ll just let you listen for yourselves.” The room went quiet as she pulled out a recorder and hit play. 

Her voice was the first thing that the League, minus Mustard and Giran, could hear. “Before I actually ask you anything, I need to know why you’re betraying the Shie Hassaikai. I can’t have you changing your mind halfway through this, you understand?”

A man’s voice responded to her, and Dabi wasn’t surprised to hear the terror in it. “I wouldn’t ever change my mind. Overhaul he’s… he’s some sort of monster. The lower yakuza just disappear left and right, and I’m not sticking around to find out if I’m next.”

“I can help you get out, but I need information first. Why are the yakuza members being killed?”

“He’ll kill them for any minor infraction, really, but lately… The caretakers have been dropping like flies.”

“Caretakers?”

“Yeah, for the last boss’s granddaughter. Overhaul, as the kid that our old boss took in, automatically got custody of her, but there’s something wrong there. She’s always so terrified, and when the caretakers can’t make her happy… Well, they get overhauled. She wouldn’t be so terrified of so many different people if she didn’t have some sort of reason to fear them, and I just…”

“How old is she?” Dabi knew that he wasn’t the only one who could hear the steel in Eria’s voice.

“She’s only six. Her name is Eri, and I can’t do this anymore. The yakuza are supposed to be honorable, but Overhaul doesn’t care about that at all. I can’t fight him, so all I can do is leave. The League of Villains has to be one of the only factions that’d be able to bring him down, and I know that Overhaul has too many contacts in the police for me to try turning him in. I just… Stop him. Please.”

The recording cut out. The entire League had grave expressions on their faces. Eria looked to Dabi, Toga, and Twice, one after the other. “I know that this will only make your mission harder, but I couldn’t just leave it. He contacted me yesterday, and everything else that he told me was old information but… The whole reason that we’re doing this is for people like her, people like us, isn’t it? If there’s anything that we can do to help her, then we have to try.”

Dabi agreed instantly. “You know that there’s nothing that I hate more in this world than a child abuser. I’m not going to let this slide. Twice, Toga, both of you are perfect for this sort of infiltration within an infiltration. Clones and transformation… I think that I have a plan if you two are up for it.”

Toga’s eyes were wet with tears, but she still nodded. “I can’t let little Eri-chan stay hurt and all alone! She must be so scared… I’ll do everything that I can to help.”

Twice was vigorously nodding as well. “I trust you Dabi! You’re going to get us all killed!”

Dabi looked up to Shigaraki, noting that he looked oddly haunted by the recording. “Shigaraki. Do I have your permission to attempt a rescue? Even if we can’t get her out on our own, there has to be a way to spread the information. It galls me to risk relying on heroes, and we definitely won’t stop trying from the inside, but…”

Dabi had never heard Shigaraki’s voice sound so small before. “Do what you have to do. Get her out of there. Just don’t get yourselves killed in the process.” Dabi was surprised to hear genuine concern in Shigaraki’s voice, but they had too much to plan for him to tease his boss about it. ‘Later.’

Dabi, Toga, and Twice all huddled together to prepare for infiltrating the Shie Hassaikai. The rest of the League assisted them in any way that they could, and Dabi thought that he could get dangerously used to having this kind of constant backup. Giran gave them trackers with hidden mics that they could use to contact Kurogiri, who Shigaraki reassured them would be available to extract them at any moment. He had been considering sending Kurogiri on a different mission, but Eri’s involvement made him decide that this was their priority for now. Dabi bought an extra tracker that was linked to his own from Giran.

Dabi also funded a suit for Toga that would enable her to use her quirk without having to remove said suit. It was expensive tech, but he didn’t want to let her quirk requirements leave her vulnerable, especially not in enemy territory. It took a couple of days for Giran to get it in, but he still was able to suit her up before they all had to report to Overhaul.

Finally, the day arrived. Dabi, Toga, and Twice all walked into the Shie Hassaikai headquarters together, grim determination on their faces. They’d stop at nothing to help that little girl.

After all, they all knew what it was like to be abandoned by their society.

-

Being a part of the Shie Hassaikai was a fucking nightmare. Dabi was so pissed about being there that he had to play up being a disgruntled subordinate that was following Shigaraki’s orders regardless, but he was only so angry because he knew exactly what was going on behind the scenes now. On their second day in the hideout, Toga had managed to get near the quirk destroying bullets.

She never got to touch them, but she didn’t need to. That night, in the room that the three of them shared as temporary members, she told Dabi and Twice that she smelled blood in the bullets. 

Overhaul’s quirk. The quirk erasing bullets. It became horrifyingly, abundantly clear why Eri was so terrified. Dabi barely managed to keep from lighting their room on fire that night.

Overhaul wasn’t going to be in the hideout today, and Dabi was planning to take advantage of that. He was out distributing some more of those low-grade quirk erasing bullets, the temporary ones, and the vast majority of the yakuza here were laxer when the big boss wasn’t around. Dabi looked to Toga and Twice, and all three of them nodded. It was time to get started.

Twice created a clone of Dabi and sent him to the area that Dabi is supposed to be patrolling today. One of Giran’s contacts inside the Shie Hassaikai was scheduled to be patrolling with Dabi, so he would be covering for him. He had already told Dabi everything that he was supposed to be learning today just in case someone asked him later, and Dabi loved the feeling of a plan coming together.

The patrol schedules that Giran’s plant gave him were also incredibly helpful. They were the only reason that he ever made it to the room where he could hear quiet sniffling in the first place. Dabi took a moment to collect himself, making sure that the rage at this kid’s situation didn’t show on his face. He didn’t want to scare her. He lightly knocked on the door, and he heard a faint yelp on the other side. 

When no other sounds were forthcoming, Dabi slowly opened the door. Eri, because who else could this tiny girl with bandages all over her arms and legs be, was trembling on her bed. There were unopened toys all over her room, and the small, hurting part of Dabi that was still every bit Touya wanted to cry with her. He gently shut the door behind him, and she flinched back, keeping her eye on him as she scooted closer to the wall.

“Hey… It’s okay Eri; I promise. I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to let Overhaul keep hurting you.” She was still shaking, but her expression slowly became more curious. She was still guarded, but Dabi could work with this. 

“Who… are you?” Dabi smiled at her. It’s a soft, gentle thing, and Eri relaxed just a little bit after she saw it. ‘When was the last time that someone even smiled at her?’

“I’m Dabi. You just have to hold out a little bit longer, okay Eri? My friends and I are going to get you out of here.” Eri’s eyes went wide. She frantically shook her head back and forth, and her white hair flew everywhere as she did so.

“He’ll kill you! Please don’t…” Dabi simply gestured to his scars, and Eri’s eyes went even wider as she took in just how heavily scarred he was.

“He wouldn’t be the first one to try, Eri, but you know what? The person who did this to me is just as scary as Overhaul, and I survived him when I was a lot younger than I am now. A lot weaker too. Don’t worry about me, okay? We’re both gonna get out of here.”

Red eyes shone with tears. “R-really? You mean it?” Dabi nodded.

“I do. You’ve just gotta keep it a secret for me, okay? You won’t have to wait much longer now.” Now that Dabi knew where Eri was being kept, he also knew what parts of the building were the most important for people to know about. Dabi was going to make sure that his informants started spreading this information around, especially near any hero agencies that they could draw this way. He hated to rely on heroes, but Eri would probably need their help. The security here was too tight for Dabi, Toga, and Twice to risk sneaking her out. Her safety was more important than his fear. ‘Oh wait, before I forget…’

“Hey… Can you hide this on you somewhere? Overhaul is going to be really busy these next few days, so he shouldn’t be able to get you again. But just in case, I wanna make sure that I can find you, okay?”

Eri nodded at him, and he watched her tuck the little tracking device into the bandages on her right arm. He smiled at her. “I’m so proud of you kid. You’re so strong. You’re going to get out of this, okay?” 

He talked to her for a little while longer, but he knew that the next patrol would be passing by them soon. The tearful expression that she gave him when he told her that he had to leave hurt, but her resignation to it made his heart violently clench.

‘I wish that I didn’t have to leave you right now, Eri. I’m so sorry.’

Dabi walked to the door, but he turned back to her one last time before leaving. “Keep your chin up, okay Eri? We’ll save you; I promise. Only a few more days…” She nodded again with a determined scrunch to her eyebrows, and Dabi struggled to ignore his rising desire to just grab her and run, consequences be damned. 

‘Get it together. You can’t help her if you’re dead; she needs you right now.’

He stepped out of the room, gently closed the door, and headed back to where he was supposed to be. The next sweep of this area was only ten minutes away, and Dabi didn’t want to risk them being ahead of schedule. He was fortunate enough to not come across anyone in the maze-like hallways. Before he swapped places with his clone --who Twice would then destroy-- Dabi slipped into their shared room.

He pulled out a burner and sent a message to a couple of his local informants. Of the nearby agencies, it seemed like Nighteye’s was the one who was closest to figuring out the Shie Hassaikai. Dabi arranged for Giran to forward some payments and a message to all of his informants, ensuring that Nighteye’s agency would get all the information that they could need.

Dabi refused to fail another child. Dabi refused to fail Eri like he failed his siblings.

-

The Shie Hassaikai was about to be raided and only he, Twice, and Toga knew that it was coming. Overhaul may have suspected that some heroes were sniffing around, but he didn’t realize just how many of them were working together for this. He would’ve been far more concerned if he did. 

‘Of course, I’d still prefer if they didn’t drag kids into this, but…’ There wasn’t much that Dabi could do about that. He’d just have to tail Overhaul and make sure that the guy didn’t get the chance to kill anybody.

He could hear the chaos above, and Dabi knew that the raid had begun. Toga and Twice nodded to him before going off together to ensure that the heroes would make it to the end. Twice made a clone of Dabi to take with them; Overhaul would probably expect them to stick together.

Dabi stayed in their room for a while longer, not wanting to risk any yakuza members seeing two of him in quick succession, and he adjusted the cooling systems built into his coat while he waited. The very edges of his sleeves, closer to where most of his attacks would originate from, had support technology built into it that allowed him to use his quirk for longer without getting overheated. He was lucky that they didn’t make any noise. ‘Giran always has the best gear.’

Dabi pulled out the radar that was linked to his additional tracker, showing where the other blip was headed in relation to his position. He started to follow it. He stalked through the hallways and was careful to keep his distance while following Eri and whoever else was with her. He knew that giving himself away too early could ruin everything. 

He was close enough to see that Overhaul was with Chrono, who was carrying Eri, when Overhaul stopped to tell Toga, Twice, and Dabi’s clone to start earning their keep. He got a bunch of sarcastic agreements, but Overhaul only continued forward. Dabi didn’t move until he couldn’t hear Overhaul’s footsteps echoing through the hallway anymore.

Toga and Twice nodded to him as he slipped past them, and Toga whispered something to him before he left their line of sight. “Be careful Dabi. Don’t let them see you. Remember what I taught you? If they look like they’re going to turn back around…”

“… Hold my breath and blend. I’ve got it.” 

Twice gave him a big smile. “Let’s fuck up some yakuza bastards, huh? I just wanna be friends!” Dabi chuckled and left the two of them to it, carefully keeping his footsteps light.

That question didn’t even need to be answered. The League didn’t play nice with those who lorded their power over others.

-

Dabi was very nearly caught by a hero student who came rushing through the hallways. He ducked out of sight just in time, but he was careful to move more slowly, more cautiously, no matter how frustrating it was to do so.

By the time that Dabi finally caught up --he cursed his body and its fragility for the thousandth time-- a battle is well underway. The hero student was doing surprisingly well for himself. He was still fighting Overhaul, but Dabi could tell that Chrono was out cold. Nemoto was trapped under some rubble at the edge of the battlefield. Dabi couldn’t help feeling that the kid’s battle prowess probably had a lot to do with the fact that he was literally untouchable, but that didn’t make him any less impressive to watch.

His eyes roamed away from the primary battle, and Dabi nearly froze when the downed Nemoto grabbed and aimed his gun. He wasn’t aiming for the hero kid. Dabi moved before he could even think.

A ring of blue fire sprang to life, surrounding him, Eri, and the hero kid that moved to shield her. The heat was so intense that the bullet was incinerated to ashes. The hero kid looked terrified of him, but Eri’s eyes lit up.

“Dabi! You came back for me...” He smiled at her, ignoring the stupefied expression on the student’s face. His wall of flames settled down, dying once he was no longer fueling it.

“I made you a promise, didn’t I? You did a good job keeping that tracker hidden for me.”

Nemoto wailed. “I failed you… I failed you master! I’m so sorry!”

Overhaul snarled, looking at Dabi with murder in his eyes. Dabi returned the look. His eyes flickered to the hero student for just a moment, and he talked to him quietly enough that he knew Overhaul wouldn’t overhear him.

“I’m going to need your help here, kid. There’s no way that I can go toe to toe with him on my own; I can’t move fast enough for that. I don’t like asking a kid to draw most of the attacks, but we’re united in our goal here. Let’s save Eri, yeah? I’ll make sure that he doesn’t touch her.”

The kid gave him a long, hard look, but he nodded. “Let’s do this, then. We have a cease-fire, for now, Dabi, but don’t forget the name Lemillion. You’ll be brought to justice soon enough.”

Overhaul snarled before he could respond to that. “You have been a thorn in my side for long enough!” Dabi paled when he barely managed to grab Eri and dodge several spikes of the earth coming up from beneath them.

“Oh, this is going to suck.” 

Things started blurring together in a rush of adrenaline. Thankfully, for all that Overhaul was pissed at Dabi, Lemillion proved himself to be a bigger threat. The kid could dodge far easier than Dabi could, and Dabi just focused on providing backup. It helped that Lemillion didn’t have to worry about being burned by his fire. Even Lemillion’s attacks that missed could become painful for Overhaul if Dabi quickly followed it up with a blast of fire. He just had to be careful not to use too much. He couldn’t risk overheating here.

Then a wall was smashed in and Midoriya came flying into the room. Dabi was still standing guard in front of Eri, but he stepped to the side when he saw Sir Nighteye, Eraserhead, and Midoriya heading his way. His hands were held up, but he quickly fixed a smirk on his face.

“I appreciate the assistance. I was hoping that the raid would be soon.” Another round of spikes headed Dabi’s way, Overhaul definitely heard him say that, and Dabi barely managed to grab Eri and roll out of the way. He was bleeding from a few places where his staples had torn, but Dabi knew that he would’ve died trying to do this alone. 

‘I’ve fought in worse conditions than this.’

Overhaul looked completely unhinged. He was cornered, and Dabi knew that there was nothing more dangerous than that. Lemillion was still driving him away from Eri, but the kid couldn’t keep fighting him forever. Eri needed to get away from here. 

Dabi gently sat her down, shielding her from Overhaul’s furious visage. “You go to the heroes, okay Eri? They’ll keep you safe.”

She looked up to him, surprising him with just how hesitant she was. “But… what about you?” 

Midoriya was gaping at him, Eraserhead was staring at him with a concerning amount of curiosity, and Nighteye looked a few seconds away from knocking him out and dragging Eri away.

Dabi ignored all of that and focused on reassuring Eri. “I can take care of myself, remember?” He tapped his scars, and he was shocked when Eri unwrapped her arms to reveal her own. He wasn’t surprised that she had them, she wouldn’t be so bandaged if she wasn’t hurt, but he didn’t expect an abused kid to expose her weaknesses to him like that. He wouldn’t have at her age, and the amount of trust that she was showing him warmed his heart.

Eri grabbed his hand and looked directly into Dabi’s eyes for the first time.“We’re the same. W-who hurt you?” 

A strangled sound escaped Dabi’s throat before he could stop it. He gently herded Eri away from the fight, not answering that question, when he saw that Chrono was back up. That man was so dedicated to Overhaul that it wasn’t surprising that he’d fight tooth and nail to help, concussion or no. Dabi ushered Eri over to Nighteye before running back into the fray. Chrono’s hair jabbed at Eraserhead, and Dabi was barely able to burn the arrow away before it hit him.

“Be careful, Eraser! Chrono’s quirk will drastically slow you down if he hits you with that thing.” 

Overhaul snarled at him. “How do you know so much about my members, you pest!?” Dabi smirked when he noticed that Midoriya was sneaking up to Overhaul from behind. The man was so furious that he hadn't even noticed the kid.

“Rappa has always been a talkative one, and you know full well how much he hates you. Is it really so surprising that you’d be betrayed?” And then Midoriya kicked Overhaul in the head so hard that Dabi could hear the crack from where he was standing. The man was out cold. 

Eraserhead slapped quirk-nullifying handcuffs on him, and Dabi saw that Chrono had been knocked out too. Either he couldn’t regrow his hair arrows, or Eraserhead was able to prevent him from doing so for long enough to knock him out. Dabi was content enough with how this all turned out either way.

Then the heroes in the room collectively turned to look at Dabi. Eraserhead, Sir Nighteye, Lemillion, Midoriya… He was outmatched here. He chuckled awkwardly. “Well… this has been fun, but I’ve gotta go.” He turned to Eri with a small smile and a wave. “Take care. Be who you wanna be now that you’re free, okay?”

Eraserhead stepped forward. “Dabi, wait!”

Dabi pressed the button that triggered his mic, whispered into it to ask for pick up, and grinned as Kurogiri opened up a portal underneath him. He disappeared into the blackness.

Now it was time for phase two.

-

Dabi was teleported into the back of a transportation truck. Mr. Compress, Eria, Shigaraki, and Spinner were already there, and they started driving down the road as soon as Toga confirmed that the Shie Hassaikai were being taken to Takodana’s villain hospital. Kurogiri left the truck to warp both Toga and Twice back to their base.

It sucked that Dabi needed to play such a large role in both sides of their attack on the Shie Hassaikai, but he was one of their only ranged fighters. Eria could only use her quirk when there was glass around for her to manipulate, and Kurogiri was focused on making sure that they all escaped. The League needed him here, so he would be here.

Eria looked at Dabi with concern written all over her face. “Are you feeling okay? You’re steaming.”

“I’m fine; I’ve suffered from worse quirk overuse. I can handle this.” He sat down and let himself cool off a bit --Mr. Compress and Eria on either side of him-- and Spinner drove them merged over to the expressway. Dabi was in awe of the fact that Shigaraki was perching on top of the transportation with the way that Spinner was driving.

“Ease up on the swerving, Spinner! I’m gonna get carsick at this rate.” It didn’t help that Dabi was already feeling a bit overheated from before. He was good at fighting through nausea, but he could only take so much.

Spinner groaned from the front. “I’m doing my best, man! I learned how to drive from Grand Theft Auto; it’s not exactly the same.”

Mr. Compress’s voice interrupted their little conversation. He was still on the phone with Toga, and Dabi listened carefully to what he was saying. “Ah, you were right. I see them coming this way now. Excellent work you two! Get some rest and recover. We’ll be back soon enough.” He hung up the phone and turned to Dabi and Eria.

“You know, this is quite nostalgic. We’ve got our whole group, plus Shigaraki, together. We’re here to destroy another person who used and abused children, as well.” 

‘Now that I think about it, this isn’t too different from the raid that I killed Vibration in.’ The only difference was that they had no intention of killing Overhaul. He deserved to suffer for what he’d done to Eri for a long time.

Eria nodded and pulled her gas mask back over her face. She used it to protect herself from the glass that she sent flying around, and the fact that it was a gas mask was both functional and threw people off. They were never quite sure what her quirk was. Dabi thought that she got a kick out of confusing people.

He sighed. “Let’s just hope that this goes better than that raid did.” 

Spinner’s voice rang out. “It’s not like it went that bad! We got all the kids out, so it was a victory in the end.” 

Dabi hummed ‘Spinner is right. It didn’t go well, but it could’ve been so much worse.’

The police escort started approaching their vehicle, and Dabi could feel the energy shift when they realized that the League was here. Shigaraki called down to them. “Focus! You guys can talk about your old missions later. It’s time to get started.”

Spinner slowed the truck down before saying, “You know, I probably would’ve asked if fighting police officers was just, but after what you told us Dabi… They’ve got just as much of a problem with corruption. Try to minimize the damage, but go for it!”

Dabi chuckled and stretched out his left hand. “Let’s just scare them a little bit.” 

He wasn’t in any rush to burn himself out, and they wouldn’t notice if he kept it on the colder side for blue fire. Blue rocketed out of the back of their truck, and then he saw someone who had Eria tensing.

Dabi’s expression hardened, and now he knew that it was time to get serious. Shigaraki groaned from the rooftop. “A hero, really!? I figured that one would show up eventually, but come on! Spinner! I need you to slow down a bit more.”

Shigaraki leaped off of the top of the truck the second that Spinner slowed down, but his hands did nothing to Snatch’s body. ‘I guess that he can’t get a firm enough grip on sand to turn it to dust, huh?’

Snatch chuckled. “Your quirk may crumble whatever you touch, but that doesn’t do a thing to a sandstorm!”

Eria was grinding her teeth so hard that Dabi could hear it, and he was incredibly grateful when Mr. Compress threw a compressed boulder under one of the police cars. It went flying, and that gave Shigaraki the perfect opportunity to decay the windshield and driver of the transport car for Overhaul.

Spinner managed to stop the truck without flipping it, though Dabi still felt sick and figured that it was probably a close call, and he and Eria both immediately hopped out of the back. They had personal business to take care of here.

Dabi sneered as he watched Snatch struggle to his feet, and the man tensed. “You’re a pro alright. Choosing to save lives above all else… At least, that’s how it is when people are watching you.”

Snatch turned to Dabi. “Blue flames… You’re the one who murdered Vibration, aren’t you!?”

“Oh? Someone recognized me? I’m touched, really…” Dabi’s voice was dripping with a mixture of condescension, sarcasm, and anger.

Snatch hurled a giant lion of sand at Dabi as he cried out. “Do you ever think about the families who have to deal with that loss!?”

Dabi’s glare grew even colder, and he superheated his flames as high as they could go. He ignored the way that the flames burned him too; this was too important for his limits to hold them back. They met Snatch’s sand in a harsh explosion of heat, and Dabi grinned when he saw that it worked. ‘I actually did it. I wasn’t sure if I could make my fire hot enough to make sand into glass, but it looks like I can.’ 

Snatch’s face went pale. “W-what? How did you?!” Dabi simply stepped back. It wasn’t his turn to speak anymore.

Eria stepped forward and took his place. “You’re one to talk about family. Knowing what the man got up to, I imagine that Vibration’s family was relieved, even if only secretly, to be free of him. Then again, you wouldn’t know the difference between a family that you love and a family that you own, would you?”

Snatch snarled, and Mr. Compress slowly approached Dabi and Eria; Dabi only recognized Mr. Compress’s curiosity for what it was due to his familiarity with the man’s mannerisms. “And who do you think that you are to--”

“Your daughter. Then again, you always insisted that I’d never be anything but your son. That villain attack was the perfect opportunity for me to cut my losses and run. I appreciate that you didn’t search for me afterward.” Snatch looked thunderstruck, and if Endeavor’s face was half as stunned as Snatch’s when the truth came out, then Dabi would be able to die a happy man.

Eria didn’t let Snatch speak. “It’s such a shame that you went out of your way to create a child with a glass manipulation quirk. Dabi and I met almost immediately after I ran away, you know? Someone who can control glass and someone who could turn your body into it…” The picture that she was painting was perfectly clear, and Snatch desperately struggled. It was no use. He couldn’t turn the glass back into sand, and too many of his vital organs were tied up in his sand for him to pry himself free.

“It’s almost like we were fated to become the family that neither of us really had.” Eria clenched her fist. A sharp spear of hot glass was ripped off from Snatch’s side, though Eria was careful to keep it at a distance and avoid burning herself, and the hero’s scream was music to Dabi’s ears. She hurled the glass spear through Snatch’s head.

Eria slumped with relief as her father went limp, and the three of them went to join Shigaraki by the overturned truck that was transporting Overhaul. They get there just in time to see Shigaraki kicking the bed that Overhaul was strapped to. Dabi snorted.

“Who’s going to be the next leader of the underground now?” Overhaul turned to face Shigaraki with a disturbingly blank face.

“Did you do all of this just to kill me?” Dabi thought that the guy was meant to be smarter than this. It wouldn’t have been hard to have Toga swipe the blood of one of his yakuza members and slit his throat if they had wanted to go that route.

“Oh no. I thought of something that you’d hate even more than that.” Shigaraki picked up the boxes of quirk destroying bullets. “Hm. There are only two boxes, and only one of them has the completed product. I suppose that doesn’t matter.”

Overhaul’s eyes finally regained a bit of fire. “Give those back!”

Shigaraki just raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you think that you’d keep them in prison? Give me a break. Besides, it’s not like I’m not opposed to giving them to you.” He carefully grabbed one bullet from each box and leaned over Overhaul.

“Someone crying about wanting to take the world back to a time before quirks really shouldn’t get to keep his, should he?” Shigaraki stabbed him with the needles on the ends of both bullets, just to be sure. Then he locked eyes with Overhaul as he decayed the rest of Overhaul’s stash.

“It seems fitting, somehow, that the last of the torture you inflicted on that little girl was used to ruin you. Sit back and watch yourself fade into irrelevance. Your vision will never come true.” Dabi almost wanted to laugh at how pathetic Overhaul looked in this moment.

Spinner honked the horn and hopped out of the truck. “They’ll be hunting for us soon! Call Kurogiri so we can get out of here!”

Shigaraki chuckled as they all turned and walked toward Spinner with satisfied smiles on their faces. Dabi turned on his mic and called for Kurogiri again, and as they all stepped through the portal together --their bonds closer than ever before-- Dabi could only think one thing.

‘Hero society won’t even know what hit it.’

Chapter Text

A few weeks after things went down with Overhaul, the League had located and set up shop in one of All for One’s old bases in Kyushu. The base wasn’t unlike the bar, primarily in that it was hidden behind a front that looked like an abandoned restaurant, but it had plenty of rooms and living space hidden in an underground maze hidden beneath it.

Hawks’ agency was also in Kyushu, more specifically in Fukuoka. Kagoshima was on the opposite side of the island from Hawks’ agency, but it was bold to establish their base three hours away from such a prominent hero. Especially when said hero could get to Kagoshima in half the time that it would take anyone else. There was one thing that the League had going for them by setting up here, though. Dabi’s previous exploits were too well known in Kagoshima for the word of any League sightings to go far.

He and Eria were both known for protecting people in this area. Kagoshima was actually where the Vibration bust went down too, so even Mr. Compress and Spinner had locals willing to look the other way if they saw them. It was best not to push their luck too much, but the League could better support themselves in this area. Dabi started to get closer to a healthy weight, and the others were looking healthier too.

‘That comes with staying in an area where we can actually buy shit too, I guess.’ It wasn’t hard for Mr. Compress to steal money, but it was much more difficult for them to spend it. Things like blankets and water were easy enough to steal, but clothing that fit and food, especially for Toga and Spinner, were both harder to stock up on without getting caught.

There were a few local businesses in Kagoshima that Dabi and Eria had always protected, and those owners and their staff were willing to look the other way so long as they were discreet and paid. A de-masked Mr. Compress and a transformed Toga were the two who were most frequently sent out for supplies --both the stolen ones and the ones they paid for-- and Twice sent out clones of them for any high-risk thefts. A few clones got broken here and there, but they were usually able to bring back needed supplies too.

‘It’s kind of nice to have a place to call home. The League is a bit wild, but we all care about each other.’

Kurogiri and Mr. Compress firmly shoving lotion and chapstick at Shigaraki would never stop being funny, and despite his grumbling, Shigaraki seemed to appreciate it. Toga had been making a point of bringing any stray cats that she found back to the base --instead of hunting them as she did with most other animals-- and Mr. Compress had taken each of them to get fixed.

‘I never really got the chance to have a pet before, and now we’ve just got a bunch of them. Some of them are more feral than others --scratching and biting cats won’t stop Toga from grabbing them-- but they seem to be settling down and getting used to us now.’

As the weather grew colder, Spinner started hanging around Dabi more. He had told Dabi that the warmth he naturally gave off helped him fight off brumation, so Dabi was willing to tolerate Spinner’s clinginess. Spinner’s tail was also back to its full length now. 

‘I hope that he doesn’t detach his tail again anytime soon. It’s a little worrying just how quick he is to decide that it’s an unnecessary limb.’ Dabi knew that Spinner could grow it back, but Dabi still didn’t like that getting rid of his tail seemed to be Spinner’s first choice.

‘Is he worried about being targeted by one of those anti-mutation groups? He already can’t hide much of his quirk, but the fact that he minimizes everything that he can says a lot. I’ll have to talk to him about it at some point.’

Eria was much happier after killing Snatch, and it was obvious that the previous weight on her shoulders had disappeared. She kept tabs on her family --much like Dabi did-- so he knew just how worried she had been about her new younger siblings. She didn’t have to worry about Snatch hurting them anymore.

‘She’s much more relaxed around the rest of the League now. It’s good to see that she’s enjoying their company as much as I am.’

Magne had been talking to Eria a lot lately, and Dabi often overheard the two of them bonding over being transgender women in such a transphobic and sexist society. Dabi was glad that Eria was making friends outside of their group, and he had come to trust Magne the most out of the League members that he didn’t know before joining. There was just something about her that reminded him of a big sister, and if it was strange for him to not be the only one looking out for the others, then it was even stranger that Magne seemed to include him in the people that were under her protection.

‘Is this what it’s like to have an older sibling? It’s kind of nice.’

Mustard was acting more like a child now that the Shie Hassaikai weren’t a threat looming over his shoulders, and the starry eyes that he had around Dabi for his role in taking down Overhaul were something that Dabi was uncertain he would ever get used to.

‘Wonder if the kid will ever be able to go somewhere else now that he’s free? I guess that some of the hero students probably saw his face at the summer camp, so maybe not. We can at least try to keep him from fighting anymore.’

The stability of having people he could trust and a place to call home was good for Twice’s mental health too. He had been fighting himself a bit less often with a place to call home, especially since he doesn’t have to remove his mask while around the base. The League’s cats, their therapy animals as Mr. Compress liked to call them, all liked Twice a lot, even the more grouchy ones. Their casual companionship had done wonders for Twice, and Dabi wasn’t surprised that they all trusted him first. Animals were meant to be good judges of character, after all.

‘Though they only like me because of my body heat. There’s no way that they’d linger around me otherwise.’

No matter how many times Toga insisted that it was because the cats knew he was safe, Dabi stubbornly tried to hold onto that belief. Dabi didn’t get that heart-twisty feeling that he got before crying back when he could cry when she said that and everyone agreed, and if he did, then the others knew better than to point it out.

The League had only grown closer to one another through regularly sharing a living space, and Dabi was surprised when he realized that he couldn’t remember the last time that Shigaraki wore his hands around them. 

The majority of the League was hanging out while petting cats, talking plans, and just generally enjoying spending time with each other when they heard a knock on their front door.

It was muted, obviously coming from the door to the abandoned restaurant and not the one that was at the entrance of their hideout, but it still made all members present tense up. They were all wary of any unannounced arrivals, especially after the disaster at Kamino.

“I know you’re here, you edgy fuck! I did not spend so long hunting you down for you to hide from me!” Dabi went pale. ‘Is that--?’

Shigaraki turned to Kurogiri. “Warp him in, Kurogiri. If he’s a threat, then we can deal with it, but...” Dabi sunk further into the couch when Shigaraki looked his way. “I have a feeling that I know exactly who this is.” 

‘You don’t need to sound so smug about it, you asshole.’ The others were still wary and tense as a portal opened up in their living area, but Dabi wasn’t. It had been a while since he saw him in person, but Dabi had been keeping tabs on his family for a while. He knew whose voice that was.

Natsuo stumbled out of Kurogiri’s portal, blinking at Dabi as his eyes flitted from scar to scar. Dabi grimaced, knowing exactly how horrible they looked. Gray eyes welled up with tears, and Dabi sat up, alarmed, as Natsuo trembled like a leaf. His little brother was still taller than him, to his dismay. He didn’t need to stand up to be able to tell.

“It really is you…” Dabi couldn’t just leave him standing there, so he got up, careful not to step on the cat by his feet, and pulled Natsuo in for a hug. Natsuo sobbed into his shoulder, and Dabi rubbed circles on his little brother’s back before stepping back and letting Natsuo collect himself. 

“I thought that I’d never get to see you again.” Shigaraki hummed and Natsuo tensed before rubbing the tears out of his eyes. ‘I guess that he forgot that we weren’t alone for a second there.’ Dabi couldn’t exactly blame him for that, considering that Dabi was, at least from his brother’s perspective, miraculously alive after everyone had told him that he was dead.

Red eyes carefully observed Natsuo, and Dabi was interested to notice that there was only curiosity there. He had assumed that Shigaraki only agreed to spare his mother and siblings to secure his cooperation, but something about their circumstances must have struck a chord with him. “So, what is another one of the Todoroki children doing here?”

Natsuo turned to Dabi with wide-eyed shock. “You actually told them? The only reason that I felt safe tracking you down was because no one knows who I am.” 

Dabi sighed. “Yes, I told them. It was kind of necessary after… well. I’m sure that our old man has been angrier than ever about how he became number one, hasn’t he?” Dabi wasn’t sure how much Natsuo would know about what their father has been up to, he got out of the house and into college as soon as he could and Dabi couldn't blame him for it, but any information was useful.

Natsuo’s eyes hardened.  “Yeah, Fuyumi’s called me about him being angry, which says a lot coming from her, and she’s told me that Shouto’s been more tired than usual lately.” Natsuo looked around the room, which was a bit dusty and covered in cat fur but otherwise cozy, and sighed. Dabi was surprised to see him look Shigaraki in the eye, though the fact that his boss’s severed hand accessories were nowhere to be found probably made it easier.

“You’re all planning to do something about Endeavor, right? I can’t think of any other reason for Touya-nii to tell you who he is.” 

‘Is it just my imagination, or did he sound hopeful there? I guess that he did seek us out, but how far is he willing to go?’

Shigaraki’s voice was strained with excitement, and that told Dabi that he wasn’t the only one that heard that twinge of hope. “And if we are planning something?” 

The entirety of the League turned to Natsuo, not even trying to be subtle about the fact that they were listening anymore, but Natsuo didn’t balk at the weight of eyes on him.

“Everything that I’ve done since that day…” Natsuo looked over to Dabi. “Touya-nii, I watched him kill you.” 

Dabi froze. ‘I didn’t think that anyone saw… I should’ve known. Natsuo always helped patch me up after training, and we didn’t get into that fight until my time was almost over.’

“Natsuo, I’m so sorry. You never should’ve had to see that.” 

Natsuo shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “No. It never should’ve happened at all. I hid, and I watched him leave the house with you. Then he came back and lied to our faces about you dying while you were working on a special technique. As if you ever wanted to be a hero!” 

Natsuo took a deep breath as looked to the floor. “I tried to tell people Touya-nii, but you were right. They didn’t want to listen.”

His brother clenched his fist before looking back up to Dabi with a determined tilt to his eyebrows. “I’m a medical student. This is only my second year, but I’ve still learned enough that I should be able to help. They’ll kick me out of their school the second that Endeavor is ruined anyway, and I just… I want to be a part of this. Please let me help you.”

Mr. Compress, still fully masked, tilted his head. “What do you mean by saying that they’ll kick you out, young Todoroki?”

Natsuo grimaced at that. “Just call me Natsuo, please.” Dabi watched as his brother weighed the pros and cons of telling the truth before decided to keep talking. “They’d kick me out because I’m quirkless. Without Endeavor’s status behind me, there’s no way that they’ll let me stay. That doesn’t matter though, not really. The whole reason I became a medical student was so I could find out what happened to Touya-nii. I know now.”

Shigaraki studied Natsuo, humming in contemplation. “Are you sure? Dabi has already ensured that we won’t hurt any of your family barring Endeavor, so you don’t have to bargain with us to keep seeing him. You’d just have to let Kurogiri teleport you so that you can’t be followed to our base. Speaking of...” Shigaraki turned to Eria and Spinner.

“You two go out and make sure that he wasn’t tailed. People are less likely to say anything about you.” They both nodded and headed out of the base, and Dabi chuckled as Natsuo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“That’s probably a good idea. I tried to be careful, but I’m not nearly as good at this as you all are.” He cleared his throat. “That being said, even if Touya-nii… I should probably use Dabi shouldn’t I? Even if Dabi did convince you to leave us be, I still want to help in any way that I can. I’m not much of a fighter, but I want Endeavor taken down too.”

Dabi didn’t want his siblings to get involved in this, but Natsuo turned to him with a mulish expression when he sighed. Dabi snorted. “I know better than to try to talk you out of anything, you stubborn ass. And you can still call me Touya as long as it’s only around people who already know, okay? It’s a bit weird to hear Dabi from you. I’m not the one that you’d have to talk to about staying with us, though.”

Natsuo turned to Shigaraki once more with the same expectant look on his face that always made Dabi think of a puppy. Dabi watched as his boss deflated. “Having two of Endeavor’s kids against him would only help us… I don’t completely trust you yet, but I’m willing to give you a chance.” The rest of the League echoed the sentiment, from the reserved Kurogiri to the enthusiastic Toga, and Natsuo’s face lit up.

“I won’t let you guys down; I promise!”

Dabi knew that he wouldn’t, and as he watched Natsuo befriend other members of the League without hesitation, Dabi felt a small smile tugging at his lips.

Maybe he’d be able to keep both of his families after all.

-

A couple of months later, the year’s second Hero Billboard Chart Japan was finally airing live. The entirety of the League was watching it together, even Natsuo who had informed his professors that he wouldn’t be attending classes today, and Dabi couldn’t help the tension that lined his body as a news reporter hyped up the audience.

“This is the first billboard chart since the Kamino incident, and every person in the nation understands just how big this is! Heroes have never shown up in person for this presentation, but the times are changing. Now, more than ever, the people of Japan need to know that their heroes are watching over them.”

The camera panned over Ryuku, and Dabi was surprised by how uncomfortable she seemed to be under this kind of attention. “Our number ten! She was in ninth, but she fell a spot. The Dragon Hero: Ryuku!” Ryuku gave an awkward wave. “I’m not sure that I deserve even this much…”

Toga’s eyes sparkled with delight. “Ochako-chan and Tsu-chan were interning with her! She seems cool for a hero!”

“Number nine is another hero who fell in the rankings, and that’s pretty rare for him! The Equipped Hero: Yoroi Musha!” The man made Dabi think of someone that Endeavor could have been if he cared about people. The hero clanked as he shifted --his armor looked obscenely heavy-- and started to talk. “Hmph. Beyond the top three, only luck and timing determine the rankings.”

Natsuo seemed to share Dabi’s sentiment. “At least it sounds like rankings don’t matter much to him. I can’t say much about his personality, but that’s something.”

“Number eight! You’ll all recognize him from his series of commercials for cleaning supplies, the Laundry Hero: Wash!” The man rumbled and expelled bubbles, and Dabi wondered how anyone could give birth to a man that was, by all appearances, an actual washing machine. He refused to believe that someone would choose such an obstructive costume, no matter what Wash tried to tell people.

Spinner grumbled. “He’s always been more involved in selling his products than any actual heroism. He doesn’t deserve to be a hero at all, much less one so high up in the rankings.”

“Number seven! This rising star in the hero world has made a great leap forward today, Kamui Woods!” The young hero waved. “It’s an honor.”

Mr. Compress hummed. “Kamui Woods has been involved in several incidents that caused more damage than necessary because he was showing off. I may be a flashy man, but at least I have substance behind the flair.”

“Number six! This hero has been steady for years now. Maintaining his spot once again, the Shield Hero: Crust!” The man was crying on the stage about the fall of All Might, and Dabi scoffed. ‘Honestly, the attachment that people had to All Might as a symbol was only detrimental in the end. It’s not like he could’ve worked as a hero forever.’

Twice laughed. “What a riot! He’s had ages to adjust now. He can’t hold it together any better than I can.” Dabi could relate to Twice’s self-deprecating humor, and he was just glad that the man was feeling well enough to pick on someone else too.

“Number five! This relentless rabbit has bounced up even higher, the Rabbit Hero: Miruko!” Said heroine bumped her fists together with a feral grin. “Only weaklings need to rely on teams to back them up.”

Magne perked up, looking far more interested now. “She could kick my ass, and I would thank her.” 

Eria snorted. “You’d thank any pretty girl who fought you.” Magne looked over at her with a smug smirk.

“Do you wanna fight later, then?” Eria blushed and Dabi’s eyes widened a little. ‘Huh. When did that happen?’

The introductions weren’t going to stop because his friends are flirting with each other though, so Dabi refocused on the screen.

“Number four is the mysterious ninja who has been skyrocketing in popular support and resolved incidents! It’s the Ninja Hero: Edgeshot!” Said hero brought up some uncomfortable memories for Kurogiri if the way that his fog wavered said anything.

Mustard hummed. “I know that he was one of the ones at the raid and all, but I do think that his aesthetic is kinda cool…”

Toga just laughed at him. “That’s just because you like ninjas, Mustard.” The two started playfully bickering with each other, and Dabi chuckled before tuning them both out.

“Huh, it seems that all the heroes involved in the Kamino incident have seen a rise in popularity lately. Our number three is taking time off currently, but he’s got an even higher public approval rating than ever before! The Fiber Hero: Best Jeanist! Everyone is eager to see him back out on the field.”

Kurogiri seemed to like him the best. “He’s not bad for a hero, I suppose. His incident resolution rate is almost entirely non-violent, and he has started a lot of organizations designed to help the people of his prefecture… If only all heroes could be so noble.”

“Our number two does things his way, but his speed has made him an unstoppable force rocketing to the top! The Wing Hero: Hawks!” Dabi sat up straighter as he watched Keigo Takami rub the back of his neck. The movement screamed casual, but Dabi was good at seeing behind people’s masks. Hawks was more calculating than he let on.

“I wonder how much they’ve changed him…” Natsuo turned to him with a tilted head.

“You know him?” The rest of the League were just as intrigued by that possibility, turning to Dabi with questioning looks on their faces.

“Yeah. Not well or anything, but he’s a kid that the bastard did a PR stunt with ages ago. It was before Shouto was even born. I think you were like two or something? The HPSC took him under their wing, and now that I know more about the HPSC…”

Kurogiri’s voice was somber. “You worry about how that turned out. That he may not even be capable of thinking for himself now.” Dabi just gave a grim nod, and the room’s mood soured even further as the camera panned over to Endeavor.

“Now, this guy has been on top for a little while now, but today is the day that we make it official. He’s waited years to claim the throne of number one! The Flame Hero: Endeavor!”

Shigaraki laughed. “Not for long… Not for long.” 

The president of the HPSC stepped up to the podium, and Dabi shook with rage as he looked at her. ‘A corrupt figurehead for a bunch of corrupt heroes… Fitting, I suppose.’

“We decided to have such a grand ceremony because we, as a society, are at a critical juncture. It’s been almost three months since All Might retired, and our people still feel that we lack an icon. However, the heroes standing behind me are more than prepared to pick up that mantle. So, we must aid them, support them, as we all walk toward a peaceful society, together.”

The announcer spoke up again. “And, with that, we’ll be getting a word from our top ten!” 

‘It’s stupid to have all of the best heroes off the street right now.’ The League was watching this, for the sake of intel, but less established organizations and ones that cared more about destruction than information would undoubtedly take advantage of the lower quality heroes on patrol today.

‘Even we have a couple of clones of Mr. Compress running around and stealing some things that would be harder to get otherwise. I doubt that they’ll encounter much resistance today.’

The Ryuku looked somber when the camera panned over to her. “Ah… I thank you for this honor, but truthfully… I would’ve removed myself from the running if it was allowed. I haven’t been able to save all the lives that I’ve tried to, but I will strive to prove myself worthy of the faith that the people have placed in me.”

Crust cried out. “I understand how you feel Ryuku! A throbbing pain in your heart that tells you that you aren’t good enough… We just have to fight on! We can do it; I believe in our strength!”

Eria snickered “You’d think that they’d know better than to advertise weaknesses in this time. They’re only going to make civilians more uneasy like this.”

Neither Yoroi Musha nor Wash had much to say, but Dabi paid more attention to Kamui Woods. “Edgeshot was kind enough to allow me to join his team recently, so I just hope that I can make him and the rest of my superiors proud.” Dabi heard Shigaraki hum at that, and the information was useful to consider. Now they knew that Kamui Woods’ patrol schedule and patrol areas were going to be changing soon.

Crust sobbed on stage. “I still hurt every time that I ask myself why I wasn’t in Kamino on that day!” Dabi thought that this guy needed to get a grip, though the unease that the heroes were spreading was going to be beneficial for the League.

At least Miruko appeared to be taking the problem more seriously, even if she was confrontational about it. “For all the plotters and schemers out there… I hope you’re all ready for me to kick your butts! I won’t let you keep causing problems for the people of Japan!”

The reporter quickly moved on to Edgeshot --a shame, really-- and asked him a question. “You know, you’d be in third place if public approval ratings were the only factor that you needed to worry about. How do you feel about that?”

“I do not care for numbers. I, of course, appreciate all the support that I have received, but I don’t do this job for the sake of my rank. Preserving law and order is the utmost priority of a hero-”

“Who the hell do you think wants to hear that?” Dabi nearly choked. Both the people on the screen and the League went dead quiet.

Dabi hummed. “I guess that they didn’t train the personality out of him, at least.”

Miruko turned to Hawks with a wide grin on her face. “I love the sass! You always have enjoyed shaking things up.”

Hawks shrugged and grabs the mic from the reporter, a smirk on his face. “I just hate having to hide how I feel.” Dabi thought that was quite ironic, especially since Hawks radiated some sort of falsehood to him.

‘I don’t doubt that he’s using some elements of his personality to his benefit, but there’s something about him that’s still off.’

Hawks took to the sky with a smug look on his face before clearing his throat. “You want to talk about public support? If that was all that mattered, then Best Jeanist would be number one because of his surge of popularity during his leave of absence. I’d still be second, Edgeshot would be third, Endeavor fourth, and so on.”

Dabi laughed at that. “Man, he’s not hesitating to shit on Endeavor’s reputation here. I might like him for that alone.”

Natsuo looked over at him with a teasing grin. “Who could’ve guessed that all it takes to win your heart is roasting Endeavor on live television.”

Dabi rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not what I meant, you little shit.”

Hawks continued once the muttering of the crowd goes down. “Public approval may matter now more than ever before, but this isn’t the time to be stuck in the past. You can’t just say that staying the course and doing our best is the answer. Our symbol is gone.”

The winged hero cocked his head to the side. “Today is our turning point, so the last thing I want to hear is a bunch of scripted, PR soundbites from the heroes and heroines below me! Try actually sounding heroic.”

Hawks swept back down to the stage, handing the microphone off to Endeavor. “Well, that’s all from me! You’re next, number one with such a low approval rating.” Dabi was laughing so hard that he would be in tears if he could still make them, and he wasn’t the only one having a great time here. He would wind up tearing a few staples at this rate.

Endeavor huffed and the entire League focused in on him, laughter dying off. Dabi collected himself by taking a few deep breaths. Whatever Endeavor said and did as the number one hero, starting right now, would influence what angle they used to rip him off his pedestal, after all.

“There’s not much I can say after my junior colleague has fanned the flames like that… So, just watch me!”

Natsuo snorted. “Really, that’s all you’ve got? Watch me? That doesn’t even mean anything.” The rest of the League was in high spirits, and it was starting to seem like getting people to distrust Endeavor wouldn’t be too difficult after all.

‘His lack of people skills is going to bite him in the ass now.’

Shigaraki turned to Dabi. “So, what’s the plan for Endeavor, Dabi? How soon do you want to move in on him?”

Dabi hummed. “As much as I hate to put it off… We need more time. If we ruin him too quickly, then people will only move on to the next number one. They need an adjustment period. If we have them get used to the way that things are now and then shake things up, then it’ll impact them more, and it’ll be harder to brush it off as just a problem with Endeavor if he manages to solidify his position first. We need to prove that the system is enabling people like Endeavor, not convince them that he’s an already disliked exception.”

Natsuo grimaced but it was clear that he agreed. “I hate to say it, but Touya-nii is right. Fuyumi and Shouto won’t be much worse off if we wait another month or two, but if we don’t do this right and he gets off entirely… Hell, even if he just gets thrown under the bus, the rest of the world would pretend that they had no clue he was like that. It’ll just create more families like ours, so…”

Shigaraki nodded. “So we wait, then. I’ll talk to Ujiko about the Nomu that we’ve been preparing for Endeavor, and I’ll let him know that he has a while longer to experiment with it.” 

Shigaraki left to do just that and Natsuo rested his hand on Dabi’s shoulder. The look in his eyes told Dabi that Natsuo didn’t blame him one bit for waiting a little longer.

They had both rushed telling people before, after all. Nothing good ever came of it.

-

A week later, Dabi was out doing some recruiting for the League. Well, he said that he was doing that, but he mostly scared off any especially violent criminals in their area. Shigaraki didn’t seem to mind this since it had started establishing the League’s morals among the underground. The more child killers and rapists that the League intimidated into hiding or dealt with permanently, the better they looked to civilians. That would be essential for them later.

He was an alleyway, stereotypical of him but it got the job done, and was waiting to meet up with some guy that he only really remembered the quirk of. It was a quirk that made people trust him if he touched them, though he wasn’t sure to what degree that this guy was capable of influencing others, and Dabi didn’t want this guy anywhere near their territory. Dabi wasn’t the type to judge others for their quirks, but considering what the bastard had used it for already, Dabi was seriously weighing the pros and cons of just incinerating the dude as soon as he showed up.

The asshole rolled up five minutes late and looked Dabi up and down. “You’re certainly not as intimidating as they make you out to be. I want you to sell me on why I should even bother with the League.”

Dabi scoffed. This guy was exactly the type of asshole that he wasn’t going to bother with. “I’m not going to do that. I’ll be blunt with you; the League isn’t interested in your type.”

“And what is my type? Why bother arranging a meeting at all if you don’t want me, huh? I’m not buying that.” His arrogance only reminded Dabi of Endeavor, and he was already in a foul mood.

“To warn you, obviously. The League doesn’t take kindly to your type of criminal. If you put so much as a toe out of line…” Dabi’s eyes narrowed. Blue flames danced around him and smoke poured from his mouth. “I’ll make sure that you can’t touch someone ever again.”

The man went white as a sheet and Dabi smirked. He loved using this intimidation tactic. “Are we clear?”

“Y-yeah. Crystal.” He looked about five seconds from running away screaming.

“Good. I’ll be keeping an eye on you. Watch your step, you sick fuck.”

And then the guy bolted. Dabi sighed as he leaned against the wall. “Guys like that are the fucking worst.” A beat of wind from the air had Dabi jerking to attention, and he shivered when he heard a chuckle from the rooftops.

“I agree with you, but I’m surprised that you care.” Red wings carried Hawks into his line of sight, and Dabi tensed up. Nerves had never kept him from running his mouth, though.

“Some things transcend the hero-villain divide, number two. Guys like that are one of them. What’re you doing out in Nagasaki, hm? You’re a bit off your usual beat.”

Hawks tilted his head and hummed; Dabi didn’t like the way that it felt like the hero was dissecting him. “Noted. You’ll be glad to hear that I sent a feather after that guy, then. I’ll be able to find him later.” 

Dabi made a mental note of that. If Hawks could use his feathers to track people, then that was critical information to have. Golden eyes met Dabi’s. “As for what I’m doing here… I was looking for you, actually.”

Dabi cocked an eyebrow. “And what could you possibly want me for? You’re not going to take me in without a fight, you realize? And wings are quite flammable… I don’t want to do that, but I will if you force my hand.” His life and freedom were both essential to taking Endeavor down, and Dabi wasn’t let anything get in the way of that.

Hawks held his hands up with a light chuckle escaping him. It was one of the fakest laughs that Dabi had ever heard. “Now now, no need for anything rash. I don’t wanna fight you. I’ve got a bit of a business proposition for you.”

‘This is an interesting turn of events.’ Dabi hummed. “There’s normally only one way that I deal with corrupt heroes, Hawks. So, what’s your proposition? Make it worth my time.”

“I want to join the League.” Dabi’s eyes narrowed. “I know how that sounds, really, but it’s the truth. I’ve never really wanted to be high in the rankings. I just want to help people, and if you get up high enough in the system, then you start seeing some horrible shit.”

Dabi couldn’t keep himself from laughing at that. “Trust me, I know plenty about corruption in the system, hero. You’re selling me a pretty story here, but what exactly do you plan to do for the League?”

Dabi wondered how many people missed the intelligence in Hawks’ eyes. The hero put on a good act, but he was more observant than people gave him credit for. “I can be a double agent. Strengths, weaknesses, patrol routes, anything on heroes or their agencies that you need.” 

‘I don’t trust this for a second. Forcing someone into the role of a double agent sounds like exactly the kind of shit that the HPSC would pull. That being said…’

Dabi pulled out one of his spare burner phones and tossed it to Hawks. A red feather kept it from hitting the ground, and Dabi gave the hero a smug grin. He was sure that they could move faster than that, but at least Dabi knew roughly how fast Hawks’ feathers moved on reflex.

“Fine. I’ll bite, hero. You’ll get a message from one of my numbers when I want to meet. There’s no point in trying to track any of them, and I’ll give you at least twelve hours to get ready. Don’t want to rush you and make you look suspicious, after all.”

Hawks gave him a snarky salute. “Got it, boss. Anything you need me to do until then?”

“Just prove to me that you aren’t full of shit, hero. Things like this? They’re too good to be true, and I’m not in the business of letting myself fall for them. I’m not giving you anything until you prove yourself to me.” 

Hawks gave him a much more serious, considering look before he nodded “Got it.” He took off, and Dabi watched as the red of his wings grew distant. He checked himself for any feathers, finding none, and began walking back toward the base.

Dabi was certain that Hawks was a plant for the heroes, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be useful. Dabi could even possibly convert him if he was careful about this. It all depended on whether or not Hawks could recognize how corrupt the organization that trained him was.

Until then, Dabi would keep the League safe by keeping Hawks at a distance. No one else needed to get involved in this.

It was only his curiosity that was making him give Hawks a chance, after all.

-

Soaring through the air, Hawks shot a quick message off to his superiors. Madame President seemed pleased that he had made contact, but her tolerance for Hawks relied on how much information he could get out of this as quickly as possible.

Things definitely could’ve gone worse for him, but he already needed to do damage control. ‘Talk about being paranoid… Guess I can’t blame him, all things considered.’

The Commission told him everything that they knew about Dabi before this mission --which wasn’t much-- but the information brought back by Bakugo after his kidnapping made a few things clear. A man who was burned alive as a child had no reason to trust people.

Hawks sighed. ‘He’s not going to buy any amount of me kissing up to him, so I need a different approach.’ He had an idea of what he could do. For all that this mission was an exercise in living a lie, there were parts of him that disagreed with a few of the missions that the commission had had him do. He believed them when they said that it was for the greater good, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t play up those disagreements around Dabi.

‘He seems to have a bit of a hero complex, ironically enough.’ It was the best option that Hawks had. He would just have to figure out what he could and couldn’t risk saying while he waited on Dabi to contact him.

And if a small part of Keigo rebelled at the thought of doing this, then he forced it down. He could only afford to be Hawks on this mission.

-

Dabi let Hawks stew for a little while, and no one could prove that his decision had anything to do with the fact that he was letting his brother practice on him for a medical exam. Regardless, Natsuo was going to be away for a few days, so Dabi didn’t feel the need to stick around and make sure that everyone was getting along with each other. Natsuo was getting closer to the others, close enough that some of them were noticeably excited whenever he came by, but that didn’t mean that Dabi was going to risk leaving them alone with his little brother just yet.

He sent Hawks a quick message from one of his more rarely used burners. The odds of someone being able to trace anything from Giran were low, but they weren’t zero either. He wasn’t going to use one of his primary burners for this, and he refused to send the message from their base either.

Hawks sent back an affirmative message almost instantly, and Dabi chuckled about that. ‘Eager much?’ They would be meeting up at an old shipyard in Itoshima which was far closer to Fukuoka than any of the cities that Dabi had dared to visit until now. If Hawks was going to play at cooperation, then it didn’t hurt for Dabi to scout out places closer to his agency and farther away from their base.

It took almost an hour for Dabi to walk back to their base, and he waved at Kurogiri as he entered the building. Kurogiri was in the kitchen preparing some sort of stew for later --which Dabi appreciated as the only other member that knew how to cook-- and Dabi stood around and watched him for a little while.

“Good afternoon, Dabi. Do you require anything?” Kurogiri was as oddly formal as ever, but Dabi had gotten used to his little quirks. Every member of the League had them, and they had spent too much time living together for them to surprise one another anymore.

He ran his left hand through his hair --which he had already begun dyeing with cheaper dyes in preparation for his identity reveal-- and hummed. “Do you have any safe locations in Itoshima to drop me off in? I’ve got a promising recruit for once, but I don’t trust him just yet.”

Kurogiri’s misty body wavered for a moment, but he nodded. “I do. Cities with smaller populations are easier for me to get you into, so it should not be difficult. Would you prefer to leave early, or do you plan on waiting until dark?”

“Actually…” Dabi did have a few people in Itoshima that would want him to visit while he was there. “Would you mind sending me now? I’ve got some personal business in Itoshima too.”

“Very well. I’ll send you to one of the more remote beaches, and as cold as it is… No one will be around. Make sure that you keep your communicator on. Alert me if you need a pickup.”

Dabi tapped the inner pocket that held his communicator-tracker combo with a grin. “I’ve got you covered, Kurogiri. Don’t worry.” He stepped through a swirling portal, smiling as he looked out over the ocean.

Kurogiri was right in assuming that no one would be here, but Dabi wasn’t willing to stick around and push his luck. He hit the streets --sticking to the back alleys as he usually did-- and walked toward one of the residential areas.

Dabi wondered what that family will think of the path that he’s on now.

-

It was dark by the time that Dabi arrived at the shipyard. He was sitting on the edge of one of the docks about twenty minutes before Hawks was scheduled to show up, kicking his feet back and forth as his boots skimmed the water. Dabi heard a soft step to his left and whipped his head over, sighing in relief when he saw that it was just a cat.

“Hello there… You look pretty well fed.” The black cat sauntered right up to him, purring as they rubbed their cheek against him. On closer inspection, Dabi realized that this cat wasn’t just conning food out of everyone in the neighborhood.

“Oh! You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” It wasn't like the cat could answer him, but Dabi still liked talking to her. She was being incredibly affectionate to a stranger, even considering how warm he was, which only ticked another box in his pregnant cat checklist. The cat settled into his lap and purred even louder. Dabi gently scratched under her chin and chuckled as she melted into him.

“You’re just a sweetheart, huh? I bet that the others will be happy to see you. It’d be easier for you to get food and be warm at the base, too…” He wouldn’t force her to come with him, but the slow blink that she gave him and all her behavior so far told Dabi that she probably wouldn’t put up a fight.

A beat of wind from behind him had Dabi tensing up again, and he slowly turned to see Hawks landing and giving him a cheeky wave. His golden eyes locked on to the purring mass of black in Dabi’s lap. “You’re just determined to keep surprising me, huh?”

Dabi tilted his head with a hum. “It’s hardly my fault that any display of humanity from a villain surprises you, hero.”

The hero shrugged it off with a chuckle and a grin, though Dabi caught the flash of surprise in Hawks’ eyes. “Touché. So, what do you need me to do?” Dabi watched as Hawks tucked his wings behind him, crouching down so that he didn’t tower over Dabi while he sat. He decided not to comment on the perching thing; Spinner had taught him that people with mutation quirks could be pretty uncomfortable about that sort of thing. Dabi didn’t care about any behaviors that came with quirks, his nonchalance around Toga was proof enough of that, but that didn’t mean that he wanted to make Hawks more uncomfortable than necessary. It wasn’t exactly conducive to converting the hero.

“I want you to tell me why you’re doing this. You can talk about corruption all day long, but if that was all it took, then you probably would’ve fought back a long time ago. What was the tipping point, hero?” Dabi went completely still --except for the hand that was petting his cat friend-- as his eyes roamed over Hawks and watched for any tells.

Hawks sighed as he rested his chin in one of his gloved hands. “Asking the real questions right off the bat, huh?”

“I don’t like beating around the bush. It’s better to just get to the point.” Any potential recruits needed to prove themselves morally, and Hawks was far from an exception there. If anything, being a hero meant that Hawks needed to have even firmer moral standards. Dabi wanted to know where his line was.

The man gave Dabi a strained smile. “Fair enough. It wasn’t any grand revelation, you know? I’ve always been pretty clear about how I didn’t like the way that things are, though people like to say that I just like causing trouble, and eventually it just… built up, I guess. I want to live in a world where I have free time again.” The wistfulness in his voice told Dabi that this wasn’t a lie, at least not entirely. That didn’t mean that he was going to make it easy for Hawks though.

“Seems counterproductive for you to soar through the rankings, then. You’re telling me that the fastest-rising hero wants nothing more than to come back down? Why’d you debut so young and work so hard from the start, then?” Dabi knew why, but this was a test of Hawks’ honesty.

Hawks’ wings shook back and forth as the man snorted. “Soar, really?” He shook his head and continued, “I was never given much choice about any of that. Was scouted at a young age, and I knew that I’d be in danger if I didn’t do everything that I possibly could to repay them. I want out.”

Dabi’s eyes gleamed at the mirthless chuckle that Hawks let escape him. The hero continued, “It’s ironic, isn’t it? Someone with wings is about the furthest that he can get from being free.”

“That’s our society for you.” He was careful to keep his tone neutral, but Dabi was internally cheering. It was difficult to keep the grin off of his face.

Hawks wasn’t on their side, at least not yet, but he wasn’t lying to Dabi either. If there was even a little bit of doubt in his heart, then that meant that Dabi had a chance of converting him for real.

Dabi was going to take a gamble on Hawks, and it could be amazing if it paid off. ‘Imagine the reaction that the public would have if they lost both the number one and number two heroes. They might not ever recover from it.’ 

He looked up to the starry sky, one free of the smog that came with bigger cities, and smiled. Hawks tilted his head and made a questioning sound.

“Sorry. It’s just… It’s beautiful out tonight, isn’t it?”

Hawks’ smile was a smaller, more genuine thing now. He was still wary, but the hero seemed to take Dabi’s olive branch for what it was. “Yeah. It really is.”

New beginnings didn’t always start with a giant battle or a world-shattering revelation. Sometimes they started on a quiet night --stars twinkling in the sky-- as two men and a cat admire something far beyond their reach.

Chapter Text

Only a few days after his second meeting with Hawks, Dabi and the rest of the League found out exactly who Kurogiri planned to search for until they discovered what Overhaul was doing to Eri. All for One’s loyal servant hadn’t been willing to wait around for them to show up any longer, and had wound up announcing himself in a spectacular fashion.

‘We’re lucky that our base is on the shitty side of town. He’s drawing way too much attention to us.’

“I’ve been searching for you! You never gave me a signal. Tell me, are you the one who succeeded All for One?”

Shigaraki’s grin stretched across his face. “So this was the ally that you wanted to search for, Kurogiri. I can see why you believed he would be an asset.”

Dabi couldn’t care less about that right now. “Never mind all of that! He’s gonna get us caught if we don’t get him out of here.”

‘Plus, I don’t want to risk the cats getting caught in the crossfire of whatever fight is about to break out.’

Kurogiri didn’t let him down. “Indeed. We don’t have space for him within our base, so I will have to warp us all away. Is that agreeable to you, Gigantomachia?”

“I devoted myself to All for One… Prove that you are worthy, successor. We can fight wherever you want us to.”

Kurogiri warped them all up to a heavily forested mountain range that had no sign of human life for miles around them, though Dabi noticed that Kurogiri was exhausted afterward because of how large he had to make the portal for Gigantomachia to fit through it.

‘He always seems so unshakeable, but I guess that even he gets quirk exhaustion, huh?’

Dabi watched as Kurogiri distanced himself from the group, and when Gigantomachia rocketed toward them and smacked Mr. Compress --who couldn’t make a big enough circle with his hands to turn Gigantomachia into a marble-- aside, Dabi was glad that Natsuo was in his classes right now.

‘Even with Mustard taking him to the base’s firing range, Natsuo still isn’t the best shot yet. He doesn’t need to have a trial by fire.’

Mustard fired a shot at Gigantomachia, but the bullet harmlessly bounced off of his skin. The kid backed up even further after that, letting Dabi cover his retreat with a blast of flames.

‘My fire doesn’t do anything to him either? This is going to be a pain.’

Spinner and Toga both ran forward from different directions and swiped at Gigantomachia’s legs with one of their blades, but Spinner’s sword and Toga’s knife shattered on the giant’s tough skin. Magne used her quirk to magnetize both Spinner and Gigantomachia and quickly activated it, slowly shoving Gigantomachia away from Spinner, though Spinner flew farther away than the giant did, while giving Toga enough time to duck the fist that Gigantomachia aimed down at her.

Eria didn’t have any glass in the area to manipulate, and no amount of skill in hand-to-hand could go up against a giant who brushed off blades and bullets. That didn’t stop her from darting around and distracting him in an attempt to let one of the others get a hit in, though. Shigaraki was weaving between the blows that Gigantomachia tried to rain down on him well enough, but the giant’s superior reach kept him from getting close enough to touch him either.

Twice was waffling over who to make a clone of --Dabi couldn’t blame him since it didn’t look like any of them were doing anything to Gigantomachia-- when Mustard called out. “Twice! Clone me, I’ve got an idea!”

“One or two? I’m on it!”

“Two would be best. I’m counting on you!”

Magne was flung back in their direction, she had been trying to see if her magnet was heavy enough to dent Gigantomachia’s skin; it wasn’t, and Mustard turned to Dabi. “Can you set the area around that giant on fire?”

Dabi grimaced as he watched Shigaraki, Toga, Mr. Compress, Eria, and Spinner continue trying to fight Gigantomachia at close range. ‘It’ll be tough to avoid them, but they need to keep distracting him if the kid has any chance of doing what I think he’s trying to.’ He nodded.

Mustard turned back to Kurogiri. “I know that this warp took a lot out of you, but will you be able to get them away from him when I ask you to?”

“I should be able to manage that, yes. We may have to walk home, though.”

“That’s fine by me.” Two clones of Mustard popped into existence at once, and they both rocketed forward and got as close to Gigantomachia as they could manage. Dabi trailed behind them and prepared to throw fire and run. The giant was so preoccupied with the four people darting around them, even if he did just keep swatting them away and calling them annoying gnats, that he didn’t notice the three of them arriving.

“Now Kurogiri!”

Five portals warped the League members that were distracting Gigantomachia back to the main group, and Dabi let loose a massive ring of flames around the giant. He started running back, but he didn’t have to go far before Kurogiri brought him back to the rest of the group.

Shigaraki seemed a bit disgruntled by being taken out of the fight. “What gives Kurogiri? We can’t give up on recruiting him.”

“Just watch, Tomura.”

Dabi grinned as he saw the purple cloud of gas being carried up from both Mustards, and he was proud of the kid for figuring out how to keep his gas within a smaller radius. ‘The potency of that stuff is probably too strong for an ordinary person to withstand when he limits his range, but for someone like Gigantomachia… The kid is our only shot of taking him down, really. And asking me to create air currents so that his gas would rise to Gigantomachia’s height faster was very clever.’

Gigantomachia started swatting at the gas around him, but the Mustard clones were producing too much gas for the giant to avoid breathing it in. He started stomping around, searching for the source of the gas, but it took him too long to destroy both of the clones. 

Gigantomachia only took two steps toward the main group before he tipped forward and hit the ground. Dirt and debris flew up around him, and Dabi laughed incredulously as he heard the giant start snoring.

“Damn, you did good kid.”

Mustard preened as Toga enthusiastically bounced around him and babbled about how cool that was, but the group’s relief and joy were cut off by the crackling static coming from the radio that had fallen to the ground from its place around Gigantomachia’s neck.

“Well, well, I must say that I’m surprised Tomura Shigaraki. I didn’t expect you and your group to be able to do anything against Gigantomachia.”

Shigaraki perked up at the sound of the voice on the other side, but he didn’t interrupt the speaker either.

“It would seem that Gigantomachia isn’t the only one who is loyal. Not a single one of you hesitated even while you were hopelessly outclassed, and you managed to cobble together a plan to deal with him on the fly. Impressive. Mustard, do you keep an antidote on you?”

The kid nodded before he realized that the radio probably wasn’t transmitting any video. “Uh, yeah! Are you sure that it’s a good idea to give it to him, though?”

“It will take some time for him to wake back up, so you’ll be fine. I want to have a real conversation with all of you, so be quick about it.”

Mustard hurried forward with the antidote and dumped it into Gigantomachia’s mouth after realizing that no needle was going to be able to pierce his skin.

“What was the rush anyway? It’s not like we can--” Mustard’s voice cut off with a gag, and Dabi felt the same tar-like sludge rising out of his throat as he did in Kamino.

Mr. Compress cried out in surprise. “Is this not All for One’s quirk? How?!”

Dabi blinked and they were all in a creepy lab surrounded by tanks of nomu. He gagged on the aftereffects of the quirk while trying to regain his breath, and froze when he took in the appearances of the nomu around him.

“More nomu? These aren’t the same as the ones from before though.”

A voice echoed around the room as the same man that was speaking through the radio shouted with excitement. “Oh-ho? You can tell the difference!? You’re a sharp one, aren’t you, Dabi? Indeed, these nomu are nothing like the mid-level and low-level ones that you had access to before! They're High-Ends! They’re super powerful nomu with some range of sentience; truly, they’re my finest work so far!”

Dabi couldn’t make out what the man looked like because of the bright lights surrounding his workplace, but he wasn’t so sure that he wanted to know what a guy who was so excited to mess with corpses looked like anyway. 

“I see that you’ve been hard at work, doctor. I wanted to discuss the possibility of the League using one of your high-ends in the future.”

“Of course, of course, but there’s no need to rush things. Do you have no time to catch up? I notice that you’ve let your hair grow out. How’re your father and the others doing?”

Dabi noticed the way that Shigaraki’s eyebrow twitched, but the doctor seemed to accept his grumbled “Fine…” easily enough.

Mr. Compress took a step forward as he shielded his eyes. “So you’re the doctor that Shigaraki has been talking about? It’s too bright to make you out.” He took another step forward, and Dabi startled as the outline of the chair that the voice was coming from hurled back into a room that was hidden by the giant tubes that connected to the nomu tanks.

“Stay back! I apologize for this, but I would prefer to remain anonymous for now. I’ll come to you when it’s time for us to meet face-to-face.”

Twice stepped back with a disturbed expression showing through his mask. “You’re the one who summoned us here, creepy old man.”

Dabi sighed. “Why are we here then?”

The chair whirred as a mechanism slowly started dragging it back toward them, and Dabi’s eyes had adjusted enough that he could tell that the doctor was completely hidden by it. ‘He doesn’t want us to have any clue about who he is, does he? That’s suspicious. Wonder what he’s up to in his free time.’

“I didn’t want to give out my location, so I just teleported you all here instead. You must understand, I don’t know any of you other than Shigaraki and Kurogiri, though I suppose that I could have run into some of you before. Like Gigantomachia, I’m one of All for One’s closest confidants. I’m going by Daruma Ujiko right now.”

Dabi filed that information away for later. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to see if I can find anything under that pseudonym, at least.’

“Anyways! Shigaraki, I initially planned to summon you out of respect for All for One, but I must admit that you have surpassed my expectations. My life’s work and creations… I offered them all up to All for One. You haven’t earned that level of respect from me yet, but I see no harm in offering you wider resources after that performance. That being said… I want to know what you plan on using them for.”

Shigaraki briefly glanced over to Dabi, and Dabi inclined his head to give his approval. ‘Having one of these things would be useful for weakening Endeavor and making a statement. If revealing that plan to the doctor is what it takes, then I’m willing to accept that. I doubt that he’ll take any issue with us targeting a hero anyway.’

“You know that I don’t remember much of my life from before meeting Sensei and you, right?” Dabi didn’t like the sound of that one bit.

“Of course.”

“I remember little snippets of it sometimes, even if it’s nothing concrete. The feeling of a fist against my skin. A gentle voice making excuses for the one who caused pain. A little girl that would do anything to save herself from pain. Being hurt at even the mention of heroes.”

Shigaraki trembled slightly as he continued. “I’ve done a lot of thinking ever since that day. Everyone just kept walking by me. They pretended that I didn’t exist because it was easier for them. They were all so sure that a hero would save the day that no one did a thing. Who decided to make the world this way?”

‘I was right. We do have similar stories. How many of us are out there?’

“My clearest memory of back then was of Sensei holding me in his arms and telling me that everything would be alright. Before that point, it was like I was a husk of a person. I don’t want… I don’t want people to keep doing this to each other. So we have a plan. A plan that will bring hero society to its knees and force each and every civilian to open their eyes and see the rot that they have allowed to fester.”

Spinner was looking at Shigaraki like he was having some sort of revelation, but Dabi was just trying not to freak out about someone he didn’t know or trust learning about who he was.

‘Here it comes…’

“We’re going to take down Endeavor. This isn’t just a plan to take down the current number one hero, we would be going down the line of heroes forever if we did that, but a plan to show civilians that they shouldn’t place their trust in heroes at all. His approval ratings are already shit, and we’ve got some dirty laundry that we plan on airing to the world after beating him down badly enough that he can’t try to escape it. One of the high-ends would be useful to that end. People are always so focused on the divide between heroes and villains that they forget that there is a third faction that is far larger than the heroes and villains combined.”

‘He’s dodging around the details? Maybe Shigaraki doesn’t trust the doctor as much as he’s pretending he does.’

“I know that Sensei kept order, but that’s not my goal. I want to remind the heroes of the people that they’ve been ignoring, the ones that have been growing more and more uneasy ever since All Might’s retirement. Doctor… I want to create anarchy. I want to spearhead a revolution that will leave heroes defunct. I want to take the celebrity aspect of heroism that their side has exploited for so long and turn it against them. Don’t you want to see them finally reaping what they’ve sowed?”

The doctor cackled in a way that had Dabi’s hair standing on end. “I’m curious about what you’re so certain will make the masses revolt against heroes, but don’t tell me! I want to be surprised! You’re certainly aiming high, but after your showing with Gigantomachia, I’m sure that you’ll be able to prove to me that you’re capable of it.”

Mr. Compress shifted uneasily. “Is it just me, or is he disturbingly easy-going?”

“I’ll continue tailoring a high-end specifically to combat Endeavor, as you’ve requested! I have more to offer to you than that, though. There’s something that I’ve been working on that should give you far more power, Shigaraki. All you have to do is agree to it and be out of commission for a little while.”

Shigaraki paused, and Dabi wasn’t the only one who caught the disturbed expression on his face. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t be too keen to let the guy who makes nomu experiment on me either.’

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to pass for now. There’s little point in putting a plan into action if I can’t see it come into fruition.”

“Fair enough, fair enough! We’ll revisit that later then. Now… it seems like Gigantomachia is starting to wake up.” A robotic arm holding a case full of buttons stopped just short of running into their group. “Take these to keep in contact with me; it’s much faster than sending messages through Kurogiri.”

Dabi felt the beginnings of the sludge teleportation quirk welling up within him then, and the overwhelming nausea that came with it almost made him miss the doctor’s final words.

“I’d be careful if I were you! Gigantomachia isn’t going to be happy about how you defeated him, so you’d better hope that you can talk your way out of this or knock him out again.”

And then they were back in the forest. Dabi guiltily glanced around at all the charred trees and grass, but Gigantomachia slowly rising to his feet kept him from focusing on that for long.

“You… Master's successor is so weak that he relies on trickery and having other people fight his battles? Leaders must be strong on their own!”

Dabi looked over to Mustard and Twice, and their shared nod told him that they were ready to fight again if this went poorly.

Shigaraki looked up at Gigantomachia with an expression that Dabi couldn’t quite decipher. “Villains fight however they need to if it means they live another day. That is why we operate in the shadows. I know that I’m not as strong as Sensei, no one could ever hope to be, but even he wasn’t alone, was he?”

“What do you mean by that, successor?”

“Well, Sensei had you, didn’t he? He’s the most powerful person in the world, and he still had you and the doctor by his side. No leader fights alone. They have the loyalty and the strength of all the people working for and with them too; that’s what makes leaders so strong. It took me a while to understand that.”

Dabi felt like he could be knocked over by a feather. The small, genuine smile on Shigaraki’s face was inspiring, and he could see the way that everyone else was affected by his words too.

“I can’t force you to assist us Gigantomachia, and I would never want to. But if you want to join us, then I promise you that you will always be treated as one of our own.”

Gigantomachia burst into tears. “Successor… You may not be as strong as All for One, but you have his way with words. You defeated me, so I will keep my promise.”

And that was how the League of Villains grew from eleven members to twelve.

-

Dabi was still feeling the long trek back to base days later, and he was just thanking his lucky stars that they had managed to convince Gigantomachia to stay on that mountain.

‘It’s a bit creepy that he’ll be able to track down wherever Shigaraki is by scent, but at least it’s useful. The doctor giving us walkie-talkies that connect to Gigantomachia’s radio was helpful too.’

Natsuo looked over at him from the desk that was in their shared room --Shigaraki had a point when he said that Natsuo didn’t stay at the base often enough to need his own yet-- and cocked an eyebrow. “You planning on getting up anytime today? It’s already two.”

Dabi groaned and covered his eyes with one of his arms, smiling when he heard Natsuo snicker. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I don’t want to go meet with that pigeon today.”

“Pigeon?”

Dabi’s brain screeched to a halt as he realized the corner that he had just backed himself into. ‘If I tell him, then he’s going to relentlessly tease me about it, but if I don’t tell him, then he’s just gonna annoy me until I do. Or possibly follow me, and the last thing I need is Hawks getting that kind of leverage.’

He sighed. “Hawks. He met up with me a little while ago spouting shit about wanting to join the League. I’m not buying it, but I don’t think that it would be impossible to convert him either.”

Natsuo sat his pencil down, turning to face Dabi with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Oh really? Is that because he’s pretty and insulted our father, or are you thinking with a head that isn’t between your legs?”

Dabi jerked up in his bed with a red face, chucking his pillow at his cackling nuisance of a little brother. “Quiet! It’s not like that!” 

Natsuo kept laughing, and Dabi huffed as he got up and retrieved his pillow, putting it back into place. “Seriously though, the Commission is shady as shit. They sponsored him when he was young, and I’m not so sure he had much of a choice in that. Maybe he’s nothing but ecstatic to be a hero, maybe they’ve brainwashed him so thoroughly that he’ll never want to be anything else, or maybe, just maybe, he’s just as trapped as we are. I don’t know yet, but I don’t want to be like the people who looked the other way every time that we were hurt either.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” His little brother sighed, taking a moment to collect himself before he kept talking.

“Just promise me that you’ll look after yourself first, okay? I know that you’ve got a bleeding heart, but I don’t want to have to bury you again.”

Dabi took one look at Natsuo’s worried face before instinctively gentling his voice. “I will, okay? I promise you that I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here, and we’re going to take Endeavor down and live our best life afterward. All five of us will. I won’t let anyone get in the way of that, especially not Hawks.”

When he could see the tension seeping out of Natsuo’s shoulders, he continued with a grin. “Besides, I’ve already reminded the bird how flammable wings are. I’m the worst matchup for him, and I wouldn’t hesitate to make him into a fried chicken if it meant coming back to you.”

Natsuo snorted. “Making fried chicken out of a pigeon? I think you’re getting your birds mixed up, but I guess that’s to be expected from someone who only went to high school for a year.”

“Oi, it’s not like you’ll be much better off than me, future college drop-out.”

They both burst into laughter. Natsuo was wiping tears out of his eyes, and he gave Dabi a smile that he swore rivaled the sun. “I missed this. I missed you. Now go do whatever you need to before you meet with your bird. And have fun, just be safe about it!”

Dabi spluttered as his brother herded him out of his own room, the audacity, but the smile on his face was so wide that he could taste blood.

‘I missed him too. Guess I better go clean up before I head out. I’ll go see if I can recruit anyone in Sasebo while I’m there.’

-

The sun had set hours ago, and Dabi lamented the fact that his time in the city had resulted in nothing more than scaring off a few punks and almost having a heart attack when he just barely avoided Majestic.

‘Still, it definitely could’ve been worse. I’ll just have to keep in mind that his patrol route times fluctuate, and it’s better to have nothing to show for my efforts than to wind up in jail right after promising Natsuo that I’d be back. That’d be fucking embarrassing.’

Dabi leaned against the Xihai bridge of Saikai National Park, watching the stars while also keeping an eye and ear out for Hawks. About five minutes later, he heard rustling to his left, and Dabi watched as Hawks swooped down from his position just above the treetops. The hero turned to Dabi with one of his fake smiles and a cheery wave.

“You always take me to the prettiest places, Dabi. A man might get ideas, you know?”

Dabi cocked an eyebrow at the hero. ‘Oh? Is that how he wants to play this?’

“Maybe I just want an excuse to enjoy the view.”

“Oh? Are you talking about the stars or me?”

Dabi snorted, struggling to keep a grin off his face. ‘Honestly, I just go from one teasing bastard to another.’

“Don’t you think that I’d meet you somewhere with better lighting if it was the latter?”

Hawks dramatically clutched at his heart with one of his hands. “Oh, how you wound me Dabi!”

The hero sidled up next to him before resting his elbows on the handrail of the bridge, looking up to the stars as Dabi studied him.

“What was that about wanting to stare at the stars and not me?”

Dabi huffed before returning his attention to the sky above them. “Aren’t you awfully close to me for someone so flammable?”

“Aww come on Dabi! I’ve got hollow bones and you’re practically a space heater.” Spinner had been just as clingy ever since October turned into November, so Dabi didn’t mind it.

He made a show of huffing at the hero anyway. “Fine. No point in letting our informant get sick when I can prevent it.”

“Oh? Does that mean that you’re willing to let me help you now?”

“Would I still be meeting with you if I wasn’t?”

“I dunno! You always could’ve wanted something else.” Hawks waggled his eyebrows.

Dabi shook his head with a sigh. “I wouldn’t drag you around for that. I don’t trust you with anything big yet, but I have to give you a chance to earn that trust before deciding whether or not to bring you into the fold.”

Hawks hummed, tilting his head in a decidedly birdlike way. “You’re being surprisingly courteous about all of this. Did you have anything in mind, or did you just wanna look at the stars with me again tonight?”

‘No point in pissing you off if I want to win you over. It doesn’t hurt me to play nice.’ Dabi deliberated for a moment before settling on the question that he really wanted an answer to. 

“You know anything about Eri?”

Hawks blinked at him, and Dabi could practically see the gears grinding in his head in the seconds before he could school his face back into neutrality. ‘He’s so used to putting on an exaggerated act that his real emotions slip out a bit when he’s trying to stay neutral, huh? Either that or I just really shocked him.’

“The little girl from the Overhaul raid?” Dabi nodded. “What do you wanna know?”

“Is she okay?”

For a few moments, all that Dabi could hear was the wind rustling through the trees. Hawks broke that silence with a sigh.

“You really are determined to surprise me, aren’t you? Of all the questions… She’s fine, last I heard. UA took her in since Eraserhead can cancel out her quirk if it ever goes haywire.”

Dabi took a moment to internally breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. That’s… good. Eraserhead seems like one of the good ones.”

Hawks gave him a considering look. “She was asking about you, you know.”

Dabi jolted at that, looking over at Hawks with a carefully blank expression. He knew that the bird had felt him jump, but he could pretend. “Was she?”

“Yeah. The Commission was pissed that UA wouldn’t let them question her about you. Nezu kept talking about how it wasn’t ethical to question such a young, traumatized kid. They’ll probably keep trying to talk to her, but what can you do?” Hawks shrugged.

He gritted his teeth at Hawks’ nonchalant tone. “Guess you’ll find out.”

“Hm?”

“You wanna earn my trust? Then I guess you’ll find out what you can do. Keep the Commission away from her.”

Hawks furrowed his eyebrows. “I mean, I’ll do it, but why do you care so much anyway? Aren’t there bigger things that you could have me do?”

“Because it’s obvious why the Commission wants her, and it has nothing to do with asking her about me. I mean, I’m sure that they would, but a kid that young with a quirk that powerful and no place to call home...” Dabi sighed before locking eyes with Hawks.

“I’m sick of watching our society turn children into soldiers, Hawks. Protect her. She deserves to make her own choices and learn her own happiness. Don’t let the greed of government officials that care more about the collective than real people steal that from her.”

And if Dabi was intentionally speaking in a way that could apply to Hawks too, then that was his own business.

-

Hawks flew away from Saikai National Park feeling distinctly unsettled. It wasn’t because he had just spent almost an hour with an A-rank villain --Dabi was surprisingly docile for a man with his reputation-- but rather because of just how easy it was for him to do so.

The only thing that Hawks was going to struggle with was doing what Dabi had asked of him. ‘Honestly, it would’ve been easier if he had just asked for patrol routes. The fact that he didn’t either probably means that the League already knows a disturbing amount of information about them or that he cares about the kid that much. I don’t know which one would be worse.’

Dabi’s connection to Eri was something that could be exploited, but Hawks didn’t like to think about the fact that a villain cared so much about her wellbeing when the commission just wanted access to her quirk. ‘The fact that he knew what they wanted from her is concerning too. Who is Dabi? What happened to him? How am I supposed to keep the Commission away from Eri when I can’t even keep them out of my personal life?’

It wasn’t like Hawks had much outside of hero work, but the Commission had made their distaste of him spending time with Rumi clear. They only allowed it because the public loved when two heroes that typically flew solo teamed up.

‘Okay, let’s go at this from a different angle. The Commission is too interested in Eri to leave her be, and Dabi won’t ever give me more information on the League if I can’t keep them from her. That doesn’t leave me with a lot of room to operate, but there is something that I can do.’

Hawks had been ordered to report to Madame President after his meeting with Dabi anyway. ‘This should appease both of them as long as I can play this right.’

He spent the rest of his flight deliberating over the best course of action and schooled his expression as he touched down outside of the HPSC’s main building. The doors were closed to the public due to the late hour, but a swipe of his keycard had Hawks in the building and going up the elevator in no time.

Hawks had spent so much time in the building that he could navigate it blindfolded --in fact, he had done so several times-- and he took a moment to smooth down his feathers before going to knock on Madame President’s door.

“Report.”

He stepped into her office and allowed the persona of Hawks the hero to fade into the background. He was just one of the commission’s assets in this room.

“Dabi has given me a test to prove my loyalty.”

“So he’s taken the bait then? That’s good. What does he want you to do? Give him classified information? Kill a hero?”

“Protect Eri.”

“Pardon?”

He fought down the instinctive urge to shrink back from her shift in tone. Hawks’ expression didn’t change as he continued.

“Dabi wants me to protect Eri. He doesn’t like that the Commission has been trying to get ahold of her.”

Madame President clicked her tongue. “We can’t do that. A quirk that can rewind time on living things… Once she can control it, she’d be a brilliant asset for our medical team. Even the loss of limbs could be undone. Surely you understand the benefit of obtaining such a resource.”

Hawks nodded. “Of course. However, Dabi has made it clear that I won’t be getting any information until she’s secure. I have an idea of how we can work around that.”

“Then get on with it, Hawks.”

“If I can talk to Eri, then that will appease Dabi while also still letting the Commission gain access to any information that she might have on him. It will make it more difficult for our legal team to gain custody of her, but Eraserhead’s case to continue looking after her is already rock-solid; we weren’t going to make much progress on that either way.”

Madame President’s lips were pressed in a thin line, but she didn’t disagree with him. She just didn’t like the fact that Nezu and Eraserhead were stonewalling them. “And how will you get on UA’s campus to do this?”

“That’s where the Commission will come in. I’ve already got a connection to UA through Tokoyami, but I doubt that they’d let me swing by just to visit him. If we can arrange for me to be a guest speaker, then I’ll have the chance to talk to her afterward.”

“Hm. Very well, but we want results after this, Hawks. The longer that we delay putting Eri into one of our training programs, the less likely that we’ll be to mold her into a loyal asset. Prove that the delay is worth the information you can get from it. If you don’t… Well, then I suppose we’ll just have to do some retraining so that you can do better in the future.”

“Understood.”

“Then you’re dismissed.”

Hawks left the room, went down the elevator, and left the building all the while desperately trying to swallow around how dry his throat had gone at the mention of retraining. ‘Get a grip. Everything will be fine as long as I do what she wants.’

He flew back toward his apartment with one creeping, intrusive thought that just wouldn’t leave him alone.

‘What does it say about me that I feel safer with Dabi than I do with the woman who made me everything that I am?’

He didn’t know. Hawks really didn’t like this.

Chapter Text

“You know, you should probably come up with some sort of code name.”

Natsuo looked over at him from his position on the couch --he had just been knocked off the stage in Super Smash Bros, but Shigaraki and Spinner were still duking it out-- with a grin that made Dabi regret opening his mouth.

“Oh, I’ve already got one! It even matches yours.”

Shigaraki snorted. “This’ll be good.”

“You can call me Rinku around anyone who doesn’t know who I am.”

Dabi deadpanned at Natsuo. “Rinku? As in cold and void?”

“Like you have room to talk, mister cremation.”

Spinner laughed, turning to the two of them after his character --Yoshi, as per usual-- got knocked off the stage. “He’s got a point, Dabi.”

“I didn’t fake my death to get bullied like this.”

“But you’re gonna put up with it anyway.” Natsuo snickered, and Dabi sighed because he wasn’t wrong.

“You wanna play another round, Natsuo?” His brother turned to Shigaraki and shook his head with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry man, I’ve gotta head out soon. It was nice hanging out though!”

Shigaraki grunted, but not refuting that statement was practically a glowing review from him. Natsuo stood up, started walking over to the hallway, and rested his hand on Dabi’s shoulder.

“You mind if I talk to you for a minute? I need to get my backpack out of your room anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Dabi followed Natsuo back into their shared room, noticing that more and more of his brother’s things had started to be left there in preparation for when Natsuo would be with them full-time.

His brother looked a bit nervous, so Dabi figured that he could ease him into whatever he wanted to talk about. “You seem to be getting along well with everyone. Especially Shigaraki and Spinner.”

Natsuo blinked at him before chuckling. “Yeah! They’re really not as scary as everyone makes them out to be. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed spending time with them. It’s kinda nice to spend time with guys my age who just… get why I hate how things are sometimes.”

“Yeah, they have a way of growing on you. Like some sort of fungus. How has training been?”

Natsuo relaxed, and Dabi smiled as his brother went off on a tangent. “It’s been great actually! No one has ever been willing to teach me any kind of self-defense --since anyone quirkless is a helpless, fragile person who needs to be protected to those who care and a genetic anomaly that would be better off dead to those who don’t-- so it’s nice to just… not feel so helpless. Mustard’s quirk has nothing to do with guns, so he can train me without letting that bother him, though I worry about why someone his age is so good with guns to begin with... Magne and Eria have been helping me out with my hand-to-hand too! They didn’t want me to develop bad habits by just fighting one of them, and I’m still getting my ass handed to me every time, but I’ve improved a lot.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried that it might be too much. Not because I don’t believe in you, but because training, in general, is just…” Dabi rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Something that you have negative associations with, I know. But everything is fine. The worst I get is a bit bruised up, and they’re always constructive about what I can do to improve next time.”

It wasn’t that Dabi didn’t trust the League with Natsuo at this point, he was exactly their brand of wild; they all got on like a house on fire, but it was still reassuring to know that his brother wasn’t putting himself in an uncomfortable situation just because he had found Dabi again.

“That’s good then. Just let me know if that ever changes.”

“Yes, yes, I will, you worrywart.” Natsuo reached over for his backpack and held it to his chest instead of putting it on. He paused for a moment before blushing slightly and soldiering on.

“Now, I know that it’s been a while and maybe you don’t like them anymore but…” He unzipped the bookbag and pulled out three stuffed animals, setting them on Dabi’s bed. His brother kept rambling, looking flustered.

“I just remembered that Fuyumi would talk about how she kept some of the stuffed animals that were actually yours in her room just so our father wouldn’t get angry about them. And she kept a lot of your books and stuff, I read them the most growing up because I wanted to feel closer to you, so I noticed that you really liked the ocean and space too. I just…” Natsuo pointed to the first plush: a round, white rabbit that had black ears, speckles, and a strangely shaped tail.

“You had a whole book on sea slugs, so I saw the sea bunny plush and thought of you. And then saw the owl and thought about how much you liked the night sky, so I got them both.” The owl plush was clearly modeled after a snowy owl. Dabi didn’t know if Natsuo knew that owls were one of his favorite birds or if he just got lucky, but he could still feel his heart twisting in a good way; the way that made a smile tug at his lips as he fought the urge to cry despite his inability to.

“The dragon was just… it reminded me of what you always were to me, you know? It sounds cheesy to say it like that, but you were always this fire-wielding protector that made fire less scary for me. I’ve missed a lot of birthdays, and I wanted to start making up for them. I can return them if you don’t like them, though!”

The dragon plush that Natsuo was talking about was a teal, cartoony dragon that was just one giant circle with tiny wings, ears, horns, and little spikes down its back and tail. Dabi gently ran his hand across it. It was the softest thing that he had ever touched.

“I love them, Natsuo. This was really thoughtful of you.” His voice was embarrassingly wobbly. Dabi cleared his throat. “I don’t want you to feel like you need to make up for anything, though. You’re here, and that’s more than I ever would have asked of you.”

“Alright, you sap. Consider it my thanks for letting me be involved in taking Endeavor down then. Besides, I bought them with one of the credit cards that I swiped from our father, so it’s not like it cost me anything either. The dumb fucker never checks any charges unless they’re obscenely large.”

Dabi laughed. “Fair enough. Then I’ll just say thank you.” He reached up to ruffle his brother’s hair, internally bemoaning the fact that Natsuo was so much taller than him. He probably wasn't even done growing yet, the bastard.

“Speaking of, here you go. He just got a second credit card from the same company as this one because he kept--” Natsuo coughed. “--losing it, and he never checks which one he’s getting charged for. Go wild, the pin is his birthday, just be smart about it.”

“I knew there was a reason why you were always my favorite sibling.” Natsuo gave him a sunny grin and Dabi chuckled.

“Now get going before you’re late to your CPR certification exam.”

Natsuo zipped his backpack up and started heading out, throwing an, “I know how to do it, and it’s not like it’ll matter whether I’m certified or not once I drop out,” over his shoulder. 

“It’s the principle of the thing, you little shit!” Natsuo laughed before taking off, and Dabi laid down on his bed as he ran his hands over the three new additions to it.

‘They’re so cute… Shigaraki would laugh himself sick if he found out about these.’ Between helping their newest cat with her kittens --she had brought them to him shockingly quick-- and the new stuffed animals, Dabi’s aloof reputation was completely shot within the League, but it was relieving to not have to pretend around them.

One of his burners buzzed and Dabi pulled it out.

Gonna visit Eri

Best way to keep HPSC away

Wanna meet up first?

‘Hm. So that’s how he’s gonna go about it. Fair enough. At least the Commission won’t have an excuse to keep going after her.’

Dabi went to respond with a negative before pausing. He looked at his new stuffed animals and got an idea.

Yeah

Can you deliver somethin?

UA was responsible for teenagers, after all. Kids who wanted to be heroes tended to focus on it to the exclusion of all else, and he doubted that any of the staff would have any toys for Eri. ‘Nezu isn’t human and only works with older students, even within the school, and Eraserhead doesn’t seem like the type to be used to young kids either. May as well use my new credit card to get her a few things.’

Haha yeah

UA’s security is good tho

Dabi snorted. ‘What the hell does he think that I’m trying to pass along to her?’

Nothin bad, chill

When’re you goin?

Week from now

That works

Meet in Dazaifu tmrw?

Where & what time?

Tenmangu Shrine at 1am?

Technically the day after tmrw but w/e

I’ll be there!

Dabi tucked his burner into his back pocket and grinned, getting dressed up in one of his disguises --he couldn’t do much more than put on a hoodie, medical mask, and some sunglasses though-- and grabbing his wallet. He walked through the living room and saw that Spinner and Shigaraki were still in it, playing Mario Kart now.

“Yo, I’m heading out. You two need anything? Or know that anyone else needs anything?”

Shigaraki shook his head as he threw a green shell backward, nailing Spinner, who had been coming close to overtaking him, before answering. “I’m good. Think we’re good on supplies for now too.”

Spinner groaned as he tried to catch back up, grumbling under his breath about getting third after that recovery time. “I’m gonna be shedding soon. I can’t drape myself over you throughout that whole process, so a humidifier would be helpful. It’s too cold for me to manage it on my own right now, and I don’t want to use up all our hot water either. Shit’s expensive though…”

Dabi laughed. “Don’t worry about it man; I’ve got you. Natsuo brought me one of the flaming asshole’s credit cards, so I’ll be fine as long as I get one of the cheaper ones.” He could always replace it later, but several spaced-out eight thousand yen purchases were less suspicious than one big twenty thousand yen purchase.

“Then I’d appreciate it. Thanks!”

Dabi left their base --carefully avoiding the main streets until he was far enough away to blend into the crowd-- and hummed.

‘Now let’s go see how good ol’ Kanzou is doing.’

-

The tinkling bell that rang out when Dabi opened the door to Kanzou’s shop was a familiar, comforting thing that he had gotten used to over the years. He had missed it while he was laying low. The store was empty, but Dabi had chosen to come when he did for a reason; it was always quieter here in the mid to late afternoon.

“I’ll be with ya in just a moment!”

Dabi chuckled. “Don’t put yourself out on my account, old man.”

Kanzou came out one of the back rooms, one that Dabi knew was storage for extra stock and anything that hadn’t been put on display yet, and nearly dropped the box he was carrying out when he saw Dabi.

“Phoenix, is that you? Well, I’ll be damned! What took you so long to come back, kid?”

“I didn’t want to bring any trouble to your door. Didn’t want to make you remember all the different names that I went by either.”

“Bah, all I’m hearing are excuses. You know that you’re always welcome here. Were you comin’ here for something, or is this a social call?”

“As much as I love talking with you, this isn't just a social visit, no.” Dabi grinned at the way that Kanzou lit up at that.

“You’re finally gonna get something? It always hurt my heart to watch you stare at those plushes and leave them just because you didn’t have anywhere to put them. And don’t argue about not being able to afford one; you know that I wouldn’t have made you pay.”

‘He hasn’t changed at all, has he? It’s nice.’

“Yeah, I’m gonna get something today. I’m paying though, and it’s not for me this time.”

“Oh? Who’s it for then?”

“This kid that I helped out. She doesn’t really have anything beyond the basics, and I wanted to get her some stuff.”

“You seem to be doing that just as much as ever.” Kanzou huffed. “Can’t believe they have the audacity to call you a villain. Saving my son’s life, busting up trafficking rings, helping a bunch of kids, and now buying toys for a little girl… If you’re some great evil, then I’m still twenty.”

Dabi burst into surprised laughter. “Aw, you don’t gotta get all riled up on my account, old man. I’m doing just fine.”

“I don’t doubt that. They’re just being stupid.”  Kanzou grumbled a bit before continuing. “You’re goin’ by Dabi now, right? Should be easy enough to remember. What are you wantin’ to get the kid?”

Dabi knew that Kanzou didn’t need him to answer his first question, so he just focused on what he went out to do. “I’m thinking a few stuffed animals since she hasn’t had any sort of comfort items. Maybe a picture book too? Even if she can’t read it, I’m not sure how much of an education she’s gotten so far, she’ll be able to look at it, and she’s got plenty of people around who could read it to her.”

“Sounds like you know exactly what you’re looking for. Go on then! Give me a holler if you need anythin’, but I’m gonna go switch the sign to closed while you’re here.”

“Thanks, old man!”

Dabi gave the store a quick once-over and started walking toward the stuffed animals. ‘The layout is pretty much the same. At least it’ll be easy to find everything.’

The wall of stuffed animals was just as large as he remembered it being, though the shelves didn’t tower over him as much as they used to. ‘Now I just need to start narrowing down my options before I start touching everything.’ Dabi wanted to make sure that they were soft, but he also didn’t want to risk tearing anything near his wrist and bleeding all over them. 

A fluffy, round, light brown bunny plush was the first thing to catch his attention. ‘It almost looks like some sort of dust bunny. The anime eyes are cute too.’ Dabi picked up the bunny and looked it all over. ‘Not that I don’t trust Kanzou to keep these clean, but there are loose threads from the factory sometimes. It’s a good weight too; nothing too heavy for a six-year-old to carry around.’

Dabi held onto the bunny. The next thing that caught his eye was a stuffed unicorn that looked like it was the same brand as the larger dragon that Natsuo had bought him. It was a white unicorn with a hot pink horn and matching accents, and he just thought that the image of Eri with a stuffed animal that had a matching horn was a cute one. ‘It’s not like it’ll hurt.’ He grabbed on to that one too, and the texture of the fabric confirmed that it was the same sort of stuffed animal as his dragon.

‘At this rate, I’m just gonna get her a bunch of stuffed animals that match my own.’ Dabi shook his head, trying to shake that thought right out of it, blushing as he steadfastly ignored it. He looked back over the shelves.

Dabi blinked as took a closer look and confirmed that there were, in fact, stuffed moths being sold here. ‘I didn’t know that they even made those. I dunno if Eri would like it, but Aomi definitely would.’ The kid’s parents had made him promise to come back to Itoshima soon anyway, so the stuffed moth would give him an excuse. He grabbed one of the stuffed poodle moths.

He was walking away from the aisle --Dabi could only carry so many of them before he started getting worried that they’d get caught in one of his staples-- when he saw a plush that made him freeze. There was only one of them left, and the sight made him snicker.

“A phoenix!? Really, old man?”

Dabi heard Kanzou cackle from across the store. “We actually have one of those left!? They sell so fast; I’m surprised.” Kanzou sauntered over to him, snorting when he saw how red Dabi’s face had gotten.

“Almost every kid in this city idolizes you, you realize? And their parents are just as grateful to you. Of course I’m selling stuffed phoenixes, kid. I have a phoenix version of damn near every toy in this shop. People come here specifically looking for the phoenixes.”

‘Oh.’

It was one thing to know that people were willing to look the other way for him, but this was something else entirely. This was something that made his heart warm, and Dabi decided that maybe he wouldn’t begrudge heroes for all their merch deals after all. ‘This is kind of an unofficial version of that.’

“You should get it for her. Being Phoenix was an important part of your life, and you care about her enough to come back here after a couple of years. As a matter of fact--” Kanzou picked up the phoenix plush. “This one is on me! You’re the reason that they sell so well, after all.”

Kanzou would probably keep pushing until he took something for free anyway, and if it made the old man happy, then Dabi would allow it. He followed Kanzou back to the checkout and laid the stuffed animals that he had chosen down on the counter.

“I’ll be right back! Gonna go look at the books really quick.”

“Take your time, kid.”

Dabi did just that, picking up and putting down several picture books that just weren’t quite what he was looking for. After about ten minutes of reading summaries and flipping through the pages --too many children’s books involved quirks now, and given how Overhaul was about them, Dabi didn’t want to risk upsetting Eri more than helping her-- Dabi found something.

It was a story about a young bull who was different from everyone around him, preferring to rest and enjoy the flowers instead of play fighting like all the other bulls. The bull grew up happy to be himself, and because he grew up to be a big, strong bull, people tried to make him fight. But he refused to, no matter what others tried to make him do, and he was happier for it in the end.

Eri needed someone to tell her that it would be okay for her to be herself. and Dabi couldn’t be sure that a bunch of heroes wouldn’t encourage Eri to do something involving using her quirk for the greater good. They’d be far kinder about it than the Commission, but Dabi didn’t want Eri to feel like she owed the world something just because she was born.

‘She’s a smart kid, and even if the moral of the story goes over her head, then I doubt it will go over the head of anyone who might read it to her. The Story of Ferdinand it is, then.’

Dabi rejoined Kanzou at the register, gently laying the book down on the counter next to the stuffed animals.

“You got everything you need, kid?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I think she’ll like these.”

“Then I’m glad.” Kanzou scanned everything except for the phoenix plush, which he just detagged and added to the bag, before punching something in and saying: “That’ll be six thousand yen.”

Dabi squinted at him. “I know for a fact that it shouldn’t be that cheap.”

“For you it is.”

“Kanzou, you’re already giving me one of them for free. Just let me--”

“I became a grandfather last year, you know?”

Dabi blinked at the abrupt shift in conversation. He soldiered on. “Really? Congratulations.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a granddaughter now. A granddaughter who wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t saved my stupid boy from that punk five years back. Take the damn discount, Dabi.”

And really, Dabi couldn’t argue with that.

He checked out, stopped in a corner store to get a humidifier for Spinner, and went back to the base.

Spinner was happy to not have to suffer through shedding without help, and Dabi was happy to get back and lay down for a moment. He sat the stuffed moth aside for later and put everything that he’d bought for Eri in a reusable, fabric gift bag that he’d bought at the same place he got the humidifier.

‘I haven’t forgotten about you, kid. I hope you can forgive me for not bringing this to you in person.’

-

Dabi leaned up against one of the thousands of plum trees that surrounded the Tenmangu Shrine, fidgeting with one of the soft, red straps on Eri’s gift bag. He checked his burner phone.

‘It’s already 1:15. Weird for the bird to show up late.’

He should probably feel more bothered by that, but he was just curious. ‘Seriously, Hawks has been punctual to a fault so far. There’s a reason why I show up early and make sure he can’t set up an ambush for me. What could be keeping him?’

As if that thought had summoned him, Hawks finally touched down in front of the shrine, turning this way and that until he saw Dabi and jogged over to him. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. Got called in for a domestic disturbance. Took a while to make sure that the husband got questioned.”

Dabi waved him off with a sigh. “You’re fine, birdie. I wouldn’t want you to ignore shit like that anyway, especially not for something like this. Just don’t make a habit of it.”

He watched as Hawks’ literally ruffled feathers smoothed down, humming softly. ‘Not as practiced with shielding his wings’ reactions, maybe? If I can learn how to read the body language that comes with them, then I might get a better idea of how he’s actually feeling.’

“I won’t.” Hawks tilted his head as his eyes focused on the bag Dabi was holding. “That’s not gonna be easy to sneak in, you know.”

Dabi cocked an eyebrow. “Who said anything about sneaking it in? It’s not anything you’ll have to hide from them; just don’t tell them it was from me. I want you to tell Eri if you get the chance, I don’t want her to think that I just forgot about her, but no one else needs to know.”

“What did you get her?”

Dabi passed the bag over to Hawks. “You can look through it if you want. You’ll be holding on to it for a while, so I expected you to search it anyway.”

Hawks gave him a long look, almost like he was looking for some sort of trap, before he started carefully pulling things out of the bag. The hero looked progressively more thunderstruck with each item that he saw.

“Why? Why would you go so out of your way for a few toys and a book?”

“Not everything has to have some ulterior motive, hero.”

“Come on, that’s not what I meant. I just… want to understand, I guess. What difference does giving her these things make?”

Dabi sighed. He was hesitant to give Hawks any ammunition against him, but the genuine emotion in his voice told Dabi that this was a question that Takami wanted the answer to, not Hawks. 

‘I’ll never get anywhere with him if I don’t open up a bit.’

“In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t make much of a difference. It doesn’t have to.” Dabi looked up through the plum blossoms, seeing hints of the stars shining through the treetops. “People get so focused on the big picture sometimes that they forget to look at the little things. Eri is just a kid, and she’s only ever known pain and suffering. Maybe a few little things won’t make much of a difference, but… I don’t doubt that UA is taking care of her, but young kids have different needs than teenagers, especially traumatized ones.”

Dabi looked Hawks in the eye. “Are they doing more than feeding and clothing her? Are they encouraging her to work through her emotions in a healthy way? Are they allowing her to establish boundaries? Does she have anything of her own to cling to while she fears that everyone around her will get rid of her the first time that she makes a mistake?”

Hawks looked stricken. Dabi looked back up to the sky, and his next words were barely above a whisper. “I’m doing this because I have hope that she’ll smile again, one day. If I can play even the tiniest part in that, then I’ll have helped her along the road to recovery, and what more could I ask for than that? I don’t have to change the entire world to change her life.”

“You… you are nothing like people think you are.”

Dabi chuckled. “Maybe not how most people see me, no, but the people who matter know better. That number is probably greater than you think it is.”

The League, Natsuo, Kanzou, and all the kids that he had extended a kind hand to, Eri and Aomi included, flashed through his mind. Dabi hadn’t been truly alone in a long time, and he found it ironic that he had more support on the streets, for all the hell that he endured while he was first learning to navigate them, than he ever did from the home he was born into or the society that claimed to protect them all.

“But I don’t mind what people think of me. They’ve looked at me and thought I was a monster long before I ever did something to deserve being called that. If I can help even one person, then I’ve made a difference; why should I care about how they look at me for stepping in when no one else would?”

Hawks had finally managed to school his expression again, and Dabi tried not to tense as one of his wings wrapped around Dabi’s shoulder. The hero pulled his jacket up to cover his mouth, and Dabi watched as his breath puffed out into the cold air surrounding them.

“You sound kinda like a hero, you know?”

‘Someone’s fishing. Back to business as usual then.’

Dabi gave Hawks a wry smile. “No, I really don’t. A hero would say that they want to save as many people as possible. It’s not about valuing the life of a person and what only they can bring to the world for them. Heroes don’t have to think about why they’re doing what they do; they only care about being able to go home and say they did something to better the world when all they’re really doing is upholding the status quo. Nothing changes, more people are shoved into villainy, and the cycle continues.”

“... A vigilante then.”

“I was one, once.”

“What happened to you?” Hawks’ voice quivered. It sounded a little bit curious, a little bit weary, and a lot sad.

“Can only straddle the line for so long. I decided that I cared more about changing future lives than I did about continuing to live my own,” Dabi whispered it like the secret that it was, and Hawks went silent after that.

They stood there for a few moments longer, and Dabi felt the way that Hawks trembled as he stepped away from him. 

“I’ll get it to her. I’ll make sure that she knows too.”

“Thank you.”

Hawks’ head bobbed in a quick nod before he took off. Dabi watched as his wings became a distant spot of red on the horizon with a small, growing smile on his face.

‘You’re already sounding awfully invested in me, hero. You’re either a better actor than I expected, or this’ll be easier than I thought it would be.’

A small part of Dabi hated himself for how pragmatic he’d become, but he shook it off and refocused.

‘It’s not necessarily a bad thing. The way he’s acting definitely indicates that he’s having doubts, and I’m only offering him a way out if he wants it. I just have to make him understand that he has that choice.’

Dabi wasn’t a hero. He didn’t want to rush in and save Keigo Takami, but that was because he knew that someone couldn’t truly be saved if they didn’t want to be. They had to take the first step. Dabi just wanted to help Hawks get there.

‘Even if he didn’t want to join for real, I wouldn’t kill him, for all that I've joked about it. I’ve spared far worse people. I’d only defend myself if he struck first. He’s a good person and a good hero, one that cares. He’ll make a good number one if he doesn’t let the Commission control him.’

His left hand fiddled with the mic in his jacket, flipping it on. 

“Kurogiri.”

Dabi stepped through a shadowy portal in high spirits, and he slept like a rock that night. He contentedly snuggled with his stuffed sea bunny as he dreamed of a better future.

-

Hawks had slept like shit. It felt like everything had been turned upside down lately, and he didn’t like it one bit. He had always been good at following orders and jumping through hoops. Hawks had made a mistake by assuming that infiltrating the League was just going to be more of the same. 

He looked over to the red bag that he had brought home last night and wondered why Dabi couldn’t act anything like he had expected. ‘I mean honestly, what kind of dude can casually kill a hero one day and then go out of his way to buy presents to make a kid happy the next?’ Hawks tried not to think about the fact that he had been sent on snuff missions before --he hadn’t even questioned them, sure that the commission had their reasons-- and carried on as normal afterward.

Hawks usually hated that he only had one day off a week, but right now he wanted nothing more than to be able to drown out his thoughts by patrolling. He couldn’t get them to stop. ‘He was right, wasn’t he? I never even thought about why I was doing it; I just did.’ He smacked both of his cheeks.

‘Snap out of it. He’s just messing with your head.’ Except Hawks knew that Dabi wasn’t lying to him. He genuinely believed in what he was saying, even if some of it was flawed. ‘All of it is flawed. You can’t afford to sympathize with a villain, Hawks.’

But he did. He hated that he did, but he wanted to find whoever had turned the Dabi who liked stargazing, flowers, and making kids smile into the Dabi who burned down an entire forest, kidnapped a hero hopeful, and turned Snatch’s body to glass and destroy them for ruining someone who cared so much.

‘And where the fuck is that surge of protectiveness coming from?’

Dabi was an A-rank villain; it wasn’t like he needed Hawks’ protection. ‘But they’ll kill him. He won’t go down without a fight, and they’ll kill him.’ 

Going into this mission, Hawks had known that there were going to be casualties. Heroes were probably going to die. Villains were probably going to die. ‘So why does the thought of Dabi being one of those people bother me so much?’

Maybe it was because he knew that they’d only see the end of a monster, not the end of someone who had already proven to be more understanding about his mistakes than the Commission. ‘Stop. That line of thinking will only earn you retraining.’ 

Hawks silenced the small voice that reminded him that the last time he was retrained it was because he was five minutes late to a mission debriefing, and wasn’t it strange that a villain had waited three times that long without getting angry? Dabi had even told him that it was fine if it happened again, while the Commission always demanded that he never repeat a mistake. ‘Shut up.’

He desperately needed a distraction. Hawks grabbed his phone --not the burner that Dabi gave him, his personal phone-- and shot a message to one of the only numbers he had in it.

Yo!

You on patrol?

Thankfully, it seemed like Rumi was able to provide the distraction he needed.

Nope

You actually free?

For once!

Wanna hang out?

Your place? Mine? Out?

Yours

If that’s ok!

I’m faster than a train

See you in 30 then

Hawks got ready in record time --which was saying something, considering who he was-- and took off from the balcony outside of his apartment, locking the door behind him with his key clasped in one of his feathers. He couldn’t sit around in that near-empty, impersonal apartment, ‘fake, just like the rest of you’, and pretend that he didn’t know that the place was bugged from top to bottom while he was having a crisis of conscience like this.

‘Rumi’s the straightforward type; at least I won’t have to wonder about motives behind motives with her. I just need someone to help me get my head back on straight.’ Hawks would never question why undercover operatives needed a team ever again. He understood why the Commission wanted to keep as few people in the know as possible, but if he had been training for this for almost his entire life and still couldn’t take it before even a month had passed, then no one could be expected to. 

Hawks sighed and sped up, straining his wings more than was probably wise. He didn’t care if he was sore tomorrow; Hawks just wanted to get this dealt with so that things could go back to normal. ‘Do you really?’

When he landed on Rumi’s balcony, Hawks focused solely on smoothing down his feathers for a few moments before lightly knocking on the glass door. Despite everything, Hawks felt a genuine smile grow across his face as Rumi rushed over to the door and unlocked it with a feral grin on her face.

“Hey, nice to see ya! At least you didn’t walk straight into the door this time.”

“That was one time Rumi, once!” This was exactly why Hawks had wanted to spend time with Rumi. Bantering with her was safe and easy, and it was fine for Hawks to enjoy doing these things with her. ‘Just not with Dabi.’

She smirked at him. “It was funny as shit though, and I’m not gonna let you forget about it.” 

“This is bullying Rumi, bullying! And you wonder why I don’t come around more often.” Rumi snorted before waving him in, closing the door behind them both.

“Yeah, yeah, you wouldn’t be here if it actually bothered you.” Rumi wasn’t subtle about looking him up and down, eyebrows furrowing at something that she saw. 

“Not that I don’t love spending time with you, but this was kinda sudden and you look… Are you okay Hawks? If you need me to beat someone up for you, then just say the word!” She grinned as she pounded her fists together, and Hawks briefly thought about how a fight between her and Dabi could go.

‘It’d depend on how close she got to him, I guess. He’s dangerous at a range but… Rumi is an exceptional fighter, and Dabi is barely held together.’ Not that it mattered. The Commission wanted information on the League, and Dabi was way more amiable than he had expected him to be. 

‘I can’t waste time by switching to someone else, and the League wouldn’t give me shit if I get Dabi caught.’ Hawks forced a laugh and waved her off.

“Nah, I’m just busy, even outside of patrol. You know me; I never really stop.”

Rumi gave him a solemn nod. “Ah, the evil of paperwork. Truly, a hero’s worst enemy.” Hawks laughed, a genuine one this time, before deciding to play along with it.

“Yeah, you can’t beat up a bunch of forms.”

“I could shred them!”

“Rumi, no--”

“Rumi yes!”

They kept joking around for a while, but Rumi wasn’t the number five hero for nothing. She had a glint to her eye that told Hawks that she wasn’t going to just let this go.

“Seriously though, this looks like more than paperwork stuff. You know that you have secretaries, right?”

“This is something that I have to do myself.”

Rumi huffed at him and rolled her eyes. “You think that you have to do everything yourself. Will you at least talk about it? It’s obviously eating at you.”

“I don’t know how much I can talk about,” Hawks said, entirely too honestly. Rumi only looked more concerned now. ‘Backtrack, try that again.’

“I just mean that it’s kind of personal. But I’ve been fixating on it and can’t figure out what to do.”

“Lay it on me, birdbrain. Not like I’ll go around telling anybody.”

Hawks was about to refuse, it wasn’t like he could tell her about such a highly classified mission; there were protocols to follow, but then he stopped for a moment. He considered it. ‘The mission is going to be in danger anyway if I can’t figure this out. I can’t tell her about the mission, but if I hint around things and avoid details, then I could at least get someone else’s perspective on what Dabi’s deal is.’

He would just have to take the risk. Hawks couldn’t afford for this to get back to the Commission, and his performance would be affected by this if he let it fester. Slowly, he started to talk.

“I met someone recently, and I can’t make heads or tails of him.”

Rumi straightened up with gleaming eyes. “Oh? Are you having boy troubles!? Is that what this is?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Rumi didn’t look like she believed him, but he carried on. “Anyways, I thought that he’d be the type to get a kick out of being intimidating, the kind of intimidating that verges right over into terrifying, but he hasn’t acted like that around me at all, not really.”

“So you misread him; that happens to everyone at some point.”

“The thing is, I know that he’s acted like that around other people. It’s throwing me off.”

“People can act differently around different friends and still be the same person, you know? Maybe he just likes you enough to drop the posturing. Maybe it’s a trust thing. Does he seem like the defensive type?”

Hawks nodded. “Definitely. I’m sure about that one. I don’t know why he’d trust me though.”

Rumi cocked an eyebrow at him. “You’re the number two hero, birdbrain.”

‘That’s all the more reason for him not to trust me in this case.’ Hawks shook his head with a sigh. “I get the impression that he’s not very fond of heroes, so that’s not it.”

“Hm… Alright, let’s walk through this then. Tell me about this guy.”

“We’ve mostly talked through texts, but we have met up a few times. It was just random chance that we ran into each other at first--” Hawks couldn’t exactly tell her that he had been searching for Dabi, not in this context. “--but he surprised me in a good way. He seems to be a pretty good judge of character, and I probably wouldn’t have made the arrest that I did if he hadn’t pointed the guy out to me.”

“So he’s observant then. Do you think he’s noticed you acting weird around him?”

Hawks groaned. “Yeah, probably. He has a way of surprising me that just… catches me off guard every time.”

“How so?”

“The first time we met up on purpose, he was petting a stray cat and talking to her with this gentle tone, and you never would’ve guessed that she was wild at all for how content she was to be held by him. And the next time! Like, this guy seems really big on personal space, you know? But I was whining about being cold, and he didn’t try to keep me out of his bubble afterward.”

“It takes a special brand of patience to deal with your bitching.”

“Oi, I resent that.”

“You know that it’s true! Anyway, continue.” Hawks rolled his eyes and ignored her snickering.

“As I was saying, he was being surprisingly chill about it. I tried it again the next time, without even mentioning how cold it was, and he didn’t even play at protesting. He’s good with kids too. Ugh, it’s not fair. He cares about people, and he cares about them way more than I thought he would, especially given… He’s been hurt by somebody; I know that for a fact. I don’t know who or when, but I know that it was bad. And the thought of that pisses me off. He didn’t deserve any of that shit.”

Even if Dabi was a villain now, Hawks knew that he hadn't started off that way. There wasn’t much of a paper trail to the name Dabi, and what little of it existed was scarce. ‘He probably went by something else before. I’ll have to dig around.’ 

“So… I’ll revisit my earlier statement. You’re having boy troubles.”

“Rumi, be serious.”

“I am! Think about it for a second. You’ve been talking this guy up to me this whole time. You calling someone observant is a big compliment, and you keep going on and on about how gentle this dude is. I mean, you’re literally talking kittens and babies here, birdbrain.”

“A fully-grown cat and children--”

“That’s beside the point. Hawks, you’re getting angry at some vague concept of a person just because they hurt him.”

‘Because of what they turned him into.’ But he knew that wasn’t the only reason, even if it was part of it. Hawks was a good liar, but he was quickly learning that he wasn’t very good at lying to himself.

“He’s not a good person, Rumi.” The protest sounded weak to his own ears.

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“I know that he’s hurt people. I know that he’d do it again if he needed to.”

“Most of us have hurt people, Hawks. That’s part of being human. Do you think that he’d hurt you? Has he crossed a line that you can't forgive?"

Hawks thought about late-night meetings, about the way that Dabi had instantly forgiven Hawks for being late just because he was helping someone else, and about the way that Dabi had looked at him on the night that he was talking about child soldiers. It was like he knew. The sad, reaching look in his eyes said that he knew something that the Commission had made sure no one could ever know.

“... No, I don’t. And he hasn't done anything worse than some of what I've done.” And somehow, that realization terrified Hawks more than the thought of Dabi killing him for his treachery.

“Then I don’t see any reason that you can’t see how it goes. You like him, Hawks, or you at least care enough about him to get upset on his behalf. There might be something worth exploring there.”

‘You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew who he was.’ But the more Hawks thought about it, the more that he realized Rumi was right. 

He thought about the way that Dabi always looked to the stars like he was searching for something in them. He thought about the way that Dabi’s eyes lingered on flowers like they were something precious, taking care to avoid stepping on them when most people wouldn’t have bothered. He thought about the fact that Dabi wanted to reassure Eri in a way that no one else had realized she might need. He thought about the fact that he felt safe around Dabi in a way that he never really did unless he was spending time with Rumi. And most damningly of all, when he thought about bright blue eyes and a body that had a tragedy written all over it, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that Dabi was beautiful.

‘Fuck. I do like him. Okay, okay Dabi’s just a special case, that’s all. It’s just because he used to be a vigilante; there’s something in him that can be saved. I can still take down the League from within it; I just have to figure out a way to get him arrested and not killed. I can work with this.’

Hawks would figure it out. He always did.

Chapter Text

The next day, Hawks scoured the internet for any mentions of vigilantes that wielded blue fire after his patrol. Nothing came up. He searched for any mention of blue fire users after that. Unsurprisingly, all the top results were about Dabi and the League, but Hawks found something that caught his attention a few pages into the search results.

‘A factory fire?’ He clicked on the article. 

The picture attached to it showcased the same bright blue flames that Hawks had come to associate with Dabi, and while there were a lot of fire-related quirks out there, that particular color was something that he hadn’t seen anyone but Dabi use.

The abandoned factory had gone up in flames over two years ago. It had apparently been the base of operations for a human trafficking ring. The Sound Hero: Vibration perished in the fire, but the one who killed him supposedly died taking him down, ending the trafficking ring once and for all without the head of operations to reorganize the group. The other members had been found by firefighters who put out the blaze, alive but severely burnt, and they were locked away for life.

‘Why was Dabi there? He cares too much about kids to be involved in an operation like that.’

The journalist went on to report that a few dozen children had escaped with their lives, but that the ring had been a long-time operation that was only discovered years after it started. The death toll was in the hundreds, and there were still kids who had been sold out there, waiting to be found. Vibration had been investigating leads for that particular trafficking ring for over a year before he’d died, and something about that struck Hawks as odd. 

‘How did he not find anything for that long? It’d be one thing if they were being careful about it, but the sheer number of people they grabbed in a relatively small area… And most of them were young. People were looking for them.’ 

Hawks deliberated over it for a moment before deciding to log into his hero account on the Commission’s database. He could explain this away as something he had to do for the sake of the mission, for the sake of understanding his contact and how to manipulate him, so he wasn’t too worried about what the Commission would think of him looking into a closed case with his free time.

He dug into Vibration’s file, searching for any sort of discrepancies, but he couldn’t find anything. ‘If I didn’t know Dabi any better, then I’d just assume that he barely survived the fire and joined up with the League later, but there’s no way that’s all there is to this.’ 

He needed to try another angle. Instead of looking into Vibration himself, Hawks scrolled through all the reports involved with the case, smirking as he finally found a lead.

‘They can’t publish the names of the minors involved, but they’re still on the file.’ There was a list of children who had found their way home to their various cities in Kyushu, and something about that screamed cover up to Hawks. 

‘Forty-six kids getting home all by themselves without anyone noticing? There’s no way. They lived all over the island, and some of them were only three or four at the time. And there’s a pattern too. Certain areas had all the kids get there at roughly the same time, but some places that would’ve taken less time for the kids to get to didn’t have any of them get home until after kids who had to go farther away. They were being guarded and guided. Dabi, what the fuck did you do? How did you pull this off?’

Hawks sighed as he clicked on the file that the Commission had on the first kid listed on the file. They were all listed in alphabetical order, and Hawks was planning to go straight down the list until he found the answers he was looking for.

He stared into the pitch black, compound eyes of a pink kid with yellow antennae and fuzzy pink and yellow wings. They had been seven years old when Dabi burned that factory down, had recently turned ten, and was also listed as the child --because they had the gender-neutral X on their ID as of four months ago-- of a man with a fuzzy antenna mutation and a man with a bat wing mutation.

‘Guess I’ll be talking to you, or at least your parents, first, Aomi Adachi.’

-

As he flew into Itoshima the next evening, Hawks found himself grateful that he didn’t have to fly very far from his typical patrol area. ‘I’m glad that the Adachis agreed to talk to me, but I didn’t expect them to want to meet so soon. I don’t need to exhaust myself before tomorrow.’

The fact that Hawks was expected to talk to both classes of UA’s first years --about heroism and morality, of all things-- was something for him to worry about later. He couldn’t let that potential disaster prevent him from getting information that might help him solve the puzzle that was Dabi. ‘Besides, while I know that the Commission would want me to say that heroes can do no wrong as long as they put an end to the evil that all villains supposedly are, that wouldn’t fly at UA. There’s no way such an independently-operated school subscribes to the ends justifies the means philosophy that I never questioned until recently. It’s not like Nezu will tell the Commission what I say, he seems to delight in keeping them in the dark, so I just need to focus on making Eraserhead trust me enough that he’ll let me see Eri.’

That was easier said than done, but Hawks could only do so much at once. He would worry more about UA tomorrow and adjust based on how the kids and Eraserhead reacted to what he said.

It was too cold and too late for anyone to be out on the beaches in Itoshima right now, so Hawks landed on the sand and took his time shaking out his feathers, knocking loose any grit that had flown up into them.

He took his time walking toward the residential district that the Adachis had told him to go to, smiling and waving to any fans that took advantage of him being on the ground. Several came up and asked him for pictures or autographs and he obliged them all because it would seem weirder for him not to. ‘This is why I got here early.’

After finally escaping the crowd and shaking off anyone bold enough to try following him, Hawks found himself standing outside of an apartment building that had clearly seen better days. It was one of the older buildings in the area, and even without the enhanced vision that came with his quirk, Hawks knew that he’d be able to see the cracks in the foundation of it. 

He studied the rusty staircase that looked one wrong step away from collapsing and elected to fly up to the third floor instead. When he stood outside the door to unit 304, Hawks rapped his knuckles against the door, feathers shifting as he listened to the shuffling of someone coming to let him in.

‘The walls are thin too.’ Hawks felt bad admitting that he typically avoided places like this, but they always felt too similar to where he grew up. It always made his skin crawl.

‘The Commission is better than living like that, at least. It makes sense that there’d be a price to pay for them lifting me out of that place.’ That didn’t mean that he liked it, but he could rationalize why things were the way that they were now. That was enough for him.

Kanta Adachi, the one with the antennae, was the one to open the door. “Hello, Hawks. Please, come in.”

“Thank you for having me Adachi-san.” Hawks walked in after him, eyes quickly flicking over the living room. ‘This place is obviously lived in, but it’s in better condition than the outside would suggest, at least. No mold or infestations, though I can feel that a mouse is scuttling around in the wall somewhere.’ He was just glad that there weren’t any beer bottles laying around. Hawks avoided alcohol for a reason, and only half of it was because he was a lightweight.

“It was no trouble. I’m surprised that anyone is even looking into that old case anymore.”

There was a clear question there, and Hawks didn’t mind answering this one. “I just had some free time and stumbled across it, really. Thought that it seemed weird. Are any of the others going to join us, or do you want to talk without them?”

Adachi gave him a considering look before calling out “Aomi, our guest is here!” and turning back to him. He could hear an excited squeal and the thump from the kid jumping up out of something, probably a bed or chair as they ran out to the living room.

“I hope the two of us will suffice? Ryouya works the night shift, I’m afraid.”

Hawks chuckled as a blur of pink finally joined them with their wings vibrating in excitement. His own fluttered a bit in response. “That’ll be fine! Just remember that little Adachi can leave at any point if they get uncomfortable, and if you want me to go or come back later because it becomes too much, then I can.” 

It would make his investigation more difficult, but this wasn’t in any official capacity. He had time, and Hawks had the feeling that Dabi would be pissed if he found out that he got pushy with one of the kids that he had probably saved before.

The little Adachi just laughed. “You can call me Aomi! I’m proud of my name. I chose it, ya know?”

“Alright then Aomi.” Hawks smiled, looking over to Adachi and continuing after he got a nod from him. “I wanted to talk with you about the factory if that’s okay with you.”

They blinked before nodding. "Sure. I dunno much about the factory, though. Sorry. Was only there for a few weeks. Do you know the others? Some were there a long time.”

“Yeah, I do. I just haven’t talked to them yet. But that’s okay, I mostly wanna know about how you all got out.”

Hawks was surprised by the way that Aomi’s face lit up, and their father’s face morphed from panic to resignation so quickly that it almost gave Hawks whiplash. “Are you a friend of the light-bringer!?”

He almost laughed. ‘Someone’s got a fan, huh Dabi?’ Hawks allowed himself to pause for just long enough to seem caught off guard before saying “Something like that.”

Adachi gave him a grateful look, and Hawks was glad that the man seemed to think that he was just humoring Aomi. ‘That’ll make this all easier.’

“Tell him hi for me! Light-bringer and his friends came in to save us. The man with speaker hands tried to come get us back, but light-bringer made his friends take us and run. He turned the factory a super pretty blue and came out a bit burnt but okay! The man with speaker hands left us alone after that and they all took us home.”

“It sounds like he really helped you, huh?” Adachi looked over to Hawks, surprised, who continued. “Vibration’s actions didn’t make sense, Adachi-san. I wasn’t tracking down…” His eyes flickered over to Aomi. “... the light-bringer. I just wanted to know what actually happened.”

‘Dabi’s disdain for heroes makes plenty of sense after that. No wonder he doesn’t believe in the system.’ Hawks hesitated before tilting his head at Aomi and asking a question that he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to.

“Who were the light-bringer’s friends, Aomi?”

Their smile wasn’t quite as bright as it was when they were talking about Dabi, but it was obvious that Aomi was fond of whoever they were too. “Magic man, glass lady, and lizard boy!”

‘Fuck! Why do you have to make everything so complicated, Dabi?’

-

Hawks was still trying to figure out what it meant for his plan that at least three other members of the League had been vigilantes at some point, but he put that aside for now as he landed outside of UA’s gate. ‘There’s no way in hell that Nezu wants me here. My best guess is he’s hoping that the Commission will back off about Eri if he lets me, and they will, even if it’s not for the reason he expects. Then again, this is Nezu. He might expect exactly this, for all I know. I should avoid being in the same room as him if at all possible.’ 

He painted on a smile and threw up a peace sign as Eraserhead opened up the gate for him. “Yo! Thanks Eraser; I’m happy to be here!”

Eraserhead looked like he regretted being alive at that moment, and he took a long sip from the steaming thermos in his hand before glaring at him. He looked down at the gift bag that Hawks was carrying with a cocked eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

“Oh, just something for Eri! Thought she might like to have a few little things to call her own, you know? Since I was going to be here anyway…”

Eraserhead definitely thought that the Commission was trying to pull a fast one with that; it was written all over his face. Hawks softened his smile a bit.

“We can talk about that later though. Don’t wanna be late, do we?

“Come on then, let’s get this over with,” Eraserhead sighed.

Hawks laughed it off and just followed Eraserhead inside, not wanting to try the man’s patience too much when he still needed to ask a favor of him. Once they got inside the school itself, Hawks turned to Eraserhead with a tilted head and a grin.

“Was there anything in particular that you wanted me to get across to them while I’m here? I have an idea of what I want to stay, but they’ve been through a lot for first years and you know them best. You’re their teacher; you probably know what kind of things they need to hear right now.” It was funny to think that he wouldn’t have thought to ask that sort of thing if Dabi hadn’t made him realize how out of his depth he was with the needs of children.

Eraserhead gave him a considering look, and Hawks felt like he had just passed some sort of hidden test. He never seemed to pass the tests that the commission sprung on him, so this felt like a nice change of pace.

“Might be better than I thought,” Eraserhead grunted. He stopped him outside of 1-A’s classroom, and Hawks tried not to fidget under the weight of his gaze. His wings still puffed out a bit. 

“Honestly, they need to hear that not every villain is a Shigaraki.” Hawks blinked. “They’ve had to fight for their life entirely too soon, and it might shape how they treat those that they arrest in the future. I know that limelights don’t often subscribe to that sort of thinking, but sometimes letting little fish go for the sake of catching a bigger threat is the best option. If they start fighting every mugger and purse-snatcher like they’re a lethal threat, then they’re eventually going to wind up doing something that they regret.”

Hawks smiled; it was more genuine this time. “Sounds like that’ll mesh well with what I wanted to tell them, then. That’s good to know; thanks Eraser!”

“I’ll take the bag so that it doesn’t distract them.”

‘He is definitely going to search that.’ There was nothing for it. Hawks handed the bag over, shooting finger guns at Eraserhead after he took it. “Sounds like a plan! You not staying for this?”

“Don’t need to. Have fun wrangling them.” Eraserhead walked off, and Hawks laughed nervously as he turned to face the classroom. ‘Right. Nezu has cameras all throughout this place; they don’t have to watch me in the room. Well, guess it’s showtime!’

He opened the door. There was an immediate outcry, and he carefully kept himself from flinching at the sudden volume. ‘Did no one tell them I was coming?’

“Hawks-san?” Tokoyami’s tone told him that no, they very much didn’t tell any of them that he was coming, and Hawks wished that he was surprised that Eraserhead would pull something like this.

“Hello fledgling! Hello 1-A! I’m gonna be taking over your study hall today.” The excited chatter started up again after that, and Hawks was just going to let them get it out of their systems, but little Iida was having none of it.

“Show some respect! The number two hero took time out of his day to talk to us, so behave befittingly of UA students and don’t waste his time!” Little Iida's arm chopped down repeatedly in a motion that made Hawks’ feathers stand on end, but he shoved that in a box to deal with later. 

Midoriya’s hand went up. His eyes were gleaming as he nearly vibrated out of his chair, and Hawks pointed at him with a practiced smile.

“What you got for me?”

“What are we doing today, Hawks-san?”

Hawks clapped his hands together with a grin. “Right! Today we’re talking about morality in heroism. Specifically, we’re going to go over some of the dos and don’ts of the trade and understanding how villains behave. Sorry that this is a bit apprehension hero heavy, but these things are still useful for rescue, underground, and informatics-based heroes to know.”

Most of the eyes in the room went blank at that, but Midoriya started muttering some surprisingly nuanced understanding of the subject under his breath. Hawks forced a laugh while mentally noting that he should keep the Commission far away from him. ‘With a quirk like his and a brain like that? I don’t want to see what they’d do.’

“I know it’s a bit much, so we’ll break it down simply at first! What do you think makes someone a villain?”

“Breaking the law!” Hawks turned to Kaminari before crossing his arms in an x. 

“Nope! That just makes them a criminal. If breaking the law was all it took, then I doubt any of you would be here.” 

“Hah?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Little Iida looked horrified by Bakugo’s outburst, but Hawks liked his spunk; it reminded him of Rumi. His laugh came naturally this time.

“I won’t ask you to do a show of hands here, but how many of you have ever jaywalked? Pirated games or music? Took the trash out the night before collector trucks came by because you didn’t want to wake up early? Those are all against the law, you know?”

“What?!” Hawks didn’t bother to pinpoint who all had shouted that shocked question and who hadn’t; his point had been made.

“Exactly. Most of those laws aren’t taken too seriously, but that’s the point. Different laws have different weights to them, so criminals have to meet specific criteria to be called a villain. Does anyone know what those are?”

Yaoyorozu raised her hand from the back of the room. 

“Go ahead!”

“Villains are defined as criminals who use their quirks with the intention to cause harm to other people’s lives or wellbeing, though there are often arguments made for villains who target society as a whole as well, even through non-violent means, since they hurt a great number of individuals that way. It’s just less directly.”

‘She’s a smart one, huh? Or at least has a very good memory.’ Hawks hummed. “Good job! That’s exactly what makes a villain a villain, at least as far as the law is concerned.”

“What do you mean by that, Hawks-san?”

‘Hmm… What’s the best way to explain this?’

“Even within the system, villains are treated differently based on a few factors. You all know about the villain ranking system, right?” He got a bunch of nods. “Well, like all systems, it’s a flawed one. Villains are ranked based on the threat level they pose to society, but typically that just boils down to quirk power levels. Some people get listed way up in the ranks just because their quirk scares people, even for fairly minor offenses, while others who have less stereotypically powerful quirks stay low, even for much larger infractions. Sometimes villain ranks will adjust accordingly, but that’s not especially common.”

“That sounds like quirk discrimination. That’s super unmanly!” Hawks looked over to Kirishima and nodded.

“Quite frankly, it is. We can look at some of the discrepancies in the League of Villains’ rankings for examples of that. They all have almost the same charges waiting for them, but they have everything from C-rank villains to S-rank villains as members. Mustard is only a C-rank villain even though his quirk is powerful enough to knock out hundreds of people if they were close enough to him. The fact that he has to wear a mask to use it lowers his threat level a little bit, but even gas that isn’t immediately lethal can have disastrous consequences. Let’s say that he puts an entire building’s worth of people asleep before starting a fire or setting off an explosion. Everyone in the area would be helpless without the anti-toxin to end his quirk’s effects.”

He got appropriately horrified looks after saying that, even from the more stubborn students. “On the other hand, Twice is an S-rank villain despite not being a particularly powerful fighter in his own right. It’s likely that his ability to create clones of S-rank villains is what earned him that ranking, but I still believe that he should be an A-rank instead, considering that his clones are notably less durable than the originals. He appears unable or unwilling to clone himself like he used to before getting involved with the League, so basing his ranking off of that is counterproductive.”

“The shadows distort the truth of things…” It had taken him time to get used to it, but Hawks had learned to decipher the meaning, or at least the gist, of what Tokoyami was saying.

“That they do, fledgling; that they do. For those of you wondering why villain rankings matter, keep in mind that those ranks are public information. Civilians are less likely to view villains with a lower rank as a threat, and the smart lower-ranking villains will take ruthless advantage of being underestimated like that. On the other hand, villains with higher rankings are more likely to be pushed further into villainy because they see no way out, especially in cases where a single incident results in a high rank. The worst fears of the HPSC become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Hawks rubbed at the back of his neck with a wry laugh.

Bakugo gave him a considering look before huffing and raising his hand. “Yes, Bakugo?”

“What do you think makes a villain then, huh?”

‘His tone is still abrasive, but he genuinely wants to know. What was the League like when you were with them, Bakugo? If I could get away with asking you…’

“Alright, alright, I’ll get to the point. To me… a villain is someone who enjoys hurting others, who goes out of their way to do it, and who chooses to keep doing it even if they have other options. Truly evil people are few and far in between; most people that are called villains are desperate, hurting people who have run out of options or at least don’t see any other way. That doesn’t excuse what they do, but it does explain it.”

Hawks cleared his throat as his eyes swept over the entirety of the class, cataloging their reactions. Some were considering, some were angry, and others just looked sad.

“I know that you’ve all had some terrifying experiences far too early into your journey to become heroes, but don’t let them destroy your ability to sympathize with others. Don’t let them twist you like that. Not every villain is a Shigaraki, and if you treat all of them like they are, then one day you’re going to do something that can’t be undone.”

The class was dead silent for several moments. That silence was only broken by the rustling of a uniform as Uraraka raised her hand. Hawks inclined his head, wondering what was running through all of the kids’ minds right now.

“How can you tell? How do you know which villains are the ones who enjoy it and which ones wouldn’t do it if they were given a chance?” Her voice was trembling. It was obvious that she was one of the ones who genuinely cared; the thought of hurting someone for being desperate was painful for her.

Hawks wished that he could give her an easy answer. “Honestly kid? When you’re on the field, it’s next to impossible to tell. People react differently with their lives on the line, but there are a few little things that you can look for. Villains pulling their punches and focusing on evasion, villains who express concern for teammates, and sometimes even villains who will go out of their way to avoid hurting civilians… Those are all indicators, but the best advice I can give you is to watch their eyes. The serious villains are all grim determination and anger; they’re determined not to let anyone or anything get in their way. Those who might not have much choice… they’re usually nervous if not outright afraid. They tend to hesitate before fighting back.”

“Your job will always be to take both types of villains in,” he reminded them. “You just have to remember that they’re people too. Being known for excessive violence will only make villains more likely to fight you like their life depends on it, and it scares civilians too. Just something to keep in mind, yeah?”

There were some quiet murmurs after that, friend groups turning to talk with one another as everything sunk in, but the bell rang before they could ask him any more questions. The students shuffled out of the classroom with waves and thanks, and Hawks could tell that he had at least gotten through to some of them.

‘It could’ve gone worse, I suppose. Now I’ve just gotta do it again with 1-B.’

-

After talking 1-B through a slightly different version of what he told 1-A --the summer camp had been their first real interaction with villains, after all, and Vlad had a different idea of what they needed to hear-- and hanging around until the end of the school day, Hawks was finally able to get the gift bag back from Eraserhead.

“Would you mind if I talked to Eri for a minute? It wouldn’t take long!”

Eraserhead gave him a once-over before grunting. “Want to do that alone, I’m guessing? You upset her and you’re out.”

Hawks nodded seriously before deciding to throw the man a bone. “Thanks Eraser. I won’t lie to you; the Commission wants me to try to get her into a training program.” Eraserhead tensed up and glared at him, and Hawks hurried to continue. “I’m not trying to do that though! They just wouldn’t leave her alone, so I figured that if I could come here and say that I put the thought in her head… She’s just a kid. She deserves to figure out what she wants from life in her own time. This’ll keep them away for her for at least a little while.”

He wouldn’t have realized that without Dabi, and wasn’t that a funny thought? It was the right thing to say, though. Eraserhead nodded and led him to the staff dorms. The two of them paused outside of one of the rooms in Eraserhead’s suite, presumably Eri’s room, and the underground hero hummed as he looked over at him.

“You’re a good kid, Hawks.”

He would deny the squawk that escaped him until his dying breath. “I’m not that much younger than you!”

“Just go talk with Eri,” Eraserhead snorted before walking off, and Hawks sighed as he went to open the door. He paused, remembered what Dabi said about letting her establish boundaries, and knocked on it instead. 

He heard the soft padding of little feet coming to the door --softer than they should have been; it was obvious that she was used to needing to sneak around-- and smiled as red eyes peaked up at him through the small opening.

“Hello…”

“Hi Eri, how are you? Do you mind if I come in?”

The kid hesitated for a bit, uncertain, and he sat down on the floor. “I can stay out here too. I don’t mind.”

“Um… who are you?” She tilted her head at him, and Hawks realized that, right, she had been kept underground and away from heroes her entire life. She probably hadn’t been rushing to catch up when she got out; she was only six.

“Oh, how silly of me! I’m the Wing Hero: Hawks.”

“A hero? Like Aizawa and Deku and Lemillion?” Her voice had steadied out a bit now, more curious than afraid.

“Exactly like that! I was teaching one of Deku’s classes today, and I wanted to stop by and give you something before I left.”

Her eyes flicked over to the gift bag, he was just now realizing that they were the exact same shade of red, before looking back over at him, fidgeting slightly. “You didn’t have to do that…”

“I know, but I wanted to!” He gave her a sunny smile, and the door opened all the way.

“You can come in. Sorry!” He stood up and stepped into the room, careful to keep his voice reassuring.

“No worries, Eri! Here you go.” He sat the gift bag down and gestured for her to go through it, noting that she had left the door open. Hawks wasn’t going to close it either. He subtly sent a feather out to listen for if Eraserhead got too close, glancing around her room.

‘Dabi was right. It’s a little bare. She’s got all the basics, and I see some school stuff so Eraser must be helping her get caught up, but she doesn’t really have anything personal beyond a few kid's books.’

Eri awkwardly looked at the bag for a few moments before reaching into it, eyes widening as she pulled out the stuffed unicorn. “Soft… She’s like me too!” She poked at the horn on the plush with a look of awe, and Hawks couldn’t keep the soft smile off his face. She laid the unicorn on the bed and went back to the bag, much more eagerly this time.

“A bunny! Like Deku’s costume!” Hawks almost snorted at that, but the kid was happy and he could restrain himself. The rabbit joined the unicorn as she pulled out the book next.

“A story? This looks different from the ones that Aizawa reads me sometimes.” Hawks nodded, silently relieved that she still looked happy about it.

“Yeah. There are all sorts of stories out there; figured that it might be nice to hear different ones sometimes.” Eri nodded with a smile before padding over to her little desk and laying it on top of it. She returned to the bag and pulled out the stuffed phoenix last.

“A bird? Like you?”

‘This could be a good way to tell her about who sent this, actually.’

“Not quite,” he chuckled. Eri just looked at him, confused. Hawks still didn’t feel anything from his feather in the hallway so he crouched down and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Can you keep a secret Eri?”

Eri nodded seriously. “I’m good at secrets.”

“I’m not the one who got you these; he just needed me to deliver them.”

“Oh… tell him thank you. Wait--” Eri tilted her head. “--who sent them then?”

“Dabi.” Her eyes went huge at that, shining as a grin spread across her face.

“Really?!”

“Really! Phoenixes are birds with fire powers; I think that’s why he sent that one.” Eri looked at the plush with something akin to reverence, and Hawks smiled as she tugged it closer to her chest, refusing to put it down.

“Aizawa… said that Dabi couldn’t visit me. Is that why it has to be a secret?” 

‘Didn’t tell her that he was a villain, huh? Guess that makes sense. He’s her hero, and she really wouldn’t get it.’ 

“Exactly. He didn’t want to upset Eraserhead, but he wanted to make sure that you knew he was thinking about you too. He just wants you to be happy.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she rubbed them away before they could fall. “I miss him...”

“He misses you too, Eri. He misses you too.”

Hawks felt the vibrations of footsteps near his feather and stood up, smiling down at Eri. “I’ve gotta get going now; I’m sorry.” He moved to leave the room, not wanting to overstay his welcome, but a little hand clutched onto his jacket.

“Wait… will you come back?”

Hawks knew that she just wanted to hear more about Dabi, but that didn’t stop him from saying, “As long as Eraserhead lets me,” and meaning it. 

-

Dabi looked down from the news that he, Eria, and Mr. Compress were watching when one of his new burners buzzed. He had cycled through all of his numbers and wasn’t willing to chance Hawks finding their base through him, so he wound up texting him from a new phone at least once a week, sometimes more than that. 

‘I’m just glad that Giran lets me get them in bulk. Easier than having to explain to someone else why I go through so many of these things.’

He pulled out his phone when it buzzed again.

Package delivered!

Told her too

Good job

She like it?

Loved it!

Eraser likes me

I think?

He’s hard to read

But he said I could come back!

Dabi would deny that the thought of Hawks checking back in on Eri for him made him feel all sorts of warm and happy, but it showed on his face if the look that Eria gave him said anything.

Thank you

Means a lot

His phone buzzed again, but he ignored it when he overheard what the reporter that had just been handed the mic was talking about.

“--the fourth in a string of alleyway murders in the Kansai prefecture where the victims are burned beyond recognition. IDing the bodies was only possible due to dental records. Currently, our suspect is the League of Villains member, Dabi, and citizens are warned to be on the lookout for him and any League members in the area. Back to you--”

Dabi clenched his teeth as he steamed a little, taking a few deep breaths until his quirk was back under control. 

“What are you going to do Dabi? This… this doesn’t look good for us. We don’t need an excuse for people to turn against you.”

“I know, Eria. I know,” Dabi groaned, resting his head in his hands. His phone buzzed again, and he got an idea.

Happy to help!

Need anything else?

You’ve earned some trust so

Katsuyama park, Kitakyushu

Tomorrow night at 2am

Got a mission for us

“Oh? I know that expression. That’s your plotting expression. What’ve you got planned, Dabi?” He turned to Mr. Compress with a wide grin.

“A test for a potential recruit while dealing with this problem all in one. I’m gonna get the fucker that’s hiding behind my name arrested.”

Even if the killings suddenly stopped, they would still think that Dabi had been doing it. He needed to get the person doing this caught so that heroes --and more importantly, the civilians-- knew he had nothing to do with it, and what better way of doing that than by making sure that his hero contact could arrest the person who was actually responsible?

Chapter Text

Katsuyama park was more open than Dabi was usually comfortable with, it was more of an urban park than a heavily planted one, but it was so late that no one was around, despite the park being open 24/7.

‘I’m just glad that it’s getting so cold out. No one looks twice at me for having a hood over my head or wearing a scarf, and it’s too dark out for someone who’s just walking by to see my scars.’

Hawks arrived early this time, closer to 1:30 than 2:00, and Dabi watched from his spot on a bench as several feathers darted off from his wings until one got close enough to him for Hawks’ head to whip over in his direction.

‘So, not only can he relocate any feathers that he sends out, but he can search with them as well? There must be some sensory aspect to his quirk, and it’s not limited by being able to see the target either; that’s good to know. His feather didn’t touch me either, so can he hear through them? Or is he able to see through them somehow?’

Dabi stopped his deliberation as Hawks approached him with a smile on his face and a wave. If Dabi was seeing things correctly, that smile seemed like it was a real one. He waved in return.

“Thanks again for visiting Eri for me. The Commission leaving her be?”

“No problem! And yeah, they’re pretty happy with the fact that I have a standing invitation now. I’m sure they believe that I’m talking them up to her, and I’ll make sure that they keep believing that.”

Dabi nodded with a small, genuine smile. “I appreciate that.” 

Hawks looked a bit thunderstruck by that, like he wasn’t used to being thanked or told that he was being helpful which was concerning, but he collected himself quickly enough.

“As much as I enjoy spending time with you, you mentioned that there was a mission?” 

‘Ah, we’re getting down to business right away this time, huh? A shame. I guess he must be pretty eager to potentially get more information out of me.’

“Yup. You and I are about to be spending a lot of time together, birdie.”

“Just the two of us? Are you trying to ask me out with a fake mission Dabi? I can think of better ways.” 

Dabi snorted at that, taking Hawks’ joke for what it was. “It’s not uncommon for the League to work individually or in pairs, so this is pretty standard. And we’re not doing something quite so low stress, I’m afraid.”

Hawks’ expression became more serious at that. “What are we dealing with?”

“You heard about the string of murders in Kansai?”

“Yeah, everyone’s buzzing about a lead to the League. You need me to help you take care of someone there?” Hawks didn’t sound very hesitant about offering to do that, and Dabi only grew more concerned about whatever the Commission had put Hawks through.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. I need you to arrest someone though, not kill them.”

Hawks tilted his head, humming. “That’s an oddly common request from you. Who is it then?”

Dabi snorted. “I didn’t ask you to arrest the first guy; you just took advantage of the opportunity I gave you. As for who it is… I don’t have an identity yet, but we’re going after the one killing people.”

Hawks blinked. “Um… is that not you?”

“It isn’t. We’ve been meeting in Kyushu often enough that you should know that the League is in this region by now. I get that we have a warper, but I’m not going to be roaming the streets of Kansai in addition to scoping out recruits and places for us to meet in this region. My best guess is that someone is taking advantage of the fact that any fire-related crimes where no one can see that the flames aren’t blue are going to be pinned on me right now.” 

Dabi huffed and rolled his eyes. “Honestly, I call myself cremation for a reason. Why do they think that there’d be teeth left to identify the bodies with if it were me? This person really chars the bodies, but their bones are left completely intact.”

“What’s the issue then? If they’re drawing heat into another region and giving you more street cred, then why would you want to stop them?”

“Believe it or not, I’m not really one for murder, birdie. The people I burn tend to deserve it, and I’ve only ever killed two people. That's counting Snatch, even though I wasn’t the one to finish him off. Someone going around and killing random civilians while hiding behind my name is the last thing I want. Gives me a bad image.”

Hawks cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is being part of the League of Villains not enough to give you a bad image? I can understand what you’re saying; it just seems like an odd place to draw the line.”

Dabi hummed. ‘I wonder… How much can I tell him about what we’re planning without it being too much? I want him to know that what we’re doing is similar enough to what he wants for him to really join, but I don’t want the Commission to put countermeasures in place to keep the League from being able to win over the public. Or at least enough people to make a difference.’

“Not for the people who know me, no. Besides… what the League was doing earlier was largely due to the influence of All for One. Without All Might to worry about, Shigaraki doesn’t really care about UA or hero students. He’s got his eye on a different horizon.”

‘There. That’s enough for them to know that we’re shifting gears, but it’s not anything substantial either.’

“Really? That sounds interesting. Am I ever going to learn about these new horizons?”

“I don’t trust you that much,” Dabi snorted. “Looking out for Eri was a good start, but it’s not exactly hard for a hero to play nice with a kid for a little bit. The fact that you made it a recurring thing may have earned you a few more points with me, but not enough to justify handing that kind of information over to the Commission.”

Hawks’ wings sharpened before he forced them to relax again, and Dabi gave him a puzzled look. “Aw, come on man! You know that I’m spying for the League. Why do you think I’d give the Commission anything?” 

‘Wait. Does he seriously think that I don’t know? I’m a little insulted.’

“Because you’re spying for them. That was obvious from the start, Hawks. If someone as good at working solo as you really hated the hero system that much, then you would’ve struck out on your own, probably as a vigilante instead, ages ago. The number two hero suddenly having a problem with how things are just in time to join the League? You don’t even work with your own sidekicks; I’m not stupid.”

“If you’re so certain of that, then why do you keep meeting with me like this?” Hawks looked ready to call his mission quits and arrest Dabi right then and there, so Dabi immediately started de-escalating the situation.

“Because it doesn’t change anything. I know that the best lies are based on the truth, and you weren’t lying to me when you said that you didn’t have much of a choice in becoming a hero. Is it really so strange that I might want to give you another option?”

Dabi didn’t give Hawks a chance to respond to that question; the look that the hero gave him was answer enough. “Maybe this ends with me in a cell. Maybe this ends with me dead. Or maybe, just maybe this ends with you actually going after what you want. You don’t owe the world something just for existing. You don’t have to work yourself to death just because you have a good quirk for heroism. And…” Dabi paused, wondering if he was giving away too much, before deciding to take the plunge.

“You weren’t the only one who was thrown into intensive hero training young. I’m probably projecting, but I don’t want you to feel like you’ll be trapped forever. You’ve got a good mask, but I’m too familiar with wearing one myself for you to fool me. You haven’t been happy in a long time, have you, Hawks?”

Hawks’ hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly. Dabi tried not to be intimidated by how furious he looked. “So what, you just meet with me out of some misplaced sense of pity? What’s stopping me from turning you in now and starting over with another member of the League?”

“You could certainly try, but Kurogiri has been teleporting me to and from these meetings. He knows exactly who I’m meeting with, and he’s not the only one. Turning me in would just lock you out of the League entirely, and I have a feeling that the Commission wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

Hawks looked more resigned now, wings drooping, and Dabi decided to address his other issue. “And it’s not pity, birdie. Hero society has chewed up every member of the League and spat us back out. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, our society isn’t doing you any favors either. I’m still asking you to help me with this. Going after a murderer isn’t outside of your typical hero duties anyway, and nothing has changed besides the fact that you know that I know now. If you can convince me that you might actually be ready to break free from your cage, then I’ll still take you to meet the League too. Kurogiri, who has a tendency to take in strays, and my little brother, who has already thrown his support behind me, are the only ones that know you’re a spy, and none of the others have to know about that if it ever changes.”

Dabi couldn’t keep his brother from telling the others, of course, but Hawks didn’t need to know that. ‘Besides, it’s not like they’ll really care as long as I can manage to win him over in the end. They’ll be pissed that I put myself in so much danger for nothing if it doesn’t work out, but...’

“Why are you like this? Why are you risking so much just for a chance at convincing me to join you?”

Dabi patted the spot next to him. “Sit down, Hawks. I chose a bench without a back for a reason, and it certainly wasn’t for my comfort.”

The hero looked a bit leery, but after a few moments, Hawks sat down. After doing so, Hawks instinctively leaned a bit closer to him, soaking in his warmth, and Dabi was glad that Hawks still felt comfortable enough to seek out comfort from him right now. His brain was probably listing every reason why this was a horrible idea, but his instincts weren’t trying to convince him that Dabi was untrustworthy, at least.

“No, you’re fine,” he said when Hawks realized what he was doing and started to pull away. Hawks flushed a bit before staying exactly where he was: not as close as he had initially been but not moving farther away either.

“Spinner does the same thing since he’s cold-blooded. I’m not unfamiliar with the role of space heater.” Hawks snorted at that, and Dabi couldn’t keep the small, satisfied grin off his face for getting that reaction out of the hero after everything.

“You wanna know why I’m willing to give you this chance?” Hawks nodded, and Dabi knew that he wasn’t imagining the desperate need to understand this that he could see in the other man’s eyes. “Because I know what it’s like to beg for help and be ignored by everyone around you. You never asked for help, but the look in your eyes… You smile and make yourself loud and energetic to distract people from it, but your eyes always seem so tired. I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want to just look away from other people’s suffering.”

“You really would’ve made a wonderful hero.” Hawks’ voice was watery and strained, and Dabi politely ignored that fact.

“Maybe, if we lived in a kinder world.”

They sat in silence for a little while after that. Dabi wanted to give Hawks enough time to collect himself, and it wasn’t like he was in any rush.

“So, when do we start hunting around Kansai?”

‘Yeah, focusing on what we need to do next is probably for the best right now.’

“If I go around asking about whoever is doing this, then people will only try to turn me in for it. I’ll be joining you once we have any idea of where they might be skulking off to between kills, but would it be possible for you to narrow down their location? The sooner the better; they seem to have a pretty short cooldown period, and I don’t want their kill count to get higher. Ask some of the locals about anything that stood out to them. Tell the commission whatever you need to get them off your back about patrolling so far away from your typical routes, and don’t rush things and burn yourself out by pushing yourself too hard if they make you do it outside of your patrol hours. We won’t be able to catch them if you’re too exhausted to pick up on their behaviors or patterns.”

“I can do that,” Hawks nodded. “I’ll report in and get started as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. Take care of yourself, Hawks. I’ll see you around.”

Dabi was the first to leave this time, discreetly turning his mic on and asking for a pickup. It would be safer for him if Hawks thought that Kurogiri was listening in on them the entire time. He stepped through a portal with a grin, noticing that Hawks didn’t even attempt to follow him.

Kurogiri had teleported him into his bedroom, as per usual, and was waiting there to check up on him after everything.

“How was your meeting with Hawks? Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine Kurogiri, thank you. As for Hawks…” Dabi smiled. “I’ve given him a lot to think about, that’s for sure. I feel like I’m one step closer to convincing him to join us for real.”

Dabi found himself surprised by just how much he wanted to help Hawks. He was ticking too many of the same boxes that Dabi knew he had ticked as Touya, and the idea of abandoning someone to that fate made him feel sick to his stomach.

‘Besides… it’ll be good for people to see that our society is hurting the heroes that they claim to love so much too.’

-

The Commission hadn’t been happy with Hawks requesting to patrol outside of Kyushu, but they relented when he told them that Dabi was going to let him meet some of the other members of the League if he proved himself during this mission.

‘Not that I can guarantee anything like that, but something tells me that Dabi will be willing to work with me to convince them of it either way.’ 

And wasn’t that the kicker? Dabi was one of the most accommodating people that he had ever worked with, and even though he knew that Dabi had to be working some sort of angle, or at least that Kurogiri had to have a reason for believing that Dabi’s empathy could benefit the League enough to not tell Shigaraki about what he was doing, Hawks still found himself fond of Dabi for it.

‘This is dangerous. This feels so much more dangerous than before, somehow.’

Hawks had told the Commission about a lot less than he had expected to in his report. He knew that he couldn’t tell them that Dabi had figured him out, they would be so disappointed in him; he hadn’t convinced Dabi that he was serious at all, but there was no reason for him to leave some of the things that he did out of the report. 

He should have told them that Kurogiri had a way of teleporting any League member, or at least Dabi, away without being with them. Whatever microphone and tracker combo they had was a threat to future operations that heroes needed to be on the lookout for. He should have told him that Dabi had confessed to the League being based in Kyushu right now --but then they wouldn’t have let Hawks leave the area at all, and he wanted to turn in whoever was killing those people in Kansai-- even if he tried to rationalize that one away as being an obvious test. They had a warper; they could relocate before the heroes even found them, especially if any older locals were as fond of Dabi as Aomi was. 

He definitely should have told them that Dabi had been trained to be a hero --and that was a lot less surprising to him than it probably should’ve been, though knowing he was a vigilante before helped-- and that he had a younger brother that was at least associated with the League. Those were exploitable links to Dabi’s past that they would’ve jumped on, especially since they still didn’t know who Dabi used to be.

But Hawks didn’t tell them about any of that.

‘You can worry about what that means for you later.’ Currently, Hawks was on his first patrol of Kansai, having left his typical patrol in Fukuoka to his sidekicks for the day. He had decided to start with Himeji --the city where three of the four murders had occurred, including the latest one-- and found himself grateful that he wasn’t trying to search all of Osaka or Kyoto instead. He had only managed to negotiate moving two of his weekly patrols into the area, and the flight was too long for him to make it there and back between his patrols of Kyushu if he wanted to get anything done in Kansai.

‘I’m fast, but even airplanes take about three hours to get from Kyushu to Kansai. Three hours there and three hours back would leave me with about two hours to patrol, and that’s if I don’t get any sleep at all. I guess that I’ll just be searching Himeji on my day off too. I’ll branch out to that odd murder in Kakogawa if I can find anything in Himeji; there’s less area to cover there.’

Hawks hoped that he would find something substantial enough that this didn’t drag out for weeks, the citizens of Kansai probably didn’t have that long before someone else died, but Dabi was right when he said that Hawks probably wouldn’t be able to pick up on details that he’d otherwise notice if he worked himself into the ground.

‘I may be used to working through exhaustion, but this is a bit much even for me. Ugh, I wish that I could afford to risk Kurogiri teleporting me to Himeji outright.’ He knew that he couldn’t do that, though. Even if the League’s second-in-command hadn’t known that Hawks was a spy, all it took was one person seeing Hawks step through that portal and he was fucked. It wasn’t worth it right now.

Patrolling Himeji went well, as far as patrols were concerned. He didn’t stop anything particularly big, but he caught a few small-time criminals. What really grated was that he had to stick around, sign things, and play up his presence while making sure that the criminal was secure and waiting on the police to show up.

‘This is why I leave the cleanup to my sidekicks. This is such a waste of time.’

The police finally showed up and took the criminal off his hands, and Hawks was probably curter with them than he should have been. ‘But thirty minutes to get here? Really? I don’t have all day.’

Hawks had to take off in the middle of the massive crowd that had surrounded him by this point, taking photos and reaching for his wings without even bothering to ask, and he flew over a network of alleyways before landing in one of the offshoots and taking a deep breath, sighing.

“I’m just gonna walk. Might be able to find exactly where those bodies used to be this way, and at least that’ll be a start.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re in the city.” Hawks startled at that, chiding himself for being so careless just because he’d been a bit overwhelmed, and whipped around, looking directly into the eyes of a lanky teen with a full-body lion mutation quirk and the beginnings of a mane. He probably wouldn’t have been able to guess the kid’s age without that indicator.

“What’re you doing here, kid?”

The kid looked him up and down before answering. “Same thing as you, I guess. I know better than to get into a fight with whoever is doing this, but lions have great hearing. Thought I might be able to hear and report something, you know?”

Hawks would worry about the potential vigilantism here later; he might have finally found someone who knows something. “Whoever is doing this? You don’t think that it’s Dabi then?”

The kid laughed before shaking his head. “No way. I know what quirk-based fire smells like, and I got close enough to the last scene to know that whoever is doing this doesn’t have a fire quirk. The place reeked of gasoline.”

“That’s incredibly helpful, thank you. I didn’t think that it matched Dabi’s M.O. so far either, but everyone is so desperate to get a lead on the League that they wouldn’t hear it.” Hawks would gamble on the fact that this kid probably wasn’t too fond of heroes if he was willing to go searching out here on his own, and the way that said kid’s ears and tail twitched when he started talking about quirk-based fire made Hawks think that there was more than meets the eye here.

‘I don’t doubt that he did smell gasoline, but if he went searching for who did this because he knew that Dabi wouldn’t do something like this…’ Hawks had no idea where Dabi had been operating before he joined the League, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t have been wandering Kansai then.

‘Shouldn’t I be able to find something on vigilantes with that color of fire if that was the case, though? Something isn’t adding up here.’ 

“At least one of you has figured it out. Maybe the investigation will fucking go somewhere now. The alley you’re looking for, the one where the second body was found, is up ahead if you turn right at the fourth offshoot.”

“Thanks kid. I can’t stop you from looking around, but be careful okay?” Hawks knew that he technically could, but he wasn’t going to do that.

“I’ll be fine; most people are a bit wary of these,” the kid flexed his hands and Hawks’ eyebrow rose as claws became visible. “Besides, I can roar almost as loud as lions can, loud enough to be heard for about three and a half miles, so if anyone tries anything funny, then they’re fucked.” 

The kid’s fierce grin at that had him smiling, and he was taking out a piece of paper and pen --Hawks had learned that it was best to keep some things on hand for autographs so that he didn’t have to start signing people themselves if they didn’t have something on hand-- before he knew it. He wrote his personal number down and held it out to the kid.

“Don’t go posting this anywhere, but call me if you need something, okay kid? Don’t let yourself get in over your head; if it’s an emergency, then I’ll find a way to get here as soon as possible. If it’s not, then I’ll still try to help however I can.”

The kid looked at Hawks for a long moment before reaching forward and taking the paper. “Thanks, I guess. I’ll see you around.” He started to walk away, but Hawks called one last thing out before he did.

“You got a name that I can call you, kid?”

The kid looked irritated at that, tail lashing back and forth, and Hawks was ready to let it go, but he just sighed before turning back around and answering. “Not like it’ll be hard to find me in the registry anyway. Name’s Tadaaki Kichiya. I’ve gotta go.”

Hawks let him walk off, sighing. ‘Didn’t mean to make him feel like he had to tell me, but what’s done is done. Hopefully he’ll still let me know if he finds anything.’ He put that out of mind for now. 

‘Time to go scope out that alley before I head back for the evening.’

Hawks wasn’t going to be able to come back for another three days, and while he doubted that he’d find anything, the longer he waited to look the less likely it was that he would.

-

Two days before he was scheduled to go back to Himeji, Hawks scrolled through his news feed on his phone and paled at what he saw.

‘Already!? And they killed two people at once this time. Both in Himeji again…’ Hawks pulled out his burner phone and sent Dabi a text right away.

Have you seen the news?

Yeah

They’re getting confident

Bad news for everyone

‘What could’ve led them to…’ Hawks’ eyes widened.

The news

It’s because they think it’s you

Fuck

You’re right

They know that no one is even close

So they’re getting cocky

Can you join me after my patrol?

Not tomorrow, but the next day

I don’t have work the day after

And they do this at night so…

Sounds like our best chance

I’ll be there

Hawks closed his burner with a sigh, wishing that things could be simpler. ‘At least Dabi already knows about what Kichiya told me. This is shaping up to be a disaster.’

-

Dabi was warped into Himeji at a bit past nine the next evening, and Kurogiri was on standby in case he and Hawks needed an emergency portal. The microphone wasn’t being turned off tonight, he and Hawks weren’t going to have time to talk about things best left private anyway, so Dabi could count on Kurogiri to help them the instant that things got dicey.

‘Hm. Now where to find the bird…’ Dabi turned his head as he heard rustling in the alley to his left, flames flickering over his fingers. He relaxed and snuffed his out his flames as soon as he saw who it was.

“Yo, Phoenix! You come around to drive this poser out? Better be careful; heroes are sniffing all over the place.”

Dabi chuckled. “Hello to you too, Tadaaki. I appreciate the heads up. How’ve you been?”

“Pretty well. Doc misses having you around, but she’s taught me how to help out over the years. But seriously man, even Hawks has been out here lately. I don’t want you to get caught.” Tadaaki’s ears swiveled around, probably to scope for anyone nearby, and then folded back at whatever he heard. 

“You need to hide. Go--”

“Who is it?”

“Hawks, but it doesn’t matter who!”

Dabi chuckled and shook his head. “Then we’re fine. Just trust me, kid.” Hawks had already asked if he had any connections to the kid he had talked to, and the odds of Tadaaki being able to get out of here before Hawks found him were small.

He could hear the deep rumbling of a growl welling up in Tadaaki’s throat, but Hawks swooping down from one of the nearby rooftops made the kid go dead silent.

“So you do know the kid, huh Dabi? Guess that makes this easier then.”

Tadaaki blinked, looked between them, and turned back to Dabi with a growl. “You know him? You could’ve just told me, you asshole! Scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry, figured that I didn’t have the time if you heard him coming. You know how fast he flies.” Dabi gave Hawks a look. “What do you mean by making this easier, birdie?”

“I know that you’re not going to like this but…” Hawks grimaced. “We don’t have a lot of time here. The kid won’t fight, but it’d be helpful if he could keep an ear out for us. He’ll be able to hear something happening a lot sooner than I would, and I’d be able to hear it before you as long as I was paying attention.”

Tadaaki perked up at that. “Really? I can do that!”

Hawks was right; Dabi didn’t like it. Tadaaki was only a year older than Toga, but Dabi knew better than to try to stop either of the stubborn kids from doing what they wanted. He sighed.

“Fine. But you stick right by us, understand? And if we find anything, then you lead us to the area and hide. Doesn’t matter how bad it looks; you stay out of it.”

Tadaaki nodded eagerly. “Got it, Phoenix! You both know what you’re doing.”

Hawks looked over to Dabi with a cocked eyebrow. “So Phoenix was your vigilante name, huh? It suits you.”

“You just like it because we’d match that way, birdie,” Dabi snorted and Tadaaki looked back and forth between the two of them with wide eyes. Dabi wasn’t sure what he saw there, but he wasn’t going to ask.

“Guilty as charged! Let’s get going then. You got a time that you need to be home by, Kichiya?”

“Nope! I can see even better at night than I can during the day, so Doc just kinda lets me do my own thing.”

“Alright, let’s get going then.” 

The three of them started navigating the alleyways, avoiding any non-Hawks heroes due to Tadaaki’s ears and Hawks’ feathers. Four hours after they had started, the three of them had searched a large part of the city with no luck. ‘It would be really soon for them to kill again two days after a double homicide. Maybe we should come back another day...’

Tadaaki froze. Dabi looked over at him in concern. “Kid?”

“This way. Follow me.” He took off, and both Dabi and Hawks bolted after him. The three of them slowed down a bit as they got closer to wherever this person was --close enough for Hawks to hear them, it looked like-- and Hawks stopped before looking at them both.

“I’m gonna go up to the rooftops. Most people don’t look up, and you won’t want them to be able to report that I’m working with you, right?”

Dabi nodded and Hawks flew off. Tadaaki kept guiding him closer to the killer, and Dabi rested his hand on the kid’s shoulder when he could hear the sloshing of liquid and smell the gasoline. “Back up. I’ve got this.”

Dabi got closer to the center of the smell, almost cursing out loud when he saw someone who was knocked unconscious being covered in gasoline. 

It had been a while since he had fought in a serious fight without his quirk --even longer than it had been for him to fight with his cooler, near-white flames-- but he didn’t have much of a choice here.

The figure pulled out a matchbox, struck their match, and Dabi rushed forward, tackling them to the ground before he could even think about how risky that was. The other person let out a choked-off grunt from the impact, and they grappled with Dabi for a few moments as he struggled to get their arms pinned down. Even with him putting on some weight lately, that didn’t change the fact that he struggled to build muscle mass with so many patches of stapled-on grafts.

He was thrown off of them and swore when he felt himself get doused in gasoline. ‘They weren’t anywhere near the can. Is that their quirk then?’

The glowing light of another struck match kept Dabi from wondering about that too long. The figure looked between him and their unconscious victim before deciding that Dabi was the bigger threat. They threw the match at him, and Dabi grinned as he let it strike him.

Red lit up the alleyway, and he could finally see the face of the man who had been doing this. Judging by the pale, sick expression that the brown-haired man had, he could see Dabi now too. 

“Gasoline doesn’t burn nearly hot enough to hurt me, you know.” While Dabi hadn’t been able to use his white flames without getting burned when he was younger, he had figured it out eventually. It was just a matter of taking the nitrogen that helped him spark his fire and manipulating it into a wall of defense against his own flames. He couldn’t do that without his quirk being active, the nitrogen manipulation was a part of it, but that just meant that Dabi had a more technical quirk than most people realized. He knew that Endeavor wouldn’t have bothered to keep training him at all if Dabi hadn’t figured that out by the time he was ten.

Gasoline burned at less than 300° Celsius. White flames could burn at temperatures up to 1500 ° Celsius. His nitrogen shield only struggled to keep up with his own fire when Dabi was using blue flames that were twice as hot as that, and even then it could withstand it for a while.

Endeavor had only ever been able to burn Touya at all because he hadn’t learned how to work around one of his quirk’s drawbacks yet.

The Doc had explained that Dabi wasn’t as resistant to fire that wasn’t his own, likely because most other fires burned with oxygen instead of a combination of nitrogen and oxygen. Dabi figured out a way around that during his time as Phoenix, though. He had learned how to make any fire his; he just had to activate his quirk and let it simmer beneath his skin, refusing to let his fire out, and then his nitrogen levels went through the roof. He could manipulate that nitrogen to dull the burn of other flames and, most importantly, slowly convert it into the same exact kind of fire that he could control. He would only struggle to do that for flames that burned hotter than his own.

Dabi didn’t know anyone who could make flames hotter than his.

He let a savage grin spread across his face as he positioned himself between the serial killer and the person on the other end of the alleyway, careful to avoid stepping in any puddles of gasoline. “I don’t appreciate having such sloppy work attributed to me,” Dabi snarled. He hated acting like this, but he needed to play into the guy’s fear of him.

“I think we should have a little talk about you hiding behind my name, hm?” The guy looked between Dabi, still wreathed in orange flames and pissed beyond belief, and the person slumped over behind him before bolting. A red feather shot down as soon as he had turned around, hitting a pressure point and knocking him out cold. 

“Well, that’s that then.”

Hawks landed in the alley, looking over at Dabi with concern. “You alright? Should we try to put that out?”

“Better to let the fire burn than to let the gasoline seep into my grafts. The former will just be annoying for a few minutes; the latter will have me sick as a dog for ages. The other person will definitely need a hospital though; this shit can poison you.”

“Yeah… At least we weren’t too late.”

Having heard that the fighting had stopped, Tadaaki joined them in the alleyway. “So that’s them, huh? Guess I better head back soon.”

Hawks nodded at him. “Thanks for the help, kid! If anyone asks me, I just happened to be patrolling the area before sensing him with my feathers. I won’t mention you were here, so do me a favor and don’t go talking about me knowing Dabi, hm?”

“I’ve known him for years; I’m hardly going to go ratting you out for that,” Tadaaki snorted. “I’m just glad that you both took care of this asshole. Everyone else was running around like chickens with their heads cut off searching for Phoenix and not the killer.”

Tadaaki kept an ear out for them both as Dabi waited for the flames licking over his skin to fizzle out, Hawks was a bit distracted with monitoring the murderer and his near-victim, but thankfully, the fire burned out before anyone could notice and come rushing into the alley. The kid waved at them in farewell before taking off, and Hawks pulled out his phone to call for an ambulance and the police, in that order.

“You might wanna get out of here. Can’t be sure how long it’ll take them to show up.”

“Yeah… I appreciate the help. Kurogiri.”

A portal swirled into existence, and Hawks only watched as Dabi walked toward it. Dabi turned his head back, looking directly into golden eyes and pausing for a moment. 

“You know… I don’t trust you enough to bring you back to base quite yet, but how do you feel about meeting my brother?”

Hawks’ eyes widened slightly at that. He covered it up well with a smirk and hooded eyes. “Oh? Already taking me to meet the family, Dabi? I didn’t think that you liked me so much.”

“Maybe I do,” Dabi said, and his voice was so gentle that it scared him a bit.

Hawks’ face went red. Dabi’s face went red. Dabi whirled around and stepped through the portal, and if someone asked him about it later, then he would say that it was only because he had seen the approaching ambulance lights.

You know, like a liar.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure that this is a good idea? You’re still not completely recovered from last night.”

Dabi and Natsuo were loitering around in one of All for One’s old bases in Hakata, and the layer of dust that had settled over the place made it obvious that no one had been there in quite some time. Dabi was still sore all over from the sheer number of staples that Natsuo had to help him replace earlier today, and the dust was an infection risk that neither of them were happy about making.

Dabi sighed as he turned to his brother. “I’m sure that we’ll be able to escape from Hawks even if things get dicey. My fire and Kurogiri’s portals counter him well, and I’m not even close to out of it enough for using my fire to be an issue.” Dabi wasn't actually worried about that, but he knew that Natsuo needed the reassurance. His brother hadn't met Hawks yet, so he had no way of knowing why Dabi was so certain that he'd be able to win him over in the end.

“I guess so,” Natsuo sighed, and Dabi watched as his brother started pacing around the room.

“It’s not like I’m worried about Hawks recognizing me or anything; I just don’t want you to get hurt again. If he seems like he’s about to stab you in the back, then I don’t care how close you think he is to switching sides. You get out of there.” Natsuo’s stopped directly in front of Dabi, looking at him with something akin to desperation.

“I will, I will! Who’s the worrywart now?”

“Yeah, well, considering that I thought I watched you die once, heard about you supposedly dying again in that factory shitshow, and only learned that you were still alive two years after that--”

“That’s… fair enough,” Dabi cut Natsuo off with a grimace. “I’m sorry. If I had thought that I could’ve come back for you…” He would’ve come back for all of his siblings if he thought that he could’ve survived it. The fact that he had left them to suffer in his place rankled.

Natsuo sighed, moving closer to Dabi and leaning against him. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. I know that you did the best you could, and it was still more than anyone else did. It’s just… I’m always willing to help patch you up, but I hate seeing you in pain in the first place.”

“Huh. I guess the caring thing is a family trait then?” Dabi’s eyes widened as he looked over to the door that Hawks’ head had just peeked through. There was a red feather laying on the ground near where he and Natsuo had been talking, and Dabi wondered just how long Hawks had been listening in. ‘Stupid. Don’t let yourself get distracted.’

“Definitely not. Dabi and I care about people despite our family, not because of it,” Natsuo snorted. 

Dabi was just glad that they had already agreed to act like they didn’t have any other siblings. ‘A pair of brothers are common enough, but it’s not exactly common for families to have four kids, especially at our specific ages.’

Hawks laughed at that, but the look on his face told Dabi that he was going to be asked a few prying questions about that comment later. “Ah, there’s the snarkiness too! You act more alike than you look, that’s for sure.”

Natsuo didn’t answer Hawks’ unasked question, and Dabi was proud of his brother for not rising to the bait. ‘If Hawks thinks that we might not be blood-related, then that’s even better.’

The hero cleared his throat after a few beats of silence and held out his hand. “The name’s Hawks. What’s yours?”

Natsuo took Hawks’ hand and shook it, and the look on his brother’s face didn’t bode well for Dabi. “Rinku. My brother’s been talking you up, you know?”

‘Oh no. This was a terrible mistake.’ It was smart of Natsuo to steer Hawks away from the fact that his name was as fake as Dabi’s, but Dabi had just watched two of the people who delighted in teasing him the most shake hands.

Hawks looked over to Dabi with a smug grin, pulling his hand back and tilting his head. “Oh really? Do tell.” 

“He’s always saying things like ‘Hawks is a great guy,’ and ‘He’s a good hero too; he'd make a great number one, but I don't think that he wants that.'. That might not sound like much, but when it's coming from this guy?" Natsuo pointed at Dabi with a snort. “He’s practically singing your praises.”

‘He’s going to be insufferable about this. Is it too late to fake my death again?’

“Rinku, shut the fuck up,” Dabi grumbled, feeling the way that his face heated up. It wasn’t dark enough in here for his blush to be hidden like it usually was when he met Hawks either.

“Do you know how awkward it would be for me to watch you two dance around each other? You’ve been practically gushing about him ever since he became number two, and I can feel the sexual tension from here.  I’m helping you out while avoiding all of that, you disaster gay.” Dabi glared at Natsuo and wished that there was something in here to chuck at his brother's head.

‘Mortifying. This is absolutely mortifying.’

“Aww,” Hawks cooed --literally cooed-- at him. “You don’t have to be shy Dabi! You know that I like you too.”

“I know no such thing,” Dabi grumbled, and even if he did, that didn’t make him any less afraid that Hawks would turn on him in the end. He didn't think that Hawks would, but that didn't make the niggling fear go away. ‘I’ve always been unlovable. Natsuo and the League are exceptions, and I can’t afford to let myself get used to that.’ 

Dabi knew that there were others who appreciated what he had done to help them, but that didn’t change the fact that Hawks would inevitably see the ugliest parts of him if the hero stuck with the mission. Desperate to distract himself from the turn his thoughts had taken, Dabi turned to Natsuo with a glint in his eyes.

His brother squinted at him. “What are you about to--”

“If you insist on helping me out, then I should do the same for you, right? I’m sure that Shigaraki and Spinner would be very interested in knowing that--”

“Okay, okay! I get it; I’ll stop.”

“That’s what I thought,” Dabi snorted. Hawks was watching the two of them with unabashed curiosity, and Dabi made a questioning hum once he saw Hawks’ expression.

“It’s nothing really. Just… I guess I expected doom and gloom from you guys at first, but you’re both so relaxed like this. I’m honestly a bit afraid to see what the rest of the League is actually like.” Dabi could empathize with that much; not knowing what to expect could be terrifying for things far less high-stakes than this.

“The League stops being scary after your first game night with them, I promise you.” Natsuo chuckled, and Dabi knew that his little brother was intentionally misunderstanding Hawks’ statement. ‘Conniving little shit. I guess he kept emulating me even after I was gone, huh?’

“Game night?”

“Yup! Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, Monopoly, Uno… We all come together and play sometimes, though we’ll play in smaller groups in our free time too. Good for team-building and conflict resolution.” 

“Huh…” Something told Dabi that Hawks wasn’t used to spending time with large groups of people like that, regardless of how well he pretended to deal with crowds while working. He didn’t want Hawks to feel like they’d pressure him into joining the group before he was prepared to, didn’t want to be anything like the Commission or his father, so he hurried to reassure him.

“We’re taking it slow for a reason, birdie. Don’t worry, I’ll get you used to them all in groups of three or four, counting me and you, before we start talking game night. And you can always say no, even if you’re not busy with hero stuff.”

“You don’t have to… thank you, Dabi,” Hawks sighed.

Natsuo started snickering. “You’ve already decided that he’s one of your protected people, huh?”

Hawks cocked an eyebrow and looked over to Dabi, and his answering silence was damning. Natsuo gave Hawks a savage grin.

“Break my brother’s heart and I’ll end you, understand? I prefer putting people back together, but that means I know how to take them apart too.”

Hawks gulped and Dabi glared at his brother more seriously this time. “Oi. Rinku, don’t fucking pressure him--”

“I understand.” Dabi froze, blinked several times, and he flushed when he saw how serious Hawks’ expression was.

“Good. Then we’ll get along just fine, Hawks.” Natsuo’s smile was genuine, and Dabi couldn’t deny just how happy it made him when he saw his brother and Hawks getting along like this.

The three of them talked for a little bit longer, but Natsuo’s semester was coming to a close soon; for all that he played at not caring about his grades, Dabi could see him practically itching to study.

“You can go if you need to, Rinku. I know you’re busy.”

Natsuo rubbed at the back of his neck. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Dabi rolled his eyes, waving Natsuo off. “I’ve been alone with Hawks plenty, and you know that I can look out for myself.”

“Okay,” Natsuo sighed, turning to look at Hawks with a sheepish grin. “It was nice to meet you. Sorry to bounce like this.”

“It was nice to meet you too, and it’s no problem at all! I know exactly how busy things can get.” Hawks waved in farewell as Natsuo called for one of Kurogiri’s portals, he’d gotten a tracker of his own to cut down on how much time he spent traveling from his dorm room to the base, and Dabi groaned the second that the portal closed.

“I’m sorry about Rinku. Don’t let him bully you into doing anything that you don’t want to, okay? We’re just… a bit protective of each other.”

“You have a good brother, Dabi. You don’t have to apologize for that.” Hawks smiled at him and draped a wing over Dabi’s shoulder, and Dabi grinned and leaned into that touch. 

‘When did I start thinking of him as someone safe? When did this become more about helping Hawks and less about how he could help the League?’ If Dabi was honest with himself, then he knew that there was no singular moment where everything had shifted. There had always been undertones of whatever this was in their conversations, but now that all the pretenses were gone, it had become more difficult for Dabi to ignore. 

He tried to focus on the here and now, but his answering “Yeah, I really do,” was distracted at best. 

‘I’m lucky that Natsuo is understanding and just as angry with Endeavor as I am. He had every right to be pissed at me.’

Dabi wouldn’t have blamed Natsuo for being furious with him, not even a little bit. Even if Dabi had always intended to come back for his siblings, that didn’t change the fact that he initially ran away because he was scared. He ran away because he was terrified of finding out whether the commission or Endeavor would kill him first. Dabi had known that he was at a high risk for death far before he became a villain; he had known it before he became a vigilante.

It had never been safe for him to come back for his siblings, and he was still terrified of getting them killed. Dabi hadn’t expected Natsuo to be searching for him all this time, and he definitely didn’t expect for Natsuo to track him down, forgive him, and insist on joining in his plans.

‘He’s definitely made doing this easier. I know that, in the long run, getting Shouto and Fuyumi away from Endeavor will be better for them, but…’ Knowing that didn’t make it any easier to drag their trauma into the public eye just to make people see what they allowed to happen.

‘At least they won’t be in so much danger this way. If they had tried to report him themselves, then they might have been threatened or silenced in other ways. If there’s a public outrage, then there’s no way for the Commission to hurt them for telling the truth, not without showing their hand and risking an already angry mob turning on them.’

“You okay? I can practically hear the gears turning in your head.”

“I’m fine, birdie. Just thinking.”

“Do you think talking about it would help?” Hawks tilted his head, and Dabi gave him a searching look.

‘Is he just digging for information, or is he actually…’

“Oh! This isn’t… I’m asking because I’m worried about you, Dabi. Rinku said some concerning things, and well, I know something about bad families so I just thought…” The furrow of Hawks’ eyebrows and the warbling lilt to his tone sold Dabi; the hero wasn’t that good of an actor.

“I can’t give you many details, but… our father was a monster who got away with hurting us and our mom no matter how many times we tried to report him. We stopped trying eventually, but I couldn’t just let him get away with it; I couldn’t let it go. Everything that I’ve done since then… it was all building up to being able to make him face consequences for once. That’s all I ever wanted.” Dabi’s voice cracked on the last word, and he desperately wished that he could cry.

He could feel himself trembling, and Hawks’ alarmed look was all he needed to know that the hero could feel it too. Dabi looked into golden eyes, a bit desperate, as he asked “Is that really so much to ask for?”

“No, it isn’t.” Hawks tucked himself against Dabi’s side with a wing wrapped around him, and they stood there in silence for a few moments. 

“My father was a villain, you know,” Hawks whispered. Dabi was surprised by the admission. ‘Is he… trying to make this even? Give me leverage over him in return?’ Dabi wasn’t sure, but it felt like the start of something big. Hawks asked a lot of questions that hinted at what he was thinking, but he had never outright admitted to anything before this moment.

“He was a drunk, a thief, and a murderer, and he didn’t even hesitate to slit a man’s throat for a few thousand yen.” Dabi could practically hear the ‘unlike you’ in Hawks’ tone.

“But he’s in jail now, and I promise you that your father will be joining him, Dabi. I’ll make sure of it.”

‘Would you be saying this if you knew? Or would you be like all of the rest of them?’

“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep, birdie.” Dabi peered into determined, golden eyes, searching for a lie that he couldn’t see.

“I’m not.” Hawks met his gaze with a smile full of reassurance, and Dabi knew at that moment that he was lost.

“Can I…?” Hawks’ pupils dilated as the meaning behind Dabi’s question registered. He turned to face Dabi more directly, cocooning them both within a curtain of red wings.

“I trust you, hot stuff.”

Dabi laid his left hand against Hawks’ cheek, murmuring as he leaned in close. “I’ll do my best to earn that trust.”

Hawks gave him a fond, exasperated look before closing the distance between them and pressing his lips against Dabi’s. If he was surprised by the feeling of Dabi’s burnt lower lip, then Hawks was good at hiding it. Hawks was kissing Dabi with an unexpected urgency that he couldn’t help melting into, and the hero tugged lightly on Dabi’s scarred lip before he pulled back for air.

“You already have, Dabi. You already have.”

‘Fuck, I’m in way too deep.’

But as Hawks pressed him into the wall and went back to kissing the life out of him, carefully keeping his hands above the waist after he startled Dabi by going too low too fast, Dabi couldn’t bring himself to mind that too much.

-

Despite this technically being his day off, the Commission was hounding him for details about the arrest in Himeji. Hawks had been able to ignore the buzzing of his phone while he was with Dabi, and Hawks didn’t want to think about just how easy it had been to let himself kiss Dabi or just how much he enjoyed hearing the breathless little gasps he got when he was doing so, but it was harder to ignore when he was flying back to his apartment. They’d know as soon as he got back to that place, and then they’d know that he was ignoring them on purpose.

‘I’ll have to admit that Dabi let me meet a previously unknown member of the League to keep them off my back, but I don’t want to betray his trust either…’ And Hawks could admit that much. This was entirely about seeing Dabi smile at him and watching him be so careful and gentle in everything that he does, and no amount of lying to himself could convince Hawks that he was just gaining the man’s trust for more information, not now.

‘So I’ll fudge the details a bit. Make it sound like Rinku is just a taller version of his brother with an unknown quirk and medical knowledge. That’s true enough, in some ways.’

Hawks landed on a nearby rooftop and pulled out his phone with a sigh. He flinched when he saw several missed calls from Madame President, knowing that a few texts weren’t going to cut it this time. He hit the call button.

“I expected a report hours ago. Explain yourself, agent.” Hawks cringed at her glacial tone, instantly defaulting to placation. 

“I apologize Madame President. I was given the opportunity to obtain more information from my contact, and it had me off the radar longer than I had anticipated.” In all actuality, he had passed out in a hotel in Himeji last night, woken up, flown back to Kyushu, and then got texted by Dabi about how his brother was free sooner than expected if he wanted to meet up. This was immediately followed up by an apology for the short notice, which Hawks found unfairly cute. 

‘She doesn’t know that Dabi didn’t ask me to stay in Himeji though. I can use that.’

“Then I suppose that you’ll just have to report to me in person. I hope that this information was worth wasting my time.”

The call ended, and Hawks didn’t hesitate to return to the skies and start flying toward the Commission's headquarters. He flew far faster than he should have, but Madame President was already furious and he didn’t want to test how merciful she was feeling today. 

He was only a ten-minute flight from headquarters anyway, but he made it a five-minute flight today. Hawks repeated the same song and dance that he usually did to get in, thankful that he was able to escape the few civilians still in the building relatively easily. He was standing outside of Madame President’s office long before he felt ready to be, but he straightened his back and held his wings out stiffly behind him as he knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Madame President looked up from the papers on her desk with a scowl. “So you are capable of being punctual.”

Only practice kept Hawks from fidgeting at her infuriated glare. Hawks kept silent; He knew better than to fall into the trap of defending himself before he was allowed to speak. Madame President sighed.

“Report.”

“The arrest of the Kansai serial killer was instrumental in gaining Dabi’s trust. I suspect that, while Dabi was not the one behind these killings, he was furious about the killer’s actions drawing attention to where the League is based, or that the League is at least doing something in the region. Everyone will assume that Kansai is safe now that the case is solved, and I have no doubt that they will capitalize on that.”

‘This will keep them away from Kyushu for a while longer, at least.’

"It is unfortunate that we will be unable to pin those murders on Dabi, but..." Madame President’s calculating grin made Hawks feel even more secure in his deception. “We’ll search Kansai from top to bottom, then. We'll drive them out eventually. Now, what kept you so busy until now?”

“I’ve been allowed to meet with another member of the League and there are plans for me to meet more of them in the future.”

Madame President straightened up at that. “Oh? So you’ve finally made some progress then?” 

Hawks hated this. He hated the way that Madame President could make him feel guilty for not making more progress in an unreasonably short amount of time. The one thing that he was grateful for was that it made him feel less guilty for what he was about to do.

‘Time to see just how well my training prepared me for this role.’

“Correct. I was able to meet a previously unidentified member of the League today. He goes by Rinku, works largely behind the scenes as their medic, and has black hair and light blue eyes. He and Dabi are brothers.”

“A family connection, that’s a start. Do you know Rinku’s actual name?”

“Not yet. However, I do know that he’s younger than Dabi, and if Rinku followed the same sort of literal translation as Dabi did for his name, then we may want to look into families with space-related quirks.”

“We’ll start searching the quirk registry immediately. Do you think that we can use his brother against Dabi?”

‘I don’t want to answer this, but Madame President would already know the truth from how Dabi acted about Eri. Lying does me no good here.’

“Without a doubt. He was protective of him, and that will be useful when it’s time to make an arrest. Dabi’s brother is a non-combatant as far as I can tell, so we won’t need to expect much of a fight from Rinku either.”

‘I’m sorry. I’ll help you protect him if it comes down to that, Dabi. Not that he actually sounds like he needs much protecting.’ 

Madame President smiled at him, and for a brief moment, Hawks was foolish enough to believe that he might escape this unscathed. “That is useful information, agent. However…”

Toxic green eyes froze him in place, though they quickly melted back into a deceptively soft blue. “That was nothing that couldn’t have been gained while remaining in contact with us, and we still don’t have an exact location for the League’s base.”

‘It’s been like a month! What do you want from me?’ There was no point in asking her those kinds of questions; Hawks had learned that the hard way when he was younger. Not that he could even if he wanted to. Madame President’s eyes hadn’t flashed green again yet, so he couldn’t have managed a word if he tried.

“You understand why we do this; don’t you Hawks? It’s all to make you better. I’m just helping you be the best hero you can be.”

Hawks had a feeling that he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

-

Dabi was laying in bed with his stuffed dragon clutched to his chest, desperately trying to fall asleep at three in the morning. The way that his mind kept looping back around to Hawks, especially kissing Hawks, made that difficult.

‘It’s not like I haven’t had a crush before, but it’s never been this intense. Is it because I’m actually getting a chance to act on it or?’

His burner vibrated twice in quick succession. Dabi was planning to destroy it tomorrow, or technically today, but he still got up to check it. When he saw who it was from, he was grateful that he hadn’t destroyed it quite yet.

I need help

Is your brother around?

He isn’t

I know first aid tho

Dabi felt like his heart was on the floor. If Hawks was admitting that he needed help, then it had to be bad.

Birdie sent their location

Dabi ran out into the main room of their base, thankful that everyone here had weird sleeping schedules and that Kurogiri himself was awake throughout the night.

“Dabi? Are you quite alright?” Kurogiri’s question drew the attention of Twice and Magne as well, and Dabi wished that he had the time to explain this to everyone first. He gave his phone to Kurogiri.

“Hawks needs help, and it’s bad enough that he sent his location. Kurogiri, I know that this is a risk but please--”

“If you trust him enough to allow him to meet Natsuo, even under another name, then I do not doubt that he genuinely needs the assistance right now. I will go get him; stay right here.”

Kurogiri warped out of existence, Dabi’s phone in hand, and Twice and Magne looked at each other before looking at Dabi.

“What was that about? Is Hawks the recruit you’ve been talking about?” Twice sounded almost excited at the prospect, so Dabi just nodded, worry written all over his face.

“Hey, he’ll be alright, hun. Kurogiri will bring him back. Maybe go get whatever he might need while you wait? It’ll at least keep you occupied.”

‘Right. They actually trust me; I’m still not used to that.’

“You’re right… I’ll be back.” Dabi powerwalked back to his room, only avoiding flat-out running so that he wouldn’t have to explain this to even more people, and into his bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit from beneath his sink. He opened it to make sure that it was still stocked up.

‘Hydrogen peroxide, antibiotics, burn cream, gauze, medical tape, medical staples, stitches, suturing needles, tweezers, medical scissors, and I’m running low on gloves, but I have enough for now.’ Dabi snapped the kit closed and rushed back into the main room, pacing when he saw that Kurogiri wasn’t back yet.

‘Come on, come on… What’s taking him so long?’

A portal swirled into existence. Kurogiri re-entered the room, and Hawks staggered in beside him, heavily leaning against the warper and dripping blood on the floor.

“Heh… Sorry, hot stuff. Wasn’t how I wanted to… meet everyone.”

“Don’t. Just sit down and let me look at this, okay?” Dabi opened the kit again and put a pair of gloves on, careful not to let the material get caught on the staples in his wrists. Hawks hissed as he lowered himself to the floor, and Dabi immediately kneeled down in front of him and laid the kit down beside him.

“Do you know where you’re bleeding from?”

“My back.”

Dabi shuffled around so that he was facing Hawks’ back, carefully slotting himself in between red wings. He leaned around to help Hawks take his jacket off, murmuring apologies as the fabric caught on some of Hawks’ wounds. The open-backed halter kept Dabi from having to remove any more layers, but it also revealed several long, thin gashes that left Dabi feeling unsettled. These were too precise to be accidental, and they were so uniform that he doubted they could’ve been from a fight either.

‘Did they do this to you? You weren’t supposed to have patrol today. These are going to need stitches.’ 

“Kurogiri, would you go warn Shigaraki about this? Twice, I need you to go get some food and water for later; he’ll need to regain his strength. Magne, can you carry him to one of the baths? I’ll grab a clean bowl and join you in just a second.” Dabi closed the kit, and Hawks made a distressed sound as Dabi stood up.

“It’ll all be fine, birdie; no one here is going to hurt you. I'm just going to need to stitch you up, and I need to make sure that I don’t leave anything in these before I do that, okay? You don’t want an infection.” 

Before heading off to warn Shigaraki, Kurogiri teleported Hawks into Magne’s arms, allowing her to avoid touching his back or jostling him while lifting him. Dabi hurried to go grab a bowl --nearly breaking one of them in his haste-- and followed the blood droplets that led him from the main room into the bathroom that Magne had taken Hawks into.

“It’s alright, hun; he’s coming back. I’m sorry that I had to be the one to carry you in here, but I don’t think Dabi could have.” 

Dabi opened the door and Hawks’ eyes darted over to him immediately. Magne came and took the bowl out of his hand, turning the sink on and waiting for the water to warm up enough to use. “He only trusts you right now. I can take care of this, so go sit with him.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. Dabi sat on the edge of the tub and Hawks trilled at him, leaning against his hand when Dabi went to brush the hair out of the hero’s eyes. 

“It’s okay. I’m right here.”

“Sorry, this is stupid. Dunno why I’m so…”

“You’re fine, birdie.” Dabi’s free hand opened the first aid kit again, pulling out several things that he’d need for this.

Magne brought the bowl back and laid it down on the floor next to him. “Call for me if you need me, okay? I won’t make you more uncomfortable by sticking around while you’re hurting like this.” She walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and Hawks grimaced.

“Need to apologize to her later…”

“She understands, Hawks. Don’t worry yourself about it.” Dabi dabbed some gauze into the water and started cleaning the areas closest to the wounds, looking them over for anything that might have gotten stuck in them. He had to encourage a few pieces of fuzz, likely from Hawks’ jacket, out of the gashes, but nothing was so embedded that he needed tweezers to pull it out.

He was going to have to disinfect this though, and Dabi knew from experience that it would hurt like a bitch. He pulled out and uncapped the hydrogen peroxide, dripping some on a new section of gauze. “I’m sorry, birdie, but this is gonna hurt.”

The muffled screech that escaped Hawks’ throat made Dabi’s heart pang with guilt. He moved through the process as quickly as he could afford to, hating that he still had to do more. “I’m gonna stitch you up now, okay? No staples for you.”

“Aww, we don’t get to match,” Hawks snorted before nodding and going still, and Dabi got to work. It took ages to stitch up all six gashes, but he finally finished and applied some antibiotics, after switching into a new pair of gloves, before giving Hawks an apologetic look.

“I need to wrap these, but I can’t do that with your halter on. I’m already not sure how I’m gonna get it to wrap around without hurting your wings…” Before he could say anything else, all of Hawks’ feathers flew across the room. Dabi would still have to work around the base of the hero’s wings, but there was less for him to maneuver around this way.

“Thank you.” He helped Hawks out of his shirt and wrapped his wounds in silence, taping the gauze down once everything was finally covered. He cut a couple of areas open to allow Hawks’ wings through --taping the gauze down on those edges as well-- and Hawks brought all of his feathers back to him afterward.

“You’ll need to make sure not to strain your back too much; I mean it Hawks. You can’t fly until these are healed, and they’ll probably still scar.”

Hawks shook his head. “The Commission won’t let me scar; they never do. They’ll completely heal me after a day or two, but I was losing a lot of blood and couldn’t fly back to my apartment so I just…”

“You don’t have to justify yourself to me. I would’ve helped you even if I knew you were going to be healed an hour from now, understand?” Hawks nodded, and Dabi decided to bite the bullet and ask, “You weren’t on patrol, were you?”

Hawks’ wings shrunk down a bit, and that was answer enough for Dabi. “You know that what they do to you isn’t okay, right? Nobody deserves this, especially not you.”

“I’m beginning to realize that. I… I should probably go out there, huh? I’m sure they have questions.”

“And they can wait until you’re ready. If you want me to go get the food and water from Twice and bring it into the bathroom for you, then I can do that. Shigaraki might be huffy about it for a little bit, but I wouldn’t be in any danger.”

“I appreciate that, but it’s fine. I might need help getting out of here though,” Hawks said with a sheepish smile, and Dabi steadied him as he got out of the tub, supporting the hero and making sure that he didn’t rush off and tear open his stitches.

By the time that they got into the main room, Shigaraki and Kurogiri were the only ones waiting for them, and Dabi found himself grateful that Kurogiri had warded the others off for now. He glared his boss into silence until after Hawks had sat down on a barstool and got some food and water into him. Once Hawks had regained a bit of color, Shigaraki cleared his throat and looked to Dabi with a raised eyebrow.

“So… you wanna explain what was going through your head when you decided to recruit the number two hero?”

“Let it not be said that I ever aim small,” Dabi chuckled nervously.

“Dabi, seriously. Why is there a hero here?” Shigaraki didn’t sound angry, but it was late and Dabi was undoubtedly cutting into his game time; his boss was not in the mood for his shit.

“Because he’s like us. Because he was scouted to be a hero at six years old and was never given any choice about anything.” Dabi looked over at Hawks, who looked thunderstruck at the fact that he knew that, and gave him an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry. I happened to read the paper the day that you got scouted, and we both have the curse of incredibly recognizable quirks. I doubt many people would put it together but…”

Hawks shook his head. “It’s fine, Dabi. I thought you might know, though I wasn’t sure how you did. I trusted you to stitch me back together; I can trust you with my history.”

Dabi’s face went red at that, and Shigaraki looked between the two of them with narrowed eyes before groaning. “Ugh, you actually like him, don’t you? Fine. I’ll give you a chance, Hawks, but only because Dabi is a good judge of character. Welcome to the League or whatever.” He waved them off before going back to his room, and Hawks watched him go with wide eyes.

“Is he always like that?”

“He warms up to people eventually, but yeah, pretty much. He likes to joke that he ran out of character points before he got to the speech skill,” Dabi snorted. He thought that Shigaraki had a tendency to sell himself short, he could make motivational speeches just fine, but his boss wasn’t wrong about being socially awkward, at least.

Kurogiri coughed to disguise a laugh before turning to Hawks. “Let me know whenever you are ready to leave. There is no rush, but I would prefer to teleport you away from our base if at all possible. Take medical leave if you can; you’ll need the time to recover.”

Hawks blinked as he watched Kurogiri walk away, and Dabi laughed at his expression. “And that was one of the League’s father figures. Congratulations, you’ve officially got his approval. He would’ve just teleported you home if he didn’t trust you to ask him for a lift.”

“Oh…” Hawks’ voice was slightly awed, and Dabi looked to Hawks with a soft smile.

“Come on, let’s get you in bed. We don’t have a spare set up for you but…”

“I don’t mind sharing with you hot stuff. Wouldn’t mind if it was just an excuse to get me in your bed either.” Hawks waggled his eyebrows at Dabi who snorted in response.

“You aren’t up to any sort of vigorous exercise, and I’m afraid that qualifies.” Dabi paused before taking a deep breath and deciding to continue. “And I’m really not ready for that yet anyway.”

Hawks nodded seriously at that, giving him a small smile. “That’s fine Dabi; there’s no rush. I was mostly joking, though I also wouldn’t say no, but let me know if that ever bothers you.” He held out his hand, and Dabi took it and supported him as they started to walk to Dabi’s room.

“It doesn’t bother me, but I may ask for clarification sometimes. I’d rather know for sure one way or another than allow miscommunication to fuck us over before we even...”

“And that’s fine too! I don't want to make you uncomfortable, and if asking outright will help you feel better about it, or at least more certain about my intentions, then I'd want you to do so."

“I will, thank you,” Dabi said as he opened up his door, leading Hawks into the room and closing the door behind them. 

Hawks tilted his head as he looked toward the bed, and Dabi flushed as he realized exactly what he was seeing.

“Stuffed animals?”

“Please don’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing; I think that it’s cute.” Hawks gave Dabi a fond smile and gently squeezed his hand. “Let’s get settled, okay?”

The two of them laid down, and while it took some careful adjusting to make it work, Dabi found himself nestled comfortably against Hawks’ bandaged chest, his stuffed owl in hand, with a red wing draped over him.

Dabi felt the gentle press of lips against his forehead as he started drifting off, and when he finally fell asleep, it was with a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Dabi woke up to the sound of giggling. He blinked open his eyes and looked over at his open door, seeing that Toga was laughing into her hand. The foggy comfort and warmth left him confused for a few moments longer before he blushed and realized that a bright red wing was still draped over his torso.

Toga coughed a few times before collecting herself and saying, “Shiggy wanted everyone to meet Hawks before he left! He wouldn’t stop pacing, so I offered to check on you guys.”

‘He was worried, huh? I can’t blame him; this was sudden. Guess it’s time for us to answer those questions.’

“Alright, just give us a minute and we’ll be out.” Now that Dabi was somewhat awake, he could tell that Hawks was too tense to be sleeping. His grip on Dabi’s arm was loose and his eyes were closed, but Hawks was ready to move in an instant.

“Okay! Don’t have too much fun while I’m not looking; I can only hold them off for so long,” Toga snickered as she skipped away, twirling around as she shut the door. Dabi groaned as he sunk further into the bed with embarrassment, and Hawks relaxed some as his chest shook with silent laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now. It won’t be long until they’re all comfortable enough to do the same to you.”

Honey gold eyes slowly opened, and they were crinkled at the corners from the smile spreading across Hawks’ face. Dabi’s heart fluttered.

‘Happiness looks good on him.’

“That sounds nice.” Hawks slowly started to shuffle over to the edge of the bed, standing carefully and hissing in a quiet exhale of breath as he straightened up. Dabi followed close behind him, ready to support him if need be. Hawks walked over to the door with a lack of hesitation that made Dabi worry about how frequently he'd been hurt like this, freezing in place as he pondered that question. Hawks looked back at Dabi with a cocked eyebrow when he saw that Dabi was still standing near the bed.

“You gonna take me to meet the rest of your family, hot stuff?” Hawks tilted his head slightly and chuckled. Dabi could feel himself melt at the genuinely happy, albeit teasing, sound.

'I want him to be free like this all the time.'

“Our family now, birdie.” Dabi looked Hawks in the eye, hoping that he'd pick up on what he really meant. The way that Hawks’ feathers puffed out slightly as his eyes widened told Dabi that he did.

“But I…”

“They’re hurting you, Hawks. I will not blame you for being afraid of defying them, but I want you to know that you have options. You’ll always have a home with us if you want it.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve defied them already,” Hawks snorted. “But thank you, I appreciate it. I’ll let you know if I need fire and brimstone, but I’ve got this, at least for now.”

Dabi nodded before taking a deep breath and working through some stretches. Hawks watched on with a curious expression, and Dabi looked up at him before explaining. “My grafts get stiff after a while, so if I don’t stretch out every now and again, then I’ll wind up literally tearing apart at the seams. Considering how busy I’ve been lately, Shigaraki won’t be surprised if it takes us a minute to join them.”

“Do they hurt?”

Dabi grimaced before waving his hand in a so-so motion. “To some degree, yeah. I don’t feel pain in the areas where the grafts themselves are, the doctor that I saw could only do so much about fourth-degree burns, but I’m usually some level of sore or achy. Some days are worse than others. The healthy skin that’s close to the edge of my grafts is what usually hurts the most, but I’ve got painkillers for if it gets bad enough.”

Dabi rolled his neck as he finally felt loose enough to go about his day, sighing in relief. He looked over at Hawks and hummed. “You ready? I can still just get Kurogiri to warp you away if you don’t want to deal with this just yet.”

“No point in putting it off. Besides, they all know about me now anyway." Hawks sounded nervous when he said this, but Dabi knew that there was nothing he could do about that beyond letting the League prove that Hawks' worries were unfounded. He still would’ve preferred to introduce Hawks to the League more slowly, but beggars couldn't be choosers. ‘It could end up being a good thing. If he likes them all, or at least enough of them, then maybe, just maybe, he’ll feel comfortable coming to us for help again. For things less dire than literal torture.’

“Let’s go then," Dabi said with a nod.

The two of them walked into the main room side-by-side, and Dabi was only growing more concerned by Hawks’ ability to brush off such severe injuries. ‘He was stumbling around a lot yesterday, but that was probably more because of blood loss than anything else. You wouldn’t even be able to tell that he was hurt if he covered this up.’

Dabi wondered how many times Hawks had covered something like this up.

“There they are! See, I told you they were fine,” Toga cried out, and Shigaraki huffed before instinctively going to scratch at his neck. Spinner gently grabbed Shigaraki’s wrist before moving his hand to a nearby blanket instead, allowing their boss to dig his fingers into something without hurting himself in the process. 

‘I’m just glad that he instantly lifts his pinky up; it’d be a pain to replace blankets all of the time, though it’d still be worth it if it meant that he wasn’t gouging into his neck. That's a bad nervous habit to have, even if his quirk doesn't affect himself much.’

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Hawks chirped. “Thank you for letting me crash here! There’s no way Dabi would’ve let me fly back.”

Dabi hated the way that Hawks’ carefree mask instantly slotted back into place among the League, but he knew that Hawks had no reason to trust them yet. ‘Just give him time.’

“Don’t worry about it,” Shigaraki huffed as he rolled his eyes. “Dabi has a soft spot for strays. You just take up a bit more space than what he usually brings home.”

Dabi could see five different cats lounging around the room, and he knew that there were more roaming throughout the base as well. As much as he wanted to protest, he knew that Shigaraki had a point.

Eria laughed outright before saying, “He’s always been like that. I mean, honestly...” she looked over at Dabi. “What kind of street kid sees an easy target and goes ‘Actually, I think that I will help her,’, not that I’m complaining.”

“What kind of kid who didn’t know anything about the streets would join up with the first vigilante she found? Especially one that looked like I do.” Dabi knew that she was just teasing, but teasing back was half of the fun.

“One who could tell we went through something similar and knew that you wouldn’t blindly trust heroes, at least,” Eria jabbed back, studying Hawks with an appraising gaze. “Which is why I’m so curious about why the number two is here. I trust you, Dabi, but I’m also worried.”

‘Worried that I’m letting my desire to help overwhelm my common sense, huh? You would be the one to bring that up.’

“Ah, well, I can answer any questions that you have. That goes for all of you.” Hawks gave them all a bright, fake smile, and now that he'd seen the real thing, Dabi wondered how anyone had ever believed that Hawks was happy with his life.

“Are you sure you're alright, hun? We can get a bar stool for you if you need to sit down. Sorry that we don’t have anything more comfortable that accommodates wings,” Magne fretted, and Dabi knew her well enough at this point to know that she would be worrying over Hawks for a while after seeing the state he arrived in.

Hawks gave her an appreciative nod before saying, “I’m fine; Dabi stitched me up well. I wouldn’t mind sitting down though.” 

Before Magne could get up, Mustard darted over to the bar and dragged the stool over, looking up at Dabi for approval. Dabi chuckled and nodded at the kid, ruffling his hair as he walked past. ‘I’m sure that his awe will mellow out eventually, but until then, it’s at least cute.’

Hawks carefully sat down, stepping up on the bar that runs between the stool’s legs so that he didn’t pull any stitches, and turned to Mustard with a smile. “Thanks uh…”

“Oh, right! I forgot that most people don’t know my face. I’m Mustard!” The kid gave Hawks a friendly wave and a bright grin. Dabi was a bit embarrassed to know that his place by Hawks’ side was all the convincing Mustard needed to welcome the hero with open arms.

“Then thank you, Mustard.” The kid nodded with a grin, settling back down into one of the couches next to Toga. A young tuxedo cat jumped up into Mustard’s lap moments after he sat down, and he was instantly distracted by giving said cat all the attention that they were demanding.

“Ooh, ooh can I go first? I have a question!” The gleam in Toga’s eyes spelled trouble, but Hawks just nodded.

“What is Dabi to you?”

Red wings puffed out as Hawks flushed, and that reaction was enough for any League members who didn’t suspect that there was something between him and Hawks to get the hint. Dabi blushed too, only growing redder at Hawks’ honest response.

“I don’t want to say anything before I’m sure, but I do like him. A lot. He makes it very hard not to.”

“Right?!” Toga exclaimed with a fanged grin. “I like him in a different way, obviously, but Dabi has these sweet big brother vibes; he practically adopted me and Mustard as soon as he met us. Though that makes sense considering--” she quickly glanced Dabi’s way and he subtly shook his head. “Rinku and all,” she finished without hesitation.

Eria gave Hawks an evaluating look as she asked, “Why do you want to be part of the League? Why would you join us when you have so much already?”

“Our system is broken,” Hawks said, and he seemed startled by how instant his reply was. The rest of the League was paying rapt attention to Hawks, and Dabi watched as he took a breath and continued.

“I know how that sounds coming from me, but I only saw more corruption as I got higher in the ranks. I didn’t… I didn’t realize just how strange it was to be scouted at six until recently. I never knew anything but heroism, the Commission made sure of that, but I just couldn’t stop feeling like something was off. There was something strange about how frequently I was retrained. There was something strange about the fact that I wasn’t allowed to speak to people who weren’t approved by the Commission. And there was something strange about the fact that they refused to let me turn down any kind of mission. So when the Commission came to me and ordered me to infiltrate the League I…”

Hawks looked down as he clenched his fists. “I saw a chance to get out. They wouldn’t know that I had turned on them until it was too late, and Dabi being my contact only made me more certain that something was wrong with how things are. I have been shown a kindness that I have never known by people that I’ve heard called evil my entire life, and I have been beaten into the ground by the ones who oversee the people who supposedly embody justice. This system has never cared about justice. It only cares about control.”

Dabi's eyes widened as Hawks kept talking, hearing the realization in his voice for what it was. Hope bloomed in Dabi's chest. 'Is he actually…?’

“I’m tired of being controlled,” Hawks snarled with eyes like steel, and Dabi knew that Hawks couldn't fake raw emotion like this. He was good at pretending to be carefree, but rage like this? No, this was real.

“Then welcome to our little band of revolutionaries,” Eria said with a grin. “You’re clearly one of us.”

“It’ll be nice to not be the only member with a mutation quirk,” Spinner hummed, tail swaying contentedly. “It’s a shame that heroes will lose one of the few good ones, but you deserve way better than how they’re treating you.”

Mr. Compress had been surprisingly quiet throughout this whole exchange, but he didn’t stay that way for long. “What you have gone through is truly horrific, Hawks. I am glad that you had the opportunity to take your life back, and I look forward to working with you.”

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing better now! You looked like shit last night. Don’t let it get that bad again; we’re here to support you,” Twice exclaimed, and Hawks looked awed by just how quickly he was being brought into the fold.

“If Dabi trusts you, then so do I,” Mustard murmured, glancing up to give Hawks a brief smile before refocusing on scratching the cat's chin.

Toga gave Hawks a wicked grin as she said, “Break Dabi’s heart and I’ll stab you, but otherwise you’re cool. You’ll have to spar with me sometime!” Considering the way that Hawks’ feathers could sharpen just like blades, Dabi wasn’t surprised by Toga’s request.

“Welcome to the family. It’s a bit wild, but we take care of our own,” Magne gave Hawks a comforting smile as she said this, and Dabi almost laughed when he saw the way that Hawks' knees were shaking now. He looked like he was about to keel over from the shock.

“It is a pleasure to formally include you, Hawks,” Kurogiri said with a genuinely pleased tone, and Dabi knew at that moment that Kurogiri had already decided that Hawks was one of his charges now. 'And Shigaraki says that I'm bad about taking people in.'

Everyone turned to look at Shigaraki as he sighed. He looked to Hawks with a serious expression before making his stance clear, “As I said last night, welcome. I’m willing to give you a chance, but try to talk to us before telling the Commission anything big. If you can’t, then lie and deflect to the best of your abilities, but be careful. I’d rather you not get hurt for our sakes. Don’t give them anything on our location and avoid telling them too much about the members that they don’t know the identities of, but outside of that, I don’t care. Just don’t make me regret this.”

Hawks nodded seriously and glanced over at Dabi before answering, “I won’t.”

It felt like a promise.

-

Hawks waited until it was dark before asking Kurogiri to warp him into a back alley a few blocks away from his apartment. As much as he dreaded the walk back, Hawks would be ruined if the Commission knew that he had spent last night and all of today at the League’s base. He began to head back, thoughts flying through his head at breakneck speed.

‘It would’ve been so easy for me to leave a feather behind and come back later. They never would’ve had to know.’ But Hawks didn’t do that. He didn’t want to know where the League was living.

‘I could have kept doing this if it was just Dabi, but it’s not. It’s not even just Dabi and his brother.’ 

Shigaraki was prickly, sure, but he seemed more awkward than anything else. ‘Isolated, unsure of how to interact with others, and prone to self-harm. That doesn’t paint a pretty picture about wherever he was before he became a villain. And he seems to care in his own way, at least about the League.’

Kurogiri was polite to a fault, but it was refreshing when compared to the strict demands that he was usually met with. ‘He’s so servile that it’s almost disturbing, though. He seemed willing to bend over backward to get me back home in the safest way possible for me, and he even offered to give me one of their trackers for emergencies. I couldn’t risk that being found on me now, but it was nice of him. Just odd.’

Toga was a bit feral, but she was also fiercely loyal and protective of the people she cared about. ‘What tipped her over the edge? She seemed relatively healthy a couple of years ago, but I would know all about records being deceiving. Someone with a quirk like hers would be good at pretending.’

Mustard seemed like a well-adjusted kid, though Hawks was willing to bet that a lot of that had to do with Dabi. ‘The kid was looking up at him like he hung the moon. We still can’t find any records of who Mustard was before, and that’s concerning. What kind of situation was he in before joining the League?’

Eria was scarily quick to change tunes once she heard about Hawks being hurt by the system, despite her obvious disdain of heroes. ‘Considering the information we got on the League from Bakugo, that’s probably with good reason. Snatch’s murder felt personal, and heroes are in one of the best positions to get quirk marriages without being questioned. A sand transformation quirk and a heat emitter quirk could easily combine to make a glass emitter quirk. And she and Dabi were both born from quirk marriages, so if one of her parents was a hero...’ 

Hawks wondered just how much she and Dabi had in common. He shook his head slightly, taking a shortcut that would get him to his apartment quicker without stepping out into any main roads. He needed to keep dissecting what he knew of the others so far.

Twice was blunt in a way that reminded Hawks more of Rumi than anyone else, Dabi was a pretty honest person, but he would still dance around subjects that he didn’t want to talk about, and he was also genuinely excited for Hawks to be there. ‘Definitely not someone I see striking out and murdering a bunch of people just because he could, and the Commission has been trying to scare heroes into believing that ever since they dug up his record. He would protect the rest of the League, but is that really any different from what heroes do?’

Magne was far more caring than he would’ve expected from someone with her record, and Hawks was still mortified by how he reacted when she carried him away from Dabi. No amount of her insisting that he was just stressed and that she took no offense to it would erase that embarrassment any time soon. ‘She was always painted as this extremely violent villain, and while I don’t doubt that she can be with three murders and so many attempted murders under her belt, I do wonder exactly why she attacked those people now. It doesn’t seem like something she’d do unprovoked.’

Mr. Compress was just as showy behind closed doors as he was on the field, but he cared and expressed genuine outrage at the injustices that Hawks had faced. ‘I’m less surprised by that than I would have been if we hadn’t already known that there was some connection between Dabi and Mr. Compress, even before I knew about the vigilante thing. Stealing medication for someone with chronic pain doesn’t exactly scream evil, and Mr. Compress was only wanted for theft before all of this.’

Spinner was also excited to have Hawks on board, and his comment about mutation quirks cleared up any doubts that Spinner hadn’t faced his fair share of discrimination for his appearance. ‘It’s easier to hide the talons on my hands and my extra eyelids, and people tend to like winged quirks. Spinner isn’t able to hide at all, and there are plenty of people who are afraid of reptiles in general. Even without a record before the League, it’s not hard to guess why he joined.’

Rinku was the member that he knew the least about, but he’d still been able to get a decent read on his character. ‘He’s a worrier. He trusts and looks up to Dabi a great deal, undoubtedly because Dabi shielded him growing up. Rinku shows the same genuine desire to help others as Dabi does too.’

There were some things that Hawks now wished he hadn’t overheard. It was interesting that Dabi had faked his death before the whole fiasco that ended his time as Phoenix, but Hawks couldn’t risk exposing Dabi by searching for who he used to be. He was undeniably Hawks’ staunchest ally in this, and even if there wasn’t something growing between them, Hawks wouldn’t want to put Dabi in danger.

And that was what pushed him to a realization. Madame President had retrained him for not working a miracle, but Dabi had stitched him back together with steady hands and gentle words, showing a sort of patience that Hawks had never gotten from anyone, not even Rumi. Dabi told him that Hawks didn’t deserve to suffer and meant it, and Hawks didn’t want to betray that kindness. 

Dabi didn’t hesitate to help Hawks, even while knowing that Hawks had been spying on the League. 

Had been. 

‘This is the dumbest thing that I’ve ever done.’

But as Hawks stepped into his apartment, wings fluffing up at the buzzing coming from the audio bugs scattered around the place, he knew that he had already made up his mind.

Hawks had always been the hero who flew too fast for his own good. He was never going to see the world he wanted, the world where he’d get to relax and be himself, if he stayed with the Commission, and the Commission would never allow him to continue being a hero if he got away from them.

‘But that doesn’t mean that I have to stop helping people.’ He would play the Commission’s game for now, but Hawks was thrumming with the anticipation of finally flying free. He wanted to help people in a way that mattered. He wanted to change things for the people who came after him.

People would die. People would suffer if he went down this path, but he’d already been told to ignore that for the sake of this mission. Besides, Hawks only needed to look at the League to see that people were already suffering and willing to die for change, and that was something that went far beyond the League. It was obvious if someone knew what to look for.

‘The ends justify the means, huh? I wonder how you’ll feel when that’s used against you, Madame President.’

-

It was another day before the Commission called him in, having already relegated his patrols to his sidekicks until he could fly again. ‘It was bad this time. I’d probably be fighting off an infection and a fever if Dabi hadn’t helped out, but at least I can use that to convince them that he’s closer to letting me meet the rest of the League.’

The longer that Hawks could keep them from knowing that he was in a position to bring back more information than he was, the better.

Currently, he was being led into one of the Commission’s medical rooms, and Hawks had already taken off his bandages right before this so that they wouldn't get in the way of whatever healer he was taken to.

“Take your jacket and shirt off, Hawks. You don’t get to laze around any longer,” the healer tsked at him, and he wondered if the man said that because he meant it or because Madame President was directly behind Hawks, closing the door behind them and looking at Hawks with clear disapproval.

He did as he was told, and he could see a flicker of surprise in Madame President’s eyes when she saw his stitched-up wounds. The healer seemed just as bewildered. “I thought that you said you hadn’t given him any treatment yet?”

“I didn’t. What is the meaning of this?” Madame President’s eyebrow twitched, but the rest of her posture remained as poised as ever.

‘Worried that you’re going to have to bribe some people to be quiet, huh? I can’t believe that I ever thought you cared about me.’ 

“You were right. I was working too slowly on gaining my contact’s trust, so I sped things up.” The Commission’s medical team knew about Hawks’ infiltration mission, they had expected him to receive injuries that didn’t line up with his patrols and that would need healing to avoid obstructing his work, but he wasn’t going to elaborate unless he had to.

“So what did you do, agent?”

“Dabi would be dead if he didn’t have some sort of medical knowledge. It turns out that he’s quite skilled at putting people back together when he feels so inclined.”

“You went to a villain in a weakened state?” Madame President’s tone was glacial, and the doctor shrunk back a bit from it. Hawks couldn’t afford to show that kind of weakness.

“I went to a villain who believes that I’m on his side, asking for help so that he has something to hold over my head later. That sounds counterproductive, but Dabi is the type to constantly test loyalty. If I owe him a favor, then he’s more likely to use that to see just how far I’m willing to go for the League than for anything else,” the lies flowed easily from Hawks’ tongue, but he wasn’t surprised by that. The commission expected Dabi to be a confrontational, defensive asshole, so he could play into their misconceptions. Hawks had expected Dabi to be like that too, after all.

Madame President didn’t look happy about his answer, but she conceded with a nod. “Very well. You had better make some big show of loyalty soon; we can’t afford to take our time with this. Have you considered bringing them Best Jeanist?”

“Pardon?” She couldn’t be implying what Hawks thought she was.

“With his injury, it will be quite some time before he’ll be able to go out on the field again. We don’t have that kind of time. Bringing them the body of such a high-ranking hero is sure to earn you trust, and our society would be no worse off for it. We could replace him sooner that way, get people cheering for someone else, and also further secure your position in the League. Letting you meet one other member isn’t enough, and it sounds like you're no closer to meeting anyone else just yet.”

Hawks knew that the Commission wasn’t fond of Best Jeanist, but he seemed like a good hero. His district had fewer villains because of his prevention programs; it wasn't like he needed to be patrolling the streets to keep those going. 'Besides, I doubt that the League would want him dead anyway. Dabi definitely wouldn't.'

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I wasn’t asking, agent. We need to speed this timeline up. We can't afford to wait months for you to meet Shigaraki and get intel on the League. You will kill Best Jeanist, understood?"

‘These things take time; did she seriously expect me to waltz in and earn a place among the League right away? It doesn't matter that I got lucky enough for that to happen, not when that was done entirely out of kindness on Dabi's part. Meeting someone outside of my contact would be great progress if I was still actually trying to infiltrate them. And does she not realize how horrific this is, or does she just not care? If I hadn’t already switched sides, then I would've been tempted to join the League after this anyway.’

Hawks let none of his horror show on his face, simply saying, “Understood.”

“Good, don’t forget your place, agent.” Madame President turned to the doctor before barking out, “Heal him. He’s got patrol tomorrow morning, and I’m willing to overlook his insolence just this once.”

‘Meaning that people have noticed that I haven’t patrolled anywhere in the past couple of days, and they’re worried about it. You just want to save face.’

Madame President stalked out of the room, and Hawks grit his teeth as the doctor touched him and activated his quirk. It let him heal any cuts and gashes that didn’t go down to the bone, but anyone that he used it on felt all the pain of when they received their injuries all over again. Healing quirks were rare and riddled with drawbacks, but the Commission had gathered several of them over the years. This included people who could heal these injuries with little to no problem and with far milder side effects.

If Madame President wasn’t trying to punish him further, then she would have taken him to see a different healer.

He staggered out of the healing room eventually, taking deep breaths and steadying himself as he left the building as quickly as he could. On his flight back to his apartment, Hawks pulled out his burner and texted Dabi.

We need to meet asap

When are you free?

After patrol tmrw

This can’t wait

Alright

Where do you want to meet?

You’re letting me choose?

Trust you

Maizuru Park at 2am

Need to stay in Fukuoka for a bit

I’ll be there

Stay safe

I’ll try

Hawks landed on his balcony and leaned heavily against the railing as his body sung with all the aches and pains that always lingered after retraining. He still wasn’t sure that he knew exactly what he was doing, but he knew one thing for certain.

He wouldn’t regret siding with Dabi in this. Hawks desperately wanted the chance to live as Keigo again, and he knew that he’d never be able to as things were now.

Chapter Text

Dabi would be lying if he said that he wasn’t anxious as he walked into Maizuru Park. He believed that Hawks had genuinely committed to the League, but Hawks usually wasn’t the one to ask for meetings.

‘I know that he was healed since he patrolled today, so at least there’s that. But whatever this is must be extremely time-sensitive.’ Dabi was typically able to meet within a few days anyway, so Hawks emphasizing that this couldn’t wait was worrying.

When Hawks arrived, his wings slumped down as soon as he landed, and he ran a gloved hand through his hair as he sighed heavily. ‘He looks exhausted. What is going on?’

“Guess I’m not the only one early today, huh?” Hawks visibly jolted as Dabi asked the question, looking over to him and huffing slightly.

“You blend into the shadows far too well,” Hawks grumbled, walking over to join Dabi’s side. He wasn’t being shy about leaning into Dabi’s personal space now, and Dabi smiled as a wing wrapped around him. As much as he’d enjoy basking in this for a while, they both had work to do.

“What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Hawks sighed. “Or at least no worse than usual. The Commission is just being unreasonable.”

“Did you need to run something by us? Tell them something to get them off your back?”

Hawks shook his head as he answered, “No, that’s not it. They want me to kill Best Jeanist.”

“What?” Dabi blinked. That made no sense whatsoever. ‘Best Jeanist is the most popular hero in Japan right now. Why the fuck would they off him? Because people prefer him to Endeavor? Is this some sort of weird, fucked up, ‘be grateful for what you have’ thing?’

“Madame President is under the impression that I’ll win you over if I kill a prominent hero, and I’m guessing that she’s taking advantage of the fact that Jeanist will be off the field for a long enough time that people wouldn’t realize he’s missing for a while. I tried to tell her that it wasn’t necessary, but she wasn’t having it. I think she just wants an excuse to get rid of him and be able to blame it on someone else if things go to shit.”

“What the fuck? Yeah, let’s not do that.” Dabi rubbed at his forehead and groaned, already feeling a headache coming on from the disaster that they were going to have to navigate. 

He continued, “First off, people would absolutely notice if Best Jeanist went missing. If he was strictly an apprehension hero taking time off, then maybe they wouldn’t, but he’s too deeply involved in his community for people to not be up in arms within a couple of weeks of him disappearing. Secondly, he’s a pretty decent hero, all things considered. The League doesn’t want him dead at all.”

‘If a hero that popular died because of us, then we’d lose any chance at swaying people to our side. Even if I didn’t personally object to this, there’s no way any of them would want that to happen.’

Hawks held up his hands in surrender before saying, “I didn’t think that any of you would. That doesn’t change the fact that we need the Commission to think he’s dead.”

“Which would mean convincing him to go into hiding, at least. A fake body would probably help too,” Dabi muttered.

“Do you just happen to know someone who can make fake bodies?” Hawks cocked an eyebrow at him as he asked that, and his look was a blend of amused and concerned.

“Yeah, actually,” Dabi snorted. “You’d have to convince Jeanist to let you take a hair or something, and it’d need to have the root or it wouldn’t work, so that she had DNA to work with, but I know someone who could do that. It’d wear off in twenty-four hours though, so you’d have to hope that a photograph would be enough to convince them. Maybe take a picture of it before meeting me and send it to them? You could always tell them that I just burned the body, especially since I’ll need to do that anyway.”

Hawks gave him a considering look. “Huh. Well, that’d be useful. Are you sure that she’d be willing to help?”

“For something like this? Yeah, I don’t doubt it for a second. My concern is how you’re going to convince Jeanist to go into hiding. Or if he’ll actually be able to manage it. He won’t be able to leave the country without catching the Commission’s attention, but he can’t be seen alive and well either.”

“You leave that to me, hot stuff. I’ll make sure that he understands how important this is; you just focus on getting ahold of whoever can make the body. Let me know as soon as she’s ready or if she isn’t able to do it. We’ll need to coordinate this perfectly.”

Hawks stepped away from him and looked to the skies, and Dabi could see his wings practically vibrating with the urge to fly. ‘It’s no wonder that he wants to be in the sky right now. He’s trapped between a rock and a hard place, and he’ll have to be incredibly careful about what he does and doesn’t tell Best Jeanist. If he says too much, then he may give away that he’s loyal to the League, but if he says too little, then Best Jeanist might refuse to leave and force Hawks’ hand.’

Before Hawks could take off, Dabi gently laid a hand on his shoulder. He was careful not to grab on, though. He didn’t want Hawks to feel any more confined than he already did. 

“Look after yourself, okay?” he murmured.

Hawks turned back to face him with a small, strained smile, and Dabi leaned forward to press his lips to Hawks’ forehead. When he pulled back, that smile was just the tiniest bit more relaxed. 

“I will. Just promise me that you’ll do the same,” Hawks whispered.

“Always, pretty bird.”

And if Dabi stared off into the distance that Hawks had disappeared in long after the red of his wings were obscured by the night sky, then no one else was around to see it.

-

The next evening, Dabi went out into the city determined to get this taken care of. He didn’t like that he needed to wait until dark to do this, pacing around for hours while frantically planning failsafes only distracted him for so long, but the odds of being seen by a hero during the day were too high.

‘I only need to worry about Ms. Joke and X-Less this late, and at least my scars don’t stand out so much when everything is dark.’

Dabi was able to solidly avoid X-Less’s patrol route, but Ms. Joke was one of the few heroes in the area that he didn’t have a full patrol schedule of. Dabi was on edge the entire time that he dipped in and out of alleyways, looking all around him for the slightest sign of trouble. He didn’t stop moving until he found himself in a narrow offshoot that most people overlooked, and he leaned against the brick wall before pulling out an old burner that was scheduled for destruction anyway. He held it up to his ear, and the phone rang twice before Tadaaki’s voice came through.

“This is Yamamoto Clinic; how can I help you?”

“You’ve really perfected that customer service voice, huh kid?”

“Phoenix?! Why are you calling the clinic? You have Doc and I’s numbers.”

“I need Doc to call Eniko-san for me, and I don’t want to risk anything getting traced to either of you. The clinic gets so many calls a day that this will be buried. Calling either of you directly would only put you in danger.”

“Oh geez. What did you get yourself into this time? You literally just took down that other guy… Hey, Doc! Phoenix is calling!” There was silence for a few moments, and Dabi jerked when he heard a rat scamper over a fallen trash lid, sighing in relief once he confirmed that it wasn't anything more dangerous.

“He said that he needed you to tell Eniko-san something! What did you need to tell her, Phoenix?”

“The Commission is trying to get Best Jeanist killed.”

“What?” Tadaaki's voice was quiet with horror, and Dabi quickly went to reassure him.

“We're not going to let them. We just need something that could convince them that he's actually dead…”

“Oh!" Tadaaki's voice was thick with relief and realization. "Doc, he needs to know if Eniko-san has any unclaimed bodies scheduled to be cremated soon. And if she’ll be available to help a hero uh… how soon?”

“As soon as possible. The Commission isn’t exactly known for their patience.”

“As soon as she’s free. Uh-huh. Okay, she’s calling her now. Uh... Eniko-san says hello and that she’s glad you’re doing alright. Also to please stop stumbling into government conspiracies."

“I’d avoid them if I could, you know," Dabi said dryly. A snort was his only response, so he refocused and asked, "Is she still working at the same place?”

“She is. Doc says that she has a couple of bodies that won't be missed scheduled for cremation tomorrow, and her shift doesn’t end until midnight. There shouldn’t be anyone loitering around back by then, so she could sneak one out for you or whoever else.”

Dabi sighed with relief. They would've been fucked if there weren't any unclaimed bodies; he didn't want to kill someone for her to use as a fake Best Jeanist. “Good, good. He’ll be there around midnight, then, and he’ll bring what she needs. Thank her for me; she’s a life-saver, once again.”

“I will. Be safe, man!”

His burner clicked as the call ended, and he immediately dropped the phone to the ground and crushed it beneath his boot.

‘Okay, okay… This is good. That’s that taken care of; now I’ve just gotta get back to base and message Hawks from a different burner.’ 

Dabi took a deep breath before reaching into his coat to turn on his microphone. He barely managed to switch it on before he burst into laughter and paled, eyes darting around until he saw a blue aura glowing around a woman with light green hair.

‘Damn it all! Why couldn’t it have been X-Less?! How much did she hear?’ 

Dabi was shaking with laughter as he spiraled into a panic, and he could feel the staples on his face and around his stomach loosen from the constant, jerking motions. He barely stumbled out of the way in time to avoid a fist to the face, though it still caught him in his side, and his flames instinctively leapt to his defense, forcing Ms. Joke to dodge backward or risk getting burned.

“You’ve been sparking conversations among heroes and villains alike, haven’t ya?”

Bright blue cast changing, flickering shadows in the alleyway that illuminated Ms. Joke's fierce expression, clinging close to Dabi’s frame as he gagged on the forced laughter. He desperately tried to inhale as staples tore loose and filled his mouth with blood, clutching at his throat as he choked. His flames were getting hotter and hotter, and his eyes widened as he realized that he couldn’t stop them.

Dabi couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe and his quirk was starting to go supernova again because it thought he was dying. Suddenly, mercifully, the laughter stopped. Blood splattered the ground as he coughed, heaving as he took deep breaths and forced his flames down.

“I know that I’m breathtaking, but it usually isn’t this bad,” Ms. Joke said while keeping to her schtick, but Dabi could hear the note of concern in her voice.

‘I must look like shit right now. Probably like something straight out of a horror film, honestly.’ He finally got his flames to go out completely, and Dabi breathed a sigh of relief as he took a few steps back. He looked up at Ms. Joke with an expression that he knew was pitiful, especially given the conflicted look all over her face.

“Please… don’t do that again. I’m barely held together as it is. Fuck, do I even have enough staples to replace all of these?” he choked out, voice croaky and exhausted from the strain his body just went through.

“Hm. You’re as strangely friendly as Eraserhead said you were too. I’ve already had you in stitches once, so it shouldn’t be any trouble to replace staples. We’ll just take you to a hospital before you go to prison.” The hero gave him an evaluating look that he recognized all too well from training sessions with the League on the rare occasions that he pushed himself too far.

She was hesitating to use her quirk against him; she was hesitating to fight him at all. Dabi knew that he could take advantage of that. He could throw a wall of fire at her and duck into a portal, but this was a narrow alleyway. Even if he used white flames instead of blue, she probably wouldn’t survive it.

‘I don’t want to be like Endeavor. I don’t want to hurt people just because they’re inconvenient. She doesn’t deserve that.’

He backed up a few more steps, and Ms. Joke stepped forward as he did so, keeping the same distance between them. There was an awkward stalemate between them for a few moments as they watched each other with narrowed eyes before Dabi sighed.

“Is there any way that I can convince you to pretend you didn’t see me? It’s not like I was doing anything…”

“Nope! Besides, I’m really interested in who is meeting who at midnight. What is the League up to these days?” she questioned with a wide grin, and if Dabi was any less used to people trying to lie to him, he might have fallen for the false friendliness. She was good.

“Do you think that I would tell you that?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Ms. Joke shrugged, chuckling as she said, “No, but it was worth a try. Are you gonna fight me, or are we doing this peacefully?”

Blue eyes flitted around for anything he could use here, but there was nothing. He needed an evacuation to get out of here, but he had to be subtle about this.

“Man, Kurogiri’s gonna kill me for this…” ‘Come on, just stall. He has to be careful to keep this portal from her line of sight; the last thing we need is her barrelling through with me. At least he’s been able to listen in.’

“No fighting then? You’re oddly cool-headed for a fire user.”

“You’re not my enemy,” Dabi said simply. “I have no reason to fight you.” 

Underground heroes were the only kind of hero that Dabi was inclined to respect off the bat. They weren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty to get things done, but they also were the type to work with minor criminals and let little things go if it meant going after the truly fucked up people. They didn’t need to make an example of everyone because their fights weren’t public spectacles.

‘I wonder… If I can get things moving on their side too, then it may make this even easier. Maybe just a nudge in the right direction.’ 

Ms. Joke cautiously stepped forward, eyes locked on him as she pulled quirk-canceling cuffs off her belt. Dabi stepped back again and her eyes narrowed. He could feel the cold press of Kurogiri’s portal pressed against his back, molded to his exact measurements in what was likely a collaboration with Twice.

“We’re not enemies, but we do have a shared one. Be careful, hero.”

He stepped back into the abyss, chuckling as he watched her dart forward seconds too late. He looked over to the people in the League's main room and smiled at Kurogiri and Twice. “Thanks for the save.”

“Be more careful next time. I don’t mind helping, but that was scary!" Twice cried out, pulling Dabi in for a brief hug before realizing that he was hurt and jerking back.

“You're fine, Twice. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

"You need to take care of that! Do you have enough antibiotics?"

Dabi nodded in answer, and Kurogiri looked him over before saying, “I’m always happy to assist, but you should look over your injuries sooner rather than later. Did the call go well, at least?”

Dabi grinned, practically thrumming with energy as he said, “Yeah, I need to go message Hawks after I clean up. He should be able to get the Best Jeanist situation sorted now.”

“That is excellent news. Please, go take care of yourself. The hard part is over, at least on your end,” Kurogiri murmured, sounding every bit as concerned as Twice was.

“Right," Dabi agreed with a nod and a shaky smile. "I owe you both big time. Let me know if you ever need any help, either of you.”

“Aw, you don’t have to pay me back, Dabi! Anything for a friend,” Twice said, loyal as ever, but that only solidified Dabi’s desire to do something for him in the future. He looked over to Kurogiri for now, gauging his reaction.

The fog that made up Kurogiri’s body wavered in a way that Dabi recognized as contemplation. A small, wispy smile formed on Kurogiri’s face. “You need to recover first, but I would appreciate the help in the kitchen, whenever you’re free.”

“It has been a while since I’ve helped out, hasn’t it? I’m sorry, Kurogiri; that’s more than fair,” he agreed before telling them both goodnight and heading to the bathroom, stopping by his room to grab his first aid kit beforehand. He began going through the painstaking process of cleaning, disinfecting, and restapling the grafts on his face with a grimace, twitching minutely at every click of the stapler in his hand.

‘Thank fuck for Doc giving me a medical grade one. Imagine taking an office stapler to my face. That'd be a nightmare.’  

He took off his shirt and started the process over with the ring of scarring that wrapped around his stomach and just under his chest, sighing before swallowing his pride and going one room over to ask Eria for help with his back. She was the only person outside of himself and Natsuo that knew how to use a medical stapler, she had been working with him and living with him for long enough that it was impossible for her not to learn eventually, and Natsuo wasn’t here to help right now.

Eria grumbled about Dabi getting himself hurt, but she still helped him before heading back to bed and almost immediately passing out when she collapsed back into it. Dabi wanted nothing more than to do the same, but there was still one more thing that he had to do before he let himself rest.

He went back to his room and picked up a new burner --that pile was starting to run low, so Dabi would need to restock soon-- and sent a few quick messages to Hawks.

Everything’s set

Tmrw at midnight

Shizuoka City Shimizu Hospital

She’ll be out back

Dabi put the phone down before Hawks responded, turning off the light and flopping into his bed with a groan. He grabbed his plush snowy owl before hunkering down, trying to get comfortable despite the new aches and pains that came with nearly getting caught.

‘It’s all up to you now, Hawks.’

-

Hawks spent his entire patrol wired. He was making arrests and helping with little things --things like cats that were stuck in trees, dogs that got loose, and balls that fell into the road-- at an obscene rate, even for him, but at least it let him burn some nervous energy.

‘Let’s just hope that the Commission won’t expect this level of output from now on. If they ask, then I’ll just say that I wanted to be extra present on the day that I killed Best Jeanist so that no one would have any reason to suspect me.’

His patrol seemed to fly by, and before he knew it, Hawks was turning his work phone off, he didn’t need to be tracked for this, getting a portal to Nagoya, and thanking his lucky stars that Best Jeanist lived so close to Shizuoka. ‘I’ll need all the time that I can get to convince him.’

Hawks went through countless scenarios in his head as he walked toward Best Jeanist's house --he'd memorized the location shortly after he got this mission, knowing that he wouldn't be able to risk looking it up on the fly-- and perked up when he started seeing shops that he had mentally noted as nearby. He tried to stroll along slowly so that he wouldn't get there too quickly, but Hawks could only take so long to walk somewhere that was less than ten minutes away.

He gulped once he arrived at the house, hesitating as he stood in front of Best Jeanist’s front door. ‘It’s probably pretty creepy to just show up here when he never gave me his address, right? And it’s pretty late too...' He couldn't put it off forever, though. Hawks had to do this one way or another.

He knocked on the door. His feathers fluffed up as he heard the shuffling sound of footsteps making their way to the entrance, and Hawks barely smoothed them back down before the door swung open.

“Hawks? What are you doing so far from Fukuoka? Didn’t you have patrol today?” Best Jeanist's voice was filled with concern, and that only made Hawks even more determined to make this work.

‘Keep it casual and keep it friendly. Get yourself in the door.’

“Yo, Jeanist! Thought I’d drop by and check up on you, make sure that everything is healing up well. How has the recovery process been?”

“You didn’t have to go so out of your way to do that; a call would have sufficed,” Best Jeanist murmured, but there was a note of appreciation in his voice that Hawks couldn't miss. He was just glad that Best Jeanist didn’t sound upset about his sudden arrival. “Come in and rest. I don't doubt that you flew nonstop the whole way here.”

Hawks stepped in with a smile, barked a laugh, and said, “You know me so well! Public transportation just isn’t my speed at all; there’s no point in slowing down if I can get here twice as fast on my own.”

“The point is to not run yourself into the ground,” Best Jeanist chided, sitting down and motioning for Hawks to take a seat on one of his barstools. “You should rest when you’re given the opportunity to.”

Hawks sat down and rolled his eyes, scoffing playfully before saying, “Everyone always says that. I’ll be fine.” Though he did wonder if he should have waited a bit longer after his patrol before being warped this way. He got here so quickly that even people who knew exactly how fast he could fly would be skeptical.

“Now, while I appreciate you coming over, I doubt that this is a social call; you’re not the type for that. Did you need my assistance with something?” Best Jeanist sounded faintly disbelieving at that, and Hawks couldn’t blame him.

‘Dabi was right when he said that I don’t even work with my sidekicks, not really. Rumi is an exception, and even then, our team-ups don’t happen often.’

Hawks chuckled nervously as he said, “Heh, you got me. Sorry to spring this on you while you’re healing, but I didn’t really have a choice…”

“I’ll assist in any way that I can, though I’m still a long way from going back on the field.”

“Oh! No, no, that’s not it at all. I wouldn’t ask you to jeopardize your health like that,” Hawks said as he waved his hands back and forth, grateful that his overly animated persona distracted people from the microexpressions that flitted across his face. “Actually, I need you to do the opposite.”

“Oh?” Best Jeanist cocked an eyebrow at him. “And what is that?”

There was no point in beating around the bush here. Hawks only had so long before he needed to meet up with the doctor, so he simply said, “You need to go into hiding for a while.”

“What? Hawks, are you feeling alright? I’m already off the field; I’m not in any more danger here than I would be anywhere else.” Best Jeanist’s eyebrows were furrowed, and the man was looking at Hawks with such genuine concern that he couldn’t help feeling guilty.

‘I’m asking a lot of him here. It’s to save his life, but he doesn’t know that yet. He deserves to know what he’s hiding from. Honesty has been serving me well --at least outside of the Commission-- so…’

“The Commission wants you dead, Jeanist, and they have your address on file. How do you think that I knew how to get here? I’ve never visited before. We've barely talked.”

“Why would they--? I knew that they weren’t happy about some of the things I do, but this seems a bit extreme. Are you certain?” Best Jeanist looked disturbed enough by the idea that Hawks suspected he wasn’t as surprised as he wanted to be, though. ‘That or he thinks that something is wrong with me, but we’ll see how this goes.’

“I’m the one they ordered to kill you; I’m sure.” Best Jeanist tensed up at that, and Hawks hurried to continue. “I don’t want to do that! That’s why I need you to go into hiding.”

“And why would they order you to kill me”

“Because they know that I can’t say no, not outright,” Hawks said with a rueful smile. 

Best Jeanist looked like he had plenty of questions about that statement, but he moved on and clarified his question by asking, “What benefit would there be in them ordering this?”

Hawks hesitated. Telling Best Jeanist about his mission would be a risky gamble, but as someone who would be publicly missing and thought dead, the other man wasn’t going to be able to tell anyone any time soon. ‘Fuck it. At least this way he’ll think I’m against the League, and I’d need some way of explaining how I know someone that can do this anyway.’

“... Because I’m on a mission to infiltrate the League of Villains," Hawks admitted with a faux sheepish chuckle. He rubbed at the back of his neck, feigning nervousness, as he said, "In theory, it would make you a martyr while getting me closer to being accepted into their ranks, but my contact was just as against killing you as I was.”

‘Maybe even more so, honestly. I don’t want to do it, but I will if you don’t give me a choice.’ He'd be dead if Best Jeanist said anything, so Hawks wasn't going to pretend that he wouldn't do it to save his own skin. Best Jeanist was either going to agree to go into hiding or end up actually dead; Hawks would just have to do damage control to keep it from being connected to the League if that happened.

“That is concerning for so many reasons that I don’t know where to start,” Best Jeanist deadpanned at him, and Hawks just shrugged and nodded. Best Jeanist watched him incredulously for a few moments before asking, “How are you going to convince the Commission that I’m dead?”

“Oh, that’s the easy part! My contact knows someone who can make fake bodies with a bit of DNA, so he’s sending me over to her after this. They don’t last for long, but as long as I take a picture of it or something and tell them that he got rid of the body before I could bring it back, then they won’t have reason to believe you aren’t dead as long as they don’t see you.”

“And who is this contact?”

“That’s confidential.” Hawks grimaced as soon as the words left his mouth. He could see the stubborn glint in Best Jeanist’s eyes, and he knew that he wasn’t going to accept that.

“So is the fact that you’re meant to kill me. And the fact that you’re infiltrating the League at all. Don’t start withholding information under the guise of confidentiality now. If you’re asking me to abandon the work that I can still do without a word to anyone, then I want to know the details, Hawks.”

“Are you going to do this or not?” Hawks barely kept his eyebrow from twitching with irritation. Now he remembered why he avoided Best Jeanist. The man was a good hero who cared a lot, but he was also nosy as hell. That was the worst kind of person to be around for someone with as many secrets as Hawks.

“Are you going to kill me if I don’t?”

"No," he lied, and tension seeped out of Best Jeanist's shoulders after he said it. "But you’re going to get me killed if you don’t work with me here.” Hawks allowed a bit of his buried fear to slip through, and Best Jeanist gave him a doleful look as he sighed.

“What does the Commission have on you, Hawks? Why can’t you say no?”

“They’ve had guardianship over me since I was a kid, Jeanist. Everything that I have belongs to them. I'm working on getting out of it, but for now, I'm stuck with them."

‘I didn’t mean to say that much, fuck.’ Hawks knew that his bitterness had surprised Best Jeanist --even without being able to see his mouth, the raised eyebrows made it clear-- but it was too late for him to take it back now. He needed to dial things back a few notches.

“Is that why you’re being so protective of your contact, then? He’s helping you,” Best Jeanist murmured, sounding more considering than before, and Hawks wasn’t above jumping on that concession.

“He’s helping you too, you know? I’m not sure that I could have found a way around you ending up in a body bag with how quickly the Commission expected me to do this.”

“I’m sure that you would have managed, but I am aware that he’s helping here, yes. I’m not asking to turn him in, Hawks. I want to make sure that you’re being safe here.”

“I…” ‘Fuck it. I need to get moving, and Jeanist is stubborn enough to not cooperate if I don’t admit it. I'll deal with the consequences of this later, one way or another.'

“Funnily enough, Dabi is probably one of the safest people for me to be around right now,” Hawks chuckled, shaking his head.

“I’m going with you.”

“What?” Hawks blinked at the abrupt shift in conversation, dread rising within him as he realized what Best Jeanist meant.

“What part of laying low don’t you understand? If you're seen alive and well, then this will all be ruined.”

“You’ll fly to wherever you’re headed after this regardless, and it’s dark enough that no one would be able to tell if you’re carrying someone. Even if they do see us, then the Commission will simply assume that you took me elsewhere to kill me. I am not letting you meet with someone connected to Dabi on your own.”

“Did you miss the part where I said that I had been spending time with the man himself? She’s a civilian; I’ll be fine.”

Best Jeanist gave him a long, searching look before asking, “Can her fake bodies bleed?”

“What?”

“If you intend to convince the Commission that you’ve killed me, then they will be looking for a stab wound. Can she make them bleed?”

“I don’t know,” Hawks admitted. “That’s a good point, but she works at a hospital. I’m sure that we could figure something out.”

“And risk her getting caught by stealing blood for you? No, it would be better if I could be there and do that myself. Your contact being Dabi means that it’s less likely for any DNA to be left behind, but if there was even the smallest indication that things weren’t as they seemed…”

“We’d all be fucked,” Hawks groaned as he held his head in his hands. “Fine. Fine, we need to get moving. You better grab everything that you need now; you won’t be able to come back here.”

‘Don’t make me regret this. We’re going to be cutting it close with you slowing me down, Jeanist.’

-

It felt like a personal insult that it took Hawks longer to get to the hospital than a bullet train would have taken to get them into the city, but they still arrived just before the meeting time. He couldn’t see anyone waiting for them outside of the hospital, so Hawks touched down on the roof and sent a few feathers around to scout for him.

“I didn’t expect that we would be meeting her at her place of work,” Best Jeanist murmured, looking out at other rooftops with a contemplative tone.

“I’m guessing that she didn’t want to risk me leaving her place with a body. It’s less strange to see those in a hospital.” She also could’ve felt uncomfortable inviting them into her home; Hawks wouldn’t blame her for that. She was being asked to do a very illegal favor for two heroes, and Hawks knew that she would’ve believed it was a trap and ran for the hills if Dabi wasn’t the one sending them to her.

Before Best Jeanist could respond to that, one of Hawks’ feathers felt the vibration of a heavy door swinging open, and he could hear the squeaking wheels of a gurney being pushed out of it as he focused. Hawks peeked over the edge of the building and watched the woman who pushed it out check her phone, leaning up against the wall with a picture-perfect aura of nonchalance.

“Looks like she’s here. You ready then?”

“I’m not some cheap denim that frays when being flown down a few stories.”

“Right, right! I was just making sure,” Hawks chuckled before flying both of them down from the rooftop, carefully keeping himself in the doctor’s line of sight.

“I was under the impression that there would only be one of you," she muttered, looking over them both with obvious scrutiny.

“That was the plan, but it didn’t turn out that way. I'm sorry. He insisted that we would need to use some of his blood if we were going to make this convincing.” Hawks gave her an apologetic grin after saying this, but she only sighed and pulled back the white sheet that was laying over the gurney.

“It’s fine. Do you want me to transform them with blood too, or did you have something else in mind?”

Best Jeanist’s eyes were locked onto the body, and Hawks wanted to scream when he saw that stubborn set to his brows again. “I thought that you created fake bodies, not that you changed the appearance of actual corpses.”

“They are fake bodies, at least in the sense that they aren’t who people will think they are. If it makes you feel any better, then this is an unclaimed body that was going to be cremated and tossed anyway. No next of kin, no funeral, no nothing. And if you still don’t want to do this, then just leave.”

Steel lined the doctor’s voice, and Hawks appreciated the fact that two high-ranking heroes didn’t make her bow or scrape. It was disturbing just how quick some people were to do so, in Hawks’ opinion. The doctor was doing them both a great service here and she knew it. She had every reason to demand respect from them.

“Of course we want to do this,” Hawks said as he pointedly glared at Best Jeanist. “Right?”

“You’re right. My apologies, I know that you didn’t have to do this.” The man sounded genuinely contrite, and Hawks was relieved that the doctor just shook her head and sighed.

“Then how do you want to do this? We don’t have all night.” She was right. Even if visiting hours had long since passed, hospitals were one of the few places that couldn’t just close up shop because it was getting late. The longer they stood around, the more likely they were to be seen.

“Blood will be fine. Do you have something that you can--” Best Jeanist’s question was cut off as the doctor pulled out a blood drawing kit from the backpack she was wearing.

“I always have a kit on me for emergency transfusions. Step closer to the light so that I can get a vein.” 

The doctor set everything up and had Best Jeanist sit down on a nearby crate, taking the initial prick of blood and smearing it on the corpse with a glowing hand. It was fascinating to watch it shift into an identical replica of Best Jeanist, and Hawks was glad that the hero had insisted on coming with him when he realized that the body was still wearing a hospital gown.

‘Best Jeanist’s style is very distinctive. I doubt that I could’ve found something to replicate it before the body went back to normal, and even if I could, that would be a trail to follow.’ 

As they waited for the blood bag to fill up, the doctor insisted that a pint would be enough to look like more blood than it actually was if it was concentrated around a small area, Best Jeanist went back to what was apparently his favorite pastime: pestering people.

“So, how do you know Dabi?”

“I did the same thing for him as I’m doing for you,” she answered immediately, shockingly professional for someone who was being politely interrogated.

“And why would you do that for a villain?”

“Because he was a sixteen-year-old that had just been brought to the hospital with a hand-shaped burn wrapped around his throat and fourth-degree burns from head to toe. His father was swearing up and down that it was some training accident. Bullshit,” the doctor huffed as her foot tapped against the asphalt in agitation.

“But his father has money and influence, and no one wanted to believe that he’d do that kind of thing. Honestly, I didn’t want to believe it either. I thought that maybe he was covering for a distant family member or something at first, but I knew that something was wrong. The father outright bribed the rest of the staff to keep it quiet, you know? I needed to know the kid’s side of the story. No one else was going to ask.”

The doctor sighed and looked up at the night sky before saying, "I didn’t want it to seem like I was interrogating him, though. I started off hinting around it, but even saying the word accident gave me an obvious reaction. I was prepared to start asking questions at that point, and he told me outright that his father was going to kill him. If you think he looks bad now… he was on death’s door when he got here. I believed him. If he had gone back, then it would’ve been a miracle for him to make it to eighteen.”

Hawks watched several expressions flicker over Best Jeanist’s face before it settled on some mixture of shock and understanding. Hawks remained quiet, content to listen to their conversation and take in any information that the doctor was willing to give them.

“So you knew him before… That still doesn’t excuse what he’s doing, you realize?”

“A peace built off of the suffering of others is no peace at all,” she answered, and while her voice had hints of anger in it, Hawks couldn't help noticing that she mostly sounded sad. 'She's got that same sort of exhausted tone that Dabi gets sometimes when he talks about how things are. Does she swing between that same passion and bone-deep ache?'

“What do you mean by that?” Best Jeanist’s questioned with a gentle tone, treating the doctor almost like a cornered, feral animal that would lash out at the first sign of danger.

“For all that we’re good at pretending otherwise, our society thrives on the suffering of others. It requires it.”

Hawks agreed wholeheartedly; he was living proof of that, after all.

"How so?" Best Jeanist asked, and they both kept an eye on the doctor as she took several moments to collect her thoughts --at least, that's what Hawks believed she was doing.

“What happens to heroes if they don’t have villains to fight?” she whispered, and Hawks knew exactly where this was going. The Commission talked about this scenario as a nightmare and the end of their society as they knew it.

Best Jeanist, on the other hand, simply answered, “They shift focus to assist in disasters and help their communities in other ways.”

The doctor immediately shook her head. “In an ideal world, yes. And maybe you would, but you’d be an exception to the rule. Heroes have become celebrities and symbols, and unfortunately, flashy fights are a large part of how they’re branded. People expect them to fight, they get excited to watch them fight, and they’ll always associate heroes with taking down the bad guys.”

“Where are you going with this?” Hawks noticed that Best Jeanist was starting to look uneasy now. It was as if he hadn’t ever considered that he goes above and beyond what people expect of him.

‘He’s so caught up in doing what’s right that he doesn’t realize that most heroes aren’t like that. He’s the most popular hero for a reason, but I don’t think that he’s ever cared about the rankings enough to think about why that is.’

“Our society is saturated with heroes, and there are only so many real villains out there for them to fight. So sometimes, our society just… I can’t even say that they let them fall through the cracks; they shove them through. They call certain quirks villainous and torment those who have them their entire lives, and if they ever defend themselves, then everyone says that they just proved their tormentors right. They call those with simple quirks or no quirks at all a burden on society while preventing them from ever doing anything with their lives, actively blocking them from getting higher education or jobs.” 

The doctor’s eyes were distant as she adjusted the angle that Best Jeanist’s bag was resting at, and Hawks knew that she was thinking about past patients that were trapped in those situations. He wondered how many people out there had stories like Dabi and the rest of the League. He wondered how many people out there had stories like his own.

“And when a child brings photo evidence of severe, ongoing abuse to several people who have the power to change it, they all look him in the eye and call him a liar,” she said with a voice laced with venom, one full of old pain and helplessness, and Hawks could feel his feathers sharpening in shared rage.

‘It’s one thing to hear Dabi say that reporting him did no good, but having details like this…’

“And then, when people become desperate enough that they see no other option but to take things into their own hands, they inevitably do something that brands them as a lost cause. The people who hurt them time and time again get away with it, and all it takes is saying that they saw it coming all along. Of course that person would become a villain; their quirk made that obvious. Of course that person would burden society by ending up homeless and jobless and out of options in a world that wouldn’t give them any; they were born a failure. Of course that boy was a liar; his father is a good man, and it’s unfair to make him deal with any sort of lawsuit on top of losing his son. It didn’t matter that another one of his other children reported him and insisted that he killed Dabi. It didn’t matter that there was a witness to attempted murder, to an actual murder as far as anyone but Dabi and I were concerned.”

“That… that doesn’t mean that Dabi can just destroy everything. People need stability,” Best Jeanist argued, but it sounded feeble at best.

“No stability is worth perpetuating this kind of suffering! You’re a fucking hero; you don’t get to look away from problems just because they make you uncomfortable. And he doesn’t even want to burn it down, though I wouldn’t blame him if he did. He doesn’t want to, and that’s what makes me so furious!” 

The doctor’s voice had been steadily rising as tears welled up in her eyes, but she fell into a near-whisper as she said, ”Dabi was a good kid who did everything he could to shield three younger siblings from the wrath of their father, and proof of it is written all over his body. He’s only ever wanted two things. He wants his father to face consequences, thus saving his siblings from him, and he wants to keep other people from going through what he did. That’s it. He shouldn’t have to do something like this to make it happen. He shouldn’t be the one branded a villain while his father...”

She refused to say anything more than that, wiping at tears that had begun to fall down her face. Hawks’ watched her take a deep breath as she detached the filled blood bag from Best Jeanist and collected herself, and his heart felt like it was on the asphalt beneath his feet. 

‘His father had wealth, influence, and reporting him never did any good. He had a quirk marriage and didn’t get whatever he wanted with Rinku either. Dabi was trained to be a hero. His father wanted to make a perfect hero. He wanted to make another me.’

Hawks wished that he could be surprised that his hunch was right.

“His father’s a hero, isn’t he?” he whispered, knowing how exhausted he sounded in that moment.

Best Jeanist’s head whipped over to look at him, but Hawks was focused on the doctor, watching her intently for any sort of reaction to his question. Even if she didn’t verbally admit it, her body language could be all the answer he needed.

The doctor’s eyebrows furrowed together, and she hesitated for a brief moment before she gave them both a solemn nod and said, “He is.”

Neither of them could miss the fact that she spoke in the present tense.

-

Dabi was anxiously fidgeting with one of his plushes after being all but shoved into his bed by Mr. Compress. He had been pacing over in their main room while waiting for Hawks to report back, and Mr. Compress used the excuse of him being hurt, as if he hadn’t had worse than several torn staples, to get him to sit down and rest for a while.

‘I know that he was just trying to help, but there’s no way that I’ll be able to rest until I know that everything went alright.’ 

He didn’t want Best Jeanist to be killed just because the Commission was filled with power-hungry assholes, but Dabi cared more about Hawks getting out of all of this safely. ‘He definitely had to say that he was spying on the League. I don’t know any other way that he’d convince Best Jeanist to go along with this. If he did convince him at all. What's taking so long? Is he alright?'

Dabi’s new burner buzzed from its place right next to his pillow, and he jolted up and grabbed it immediately, eyes taking in several more rapid texts as they got sent.

Got it and took the photo

Sent it to them too

Can I get a warp?

It’s a long flight back

Don't think we have that time

Yeah, we can handle it at base

Where you at?

Birdie sent their location

Dabi walked back into the main room far calmer than he was before, and he could see the League's collective relief at his relaxed posture. 'Honestly, you'd think that they'd be better at hiding this shit.' He fought back a snort before looking over to Kurogiri with a tilted head and saying, “Sorry to ask this of you again, but could you give Hawks a lift? He can walk through fine this time, but we need to get rid of Fake Jeanist.”

“It's no trouble,” Kurogiri hurried to assure him. "Though you are wracking up kitchen shifts." Dabi nodded with a sheepish smile and handed his burner over to Kurogiri, and moments later Hawks was stepping through a portal with an obscenely large duffle bag. ‘That’s… certainly one way to hide a body.’ 

“Thanks, Kurogiri."

“It’s no problem at all, Hawks," Kurogiri said while waving a misty hand dismissively. 'Guess you're a bit more inclined to go easy on the new members, huh? You're like this with Natsuo too.' Kurogiri had put up with enough of their shit that Dabi really couldn't fault him for messing with them from time to time.

Dabi gave Hawks a searching look, he seemed oddly rattled by whatever had been keeping him, before asking, “Do you think they’ll buy it?”

“Hm? Oh! Yeah, absolutely. Jeanist let me borrow his jacket for long enough to get the photo, and he gave blood for it too. The Commission will have no reason to believe that I didn’t shank the guy.”

“Alright then." Dabi agreed easily enough, letting things be for now. "Kurogiri, do you mind teleporting this into one of the fire-proof rooms in the basement? I’ll have to stick my hand and head through, set the thing on fire, and dart out before it gets too hot in there.”

Kurogiri sighed heavily before saying, "I suppose. That is preferable to tossing an already burning body through, and I don’t want you to strain your injuries."

“Injuries?” Hawks narrowed his eyes at Dabi, but Dabi just ignored the question until Kurogiri took the duffle bag and tossed it through a portal. Dabi stuck his head and left hand through shortly afterward. It never stopped feeling strange to have only part of himself through a portal, especially when he could feel the rest of his body but not see it, but Dabi quickly set the entire duffle bag on fire and ducked back into the main room.

“I’ll need to peek back in and make sure that everything burned up later, but I can walk down to the room for that. Thanks again, Kurogiri.”

“Don't thank me just yet. I'll be enlisting your help with cleaning the base tomorrow. However, that discussion can wait. Hawks seems like he wishes to speak with you, so why don’t you two go talk for a bit?” Dabi looked over at Hawks to see concern practically radiating from him. He was looking at him like a kicked puppy, but what really got to Dabi was just how droopy Hawks’ wings looked; they were practically dragging across the floor.

“I’m fine, birdie, I promise.” The look didn’t go anywhere, and Dabi sighed before saying, “But let’s go talk.”

Toga snickered from her place on the couch, where Eria was currently painting her nails a blood red, and looked over at Dabi with a wide grin as she said, “Whipped.”

“Aww don’t tease him, Himiko. I think it’s cute,” Eria chuckled, looking over at the two of them and winking as she blew them an exaggerated kiss.

“Sisters,” Dabi grumbled before taking Hawks by the hand and leading him to Dabi’s room. Twice barked out a laugh and whistled at them as they passed him in the hall, followed immediately by an apology for doing so, but Dabi just soldiered on until they were behind a closed door, red-faced and nearly steaming from the embarrassment.

Dabi sat down on his bed heavily with a sigh. “Ugh, they’re all menaces. Except for Kurogiri, he’s an angel.”

Hawks snorted at that. “Menaces to society and your pride alike, huh?” Golden eyes looked him up and down as Hawks hummed. “I’m not seeing any obvious injuries, but are you sure that you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just had a run-in with Ms. Joke when I went into town to call the Doc. Hysterical laughter and my stapled-together body… Well, they don’t mix well.”

Hawks cringed back slightly before saying, “Oh fuck, I bet not. I’m glad that you got away.”

“I repeat, Kurogiri is an angel. Wouldn’t have made it back without fighting if it wasn’t for him, and I really didn’t want to fight. I’ll be tender for a few days, but I’ll be fine.”

“Aww and when I finally got you alone again too,” Hawks said as he pouted playfully, plopping himself down next to Dabi and wrapping a wing around him. Dabi would be lying if he said that the feeling of soft, red feathers holding him close didn’t make him feel safe.

‘It helps that I know that they’re just as dangerous as they are gorgeous and that he has every intention of using them to protect and not to hurt.’

“Yep. It’s almost as if the stars are conspiring against us.”

“It wouldn’t matter if they were.”

Dabi looked over to Hawks with a hum and a tilted head. He was immediately rewarded with a heart-stopping smile, and Dabi could feel his face get dangerously warm as his heart squeezed in his chest.

“I’d choose you either way.”

He choked, hiding his face behind his hands as he felt steam start to escape from the edges of his grafts. “You can’t just say that!” he groaned.

“I can and I will. I mean it, Dabi.”

“What’s with the sudden sentiment? I thought that you weren’t sure.” 

Hawks moved to gently pry Dabi’s hands away from his face, and Dabi smothered the steam to make sure that Hawks didn’t burn himself trying. “I grow more sure by the day,” Hawks whispered as he pressed a kiss against his lips, and Dabi melted into it immediately, humming in contentment. He would deny that he whined when Hawks pulled back until the day that he died.

“As much as I’d love to show you how much I mean that, I don’t want to rush you or do anything before I’m completely sure. Besides, we probably should actually talk about how tonight went down…”

‘Back to business then.’ Dabi hummed before nodding and saying, “Fair enough. What happened tonight that’s got your feathers all ruffled?”

Hawks groaned at the bird pun, mission accomplished, before straightening up a bit, though his wing only shielded Dabi within it more after the change in position. ‘He’s definitely caught on to how comforting that is for me.’

“Best Jeanist insisted on coming with me to meet your doctor friend, and she was surprisingly chatty. I… I wasn’t going to just ignore what she was saying, but I feel kind of guilty for knowing things about you that you weren't comfortable telling me yet."

‘Why would she…?’ “What did she say?”

“She didn’t tell us who you were or anything, but she did tell us that she met you before you were Dabi. Before you were even Phoenix, though Jeanist still doesn’t know about that one. She also mentioned that you’re the oldest of four kids, and, well… I suspected it before, but she admitted that your father is a hero as well.”

Dabi’s eyes widened. ‘That’s a lot of little details that can add up. It’s almost like she wanted them to… oh. Oh, right. She doesn’t know that the League has a plan to deal with Endeavor. Is she trying to set a couple of high-ranking heroes on his trail? It’s not like Best Jeanist figuring it out will matter when he has to stay dead for a while, but his word will mean something even once Hawks becomes known as a traitor. And Hawks could make some noise about it before his word meant nothing too… clever. She hasn’t changed at all, huh?’

“I’m not upset at you for listening to her talk, I promise. I can’t even be angry at her; I know exactly what she was trying to do,” Dabi sighed. “I’m not ready to tell you everything yet, but I probably will be soon. Just wait for me, please?”

“Of course! I don’t want to pressure you, hot stuff. That’s… that’s heavy shit, and it’s not exactly like I’m leaping at the chance to tell you all about the Commission either.”

“Yeah… You staying the night?”

Hawks perked up immediately before asking, “Can I?”

“As long as it won’t get you hurt.”

“The Commission may not be happy about you burning Fake Jeanist, but it’s not like me flying in tonight will do them any good. They already have the picture, and I intentionally did more than I usually would on patrols today. I’ll be fine. Even they have to acknowledge that I have to sleep at some point."

Dabi smiled at him as he whispered, “Then stay. I’ll always be happy that you’re here.”

Dabi couldn’t promise Hawks much, not with the life that they lived, but he could promise that he would never let him forget just how much he meant to Dabi.

With the way that Hawks practically vibrated with joy at the simple admission, Dabi began to believe that what he had to offer might be enough after all.

Chapter Text

When Hawks woke up the next morning, it took him a few moments to realize why he felt so comfortable and warm. He usually jolted awake and jumped out of bed as soon as he was up --he couldn’t afford to waste time, not with people counting on him-- but it was his day off and Dabi’s arm was draped around him as he snuffled in his sleep.

‘Who would’ve thought that he’d be such a cuddler?’ 

It was cute. There were a surprisingly large number of things about Dabi that were cute, and the way that he literally steamed in embarrassment was one of Hawks’ favorite discoveries by far. ‘He’s attractive too. Definitely prettier than he has any right to be, and it’s hard to tear my eyes away from all the piercings and staples. In a good way. And the way that he cares so much about keeping kids safe…’

Hawks’ instincts were going haywire, and that was a large part of why he had been putting off labeling whatever was between him and Dabi. The bird in him was already preening over finding a perfect mate, but Hawks knew that he was falling hard and fast for someone whose past he didn’t know a lot about.

‘But does that really matter? I know more than anyone outside of the League does about the person he is now, so who cares about who he used to be? Dabi is a protector in the same way that I am. I can’t imagine that the League will have problems with me still wanting to save people when they’re happy to let Dabi do so.’

And Hawks knew that the heroes wouldn’t be nearly so forgiving. Even if the Commission wasn’t in the picture, most heroes would be outraged if he protected a villain. Villains didn’t care about what he did. The League all had individual goals and principles that guided them, and they worked together while knowing that they wouldn’t agree on everything. As long as he still helped them with the big things, they would let him do whatever he wanted.

Hawks had never known freedom like that.

“What’re you thinking about, pretty bird?” a low voice rumbled out, and Hawks looked down at where Dabi was clinging to him with undeniable fondness.

Bright blue eyes squinted up at him, still half-closed in exhaustion, as Dabi yawned and burrowed further into Hawks’ side. ‘Definitely not a morning person. That’s cute too, in its own way.’

“Just that I’m really glad that I met you,” he whispered, and Hawks could feel the room get warmer after he said that. Dabi wasn’t so red that he was steaming, but Hawks was willing to be that it was a close thing.

“You don’t have to say that…” Dabi sounded disbelieving, and Hawks wasn’t going to let that stand.

“I mean it. You’ve changed my life, Dabi,” he said as he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the tip of Dabi’s nose, chuckling at the way that his nose crinkled.

“I just extended a hand. You were the one who chose to take it,” Dabi huffed.

‘Does he really not see how much he’s doing for me here? Where did that tendency to undermine himself come from?’ His father, probably, but Hawks didn’t want to linger on that thought.

“You were the first person to give me the choice, though."

There were a few beats of silence before Dabi conceded Hawks’ point with a sigh, saying, “I shouldn’t have been.”

“But you were,” Hawks murmured, and Dabi’s concerned expression told him that he hadn’t hidden the twinge of sadness he felt about that well. ‘Not that I’m good at hiding anything from him.’

Dabi reached forward slightly in that slow, considerate way of his that made Hawks’ heart flutter. While he had noticed that Dabi was on the side of touch-starved that instinctively reached out for comfort, Hawks had always tended to shy away from it, not wanting to be disappointed by harsh or clinical touches. It was easier to feel comfortable doing so with Dabi, he was so careful that Hawks knew he wouldn’t hurt him, but the fact that Dabi had noticed and adjusted to that still made Hawks feel so absurdly grateful that he thought he might cry sometimes.

Hawks wrapped his arms around Dabi and draped one of his wings over him, smiling at the way that Dabi melted into him. ‘I could probably tell Rumi all about you with a few missing details. No one would associate the Dabi they think they know with who you actually are.’

That would have to be something they talked about later. Rumi would undoubtedly notice how much happier he was now, and it would be better for both of them if she thought that it was only because of a new potential relationship.

Hawks was drawn out of his thoughts by heavy footsteps approaching Dabi’s door, and while he knew that he would have heard fighting if it was someone outside of the League, a few of his feathers still instinctively sharpened and detached from his wings, hovering nearby.

“It’s fine, birdie,” Dabi mumbled. “Probably just Rinku.”

Sure enough, the door opened and a head of white hair poked through. Rinku looked over to the two of them and smirked. Dabi pointedly kept his eyes closed as he grumbled and stayed right where he was, and Hawks knew that he'd resigned himself to the inevitable teasing at this point.

“So, when’s the wedding?”

There was a heavy sigh before Dabi disentangled himself with Hawks to sit up and glare at his brother. “I’m legally dead; there could never be a wedding,” he grumbled.

“Ah, but you didn’t say that you’d never want to!” Rinku snickered with a shit-eating grin on his face. There were several beats of silence after that, and Dabi avoided eye contact with either of them as he fidgeted restlessly with the sheets.

Hawks’ face steadily grew redder the longer that Dabi went without denying what Rinku said. ‘See? He’d be a good mate.’ 

Eventually, Dabi seemed to collect himself and said, “You’re kind of skipping a few steps there.”

“But you’re sure about him! Dabi, that’s huge. You told me that you always avoided that shit.”

‘Really? So many people seem fond of him; I guess that I just assumed…’

Dabi looked over at Hawks with a soft smile before saying, “I just never found the right kind of person until now.”

And oh, that did things to Hawks’ heart.

‘Okay, so I’m not the only one who feels this way, then.’ He didn’t panic over the revelation like he thought that he would. If anything, it was nice to have an idea of where this connection was headed.

“Dabi…” His voice was embarrassingly watery. He cleared his throat in an attempt to disguise it, but Rinku’s barked laughter told him that he didn’t do a very good job of that.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know that someone likes putting you on the spot,” Dabi growled as he pointedly glared at his brother, but Rinku only stuck his tongue out in response.

“No, I…” His wings fluttered as he tried to collect himself. “I want to see where this goes! I just--” Hawks groaned. “Fuck, this is embarrassing.”

“Hey man, if you want me to leave, then I can,” Rinku reassured, and while he appreciated that, Hawks figured that it’d probably be best for Dabi’s brother to know about this too. ‘It’ll be some reassurance about how serious I am, at least.’

“You’re fine.” His wings fluffed out a bit as he worried over how to explain this, and he only relaxed once Dabi started carding gentle fingers through his feathers. He cooed softly before saying, “Okay, so you know how I have a mutation quirk?”

Rinku nodded, and he could hear Dabi mumble an “obviously” from his place by Hawks’ side. 

“Well, certain instincts carry over with that. The Commission makes me hide a lot of the more animalistic parts of my quirk --like needing raw meat in my diet, my extra eyelids, and the fact that I have talons on my hands-- but there are less obvious behaviors that are a part of it too.”

Dabi was quick to say, “Like the way that I’ll see you fixate on my staples sometimes? Especially when light reflects off of them.”

‘He noticed that? Embarrassing.’ He wasn’t wrong though, so Hawks said, “Yeah, things like that. Did you know that hawks mate for life?”

Dabi’s eyes widened, and Hawks was quick to say, “It’s not that I’d be incapable of pursuing a different relationship if we ever cut things off; please don’t think that I’m trying to trap you in anything. It’s just that I have a feeling that I’ll get attached pretty quickly, and I don't want to overwhelm you. I don’t exactly have experience with how I’d act around someone that I let myself think of as a mate, and I also didn’t want you to feel like you had to keep me happy to keep me here, you know? I’m with the League. That won’t change either way.”

After a few beats of silence, Hawks worried that he might have scared Dabi off, but Dabi simply looked up at him and said, “I’m demisexual.” 

Hawks tilted his head as he asked, “You’re what?”

“I know that it’s not the same thing, but uh… basically, I don't feel sexual attraction to people that I don’t have a strong emotional bond with first. And I am attracted to you, Hawks. I could have done a casual thing if that was all you had wanted, but I won’t deny preferring something more than that.”

Blue eyes locked onto his own, and Hawks felt something electric race up his spine. “You’re not the only one serious about this, birdie. We’ll just have to make sure that we keep talking with each other and respect each other's boundaries. Slip-ups are bound to happen, but as long as we don’t let anything fester and correct ourselves afterward...”

“Then… do you want to try doing this?” Hawks couldn’t have kept the hope out of his voice if he had tried.

“Of course I do," Dabi answered, and the complete lack of hesitation made Hawks' heart soar.

He smiled and leaned against Dabi again, moving to kiss him before being interrupted by Rinku’s voice calling out, “Great! Now that we’ve got that settled, the two of you can fuck off and let me study for my finals.”

Dabi gave his brother such an incredulous look that Hawks almost laughed. “This is my room!”

“Yeah, but Tomura wanted to talk to Hawks about what he’s going to tell the Commission. They’ll be expecting you to give them more information, right? You need to get that sorted out before they call you in.”

‘Ah, right. I almost forgot that I had turned my phone off, oops. It’s not like I can risk them tracing it to the base anyway, but we should get this taken care of before they go from disgruntled to pissed.’ Hawks sighed. “Sorry hot stuff, guess it’s back to business.”

“It’s fine. Better to get this done quickly.”

They both got up and headed into the main room --Hawks felt a little gross in his uniform, but it wasn’t like he had any spare clothes here-- only to see that Shigaraki was far from the only one waiting for them.

“Good morning lovebirds! I know that you were both tired, so I made sure that the body was properly disposed of. With the assistance of Kurogiri, those ashes are now scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean.”

Mr. Compress was as animated as ever, and the sheer energy that he put out -- which seemed to be genuine, unlike Hawks’ carefully crafted persona-- almost kept Hawks from realizing what he had called them. Almost.

“And I’ve got your refills, Dabi!” Mr. Compress tossed two marbles over to Dabi, decompressing them to reveal medical staples and prescription painkillers.

“I have a feeling that you might be needing more of those with Hawks around.” Hawks didn’t need to be able to see Mr. Compress’s face to visualize the eyebrow waggling that accompanied that tone of voice.

Dabi went bright red, enough so that he actually started steaming again this time; how embarrassed or flustered did he have to be for that?, and Hawks knew that he wasn’t much better off.

“Thanks.”

“Of course, of course! Just remember to be safe and--”

“Compress!” The man laughed at Dabi’s protest, but he did refrain from going any further.

“You know that I worry.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean that I need another sex talk from you.”

‘They really are like a family, huh?’

Shigaraki cleared his throat, and almost everyone automatically straightened up and gave him their attention. Hawks couldn’t miss the kind of respect that they all had for him, and he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t understand at least some of why they felt that way. “As amusing as it is to mess with Dabi, we do need to hash out some details here.”

Red eyes locked onto Hawks before he continued. “Do you know what the Commission expects you to gain out of Best Jeanist’s death?”

“Ah, yeah. They primarily want me to solidify my position in the League. As far as they know, I’ve only met with Dabi and Rinku, and even then, I only told them that Rinku’s a medic and Dabi’s brother. I made them believe that he looks a lot like Dabi too, so they won’t be able to start digging into any families based on appearances. For now, they’ll probably be happy if I can bring them some more information on individual members, but I’ll find a way to work around it if there isn’t anything you can safely give.”

“You can tell them about me,” Mustard chimed in. “I’m not in any legal databases anyway. I attended school with a fake identity, and the Shie Hassaikai isn’t a concern anymore so…”

‘He was with the yakuza? No, we would’ve heard about him before he joined the League if that was true. His parents then?’ 

“Are you sure about that? You don’t have to.”

“Yeah! Heroes already know that Dabi is protective of kids after he fought Overhaul, so wouldn’t it make sense for him to introduce you to the people he’s closest to? His brother first, then me, Toga, Mr. Compress, and Eria. If the Commission thinks that he’s keeping you from meeting certain members not because he doesn’t trust you but because he doesn’t trust them…”

“They’ll assume that there’s infighting and underestimate you all,” Hawks murmured. ‘ That shows a kind of social awareness that I didn’t expect from Mustard.’

“Exactly! So, my name’s Motoki Shijima, though I prefer Mustard. I’m fifteen, enjoy long walks through forests, and have been shooting a gun for longer than I can remember. Both of my parents were members of the Shie Hassaikai before Overhaul was even picked up by the last boss, and they only had me so that someone would continue their legacy of loyalty. I was fine with that when it was the old boss --he wasn’t perfect, but at least he was a decent person-- but I wanted nothing to do with the Shie Hassaikai once Overhaul took over. Toga attended the same middle school that I did; she was just a year above me. She got a place in the League first and told me about it because she knew that I wanted to run away, and I think she was worried about what I might do if I felt like I couldn’t get out of the Shie Hassaikai.”

That was a lot of information to take in at once, but luckily, that was Hawks’ whole thing. ‘Yeah, I’d be worried about what a kid with no control over his life and constant access to guns would do in that situation too.’

“Is that enough to help?” Mustard looked prepared to go more in-depth if needed, and Hawks immediately cut that off with a nod.

“More than enough. Thanks, kid.”

Shigaraki hummed before saying, “Sounds like we’ve got a plan then. Let us know if you need more than that at any point. No point in risking the safety of one of our units.”

‘I didn’t expect Shigaraki to be as cooperative as he has been, and it’s been a consistent thing. He’s changed a lot since All for One was imprisoned.’ Hawks smiled, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that it was genuine. “Of course! Thanks, boss.”

“You don’t have to suck up to me like that,” Shigaraki scoffed. “I’m only ever called that as a joke. Just call me Shigaraki.”

Before Hawks could think any better of it, he was saying, “Then call me Takami! That goes for all of you.” He looked over to his boyfriend and winked. “Except for you. You can call me Keigo, hot stuff.”

Dabi flushed at that, and the only thing that kept Hawks from teasing him about it was the contemplative look that Shigaraki was giving Dabi. It was serious enough that no one else commented on it either, picking up on the weird tension between the two of them.

“The doctor is ready, Dabi. You need to decide whether or not you want to involve Takami in this.”

Hawks tilted his head at Dabi, watching several expressions flicker over his face before it settled on reluctant acceptance. “Later, pretty bird. You need to report to the Commission, and while I want you to be involved in this…”

“You need time.” Dabi knew that Hawks hadn’t always been loyal to the League, so it was understandable that he’d still have some reservations about involving him in whatever the League had been preparing for all this time. 

“Yeah. I need to figure out how to put this into words,” he mumbled, and that made Hawks think that maybe his hesitation didn't have anything to do with the League at all.

“Then we can meet up again later. Take care of yourself!”

Shortly afterward, Hawks was teleported away by Kurogiri after being given the warper’s phone number. The man had been insistent that Hawks needed some way of contacting him if he ever got into trouble, so Hawks just resolved to keep an even closer eye on his burner than before. He took to the skies with a single, persistent thought looping through his head.

‘I think this is personal for Dabi. Whatever the League is doing right now, it has something to do with who he was before.’

-

Now that he didn’t have the excuse of waiting for the Nomu to be finalized, Dabi was agonizing over how much he could afford to tell Keigo. His boyfriend would find out eventually --it was inevitable; Dabi was about to declare who he was to the entire world-- but Dabi knew that Keigo idolized Endeavor. Maybe he’d grown out of it, he had been pretty cutting during the Billboard Charts, but Dabi doubted that now that he knew that Keigo was an incredibly calculating person.

‘Something like that could’ve been a publicity stunt meant to help that bastard too. I want to think that Keigo would believe me, but…’ He couldn’t be sure. ‘Maybe I could hint at it then? He’s got enough details to put the puzzle together if he wants to. He’d be more likely to believe it if he came to that conclusion himself, but how could I do that and still make sure that he knows before everyone else?’

His current burner buzzed several times in quick succession. Dabi grabbed it, desperate for the distraction, and snorted at what Natsuo had sent him.

UGH

Family dinner on Saturday

My last final is on Thursday, so I can’t get out of it

Are you sure we have to wait til Sunday?

I’d literally rather die than go

‘Wait a minute… that gives me an idea.’ A smile grew across Dabi’s face.

Sadly, yes

Would it be better if Keigo was there?

You’re telling him?

Something like that

Think I’ll let him figure it out himself

Seeing you and Endeavor in the same room…

He’ll get it

Hard for him to deny it if he sees it, huh?

Can’t blame you

This’ll be interesting

After setting his phone down, Dabi went over what he would tell Keigo over and over again in his head, and he mentally cursed the Commission for giving his boyfriend longer patrols as punishment for dropping off the radar. ‘I just want to get this over with.’

He couldn’t risk texting Keigo first with the Commission watching him so closely, the last thing that Dabi wanted to do was put Keigo in danger, so he was left to pace around his room for hours, completely unable to focus on anything but the fact that he was finally going to expose Endeavor for the monster he was. 

His burner buzzed again, and when Dabi rushed over to it and saw that it was from Keigo, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally free!!

Do you have time to talk?

Uh-oh

What’d I do?

Nothing

You’re fine

It’s about the thing

OH

Ofc! Where?

At base

K! I’ll text Kurogiri

Dabi laid back on his bed with a groan, taking several deep breaths as he tried to calm his racing heart. ‘It’ll be fine. I’m not even telling him the worst parts, so stop freaking out. He could refuse to take part in it, I guess, but even then he’d learn why we did it come Sunday. I doubt that he’d suddenly go back to the Commission either.’

“Dabi? Are you okay? You know that you don’t have to tell me anything if you’re not ready, right?” Dabi had been so lost in his own head that he hadn’t realized that Keigo was in his room at all. ‘Get a fucking grip.’

“I’m fine,” Dabi sighed. “I will be, at least.” 

Keigo sat down next to him, taking Dabi’s hand in his as he said, “It can wait. There’s no rush, Dabi.”

“It really can’t. Shit’s going down on Sunday, and I need you to do something on your next day off. It’s Saturday this week, right?”

Hawks nodded before asking, “Do you need me to do some last-minute preparations then? What do you need?”

“The League is planning to test a new nomu on Sunday, and it’s much stronger than the older ones. The doctor is… not someone that I see us allying with for long, but it’d be dangerous to refuse him before we can figure out who the fuck he actually is. He’s worked under so many pseudonyms that it’s near impossible to figure it out.”

“Okay…” Keigo gave him a considering look. “So you’re hoping to mitigate damages? What do you need me to do before it gets tested?”

“The underground has been helping us spread false rumors of nomu sightings for a while now. I need you to talk with Endeavor on Saturday and tell him that those rumors have been especially prevalent in Kyushu, which they have been. Get him to join your patrol of Fukuoka on Sunday; he can fight the thing while you make sure that no civilians get hurt. That’s also probably not the smartest thing to discuss in public, so if it’s possible to speak with him somewhere private after patrol…”

Dabi didn’t like dancing around things like this with people that he cared about, especially when he was asking so much of Keigo. But Dabi was also a coward, and he didn’t know how he’d cope if he had to listen to Keigo defend his father. Eleven years of blood, sweat, and mostly figurative tears had gone into this moment. If he had misread Keigo and wound up putting his siblings in even more danger because of it… Dabi wasn’t going to risk it.

“That’s cutting things close, but I should be able to do it. Is there any reason that you want me to wait until the day before? I know my patrols are running late recently, but I could probably manage swinging by Shizuoka after one of them.”

“Not without exhausting yourself or being teleported, and Endeavor would notice if you showed up too quickly. That was a risk worth taking with Best Jeanist, he wasn’t going to be sticking around to say anything about it, but it’s not worth it here. Besides, we don’t need any other heroes getting dragged into this. I mean it when I say that this thing is on another level; it could kill them. We don’t want that, but it’s also more sentient than the other ones. I’m not so sure it’ll follow orders to the letter.”

“And talking to him the night before keeps him from involving others, though that’s unlikely anyway… alright. If it’s as strong as you say, then are you sure he’ll be able to handle it on his own?”

“I’m certain of it,” Dabi scoffed. As much as he hated to admit it, Endeavor didn’t understand the meaning of giving up. ‘He’s like a damn cockroach. That’s why I’m not gunning for his life here. I need to destroy the one thing that matters most in the world to him: his reputation.’

There'd be no coming back from this one.

-

Hawks knew that Dabi hadn’t told him everything a few days ago, but his partner had looked like he was going to be sick while saying as much as he had. Hawks wasn’t going to push him when it affected Dabi that badly.

‘It sucks that I’m spending my free day patrolling, but maybe the Commission will ease up a bit if they think that I’m genuinely contrite and working harder to make up for it.’ He doubted it, but Hawks could dream. He knew that he wouldn’t have been able to convince them to switch one of his patrols to Shizuoka right now, so this was the best that he could do.

He was walking alongside Endeavor and chattering meaninglessly, sending feathers off this way and that to pin a flasher down, keep a dog from being run over, and help an old woman get her luggage up the stairs to her apartment complex.

“Hawks! Hawks!”

“Yo!” He threw up a peace sign and forced a grin on his face, leaning in to take a selfie with a fan. She ran off with a huge smile on her face and a wave, and the crowd around him only grew larger.

“Excuse me! Could my son have your autograph? He’s a big fan!” The mother held out a backpack, and Hawks’ grin softened a touch.

“On a backpack as cool as this one? Are you sure that you want my chicken scratch on it?”

“Of course!” the kid cried out.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Ryosuke!” 

Hawks signed the bag with a flourish, smiling at the kid as he handed it back to him. “Here you go Ryosuke! Thanks for being a fan.” 

‘He probably won’t be for much longer.’ He mentally shook it off and kept going through the motions, talking to all the excited fans who were surprised to see him in Shizuoka. 

Hawks had to fight to keep his wings from sharpening when several rough hands started running through them, but he gritted his teeth in a smile and bore it. ‘If it was just kids who didn’t know any better, then that’d be one thing but…’ Adults were running their hands all over his wings too, and some were even bold enough to pluck feathers out as a souvenir. ‘Do they think that I can’t feel that? I’m not molting; there’s going to be blood on the end of those.’

Endeavor was standing off to the side with a grimace on his face while he waited for Hawks to rejoin him, but Hawks couldn’t move until there was some sort of commotion when Endeavor went over to give a kid an autograph. He was finally able to slip away from the crowd in the chaos and walk over to Endeavor, breathing a sigh of relief once he'd put some distance between himself and the crowd. They walked down the street together as they continued their patrol, and Endeavor’s presence at Hawks’ side was enough to deter most people from approaching them unless they stopped moving.

“Pffft the look on that kid’s face. He definitely didn’t expect that,” Hawks snickered. Endeavor grunted, eyebrows furrowed in thought as he otherwise stayed silent. “It’s just not in character, you know? You don’t do fan service. That’s not what people expect from you.”

“Why did you join me on patrol today, Hawks? Team-ups aren’t what people expect of you either.”

“Usually not, but I do make exceptions! I was surprised that you said yes, you know?” Hawks had expected that he’d have to wait until Endeavor was finished with patrol before bumping into him and following him home, so it was a shock when the man had emailed him back and confirmed that they’d patrol together today and that he’d clear his schedule for whatever was so important the day after, especially since he had emailed Endeavor so late on Friday to avoid an information leak.

Endeavor gave him a searching look, and Hawks sighed before saying, “Look, it’s really not something we should talk about here.” Hawks waved at another group of civilians as they walked past them, turning back to Endeavor with a tilted head. “Do you have anything after patrol? I don’t want to risk being overheard.”

“I’m having dinner with my family tonight.”

“Oh really? Mind if I come along then? We can talk afterward.”

“They know better than to say anything. We can talk during dinner.”

Hawks spent the rest of patrol trying to ignore how the way that Endeavor phrased things bothered him. ‘I’m sure that he just meant that they know not to talk about hero stuff, right?’  He tried to convince himself of that, but hearing more about Dabi’s story had made Hawks hyperaware of the fact that heroes could do horrific things too. Something about Endeavor's tone seemed off, and Hawks was ashamed that he suspected anything of the man who had saved him.

‘But maybe... Dabi’s not a bad person just because he does bad things, so Endeavor doing good things doesn't necessarily make him a good person either.’ 

The rest of their patrol goes by with little fanfare as Hawks tries not to let his thoughts throw off his groove on patrol, and he filled the uncomfortable silence on their way back to Endeavor’s house with meaningless chatter. The two of them passed by a car that Eraserhead was standing outside of, and Hawks greeted the man with a wave as they continued walking up the path to the gigantic estate.

Once they got to the front door, Endeavor grunted and said, “Take off your boots.” 

Hawks blinked. “Oh! Of course. I should’ve figured you for the traditional type, huh?” They both took off their shoes, and Hawks silently followed Endeavor into the house after he opened the door.

“Welcome home. Dinner’s done,” said a young woman with glasses, blue eyes, and white hair that was flecked with red. She was peeking out from what Hawks assumed was the dining room, and her eyes widened when she saw him.

“Oh! I didn’t realize that we had a guest. I’ll go set up another place at the table.” She hurried off, moving with a silence and speed that only unnerved Hawks further. 'She’s a civilian, isn’t she? So why does she move like a ghost with the hounds of hell nipping at her heels? It's eerie.'

“Honestly,” Endeavor scoffed, walking down the hallway. “ I’m going to go get changed; you go ahead and join them.”

Hawks moved toward the room that the young woman had disappeared into silently, and that sinking feeling was only growing now. ‘This was last minute. I know for a fact that you didn’t touch your phone on the way back, so why do you sound upset with her?’

When Hawks stepped into the dining room, the answer to that question became painfully, apparently clear. Rinku was sitting directly across from Shouto as their sister set up an extra spot next to the former, and Hawks went stock still.

‘Holy shit. It all makes sense. A hero doesn’t get much more money and influence than by being at the top, or at least near the top until now. Endeavor got married suddenly and without anyone else knowing about his wife until afterward. I didn’t even know that he had kids outside of Touya and Shouto… Touya. Touya was the oldest, and they said he died in a training accident.’ 

While his memories of back then were fuzzy, Hawks could vaguely remember meeting a young Touya right after Endeavor had saved him. He hadn’t even thought heroes were real before that point, so he was gushing about the man and how cool he was the entire time. ‘Oh my god. No wonder he didn’t want to tell me. He didn’t think I’d believe him.’

Rinku’s voice pulled Hawks out of his head. “It’s nice to meet you, Hawks. Just call me Natsuo; there are too many Todorokis here to bother with formalities.”

Thankfully, Dabi and Rinku’s, Touya and Natsuo’s?, sister seemed to think that he was just being patient in his quiet shock.

“Oh right! How forgetful of me. My name is Fuyumi; it’s a pleasure to meet you, Hawks-san.”

“Shouto.”

“Please, sit down! There’s enough soba for everyone,” Fuyumi continued after her youngest brother’s curt introduction. 

Hawks did so and started eating almost immediately. He’d do anything to give him enough time to collect himself and put the mask back on, and at least his lack of manners wasn’t out of character for him.

“Had a long day, huh?” Natsuo snorted, just as prone to teasing here as he was with the League, it seemed.

The four of them talked amiably for a few minutes, but Hawks could feel the room grow tense as soon as Endeavor rejoined them. Shouto and Natsuo both glared at Endeavor as they slurped soba in disturbing synchrony, had they practiced that?, practically radiating hatred.

“It’s been a while, Shouto,” Endeavor said with a hum.

“I’m here for Fuyumi and Natsuo, not you.” Hawks had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing at that, he didn’t want to put the Todorokis in any more danger than they were already in, and Endeavor sighed heavily before turning to Hawks.

“What was it that you wanted to work together on?”

Initially, Hawks had planned to tell Endeavor at least something about what he was going to face, maybe hint that there had been rumors of more advanced nomu, but suddenly, he wasn’t feeling so generous anymore.

“Oh, you know. There have been rumors of nomu sightings all over Japan, but they’re especially concentrated in Kyushu. Those rumors have been getting louder lately. I have a feeling that things are going to come to a head soon, and I’m not the kind of heavy hitter that can take on a bunch of those things.”

He absolutely could if he was smart about it, but Hawks wasn’t above playing on Endeavor’s ego to get him to agree to this, especially not now. Not when he knew how much this meant to Touya.

Endeavor’s beard flared up, and Hawks couldn’t miss the way that every one of his kids flinched at that. “Are you seriously wasting my time with rumors?”

“You do want to capture the League, right?”

“... Of course.”

“Well, this is the best lead that we have on them right now. If you don’t want to be involved, then I can just go get someone else…” The stubborn set of Endeavor’s jaw told Hawks everything that he needed to know. ‘Got him.’

“Fine. We patrol Fukuoka tomorrow, right?” Hawks nodded, and Endeavor sighed before grabbing his bowl and exiting the room. 

Endeavor looked back through the open door and said, “I’ll go make sure that the arrangements are ready, then.” He closed the screen door with far more force than necessary, not saying another word after that, and they all relaxed as they listened to him stomp further away.

‘The hero Hawks was fake on every level. He wasn’t actually me, and he was modeled off the work ethic of a monster. I don’t… I don’t want to be Hawks anymore.’

When Keigo looked over at Natsuo, the gratitude radiating from him only made him more certain that he was making the right choice.

Keigo was going to do the right thing from now on, consequences be damned.

-

Despite what her siblings thought, Fuyumi knew exactly how broken their family was. She never spoke up, but Fuyumi listened and she knew. She had always listened to Touya’s screams, and she listened when his screams were joined by Shouto’s. She was still listening after Touya’s screams cut out and were never heard again.

She listened for her father’s footsteps wherever she went, terrified of ending up alone with him. She hadn’t stopped doing that once she moved out; she was just listening for echoes and nightmares that weren’t there now.

As soon as UA had announced that they were opening dorms, Fuyumi had started searching for apartments near the school she worked at. She had only stayed in the house to look out for Shouto, and she knew that she could come back to the house over breaks if she had to. The day that Shouto moved into the dorms, Fuyumi had moved into her new apartment too.

When Shouto had texted her about how their father wouldn’t stop trying to get UA to let him visit, she suggested that they held a family dinner. She hated the idea of being back in this house, but their father never knew how to take no for an answer.

Touya wasn’t around to protect them anymore. ‘And that’s my fault. If I had never told him…’ It was up to Fuyumi to watch over them now.

Fuyumi never spoke up, but that was only because she saw exactly what happened to people who did. She never stopped listening.

She knew that something was going on with Natsuo lately. He had never visited or called much before, but he was doing so even less now. ‘Which is strange. I’ve got my own place, so he’s not just avoiding our father.’

So, when Hawks showed up at their family dinner looking at Natsuo like he’d seen a ghost, Fuyumi listened. She bided her time and cleaned up after everyone before heading out to her car, waving farewell to Shouto as his teacher drove him back to UA. 

Natsuo and Hawks were talking by the edge of the property, and neither of them had seen her leave the house yet. ‘I’m going to get some answers today.’

She crept closer, carefully staying out of sight and hiding as soon as she could hear what they were saying.

“So you’re all in then?” ‘What in the world has Natsuo gotten himself into?’

“Of course I am! I was all in before, but now…” ‘And what does Hawks have to do with this?’ Hawks sighed. “Are you going to be there?”

“We’re all gonna be there. You’ve just gotta lead him to us.”

“I will.” Fuyumi had never heard Hawks’ voice sound so furious before. “He deserves everything that’s coming to him.”

“Damn right.”

There was silence for a few moments, and Fuyumi was about to sneak away when she heard her brother’s voice again.

“You want to go talk to Touya first, right?”

Fuyumi’s eyes widened as she froze, and she barely kept herself from gasping out loud. ‘What?’

“Yeah… He needs to know that I’m on his side here.”

“He’ll appreciate that,” Natsuo said with a chuckle, and this was too much for her to take in at once.

Fuyumi needed to process this, and she couldn’t risk doing that when she was this close to two people who definitely didn’t want her to know what she did now. She slowly crept back toward her car, positioning herself by its door and straightening up as if she had simply gone to get in it. She was too far away to hear anything else now, but she didn’t need to.

‘Touya’s alive? Why wouldn’t Natsuo tell me?’

She looked up to see a silhouette of Hawks in the distance, flying away just as quickly as he would if he was on patrol. ‘Flying to see my brother. If Touya’s really alive, then...’

Fuyumi always listened. She remembered the way that Shouto seemed more confused than scared after the attack on their summer camp, and she remembered that he had told her that a villain with bright blue flames had said his name like it meant something to him. 

She remembered the way that Natsuo had told teachers and doctors alike about how he saw Touya’s fire burn blue as their father hurt him. They all told him that a quirkless kid couldn’t understand; they all told him that quirks only evolved like that if their owner was in mortal danger. They insisted that it couldn’t have happened to Touya.

That had only made Natsuo more certain that it had, and Fuyumi had always agreed with him. She just knew better than to say anything about it.

She unlocked her car door and sat down heavily, cranking up her engine and pulling out her phone. She searched for any information she could find on the villain Dabi, and while there were only a few blurry photos here and there, she could see her brother in them. The burns directly under his eyes were distinctive, and he had burned alive. She would’ve been more surprised if Touya hadn’t ended up this scarred.

Fuyumi thought that she would feel sick, but all she felt was overwhelming relief. ‘He’s alive! He’s alive, and he never forgot about us at all, did he? Hawks is taking Endeavor to Fukuoka so that Touya can do something. Knowing him, he's gonna scream what happened for the entire country to hear.’

She knew that this meant that Natsuo had to be involved with the League of Villains --and Hawks too, which was a terrifying thought-- but Fuyumi couldn’t bring herself to care about that. She loved her brothers. She would forgive them for anything, especially when they were just doing what they could to make people see what was happening. They had all tried so hard to get someone, anyone to listen.

‘Am I really about to do this?’ she questioned herself, but she already knew the answer to that.

Fuyumi backed out of the driveway and started driving toward the nearest train station. She could catch the last train before the lines closed for the night if she hurried, and she would call to arrange a hotel room on the way. ‘I’m glad that I don’t work the weekends, though I doubt that’ll matter after this.’

Fuyumi had always listened, but she had never spoken up.

Maybe it was time for her to change that.

Chapter Text

Dabi almost had a heart attack when Keigo texted him to say that he had just asked Kurogiri for a portal. ‘Logically, I know that it’s smart for him to save his energy for tomorrow, but he’s stopping by here first for a reason. He could’ve just asked Kurogiri to drop him off near his apartment. At least he warned me first.’

He spent a few long, terrifying moments in silence, trying to calm himself down with little success. When Keigo raced into his room, Dabi did something that he had sworn he would never do again. He froze up. 

“Oh, Touya…” Keigo sounded like he was about to cry. He approached Dabi slowly, carefully, but that didn’t keep Dabi’s heart from jackrabbiting in his chest.

“I believe you. I promise that I believe you. It’s okay; I’m not going anywhere.” Dabi’s chest shook with a sob, and Keigo’s wings fluttered anxiously behind him.

“Can I hold you?” Dabi nodded immediately, and Keigo wrapped his arms and wings around Dabi, pressing their foreheads together and running one of his gloved hands through Dabi’s hair.

“You’re not mad?” Dabi hated how pathetic that he sounded. He couldn’t afford to show this much weakness when he was facing Endeavor tomorrow.

“Not at all. You said that you wouldn’t blame me for being afraid of defying the Commission, so why would I blame you for being afraid of telling me about Endeavor?”

‘Because you might have thought that I didn’t trust you. You might have thought that I was no different from the people using you, and I didn’t want that.’

“Actually…” Keigo hummed, leaning back and letting Dabi rest his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder instead. “Do you prefer Dabi or Touya?”

“You can use Touya. All of Japan is gonna know my name by tomorrow anyway.”

“Ah, so you are planning on exposing him. Good. Are we killing him?”

“You sound awfully eager to,” Dabi snorted. “No. Death is too easy for him, and we don’t want to make him a martyr either. I meant it when I said that he’d be able to beat the nomu. He’ll be beaten to shit, without a doubt, but that’s kinda the point. If I waltz up afterward while the cameras are still rolling and do my reveal…” 

Dabi had been dyeing his hair with cheaper dyes for over a month to prepare for this; a quirk-based dye remover would completely get rid of any black in his hair. When Dabi lifted his head enough to look at the expression on Keigo’s face, he shuddered at the feral, satisfied look he saw there.

“He’ll be ruined by this. You’re right; death would be too easy. He deserves to suffer first.”

“Careful there, Keigo. You’re starting to sound like a villain.” Dabi kept his voice light and teasing as he looked up at his partner, but Keigo’s answer was serious.

“Everyone else will consider me one eventually, even if you and the rest of the League know better. I’m not bothered by that.”

It was reassurance. Keigo was making sure that Dabi knew that he hadn’t changed his mind in the slightest, even when he knew that they would be up against the number one hero.

Keigo rubbed comforting circles on his back, cooing softly as Dabi sank further into his hold. “He hurt you, Touya. My every instinct is screaming at me to tear out the throat of the man who is a threat to my mate, but I know that this is the best way to make an actual change. Do you… do you mind telling me the full plan now? If I get Kurogiri to warp me home now, then I’ll be up all night fantasizing about how many ways you could absolutely ruin Endeavor without touching him. I’d like it to at least be accurate.”

Dabi barked out a laugh before agreeing, “I’ll tell you everything, pretty bird.”

And so he did.

-

The closer that it got to time for everything to go down, the more excited that Keigo became to see Touya’s plan unfold. Thankfully, he was still able to keep his Hawks mask firmly in place as he and Endeavor patrolled the city. Fukuoka was filled with people that he cared about, so that made playing the part of Hawks easier. Keigo also noticed that certain people gave him knowing looks and grins as he walked by them, though they quickly disguised it with typical fan behavior.

‘How many people came to Fukuoka for this, Touya? I feel like I should be more concerned by the fact that some of these people know I have something to do with this but...’ The truth would come out eventually. Besides, the people of Kyushu hadn’t been willing to sell out Touya or the League, so Keigo knew that they wouldn’t say a word about him either.

He saw Aomi and their other father, Ryouya, heading toward the center of the city that Keigo and Endeavor would eventually make it to, and he even spotted the top of Kichiya’s fluffy mane heading in that direction alongside a tall, dark-haired woman that Keigo was assuming was Doc.

‘This is going to be beautiful. The civilians should be as safe as they can be between me and the fact that this nomu is obsessed with fighting strong people, and my feathers should keep them from getting caught up in any damage to the city as well.’ Touya was hoping that the nomu would listen and avoid causing more damage than necessary, but both of them agreed not to leave anything up to chance. 

That was why there were also going to be League members scattered throughout the area that Keigo was leading Endeavor to. Their primary goal was to boost their public standing, and they’d be running around and helping with evacuation in any way that they could. The masses of civilians in the area would keep most people from looking too closely at them, though it helped that members like Shigaraki, Mr. Compress, and Twice forwent their costumes altogether.

‘I’m glad that Shigaraki realizes that people won’t react well to the hand thing. Did he wear them because of All for One? I don’t think that I’ve actually seen him wear them in person, now that I think about it.’

Keigo waved at another small group of people that turned out onto the main road in front of them, and while they didn’t seem to have the same glint in their eyes that others did, Keigo did see that they were heading in the same direction as he was.

“You’re good at this.”

“Hm?” Keigo knew that he was being uncharacteristically quiet, but it was the best way to keep a lid on his rage. Endeavor had told him to shut up so many times yesterday that Keigo could argue that he was just following his advice if push came to shove.

“People like you. When they look at me… they’re not reassured. But they relax around you.”

‘Well, maybe if you weren’t an abusive dick…’ Keigo plastered on a smile before saying, “Don’t take it too personally. My agency is in Fukuoka, so everyone here is familiar with me.”

“They were just as excited to see you in Shizuoka yesterday,” Endeavor deadpanned, and Keigo just shrugged and laughed nervously in response.

The two of them kept heading closer to where everything would begin and Keigo noticed several of the people who had walked this way with a grim determination, they were all pretending to be shopping at nearby stores while waiting for things to start, before his wings tensed. He stopped moving and craned his head back, looking to the sky.

“Endeavor, that’s…” Keigo let his voice trail off and Endeavor followed his line of sight before tensing and flaring his flames out.

The High-End was soaring through the sky and directly toward them, and it was far larger than any of the previous nomu. ‘Its neck is all elongated too. Creepy.’ Keigo spread his wings and sharpened them, allowing a few feathers to detach and hover nearby before grabbing two to use as swords. He had no intention of fighting this thing, but he needed to look ready to.

The nomu landed in front of them with enough force to shatter the road beneath it, looking directly at Endeavor as it said, with a gargled, strained voice, “Who’s the best here? The strongest?”

Endeavor bared his teeth in a wild grin as he said, “Some rumors are true, huh? Today’s your lucky day; I came looking for a fight.”

“Have you got it?!” Keigo cried out, sending feathers toward the panicking people first. “There’s a ton of civilians around here!”

Endeavor concentrated the flames beneath his feet, melting the asphalt and lifting him off the ground in a rudimentary form of flight. ‘Huh. I wonder if Touya can do that? Maybe we could fly together sometime.’  

Endeavor blasted forward with a flaming fist, knocking the nomu back into a nearby building as it struggled to join him in the air. ‘It’s too large to maneuver very well, huh?’

“Focus on evacuation, Hawks! Let the number one handle this.”

Keigo could barely keep the smirk off his face. ‘If you say so.’ 

“Got it!” He flew off, sending feathers to snag people out of the now-collapsing building and move them away from the area. He also kept evacuating the people on any nearby streets, sending the genuinely panicked ones far away while allowing those who wanted to be here to linger just outside of the danger zone.

Keigo couldn’t be everywhere, though, and he only had so many feathers that he could send off while in the sky. He was glad that the League was helping.

He could sense Shigaraki turning the rubble that fell from the destroyed building to dust, preventing someone from being crushed beneath it. He could sense Mr. Compress turning nearby civilians into marbles before being warped closer to the safe zone where he proceeded to release them. He could sense Eria manipulating all the falling glass and keeping anyone from being hit by it or having to walk over it later. He could sense Magne using her quirk to pull someone out of the line of literal fire, though Endeavor was too fixated on the nomu to even notice her doing so. Every single member of the League was helping however they could, and Keigo could hear the confused thanks and genuine gratitude that most people were showing them right now.

‘Good. This is going exactly to plan.’

He landed on top of a nearby building to get a better view, watching over Endeavor and High-End before sending even more of his feathers to evacuate people now that he didn’t need them to fly.

‘Come on then, Endeavor. Let’s see how long you can last.’

-

If he was honest with himself, then Shouto didn’t know how to feel about how his father had been acting recently. He kept saying that he was going to change, but Shouto didn’t feel any less trapped by his father in the dorms than he did at home. Endeavor might not be able to train him as much anymore, but he still refused to leave Shouto alone.

It was stressful.

So when his classmates tried to keep him from seeing what was on the television, Shouto ignored them and sat down on the couch, watching Endeavor fight the giant, strange-looking nomu that acted differently from the other ones.

‘It’s almost being… careful? Endeavor keeps throwing it through buildings, and it just keeps circling back around to him.’ Shouto figured that it must have been acting under very specific orders.

“You don’t have to watch this, Todoroki.” Shouto glanced over at Midoriya before his eyes flicked back over to the screen just in time to watch several smaller, gray nomu split off from the giant one.

“I want to.” Midoriya was the only one that understood Shouto’s tense relationship with his father, so while the others still tried to protest it, Midoriya just nodded.

“Okay then. I’ll watch it with you,” Midoriya said as he smiled at him and sat down next to him, taking the spot directly to Shouto’s left. Shouto watched as Hawks took down several of the smaller Nomu while keeping people out of the line of fire, and then the news feed panned back over to where Endeavor and the strange nomu were both hovering in a tense standoff. 

The nomu was the first to move. It raced toward Endeavor with unnaturally stretched limbs and got burned to a crisp for its efforts, except… ‘Its head!’ The nomu was already regenerating, and a piece of it stretched out from its head and directly toward Endeavor, going straight for his father’s eye.

Everyone around him cried out at the blood covering his father’s face, but Shouto was so used to the sight of blood that it didn’t mean much to him. All he could think as he watched Endeavor hit the ground, bloodied and bruised, was that his father had hurt him far worse than this.

A small part of Shouto, one that he felt guilty about because he was supposed to be a real hero; he was supposed to be better, felt satisfied. Maybe his father would end up with a scar too. Maybe his father’s left eye would be just as ruined as Shouto’s.

The nomu hovered over Endeavor, waiting for him to stand back up and keep fighting, and Shouto realized something. ‘It’s playing with him. It’s not even fighting seriously, is it? There’d be way more damage if it was.’ 

He wasn’t sure if his classmates had noticed it --Midoriya definitely had, but he noticed everything-- but there were several moments where the nomu could have let its attack continue past his father to cause destruction, even if it missed Endeavor. It never did. It consistently redirected its blows and used the momentum to send itself after Endeavor again. ‘It’s not just following orders. That nomu can think. It’s adapting.’

Endeavor finally staggered to his feet, and the nomu immediately swung at him, sending him sprawling to the ground and making him cough up blood. Shouto distantly wondered if this was what he looked like during his father’s training sessions.

“This is what society looks like without a symbol of peace,” a reporter cried out, and the camera panned over a group of people evacuating as yet another building collapsed behind them. Shouto didn’t see some of the larger pieces of rubble ever hit the ground, and strangely enough, there were a few people here and there who didn’t seem to be trying to evacuate at all.

‘Are they getting caught up in watching the fight?’

Aizawa rushed into the room. “Todoroki…” he sighed. “You already saw.”

Shouto nodded, looking back over to the television when another, younger voice said, “Open your eyes before spouting off on TV, especially at a time like this! Just look!” The kid pointed to the skyline where Shouto could evidence that his father had stood up again after all.

“Those flames are still rising up! You all see them, right?! Endeavor’s alive and fighting! You can’t just give up because All Might is gone! There’s still a dude out there risking everything for us; cant’cha see?!”

The news station switched back over to the helicopter’s camera. “We come to you again from up in the sky! Ah! There’s the jet-black villain… It looks like it’s flying away? But it doesn’t matter! Endeavor is in hot pursuit!”

Endeavor looked like a burning comet streaking through the sky, only being pushed forward by his flames. ‘He’s barely able to move.’

The nomu turned back around to face him, but its lumbering form made it turn just a bit too slowly to prevent his father from grabbing its head, shoving his fist inside its mouth, and burning it alive as his flames flashed blue.

Endeavor fell from the sky, barely getting caught by one of Hawks’ feathers before he crashed to the ground. He held up his right arm in victory as he stood once more, and while all his classmates cheered and cried out around him, Shouto couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit disappointed.

Then the news crew started screaming about how Dabi was walking toward Endeavor, and Shouto wondered if he might not have to deal with his father again after all.

-

“Well then, Endeavor. I guess this is the part where I say it’s nice to meet you, huh?” 

Dabi had expected to be afraid. He had feared his father for over a decade, dedicating his every moment to taking down the monster that had always felt larger than life. But as Dabi watched Endeavor sway, struggling to keep standing after fighting one nomu, he only felt disappointed.

‘This is the man that they were all willing to lie and cover for? Was our suffering truly worth so little?’

He was wearing more than one microphone today. His second microphone linked to a Bluetooth speaker, one that he had purchased earlier in the week, that he’d already given to a member of the news crew that was the first on the scene. Said member had given him a feral grin, thanked him for saving her little sister, who had given him her contact information, last year, said that she knew he was going to give her a good story, and then planted it on the helicopter well in advance. Any crewmates would say that the equipment had been there for several days, which wouldn’t be a lie, and every single word that Dabi said would be aired to all of Japan.

This was too important for him to leave anything to chance.

Endeavor squinted at Dabi before finally making out who he was. “You! You’re the one who killed Snatch!”

“I mean, I certainly helped, but the credit for that goes to Eria.” ‘Do I seriously seem like the stabbing type? Why would I bother with that?’

“Are you the one behind this attack, Dabi of the League of Villains?!” 

Dabi chuckled at Endeavor’s expression, smiling ruefully. ‘Ah, there’s that hatred. You really haven’t changed at all, have you?’ 

People were crowding around where he and Endeavor were standing, and while a few other minor heroes were patrolling the area alongside Hawks and Endeavor, they were busy evacuating the people that the League couldn’t get to. The familiar faces surrounding Dabi weren’t going anywhere, and they knew that he wasn’t going to hurt them or let them be hurt.

He smirked as he answered his father’s question, “Well, you’re not wrong about me being the one who organized this, but the High-End wasn’t the attack, Endeavor.”

“What?”

“That nomu was a tool, nothing more. I just wanted to have a conversation with you while the cameras were rolling.”

Endeavor scowled at him, staggering forward a step and almost falling to the ground with the movement. Dabi snorted and took a single, pointed step back.

“What are you after?!” Endeavor was puffing out his chest and snarling at Dabi, but his bravado wasn’t fooling anyone. Perspective changed a lot of things, and Dabi was realizing that Endeavor wasn’t scary like this.

“Do you really not know who I am? I know that I look different, but I thought that you’d at least recognize your own handiwork,” he snarked.

Endeavor squinted at him as he asked, “Have I arrested you before?”

“It says a lot about you that you look at how burned I am and ask that, but no.” Dabi pulled out a bottle of dye remover from his satchel, looking Endeavor dead in the eye. “Maybe this’ll jog your memory.” 

He dumped the contents of the bottle out on his head, shaking out his hair as streaks of black dye rolled down his face and showed a head full of red hair to everyone who was watching. 

Endeavor’s eyes widened. “No… You’re dead.”

Dabi raised his thumbs and pressed them against the scars under his eyes before saying, “I’m not, though it’s certainly not for a lack of trying on your part. What was it that you said back then? Ah, right! 'If you’re going to continue to show such weaknesses, then I’m going to burn them out of you.'”

He glanced over the people surrounding them, grinning once he saw Natsuo near the front of the crowd that was standing directly behind Endeavor. Everyone had started backing away from his brother to give him the space that he’d need, but Endeavor was so focused on what was in front of him that he didn’t notice Natsuo at all. ‘Good, he’s in position. I wouldn’t want to leave him out of this.’

Two pairs of nearly identical blue eyes locked. “Tell me, Father, do you think that you’ve accomplished that?”

-

Fuyumi’s heart was racing out of her chest. She couldn’t believe that she was ignoring the orders of heroes around her to head directly for her father and brother, but she quickly noticed that she wasn’t the only one to do so.

‘Why are there so many people here?’ The crowd was oddly quiet too, only snickering or murmuring under their breaths from time to time. ‘They all want to hear what he’s saying. They’re all listening to Touya.’

It was difficult for her to push through the crowd, but a blonde girl with a fanged grin --Fuyumi was almost certain that this was Toga, but she couldn’t care less about that right now-- helped her navigate to the front. The girl ran off right after, but Fuyumi’s eyes were fixated on the scene in front of her. She almost sobbed when she saw that her brother’s hair was bright red again. ‘He’s really doing this. They won’t be able to hide it anymore.’

“What was it that you said back then? Ah, right! 'If you’re going to continue to show such weaknesses, then I’m going to burn them out of you.'”

Fuyumi cringed back, but it wasn’t at her brother’s words. No, it was because their father looked furious.

“Tell me, Father, do you think that you’ve accomplished that?”

Endeavor started to glow with fire, one last burst of rage before he burned out; he had never known how to give up, and all Fuyumi could think about was the way that Touya screamed that night. He was always being hurt so badly while protecting them, but none of them ever had the power to do anything about it. 

At this moment, with their father as weak as he was and Touya standing his ground as he refused to cower from the flames, Fuyumi had the power to do something.

She didn’t even think. She just moved.

-

The common room went dead silent shortly after Dabi started talking. There was an obvious tension between the flame villain and Endeavor, and they were all surprised that they could hear what Dabi was saying.

“He must want them to hear this. This would require equipment and planning in advance,” Aizawa mumbled, and Shouto was enraptured with what was happening right now. Dabi sounded like he had a personal connection to his father, and something about him had always seemed familiar...

He got a sinking feeling when he saw black hair wash away into red, and then Dabi said, “Tell me, Father, do you think that you’ve accomplished that?” There was no doubting it anymore.

“Touya…”

“What did you say, Todoroki?” Aizawa’s head whipped over to him, and alarm was written all over his face. Everyone else in the room looked over to him too.

“He’s my brother, Touya. Father told us that he died in a training accident, but… I think we all knew that wasn’t what really happened.”

Aizawa looked over at Shouto, and his teacher looked even more exhausted than usual. “One of them needs me more than I know, huh? So this is what you meant…”

Shouto watched as Endeavor built up his flames, and he wasn’t even slightly sorry that he wanted Touya to win this. But his brother wasn’t moving. He didn’t look like he was fighting back at all.

“Touya, no… What are you doing?! He’s going to kill you!” For a fleeting moment, Shouto feared that was his brother’s plan. Getting their father to murder him on live television wouldn’t look good, but Shouto had just found out that his brother was alive. He didn’t want to lose him again.

“Look at how many people there are, Todoroki…” Shouto looked over to Midoriya, and his friend pointed at the crowds surrounding his brother and father.

“Dabi’s flames are super hot. With so many people surrounding him, he can’t use it without hurting them.”

Shouto hummed before saying, “I dunno… Touya always had really good control. I’m pretty sure he’s trying to make a point, but what--”

“What was that?!” Shouto looked back to the television, and his jaw almost dropped at what he saw.

“Suddenly, there’s a thick wall of ice separating Dabi and Endeavor! The hero’s flames couldn’t melt through it all right away! Who is this new fighter?”

Shouto would recognize his sister anywhere. Fuyumi’s hair was distinctive, and she was wearing her favorite pink cardigan today. She ran straight for Touya, almost bowling him over with a hug. Touya didn’t even hesitate to wrap his arms around her in return.

“I thought I got you killed! It was my fault; I should have never--”

“Hey, hey, no.” Touya’s voice was just as soft as Shouto remembered it being when he was little, but most of his class seemed bewildered by the man they were seeing on the screen right now. Curiously enough, Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Asui seemed less surprised than the others. ‘I’ll have to ask them about that later.’

“Listen to me. None of that was your fault, okay? I would do it again. Even if I knew what was going to happen, I would choose to do it every time. He never should’ve--” Touya’s voice cut off with a snarl, and when Shouto looked back at the ice wall, he saw that his father had finally melted through it, though his flames were spluttering and on the verge of going out.

Touya planted himself between Endeavor and Fuyumi, and Shouto remembered his brother taking that stance in front of him time and time again. He always seemed to be putting himself between them and danger.

Endeavor sneered and Shouto could see his mouth moving, but whatever he said wasn’t picked up by the microphone. With the look on his father’s face, Shouto was honestly glad for that.

“No!” 

Shouto had never heard his sister yell before. Touya was still trying to keep himself between Fuyumi and their father, but she moved to his side and refused to step back. Her voice was steady and determined, and she was close enough to Touya to be heard loud and clear.

“I won’t let you hurt Touya. You won’t hit him ever again. You won’t touch me ever again!” His sister was sobbing, and Shouto doesn’t know if he had ever heard her sound so terrified before now.

‘What… what did she mean by that?’ The way that Fuyumi worded that struck Shouto as odd, but he didn’t understand why it felt so off.

Aizawa swore violently, making everyone in the room jump. ‘He knows, doesn’t he? Whatever it means, it’s not anything good.’

Endeavor’s voice was loud enough for everyone to hear as he screamed, “Shut up!”

“What? You don’t want your dirty laundry aired to all of Japan? It’s a bit late for that,” Touya barked out with a laugh.

Their father took one step forward, flames rising menacingly, and suddenly, a shot rang out.

“Shots fired! Shots fired!”

Endeavor crumpled as one of his knees gave out on him. Someone joined Touya, Fuyumi, and Endeavor in the center of the circle, and when Shouto saw who it was, he groaned and put his head in his hands. 

“Did Natsuo just shoot our father?” he asked, slightly hysterical. Shouto looked back up to the screen and saw that Natsuo did, indeed, have a gun in his hand.

“Todoroki… I’m so sorry,” Uraraka murmured.

What he said next surprised him as much as it did his classmates. “Don’t be.”

“What?” Kirishima seemed totally lost, so Shouto explained.

“They’re listening now.”

“Todoroki…” Midoriya’s eyes were welling up with tears that he tried to wipe away as he sniffled.

“Just watch,” Shouto insisted, and while Aizawa looked like he wanted to make Shouto leave, they all turned their focus back to the screen.

“Nice shot, Natsuo!” Touya sounded so proud when he said that, and Shouto could feel his heart pang with want when he heard it. 

“Yeah, well, I’m just glad that Mustard’s lessons weren’t for nothing,” Natsuo said while sounding as cheerful as ever, smiling and animated as he strolled up to Touya’s other side. He immediately rested his arm on top of Touya’s head, and his oldest brother swatted at him in retaliation, looking far more human than the others were used to seeing him be.

“You… How dare you, you useless--!” Natsuo sneered at their father’s spluttering.

“What? Did you really think that you had gotten away with it? I watched you burn Touya alive, Father. I watched his fire burn blue while your flaming fist was wrapped around his throat,” Natsuo snarled out, and everyone around Shouto gasped.

He looked over at the faces of his teacher and friends, and all of them looked vaguely ill. Shouto looked back to the screen. Touya had straightened up, looking over the crowd before he started talking.

“As I said, the nomu wasn’t the attack. In fact, the nomu was given restrictions specifically to avoid causing damage. It was prohibited from damaging its surroundings and from going after civilians, and yet…” Touya held out his arms, and the camera panned out to show the devastation that Fukuoka had undergone. There were at least seven totaled buildings, and Shouto couldn’t see an end to the damages.

‘Though it’s suspicious that a single gesture from Touya would make them zoom out like that. Wouldn’t they want to stay close to the action? Is someone that’s working the camera in on this?’

“The only thing that the nomu destroyed was the road that it landed on. I apologize for that; I don’t think it recognized its new strength at first. So, tell me, why is there so much damage here?”

“A hero cannot avoid collateral damage.” Endeavor was trying to flare up again, but he was unsuccessful. Shouto knew that he was beyond overheating at this point; he was burnt out. The nomu had done exactly what his brother had wanted it to.

“No one expects perfection, but this is excessive. You realize that the nomu was holding back, right? It was never meant to beat you. In fact, it was outright ordered to leave you alive. One nomu. You almost got taken out by one nomu, and it wasn’t even trying to kill you.”

Shouto snorted at the derision in his brother’s voice. He got several concerned glances at the sound, but that was a problem for him to deal with later. 'They might shove me into therapy, but I probably need it anyway. Endeavor would just never sign off on it.'

“This just in, the Rabbit Hero: Miruko is running to the scene! Wait a moment, is that?!” The camera whirled over just in time for everyone to watch her get turned into a marble. Mr. Compress had ditched the costume entirely, and his curly, brown hair bobbed as he bowed with a flourish. He decompressed a different marble, revealing a megaphone, and shouted into it.

“Not to worry everyone! We will return your hero to you immediately after the show. Dabi has worked too hard for this to be ruined now, so please redirect your attention to him. Thank you!”

The news crew did as he instructed, and Shouto’s inkling that someone up there was helping Touya only grew after that.

Touya cleared his throat before continuing, “As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted… You aren’t number one material. You aren’t even strong enough for it, and that’s the only thing that you’ve ever had going for you.”

“Quiet!”

“No. While we have the attention of all of Japan, I want to tell you all a little story. For those of you who haven’t figured it out by now, my name is Touya Todoroki. This story starts with my father, my mother, and a quirk marriage. Did you all know that Endeavor is four years older than my mother? That doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but this should help paint the picture. They got married when Endeavor was twenty. I was born before my mother even turned seventeen.”

Shouto hadn’t realized that. It made sense when he did the math, but the thought that his mother had given birth to Touya when she was only a year older than Shouto was right now…

Uraraka barely grabbed a nearby trashcan before she hurled into it.

“Endeavor has never been a good hero because he has never been a good man. Even if you ignore the excessive collateral damage that could have been easily avoided and his villain and civilian fatality rate as hazards of the job, you cannot ignore what he does behind closed doors. Endeavor purchased my mother for the sake of a eugenics experiment, for the sake of producing a quirk without the drawback of his own. He is a rapist, he is a domestic abuser, he is a child abuser, and he is a--”

“A child molester.” Fuyumi’s shaky voice cut Touya off, and Shouto felt ice plunge through his veins. “He’s a child molester.” Her tone didn’t leave any questions about exactly what she meant by that.

Fuyumi was trembling and crying, and Natsuo looked at her with shock and horror written all over his face. Shouto doubted that his own looked much different. Touya… Touya didn’t seem surprised at all. ‘He knew. Did she blame herself for his death because he…?’

Shouto imagined Touya finding out about this, and he suddenly knew exactly what had led up to his brother being burned alive.

“Yeah… Yumi, are you okay? You don’t have to be here,” Touya said so lowly that Shouto had to strain to hear him.

“I want to be.”

“Okay, okay…” Touya looked out at the crowd, and Shouto suddenly realized that the open circle that most of his family was standing in had gotten smaller. People were furious, and some of them were even throwing rocks at Endeavor, who was still bleeding at the knee and unable to stand.

“I’m sure most of you are thinking one thing right now. How did this man become a hero? Many of you will try to say that he was a skilled manipulator, that he must have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and deceived his way to the top. But… Endeavor is too heavy-handed to do that well. There were, undeniably, people that he genuinely fooled --to those people, I am sorry; I know that you might get dragged down with him-- but the answer to how Endeavor really got away with this is a simple one. Power and money.”

Touya sighed before continuing, “It didn’t matter how much proof I had. He was the number two hero, and no police station would perform an investigation on him. I do wonder how the years have treated you, Tsuragamae, Chief of Police of Hosu. Do you sleep well at night, knowing that your promotion came at the cost of ignoring a child’s cry for help?”

Shouto watched Endeavor twitch on the screen, smoking and struggling to produce more than the smallest flickers of flames. He strained himself so badly in his last attempt that his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he slumped over.

He was distracted when Midoriya and Iida both whipped over to look at him, and he didn’t hesitate to answer the unasked question in their wide eyes. “I wasn’t just angry about what happened… back then when I snapped at that bastard. Natsuo told me about this.” Shouto hadn’t been surprised that the man wanted to give Endeavor credit for Stain, but that hadn’t made him any less enraged by it.

“Doctors and teachers either looked away or were never listened to, but what truly added insult to injury was when I took the case directly to the Commission. Do you want to know what they said to me? Do you want to know what the president of the organization who oversees every single hero in Japan told a fourteen-year-old asking for help?”

“YEAH!” The crowd screamed, acting like sharks who smelled blood in the water. They were being whipped into a frenzy at this point, and Shouto felt like he was watching a trainwreck as it unfolded. It was kind of beautiful, in a scary way.

“That the wellbeing of a measly five people, of Endeavor’s own family, didn’t matter at all! As long as he saved more people than he hurt, they didn’t care what he did! Is that the kind of organization that we want protecting us?!”

“NO!”

“Is that the kind of hero who we want as our number one?!”

“NO!!”

‘Touya isn’t just trying to tear down our father’s reputation… He’s trying to tear down the entire system. That’s why he joined the League, isn’t it? So people don’t get hurt like we did ever again.’ 

“Then don’t stand for it! Every single one of us has the power to create change. We all have lives and stories and things that no one else could bring to this world. Don’t let them erase all of that to turn us into numbers; we’re more than a statistic!”

Shouto watched as nearly every member of the League converged on the open circle, standing on either side of his brother with their heads held high. Those that had actual costumes weren’t wearing them --Shigaraki, Mr. Compress, Spinner, Eria, Mustard, and Twice were dressed in more casual wear, though Twice still had something tied around his forehead-- and it made them all look more real somehow. More human.

“We’re people!!” Touya screamed. “It’s damn time that they start treating us like we are!”

The cheers were deafening, even through the filter of the tv. 

Shouto watched as Shigaraki moved over to Touya, and there was a slight rustle of noise as his brother took off his microphone and handed it to Shigaraki. The villain started talking, and Shouto hated that he was just as entranced by what he was saying as he had been with what Touya was.

“We all want change. We’re all tired of heroes looking the other way when it suits them. We’re all tired of quirk discrimination, of quirkless discrimination, and of the rampant poverty that comes with almost all of our country’s wealth going straight into heroes’ pockets,” Shigaraki declared as he walked around the circle, talking to every single person gathered in the area. He sounded far more sure of himself than he had during the USJ.

“Heroes, as a profession, are reactionary. They never address a problem until they’re hit upside the head with it, and even then they ignore what caused it. They ignore it because there is no glory in admitting that villainy is rooted in desperation. I do not deny that there are truly evil people out there, but there are fewer of them than our society wants you to believe. And I do not deny that there are truly good heroes out there, but there are fewer of those than our society wants you to believe too.”

Shigaraki moved back to the center, stopping when he stood between Touya and Natsuo. “If the heroes won’t help us, then we’ll just have to help ourselves. My former master called us the League of Villains once, but I don’t believe that name captures what we truly are. Today, all of you have seen the beginning of the League of Vigilantes.”

Mr. Compress threw a marble over in Endeavor’s direction before decompressing it, and Miruko sprung out of it, alive and completely unharmed. She looked ready to jump into a fight again, but the sheer number of villains standing in front of her made her pause, though Shouto didn’t doubt that the livid crowd contributed to that hesitation.

Shigaraki looked over at her with a hum before saying, “Endeavor will need medical attention, hero. You should get on that. We want him to live with the consequences of his actions.” 

He grabbed the microphone before turning it into dust, and the same swirling, dark portal that opened in the USJ popped up behind the League. Miruko looked between the League, the portal, and Endeavor before pulling out her phone and calling for backup. One by one, members of the League walked through the portal. Natsuo stepped through just ahead of Touya, and Touya turned around and looked at Fuyumi instead of following their brother. He was tilting his head, asking a question that none of them could hear.

Shouto didn’t need to hear Touya to know what he was asking.

He watched as his sister steeled herself before joining their brother’s side, and he watched as the two of them disappeared into the void together.

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe I just did that.” 

Fuyumi sounded like she was going into shock, so Dabi kept a gentle hand on her shoulder as he guided her to one of the League’s couches. Jelly, the no longer pregnant black cat that Dabi had brought back to base and finally got around to naming, immediately leapt into Fuyumi’s lap, hunkering down and purring as his sister ran a shaky hand through her fur.

“I was surprised too,” Dabi admitted. “But I’m happy to see you again. Do you regret it?”

Fuyumi shook her head as she said, “No, it needed to be done. I’ll miss teaching, but if any of my students were ever in a situation like we were, came to me, and I couldn’t get anyone to help… I’d never forgive myself.”

Though one of her hands was running through Jelly’s fur, the other was wringing the edge of her cardigan. “I just… I didn’t want him to get away with it.”

“I’m proud of you. I know that it was hard, and I’m so, so proud of you.” Fuyumi’s eyes welled up with tears again, and Dabi sat down next to her so that she could cry on his shoulder.

Natsuo sat down on the other side of her, and the rest of the League was averting their eyes or leaving the room to give them some semblance of privacy. “Fuyumi, I’m so sorry. I never even…”

“Don’t blame yourself when I never told you. I couldn’t, not after what happened to Touya.”

Natsuo took in a shaky breath before nodding. A few moments later asked the question on all of their minds right now: “Are you sure that you want this?”

“It’s a bit late to go back now, don’t you think?”

“Maybe too late to go back to how things were, but you don’t have to fight,” Dabi pointed out. “We wouldn’t have a problem with you just hanging around base either.”

“No, I… I have a bad habit of not taking action when I should. I want to change that,” Fuyumi decided as she looked up to Shigaraki with a pleading expression.

“I know that I don’t have the same sort of experience with my quirk that you all do, but please… let me help.”

“Experience can be gained. We might not have any other ice users for you to learn from, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t help you train anyway. Morals, conviction, and loyalty are the most important things here, and you’ve already shown that you have all of that in spades,” Shigaraki smiled as he said it, and something about him was lighter now that they had started on their new path.

“Welcome to the League of Vigilantes, Fuyumi Todoroki.”

 “Please, just Fuyumi is fine,” his sister said with a smile, and unless Dabi was imagining things, something about her seemed more relaxed now too.

-

Keigo rushed to report to the Commission immediately after High End was over, knowing that they’d be livid about this. The fact that Touya’s voice was finally being heard made it more than worth it in Keigo’s eyes, but he still needed to do damage control. Quickly.

He stood outside of Madame President’s office and watched as she paced back and forth, reminding him of a tiger in a cage. She was trapped, furious, and ready to destroy the first thing that came across her path. Unfortunately for Keigo, that was going to be him.

Her eyes whipped over to him, and while Keigo had seen an angry Madame President more often than not, he wasn’t sure that he had ever seen her quite so furious before. She almost looked rabid.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Keigo hadn’t been permitted to speak, but he shrunk down slightly in a show of submission that usually placated her. Usually.

“You were ordered to infiltrate the League solely to prevent things like this! How could you be such a pathetically catastrophic failure after all we’ve invested in you?!”

Silence. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d yell it out of her system? 

“Explain to me how you managed to fuck this up so badly, agent. I won’t buy that you’re so stupid that you didn’t see an attack of this scale coming.”

‘She’s swearing? Fuck me, this is bad.’

“You’re correct, Madame President. This was a catastrophic failure on my part that cannot and should not be forgiven. I was aware that the League intended to test a prototype nomu on the strongest opponent possible, but Dabi keeps his cards close to his chest. I was unaware of his true identity, and his brother must have used hair dye and colored contacts to disguise himself when we met. Or some sort of quirk; I can’t be sure.”

“If you truly knew that you shouldn’t be forgiven for this, then you wouldn’t be giving me excuses. Why did you not inform us of this attack ahead of time?”

“Dabi is a fan of springing things on me at the last minute. I apologize Madame President, but there are only so many hours in a day. Between being told about the attack, joining Endeavor on his patrol, going to Endeavor’s home to convince him to patrol Fukuoka the next day, reporting back to Dabi, and heading back to my apartment, I didn’t have the time.”

Keigo was just thankful that Touya had convinced him that the Commission needed to know where he was that night. It hadn’t made sleeping in that apartment any easier, but it was helping him now.

Blue eyes narrowed at him, searching for a lie that she wouldn’t be able to find. They had trained him too well for situations like this. He just didn’t know how to react to kindness. 

“Are you angling for more time off on the back of this failure?!”

Keigo shook his head, immediately trying to placate her, “It’s not time off. The public may believe that it is, but I can only make so much headway with the League while I’m constantly patrolling. Trust takes time and effort to build, and while I’ve given them plenty of the latter, I’ve always had next to none of the former.”

“It’s always excuses with you,” she hissed. “You ungrateful wretch. Fine, take your time off. In fact, you’re grounded! As far as the public will be concerned, you damaged too many feathers while saving civilians to fly for a while.”

Keigo couldn’t help the way that he froze up.

“You are damn lucky that we need you to keep things stable. Endeavor is a lost cause at this point and Best Jeanist is out of the picture, so you had best prove to us that we don’t need to do a complete rehaul of the top three, understood? Do whatever it takes to get full access to the League. Grovel, do anything they ask of you, bend over for every single one of them if you fucking have to! If you make one more mistake, then you’re done.”

He nodded numbly. Keigo mentally checked out as his wings were clipped, he truly preferred torture to the brutal way that they went about this, and he staggered out of headquarters and into an alleyway, shakily texting Kurogiri to ask for a pickup.

Suddenly, Keigo was surrounded by concerned faces. He could feel Touya gently fixing the position of the feathers that were still whole and carefully cleaning the ones that weren’t, promising that he would help Keigo remove them so they could regrow once he was in the right state of mind for it.

Afterward, Touya turned to Fuyumi and said something that Keigo couldn’t quite make out, but he got the gist when she slowly reached forward and laid a cold hand against his forehead. Keigo usually preferred to be warm, but the cold felt amazing right now.

Keigo drifted, but for once, he wasn’t left to do so alone.

-

Quite frankly, everything was a shitshow after High End. Shouta had the headache to end all headaches, and heroes were scrambling to pick up the pieces after Touya Todoroki’s nationwide broadcast. It was only made worse by the fact that Best Jeanist was nowhere to be found, and people were loudly unhappy about that as well. Investigations were springing up left and right, and Shouta was currently waiting for the results of whatever they had been able to scrounge together in one of UA’s conference rooms.

No one had argued when Nezu said that they would be meeting at UA a few days after the attack, and considering the current allegations against both the Commission and at least the Hosu Police Department in addition to Endeavor, that was wise of them. ‘I just hope that I wasn’t mistaken in letting Hawks join us.’

Everyone who knew what to look for knew that Hawks was closely linked to the Commission. He had never attended any hero school and debuted as a solo hero as soon as he turned eighteen, soaring up the ranks almost immediately. That spoke of a level of training and efficiency that had to be taught somewhere, and Shouta was willing to bet that the Commission had everything to do with that.

‘But he also wanted to keep them away from Eri. I doubt he’s truly in their pocket… Unless he’s a skilled enough liar to play that kind of long-con.’ Shouta would find out one way or another, but for now, they could use Hawks’ skill and familiarity with the Commission.

Endeavor was currently in custody, though he was making his displeasure about the fact abundantly clear. He had been looked over in a hospital and healed by Recovery Girl first, he had permanent scarring but his eye was fine, but none of them had been willing to provoke a riot by not putting Endeavor in a holding cell somewhere, not with protestors screaming outside of the hospital he was admitted to until the day that he was transferred.

Their society was like a powder keg right now; one spark could blow the whole thing to smithereens.

“Ah. Hey, Eraser,” Hawks said with an uncharacteristically serious tone, but that wasn’t surprising in these conditions. “I’m the first one here?”

“You can fly,” he deadpanned in response. There was a brief pause afterward, and Shouta’s eyes narrowed as he took in the state of Hawks’ wings. ‘What happened there? They look a lot rougher than usual.’

“Well yeah, but where are the rest of the teachers?”

Shouta sighed as Hawks firmly changed the discouraged further questioning, answering him by saying, “Trying to keep the kids from stumbling across this, mostly. We’ve got a bunch of nosy teenagers that are always on campus now, and I know that at least most of my class watched the broadcast live.”

“Oh, duh,” Hawks said with a grimace. “How’s…?”

“Shouto? The kid’s fine, at least for now. Seemed happy that UA got emergency custody of him. I’m sure this will all sink in eventually but…” The kid seemed concerningly unbothered by the fact that all of his siblings were villains. Or that they were at least organized vigilantes, as the League was rebranding itself as. Shouta had his doubts about that one, but he’d have to wait and see.

The two of them fell into silence after that which suited Shouta just fine, and that quiet wasn’t broken when Hizashi and Shouto walked into the room. The kid was holding a folder that he had refused to let any of them look at yet, and it was the only thing that he had cared enough to go back to Endeavor’s house to get beyond a few changes of clothes and necessities. It was beyond concerning that such a prized possession would be hidden underneath the tatami deeply enough that Shouto had to destroy half of his room’s flooring to get to it.

His ability to remodel his entire dorm room in a day made a disturbing amount of sense now.

Yagi, Gran Torino, and Tsukauchi were the next people to arrive, and it was only due to his connection to Yagi that Nezu allowed Tsukauchi to take part in this at all. ‘That and the fact that his quirk is useful.’ If the corruption ran as deeply as it seemed to, then having someone that could prevent the heroes involved from lying about what they’ve found was critical. 

‘That doesn’t stop them from finding incorrect information and reporting that, but it will at least point out any intentional obstruction.’

Nezu walked in next, and after he arrived, the other outside heroes that were being involved with the investigation began showing up as well. Sir Nighteye, Rock Lock, Fat Gum, Miruko, Ms. Joke, and Edgeshot filed in one after the other, and finally, it was time for the meeting to start.

“Thank you for coming, everyone. This is a matter of utmost importance, so I would rather not dance around the subject,” Nezu stated, looking across the giant table from his position at the head of it.

“First off, has anyone found Best Jeanist?” Everyone else in the room shook their heads, and while Shouta hadn’t expected anything different, it was still worrying that no one had heard from him.

“A pity… Keep looking into that. On to the next thing, then. Thanks to Shouto’s testimony, we have confirmed that the allegations against Endeavor are true.” 

That had been a heart-wrenching interview, especially considering how casually Shouto talked about everything. The kid didn’t have a filter, but more than that, it was like he struggled to realize that what had been done to him was wrong. Shouto made it clear that he hated Endeavor, but it was more for what he had done to his mother and Touya than what had happened to him.

“Shit, kid…” The confirmation weighed heavily on all of them, but Rock Lock’s voice was especially distraught. ‘He’s the only one of us who actually has a kid, so it’s hitting him even harder.’ 

“Indeed. For the sake of Shouto’s privacy, we won’t be sharing that testimony here. He’s still a minor, and there’s a world of difference between having a general idea of what could have happened and knowing the details. Now--”

“Actually…” Shouto interrupted, and the kid looked faintly nervous as he laid the folder on the table. “I didn’t get to share these before. Touya would--” The kid struggled to swallow around a lump in his throat, rubbing at his eyes before saying, “Touya would want people to see these.”

Gran Torino looked mulish at the prospect of looking over whatever Dabi had left for them, but no one was going to deny Shouto this. Nezu grabbed the file, opened it, and his fur bristled as he studied the contents.

“These are incredibly detailed.”

Shouto nodded before elaborating, “Touya was… obsessed with documenting every time that our father hurt us. Taking photos, logging dates, listing the injuries, detailing how we got the injuries, and even writing down why we were hurt if our father bothered to give a reason. I think he thought that if there was enough proof, then they wouldn’t be able to deny it anymore. Natsuo copied what Touya did once he was gone, and then he passed it to me when he went off to college. There are over eleven years of pictures in that folder.”

The photos were passed around the room, and the contents were even more horrific than Shouta had imagined. Countless bruises, broken bones, and burns painted every Todoroki child at some point, and the knowledge that Endeavor had, indeed, irreparably burned Touya’s tear ducts because the kid cried too much… It was one thing to be told it, even when they knew that it was the truth, but it was another thing entirely to see it.

“He looks so small… All of you were so small,” Fat Gum’s said with a strangled voice, and Shouto, as tactful as ever, only proceeded to knock the breath out of all of them again.

“Natsuo told me that trauma can stunt growth, so that’s not surprising. Touya and Fuyumi are done growing, and they’re both shorter than our mother.”

“That’s quite likely,” Nezu sighed, putting the photos back in the folder once they were passed back to him. “That being said, we do need to talk about what we’ve found so far. Nighteye, were there any leads with the doctor who signed off on Dabi’s death?”

Sir Nighteye shook his head, pulling out an audio recorder. “We were too late. Dabi called her a couple of days before High End. She forgot to delete the voicemail in her rush to leave, though. The line it came from is dead --a discarded burner phone, no doubt-- but we have the recording itself.”

“That’s a start. Will you play it for us?”

Nighteye turned the volume up before hitting play, and everyone in the room leaned forward so they could hear it better.

“Hey Eniko-san, I just wanted to call and let you know that everyone is going to know who I am soon. I know that you wouldn’t have… said and done the things that you did if you didn’t want that bastard to face some consequences too, but you need to understand that they’ll come for you the second that they know I’m alive. If you’re lucky, then it’ll be the heroes who get to you, but if you’re not…”

Dabi sighed, and Shouta didn’t want to feel bad about just how exhausted he sounded. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Run, Eniko-san. Run fast, run far, and don’t look back. You know some of my contacts if you need help, so just… stay safe, okay? I’ve got to go.”

“He thought that the Commission would silence her,” Nezu said, and they all knew that it was a statement, not a question. “It would certainly be convenient for them if he could be written off as a liar. Do you think that they would go that far, Hawks?”

“Absolutely,” Hawks responded, not even hesitating. “Hero society was delicately balanced before, but now it’s teetering toward collapse. If they thought that it would tip the scales back to our side, then they would kill her in a heartbeat.”

A weighted silence overtook them all again. “As I expected,” Nezu sighed as he took a sip of tea, and only Shouta’s experience with the principal allowed him to see the restrained fury in that action. “Were you able to acquire any proof of Dabi’s accusations against the Commission?”

Hawks nodded, and another audio recorder was laid in the middle of the table. “The videos were wiped since it happened so long ago, but audio files are kept for longer. It was a bit of a slog, but I did find his conversation with the president. I couldn’t risk pulling it directly from their servers, but I still recorded the important part.”

A red feather hit play before Nezu could even ask. 

“Let me make this perfectly clear to you, Todoroki. Endeavor is too valuable an asset for us to lose. It will be in everyone’s best interest for you to cease this rebellion,” the President of the Commission said with a sneer in her voice that everyone could hear.

“Heroes aren’t supposed to be like this! They’re supposed to help people, not hurt them!” The agony in Dabi’s voice made everyone in the room grimace. This was the voice of a desperate and hurting kid, and it was their job to help people like him. That failure was weighing heavily on all of them now.

“How pitifully naïve of you. Heroes hurt plenty of people; they’re just usually called villains. I’ll make this simple for you. Endeavor puts away so many criminals that he, by extension, saves thousands of civilians every month. The wellbeing of his family, only five other people, is an easy sacrifice to make for those numbers. There is no scenario where you get to play hero for your mother and siblings, Todoroki. Stop fighting it.”

‘She clearly underestimated just how far Dabi was willing to go. He made a way.’

“You can’t do that! It’s wrong, and if people knew… I’ll tell them! I will!”

Laughter echoed, and it was the sort of derisive, demeaning laugh that came from the worst kinds of villains. “Because that’s been going well for you so far, hasn’t it?”

The recording stopped. 

“Well, he certainly told them,” Hizashi said, voice wavering. Ms. Joke snorted at that, and there were a few uneasy laughs that followed. ‘Probably more to break the tension than anything else. Fuck, that was hard to listen to.’

“Yeah, this… It’s not pretty, and I know for a fact that Dabi wasn’t the only one they did this kind of thing to.” Hawks’ wings were rustling uneasily as he shifted from foot to foot, clearly bothered by that knowledge.

Edgeshot asked a question that Shouta wanted the answer to as well, “Why are you so closely associated with the Commission then? You know their methods are wrong; it’s written all over your face.”

Hawks sighed, and it was probably the most real, tired thing that Shouta had ever heard from him. “Someone needed to keep an eye on them, and I’ve known that they weren’t what they appeared to be for a while. They won’t expect me to be working against them. We can use that.”

“The Commission… How bad are we talking, Hawks?” Miruko sounded hesitant to pose the question, and the grimace on Hawks’ face told him that she wasn’t wrong to be.

“Bad. The issue is that politicians will do what politicians do; it’ll be hard to prove that this was more than a bad judgment call about Endeavor. They’ll throw a bunch of money at this problem until it goes away, so we need concrete evidence if we’re going to go after them too. They’re too smart about it to double down on siding with Endeavor, and I only technically had legal access to the audio log as it is. That kind of gray area around obtaining evidence wouldn’t hold up in court, and we can’t ruin our chance before we’re actually able to deal with them. It’d probably be better to convince the Commission that we’re only going after Endeavor, at least for now. Another group can handle things in Hosu, but we’ll need to build a solid case on Endeavor first. We can’t do that with our attention so divided."

‘He’s surprisingly adept with underground thinking for a limelight hero. Suspiciously so, for his age. How long have you been training, Hawks?’

“So you don’t think that they’ll try to obstruct Endeavor’s case?” Nighteye’s gaze was searching, and Shouta wondered if he had realized the same thing.

“I didn’t say that. They’re going to try to hide evidence, but they’re not going to publicly declare their support for him any time soon. The Commission will be doing damage control. The worse that Endeavor looks the worse that they’ll look.”

“Thank you, that’s very insightful. We’ll keep that in mind going forward, Hawks.” The kid saluted Nezu, and Shouta’s boss simply moved on to the next hero.

“Rock Lock, have you found anything?”

“I noticed that there was an oddly large number of people going from Kansai to Kyushu on the day of the broadcast, specifically people who got off at Fukuoka.”

Hawks perked up at that. “I noticed odd movements too. Fukuoka’s a busy city, but we typically don’t see so many people come in on the same train. A bunch of people from all over Kyushu were on the trains that went into Fukuoka right before High-End, and there was that large crowd of people surrounding Dabi and Endeavor… Do you think they knew in advance?”

“I think that it would be very smart for Dabi to have a crowd that would react in the way that he wanted them to,” Shouta answered. “And so far, Dabi has proven to be a highly intelligent and meticulous man. He brought them there; I’m almost certain of it.”

“So we round them up and question them, right?!”

“It’s not quite that simple, Miruko,” Tsukauchi sighed. “I’ve already questioned most of the people who were there, and I have a feeling that the rest of them will be more of the same. It wasn’t difficult to match their faces to names and quirks when I pulled them from the news broadcast, but that doesn’t matter when they refuse to talk.”

“They wouldn’t tell you anything? They might not feel safe enough to…” Fat Gum had a point. It was easy to see how something like this could turn into a witch hunt to take in anyone who might know something about Dabi.

“No, it wasn’t just that. Every one of them would ask if they were being arrested first, demand a lawyer second, and then refuse to say a word. It was like they had all memorized the same script.”

“They’re not going to sell him out, then,” Nighteye sighed.

“You could arrest them for obstruction of justice,” Gran Torino pointed out, but Hawks shook his head immediately.

“What do you think people would do if they saw heroes and police officers arresting swarms of civilians right now? The people who already support Dabi would be furious and more likely to become violent, and the people who want us to catch the League would berate us for not focusing on the real threat. We wouldn’t get any information out of them, and we’d only push more people to the League’s side if we accomplished anything at all.”

Yagi sighed, resting his head in his hands before agreeing, “That’s exactly what we’re afraid of. People need hope right now, and they’ll need it even more once those who didn’t believe Dabi learn that he was telling the truth. If they think that heroes are rounding them all up, then they may lose faith in society outright.”

“And that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid here,” Nezu finished before shifting directions. “Fat Gum, did you find anything?”

“Yeah! It’s more about Mr. Compress, but rumor is that he’s been doing this for Dabi for a while, so…”

Fat Gum laid his folder on the table, passing out packets to everyone. “If you look at the first page, you’ll see that Mr. Compress started regularly stealing clomipramine from pharmacies about six years ago. Clomipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant, but it’s also prescribed to people with chronic pain.”

Fat Gum flipped to the next page and everyone followed him. “You’ll see here that Mr. Compress makes a point of avoiding smaller pharmacies; he only goes after the stock from large corporations, and that’s while knowing that the risk is higher in those places. People talk about him being a real Robin Hood type, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Considering the sudden uptick of food-related thievery on the next page, my best guess is that he took Dabi in after he met him.”

“So Touya isn’t the only one in the League that genuinely cares about people…” Shouto mumbled, barely loud enough for Shouta to hear. If anyone else heard it, which was likely with Nezu and Miruko in the room, then they were choosing to ignore it for now. He was glad for that; the last thing the kid needed right now was people asking whether he’d run off to join his siblings. Shouta didn’t doubt that some people already suspected that he would.

“That’s good to know. We knew some of this from Bakugo, but we didn’t have the specifics. People are more likely to sympathize with someone who doesn’t steal from those who are already disadvantaged, so that’s something to look out for,” Nezu hummed.

“I know that Miruko wanted to join us today because of High-End, but why did you want to speak with us, Ms. Joke?”

“Dabi and I ran into each other a little over a week ago.” Shouta’s eyes widened.

‘What? And she didn’t report it?’

“Why didn’t you tell anyone before now?” Edgeshot, surprisingly enough, didn’t sound judgemental.

“He was being incredibly non-confrontational, and I was still trying to figure him out, honestly. I caught him off guard with my quirk, but I released it when I realized just how badly it was affecting him,” Ms. Joke said with a sigh.

“I thought I was about to have to fight the guy without my quirk, and his fire was going wild at that point too, but I was willing to risk that. Except I didn’t have to. He forced his fire down and tried to back away from me; he looked more afraid than anything. I don’t think that he can control it very well…”

“Actually, he can control it incredibly well,” Nezu corrected. “If he couldn’t, then he would be dead. Most people don't understand the specific dangers surrounding quirk evolutions, but there’s a reason why they’re so rare. They only happen if someone is in mortal danger, but that’s because their bodies aren’t made to handle quirks that strong. Ms. Joke, I suspect that his quirk believed that he was at risk of dying when he couldn’t catch his breath under yours, hence the loss of control. Quite frankly, those who do survive quirk evolutions don’t tend to live for very long afterward. This is due to a combination of too much output and their quirks having a mind of their own if their user is in dire enough danger. The fact that Dabi is still able to use his quirk at all is a testament to his adaptability.”

“Oh, that’s…” Ms. Joke hummed. “So his flames are just too hot for him now, then?”

“I suspect so. Dabi’s base quirk was white flames, and blue flames are roughly two times hotter than that. If he was always producing flames as hot as he could make them, then he wouldn’t have survived; he restrained his quirk and cooled down his flames.”

“That makes sense,” Ms. Joke agreed as she nodded. “I also wanted to mention that he said that we weren’t enemies, but that we did share a common one. Now that I know, it’s obvious that he was talking about the Commission there.”

“Do you believe that the League is genuine in their intentions to become vigilantes, then?” Edgeshot questioned, and while he sounded skeptical, Shouta could hear genuine curiosity too.

Ms. Joke wasn’t the one to respond.

“I think that they’ll at least uphold the image of vigilantes, for now,” Hawks answered. “I mean, think about it. They went through a lot of trouble to garner public goodwill here. Sympathy for Dabi is sympathy for the rest of the League, and I don’t think that they’d risk messing that up right now. Shigaraki wouldn’t have made a show out of rebranding themselves if they weren’t going to stick to it; that’d just make people less likely to believe anything that Dabi said about Endeavor.”

As much as Shouta hated to admit it, Hawks had a point. The quiet surrounding him told Shouta that no one else could think of a counter-argument there either.

“We’re going to be fighting a battle on multiple fronts here. We have to deal with Endeavor, the Commission, and anyone else who was involved in covering this up, but we’re also going to be fighting a battle of public opinion here too. I hate to say that I’m grateful for Shigaraki saying that he’s sure there are good heroes out there, but…” Hizashi sighed.

“But it gives us a window to operate in to win public favor back. It’s something,” Nighteye concluded.

Nezu nodded before turning to face Edgeshot as he asked for his input, “Do you have anything for us? We should probably wrap this up soon.”

“I do. I was able to get a warrant to search through Endeavor’s financial records, mostly to check for people that he was bribing, and found some unusual credit card charges. A lot of them were in Kyushu. I suspect that Endeavor has been unwittingly funding the League lately.”

Shouto snorted at that, and he apologized when everyone looked at him questioningly. “Sorry, it’s just… Yeah, Natsuo swiped cards from him all the time. He never got the same allowance as we did, so he just took care of it himself and played dumb about it after. Med school isn’t cheap, and our father wasn’t going to pay for it, not for Natsuo. Most places don’t like hiring quirkless people either, so he didn’t have many options.”

“You’re not surprised that he joined them,” Miruko stated, tilting her head slightly.

“If I’m surprised by anything that Natsuo has done recently, then it’s the fact that he didn’t aim for the head,” Shouto deadpanned.

Ms. Joke burst into laughter, wheezing as she tried to explain herself, “Sorry, sorry! I know that’s dark, but the look on his face--”

‘She’s not wrong,’ Shouta admitted to himself begrudgingly. ‘I had wondered if there was any snarky teenager in there.’

“I haven’t had the opportunity to visit the places that those cards were used yet, but I’ll be doing so soon. Beyond that, I haven’t found anything,” Edgeshot finished, and Shouta mentally applauded his ability to stay on task.

“That’s quite alright! Our time is about up here, but keep looking for anything that may be useful. Expand on the leads you have if there’s still something there and search for new ones if you’ve exhausted your resources on the other. Good work everyone; keep it up!”

Unsurprisingly, Hawks was the first to move to leave. Miruko jumped up and walked over to him before he could leave the room. “Wait, Hawks! Do you wanna hang out? We don’t usually get time off at the same time.”

“Can we call it time off if I can’t patrol right now? This wasn’t exactly planned.”

‘So something did happen to his wings. He was almost the only hero evacuating civilians from High End; did his feathers get damaged in the process? How did he get here so quickly if his flying is limited right now?’

“Still! Come on Hawks, it’s not like you’ve got anything else going on. All you ever seem to do is work!”

“Maybe I wanted to spend time with my boyfriend, Rumi.”

“Boyfriend?! Did you actually talk to that dude? You seemed so certain that it wouldn’t work out; I thought it’d just be some casual thing even if you did.”

“I don’t do casual, Rumi. That’s just how I’m branded.” Shouta didn’t like the sound of that. Most heroes had personas, that was common even among the underground, but they crafted them personally. Hawks sounding so upset about how he was portrayed was a huge red flag.

“How do you manage to keep relationships out of the media then? It’s easier for someone that works underground, but…” Rock Lock was on to something there. Hawks was such a steady presence in the media circuit that it was hard to imagine them not hounding a partner for an interview by now.

Hawks didn’t say a word, but Miruko had obviously realized something. “Holy shit. Is that why you were so freaked out about liking him? You haven’t done this before.”

“I haven’t exactly had the time!” Hawks’ face was tinged red with embarrassment, and Shouta had to agree with him there. ‘It might sound kind of odd, but he’s the number two at 22. Hawks goes full-throttle in hero work, and that isn’t exactly conducive to relationships.’ The only reason Shouta wasn’t single was because Hizashi focused on work just as much as Shouta did.

Gran Torino, Sir Nighteye, Tsukauchi, and Yagi left the room once the conversation turned casual, likely to go talk about further plans to apprehend the League. They weren’t as subtle about it as they liked to think they were, and Shouta wondered what was so important that they would restrict information from this case. ‘It might not have anything to do with Touya, but information on the League would be information on him at this point.’

Edgeshot and Ms. Joke also left shortly afterward, but that was because they had night patrols. The rest of them stayed and listened as Miruko pestered Hawks for details. ‘It’s at least a nice change of pace. Something more lighthearted to focus on for a moment. For them. I want to observe how he acts inside and outside of situations like this. How deeply does the Commission have their claws in him?'

“Aw, so you’re serious about him?”

“Yes, I’m serious about him. Ugh, he even cooked for me the other day, you know? It was amazing! He’s marriage material.”

Fat Gum and Rock Lock both smiled at that, and Shouta couldn’t miss how happy Hawks seemed when he was talking about his partner.

“Then go spend time with him, lover boy. You’d better tell me all about him later, though!”

“I will, I will. Talk to you later, Rumi!”

Hawks ran off, waving as he left the room. After that, everyone else started to leave too, and as Shouta walked Shouto back to the dorms, he wondered about the kid’s expression.

‘What’s he thinking so hard about?’

-

Shouto had never been so glad that he was used to searching through conspiracy forums. He usually focused on places closer to home, but Nezu had given him an idea about how he could figure out what Touya had been up to all this time. ‘The heroes are searching all the official channels, but Touya was always more careful than that. He wouldn’t risk leaving anything behind, not unless he knew that nothing would come of it or wanted them to know something specific.’

He pulled out his laptop and searched for any threads linked to people with white flames. There were hundreds, and the most popular, recently posted thread was titled ‘Phoenix the Vigilante and Dabi the Villain: Why I Think They’re the Same Person’.

Shouto opened the thread.

I know what you’re all thinking; are you crazy? But it has to be true. Just think about it! Touya Todoroki supposedly died nine years ago, and Phoenix’s debut was a year after that. It would take time to recover from such severe burns, so it’s no surprise that he didn’t start right away. Everyone knows that Phoenix had severe scarring; he just covered a lot more of it up than he does as Dabi. More importantly than that, Phoenix was known for white flames, and Touya Todoroki’s quirk describes the ability to manipulate white flames. Plus, if you talk to the people who saw Phoenix in person, then they’ll say that his flames weren’t quite white. They were always described that way in articles and stuff, but his flames were just a very light blue. Suspicious.

Another is the fact that Phoenix typically went after sexual offenders and criminals who targeted children, almost to the exclusion of all else. After what Dabi said about Endeavor, that’s something that we could expect him to do. Most importantly, though, towards his last active year, Phoenix was known to be digging around for information on the human trafficking ring in Kagoshima. Skip forward to the factory fire. The flames were bright blue just like Dabi’s, and that particular ring was put to an end that night. Do you know who the only person that died that night was? The Sound Hero: Vibration. Coincidence? I think not.

I don’t know if discovering another horrifically corrupt hero was Phoenix’s last straw or if he just decided to go all-in after being branded a villain anyway, but I’m convinced that Touya Todoroki was Phoenix before becoming Dabi. Try to change my mind; you can’t.

There were a bunch of comments that argued for and against this person’s theory, but Shouto only read them out of curiosity. He was already sure of it. 

‘Phoenix sounds exactly like Touya, and if he matches Dabi’s appearance too...’ 

The real question was whether Shouto wanted to tell his teachers about this or not.

‘On the one hand, it could help them if they knew what Touya used to be doing. It might make them less angry at him too. But on the other hand, they never questioned why I came into classes with bruises and burns sometimes. They never asked about my scar. I don’t think that anyone outside of Midoriya has even noticed that I can’t see well out of my left eye.’

Shouto thought about how UA chained Bakugo to the podium during the sports festival. He thought about the fact that Mineta was still in their class even though he constantly harassed their female classmates. He thought about how Midoriya kept being forced to work with Bakugo, even when it hurt Midoriya and scared him. He thought about how even the training camp was a grueling, intense experience that veered away from training and straight into torture for some people, all for the sake of making them stronger as quickly as possible.

He thought about how he and Midoriya were berated for saving Iida’s life. Even if that was mostly Tsuragamae’s doing, none of the heroes there had protested it. They should have. Heroes were supposed to help people, not ignore them. Were they supposed to just let Iida and Native die that night? Why?

‘Touya’s been helping people all this time, hasn’t he? He doesn’t know how to ignore things either.’

He knew that his brother had hurt people along the way, but to Shouto, it didn’t seem like heroes were any better. At least Touya cared. At least he wanted to make things better.

Shouto decided that he’d stay quiet.

-

When Dabi watched Keigo step through one of Kurogiri’s portals after the meeting, he couldn’t keep the grin from tugging at his lips. He still hated that his boyfriend had been so hurt because of High-End, because of him, but Keigo was at least looking and feeling better than he had been. Everyone was eager to hear about how the heroes’ meeting had gone, and the smirk on Keigo’s face made them even more excited.

“Whatcha got for us Takami?” Toga asked as she was practically vibrating from her place on the floor. Fuyumi was sitting right behind her and braiding her hair, having been just as quick to take the younger members of the League under her wing as Dabi had been. 

‘I think it’s made this a bit less stressful for her. Toga and Mustard are older than the kids she worked with, but they’re still kids.’ Fuyumi had settled in over the week, and now the only thing that upset her about the situation was knowing that neither she nor Natsuo would be able to visit their mother anymore.

“First off, none of them have any idea where Jeanist is, so that’s good. They also all know that Touya wasn’t lying, Shouto gave a testimony saying as much to that detective with the lie-detecting quirk, and while their individual investigations turned things up here and there, none of it was substantial. I was also able to get them to focus on getting Endeavor’s charges to stick and discouraged any actions against protestors. The heroes know that they’re in a delicate enough position that they can’t risk that right now, so I don’t think that they’ll press their luck.”

“Good,” Shigaraki said with a grin. “Everything is going well then. What did they manage to find?”

“Nighteye found the voicemail that Touya left Dr. Eniko, just as planned. It made them more amiable to discussing the Commission’s corruption, and that will only benefit us later. Rock Lock picked up on all the people going into Fukuoka before High-End, but we expected them to figure that one out. Everyone that was at High-End refused to speak to the detective too; it was hysterical how disturbed he looked by that,” Keigo snickered before turning to face Mr. Compress.

“Fat Gum did some digging into your history, actually. He found the painkillers that you’ve been getting Touya, and then he mentioned that you started stealing more food after meeting him. The current theory is that you took Touya in but…”

Mr. Compress shook his head before answering Keigo’s unasked question, “No, I didn’t want to drag him or Eria into my heists. They already knew each other then, and I knew that they’d come to me if they needed my help. Now, if I just so happened to redistribute some extra resources to the few underfunded, understaffed soup kitchens that would let Dabi in without accusing him of villainy…” 

“Got it,” Keigo snorted. “Uh, let’s see… After that, it was mostly Ms. Joke talking about her run-in with Touya, Nezu explaining how quirk evolutions work, and then me convincing them that you’d all at least keep acting like vigilantes. Oh, right!”

Keigo’s eyes flicked over Touya, Natsuo, and Fuyumi in that order. “Shouto was at the meeting, and he brought all the photos with him. It garnered a lot of sympathy for the situation, and the kid didn’t seem too shaken up about what you three are doing either. Actually, at one point he said, and I quote, ‘If I’m surprised by anything that Natsuo has done recently, then it’s the fact that he didn’t aim for the head,’ with the most deadpan expression I’ve ever seen.” Keigo was practically wheezing as he said that last part and almost everyone in the room burst into laughter.

“Damn,” Eria chuckled, still trying to catch her breath. “I think that we might have gone after the wrong kid for recruitment. Should’ve figured that Dabi’s baby brother would be like this.”

“No more kids! If they come to us or we need to save them, then that’s one thing, but exposing Endeavor has already given us the impact that we wanted there. There are still a bunch of people who don’t believe it yet, but that’ll only make it worse once they find out that it’s true.” 

Dabi wanted them to be better than the heroes, and recruiting children to make into soldiers was exactly what they did. They wouldn’t turn down a kid who needed help and wanted to help in return , kids like Toga and Mustard, but Dabi wouldn’t stand for children being made into pawns.

“He’s right. I love you, hun, but I’d rather not see any more kids tangled up in this.”

Eria sighed before verbalizing her agreement, “I know Magne, I know. It sucks that the hero students are probably going to be dragged into this as it is.”

“I will avoid hurting them if at all possible,” Shigaraki promised them. “I can’t keep heroes from sending them to the field, but it’s not fair of me to lash out at them for not knowing better. They haven’t been allowed to see what’s happening beneath the surface. I don’t…”

Dabi watched as Shigaraki paused and took a deep breath. When he looked back up at them all, it was with conviction.

“I want us to end the cycle, not just send it spinning around again. I don’t want there to be the need for another League ever again.”

Chapter Text

It had only been a couple of days since the heroes had their meeting, but Dabi was already getting antsy. He knew, logically, that taking Endeavor to court would take a while and that they needed to gather the evidence to convict him, but a small part of him was afraid that they’d just bury it again. He wanted to enjoy the first snow of the year, though it was strange that it was snowing so early in December, but Dabi hadn’t been able to relax at all. He was currently sitting on one of the League’s couches while holding his head in his hands, trying to calm his racing thoughts with little success.

“They’ll get him, you know?” Eria hadn’t wanted to leave him alone while he was like this, and Dabi was too emotionally raw to even pretend that it didn’t mean the world to him.

“But what if they don’t? What if we all just ditched Shouto and he’s stuck with that bastard forever?”

“Then we can still kill him. His reputation is shit now anyway, so there’d be just as many people thankful for it as there were upset about it.”

‘That’s true enough, I guess,’ Dabi snorted at the thought. “Thanks, Eria. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve been working toward this for so long; it’s okay to feel uneasy right now, especially when everything is still up in the air.”

“Did you feel this way about Snatch?”

Eria hummed and leaned against his shoulder before saying, “Sorta. It was mostly relief, but I think that was because it was over instantly. He couldn’t hurt me, my mom, or my little siblings ever again, and I still felt a little lost afterward. I was happier, but I didn’t know what to do with myself. Having everyone around helped. It’s okay if it takes time for you to feel steady again.”

Dabi nodded with a shaky sigh. ‘It can’t be helped. I’ve grown used to anonymity, to hiding behind disguises and fake names, so being this exposed is terrifying. It’ll take some time before I get used to it.’

“You okay, Dabi?” Blue eyes flicked up to see Toga coming down the stairs into the main room, hands held behind her back, while wearing her undersuit. ‘Wonder what she was out and about doing? It helps that so many people are willing to let her have some of their blood, at least.’

“Honestly? Not right now. But I will be.”

“Maybe this will help!” Toga brought her hands around to the front, clutching a small, round, stuffed red bat with a black stomach, black wings, black inner ears, and two tiny fangs poking out from its stitched mouth.

“I was walking around town and saw this in one of the windows! I remembered how much you liked the stuffed dragon that Natsuo got you from this brand, and this one looks kinda like me, don’t you think? I thought that maybe, eventually, we could get you one that represents each of us. That way you don’t ever have to be alone.”

“Toga…” Dabi’s voice wavered as he choked on the name, but Toga just gave him a fanged grin and held the plush out for him.

“Himiko’s fine! We’re family, aren’t we?” Dabi took the bat with a nod, scooting over a bit as Himiko plopped down next to him. She just leaned on him from the other side, and Dabi felt far more grounded for it.

“Touya then. All of my other siblings call me that.” He glanced over at Eria. “That goes for you too, you know? I’ve known that you were my little sister since the day I met you. Sorry for being emotionally constipated about it for so long.” Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing that he’d only been willing to admit that she was almost a friend before joining up with the League. Being surrounded by people on a regular basis had been good for him.

“And you’re our big brother,” Himiko declared, all the while Eria grumbled about only being a year younger than him. The latter’s smile gave away just how little she actually minded, though.

Another set of light footsteps shuffled into the room, and Dabi glanced up to see Mustard hesitating to join them. “Come on, kid. You’re part of this too.”

Brown eyes shone as he ran forward, smiling wide as he caught Dabi in a hug. “Really?"

“Really. Hope you’re ready to be the baby of a really big family, kid.”

Mustard’s laugh was unsteady, and Dabi could feel tears soaking through the front of his shirt. He rubbed circles on the kid’s back, only holding him tighter as the kid clutched onto him.

“That sounds amazing.”

“Did I miss a family meeting or something?” Natsuo sounded ready to start in on him again, but Dabi just chuckled and nodded. 

“Yeah. Come join us, Natsu.”

Natsuo laughed, but he still moved behind the couch and stood guard over them all, a comforting presence at Dabi’s back.

“Touya?” Fuyumi blinked at the scene before her, and considering the time, Dabi figured that she had been going to offer Kurogiri some help with tonight’s dinner before stumbling across them.

“C’mere, Yumi. Family isn't the same without you.”

“Oh…!” Fuyumi beamed as she joined them all, sitting on the arm of the couch next to Himiko. “Our family has gotten so big, hasn’t it? I wish that Mom and Shouto could be here too.”

“I do too, Yumi. I do too.” As happy as Dabi was to be surrounded by people that he loved, his heart ached at the fact that two members of his family were absent. He had done everything he could to remind them that they were always on his mind, but it didn’t feel like enough.

‘I hope that they’re both okay.’

-

Something was wrong. There was a new tension among the staff lately, especially when they were around Rei, and they were almost acting like how they did when she was first admitted to the hospital. Like she would shatter if someone so much as brushed against her.

Rei was brought out of her ponderings by a knock on her door. ‘That’s strange. Shouto and Natsuo are in classes right now, and Fuyumi is still at work. Who could it be?’

“Come in.”

Two men entered the room. One had long, black hair and a white scarf hanging loosely around his neck, and from Shouto’s description of his homeroom teacher, Rei would be willing to bet that this was Eraserhead. The other man had much shorter black hair, a large trench coat, and a relatively unassuming appearance beyond that, but there was a determined set to his shoulders that reminded Rei of a dog with a bone.

‘Not here to talk about Shouto then.’

“How may I help you, gentlemen?” She kept her tone light and approachable, resting her hands in her lap as she turned to face them. Her feet dangled off the edge of her bed, and while she made a show of tilting her head and looking lost and confused by their presence, she didn’t miss the look that they exchanged with each other.

People always underestimated her.

“Ah, Mrs. Todoroki--”

“Rei is fine.” She knew that it was rude to cut the man off, but she didn’t want to hear that name. It had taken her years to convince the nurses to call her by anything else.

“Rei then,” Eraserhead agreed with a nod, and his companion glanced around her room before lingering on the vase of flowers by her windowsill. They had just come in this morning, and she had been surprised that there were more than rindous this time. 

‘I always suspected that they weren’t from Enji, but…’ It was nice to know for sure.

Eraserhead cleared his throat. “My name is Shouta Aizawa, hero name Eraserhead, and the detective with me today is Naomasa Tsukauchi. Would it be possible for us to ask you a few questions?”

“Of course.” It wasn’t like she could go anywhere, and she might be able to learn what had everyone so on edge lately.

“Thank you, ma’am. Before we start, I’m legally obligated to inform you of my quirk. It’s called Lie Detector, and it does exactly what you’d expect it to. Do you still agree to answer a few questions?”

“Yes.”

“There…” Tsukauchi cleared his throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “There have been recent allegations against your husband that we wish to speak to you about.”

Rei blinked. ‘Did Shouto tell them something? I’m glad for it, but I never would have expected him to.’

“What allegations, specifically?” It was better that she just confirmed what they already knew. If she tried to get them to investigate too much at once, then they might not have enough proof to get anything to stick. If even one thing was discredited, then it could cast doubt on everything else.

The detective was waffling, struggling to say whatever it was, and Eraserhead took over. “Currently, he’s being investigated for quirk trafficking, domestic abuse, child abuse, rape, child molestation, and attempted filicide.”

‘Shouto wouldn’t have known some of those things. Not about how young I was, at least.’ But it was the last thing that Eraserhead said that caught Rei’s attention.

“Attempted?” Sharp gray eyes bored into her visitors. ‘Go on then, tell me. Tell me that I wasn’t ever crazy. I was right not to believe that Touya was dead.’

“Yes. May we move on to the questions now?” 

“Feel free.” Rei wanted to know now, but she didn’t want them to leave before telling her anything at all. At least this way she had a chance of getting something out of them.

“Is it true that Endeavor arranged a quirk marriage between the two of you?”

“Yes.”

“Were you sixteen at the time?”

“Yes. My parents wanted the accolades that would come with marrying me off to him, so it wasn’t hard for him to get their permission. It was perfectly legal on paper, I’m afraid.” The fact that she couldn’t do anything about that stung, but they needed to focus on what could be persecuted.

“Did he ever force himself on you?”

“I was sixteen when Touya was born; you know the answer to that.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Rei. We need the confirmation for the records.” The detective sounded genuinely remorseful, but that didn’t make it any easier to say.

“I never willingly slept with him. Not once.”

“Thank you. Did he ever hurt you beyond that?”

“Yes. With fists and fire.”

“Did he ever hurt your children?”

“Yes, with more of the same. He would claim that he was only training Touya and Shouto, but it was a flimsy excuse. He hurt Fuyumi and Natsuo as well.”

“Did he ever express any interest in your daughter to you?”

Rei froze, feeling literal ice crawling through her veins. ‘What?’ She shook her head numbly.

“Damn it, we still don’t have any proof of that one,” Tsukauchi sighed, and Rei felt like she was going to be sick.

“He always took it out on me. But after I was admitted…” Rei ground her teeth. ‘How dare he? How dare he?! How could he ever--?! My poor baby… God, my poor baby.’

Tsukauchi and Eraserhead gave her a few moments to collect herself after receiving that news, and while she still felt like a raw nerve, and like she’d kill Enji if he dared show his face, she knew that she couldn’t change anything now. Rei needed to learn as much as she could so that she could help her children; she didn’t want to keep burdening them. 

The detective continued once she gave him the go-ahead.

“What were you told about what happened to your son?”

“The official story was that he had a training accident. I never believed that.”

“Will you elaborate?”

“Touya hated training. There was no way that he’d push himself so hard that he burned up; his fire didn’t even hurt him once he got older.”

“What?” 

Rei hummed at the shocked look on both men’s faces before answering Eraserhead’s question. “Touya can’t tolerate outside flames well, but he learned how to keep his own from hurting him once he got a bit older. He has a very particular quirk, despite how simple most fire quirks are; I think that’s because of me, actually. My quirk allows me to freeze nitrogen and manipulate the resulting ice, and while nitrogen is typically non-flammable, it can be combined with other things to make combustion easier. Touya’s quirk works like that.”

She tapped her fingers against the bed, thinking of the best way to explain it. “His body makes it easier for him to produce nitric oxide and his quirk uses that to accelerate the combustion process and produce higher temperatures. People with fire quirks tend to have more oxygen in their system anyway, but Touya always had unusually high nitrogen levels too. That gave him a high enough fire resistance to use his quirk at all, but he had to actively cloak himself in nitrogen while simultaneously using his fire before it stopped hurting him. He was ecstatic when he figured that out, and while he struggled to maintain it at first, I know that it was as easy as breathing for him by the time that I got admitted.”

“That’s… incredibly detailed information on a quirk for someone who disliked training.”

“He hated training to fight people, not control exercises,” she clarified. “We just did those in secret. He loved making little shapes with his fire, you know? Flowers, dragons, cats, that sort of thing. He even animated them sometimes, making them look alive. He’s always had extremely fine control.”

“Now,” she looked to Eraserhead. “Do you care to explain to me what your friend meant by attempted filicide? What did you find out about Touya?”

“You knew he was alive?” Tsukauchi looked incredibly worried about that, and if Rei’s suspicions were correct...

“I suspected,” Rei said as she looked over to the vase of flowers. A quick glance told her that Eraserhead and Tsukuachi were looking at them too now.

“Only two people in the entire world were told what my favorite flowers are: Enji and Touya. Enji didn’t even bother with remembering birthdays after the kids’ quirks came in, so the odds of him remembering that detail when I only mentioned it once…” She shook her head. “I didn’t believe it. The arrangement that came in today only confirmed it for me. Do either of you know flower language?”

Both men shook their heads.

“Well, rindous have two common interpretations. They can represent victory and justice alongside loving someone that’s full of sorrow. But they’re also my favorites, so what’s most important is the fact that there are two other types of flowers alongside them this time. Hyacinths mean different things depending on the color, but purple hyacinths are an apology. They ask for forgiveness; they beg for it, really. Salvia also has different meanings with different colors, but blue salvia is often associated with family and indicates that the giver is thinking of you and misses you. It’s a very blue bouquet, but the aesthetics were never what Touya focused on.”

Rei chuckled softly, looking up to her guests with a rueful grin. “He’s apologizing to me. He’s done something drastic to bring Enji to your attention, hasn’t he?”

The detective looked unsettled by her deduction, and she barely hid her smirk now that she knew she was right. “How much do you know about current events?”

“Shouto writes me letters, even when he can’t visit. If you’re asking about the League of Villains, then I’ve heard of them.”

Eraserhead’s eyes narrowed before he asked, “Why would you leap straight to asking about them?”

“After the summer camp, Shouto visited me and asked if I knew anyone who used blue flames. He said that something about him felt familiar, and I have a feeling that I know exactly why that was. Natsuo told me what he saw back then, you know? But no one would believe a woman that was locked up in a mental ward any more than they believed a quirkless kid. You don’t have to keep dancing around it.”

“You’re correct. Touya is Dabi of the League of Villains,” Tsukauchi said with a weary sigh, and Eraserhead continued immediately afterward.

“He exposed Endeavor on live television a little while ago, sparking this investigation. Natsuo appears to have been a member of the League from well before that point, and Fuyumi went with them during the broadcast.”

“So that’s why she didn’t visit this week… Natsuo was more sporadic to begin with, but Fuyumi visited like clockwork.”

“You don’t seem particularly upset by that,” Tsukauchi noted.

“Is Shouto still with Enji?”

“No, UA took custody of him.” She had suspected as much, but Eraserhead confirming that was reassuring.

“Then why would I be upset?”

“Three of your children are wanted villains,” Tsukauchi pointed out, voice wavering in the same way that her nurses’ voices would when she said something that made them believe that she belonged here after all, even without Enji bribing them.

“Better that than being trapped with Enji. They’re alive and safer than they ever were with him.”

Eraserhead looked to the ceiling, blinking slowly and sighing. Tsukauchi looked distraught by her words, and she wondered why he was surprised. ‘They know exactly what Enji’s being charged with, and things only got even worse after I was taken away. Of course I’d want my children away from him, no matter what that took. I regret that I didn’t do more for them in the first place; I could never begrudge them for getting out.’

Eraserhead recovered first, asking, “Do you… mind telling us about Touya? About who he was before Dabi?”

Rei nodded with a smile, tears welling up in her eyes as she said, “He was always the gentlest of my children. He loved reading, gardening, and staring up at the stars, and he was always determined to help too. I think that he started helping me cook when he was five. Only little things at first, but he’d be upset if I asked him to go do something else. I think that he knew... “

She sighed, worrying at the edge of her dress as she bit her lip. When she continued, her voice was less wistful and more agonized. “Touya has always been very intuitive too. He’s good at reading people, and I think he noticed that I was cracking under the pressure before I did. He was insistent about lightening my load however he could, and I know that I shouldn’t have just let him but… It got to the point where I was having more bad days than good, and before I knew it, Touya was the one doing grocery runs and cooking for everyone in the house. Before he was even a teenager.”

She felt guilty about that too. Rei knew that she hadn’t been given the chance to grow up or learn to take care of herself, much less learn how to take care of her children, but it was unfair of her to have put that burden on Touya, no matter how much he had insisted on taking it.

“I regret… so many things. I regret ever asking Touya to look after Fuyumi when she was born. I regret that he felt the need to reassure me, his mother, that he would protect Natsuo too because he could tell that I was sad after he was born, even though he didn’t know why. I regret that I very rarely stood between him --any of them, really-- and Enji. Touya threw himself in front of each and every one of his siblings to take blows meant for them, and it got to the point where he’d make Enji mad on purpose so that he’d focus on Touya instead of anyone else. He took blows meant for me,” Rei sobbed, wiping furiously at her eyes. “He shouldn’t have had to! He was the sweetest, most compassionate little boy, and he got ripped to pieces for it. I failed him. I failed all of them!”

“You did the best that you could--” Tsukauchi started to protest, but Rei firmly cut him off.

“My best wasn’t good enough. I knew that Touya was trying to report Enji; I could have gone with him. I should have. I shouldn’t have cowered in fear while Touya tried so desperately to save all of us.”

“What my colleague means by that is that trauma and abuse can shape your reactions; you were in survival mode. There is no denying that doing those things could have helped, but it’s understandable that you didn’t. You want to grow and learn from those mistakes, so don’t let them weigh you down and keep you in the past.”

“You’re just as good a teacher as Shouto has told me,” Rei chuckled bitterly, taking a few deep breaths afterward to collect herself. “I apologize for getting so emotional.”

“No, this is a difficult subject. I’m sorry that we pressed you to keep talking,” Tsukauchi said before giving her a short bow and straightening back up, rubbing at the back of his neck. “We’ll get out of your hair now.”

They both stood up to leave, but Eraserhead looked back and asked her one final question.

“If you were given the opportunity to, would you join your children? The ones in the League.”

Rei couldn’t afford to lie to them, not when they’d know anyway. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Tsukauchi had stopped using his quirk yet. She’d just have to answer the question in a way that wasn’t an outright admission.

“I may not be a good one, but I’m still a mother.”

It was enough. They already knew what her answer was.

-

Shouto was getting tired of being treated like he was made of glass. Everyone was dancing around the subject of Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo. That wouldn’t be such an issue if they just weren’t talking about it, but they were. They just stopped talking at all whenever Shouto walked into the room.

Endeavor was finally getting what he deserved. As far as Shouto was concerned, that was the most important thing. ‘I don’t like that Touya joined Shigaraki and got our siblings to do the same, but I can understand why he did it. No one on the legal side of things would help us, and when all else fails… At least they seem to be going in the direction of vigilantes now. I’m not sure that it’ll be as temporary as Hawks hinted at it being either.’

Shouto only had a year of solid memories about Touya, but both Fuyumi and Natsuo had always spoken fondly of him. The stolen snatches of time that they spent with each other often featured stories of Touya, and paired with what he did remember of his oldest brother, Shouto couldn’t help thinking that his Touya might be exactly the kind of hero who could fix what was broken in the League.

When he walked down into the common room, the conversation quickly hushed again. He was just going to get a snack from the pantry, but it was about time that Shouto addressed this. “If you have something to say, then just say it.”

Sero laughed nervously before saying, “Man, this is like Early-roki all over again.”

“We apologize, Todoroki! We just didn’t wish to make you uncomfortable!” Iida declared as he stood up and bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

“Sudden silence is uncomfortable.” 

“Tch, I told you extras that you were being obvious! Icyhot has the social aptitude of a fucking brick and he still noticed.”

“Uh, well,” Kaminari scratched at his head before barreling forward. “Did Endeavor actually…?” 

Shouto knew that Kaminari probably didn’t mean anything by it, but it was irritating that people still didn’t believe it, even if the investigation was being kept quiet for now.

“Yes,” he snarled with a snappish tone, and Kaminari shrunk back a bit from it. Shouto immediately felt guilty for it.

“Sorry! It’s just, they’re being so quiet about it…”

“Active investigations cannot be shared with the public,” Tokoyami pointed out. “They are keeping quiet precisely because Endeavor is a man of darkness. They would be loudly decrying it otherwise.”

Kaminari’s eyes widened as he mumbled, “Oh. I didn’t… I didn’t know that.”

“It’s fine,” Shouto sighed. “Sorry for being defensive.”

“No, I totally get it, man! You’re probably tired of hearing…”

“Countless strangers try to defend him, yes.”

Fewer people were doing that than Shouto had expected, but things still seemed to be split fifty-fifty right now. One half was publicly denouncing Endeavor and the system that supported him, but the other half was trying to paint Touya as an ungrateful brat. That was if they believed that Touya was a Todoroki at all.

‘Honestly, do they just think that Natsuo and Fuyumi said that stuff to make Endeavor look bad? I know that no one really knew about them, but the fact that some people think they’re just villains who agreed to play a part…’ 

“Are you okay, kero? I don’t know what I’d do if my siblings were suddenly gone…”

Shouto gave Asui a curt nod and stated, “They’re safer where they are. Touya will protect them.”

“It’s super manly that you believe in your brother like that, but he’s still a villain...”

“Not to me.”

“What do you mean?” Kirishima seemed genuinely curious, so after some deliberation, Shouto decided to explain.

“Do you all remember Hawks’ lecture?”

There were scattered nods. Shouto barely avoided flinching when Hagakure’s voice cried out from his left. “Yeah! He really had me thinking after that.”

“He said that, to him, villains were people who enjoy hurting others, actively try to hurt others, and would choose to do so even if they had other options. Touya’s the exact opposite of that.”

“Are you certain, Todoroki? You were quite young when…” Yaoyorozu’s voice trailed off, clearly concerned but not wanting to make him doubt himself either.

“I’m sure. Touya always hated fighting, and he would cry if he accidentally stepped on a spider.” There were a few strained giggles at that, and Shouto turned to Midoriya before saying, “When you convinced me to use my fire in the sports festival… I actually remembered something that he told me back then. I think I repressed it because fire was what took him away from me.” 

He clenched his fist briefly before releasing it, and Uraraka gave him a concerned look. “You don’t have to tell us, but if you want to…”

“I think that it would help you understand if I did.”

“Then, as both your classmates and your friends, we’re all here for you,” Iida declared, and everyone else sat --or stood-- more upright after he did so.

Shouto fixated on the floor, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes right now. “Touya took care of me after Mom was admitted to the hospital. He was still around sometimes before that, but he was my caretaker for almost a full year. He tried to keep our father from training me, but even when he couldn’t, he patched me up afterward and comforted me the best he could. I was… struggling with Mom gone, and at one point, I told him that I was going to be a hero who only used my ice.”

He glanced up, and he was relieved to see more understanding and curiosity in the room than anger. Some of his classmates were still uneasy, but they were willing to listen. “He told me that fire can be a beautiful thing too. That it could be used in good ways. He wanted me to use it to be kind. He said that he wanted me to use it to protect people and keep them warm.”

“That sounds super cute! He really said that?” Ashido’s outcry startled a few of the people around her, but Shouto simply nodded.

“Your brother’s fucking weird, Icyhot.”

Jirou’s eyes widened when Bakugo said that, voice faint with realization, “Oh, right. You talked to him.”

Several heads turned to face Bakugo, and Shouto wouldn’t deny being one of them. Now that he knew Dabi was Touya, he was curious about whatever his brother had said to Bakugo.

“You could just ask.” Bakugo rolled his eyes before continuing, “He was talking about how wrong it was that UA chained me up after the Sports Festival; that no award was worth ignoring someone’s thoughts or feelings about getting it.”

Shouto agreed that it was messed up, but the way that some of his classmates’ faces paled told him that they hadn’t thought about it before. Red eyes looked over to him before narrowing and saying, “I’m kinda pissed that he compared me to Endeavor though.”

Everyone in the room cringed at that. “I’m sorry--”

“Don’t apologize for your brother.”

There was an awkward silence for several beats after that. Iida was the one to break it. “While I can understand your reluctance, Hawks also said that it’s a hero’s job to bring in both kinds of villains. Your siblings are desperate ones, but that doesn’t mean--”

“Look me in the eye and say that you wouldn’t do anything for your brother, Iida,” Shouto cut him off with a deadpan expression. Iida, of all people, had no room to talk here.

“I… but he’s a hero.”

‘And you wouldn’t have been if you had actually killed Stain.’ Sadly, Shouto couldn’t bring that up here. He’d fall back on Hawks’ lecture. “When I think of the villain that Hawks described, the only person in my family that I see is Endeavor. I don’t see Touya that way; I can’t. He’s always been my hero.”

“I can understand why,” Satou said with a sad smile. “I like to volunteer at a soup kitchen in my spare time, you know? I hear a lot of stories like this. He protected you, so it’s only natural that you’d see him that way.”

Shouto nodded before saying, “Touya wasn’t exaggerating anything either. He was often the only thing between me and a fist that hit so hard that he’d cough up blood afterward. He couldn’t fight Endeavor. No one ever believed Touya when he tried to report him either. So he just… stood between us and him and refused to move. No matter what.”

“He sounds like a good brother,” Midoriya’s voice wavered as he spoke, and when Shouto looked up, he could see tears welling up in his eyes. His friend was always prone to crying, but he wasn’t the only one of his classmates that had started doing so.

Yaoyorozu, Kirishima, Uraraka, Iida, Ashido, Satou… himself.

“He was the best,” Shouto whimpered as he tried to rub the blurriness out of his eyes, looking up at all of his classmates with something akin to desperation on his face. “I want to save him.” 

He believed that the League of Vigilantes would live up to that name, but that wouldn’t change how heroes treated them. Not a single hero had stopped calling them villains. Shouto wanted to believe that they would if the League upheld the morals that they claimed, but he didn’t have such high hopes in the system. Why would he?

“I don’t want them to just throw Touya in jail and forget he ever existed.” If Touya did all of this just to get their father to face consequences and wound up with the same exact punishment for it --if not worse, Shouto didn’t doubt that his father would get off light for all that he’d done-- then that wasn’t justice at all. And now all of his siblings could wind up facing that punishment too. It wasn’t fair.

“I’ll help you, Todoroki!” Midoriya’s gaze was steeled with determination, and Shouto couldn’t deny how warm it made him feel to know that his friend was with him in this too.

“Yeah! What kind of heroes would we be if we didn’t?”

“Poor ones, undoubtedly,” Yaoyorozu answered. Uraraka beamed in response, grateful to be backed up.

“Heroes who act like villains and villains who act like heroes… It is only to be expected that we would extend a hand to the latter,” Tokoyami declared, and Dark Shadow enthusiastically agreed with him.

“He really does act like a hero! I don’t know if we would’ve been able to save Eri so easily without him, you know?” Kirishima’s declaration caught his classmates’ attention.

“What?! He helped save little Eri?” Shouto didn’t need to be able to see Hagakure to imagine how shocked she looked.

“He did, kero. Togata also said that he would’ve been shot if Dabi wasn’t there.”

“But wouldn’t his quirk protect him from that?” Kaminari had a point there, but Midoriya shook his head.

“Not if he wasn’t fast enough, but Togata couldn’t have tried. They didn’t aim at him. They aimed at Eri.”

‘Oh. That… that makes sense. Touya would be pissed about that.’

“Deciding to save Icyhot’s brother is all well and good and all, but you extras haven’t seen how he is with the League. He wouldn’t leave them.”

His classmates went quiet at that, and Shouto was surprised to see how many of them looked more contemplative than sad. ‘Maybe I can trust them, at least with a little of this…’

“I know that.”

Bakugo’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really? It’s not just your other siblings that he wouldn’t leave, you know? He’d stick up for Handjob too.”

Shouto nodded before speaking lowly, “Fuyumi and Natsuo would go wherever Touya does, so even if he left… But no, I know that he would. Touya isn’t the kind of person who can leave anyone behind.”

“To immerse ourselves in the darkness for this… it will not be easy. Pros may condemn us too.” Shouto didn’t miss Tokoyami’s declaration of support despite that.

“I hear all sorts of things, you know? I’ve known that things aren’t always as perfect as people make them out to be for a while. I want to be a hero who touches people’s hearts. I can’t do that if I pick and choose who to save,” Jirou declared, and she inspired several others to say something similar.

“It’d be super unmanly to let you do this alone, Todoroki!”

“Your brother spared me in the forest, mon ami. I will lend my assistance.” Shouto wasn’t sure when Aoyama had shown up, but his support was appreciated nonetheless.

“You helped me in my darkest moments, Todoroki. It is my duty to help you through yours!” Iida proclaimed, looking resolved to see this through to the end.

“I don’t believe that anyone is beyond saving. Not your brother, not Shigaraki, and not anyone in the League. I’m with you, Todoroki.” Midoriya’s voice seemed to encourage even the shyer, more hesitant members of their class, and before long, everyone who was there was agreeing to do the best that they could to save the League.

Everyone except… Heterochromatic eyes flicked over to the one silent member of their class.

Red eyes rolled as Bakugo scoffed and said, “Don’t look at me like that, Icyhot. I’m not some fucking loser. I swore to always win, and if victory means converting a few villains…”  Tiny explosions crackled from Bakugo’s palms. “Then I’ll be the best damn converter there ever was!”

‘Trust Bakugo to turn this into a competition,’ Shouto snorted, but everyone seemed more excited about it now.

“Do you think that they’ll actually become vigilantes? It’d make convincing them a lot easier if they did!” 

“While Shigaraki still scares me, I don’t see why they wouldn’t, kero. If they said it and didn’t do it, then don’t you think that people wouldn’t trust Dabi either? And they were all there, so he didn’t do it behind their backs.”

“Oh yeah! You’re totally right,” Ashido exclaimed. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“I’ll speak to the rest of our classmates and see where they stand on the matter. I won’t tell them any details, just in case, but the more of us there are…”

“That’s a wonderful idea Yaoyorozu! I’ll start putting together plans. Midoriya, can you assist me?”

“Of course, Iida! We can figure out counters to their quirks just in case they fight us, and we can see if we can find anything on where they came from too.”

All of his classmates were enthusiastically taking on roles, taking on extra responsibilities on top of everything else, and Shouto could feel a giant grin spreading across his face.

‘I have amazing friends.’

-

Kyudai was growing more and more frustrated with the actions of his master’s protege. The civil unrest that was caused with the assistance of Hood was a beautiful thing, to think that Dabi had been a Todoroki all this time, but the message that Kyudai had received afterward left him fuming.

‘Don’t worry about making nomu? They’re my greatest creations; I’m not just going to stop, you ungrateful brat.’ He could accept that using nomu probably wouldn’t be the best way to keep the public’s favor, but there was a world of difference between not making any nomu for the League and not making any nomu at all.

“Can you believe him, Johnny? After everything we’ve done for that boy…”

Shigaraki also refused to go through with the transfer of All for One. He claimed that his League still needed him, that they weren’t ready to operate on their own yet, but Kyudai could read the writing on the wall.

‘He doesn’t want it. I’m beginning to think that you may have made a mistake in choosing that boy, master. I don’t doubt that he has the potential that you saw in him, but I do doubt that he’ll ever reach it.’

Tenko Shimura had always wanted to be a hero, and now his little league was letting him play that role, albeit unofficially. ‘Oh well. I’ll convince him that he needs the power eventually. Until then…’

Kyudai would have to make some adjustments to the transfer process. All for One had expected Shigaraki to be a willing host, after all.

‘You thought that he could be the next you, All for One. I’m afraid that Shigaraki has turned out much more like your troublesome brother.’

Chapter Text

Keigo felt guilty that it’d been so long since he’d last sat down and talked with Eri. He had popped in here and there over the past month, but it was mostly to placate the Commission and he’d never spent more than half an hour with her at a time, not after that first visit.

‘She deserves better than that.’

So, after this week’s meeting at UA, much earlier in the week than it was last time; they had no consistent schedule, Keigo hung around to ask Eraserhead about visiting again.

“Hey, do you mind if I go see Eri? It’s been a while.”

“The Commission giving you trouble again?” Eraserhead asked with a sigh. “She’s always happy to see you, so I don’t see why not.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it!” Keigo grinned as he and Eraserhead started walking back toward the teacher’s dorms, and it was a genuine smile this time. There was something incredibly infectious about Eri’s enthusiasm, and once he started interacting with them in one-on-one settings, Keigo understood why Touya was so soft around kids.

There was a cry of “Hawks!” as soon as he stepped through Eraserhead’s door, and Eri ran toward him with her phoenix plush in hand.

‘And that never stops being adorable, especially since I know the full meaning behind it now.’

Keigo picked her up with a huge smile, swinging her around as his wings flapped in excitement. “Hello, Eri! I missed you too.”

Her delighted shrieking was music to Keigo’s ears, and she was still giggling once they stopped moving, laying her head on his shoulder as she caught her breath.

“I’m exhausted just looking at the two of you.”

Keigo flushed as he looked over to Eraserhead and chuckled. His wings fluffed up behind him, and he cursed himself for not being as familiar with hiding his positive emotions as he was with his negative ones.

“Then you should go rest! I’ve got her. Don’t you have patrol tonight anyway?”

Eraserhead grunted before nodding and going to get a few hours of sleep. Eri wiggled excitedly and Keigo set her back down, smiling as he said, “Looks like it’s gonna be me and you for a little while, fledgling!”

“You’re staying today?”

“Yep!” He agreed with a nod, feeling a pang in his heart at her quiet hope. “I’ll be here ‘til Eraser goes for patrol, promise. I don’t have work today.”

“Yay! Can we…” Eri looked over to Eraserhead’s room with an adorably scrunched brow.

“We’ll be able to talk about him later, okay? We need to wait for Eraser to fall asleep first,” Keigo whispered, sending a feather over to the man’s door as he sat down on an obnoxiously bright yellow rug.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on in the life of Eri,” he asked at a more normal volume.

“Um… training.” Eri was fidgeting with the edge of her dress, and Keigo didn’t like the look of trepidation on her face. “I don’t like it very much.”

“I’m sorry, chickadee. What kind of training is it? Maybe I can talk to them.” If he had put so much effort into keeping the Commission away from her while UA proceeded to train her for heroism at six anyway, then Keigo was going to stab someone.

… He should spend less time with Toga.

“Turning my quirk off. It’s hard, but Aizawa doesn’t have to anymore. Just takes a little bit.”

‘Okay, control training then. Understandably scary for her, but not something that I need to go feral over.’

“Nezu said we’re gonna do more soon. Was asking about bugs and lizards and stuff.” Eri looked like she was about to cry after saying that, and Keigo couldn’t blame her.

‘I take it back; I’m going to need to talk to him immediately.’ 

There was a difference between trying to help her control her power and making her use it on living things, especially considering just how terrified she was of her quirk hurting others. ‘Living… would plants work?’

Keigo looked over to the kitchen counter, sent a feather to grab an apple, and brought it over to them. “Hey, Eri, would you be able to turn your quirk off right now?”

Her horn was large enough that he could tell that she had some energy, but it didn’t look like it had gotten to a dangerous level yet. Eri nodded, tilting her head as he handed the apple to her and scooched back a little bit.

“Rewind works on living stuff, right? Plants are alive too; you shouldn’t have to use animals for that. And you can’t hurt an apple either. No matter what happens, it’ll be okay.” Eri’s eyes shone as she looked up at Hawks with awe, nodding.

She scrunched her nose as she clutched the apple, focusing on it with intent as her horn started to glow. Slowly but surely, the apple started getting smaller and smaller before turning back into a flower. Eri’s power started flickering as she slowed it down, and her quirk deactivated just as the flower turned back into a seed.

Eri blinked at it before her eyes started watering. “Thank you, Hawks! Thank you…”

“Of course, fledgling. Anything for you.” He held out his arms, offering a hug, and while Eri hesitated for a couple of seconds, soon she darted forward into his arms as she sniffled.

“You know what?” he whispered.

“Hm?”

“It’ll have to be another secret, but you can call me Keigo if you want.”

Red eyes shone up at him like he was giving her the world. “Really?”

“Really. Even the other heroes don’t know about my name. But you--” he lightly booped her on the nose “--are a very special kid. You can use it.”

Eri giggled as a smile grew across her face. “Okay, Keigo! You can trust me.”

“I know I can, Eri. I know I can.”

They spent the next few hours talking with each other, Touya gave them plenty to talk about, and they only grew quiet once Keigo tensed up as he felt the vibrations of Eraserhead rolling out of bed. The hero squinted at the size of Eri’s horn, looked like he was regretting all of his life’s decisions, and simply walked out of the door.

Before too long, Thirteen came to take Keigo’s place, and he waved farewell to Eri with a soft smile. 

‘Now I just need to go talk to Nezu before I head back to base.’

-

Dabi was surprised to see Giran in their base once he got back from his errand --specifically, delivering that moth plush to Aomi while Ryouya was the one at home-- for two reasons. One, Giran, as an information broker, tended not to associate so closely with a specific group. Two, it was still pretty early in the evening, so Giran wouldn’t usually be out and about at this time of day.

“Hello, Dabi. Or do you go by Touya now?”

“I don’t like you enough to let you call me that, Giran.”

The broker laughed, waving his hand with the same smarmy grin as usual. “Never change. I’m glad that you’re back, though. Toga asked me to look into something for her, and she wants to talk to you about it.”

Dabi looked over to Himiko, who looked vaguely queasy at the moment, and furrowed his eyebrows. It was unsettling to see her so down. “Are you okay?”

“Um… Did I ever tell you about my family?”

“I remember you talking about also having shitty parents, but there were never more details than that.”

“Right, um… I have two little siblings.”

‘What?’

“And my parents put me in quirk therapy. Not quirk counseling, but like… repression therapy. My parents were disgusted by my quirk and by me. My mother has a touch-based energy absorption quirk and my father has a transformation quirk; I don’t think they expected their quirks to combine like they did.”

‘Himiko absorbs the energy of other people through their blood to transform into them, huh? That explains why she needs blood to survive too; energy quirks require that kind of maintenance even if they aren’t used.’

“They got interviewed recently, you know? They wrote me off as a creepy demon child who was born evil. The look on their faces… I’m worried. My little sister, Rika, just transforms into people if she touches them, but my baby brother, Akinari, absorbs energy from blood. He makes himself stronger and faster instead of transforming, but he needs blood just as much as I do. Giran found his name on the patient list for a quirk therapist. One with even harsher methods than the one I went to. One that promises to fix every kid.”

“We’re saving them, then,” Dabi declared, and it was clear that it wasn’t a question.

“Can we? I can do it alone…”

“We’re a family, Himiko. A real one. You don’t have to do anything alone ever again. Let me help you. Let all of us help you. This can be our first big mission as the new League.”

Himiko nodded with tears in her eyes. “Thank you. I just didn’t know what to do…”

“Aw, you kids are cute. I never would’ve expected this when I brought the two of you to the League.”

Dabi blushed, but he was quick with a rebuttal. “You must be getting dull in your old age. An information broker of your caliber should’ve seen this coming from a mile away. Think it’s time to look into retirement?”

“Why you--?!” Giran was cut off by Himiko bursting into laughter, and he grumbled when he saw the way that Himiko looked at Dabi gratefully.

“You’re both brats.”

“You wouldn’t work with us if you didn’t like us,” Himiko sing-songed.

Twice came into the room and turned to Giran immediately, and Dabi perked up at how serious he looked. “Shigaraki set up a room for you! We’re running a bit low with so many permanent members living here, but he said we could start converting basement rooms if we need to.”

“Thank you, Jin.”

“Of course. You were the one who helped me out first; I just want to repay that however I can!”

“You don’t owe me for that; don’t worry about it. I’m just glad that you’re doing better.”

Dabi cocked an eyebrow at that little play-by-play. ‘Huh. I didn’t realize that they were so close. Wonder why Giran is hanging around…’ 

“Are you in hot water right now?” he asked with a tilted head.

Giran grimaced and waved his hand in a so-so motion before explaining, “Your broadcast has the country in a tizzy, both aboveground and underground. There are organized groups who are really unhappy with the attention that the League is getting, and while I wouldn’t sell out my clients even if something were to happen…”

“It’s better not to chance something happening in the first place,” Dabi agreed.

Kurogiri stepped into the main room with a hum, pulling out his burner and opening a portal in the middle of the room. Giran tensed up slightly when he saw Keigo step through it.

“You know, I almost didn’t believe it when they told me you recruited this guy.”

Keigo tilted his head at Giran, walking up to Dabi’s side and draping one of his wings around him. “I’m guessing you’re Giran? You don’t feel like a Gigantomachia.” His tone was Dabi’s favorite blend of dry and snarky, and he nearly laughed at it.

Giran didn’t hesitate to do so, sounding much more at ease once he responded, “Oh, you fit right in, don’t you? Yeah, it’s a pleasure to meet you…?”

“Keigo Takami. A pleasure. What’s this all about, though?”

“Giran needed a place to crash for a while so he came here. He needed to give Himiko some info anyway.” Dabi glanced over to Himiko for permission to tell Keigo, Twice, and Kurogiri, and she immediately nodded.

“Himiko has a couple of younger siblings in a bad situation right now, and she wanted to go back for them. Do you have an address, Giran?”

“Do you take me for some sort of amateur?” Giran scoffed before writing something down and handing it to Himiko. “Of course I have the address.”

Himiko clutched that piece of paper so tightly that Dabi was almost worried that she’d rip it, but it wasn’t like Giran couldn’t write it out again if need be. She needed something to hold onto right now.

Twice looked shocked. “You have siblings too, Toga? I didn’t know that. How old are they?”

“My sister is twelve and my brother is eight.”

“That is quite young…” Kurogiri sounded worried about that. “We will lend you our assistance, of course, but do we have anywhere for them to go afterward? Or will they be returning to base with us? I would not mind assisting if that is the case; I’m quite familiar with childcare.”

“I’ll ask them when we’re there, but I’d rather them stay with us if they can. I really don’t want them to go into the system, and if the wrong person takes my brother in, then things might just get worse,” Himiko worried her lip as she said this, sighing with an uncharacteristic weariness.

“We’ll take care of it, Himiko. I promise. I’m no stranger to looking out for kids either, so I don’t mind helping Kurogiri out,” Dabi reassured her.

“Okay. You’re right; it’s going to be okay.” Himiko steeled herself before hopping off the barstool she was on and continuing, “I’m gonna go talk to Shiggy about it!”

Dabi glanced over to Keigo once she left the room, nestling in closer underneath his wing. “How’d the meeting go, birdie?”

“You want the good news or the bad news first, hot stuff?”

“Holy shit, you two are dating.”

They looked over at Giran with a deadpan stare in perfect sync, and Dabi snorted at the blend of disbelief and amazement on the broker’s face. “That was obvious. There’s no way I’ll believe that someone hasn’t mentioned it to you by now. Are you sure that you aren’t going senile?”

Twice chuckled as he explained, “Actually, we had a bet on how long it’d take him to notice, so we didn’t say anything. If it’d been tomorrow then I would’ve won eleven thousand yen, dammit! I guess Toga could use it more now, though.”

‘Yeah, it’ll help get her siblings settled. Especially since we’ll only be able to rob someone if they’re a particularly rich, privileged asshole now. The money that the doctor gave us only goes so far, and we don’t want to be indebted to him.’ 

Dabi cleared his throat and refocused the conversation, “Hit me with the bad news.”

“Why did I know that you’d want that first?” Keigo sighed before soldiering on. “Endeavor’s been putting up a fuss about being detained without evidence, even though he knows damn well that we couldn’t have held him for so long if we didn’t have something. He’s a prominent enough figure that the court date is getting pushed forward to early next week, though, so we can’t guarantee that everything is going to stick. Or much of it at all.”

“I wish that I could say that I’m surprised,” Dabi sighed. “But it could be worse. At least they have the photographs. Severe, ongoing abuse should be easier to prove than everything else.”

“That’s surprisingly optimistic of you… I still vote that we kill him if he gets away with this, but I’ll just move on to the good news for now. I got to hang out with Eri for a while, and she was definitely happy to talk about you. She was not so happy to be training her quirk, but that’s to be expected. They’d only done control stuff before I talked to her, but Nezu was planning on going beyond that soon.”

“What? She’s six and terrified of her quirk; they can’t just throw her into training it like that! I understand the control, maybe she won’t be as scared of it then, but they want her to actually use it so soon?! How is that good news?!”

Dabi hadn’t even noticed that he had started heating up in distress, but Keigo only pressed himself more firmly against him and cooed, “Because I figured out another way, Touya. Her quirk works on living things, but plants are alive too. She turned an apple back into a seed right in front of me, and I made it very clear to Nezu that he would use plants instead of bugs and lizards or he would face my wrath. And that he would let her stop or refuse to do it whenever she damn well pleased. But you should’ve seen her; she was so happy that she didn’t have to hurt anything to use her quirk.”

“Oh, you…” Dabi’s voice trailed off, and he was choked up with emotion. Keigo looked at him with clear concern, and Dabi could only think that he was so lucky to have someone like Keigo as his boyfriend.

“Fuck, I love you.” 

The words were ripped out of him, unbidden, but it didn’t make them any less true. Keigo’s wings puffed up as his face went bright red and his eyes became the gooey, soft shade of honey that they always did when Keigo was really happy.

His smile made Dabi feel like his heart was going to stop.

“I love you too, Touya.”

“Okay, why are they actually cute? I thought this started as some hatefucking thing--"

“Shut up, Giran,” Dabi barked out, face bright red, and while there was a different sort of warmth that came with everyone laughing together and figuring out how they would help Himiko, come hell or high water, that didn’t make them any less important to Dabi than Keigo was.

These people were everything to him.

-

While they’d typically spend more time planning an attack, this was more of a rescue mission than anything else. Himiko’s parents were civilians, and the only things that could get them in trouble here were if any heroes stumbled across them or if Himiko’s siblings took too long to decide what to do. They were ready to move the day after Himiko talked to them.

Giran got them information on which heroes were patrolling in Utsunomiya at what times and they’d figured out that there was a far heavier underground presence in that city than limelight, so they would be striking at midday. Dabi was thankful that they were doing this on a weekend; that timing would’ve been difficult to work with if Himiko’s siblings were still at school for the day. 

“We’ll all be standing by in case things go to shit, but be careful Toga, Dabi.” They both nodded and promised Shigaraki that they would be.

They stepped through the portal that opened up right in the backyard of the Togas’ new house, getting coordinates once you had an address was child’s play, and immediately saw two children playing in it. They both froze as they stared at Himiko, and while she looked nervous, her little siblings sprinted for her right away.

The girl had the same yellow eyes as Himiko did, though she had round pupils instead of slitted ones, but she had mousy brown hair instead. The boy had blond hair, but he had silver eyes instead of yellow. His pupils looked just like Himiko’s, and Dabi briefly wondered if that was linked to the blood aspect of their quirks. 

The three of them made an adorable sight together as they sprawled out on the grass giggling and hugging each other, and Dabi wished that he could keep watching them. Sadly, he needed to keep a close eye on the back door. The red light of a security camera was blinking at them. 

‘We don’t have much time.’

“Nee-san! You came for us.”

“Himi-nee, you have to take Akinari. They’re going to kill him.”

“I can take both of you if you want. It might be hard sometimes, we only have so much money and there are a lot of us, but no one would ever hurt you. You’d never have to pretend to be someone you’re not.”

“Really?” Akinari’s voice sounded so hopeful and disbelieving, almost like Eri’s did back when Dabi first met her, and Himiko was quick to reassure him.

“Really! The League’s great. I’ve got even more siblings now, and they all wanna help you.”

“You’re sure? We wouldn’t be a burden?”

“I’m sure, Ri-chan.”

“Then we’ll--”

The back door started to creak open. Fire flickered over Dabi’s fingertips immediately, and both Rika and Akinari scrambled backward, standing behind Himiko as she pulled out her knives.

“Rika, parasite, what are you two doing out--” the woman’s voice cut off, and her face twisted with scorn as she took in what was happening. “You,” she spat, and the venom in her voice had Dabi’s flames burning even brighter. 

“You get away from Rika, you monster!”

‘She doesn’t even bother to pretend to care about Akinari, does she? I’m just glad that Himiko wasn’t gone long enough for Rika to start copying that behavior; things would’ve been far more complicated then.’

Himiko was shaking, more afraid than Dabi had ever seen her, and this was exactly why he’d come along with her. That and the fact that ranged attacks were useful for threatening people, especially ones with touch-based quirks.

Two blue, flaming wolves grew from his hands, crackling loudly in a pantomime of snarling as they hovered just above the grass of the yard. He twitched his fingers and made them stalk forward, baring their faux teeth as their flame coats rippled.

“Yeah, I don’t think so, lady,” Dabi sneered. 

“W-what are those?!”

“Nifty, aren’t they? I was always a fan of people underestimating me, but I think it’s about time I left that behind me.” His gaze hardened as the wolves grew even larger, closer to the size of horses now, and Dabi smirked.

“Now, here’s what you’re gonna do: you’re letting Kurogiri take all four of us away from here. Because if you try anything, then these two will attack you; I have no pity for child abusers.” On cue, a black portal opened up behind them.

The woman ran back into the house, likely deciding that calling the police was her best bet, but that didn’t matter now. He looked over to Himiko and her little siblings as she ushered them through the portal, cutting off his flames as he followed behind them.

They stepped back into the base to several relieved faces, and Rika and Akinari seemed a bit overwhelmed at just how excited and relieved everyone was to see them. Things settled down after a little bit, though Akinari started crying once people offered him their blood and got him taken care of, and Himiko turned to him with a gleam in her eyes.

“Since when could you do that, Touya?! That was so cool!”

Dabi just chuckled, smiling as the others started questioning what had happened. Himiko went to tell them, but he gently rested his hand on her shoulder before she could. 

“Let them see it on the news. The visual impact is one of my favorite things about that move.”

-

“T-this is…” 

Shouto’s entire class, minus Mineta, stared at the video playing on the news with slack jaws. Even Bakugo looked begrudgingly impressed. The kidnapping of the two youngest Toga children was all over the news, but even without any audio attached to the security feed, the way that the kids hid behind their older sister was damning.

“We were all wondering what the League’s first move would be since their claim of switching over to vigilantism, but I must say that I didn’t expect anything like this! The villain Dabi, currently suspected to be Touya Todoroki, used a new move to intimidate Mrs. Toga into compliance. In addition to keeping a lookout for any of the Toga children, citizens are advised to watch out for Dabi and any flaming, sentient creatures. Back to you--”

“They didn’t notice,” Shouto commented, and most of his class looked over at him with confusion in their eyes. Not Midoriya though.

“They weren’t sentient. Those wolves were connected to a small line of flames coming from Dabi’s hands! But that would mean that he had to control their every movement himself. Was that why he was moving his fingers like that? That has so many applications! Not to mention the sheer level of control--”

“Here we go again,” Bakugo groaned, but there was no bite in his tone.

“Do you see what I mean now? Touya has been holding back a lot; I knew there was no way he wanted to hurt us.”

“Oui. If there were flaming wolves running through the forest… I do not want to think of it,” Aoyama said as he trembled at the mere idea, and Midoriya turned to Shouto with a gleam in his eyes.

“Do you know how far away he can control them from? How many things can he manipulate at once? How long can he hold them?”

Shouto hummed as he thought it over, answering to the best of his knowledge, “He can control them as far away as he wants as long as he can still see them, but intricate stuff gets harder the farther they are from him. He can also make things that aren’t wolves. That’s a new shape; he did other stuff when we were younger. I think that if it’s creatures like that, then he can only use two at the same time, but smaller ones can be controlled with only a finger or two. He did that with a lot of tiny dragons in control exercises if I remember correctly. He can also hold them indefinitely, as far as I know. I’ve only ever seen him release them on purpose. That might be different now that his flames are blue, though.”

“I have never heard you talk as much as you do when you tell us about your brother,” Iida noted.

“Is it weird?” Shouto tilted his head as he asked the question, and Iida was quick to reassure him.

“No, no! I can just tell that you care about him.”

Ojiro chuckled at that, saying, “I think getting all of us together to convince us that the League can be saved is proof enough of that. Todoroki is very determined.”

Shouto knew that it might be seen as strange, but he really wanted them to stop calling him Todoroki. His friends could just give him nicknames later if they wanted to.

“Shouto.”

“Hm?”

“I’d rather you all call me Shouto.”

There was a combination of an outcry and quiet shock after he said that, and he was quick to continue, “You don’t need to extend the same permission. I just don’t like my last name. For obvious reasons."

“Izuku is fine. We’re friends after all!”

“Call me Ochako!”

“You may call me Tenya if you wish.”

“Tsuyu or Tsu works for me.”

“Call me Fumikage, fellow being of the darkness.”

“Yuga is fine, mon ami!”

“Momo is acceptable.”

Permission went around in a circle until everyone who had said their first names just agreed to use them among that group. The rest of his classmates agreed to call him Shouto but would prefer if he stuck to their last names, and Shouto had no problem with that at all.

While the news had long since moved past the story talking about Touya, Momo turned to Shouto with a smile. “It’s good news that the first thing they did was save a couple of kids, right? I know they’re calling it a kidnapping but…”

“It’s obvious that Vamp’s siblings were scared to death of their mom. That was a rescue.”

That knowledge weighed heavily on them all. Heroes were supposed to stop that sort of thing; they were supposed to save people. So why were so many people getting away with it? It wasn’t right.

“What do you think she did to them?” It was rare for Kouda to speak --the class was learning JSL for him, but only Bakugo was already fluent in it-- but Shouto knew that he was also a gentle soul. He’d expressed his desire to go into rescue heroics, and while they primarily focused on natural disasters, Kouda seemed especially in tune with the pain of those around him. It was why he hated inflicting it so much.

“Nothing good, kero. Back in the forest, Toga looked euphoric around blood, and that’s something that she should be more used to with her quirk being what it is.”

“Quirk repression,” Izuku gasped. “The interview! The way that Toga’s parents, both of them, talked about her… They hated her quirk, so she didn’t get to use it! But a transformation quirk that relies on blood would be energy-based. It’s like how Tenya has to drink a bunch of orange juice even if he’s not using his quirk. Toga would have to drink blood! If they didn’t let her for long enough…”

“Her survival instinct would take over,” Shouji concluded.

“Exactly! It explains why she suddenly attacked someone too. Desperation just built and built until it overflowed.”

“What the fuck? Who could do that to their kid?” Jirou was tapping her foot aggressively, practically thrumming with anger.

“More people than you’d think, Ears.” Shouto’s eyes narrowed at Bakguo’s comment, but his classmate’s expression made it clear that he wouldn’t be saying any more on the subject. 

‘Fine. I’ll convince you to talk eventually. If it’s anything like I think it is… At least we’re in the dorms now.’

“It shouldn’t be that way, man. We can let things like that keep happening!”

“I totally agree with you Kaminari, but how can we change this? We can’t save everyone,” Ashido said, and while she sounded distressed by that fact, she knew that it was the truth.

“No one can save everyone.”

Shouto’s classmates all turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. He wasn’t very good with words, but he would do his best.

“Alone, we can only do so much, but together, we can save more people than we could individually. We can’t save everyone, but we have to step in to help every time that we see something wrong. We can’t ever look the other way, not once. We help the people that we can reach, and Touya will help the people that he can reach.”

“We’re on opposite sides while still working together in the grand scheme of things! As long as they keep helping people, then we can focus on making sure that both groups can help as many people as they can!”

“That’s it, Hagakure! Even if other heroes don’t know, the nineteen of us and the League can both help very different groups of people,” Sero cheered.

“As heroes, we must be representative of the best in our society. We cannot change the fact that horrible injustices have occurred over the years, but we can make sure that those who have committed them will face justice and we can make sure that those injustices do not continue. We can ensure that the next generation of heroes is even better than this one. In fact, it is our duty to do so!” 

Tenya was able to convey what Shouto wanted to say much more clearly, and 1-A buzzed with excitement after hearing his declaration. They tapered off into more casual conversation with one another before Aizawa stopped in to check on them, but they were all eager to be the change that they wanted to see in the world.

‘I think… I think that Touya would be proud if he could see us right now.’

Chapter Text

Keigo was soaring high, both literally and figuratively, as he flew over to hang out with Rumi, and it had everything to do with the fact that Touya had helped him preen his wings after his mission with Himiko yesterday.

‘I’ve never had someone help me take care of them before.’

Normally preening was a necessary but frustrating process that took Keigo ages, especially since he had to detach some of his feathers to even reach them. Having warm fingers gently work on those hard-to-reach feathers instead had been an amazing experience.

‘To think, if someone had told me that I’d let Dabi anywhere near my wings a few months ago…’ He would’ve been seriously concerned for their mental health. Now here he was, positively glowing as he thought about how attentive and surprisingly sweet the man was.

‘I want to get him something I think. Maybe I can go shopping for him while I’m out? The one thing that the Commission has left alone is my money, and that won’t last forever. I may as well treat Touya while I can.’ He was going to Rumi’s apartment first, though. She was relentless about hearing about his boyfriend, and the last thing he needed was for her to corner him in public and send the media hunting for his secret partner.

He snorted at the idea of them finding out. ‘That’ll be quite the headline to go along with my villainous debut.’

Keigo landed on Rumi’s balcony, almost startling at the sight of her waiting for him on the other side of the glass door. She was not shy about making him wait for a few minutes, so the fact that she was right there and practically vibrating as she jerked the door open, it gave a worrying creak that made him wonder if she’d rip it off its hinges, was disconcerting.

“Spill!”

“Alright, alright,” Keigo laughed. “Let me at least come in first, jeez.”

She slammed the door shut behind him, and he was barely able to sit down in his designated beanbag before Rumi was right next to him with an expectant look.

“Is he treating you well? I’ll beat him up if he isn’t!”

Keigo couldn’t have kept the smile off his face if he tried. His wings fluttered behind him, and they were expressive enough that he didn’t have to say a word.

“Oh, wow. You’ve got it bad. Tell me about him then!”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Keigo chuckled nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. “He’s a few years older--”

“No surprise there.” Keigo glared at Rumi, but she only cackled in response before saying, “Come on, you practically radiate daddy issues.”

‘Then I’m in good company. I can’t risk saying that, though.’

“Do you want to hear about him or not?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow, completely prepared to seal his lips just to irritate Rumi.

“Don’t be like that. Come on, I’ve already been waiting for ages!”

Keigo snorted before saying, “Then hush. He’s probably one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met, and he’s super affectionate too. Not in an overbearing way; he’s just a steady presence, you know? I can relax around him.”

“And that’s hard for people like us to find,” Rumi hummed, easing up a bit now that it was clear that Keigo was actually going to talk.  “I’m glad that you’re so happy with him. Just don’t let yourself get caught up in the whirlwind and ignore red flags, okay? You said that you didn’t think he was very fond of heroes?”

‘And I’ve regretted saying it every day since, but it’s too late now.’

Keigo grimaced slightly before nodding. “Yeah… I think it’s just because he cares so much, though. He hates the red tape that comes with helping people and the way that the bystander effect has become even worse over the years.”

Red eyes narrowed as a feral grin slowly took over Rumi’s face. “You’re dating a vigilante, aren’t you?!”

‘Oh shit, divert, divert--’

“Not that I can throw stones there. My career started off with vigilantism, you know?”

“Really?” Keigo hadn’t known that.

Rumi nodded and said, “Yup! I’ve always enjoyed fighting just for the sake of it; I even got expelled for it once. I don’t care if your boyfriend is sneaking around and illegally helping people, Hawks.”

“Other people would though, so if you could keep it quiet--”

“What kind of person do you take me for? I ain’t saying shit, birdbrain. I’ve never seen you so happy before; he must mean a lot to you.”

“He helped preen my wings, you know?”

“Really?” Rumi blinked at him. She was one of the few people who knew about the instincts that came with his quirk, so she understood just how much that meant to him. 

“Really. He was adorable about it too! He watched me do it for a few minutes before asking if he could help, and after I showed him how to do it, he took to it very well. I’ve never seen someone so happy to straighten out and clean feathers for hours.”

“Sounds sappy as shit.” Rumi’s smile was softer than Keigo was used to seeing from her. “I’m glad that you have him though.” She finally sat down next to him before turning to him with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. That expression didn’t bode well for him.

“So, tell me, how far have you gone? I’m your best friend; I want the details!”

Keigo spluttered and blushed bright red. He’d thought that he was used to Rumi’s bluntness, but this was on an entirely different level.

“With a reaction like that; I’m gonna guess you haven’t fucked yet.”

“No! We haven’t been together that long.”

“Wouldn’t be any shame in it if you had, you know? Don’t let other people get in your head about it.”

Keigo shook his head and clarified, “It’s not that. We’re just not there yet.”

“So where are you then? Besides the preening thing.”

“We’ve made out,” he said while looking directly at the floor. He still wasn’t used to just how warm everything about Touya was; it made everything feel electric. “We’ve also literally slept together, like overnight. He’s a cuddler.”

“That’s promising! At yours or his?”

“His.” Keigo had expected that to be a simple enough question to answer, but the gleam in Rumi’s eyes said otherwise.

“You can tell so much about someone from their place. Gimme the details! It’s safer for you if I never meet the guy, I don’t want to be asked and forced to point him out, but knowing this sort of thing won’t hurt anyone.”

Keigo hesitated. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to give away about Touya, even if people still probably wouldn’t connect it to him. Natsuo and Fuyumi always talked about how little their brother had truly changed, after all.

‘Maybe the more harmless stuff?’

“His room is kinda bare, honestly. He has roommates, and I think that he cares more about saving up for emergencies and the necessities than having personal belongings.” Outside of the plushes that Touya had been given as a gift and a few sets of clothes, he really didn’t own much. It probably came with a life of constantly being on the move. Keigo had noticed that Eria was very similar in that respect.

‘Anything that wasn’t strictly necessary for survival got left behind. I’m glad that he’s settled enough to get attached to the plushes that were gifted to him, even if he’d still never buy them for himself. It’s progress.’

“Ugh, that’s so boring.” Rumi’s ears flopped down in irritation. “How empty are we talking here?”

“He’s got a bed and a desk, but that’s about it on furniture. He does have a few stuffed animals, though. Just nothing personal beyond those.”

Rumi’s ears perked back up again, and Keigo saw a glint in her eyes at that information. “You meant it when you said that he was a cuddler, huh? You might have stumbled across one of the few men who’d bottom for your twink ass--”

And that was a mental image that Keigo didn’t need right now. His face went bright red as his mind ran with the idea, but a single thought stopped him in his tracks. ‘How would we even go about…? I don’t want to hurt him, and it’d be easy to tear his grafts if we were to...’

They might need to have a frank discussion in the near future; Keigo would just need to make sure that Touya knew that he wasn’t pushing for anything by bringing it up.

His friend’s cackling laughter brought him out of his thoughts, red-faced and stuttering, as Rumi said, “Thinking real hard about that one, aren’t you?”

“I’m leaving,” Keigo exclaimed, only partially in jest, as he stood up. The beanbag made it difficult for him to do that, but he struggled until he was out of it and whirled around to face the balcony door, stepping toward it.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed by it! You seem real sweet on the guy, and there’s nothing wrong with fantasizing either.”

Keigo’s shoulders were hunched up to his ears before he could stop them, and now he was realizing just how dangerously expressive he had become ever since he met Touya. He could still put on the mask and fall back into the persona of Hawks, but that wasn’t his default anymore. It took effort for him to settle back into that headspace.

It was terrifying. Keigo needed to get it together before he let something slip just because he got too comfortable.

‘I want her to understand though. I don’t want Rumi to hate me as soon as she finds out what I’ve done.’ She had only ever approached him because he was another hero who did everything on his own. She thought that heroes who relied on teams were weak, and Keigo had gotten so tired of carrying the burdens that he did alone that he not only joined a team but also joined a team of villains. He didn’t regret doing it, especially now that they were heading down this path, but he knew that no one else would understand it.

‘I don’t know if she’ll be more furious about me being a traitor or about me being so damn pathetic.’ 

“I love him,” he whispered, still unused to saying those words aloud. “I really do, Rumi. I can see a forever with him.”

“What’s going on in your head, birdbrain? I don’t doubt that you love him, but you’re still acting like there’s some great tragedy here.”

‘Oh, if only you knew.’ Keigo’s smile was a small, bitter thing that made Rumi’s ears straighten with alarm. He knew that it was too late to keep her from figuring out that something was wrong, so he figured that he could at least set her more firmly against the Commission. Someone who wasn’t playing dead needed to know about this before things inevitably hit the fan.

“They’d kill him if they found out, you know? The Commission.” Even if he hadn’t fallen in love with Touya, Keigo --or, well, Hawks-- wasn’t allowed to make attachments. They would’ve gotten rid of a civilian partner too, one way or another.

“Because he’s a vigilante? Hawks, I already promised not to say anything about--”

“No. Because heroes can’t afford distractions,” he said in a monotone voice, reciting what he’d heard any time that he had wanted to take up a hobby, look after a stray, or do anything but train, really.

Red eyes widened with horror and Keigo continued. “They can’t know about me having a boyfriend at all. The only reason I said anything about him after the meeting was because the heroes there had already been vetted. I told you that Dabi wasn’t the only person they’d done that sort of thing to.”

“What did they do to you, Hawks?” Keigo wasn’t sure if he had ever heard Rumi’s voice shake with fear like that before, but he didn’t like it. He couldn’t just stop here either, though. Rumi would never let him do that, and more importantly, he didn’t want to.

Keigo desperately wanted someone to understand, and while he could wait and just tell Touya, he would talk to him about how much he knew and fill in the blanks eventually, neither of them was going to be able to do anything about the Commission, not legally. At least baring his trauma to Rumi could be beneficial.

“When I was six years old, I saved a large group of people from a car accident. The Commission became interested in me after that.” There was no need to mention his father here, so Keigo wasn’t going to. He couldn’t risk connecting himself and Touya in any way.

He released a shaky breath --manufactured this time, meant to distract from the complicated expressions flickering over his face-- before continuing. “They wanted to train me to be a hero, to hone my potential, so they offered my mother a very large recurring check in exchange for custody of me. She signed the papers that day.”

“That… that sounds like quirk trafficking, Hawks.”

Keigo gave her a rueful grin as he said, “You’re right. It’s a technically legal form of it, but that only makes it impossible to persecute. Doesn’t change what it is.” 

Rumi slumped down onto the couch again, looking at Keigo with wide eyes. “The first thing they took from me was my name,” he whispered, and he doubted that Rumi would have heard him if she didn’t have enhanced hearing.

“I’ve been Hawks for the majority of my life; I wasn’t allowed to be anything else. I used to lay in bed at night and mentally recite my name over and over again because I was terrified of forgetting it.”

“... Did you?”

“Keigo Takami. Just don’t let anyone hear you say it. Don’t say it if you’re over at my place either.”

“I won’t but why--” Rumi blinked as it hit her. “Your apartment is bugged,” she said, and her voice shook with the realization. Keigo just nodded.

“Holy shit, no wonder you always want to come over here.”

“Yeah… I just can’t relax there. And I can’t distance myself from them because they own everything. My agency is completely under their control, there’s a reason why I don’t rely on my sidekicks, and anything that I’ve made over the years could be taken away with the excuse of me repaying my debt to them. If I step one foot out of line, then I lose everything, Rumi.”

He used to be so afraid of everything that he’d gone through being for nothing. At least now he had the reassurance that things would change once that line had been crossed. ‘I’m not sure if I ever would’ve taken that step on my own. I’m not sure if what the Commission did to me would’ve been enough on its own. But with everything else that’s going on with the League…'

“We’re not letting them get away with this, Keigo.”

Rumi sounded genuinely outraged on his behalf; it was nice. Keigo distantly wondered if she and Touya might have gotten along if they’d been born in a different world.

“Yeah, we won’t. But let’s just focus on Endeavor for now, okay? Shouto is in more danger than I am, and we can only do so much at once.”

It was clear that Rumi didn’t like the idea of doing so, and Keigo was glad that he hadn’t told her about the worst of it. “Fine. But I’m going to wreck their shit right after, understand?”

“Got it,” he agreed, laughing with a smile. 

The two of them talked for a little while longer, but Rumi was pent up in a way that indicated that she’d be going to train soon. Keigo had other plans, so he announced that he was heading out.

He gave Rumi a hug before leaving, and Keigo indulged in some shopping, both for Touya and the rest of the League; Keigo knew that his boyfriend would feel guilty if he was the only one to get something he didn’t need while they were on a tighter budget, before ducking into an alleyway, pulling out his phone, and stepping into a portal.

Already happy faces lit up with a cheer when they saw the boxes of pizza that he brought with him, his feathers were carrying all the other bags for him now, and that dulled the old aches that his conversation with Rumi had dragged to the forefront.

Keigo smiled, and when he said “I’m home!”, he truly felt like he was.

-

Dabi watched Keigo give blankets, jackets, gloves, and other winter gear to everyone, including a space heater for Spinner that almost made the man cry, with a fond smile. Red feathers were darting around their base, carrying food and other supplies off to their designated places in the kitchen and pantry, and as Dabi watched Keigo go over to Rika and Akinari to give them matching stuffed bats --more realistic looking ones this time, though still intended to represent Himiko-- his heart swelled with warmth and affection for the amazing man that somehow loved him too.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you so happy before,” Fuyumi whispered, and her voice was warned with contentment that Dabi suspected was foreign to her too. “And it’s always like this here. Is this how it was supposed to be?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Keigo joined the two of them with fluttering wings and a wide smile as he pulled out a baby blue sweater and showed it to Fuyumi before passing it to her and handing her the entire bag that it was in. “I noticed that you liked pastels so… I’ve got some other clothes along with softer shades in here for you too; I know that you and the kids need the most stuff right now.”

‘Oh. He’s trying to help them settle in.’ While Himiko had gone out and purchased some things for her little siblings and Fuyumi --disguised with the blood of one of their supporters, of course-- they still had less to work with since they were relatively new and had only come with the clothes on their backs.

“Thank you, Takami-san.”

“You don’t have to be so formal, Fuyumi! Just Keigo is fine; you’re part of my flock, you know?”

‘You like the bird puns, don’t you? You might groan at mine, but you’re making them yourself now. Birds of prey don’t even have flocks!’ That didn’t make the sentiment any less endearing, though, and the look on Fuyumi’s face said that she agreed with him.

“Then thank you, Keigo. You’re going to have a lot of people calling you that soon, you realize? If my siblings hear me do it once…” It warmed Dabi’s heart to see further evidence of just how quickly Fuyumi had meshed with them all. She was already treating Eria as an older sister, and Mustard and Himiko --and by extension, Rika and Akinari-- were also regarded as younger siblings.

Keigo laughed, and it was a bright, warm sound that made Dabi feel like he’d been basking in the sun for hours. “That sounds great! I’ll be part of the family for real, huh?”

“You already are, pretty bird. Pretty sure you’re it for me.”

Red wings fluffed up like they always did when Dabi called Keigo pretty and watching them flutter as Keigo’s face went red would never stop being one of Dabi’s favorite things in the world. “Touya! You can’t just say that.”

“Hm, what was it that you said again? I can and I will. I mean it, Keigo.”

“Using my own words against me? The audacity,” Keigo dramatically exclaimed, clutching at his heart. “How will I ever recover?”

Dabi stepped forward to press a brief kiss against Keigo’s lips. “You’ll live,” he murmured with an undeniably fond voice.

“Hmph!” Keigo tried to pout about it, but the smile tugging at his lips kept it from being convincing. He gave up after Dabi sidled up to him and laced their fingers together, though Dabi noticed that he seemed a bit nervous about his talons being so close to someone else.

‘Guess he’s still adjusting to being around people without the gloves.’

“You mind if we go to your room for a little bit? I’ve got something I wanna give you, and it’d be nice to catch up too.” 

Dabi hummed before nodding, ignoring the teasing snickers that rose up around them. “Of course, come on.”

The two of them walked to his room --at this point, it was really their room-- hand in hand, and it was impossible for Dabi to miss how nervous Keigo was about whatever he wanted them to talk about. He raised the temperature of his right hand just a little bit, careful to keep it from being uncomfortable, as he rubbed comforting circles on the back of Keigo’s hand.

“It’ll be alright, pretty bird.” And it would be. There was very little that Dabi wouldn’t do to make Keigo’s life easier. Whatever was bothering him would be dealt with eventually, one way or another.

“Yeah,” Keigo said with a soft chuckle, relaxing slightly, though not completely, for the rest of the way. Once they were in their room, Dabi closed the door behind them and they both got settled on the bed.

“What’s eating at you, Keigo?”

Keigo sighed before crawling into Dabi’s lap and laying his head against Dabi’s chest, wrapping his wings around them both. He would be concerningly light if he hadn’t already told Dabi that he had hollow bones that made it easier for him to fly.

“Just some stuff that came up when I was talking with Rumi. I’m hoping that she’ll keep looking into the Commission even once they know I’m a traitor, but that doesn’t make it any easier to talk about what they did, you know?”

Dabi started running his hand through Keigo’s hair, lightly massaging his scalp and getting a coo in response. Keigo melted further into the touch before he continued, and he was noticeably less tense now than he was earlier.

“And then I realized that we haven’t talked about what happened to us. We don’t have to if you don’t want to or aren’t ready, but I thought that we should probably talk about triggers, at least.”

‘He’s right. Things have been so busy that we haven’t really got to sit down and have a serious conversation like this. We need to if we want this to last.’ Dabi nodded before realizing that Keigo’s current position kept him from seeing that movement. He chuckled and said, “I’m fine with talking about it, all of it. This’ll be a real ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ thing, huh? Just with trauma.”

Keigo snorted at that. “Yeah, it will be.”

“Do you want me to go first? From the sounds of it, you’ve already had a rough day, and I’m sure that you have questions.”

“If you’re sure… How young were you? When you started training.”

“Three. I’m pretty sure that it was the day my quirk manifested, actually.” Dabi could hear the sound of rustling feathers that sharpened out of reflex, and they reminded him of the noise that sharpening knives made. He’d gotten rather used to that sound by spending time with Himiko and Spinner.

Keigo relaxed again with a heavy sigh. “Why am I not surprised? How… Do you mind telling me about your mother? You speak more fondly of her, but there’s pain there too.”

“She… did her best. It wasn’t enough in a lot of ways, but I also don’t really blame her for it. I know exactly how likely people were to believe her, after all. I miss her, but I’m also afraid of scaring her. She thought that I was Endeavor once, you know? Was begging me to not touch her, and that’s how I figured out exactly how my siblings and I had all been born.”

They sat in silence for several moments before Keigo let out a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry, Touya. That sounds horrifying.”

“I hate my fucking hair color. I hate looking anything like him.”

“Are you going to dye it back?”

“I want to, but I don’t want to make it easy for people to pretend that nothing has changed. Once they’ve all actually accepted who I am, the black hair will be coming back.”

Keigo hummed at that, reaching up and running his fingers through Dabi’s hair. “Black hair looks good on you. Not that the red looks bad, but I still miss it.”

Dabi snorted and said, “You and me both, pretty bird.”

“Is there anything that you need me to avoid saying or doing?”

“Most of my triggers are physical, honestly. I don’t do well with sudden, jerking movements, but you’ve already been good about avoiding those. I understand that if I do something wrong we’ll need to talk about it, but please don’t belittle me. We’re both bound to fuck up eventually; I don’t want us to yell at each other or talk down to each other, you know? And hands near my neck are a whole thing that I can’t deal with. I think that’s it.”

“I don’t do well with the sudden movements thing either, but you already noticed that. I don’t do well with being talked to like that either, so you’ll hear no complaints from me on that front. And I can definitely avoid your neck too; I can wrap my arms around other parts of you just fine. On my end, the only thing different from yours is that I really don’t do well with alcohol. I won’t stop you from drinking it or anything, but I can’t stick around if you’re going to get wasted.”

“I don’t drink anyway, Keigo, so you don’t have to worry about it. I’ll make sure to give you a heads up if any of the rest are drinking, though.”

Keigo cooed at him, sounding so genuinely pleased that Dabi blushed. “How’d I get so lucky with you, huh? You’re such a sweetheart.”

“I’m just… I wanna do this right. You deserve to be treated well, Kei. Better than I could ever treat you.”

Careful hands rested against his cheeks as Keigo made Dabi look him in the eye. “None of that. You’re enough, Touya. You’re more than enough.”

Keigo leaned in, and when they kissed, it was like fire was running through Dabi’s veins. For half a second, he was genuinely concerned that he might have activated his quirk. ‘This is either going to get really awkward or really heated before much longer, considering the way that he’s sitting on me.’

Thankfully, his boyfriend pulled back before that could become an issue. “I love you, understand? And I don’t say that lightly, Tou.”

“I love you too.” Dabi felt giddy every time that he said that, smiling so widely that he honestly worried that he might tear a staple. He blinked when the rest of Keigo’s sentence registered through that happy, fuzzy feeling. “Tou?”

“Yep! You light up my life, after all. Besides, you called me Kei first.”

Had he? Dabi hadn’t even realized that. He flushed with embarrassment before asking, “Is that okay?”

“Mhmn,” Keigo hummed with a grin. “I like it! More people are calling me Keigo now, so it’s nice having something that’s just for you.”

‘He’s going to be the death of me.’ Dabi couldn’t disagree though; his heart fluttered dangerously when Keigo called him Tou, and he suspected that he’d be feeling that way for a long time to come.

“Guess it’s my turn then, huh?”

“You don’t have to, Kei. We can always talk about it later.”

“I know, but I want you to know. I’ll stop if it becomes too much, okay?”

Keigo understood his own limits best, so Dabi just nodded and gave him his full attention. He gently took Keigo’s hands into his own, reassuring him that he wasn’t alone or back in whatever place this conversation may take his thoughts.

“What do you already know? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Not much. I only have a vague idea of the timeline, not any details. Things just felt off enough that I worried about how they treated you, especially after…” One of the few things they had already discussed was what Keigo heard when Dabi went to talk to the Commission president, so he knew exactly what Dabi was talking about.

“Okay. I’ll fill in some of those blanks then. The Commission didn’t like… threaten my mother into compliance or deceive her or anything; they were pretty upfront about what them training me would entail. She just liked the check that came with it enough, or hated me enough; I don’t know, to do it anyway.”

‘Well, that’s another person on my shitlist. How could someone literally sell their child?’

“I’m sorry, Kei. You deserve so much better than that.”

Keigo’s sigh was a shaky, uncertain thing, but he eventually nodded. “I used to blame myself for it, but I’m truly beginning to believe that I didn’t deserve it now.” He took back one hand and wiped his eyes, shuddering as he leaned in and rested his head against Dabi’s shoulder.

“The Commission was ruthless from the beginning. I trained while blindfolded to heighten my feathers’ senses, fought with broken bones and torture wounds, supplied so generously by my torture resistance training, and learned to manipulate and deceive people from a young age. They just didn’t realize that they’d made a mistake with that last one.” Keigo chuckled as he laced both of their hands together again.

“I knew how to deal with people who loathed me or wanted to use me, but people like you? You were kind to me and didn’t expect anything in return. You hoped that I might join you, yes, but you weren’t going to force it. You wanted me to choose for myself. I never got to choose for myself, never. I didn’t know how to handle it, and I crumbled.”

Dabi’s eyes softened as he lifted Keigo’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “I’d apologize for that but…”

“I needed it. I would’ve lost myself to them eventually, I think. I never believed that I could truly be free of them, not until meeting you. Thank you for helping me see that.” Keigo’s wings shifted, exposing the two of them to the light in the room again.

Dabi watched as one of Keigo’s feathers darted off to grab the bag that Keigo had brought into their room, dropping it between them as Keigo scooted back and settled down on the bed again. “It’s not much, but I wanted to get you a little something while I still can.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Dabi murmured, reaching into the bag and feeling delighted when he felt a familiar, soft texture. He pulled out a giant stuffed cardinal, the same size as the dragon that Natsuo bought for him, that had tiny, fluffy red wings, and he hugged it close with a smile. His other hand pulled out a Hawks blanket, and Dabi snorted at that. 

“I love them both. Thank you, Kei.” The blanket was surprisingly soft too, and Dabi had never bothered with getting himself one before; he ran warm enough that it wasn’t needed for him like it was for the others. 

“I just wanted to make our nest more comfortable, you know? I don’t get to be here with you as much as I’d like, and you’re my mate. I want to take care of you.”

“So long as you let me take care of you too, pretty bird.”

Keigo chirped as his wings fluttered, obviously pleased by that, and he nodded. “You do more than you realize, but I’ll never turn that offer down. You know, speaking of taking care of you…”

Dabi watched as red spread across Keigo’s face, and he got an idea of where this was going. “I don’t want to push you or for you to think that I’m trying to rush this, but I figured that we should probably talk about what is and isn’t on the table, you know? I don’t want us to get carried away one day and have someone get hurt because of it.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. People can agree to things that they usually wouldn’t in the heat of the moment, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you.” Dabi was terrified of being that kind of person. He’d do anything that he could to avoid it, even if it meant having a very awkward sex talk with his boyfriend.

“Okay, okay. Um, do you have any preferences?”

‘I’m surprised that he’s beating around the bush this much when he’s the one that brought it up, but I guess that he wouldn’t have much experience with this either, huh? At least I had someone to give me the talk. Would the Commission even do that much? Or does he just know what he learned from himself?’

“That depends on what you mean by that. If you mean do I prefer topping or bottoming, then I wouldn’t really know, but I don’t think I’d mind either. The positioning for the former would have to be pretty specific to keep me from tearing anything, but it should be workable. If you’re asking for kinks, then I know that praise is definitely one of them. On the opposite end of that spectrum, degradation is right out; I don’t care if it’s just sexy talk or whatever. I don’t want to be insulted when I’m being vulnerable with somebody.”

Keigo’s face steadily grew redder as Dabi talked, but he nodded along and made it clear that he was listening nonetheless. His wings fluffed up a bit, rustling before he coughed slightly and began to speak.

“So you haven’t either, huh? Guess we’ve both been kinda busy...” Keigo hummed before continuing, “I don’t think that I’d mind either way either, so that’s good. I, um, can’t really think of too many issues with positions. Just… laying on my back is uncomfortable and I might accidentally smack you with my wings if we aren’t facing each other while I’m…”

‘I don’t think that I’ve ever seen him so tongue-tied before. It’s cute.’

Keigo cleared his throat and then said, “Anyway, I’m probably the same about praise, and I definitely don’t mind giving it out. Feel the same about degradation too. We can figure the rest out as we go.”

“Sounds good then. Thank you for telling me, Kei. I know that it was difficult for you. People don’t exactly censor themselves on the streets, so for all that I lack experience…”

“You’ve heard plenty,” Keigo chuckled. “That makes me feel a bit better about it, thank you.”

“Of course, pretty bird.”

The two of them laid together for a while after that, cuddling and basking in the presence of their partner. A sigh from Keigo broke that silence eventually, and Dabi looked over at his boyfriend with a questioning hum.

“I wish that I could stay. I’m already on thin ice though, so if I don’t go back to the apartment when I have no real reason to be away from it…”

“Soon, Kei. Soon.” Dabi leaned forward to press a kiss to Keigo’s forehead, and the rumbling coo he got in response brought a smile to his face before he could even pull back. 

“I know. And Shigaraki reminded me that I don’t have to stay with them, but I want to make sure that they get enough evidence on Endeavor to make something stick before I dip. No need to risk him getting off because they’re chasing after me instead, you know? I don’t want to do that to you.”

“And I appreciate that. Just remember that your safety comes first, okay?”

Keigo nodded, and with one last, lingering kiss, he shuffled out of their room and went to go talk to Kurogiri. Dabi took the tags off the Hawks blanket and immediately spread it across their bed, clutching the stuffed cardinal to his chest when he laid back down on it.

Dabi felt a pang in his chest, flushing as he realized just how quick he was to miss his boyfriend once he was gone. ‘I’ll see him again soon. I just have to be patient. At least I have something here to remind me of him now…’

Dabi wondered if Keigo had realized just how terrified Dabi was of being left behind, of being forgotten, or if the gifts had just been a happy accident that reassured him that he wouldn’t be, not if Keigo had any say in the matter.

Chapter Text

This meeting was the last one that all of the heroes on the Endeavor case would have before the trial, and Keigo was barely keeping his Hawks mask in place as they compiled all of the evidence that would be presented at court two days from now.

“This isn’t enough,” he muttered, and the exhausted faces all around him told Keigo that they all knew it too.

Eraserhead sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “If it wasn’t for Shouto, then we wouldn’t even have enough to prosecute him for child abuse. His tracks were covered well.” 

None of them believed that Endeavor had been able to hide everything on his own, but not even digging into financial records or medical visits could prove anything outside of the ordinary. A few quirk accidents were normal for children, especially ones with quirks as destructive as Touya and Shouto. ‘And if they can excuse something he did, then they’re going to. They don’t want to lose another number one so quickly.’

Keigo almost felt bad for knowing that they’d lose a third number one after Endeavor was convicted. ‘And if Best Jeanist is still out of the picture at that point…’

“We are quite fortunate that Dabi started taking those photos at all. It would be difficult to keep Shouto out of Endeavor’s custody without them, especially with the dorm system in place. We’d have no reason to argue that he couldn’t ever visit, and it would be easy for him to be pressured into doing so.” Nezu’s declaration made several heroes shift uncomfortably, but they knew that he was right.

Present Mic sighed before asking, “Can we even get him for spousal abuse?”

Fat Gum looked heartbroken as he shook his head. “No, we can’t. Dabi never took any photos of Rei’s injuries, and her testimony isn’t admissible in court.”

“We can’t even add quirk trafficking to his sentence, unfortunately. Rei’s parents were struggling before she got married, and any good lawyer would argue that he was supporting his wife’s family with those payments. Even if Tsukauchi was there, that would still be true enough that we couldn’t prove he was lying.” Nighteye was the most familiar with court proceedings of all of them, and his bleak outlook on this only made Keigo’s heart sink further.

“But we have Shouto’s testimony, right?! Surely that counts for something.” Rumi’s voice was shaky when she said it, and it was likely that she already knew, deep down, that she was grasping at straws.

“He was too young when the big stuff happened. The photos make the abuse indisputable, but everything else? They could argue that he was being fed stories by his siblings, and now that they’ve all run off and joined the League…” Rock Lock sighed and looked to the floor. “Their word doesn’t mean anything either. Is it really so easy for someone to get away with this?”

“Yes, it is,” Eraserhead said immediately, and Keigo was glad that he didn’t have to be the one to say it. “If it wasn’t, then I doubt that Dabi would have ever resorted to such drastic measures.”

And that was something that none of them could deny. For all that the rest of them still called Touya Dabi and regarded him as a villain, they were at least acknowledging how he had gotten to that point. 

“Between listening to Rei and Shouto talk about how he used to be… I have to agree,” Tsukauchi said with a sigh.

“That doesn’t change the fact that we have to take him down now,” Gran Torino grumbled, and he was quickly earning a place on Keigo’s shitlist for his stubborn ways.

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time, yeah? The Endeavor thing is a bit more time-sensitive.” Keigo couldn’t quite keep the derision out of his voice, but tensions were high enough that it would be brushed off. Hopefully.

“Hawks is correct. We need to ensure that we don’t send Shouto back into the lion’s den. I don’t wish to say this of my own student, but it might be the last push he’d need to join his siblings,” Nezu’s statement quieted them all, and All Might was quick to agree.

“You’re right. We need to make sure that we don’t fail young Shouto any more than we already have.”

Tsukauchi sighed before clearing his throat and speaking to the room, “Let’s go over this one last time then.”

-

Shouto felt like he was going to be sick. He was walking into a room full of people that would decide whether or not his father had done anything wrong, and he’d heard his teachers talking, even though they tried to keep him away from the last meeting. They didn’t have much evidence.

He tried not to hold it against UA or the heroes that helped look into this case, but it bothered Shouto that the only reason they were taking Endeavor to court at all was because of Touya. It bothered him that the only solid evidence they had was because of Touya.

‘Heroes, as a profession, are reactionary. They never address a problem until they’re hit upside the head with it, and even then they ignore what caused it.’ Shigaraki’s words echoed in his head, and Shouto desperately tried to quiet it as he took his seat and took a deep, steadying breath.

He watched as his father was escorted into the room, and this was the first time that Shouto had seen the scar that Touya --or technically, the nomu-- had given Endeavor. It was a long, jagged scar that was impossible to miss, and Shouto tamped down the brief flare of satisfaction that he felt when he saw it.

“All rise.”

Everyone in the room stood up in near-unison. Shouto felt like his knees were going to give out on him. There were so many people in this room, and the ones who weren’t looking directly at his father were looking at him. 

“You may be seated.” Everyone settled back down. “We’re all present for the case of Endeavor vs UA. The defendant has access to civil representation and an impartial jury. How does the defendant plead to the charge of child abuse?”

Endeavor’s lawyer cleared his throat, and he looked like exactly the kind of slimy, untrustworthy person that would work with his father even without the massive paycheck attached to it. “Not guilty, your honor.”

Shouto wished that he could be surprised, but he just wasn’t. Endeavor had shown no real signs of changing, and this was only further proof of that to him.

“Understood. What evidence does the plaintiff submit to the court?”

Nezu was the one who was doing most of the talking, he hadn’t been surprised at all to find out that he was a practicing lawyer, and Shouto was immensely glad for that. “Photo documentation of the abuse, your honor, alongside what they were originally taken with. The oldest photo is dated at over eleven years ago and the most recent at a couple of months ago. In addition, we have the audio log of Shouto Todoroki’s testimony.”

Printed copies of the photos were passed around to the jury, and Shouto noticed that a few of them blanched at what they saw. The camera and recorder were handed directly to the judge.

“The court accepts your evidence. Prosecution, would you call the witness to the stand?"

Nezu glanced at Shouto before saying, “Shouto Todoroki, please take the stand.” He did so, trying to ignore the way that he shook slightly as he stared across the room into his father’s furious eyes.

“Prosecution, you may ask the witness your questions.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Nezu said before moving around to stand in front of Shouto, using the stand itself as a podium and allowing Shouto to step back and breathe for a moment. It gave him a chance to focus on someone who wasn’t his father.

“You ready?”

Shouto nodded.

“How old were you when your father started training you for heroism, Shouto?”

“Four.” Shouto was glad that Nezu had already told him that his curt way of speaking, especially when he was nervous, would be beneficial here. The less that he said while still answering the questions, the less that the other side would be able to twist his words.

“What did that training entail?"

“Quirk training. Producing as much fire and ice as possible. Hand-to-hand too. I was usually on the floor heaving before long.”

“Did he ever hurt you outside of training?”

“Yes.”

“How frequently?”

“A little less than half of the pictures show injuries that weren’t from training.” Shouto was grateful to both Touya and Natsuo for documenting whenever that was the case. At least no one would be able to say that Endeavor just got overzealous during training, that he didn’t ever mean to hurt Shouto.

“When was the last time that he trained you?”

“The day before I moved into the dorms at UA.”

“Thank you, Shouto.” Nezu hopped down and moved behind him, and Shouto found himself glad for his resting poker face when he saw the way that his father’s lawyer was looking at him. 

‘I know that Nezu didn’t want to give them too much to work with when the pictures speak for themselves, but was that enough?’

“The defense may now ask the witness their questions.”

The smarmy man walked up to Shouto’s podium with a “Thank you, your honor” that sounded so fake that Shouto shuddered.

“Did your father up the intensity of your training over time?”

‘Stay concise. Don’t let him make me say something that I don’t mean.’

“Yes.”

“So he made sure not to overwhelm you with more than you can handle?”

“No."

The man’s eyebrow twitched. “Elaborate, please.”

“I was beaten so badly that I couldn’t move some days. He didn’t adjust to allow me to grow; he adjusted because it took more effort to put me on the floor as the years went on.”

“Do you not think that he was just preparing you for the world of heroism? It’s a very intense field, you know.”

“No."

“And why is that?”

“He never taught me control.”

The man across from Shouto blinked. “What do you mean by that?”

“I was only ever taught to use more power. The upper limit of my quirk is difficult to reach. I didn’t need more power; I needed more control. My father didn’t teach me how to protect people. He taught me how to hurt them.”

And that was the truth. He didn’t need to be able to set entire blocks on fire or create gigantic glaciers; it wasn’t practical for him to do that in most situations. He needed to learn fine control, and that was something that neither his mother nor Touya had been around to teach him for long.

“Can you say for certain that neither of your brothers doctored these photos? After all, they’ve both shown that they’re not above villainy.”

“Yes.”

“Then explain that certainty to me.”

“The past two years of photos were mine. The seven before that were Natsuo’s. Then almost three years of photos before that were Touya’s. We all used the same camera to take them.” It was an old camera, but the Shouto and his brothers had taken good care of it. They had wanted all the evidence to be in one place.

“They still could have doctored the photos on a computer and saved over the originals.” 

“No, they couldn’t have.”

“And why is that?”

“Editing photos with that level of detail takes a long time. After Touya tried to turn him in the first time, our father monitored our activity very closely. None of us were allowed to be on the computer for long enough to alter so many photos, nor did we have any programs like that to begin with, and Touya only got the opportunity to report our father because he was already expected to go out and get groceries. It wasn’t weird for him to leave the house.”

“Your honor, I motion to have Shouto Todoroki dismissed as an unreliable witness. He clearly idolized his siblings, and that has distorted his memories of them.”

Shouto froze. ‘Can they do that? It seems like a desperate move, but I know that my mother was considered an unreliable witness for this…’

“Motion denied.” He stifled his sigh of relief, watching his father’s lawyer twitch with restrained rage. “Does the defense have any more questions?”

“No, your honor.”

“Then both you and the witness may return to your seats.” 

Shouto did so immediately, barely avoiding stumbling as he sat down.

“In cases that involve minors, we do allow the plaintiff to step outside of the room while presenting evidence to the jury. Do you wish to do so before we play your testimony and discuss the photographs in more detail?”

Shouto glanced up at the judge, and while she seemed to be remaining impartial to the best of her abilities, there was a hint of pity in her eyes. ‘She might actually believe me.’

He gave a shaky nod. Shouto didn’t want to even be in the same room as his father when they played that audio; he had been entirely too candid about what happened in that house.

“Eraserhead, as his temporary guardian, will you escort him outside?”

His teacher stood up and gently rested his hand on Shouto’s shoulder. “Come on, kid.”

The two of them walked outside of the courtroom, and Shouto desperately tried to keep himself from hyperventilating as he slid down the wall outside of it. Even once he was able to steady his breath, everything felt fuzzy and distant. He could barely hear Aizawa talking to him, blinking rapidly when his teacher crouched down to talk to him.

One of the security guards was standing next to Aizawa, looking at Shouto with concern. “You back with us?” They sounded oddly worried for someone who didn’t know him.

Aizawa looked at the security guard and rolled his eyes before turning to Shouto and speaking in a cautious voice. “You’ve been out of it for a bit, kid. They’re calling us back in for a verdict.”

“Oh…” It wasn’t uncommon for Shouto to check out when he couldn’t deal with something, Natsuo had told him that he was probably dissociating, but he always felt off-balance when he lost time like this. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?”

Shouto nodded. He needed to hear it happen in person; he had already missed too much as it was. Aizawa helped him stand to his feet and steadied him as he swayed, gently leading him back into the courtroom. The hairs on the back of Shouto’s neck bristled under the weight of everyone’s gazes. 

He sat down and waited, tensing up more and more as he waited on the room to quiet. Once it did, the judge cleared her throat before she started speaking.

“We’ve come to a verdict. In a vote of thirteen to eight, the court finds Endeavor guilty of felony child abuse. His hero license has been permanently revoked, custody of Shouto Todoroki has been awarded to UA, and Endeavor will serve five years in federal prison with the possibility for parole in three. Damages will be paid to Shouto Todoroki and held in a trust until he turns eighteen.”

‘That… that’s it?’ Shouto was grateful that Endeavor would never be a hero again, that no one would be able to deny what had happened to them all, but five years felt like a slap in the face. ‘Mom’s been stuck in a mental ward because of him for twice that long. He’s been hurting his family for five times that long. And he can still get out even earlier than that.’ 

Shouto finally understood why Touya had given up on the system entirely. He kept a carefully neutral face, but on the inside, he burned with rage.

-

When Himiko came back to the base with a complicated expression, Dabi knew that the trial had gone about as well as he expected it to. She looked a few seconds away from tears, so Dabi offered her a hug that she immediately ran into. Natsuo and Fuyumi both looked just as distraught as Himiko did, and the rest of the League members, minus Gigantomachia and Keigo, watched on with concern.

“Please tell me that the bastard at least got convicted,” Natsuo pleaded. Himiko stepped back, collected herself, and nodded.

“Yeah. They got him on child abuse but… The good news is that he’ll never be a hero again and that he lost custody of Shouto. The bad news is that he's only getting five years, three if he cooperates.”

Dabi had expected something like that, but it didn’t make hearing it any easier. Knowing that he’d get life in Tartarus just for being part of the League --hell, Fuyumi would too, and all she had done so far was separate him and Endeavor-- made it difficult to accept that the man who’d pushed him this far was getting a slap on the wrist in comparison. He sighed.

“I honestly expected that they would just suspend his license and have him do sensitivity training once he got out, so at least this is something. He can’t just pretend it never happened a few years from now.”

“It’s not enough!” Natsuo’s voice was anguished, and while he was the first one to let tears streak down his face, he was far from the only one. They had all expected this, but they had still hoped for better.

Hope could be a devastating thing.

“No, it isn’t,” Shigaraki agreed, resting one of his hands,  he had recently started wearing painter’s gloves that kept him from decaying anything he didn’t want to, on Natsuo’s shoulder. “We won’t let them get away with it. Endeavor won’t have a place to return to in the society that we’ll create while he’s behind bars.”

“Precisely. This is only further motivation to ensure that things change, and I have no doubt that the same people that have been crying for his arrest will see that this wasn’t an adequate response,” Kurogiri reassured. “I despise that we’ll all be forced to keep struggling against the tide, but I do not believe that we’ll be the only ones doing so.”

Spinner nodded before saying, “People were already riled up after Stain, and Dabi revealing Endeavor for the monster he is almost sparked riots. Now that he’s been convicted of it…”

“It makes it real. Even the people who don’t want to believe it will have to accept that it happened,” Magne concluded.

“And the League will not fade into the shadows either. As the ones that dragged his crimes into the light of day, our actions will keep this injustice on the minds of each and every civilian. I would even argue that many heroes will be unable to forget it. Our rage will become their rage and their rage will become our revolution.” 

Dabi felt a smile spreading across his face at Mr. Compress’s words, and everyone else was beginning to look tentatively hopeful as well.

“We’re not done yet. This feels like an ending, a tragedy, right now, but we just have to turn it into a new beginning.” Fuyumi looked determined as she said this, and Dabi was so proud of how far his sister had already come. She had taken to training with a fierce determination that was similar to his own. She didn’t just get along with the League. At this point, she was truly one of them.

“Cheers to that,” Eria said with a chuckle, and Dabi looked down at Himiko with a wondering hum.

“Was Shouto doing alright? Today had to be hard on him.” Even the members outside of his group of siblings became more alert when he asked that.

“It definitely was,” Himiko sighed. “I’m really glad that security guard let me take his place today. After he was questioned, Shouto stepped out for a while, and he was really out of it. Eraserhead helped him, but he just… Shouto was unresponsive for almost an hour.”

“He was dissociating again, huh?” Natsuo leaned back against the wall with a sigh. “Was he alright after? That’s a long episode for him.”

“He was unsteady, but he didn’t look too bad until he heard the verdict. The look on his face… he looked like he was ready to scream at the injustice. Shouto was furious enough that I could see him clenching his jaw, and you know how good he is at hiding his emotions!”

‘That’s… concerning. I know that he has a lot of pent-up anger in him, but I hope that he doesn’t do anything stupid. He doesn’t have to be involved in this.’ But, deep down, Dabi knew that Shouto would find a way to be, one way or another.

They were both terrible at letting things go. He’d have to ask Keigo to keep an eye on him while he still could.

-

Shouto saw several articles discussing Endeavor’s trial when he woke up, and reading the comments was a mistake that had him seething.

When it came to opinions on Endeavor, there were three types of people right now. The first group of people was just as furious as Shouto was about Endeavor getting off so lightly, but a lot of them were being dismissed as villain sympathizers. 

The second group of people accepted Endeavor’s conviction quite easily, but they also seemed to believe that preventing him from being a hero again was punishment enough. Shouto could understand where they were coming from, but that didn’t make it any less irritating. His family had suffered for far longer than five years, and Shouto had no faith that Endeavor would leave them alone and fade into obscurity once he was out of prison.

The third group of people was the group that made Shouto understand Touya’s penchant for arson. They were rabid Endeavor defenders who swore up and down that he never would have done these things, and these same people loved calling Shouto a spoiled and privileged brat who was squandering the advantages he had in life for five minutes of fame. It didn’t matter that Endeavor had been convicted; this group found it easier to deny it, so deny it they did.

Shouto had been excused from classes to give him time to recover, and while he knew that his teachers meant well, he desperately wished that he had some sort of distraction from his thoughts. 

He hadn’t expected that distraction to come in the form of Hawks knocking on his dorm room’s door.

“Hey. Was visiting Eri today, so I thought that I’d stop by and check in on you. Are you doing alright?” The look Hawks was giving him told Shouto that he already knew the answer to that question, but he appreciated that the hero was letting him choose whether or not to talk about it.

“No, I’m really not.” Maybe it was just because of the lecture that Hawks had given them, but it was surprisingly easy for Shouto to be honest with the hero. Something about the way that Hawks talked about villains and their society struck a chord with Shouto, with practically the entire class, and Shouto wondered if Hawks might actually support what 1-A was planning to do.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured… Do you want to talk about it? Or for me to get someone else for you to talk to?”

Shouto paused before motioning for Hawks to come in and sit down. He was momentarily surprised by the fact that Hawks sat on the floor instead of on the chair, but one look at large, red wings made Shouto realize why he had done so.

‘Huh. I guess chairs would be a hassle for him. 

“So, what’s eating at you?” Hawks looked genuinely concerned about Shouto’s wellbeing, and maybe that in combination with the budding trust that Shouto had in him was what had him saying “Touya” before he could think better of it.

He tensed immediately afterward, but Hawks just gave him a rueful smile and nodded. “Yeah, I bet. He’s your brother; I’m not gonna give you a hard time for caring about him.”

Shouto would be willing to bet that most people wouldn’t be so understanding, but it did give him a better idea of where Hawks stood in all of this. “Hawks… Based on your own requirements, do you think that Touya is a real villain?”

“No.” The answer was immediate, and Shouto looked at him with something like hope. “I don’t even think that I’d classify him as a desperate villain. Your brother was failed on every possible level and he still wound up having Endeavor dealt with in a legal way. You and I both know how easy it would’ve been for the League to kill Endeavor at High-End.”

Shouto nodded. Even with as much as they’d been holding back, Endeavor still could’ve died if he hadn’t been treated quickly enough. “Is it bad that I kind of wish they had?”

“Only if it’s bad for me to agree with you,” Hawks said with a sigh. “Considering all that he’s done, Endeavor’s sentence is a fucking joke. I’m sorry; you deserve better.”

Had an adult ever said that to him before? Aizawa was close when he apologized for not being able to do more, but Shouto doesn’t think that he had ever heard the words "You deserve better". 

He was used to hearing "It could be worse".

“If… if I told you something, would you promise not to tell anyone?”

Hawks nodded immediately, and he had the same serious expression on his face that Shouto first saw when he played that recording of the conversation between Touya and the Commission’s president.  “I’m good with secrets. I won’t say a word, fledgling.” 

‘He’d have to be, wouldn’t he?’ Shouto took the plunge.

“Touya was a vigilante. Before he joined the League, I mean.”

Several expressions flickered over Hawks’ face within seconds, but he eventually settled on a sad smile. “I know.”

“But the other heroes don’t,” Shouto said, blinking in confusion.

“No, they don’t. I don’t think most of them would care.”

‘But it’d be useful information for them to have which means… you actually care. You care about what happened to Touya.’

“And you do?” Shouto narrowed his eyes as he asked the question, watching as Hawks’ wings ruffled a bit.

“Yeah, I do.”

“And if I told you that I don’t want to see him arrested? That I’m starting to feel that way about the rest of the League?” This was a dangerous game that Shouto was playing, but something about the look in Hawks’ eyes told him that this was worth doing.

“Then I’d say that we seem to agree on a lot of things.”

“1-A is hoping to reform them, you know? I’m just not so sure that the members of the League are the ones who need reforming. Sometimes people refuse to listen until you make them, and I think that it’s telling that they immediately started doing good, started making changes, as soon as they had people listening.”

“You’re right,” Hawks said, and Shouto didn’t understand why it sounded like an admission until he continued. “I can’t say that members of the League are perfect people, but I can say that they aren’t bad ones. I can say that they’ve treated me with more kindness than the Commission ever has.”

‘He’s with them! He’s actually with them, and that means--’

“You care about Touya. You know him.”

“I care about all of them,” Hawks corrected. “But I love Touya.”

“Thank you,” Shouto said as tears welled up in his eyes. “For telling me. And for looking out for him. Is he… is he okay?”

“Just don’t tell anyone, yeah?” Hawks winked at him, but that didn’t erase the seriousness in his tone. Shouto needed to make sure that Hawks understood. He wanted to know more about Touya and make sure that everyone was okay; he wouldn’t risk losing that information by telling people who had never helped him anyway.

“I won’t,” Shouto promised. “I wouldn’t tell anyone no matter what.”

“Good. Then yeah, he’s doing alright. He misses you something fierce and cares about you a lot, you know? One of the first things he asked after the trial was if you were okay.”

“Really?” Shouto murmured. “I’m glad. I worried that they might have just…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Tell my siblings that I love them, okay?”

Hawks nodded with a bright, genuine smile that made Shouto realize just how fake his typical ones were. “I will. How are you feeling about the outcome of the trial?”

“It feels wrong. Over eleven years of hard work and desperation, and our father doesn’t even get half of that time in prison.”

“It is wrong, Shou-- fledgling.”

“Shouto is fine. You love my brother enough to join the League, after all.”

He heard Hawks mutter something that sounded like ‘so glad that Nezu refused to put cameras and bugs in the dorms’ before he nodded. “Shouto it is then. Listen, I can’t afford to stay around too much longer; it’ll get suspicious after a while. How about this?”

Hawks pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a number down on it before handing it over to Shouto. “This is my number, the one attached to my burner. Text your number to me and call me if there’s ever an emergency or if you need help in general. Just be careful.”

“What do I put you in as? People might ask questions if the name Hawks is in my phone.”

“Keigo Takami. Or maybe just Keigo? Guess it depends on if you usually put both names in your phone or whatever you call them by.”

Shouto just put in whatever he was calling people; it made it easier to remember who had given him permission to use their first names and who hadn’t. “You’re fine with me calling you Keigo then?”

“Yup! My flock gets to use my first name, and you’re a part of that.”

Shouto hated that Keigo had to leave so soon, but the fuzzy feeling that came with being told that he was a part of a real family --one that really cared about him, regardless of how many were technically villains-- lingered long after Keigo was gone.

‘If all else fails, then I get the impression that Keigo would stab Endeavor to death before letting him get close to me again. If my siblings don’t beat him to the punch.’

Shouto could content himself with that for now.

Chapter Text

Dabi had known that Keigo was going to check in on Shouto after he visited Eri, but he hadn’t expected that he’d tell Shouto anything, much less as much as he had. They had been laying in bed together and letting Keigo unwind after two difficult conversations --one of the teachers had finally slipped and mentioned Dabi around Eri, and she had been distraught that they weren’t letting her see him-- when he admitted that he told Shouto about being part of the League.

“I trust your judgment. I’m not going to get upset at you for telling him, Kei.”

“I promise that I’m not trying to bring him into this; he was just already talking about how 1-A wanted to reform the League and…”

Dabi pressed a kiss to Keigo’s forehead, slowly reaching out to soothe his boyfriend’s literal ruffled feathers. “It’s okay. We’ve already told you that you can stop going back whenever you want to, and Shouto wasn’t going to let this go. Besides, I really appreciate you looking out for him. Him having someone to turn to is important, and knowing that he doesn’t hate me for putting him in this position, especially after the court case, means a lot. Thank you.”

Contented chirps filled the room as Dabi transitioned from soothing Keigo’s nerves to gently straightening and preening a few unkempt feathers. Keigo had a bad habit of ignoring feather maintenance until they got all kinds of mangled, likely due to how stressful needing to preen had always been for him, but Dabi knew how much his boyfriend enjoyed it when he preened his feathers for him. Something about it being how birds bonded with their mates.

‘He’s doing so much for me. For all of us. If I can do something in return, even if it’s as small as this... ‘ 

“You’re so good to me,” Keigo murmured, looking up at him with honey eyes that made heat pool in Dabi’s gut. He cleared his throat as he flushed.

“Just trying to be as good to you as you deserve, Kei.”

Keigo cooed at him with a delighted smile, and he chuckled when Dabi averted his eyes in embarrassment. “Aww, what’s wrong, sweetheart? Getting all shy on me?”

“I… I just--” Dabi squirmed away from Keigo, and his boyfriend looked genuinely concerned now.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded, looking to the ceiling and desperately trying to will away his stirring erection. ‘Who gets all hot and bothered just because of some casual affection and being complimented? Get it together.’

Someone who wasn’t used to either of those things, probably.

Keigo looked him up and down, eyes narrowing further at just how red Dabi’s face was getting. His eyes lit up with realization before he said, “Oh, Tou… You don’t have to get embarrassed by that; it’s totally natural. Whether you want to try something or just cuddle and leave it be, you don’t have to shy away from me, okay? Just tell me what you want.”

“I want to try,” Dabi mumbled, barely audible to his own ears. “I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

“You could never disappoint me.” Keigo locked eyes with him as he cradled Dabi’s face with his hands, carefully keeping his talons away from any staples. “But that insecurity comes from somewhere. Do you want to talk about it first?”

“It’s just… look at you and then look at me! You haven’t even seen all my scars yet. And I’ve usually got a pretty low libido, so I don’t even have much experience with myself. Didn’t really have the privacy to feel comfortable enough to do that before joining the League, and haven’t felt the need to do so much since that point. What if I’m too quick or--”

A short trill rose from Keigo’s throat, and Dabi hadn’t ever heard that sound from him before. Wings fluttered as Keigo leaned in close, and blond, windswept hair tickled his face as Keigo pressed brief kisses all over it.

“You’re beautiful, Tou, and no amount of scarring could change that. Scars don’t make you ugly,” Keigo’s eyes bored into Dabi’s own while he said this, pleading for Dabi to understand what he was saying.

“And I have no expectations of you when it comes to this sort of thing, okay? We can explore each other and have fun and there’s no pressure at all. If either, or both, of us comes really fast, then that’s fine. If we just explore each other and neither of us comes at all, then that’s also fine. I love you. I just want to make you feel good, Tou.”

Dabi knew that if he could still cry, he would be right now. Either way, his chest still spasmed with repressed sobs, and if the way that Keigo held him even closer was any indication, he had noticed it too. 

“I love you. Love you, love you, love you,” Dabi chanted as he clutched onto Keigo’s jacket, trying to tug it off. Keigo gently worked his hand through recently redyed hair, cooing and encouraging Dabi to melt into the touch and breathe for a moment.

“Love you too; it’s okay. Take a few deep breaths for me. I don’t want you to leap into this. There’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart.”

“Sorry. ‘M sorry,” Dabi mumbled as he leaned into Keigo’s hand, shoulders slumping.

“Shh, it’s okay. C’mere, let me hold you.”

Dabi scooted closer to Keigo’s side of their bed, and his boyfriend wrapped his arms around Dabi as soon as he was within reach. They laid there for a while, taking comfort in being around one of the few people that they could truly let their guards down with. Keigo murmured nonsensical, soothing things as Dabi sank further into his arms, and their idyllic moment was only interrupted when Dabi leaned forward to press a kiss against Keigo’s neck.

Bright red feathers fluffed out as Keigo’s eyes pinned, looking at Dabi with an intensity that made him squirm. “Are you sure?”

His body certainly was, but Dabi knew that wasn’t what Keigo was asking. “I’m sure, pretty bird. Trust you.”

A feather darted off to the door and locked it, and the look Keigo was giving him was nothing short of ravenous. “Let’s get you comfortable then, hm?”

Keigo shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to the side before reaching for Dabi’s, and Dabi was quick to sit up and help him take it off. 

“I feel like I don’t emphasize how good you look in v-necks nearly enough.” Wisps of steam visibly floated up from Dabi’s grafts, and he fought the desire to hide his face as Keigo leered at him. “Bet you’ll look even better out of them.”

‘He’s going to fucking kill me.’

“You planning on testing your theory?” Dabi aimed for sounding unaffected, but he didn’t need to watch Keigo’s expression to know that he didn’t quite hit the mark. Keigo gave him a searching look, Dabi nodded, and Dabi’s shirt joined their jackets on the floor.

Keigo’s breath hitched, and Dabi muffled a snort behind his hand as he watched Keigo’s eyes start pinning again, fixating on the twin gleams of silver on his chest. “Gorgeous…”

Dabi chuckled even as his face grew redder, a smirk spreading across his face as he said, “If you like those so much, then just wait until you see the rest of them.”

“The rest of…?” Keigo’s eyes widened. “Did you really? Didn’t that hurt?”

“Yes, I did, and it didn’t really hurt me. I know that it can, but between my pain threshold and Doc letting me crash with her for a while so that I could take care of them... The recovery period wasn’t bad at all.” Dabi didn’t want to think about the nightmare that taking care of all of his new piercings would’ve been if he and Eria had been on the streets while he recovered from them. He was lucky that he wasn’t a prominent enough vigilante at that point to be missed when he vanished for a few months.

“Holy shit. Can I…?” Keigo rested his hands on Dabi’s thighs, looking up to him in question. 

Dabi flushed at Keigo’s clear eagerness --his feathers were outright vibrating as his pupils shrunk and blew wide in quick succession, over and over-- before nodding. “Yeah. Just… aren’t you a bit overdressed, pretty bird? I want to see you too.”

Red feathers immediately went for the back of Keigo’s halter, and it shouldn’t have been as hot as it was to watch him throw it on the floor without his hands leaving Dabi at all. Keigo adjusted so that his feathers could take off his pants too, revealing that he was just as eager to do this as Dabi was. Somehow, Dabi’s throat felt as dry as a desert all the while his mouth was watering.

‘Fuck. Fuck, he’s beautiful.’

“You like what you see, sweetheart? Could never deny you anything like this.”

Dabi nodded as his breath hitched, but he could hear the note of insecurity in Keigo’s voice too. For all that Keigo was the more conventionally attractive of the two of them, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t be just as unsure of himself as Dabi was. He refused to let that insecurity fester.

“You’re stunning,” he affirmed. “So much so that it’s a bit intimidating.” Dabi really wasn’t sure where to start. His eyes kept darting over Keigo’s everything, but he eventually took a deep breath and settled on something that he was a bit more familiar with. 

He pulled Keigo into a filthy kiss, Keigo always paid such special attention to his tongue piercing too; it was intoxicating, and Dabi felt his heart stutter as he was pushed back down onto the mattress. They only separated to gasp for air before crashing back into each other, drowning in heat and desire and love.

Dabi shuddered when Keigo reached for his zipper, thrusting up with a desperate whine once his pants, which had become painfully restrictive at this point, were pulled down. “Fuck, Kei--”

“Shh, I’ve got you. Are you okay with me taking these off?” A brief tug on Dabi’s boxers made Keigo’s intentions clear, and he nodded shakily in response. Keigo paused before doing so, though, looking at Dabi with a tilted head. 

“How far are we…?” Dabi mumbled, trailing off once his nerves got the best of him. His body was thrumming with an intense want that made him down for just about anything at this point, but knowing would still make it easier to mentally prepare for it.

“Not going to push anything when we’re both riled up like this. Wanna jerk you off; if that’s okay with you?” Keigo was quick to soothe him, and everything felt a lot less daunting after that. This was something they both knew how to do.

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good,” Dabi whispered, and his voice was shaking in his eagerness, trembling just as much as the rest of him was.

“You got any lube?”

“Desk drawer. Bottom left.”

A feather went to retrieve it as Keigo divested him of the last of his clothing, looking at him with a smirk and no small bit of wonder in his eyes as he took everything in.

“Good boy. Doing so well for me.” Dabi went bright red as he felt himself twitch at that, finally giving in to the desire to hide his face behind his hands as he steamed more heavily. 

“God, look at you. Can’t believe you have a fucking Jacob’s Ladder.” That wasn’t the only dick piercing that Dabi had, but the four rungs of piercings were the most eye-catching and intimidating.

“I definitely want you in me at some point, damn,” Keigo whistled, and the image of that had Dabi twitching again, another bead of precome rolling down his leaking head. He sunk further into the bed. “Hey, look at me, Tou.”

Taloned hands gently moved his own, and molten honey eyes met his as Keigo cooed, “Is it too much? We can stop.”

“Please don’t. ‘S just embarrassing.”

“Don’t have to be embarrassed, sweetheart.” One of Keigo’s hands slid down from his face, skirting around his neck and stopping at one of his pierced nipples. Dabi’s breath hitched as Keigo rolled the ball piercing around with his thumb. “Love seeing you like this. Being able to see all of you. Please don’t hide your gorgeous face from me.”

Literal steam was going to start pouring from his ears at this point, but Dabi managed to fist his hands into the sheets instead. He jolted when Keigo’s hands traveled down and two feathers darted up to his nipples, and while Dabi hadn’t thought of all the applications of Keigo’s quirk in bed beforehand, he certainly was thinking about it now.

The click of Keigo opening the lube had Dabi’s eyes darting over to him, even as he panted and squirmed under the ministrations of soft, red feathers. Keigo rubbed his hands together to warm up the lube, Dabi was grateful for that; it would’ve felt especially cold with how worked up he was, and teased around his head first, roaming around for a bit before going back to the piercing there.

He would tease Keigo about his fixation on shiny things being exacerbated in this context, but forming words was a bit difficult right now. Besides, Dabi certainly wasn’t complaining. Keigo’s hand slowly worked over his shaft, slicking it up with a wide grin. He kept his touches light and teasing, and it took everything that Dabi had to not start begging. He was biting his lip so hard that it was bleeding, and Keigo’s sharp eyes didn’t fail to catch that.

A third feather separated from Keigo’s wings and moved up to Dabi’s mouth. He hummed with a questioning tilt to his head, and Keigo explained, “Don’t want you to hurt yourself, sweetheart. It’s okay if you’re not ready for me to hear everything yet, but I thought I could help. Besides…”

Keigo smirked at him as he said, “If I let myself focus on specific feathers, then they’re incredibly sensitive. Blow jobs sound like a bad idea on your end, not that I need you to do that for me, but a feather would be much more manageable and feels similar as long as you’re down for doing that. I can always just do it myself too, so no pressure.”

As hot as the image of Keigo practically sucking himself off was, Dabi wanted to make Keigo feel good too. He obediently opened his mouth and let his tongue loll out.

“Good boy.” The words were accompanied by a firmer stroke this time, and Dabi gasped at the sensation before his mouth became occupied with something else. Keigo was careful to keep all of his feathers soft, and the thought that his boyfriend could feel every hitch in his breath and suppressed whine that Dabi made right now was almost too much.

Keigo’s breaths were starting to get heavier too, puffs of air being sent so far that they brushed against Dabi’s cock. Dabi wasn’t sure when it had happened, but a fourth feather had joined the others to finally take Keigo’s boxers off so that he could stroke himself. Dabi salivated at the sight of him, redoubling his efforts as he ran his tongue up and down Keigo’s feather as he started to heat up his mouth. 

Violent swearing filled the air as Keigo’s hand faltered, and Dabi looked over to Keigo, worried that he may have heated things up too much, but the way that Keigo’s wings had spread wide, so much so that they almost spanned across the entire room, silenced that fear.

“Fuck, you--” Keigo’s words became a garbled moan as Dabi focused heat around his piercing and dragged it up the shaft of Keigo’s feather.

Any shyness that Keigo may have had about the Jacob’s Ladder vanished at that moment, and the drag of wet skin, and were there feathers too now? Dabi couldn’t bring himself to open his eyes to check, against his dick had Dabi moaning as he finally, finally let go. It only took a few moments longer for a second splatter of warmth to paint Dabi’s chest, and he slumped into the bed as the feathers --there had been five at that point, the sneaky fucker-- retreated.

“Love you, Kei.”

“Love you too, Tou. Hold on, I’ll get us cleaned up.”

Dabi whined as he went to stand up, and Keigo wound up chuckling before sending a few feathers under the door instead. Dabi didn’t care about how that might look to anyone else, the feathers would also have to bring wet washcloths back and unlock the door to keep them from getting dirty, all he cared about was the fact that Keigo was right here.

Careful hands scrubbed him clean and threw the washcloths to the side with a wet slap, and Dabi gave Keigo a questioning look. “You don’t have to leave?”

Part of why he was being so clingy was because it was rare for Keigo to get to spend the night, after all.

“I told the Commission that we were doing a stakeout tonight. I’m not going anywhere.”

Dabi practically purred with contentment then, sinking into Keigo’s side and closing his eyes. Keigo chuckled as he ran his fingers through Dabi’s hair. “Someone’s tired, huh? Rest for me. You did so well, sweetheart.”

He passed out within minutes, finally understanding what people meant when they said that they were floating on cloud nine. With Keigo by his side, Dabi wasn’t sure that he’d ever come back down.

-

Though Endeavor’s trial was over, the meetings at UA were not. Unfortunately, this meant that they were picking apart the League’s actions alongside their other investigations. He’d really hoped that they would just accept the Toga rescue for what it was, but Keigo had no such luck. 

Instead, he was sitting on a stool in the meeting room, they’d finally got around to having something he could actually sit on put in here, and desperately trying to keep himself from blowing his cover as he listened to the vitriol spewing from Gran Torino’s mouth.

“We’re already busy with the Commission and the Tsuragamae! The Togas are a fine, upstanding family and a big part of their community. I’m telling you that there’s no way this was anything but a kidnapping. Those younguns just don’t know any better!”

“People thought the same of the Todorokis, you realize?” Most of the heroes in the room, even the ones who disagreed, were content to just let Gran Torino get it out of his system, but Keigo was finished with this nonsense. 

“That was actively being covered up, and the Togas don’t have any connection to the Commission. I was on the field for decades; I know criminals when I see them.”

“Clearly, you do not.” Keigo was ready to see which of the two of them was really faster, but Fat Gum intervened.

“Hey, hey, take it easy. I know that tensions are high, but we can’t be at each other’s throats. Gran Torino is right, at least in that this is still a kidnapping regardless of intentions. Hawks, why do you feel so strongly about this incident in particular? We can’t have a civil conversation about it, and how we can anticipate what the League may do next based on it, until we understand that.”

Keigo sighed, wondering where he should start. His eyes passed over Eraserhead and he found his answer. “You know that program that the Commission wants to get Eri in, Eraser?”

“The Young Heroes Program? Yeah, why?”

Rumi tensed up, already understanding where this was going. The rest were unaware, but Eraserhead, Present Mic, and Nezu clearly suspected something, and the others were feeding off of that tension themselves.

“The Young Heroes Program is, on the tin, a program designed to give opportunities to children who want to become heroes that may not have a stable enough home or monetary situation to achieve that dream. When you look at the fine print, however, it’s the Commission’s way of gaining custody of kids who have quirks that would be particularly useful for heroics.”

Rock Lock sighed, running a hand through his hair as he said, “Quirk trafficking has gotten so much worse in recent years. It feels like there’s no end to stories like this.”

“What relevance does that have to your insistence that the Togas were abusive, Hawks?” Nighteye’s stare was piercing, and Keigo tried to keep his wings from fluffing out in an attempt to look bigger than he was. He was only marginally successful. 

“The Commission has had that program in place for the last thirty years, and I’m one of three survivors of it.”

There was a horrified silence as that sunk in. Keigo gave them all a rueful smile. “What can I say? Abused kids recognize each other. I wouldn’t trust the Toga parents with a plant.”

“Hold on, back up!” Present Mic looked distraught, and several other heroes were headed into that territory as well. “How many kids have been in that program?!”

“Hundreds. The training is brutal; you either become what they want you to become or you die. Even if they survived beyond that point, several kids opted out when they realized that things would never get better. In the only way that they could.”

“Hawks…” Rumi’s ears were flattened to her head, eyes wide with horror. He wished that he could reassure her that it wasn’t as bad as she was imagining, especially after he left so much out last time, but he couldn’t. He was trying not to lie to her unless it was strictly necessary.

“Who are the other survivors?” Eraserhead’s voice cut through the tense silence, and Keigo grimaced at the answer he’d have to give him.

“The other two survivors are… Ending, who is only still alive because he was arrested after attempting suicide via hero, and Lady Nagant, who’s locked up in Tartarus now,” Keigo sighed. “The Commission told people that she got into a fight with another hero, but truthfully, she killed the Commission’s last chairman. She wanted to know why they were sending her to kill people, often people who hadn’t even done anything wrong yet, and he didn’t like that she was questioning orders. He moved to draw a gun on her. She shot first. She ran fast and far, almost got away too, but they caught her in the end.”

Admitting all of this put a firmer target on the Commission’s back, but Keigo also knew just how bad it would look for him to say this, especially given that he couldn’t lie and say he wouldn’t have done the same that she did.

“A life of torture doesn’t inspire much loyalty; who would’ve guessed? I just betrayed the Commission more specifically.” Because that much was true. Ending obsessed over ending his own life, not caring about how he needed to achieve that, while Lady Nagant wanted to destroy hero society entirely. The League straddled very close to that line against hero society too, but Keigo, personally, was focused on the Commission itself.

It wasn’t a lie, if only barely. Tsukauchi’s lack of reaction told Keigo that it either didn’t register as one or that the man had a terrifyingly good poker face.

“That’s…” Ms. Joke clearly recognized both of those names, looking at Keigo with something akin to fear on her face. “What did the Commission do to you?”

‘Huh. So it’s already started. She sounds afraid of me, not for me.’

“I am… better than I was before, and there is very little that they didn’t do to me. Now that I’m unofficially number one, I’ll have a bit more leeway for a while, even if it’s only because they know how bad it’d look to lose another number one hero.”

“You’re behaving as if you already have an expiration date,” Nezu observed, and Keigo didn’t like how intently he was studying him.

“Every kid in that program has an expiration date. One day you’ll start being more of a hassle than an asset, and once you get to that point, you’re done for. Ending and Lady Nagant only survived their expiration dates because they made such a large scene before they were caught; a sudden disappearance would be just as suspicious for them as it would be for me right now.”

“I’m sorry, kid. You’ve been dealt a shit hand,” Gran Torino sighed, looking every bit his age right then.

“I’m making the most of it,” Keigo dismissed with a hum and a casual wave of his hand, slipping back into his more flippant persona. There were more heroes in the room who could recognize it for what it was now.

“You know that you can come to us for help, right? I will not let the Commission get away with this, Hawks.” Nezu’s look was one of a predator who had cornered their preferred prey, and given his relationship with the Commission, Keigo figured that analogy might not be too far off.

‘Either he’s so focused on tearing down the Commission that he hasn’t noticed my treachery, which is unlikely for someone as smart as he is, or he simply doesn’t care. At least not enough to do anything about it yet.’

“I appreciate that, but I’m not nearly as alone as I used to be.”

Rumi puffed up in pride, but the look that Nezu gave him only solidified Keigo’s suspicions. Nezu only chuckled and took another sip from his tea, and Keigo took that as the permission that it was.

-

A couple of days after the meeting, Keigo was hanging out with Rumi in her apartment again. She had tried to get him to tell her more about the Commission, but he refused to budge, constantly dodging her questions or avoiding the subject until she dropped it entirely.

Rumi was stubborn, but she also knew when beating against a brick wall wouldn’t do her any good. Instead, she decided to move the conversation over to something that she might actually get Keigo to talk about.

“Alright, out with it! You’ve practically been glowing for the past few days, and I know that you’re just as pissed as the rest of us about the trial. Are things going that well with your boyfriend?”

Keigo knew that he shouldn’t talk about it, not when a single slip up could expose him, but he also knew that Touya didn’t care if he talked about their relationship with Rumi; Keigo had asked. ‘I don’t know if he hopes that she’ll hesitate to fight us in the future or if he just hopes that she won’t bash me over the head right away once she finds out, but since I have his permission…’

His wings fluffed out in pride as he nodded with a grin, and Rumi’s eyes lit up with glee at what she saw in his expression.

“You were already talking mates and forever last time, so… Did you get laid, Keigo?!!” He tried not to laugh at her enthusiasm, but a snort wound up slipping out anyway. 

“Yeah, I did.”

“Hell yeah! I’m pulling the best friend card here. Come on, you’ve gotta tell me something! How was it?”

Red spread across Keigo’s face as his wings flared out slightly. It was still hard to believe just how much trust Touya had placed in him that night, and Keigo fought back a laugh when he pictured the look on Madame President’s face if she ever heard about how he had used his quirk then. He still couldn’t stop thinking about other possible applications for Dabi’s intense heat either.

‘Touya runs so warm even without actively using his quirk. Whether I was topping or bottoming there, I can only imagine how much more intense that could make things.’

A whistle snapped him out of his thoughts. “Damn, must’ve been good to get you lost in your head like that.”

“It really was,” Keigo agreed without hesitation. “I don’t even know how to describe it. He was just… beautiful.”

“Gimme some details, come on! Are you just being shy, or do you think he’d be mad if you said anything?”

“I’m just taking a minute to be in awe; hold on, damn--” Keigo cut himself off with a snort, unable to even pretend that he was bothered by it. He cleared his throat as Rumi laughed at him. “We’re still taking it fairly slow, you know? He was clearly shy about it --even more than me, somehow-- so most of what we did was about exploring and getting him comfortable.”

“Aww, that’s disgustingly cute. You’re so into him that even the awkward ‘learning each other’ thing was good, huh? That’s something to hold onto.”

Keigo nodded enthusiastically before continuing, “And he’s got piercings, Rumi! Piercings! I’m determined to get some confidence in him so that I can ride him to kingdom come.”

Rumi snorted so hard that she almost choked, wheezing at his sudden exclamation. “What kind of piercings?”

“A Prince Albert, which is nice but not what I’m most excited about, and a fucking Jacob’s Ladder. Four rows of them!”

Both of Rumi’s eyebrows lifted. “Damn. That’s definitely not the kind of piercings that I’d associate with someone like him, not from what you’ve told me. That must’ve been a pleasant surprise.”

“It really was,” Keigo agreed immediately. ‘Even if it’s not very surprising when you actually know who he is.’ His feathers fluffed up in excitement as he said, “He’s got nipple piercings too! Rumi, I couldn’t keep my hands off of him. Honestly, I didn’t have enough hands for what I wanted to do to him. Guess I’m lucky that I’ve got these.” A few feathers darted around, making it clear exactly what he meant by that.

“Get it, Keigo! All that shiny shit must make your instincts go wild, huh?” Rumi had watched him fixate on shiny rocks and jewelry far too often to not have figured that one out. He didn’t try to deny it.

“Yeah. It wasn’t the reason why any of it happened, but it took it all up a notch. It turned something that was already heated into something electric.”

“Got anything that you want to try next time? Any kinks you might’ve figured out? For yourself or the boyfriend.”

Rumi’s unabashed questioning did bring something to mind, but Keigo wasn’t sure that he should mention it. He wasn’t sure that Touya even realized how much it affected him, honestly. ‘I’ll need to talk to him about that before we do anything else. I need to make sure that I’m not crossing a boundary there.’ 

His contemplative look didn’t go unnoticed by Rumi, though. She cocked an eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently, making a circular motion with her hand as if to say ‘get on with it’.

“We talked about some stuff beforehand, you know? Some hard limits and things that we already knew that we’d be into. He was kinda nervous, so I wanted to lighten things up a bit, make him laugh.” He paused before sighing and saying, “I’m really not sure that I should tell you…”

“Aw, come on, Keigo! I won’t say anything. I don’t even know who the guy is!”

“But isn’t it a breach of his trust to tell you something like this? He trusts me, Rumi. I don’t wanna fuck that up.”

“Does he know that you’re talking to me about this?”

“Yeah, but it feels different when it’s something that personal.”

“Then just ask him. You’ve got your phone, don’t you?”

Keigo nodded and pulled out his burner before he could even think about it, and Rumi cocked an eyebrow at the old model. He hurried to explain himself.

“I don’t want to risk anyone being able to find him, Rumi. The Commission monitors activity on my other phone.” That wasn’t a lie, and Keigo thanked his lucky stars that Rumi knew enough about the Commission to not think twice of it. He sent a quick text to Touya.

Is anything too much to tell her?

Wdym?

Like, she’s asking about kinks n shit

Something I said last time came to mind

Don’t wanna cross a line

It’s fine birdie

I really don’t care

Thank you though

Ofc! Anything for my good boy <3

Fuck off!!

I love yoooou

I love you too

Seriously it’s fine

He heaved a sigh of relief before pocketing his burner and looking back to Rumi with a sheepish smile. “It’s fine. Sorry, I just wanted to be sure…”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Rumi shook her head. “Better to check than find out that it upset him later. So? Do you wanna tell me or…?”

“Okay, okay. So I wanted to get him to laugh and we both have praise kinks, so I combined the two and called him a good boy. I meant it, he was doing very well, but it was also something that I figured he might roll his eyes or snort at. Except he didn’t. At all.”

“Oh?” He could hear the delighted intrigue in Rumi’s voice, so Keigo stopped stalling.

“He had a very noticeably positive reaction to it. Impossible to miss, really. Like, he got even more into it, but he also kinda looked like he was going to cry.”

“That definitely sounds like something that goes deeper… I see why you wanted to ask first now.”

‘Oh, you have no idea. I wonder how much she’ll regret asking for details like this once people know. I can’t exactly see Touya and I staying a secret once I’m not playing along with the Commission.’ 

“Exactly,” Keigo deadpanned at her. “I had a reason to be a bit worried about it. I’m not gonna bring it up in that setting again without talking more in-depth about it, though. Maybe we should set up some safewords…”

“Probably not a bad idea, honestly. He sounds like he might be a bit of a mess, and I already know that you’re a wreck.”

“Well, you know what they say about birds of a feather--” Rumi groaned and threw a tv remote at him. Much like the others that she had chucked at him over the years, it was crushed into smithereens by his automatic grip.

“Fuck, I’m sorry--”

“I needed a new one anyway; don’t worry about it.”

Keigo sighed, knowing that he very much would be worrying about it regardless. “You have a point though. I’ll bring it up with him soon. It’s better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them.”

“Good. I’m glad you’re being safe about this, at least. This guy seems to be good for you, and I don’t want you to risk losing that because of a stupid mistake.”

“Yeah, me either.” Keigo was sure that she’d think that the relationship itself was a massive mistake once she knew, but for now, he’d enjoy the time that he could spend with her.

Keigo knew that he’d only be able to straddle the line for so long.

-

Dabi’s face was bright red after Keigo texted him, but he took a deep breath, calmed down, and steeled himself for the upcoming mission. Since Keigo was otherwise occupied today, Dabi had decided to join Mr. Compress and Eria on their mission to deal with a pair of abusive foster parents in Saitama who were never investigated because they had friends in high places. They were sneaking into the neighborhood now, though it was slow-going since they were less familiar with the area.

‘I hate how common this issue is. You’d think that people would do something about it, but it seems easier for people to get away with abusing kids than it is to get them convicted for it.’

The rest of the League had been doing similar things lately, and their base had turned into a temporary shelter for several kids that had nowhere else to go. The League worked on finding them new homes, trusted ones, with people who were able to take them in, and gave the kids as much of a say in the process as possible. It wouldn’t have been sustainable if it wasn’t for the support of the community, but the League was receiving a mindboggling number of donations through back channels and determined citizens who would track down a member to pass things along to. Even when considering what Dabi, Eria, Mr. Compress, and Spinner had done in Kyushu before all of this, it was hard to believe just how actively people were supporting them now.

‘Though I’m sure that Endeavor being imprisoned helped our case.’

“You ready to deal with this, Touya?” Dabi blinked as he looked over at Eria, still unused to hearing his name out in the field.

“Yeah, sorry for being distracted today. I won’t let it affect us while we’re there.”

“Neither of us are worrying about that, Dabi. Just be ready; I think that we’re only a few minutes away,” Mr. Compress whispered, and they all focused on the task at hand. There were no back alleys in a neighborhood like this, and eventually, they had to just move quickly and hope that no one would see them.

‘Thank fuck for weekends. There are so many people out and about that no one is really lingering on us, though I’m sure the fact that we ditched our costumes for this helped.’ 

When the three of them arrived at the large, pretentious-looking house that gave Dabi a horrible sense of deja-vu --he was very used to people hiding maliciousness behind wealth and power, after all-- they looked to each other before nodding and moving their microphones. 

Recently, Giran had upgraded their system so that they could talk with each other from afar if they hit a separate button, all the while still being tracked and heard by the main communicator at all times that it was on. They only used this function for specific missions, but it was easier for them to speak with one another without giving anything away if they kept the microphone closer to their mouth, allowing them to whisper. 

Dabi turned to Mr. Compress and nodded, and his world went bright blue as he was compressed into a marble. He tried not to focus on the feeling of flying through the air as Eria telekinetically slid him through a cracked window, but Dabi still stumbled once he was freed from the marble inside of the house.

“I’m in.”

This process was repeated when Mr. Compress turned himself into a marble and got thrown inside by Eria too, decompressing himself as soon as the marble touched the wooden floor.

“Well then, let’s get moving.”

The two of them split up almost immediately, knowing that they had too much ground to cover to stay together. Eria was on standby outside of the home, waiting to pull them out as marbles or shatter a window for them if needed. The Seisuis were currently hamming it up at a big charity event, so their only enemy should be time. Unless someone had seen them and reported what they were doing.

‘This place is creepy as shit.’ 

Everything was pristine. Too pristine. There were six foster kids staying with this family, so the perfectly white walls, perfectly straight photographs of only the couple, and the complete lack of dust or any proof that people lived here at all was unsettling. It was like walking through a showroom instead of a home.

A rustling sound had Dabi turning to his left, and the first thing that he saw down this new hallway was a heavily padlocked door that made him feel sick. He hit the new button on his communicator.

“Compress, I’ve got something.”

“I’ve got a couple of kids on my end as well. They seem a bit shaken, but they agreed to be taken elsewhere. I’ll keep looking for the others.”

“Got it.”

He didn’t have the time to search for however many keys it took to unlock a door that looked more like it led to a vault than a room with something living in it, so with a flare of heat, Dabi melted off the padlocks one by one. He had to keep a very thick wall of nitrogen between the locks and the door itself --the last thing they needed was for the house to catch on fire-- but after a few minutes of working his way down, the door was finally open.

A head of wild, indigo hair was the first thing that Dabi noticed, but the second was a leather muzzle that dug into the kid’s face so tightly that it was making him bleed. ‘He’s the Gen Ed kid from the sports festival, isn’t he?’

Purple eyes widened in fear as the kid scooted back against the wall, and Dabi stayed right where he was, speaking softly in an attempt to calm the kid down. “I’m not gonna hurt you; it’s okay. That looks uncomfortable. Will you let me help you get it off?” 

It was obvious that the kid didn’t trust him one bit, but he also knew that he’d be safer if he could talk. Dabi wasn’t sure what exactly the activation conditions for the kid’s quirk were, but he knew that it was verbal-based. ‘Which is probably why they muzzled him, the sick fucks.’

Slowly, the kid reached around the back of his head to tap on the back of the muzzle, and when Dabi peered around to look at it, it became obvious that he’d be searching for a key after all. “Damn. Do you have anything to write with?”

The kid hesitated before he shuffled over to his bookbag, keeping an eye on Dabi the entire time. He pulled out a pencil and a notebook that he used for his classes and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you know where they keep that key?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“Because no one should be hurt like that. They have no fucking right--”

“You really are a Todoroki, huh?”

“Yeah. Will you let me help you, kid?”

“Shinsou. And they keep the key in their bedroom. Usually in the top drawer of the bedside table.”

He reached a hand up to his ear, and wary eyes tracked the movement. “Compress, you’re on the end with the master bedroom, right?”

“Yes! I went by it just a moment ago, actually. Why?”

“I need you to go in there and get a key; they muzzled one of the fucking kids.”

“They what?! I'll do it right away. Where is this key, exactly?”

Dabi recited the instructions that Shinsou gave him, and a triumphant “Got it!” sounded out from Mr. Compress’s end. 

“I’ll be there momentarily, Dabi. I found the other three working on homework together, and Eria is floating them out via marble as we speak.”

“Good. Thank you.”

The rapid tapping of a pen to paper had Dabi looking back at Shinsou, and Dabi could almost feel his heart breaking at the aggressively underlined sentence that he was pointing to.

“I’m not a villain. I’m not going to use my quirk for you.”

“I would never ask you to do that,” Dabi said earnestly. “We’re not trying to recruit you, Shinsou. We’re just trying to get you out of here. You deserve so much better than this.”

“Places don’t get better than this for people with quirks like mine. At least they let me take this thing off long enough to eat here. That’s more than I’ve had before.”

“That’s not enough. You deserve safety and happiness just as much as any other kid, Shinsou. If you can’t be sure that you’ll get that anywhere else, then you can stay with the League for a while.”

Shinsou furrowed his eyebrows in anger. “Not trying to recruit me, huh?”

Dabi sighed, understanding exactly why he’d be so defensive about this. It was to be expected, and Dabi was thankful that he’d gotten pretty used to the type of people that snarled and puffed up when they were scared.

“I’m not. We’re not gonna make you stay with us, kid, and we definitely don’t want you to fight for us or do anything for us. We’re just giving you the option if you don’t have anywhere safe to go. You wouldn’t be the first to take us up on it, and I doubt you’d be the last.”

Shinsou was still tense with discomfort, but Dabi could see the beginnings of curiosity in his expression too. Any display of emotion shut down the second that Mr. Compress walked into the room, key in hand.

The way that the muzzle was positioned would keep Shinsou from unlocking it himself, so Dabi gave the kid a sympathetic grimace as he took the key from Mr. Compress. “Will you let me get this off of you?”

A hesitant nod was his answer.

Dabi moved to the kid’s side, not wanting to scare him even more by being out of his line of sight, and worked the key into the lock, gently twisting it open and unbuckling the back of the muzzle. It hit the floor with a thud and a clang, and Shinsou immediately started to rub feeling back into his jaw.

“Goodness, the lows that these people stoop to…” 

“Don’t make the kid uncomfortable, Compress.” Dabi turned to Shinsou with a worried expression, eyeing the places where blood was sluggishly dripping down his face from where the muzzle dug into his skin “Are you alright?”

Shinsou rubbed at the back of his neck with a sigh, stepping back a bit now that he was freed. “Yeah,” he mumbled before looking up to Dabi with a determined glint in his eyes. “Why would you help me?”

“I’ve already told you I--” Dabi felt his entire body lock up. ‘It’s questions then? That’s good to know.'

“Tell me what you actually want from me.”

“For you to be safe,” Dabi answered automatically, and it was weird to feel the truth being pulled from him like this. Not unpleasant or painful like he thought it might be, just weird.

Shinsou gaped at that, obviously expecting a different answer. Dabi felt the control slip with the kid’s shock and rested a hand on Mr. Compress’s shoulder when he saw how tense the man had gotten. 

“It’s fine; he was scared. You don’t need to go all protective on him.” Mr. Compress relaxed with a heavy sigh before turning to Dabi.

“I’ll go keep an eye on the others. Have you got this?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Mr. Compress left the room after that, and Dabi patiently waited for Shinsou to get his jaw off the floor and tell him about whatever was running through his head.

“Why?” The kid’s voice sounded strangled with emotion, and it was like he was holding back the tears by willpower alone.

“Why what?”

“Why would you do that? Why would you answer my question even after I…”

‘Oh. He’s probably got just as many hangups about his quirk as Himiko did, huh? Poor kid.’

Dabi gave Shinsou a bitter smile as he answered, “You know who I am. That’s the answer to both of your questions, really. I can’t stand by and watch this happen to other people. Besides, I know what real monsters look like. You’re not one of them, kid. You don’t scare me.”

Shinsou sniffled, and Dabi politely ignored that, knowing the kid would be embarrassed by it. “What are you doing here, anyway? Aren’t UA’s students supposed to be on campus?”

“Yeah… we’re still allowed to visit sometimes, though. I just… I couldn’t just leave the rest of them here and call myself a hero, could I? I didn’t want to abandon them.”

“You sound just like me,” Dabi snorted, and he almost laughed at the offended look that crossed Shinsou’s face. “They’ll be fine now; don’t worry. We’ll make sure that they get somewhere safe.”

“Will you really?”

“I don’t make promises that I don’t intend to--” It took longer for the kid to snag control of him this time, and Dabi distantly noted that Shinsou’s nose was bleeding. ‘Hm. I think he was only controlling people during the sports festival, right? Does making me answer questions strain him that much?’

“Tell me, will they be safe if I trust them to you?”

“I’d sooner die than let a child be hurt.”

He was released willingly this time, and Shinsou swiped at his nose with a sigh. “Then I guess that I’ll call Eraserhead and ask him to pick me up. Better get out of here if you don’t want to get caught.”

Dabi saluted Shinsou before running off, meeting up with Mr. Compress and Eria before the three of them were warped back to base. The kids were released from the marbles that they’d been turned into, and they all seemed oddly comfortable with the high-energy place, settling in as Fuyumi asked them questions about if they knew anyone that they liked and might want to stay with. 

The odds of them having anyone were low, but they all wanted to make sure before the League started making calls to the civilian families that had offered their homes as safe houses for any children in need. They had to keep max capacity and how many people they could support in mind, but there were just as many people offering assistance to these safe houses as there were to the League directly. 

Dabi had never seen such a cohesive network of people working together in his life. It made him excited to see what else the League might be able to change now that they were reaching an even wider audience.

Chapter Text

Shouta felt like he should be used to the sinking realization that he had failed his students by now, but that didn’t make the fact that he hadn’t even noticed something was wrong with Shinsou’s home life sting any less. The knowledge that Dabi had known before he had --even if he hadn’t known who, specifically, was living in that house-- was just rubbing salt in the wound.

‘Berate yourself for this later. Shinsou is afraid of what’ll happen if the Shisuis get there before I do.’ 

He drove faster than was wise, but it paid off when he pulled up to the driveway that Shinsou was waiting in, backpack on and bloody muzzle in hand, that was still empty of everyone but them.

Though Shinsou had cleaned the wounds, there was no mistaking the places where the muzzle had dug into his skin; Shouta had seen the same injuries on Hizashi before, after all. It made him feel that much more incompetent for failing to see this.

“Shit, kid…”

“Can we just go?” Shinsou pleaded, and Shouta wasn’t going to make him stick around this place for a minute longer.

“Yeah, come on. I’ll take you back to UA. We’ll need to see Recovery Girl before you go back to the dorms, though.”

Shinsou opened the back door and sat down, closing it behind him and buckling up with a sigh. “It’s not that serious. I’ll be fine in a week or so,” he mumbled, and Shouta shot him a look before sighing and beginning the drive back to campus.

“I won’t force you, but please consider it. Recovery Girl won’t mind, and I don’t want you to punish yourself for this.”

“But I let them go,” Shinsou protested with a strangled voice. “I want to be a hero, and I just… let them go.”

“You were up against a minimum of an A-rank and a B-rank villain without backup, Shinsou, and there were likely more of them. We wouldn’t expect any first-year to manage that on their own. You did the right thing.”

“I used my quirk,” Shinsou admitted, and a glance to the backseat showed that the kid was fidgeting with the edge of his shirt nervously. It was almost like he thought Shouta would stop training him for protecting himself.

“You’re fine, Shinsou; that doesn’t have to go on the record, not for this. Do you mind telling me why, though?” Shouta wasn’t told a lot of details over that phone call, only that Dabi and Mr. Compress had broken into his foster home and taken the other kids, and Shouta wondered if Shinsou had learned anything from using his quirk here.

“You know that Midoriya was letting me practice my quirk on him after the joint-training exercise, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, we figured out that while it’s hard, I can get people to answer a question or two honestly while under my quirk. It just depends on a couple of factors. If they’re not willing to answer questions, then it’s much harder for me to get them to, and I have to phrase it as a demand too. Dabi was very willing to answer questions, but it still strained me a bit since they weren’t yes or no questions like Midoriya and I had been practicing with.”

Shouta felt his eyebrows steadily rising as Shinsou explained himself, and he was glad that Shinsou already wanted to work underground. If his quirk was also useful in interrogations, then the possibilities were endless.

“What did you ask him?”

“I asked him what he actually wanted from me, and the ‘For you to be safe’ that I got in response was even more automatic than any of Midoriya’s answers have ever been. He didn’t even have to think about it.” Shouta could hear the bewilderment in Shinsou’s voice, and he’d be tempted to laugh if he wasn’t just as lost by how the eldest Todoroki had been acting lately.

“Then I asked him if my foster siblings would be safe with him if I let them go, and he implied that he’d die if it meant keeping them safe. I just… it was hard not to trust him when he said it like that. Not when I knew he wasn’t lying to me.”

And considering what they were dealing with before --the muzzle spoke for itself, really-- Shouta couldn’t blame Shinsou for that. “We’ll keep an eye out for where they end up.” ‘Both for the sake of making sure they’re alright and tracking down the League.’

“Thank you.”

They spent the rest of the ride back in silence, and after Shinsou was persuaded to let Recovery Girl see him, Shouta sent him back to the dorms for the night before resolving to call Tsukauchi tomorrow. They’d need to ask Shinsou about his foster siblings in-depth as soon as possible, but Shouta doubted that the detective would be able to fit this in his schedule until after their next meeting.

‘This only gets more complicated as time goes on. We need to apprehend Dabi and the League, but…’

Shouta couldn’t deny that they were doing good work right now. That didn’t erase the trauma and damage that they had caused his students during the USJ or the summer camp, but Shouta was used to operating in the gray, even in hero work.

For all that they’d hurt them then, the League --and more specifically, Dabi-- was the only reason that two of his students were out of abusive situations now. 

Shouta wondered if any of his other students needed his help and he hadn’t noticed. He wondered if they didn’t trust him enough to come to him with these things. ‘Maybe… the threat of expulsion on their first day wasn’t the best call.’ 

He was used to the bitter feeling of regret, but Shouta was still almost choked by it in that moment. He promised to himself that he would do better for his students from here on out, but deep down, Shouta feared that it might be too late to mend some of those bridges.

-

By the time that Dabi took off his boots and got the chance to go to his room the next day, he was exhausted. The five kids that had come with them from the Shisuis, with ages ranging from fourteen to five, were finally settled down, fed, and in clean clothes that had been donated to the League for these operations, and now Magne, Spinner, and Himiko were gauging which families would be the best fit for them.

He was glad that they had designated teams for this shit. Magne, Spinner, and Himiko were great at sniffing out discrimination, no matter how subtle, and while Dabi was too, exhaustion could make him slip up. That was the last thing that he wanted to happen.

‘I just hope that they’re not too attached to each other; finding someone willing to take in all five of them will be next to impossible. Maybe a few neighbors could if we find some that suit and they do want to stay with each other? I’ll bring it up if that becomes an issue.’

Dabi shook his head slightly as he focused on stripping down to his boxers and tossing everything on the floor, groaning once he finally collapsed into his bed. He knew that he should’ve probably turned the light off first, but now that he was semi-comfortable, he wasn’t going anywhere. 

He sighed as he curled up underneath the red wings of his blanket, pulling the stuffed cardinal to his chest as heavy eyes blinked slowly. He couldn’t tell you when he fell asleep, but by the time that Dabi’s eyes squinted open again, his body was thrumming with heat as he shifted against the sheets.

‘Damn, I don’t even get to remember my dream?’ he mentally grumbled, eyes flitting around his room as he took in a few differences from what it had looked like when he’d passed out.

The first thing he noticed was that the overhead light was off, and only the glow of a small desk lamp that Natsuo had left in here was allowing him to see. Beyond that, the pile of clothes that he’d thrown off into a corner by his bed was now gone, likely tossed into the laundry basket in his closet that he’d planned to put them in after he felt a bit less dead. Blue eyes flicked over to his slightly opened doorway as he cracked a yawn, eyes closing with the force of it.

When he blinked them open again, Dabi saw his door creak open just enough to let Keigo slide back into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. “Wha’ time issit?” he mumbled.

Keigo’s wings puffed out as he startled, looking over at him as he chuckled softly and relaxed. “Think it’s seven something,” Keigo answered him, sitting on the edge of their bed before reaching out to run his taloned hand through Dabi’s sleep-mussed hair.

“Hm,” Dabi hummed, leaning into the touch with a soft sigh. He knew that Keigo would be patrolling right now if he had a shift, so between that knowledge and the heat in his veins, Dabi was fixated on the fact that they had several hours before Keigo had to go anywhere.

‘He did a lot of the work last time because I was so damn nervous about it. I want to return the favor.’ He looked up at Keigo before asking, “Can you turn the light on?”

“You sure you don’t want to get some more sleep?” Dabi nodded stubbornly, and Keigo sent a couple of feathers to turn on the room’s light and turn off the lamp. Golden eyes narrowed at Dabi’s flushed face, widening as the inevitable realization hit.

“Oh? Did someone have sweet dreams?” Keigo cooed, delighted by the discovery. Dabi’s face only got redder at that, but he wasn’t going to nudge this toward what he wanted if he didn’t own up to it.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, looking up into Keigo’s eyes as he steeled himself. “I wanna touch you if that’s okay. Didn’t really get to last time.” He couldn’t maintain the eye contact, gaze falling to where he was clenching at his blanket before too long,  but Dabi was relieved that he managed to say it at all.

“Of course that’s okay, sweetheart,” Keigo answered, and if it wasn’t for the way that his boyfriend’s wings had started shivering as he said it, Dabi wouldn’t have noticed how excited Keigo was at the prospect. “Hold on just a sec.”

A couple of red feathers shot across the room. One locked the door while another darted off to where the lube --and condoms, though they hadn’t brought those out yet-- was, but Dabi barely registered them as his eyes locked onto Keigo’s form. There was something about the way he looked like this, shrugging off the costume that made everyone see Hawks and settling into being Keigo through and through, that had Dabi’s stomach doing somersaults as he reveled in the trust he was being given here.

“There we go. Now we match,” Keigo said with a coy grin, turning to Dabi in nothing more than a pair of bright blue boxers, and that was just unfair. ‘There’s no way he had those before, right? That color is too exact to be a coincidence.’

Keigo was already stirring in interest, and Dabi barely had the time to untangle himself from the bedding before he was pounced on, chuckling into the heated press of lips against his. Raspy chuckles morphed into low moans, and it was as if they had forgotten how to breathe until they were pressed into each other like this. 

Dabi ran trembling hands down his lover’s sides, and a shaky groan alongside the rustling of wings encouraged his exploring. “God, you’re so warm,” Keigo murmured. “Could just melt into you. Never want to leave your arms.”

“Never wanna let you go,” Dabi admitted. He worried that he might’ve been a bit too honest until a bright smile spread across Keigo’s face as his eyes crinkled with joy.

Keigo whispered, “Then don’t,” before their lips met again, and Dabi wasn’t going to argue with that.

Tongues tangled so fiercely that Dabi could taste the blood from a loosened staple, and he should probably be more bothered that he was seeing stars already. They were hard edges and smooth lines, tugging staples and downy feathers, and the lowest of the low and the highest of the high all at once. The two of them crashed together in a beautiful contradiction that only they understood.

“Can I?” Dabi panted against Keigo’s neck, tugging at the edge of his lover’s boxers before going back to running his tongue along a freshly purpling bruise. ‘Bet the media will have a field day about that if he doesn’t cover it up. Whoops.’

“F-fuck, yeah. Come on, Tou, please,” Keigo begged, and Dabi wondered if heating his mouth up as he left that hickey had been a bit much. ‘Oh well. Nothing for it now.’

“I’ve got you, Kei,” he murmured as he pulled the fabric down, swallowing harshly as Keigo’s cock sprung free. He’d been so overwhelmed last time that he didn’t really get to focus on just how stunning his partner was like this, and Dabi felt awe welling up within him as he gently smeared a bead of precome across the head of Keigo’s dick.

“Where’s the--” a red feather cut him off by practically throwing the lube at him, and Dabi devolved into laughter when the cold bottle smacked him in the face.

“Ugh, I’m so sorry,” Keigo groaned in embarrassment.

Dabi snorted as he popped open the cap, saying, “It’s fine, dove. Let me take care of you.”

It didn’t take him long to warm the lube up --which was a given, considering how warm he ran-- but Dabi still took his sweet time slicking Keigo up, reveling in the symphony of moans that he was wringing out of the man hovering above him.

Keigo’s arms trembled worryingly as he closed his eyes and panted out, “How am I ever supposed to, hng, fuck--” his voice cut out as Dabi completely wrapped his hand around Keigo’s cock.

“G-go back to doing this alone, damn,” Keigo wheezed, thrusting down into Dabi’s grasp as his wings fluttered.

“Who says you have to?” Dabi hummed, twisting his hand as Keigo thrust into it. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Keigo’s eyes started pinning again, and he looked at Dabi like he wanted to eat him alive. He swooped down for a kiss as his hips and Dabi’s hand worked in tandem, whining and whimpering as drops of precome fell onto Dabi’s stomach. 

Blue eyes cracked open when he heard Keigo’s wings rustling, widening as he watched them spread across the entire room as they shivered. ‘Holy shit.’

He was going to pretend that the sight of Keigo alone hadn’t almost made him lose it, and he refocused on getting Keigo off as his panting grew heavier and his movements more desperate.

“Tou! Please, please--”

“You’re so beautiful, you know that? Let go, dove. I’m right here.”

Keigo cried out and shuddered heavily, making a mess of Dabi’s torso, not that he was complaining, before his arms wobbled and he landed directly on top of it. Dabi grunted at the impact, wheezing softly in shock as a pair of feathers snuck down to his aching dick.

“Did you think I was gonna forget about you, sweetheart?” Keigo looked up at him with a smirk, and just as Dabi was about to ask what he was planning, Keigo’s feathers started vibrating.

“Fuck--!” Dabi’s vision went white as he arched upward, a strangled moan dying in his chest as he slumped into the mattress, desperately trying to regain his breath.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, and Keigo laughed at his awe-struck tone. Dabi couldn’t even be upset about the fact that this pair of underwear would be a pain and a half to clean; he was too boneless to care. “You’re too good to me.”

“No such thing, sweetheart,” Keigo murmured, just as unbothered by the mess they were laying in. They both basked in the afterglow for a while, snuggling with each other until Keigo suddenly tensed.

“What is it?”

“Fuck, I hope Kurogiri isn’t still waiting for me to bring you for dinner.”

Dabi almost choked on his laughter, wheezing as he said, “I doubt it. Let’s get dressed and go get whatever’s left, though.”

He was relieved that the kitchen was empty when they stumbled into it twenty minutes later, and the only signs that Kurogiri knew what they’d been up to were the wrapped plates of food that were sitting in the microwave and the sticky note on the counter reminding Dabi that, regardless of if Keigo spent the night or not, he was on breakfast duty tomorrow.

-

A couple of days later, Keigo flew to UA with a red face and a sensitive neck that burned as the wind battered against it. He adjusted his jacket collar to cover his hickey --it was hidden with concealer, but that didn’t stop it from stinging with irritation-- as he walked into the meeting room.

His eyes quickly flit over the heroes that are already in the room, and Keigo lingered near Eraserhead --and most importantly, far away from Sir Nighteye-- while waiting for everyone else to arrive.

“How’s Eri’s training been going?” Keigo would ask Eri herself after this, but he wanted to gauge how much Eraserhead would tell him. 

‘Touya’s worried about how they’ll go about training someone so young and so am I. Will they let her say that she doesn’t want to train anymore, or will they treat her like their students? Will they refuse to see anything but her potential and dedicate themselves to bringing it out, or will they stop once they get to a certain point, waiting for her to decide to continue training on her own? I don’t know.’

“Her control is much better. She’s able to stop her quirk near-instantly now.”

“That’s good, that’s good. You must be planning on ending that soon, then.”

“Hm?” Eraserhead gave him a searching look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that she’s only six, you know? She’s not a hero student. Don’t train her like one.” Keigo tried to keep the threat out of his voice, but he could feel his wings fluffing out to make himself look larger.

His words weighed heavily on everyone in the room. Rock Lock made it clear that he agreed with Keigo when he said, “She’s practically a baby. There’s no way she’s ready for much quirk training.”

“Will training her not make her more comfortable using her quirk?” Nezu asked.

“Maybe in the future,” Keigo allowed. “But not now. She’s six. Let her be six. She deserves the chance to play, watch tv, and discover her interests. Eri has never been allowed to just be a child. I’d argue that she needs that far more than mastery of her quirk, especially now that she knows enough to keep from hurting herself or others with it.

“And if I disagreed?” Nezu questioned with a tilt of his head.

“Then we’d have a problem,” Keigo snarled. His feathers sharpened as his eyes glinted with steel, making it clear that this wasn’t something he was willing to back down on.

Nezu’s eyes glinted with intrigue, and Keigo wondered what his reaction told Nezu. ‘Does he think that I’m being protective of her because of what I’ve gone through? Does he think that she’s important to the League? What is it that’s making him look at me like that?’ 

“It’s quite alright, Hawks; you’ve made your point. We’ll ask her to decide after the meeting. You may observe if you are worried that we will pressure her in any way.”

Keigo could feel several eyes burning into him, but he only gave a curt nod in agreement. The tension was broken by Rumi arriving, she was on patrol right before this and took longer to get here than Keigo did, and crashing into her seat.

Now that everyone was here, Nezu was quick to open the meeting by asking, “Does anyone have a lead on Best Jeanist?”

Everyone else in the room shook their heads, but Keigo hesitated to do the same. ‘The odds are high that Best Jeanist will need to come forward to take down the Commission. With Tsuragamae scheduled for a court date next week and us focusing on the Commission now…’ 

Keigo was running out of time.

Nezu jumped on his hesitation. “Do you have something you want to tell us, Hawks?”

Rumi narrowed her eyes at Keigo before saying, “I thought you seemed oddly chill with Best Jeanist dropping off the radar. You’re good at multitasking, so the fact that you haven’t dug into his disappearance at all…”

“Let us not jump to conclusions,” Edgeshot cut in, sensing the rising tension from most of the room. “I’m certain that Hawks has a reason for being silent on this.”

Keigo nodded before saying, “The Commission wants Jeanist dead.”

“What?” Fat Gum sounded horrified, but a quick glance around the room made it clear that he wasn’t the only one.

Keigo elaborated, “I don’t get their reasoning, not really, but they wanted him out of the picture. Permanently. He’s gone underground because if the Commission thinks that he’s still alive, then they’re going to kill the both of us.”

Ms. Joke was an underground hero for a reason, and he wasn’t surprised when she said, “They wanted you to kill him.”

Keigo gave a jerky nod, looking over at Tsukauchi with an exaggeratedly pleading expression. “It wasn’t the first time they ordered me to do something like this, but I didn’t do it. I couldn’t. I took him to meet someone who could help him disappear, but as far as I know, Jeanist should be fine.”

“I believe you. You’ve yet to lie to us so far, Hawks,” Tsukauchi reassured, and Keigo tried not to feel smug about the fact that dancing around the truth hadn’t gotten him into hot water with the detective yet.

“How many people?”

Keigo blinked at Sir Nighteye’s question, bristling when he saw the way that he was looking at him. It was like the hero was beginning to see the pieces of a puzzle come together to form a greater picture.

“I…” Keigo hesitated, looking to the ground as he clenched his fists. None of this was for show. He was horrified by the things that he’d done under the Commission’s orders, and he was even more horrified by the way that he’d justified it to himself for so long. 

“How many people have you killed, Hawks?”

“Too many.” Keigo’s voice was thick with horror, shaking around the admission as he forced himself to say, “Sometimes I… I look at my hands and all I can see is the blood coating them. I’m no hero.”

“Hawks, you can’t blame yourself for--”

“I do,” Keigo disagreed, cutting Eraserhead off. “I could have defied orders sooner. Much, much sooner. It would’ve been at the risk of my life, but I’ve had the greater good beaten into me for years. I should’ve been ready to make that sacrifice. A hero would’ve been.”

“I’m so tired,” he whispered, wings drooping to the floor. “I want to rest. I want to live for myself. I intend on retiring as soon as I can.”

Rumi was quick to leap to his defense. “I can’t blame you. You’ve been running yourself into the ground ever since you debuted, and you deserve to have time for yourself.”

“You can’t just abandon your position!” Gran Torino protested. “Hero society has already lost two number ones, and you’re planning to make them lose a third one?”

“Exposing the Commission means exposing what I’ve done under them, and I’ve made peace with that. Best Jeanist will make a better number one, and the people actually have reason to trust him. You won’t change my mind on this.”

“He’s right,” Present Mic said with a sigh. “Again, we’re fighting a battle of public opinion here. The League has been getting more popular among the civilians, and it’s better for Hawks to step down and acknowledge what he’s done than it would be to lie to them. They’d find out eventually.”

The rest of the meeting was spent with heroes arguing amongst themselves about the best way for Keigo to announce his retirement, and he wasn’t going to break that up to explain to them how he’d already made a video for that purpose. 

‘They’ll find out soon enough.’

When Nezu concluded the meeting, Eraserhead turned to him and tossed him the key to his dorm. “I’ve got to talk with Tsukauchi about something. Would you mind watching Eri for a little while?”

“Not at all!” It’d make it easier for him to explain to her why he had to leave, at least.

Keigo gave Eraserhead a big smile before saluting and darting into the hallway. Sir Nighteye followed after him, barely managing to brush his hand against one of Keigo’s wings, but he refused to look back at him when Sir Nighteye called his name. ‘I know how your quirk works. No way in hell.’

He flew forward, hoping that the others would believe that he was just excited to visit Eri after such an emotionally charged meeting. ‘Not that it’ll matter for much longer. I want to be able to say goodbye to her, though.’

When he stepped into the familiar room, feathers instantly darted around to check for bugs or cameras. Just like last time, there was nothing, but Keigo didn’t get as far as he has by being complacent about security.

Eri followed one of his feathers out of her room, and she squinted at the door that he’d locked behind him before throwing her arms up and crying, “Keigo!”

He tucked his wings behind him as all of his feathers slotted back into place, and his eyes darted over Eri’s red eyes, not just in color; she’d been crying, and trembling form before picking her up and gently cooing, “How’re you, chickadee?”

She sniffled as she pressed her face into his neck, and Keigo rocked her back and forth as he murmured reassurances to her. Tears streaked down Eri’s face and onto his skin, and she mumbled, “I missed you,” with such a desperate voice that Keigo could feel his heart breaking.

“Hey, hey… What happened, baby bird?”

“Don’t like training. Wanna stop.”

And maybe it was more than a bit manipulative of him to be considering this, but Keigo didn’t believe that Nezu would stop training her. He’d present the option for her to stop, sure, but she’d probably feel obligated to say yes. ‘There’s no way they’ve missed how much distress this is causing her, and they were still acting like it was absurd to consider stopping. I don’t trust it.’

“What if…” Keigo swallowed harshly. “What if I told you that there’s a way for you to never have to train again?”

“How?! They brought up bugs again, Keigo. They’re not listening!”

“They did? I’m so sorry. I should’ve offered this sooner.” He started walking toward her room, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she clutched onto him. A few feathers darted around her room to lay her things out on her bed. Everything that Touya gave her, a few pairs of clothes, and her school workbooks laid on it, and she glanced between the bed and him with a confused tilt to her head.

“Offered what?”

“Do you wanna know why they wouldn’t let you see Dabi?”

“Yeah. I don’t get it!”

“He’s a villain, Eri. At least to them.”

“But he saved me…”

“He’s saved a lot of people,” Keigo said with a sad chuckle. “He saved me too. If you want to go see him, then I can take you. He’d never make you train if you didn’t want to, and I know that he’d be happy to see you. But Eri, you have to understand that you’d never be able to come back if you did that. You might not ever see Eraser, Lemillion, or Deku again.”

Eri wiggled slightly, and Keigo sat her down before settling on the floor. She looked him in the eye as she asked, “But I’d get to see Dabi? I’d get to see you? No more training?”

Keigo nodded. “You would. And no more training, I promise. You’d even get to meet all of Dabi’s friends and some kids close to your age.” 

The look in her eyes told Keigo that he didn’t need to sell her on this; she had already made up her mind. He felt guilty for asking her to make this decision so young, no one should have to, but he didn’t want to leave her behind. ‘Abuse isn’t just physical, and it’s not always intentional either. Forcing her to train like this for the sake of others and ignoring how it’s affecting her… that’s still abuse.’ 

“I want to go. Please don’t leave me!” she begged, and Keigo was quick to bring her into a hug.

“I won’t leave you. I promise. Is there anything else you want to bring with you?”

Eri paused for a moment, thinking on that question before saying, “My blanket.”

The fuzzy, gray fabric was covered in cats, and having something like this to tie the rest of her stuff in would make it easier for Keigo to carry anyway. “We can do that.”

He patted her back gently before standing up and wrapping everything in her blanket, tying it in a knot in a makeshift tote. Keigo picked Eri up with one hand, holding her at his hip so that she could be easily tucked under his wings while they snuck out, and pulled out his phone with the other, asking Kurogiri to be ready for an emergency pickup. He handed Eri her blanket, latched a feather to it just in case she lost her grip, and started moving as soon as he got an affirmative message in response.

When Keigo left the dorm building, a wall of red curling around his side hid Eri from sight. It was less suspicious than him flying off of UA’s campus at breakneck speed, and he also didn’t want to risk hurting Eri by flying too quickly with someone not built for that. Keigo made a show of ruffling his feathers and detaching a few to straighten them out as they walked along. To anyone not looking closely enough, it would just look like Keigo was preening his wings.

Eri was deathly quiet as Keigo steadily made his way toward the exit gate. He hated that she understood fear and danger enough to know how to do this, but Keigo wouldn’t deny that it was helpful right now. He gave friendly waves and nods to a few kids here and there, but no one seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. He was almost out, he was only waiting for the gate to completely open, when a familiar voice called out, “Hawks.”

This time, Keigo was too wired to keep himself from looking back on instinct, and when Sir Nighteye’s yellow eyes flashed purple, he quickly shifted Eri to rest against his chest before flying through the gate. Weighted seals rocketed toward them, and Keigo had to sacrifice a few feathers to keep them from hitting him directly, grimacing at the echoes of pain that he got from them.

He was lucky that he moved too quickly for Sir Nighteye to get more solid hits. Eri was trembling slightly with closed eyes as he held her close, but she wasn’t squirming or making this harder for him. She trusted him to get them both out of here, and Keigo wasn’t going to let her down.

Keigo flew up as quickly as he dared, landing on a nearby rooftop before sending Kurogiri his location and tucking his burner away. He took one last look at UA and the teachers and heroes that were now rushing toward his position. Keigo ran a hand through Eri’s wind-tangled hair in a shaky attempt to calm them both, but he only truly relaxed when a dark portal opened in front of them.

He chucked his work phone over the side of the building and mentally bid farewell to Hawks. Keigo couldn’t say that he’d miss him.

“You ready, chickadee?”

“Yeah,” Eri mumbled with a nod.

Keigo stepped through the portal with her, hearing distant screams of frustration as the two of them vanished.

Chapter Text

“Uh, Touya…” Dabi blinked over at his door, taking in Fuyumi’s bewildered expression before setting his pen down on his desk with a sigh. ‘I’ve already edited this thing a dozen times. It’s not going to change much now anyway.’

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing! It’s just… someone’s here to see you.”

Dabi’s eyebrows scrunched together as he stood up, wondering who it could be. ‘There wouldn’t be any need for an announcement with Kei, and the way she said it made it sound like it’s someone who isn’t usually here. Did one of the kids drop by to say hello? Tadaaki has been busy lately, but I guess Aomi could’ve been brought by…’

He followed Fuyumi while speculating about the possibilities, but nothing could’ve prepared him for the sight of Eri glancing furtively around the League’s living room. Dabi’s eyes widened as he glanced to Keigo in question, but before his boyfriend could answer him, red eyes landed on him and lit up with excitement.

“Dabi!” Eri darted forward and latched onto his leg, looking up at him with a wide smile that instantly turned his heart to mush.

“Look at you,” he murmured, gently lifting her up when she made a grabby motion. “What brings one of my favorite people over to visit, huh?” When he glanced back over to Keigo this time, he noticed the blanket full of Eri’s stuff, he could see the outline of the stuffed bunny he’d given her, and got a pretty good idea of what was happening here.

“I’m staying! If… if that’s okay?” Eri was peering around the room as she said this, taking in all of the people around her. Shigaraki sighed softly, but he nodded when Dabi gave him a desperate look.

'Thank fuck.’

“If you want to stay, then, of course, you can stay. I wouldn’t make you leave,” he murmured, running his fingers through her hair in an attempt to detangle it a bit.

“I missed you,” she whispered as she leaned into his touch. “No more training, right? Keigo promised.”

‘Ah, so that’s why he brought her.’ Dabi didn’t miss the rising fury on everyone’s faces, and while he wanted to rage at the fact that he’d trusted her to someone that let her get hurt, who may have even hurt her directly, Dabi knew that she needed him to be calm right now.

“No more training. You never have to train again if you don’t want to.”

She sobbed with relief, and Dabi held her close as she cried. His heart ached for this kid who had gone through far too much. “I’m sorry, Eri. I’m so sorry that we didn’t bring you home sooner.”

Her cries slowly tapered off into whimpers, and it was obvious that she was exhausted after such a trying day. 

“We’ll need to set her up close to me and Keigo,” Dabi muttered. ‘The only problem with that is that we don’t have any free rooms close to ours.’

Eria hummed before saying, “She can take mine.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ve been staying with Magne more often than not anyway, and I don’t have a lot that I’ll need to move. Hold on, I’ll go ahead and do that so you two can get her set up.”

“Thank you, miss,” Eri mumbled, head lolling down.

“Anything for my adorable niece.” Dabi flushed when Eria said that, but everyone else was just nodding along as if this was a foregone conclusion. ‘Maybe it was.’

“Hm?”

Eria explained, “I’m one of Touya’s sisters! That makes us family.”

“Touya?”

Dabi chuckled at Eri’s confused, sleepy question, drawing her attention back to him. “That’s me. You can call me Touya if you want.”

Eri hummed as she scrunched her eyebrows together. She thought about that for several moments before hesitantly asking, “Can I call you Papa instead?”

He almost choked at the question, but Dabi couldn’t deny the way his heart warmed at it. “Yeah. Of course you can.”

Keigo cooed at them, walking up next to Dabi and smiling at the way that Eri instinctively leaned into the wing that he tucked around them both. “Guess we have a daughter, huh?”

“You’re with Papa? Like Aizawa and Yamada?”

“Yeah, I am,” Keigo said with a smile, and Eria nodded to Dabi before heading toward her room with Magne and Mr. Compress following behind her.

Eri nodded with half-lidded eyes as she declared, “Then you’re Dad.” 

Keigo had tears welling up in his eyes, and Dabi knew that he’d be right there with him if he was able to. “You got it, chickadee,” he said with a wobbly voice, and Eri giggled softly before she finally dropped off into sleep.

“Congratulations,” Kurogiri told them both, yellow light morphing into the biggest smile that Dabi had ever seen him with. “You’ll both make excellent fathers.”

‘I really hope so.’

“You got her, Tou? I need to go talk with Spinner and get that video up.”

“Yeah. Will you check over the article on my desk before sending it out? I think that it’s ready, but…”

Keigo nodded before pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I’m sure that it’s wonderful, but I will. Thank you.”

Dabi watched him go with a soft smile before redirecting his attention to the snoozing Eri, resolving to brush out her hair as soon as she woke up.

“I didn’t think that I’d like this so much.”

He looked up at Shigaraki with a cocked eyebrow, and Shigaraki continued by saying, “Helping people. Doing things for others that they didn’t do for me. I knew that doing it was important, but I thought that I’d just have to power through the discomfort. But it’s… nice. I like seeing people who were so miserable before having hope. I like being the person who can give that to them.”

“You’re a vigilante through and through now, huh?” Dabi asked with a chuckle. They both knew what he meant by that. ‘If the world was less cruel, then you would’ve wound up a hero.’  

“I guess so. Thank you, Dabi. I’ve learned a lot because of you.”

“Touya. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed you and Spinner finally making a move on Natsuo. Family calls me Touya."

Shigaraki nodded before saying, “You know, I’ve been remembering more lately.”

“Really? Is that a good or bad thing?”

“A bit of both. But it does mean that I can say this--” Shigaraki looked up with a genuine smile, glancing at the other members in the room as he said, “My name’s Tenko Shimura. You can all call me Tenko.”

-

Christmas Eve was usually a time for celebration and excitement, but Shouta couldn’t bring himself to feel anything but miserable right now. Eri was gone --her room looked so barren, and he knew that Hawks didn’t take that much-- and Hawks had apparently taken a cue from Dabi when preparing his big reveal.

‘Which isn’t that surprising since he got warped away by Kurogiri. How did we miss this?’

A lot of little oddities made more sense now. Things like when Hawks arrived at the meeting first when he couldn’t fly, making a time that would’ve been unreasonable without help. Like when Hawks dodged around any sort of descriptors for his boyfriend. Like when Hawks had come to UA already prepared to get his class thinking about what really made a villain. Every single instance had pointed at a larger picture that he hadn’t seen.

Hawks was working with the League. Shouta hoped that this hadn’t started until they declared themselves vigilantes, at least, but given his inaction during High End… ‘How long has he been working with them? How far back does this go?’

The worst part was that Shouta couldn’t even blame him after hearing about what the Commission had done to Hawks. ‘And apparently, what he told us before was barely scratching the surface of those horrors.’

Much like the Stain video, Hawks’ big reveal spread too quickly to be taken down completely. Every time one post with the video was taken down, three more were uploaded, and so many people had downloaded the file by now that taking it down had become futile. Civilians were in an uproar.

Shouta was about to watch that video alongside Hizashi, Nemuri, Nezu, Yagi, Sir Nighteye, Tsukauchi, and Miruko. Even though Nemuri wasn’t involved in the meetings surrounding the Commission, mostly due to personal hardships with them, she wanted to be present for this. Miruko was beating herself up for missing the signs in Hawks too, so Shouta wasn’t surprised that she wanted to watch this with them and talk about it. She’d already admitted to watching it three times since it went up last night.

Miruko marched into the room with a devastated expression, ears hanging low as her eyes filled with tears, and sat down with so much force that the Shouta could hear the chair straining for the first few seconds after she did so. 

“Let’s do this.”

“There is no rush--” Nezu tried to calm Miruko down, but she wasn’t having it. 

“I said, let’s do this. He told me a few things that he never mentioned in the meetings or the video, and I want to be able to share that information.”

“Very well,” Nezu agreed, pulling up the video file and projecting it to the hologram that was built into the room. 

Shouta had been too busy filling out paperwork for Eri’s abduction to see the video itself, but he noticed a couple of things before Nezu even hit play.

“He’s underground. I can’t see any windows, and the walls are definitely concrete.”

“It’s the same location that he was teleported to as well,” Sir Nighteye commented. “The couch is the same, as are the barstools and counter behind it.”

“Did you see anything else that might be of use to us with your quirk?” Nezu questioned, and Sir Nighteye grimaced.

“Nothing good for locating the League, no. I do know who Hawks likely made the jump for, though.”

“It’s Dabi. The video made that painfully clear. He’s the boyfriend that Hawks told me was a vigilante,” Miruko sighed, tapping her right foot against the ground restlessly. 

And that made far too much sense. Dabi cared about Eri and she cared about him, so Hawks checking up on her for Dabi instead of the Commission was highly likely. It also explained where the gifts came from; it didn’t seem like the sort of thing that Hawks would know how to put together.

Sir Nighteye only nodded with a sigh, and Miruko grumbled, “I know way too much about Dabi now. I shouldn’t have exercised best friend privileges.”

“Is it anything that might help us get a better read on him?” Tsukauchi questioned, and Miruko shook her head.

“Nothing we couldn’t already figure out. He’s touch-starved as hell and has piercings we can’t see. Big surprise. You do not want the details on that last one.”

“I want the details,” Nemuri immediately refuted.

Before anyone else could protest, Miruko just shrugged and said, “He’s got a Jacob’s Ladder. Hawks was really excited about that one.”

Yagi looked just as flustered as Shouta felt, though he was better at hiding it than his coworker, and coughed up some blood before asking, “Can we start the video now?”

Everyone settled down as Nezu nodded and hit play.

Hawks’ falsely cheerful voice immediately rang out from his position on the couch, sitting on the edge to avoid pinning his wings behind him, as he said, “Yo! I know a lot of you have been asking me about how I feel about my new place as number one, so I figured that I’d make a little video about it. Something more personal than an interview, you know?”

It was disturbing to see just how easily Hawks could put on an act. His introduction lulled a lot of people into a false sense of security, and that’s what made everything that came afterward hit that much harder.

“Honestly, I’ve always been pretty vocal about not wanting to be so high up in the ranks, but a lot of people seemed to think I was joking when I said that. I wasn’t. So, consider this video my official resignation.”

Hawks sighed, and his wings curled around him in a way that made him look deceptively small. He looked up to the camera with exhaustion in his eyes, and while that tiredness was real, Shouta felt chills at how well he was manipulating his expressions to suit his needs.

“I’m sorry for letting you all down, but I can’t keep doing this. I’m sure that many of you are wondering what, exactly, was the final straw when I seemed so content as a hero before, and I can reassure you that it wasn’t because of becoming number one. This was something that I planned to do before Endeavor’s trial; I just couldn’t risk resigning before he was incarcerated. I didn’t want to give them an excuse to keep him from facing justice.”

Golden eyes harden, lining with determination as Hawks sneered. “And they would have taken that excuse.” He shook his head and plastered on a smile before saying, “Never mind that! You’re all wondering why I decided to do this, right? I’ll make a long story short for you. Dabi was correct when he said that the Commission was just as corrupt as Endeavor. I was purchased by them when I was six years old, and I was trained for the sole purpose of becoming a hero under their control.”

Hawks’ smile was a bitter thing. “I never had a choice in this. I know that many of you have shown rising discontent with how young hero schools start, and I agree with you. This profession isn’t for the faint of heart, and it isn’t the glamorized image of heroism that the public sees. Hero schools should start after high school. They should start after kids have at least some sort of chance to grow up and learn what they enjoy and want to do with their lives. Kids can’t be expected to make these kinds of judgment calls.”

Hawks sighed heavily, looking down to the floor in apparent shame. “The things that they expect heroes to do… I killed someone at seventeen. It wasn’t even an accident. The Commission ordered me to do it and saying no would’ve meant undergoing more torture disguised as training or even death. I chose the selfish option. I cannot be a hero with so much blood on my hands. I cannot be a hero when I refused to do the right thing for so long because I was afraid. Doing this will put my life in jeopardy, but I refuse to remain silent any longer. The Hero Public Safety Commission will do anything to maintain this false peace that our society has now. They will put hits on innocent civilians if it means preventing the spread of discontent. They will kill heroes if they get in their way. They will ignore the suffering of the people our system is designed to fail to please the powerful few, and I’m sick of it!”

As serious as Hawks’ facial expression still was, his wings were perking up in anticipation. Shouta couldn’t miss it. ‘He’s enjoying this.’

“There’s no way for me to remain a hero and help people under the Commission’s control. I apologize for dropping the mantle of Hawks, but I can promise you that I’m not disappearing. I’ll still fight for you, all of you, I just refuse to work within the system to do that. Not when it’s like this.” For what it was worth, Hawks seemed genuinely apologetic about the path that he’d chosen. It scared Shouta more than he cared to admit that he couldn’t tell if he was faking that.

Hawks’ wings slowly spread across the screen, and he tilted his head with a pleased chirp. “I may not be a hero, but being a vigilante suits me just fine! And if there’s any doubt by what I mean by that…” he turned his head to the side before calling out, “Sweetheart, can you come here?”

Dabi walked onto the screen, head tilted in picture-perfect innocence with red hair that told Shouta they’d done this well in advance. Dabi’s hair had already been black again by the time that he helped Shinsou, after all.

“Are you alright? Do you need a break? I know talking about this shit isn’t easy…” Dabi’s concern sounded so genuine that Shouta couldn’t doubt for a second that he cared about Hawks. Dabi wasn’t the type to hide what he was feeling. 

“I’m fine! I just wanted to do this.” Hawks tugged at Dabi’s jacket to get him to bend down for a kiss, and by the time that Dabi pulled back, his face was bright red and lightly steaming. “No need to leave them guessing, right?”

“Gonna be the death of me,” Dabi mumbled.

Hawks only laughed before saying, “So! As you all can see, I’m with the League of Vigilantes now. They’ve shown me a kindness that no one else ever has, and while they’re not perfect, no one is. They’re still good people. I care about all of them, not just Touya, and I promise you that we’ll make things better. We’ll make real, long-lasting change, or we’ll die trying.”

The video ended, and really, what were they supposed to do about this mess?

‘There’s no way we’ll be able to drag the entirety of the Commission to court, but there were too many people involved in this to get them all anyway. After seeing how lightly Endeavor got off, Hawks must’ve decided that a trial by public opinion was the best way to go about this. That throwing support behind the League might be one of the few things that would threaten them.’

And while Shouta hated the headache that came with this, he also couldn’t fault Hawks’ logic. High-ranking officials in the Hero Public Safety Commission had legal immunity, after all. 

-

There was a certain reassurance that came with waking up next to Keigo and knowing that he’d be able to do that every morning now. Eri was tucked between them, still too afraid to sleep alone in a new environment, and Dabi’s heart melted at the way that she leaned into his warmth while clutching that stuffed phoenix.

“I told you it was her favorite,” Keigo chuckled, looking remarkably well-rested for someone who had announced their trauma for all of Japan to see last night.

“It’s cute,” Dabi whispered. He rubbed his face against Keigo’s outstretched wing, draped over him and Eri both, before asking, “No regrets?”

Keigo shook his head immediately. “None. I could never regret choosing this. Choosing you.”

Dabi’s eyes stung like they always did when tears attempted to well up, but the relief that he felt overshadowed that sensation completely. ‘I hate that he had to choose at all, but I’m glad that he stayed. He seems lighter now. Freer.’

“I’m glad… I love you, Kei.”

“I love you too.”

The two of them just relaxed for a while, basking in the ability to slow down and take it easy for once. They didn’t move at all until Eri sleepily blinked her eyes open. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with a yawn, looked over at Keigo and Dabi, and smiled as she whispered, “It wasn’t a dream.”

“Good morning, little unicorn,” Dabi murmured with a smile tugging at his lips. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good! No nightmares.”

“Do you have nightmares often?” Keigo asked, and the concern in his voice was painfully apparent.

Eri shuffled a bit before nodding. “Sometimes. Training made it worse.”

‘Yeah, I bet so. A lot of her trauma is tied up in her quirk, and it doesn’t seem like UA considered that.’

“Well, you don’t have to do that anymore, chickadee,” Keigo reassured her.

Eri nodded again, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by her stomach growling.

“Sounds like it’s time for breakfast! Come on then. Do you wanna get dressed or stay in your pajamas for now?” Dabi knew that everything changing so fast was overwhelming for Eri, so presenting small choices for her to have control over was his way of trying to mitigate that a little. 

Eri got to choose her outfits, got to choose who helped her during bathtime --she was fairly self-sufficient, but she was also still young enough that she was at risk of drowning if something happened-- and got to choose where she’d sleep. ‘It won’t be good for her to co-sleep with us for too long, but it’s fine for now. We can try to encourage her to sleep in her room while holding onto one of Kei’s feathers, maybe? Then she won’t feel so alone. It’s worth trying.’

After a few moments of serious deliberation, Eri decisively answered, “Pajamas.”

“Pajamas it is!” Keigo cheered, hopping up and stretching out his wings. His halter rode up slightly with the movement, which Dabi wouldn’t let himself stare at right now, and Eri and Dabi rolled out of bed too. Eri was visibly excited to go say hello to everyone, but Dabi managed to keep her still for long enough to gently work a brush through her hair. Sleep had tangled it even further, but after ten minutes or so, the three of them were walking toward the kitchen with Eri between the two of them, holding both Keigo and Dabi’s hands.

“Good morning, sleepyheads!” Magne called out as soon as she saw them, and that opened the floodgates for all the others to chime in.

“Hey, Eri-chan! My name’s Himiko.” Himiko was eating a far redder, blood-laced oatmeal, and Dabi mentally commended Fuyumi for getting over any squeamishness about that so quickly. 

“You were there, right? When Papa saved me?” Eri asked her with a tilted head, and Himiko responded right away.

“Yep! Me and Twice--” Himiko pointed in his Twice’s direction, and he was wearing his bandana instead of a mask today “--were both there with Touya. It’s nice to see you again!”

“Thank you,” Eri whispered with a grin, letting go of Keigo’s hand to nervously twirl her hair around her finger.

“Do you want anything in your oatmeal, Eri?” Fuyumi asked her with a gentle grin, and Dabi was thrilled when Eri immediately asked, “Are there apples?”

‘I thought that she’d be shyer than she has been so far. I guess UA does have a lot of people in it, if nothing else.’

“Yes, there are! We can do apples. Do you want any cinnamon?”

“Yes, please!”

Keigo moved over to Fuyumi’s side, and while he couldn’t cook to save his life, he was more than capable of peeling and cutting up an apple. He and Himiko had that in common. Dabi led Eri over to the table, and while she looked hesitant to let go of his hand, he was able to get her up in a chair next to Natsuo by promising that he’d sit on her other side.

“Never thought that being a dad would suit you so well, but now that I see you like this, I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.”

Dabi blushed at that, but before he could say anything, Eri was asking, “Who’re you?”

“I’m Natsuo! Touya is my big brother.”

“Oh. Okay!”

“There’s a lot of us, actually. Fuyumi is the one making breakfast today, and she’s my big sister. She’s younger than Touya, though.” Eri looked over to where Fuyumi was stirring the oats and nodded before looking back at Natsuo.

He continued by saying, “Then there’s our baby brother, Shouto, who you probably saw around UA.”

Eri nodded immediately. “Yeah! He visited with Deku sometimes.”

“And we’ve got a bunch of siblings that Touya took in too. There’s Eria.” Natsuo pointed over to where she was sitting next to Magne, eating banana oatmeal. “Then there’s Himiko, who you know, Rika, and Akinari. Rika is Himiko’s little sister and Akinari is their little brother; they’re the ones sitting on either side of her.”

Rika was eating blueberry oatmeal, and Akinari was, unsurprisingly, eating one laced with blood too. He just also added blueberries to his.

“Lastly, there’s Mustard! He’s the one sitting to Twice’s left with some orange juice.”

Hearing his name, Mustard turned and gave Eri a wave that she shyly returned. Dabi was just watching Eri interact with the others with a fond smile on his face, and he knew that he was already willing to do anything to keep her this content. 

“I know we can be a bit much, though, so don’t feel shy about asking for space, okay? We want you to feel safe here.”

“Okay,” Eri hummed, looking up at Dabi with a tiny grin. Keigo joined them with three bowls, his own held up with a feather, and sat them down in front of Eri, Dabi, and an empty chair before sitting down to Dabi’s right.

Eri didn’t hesitate to bring the spoon up to her mouth, almost dropping some on the edge of the table before she glared at her spoon and scooted the bowl closer to her, and cried out, “Yummy!” after the first bite.

‘That’s a relief. We would’ve found a way to make it work, but oatmeal is the cheapest thing that can feed so many of us.’ 

Dabi grinned at her enthusiasm, eating his plain oatmeal alongside Keigo, neither of them were picky about this sort of thing and struggled to see a point in using more resources than necessary on themselves, as everyone woke up and prepared themselves for the day.

Once she had finished, Dabi turned to Eri and asked, “Are you ready to go get dressed?”

She nodded, but just as they were standing up to go, Himiko skipped over to them both. “Would you mind if I walked you there, Eri-chan? Mr. Compress wanted to ask Touya something.”

“Okay,” Eri mumbled, seeming a bit anxious but otherwise fine with that arrangement. Himiko winked at him before holding Eri’s hand and walking toward Eri’s room, and when she started skipping a bit out of habit, Eri only asked her what she was doing before being told and, quite adorably, trying to imitate it.

Mr. Compress beckoned both Dabi and Keigo outside of the room, walking them toward the main room where Tenko was sitting by Kurogiri and Spinner, looking uncharacteristically flustered by something.

“Uh…” Tenko almost went to scratch at his neck again, and though his gloves kept him from hurting himself, Spinner still tapped Tenko’s wrist lightly to snap him out of it. “I know that none of us really care about getting things for ourselves, but we’ve got Himiko, Mustard, Rika, Akinari, the kids who’re staying with us temporarily, and Eri now so I just… Christmas is tomorrow.”

Dabi blinked as he realized that it was that time of year, and judging by Keigo’s bewildered expression, he hadn’t been the only one to forget. ‘Fuck, isn’t Keigo’s birthday only three days after? I need to figure out something to do for him.’’

Mr. Compress was quick to pick up where Tenko left off, saying, “Now, we’ve got a wide selection of kids stuff thanks to donations, especially from Kanzou, but we figured that we’d get you two to pick some stuff out for Eri. People sent us wrapping paper, tape, bows, the whole nine yards, really. You can go all out here.”

“Indeed,” Kurogiri agreed. “I’d encourage doing so. I’ve stashed everything in one of the basement rooms farthest from the stairs, but I can also warp you to keep anyone from following.”

Dabi and Keigo glanced at each other quickly before nodding. “Yeah, let’s do that,” Dabi murmured. “Thanks, Kurogiri.”

“It’s no trouble. Thank Tenko for being the one to ask around about doing this for the children.”

Suddenly, Tenko’s embarrassment made perfect sense. Keigo was quick to do just that, saying, “Thanks, man!” right after turning to face Tenko, and Spinner snickered at how red Tenko’s face got.

“Yeah, yeah. It just seemed right. Wasn’t like I had to convince Giran to get stuff for us or anything. It wasn’t difficult.”

“Doesn’t make it any less kind,” Dabi said with a smile, and Tenko fidgeted awkwardly as his face got redder.

“Whatever,” he mumbled.

As Dabi and Keigo stepped through one of Kurogiri’s portals, alongside Mr. Compress and Spinner who were helping choose things for the other kids, Dabi vowed that he’d make Eri’s first Christmas something special.

-

When Eri woke up in bed alone, it was with a start and a sharp inhale of breath. She glanced around quickly, taking in the differences in this room and the one at UA, and she slowly relaxed. The red feather in her hands helped her relax even further, and she rubbed at her eyes with a shaky exhale as she got up. 

She looked at her bed and huffed at how messy her sheets and blanket had gotten last night, jumping back up on the bed to tuck in the corner close to the wall and straighten everything out. When she got off the bed again and looked at it this time, she smiled with a nod. ‘Much better.’

Touya and Keigo hadn’t said anything about her needing to make the bed, but Eri would rather be safe. Overhaul had always liked things neat, and Aizawa seemed to like it when she cleaned up after herself too. 

Eri sat the feather down on her bed and pulled her long-sleeved dress out from her drawer, her favorite one that looked like a white dress shirt but had a red skirt sewed to it in the style of overalls, and put it on, patting out the wrinkles. Afterward, she pulled on a mismatched pair of socks and her boots before walking back over to the bed and picking up her dad’s feather again.

“Is it… okay for me to bother them?”

She was startled when the feather wiggled in her grasp. She let it go and watched as it floated in front of her and flitted over to the door, spinning in circles in front of it. Eri giggled as she watched it twirl around and around. “Guess so!”

Eri followed the feather over to Touya and Keigo’s room, and the door opened up for her before she could even reach for it. She was glad for that; Eri had to stretch up on her tiptoes to reach the handle, and that made it hard for her to twist.

“Good morning,” Touya said with a small smile, just enough to notice but not enough to tug at all the places he was hurt.

“Morning!”

“Did you sleep okay?” Unlike yesterday, Touya sounded worried when he asked her that. 

“Mhmn.” And she had. It took Eri a while to fall asleep, but the repeated promises of no training and getting to see how nice everyone was made it easier. After Keigo told her that people thought that Touya was a villain, Eri had expected his friends to be scarier, but they weren’t like Overhaul at all.

“That’s good! Keigo should be--” there was a thump toward the back of their room “--dressed in just a second. We’ve got a surprise for you.”

Surprises usually weren’t good things, and Eri balked a little at the word alone before looking at Touya’s worried expression, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide like he knew that he said something that upset her but wasn’t sure what it was, and reassuring herself that Touya wouldn’t hurt her. 

He was just like her, after all.

“Okay,” she mumbled, and when she reached for Touya’s hand, he laced his fingers with hers immediately. They stepped out into the hallway together.

“Nothing scary, I promise. Today’s just special.”

“I trust you.” She always would. 

Keigo came rushing toward the door shortly after that, and the feather that had been hovering by the door rejoined his wings. His shirt had two big, uneven holes cut into it, and Eri felt a pang of guilt when she realized that he didn’t have his stuff here because she wanted to go with him. He didn’t have time to get anything.

“Alrighty, let’s get going, fledgling! I hear that we’re having pancakes today.”

“Really?” Pancakes were one of Eri’s favorite breakfasts, but she liked anything sweet. She never got to have sweet stuff before Touya rescued her.

“Really!” Keigo joined them in the hall and took her other hand when she reached out for it. He was super careful about the tips of his fingers when he did that, and Eri was so glad that Touya and Keigo were so careful. They didn’t want to hurt her, not even by accident!

When they all got to the kitchen today, Eri noticed that even more people were in it than there were yesterday. The tables were all almost completely full, and there wouldn’t be enough space for her, Touya, and Keigo to sit down if Twice, Natsuo, and some man with a funny, purple suit and sunglasses weren’t standing up while they ate. The smiles and waves that she got from the first two told them that they’d done that on purpose, and while the man she didn’t know looked a bit uncomfortable, he was also pointedly not sitting down despite his hands being twitchy.

'Everyone is so nice here!'

“Let’s get you settled, chickadee. Do you want to start with one pancake or two?” Eri sat down without a complaint, smiling as Keigo pushed her chair in for her, and hummed.

“One!” She wasn’t sure how much she’d be able to eat, and she didn’t want to waste anything. 

Keigo sat down to her left when Touya moved to go get their plates, and she giggled as she watched Keigo send a feather to help Touya anyway. Eri could feel the chair shaking as she excitedly swung her feet, after hesitantly stretching them out and making sure that she wouldn’t kick Fuyumi by doing so, and she only clapped her hands together in thanks for a few seconds before digging into the plate that Keigo’s feather put down in front of her.

She heard Himiko giggle, glanced up with syrup smeared around her lips, and looked to her right as Touya sat down before giving him a huge smile. He gently ruffled her hair, and Eri leaned into that touch before he retracted his hand and they both focused on their food.

“So,” she started saying after a few minutes, done scraping the syrup off her plate and licking it off her fork. “What’s the surprise?”

Eri would’ve believed that it was the pancakes themselves --they were great, and it was nice to just be with everyone even if some of them had already left-- but Keigo had told her about those. 

Touya grinned so wide that Eri watched some of the staples wiggle a bit, and she bit her lip nervously. ‘I know that he said they don’t hurt, but still…’ 

“Why don’t we go show you, hm?” Touya answered, and she nodded and gripped at Keigo’s hand as he pulled her chair out and helped her down. 

They all walked to the living room, and Eri’s eyes widened as she took in the colorful paper and the excited voices all around her. “Wow…”

“Merry Christmas, chickadee.”

‘Oh, right. Aizawa was talking about how 1-A was gonna have a Christmas party.’ She missed Deku a little, but when she looked up at Keigo and saw how excited he was as his wings fluttered and his feathers brought a few wrapped boxes over to the three of them, Eri couldn’t bring herself to regret choosing this.

“Thank you!” 

She was happy. Really and truly happy. The unicorn sheets, light-up sneakers, and stuffed llama that she pulled out of those boxes made that warm, fuzzy feeling a bit stronger, but Eri knew that it came from being free.

There was no more training. She was like Ferdinand now. No matter how many people told her that she should fight, she didn’t have to. She could say no.

‘And if they try to make me fight anyway, then Papa and Dad will protect me.'

Chapter Text

Shouto had seen the video; most of UA had at this point. Kaminari was the first one in their class that managed to download it, and they’d all watched it together after the Christmas party. The nineteen of them had intended to talk about it then and there, but Aizawa had walked into the room at the tail end of the video and plunged the room into an unnatural quiet. He had seemed too distressed to notice it, thankfully.

Some of his classmates looked a bit shaken, more by what Hawks had been through than the fact that he’d joined the League, but the excitement that grew with knowing that such a high-ranking hero agreed with them outweighed most of the negatives. Izuku was the only one that still looked worried about something, and given how quick he was to throw his support behind Shouto, he doubted that his friend was having second thoughts about this.

“Izuku?”

Green eyes blinked in confusion, and Izuku started nervously rubbing at the back of his neck as more of their classmates looked over to him. “It’s just… Have any of you seen Eri recently?”

‘Come to think of it, no.’

“I was super bummed that she didn’t go to the party, but I thought that maybe it was too much for her,” Ashido said with a furrowed brow. “But didn’t Aizawa-sensei seem stressed out?”

“Eri’s been upset lately too,” Ochako mumbled as her eyes slowly became wider. “Wait a second! None of us have seen her since Hawks’ video. Wasn’t there a meeting here right before that?”

“That’s it!” Izuku exclaimed. “Think about it! Hawks said that the Commission started training him when he was six. Eri is six. Eri hates training, and she didn’t really need to keep doing it either. But they kept teaching her anyway.”

Fumikage’s feathers puffed up as he said, “Hawks saw himself in her shadows.”

A few of his classmates seemed confused, so Shouto explained, “He saw another child being forced to train and did something about it. We haven’t seen her because she’s not here anymore.”

“Dabi trusted her to Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku mumbled. “And Hawks is dating Dabi. He’d tell Dabi about how miserable she’s been. If he decided that they couldn’t trust UA with her anymore…”

“Then they’d fucking take her. Just like with Vamp’s little siblings and all the other squirts they’ve been stealing away,” Bakugo finished with narrowed eyes, and it was odd to see him and Izuku coming to the same conclusion.

“Eri trusts Hawks, kero. She would’ve gone with him if he asked. They wouldn’t notice until it was too late.”

“And she was always asking about Dabi too. I never knew what to say, you know? It’d be super unmanly to act like he didn’t save her…”

“Hawks told her about him! I thought it was strange that she trusted Hawks so quickly, but if he was the only one who would tell her anything about Dabi, then she would latch onto him too!” Tenya cried out, and several of his classmates started murmuring and nodding in agreement

Shouto didn’t have all the answers, it was probably safer that way, but he suspected that Hawks had done just that. ‘He’s too fond of Touya to leave Eri in the dark, and it would explain how quickly she came to trust him. She doesn't even trust Izuku or Aizawa-sensei like that.’

“I suppose the only question is what we do now,” Momo hummed. “I doubt our teachers want us to know this, but they can only keep it hidden for so long. Does this change what we set out to do in any way, or do we continue forward as planned?”

His classmates were all quiet for several moments. Izuku was the one to break the silence. “I see no reason for us to readjust the plan yet. Hawks is only pointing out what we all know. If anything, he’s making the public more informed about what is going on beyond the scenes, and that can only help us.”

“Um, guys?” Kaminari called out. “You might want to take a look at this.” He flipped around his phone and showed them an article that had Shouto’s eyes widening.

‘It might not be under his name, but this has Touya’s scheming written all over it.’

Bakugo grinned. “Looks like we need to change the plan after all. If they’re gonna be this aggressive about it, then we can’t afford to sit on our asses and wait.”

-

Heroes and Villains, What is the Difference?

By Chitose Kizuki

It comes to no one’s surprise that our society’s clear divide has grown more muddied due to recent events. After all, how can one distinguish heroes from villains when there are villains who are saving innocent people and heroes who are abusing their power for their own gain? The answer is simple: quirks.

Villains are people who illegally use their quirks, regardless of if it’s to do good or evil. One could argue that those who do good with their quirks, no matter how illegal it may be, should be branded vigilantes instead, but that doesn’t solve the core of the problem; it should not be illegal for people to utilize an essential, core part of themselves. Heroes should not be the only ones allowed to use their quirks however they deem fit, especially when any argument about how civilians may abuse that power fall apart when one looks at how heroes are already abusing it.

Endeavor has always been a callous hero known for his power, his capture rate, and little else. I did some digging after his trial, and it seems his low popularity and his high number of damage and civilian casualty reports should have seen him solidly in the number four position after All Might’s retirement, beneath Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Edgeshot. So how did he ever become the number one hero? Who was responsible for making a man who abused his own wife and children so revered? The Hero Public Safety Commission.

Everyone knows that they directly control the Hero Billboard charts, and the Commission is the only group of people who could twist those results to suit their needs without being caught. Many of you will likely consider this a baseless accusation, but an anonymous source has supplied a recording of a conversation between the Commission president and young Dabi, now identified as Touya Todoroki, proving that they were more than aware of what Endeavor was doing in his home. That audio clip is linked at the bottom of this article.

Endeavor is far from the only corrupt hero that the Commission has propped up. Further digging has proven that Snatch had a quirk marriage and was just as cruel to his children, and it is no coincidence that the glass manipulator who joined up with the League was the one to end his life. Formerly well-renowned hero, Vibration, went down in a blaze of blue flames during a raid against human traffickers. Local cameras show that the only ones who entered that building and started breaking children out that night were Dabi, Eria, Mr. Compress, and Spinner, so when did Vibration arrive on the scene? Given that he was found dead on site, there is only one answer to that question; he never arrived because he was already there. How many more stories like this are out there? How many people suffered under the hands of people with all the power, for one cannot call them heroes in any sense, while being completely unable to defend themselves?

The only difference I see between heroes and villains is that one group of people has all the power while the other has none. I’ll leave you all with these questions: Are you willing to stand by and do nothing with such a thin line separating the labels of civilian and villain? Are you willing to keep your head down and let those in power force us into submission once again? Or are we finally going to say that enough is enough, proving once and for all that we don’t need heroes to defend us from the monsters that they are creating?

-

‘Curious tweaked it a bit, but I expected that of her. It was far too good of an opportunity for her to sow the seeds of discontent surrounding current quirk laws, and the fact that I was willing to let her change certain parts of it as long as I approved of the final product was probably the only reason she published it in the first place.’

The reaction to their joint article was everything that Dabi could’ve dreamed of. The League’s allies were able to move more freely with far more civilians willing to turn a blind eye, distrust for heroes was at an all-time high, and even the most loyal sheep were beginning to question things. Vigilantism was booming and civilians were beginning to use their quirks and support gear to take justice into their own hands. There were, inevitably, those who caused more harm than good, but they were few and far in between.

‘Not like we’d let people who muddy the name of our cause to keep running amok anyway.’

If any particularly troublesome rioters found themselves in the hands of underground heroes that were just as willing to turn a blind eye to the League’s antics as the majority of civilians, then that was nobody’s business but their own.

“There’s no turning back from this,” Keigo murmured. Dabi’s heart clenched with fear for a brief moment, terrified that Keigo would regret choosing him. A taloned hand gently carded through his hair, and Dabi melted into the touch as Keigo leaned against him, looking down at where Eri was sleeping in his lap with a smile that took Dabi’s breath away.

“They won’t be able to keep pretending that everything is okay anymore.”

-

“This wasn’t the plan, Curious.”

Barely restrained fury laced Re-Destro’s voice, and Chitose knew that she needed to tread carefully if she didn’t want to end up like Miyashita: nothing left of her beyond a smear on the wall.

“My apologies for not consulting you first, Re-Destro. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and we’ve waited too long to make any sort of move on the League as it is.”

“You dare go against Re-Destro’s will?!”

The temperature in the room dropped by several degrees, and it was only Re-Destro holding up his hand that kept Geten from freezing her solid. ‘I’d be able to blast myself out of it anyway, but my odds of getting away from here in one piece are not high if this goes poorly.’

She lightly traced her finger over the emergency signal that the League had given her, knowing that a portal was only a button press away.

“And what do you mean by that?” Re-Destro questioned.

“The League has too much public backing for any fight with them to go well. They may not have the resources that we do, but people would riot if we made a move against them now. We’d turn people away from Destro’s philosophy and push them more firmly to the League’s side.”

“Damn Giran for ducking his head and hiding as soon as we started poking around,” Skeptic muttered.

Re-Destro’s eyes lost some of their previous rage, turning more evaluating as he hummed. “What do you suggest, then, Curious?”

A smirk tugged at her lips as she said, “An alliance. The League needs resources like ours if they’re going to keep rescuing children as they have been, and we need the platform that they have if we’re going to be rid of quirk laws. We have everything to gain by taking up arms alongside them and everything to lose by alienating them.”

Re-Destro’s loyalists seemed pissed by the realization that she was right. Trumpet, on the other hand, was practically giddy. “We’d become unstoppable with that kind of reach both above and underground! The League is the perfect example of what our oppressive society does to people, and the general populace would eat it up.”

“The only question is how we contact them,” Re-Destro hummed. “It will need to be far more peaceful than we initially planned, but the League is good at what they do. The odds of us finding them without drawing them out are low.”

Her chuckles echoed throughout the room. “You just leave that to me. I’ve already got an in with one of their members.” Chitose grinned as evaluating eyes turned to her.  ‘There’s the respect I’ve been looking for. Every member of this sausage fest has underestimated me for far too long.’

“I wasn’t the only one who worked on that article, after all.”

-

UA was desperately doing damage control, but it didn’t take long for word to get out that Hawks had taken Eri with him when he deserted. Now there were civilians who were questioning UA’s methods and treatment of their children, and while the hero students stuck to the course, several general, support, and management students were pulled out of the school. It was a nightmare scenario, and Shouta was getting even less sleep than he usually did because of it.

“At this rate, the League won’t have to lift another finger to bring us down,” Midnight murmured, worrying her lip with a sigh.

“I must admit, even I didn’t expect to be drawn into a battle of public opinion. Much less that we would be losing it.” Nezu was warding off an investigation from the HPSC by the skin of his teeth, and they all knew that the only reason it hadn’t been pushed through was because the Commission was under just as much scrutiny as them right now.

“We have to do something!” Miruko’s hands slammed against the table as she stood, shocking the room out of their despair. “We can’t just sit on our asses and wait for them to make their next move! Show some initiative!”

“I hate sitting around too, but…” Fat Gum sighed. “What more can we do? Best Jeanist is nowhere to be found. The press release is the only thing that might save us, and we’ve already worked over what we’re going to say a million times.”

Shouta’s head jerked to the side as he saw someone blur into his vision on the left, eyes flashing red before he froze in shock.

“... Jeanist?”

No matter how many times he blinked, the fiber hero was still standing before him.

“That mode of transportation will never cease to be unsettling,” Best Jeanist muttered, breaking the shocked silence that the room had fallen into.

“Dude, you really are alive!” Hizashi cried out. “We thought…”

Hawks had been purposefully vague about the Best Jeanist situation, and after his defection, they’d all feared for the worst. He didn’t have to be aware of Best Jeanist being killed for it to have happened. ‘Hell, he wouldn’t have to be aware of it happening to have orchestrated it.’

“My apologies for disappearing for so long. It has been… a very enlightening few weeks.”

“Oh?” Nighteye’s eyes were narrowed in contemplation. “Did you learn anything that might assist us?”

Best Jeanist was unnaturally pale when he said, “Give up on fighting the League. In any capacity. It won’t end well for you.”

“We can’t just look away from the chaos they’re causing!”

“They have hundreds of supporters who are directly assisting the League, Miruko. Underground contacts and civilians alike have banded together under their banner. We cannot risk starting a war with them; we will not win it.”

“Going against hundreds is no small task, but it doesn’t sound impossible. I cannot imagine that the majority of them have been trained,” Edgeshot muttered. “What is it that has you so frightened of them, Best Jeanist?”

“Do you wish to know how it is that I arrived here so silently?” Best Jeanist didn’t wait for anyone to answer. “A civilian with a pocket dimension quirk. Dabi helped them realize that, just like how they can release something or someone from their pocket dimension in a different place from where they were sent into it, they can also release them from their pocket dimension wherever they want to. And I do mean wherever they want to. They’d only have to touch you, and then you could be sent to another continent entirely.”

‘That’s… a terrifying quirk. It’s like teleportation without the limits and with no guarantee that you’d ever see the light of day again.’

“Then there’s Eniko, who took a simple, appearance-altering quirk and faked both Dabi’s death and my own with it. An illusionist who can disguise members of the League from sight entirely, several people with mutation quirks who have enhanced senses of smell and hearing and are completely willing to use them to track down and spy on anyone the League asks them to, a woman with a persuasion quirk that can make you truly believe in whatever she wants you to if you engage her in a conversation… That’s only the tip of the iceberg. These people are clever and resourceful, and they are all furious. I am only here because they hold no ill will against me in particular and because they wanted me to warn you all.”

Best Jeanist looked up at them all with a grimace. “Even if they aren’t trained, any one of them can readily get training from the League, now including Hawks, if they ask for it. Let that sink in for a moment.”

“Fuck,” Shouta groaned. “They’re building an army.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

The entire room went silent at Best Jeanist’s mirthless tone.

“Rumors in the underground say that they’ve found an army over a hundred thousand strong to back them, and from what I could find, those rumors are true. They are untouchable. Focus on fighting the Commission, focus on preventing civilian casualties, and keep your heads down.”

Best Jeanist’s eyes were wide with fear. “Otherwise, there won’t be any heroes left at the end of this.”

Chapter Text

Izan Kanzou was not surprised when heroes marched through the door to his toy shop. He had always known that he would face consequences for his actions eventually, but even as he stared into the accusing glares of Edgeshot, Miruko, the head detective in Musutafu, and someone he didn’t recognize, most likely an underground hero, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

“Izan Kanzou, you’re under arrest for aiding and abetting the League of Villains! You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

He didn’t resist as they cuffed him, grimacing slightly when he heard terrified cries from the kids that had been previously browsing the shelves. He knew that he shouldn’t risk making things worse for himself, but Kanzou was sick to death of heroes doing things like this. They couldn’t hurt Dabi or his friends anymore and they knew it, so they were aiming lower with the hope of toppling their operation. ‘Bah, like that would work.’

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

“You have the right to remain silent.”

“And I’m choosin’ not to because some things need sayin’. I had no part in any criminal acts and you damn well know it. What am I being arrested for, showing compassion? For being grateful that Dabi saved my son’s life? For gifting toys to children who’ve been let down by the world time and time again? Arrest me if you want, but we all know the truth.”

He looked the heroes dead in the eyes as a sneer spread across his face. “You’re just saving face. Typical heroes, covering up and ignoring their wrongdoings while pretending they never committed them.”

He was dragged out of his shop, his very livelihood, in chains, but as Izan Kanzou watched the rage grow on his customers’ faces as their children clutched onto their favorite Phoenix toys, he knew that his role in this was only beginning.

‘Give ‘em hell, kid.’

-

Tadaaki Kichiya yawned, stretching back and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes that always came with working a double. There had been an influx of villains and vigilantes needing treatment the night before, so he and Doc had wound up staying overnight just to ensure no one died on them.

There was a war looming on the horizon, and Tadaaki knew he and Doc were about to be busier than ever before.

It was while he was checking up on Anri Tsuguru, quirk: Persuasion, that everything went to hell.

The door to their clinic hit the ground with enough force to shake the whole building. Tadaaki whipped his head over to see Fat Gum, Rock Lock, and Ms. Joke with grim expressions. 

“Doc, we’ve got company!”

His mentor was quick to join him, a hard expression on her face as she looked at Anri and whispered, “Evacuate the patients. Tadaaki and I will delay them until everyone is out.”

As much as he wanted to protest, Tadaaki could read the writing on the wall. Neither he nor Doc were getting out of this, not with the way that the heroes watched him just as warily as they watched her. Anri was still unknown, and so were the vast majority of their patients.

Phoenix needed all the help he could get to end this nightmare of a society once and for all, and Tadaaki was not about to ruin things for him by being selfish. 

Anri nodded and took off, and when Rock Lock made to go after her, Tadaaki intercepted him with a growl before bringing out his claws in a clear threat. “You’re after us. Don’t go making yourselves look even worse by targeting innocents who don’t have the money for standard hospitals.”

“Or those who would be refused service at one, for one reason or another,” Doc murmured. Her green eyes glinted with rage. “You realize that your actions today will result in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of the people you’re meant to protect?”

Fat Gum looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, but he still said, “Tadaaki Kichiya, Doc, you are both under arresting for aiding and abetting the League of Villains and willfully harboring villains. You have the right to remain silent.”

“Like hell I will!” Tadaaki snarled, his roar echoing throughout the clinic. “Where were you heroes when it mattered, huh?! Where were you when I was almost abducted by Vibration?!”

Rock Lock froze, looking like he was going to be sick. “What?” he croaked.

“You still don’t know.” Tadaaki giggled hysterically. “Vibration was a human trafficker, idiots. One who specifically targeted kids with mutation quirks and frequently sold them to the Creature Rejection Clan. You wanna know who saved me from being taken by one of your own?”

“Dabi.” Ms. Joke didn’t seem as surprised as the men on either side of her. “The same one who burned his base of operations down.”

“Dabi,” Tadaaki agreed with a nod. “I was the reason he found and started digging into that case, you know? And even before he brought Eria, Spinner, and Mr. Compress in on it, he made more headway in weeks than heroes had in months. Funny that none of you even thought to question why Vibration wasn’t reporting any kind of information on a case he was supposedly investigating.”

“That doesn’t make this okay, kid. You’re helping murderers.”

“So are you, hero,” Tadaaki sneered, leveling a glare at Rock Lock. “Quite frankly, if Vibration is considered a hero while Dabi is considered a villain, then I’d rather be a villain. At least he’s honest about his intentions.”

It took everything in Tadaaki to not attack Ms. Joke when she walked forward to cuff him, but he managed to restrain himself. He didn’t want to be on the wrong end of her quirk, and she seemed hesitant to use excessive force against him. 

‘Keep it together. I still have a job to do.’ Tadaaki was going to make damn sure that every hero –hell, every civilian too– in Japan was aware of Phoenix’s actions. His hero was going to get the recognition he deserved, even if it meant that Tadaaki had to be in the heroes’ custody to spread the word.

If he hadn’t been so on edge, he might have missed Fat Gum turning to Doc with a questioning hum as he cuffed her. “What is your name? We couldn’t find anything on you, Doc.”

Doc chuckled. “No, you wouldn’t be able to. Did you know that when a quirkless person dies, their records are erased?”

The heroes fell into horrified silence. “It’s to protect any living relatives they have, see. The last thing the Commission wants is to potentially tarnish a future hero’s reputation with proof that they had unevolved relatives. Typically, this is just to safeguard the possibilities of future generations, but the HPSC is notorious for taking extreme measures when it suits them.”

“They tried to kill you,” Ms. Joke whispered, eyes wide.

Doc nodded. “And so Eniko faked my death, thus saving my life. The person who I was before is dead and gone, and for my little brother’s sake, it will stay that way.”

As he and Doc were loaded up into a police car, sirens blaring so loud that his ears pinned back on instinct, Tadaaki couldn’t help wondering how the heroes would react to knowing that Doc was related to one of their own.

A smirk tugged at Tadaaki’s lips. ‘All in good time.’

-

Ryouya Adachi never claimed to be a good man. He loved Kanta, he loved Aomi, and he loved their newly adopted children, Matsuki and Rinon. The wolf and owl mutants suited their largely nocturnal lifestyle well, and they were both excellent older siblings to Aomi. With the League’s backing, the five of them were able to afford a much nicer home, and Ryouya thanked his lucky stars that Dabi had stumbled into their life all those years ago.

It felt like he might finally be able to start anew. He should have known better.

It was late in the afternoon when there was a pounding at their door. He glanced over at Rinon, and without so much as a word, she nodded and began to usher Aomi and Matsuki toward their basement. Aomi clutched their stuffed moth to their chest, clearly anxious as they thumbed over the moth’s singular blue eye.

“Be safe, Papa.”

“I will, angel. Your Daddy will join you in just a minute, okay?”

They nodded, and Matsuki flinched as he listened to the pounding at the door get more insistent.

“Go.”

Ryouya watched his children shuffle away, wondering if this would be the last time he ever saw them. ‘I’m sorry, Kanta. Please take care of them.’

The door swung open just as Ryouya went to open it, and his eyes widened in false shock at the action. “My apologies; I worked late last night and didn’t hear you at first.” His eyes roved over the men in front of his door, and he had to fight to keep a smirk off his face.

Native stood before him with nothing but police officers by his side, warrant in hand. ‘They underestimated us. Either they didn’t find as much as I thought they did, or they believed that our children would hinder me in some way.’

“Ryouya Adachi, we have a search warrant. Any obstruction of our investigation will be considered a violation of the law and result in your immediate arrest. Stand to the side!”

He did just that, raising his hands and tucking his wings behind his back as the officers stormed in. Native stayed near him, but he clearly didn’t view him as any sort of threat. That would be Native’s final mistake.

Ryouya fingered the sheathe for his serrated knife that was tucked away in his jacket, pulling the blade out in a fluid motion. By the time Native registered the movement, it was too late. Blood sprayed across the room, splattering on the wall as he gave a choked gurgle.

“Goodnight,” Ryouya whispered, a sinister grin on his face as he used his echolocation to track down and do the same to each and every officer that Native had brought with him. None of them got anywhere near their basement or the secret tunnels expanding out from it, though the League would need to come close those off before the heroes realized this was a crime scene.

Ryouya’s smile became more genuine, less unhinged, once he rejoined his family. They were all uncaring of the blood covering him, holding onto their go-bags as Kanta passed Ryouya his own.

“Are you ready to go see uncle Dabi, cuddle bug?”

Aomi nodded with a wide grin, pressing their moth’s blue eye three times in quick succession. A portal formed in front of them, and they all walked into the abyss together.

There was no going back from this, but Ryouya would never have the chance to live a normal life. He had far too much blood staining his hands for that.

The begging and screaming of countless innocent civilians constantly rang in his ears, reminding Ryouya of a time when he knew nothing but following orders dedicated to serving the greater good.

‘I can never atone for what I’ve done under the Commission’s orders, but I can damn well make sure that nothing like it ever happens again.’

-

The hospital had been eerily quiet lately. A sense of trepidation hung heavy in the air, and Rei knew, deep in her heart, that her children were making waves out there. ‘I’m so proud of them. They looked the worst evils the world has to offer in the eye and refused to allow it to continue. I only wish I had been strong enough to do so for them.’

Noise exploded from down the hall, and Rei’s heart raced at the sound of screaming and gunfire. Alarms blared overhead, painting the room red. She jolted to her feet, grabbing a few photos of her children and tucking them into her bra before she ran out the door, joining the panicked patients in their evacuation.

She glanced back to see several men in suits shoving through the crowds, and while her mandated therapist would try to convince her that she was just being paranoid, Rei knew that they were after her.

There was no other reason for Commission agents to be here.

“Rei Todoroki! Come with us quietly or be tried for conspiracy with terrorists!”

Ice crept up her arms, rage overpowering the weak dosage of quirk suppressants that she was on. Rei turned to face the agents, and anyone between them scrambled to escape the crossfire.

“On what grounds? Your people have kept me locked up here for over a decade; if there was any conspiracy on my part, you would already know of it.”

“If you do not disable your quirk, we will be forced to act with lethal force!”

Rei chuckled, tilting her head as she asked, “Do you think me a fool? My husband always spoke so highly of the Commission’s snuff teams; I already know why you’re here.”

A void opened between her and the agents as they raised their guns, warping the bullets to who-knows-where. ‘Isn’t this…?’

Hope bloomed in Rei’s chest, and while the blonde woman and the child in gas masks were not who she wanted to see, this had her children written all over it. The child fired a shot at the window, and the woman beside him immediately manipulated those shards to slit the throats of any agent that the child didn’t shoot in the meantime. 

Staff and patients alike trembled in fear, frozen in place as they watched the bloodbath.

“We need to go,” the woman muttered.

The child nodded, and slowly, a dense gas began to fill the room. Rei could feel herself starting to get lightheaded, but as the woman caught her and the child walked to their side, she still only felt relief.

“You’re safe now, Mrs. Todoroki. Let’s get you home.”

She had never been so eager to hear those words.

-

Dabi paced back and forth anxiously, muttering to himself. “Are we sure this was the right move? We could’ve pulled Kanzou, Tadaaki, and Doc too, couldn’t we?”

“Perhaps, but I can only open one warp gate at a time. We had to prioritize those whose lives were in immediate danger. If this hadn’t been a sudden, last-ditch effort on the heroes’ part…”

“We would’ve been able to plan for it better,” Dabi sighed. “I didn’t think they’d do it. They have to know how it’s going to make them look.”

“They’re too frightened to care.” Curious was one of two members of the former Meta Liberation Army currently with the League, acting as a liaison between the groups during their merge. “The media has already been whipped into a fury; they can’t afford to sit back and wait any longer.”

“Precisely so! The entirety of the Hearts and Mind party has been working toward promoting your cause, and even those outside of our own are agreeing with us. People want change, radical change, and the heroes are terrified of losing their stranglehold on our society’s power.”

“The Commission even more so,” Keigo murmured. “Raids like this were inevitable. We were lucky to be given a warning.”

Kurogiri tensed. The mist around him wavered and darkened as he received a signal, and Dabi’s heart crawled into his throat when Aomi and their family staggered through the portal. Ryouya was covered in blood.

“Don’t look at me like that, kid. It’s not mine; we’re fine.”

“Dabi!!” Aomi cried out, barrelling forward and crashing into his chest. “It was scary, but I did exactly what you said!”

“I’m proud of you, squirt.”

Fuyumi giggled at the two of them, looking over at the family of five and saying, “Welcome to the family. We never stop growing, it seems.”

Natsuo snorted. “Ain’t that the truth. Touya just can’t help himself. Now c’mere, Ryouya. Let me look you over and clean you up, just in case.”

“Any word from Eria or Mustard?”

“Not yet, Tenko Shimura. Mr. Compress and Magne are still on standby, so their operation must be going smoothly.”

Only a few minutes later, Kurogiri was opening another portal. Mustard stepped through first, and Eria followed him, carrying Rei through with a relieved grin on her face. “Your mother is a force of nature. She looked ready to spear those agents herself; she even broke through quirk suppressants to threaten them.”

“Woah,” Himiko breathed. “Mama Rei is awesome!”

Something wild in Dabi settled as he looked at his mother for the first time in years, safe and away from anyone who would hurt her. ‘I’ll have to talk to her when she wakes up, until then…’ 

“Any word from Skeptic about where the heroes are transferring those they caught?”

Trumpet grimaced and nodded. “They’re all going straight to Tartarus. There’s no trial date, and there likely never will be one. I assure you that we’re already rallying riots against this, but…”

“The last thing they’d do is go back on their actions now. It’ll make them look even weaker than they already do,” Dabi growled. “They’re fucking civilians! Is there no low they won’t stoop to?”

“You already know the answer to that. That’s why I’m with you, a hundred percent. We’ll show all of Japan –no, the entire world– the truth.”

Trumpet gave Curious a searching look before he turned to Tenko and said, “And you have my support in its entirety as well. Your allies are our allies, and we will not allow them to be lost like this.”

Everyone knew that this was more than a declaration of allegiance between groups. Their networking had paid off in spades with these two, and the League was close to convincing Skeptic to switch sides as well. None of them were oblivious to the fact that Re-Destro intended to cross them at some point; the League simply wanted to use him while they could and take as much from him as they could until that point.

A savage grin spread across Tenko’s face. “Welcome to the team. Let’s start planning a rescue mission.”

“If I may?”

Tenko turned to Ryouya with a hum. “What is it?”

“I believe it would benefit us to wait until they have been transferred to Tartarus. Their transport detail is likely to be heavily guarded by heroes, but the security of Tartarus itself is lax in every way that matters to us.”

“Hm… Continue.”

“Tartarus’s location is of no concern with Kurogiri, as the island it’s on is public knowledge. Any quirk suppressant fields are tied to specific cells and areas, and they also have physical terminals that can easily be destroyed by either you or Dabi. The guards are trained Commission operatives whom none of us would hesitate to put down, and no one would fault us for doing so with the current outrage against the Commission after Hawks’ released his video. Attacking Tartarus directly would also give us the chance to free any other potential allies or those who were wrongfully imprisoned.”

“I’m sold. Did you have anyone in mind?”

“Stain, first and foremost. Many of our supporters point back to his video, his ideology, as the start of this movement. We may have to keep a tight leash on him first to get him to focus on the true enemies, but I’m certain he would want to go for the root of the corruption now that it’s been dragged into the light.”

Tenko sighed. “Ugh, I hate that you have a point. Fine, but he doesn’t stay with us if he can’t adjust; he can go back to being a lone wolf that we’ll put down if we have to.”

Ryouya nodded. “That’s fair. The other person I had in mind… Lady Nagant. She was my coworker and best friend in the Commission’s hero program, and it was her defection, her killing the former president, that made me realize just what the Commission was doing: raising child soldiers that would kill and die for them without question. She would do anything to get revenge on them.”

“You knew Nagant-senpai?”

“I did. I’m surprised that you know her. Didn’t the Commission focus on limelight heroics with you?”

Keigo nodded. “Yeah, but they still trained me for underground. She was my teacher! I honestly think we could get her on side.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Touya, Keigo, Ryouya, come to me when you’ve got a game plan. Everyone else, help the others get settled in and relax while you still can. Things are about to get busy around here.”

-

While the rest of his team talked downstairs, Tenko paced back and forth in his room. Breaking into Tartarus was the smartest move. It would put the heroes on the back foot, shake society’s faith in their ability to do their jobs even further, and allow them to regain their allies and potentially make new ones.

So why was he so uneasy?

‘You know why, Tenko; don’t pretend. You don’t want to see him again.’ 

He knew what he had to do.

‘It’s time to end this, once and for all.’