Green Rabbits and Black Hair Dye

by Tribi Ponyfeathers

When Shouto was eight, his brother rescued him from his father, and the two of them went to live somewhere their father could never touch them. They both dyed their hair black, and the Watanabe brothers lived peacefully in an apartment complex. Until Shouto gets involved with a little green rabbit, and learns their peaceful life was not nearly as nice as he had been led to believe.

"Hey, big brother, where are we going?" He asked, tugging on his big brother's hand a bit as they walked.

"Away from Endeavor. Forever. He'll never be able to hurt you again." his brother answered, running a hand through his red hair. "I promise, Shouto."

Shouto smiled. "I'm glad. But why can't Fuyumi, Natsu, and Miyuki come with? Then we can all live together and be happy."

"It's hard to explain, so I'll tell you when you're older. But we can visit them as much as we want, and Endeavor won't be able to hurt them either. The police are watching closely, so the bastard's not going to be able to get away with this stuff again."

Shouto seemed satisfied with this answer, and hummed happily as they walked.

"We're here." He said after a bit, turning to face a small brick building. "We're on the third floor. Let's go see our new house, little bro."

"Okay!"

The brothers went through the door and up a stairway, going up the three flights necessary to make it to their new apartment. Halfway up, Shouto got tired, so his brother picked him up along with their suitcases.

They opened the door to the third floor, and were instantly met by a man who seemed to be made of mist. The man seemed taken aback for a second, but cleared his throat and spoke. "Hello, you two must be the new tenants moving in. My name's Kurogiri, and I live on the third floor as well. I hope you both like it here."

"Ah, yes. I'm Dabi, and this is my brother Shouto. Nice to meet you." his brother said, moving out of the stairwell to the hall.

"Nice to meet you as well." Kurogiri said, before going through the doorway and down the stairs.

"Brother, why'd you lie about your name?" Shouto asked once Kurogiri was gone.

"We don't want people to know I'm a Todoroki, and my name's been plastered on the news for weeks. Dabi means cremation, and that's what Endeavor forced me to do to myself in order to save you." Dabi answered, moving towards apartment 4c. "Please call me Dabi from now on, Shouto."

"Okay, Dabi-nii. You can set me down now, please."

"Oh, sure." Dabi set down Shouto before fishing a house key out of his pants pocket. He unlocked the door and swung it inwards to reveal a small, fully furnished studio apartment. Shouto peered inside with wonder.

"The chairs look so cool!" Shouto exclaimed, running forward to run his hands over the smooth red leather of one. He sat in it, bouncing a bit. "This place seems fun, we're gonna stay here?"

Dabi laughed, setting down the suitcases on a kitchen counter. "Yep, this is our home now!" He pulled off his blue sneakers, and motioned for Shouto to do the same with his white ones.

"Cool!" Shouto ran over by the entryway, sitting down and taking off his shoes.

"Hey, Shouto, I have a surprise for you." Dabi said, rustling the plastic bag he was also carrying.

"Wow, What is it?" Shouto asked.

Dabi dug through the bag, pulling out two containers of hair dye. "Chose, do you want black or blue hair? I'm going to change mine too. We're going to erase all the evidence we're related to that bastard, starting with our hair."

"Um, black. It's cooler, isn't it?"

Dabi shook his head. "For an eight year old, you're really wise."

Shouto puffed out his chest. "Am I?"

"Yep!" Dabi ruffled Shouto's hair, messing up the red and white until the two colors were all mixed together. "Now, c'mon, let's change our hair!"

"Yeah!" Shouto cried, jumping up and moving over to the bathroom. Dabi followed a second later, glad to have such a sweet little brother.