EDIT: Finally added my AO3 notes!
Haah, I added two perspectives to this chapter since Katsuki took up all of last chapter. Which means I haven't reviewed this one as much. Still! Onwards we go~
Featuring: A Truly Terrible Linguistic Pun
Dabi feels his eye twitch.
She did that on purpose.
"I told you, I go by Dabi now," he stresses. At his shoulder he hears Bakugou's low "haaaah?" of interest. He pinches the brat's leg in retaliation.
"Are we really going to quibble about that out here on the porch?" Yuko scolds merrily, ushering them in. "Time would be better spent taking a look at the boy you've brought me."
That stings, a little. Still, Dabi steps over the familiar threshold, only to be enveloped in a warm hug - kid on his back and all. He doesn't startle or freeze, getting caught between the two reactions. He just sort of… wobbles. Then Yuko is cupping his cheeks and peering up into his face with her nearly blind eyes.
"Oh my boy, what happened?" She asks, running gentle fingers over the staples holding him together.
"Kid first, Yuko," Dabi reminds her dryly. Any remaining wariness on Bakugou's part is probably thoroughly ruined now.
"Right, right," she says, leading them down the hall to the back rooms turned off-the-grid clinic. He watches her steps become brisk, business taking over. Once a pro, always a pro, he supposes - though he knows she would object.
Walking through the much trodden hallway into the brightly lit little operation room is an exercise in nostalgia for Dabi. Very little has changed, that he can see. Maybe a few more pictures line the hall, and the hospital-style bed seems to be newer than the one he'd used. Someone had also sent her an enormous bouquet of purple flowers - her favorite. He sees them when they pass the kitchen.
Otherwise, it's as close to coming home as he's felt in seven years, even if he'd spent less than a year here, all told.
He'd almost forgotten Bakugou in his musings, but the kid makes himself known again when they enter the clinic.
"Your parents literally named you 'fire'?" The kid taunts. He doesn't need to see Bakugou's expression to know he's smirking.
"House fire, specifically," Dabi says without missing a beat. No need to let the little brat know the truth. He turns his back to the exam table and lowers the kid carefully down onto it.
Yuko laughs as she washes her hands, "He caused quite a bit of confusion around here - most people assumed his name referred to the Kasai area." Dabi turns in time to catch the confusion on the kid's face - the inevitable kind that comes with being the odd one out in an old relationship.
Eyeing Bakugou critically, Dabi also notes how pale he is again. Back to business then.
"He's on a half dose of oxi-proxen and a full dose of ampicillin, last taken about an hour and a half ago," Dabi relates to Yuko. "Bandage change was about three hours ago - I've been doing wet to dry bandages. He's only had one change since I cleaned it out, though." She hums as she dries her hands.
"Bakugou Katsuki, isn't it?" She greets, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. "It's nice to meet you, though I do wish the circumstances were better." Joining them at the table, she gives the kid another disarmingly wide smile. Like the world's cutest grandma.
Don't trust it, kid - she's terrifying, Dabi thinks fondly.
"Kasai, be a dear and get Bakugou a pillow from the cabinet. He really shouldn't be sitting upright, from what you told me of his injury," Yuko says and Bakugou looks positively gleeful.
"Shut it, kid," Dabi mutters without heat, heading to the far cabinet to fetch a pillow. If he grabs one of the lumpier ones, well. He never claimed he wasn't petty.
Yuko is helping Bakugou unzip his hoodie and Dabi lays the pillow at the end of the exam table. He slips back into assistant mode easier than he'd thought possible, removing the jacket and helping Bakugou lay down without being asked.
"How sterile was the environment you were working in?" Yuko asks Dabi. "And do wash your hands, I'm afraid my vision is worse than usual today - I may need your help."
"It was as sterile as an apartment can be," Dabi calls over his shoulder as he makes for the sink. "I did take your infection warnings to heart, you know."
"Good to hear," Yuko says approvingly, studying the bandages on Bakugou's cheeks. "How do you feel, Bakugou? Aside from the pain - any nausea, headache, chills?"
"Some nausea," Dabi hears the kid say. Apparently he can cooperate for Yuko. "But that was mostly the antibiotics, I think."
"Aren't you sweet," Dabi comments snarkily, walking back over and pulling on his gloves. Bakugou uses his limited mobility and flips him the bird. Dabi just smirks.
"Scissors," Yuko gestures to her mobile tray table and Dabi obliges. "Do you mind? I'm going to take a look at your injuries." Dabi sees Bakugou grimace.
"Go for it, lady. Wanna know what I'm working with too," he growls. Dabi shoots him a warning glance.
Without further ado, Yuko cuts through the bandages and gets to the wadded and slightly greyed gauze packed underneath. Dabi's seen enough people laid out on this table to be able to view the injury with a critical eye as Yuko gently pulls away the rest.
There's still a lot of gunk moldering across the healthy muscles. Dead stuff that was too difficult or badly placed to be removed. Still, a bunch of it came away with the gauze, as it was supposed to. Bakugou makes a distressed wheezing noise as the last of it comes off.
"Oh dear heart, I didn't think it'd be this bad," Yuko says sympathetically. "Do you want to be put under? This must hurt terribly."
Dabi frowns, "He had a reaction to the oxi-proxen - is that a good idea?"
"What kind of reaction?" Yuko asks, concerned.
"He freaked out over a little repressed breathing, like I wasn't literally laid out face first," Bakugou interjects irritably, though he sounds strained. "It was only for a second."
Yuko hides a smile, "He was right to be concerned. We have seen others have worse reactions with prolonged use. Is that why you dropped his dosage?" This last was directed at Dabi, who nods his assent.
"Well, if you have no allergies, I see no reason we can't get you hooked up to the good stuff with a little supplemental oxygen. I'd really rather not treat this while you're conscious and cause you more pain."
Dabi sees Bakugou swallow nervously, his expression briefly folding into uncertainty.
"Could you… can you tell me what you think first?" the kid asks, unusually quiet.
Yuko hmm's at that, leaning close to Bakugou's raw back with an intent look on her wrinkly face.
"Well, assuming we avoid infection and other complications - which I'm hopeful for, given how quickly you were treated - and you don't strain yourself, I'd say you have somewhere between five to eight weeks for full recovery," she pauses when the kid's breath hitches. "I'm sorry it won't be sooner."
"I - no that's fucking great," Bakugou chokes out, voice shaking just a bit.
Dabi sighs when Yuko shoots him a look and says in an undertone, "I wasn't sure he could recover and not end up like…" he gestures vaguely at himself. Yuko's expression tightens but she lets it go. For now, at least.
"Then lets get you prepped for anesthesia," she says brightly, "And we'll get you started back toward normal."
It's the work of practiced minutes to have Bakugou hooked up to an IV and heart monitor and have an oxygen strip taped under his nose. Yuko is inspecting Bakugou's cheeks and Dabi's suturing job when the kid asks, "How does your quirk work?"
Yuko huffs. "Kasai didn't tell you?"
"He wouldn't even tell me your name," Bakugou says drowsily, missing the wide eyes Yuko sends Dabi's way. He studiously ignores her incredulity.
"Well, you've heard of Recovery Girl, I assume? She works at your school," Yuko says easily and Bakugou hums in acknowledgement. "She's my daughter, and she's the one who will be taking you home on Saturday."
Bakugou's eyebrows shoot up, and again Dabi finds himself ignoring a searching look. The kid's probably surprised to find a villain so closely associated with his own nurse.
"My quirk works a little different from hers, though," Yuko continues as the awkward moment passes. "She draws on the energy in the patient. I draw on my own energy. It won't be the quickest of healing sessions, I'm afraid - not much energy at ninety-three, you know."
Dabi scoffs loudly from the end of the table and Yuko smiles. Bakugou's eyes close and only barely reopen.
"Take a nap, kid," Dabi says, eyes steady on the heart monitor. "You're in good hands."
—
Earlier that day, after the teacher's meeting
Toshinori exits the private UA conference room more troubled than when he entered it.
The news stations were already nailing the school to the wall, censuring them for so badly failing their students. Talking heads were debating whether or not Bakguou, with the showing he'd given at the sports festival, would actually turn to the villains' side. And, worst of all, it was now more certain than ever that there was a mole amongst the students or the teachers.
The only bright spot that came from the meeting was actually Naomasa's interrupting phone call, letting him know that there was a lead on the villain hideout. A patchwork villain matching the description of "Dabi" entering into an abandoned building only two weeks ago.
Which would be discussed at the first meeting with the police planned for around three in the afternoon. There, Naomasa would be going through the preliminary briefings on the villains and the profiles they had so far. If all went well, and enough evidence was compiled, the hero strike team could hit the villain base as soon as tomorrow.
It still grinds at Toshinori though. At a little past noon now, Bakugou has officially been with the villains for about twelve hours. Knowing that they'd need to wait another day, at least, before they could retrieve his student truly angers him.
Who knows what they're doing to young Bakugou, Toshinori thinks grimly, rubbing his forehead in dread.
After all, he'd met Shigaraki and Kurogiri. And while Naomasa said that the hand-covered villain apparently hadn't been present, knowing that the League is involved is enough to turn his stomach.
Toshinori had been a hero for thirty years, now. He'd come close to death more times than he could count, and many more times than the public would ever be aware of. But in his first run in with the League, he'd nearly been bisected, disintegrated, and impaled. That was a bit more varied and violent than even he was used to.
And worse than that is the certainty that All For One is pulling the strings on the League behind the scenes.
He hasn't told the other teachers yet. Because (and he truly hates to admit this) he's not sure it's safe anymore. That kind of information is deadly in the wrong hands, and he can't risk it getting back to All For One that Toshinori suspects the villain survived their last fight. It might provoke the villain to act first - or worse, retreat. Then they'd lose their only lead.
But still, he has to tell someone. To keep the information alive, if nothing else. Because if this turns into another fight between him and All For One?
Well, Toshinori's not laying odds on surviving that bastard again.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recalls Sir Nighteye's predictions of his death sometime within the next year and wishes that he didn't so thoroughly believe this would be it.
Shaking his head, he notes that he's made it to the teacher parking lot without really paying attention. Hitting the unlock button, he slips in his stuffy car.
The planning meeting is set for three o'clock, giving him plenty of time to run across town to Might Tower so he can hear back from his sidekicks. If all goes well and the police meeting ends on time, he and his sidekick, Buddy, can head down to the hospital where the kids are located.
His heart clenches, thinking about his students - put through so much turmoil and terror at their age. It's horrifying and infuriating that the villains have targeted the next generation before they had a chance to prepare.
They will have to step up sooner rather than later, whether I want them to or not, the unendingly practical side of him insists. I have very little time left and the villains are only building momentum.
A text from Naomasa pings him, letting him know that Aizawa has been released from his interview. No new information.
Using the voice command, Toshinori messages back, requesting an in person meeting with Aizawa and Naomasa before the big planning meeting.
Because if Toshinori is looking to the next generation, and wants the students of Class 1-A to survive to graduation, they're going to need all the support they can get.
And if I can't be there for them, I'd rather have someone who's put himself on the line twice be the person who hears the truth. About All For One. And… about One For All.
—
In the dark of the laboratory, Dr. Tsubasa finishes reading off the report from Sgt. Kato of the Musutafu Police Department.
All For One taps one finger against his temple, not even bothering to contain the amused smile tugging at his mouth.
He'd thought that Dabi's past as a vigilante would be the most interesting thing he learned about the young flame user. It appeared that even he could be surprised at times.
What an interesting development.
When All For One had finally deemed Tomura ready to launch, it'd gone unsaid that the boy would need supporters. Villains who were attracted to power and who held power themselves. Maybe not an army, but certainly a force to be reckoned with. Of course, with prominence given to Tomura - that was key.
All Might always focused on the ring leader of whatever group he happened to be fighting.
And when the Number One hero went head to head with Tomura? Well. It wouldn't really matter if he won or lost against Shimura Nana's grandson. Either outcome would likely crush the infernal Symbol of Peace.
Which was why All For One inspected each new member joining Tomura's little League. A homicidal teenager, several Stain disciples, and other assorted odd balls weren't cause for much concern. He might not have even looked twice at Dabi if not for Tomura's grudging respect for the man and the fact that there was no history on him.
That piqued All For One's interest. There were very few people who could completely disappear from the system, given the types of quirks the government had at their disposal in modern society.
A brief conversation with their middle man, Giran, revealed that Dabi had a couple of stories linked to him since he'd come on the scene - which was fairly recent. Barely two weeks before he'd come in contact with the League.
But those stories were intriguing. One with a torched criminal hanging out around a school district. The man had a record as a pedophile.
The other was actually a hero. Or ex-hero. Interestingly enough, the man had once worked for All For One, a year or so prior. The hero and his partner were both rather crooked, but it had been the hero's partner that All For One had been interested in.
After all, it wasn't every day you saw a quirk that could forcibly activate another person's quirk.
When the hero had delivered his partner to All For One, he'd been paid for a job well done and, at some point, he must have hung the hat up on his hero career as well. Likely from guilt, but that was of little consequence to the super villain. What All For One wanted to know was Dabi's connection to the hero. Giran hadn't known, however.
It was around that time that Tomura started changing his tune regarding the flame villain - no longer deriding him about his connection to Stain or his terrible attitude or even his questionable hygiene (Tomura, it was safe to say, had not liked Dabi). Instead, he seemed to hold the other villain in somewhat higher regard than the other members.
With mystery surrounding the flame quirk user on two fronts now, All For One had requested a meeting.
That encounter had been enough for him to garner several new facts.
Dabi was educated. His parents likely had incompatible quirks. He held pro heroes in disdain because a hero close to him had caused him harm at some point. He didn't like Tomura's vendetta against the UA students.
(This last tidbit had prompted All For One to recommend Dabi lead the training camp attack, which they were still waiting to see the results of).
None of these facts were explicitly stated, mind you. But All For One had several quirks at his disposal that allowed him to read a person very well. And while Dabi was decent at disguising his thoughts, he had a few centuries to go before he'd be a match for the super villain. And it was clear Dabi was hiding quite a bit.
Kurogiri had shown his worth then - obtaining a clear fingerprint from the flame villain on a discarded beer bottle.
Running the print through the regular channels had turned up, to little surprise, nothing. But having Sgt. Kato run it through the police database revealed a whole new story.
And that is the report he'd just finished listening to. He cannot help but think it's almost too perfect. The fingerprints match a series of unsolved vigilante cold cases, and one of the suspects listed is Todoroki Touya.
Legally dead at age fifteen, several months before the cases began. Listed as a suspect primarily because the descriptions of the vigilante matched those of the Todoroki boy so closely. But the fingerprints from one of the crime scenes and the quirk came back as no match. In fact, no quirk was ever used in any of the cases listed.
Except now it is clear that Dabi's quirk matches that of Todoroki Touya's, and his fingerprints match those of the Vigilante Kasai. Which means someone changed Todoroki's fingerprints in the police records.
The cases also detailed Kasai's apparent crusade against child abusers. Now isn't that interesting? It's just as well he'd set up that little training camp test for Dabi, after all. And while Tomura had decided to give the flame villain one more day to see if he would actually return with Bakugou or not, it doesn't really matter anymore. Because Dabi, Touya, is a villain - and that alone is enough to ruin Endeavor.
All For One allows his smile to broaden into a full-blown grin. It isn't often he's excited to see the outcome of one of his many plans - typically people are just far too predictable.
But this? All For One could not have asked for more dramatic irony.
The grandson of Shimura Nana, and the long lost son of Todoroki Enji. Taking down the Number One and Two heroes with their own heirs.
Oh yes, he could be very excited for this.
Dun dun dunnn. Kind of.
So! I got chapter 14 done today (it was... a blast to write, if you get my meaning) which lets me post today - yay! Tell me what y'all think of it (especially AFO's bit - it was added a little last minute and makes sense to me but I'm notoriously unreliable when it comes to being comprehensible).
Also! The Linguistic Pun and a little of my own personal irony. When I was looking into a vigilante name for Dabi, I came across the name "Kasai". It's an actual, normal name, and the characters can be used to make it mean "house fire". I lol'd and ignored the fact that Kasai sounded really familiar.
Next, I'm looking into a place in East Tokyo to put Yuko's home, because I needed it near the bay for reasons y'all don't need to know yet. Fortunately for me, I'm familiar with the areas since I used to live there. And as I look closer, it dawns on me.
Kasai, in East Tokyo, was my train stop. The one I got on and off at every day that I lived in Japan (which was four months). It's also the colloquial name for the area. Hence, why people might think he named himself, as a vigilante, after the area he worked in, rather than for his fire (that he never used).
So, a dumb linguistic pun. That I didn't even intend. Gah.
Aside from that! I'm also curious what you guys think of Toshinori deciding to tell Aizawa in this version. It always surprised me that All Might went into the fight without briefing someone just a bit closer to Midoriya. But maybe that's just me.
By the way, a few of you guys seriously called Yuko's relationship with Recovery Girl (looking at you Spring_Leaf). Just maternal, instead of sisterly lmao
And Dabi getting babied a bit! Bakugou getting a little reassurance! :'D
Next chapter sees us touching base with the police, Aizawa and a surprise hero :D