XIV

Shoto didn't ask to train. Fuyumi became nearly silent. Natsuo threw himself into his studies. Almost the instant he heard that yet another brother had been burnt, he decided to become a doctor. He worked relentlessly to discover how his ice quirk would work best in a medical setting.

Though they asked to see Toya, Teiko wouldn't let them. "It's not something you can un-see," she said. None needed to witness such carnage. She thought again of the teen's ruined face and the blood that had seeped from his wounds. No, they didn't need to see.

For the most part, Enji kept his distance. When the younger three were at school, Teiko sat with Toya. The hospital was torn on how to place him. On the one hand, he had severe burns. On the other, he had become a raving lunatic.

"He tried to kill another doctor, Miss," the nurse informed Teiko the moment she walked through the hospital's doors. "We can't properly restrain him or he'll lose the skin around his wrists."

"Then let him lose it," she declared. "If he wants to pull and twist and tug, that's his problem, not yours." Within forty eight hours, they had to fasten Toya to the bed by tying a thick sash of synthetic fabric from his chin to his collarbone. When even that wasn't enough, they repeated the process to his legs and wrists.

She looked at the young man strapped to the mattress and barely saw her nephew. "Hey, Maki!" He greeted with a crazed giggle. He had been ecstatic to know she'd used his fake name and joyously called his aunt by hers in turn. "Maki! Did you bring it?" The previous day, he'd made a request.

"Are you going to stop trying to kill everyone?" That had been their deal, and she made sure to affirm it.

"Yeah, of course. That's what I said. I'm not the kind of guy to go back on my word." The staff were so desperate for a fix that they may have let the hostile teenager start a petting zoo. Teiko unbound her nephew and slipped the container of hair dye from her pocket. "You got black, right? I'm sick of seeing red when I look in the mirror."

Teiko had come to find that she couldn't find Toya in the young man before her. In her head, she considered him to be Dabi. Where she would have died to protect Toya, she only tolerated Dabi. "The blackest black that's ever blacked," she chuckled, though she didn't feel it in her heart. She snapped on a pair of gloves and got to work.

When they were done, Dabi grinned into the mirror at the final product. "Perfect." Bags of exposed flesh shone beneath his turquoise eyes. Stables lined his destroyed jaw and pinched his chin shut. "I don't look anything like I used to." His ears looked like two crisped hunks of steak on the sides of his head. Teiko knew that only true madness could look his disfigured self in the face and beam at the lack of skin. "Have you told family that I'm dead, yet?"

He'd never brought them up before. Teiko tilted her head and stared at him through the mirror. "Should I?"

Dabi slid his tongue experimentally over where his lower lip should have been. Instead, he felt the small hunks of metal that held his face together. "You should. I'm not a part of the family anymore. It's not that I can't go home like this, the old shit needs to see what he's done, but I won't.

Teiko hoped he'd given the matter as much thought as he could. "Who am I to refuse a dead man's wishes?" Even though he was insane, Teiko had seen the signs. Toya wouldn't have stuck around the Todoroki family for very long anyway.

Back before the days of quirks, Dabi wouldn't have healed so quickly. A doctor had used their abilities to save and rejuvenate what skin could be had. Teiko looked the teen over and considered his stature. "I'm ready to rejoin the world, Maki," he fixed his eyes on his hair. Now that his change was complete, he no longer felt like Toya. He doubted anyone in his own family could recognize him.

The hospital couldn't keep him anymore. The only place secure enough for him would be a prison, but he hadn't done anything wrong. "Give me a few days to get your affairs sorted, Dabi," she suggested.

"No, I'm leaving today." The only thing that had held him back was his resemblance to Endeavor. "Let's go." Teiko could only imagine the young man's agony as he walked out of the room. Luckily, there was still skin on his feet, though it cut off at the ankle. She moved beside him, her arm ready if he was to fall. The staff were so glad to be rid of Dabi that the doctor presented the discharge papers at once. Dabi signed them at the counter with a cheerful, unhinged grin.

As soon as he was no longer legally their problem, the burn ward slammed the doors shut behind him. "What do you think, Maki? Should we start ridding the world of false heroes?" Teiko heard the unbridled passion in his voice and inwardly frowned.

"Let's go downtown and practice." There were plenty of abandoned or cheap apartments where Dabi could blend with the denizens. Since he wouldn't come home, she planned on trying to find a place for him to stay. He smiled and agreed easily. They strode through the concrete jungle. "First, you need some clothes," she decided as they passed a store, since he only wore a simple hospital gown. Despite his patchwork appearance, she wanted him to look as normal as possible.

Dabi agreed easily enough. They found a store that advertised fireproof clothing and fitted Dabi in a set of navy blue clothes. The sleeves fit him well, but the pants were slightly too short. "I like it," he insisted. "It shows my flesh off nicely, doesn't it?" He posed in front of the mirror, his purpled body displayed with pride. He chose a loose white undershirt, black shoes, a brown leather pouch, and a silver belt to hold the sagging trousers on his scrawny form.

Once he had properly dressed, he and Teiko wandered deeper into the streets. "This is as good a place as any," Dabi decided suddenly. He turned and pivoted. The moment he faced her, he threw fire at Teiko. She dodged low with incredible speed and reached out to grab his ankle. Dabi hissed, his body inflamed with agony, and dropped like a rock.

Teiko had expected as much. She wanted nothing more than to give him a lecture and let him know that his dream was pointless, that his damaged body would never allow him to fight, but she couldn't find the heart to crush him. "I'm sorry, Dabi. You won't be able to do anything until you can overcome this obstacle."

The epiphany hit him gently. He sighed and gingerly stood. "Then I'll get used to it," he said softly.

"Toya…" she began. The name didn't fit the monster before her.

"No!" Dabi snapped. "I'm not Toya anymore. Todoroki Toya is dead!" He felt irrational anger swarm his senses. "Go home, Maki. If you won't help me, then I'll find people that will." He half hoped the woman would linger, that she would insist that he needed help. After all, he was just hours out of a prolonged hospitalization. He was relieved and disappointed when she relented so easily. "You're all talk, aren't you?" The teenager mocked.

Someone was behind him. He could feel the light breeze of their approach on his bare flesh. Everything that had been covered with skin was raw and infinitely more aware of its surroundings. Teiko saw Stendhal land and loom in their proximity. His masked face stared shamelessly at the red-headed woman and the mottled youth before her. Even though their conversation was no longer private, she answered as if it was. The extremist had already guessed her relationship anyway, even if he hadn't said as much. "I'm not going to kill my brother, Dabi. I wanted to, I tried. Even after he turned you into this," she gestured at his destroyed body, "I stood over him and couldn't do it."

Dabi felt disappointment flood his being. "All you are is false hope," he sneered. "You know something's wrong and you won't do a thing about it."

Teiko didn't look ashamed. She nodded to his accusaion. "You know something's wrong and you can't do a thing about it. You sought justice too soon and crippled yourself for life. You'll probably never fight without incredible pain."

He winced. The truth of her words seeped into his core. At that moment, Stendhal removed his mask and set his hand upon the younger man's shoulder. "My name is Chizome Akaguro. Come with me, Dabi, we can end the hero society together."

Teiko saw the resolve in her former nephew's eyes. "Good luck, you two." If he ever needed her, he knew where to go, but she was quite certain this was the last time she'd ever see Dabi.