Quick little thing I wrote! (A piece of dialogue from it stuck in my head and wouldn't go away till I wrote it out, so-)
Anyway, might add on to this later, I'm not sure.
If any characterization is incorrect, please let me know! I'm more used to writing from Hawks' perspective than Dabi's, (and when I write from Hawks' perspective it is absolutely filled with internal sarcasm so it's fun writing with him) and even then I usually go with more fanon interpretations of them, whereas here I was trying to get a bit more of their canon personalities—at least with Dabi—while not entirely being canon because if I was doing entirely canon I'd have to say major character death, but I'm not. No one dies. Well, no one important, anyway.
That's enough from me, on to the one-shot! (One-shot for now, anyways!)
Dabi smirked as he stood over Hawks, a dark feeling of satisfaction warming him just as his the blue blazes of his quirk did as he glared down at the avian hero's bloodied face and mangled wings.
"Not so smug now, are you, birdie?" He cackled a bit, "kami, is it nice to see that pretty face all burnt up… but, don't worry, that's not even the start of it. You'll be nothing more than a pile of ashes once I'm done."
The hero whom Dabi had once called a friend (maybe even more than that, but it's not like either would admit it) smiled softly, a faint laugh escaping him.
Dabi felt his flames flickering to life, his sapphire eyes narrowed as he opened his mouth to ask the hero what the hell was so goddamn funny, but Hawks cut him off, voice hoarse and raspy from the smoke, but even then hardly more than a murmur, a private thought only half-planned to reach anyone else's ears.
"…do it."
The flames abruptly extinguished themselves at those two quiet words. Dabi's—no, Touya's, since this strange, sudden care about Hawks (Keigo, the deeply-buried part of his heart reminded,) could only come from that younger self he'd left behind—eyes widening as he took a step back.
He huffed, unable—or maybe unwilling—to believe what he'd heard. He glanced down at the battered hero, meeting his golden, predatory eyes. "I can't believe you think that now's the time for fooling around, number two. I will kill you!"
"I'm not kidding. Do it."
The faint smile hadn't left Keigo's face, but his quiet voice held no real tone, aside from perhaps the smallest bit of impatience. His eyes, for once, didn't seem analyzing, calculating every plan three steps in advance. Although, as usual, he hadn't blinked even once since Touya met his gaze.
His eyes, instead, seemed… accepting. Resigned to this fate. Thankful, even.
"You… this is some sick joke, isn't it, Hawks?" He grinned, "Some stupid-ass plan to stall for time while the other heroes get here?! Well, guess what, no one's coming to save you!"
The smile faded, replaced by a more serious, blank expression as Keigo broke eye contact.
"…I know that."
"..The hell do you mean?"
He chuckled bitterly, looking at Touya once more. "The Commission's probably already announced my death. No one's coming for me. I'm okay with that."
Touya stayed silent for a few moments.
"..Why should I believe they'd do that? You're their perfect hero. They wouldn't do that."
"I've simply outlived my usefulness to them. Starting asking too many questions; stopped doing what they said no matter what.. this is all a setup, Dabi."
"What," he laughed, "a way to lure me in, have me injure you so you can't be a hero anymore, two birds with one stone?"
"Close. They're tying up loose-ends. Namely, me. They want you to kill me, so I can't talk."
"..You trying to talk me out of it, birdie?"
Keigo glanced away again. "…No."
"…what?"
"No matter what you do to me, how bad you hurt me before you kill me…" he paused for a second, that faint smile returning, "it'll never be half as bad as what the Commission would do if they found out I survived."
"…Number Two, I can't—"
"Please," he whispered, his voice cracking slightly, "please, Touya, I need you to..! I can't—I can't.. do this anymore.. I can't keep… keep being someone I'm not!" He was crying now, his voice betraying his desperation, "I don't wanna be a puppet for them anymore, Touya, please!"
The parts of Touya that he'd buried for so long, the parts that remembered the childhood he'd spent with Keigo—how they'd loved each other—had a new goal firmly in mind.
Burn down the Commission, and leave everyone who worked there no more that piles of ash after he'd watched all of them die slow, painful, flaming deaths.
Now, though, there was convincing Keigo to stop begging for death. That'd make focusing on murder a bit difficult, not to mention that, despite all he'd said and how much they fought, he'd prefer it if the birdbrain didn't die, thank you very much.
He crouched down to Keigo's level, looking him in the eyes. "I'm not killing you, dumbass. Now, c'mon, get up, you're coming with me."
"Wh-what..?"
"Did I stutter, birdbrain? Come on. You're coming back to the base with me."
I do somewhat plan on going somewhere with this in the future, but as for where, (and when I'll be updating it, or posting another part if I decide it needs a different story for it) I have no idea. We'll have to wait and see!