A/N: I'm sorry for how late this chapter came out today. I had one of the shitiest weeks this last week and I've been unimaginably stressed. But I had to get this chapter out to you all today because today is our favorite burnt boy's b-day and we had to do something special for him!
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please drop me a comment because I need to smile after the week I've had, and your reactions make my day so much brighter!
Chapter 37
The Todoroki Residence – 12 Years Ago – Age 11
Touya returns home from the carnival with the largest smile on his face. The rest of the night, he spent with Fatty, watching as she dumped that loser boyfriend of hers and exclusively hung out with him for the remainder of the night.
The rest of the night was perfect. She smiled at him, she walked closely with him, she cheered him on with every game they played, and when he apologized for forgetting to turn in his tickets for a plushie before the stands closed, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him that his company was all she needed.
He didn't notice Natsuo trying to insert himself in their conversation, nor did he care when his younger brother gave her those puppy-dog eyes to pull her attention from him. It was clear as she stared at him for the rest of the night that Touya was the only person on her mind.
When he walks her to her door, he notices the longing look in her gaze, and the nervous swaying in her body. Her lilac eyes look into his, glistening back at him as her pupils dilate at the sight of him. She bites her lip as he waits for her to enter her home, and before she does, she lifts herself to the tips of her toes, closing her eyes and pursing her lips to his. He doesn't even have a moment to feel his rapidly beating heart before their lips entangle together. He wants to comb his fingers through her hair and tilt his head to the side to kiss her deeper, but she pulls away from him, her face wildly red as she opens the door to her home and closes it behind him.
Touya stands there, blinking his confusion for a moment as he's frozen. He is elated, and when his legs finally move him back to the car, he ignores his brother and sister mockingly smooching at him and singing teasing songs about the two of them. He glances out the window, watching the city lights zoom by and he can't help but smile at the idea of what it would be like to have a life married to her.
A new sense of pride swells in Touya's chest at the attention she's given him. He wants a life with her. He wants to provide her with the best life he can for her, and give her all of him. He will become the greatest hero Japan has ever seen, and he will do so with the knowledge that she'll be there cheering him on every step of the way.
With her, his weak body is no longer an obstacle since his determination to be the best for her will drive him to the highest heights. He will show his father that he was mistaken to cast him aside for Shouto, and he will prove to her that he's worthy of her. He doesn't even hear what Natsuo has to say as he finds himself drifting into a dream with her smiling at him and telling him he will be the greatest hero.
The following morning Touya wakes before the sun rises and hikes up to Sekoto Peak for training. He's too eager and impatient to wait for the sun as he has so much training to do. With a smile plastered on his face, he works on staging complex power moves and defensive exercises that he will show his father. With these moves, his father will have no choice but to halt his training with Shouto and focus on him.
Once he has the moves down, he focuses on integrating his flames. With quick switch maneuvers that incorporate both defensive and offensive moves, no villain will be able to stand next to him. He finds himself tearing up as he continues to plan out these new ultimate moves and naming them in his head. He can practically hear his father's voice calling out and telling him how proud he is of him.
It takes all night, and he huffs at the heat radiating off of his body from overusing his Quirk, but he's managed to plot out a strategic offensive/defensive maneuver that will gain him the upper hand in any fight. With this close-quarters combat style, he will be able to fight in conditions that even his father has difficulty controlling. In a week's time, he will perfect this fighting style and present it to his father. He will be so proud of him, that he won't remember to be angry with him for training up here on his own.
1 Week Later
Touya huffs and puffs as his chest lifts and falls with his labored breaths. His body is scorching and he's in an uncomfortable amount of pain. He bites back the tears welling in his eyes as the sun begins setting. He told his father to meet him on Sekoto Peak. He told him that he had a new ultimate move that he perfected that will challenge the likes of All Might.
His father's response was furious, and he threatened the boy with physical discipline if he continued his training, but Touya couldn't help and sneak out and make the trek up the mountain. How can he possibly be the Number One Hero for Fatty if he doesn't practice his technique?
The sun begins hugging the horizon when Touya exhales, figuring his father will not show. He's too busy with Shouto and his perfect Quirk to give him a moment of his time.
"I'm so stupid," Touya scolds himself. "Of course he's not coming." Touya angrily punches the air, sending a burst of blue flames from his fists. "Woah," Touya's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates. "Blue flames?" he looks down at his rough hands. "Blue flames!" he excitedly announces as his hands turn to determined fists.
"Touya!" the booming voice of his father calls out to him from the edge of the hill.
"Dad!" he returns excitedly as he runs towards his father. "Dad, I have to show you my new move! And you'll never guess what happened with my flames!"
His father quickly closes the gap between the two of them, and before Touya can say another word to his father, his wrist is snatched and the large red-haired man lifts up his shirt to expose his bruising and scarred stomach.
"You foolish boy!" his booming voice shakes the space between them. "You're burning yourself!" he begins tugging Touya away from the training ground as he yanks him down the hill.
"But Dad, I have a new ultimate move!" the boy whines as he looks back at the wooden mannequins.
"Stop it, Touya!" his father yells at him, grabbing his small biceps with a vicious force that will undoubtedly bruise him. His turquoise eyes ensnare his son's as he looks onto him with a fiery disappointment. "Stop trying! You're hurting yourself, and for nothing!"
Touya's eyes widen with wet grief as he watches the convictions of his father's words flash across his hard gaze. "But… Dad…" he whines, "If you just look—"
"There is nothing to see!" his father snatches his wrist and continues to pull him down the mountain, despite the boy's best attempts to stay.
It does not take long for the bulking man to drag his son back to their home. Touya looks up to see his mother waiting in the courtyard with her hands laced together pressed against her chest. Shouto hangs by her feet while Fuyumi and Natsuo wait by the door.
"You stupid woman!" his father's explosive voice carries in the small courtyard. "You were meant to watch him! Look at his stomach!" he pulls the boy's shirt up to the point of tearing.
"Enji, I didn't see him slip out. I was cooking dinner and he must have—" she's unable to finish her excuse as the man quickly closes the gap between the two of them and slaps her across the face. The sound is deafening and causes all four children to freeze with fear.
"I hired you help for a reason!" he scolds her. "You were to watch him! Look at him! He has this senseless delusion that he will actually be a hero with your weak composition!"
Touya swallows back the sob in his throat as he watches his father strike his mother once more. He shuts his eyes as his father grabs her wrists, searing her skin with his Quirk while he drags her screaming form from the children's eyes.
Touya's body won't move, no matter how much he begs his legs to run after his father and protect his mother. How can he possibly be a hero if he can't even move and help his own mother?
3 Weeks Later
Touya hasn't trained since the night he watched his father hit his mother. He doesn't want to be the reason that she's punished by his father, so he keeps himself in his room where she can find him. She occasionally comes into the room, smiling at him and asking if he needs anything, by which he returns that he doesn't.
Despite his father's actions, nothing can make Touya unhappy this day, because today is a special day for him and Fatty. Today is the anniversary of their wedding tradition. Touya makes sure that he wears his nicest clothes for when Fatty arrives, he puts way too much gel in his hair to tame his ivory locks, and he drowns his body in cologne to smell nice for her.
All day he can't help but shake his legs nervously with anticipation at her arrival. The sun is slowly setting in the horizon as he waits in the cold courtyard for her to arrive. He wants to be the first to see her when she shows. He wonders when she will show up, periodically looking at his watch to see the time ticking away.
He hears the sliding of a door and looks over his shoulder to see his sister searching for him. "What are you doing out here? Mom said you have to come in and eat." He turns away from her, looking at the gate for the purple-haired girl. "Touya, you've been waiting out here in the cold for hours! You're gonna get sick!"
"Where's Fatty?" he finally asks, turning to her in frustration.
"Huh?" Fuyumi tilts her head to the side. "You still call her that? You know she's not fat anymore. And that's not really a nice name anyway."
"Why isn't she here?" he asks her, impatient with his sister.
Fuyumi shrugs, "I didn't know she was coming."
"Of course she's coming. It's—" he stops in his tracks, swallowing down the lump in his throat as the realization strikes him.
Why would she come? It's not like I'm a hero. Touya tightens his jaw as he bites back his emotions and refuses to let himself cry at the helplessness that he feels. Of course she's not here. It was always just a game to her.
2 Weeks Later
Touya finds himself not caring much what his father thinks about his training. He sneaks off to Sekoto Peak multiple days a week without his father's notice and continues to work on building his Quirk and his technique. His father is so focused on Shouto and his youngest brother's development, that he hasn't even noticed the boy's burning body.
His mother beseeches him to stop training and focus on his schooling, but how can he possibly focus on school when none of his classmates understand him. They are all complacent with the idea that they will never add up to anything with their lives, but that is not a reality that Touya can stomach. He was always meant to be a hero; it was a value that his father literally beat into him. He won't let all those tears and all those moments in pain wash away because his body occasionally gets burned in the process.
Touya is quiet as he rummages through the kitchen for snacks to take up to him at Sekoto Peak. He packs a small bag of ointments and bandages as he prepares for his day of training.
"Touya, what are you doing?" his mother's soft voice calls out to him.
"I'm getting a snack," he responds to her nonchalantly.
"Touya!" the sound of dread fills her tone as realization strikes her. "You are not going up on that mountain! Your father will be home soon and if he—"
"I'm never going to be a hero if I don't train!" he snaps at her, tugging the straps of his backpack onto his shoulders.
"Please Touya!" his mother snatches his biceps, begging him with her eyes to find reason in them. "You aren't meant to be a hero. But you can be so much more than that!"
Touya's facial features contort with hate as he looks at the desperate look on his mother's face. "What the hell would you know about being a hero?" he asks her, shoving her hands off of his arms. "You're just a dumb woman whose family sold her off because they had no money of worth!"
Shock flushes over her features as she looks at the cold look coming from her son, seeing so much of his ruthless father in his eyes. He scoffs at the look on her face and turns away from her, making his way to the courtyard and ignoring her cries to return to her.
He steps into the square yard when he's struck by the sight of her. He looks up, eyes catching hers as they look onto one another. His heart races painfully in his chest at the sight of her, and he feels like he's going to throw up. She smiles at him, and the wild beating of his heart chokes him.
"What're you doing out here?" his voice calls out over the courtyard and she blinks to focus onto the white-haired boy.
"Touya," she responds breathlessly. "I'm just waiting for Fuyumi. We're going shopping."
"Sounds boring," he rolls his bright eyes as he moves past her.
She turns on her heels to face him, "Where are you going?"
"Training," he tells her simply. "I'm gonna show my dad what I've learned."
"Fuyumi mentioned that your Quirk was burning your skin. And that your dad told you to stop training."
Touya's fists clench at his sides. "Fuyumi doesn't know what she's talking about. She's just a dumb girl."
The purple-eyed girl blinks at him with a confused stare. "Is something wrong?" she says, noticing his hostility.
"Why are you even here?" He asks turning to her, feeling a heat rising in his chest at the sight of her. "You're not even Fuyumi's friend anymore. You stopped coming around and talking to her," she opens her mouth to say something but he speaks over her. "Are you just acting like you're her friend because you don't have any more boyfriends to waste your time with?"
"Why are you being so mean?" she asks him with a quiet and meek tone.
He looks at her, seeing the hurt lacing in her eyes and he doesn't want to be mean to her, but he is also angry with his father. He's been focusing so much on Shouto and not him. He's completely tossed him to the side and abandoned everything with him. In that moment, when everything was stripped from him, he turned to her.
He turned to their stupid wedding traditions and playing soccer, even though she was really bad at it. And then one day, she stopped coming and he was once again tossed to the side.
He kissed her, and they had a good night, but before that she had told him those stupid weddings were a dumb game. But it was always so much more than that to him. Were their kisses a dumb game? Is every interaction with him a dumb game? Why would he let himself get close to her now when all it will ever be is a dumb game to her?
And it was a dumb game to her, because when the day of their wedding came, she never showed. She didn't come to his home and she broke the tradition they created together. It didn't matter to her that they continue this ceremony they built together. None of it ever meant anything to her. He never meant anything to her. It was all a dumb game.
"Whatever, Fatty," he grumbles as he turns away from her to head up the mountain.
"I thought we were friends too," she calls out to him.
"You're not my friend," he barks back at her, feeling the sting of hate lifting in his chest. "You're just some chubby kid my mom forced me to play with and nothing else."
"You're such a jerk!" she yells at him. "Why are you acting like last month didn't happen?"
He turns towards her with a bored look on his face. "What happened?" he asks her. "I kissed you to shut you up, because I felt sorry for how desperate you were. There was nothing more to it," he throws back at her. "Now beat it, I've got training to do, and a Quirkless loser like you wouldn't understand."
It stings, talking to her like that, but he knows that he has to. He knows that she will get bored of him and replace him for a shinier new toy just like his father did. So, he has to get rid of her before she can do that to him.
"Screw you Touya!" she spits as he turns away from her to head up the mountain. "Train all you want," her voice is visceral and seething with venom. "You'll never be a hero in my eyes!"
Present Day – Day 40
It was the last thing she ever said to Touya. It was the last thing that anyone had said to him. The memory is still fresh in her head as Asami stands in the courtyard next to Natsuo, with a prominent grimace on her face.
She hates this courtyard. She hates that it holds her last memory with Touya. She hates that it's a reminder of what she said to him. And she hates that those words were the last words spoken to Touya before his death.
She tries to keep her mind off of Touya and the courtyard that holds their last memory with one another as she thinks about the dangerous situation she is in now. Her eyes are fixated on the corner of the quad where Dabi waits for her. Her body is tense with the fear that he will turn that corner with two fists of fire aimed at her and Natsuo. She doesn't know what burning at 2,00o degrees feels like, but she can only hope that her body will manage to scream before it succumbs to the pain, that way she can at least warn the others before Dabi sets the home ablaze.
How the fuck did she get to this point? Only two days ago was he fucking her and worshiping her body, now she's debating over whether or not she can scream loud enough over his flames before she dies at his hands.
"How can you do it?" Natsuo asks her, pulling her thoughts back into the now as his mind is also deeply entranced in thought. "How can you work for someone like him?"
Asami sighs, blowing out the smoke from her drag. "With a lot of patience," she responds dryly.
"I mean it," he speaks firmly, turning to her with cold fossil-colored eyes. "You weren't blind to what happened in here. The way he treated Shouto and… Touya," she swallows hard at the mention of his name. "So how can you sit at that desk and write those nice things about him when you know they're not true?"
Asami takes a heavy drag of her cigarette, feeling her throat burn from taking in too large of a hit. She holds the smoke for a bit, allowing the nicotine to subside her edge before finally exhaling. "Endeavor the Pro Hero and Enji the father are two very different people," she explains to him.
"Endeavor the hero has saved countless people, and has become a Bringer of Peace and a beacon of hope once more;" she informs him. "That much was clear after his fight with that Nomu." She exhales exhaustedly, "But Enji the father was a broken man drowning in jealousy and blinded by ambition. No one ever told him his children didn't need to share his dream."
"Touya did," he argues her. "He shared in that dream and it got him killed," he grits his teeth in hatred. "That was Endeavor's doing."
Asami stands there, frozen in the memories of the night that Endeavor went on the mountaintop at Sekoto Peak. She remembers the look in his eyes when he brought down the only fragment of Touya left. She thinks about her final words to him. Maybe he was up there to prove something to her, and he took it too far.
It wasn't only Endeavor's doing. It was mine.
"You know," Natsuo begins with a rasp in his tone. "I always hated this day," his voice grunts deeply. "Fuyumi made it a point to make it a day of celebrating you… and him," he shakes his head. "But every year it always just acted as a harsh reminder that he's not here anymore," he exhales deeply. "And no matter how much I tried to focus on the positives, it never changed that. All the jokes and reminiscing memories with him is just a sad fucking reminder that he's gone, and never coming back. So, I always hated coming to these things."
He looks down at Asami, seeing the bloodshot in her eyes as tears begin to build in her glistening orbs while her chin quivers at his words. "I'm sorry," he tells her quickly. "I shouldn't say that about your birthday."
"I feel the same," she admits to him. "I hate these dinners," she divulges. "It's just a fucking pipe dream to pretend to be happy."
"You don't seem happy," Natsuo croaks out unwillingly, and she turns to look up at him. "It's not any of my business," he says throwing his hands up in surrender. "But you don't look happy with Haruto."
Asami keeps herself from scoffing at his assessment. "Yeah, I guess he's not really my type, huh?" she smirks.
"What happened with you and Hawks?" he asks her and her eyes widen up at him. He chuckles at the shocked look on her eyes. "Fuyumi is terrible at keeping secrets. If you want something quiet you go to me, not her."
"Yeah, I should've figured," Asami grumbles.
"She said you seemed really happy with him. I was under the impression you were still with him."
Asami sighs, her breath visible in the crisp air. "I don't really know anymore," she returns with a whine in her tone, thinking back on Dabi's evil words of him fucking her double.
Natsuo frowns at her, seeing the confliction in her eyes as she stares off into the starry night. "No one really held a candle to Touya in your eyes," he admits with a heavy sigh.
"Not even you," she playfully nudges him with her hip.
"Yeah, well I guess it wasn't really meant to be," he awkwardly scratches at the back of his head with a chuckle. "Not when you looked at him the way that you did. No one else was in the room when he was around you."
Asami shuts her eyes tightly as tears fall waywardly down her cheeks. "I miss him so much," she whines as her chin quivers and she begins crying. She buries her face in the palms of her hands as her chest begins to heave with every sharp sob that escapes her throat.
Natsuo immediately encloses her in a hug, pressing her body to his and wrapping his arms around her. She soaks his jacket in her hot tears as he buries his face in her hair while she sobs in his chest. He doesn't say anything to her, because there is nothing to say. Nothing will bring back Touya. So instead, he rubs her back comfortingly and lets her cry out everything she's stacked up until now.
"I see him everywhere, Natsu," she cries to him as her voice muffles in his chest. "I feel him, I smell him in everyone I meet," she says thinking about Dabi and how he reminds her so much of the boy she loved. "I don't know why… he was such a jerk but… part of me knew… there was more that he wasn't willing to tell us."
"He cared a lot about you," he soothes her as he rubs her back. "More than any of us will ever know."
"I never told him…" she sobs, wondering if she can even say it now. Is there even a point in saying it now that he's gone? "I never told him that I loved him. That… that I wanted a life with him, and I… I would wait for him to become the greatest hero."
Her voice cracks and she fully cries in his chest, unable to divulge what her final words were to him, afraid of what Natsuo would think of her if she told him the truth. She instead sobs in his chest, and she can feel Natsuo shaking as he too finds himself crying in her hair.
She pulls away from him and he looks down at her wide glistening orbs. He lifts his hand and brushes the stray tears from her cheek. "Do you think it will ever get easier?"
"I don't know," he admits. "Let me know when it does for you."
She frowns at that, realizing that he shares the same amount of regret in his heart for how he handled Touya. Maybe if they were all a little bit better, he would still be here.
"I don't know how to move forward anymore," she admits to him, "I'm so lost without him."
Natsuo sighs, seeing how broken she is before him. "You just have to take one step at a time. Some days are hard, and I can't even get out of bed. But other days are better, and I pretend he's around me, talking to him and asking for his advice. Even though he was shit at giving advice," he forces a laugh and Asami sadly smiles at him.
"Yeah, I know," she says, having felt herself regaining her life with Keigo, only to fall back as the ghost of Touya implants himself in her life to cope with what's happening to her with Dabi.
A quiet moment passes between them as they think about Touya and the man that he could have been, and how they each could have done things differently.
"I should head out," he tells her with a sad expression on his face. "D'ya think you'll be alright?"
"Yeah," she nods, brushing the tears from her face. "Thanks, Natsu," she says smiling up at him and giving him one last hug, making a point to hold him tightly since she doesn't know if she will ever see him again.
He begins walking out the courtyard and towards the front gates of the home. She watches him longingly as he saunters away, seeing Touya striding away from her instead. She frowns, knowing that it's just her mind playing tricks on her.
She looks up at the sky, taking in the bright stars that shine back at her. She searches them, wondering if he is among them somewhere. Maybe if she looks hard enough, she can see his smile up there.
She exhales, blurring her view of the stars with her warm breath against the cold air. Another tear falls down the top of her cheek as she releases a shaky breath.
"Happy Birthday, Touya," she tells him, wishfully hoping that he can somehow hear her.
She cranes her head down when she sees a figure approaching her. She swallows hard when she notices that it's Dabi, encroaching on her slowly with his hands dug deeply in his pockets.
"It's time to go," his voice is rough and in a deeper register than normal. It's not a threatening tone he's using with her, but one that almost sounds… sad.
"Okay," she returns with a break in her weak tone. "I just need to get my things," she says turning from him and heading back into the home.
She slides the door to the dining room where she finds Shouto, his friends, and Fuyumi. "Thank you for dinner," she says with a respectful bow, "But I think I'm going to head out now."
Fuyumi lifts herself to her feet, seeing the puffiness in Asami's eyes and frowning at the sight of her. It's her birthday, and she shouldn't be crying on her birthday.
"Thank you for coming. I'm sorry about everything," she groans and Asami shakes her head at her.
"It was perfect, as always," she says with a forced smile on her face.
"Take care, and we should see each other soon," she tells her with a firm nod. She rubs her arms warmly and Asami smiles at her. "Then you can tell me everything about Haruto."
Asami nods, trying to look happy but she can't, knowing that she may never see the girl again now that she's involved with the League. "Yeah, I'd like that," she says and they embrace each other in a hug that Asami desperately tries to hold onto for as long as she can.
After the hug, she moves to Shouto, embracing him as well. "You're going to be an amazing hero, Sho. I just know it," she tells him what she wished she told Touya when she had the chance.
"Thank you, Asami," he returns to her.
"Good luck everyone with your studies and remember, Go Beyond, Plus Ultra," she smiles and the boys thank her for her support.
She begins heading out of the home when she notices Endeavor kneeling at the prayer alter, lighting a stick of incense and giving an offering. She sees the photo of Touya on the alter. His face is soft, and he's not smiling. He never smiled for photos.
Endeavor hears her enter the room and he turns to her. She bows respectively to him, "I didn't mean to disturb you, I was just heading out."
"Would you like to join me?" his deep voice draws her in. She nods and enters the room. She kneels next to Endeavor, lighting a stick of incense and placing her palms together as she bows her head. Enji follows her lead and they both sit on their knees before the alter in silence.
"I apologize for how things ended today," his voice draws her from the silence with his signature flat tone. "I am working on mending things with Natsu. Though I imagine it will take some time."
"I think you're going about it the wrong way," she tells him candidly and she quickly bites her lip back at her insolent words. He glances over at her, eyes widening and brows turned upwards at her words.
"What do you mean?" he asks her. She hesitates and he presses her, "Please, Hatsuse, I don't know what else to do."
His voice seems broken and sincere, and she finds her heart breaking at his words. "You shouldn't seek forgiveness from them. Natsu will never be able to give you that, no matter how much you try," she tells him and he looks down in shame. "But maybe, if you atone for what you've done, he will come to an understanding."
He watches her, seeing the power in her eyes. "He looks at you and all he sees is the father who abandoned him. The man who drove his son to his death," she says with a shaking voice and Endeavor blinks back his shock. "He'll never see you any other way, and yet he still comes here and he still faces you for the sake of Fuyumi's happiness. We all do."
"What can I do? How can I show him that I'm working on my atonement?"
"Be the Bringer of Peace. It's through your actions. Give him this home, save for the things that remind him of terrible times. Provide him with a safe space where he can rebuild and shape memories with Fuyumi and Shouto and his mother. Then maybe… one day… he can build new ones with you too," she tells him. "But you can't force forgiveness with him, because he will never forgive you. He can only move on and heal from now on."
Endeavor watches her as she turns to pay her respects to Touya. He notices when her hands lift up an old burn scar on her right palm, and a new burn mark on her wrist. He swallows hard, recognizing the burns as he saw them clearly on Rei when his temper rose beyond his control. He opens his mouth to say something to her, but he doesn't know what to say. He knows she will deny any abuse, but from who is the abuse coming from?
"You've always been good with them," he tells her. "You've always been a part of this family."
She turns to him, brows upturned and chin quivering at his words. Without thinking, she launches herself at the large man. She wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly.
Endeavor is completely frozen at the action as she begins crying in his chest. He awkwardly wraps his arms over her shoulders as he returns the hug. He holds her there for a moment, unable to even call upon his voice to soothe her, and focuses on keeping his hold tightly on her.
"Thank you, Endeavor. That means a lot," her voice muffles against his chest as tears uncontrollably fall down her cheeks.
"You know, you're always welcome here," he tells her, knowing that she doesn't have her father around. "Whenever you'd like," he stresses.
He doesn't know what her situation is, and from his knowledge, she had a relationship with that idiot Hawks. But these scars, her odd behavior, and that strange man Haruto has him questioning what trouble she's gotten herself into. "You can tell us anything, and you're always safe here," he assures her.
"Yeah," she whimpers, knowing that despite his words, she'll never be able to come back here, not if Dabi has a say in it. She loosens her grip on him and he does the same. She quickly wipes the tears from her cheeks as she keeps her puffy eyes off of him. "I should go," she says turning from him.
"Thank you, Asami. For all that you've done."
"Thank you, Endeavor," her eyes stay off of him as she's unable to look at him in her last moment with him, unsure of when she will see him again. "I'll miss you," she tells him as she turns away from him, unwilling to see his face.
Asami heads out of the Todoroki home where Dabi waits for her in the shadows. He's leaning against a wall with his hands dug deeply in his pockets. He watches as she approaches him with slugged shoulders as they pile into the car.
She sees the prominent line between his brows deepen at his frustration with her and putting him in this situation of allowing her to enter the home of a pro hero. She's grateful that he didn't fight her on this, but she sees that he's angry with her.
"I'm sorry—" her voice rasps and she clears her throat. "I'm sorry I put you in this situation," she tells him honestly. "But I'm not this meek little captive with no friends who look for her on the outside. I have a job, and people who love me and will miss me. And whom I will miss as well."
He doesn't say anything to her and they continue to drive in silence. "But I just wanted to say thank you… for letting me see them. I know you didn't have to."
"I didn't do it outta the kindness of my heart," he sneers at her.
"Then why did you?" she asks him as she glances up at him.
"I don't know," he admits to her, because he truly doesn't know.
They are quiet for the rest of the drive until they arrive at the compound and their hideout. Dabi's heavy steps are heard behind her as he follows her to her room and she figures it's his way of making sure she doesn't run away.
She enters her room, and leaves the door open, inviting him in. He is hesitant for a moment, wondering if he should take her invitation, and eventually decides to do so.
He steps into her room and closes the door behind him. He watches her carefully as she slips off her heels, and jewelry.
She glances up at him and his bright eyes are on hers. "Why didn't you attack us?" she asks him curiously. "When I was out there with Natsu? You could've turned the corner and burned us both before Endeavor came to investigate. You could've killed us both no problem."
Dabi's throat tightens at her words as he thinks about watching her in the courtyard and seeing how hurt she was. This whole time he thought he meant nothing to her, but instead… he meant everything.
He can't tell her who he is. If she knows that he's alive, she'll take him back to them, and his plan… what even is his plan? All he can think about is being with her.
What's even the point of killing Endeavor? Of killing his Masterpiece? Will it bring me happiness? Not like what she's brought me.
Maybe… I can stop this.
Maybe I don't have to…
We can live… Without… Just us…
But for how long?
I can give you my all. I can give you my entire world. But eventually— "You'll never be a hero in my eyes."
He shakes his head. That's not his life. Happiness and peace of mind were never meant for him. He was a failure. She made that painfully clear when she told him he would never be a hero in her eyes. She will run the second she gets the chance. She is his captive. A prisoner.
She wants nothing to do with him. And why would she? Fucking look at me.
"You'll never be a hero in my eyes."
"Dabi?" she asks him, seeing that he's somewhere far away from here. "Did you hear me?"
His world was always on fire, always sweltering hot that he was burning from the inside out. Always choking on the smell of his own burning flesh. All to prove to that fucking father of his that he was worth something. And no one tried to save him. No one tried to pull him from the flames, less they'd get burned themselves.
That's what he was; a ticking time bomb that no one wanted to become and unavoidable casualty to. Burning and engulfed in the flames of something he could not control, he was begging for someone to save him. For her to save him.
But he was foolish to think that she would ever care to save him. She cries to Natsu about how much she loved him but— "You'll never be a hero in my eyes."
What fucking game is she playing with him? What does she fucking get out of this? He feels like he's losing his mind. Like he's being left behind all over again.
Her words sting, they burn him. What game was she playing at? She knew he was in that courtyard. She knew he was listening to her. So, she fakes these false fucking tears and cries about how much she misses him when— "You'll never be a hero in my eyes."
She always showed him what he wasn't. The way that she would look at him, like he was something more. And then when he tried to be what she wanted of him, suddenly— "You'll never be a hero in my eyes." A fading fucking reminder of what he'll never be.
The image is locked in his head with what she said, how she saw him, how she always saw him.
She never wanted to rescue him. She never wanted anything from him. He was a failure, and all these pieces of their childhood and promises from their weddings they made to one another meant nothing to her.
Why?
Why wasn't it enough?
Why couldn't I be the one?
Why was this life never meant for me?
What did I do wrong?
"Dabi!" she snaps at him with her hands firmly gripping his biceps.
"Because I fucking love you, Fatty!" his voice booms in the room and they both look at one another with widening eyes. His throat collapses as he tries to correct himself. "B…But…Butterfly," he croaks out as his throat tightens against his words. "Butterfly," he says once more with more conviction, but it's already too late.
The look on her face says it all. The disappointment twisting of her features as she looks onto his hideous and marred face clearly paints what she's thinking. Her face contorts in a way that he's never seen from her and it stabs him straight through the heart to see her look at him with such pure revulsion.
"Touya?"
A/N: IT. FINALLY. HAPPENED! And you know I had to end the chapter here! So any cliffhanger before this was a tiny hill in comparison. What do you think is going to happen now that the cat is out of the bag?!